Ch. 16 Rescue in the Ruins

[VirusZero]

As they turned to continue down the path Andraia couldn't help but feel unnerved. The glass they had just encountered was absurdly strong. Too strong for what would really be necessary in this area. Her sabers had no effect on it whatsoever and they normally could slice right through armour without much trouble at all. Something very odd was going on here and she didn't like it.
Seconds later it became apparent just what the issue was... Pantheon crawlers had found them. In the darkness of the tunnel, their red eyes stood out quite well. Andraia drew one of her sabers from it's holster and ignited it, and once more it's green glow stood out to pierce the darkness.

One of the crawlers leaped towards her. As it flew through the air, she raised her saber and swung it forward slowly so that the pantheon's own momentum carried it into the glowing blade of death. Andraia heard the sound of that pantheon's metal contacting her saber's blade and it sizzling then slicing through the weaker metal. The remains of that pantheon dropped to the ground with a dull thud in the dirt, a tripping hazard normally.
However Andraia reared her leg back and gave one half of the fallen pantheon's body a swift boot. Her kick caused the part cadaver to fly through the air towards another of the pantheons. A resounding clang of metal on metal told her that her attack had worked and that secondary pantheon was struck, though no idea how damaged it actually was.

---

Meanwile, Rai had finished off the massive wall mounted machine without too much trouble on his own. It was a very direct, if slightly reckless and risky, strategy. Thankfully it had worked. Stark didn't want to have to carry Rai's body back...

But now the dilemma about where to go. With most of the water gone it was somewhat easier to see and move around. The ceiling was fairly high up and for Rai climbing that could be tricky. Stark though had no issues... He ignited his jets and took off slowly. He surveyed the ceiling once he got closer, but in the fight the way they had came in had sealed itself off. Going back was no longer an option.

Stark slowly moved forward to check the rest of the ceiling and walls but they looked solid, and the fact they held water meant getting through them was not going to happen easily. In actuality they only had one place they could go...
The drain where all that water had escaped to gurgled slightly as a bit more water drained in. The hole leading down there was definitely wide enough to fit a reploid. Stark attempted to scan down with his thermals but with the water and depth, again there was nothing he could really see. Despite infrared being useful, it did still have it's limits. And suddenly Stark found himself desiring some kind of echolocation or sonar to help figure out what was down there. He half thought of dropping a bomb there, but realised that would only likely piss off any enemies that were there. And there was no need to unless they absolutely had to.

So he simply moved over top of the hole and slowly lowered himself down in.
“I'll go first this time if you don't mind...” Stark stated as he descended, until his last words were out and then his whole head was under water.
The water hole was fairly dark, but as Stark lowered himself slowly he didn't see any sort of movement. Though he also realized that could also just mean he hadn't disturbed anything yet.