(I) Anticipate

-Captain Harry Irons, TacStrat 101, Phoenix Academy190 (I)

Anticipate

"Alright, one more time: we're going to make this quick, we're going to make this chaotic for the Avatars, and we’re going to be constantly moving so they don’t manage to triangulate our position.” Adam’s voice echoed out from inside Can Hu as the made their final preparations.

Before Adam was a small group of thirty orcs, aside from Shiv, Kura, and Gone. They were surrounded by approximately a hundred golden shadows. Ninety of which were spawned from Kura’s Chronomancy, but nine originated from Shiv’s Vitae Golem, who stood amongst Kura’s time clones as the odd one out.

Not far away from the extraction force, a dimensional pathway slowly shrank. Five, Candles, and all the other orcs remained within the warded guard cube that Udraal had commandeered earlier. Soon, there would be no tunnel connecting the guard cube to the prison cube the extraction force currently resided.

That was part of the strategy, after all. Move. Reposition. Hop from one place to another when running high-risk missions within the prison. Adam came to the conclusion that they wouldn’t be able to avoid the Ascendants’ notice for long, but they could constantly break contact to make themselves harder to track. This also had the added benefit of cube hopping. So far, Harlock’s darkness flooded the crawlspace between the cubes. Anything moving in the blackness was known to the Ascendant of Midnight. Inside the cubes, however, with the mana flowing through the mithril bones engulfing prisoners and guard stations, there were places beyond Harlock’s touch.

Places that Adam would exploit to the fullest for their coming assault on the mana core.

“We’re going to move from this cube to the next one after I fire the shot,” Adam continued. “Shiv. Vanguards. You blunt anything that comes across the pathway. Once that’s stabilized, the time clones will go across and grab Cripple. We keep moving right after that for the next cube—and we keep going, so there’s no trail they can easily follow, even if they do manage to find where I fired from. Are we clear?”

A chorus of confirmations came from the extraction force.

“Good. I’m going to prepare to loose the shot now. Prepare yourselves, and look out for each other.”

Some of the orcs made eye contact and leered at each other. Shiv rolled his shoulders and called out to his Vitae Golem. “Move fast. Stay hidden using Kura’s shadows. Do everything you can to reach Cripple.”

His golem held up a large fist, and its nine other temporal clones repeated the action. As they did, Shiv felt an odd sensation. It was like he was the one raising his fist instead of them. With each golem he made, it felt like his connection to them was growing deeper…

Golemancy 22 > 25

Vitaemancy 112 > 114

Adam drew his bow back. He shaped two hydrokinetic hands out from Can Hu’s spine and took aim. The Penitent stared up at the Orichalcum ceiling looming high above. They were the only people left in this prison cube. Bodies littered the ground, blood painted the walls, and along the floor were hollows leading into vacant cells. A faint stench in the air told Shiv that Daughter had been through here, and he kept his eyes open—glared at every shadow around them as he waited for the nightmarish Ascendant or one of her Waifs to jump out at the last moment to cut him and the others down.

The sudden assault never came. But the anxiety never left Shiv. It probably wasn’t going to leave him for a while.

"You got a shot?" Shiv called out. His Voidmantid armor had been regrown thanks to Helix. Some of Kura's golden shadows were crawling into his cape as well. He didn't intend on going across, but if Kura managed to get her hands on Cripple first, she could have one of her time clones swap places and transition the Ascendant's Avatar into his Forest of Alloy.

"I do," Adam said, "but I'm just waiting for an opening."

"An opening?" Shiv asked. “What do you mean?”

"I mean it’s bloody chaos out there," Adam muttered. "Udraal’s casting spells through a massive flood of Animancy. No idea how he’s doing it. He’s currently trying to bury Cripple’s Avatar beneath a barrage of magical attacks. The Avatar is large—it looks like a cargo container with arms and legs. You can’t miss it—and even if you can’t see it immediately, the sheer amount of divine mana spilling out from Cripple will show you where he is. The other Ascendants are coming up behind Cripple. They have a strange translucent dome that they’re hiding inside. It’s prismatic in color, and looking at it is tearing at my senses.”

The Gate Lord let out a slight groan of discomfort. “No idea what kind of device that is. But I don’t want to find out. Udraal’s another problem. I can’t even tell what kind of mana the bastard’s hitting Cripple with. The colors are all strange and ashen.”

“Is he as powerful a mage as Sullain?” Shiv asked.

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“He uses a lot more Animancy,” Adam replied tersely. “He’s not throwing as many spells as Sullain, but like I said, I have no idea what he’s casting half that time. But every time one of those spells goes off, a section of the prison just goes faint blue or ash-gray. Gods, he’s powerful.”

“But Cripple’s taking the hits?” Shiv asked.

“Yes. Most of the—Oh, godsdammit.” Adam growled.

“What?” Shiv asked, alarmed.

“Udraal. He’s using your Vitae as well. He’s casting new spells. The mana is red and white. I think Cripple’s left arm just went missing. Ah, I mean its Avatar’s left arm. It dissolved into a spray of vitality and vanished.”

Shiv blinked. “What? My Vitae can do that?”

“It appears so.”

“Shit,” Shiv grunted. “Felling Udraal’s figuring out my skill faster than I am.”

“On the basis of Animancy,” Adam said. “He already has a notion of what soul magic might be able to do; he’s just using your Vitaemancy to achieve the same ends, I think.” The Gate Lord paused. “Hold… Hold… Almost… Cripple is pushing forward. It's pulling apart from the other Ascendants. When I fire—Kura, send some clones to distract the Ascendants, make sure—”

“I know, boy, you’ve already repeated this request seven times,” Kura snarled. “I am not short of memory or lacking in experience.”

“I’m just trying to make sure,” Adam muttered.

The elven Chronomancer sneered. She flicked her golden eyes and Shiv. As she channeled a bit more Chronomancy, her body came alight in a mess of golden scars. “Keep your golem close to my clones. But know that I will not stay and fight your pet Ascendant if this goes poorly. I have come too close to freedom to risk myself again. It is only because of my debt to you that I remain.”

“Debt, and a chance at revenge,” Shiv added.

The elven Chronomancer sneered even harder. “If it is allowed. I learned my lesson in this place. Will and want are not rewarded. Only calculation and caution. I tried striking down an Ascendant before. I managed to slay an Avatar, but they are replaceable. The themselves? They were beyond my grasp. Remember this when you play your dangerous game, Deathless. Do not become a fool like me.”

Shvi gave Kura an affirming nod. “Yeah. Thanks. But I don’t think we really got that many good choices ahead of us. We need the Ascendants to counter Udraal. Need Udraal to get away from the Ascendants. We’re just using them to get more breathing room.”

Kura fell quiet for a beat. “Understand that the more time you give Udraal, the more dangerous he will get. I have heard things about He Who Walks Beyond. I have seen the aftermath of some of his experiments. This is only a temporary measure. You may be able to gain some autonomy if you can gain this Ascendant’s aid, but Udraal will manipulate you and strike at you with methods and powers you cannot imagine. There is only one kind of safety, Young One. It’s power. Your power. Your knowledge. Your mastery. Anything else will betray you. Friends will betray. The world will betray you. Only skills. Only that.”

Shiv realized the elf was trying to impart some wisdom on him. “Right. Thanks. Listen. I didn’t really come by my Chronomancy the typical way—”

Kura gave a hissing laugh. She sounded like her throat was hollowed. Shiv cringed at the horrible sound, and several orcs shot her odd looks. “No one gains Chronomancy the typical way,” she said quietly. “We are all children poisoned by the absurdity of time. But we survived. Quest Reward or temporal anomaly?”

“Quest Reward,” Shiv said, understanding her question.

“Ah. Not the best way. You lack an education, then? You wish to seek my expertise? Learn from me after this is done? If we survive?”

“You’re pretty perceptive,” Shiv said.

“It’s obvious. It makes sense.” Kura fell silent, and her eyes went dead as she considered his request. “I want to strike a new bargain: There are people I need to kill. Powerful foes. They betrayed me. They allowed the Ascendants to capture me. I will share my knowledge if you will share in my vendetta.”

Beneath his helmet, Shiv frowned. He wanted to agree, but something told him she wasn’t offering the full story. “I want to know more about who they are and what they did to you, if we’re going to be killing them. Ah, to hells with that. What I want to know is if you had it coming.”

Kura’s nostrils flared. “You accuse me of deserving my fate here?”

“No. I don’t know who you are or what your story is. I spared you. You saved my ass after. We work well together so far. That’s our relationship. I need more if we’re going to be killing anyone or teaching each other anything.”

The elven Chronomancer regarded him for a moment and breathed. “Then we can… talk after. If we survive this.” She sounded uncomfortable, like he was sinking a finger into one of her injuries. “I have more to offer than just Chronomancy. I know many other things. Many secrets. We can trade favors.”

“If we survive,” Shiv said.

“If we survive,” Kura agreed. She looked Shiv up and down again. Something in her gaze softened. “You’re tense. But you are not scared. You are not worried about your potential fate?”

The Deathless considered her question, and he thought it kind of laughable. “What fate? It hasn’t happened yet.”

“You are a creation of Udraal Thann and an enemy of all who exist on Integrated Earth,” Kura said. “You will be used or hunted.”

“No. People will try to use or hunt me. A lot of them will live to regret it. I’m just going to be getting levels out of this. Udraal’s dangerous and powerful. The Ascendants are dangerous and powerful. Maybe I won’t succeed. But the System wants us to struggle and die anyway. There’s no retreating here. No way out. No point in bending. We’re going forward, Kura. Be scared. Be angry. Be whatever you want. But we’re going forward.”

The elf’s softened glaze turned to a sour look. “I harbor no fear.”

“Yes, you do. That’s why you’re still making small talk with me and going over everything in our way.” Kura went quiet. “I wouldn’t have been able to guess just on my own, but the orcs have been sneaking looks at you, and it isn’t because you’re pretty. They’re good at homing in on weakness.”

Psycho-Cartography 77 > 78

“I’m not mocking you,” Shiv said before she could respond with anger. “But you’re not that good at hiding your heart. You should know that.”

Kura almost seemed to flinch, and she stopped talking right after.

Shiv’s thoughts, however, continued to race. What Kura said about Udraal—and how Adam described his power earlier—both left Shiv feeling raw. It took Udraal Thann little time to copy one of Shiv's Unique Skills. And now he was learning its nuances. Something told Shiv that Udraal would be using Vitaemancy better than he could in a relatively short time. That offended the Deathless. It was skill. He got it through sacrifice, death, and constant pain. And here was Udral, coming back and simply copying it without paying any dues.

Psycho-Cartography:

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Psycho-Cartography:

Shiv frowned.

"Shiv, Kura! We have an opening. Are you ready?" Adam called.

Shiv shot a look at Kura, and she simply gave him a nod. Just then, her Chronomancy flashed out from her body, and her golden shadows sprouted curving fingers from their chests.

"What's that for?" Shiv asked.

"To clamp onto the Avatar," Kura said. "It takes a few moments of contact for another to be pulled into one of my temporal clones. It won't be as easy for your golem.”

"Yeah, but Cripple will realize which is my golem; it'll probably just try to strike your clones down," Shiv said. "Either way, we just need to get our hands on Cripple and bring its Avatar across. We do not fight it. We absolutely do not fight Cripple. We got that? I need its ass alive." The Deathless eyed the orcs and Kura.

“I will refrain so long as it does,” Kura said with a slight hint of disgust. It was about as much as Shiv could expect from her, considering the Ascendants were part of the reason she was in this hellish pit in the first place.

"Alright," Adam said. "First arrow is about to be fired. A path will be opened up to where the Ascendants and the Avatars are. We have five seconds to secure the target. Udraal’s stopped casting for a moment. The moment we go across, I'm going to fire another arrow to connect us to the next cube. We move—we keep moving, and we don’t stop even with Cripple secured. Not until we are certain our trail is clean. Is that clear?" Adam looked around at their assembled force, and a unified grunt of affirmation came from the orcs.

The Gate drew his bow back. Two orc Vanguards bearing large, mana-infused shields stepped forward; Shiv followed in their wake.

"In three, two, one,” Adam breathed. “Firing!”