Immortal

Chapter 2

One Mile Away from Lucent 

Astra

I pulled back on the ship's yoke, the ship following suit as it pitched back a bit, adjusting the throttle a bit to bring the ship to a smooth stop. The engines rumble fading as they turned off.

As if a switch was flipped everyone went silent. Everyone moved to their personal lockers, grabbing their weapons of choice from their lockers. We had a strict no killing policy, so our tools were restricted to non-lethal ones. I only carried my Password Buster along with a garrote, trying to keep my loadout light. 

Tristan on the other hand, as the muscle on the team, carried a bit more stuff. He had a large duffel bag on his back that currently only had the ziplining kit we'd be using. The weapon he was carrying was odd but effective. It was a sort of forearm guard that extended past his fist. It could be used as a prying tool and doubled as a blunt force weapon.

Rey, like me, didn't bring much with her. She was a really good fighter, so she only brought a taser that assisted in her takedown centered fighting style. Following the trend for the most part, Ryker carried a metal staff and a backpack.

"Alright...Everyone we're moving out!" Ryker called out, waiting for everyone to acknowledge his command before pressing a button on his arm computer. The back of the ship groaned as it opened up, the clamor of metal boots ringing out as everyone exited.

I had parked the ship behind a large rock, it being between us and Lucent. As we moved out from behind the rock, I could hear a collective gasp come through my headset. What we had been shown on the map didn't do Lucent any justice. What we saw in the ship was nothing compared to what we were seeing now. The crazy part was that we were still a mile away and it looked many times grander than anything I've ever seen. 

It was still a tree in general shape, but other miniature "trees" could be seen around the main one. If I squinted, it also looked like there were many small lights zooming around each of "trunks." It was mesmerizing even from afar. Just looking at it made me more excited to find out what secrets were being withheld from humanity inside of it.

- 

The city that looked straight out of a sci-fi novel, only grew larger as we came to edge of the crater. It was like a beacon with how tall and bright it stood in the emptiness of the moon's surface.

Just like the crude map had shown it, there was a small cliff below the bridge closest to us. Without missing a beat, Tristan pulled the duffel bag off his back, beginning to set it up. It didn't take long for him to finish though, and with the flick of a lever on the large machinery it began to power on. Four large clamps popped out of it, slamming into the surrounding floor with great force. With another button press it began to aim itself. It then began to glow as it shot a laser towards the facility, using the bridge as cover.

Moving to the duffel bag, I started handing out harnesses that were connected to a clamp. As if it were practiced everyone put it on very quickly. Rey and Ryker helped each other with the straps that were a little bit out of reach. Tristan helped me with mine similarly.

Turning my head to face the large man behind me, I was slightly offput by how his personality could make a 180 when missions started. He had a stern demeanor as he fastened my harness tightly, giving it a good tug to make sure it wouldn't loosen. I gave him a thumbs up before we switched positions. I made sure his was as tight as I could get it, he was a big guy and I wanted to be sure that his equipment wouldn't fail on him. 

Motion in the corner of my eye pulled my gaze over to Ryker. A flurry of hand motions organizing us onto the zipline. I would be first, followed by Rey, Ryker, then finally Tristan. Moving in a single file line, I attached myself to the light cable that was emitted from the zipline machine. The cable basically took advantage of a recent technology that allowed light to somehow temporarily become solid under our trollies.