"Gunner, good work." She commends as she turns the handle of the foam injector. Releasing it into the Nutrient Node, it fizzes and foams over the dark construct, dimming it slightly. "I'm going to get another one, wait here."
"Copy... Please, be safe." He nods to her, watching her carefully approach the hallway. It was a long, slow crawl back to the landing pad. She shines her blacklight down on two Grunts, lighting up their weak spots and putting carefully quiet bullets in each. The sprawl from their corpses stuck to her boots as she trudged on through squelching nests and roaming monsters.
"I have the device," She sighs as she pulls the injector from the pod, holding the heavy item to her chest. "I'm coming back."
"Good, it's getting a little hot over here." Gunner grimaces. Ritual can hear the gunfire first, then the howl. Slightly panicked, she picks up her pace to reach the Node. Firing into the crowd blocking the doorway, she pushes in past him and quickly places the injector. "That was it, right?" He turns to face her again, watching her turn the handle before a cry erupts from behind her. "Kámá, look out!"
"What-" Ritual turns to see the Rooter in the door just before it sends its roots shooting through her knee where she kneels. She screams in agony as it pierces her leg all over, the howls of Archæans left and right matching her. Leaning on her gun, she pulls her pistol from the holster and shoots desperately at the beast, her bullets bouncing off of its armored head. Her knee was bleeding through the ripped fabric, shards stuck out from behind her kneepad, lodged into her skin and shifting agonizingly with every movement. "Gunner!"
"I'm right here!" He rushes to her after ripping the life from the Rooter with his REACT blade. "I've got you." He assures while scooping her up and helping her walk to the extraction zone. One arm still behind him to shoot down the swarming Archæans, he extends his free hand for Ritual to step up onto the extraction pod. She places her good foot into his palm, throwing herself onto the pod and cautiously sitting back.
She looks over the man's shoulder, seeing a crowd of the monsters. A Rooter raises its arms above its head, and in a split second, Ritual grabs the man by his vest and pulls him onto the extraction pod with her. The duo huff as they look back, seeing the parts of the landing pad rise like a wave and become splintered as the roots sink through it. The woman raises her pistol with a shaky breath and kills the Archæan quickly.
Gunner places his hand to the scanner, which signals their departure, but the gas that usually came from the landing pad to keep it clear never came out. Ritual can see that he's visibly panicked as he draws his revolver from his side.
"We're on our own!" He shouts over the howls of the beasts. He backs up towards the small fence, looking out over the water on the other side. There was nowhere to go.
"Not for much longer!" Ritual points behind them to a teal and yellow helicopter quickly making its way to rescue them. She turns back to see the man cutting through a crowd of Archæans, the sound of his bullets and the whirring of the helicopter blades starting to sound the same. She looks up and desperately reaches for the silver hooks, securing them to the pod.
"Come on, Gunner!" Ritual reaches, tearfully gripping her pistol and trying to kill the gigantic swarm of Archæans. She throws herself from the pod and limps towards him, her hand brushing his shoulder. "We have to go!"
"Kámá, no!" His eyes, full of fire, turn to her immediately and he scoops her into his arm. A Breacher clearing the immediate crowd buys him just a moment to place her back onto the pod and secure her harness to the wire, which he firmly attaches before inputting the final signal for take off, stepping away from the helicopter as Archæans begin to siege the launch pad. "Don't move!"
"Gunner!" Ritual screams over the blades, a Sower trying to grab her as she reaches out to him. Gunnar beats the creature off with his pistol, getting close enough that she manages to grab his harness, clinging desperately as she slowly lifts away. Tears slip through her visor, landing on his lenses.
"I love you, Kámá, so I'll keep doing what I do best..." He gently places his hand over hers before kicking a Sower's head as it grabs his ankle. She was shaking so much that a mere touch was all it took for the man's harness to slip through her fingers. He wipes his goggles as his feet crush the Sower that separated them into the launch pad, opening fire into the crowd of Archæans before they can reach her.
Ritual screams out into the wind for him, even long after their headsets disconnect, until she can't make out so much as a whisper. A final defeated croak escapes her, whipped away by the whirring blades above, crying until her shaking stops.
"Ritual!" Ash quickly rushes over as soon as the pod touches the landing on the Pioneer, unhooking the woman's harness and easing her to the floor. She was panting weakly, gripping her tattered kneepad. "Jordan, help me lift her!" Ash orders, the two guiding the woman into the medical bay. She falls into the cot, digging her nails into the edge as the two think of what to say.
"Kámámê..." Thermite starts quietly after a painfully long silence, coming to her side cautiously, as though she could snap at any moment. "He left something I think you should see."
"Is now a good time?" She chuckles to hide her pain, in her throat and her heart, as a few doctors brush by to assess her wounds.
"This is protocol... And it's important." He nods, pulling out a tablet. After a moment, he hands it to her, trying to gauge her expression through her tinted lenses. She sees Gunner in a small room, smiling softly as he adjusts the camera.
"Hey, it's Gunner... Not Gunnar Magnúson, but Gunner Earl. Ash asked me to make a log before I go out, just in case." He pauses for a moment, looking at the table. "I came out here to help. Fighting terrorists is one thing, we know how humans work, but... These monsters, we barely know a thing about them." He shakes his head before his eyes briefly trace someone walking past the door. "Besides... I never mind a change of scenery."
"I also want to make it up to Ritual." Grabbing the camera, he scoffs slightly. "If you ever see this... I understand why you're mad at me. Everything is my fault. But I talked to Ash, the only person who hates Kali as much as you do, and I gave her the real files of what happened nearly seven years ago. She said she'll help, but until then, I hope we kick some Archæan ass together." He laughs slightly before looking straight at her. "No matter what happens, just do what you have to. I won't be mad. I love you."
"He loves you enough to sacrifice his Rainbow assignment." Ash adds in, kneeling down next to the woman. Her fingertips barely brush the woman's glove, as though she was afraid to touch her.
"W-What?" Ritual looks at the two of them back and forth, scanning their faces desperately. "His Rainbow assignment?"
"I warned him that if those files breached Kali's contract, then his was at risk, too." Ash holds up the folder, handing it to the man next to her. Thermite scans it curiously for only a few seconds.
"He..." Ritual tries to speak with a shattered voice. "Why would he throw away everything he's ever known?"
"Well, according to him, his loyalty doesn't lie to someone like Kali, or to any organization or unit." Thermite recalls what the man told them. "His loyalty, and his heart, lie to you."
"Fixing what he's put you through all these years was more important to him." Ash opines as the woman begins sobbing again. Her cries are near silent before she suddenly gasps, standing on her injured knee.
"Eliza-" She chokes out the woman's name, grabbing her shoulders firmly. Her deep, frantic eyes stare through her. "That's not just my partner, that is my husband." She admits for the first time, ripping off her dark gloves to reveal the bright ring. The woman analyzes it carefully, eyes widening slightly as she resumes eye contact with Ritual. "I have to go find him."
There's a painstakingly long pause. Before Ash can speak, she spots Mira approaching from the corner of her vision. She and Thermite look curiously at the woman, who makes a gesture with her hand before shaking her head. They then glance at each other before back at the grieving Ritual.
"It's okay." Ash gives in, holding her hands tightly. "You need to rest first, but I promise I will let you go as soon as we can. Mira said that he's in stasis, which means he's as safe as he can be right now." The woman smiles as Ash eases her injured leg back up onto the bed.
"Eliza." She swallows her fear, looking to Ash with eyes full of determination and tears. "I want to initiate Maelstrom Protocol."
"Maelstrom?" She exclaims. "Ritual, you can't do it by yourself-"
"I've watched him die once, I cannot go through that again." She pleads loud enough that the room has gone silent. "Do not make me go through that again."
"Kámámê, that is an order." Ash raises her voice, shaking her slightly to get through to her. They stare at each other for a long while before Ash stands to her feet. "If someone I loved was out there, I'd be just as upset as you." She sympathizes. "But you cannot just waltz out there... We don't want to lose both of you." She shakes her head. Defeated, Ritual lays back with a sigh.
"How about we cut you a deal?" Mira chimes in suddenly from the doorway, nodding to the woman. Thermite and Ash turn to her curiously.
"Anything." Ritual looks to her with a hopeful, desperate gaze.
"When you're healed, we'll let you go on as many incursions as it takes to find him, but only... Only if you take that folder to Harry." She holds it out to her, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "He would want that more than anything."
"You're right." Ritual nods knowingly, bowing her head and taking it. The papers seemed to burn in her hands. "Let Six know I'll be on my way."