Chapter 177 The Lost Shipyard part four (1/2)
/Alpha Team: Wind: Damn Boss, where'd you get the sleeping bag?
/Alpha Team: Nix: I am a Tailor, I made it. You have one.
/Alpha Team: Pon: Yeah, but ours is store-bought crap.
/Alpha Team: Nix: Oh I see, so not a custom made, feather down, extra large with added heat enhancement and water resistance?
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Heat enhancement? For real? Is there room in there for three?
/Alpha Team: Pon: Punk bastard.
/Alpha Team: Nix: We could squeeze you in.
/Alpha Team: Fajii: No...
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Fajii!
/Alpha Team: Nix: Get some rest, we'll take the first shift.
The group from Inferno settled down for the evening after making plans to join hands with the crew of the Moon Goddess the next day. They decided that four 2-hour watches would enable them to get enough sleep while keeping an eye on things. Since there were five people in Alpha Team, Nix and Fajii did their watch together.
[Dragon Eyes]
Fajii watched with interest as his eyes turned from their normal yellow to deep orange. They sat together propped up against a large boulder, both nestled comfortably in the warm sleeping bag. ”Thanks for sharing Nix.”
”It's warmer with two, but I'm going to make you one in case I'm not here.” Nix scanned the area, he could see everything that was warm-blooded. Wind, Pon, and Semmi were close to the fire about ten meters away. The four crewmembers from the Moon Goddess slept against the far wall, apparently, the fire was more of a moral comfort than a physical need for them.
The two talked quietly while keeping an eye on things when the two hours had ended, Nix woke up Pon and then settled down to sleep.
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A cold hand on Nix's cheek woke him up. He opened his eyes to see the brightly smiling face of Semmi, she must have deliberately cooled her hand with ice before waking him.
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Rise and shine boss.
Nix rolled out of the bag and stowed it away. ”Did you wake Fajii like that?”
The blond officer shook her head. ”She got up earlier and kept me company on the last watch.”
/Alpha Team: Nix: Eat something if you want, let's wrap this up
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Bev returned this morning, she's in the Embassy with one of the power-level teams.
Nix couldn't keep the smile off his face. He was able to talk Bev into a one-year stay. She needed to level up, so her management skills could be properly utilized by Inferno.
/Alpha Team: Nix: Thanks.
Fajii rebuffed the group while they went over the plans.
/Alpha Team: Nix: We'll kill this Ice Elemental if we can, Plan B is to find out what's binding the crew of the Moon Goddess to this area.
/Alpha Team: Semmi: It has to be an artifact of some sort. She couldn't maintain that sort of spell for two hundred years.
/Alpha Team: Nix: We'll search for that first, destroy it if we can.
/Alpha Team: Wind: They're coming boss.
Yor approached with his three companions. Vy was the only one who wasn't wearing armor. ”The three of us will accompany you, it's time we end this.” The Moon Goddess Captain took off the Spider amulet and handed it to Vy.
The Shipwright took the amulet and place it around her neck. ”I'm just holding it for you, Captain. Make sure the three of you come back safe.”
/Alpha Team: Wind: Why isn't she coming? Not a fighter maybe?
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Too valuable to risk.
Nix eyed the three additions to their team. Yor had two short sabers equipped along with heavy armor. Rollie held a mace in one hand and a short hand-weapon in the other.
/Alpha Team: Wind: That's a sawed-off shotgun boss, never even seen one in Colonial.
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Two melee and a ranged fighter. We should be fine.
Tully carried a long rifle with an impressive piece of optics attached, he was the only one of the group that was wearing medium armor.
The Captain bowed slightly, ”Would you bring up that hud thing you showed us yesterday?”
Semmi nodded and opened up her hud, she zoomed in and selected the local map so that the cavern trails would be displayed. She pointed to their position on the map. ”This is us.”
Yor looked at the different routes that were displayed, his stubby fingers pointed to a specific trail. ”This is our route in if we are sneaking in. There is an alternative.”
Nix studied the map, trying to commit it memory. ”What's the alternative?”
”She knows the four of us have escaped her ice. I'm under orders to report anything having to do with dhassi.” Yor gave the impression that he dreaded seeing her again.
/Alpha Team: Semmi: With our masks and helms on, we could pass for dhassi.
/Alpha Team: Wind: If we go sneaking around, she might be alerted. But if someone distracted her.
/Alpha Team: Nix: I'll take Pon, you three look for the source of the prison.
/Alpha Team: Pon: Why me?
/Alpha Team: Semmi: Because you're a badass Fire Mage.
/Alpha Team: Pon: True.
”That route looks much shorter.” Nix glanced at the rest of the group. ”Stealth in but be fast. Who knows how long it might be before we have to take action.”
Yor nodded in agreement. ”My men will accompany them while I take you directly to her. They are experts at infiltration.”
After a few last-minute checks, the group departed the cavern a few minutes later and started down a path that descended into the icy darkness. They walked in groups of two with Nix and Yor leading the way. The second team had already stealthed and were maintaining tight noise discipline. Yor, Nix, and Pon talked loudly, occasionally kicking stones or purposefully slamming their weapons.
They descended for nearly two hours before Yor stopped and motioned for the other group to keep going. The entrance before them was a wide hole cut into the wall with a long curved ramp leading downward. ”This is our route?”
Nix peeked in, the path was glazed over with ice and very steep. ”Looks a bit precarious.”
”We slide in.” Yor arranged his weapons and sat down in the entrance to the tunnel.
/Alpha Team: Nix: Looks like we're sliding in, old man.
/Alpha Team: Pon: Shit...
/Alpha Team: Semmi: I want to slide!
Nix took a seat on the ice next to Yor, waiting patiently while Pon did the same. ”Lead the way Captain, we'll follow as best we can.”
Yor used his knuckles to push off and a moment later shot into the darkness. Nix did the same and immediately leaned back when he started to slide.
[Dragon Eyes]
There were no off-passages or turns that Nix had to make. They slid down the same path that seemed to curve and spiral randomly. As slides go, it was far better than any Nix had experienced as a kid growing up in Camden. He could see the thermal image of Yor ahead of him by about twenty meters, the occasional glance back showed that Pon was maintaining the same distance.
Finally, the slide ended in a long room, the trio found themselves skidding across a rock floor before bouncing off the far wall.