"Formation!" Songred ordered, hands extended forward and clenched into fists with circular petals gleaming around them. His Lotus Direwolf growled, the petals around its neck flaring with silver light.
Anson shot Moffrey a puzzled glance. "Formation? What formation?"
"You never said anything about a formation."
Songred's eyes snapped backwards. "What? You don't know the basic Rift Clearing formation?"
The two Strikers looked at each other again, lost for words and unsure what to do.
"Move aside." They heard Padva's voice from behind them.
Anson stepped clear as she lunged forward into attack, her long feet hitting the ground noiselessly as her Doomsday Panther slipped into shadow.
"Hah!" she cried, drawing her bow from her waist and grabbing an arrow from her quiver in a motion of perfect fluidity. The baton retracted just in time to a bow and she nocked the arrow, then launched it into the approaching horde of Moss Skitters.
Boom!
A small explosion of purple sent metallic carapaces of Moss Skitters flying in the air. Padva's Panther reappeared behind a group of the Skitters and sunk its young claw right into their bodies, crushing them to pulp.
Everyone stared, momentarily stunned
Songred snapped out of it first. Eyes narrowed, he barked at everyone else. "What are you waiting for?! Form the basic formation; Vanguard in front! I'll be behind him as the captain! Two Strikers flank me! Support, stay behind them and heal us if we get injured. Courier, stay at the tail and out of our way! You'll pick their beast cores after we're done killing them!"
Jethro furrowed his brow. 'Gosh, I hate this guy."
As Songred directed them, the squadmates got to position. Since Anson was playing a Striker-Scout role, he and Moffrey flanked Songred while Padva was allowed to be a free roaming Striker.
"I'll protect everyone!" Pott bellowed as his skin started to harden into thick, stone plating similar to the body of his beast.
"Grinder Aura! Seismic Slam!"
He stomped the ground, creating a 5-meter shockwave that sent some Skitters flying backwards. His Rhino roared, marching into groups of Skitters, but not out of Pott's range.
The escort watched them with an entertained smile on his face. "Do not underestimate those little crabs," he warned.
"Moss Skitters are very intelligent creatures. They might seem easy to kill now, but only because weaker ones sacrifice themselves to distract. They're also very territorial. If they're attacking, that means there's an aether-rich zone nearby that they are trying to defend.
"You should also be cautious of their crystal screech. That's right. Moss Skitters have this unique mechanism where they scrape their claws over aether crystals and it emits high-frequency sonic shrieks. It's quite teeth-rattling."
Songred surged forward with razor-edged petals dancing around his fingers. He swiped his hand and they sped into the swarm of Darcbeast crabs, tearing through their bodies, black ichor spilling into the air.
His Direwolf leaped over him and shot out explosive petals from its manes, bombing the Skitters to shreds.
Anson and Moffrey broke left and right— the Venomclaw Lynx lunging and slashing, while the Frostbite Cobra coiled and released a stream of frost that froze three creatures solid.
Moffrey used his aether gun, shooting as many Skitters as he could, while Anson stabbed them with the blade of his spear.
"Oww!" Moffrey yelped in pain, leaping on one foot while the other was raised in agony. "It freaking burns!"
The escort smiled innocently. "Oh, yes! I almost forgot to mention. When crushed, Skitters release caustic slime that corrodes leather and cheap metal. So if you're going to stomp those craps, better not wear leather boots!"
Moffrey grunted at the escort"You left that out on purpose!"
The escort remained all smiles. "Did I?"
"Don't worry!" Mory cried. "I'll heal you right away!"
Her Sunspire Sprout burst open, its green mechanical leaves yawning as beads of sunlight wafted into the air before traveling like bees and gathering on Moffrey's burnt feet. Almost immediately, it was healed.
Moffrey stared at his foot, sensing no pain. "Thanks for that!"
Mory beamed. "Anytime!"
As they continued to battle the crabs, Jethro, who watched from behind with a spectator's detachment, let out a lonely sigh and slowly sat on the ground, legs crossed.
"Oh well," he muttered. "No use feeling left out. I'm not going to be a Riftwalker anyhow."
He glanced down at his Gutterling, nestled between both of his legs, bopping his head at him. "You could have been a Gearbite Spider, you know? Or a Mace-tailed Rat."
He lifted his gaze to the dark sky. "Oh, whatever. Let's just sit here until the main characters are done and then go pick up the beast cores. That's my role… and everyone has a role to play I guess."
"Raaaarh!" he suddenly scrambled to his feet. One of the Moss Skitters had been lunged all the way from the front lines right before him. It hissed, tseet-tseet!, agitated as it skittered sideways towards him.
Lizard leaped from the ground and scuttled up Jethro's body, hiding behind his shoulder. He frowned. "Great. My beast is running too."
He looked at the rest of the team while he backpedaled, wondering whether to call for help. But he remembered the gloves his father hand made him.
Tseet-tseet! The Moss Skitter got closer, snapping its claws at him.
Jethro looked at the gloves for a moment then decided on it. He extended his right arm at the approaching Darcbeast. The glove lit up with a slow surge, and then:
VREEEEM!
A searing beam of energy shot out, slamming into the creature's metallic carapace. It burst right through it, creating a large hole in its center. The legs and claws twitched until life left the beast completely.
Jethro blinked. Then lifted his gloved hand to his face, smoke billowing out of the repulsor. "Guess this thing really works." His gaze fell to the dead crab. "And that's my first kill."
Squeak.
He looked over his shoulder, catching his Red Lizard hiding its face. "Don't think I didn't see you running away!"
The Lizard whimpered and lowered its face behind him.
Jethro hissed. "Coward."
Up ahead, Moffrey stumbled sideways, nearly slamming into Anson.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!"
"You asking me? Why don't you watch that snake of yours?! It nearly iced my leg!"
"What about your Lynx?! What is it even doing all over the battlefield? You're a Scout!"
"I'm a Striker-Scout, you moron!"
"Moron? I'm the best—"
"Enough," Songred growled. His voice shut them both instantly.
Behind them, the escort silently lifted his wrist and noted something on his hologram pad.
The Moss Skitters were retreating— abandoning the territory for the inevitable search for another. Jethro didn't wait to be told; he headed towards the war ground, walking past everyone and lowered to the ground, carefully harvesting the beast cores as he'd learned in glyphs.
When he harvested just about enough, Songred told him to stop. Jethro stored the cores inside the backpack behind him. He felt the slithering sense that someone was looking at him as he did this, and when he turned to his right, Padva Darlstarc looked the other way. Jethro narrowed his eyes.
They continued forward.
They found the aether rich zone the Moss Skitters had been protecting. The escort warned that they move quickly to avoid intoxication, even though the excess aether helped their mechbeasts.
Not long after, they passed the fogged areas and arrived at patches of swamp grass and broken roots. The squelch of disturbed mud warned Anson that there were Darcbeasts in hiding.
Demon Swamphogs.
The squat, tusked beasts with moss-covered backs attacked with coordination.
Songred raised a hand. "Positions!"
Just like earlier, the team worked together and dispatched the Darcbeasts. The fight ended swiftly, and the squad stood in the aftermath, breathing hard, petting their mechbeasts while their weapons cooled.
"Good work," Songred said, brushing dirt from his collar as Jethro harvested the cores.
"Uh, there's a problem," Moffrey announced.
Everyone turned to his direction and saw something that was oddly strange.
There wasn't one path ahead like there had always been.
There were two.