Chapter 14: Chapter 014- The Game

“Let the games begin!” the disembodied, likely male, voice shouted over the… whatever he was using to broadcast their mad ravings to the entire astrodock. Arthur wanted to groan as he heard the rules, though his pride as an Inquisitor would never let him actually go through with it. He did, however, quirk his eyebrow. He grew annoyed immediately.

“This lunatic… thinks that this is a game?” Arthur asked, almost to himself. The other two turned to him, but he merely shook his head, “Now’s not the time. If there really are bombs in the astrodock, then we need to disarm them.” He paused for a moment, thinking, “Jane, didn’t you say something about a bad feeling?” he asked.

“I did,” Jane said, her expression hidden by her helmet, “But Exo told me to continue the mission. And, yes, I got the same feeling from that voice as I did from that first feeling. I felt something similar before that guy started talking..”

Arthur nodded, and Kelish hummed, “Do you know him?” Kelish asked, getting stares from the other two, “What? For all we know, every magic man and woman comes from the same place.”

Arthur rolled his eyes and Jane likely did the same, judging by how she put her hands on her hips, “We don’t all come from the same place, Kelish. Or at least I don’t think we do… whatever, we need to get moving anyway. Arthur, do you have a plan?”

Arthur, for all of his ability in investigation, had no clue where the bombs could be. He had no frame of reference for what the person behind the ‘game’-- if they were a person at all-- would want, or what they wanted to accomplish. “If he wanted to hide the bombs, though, he would’ve put them in the maintenance tunnels,” he muttered, “This is quite a standard issue astrodock, so the tunnels likely have a lot of corners and closets to hide things like that in.” When he finished speaking, he looked up and looked at the two people staring at him, “What?”

They did not respond immediately, instead sharing a look, “Welp, we know where to go, now. Are we sticking with the formation from before?” Kelisha asked. The pair of them nodded, and Jane dispelled her sling. Arthur readied his carbine, and Kelish did the same with her rifle, holstering her shotgun at the same time.

They began their trek towards the maintenance entrance, and barely went a minute before a pair of ‘golems’ as the voice called them, appeared. Arthur dispatched the first easily, but the second managed to duck under Kelish’s shot, despite her attack going close to the speed of light. It sprinted towards them like a bolt of lightning and Jane raised her sword. It leapt, and was immediately stabbed through the neck like a kebab. It let out a grinding sound as it tried to move itis head, before falling limp, “Keep your guads up,” Arthur said, “They will probably be more present as we approach the bombs.”

“I’d bet money on it,” Kelish replied, shaking her head, “Sorry for missing, by the way,” she said to Jane, “I almost had him.”

They continued on, and Jane shook her head, “It’s fine, Kelish. We all have our bad moments, you know. Anyway, I’m ready if you two are.” The two inquisitors nodded, and they continued on their way. Before making it to the next street, though, Jane hummed, “Oh yeah, where do we go to get to the maintenance tunnels? You said that this astrodock was standard, and would have it, but I never noticed one when I visited one before.”

Arthur nodded, “That makes sense. The entrances were never meant to be stumbled upon, anyway. They are usually pretty hidden, so only those with knowledge of standard astrodock construction procedures or those who work within them know where they are.

“Usually, they’re close to the lifts going up to the docking bays. The buildings that act as lobbies for the lifts also act as registries of the repairs, maintenance, and alterations made to the astrodock. The main lifts to ferry materials from the tunnels and the docking bay actually have their own arms on the wheel, probably that one there,” he said, pointing towards one of the larger arms of the wheel, “We don’t need to go there, though. We just need to get down there. And there’s always a staircase below the lobby.”

Jane nodded, and they continued on. The march to the lobby was short, but full of peril. There were a few attacks by duos of unarmed golems, but a new type appeared as they reached the halfway point to the lobby. It was a golem armed with a long knife, closer to a short sword than an actual knife.

It also knew how to ambush them.

It was only thanks to Arthur Pulsing that he knew they were being ambushed. It leapt from the tallest building on the street and attempted to carve a chunk out of Jane’s armor. It made little headway, though, and was pushed to the ground and decapitated before it could find a way to kill the girl, “You alright?” Arthur asked as they took a break after the ambush.

Jane just waved him off, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she groaned, “That wasn’t fun, though, I can tell you that much. How’d you notice that one, though? Is it the psychic powers you have?” she asked. Arthur was hardly surprised that the girl noticed-- they locked psychic gazes on their first mission, after all-- but Kelish was a different matter entirely.

“Wait, how do you know that?” Kelish asked, “Do you have Mind powers too?”

Jane wibbled her hand a bit, standing tall after taking a deep breath, “No, I don’t. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. I’m just… really sensitive to that sort of stuff. I can feel it like a colony of ants crawling on my skin. Arthur almost winced. He could hardly imagine a group of insects that could number in the millions crawling all over him.

“Damn, that sucks,” Kelish muttered.

“It’s not all that bad,” Jane said, waving her hand and taking her place at the front of the formation, “I get to feel that weird feeling with it, which is nice. Though, that one felt like the ants were biting me the entire time, but it’s fine. Pain like that doesn’t last.” Arthur felt like there was more to that than Jane was letting on-- he had been feeling like that quite a lot recently, which sat quite poorly with him-- but he did not have the time to figure out what she was keeping from them. He would probably forget that she was hiding something as well, but he was happy to simply trust her for the time being.

Once they all had their break, they continued onto the registry, not meeting any more golems on the way. “That’s suspicious,” Arthur commented as they arrived at the front of the building, “They were nearly swarming us before, but now they are hiding…”

“They could all just be hiding,” Kelish suggested, “Exo was talking about how they were disappearing before we even got here, you know?” Arthur and Jane nodded, but Kelishs shrugged, “For all we know, these things are illusions and we’re just shooting and slicing at air.”

“I doubt it,” Jane rebutted, “They feel… there. They’re not just pretending to be there. They actually are.” Jane looked between the pair of them staring at her, “Look, we’ve all had our moments today, so cut me some slack, alright? It’s hard to explain without experiencing it yourself, and I don’t think I’m allowed to do that, considering the rules and whatnot. So… just cut me some slack.” She continued forwards, ignoring the pair’s quick movements to catch up to her.

“Well is it really that bad?” Kelish asked as they walked into the front door of the building, “Also, can you feel that it’s so different?” Jane just turned and stared at Kelish as they arrived in the same lobby they began their little adventure in, “Okay, I get it. I won’t ask.”

“Thank you,” Jane replied, “So, is that where the entrance to the maintenance tunnels are?” she asked. Arthur turned to look at the door she pointed at and nodded, “Huh. It feels kind of… out in the open? Weren’t you saying that they were hidden?”

“Relatively. Usually, you can find the registry’s records behind there, so it’s not like you’re just being dropped off into the tunnels immediately.” Jane hummed at Arthur’s explanation, thinking about something before nodding, “Alright, Kel, we’re going to need your shotgun. I haven’t used the plasma launcher so far, but I may need to begin using my Esper powers if we don’t want to be swarmed. Jane, can you handle that thing in relatively tight environments?”

Jane looked down at her longsword and went through a few slow slashes with it, then nodded, “Yep, pretty much. Though…” she looked at her blade again and it began to shift. It morphed from a shortsword to an axe to a rapier before finally settling on a small axe, “This’ll probably work better anyway,” she muttered.

Kelish whistled as the girl shifted through all of her weapons, “Can you use all of those proficiently?” she asked, ‘Also, how do you know how to use them all?”

“First of all, I’m not exactly ‘proficient,’ but I can use them to some basic effect. As for how… How do I exist?” Jane asked back. Kelish just shrugged and loaded another shell into her shotgun from her autoloader, “Yeah, that’s the rub of it all.”

“Meh, whatever,” Kelish replied, “I could probably swing an axe decently hard and hit somewhere dangerous,” she said. Jane shook her head and continued her preparations, “I didn’t mean to insult you, Jane,” Kelish said.

“Yeah, I know,” Jane shot back, “But I’m not about to use a gun when I can do this stuff.” She sighed, “Whatever. I’m ready. Arthur? Kelish?”

“I’m good to go,” Kelish replied.

“I am as well,” Arthur affirmed. Jane nodded, and they all prepared themselves, getting into their breaching formations. After Jane made sure they were ready, she threw open the metal doors on the other side of the greeting desk. Behind the doors sat a staircase, leading downwards. Jane did not hesitate, and walked down the stairs while looking around, vigilant and alert. Kelish was similar, but her gait was more casual. Less fearful. Arthur had no clue what his own posture was like, and made no moves to analyze it, simply continuing onwards.

The stairs were quiet below their boots, letting out the quietest of clangs as they passed. Nothing seemed out of place, though, as the gray metal walls continued for another dozen feet before they reached the base of the staircase. There, they were met with a long hallway with a dozen doors on each side, all of them labeled. They all had plaques above them marking certain rooms as storage rooms or filing rooms.

The one that stood out among the rest, though, was the heavy door labeled, ‘Maintenance tunnels’ The trio did not enter immediately, and waited for a long moment beyond the door, listening in on whatever was happening behind it. After a moment, the distinct clanging of metallic feet on gravely ground echoed out, and the three prepared. Kelish looked at her gun, Jane twirled her axe a bit, and Arthur aimed his carbine.

Seeing that her two teammates were ready, Jane slowly opened the heavy door, a creaking groan erupting from the hinges of the door. Arthur almost winced at the sound and peered into the tunnels, finding nothing but the gravel on the ground, the titasteel rails above the gravel, and a single golem walking away from the door, looking from side to side as if it noticed the sound and assumed that the ear-piercing squeaking came from in front of it.

Jane, being the most silent and the furthest forward of them all, crept up behind the golem and raised her axe. With a silent cry, the blade slashed through the golem’s neck, separating the creature’s head from its shoulders. Arthur approved of the kill, even if it was a bit loud. Not that the golems noticed, but that only worked in their favor.

They took a moment once the golem was dead to take a look at their surroundings. Black walls stood on either side of the tunnel, most of the width of the astrodock’s habitation ring with a few rooms still jutting out from the outer wall, such as the outcropping behind them, taking up a large part of the width of the tunnel, leaving only a small portion of the tunnel open for the rails to flow through.

The rails on the ground housed some platforms, each of them with some form of box or large container on them. What caught Arhtur’s attention, though, was the lack of blood. As cold as it likely sounded, he was surprised that the tunnels, the working places of many people, had none of those people’s bodies. Arthur immediately became suspicious and looked around, but he found nothing. There was no blade-wielding golem sneaking up on them, nor a trio of unarmed golems ready to launch themselves at the group of Inquisitors. There was nothing.

“This is pretty creepy,” Kelish grumbled, scanning the area with her shotgun ready to fire at any moment, “Shouldn’t there be something more out there? I doubt they don’t know we’re here, right?”

Jane coughed a bit, standing between them, with her axe accompanied by another similar weapon in her other hand, “Maybe it’s part of the game?” she asked, drawing their gazes, “Whoever did this, they’re obviously treating this like a game. So, why don’t we think like they must be? I mean, what ‘fun’ is it if the ‘contestants’ get swarmed by an unending horde of golems?” she asked.

Arthur pursed his lips while they stood there, waiting for an attack that seemed increasingly unlikely to come, “I suppose that is true,” he said, “That lunatic seems very insistent on treating all of this like a game.” He paused for a moment, Pulsing to find any sign of the enemy, “Hrm,” he murmured, “I’m only seeing them in that direction,” he said, pointing to their left.

“Are you sure it’s those golems instead of just some animals?” Kelish questioned.

“I know it’s the golems. They are just… different from normal things. They’re kind of like…” he kept his gaze away from Jane, looking up, “Those zombie look-alikes we fought last mission. They are very similar, now that I think about it…”

Kelish hummed, “That sounds pretty enlightening. I wouldn’t mind having Mind powers,” she groaned, “Whatever, let’s get going. I’ll take the rear, in case they try to ambush us again.” Arthur only nodded. Keeping the knife-wielding golems away from their backs could only do good for chances of success. With Jane at the lead, the trio began their march forwards once more. It did not take long, however, for the next group of golems to appear.

The snapping of metal beams heralded their arrival, as they were hiding in a small storage room. They were close, as well, being only a few dozen feet from the three. Jane charged forwards and drove her axe into one of their heads. Arthur blasted the second one with his carbine, melting the metal on its head quite quickly. The last one, though, dove under Jane’s guard and drove a fist into Arthur’s gut. In the moment before the force threw him, Arthur realized that Kelish was right in saying that they should have avoided the golems’ punches. Even if it was very obvious.

As soon as he had that thought, pain exploded in Arthur’s stomach, and he was thrown dozens of feet, rolling thrice before finally stopping once he bumped into one of the rails. He could feel the dented armor digging into his gut, and it felt nothing close to good. “Arthur!” Kelish screamed, turning back to the golem, “I’ll kill you!” she shouted, discarding her shotgun and diving out of Arthur’s sight.

He could not see Kelish’s scrap with the creature, but he could definitely see Jane’s slow shuffle away from it, and hear the clangs of cerasteel gauntlets clashing with whatever metal the golems were made out of. After a few seconds of clashing, the fight became too much for Jane to bear, and she moved over to Arthur.

She knelt beside him, and he remained still for fear of aggravating his wounds any further. He knew that at least one bone was broken, and that something had ruptured. He doubted that there was any high quality medicine on the astrodock-- the type that would only be given to Inquisitors after life-threatening wounds were sustained-- but some civilian grade medicine might have sustained him for a time.

Thoughts fired through his mind so quickly that he could almost see everything happening in slow motion. He could feel everything with increasing clarity as well, which meant that the weird, twisting feeling he felt in his gut was noticed and passed past the biting pain. He looked up at Jane, whose face was, again, masked by her helmet. He almost regretted asking her to cover her face up, because he wanted to know what she was planning.

What she was planning was quickly revealed as her hands suddenly glowed a dull golden light. Tendrils of smoke seeped into his body, bypassing his armor entirely, and began to take root in the broken bones and crushed organs. The wounds, ones that seemed so life threatening before, began to heal. He could feel his organs puff out, his bones crawl back into place, and every atom of his being glued back into the right configuration.

He could only close his eyes and try not to pass out from the feeling. It was exhausting. It was intense. But, most of all, it was comforting. It felt like he was sleeping in a warm bath. He could have described it any number of ways, but he had no words to fully explain how he felt.

The feeling spread through his body, but stopped after a long, seemingly infinite minute. When Arthur opened his eyes, he saw Kelish standing behind Jane, gray metal scratches adorning her knuckles. She knelt down as soon as he began moving and pulled him into a hug, “I know, I know. Just let me have this,” she said, squeezing a bit tighter. Arthur patted Kelish on the back a bit, and she hugged a bit tighter for a moment, “Okay, I’m good. I’m good.” Arthur could hear her sniffling a bit, so he hugged her back for a moment before trying to sit up.

Jane, however, put a hand on his chest, “I wouldn’t right now,” she said, “You’re body’s really… sensitive right now, and you might hurt yourself if you move too much.”

“That’s good to know,” Arthur replied, “But how do you know this stuff, Jane? Also, how did you do that? You didn’t say you could earlier, so what’s up with it now?” He was tempted to say that she somehow bypassed the Inquisition’s interrogation techniques, but he discarded that idea. She did say that she did not know of everything she could do, and she did not lie in explaining her abilities. Besides that, she used an ability that could do little harm. She, effectively, became a medical professional for a moment, and there was nothing in the TRC’s rulings saying that one could not heal others with the new thaumaturgical powers, “I can’t, in good conscience, say that you broke any rules, but you definitely developed something new.”

Jane nodded, hints of shyness coming through, “I… did,” she said, seeming unsure of herself, “It just kinda… clicked when I saw you thrown like that. Now that I think of it…” she said, turning to Kelish with a slow movement, “You’ve got a few wounds. Internal stuff,” she said, leaning in to whisper to Kelish for a moment. Kelish froze up for a long moment, then nodded, “Good. Can we leave you here for a few moments, Arthur? I’ve got to help Kellish with something.”

“Sure, just stay relatively close and don’t let your guard down. I’m going over there and waiting for you two to get back,” he said as he pointed at a tipped-over platform. The pair nodded, and walked to the other side of the platform as Arthur picked himself up off the ground. He felt oddly… light. It was like he had doffed his armor and he was standing with nothing but his undersuit. It felt oddly nice. But, he did not want to argue with Jane, even if she was technically unlicensed as a medical professional. He sat himself down beside the platform and held his carbine in front of him, Pulsing and using his sensor module to get a sense of what was around him.

Only two signals came back for both methods of sensing, both of them being either his mentee or the Auxiliary assigned to him. Seeing that he was in no danger, he let his head rest on the side of the platform behind him, and breathed a sigh, “Got to jump back next time. Exo, do you see anything around?” he asked. He waited a moment, then grumbled, “Right, he got cut off… We need to fix that issue. If some lunatic with a passion for game shows can cut off communication between Inquisitors and their assistant, then we’re dealing with a major liability.

Arthur breathed a sigh, then looked around. There was nothing around him but the gravelly ground, the rails, a few jutting out ‘basements,’ and the whispered conversation of Jane and Kelish behind him. He wanted to listen in, but he decided to simply relax while he kept watch, even if those two things did not really go together.

 

*=====*

 

“Okay, so do you want to tell me the story, Kelish?” Jane asked as her glowing hands hovered over Kelish’s back, both of them sitting on the gravel-covered floor. Kelish really did not want to, but the girl was kind enough to help her with the issue of her back, and she telling the impromptu doctor how the wound got there was the least Kelish could do. “You don’t have to,” Jane said, “I don’t mind if you don’t. It’s your life and your past. I can’t demand anything from you.”

“Yet you’re the one who brought it up here,” Kelish replied, “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else. Alright?” Jane simply nodded, and Kelish began her story, “I was the daughter of two asteroid miners, out on the edge of colonization. We lived a pretty simple life. It wasn’t anything bad, but it was simple. Cozy. The void of space was all around us, but we were all together, and we had plenty of contact with other miners in similar situations, so it wasn’t like it was lonely.

“Then the pirates came. You know how this tale goes: dead parents, destroyed station, enslaved daughter, yadda yadda yadda. Thing is, though, those pirates weren’t really crack shots,” Kelish said, “They were actually quite bad at shooting. They missed hitting something-- I forget what it was-- and hit me in the back. Burned me pretty bad, and I’ve had back pain ever since. I’ve kept it hidden well, though, and it hasn’t done much to hinder me, but you’re the first one to figure it out since… well, ever,” she explained, turning to the girl who had suddenly stopped healing her, “What?”

Jane seemed to jump out of her skin as Kelish spoke to her, “Oh, um… Well… Pirates are kind of…” she gulped, “Do you need me to heal anywhere else while I’m at it?” she jumped again, “Um, it’s not that you’re- um…”

Kelish, however, had no clue what the girl was on about, “What else would you need to heal?” Kelish asked, “I didn’t get hurt anywhere else. Not that I know of, anyway. Besides, what are you saying that I am?”

Jane winced, “Well… Pirates are known for… you know… doing things to their captives… Things that take… very precious experiences… I was just wondering-”

“Alright, girl, I’m stopping you right there. I know you want to help and all, but I never lost my first time. They were courteous in that way, at least. Not in anything else, but that’s fine. Arthur got me out of it before I got offed, so I’m fine with the result,” she interrupted, turning her head a bit, “But can you keep going? I can feel that the scar's almost closed.”

Jane nodded, pushing her glowing hands forwards, “Okay. No problem…” She continued her healing-- with whatever thaumaturgy she was using-- before coughing a bit, “Can I heal a few other things? You’ve got a few… odd things about you. I don’t know how to say it, but you’ve got a few internal injuries, like scars. Arthur had them too, but I didn’t ask his permission to heal them. That’s alright, right?”

“Probably?” Kelish half-asked, “I dunno about him, but I’m fine with a bodily tune-up.” Jane nodded, and began moving her hands around Kelsih’s body, hovering over her sides quite a lot, “So, that really did leave a mark…” she murmured.

Jane sighed, “I can guess what left it,” Jane said suddenly, “Blunt force trauma to the sides. If we’re going by normal Humans, Meytvani, or Ukalans, then I’d guess you got kicked a bit.”

Kelish just nodded, “I did.” That was all Jane needed to hear, as she remained quiet for the rest of Kelish’s treatment, eventually standing up and stretching when Kelish felt her finish. Kelish, for her part, stood and began to stretch, “Damn, I can feel my bones popping from that. Thanks,” she said.

“Not a problem, Kelish,” Jane replied, conjuring a shield to go with her axe, “We need to get going. The bombs aren’t going to disarm themselves.” Kelish nodded, and the pair returned to Arthur, “Sorry about that,” Jane said, “It was some internal damage that was giving her a bit of grief.”

While Kelish was thankful to Jane for not spilling the beans about her back injury, she was not as thankful for the stare Arthur gave her a moment later, “You had an injury like that?” Arthur asked, “You should have mentioned it.”

Kelish pretended to be nonchalant about it, “I didn’t know it was such an issue. Now that I’m moving around, I’m feeling amazing! Is this how you felt when you got healed?” she asked. Arthur just nodded and Kelish offered a hand, which Arthur took.

“Alright, now that this diversion is taken care of, let’s find these bombs,” Arthur said.

“You got it,” Kelish said, stepping behind Arthur and taking up her position. At the same time, Jane did the same with nothing but a nod. They were ready quickly, and they continued on with vigor. Or at least Kelish was walking with vigor.

She did not need to wait long, though, as Arthur soon held up a hand, “Wait,” he said, “My sensor module’s picking up signs of a large group of golems. Some of them are armed,” he said, crouching down. Jane crouched down behind Arthur and stuck to the shadows, and Kelish tried to emulate the girl. Kelish was, by no means, an Assassin Unit Inquisitor, and her loud footsteps only proved that.

They were able to avoid detection, though, and they made it to an outcropping before long. The three of them leaned around the corner and looked at the area beyond it. There were golems. A lot of them. By Kelish’s count, there were just under two dozen of them, and a quarter of them were armed with guns-- both beam guns and chempowder guns-- another quarter were armed with knives, and the rest were unarmed. That qualifier, though, did nothing to lessen the danger they posed, as evinced by the dent on Arthur’s lower torso armor.

Platforms were tipped over, bent, and welded together, making a rough fortification for the golems to take shelter in. In the center of the construct, though, stood a large, black dome, with a digital clock on every side. The clocks had the time ‘10:59’ on them, which Kelish interpreted as ten hours and fifty nine minutes.

“So, what’s the plan?” Jane asked when they returned to the cover of the outcropping. “We could-” before Jane could finish her sentence, the loud, irritatingly smug voice returned.

“And the first bomb has been disarmed!” the bastard cheered, “Everyone involved will be awarded twenty points! The ones who disarmed the bomb directly will be awarded an additional five points! Don’t look at them like that! The points get split evenly, and since there were so many of you, each of you got crumbs! I’m seeing a couple other interesting details here, so it’s still anyone’s game!”

“Smug fucker,” Kelish spat, “Okay, Arthur, can you use your plasma launcher?” she asked.

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“Kel, no,” Arthur said, shooting her idea down, “That’s probably a live bomb. Playing with plasma around it is a terrible idea.”

Kelish grumbled, turning to Jane, “What about you? Do you have a way to clear more than a few out?” Kelish asked. At the very least, Kelish wanted to deal with the golems as quickly as possible. She did not want to spend an hour taking potshots at them, only for it to devolve into a brawl.

Jane shifted on her feet, “I can think of… something,” she said, “I could try to nail them out with my sling,” she suggested, “At the same time, Arthur can shoot at the ones with guns and you can deal with the front line?”

Kelish turned to Arthur, “Well? You’re the strategist,” she said.

Arthur shrugged, “I suppose that works,” he said, “It’s a bit risky and you might need to fix a few wounds, Jane,” he said to the girl, “But it could work.” Jane nodded, and Kelish was more than ready to deal with the golems, “In that case,” Arthur said, glancing over to Kelish, “We do that. We start this by taking out as many as possible. I’ll be taking care of the armed ones. Kel, you do what Jane suggested and keep them off of us. Jane, you help whoever needs it.”

“You got it,” Jane replied, “Let’s see…” she murmured, creeping back a bit and crouching down, “I see one a good distance away from its friends. I’m taking it out,” she said, preparing her sling with a transparent, metal-like ball.

“Jane, we should-” Before Arthur could finish, she let the ball fly, driving it into the golem’s neck and easily killing it, “Never mind, then,” Arthur said, a bit of chagrin leaking through his usually calm voice, “Alright, did any of them notice that, Kel,” Arthur asked.

Kelish, who stepped in front of Arthur to peer around the corner, shrugged, “Dunno. They don’t really talk, and they’re just looking around like they were before. Oh, wait, one of them is looking up… and it just disappeared… That’s not normal…” Kelish said, pursing her lips under her helmet. Before she could return to safety, the golem that disappeared suddenly reappeared. It was not the same, though. It was adorned with gleaming, white-silver armor with golden flourishes, “Okay, one of them just came back with some fancy silver armor. He also looks pretty alert…”

She crept back around the corner, making sure that none of the golems could notice her, while Arthur sighed, “This isn’t good,” he said, “Do you think you could take that one out, Jane?” Arthur asked.

Jane poked her head around the corner for a split second, then snorted, “I could,” she said, “But you two will have to cover me,” she said.

Kelish did not wait for Arthur to respond, taking out her laser rifle alongside her shotgun and putting the latter on the ground beside the place she planned to make her stand, “Alright, enough chatter. For all we know, more of those things’ll show up if we wait any longer. Get into position,” she said.

“Calm down, Kel. Keeping a cool head is important to being an Inquisitor,” Arthur replied, standing right beside Kelish.

As Jane moved over to them and began to shape a large, sharp weapon, Kelish snorted, “We aren’t Inquisitors right now,” she said, “We’re a bunch of rats in a maze for that smug bastard, and I wouldn’t mind taking a good bite out of his ego right about now.” She noticed that Jane was ready, and took a breath, “Alright, on your count, Arthur.”

“Alright. Five,” he stepped forwards, “Three,” Jane crouched down, “Two,” Kelish flicked her sights up, “One.” They all burst around the corner at the same time. Thankfully, only a few of the golems were looking in their direction. Unfortunately, though, a number of those were atop the rudimentary parapet erected around the dome-bomb. Arthur and Kelish let loose with beam blasts, his cutting through golem necks with ease while her’s not always staying on target. Thankfully for Kelish, her rifle was a fair bit more powerful than Arthur’s carbine, meaning that a single shot with it was all she needed to kill a golem. By the time the first golem fell to the ground, five of the six gun-toting golems were dead. 

At the same time, Jane rushed forwards, conjuring a rough javelin and hurling it at the highly-armored golem. The golem, though armored with thick layers of gleaming metal, was pierced by the javelin, and was thrown back a few feet. At the same time, Jane heaved her broadsword and sliced down at a knife-wielding golem, cleaving its head off with a perfect movement.

As soon as the first golems dropped, their comrades seemed to lock onto the group. There was only a single golem with a gun left, and it barely had the chance to pull the trigger of its pistol before it was blasted by Kelish and Arthur’s combined shots. The rest of the golems, undamaged from the initial volley of beamfire and the single javelin, all charged the pair’s position, almost ignoring Jane entirely, “That’s bullshit,” Kelish groaned, dropping her rifle and picking up her shotgun. All she got in response from her team was Jane’s chuckling over their comms as she ducked under the armored golem’s punch.

Kelish rolled her eyes and aimed in on the closest golem charging the two Inquisitors’ position. Since the golems atop the parapets were dealt with, Arthur had the chance to assist Kelish with the oncoming horde. He shot again and again, always hitting dead on and killing a golem with each shot. Kelish, meanwhile, switched her target from the dead golem to the next closest, blasting its head off with an echoing shot.

As she was switching targets again, she glanced over to Jane’s battle with the armored golem. She had switched her weapon of choice from the large broadsword to a hammer and a dagger with a flat pommel. Kelish was wondering what Jane was doing with such a strange weapon when the girl ducked under another punch and drove the dagger into the golem’s neck armor, only for it to stop after half an inch. That did not deter the girl, though, as she raised her hammer and slammed it into the dagger’s flat pommel, driving the blade deep into the golem’s neck like a chisel.

Kelish could only listen for how the golem fared, as she had another target to blast. She sent the knife-wielding golem flying, rolling much like Arthur did when he was hit by the on their way to the bomb site. The golems, though, seemed unending, and they quickly overwhelmed the steady volume of beam and chempowder fire. The image of Arthur being sent flying, though, was fresh in Kelish’s mind, and it gave her necessary energy to clobber the closest golem with her shotgun. The golem staggered, only for Kelish to grab another golem, its arm outstretched from a pathetic attempt at a punch, and shove the latter into the former. The pair of golems fell into a heap, and Kelish lashed out at the next one as Arthur backed up. He was far less physically strong than Kelish was, and she was happy to have him at a safe distance.

It was in that moment that the golem Kelish was about to grapple with was clobbered over the head with a hammer. Kelish looked over to see Jane battling with golems, ducking and countering with expertise. Another golem tried to bash Kelish over the head, and she bashed back, knocking it flat on its metallic back. She went to finish it, only for another one to wrap an arm around her neck. The undersuit, while suited to defending against many things, was not suited for a chokehold. She struggled to throw the golem off, only for it to loosen its grip and slump over.

She turned, seeing Arthur blasting into the rapidly-thinning crowd of golems, and sent a nod his way. She fought hard for all of the minute it took to finish the battle, but it took the fire out of her. Once it was over, she and Jane were breathing heavily. Arthur walked over to them, crouching down and helping them up, “You two alright?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Kelish replied, standing with faked bravado, “Alright, let’s get this bomb disarmed.”

Jane stood with Arthur’s help as well, and the trio approached the bomb. Before the arrived, though, the smug voice rang out once again, “Another bomb has been difused! Each contestant involved will be awarded fifty points! There’s still quite a lot of you, but you still have less than that first team! Since you all disarmed the bomb together, you all get an aditional five points! This is a close game, but the scoreboard will be severely shifted very soon!”

“Smug bastard,” Kelish said, “Come on, we’re disarming this bomb.” They quickly arrived at the dome, and Kelish stared at the supposed bomb, ”Okay, I don’t know how this works. Arthur, don’t you know more about this than I do?”

“I’m an electromagnetic specialist, not an explosives technician, but I can do my best,” he replied, kneeling beside the dome. He then felt around the surface of the dome, though Kelish wondered if the effect was lost on him, especially with his gauntlets. She was wrong, though, as he pressed into the surface of the dome and it suddenly glowed. He removed his finger from the surface, and a number pad suddenly appeared. The numbers were strange, though, as she understood exactly what they meant, but she could not recognize them. “This alone is probably against the rulings,” Arthur said, “Okay… where could the numbers be?” he asked himself before looking at the digital clock, “Maybe…” He typed ‘1045’ into the number pad, and the clock suddenly powered down.

Arthur turned back to the pair, but the annoying voice returned with a vengeance before he could speak, “And would you look at that!? Three people disarmed a bomb! Each of you are awarded a hundred points for your feat! Ah, but no points for disarming the bomb. That one was the easiest. I think our front runners are set in stone, but who knows what could happen from here!?”

“I hate that smug fucker,” Kelish groaned, “Let’s go, I don’t want to waste any more time.” She began to walk away, Arthur and Jane following a moment later.

 

*=====*

 

The path to the second bomb site, again within the maintenance tunnels, was suspiciously clear. There were only two attacks by the golems, and both groups only had two members in them. Arthur, were he a less cautious man, would have believed that the ringleader of the demented game was running out of resources. In reality, he believed that the golems were being saved for something.

Whatever that something was, though, it did not include the security detail for the second bomb site they visited. There were only four golems there, which made Arthur suspicious. The trio, nevertheless, eliminated the golems with brutal efficiency. The disarming mechanism was far more complex than a simple number pad, but it was little challenge for Arthur. The voice returned when the bomb was disarmed, and it was just as overbearing as ever, “That’s nearly every bomb disarmed! I can’t believe the three man team has already disarmed two of them! It’s anyone's- Oh, wait, the last one has been disarmed! Congratulations, contestants!” the voice exclaimed, “Let’s get everyone together and see the final scores!”

Arthur felt the world twist. It was like he was entering a wormhole, but worse in most ways. The only thing that was better than normal wormholes was the feeling that he was still connected to the outer universe.

The feeling subsided quickly, though, and when his sight returned to normal, Arthur found himself atop a stage, his body locked up and unable to move. “And we have our top ten contestants right here, folks!” the lunatic who had been speaking throughout the whole astrodock said. Arthur moved his eyes, and he could take everything in. In front of him was a man, his skin white as paper, wearing pre-ancient clothing from The Land of Maharajas. They all stood upon a stage, and in front of it were hundreds of other people, some wearing the kakei green power armor of the human Marines, others wearing undersuits of the maintenance crew, ten of whom were kneeling before the stage, “Behind me, we have the top ten winners! And before you, are the bottom ten losers! Now then, let’s distribute the reward!”

The man turned and walked to Arthur’s left, where he could almost hear Kelish struggling to break free, “First prize goes to Kelish Balak!” the man cheered, “You killed quite a number of golems, and made some pretty interesting plans. So, you will be receiving a boost to your thought speed-” the man paused, looking past Arthur, “You-”

Arthur saw a blur, and the man screamed. Suddenly, the pressure holding Arthur in place disappeared and Arthur whipped his carbine out. In the crowd, the men and women in maintenance undersuits ran to cover while everyone wearing astrosuits charged forwards. Arthur turned to his right and he saw Jane clashing with the man. An aura of white and black energy coated the man’s arm, and he glanced over to the crowd of rushing Guards, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and other volunteers who joined in the defense of the astrodock.

The man sighed remorsefully, “I never expected to be outplayed after the checkmate,” he batted Jane’s sword away and jumped back, “I suppose this is your win, being of magic. Though I cannot see your true nature, I assure you that this will not be the last time we meet. Farewell to the rest of you, as well!” he shouted. Arthur just managed to take aim past Jane and pull the trigger of his carbine before a wall of smoke billowed out from his body. Arthur ran forwards and pulled Jane back, prepared for an attack, but nothing came. A moment later, the smoke dissipated, and nothing remained of the man in ancient clothing.

As soon as the man disappeared, a quantum connection snapped back into place and Arthur heard Exo’s panicked voice over the radio, “Inquisitor! Can you hear me?” he asked.

“I can, Exo,” Arthur replied without his helmet’s speakers on, though he knew that Jane and Kelish could still hear him, “We’re alright. Did anything important happen while we were off the grid?” he asked.

“Well…” Exo trailed off, hesitating, “An Inquisition Branch location was assaulted. The perpetrators are being tracked. Orders have come in from on high. Your team is to track these beings down and interrogate them on their nature.”

Arthur listened to the orders, but almost growled, “Exo, we can’t do this right now,” Arthur replied.
“Inquisitor, I don’t understand what you’re getting at,” Exo replied. Kelish was staring at Arthur and he could almost feel the shock she was feeling towards him. Jane was doing the same, giving him a stare obscured by her helmet.

“Exo, we just got trapped in a bloodsport game show with a lunatic and an army of thaumaturgical robots. I was almost killed once, Kelish was almost on the receiving end of something, and we only got out of it because of Jane’s prowess. We need time to recuperate, we need time to figure out counters to all of this, we need- Exo, we can’t keep doing this. Once is an occurrence, twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern. I don’t want our reliance on luck or Auxiliary assistance to become a pattern. No offense, Jane.”

“None taken.”

“I… I will send your concerns up the chain of command, Inquisitor. For now, return to Fortress Gamma. You went above and beyond for this one, and, for the record, I personally believe you are due for a break,” Exo admitted.

Arthur gave a silent sigh of relief, “Thanks, Exo.”

 

*=====*

 

The Grand Vizier was fuming. But he was impressed. But he was utterly furious. But he was inspired. But he was filled with hate. But he was filled with admiration. He was almost bored by the time he began that award ceremony, with nothing more than inspiring feats of teamwork between the three standard Inquisitors drawing his interest. But then, one of them somehow broke his spatial lock and attempted to forcefully acquaint him with the edge of her broadsword.

It was unexpected, brash, and wholly more fascinating than some boring award ceremony where he had to waste ten potential contestants to keep the stakes high. And that was what he wanted. He wanted daring turns, exciting twists, and more than just a bunch of people beating golems up for the entire game. He could remember the girl, though. She was a truly strange one. As far as he knew, there should not have been anyone capable of obfuscating his senses like she did, but he knew that he was not always up to par when it came to being up to date with the goings ons of the Rift.

No matter who it was, though, he knew that he needed to make his systemic defenses stronger, lest the girl, Jane, or any other errant adventurer tear through his magical meta constructs like tissue paper.

So, he began to design a few more layers to his usual ‘final contestants bracket’ spell, the one that locked up the movements of the winning contestants. Next, he pulled out a trio of metal cards, sending his magical power into them and watching as three figures appeared. One of them was the familiar figure of November, who was giving him a bored look. The second was a strange beast, akin to a centaur with the lower half replaced by a wolf. The man with the body of a wolf below his waist clicked his tongue when The Grand Vizier summoned him, looking away to the absolute nothingness of space, as they were standing on a planet with a very thin atmosphere. The final figure was actually two, both upper bodies surgically attached to a massive serpent. On the left, a man with crisscrossing scars across his naked upper body and face, and on the right, a woman wearing a full dress suit-- minus the pants-- including a buttoned shirt, an overcoat, and tie. The two gave very different reactions when they appeared, as the man was practically gnashing his teeth at The Grand Vizier while the woman showed obvious intrigue.

“So, why’d you summon us this time, G-Vizzy?” November asked, magic doing the work of conveying meaning through space, “Let me guess, you found some interesting genius you want to stick into a card, am I right?”

The Grand Vizier frowned at November’s sour attitude. She had always been cheerful when he summoned her before, only becoming angry after discussing her persistent dream of leaving him, “Not exactly, but quite close. I discovered three ‘Inquisitors’ who are quite interesting. The last game I played with them focused highly on teamwork, coordination, and difficult, homogeneous hordes. Now, though, I believe that it is time for me to test their intellectual skills. How would you three like to help me with that?” he asked, looking between the three-- four-- beings.

“We don’t have a choice.” November sneered, “You don’t need to ask us.”

The Grand Vizier ignored the woman’s venomous comment, and instead began to explain his plan for the next game he would play with the three. It would not be long before he was done with the game, and when he was, it would only be a matter of time before he was playing another game with them.

 

*=====*

 

Isabel Birch, handler for the Inquisition and overall proficient warrior was in a bind. It began with the report of Investigation Unit Inquisitor, Arthur Wan, along with Assault Unit Inquisitor Mentee, Kelish Balak and founding member of the Auxiliary Inquisitor Unit, Jane Helvin. If there was a mission that could go wrong in every conceivable way, then that was how it was done.

They not only walked into a trap, not only were forced to dance to some lunatics tune in the form of a bloodsport combined with a gameshow, they were only able to escape being physically changed via thaumaturgical means by the intervention of the new recruit, Jane Helvin.

It was a disaster on every conceivable level, and yet the higher ups were about to send the trio towards a group of beings-- beings that had been identified as literal drakons from terran myth-- that could assault an Inquisition branch location and escape without serious injury. The tactics of the situation were not only wishful at best and actively ignorant at worst, but they were also working under the assumption that the group could deal with literally anything thrown at them. Isabel, though, as the trio’s technically direct superior, was having none of that.

She heard what Arthur had told his assistant over their quantum radio, and she was in total agreement. The Inquisition needed a boost in equipment-- something to contend with the thaumaturgical nature of recent issues.

And that was what she sent to the nebulous ‘higher ups.’

It was a mere three hours before Isabel was given a response, and what she received was life changing for her. She had been in her position for years, approaching a decade, in fact, and she was content. The command structure of the Inquisition was vague and on a need-to-know basis, so Isabel truly did not know who her superior was. She was just given access to the mission archive and told to match missions with the Inquisitors under her command.

That was why it was such a shock to see that she had been promoted, and even more surprising to see that the missions she once had access to were only the most normal of the missions-- normal for the standard of Inquisition missions, anyway. By contrast, the missions her new promotion opened up for her were… much more sensitive. Things like prominent government officials using forbidden technology-- or more recently thaumaturgy-- to commit crimes, or celebrities that were a bit too knowledgeable about certain topics and flaunting it around.

If she were a more charitable person, she would have said that the missions were concerned with preserving the reputation of the League parliament and the committees under it. Since she was not so charitable, she internally called them cover-up missions.

Even with the new information gleaned, the most interesting thing was sent not a minute after her promotion letter came through. They were orders, typed in a way that left nothing of their importance to the imagination. They stated that she was to give a certain mission to Inquisitor Wan, Inquisitor Balak, and Auxiliary Helvin, and that she was to pretend like nothing had changed in recent times.

The mission in question, though, was something Isabel thought should have been left in more experienced hands than a nearly-new Inquisitor, his mentee, and the first Auxiliary in the history of the Inquisition. It concerned a curious man by the name of John Johnson-- an idiotic name if Isabel had ever heard of it-- and the information he had given out regarding the origin of thaum and the ‘awakening.’ Even that, though, was redacted, and Isable was left scratching her bulbous head about the information hidden from her.

Just as she was about to close the orders, though, she noticed something at the bottom of the digital letter. After leaning in close and looking at it hard, she realized that it was a second, subletter. With cautious movements, she opened the subletter and found another set of orders. These ones, though, were not in the cold, bureaucratic style of standard Inquisition orders, though. They were full of emotion and character and everything that was not within a standard Inquisition set of orders.

It was long and winding, but after reading it and rereading it four separate times, Isabel got the general gist of what she was meant to do. She was to focus on Inquisitor Wan in her missions. Anything that was difficult, but not a suicide mission was to be reserved for him. In addition, Isabel was to give him priority access to the Foundry-- something her newly-gained rank gave her the ability to do.

When the Seeker Inquisitor finished reading the secret orders, she was left perplexed. “Why is he being given such preferential treatment?” she muttered, trying to come up with any reason possible. From what she knew, his parents had abandoned him after he was born and died soon after that, so familial connections were unlikely. Isabel could not rule out the possibility that his eclectic suite of skills played a factor in his preferential treatment, but there had been those with even more eclectic and even more focused numbers of abilities. Oni with high affinity for Assault Unit missions or Kamaitachi with both psychic powers and bionic enhancements borne of unfortunate run-ins with roboticists were only some of the strange people Isabel had dealt with in her near-decade of experience as a handler.

None of them, though, were given the same treatment as Arthur. And it confounded her. Eventually, though, Isabel dropped the question and returned to her work. There was no point in dwelling on it, especially since the object of her musings was due for a meeting within half an hour.

 

*=====*

 

Arthur walked through the door of his superior’s office, somewhat remorseful that the knocking custom had been ignored so zealously in recent times. He had spent quite a while making the knock part of his muscle memory, so ignoring it sat poorly with him. He could not complain, though. His superior had far more on her plate than she was likely trained for, and having to hear the incessant knocking every day for weeks sounded like a cruel and unusual method of torture.

Whatever the case, he, Kelish, and Jane all filed into his superior’s office. Jane gave the room a once-over, then met the massive eye of his superior with her own. Arthur snapped out a salute, followed by the two behind him. There was a moment of silence before his superior gave a small, weary hand movement, telling them to lower their hands. The three followed the order, and his superior met Arthur’s eyes, “Inquisitor Wan,” she said, “I have read your reports and… special request. Luckily, your request has been authorized. Unfortunately for you, though, you will need to perform a mission to have it fulfilled fully.” The Seeker woman reached under her desk and pulled out a paper file, wrapped in titasteel foil. She slid it across the surface between them, tapping it when she could push it no further, “These are your new orders. You cannot speak of what is within these documents with anyone. Understood?” Arthur gave a nod, picking up the papers and sliding the folder out of the foil, “Your objectives are written on the final page, but I will give my advice before you go.” She paused for a moment, “Do not hesitate to make a decision, Inquisitor. 

“Your pre-existing beliefs about the Inquisition cannot cloud your mind in this mission. You don’t have that luxury. I also suggest that you keep your eyes open and your carbine ready. I cannot guarantee that you will not encounter something similar to what you encountered during your last mission. Before you go, though, you are to head to the Foundry. Your armor is visibly dented and it would be a blow to the Inquisition’s reputation if you were to go out with damaged armor.”

Arthur nodded, snapping out another salute, “Yes Ma’am,” he replied, leaving with his two allies when they were dismissed.

When they entered the hallway, Kelsih hummed, “Is it just me, or was she kind of different?” she asked, “I mean, more than just the fancy orders. I mean, like, she was pretty worried about you, Arthur.”

“She’s always like that, Kel,” Arthur replied while he tucked the titafoil wrapped packet between his body and his helmet, under his arm, “She’s shown that to you as well, you know.”

Kelish shrugged while Jane listened in intently, “Sure. I guess you have a point,” she admitted, “Anyway, let’s get going. I want to see what these orders are. If it’s anything like she’s been hyping up, then we might be able to expect some fun toys in the future.” Arthur just smiled and headed towards the Foundry, ready to face the pent-up wrath of the Quartermaster head-on. 

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