Chapter 755: The first rift repair.
Somehow, in the midst of the ugly explosions outside, rain had decided to fall. But this did not stop lava from flowing. In fact, in some places, where rain met lava, fires started.
The world during the volcanic storm looked like a scene from a bad dream. It had only been a week so far, but the ground was buried under thick, heavy ash that looked like dirty, grey snow. It was hot to the touch and smelled like burnt rubber.
The air was a thick soup of toxic gasses and floating soot; without a mask, it felt like swallowing needles. The sky was no longer blue; it was a bruised grey that looked permanent. It was choked with ash that turned the sun into a pale, sickly ghost of its former self.
Somehow, some mutated vegetation was surviving. If not for the bubble, the Westbrook forest would also have been destroyed. But it was protected, and thriving, and overflowing with many animals, normal and mutated.
On Sunshine’s end, the day for the first rift repair was finally here, the teams were gathered at the flight deck, checking their gear. Multiple dragon fly aircrafts sat on the ground, waiting for people to get on board.
There had been more than five meetings leading to this day. Some of the core members of the fortress wanted the big rift fixed first. Hades had shut them up by asking them to go out and do it themselves. That had ended the grumblings quickly.
Now, Sunshine stood at the head of the Storm group, as Warren had named them. They were all armed and wearing new versions exo suits which were better than the old ones. Hades stood beside her, his hand wrapped so tightly around hers that his knuckles were white. He was staying behind to manage the fortress, and by the look on his face, he absolutely hated it.
To him, this was the most dangerous mission Sunshine was going for, and he didn’t like it. He had been so restless that he had not slept, the previous night. He had also not let go of her hand since she suited up.
"Hades, let go," Sunshine teased softly, though her heart was aching too. "You’re going to cut off my circulation, and I need this hand to sew up the sky."
Hades didn’t laugh. He looked at her with eyes full of raw worry. "I don’t like you being out there especially near that rift, Sunshine. It feels wrong for me to be in the warm command center while you’re risking your life."
"You’re not just sitting around," she reminded him, reaching up to massage his chin gently. "You have a job. Take one of my clones, walk her through the base. Go to the training hall, the gardens, everywhere. Let those Watchers in the sky see ’me’ having a busy day. If they think I’m here, they will put all their focus here. Hell, do something to piss them off."
Hades nodded, finally letting out a long sigh. "I’ll make sure they see ’you’ so much they get bored of looking. And give them a middle finger every after an hour. But you be careful. Please."
Major Elio cleared his throat. "Are we sewing patches or crying like little girls?"
Sunshine and Hades scowled at him, but the man did not care. They shared a quick, firm kiss_ one that tasted like a promise. Then, Sunshine stepped into the Dragon Fly. As soon as the teams were on board, she used a teleportation device to send them out of the base secretly.
****
The aircraft’s reappeared in another town, under invisibility mode. They traveled for hours through the thick clouds until they reached Crayon Howl city. It used to be a beautiful place known for its massive game parks, but now it looked like a crushed toy box. Buildings were toppled, and the parks were overgrown with strange, glowing weeds.
Team Storm observed their surroundings via hologram on the strategy table, very quiet. Some were in their seats, distracting themselves by watching movies or trying to sleep.
"Major Elio here," a voice crackled over the comms. "I see the target. Twelve o’clock high." He was in the pilot’s cabin, at the front, where he could see everything clearly.
His words were relayed through the system intercom, alerting everyone to stay sharp and put whatever they were doing on pause.
Sunshine glued her face to a window, adjusting her eyesight. She didn’t need any special gadgets to see through the grey sky. There it was. It looked like a tiny lesion in the sky, as if someone had poked a hole in a beautiful painting. The clouds around it were being sucked inward by a silent, invisible gravity. The center of the hole was lit with a wrongful, pulsing light_ a sick yellow green that seemed to come from another world entirely.
The system pinged in her ear. [Target scanned. Rift size: Very minimal. Complexity: Low.]
"Okay, everyone, stay put," Sunshine commanded through the radio. "Squads, stay alert and keep the ships invisible. Crayon Howl is a monster home now. Don’t go looking for trouble unless it finds you first. Your job is to cover me when I need it. No unnecessary heroics."
Sunshine picked five of her best electrokinetics. They pressed their blinding buttons, making their suits invisible, and flew out of the ship on their jetpacks. As they got closer to the rift, they saw the Watchers on the other end.
They were hovering around the rift like vultures around a carcass. The exo-suits had been modified with a translator, so they could actually hear what they were squawking about.
"How do we rip this open further?" one Watcher asked, its voice sounding like grinding stones. "If we tear it too fast, we might trigger an intergalactic war. The nosy galactic peace enforcers won’t be happy about it."
Another Watcher let out a raspy laugh. "Who cares about the enforcers? I want to see the whole sky tear like a piece of wet paper!"
"We already have one open giant door the earthlings opened. If we make one ourselves, we invite peace enforcers and trigger another galactic war that we don’t need." The biggest reminded them.
The creature flew closer and tried to kick at the lesion with its clawed foot. Suddenly, a bright crackle of lightning shot out from the rift, shocking the Watcher’s leg. It shrieked in pain, cursing in its weird language, and flew back.
A natural electric storm started, and the watchers flew away, to avoid it.
Sunshine rolled her eyes. Idiots, she thought. She looked at her team and nodded. It was time.
"Electrokinetics, go," she commanded with a hand signal
Her team summoned a storm. It wasn’t a giant, world-ending hurricane, just a small, concentrated swirl of clouds and electricity which had to look natural. Sunshine took a deep breath, remembering every hour of Vortan’s harsh training.
She reached out and channeled the current that came from the storm. To anyone else, it looked like a goddess of thunder or that she was waving her hands at empty air, but she could see the lightning threads. They were jagged, glowing strands of pure energy that were leaking out of the rift.
She grabbed the first energy thread. It buzzed and fought against her, but she held on. She pulled it toward the center of the lesion, forcing it into the position where it used to be. Then she grabbed another. And another. She began to tie them together, weaving the energy in a crisscross pattern. It felt like sewing with heavy, vibrating wire.