I know there's at least one XG fan in the house, right? So I hope someone likes it at least.PART 1
Ramsus really hated it when things didn't go according to plan. Which is why, 300 feet under the Zeboim 'Lighthouse' and descending, he had a deep frown on his face. He was even pointedly ignoring how his expression disturbed his only companion in the rapidly-descending elevator car.
Dominia was a good soldier. She knew better than to pester Ramsus when he appeared to be in a bad mood, arms folded over his chest and head lowered almost as if meditating; she knew he was thinking about how they had gotten here, and wasn't happy about some of his conclusions. He spoke first. "I can't believe those malcontents were able to modify civilian robots so quickly. So much for the hard-fought peace." As if to punctuate the point, a dull shudder rippled up and down the elevator shaft. Civilian labor-class Gears were gasoline-powered more often than not, so aside from Fei's Xenogears they were the only relics of the Kislev-Aveh War that still worked. They had come to investigate rumors of these Gears being refitted with weapons; and they had found plenty of truth to those rumors before they had come down here.
The Gears on the surface continued to fire. Dominia said nothing for a long time, simply watching the elevator car bump and jostle with every impact as if in a trance. "They're trying to bury us alive down here," she observed, flatly, before there was a particularly hard jolt. Then the torturous squeal of metal bending and then breaking under intense pressure. Ramsus barely had time to shout "Brace yourself!" before they began to plummet to the ground....and then, darkness.
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"So, as you can see Commander....Commander?"
"That girl with the grey hair. Is she going 'down below' too?"
"Oh, her. Yes, I should say so. Last survivor of Elru, or so they say...just trash, that's all. Uh...Commander? Sir? Why are you glaring at me like that?"
"She's not to go 'there'. This one seems to have talent..."
"Commander? Uh, sir, are you sure you want to approach the pen? Sometimes these -Lambs- bite...."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Hahaha. A straight talker, I see. I'm Commander Ramsus, from Gebler. What's your name?"
"...Dominia."
"How'd you like to go to Jugend, Dominia...?"
Ramsus awoke with a start, due in no small part to the butt of a crude wooden spear being driven into his abdomen. The soldier in him immediately took over, and he quickly took stock of his situation: his attacker was a frog-like humanoid in filthy greyish robes, carrying the aforementioned spear. He was laying in a rather simple wooden cage, the frog-man staring coldly at him from outside. The area around the cage was dimly lit by some oiled torches, but he couldn't see much outside their radius. His next instinct was to check for his soldier; he couldn't see Dominia. That was bad. Ramsus knew that the elevator was almost halfway down when they fell, and he wondered if she was hurt.
All this took him but a few scant seconds, which the frog-man allowed, simply staring blankly and mutely at Ramsus. For a brief moment he wondered if it was even sentient, but he pushed that aside as he cleared his throat and decided to try for the best. "Er, hello. My name is Ramsus, I was passing through with a....friend of mine. We mean you no harm, and if you let us go we'd be happy to be on our way." That seemed like the right mixture of lies and friendliness to get things moving. The frog-man turned, said something in a sort of croaking-clicking language that Ramsus couldn't understand; four more frog-men appeared. "Harm..." it spoke, finally, in a slow and sybilant manner. "Your friend, white-hair lady. We find you, laying on ground. Take to home, eat. But she fight, and..." It shrugged.
"You mean you eat...?" It nodded by way of reply, and one of the other frog-men produced a bleached human skull from a leather pouch. Ramsus had seen the Soylent System before, so he wasn't exactly shocked; but it still disgusted him that others continued with the practice after all this time. And with Dominia nowhere in sight, a tinge of...worry? Fear?...passed over him.
The frog nodded to its companions, and with their spears at the ready it opened the cage. Ramsus still had his sword, but until he had figured out Dominia's disposition he dared not tip his hand. So he let them lead him out into the darkness. As his eyes adjusted, Ramsus mentally checked himself; they were in a gigantic man-made cavern, with roads, buildings, even street-lights. In other words, a subterranean city. It even reminded him a little of Solaris. The frog-folk had apparently set up their own village within the confines of the ancient ruins, a series of ramshackle huts with scattered groups milling around or poking their heads out as he passed. He noticed with some trepidation that they appeared to be falling into a sort of macabre parade with his 'guards' and himself in the lead. He didn't like the sort of alien, clearly non-human look in their eyes; it was the kind of thing he had really only seen in Wels.
Ramsus was led through the center of the village, to a sort of communal ampitheater near what was once a mass-transit hub for the old city. He half-expected to see a pot boiling over and a chieftain/witch doctor bedecked in gold, as the whole situation up to then reminded him of some ludicrous Homevision show. Instead there was only a frog-man not much different from the others except for a poorly-carved wooden 'crown', a second cage containing one extremely unhappy-looking Dominia, and a low table with some ominously-stained knives. Out of the corner of one eye he saw Dominia's sword, resting against a bench and covered in greenish goo. He surmised that it was frog 'blood', and was silently impressed by the kill record. Evidently she had killed quite a few before they could pry the weapon away from her.
The frog with the crown interrupted Ramsus' musing. Again, Ramsus couldn't understand the language; but it spoke in a booming tone quite different from what he had earlier heard, and guessed that the chief or elder or whoever was addressing the amassed townspeople. After a brief 'speech', however, it turned to Ramsus and spoke in rather more serviceable English than his subordinate: "You have set foot on the land of the Croaker Tribe. No living creature is to so much as touch the sacred Surface Pillar," which Ramsus assumed to mean 'elevator', "and in doing so you bring bad spirits down that will destroy us. This crime will only be repaid by the ritual sacrifice of your flesh to be shared amongst all Croakers."
Ramsus, to his credit, managed to appear totally impassive throughout the speech. He was already working it over in his mind, and had a hunch that the 'Surface Pillar' was a simple ploy to keep the other 'Croakers' under his control. He couldn't avoid sparing a glance over to Dominia, though, which the chief apparently picked up on. "As for this one," he said while jabbing a slimy finger in her direction, "In addition to defiling our holy lands, she has killed several warriors of our tribe. For compounding her sin, she shall be the first to die." And with that, it spoke again in that alien language. Ramsus fidgeted nervously, or so it appeared, reaching for his sword as stealthily as he could.
Luckily, what happened next provided a welcome distraction. At the chief's words, several frogs began to carefully open the cage and grab for Dominia. Ramsus began to mentally count to three.
One...
The first Croaker was clumsy, and Dominia easily grabbed his arm by the elbow while ducking out of the way. She yanked, there was a loud pop-crack, and the frog-man was down; three swift kicks ensured it stayed down.
Two...
This enraged his fellows. The next Croaker to squeeze into the cage with her actually managed to grab her shoulders in his flabby, slimy grip; but he underestimated her strength, and a swift headbutt sent him reeling away with his shattered face drooling a mixture of snot and greenish blood. By this point Ramsus was well aware that they were taking stock of the situation. Dominia was a capable fighter, but even she couldn't last forever. In time sheer numbers would overwhelm her, and she would be killed.
Three!
However, she had bought Ramsus all the time he needed. Everyone's attention was so fixated on her that none of the Croakers saw his sword until it was too late; the nearest guard screamed, his weapon clattering to the ground as he clutched at his nearly-severed right arm. Panic set in. Some of the Croakers fled, while the warriors who remained tried to determine which "surface-dweller" posed the most threat. The hesitation cost them dearly.
Ether wasn't an option at this point; the Zohar had been destroyed for years, so the two were down to their own physical abilities. And while Dominia had retrieved her sword in the confusion, and he himself was cutting down several of the tribesmen, he knew that they'd eventually be overwhelmed. So his mind quickly turned to escape routes, even as he continued to fight. And after a few moments, he saw one. A door leading into one of the ancient buildings was ajar. Maybe.... "Dominia! Retreat!" He then began to make a dash in that direction, hoping that the sudden movement would draw attention away from his subordinate. He felt a brief sort of exultation as he reached the door, and turned to see Dominia hot on his heels, flush with the thrill of battle. Then he saw the spear flying through the air on a ballistic arc, whistling into the sky like a missile before sinking into Dominia's back with a meaty 'thwack!'. She screamed.
