Ch. 16 Rescue in the Ruins

[Jet]

With the disc, crystals and resistance weapon Andraia and Raven made their way down the darkened corridor. They moved cautiously, wary of any traps lying hidden in the semi darkness. As they moved onward they were further alerted by a loud banging sound. When they got close they found that the noise was actually coming from a chamber below them. They were standing in front of a window, and in the room below they saw Jody doing battle with some sort of club armed golem. After dodging around its strikes and climbing onto its body she succeeded in crashing it through a wall. Andraia and Raven tried calling out to her and banging on the window, Jody appeared a moment later unharmed and with an armload of energy crystals, appearing not to hear them. Apparently she couldn't even see them because she scanned the room one more time and pried an old shutter open to leave the room. It occurred to them that the window might have been designed for one way viewing and was likely soundproofed as well. And it was strong, even turning their weapons on it would not break the glass, they had no choice but to continue their separate path. When they turned to go one of them spotted the glowing red eye of a pantheon piercing the darkness behind them, then several more appeared. The pantheon crawlers had found them, and had Jody's fight lasted any longer their ambush might have succeeded. As it was Andraia and Raven found themselves surrounded in the darkened tunnel.
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Meanwhile Rai had managed to evade the spike pit by hooking his chain rod to the eye and drawing himself into striking range. A few more attacks cracked it, and it ruptured under the water pressure. Now that the machine had been destroyed the suction was not quite as strong, and Rai and Stark managed to hold on as the water finished draining. The trouble was, now that the water was gone it was apparent just how large the chamber was, the ceiling seemed so far away now. They could attempt to scale the wall and find an exit somewhere, but another solution lay much closer. If they dared, they could choose to drop down into the hole where the water had drained.
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Jody found herself in a new room, offering a number of tunnels to choose from. Since she was alone and they all seemed equal to her she elected to take the left passage. As long as she maintained a consistent pattern she would be able to find her way back. Or so she hoped. One fork led to another, and another, until she found herself in a literal labyrinth. She only hoped she wouldn't bump into a minotaur reploid in there. She soon detected a voice in the distance, someone calling for help. It didn't sound like anyone from her team, though she wasn't familiar enough with them yet to say for certain.

"Where are you?" She called back. "Hello?"

"Help, help," the voice called, "I'm here!"

Jody tried her best to locate the source of the distress call but the maze twisted and took her in directions she didn't intend to go, until she became hopelessly lost herself. "Help," she called out dejectedly.