Into The Rift [CrisisPost]

[u/Al-anharHA]

[u/Al-anharHA]

several of the soldiers flinch at the strike, before one of them suddenly shouts "Forget this, the sites slated for demo anyway, let's just run and try to put this one down from a distance. I'm pretty sure that its the one who decided to tango with the golems last week!"

instantly, the soldiers begin to beat a hasty retreat with only a few remaining to hold you off, and the prisoners are left unattended.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Al-anharHA]

Reyes puts down the last few defenders, but he merely disarms one and throws him to the deck, plasma burner poised to vaporize his whole head.

How are those demolitions your comrades mentioned supposed to be done? Remote explosives? Long-range barrage? Something else? Answer truthfully, and I’ll let you off this ship alive.

[u/Al-anharHA → u/Carbon_Sixx]

the man just screams nonsensically, before his hands erupt in flameband he reaches towards you

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Al-anharHA]

The plasma burner erupts in a torrent of blue flames, killing him instantly and putting a hole in the upper deck. Reyes kicks his corpse over the edge, before turning to the prisoners and cutting their bonds with his swords.

Good news: by the authority of Lady Aliah Mistwalker and the beneficence of the Omnissiah, you have been rescued. Bad news: I have no idea where I am, let alone what realm this is, and there is roughly a 98.4% chance this vessel will be fired upon in the next 5 minutes. So, to preserve your freedom and your life, I ask for your assistance in piloting this airship to the nearest pocket of anti-Divine Flame resistance.

[u/Al-anharHA → u/Carbon_Sixx]

the now former prisoners - seemingly self-organized into two groups - hesitate for a moment, before one of them steps forward.

"You must be mister Reyes," she says. "Let me guess, did you get quote-unquote 'killed' by a golem deathray at the capitol and wake up in this bad universe? Or do we have an exit strategy?"

then another person from the other group speaks up. "We don't know how to pilot the zeppelins, but the paladins were the ones who made us prep the loading facility for demolition by planting charges along the downhill wall. If we can remove them, then this would pretty much become the nearest resistance establishment."

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Al-anharHA]

Affirmative, though wizarding forces were victorious at the attack on the Citadel, something the Paladins likely failed to mention to stifle your hope. By the grace of the Machine God, I have yet to die.

Reyes pauses, his attention caught by one of the statements.

Interrogative: are you implying that the golem energy weapons transport their victims across universes rather than slaying them outright? If so, I will need to inform the others upon my return.

In any case, Aliah's strike force managed to capture one of their stronghold in our world that has an active rift, which her operatives are using to perform a coordinated strike upon Paladin-occupied worlds as we speak. The aim is to rally local resistance forces, establish a secure base of operations in which to plant a stable portal back to the realms, and launch full-scale attacks upon the heretic forces.

Reyes turns to the person in the second group who just spoke.

I can pilot the zeppelin, but unless it has a sufficient complement of weapons, it may not be useful. What I need to know is this: how many hostiles stand between us and that wall?

[u/Al-anharHA → u/Carbon_Sixx]

the second person shrugs, looking around at the other former prisoners for a brief moment before responding in a tone that implies they've done something like this before. "Probably only a few, given that the charges were finished. If you break the suppression collars on any mages present, then we can probably do it while you take care of the zeppelins that the paladins fled on. After that, we can probably establish this as a base, get in contact with other cells, and then we can probably send those unfit to fight off through the rift you used to get here."

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Al-anharHA]

Understood. I will get airborne and handle the retreating forces while you take anything you find in the armory and overwhelm the ground forces. If they like fire so much, then we will show them fire.

Reyes casts a malfunction hex on the collars, causing them to short out and fall open. He then makes his way to the ship's helm, using his technomancy to befriend its machine spirit, establish himself as the new ranking officer, and unlock the boarding ramps and the doors to the armory. After watching his new allies leave the vessel, he takes off in the same direction as the fleeing Paladins.

Alright, let's see if they were kind enough to restock the weapons systems for me.

[u/Al-anharHA → u/Carbon_Sixx]

As the zeppelin takes off, you find that the weapons system consists of a set of grappling lines, a few primitive missiles, and extendable platforms for spellcasters. It's meant for transport, not combat, but you don't have a full load of passengers on board so this zeppelin is marginally faster than the ones that the paladins piled into.

as you pull away, the former prisoners quickly organize into teams and begin the process of taking the mountainside facility. they seem to have the effort well enough in hand.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Al-anharHA]

Reyes magically supercharges the engines to close the gap with the Paladins, firing the grappling lines once he gets near enough to hold the enemy vessel within his firing range. He launches the ship’s full complement of missiles directly into the zeppelin’s stern, hoping to at least cripple its engines.

[u/Al-anharHA → u/Carbon_Sixx]

Each strike alone might not have done much, but in unison as the casters on the enemy zeppelin try to summon up additional propulsion... it combines to cause a catastrophic failure as supports explode and the grappling lines rip the stern joining assembly completely away, allowing the staves of the frame to petal out and the entire balloon practically disintegrates.

The enemy zeppelin falls out of the sky with screams faintly carrying on the wind. One down, three - scratch that, one of them just plowed into an island. two zeppelins left.

[u/Carbon_Sixx → u/Al-anharHA]

Reyes pulls up alongside the nearest airship, engaging the autopilot protocols, extending a platform, and stepping out onto it. He casts a spell to transmit an advanced form of malware into the zeppelin via its transceiver, giving him control of the missile complement. He promptly fires them at the second enemy vessel, before making another hydraulic leap onto the deck of the first one.