Interstellar: Exploring The Cosmos With My Anomaly System
Chapter 60: Enemy Lines

Chapter 60: Enemy Lines

The days pass by them like a blur, the sun rising for the third time into the sky. Its rays fell upon ready hunters, their staff pointing up to the vast blue above. Their calloused grips tightened on their staffs, narrowed eyes piercing ahead ready for orders. In front of them Vagnis sat with his legs crossed as he eagerly waited.

"Soon..." He muttered, rising to the almost finished city around him, the buildings built from the ground up, their shells long hardened and fighting against the sun. He smiled, "of course. She was right, once again."

Once the sun had met its apex he stood, everyone getting even more tense as they awaited his words, his eyes to the midpass forest as the sun slowly touched the trees that they would soon venture. The wind started to pick up, blowing through his white locks that fluttered in the intense breeze, the cold feeling of the night soon replaced with warmth.

He took a breath, turning to the crowd behind him with a more serious look, the citizens of the village watching on with a more concerned look in their eyes, praying for the people who’re risking their lives today.

"Soon we’ll be crossing that forest," He muttered, though his voice was loud enough to be heard. "Astra and the others have gone ahead but it’s up to us to back them up!"

His grip tightens around his staff taking a minute to gather his thoughts, looking down to his feet for a mere moment as if what to say would be plastered across the floor.

"We may have started late, but this the dawn of a new age, we won’t let anything come in the way of our progress now!" He shouted, though no one said a word, their eyes locked on him listening to every word.

"Celi will soon take us to where we need to be, there she’ll brief us on what the plan is." The Craftsman explained. "We’re going to have to be quiet, the midpass is filled with sound sensitive monsters,"

"But we’ll pull through—for the futures we’ve carved into these stones, for the voices silenced by their tyranny—we’ll save everyone, and tear their kingdom down to its roots!" He smirked as he remembered, a line his friend would always say. Adrenaline and excitement now flowing through his very veins he couldn’t contain himself.

"And free ourselves of our cages!" He roared, and the air mimicked him erupting with shouts as stomping feet swallowed Vagnis’s words, staff slamming against the earth in unison until the soil trembled. Above, a flock of birds scattered from the treetops, startled by the roar that seemed to split the sky itself.

The villagers smiled, their worries forgotten for a mere instant as everyone roared. Sylvi watched on from where she was, her eyes focused on Vagnis watching his determined smile that reminded her a lot of Belks, her face breaking into one of her own. A contagious smile that couldn’t help but inspire.

He watched as the hunters thrust their staff upward, the polished wood catching the midday sun like a forest of spears—a gesture of defiance they’d adopted after the first raid.

Vagnis’s smile lingered, thin and fragile, as the cold sweat snaking down his spine betrayed him. His fingers absently traced the grooves of his own staff—,

The crowd’s fervor swelled, their chants of "Freedom" pounding in time with his pulse. Yet beneath the noise, his ears caught the brittle snap of a branch in the distant forest—a reminder of what lurked in the Midpass’s shadows. He shut his eyes, the world narrowing to the acid taste of fear on his tongue.

Astra. Her name was a silent plea, a blade twisted in his gut. His free hand rose to rub his brow, calloused skin brushing against his gentle hairs. What if this is the time your recklessness gets you killed, and belk worst yet, the unspoken question hung like a specter.

’I hope you two know what you’re doing.’ He prayed, his eyes shut for a mere moment.

_____________________________________________________________________

"Who’s there?!" A guard demanded, his eyes peeping through the small glass window in a steel door embedded in the middle of the mountains, their eyes widened when they say Lailla there with her arms crossed and an impatient scowl on her face.

Behind her Astra and Belk stood, in chains, their bodies beaten and their heads hung low. The scientist gritted his teeth from annoyance letting out a small curse under his breath, while the technician remained quiet, her off in shame.

"I found these two trying to plan something in the forest," Lailla announced, her arms falling to her hips. "Are you going to let me in or not?!"

"Y-yes right away, sorry!" The guard stuttered moving away to pull the door open, watching as they entered without so much as a word.

"I told you to be careful with the oxidizer..." Astra started, her voice laced with annoyance with what happened.

"You’re blaming me?!" Belk snapped, turning to face her, his face contorted in rage.

"Yes I’m blaming you! What part ’Careful’ don’t you get?!" She started, the two drawing attention to themselves from the other guards that laced the area around them. "You were too busy showboating with the detonator! ’Trust me, I’ve done this a thousand times!’" she mocked, pitching her voice into a nasally caricature of his.

Belk’s face flushed crimson. "You think this is my fault?! You’re the one who—"

"Quiet!" Lailla barked, rounding on them. The corridor fell silent save for the drip of water pooling somewhere in the shadows. She leaned in, her breath visible in the chill. Astra glared but bit her tongue. Belk’s defiance crumbles into a grimace.

As they trudged deeper into the mountain’s belly, guards leered from alcoves, their faces half-hidden behind reinforced visors. One chuckled, tapping a stun rod against his palm. "Looks like the Captain bagged herself some rebels," he sneered.

Lailla didn’t break stride ignoring their comments. Both Belk and Astra watched as the narrow corridor opened up past the door, into a bustling city way passed their technology, their buildings up right and towering over them, their roads built and farms settled.

Compared to them, these people were giants in the technological department.

The two of them were tossed in a cell, Lailla looking down on them with a look of disgust as she locked the door. A loud slam echoed as the metal gates rang throughout the building.

"Stay there, Veira will tend to you later," She muttered, leaving them, her footsteps echoing throughout the building.

"Alright, finger pointing over," Astra muttered as soon as she’s gone, her eyes lighting up at the opportunity.

"You’re the one that started this–" Belk pointed out, Astra gave him a look, her brows shot up as if asking ’are we really going to do this now?’ Belk was going to say more but he bit his tongue, watching as she pulled out a vial of sulfuric acid.

"So here’s the plan," He remembered saying before they even got in this situation, back in the forest, her voice low and steady as they crouched on the damp ground. Moonlight filtered through the pine canopy, casting jagged shadows over the trio. Belk’s knees dug into the mossy earth. Astra’s charcoal-stained fingers darted across the page, sketching jagged lines and arrows that looped wildly, more akin to spiderwebs than schematics.

"First, we’re going to be captured," she muttered, the charcoal snapping under her impatient grip.

"Captured?! That’s your plan?" Belk hissed, his voice fraying at the edges. He jerked back, nearly upending the inkwell balanced precariously on a root. The forest seemed to hold its breath around them, cicadas silencing mid-chirp.

Astra didn’t look up. "Don’t worry. It’ll be someone we trust." Her gaze flicked to Celi, who sat beside them, her tail thumping rhythmically against the fallen leaves. The faint glow of her green robotic eyes reflected in the paper’s margins, sharp and unblinking.

Belk’s fingers twitched toward his temple. "She can do that?" he whispered, as if the trees themselves might gossip.

"Then—" Astra plowed on, grinding the charcoal stub into a crude "X" on the map, "we need to let Vagnis’ group in." Her free hand rose to cup her chin, leaving a smudge of ash along her jawline. "Or... find another way."

Belk snorted, adjusting his spectacles. "How would they even last in there without light? The tunnels are pitch-black by midnight."

Astra shrugged, her focus still locked on the paper. "We’ll leave the flashlights and flash grenades behind."

"Wait—you fixed them??" Belk’s voice cracked, his eyes widening behind his lenses.

She finally glanced up, her mouth a flat line. "Not fixed. Patched." Tossing the charcoal aside, she flexed her ink-blacked fingers. "I coated the zinc to slow the corrosion. No idea how long it’ll hold, though." A wry smirk tugged at her lips. "But hey—everything’s a gamble."

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