Saturday, November 25, 2017

604 & 702 | Part 3

- Prompt 21 of 30 -
Comproller 604 sat in the dark, pinching the bridge of his nose agianst the now-omnipresent grinding rattle. How did it come to this? he wondered, yet knowing even as the question formed that he could no longer avoid giving the unthinkable order to breach the surface.

- Start -

He looked to 702. She looked tired. She had carried him all this way, but nevertheless persisted. They had survived the Outbreak, they had secured a holdout - They had even found the crack that Legion had opened. None of it wouldn't have happened without her. But 604 knew that she could never go this far - she couldn't bring herself to hold such a burden as this.

But 604 could. He could run the numbers, he could see the world for the facts - and keep the morality out of it. At least he hoped he could. All of the surviving 'Gineers were counting on him, and he was leading them to what might end up being certain death.

Here they stood, at the edge of the crack in the Wall. It was large enough to fit through one at a time - and through it one could only see the darkest of void. They had tried to make it larger, but all efforts proved fruitless. Whatever method Legion had at their disposal was beyond the survivor's capability, and they would have to make due with what they had.

They had known of its existence for weeks now, but could only watch until now. the horde of Legion had been swarming the area for about a month, as they poured one-by-one into some unsuspecting world. They had lost a scouting party or two, but the RE-Furbished did not seem to pay them all that much mind. 702 suspected that they had run their course in this world, and that crossing the Wall into others took a much higher priority. The survivors would either die out or assimilate once Legion had taken care of the other Instances.As soon as the last one had crossed over, the survivors had gone to work.

The plan wasn't complicated: Find a world where Legion had yet to arrive. Initial readings indicated that the crack would only allow for a one way trip - Once you crossed over you wouldn't be able to detect it. Leave it to RnD (or what remained of it) to whip up a prototype device that would harmonize with it's home Instance's frequency in a matter of days. With that, a small scouting party would be able to find their way home after assessing the situation.

604 and 702 had volunteered for the role of scouting party. They were the ones pushing for this mission, and they wouldn't stand for anyone taking the risk on their behalf. A base of operations was set up just outside the rupture, and after a few days they were prepped for their first excursion.

The first world they found was already burning. They didn't bother to check for survivors. They took a moment to take in full what their failure truly meant. An entire world, lost - more so than their own. Every creature now a part of a destructive force - likely beyond recovery.

With the weight of their task sunk in, they made haste with the prototype home-finder. It appeared this world had a 12 degree shift in comparison to their own. This meant a 12 day long journey to tear that would lead them back home. The covered the ground as fast as the could, avoiding the hazards of the dying world.

Returning to their home world was bittersweet. The information they had gathered was incredibly valuable, but that value was tempered by the horror that accompanied it. Despite all this, RnD was able to make the modifications required in order to change the destination world, and a new mission was prepped.

It took four more missions before they found it, a world untouched by Legion.

And so, here they were - the Survivors, the lucky ones. Abandoned by their adversary, now they too would have to leave this world behind. 604 had in some part hoped this day would never come - for beyond this point was war. If this world could be warned of the danger, it would have a chance at fighting back - and his own people would have to lead the charge.

604 turned to the masses gathered behind him. There were about 200 of them left, all said and done. They all looked to him, and to 702 - knowing the order he was about to give.

"Fellow 'Gineers!" He shouted. "This is our last chance at stopping the catastrophic system failure known as Legion. We do not know how long we will have before they show up in this new world. It could be seconds after we cross over, it could be days.

702 and I will lead the charge through the rupture and will signal when it is safe to follo-"

His speech was cute short by the sound of cracking stone and twisting metal. The low rumbling and grinding that had accompanied the arrival of Legion - the sounds of the factory dying - grew to a crescendo.

The ground started to shake beneath them, and the crowd of survivors started to panic. They looked to 604, who looked to 702.

She was looking below, to the lowest levels. Her face said it all.

"They weren't all gone, were they."

"No."

604 slammed his fist on the table. He looked back to the survivors. "RUN!" He yelled. "Return to the fortifications! You can defend it from there. We will return."

Their eyes gave all the answer he needed. They knew their part, and he knew his. He watched as they made their way, terrified, but with purpose, back to the hideout they had built. He could see the remnants of Legion now, swarming up the inner sides of the factory, crawling like animals towards the now split survivors.

"We need to act as bait." he said, turning back to 702. "if Legion chases us through the portal, it will give them enough time to setup the defenses."

"And we will be dooming the other world to the same fate we've seen."

"Not if we can move fast enough, which means we have to move now."

"I don't like this, 604."

"I know, but this is all we've got. Trust me?"

"Always."

They ran. Through the tear in the world, and into another.

Hoping, beyond reason, that they'd be able to someday return.

- End -

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A Disclaimer

All stories posted here are without editing.

In the spirit of NaNoWriMo I will be keeping myself in the mindset of "only creating." This means that these stories will be prone to typos, grammatical errors, and possible plotholes.

This is not the final draft of these stories by any stretch of the imagination. Thank you for reading regardless.