She clears her throat and starts the briefing presentation. "Alright. Thank you all for being here. I'll try and make this brief." 

Her first slide shows a map of the damage to Toronto from the sky. It's - pretty bad. "Infested Wasteland" (she's read the Eventualities post and liked it, but it's DRT policy to use official dungeon names, and Novak follows policy) "now uses secondary portals to deploy its worms directly. As such, it cannot reliably be contained, and it cannot be allowed to leave. We've had hundreds of civilian casualties here. If Wasteland survived and struck one of the denser cities next time, we could easily be looking at ten times that many casualties in the first few hours alone."

Next slide - two worms, one substantially larger than the other and a dungeon core mounted on the tail end, with a human, a car, and the building they're in for scale. "Before Wasteland left Casablanca, they were able to determine that the core was attached to a larger worm that keeps its distance from the the portal and stays underground. That's still true, but now there's four of them - three decoys, presumably - and they're scattered around the edges of Wasteland."

Next slide - the interior of the dungeon, as mapped out by Menhir and lovingly rendered done by a local graphic design studio that reached out the DRT on Monday evening with an open offer to help during the crisis. Four regions near the edge are highlighted, with red dots in the center. "These are the last-known locations of the core-worms. They move, but not particularly quickly. We'll have the sensor team confirm it once entering the dungeon, but they should be within the highlighted regions."

"Strike team one will be Skybreaker, Ms. Yamanaka, and Rhombus. Ms. Yamanaka will lure the target worms aboveground where Rhombus can shred them, and Skybreaker will handle transit and safety." 

She points to the regions along the south and western edges of the dungeon. "You'll be responsible for these two." They're further away from each other and the portal, but Skybreaker can move a group of three very quickly.

Skybreaker nods. (She's already gotten the rundown of June's backlash - Rhombus has worked with her lots and will be in charge of coordinating there.)

Her job is moving the two of them around and keeping them safe, and so she will get them where they need to go and they will be unharmed.

I am not even so much going to think 'should be easy'.  But my job is to just be a backlash battery for Sara, and that at least shouldn't be difficult.  The rest of it will just be sandy Hell.

Novak highlights the other two regions, both in the northeast corner of the map. "Strike team two - Flay, Starfist, and Pendragon - you'll be going after these two. Pendragon will bring the worms to the surface, Flay will immobilize it, and Starfist will rush in to destroy the core. Flay will be responsible for movement." They've already confirmed with her that the dimensions of the rock platform they've excavated is of a suitable size for the mission.

She nods in polite acknowledgement in Starfist and Pendragon's direction.  "If a sandstorm hits us, I can put up a bubble to keep it off our skin, but visibility will still be bad."

Novak nods. "Good. We have good sand gear for you all too, of course, though if you pass through one of the black storms unprotected you do need to see a medical esper after."

Next slide - a map indicating where the sensors will be (at the center of the dungeon, by the portal) and a graphic detailing how they'll be using their powers. "When we send you all in, Menhir will locate the four cores and we'll update all of your HUDs with the locations." (The helmet tech was covered in the pre-briefing and will be explained to anyone who hasn't used one by the tech crew, so she's not stopping to cover it in detail.) "From that point on, Flywheel will keep track of the currently-targeted worms once we have a bead on them, and we'll have Menhir use her power again if Flywheel loses one or as the targets update. Aumento will keep the sensor group protected with his power if a sandstorm hits the central area."

She nods. (She can keep her sensory power active on ten cubic meters of volume for almost an hour before hitting backlash level 8 and that's enough to track two worms when she knows where to look, though Traceless will also be there for guiding if needed and to help her if it gets too high.)

It would be smart for her to fistbump every other esper present, though, since he is currently the only guide for her and June short of tying up Min Woo-young.

Checks out.  He'd love to be the one hunting down the core, but frankly being one of the espers to take down Arrakis is fucking epic and Sara is going to need him, especially given the constraints of her backlash.

Sara is fully zeroed and expects she can handle keeping a bead on their locations for the duration of the mission without needing a break, with Tim providing guiding for her. She even has an air tank and mask to placate her backlash if it gets difficult. 

She gives Novak a firm nod. 

Good. "We're going to try and hit the first two worms near-simultaneously - we expect that if we don't find the core then, we'll be on a timer. We expect team 1 to arrive first and wait to hear from team 2. Hopefully it'll end there, but if not, we'll be racing against time to get to the third and fourth cores before the dungeon starts to leave."

"If any worms get past the harrier teams and and kidnap vics into the dungeon, we'll be pulling in a squad to go after them. But other than that and the DRT squad who'll be managing base camp equipment and comms, it'll just be the ten of you in there."

She claps her hands together. "Be fast, be safe, be decisive, and you'll get this thing killed and you all out with time to spare. Any questions?"

Flywheel turns out to be weakly compatible with Flay and moderately compatible with Starfist - she has neutral or negative compatibility with everyone else she tests with. (She doesn't let herself fangirl at Skybreaker or Flay. Nobody else is doing that.)

They all ride the portable lift up into the portal together - she stays close to Traceless.

Inside the dungeon, it's oppressively hot and dry and there's a sandstorm converging menacingly -

No there isn't.

Fine. Arrakis is oppressively hot and dry, but there are no sandstorms within Skybreaker's considerable range. 

Good. 

Skybreaker waits for the go-ahead from the DRT staff, and then gathers up the rest of team one and wraps them up in a ball of air that she begins accelerating southwest.

Meanwhile, Sara kneels down and establishes contact with the ground. She expands her range to its very maximum and narrows her granularity until she can identify the worms with the core and decoys attached to them. Are they still in the same areas as yesterday? 

(They've moved some since the last scan, of course, but the four giant worms are still within their predicted areas.)

The sensor team operators can get the updated location data from Menhir and feed it into everyone's HUDs.

Hello again, asshole dungeon, this time you've overstepped and you're going to die.

Flay, Starfist, Pendragon, and the large chunk of rock supporting them rise into the air and speed northeast.  She's no Skybreaker, but she's not slow.  Gravel and slivers of stone rain down on the desert beneath them.  Her backlash starts slow; she allows herself to murmur the word "slough" under her breath, quiet enough to be lost in the sound of her power chewing slowly away at the rock, and then is quiet.

Tim's entire role is to guide his partner, and he'll accomplish that.  He's trying to be a little net-positive on his own backlash, to maximize efficiency, but it he doesn't want to burn himself out at the starting line.

So, all the staring he does at the screen and the staring he does as his partner updates the maps?  That's purely recreational.  And for once, his fidget toy of the day is only rated for regular strength, since he's not fighting a worm today.

Flywheel studies the map very carefully, and then closes her eyes, dipping into her power. (She's at the center of the world...)

Her eyes open. "Contact with both. Target 1 is heading north by northwest; Target 2 is heading due south, both at their undisturbed speeds. Will keep track."

She's linked hands with Traceless, the portal area sheltered from sand enough to allow them to detach the arm sections of their suit for guiding. Her backlash still climbs, as she dips into and out of her trance, but it's staying near zero. She's good at this, now. She wishes Tia had gotten a chance to see that.

He’s imperceptible to worms but they are not in a position that would attract worm attention in the first place so that isn’t helping keep pace with Flywheel at all. When she gets ahead of him he’s going inaudible to the team who would hear anything he needed to say over comms which he can’t affect, for tiny flecks of backlash when their esper hearing would have let them hear his boots scuff the ground or his breath through his dust gear.

Skybreaker brings Strike Team 1 closer to the ground, about fifteen meters above the giant worm and keeping pace with it. It's visible on their maps as a slowly-moving giant red dot and to their eyes and ears as faint perturbations of the ground below. Missable, if she didn't know what she was looking for.

She calls it in on the comms channel. "Strike Team 1, standing by in position."

Not time yet. She waits, silently in service of her future self.

Alert and waiting for go time.

A few minutes later, they get confirmation.

"Strike team 2, in position and ready to engage."

"Both teams, you are cleared to engage. Good luck out there."

June and Rhombus can be deposited on the ground about fifty meters in front of their target. (Skybreaker orbits them from above, keeping her charges in line of sight and making sure nothing sneaks up on them.)

Moving around while standing on the sand might attract a worm anyway. But to make it more definite and make sure it takes a conveniently obvious route, June turns her power on.

One thing in the world is definitely paying attention to her, but at least it's going to regret it.

The worm surfaces.

It's enormous. The mission briefing didn't do it justice.

It opens its mouth and screams.

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It charges at her.

She runs.

And behind her a thin rectangle appears across the worm's path.

(Rhombus doesn't have the range to completely bisect the thing, it's too big, it's going to be slit open down one side like a pepper to be deseeded.)

(Three other screams are audible in the distance, and approaching fast.)

They're too far away to make any difference for what happens next, though.

The giant worm runs into the cutting barrier like it isn't there - it's moving very fast, and the segments behind it keep propelling it forward, heedless of the danger. June will have to keep moving for a little while, because it's long.

But it's got enough momentum and little enough steering power that the entire thing gets split open like an overripe fruit, including the fake core at the end.

When it's clearly dead and not, like, thrashing around in its death throes or anything, she'll run up the side of it to run on its back instead of on the sand for easier footing and rejoin the, uh. Landmarks. Over there.

"Target 1 down," Skybreaker reports in over the comms. "Not the core. Moving on to target 3."

And she can scoop up Rhombus and June and fly off east. 

"Target 1 is down," Menhir confirms back with the sensors. "Targets 2 through 4 are..." She updates the map with their current locations and trajectories. 

Tim is elated about this development!  His partner is Contributing and being Competent and Useful and he is enabling his partner and this is great!!!  He is too Professional to say anything or punch the air, but he's visibly grinning and a little smug about Sara's contributions.

Also, after seeing what the worms have done to various espers and first responders?  He's ready to kill every worm.  He'd do it with his own two hands, if he could.  But since he can't, this is the next best thing.

Flywheel stopped tracking target 1 when the strike teams engaged.

She looks at the update from Menhir and reconfigures her domain in wide sweeps until she finds target 3, which she takes tracking control of.

"Target 2 destroyed! Flay, I'll be ri-"

Starfist's status goes from TALKING to OFFLINE.

"Team 2, report!"

Heads up displays light up with alerts marked "transmission from Flay:"

SOS SF DEAD

Tim's smile and optimism: gone.  He visibly tenses up, and the muscles in his jaw clench and unclench.  Then he forces himself to relax.  You can't do anything to help, you just have to stand by and guide Sara.  His power use drops off to a trick, so that if any espers survive the contact with the Dunegeon, he can shunt everything into keeping them alive.

His fidgeting gets significantly more pronounced.

Pendragon's voice comes over the comms:

"— worm just fucking ate Starfist, trying to hold them off but there's fucking four of them—"

The transmission cuts off with a frustrated FUCK.

"If you two got the target get in the air!", the site commander says rapidly. "You don't need to deal with the other worms! Stand by for further instruction!"

Then she tries to think. The dungeon isn't collapsing so target 2 wasn't the core. 

But targets 3 and 4 are really far apart from each other - can Skybreaker get Rhombus across the dungeon - Can they get a teleporter in here in time - are there other options -

Starfist is dead. 

Starfist is dead and because he's dead Arrakis might get away, it's going to start trying to leave any minute now, Flay can destroy dungeon cores the same way she can destroy anything else she can hold but she can't do it quickly, there's no time,

...No. No it won't. 

She lets go of Traceless's arm and slides it into the sleeve of her suit that's currently sitting unworn on her lap.

Her voice on the comms is crisp and professional. "Flay, Pendragon, if you two can get to and surface target 4, I'll destroy the core. Menhir will have to take over tracking."

"I can take over," Menhir confirms. 

"Do you need me along to do this safely without Seo Tae-Hwan?"

Headshake. "Don't think I can get us both there in time." She finishes sealing her suit - 

And then she's gone, flying through the air and heading northeast. 

"Flay, Pendragon, Flywheel is on her way to target four to handle core elimination. Do you copy?"

Transmission from Flay

COPY ST2 EN ROUTE TO TARGET 4 RENDEZVOUS FLYWHEEL 

Transmission from Flay

BL BAD MAY ABUSE MORSE COMM LINE BEFORE REGROUP BUT NOT SOON CUT ME OFF IF NEEDED

Her group has a longer distance to travel to get to target 3 then Flay's does to get to the last one. It's more time to think.

She doesn't want to use it for that. She wants this thing dead.

"Acknowledged, Flay, will monitor comms and cut you off if needed."

Flywheel, still in the air from her first hop, navigates the comm interface to start a short private call with Traceless. "I need you tell me now to turn off my wideband comms when my backlash goes above a 6." (She's already configured it to auto-accept private calls from him - they talked about it, after getting the helmet briefing.)

...just in case nobody gets to overhear this from through his headgear either - "Turn -" does order matter - "- uh, when your backlash goes above 6 turn off your wideband comms. Anything else?"

"Not that I'm thinking of. ...Thanks." 

"Of course."

Flywheel looks at the map, blinking dots confirming what she'd already suspected would be true, and sighs to herself.

Back to the main call, then.

"Taking a shortcut," she says idly, so they don't get alarmed at her telemetry shifts.

She tucks away her velocity and hits the ground jogging. (No sense in getting winded.)

They've got no idea what that means but apparently the slowdown is ???planned???

Using her power efficiently is all about spotting and taking advantage of opportunities. Figuring out how to get close to whatever she needs to use it on. Finding the right things to take energy from. Getting them to move the way she wants them to. It can be tricky, and it's taken her a lot of practice.

Sometimes, though, it's as easy as travelling on foot in a straight line.

HELLO NAUGHTY ESPER IT IS WORMS TIME!!!

She feels it coming and stops, flickering her sensory power on and off as she waits for it to approach.

Three... two... 

CHOM-

One...

Aaand she's as close to its center of mass as she can get without generating more backlash than getting closer would save.

Now.

The worm is was moving pretty fast, and she's very small.

-MP!!!

One moment its mouth is closing around her.

In the next, it bites into only air and sand.

...?Where? ?Snack?

"Intercepting target 4; ETA 3 minutes," Flywheel reports, her voice somewhat stilted. (She's flying with her feet pointed forward - she's not immune to air resistance, and she's going fast enough that it matters quite a bit.)

(Sara isn't sensing close enough to catch any of the espers in the dungeon - that would be insane - but she did feel that worm attempting to attack something. What did Flywheel do...? 

Doesn't matter. She updates the map again and then drops her sensing until her next check.)

Tim's doing his best not to stay tense.  You can't stay ready for something for hours and hours.  He's just going to cuddle his partner and at the first sign of needing to evac, he's going to pick her up and physically hurl her into the portal.  It should be fine.  Right?

Why wasn't Flywheel assigned as a strike team member in the first place, if she was capable of taking out a core?  Is it an inefficiency thing?  I'll ask in the AAR, it'd be fucked up to start questioning the choices they made while in a dungeon.

Flywheel lands not where the worm is now but where she can feel it will be when Strike Team 2 intercepts, tucks her momentum into her backpack, and stays perfectly still. Target 4 won't be drawn to her footsteps, but smaller ones nearby could be. 

Flay and Pendragon are about a minute out. 

Backlash check... 5. Workable. 

...she reports that she's going to be too backlashed to listen in on comms once things get started, and that Traceless can relay updates to her.

The plan is simple. She reviews it in her head repeatedly. 

1. Wait for Pendragon to get target 4 to surface and for Flay to lock it down. (Switch to comms with Traceless.)

2. Launch herself into the air, aiming for above Flay's platform. 

3. Shatter the core from the sky.

4. Try and get onto Flay's platform with her falling momentum. 

5. Report in to Traceless.

She runs through it again and again and again, trying to lock it into her brain. (It'd work better if she'd done this before getting any backlash - it's only working at all because she already decided on the general course of action before getting backlashed, and she hasn't been told that people want her to stop or do something else. Even now, she can't tell how she feels about this plan, just that she thought it was important to do it right.)

Tia would be proud, she thinks absentmindedly, but she's too backlashed to tell if she finds that comforting, in this moment.

1. Wait for Pendragon to get target 4 to surface...

She sees the black sandstorm approaching her, but the main operational constraint this applies is visibility. She needs to use her power to track Strike Team 2 and Target 4.

She sets up a thin shell domain in the sky above and in the sands below and ignores the millions of tiny pings from the black particles passing into and out of her space. 

"Black sandstorm at intercept location," she reports to Traceless. 

"Acknowledged, does that affect your plan?"

"No." She'll need to use her power more, to keep track of where the core is and where Flay is, but she can do that. "I'll just be a bit more backlashed, after."

"Understood." He updates the general comms that she is sticking to her plan through a black storm.

A warning tremor passes through the entire dungeon. 

Then another, about a few seconds later.

"Attention all teams - Infested Wasteland is trying to flee. Strike teams, you have five minutes until abort." 

2 timers appear in the helmet HUDs - one counting down from 5 minutes, the other from 10.

Nope, fuck this.  Sara, unless you actively resist being embraced in a position easy to pick you up, you'll be embraced.  Ha ha!  Just kidding.  Tim's power will brook no resistance from you.  "As soon as that timer hits five minutes, we're out of here.  Understood?"  Tim's tense, now.  He never did track, but he feels like a runner waiting for the starting pistol.

"Yes," she agrees absently in the middle of another check. She updates the map again, and then she raises a hand from the ground to squeeze Tim's arm. 

His arm muscles are flexed and unyielding.  "You don't have to do anything, just focus on your job.  I'll take care of getting you out, you don't have to do anything.  You're doing so good, Sara."  And he does squeeze her whole body back.  At this point, he doesn't even dare fidget.  His entire world is the sensor display and the four minute and forty-two seconds left on the clock.

Five minutes.  She can get them there in less than two.  Pendragon can surface the worm in sixty seconds.  Skybreaker's team is intact and will work faster than her's.  So if Flywheel's as good as she thinks she is -

She stands there motionless, watching the timers ticking down and the dots on her map representing the target and her strike team converge on her location. 

Around her, the sandstorm rages on.

There's a storm around target 3, too. Visibility -

hmm?

- visibility will be just fine because Skybreaker is approaching, apparently. 

(Fucking hell what the fuck is her proooobleeeem why is she even heeereeeee)

The ground shakes again as she gently sets Rhombus and June down. "I'll watch the timer and cover you. Focus on the target." 

Hey worm.

Chase me.

Ȳ̴̤̣̬̞̪̼̞̱͍̬̈́̌̇͋̎̅̌̑̾͑͐̈́̇̉̃͒̋̂̕̚̚͜͠͠O̷̢̟̦̎̃͋̀̐͊͜͝͠Ů̸̡̙̮̗̩̙́̈́̒̾̓̎̈́̍̓̚̚̕̕͝ͅ'̷̧͎̺̩͈̣̱̱̪̺̟̌̍͑̄̊̈́̈́͜ͅD̶̨̡̧̧̛̻̩͕̲͔͎̺̑̋͗͌̂̓̊͒͛̾͋͠ ̸̧̨̛̲͚̜̜͖̻̝̮͉͇̘̟̼͍̖̱̳͇̩̫͎̜̓̈̾̉̈́͆͌͑̅̽̉́̔͂͛̽͆͠ͅB̴̡̛̰̤̯̣͉̭͔̙̥̠̺̳̳̠̠̪̑͋́͒̄̏̂̃͗͌ͅͅȨ̴̜̞̮̻̥͒͗͊̓̒T̶̨̤͎̦̣͕̮͆̍̉͋́͛̂̈́̐̇̈́̚T̴̢̛͚̣̼̱̙͈͙̿̀̀̿̇̉͒̈̄̇̎͛̈͛̐̇̔͛̍̍͐̆̈́Ë̴̫̮͕͓̜̥́̔̅̂̔̂̑̌̓̉̍͒͝Ŗ̸̛̫̳͍̖̟̯̞͉͍̦̗̭̻̦͕̥̝̪̲̞͎͉̫̠̰̈͌͛̃̈́͋̍̎̃͑̀̀̔͂̓̇̌̇͌͘̕͝ͅ ̸̛̓͗͗́̏̈́̋͊̑͠ͅŔ̷̡̢̡̧̢̭̮̺̯̖͎̝̮͍͈͚̙̠̩͕͍̝̬͙̠̹̹͑̃̓͂̐̍̀̿̓͑̇͑̈́͒̂́͋̀̕͘͜͜͝͠ͅU̷̡̨̻̦͙̝̖͖̠̺͈̫̰̤̥̟̹̮̜̣̹̟̟̺̇̓̍̎͐̓̿̒̅͜ͅͅN̶̡̛̦̘̮͇̫̱̱̖̙̰̝̹͕͓̳̤͔̬̖̄̇͒̇́̈̎̄̓̅͗̚͠͠,̷̞͚̗͔̐̃̉̇̓͋ ̴͔͕̥̮̺̗̗̥͈͙̝͌̑͊̈̂͛̽͑͋̆͆̓͆̃̄P̶̰̲̞̟͚͖͙̗͕̼̒̍̽͐U̷̧̢̧̮̹͈͓̘͚͚̒̓̋̂̈́͆̈͒͂͊̀̒̕̕̕͘̚͜ͅŅ̶͍̥̯͙͚͍̝̞̼̳͙̖̪̙̝̞̻͛͌̚̕͜Y̶̨̲̱̬̣͖̮͕̗͙̼̫̜̤͈̻̦͇̮͐̈́̆̆̽̄̈́͂͛͂̀ ̵̢̰̯͓͌̇͋̆̌̿͒̏͝O̵̝̩̱͚̝̙̪̘͙̤͒͆͒̅̉̈̋͊̿̆̆̕͝N̵͎͎̲̙͙̳̾̾̍̾́͒̊͌̎͒́̋̽͛͌͝E̴̢̲̬̻̭̭̣͕͔̺̳̮̬̳̖̱̖̝͈͖̓̎̾̀͊̈́͆̈́̓̀̑͌̎̀̓͗̉̑͘͜ͅ

She's fucking great at running. It's the best part of this whole miserable business. She can run like the wind.

And the worm can unzip down the side like a snagged plastic garbage bag.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dungeon, the surviving members of strike team 2 rapidly approach the massive storm of black sand obscuring their target.

The sand traces the edge of her conditional power trigger, as she enters the cloud; all the grains that touch a three-meter radius sphere around her platform are caught.

Folks who know S-Rank espers know Flay's power: telekinesis that steadily winnows away anything she touches.  What she levitates is destroyed - not obliterated, but cut and ripped to shreds from the outside in.  The sand in Arrakis is finer than the pieces her power usually tears things to, so it simply skitters out of her control almost as soon as her power touches it - but none of it is allowed to cross the radius at which her power triggers.  Wind flows around her; black sand piles up against her telekinetic shield.

None of them can see a fucking thing.  But they don't need to.  Menhir can see everything in Arrakis, and Flay trusts her.

And as team 2 rockets into position, Menhir does another check.

"Team 1 is engaging target 3," she reports, before doing one more update on the worms' locations.

Flay and their target cross into Flywheel's current sensing range within a few seconds of each other. 

She remains still, and tracks them both as they approach, updating the target on the map every second or two.

The dungeon shakes. The air shimmers ominously on the horizon.

And, travelling west, target 4 approaches at speed.

Her eyes flick over the timers: right on schedule.  (Inside her helmet, comms long since cut, her voice rises to a shriek.  Desperate, weeping, cascade, she says, to nobody.)  She flies low.  (Lethe, arched like screams, bile, gushing, centipede.)  It is still possible to tap out PD GO GO GO with her thumb.

Hey, worms! Pendragon is the shiniest, tastiest, most aggravating being in this entire fucking dungeon. Look at him EXIST. He is the only thing worth paying attention to. The only thing worth eating. Or looking at. He is the centre of the fucking universe. And he must DIE.

Í̵̡̢̼̙̱͓̹̥͓̟͆̇͊̊̿͌͂͂̉͋̈́̂̉̍ͅͅ ̶̼̣̗̱̺̣̺͕̱̈́̔̂͋̉̄̽͌́̋̽̆̋̈͂͆͒̚͠C̶̢̠̬͈̠̙͎̘̹͔̩̙͚͙̑͋̉̋͠Ǎ̸̢̨̛̛̛̼̪̞̯̼̦̭̥̠̺̲̜̟̜̉͋͑͂̌̋̿̏̓̅̿̅̓͂͛̎̉̿͂̈́̀͊͜͝͝͝Ņ̸̨̡͙̗̯͉͚̮̯͓̬̤̰̤̗͚̝͉͖̘̯̳͉̬̭̺̾̎̋̀̐̔̈́̔̒͘͜͝ͅN̶̡̨̡̤̣͙͇̗͔̠̪͓̰̟͕͉̜̫̘͕̗͂̀̊̐̉͂͛̽̾̀͛̚͝ͅO̸̧͖̹̪̫̝̲̠̯̪̘̯͈̞̪̩͎͚̣̯͈̳̮̜̫̫̬͗̊T̸̖̥̯͒̇́͐̈̀̽̒͗̈́͆̓̈̂̾͑͝͝͝ ̴̢̢̨̡̛̛̮̻͉͎͉̖͓̳̩̰͇̪̤̩̝̞͎̱͇̰̼͈̰̫͉̀͠S̵̪̱̞̤̞͎̩̬͓̮̤̓͆̈́̅̓̈́͌͛͌̇̄̆̾́̊͘͠Ȩ̸̡̛̛̫̜̯͎͍̙̰̟̯͙̹̫̜̪̱̙̻̤̜͆̒͒̾͐̓̃̔̅̆͗̊̋̎̓̀͜͠Ȩ̸̲͚̘̺͙̞͓͈͖̭̮̺̼͔̖̮̲̞̀̄̿̾̒̂͒͗͌͛̑̏̓̒̃͑͂̊̀͘̚ͅ ̴̢̛̰̻͇̠̫̱̰̙̳̠̯̻͔͈͖̜͉̠͙̲̱̰̲̹̜̻͚͐͛͆͋́̔́̈́̓̎͘͘̚͠͝͝ͅY̵̡̨̖̭͇̹̥̬̭̹͇̱̩͓̠͈͖̍̏͌̉̇͂̀̅̅͘͘̕̕̕͜͜͜͠Ö̵̡̨͉̩̤̯̘̹̦̜͙̼̥̖̦̼̮̼̫̹́̌̋̃͐́͐͝͠Ú̵̢̢̧̩̥͓̖͎̙͚̤͍̖̰̩̦̞͕̙͓͓͊̐̆̃̏͊͋̕͜͜ͅ ̴̨̖̹̤͒/̷̺̫͈͈͉̖̄̓̽̓͘̚ ̵̛̛͔̰̔̐͋́͌͐͒͋͌͌̈́̇̈́̌͗̍̚̕̕͠͝͠B̷̢̡̧̡̢̪̣̦̟̞͎̭̳̳̼͙̪̗͔͖͉͕̹̌̊̏̆̋͜Ǘ̸̢̩͚̗̳̹̰̻̹̋͛̔͋̆͑͗͆̾͛̚͝͠T̵̨̨̡̨̡̡͕͍̲͍͔̻̠̗̲̻̖͖̭̪͕̤̲́̔̅́̐̕͜ͅ ̴̛̪̯̮̱͎͍̼̌̅̂̈́̑̀̾̊̐͛̀̋́̏͒̀̾̏̀̅̀͘͜I̴͈̱̰̺͋̆̚̚̕͝͝ ̸̯̙͎̘̪͑͠K̴̡̧̦͇̫̟̣̟̤͇̮͍̘̬̲̳̱͈͈̖̱͉͎̑̀͛͑̎̋̏̍͒͂̃̏̐̏̈́͘̕͝͝ͅŃ̴̢̟̘̮͚̟̟͔̭̣͕͉͕͍̺̙͖̾̆̉̍́̍̎̑̕͜Ō̶̡̨̳̱̜͓̺̫̗̱͙̮̯̼̹͍̹̤̪̟͖̰̲̣̭̪͂̐͂̒͛͑̃̊̌̇͌̉̅̕̕͘͜W̶̧̪͔̜̰̱̙͔̲̺̫͍̲̗̆̽̽̾̋̒̊̀͗͛̕͠ͅ ̸̢̪̰͚̲͇͕͓̣̗̻̼͕̻̩̫̘̼̲̝̭͉̱̫̈́̀̽̐͗̈̓̐̽̓̚̕͘͜͠͝͝͝ͅẈ̷̨̢̢̛͚̺̻̩͓͍͚̦̙͙̻͍̥̹̫̺̞̰̈̓͂̀̾́̋̈́͋͑̓̚͠Ḩ̶̧̡̡̨̱̳̘͖̯̤͔̺̖̺̪̻̝͓̜͕͖̳͕̗͈̽͗́͌̆̋̏̾̆̑̍͆̿̈̃̅̈́͌̌́̃̾̔̉̐͜͠͠ͅĘ̴̡̢̜̠͎̯̘̬̙̘͉̳̹̩̟̜̗̠͕̬̱̩̼̠͖̫̦̩̌͂̈́͐̒̐͑̍͑͂̔͝͠ͅŖ̴̨̡̛̣͉͙̼͉̭͍̉͑̍͑͆̐̓̒͑̊̀̏̀́͜͝͝͝E̶̲̙͕̍͆̍̂̓͒̂̔̋͋̋̈͆̓̈́̃̅̓̑̑͒͆̑̑͋̀͘ ̷̧̛̗̻͔̰̝͍̤̖̲̊͗͑̽́̃͂͋̌́͑̊̂͑͐̈́̈́̉̏̑͗̓̈̌̚̕͜͝Ỹ̷̡̡͔̤̼̬̱̖̝̮͇̙̫̮͕͙̥͕̮̲̯̣̲̜̒̊̎͒͛̽̍̈́̄̆̓̉̔̓͜͝͝͝Ơ̶̞̻̓̍̏͑̄̉̅̾̉͂͑̽͌͒̿̚͘͠͝ͅÛ̵̧̧͎͓̙̻̩͈͇̬͍͓̟̝̒̋̈̈́̈̍̈́̊̀̃̈͆͆̓̓͂̀̔͋́̽̐̈́͑̏͊̈́͘͝͝ͅ ̶̰̳̤̮̹̤̮̬̱̻̩̺̻̳͚̱̉͒̐̈́̈́͗̀̃͜͜Ą̸̩̯̳͈̜͕͙̙͙̟̯͈̂͒͜ͅͅR̵̰͑͋́̑̈́͐̽́̋̿͊̓̀́̈͛̒̊̄̍͒̕͝Ḙ̴͚̼̟͍͙̜̺̣̳̓ͅ ̵̨̨̯̲̬͚̠̞͍̥͈͙̭̺̝̮͈͚̩͍̲̗̂̒̈̍́̂͒̈́̾̌̇̇͜/̴͓̙͉̩͉̈͑̅̈́̌́̿̋͒̍́̓̇͐̆̉͆͊͂̒̈́̚̚͘͘̕͘͘ ̵̢̡̧̢̢̲̺̠̩̙̺̯͇̞͙̮̺̫̣̖̭͇͒̋͜Ş̶͇̠̖̤̭͎̱̰̣̯̥͙͈̍̉̈́̒T̵̛̛͙̞̳̦̝̱̯͈̯̩̫̭̮̱̤̤̫͎̬̘͓̙̮̜̪̠͛̊̌̊̂͒͑͊̏̏̀̓̃̒͋͆͘ͅͅA̴̢͉͚̙̲̱̞̘͙̞̥̻͙̹͔͈̮͎͇̘̱̬̘͖͚͇̔̐̊̈͊̀͋̋̍͑̓̈͐͘͝͝ͅͅY̴̨̙͔̗̥̟̒̌̍̀̉̆̅̇̆̈́̒̐͆̽͑̐̃̓̋̕̚͘͠͝ͅ ̷̡̢̬̤̳͍̩͓̙͙̞͍̱̖̲̼̪̜̼͈̙̣͔̟̲̭̙͓͇̌̈̇̃́̽͊͆̒͛̐̓͛̊̍̑͒͗͐͋̉̉͋͘̚͜͝͝T̷̛̙̦̲̞̍̔̊͒̎̀̾̈́̎̋͋̊̋̂̀͊̒̐̒́̒̾͘͜͜͜͠͝͝Ḩ̸̧̨̛͈͍̤͎͉̪̮̝̼͇̻̓̿͋̆͒͆̃̑́̓̿̋̚̚͜͝͝Ĕ̶̛̘̼͉̝̹̠̻̜̹̪̻̻̝͈̣̐̄͛͋̑̏̎̉͆̎͊̌̋̀̈̊̓̇̊́̋͑̅̚̕̚͜͜͠R̷̞̝͉̙̻̩̗̱̖͍̩̟̞̙͕̹̮̆̊̀͆́̀́͜͝E̴̪̦͋

The great worm breaches, heading at high speeds towards Flay and Pendragon.

Transmission from Flay

---

WORM BREACH DRAWING PURSUIT

She draws a sweeping curve, as Pendragon keeps pulling the worm after them.  She has to keep it moving but not draw it too far away.  (SPLIT ROTTING PEACH, she screams, SEE WITH YOUR FUCKING TEETH, BEG, BEG, BEG.  Her fist is clenched tight around the Morse code transmitter attached to her right glove.)

"This is Flywheel. Tracking target 4 and Flay. Standing by to attack." Pause. 

"I'll be in the air after I've hit it. You may need to catch me."

The great worm chases hungrily after Pendragon, like he's the only thing in the world.

Transmission from Flay

---

COPY

("SUCKING APOPTOTIC POLYP PINK RED CAVITY SKITTERED MANTLES CATCH WET THREAD ON HOOKS OUT OF SPASM CHOKE DISTENDING MEMBRANES")

Any second now.

With a sudden burst of speed, great worm closes in on its prey!

Catch a tiger by its tail.  Skin goes flying, interstitial acid spurts and mists into the sandstorm.  The worm's body lurches as it's snapped to a stop.

All you, Flywheel.

The sandstorm has mostly passed over them. She can see the core. It's barely a hundred meters from her.

She dips into her power, stored momentum sending her skyward. 

She lines up the shot, double and triple checking.

For Tia, she thinks, as she puts the full force of a charging sandworm into a small lead sphere.

And as the great worm strains futilely against Flay's power,

And as the great worm is propelled by its own terrible momentum into Rhombus's terrible cutting edge, 

the core -the core -

- shatters,- shears in half,

and as a horrifying cacophony of wormsong fills the air, the jagged red light at the portal's edge turns green.

Transmission from Flay

H[???]O[??? CONTINUOUS TONE]H5HOLEROTTEDINTOSONGBIRD--

Her comms are cut off.

"Core destroyed! Both teams, return to portal now!"

The rest of the squad is hurriedly taking down equipment (except for the comms beacons, those will wait) and urging the espers here to evac.

Sara gives a nod and lifts her hands from the ground to wrap around Tim's arms. She's breathing hard, but even, the sound of air through her breathing apparatus loud in her ears. 

She's only got her hands raised partially when she's lifted bodily into the air.  Tim doesn't have a mobility power, exactly, but with increased leg strength and esper coordination, you can pretend pretty hard.  He pauses for the fraction of a second necessary to confirm he won't collide with anybody, but once that's done?  He's gone.  His stride eats up the distance, only touching ground twice.  He leaps through the portal, and out of the way.  Sara is treated to an enthusiastic victory hug.  "You did it," he whispers into her ear.  "You fucking did it."

Later, he'll have mixed emotions about the death of Starfist.  But right now?  They fucking killed Arrakis.  He's allowed to be satisfied that his partner was the one who sensored for the death of the core worm.

She gives a breathless giggle as she squeezes him back, "We did it," she agrees. 

"Ack. I'll have us there in under three minutes."

Skybreaker grabs June, spares bit of extra effort to be gentle as she scoops up Rhombus (fragile, handle with care) and then the three of them are moving at her top speed, back towards the portal.

She keeps a careful eye on their flight path. Dungeons get weird as they collapse.

Rhombus is barely even backlashed. That was two rectangles. They didn't even have to be very much surface area; you can clothesline a monster on, well, a line, it's not like when she has to shield or platform or decapitate something that isn't moving predictably. But yeah that is the smart way to handle statistics-flavored backlash.

June pretends really hard that this is just a mobility convenience the dungeon provides, much like the wafting down to ground level from elevated portals, which also works on inanimate objects and doesn't require that anything strictly speaking notice her existence let alone classify her as a person.

"Flywheel. Are you evacuating."

There's a pause. "Yes, I believe we are."

"Backlash check?"

There's a pause. "Not below 7. Can't otherwise tell, usual scale isn't working."

"...has that happened before?"

Pause. "No, but..."

"But?"

"Past 6 my scale is just about noticing different levels of pain."

"Ah. Uh. ...when you said 'we' were evacuating that definitely includes you making progress to the portal without using your own power further, right?"

"Yes. I'm on Flay's platform with Pendragon."

"Okay, good. We'll get you sorted out. You did good."

No response.

Dooooo they have visual on the incoming platform yet.

No. There's a raging sandstor-

Not anywhere near the portal there isn't. Not anymore. 

(And then Skybreaker and her passengers disappear through it without slowing down.)

-m oh okay fucking fine! No sandstorm!

Yes, Traceless can see a speck in the distance, approaching from the north.

...and holes leading into nothingness opening up, at various places in the great desert. (A sandworm tumbles into one.)

...and over in in the northwest it looks like the sky is shattering in slow motion. (It hurts to look at for too long.)

He really cannot stand around to see Flywheel out, let alone just to watch the thing die.

"Evac properly when you get to the portal," he tells her. "I'm stepping out, find me when you're through. Copy?"

"...I am going to need help with the evac but expect I will get that from Flay or Pendragon."

"...please tell them that in case they don't know."

Sure, she can broadcast that to the two of them, though neither of them are in any state to ack the request. "Done." Her breathing sounds... labored.

"Can you breathe okay right now -" Yes, DRT guy, he's moving toward the portal, he's going -

"...I can breathe okay."

"Okay. See you soon." He goes through to wait when he won't be in the way of the team on their departure.

The DRT, except for the pair of technicians holding the broadcasting software for the comms platform, exit the portal once the last member of the sensor team is out.

For long seconds, there is no sign of strike team two.

Then - 

Flywheel appears, floating gently out of the portal.

She's breathing and conscious. Her legs look like they've seen better days, though. (They're not supposed to bend like that.)

Oh wow they're sure not. He's gonna go catch her.

She can be caught. (She doesn't react. Her facial expression is vaguely pained.)

"Do you have an existing protocol for how to balance guiding with medical attention?"

"No."

Welllllll fuck. Is Aumento still around.

(Flay emerges shortly after Flywheel.  Her gaze scans over the camp, but as soon as she sees Traceless carrying Flywheel, she relaxes; her shoulders slump, her head lolls back for a moment.  She takes a few steps away from the portal.

Flay doesn't know sign language; if she did, her backlash would be occupying her hands.  Her thumb is still jittering frantically on the Morse transmitter embedded in her glove.  She holds out her right hand for a couple members of her support staff to force her fingers open and unlock the transmitter from her suit.)

As soon as Pendragon emerges from the portal, his partner is there to take his hand and guide him towards the tents. The man looks like he has the mother of all headaches, and even with his eyes screwed shut tight he keeps twitching at every movement around him. 

And then the last two DRT staff float gently to the ground.

(Above them, the portal to Arrakis stays open for another minute or two. Then, with no warning or fanfare, it closes, never to open again.)