The Yugoro, Maesh was his name, had not been lying. There was another secret passage, one that led to a set of ascending stairs that, according to Jason's calculations, would take them to the second floor. The alien had explained that he'd seen gear being taken through the wall here, which was operated by a hidden switch. Maesh had caught a glimpse of the passage opening, but had not been able to remember where the switch was.
So he had kicked straight through the stone, revealing the passageway. Jason had been shocked to see it, most Yugoro wouldn't be able to do something like that, they were strong creatures, but Maesh was clearly on another level then that. As tall as Halm and with arms just as thick, he was an imposing figure, but strength like that went beyond the biological. Jason suspected that, like himself, Maesh was enhanced, either chemically or bionically, perhaps a combination of both.
Come to think of it, after Maesh had tossed the Rhino at him, the vehicle had been practically horshoed around his head, at least at the point of impact. Still, he'd not have been knocked unconscious that way, had he been prepared for it. Learning that he'd been about to die had left Jason paralyzed with a fear he'd never felt before. Knowing his Draconic origins, it wasn't shocking that such terror would have left him frozen in place. The Yugoro said he wished to settle things after this mission was accomplished… Well, then Jason would oblige him, provided that the opportunity arose.
They, along with the soldiers that followed them, emerged into a wide chamber on the second floor. It was as big as the hangar bay in the Sparrow, at least the floor space was, the ceiling was high, but it was short compared to the hangar. To Jason's shock, he saw dozens of Ternan and Final Kind escape shuttles here, lining the walls on either side. The alien craft were shaped almost like the Ternan pods were, but they were made from a sleek, alien alloy the color of shining maroon. Between the shuttles were chests of various sizes, along with shelves hanging above them, holding… bottles?
Jason moved past Maesh to inspect them, Lance following closely behind, practically walking on his heels as he went. If Kazon appeared to take her again, then the Lord of Hate would be in arms reach. The other Ternans stayed clear of the Yugoro, rushing to the pods while keeping the alien in sight. When Jason reached the first bottle, he was shocked to see a tiny version of a T-57 Rhino sitting within. The bottle next to that had a Harpy-32, a sleek single-fighter atmospheric aircraft, black as the walls of Castle Blackgaze. There were others, the Alice-500 main battle tank, the XT-Dropship, as well as an F.M.C, the Franklin Mini Carrier, which is likely how these vehicles were brought down planetside in the first place.
Clearly magic was at work here, the vehicles had been shrunken down and put into these bottles, so was the container what was magical, or was this the work of a spell? Was the weight of the vehicles still the same despite their shrunken state? No, those shelves wouldn't have been able to bear the weight of a Rhino, much less an F.M.C.
"Lance," Jason pointed, "Do you know what these bottles do?"
"I can't see them." Lance said, standing on her tippy toes, straining to look.
Strange, she was a tall woman, how were people supposed to reach this unless they were Jason's height? Maybe they levitated? It was hard to say. Jason put away his weaponry, right before picking Lance up to look at the shelves contents.
She gasped, "Hey, a little warning would be appreciated!" She exclaimed, "I'm not a doll!"
"Sorry." Jason said, "Do you know what these bottles are?"
Lance inspected them, bracing her hands on his wrists, "I can't say that I do. These tiny contraptions, are they from Terna?"
He set her down, "They are. I suspect they've been shrunken down."
"Uncorking it may release them, perhaps." Lance shrugged, "I can't say what will happen for sure though."
"Take this one." Jason told her, handing Lance the bottle with the Rhino inside, "If we need it, we'll uncork it, in fact, do you have more room for another?" He asked.
Lance took the bottle carefully, before sliding it into one of her satchels, "Only one or two more, I'm guessing." She said, "I don't want these to crack while I'm holding them."
"I think just uncorking them would be enough to release the vehicles, they couldn't have gotten these pods in here conventionally." Jason said, "Cracking them may be an issue though, one of these suddenly popping out would cause significant injury. Stay out of any fights from here out, I don't want you to get hurt ever again." Jason said firmly.
He expected her to argue with him, but she simply smiled, "I won't, Jason."
"Won't get hurt, or won't fight?" Jason asked.
"Yes." She replied quickly, "Anyway, if I make room, I can perhaps fit-"
"Sir!" A voice called from behind one of the pods, "Our gear is in the chests!"
"Re-arm quickly!" Jason called out, "The facility is filled with hostiles, we need to be ready to gun them down. Someone get eyes on the entrance, we don't want the enemy sneaking up on us!"
"Sir yes sir!" The soldier called back, "What about the exo suits?"
"They'll take too long to equip without an assembly ring or an engineer with the proper tools." He replied, rounding the pod.
A group of four troops stood there, the chests open to reveal heavy ordnance. Weapons meant to be mounted on an exo-suit, these could not be wielded by normal soldiers otherwise, not unless they were a Hoplite, of course. Jason snagged up a chain-gun, the rotary barrels long and dark. It was still loaded, and a quick inspection revealed no faults with its assembly. He had considered taking the Princeps rocket launcher instead, but the Perforatus chain-gun would be more ideal for this mission, he didn't want to use explosive's indoors, if he could help it. The palace could come down on everyone's heads-
Right as he had the thought, the entire first floor shook, and with his enhanced hearing, Jason could hear something crashing down back onto the first floor. What had happened? Lance followed after him as he turned, rushing out toward the source of the noise. There was a lever attached to the wall, next to seemingly nothing. Internally he cursed Lithia for putting in so many secret entrances, was it so hard to just have normal doors? As he approached the lever, he took note of Maesh, gathering some of his own gear, namely his bright red plated armor.
He could just shoot him now, the Perforatus would make short work of him. Maesh would be a pile of furry goop after just a few seconds of sustained fire with the chain gun. Yet, a small part of him nagged at his pride, insisting that he face him after the mission as planned in a fair fight. Perhaps it was because Maesh had been the one to knock him unconscious back on the Sparrow, did he want to prove that the Yugoro's victory had been a fluke? Perhaps, back when he was Hoplite, he would have simply killed Maesh and moved on, yet Jason was a bit more thoughtful. He wanted to prove his might to the ape-like alien, to show that he didn't stand a chance against Jason, and that his defeat had been a mere stroke of luck for Maesh. It was petty and immature, but perhaps this was simply due to his Draconic nature.
"There are Ternan vehicles atop the shelves trapped in bottles," Jason shouted so the Ternans could hear him, "Uncorking them may release it, but wait until we're outside to do so!"
"Sir yes sir!" A chorus of voices cried out.
They didn't even question it, what had they seen here in Blackgaze that made such an impossibility plausible in their eyes?
"Sir," A conductor asked, emerging from behind a sleek Final Kind pod, "The Yugoro has outlived his usefulness, permission to neutralize."
"After we've all gotten out of here first." Jason replied, "Again, we have a common enemy. I'll neutralize him myself after we're done here."
Maesh snorted, "Unlikely."
"You'll see, punk-ass…" Nate muttered, coming out clad in tungsteel marine plate and wielding a Visus rifle, "You ain't that guy, pal." Nate sneered at the alien.
"Stand down, marine." Jason told him.
"Sir." Nate nodded, "Apologies sir."
"At ease, private." Jason nodded, turning back toward the lever, "I'm clearing the next room, everyone finish arming up."
It was time to see what lay on the other side of this door. He flipped the lever, noting that Lance's bag bulged. She must have put in a few other vehicles in as well, hopefully they could safely release them once they were outside the castle. The wall slid downward, revealing a wide spiral carved chamber with a glowing orb in the center of it. An elvish Fiend lay on the ground, bloodied and broken, yet strangely still despite her cursed nature. Halm was also here surprisingly, and in a similar state of damage. Twindil was actively healing him, his wounds knitting themselves back together.
Alistair too was present, rubbing at a red mark on his neck. He'd been injured by something, yet hadn't become a Fiend. He didn't have time to think on this further, as Kid'ka jumped up from a massive hole in the floor, landing on the ground with a grunt. His hand was missing, but bones were quickly forming through red steam, just before muscle and flesh enwrapped them.
"Derga is at rest." Kid'ka huffed before taking notice of Jason.
He smiled, "You're back, and is that Lance behind you?" He asked, Lance emerging beside him.
Kid'ka's expression fell when he took note of her appearance, "Don't fear. There may be a way to reverse this, provided we defeat Kazon."
His usual stutter wasn't present, his eyes seemed sharper, face harder. Something had changed about Kid'ka in the brief time they were separated. Nolvi approached them, using her staff to aid her approach.
"We'll make him pay for this, Lance." Nolvi told her, hands tightening on her staff, "I promise. This portal leads to his true lair, I'm certain of it." She continued, looking to the portal, "We will need protections cast over us, I suspect that as soon as we step through, there will be a trap waiting for us."
Alistair coughed, "I will prepare countermeasures, but I will not share my idea with you now." He said.
"Why not?" Jason asked, knitting his brows together.
"Ears could be prying, eyes beyond watching, that we cannot perceive." He sighed, "If I tell you, I may as well be telling Kazon."
That was true, how else would Kazon have known where to kidnap Lance from? He'd not press the matter.
"Stay here." Jason told Lance, "This is too dangerous."
Lance shook her head, "Not a chance, Jason. You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not." She said firmly, crossing her arms.
"What if you get killed-"
"I'm a Fiend, remember?" Lance asked, quirking a brow, "I can't die, and even if I get hurt, Twindil can bring me back to peak performance. Don't worry, Jason."
He wanted to tell her no, that she should stay here and remain with the Outworlders… but the truth was that he wanted her there with him, even if it was dangerous. He didn't feel right without Lance by his side anymore.
"Alright." Jason nodded, "But be careful."
She grinned, "I will, and after this is all said and done, we need to talk about something you said earlier."
Something he said?
Before he could think on this further, Halm rose from the ground, looking strangely ashamed as he stared at the floor, "If I can't beat Derga, what use would I be against Kazon?" He muttered, "Some Mouth I turned out to be."
"Don't do that!" Kid'ka snapped, marching up to him, "You were valiant and skilled!"
"If I was so good a warrior, I would have received the blessing of Regeneration from Zodd." Halm said, eyes falling, "Why I was chosen to lead as Mouth I will never know."
"Derga was the mightiest Tongue to live, Halm." Kid'ka reasoned, "Think about it, it took a Pillar-Born to bring him down, the Son of Zodd no less, you cannot undercut yourself this way."
The orc shrugged, "I suppose so. Yet I had wanted to be the one to release Derga from his suffering, for centuries I wanted that… but I was too weak to do it on my own. I needed to be saved." He looked up at the ceiling, but Jason could see a stream of tears rolling down Halm's cheeks, "What kind of warrior am I?"
"A great one, Halm." Twindil said, putting a hand on his arm.
"Not great enough for the Pillar of Might." Halm whispered, "It should have been Derga to become Mouth, he had two of Zodd's blessings, while I only have one."
Seeing the orc in this state was unsettling, Jason did not like it. There had to be some way to fix this, to make Halm normal again. He had apparently fought against Derga and lost, but Halm was forgetting a key detail.
"The only reason that Derga won was due to him having regeneration." Jason reasoned, "If you had the same Blessing, you would have won."
"It's true." Kid'ka said, "You are more skilled than Derga, if your Blessings were matched, you would have succeeded for certain."
"If Zodd thought me worthy of victory, then he would have Blessed me to match Derga." Halm sighed.
"He might not be able to grant Blessings to Fiends." Jason reasoned, "You don't know that he's against you for certain."
Halm blinked, looking to Jason, "You think so?"
"We don't know how exactly these things work." Jason told him, "For all we know, you could be incinerated if Zodd tried to give you a Blessing, given the curse."
Halm wiped the tears from his cheeks, "Maybe, maybe." He repeated, seemingly to himself, "Either way, I will stop making a fool of myself, let us go finish this." He said, slamming a fist into his open palm, the sound like a gong.
Kid'ka smiled, "There he is!" He cheered, turning to face the portal, "All together?" He asked looking to everyone.
Elum shook his head, "I will go last." He said with a sneer.
"You scared?" Alistair jabbed, raising a brow.
Elum didn't reply.
"Nuh nuh nuh?" Alistair asked with a smile.
Again, Elum remained silent, simply glaring back at Alistair with a flat expression. Alistair's smile faded, and Jason wasn't totally sure… but for a brief instant, a look of despair came over the blonde man's face, quickly buried with a flat, uncaring expression that matched Elum's.
"Sir!" The conductor asked, emerging from the doorway clad in tungsteel plate and wielding a Fortis.
The tall man was lean and wiry, only a foot shorter than Jason and wearing a long dark coat with the symbol of the Eighth Arm on his back. The red glowing eyes that were a part of the conductor's face mask reminded Jason of Commander, but he buried the thought. He'd never have to deal with his tormenter again.
"Are these locals friendly?" The conductor asked, Fortis in hand.
A metal brace supported his firing arm, a necessity for how massive the magnum was in his hands. The Fortis magnums that conductors utilized were only a bit smaller than the specialized one that Jason wielded, but they were almost just as dangerous.
"Affirmative." Jason replied, "They helped me get here. I'm going through that portal there soldier, I want you to form Choirs and escape the facility without me."
"Sir." The conductor nodded obediently, saluting before disappearing back into the room, shouting orders for everyone to gather together for assignment.
He had almost forgotten what it was like to not be questioned when giving orders. It was almost surreal now. He saw Nasty Nate form up with the other marines, keeping a close eye on where Maesh had been arming up. If Jason ran into Michael again, he would need to tell him the good news about Nate. Hopefully his fellow Ternans wouldn't shun him now that he was a vampire.
Lance then took note of the red robed Fiend on the ground, walking over to her quickly. Jason followed after her, knowing what was going to come next. He'd not stop her, this must have been Belaine, and Lance wanted to try to reason with her. Though in this state, Jason doubted that it was possible, she had to be completely mad from the pain by now.
"You are Belaine, yes?" Lance asked, kneeling beside her.
Surprisingly, she spoke, with full clarity, "A Watcher of the woods?" She asked, "You have come a long way, young one."
"I'm here to defeat Kazon, with my companions we should be able to free you from him." Lance said, "If we heal you, will you help us defeat him?"
"I cannot." She shook her head, an almost imperceptible motion, "I am bound to his will, it was a Pact, one that if I break, will doom not only myself, but the Faewood."
"What do you mean?" Lance asked.
"I could not defeat Kazon back then, but he made me an offer I could not refuse. If I took a pact to serve him, he would never directly target the Faewood." Belaine explained, "And if I refused-" She coughed, "If I refused, he would go out of his way to burn the Ilum down to the ground. No one in the Harkhall can stand up to him- at least not at the time I left it for this doomed quest."
"That's horrible." Lance said, putting a hand on Belaine's, "We'll defeat him, then we can both return there together."
Belaine shook her head again, "I am doomed girl, as are you. There is no way to reverse the curse, and even if it could be done, I am a traitor. I ask that you finish me off, pierce me with Foundation, and free me from this hell." She pleaded, crimson eyes glistening, "I cannot take this anymore, I am at my limit."
Lance's face hardened, "I will save you, and we will go back to the Faewood together, mark my words."
Belaine shut her eyes, turning her head away from Lance as she began to sob, "Thank you-" She sniffed, "I haven't been home in so-" Her breath caught.
Twindil approached then, standing over Lance and Belaine with a considering look.
"I can ease your pain." She offered.
"If you do, then I will try to stop you again. I can't go against Kazon or the pact will be broken. He'll go after the Faewood-"
"Kazon will die this day, Belaine." Twindil told her, "As a paladin and daughter of Afina, I swear it. Break your oath to him, one such as he should not be honored."
"But-" She attempted to say.
"Serve him no longer, the Faewood is safe." Lance urged, "Trust us, you're free now."
"...Very well." She said, her breath shaky, "I will serve him no longer."
"Stop." Alistair said, he and Baomiel approaching, "The Fiend could be lying to us, we cannot be sure that she won't betray us. Best to just kill her as she had asked." He finished, summoning a mote of gold fire in his hand.
"We will do no such thing!" Twindil shouted.
"I can read her eyes, she speaks the truth." Lance told him with a glare, "Do not lay a hand on her."
"I just want to go home." Belaine admitted, "I want to be away from here, please."
"This is unwise." Alistair sneered, dispelling the Foundation, "Do as you wish, I will be ready to put her back down if need be."
"That won't be necessary." Twindil said, placing a hand against Belaine's brow.
The Fiend's breath caught for an instant before she let out a sigh, her wounds healing over as Twindil's magic went to work. After a moment, Belaine rose, nodding to Twindil.
"Thank you, young paladin." Belaine said sincerely, "And thank you for coming all this way, and offering me a way home." She finished with a smile for Lance.
Lance smiled back, "It's going to be alright. Will you help us slay Kazon?"
Belaine shook her head, "I will remain here and help protect the Outworlders, I'm sure they don't need my help, but there are more Fiends here, and the palace is filled with passageways I can guide them to. We'll make our escape that way."
Jason nodded, "Good. Conductor!" Jason yelled, turning his helmet in the mans direction.
"Sir!" He said, turning around to face him from the other room.
"Follow this one, she knows a safe way out." Jason ordered.
"Yes sir!" The conductor replied, "You heard him troops!"
"Yes sir!" The collection of marines and divers shouted.
It was still surreal that they weren't arguing with him. It hadn't been that long since he'd been outside the chain of command, right? No matter. Jason heaved up the Perforatus, staring at the portal as he, Lance, and the rest of the party began to approach it.
It was time to end this.