The Far Edge of Fate (Final Fantasy XV)

CHAPTER 30 - COMRADES

so ff16 is a goddamn roller coaster and i love it so much.

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"Good luck you guys," Libertus called out to the team boarding the boat they'd just gotten off. Aaralyn glanced back at the Glaives beginning their rotation on the island. They were shooting Libertus tight smiles—it was always a gamble sending the next team out. They didn't know if they'd come back or not. Too many groups had been wiped out or had very few survivors. Thank the gods they had a backup boat donated from Dino Ghiranze for those terrible days.

"C'mon," Nyx clapped Libertus, Aaralyn, and Elea on the shoulders. "Truck's waiting."

Her teammates mumbled affirmations, following him down the docks to the parking lot. Aaralyn brought up the rear, unable to stop herself from glancing back once or twice to watch the boat drive into the darkness toward Angelgard. Silently, she wished them well. A week on the island was harsh and she'd wish it upon no one.

"Lyn!" called Libertus. "C'mon, kiddo!"

Aaralyn, having realized she'd fallen behind the others, jogged to catch up.

They were three and a half years into the Night at this point and daytime was non-existent. The only light they had was from the cities powered by EXINERIS and their cars, and even gas was getting to be a ridiculously precious resource. Cindy was starting work on making it so the engines ran off of Meteorshards, the same way the power plant did, but she knew as well as everyone that it wasn't an infinite resource. They had to try and find something else—and fast.

The truck Nyx was talking about was waiting for them in the parking lot of the Quay. A hunter was sitting in the driver's seat and he motioned them to get into the bed of the truck. He looked as tired as Aaralyn felt.

She climbed in with the others, getting as comfortable as she could against the hard metal. Nyx smacked the side twice to let them know they were ready to head out. The driver flipped on the anti-daemon headlights and they were off into the darkness.

No one was eager to talk as they drove towards Insomnia. There wasn't much to talk about when all four of them were on the brink of falling asleep. The base they established in the ruins of the Crown City was still in its fledgling days, but Aaralyn was still desperately looking forward to her bunk where she could collapse face-down into her pillow and sleep off the exhaustion. This past week was one of the roughest she'd had on Angelgard. She was not looking forward to going back whenever Cor decided they were needed again.

Completely zoned out, she watched Nyx mess with the frequency on the walkie-talkie that had been left for them in the truck bed and lift it to his lips. He was supposed to let Cor know that they were all alright, just tired, but he never got the chance.

"Code red!" The voice blaring from the walkie-talkie startled Libertus and Elea awake. "I repeat, code red!"

Aaralyn's blood ran cold. All thoughts of sleeping immediately fled, along with her exhaustion.

Code red.

One of their three codes being used (ranging from blue, yellow, and red, depending on the severity of the situation) never meant anything good. Red especially. Red meant danger in civilian areas; places intended to be safe places for refugees.

"Ulric's team responding," Nyx said immediately. "What's the problem?"

"We need as many teams that are available to head for Lestallum!" the man on the other side shouted. "Daemons have breached the city!"

Aaralyn's heart nearly stopped. The world around her suddenly felt faint and far away.

Lestallum. The daemons were in Lestallum.