Fallenz gave a twist to his Talsorian sword. The field generators buzzed in protest at being abused so, but held the blade’s field integrity enough to force a small circular hole in the deck plating. His task complete, Fallenz withdrew his sword, deactivated the field to conserve power, placed the sword back on his belt, and gave Captain Glacier, Warbow, and Lucius his full attention. “What was that again?”
“We found nothing that was noteworthy, and there’s nowhere else to look,” Lucius intoned.
Fallenz’ face clouded over. “Well, if you searched everywhere and didn’t find any more evidence, we’re screwed. I don’t know anywhere else to check.”
Captain Glacier clarified, “No, theah’s nothing HEAH.” He waved his arms to encompass the Nemesis Army base. “If theah evah was any moah evidence of Nemesis’ invasion heah, it’s not in any of the buildings. Theah ah barracks, repaih facilities, and ahmories; we’ve seahched them all, and theah’s nothing that looks like it suppoahts youah claim about Nemesis invading the Rikti woahld. But… I did notice the electrical powah system is ovahengineehed foah just the buildings we see.”
“It sounds like you have an idea where to look next, and what to look for,” Fallenz interrupted.
“Wait, you understood all that?” Warbow asked incredulously.
“His accent’s not THAT thick! Go on, Captain.”
Captain Glacier briefly shot an annoyed look at Warbow before continuing, “Lucius and I weah talking about this island of rock, and something about the Jaegahs caught my eye.” He hefted a leg severed from one of the squat automatons. “See anything about the weayah pattahn on the feet?”
Fallenz scrutinized the leg. The Jaegers had four flexible legs, each tipped with a spike that passed for a foot. The system gave great traction and stability over most terrain, and even allowed the mechanical pests to climb. They performed as well, if not better, than more humanoid robots, and were manufactured by Nemesis in nigh-limitless quantities. This sample looked fairly typical at first glance. On closer inspection, however, Fallenz noticed the spike was shorter and more rounded than those of the ones normally encountered in Paragon. There was also a great deal of grit and dirt trapped in the nooks and crannies. ”It’s old.”
“Not just old,” said Lucius. “The way it has worn reminded me of old miner’s picks. See here how it’s worn to a nub? Pounding on plating like the kind we stand upon would flatten only the point, leaving the rest clear and sharply defined. Spending a lot of time on dirt would smooth out the edges but leave the point recognizable. These automatons have spent a lot of time crawling over rock. Our little friend here has been either climbing over rocks or crawling through caves.”
“Caves, huh? I bet that was Flog’s idea.”
Warbow laughed. “That’s one reason we need you to stop with the graffiti. You’re the one who brought him, and he listens to you, sort of. He might be helpful in the search. Molly’s trying to trace the electrical power flow, the Phoenix has directed some sort of search spell at the rock wall, and Grog is…” He looked over at the massive warrior as he hacked another enormous gash into the platform. “Well, he’s doing the same thing you were: nothing useful.”
“This is a calling card for Nemesis. Next time he visits this place, I want him to know why it got trashed. The big guy was more curious than you were; he came over to see what I was up to almost as soon as I started, and when I told him what I was doing, he started carving his own name into deck plates. Not what I had in mind, but…”
“The point is,” said Lucius, “we need all hands to find this secret chamber. Grog and Flog must search from the ground with their own skills, and we need you in the air giving us the bird’s eye view, so to speak.”
“Fine. I just finished, anyway.”
Warbow moved around to get a better view at Fallenz’ handiwork. “Your penmanship is pretty good, especially considering you used a sword. Why ‘Sefu Tendaji’?”
“Nemesis’ schemes of conquest have caused the deaths of thousands. Millions, if he really is responsible for starting the first Rikti War. After all that, he probably doesn’t even think of them as lives, just numbers. I want to remind him of the human cost of his megalomania, both in terms of what his schemes cost others, and what it’ll cost him if he keeps pissing me off!” Fallenz gave Warbow a wolfish smile. “Also, ‘Sefu Tendaji’ means ‘the sword gets things done’.”
“Yeah? All your sword has done since we bagged the fake Manticore is some vandalism! How about getting something helpful done instead?”
“Oh, shut up! I said I was finished! How about you put those “legendary” hunting skills of yours to use and find it yourself instead of crying about what I’m doing?” Fallenz spread his wings. “First one to find what we’re looking for eats for free at The Front!” He ignited his boot jets and rode a blue-white pillar of fire into the sky.
“Oh, [censored] no!” Warbow howled. Ignoring his lingering injury, he leapt over the railing and sprinted off towards the distant rock wall.
Captain Glacier and Lucius calmly watched them go. “Such youthful enthusiasm!” Lucius observed.
“Yeah. It reminds me of my kids,” Captain Glacier replied.
“Really? How many, and how old are they?” The discussion of family life continued as the two men left the platform and resumed their search.