It only took the four of them a few minutes to traverse the space between the city and the moon. They all followed Clay-19’s ship. He lead them straight to the Hellmouth, a massive gaping wound of a hole on the surface of the moon. As soon as all of them touched down, Clay-19 proceeded forward towards a platform on the ground. He motioned them forward to stand on it. As soon as they all were on it, the ground started rumbling, and the platform slowly began to light up. Looking up, Dylan saw a bridge forming out of what seemed to be hardlight. Raj and Skyler confirmed the suspicion, surprised that the hive were capable of such technology. As they finished speculating, the rumbling suddenly stopped, and the bridge solidified, with a platform leading to the center of the Hellmouth. Rajan peered over the side and saw a beam of faint green light leading straight down into the bowels of the moon. He looked back up in time to see Clay-19 leap into the light, and plunge directly into the darkness. He, Dylan-10 and Skyler exchanged worried glances for a brief second. Then all shrugged shoulders and lept into the hole as well.
They fell for what seemed like forever, time lost due to the never ending darkness surrounding them. Finally a sliver of light broke out of the darkness underneath them. He could see a vaguely humanoid shape of Clay-19 waiting for them. The three of them continued to plummet for another few seconds, until the ground suddenly rushed up to meet them. Rajan and Skyler activated their glide ability, dramatically slowing them down enough to land gingerly. They touched down with no problem. All looked up and awaited Dylan-10. He made no attempt to activate his ability, but came straight down like a projectile, and smashed down onto the lit platform. Once the smoke settled, they watched as he dusted himself off and readied his scout rifle. The others did the same, bearing the same powerful variant. Their Ghosts bobbed and fell, almost as if the darkness in the area was draining them of light. Each gently picked up their ghosts and stashed them away in their packs, much to the annoyance of the AI’s.
Dylan-10, Rajan and Skyler observed their surroundings. All they could discern was utter darkness, a barely visible footpath, and a faint light in the distance. They lifted their weapons and started forward until Clay-19 stopped their advance.
“There is a bridge here, far up ahead. I know the way.” Dylan was about to move on until Clay-19 halted his advance once again. “I can get to the bridge and activate it. You guys stay here. Keep silent on the comms, I’ll contact you once the bridge is up. Once it is, follow the path. You’ll know it when you see it. Also, once you see it, prepare to sprint, if you can. The darkness here… Its something else. It’ll weigh you down with crushing force.” He pulled out a dagger, and turned his head, saying,“Just wait on my signal.”
With that, he vanished in a whisp, and disappeared with the darkness.
After he disappeared, the Warlocks noticed the Titan hadn’t moved a step from where he had landed.
“Umm, are you-” Started to ask Rajan, until he heard a sniffle come from their mic, and turned fully to look over at the Titan.
He took a step forward and fell forward, crying uncontrollably not able to move his legs. A second later the mic cut off, but they could still hear the crying from his prone form.
“OH MY GOD KILL ME, WHY DID THEY LET ME DO THIS,” He wailed, waiting for his armor’s internal med packs to kick in and quickly heal him.
The Warlocks couldn’t help but laugh as they watched Dylan-10 slowly curl up and prop himself upright as he slowly began to heal. They then turned their gazes towards the lamps further in the darkness, waiting for word from the Hunter.
*
Clay-19 ventured through the dark with ease, avoiding the pits littered along the path, as well as the hundreds of hive scattered along the way. If he could activate the bridge before the hive could respond, the path would light up, allowing the rest of the team safe passage. As he speculated getting to the bridge, a Thrall got uncomfortably close. Close enough to get his scent. He took no chances, and plunged his knife in its neck, dispatching it before it could make any noises. He checked his arm, and was relieved to see the sudden movement had not removed his active camouflage. Through the darkness he trudged on, hoping not to run into any Knights or, if he was especially unlucky, Ogres. Following the lights, he found himself on a familiar path, knowing the bridge was not that far ahead of him.
