City of ash

The chamber was in uproar. Dustin and the team had returned to the planet, their suit data in hand - along with the results of Meli and Bleu’s investigation into the sample of dead micro-organisms they’d retrieved. He’d just finished playing back the helmet cam footage of their encounter with the Fractal entities in the lower levels; that alone had been enough to send the birdlike Moa’thif into a state of panicked rage.

“Forgive-excuse us, Ambassador. We must ready-prepare to purge these things from our home-spire.” The representative’s eyes flashed as it spoke, fingers dancing a staccato rhythm on it’s tablet as it requisitioned security forces.

Dustin shook his head. “Wait. You need to see the rest of the information we’ve gotten. These things don’t show up on regular scans and… well, we reconfigured our scanners. I can’t guarantee that every dot is one of those… zombies, but you should assume most of them are - we’re monitoring to see how many of them we can spot moving at the moment.” He quickly tapped on his own tablet, the data from Defia’s modified scanners flickering onto the screen the Moa’thif had provided for them to display their findings and causing the representative to let out a hiss of alarm.

“You have fought-beaten these monsters-foes before? We are not warrior-fighters as a species; that was always the role of the Hoxx or the Tho’unn themselves, but we will not permit-allow this desecration-despoiling-attack of our home. How do you suggest-advise we handle this?” Fierce eyes glinted under the heavy plumage, the fingers pausing on the tablet as it took in this new information.

Yril’k leaned forward, her blade arms casting eerie shadows in the multi-faceted light of the meeting room. “Purge’k the hive first. Prevent any further’k attacks on your nest. Locate’k their access, then scour the surface’k once you are sure they will’k be unable to return.”

Nearby Moa’thif turned and whispered to each other at the Vex’ess warrior’s words, but the representative merely nodded. “We have not visit-travelled to the surface in five generations. It is not safe-friendly for even us any more. It will take-require time for us to prepare-ready ourselves. In the meantime, did your scans-research identify how they are killing the building-nesters?”

Dustin nodded, tapping his tablet again. The results of the medbay’s scanners flickered onto the screen. “My crew think that it might not be a biological issue or a weapon that’s doing it. Meli suspects they’re being driven to over-exert themselves by some base process. Specifically, we think what’s been done is that they’ve convinced the building-nesters to overreact and flood an area, most likely by making them think it’s damaged. They attempt to fix damage that isn’t there, indefinitely, with more flooding in until they cook themselves under sheer weight of numbers.”

The representative’s eyes were wide as Dustin finished explaining. “That would be possible-achievable. We were so fixated-obsessed with a disease-illness, we did not even think-consider overuse.” Frowning, it turned to an aide and issued a few clipped orders. As the aide scurried off to obey, the representative turned back to Dustin. “I have asked-ordered that all records-scans of the home-spire’s sounds are checked-scanned. The most likely method-option for doing what you say-suggest would be to vibrate-resonate the glass. That low-deep in the spire, it would only be a faint-weak signal, and could have been overlooked-ignored.”

It didn’t take long for an answer to come back. For quite some time and extending to just before the first dip in levels of the micro organisms had been detected, the seismology sensors built into the tower had picked up microscopic fluctuations - all at the same frequency, and all in the lower levels. They looked like background noise until you knew what to look for; as soon as it finished scanning the report, the representative threw it’s tablet down in disgust.

“How blind-stupid have we been, to not see-spot this sooner? I will send word to the other home-spires, ask them to scan-check their own readings. Now we know-understand the cause, we can prevent-avoid any further incidents once we have purge-removed the enemies. Our thanks-gratitude, Human’Earth ambassador, and to your crew as well.” The Moa’thif grimaced as it looked between the various bits of gathered data, before adding “Would you be willing-happy to help us with the purge-cleansing of the spire-structure here as well? You have experience-knowledge of fighting these enemies we lack-require.”

It took a little over a day to fully come up with a plan, as well as to prepare sufficient equipment for both the Moa’thif military (such as it was) and the multiple security teams Yril’k had brought down from Sola. Just shuttling that many crew down took time, even with the help of a number of Moa’thif shuttles, but at last everyone was assembled. Dustin checked his pulse carbine for the third time before nodding to the others - they would be descending into the deepest levels of the tower alongside the elite of the Moa’thif as part of a two pronged approach.

While the lift began it’s slow descent with the advance party, Dustin’s thoughts turned to the second prong of their attack. Once the teams had located and sealed the breech into the tower, Moa’thif shuttles equipped with high powered mining lasers would scour the surface clear of any residual zombies beyond the tower’s walls. It’d take time - Sola’s scans kept finding more as she swept a wider area, but Rye had already been in touch with the Moa’thif engineers and was busily helping them adjust a number of their satellites to provide global scanning for the weak Fractal signatures.

The elevator stopped at several floors on the way down; fire teams got off to secure the lift shaft as they pressed ever deeper until at last with a soft clang they reached the lowest level. Here, the glass wasn’t the smooth perfection of the spire far above, nor was the metal bonded with it - the elevator had slid to a halt in a ancient and warped platform that was crudely bolted on to large rocky protrusions sticking up out of the glass floor.

As the team - Dustin, Yril’k, Sammie and Defia, as well as a dozen Moa’thif - stepped off of the platform, their boots crunched on the rough ground. Glancing down, Dustin winced; the Moa’thif had warned him that the lowest level was a graveyard for the building-nesters even before the Fractals had arrived, but he’d not entirely been prepared to be standing on a floor coated several inches deep with what looked like ash. Behind them, the lift began it’s slow ascent once more, to collect the next waves of troops for the operation, now that bridgeheads had been established. Dustin clicked off the safety on his carbine as he glanced around the room.

It was dark here - this low in the tower, illumination had not been a consideration, and so visibility came only thanks to a number of portable lights that the soldiers moved briskly to assemble, revealing a wide chamber with four passageways leading off in the cardinal directions. Gesturing, Dustin took one while his crew each picked another - soon being joined by three of the Moa’thif each and hunkering down on overwatch while they waited.

It took a further (thankfully uneventful) hour before the additional squads arrived. Already the other teams on other floors would be moving out, Dustin knew - they suspected the breach was on this level, but the best way to ensure he and his **** weren’t flanked by Fractals descending from above down the lift shaft would be to start the purge of the higher levels first. Reforming with the ladies, he glanced at the Moa’thif commander. “Any preference for which tunnel we take?”

The alien shook it’s head, plumage shifting only slightly beneath the body armour. “None-no. You are experienced-wise in fighting these. You pick-select.”

Before Dustin could reply, Defia held up a scanner (a ruse Bleu had suggested), then pointed down a tunnel seemingly at random. “That way.”

Taking that as meaning the rogue Fractal had detected something, Dustin shrugged to the locals, hefted his weapon and beckoning to Yril’k and Sammie set off down the passage Defia had indicated. As soon as they were out of sight around a corner, he paused and glanced over at the void-black woman. “Alright, what have you sensed?”

The rogue Fractal halted her advance and turned to look at him. “Statement. The glass here does not obstruct my scanning as much, most likely due to it’s older, rougher nature. I detect stronger signals in this direction. Hypothesis. Either resonance caused by the glass giving me a false reading, or multiple zombies guarding something. Most likely an entrance to this structure.”