Landsverd Site A-06 "Prism Hollow"

[Tetra]

Koa took in each new piece of information with increasing dread. Incineroar. Attack on sight. 'Volunteered'. Casualties. His stomach churned and for a moment an image of a rattata on a wagon flashed through his mind. He felt bitterly angry. If they'd never done all this, never dragged Starr out here in the first place, none of this would have happened. Had she had much choice between 'volunteering' and some grim alternative? It wasn't fair.

No point saying any of that now. They had to focus on saving her. How would she feel when she learned what happened? "We'll handle her," he said firmly. "Like we said, we have enough experience to do it properly." Without neutralising her, he thought angrily.

"Don't worry, we'll save your packmates," Anubis said, a flicker of something compassionate in his tone. "What are their names?"

 

[Cresselia92]

Ah. There it was, the confirmation they were waiting for, which was a fairly predictable outcome. Silver decided that was the best moment to break his silence and crossed his arms.

“Hmph. It’s not like we’ve got other options here. How’s staying locked here gonna work in the long run?” he asked, his neutral glare aimed mostly at Dr. Treste. “We either stop Starr and get outta this place, or we hide like cowards and die of starvation when we run out of supplies.” He quirked a brow and tilted slightly his head, daring the doctor to contradict him. “Which way d’you prefer?”

While Silver still held his head on his shoulders, Lyra was despairing about the many souls that died under Starr’s claws. Sure, they might’ve brought their fates to themselves, and yeah, they weren’t 100% good guys, but that didn’t change the fact that they were gone, most likely in a very brutal and gory way. That was too much, too much for her to keep bottled!

“Nobody else has to die here, okay?!” she hollered, flailing her arms as she was overcome by worry for her friends, those survivors, and herself.

Silver looked at her, startled by her outburst, but before he could say anything, she raised her paw, feeling better after unloading that weight off her chest. While she had the sensation that the others had more mixed feelings about those survivors, she considered every life precious and worthy of salvation and redemption, and she wasn’t going to leave them to die just for some petty revenge.

“I know y’all are worried and scared, and yes, this must’ve been a horrible ordeal for everyone involved. Casualties are never good, and Starr must be in a lot of pain right now…”

The haunting cries of grief of the newly-evolved family Camerupt, once he realized that the beautiful orchards he loved so much had been incinerated by his molten lava. Blaming the bad guys, Team Rocket and their strange evolution radio waves, didn’t bring any comfort because he did all of that…

“But as the others have said, we’re here to help, and we’re gonna help both Starr and everyone who’s still stuck in this terrifying place!” She aimed for the rim of her hat, but since it wasn’t there at the moment, she instead pulled the rim of her hood. “Now! How do we reach the other four?”

 

[Jackie Cat]

"We'll handle her. Like we said, we have enough experience to do it properly."

"Don't worry, we'll save your packmates. What are their names?"

“We either stop Starr and get outta this place, or we hide like cowards and die of starvation when we run out of supplies. Which way d’you prefer?”

“Nobody else has to die here, okay?! [...] We’re here to help, and we’re gonna help both Starr and everyone who’s still stuck in this terrifying place! Now! How do we reach the other four?”

Something inside the little Togedemaru scientist trembled, on the verge of breaking.

Brisa stepped forward.

"Starr Sakari is my partner," she said, softly. "If she's down there, then I'm goin' to go get her, the same as rain is bound to fall and tinder's bound to burn. Best I have the greater odds of succeedin', if'n such a thing is possible, but it's happenin' regardless. So. You gonna help, Doc?"

Whatever resistance remained inside Treste collapsed entirely.

"...Okay," she said, in a small voice. "We... We ought to try. Yes."

She adjusted her glasses, and hopped from her table spot to a different desk.

"Assuming you all can hold your own in combat... Well. You will need to eliminate the crystal formations acting as capacitors for all the excess RAD and SHaD down there – excuse me, that is to say, Radiance and Shadow. Only once that is done will the— ah, will Miss Sakari be unable to draw on those energy reserves."

Krokorok nodded, putting his hands on his hips. "If you can beat her in a clean fight, that'd be ideal. But if you can spare someone to evacuate the guys stuck down there, it might give you some breathing room."

 

[Butterfree]

Jesus. Dave'd been expecting to be coming here to rescue Starr, not to rescue some cowering CDE scientists from Starr. She'd been a volunteer, had she? He almost, almost made a sardonic comment, but bit it back. If she was here hopped up on two different kinds of mind-altering energy and had already been on a murderous rampage, they needed all the information and cooperation they could get.

At least Jean was back in Frontier Town, safe, and nowhere near any of this. Surely, if Betel had brought her here in a way that was tied to him, then if he didn't make it back she'd go home with him, right? And even if she didn't, then maybe she could have some happy little adventures in Forlas before she went back. He'd asked the Maus and Gerome to watch over her, just in case.

"Anything productive come of your research that we should know?" he asked, glancing at the Togedemaru.

 

[Chibi Pika]

Jade exhaled through her nose. It wasn't the way she'd envisioned this going at all... but there was a chance to fix things, and they had to take it.

"There's enough of us that we could try to do both--half of us fighting her, the other half evacuating the others." She glanced over at where Virga stood near the entrance to the lab, eyeing the computers and the various data readouts with a dubious expression.

The Corvisquire clacked her beak. "I imagine those of us who arrived more recently would be unlikely to last long in a direct conflict." She inclined her head toward Anubis and Lyra.

Jade nodded. "Yeah. You three are probably better off staying out of the line of fire, if you can help it. That way you guys can focus on evacuating the others."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"What are their names?"

With Treste still barely holding it together, Krokorok stepped up again to give the pertinent details.

"The outpost's a few levels down; I can guide you there over the intercom. It's pretty much a building like this one, mounted over an underground spring. It's where the fucking showers are. Anyway. The guys stuck there are named Alcott, Polk, Hayward, and Finick. I'm Graves, by the way, and those guys—" he gestured at the Magneton "—are Misters Coyle, Coyle, and Coyle."

"Hello!" "Hello!" "Hello!"

"The Coyles will be shunting RAD and SHaD for ya. We'll be able to hear you from here, so let us know if you want us to try anything, I guess. And if you get in a sticky spot, I can drag someone to safety if need be, but I'm not, you know, a warrior. I just bounce weirdos and break up scuffles. You get me."

Brisa huffed amusedly. "Don't worry, fella. We've got this."

Jesse nodded firmly. "Then we got a plan, or the outline a' one. Let's move. Ambrose, I want you with me."

"Alright. I'll put what little faith I got in you crazy bastards..."

Graves stepped over to the door, and un-barred it with a deep breath.

"Good luck."