Chapter 29 Part 1
Sal hunkered down behind a concrete barrier with his hands over his head. He felt the familiar sizzling energy grip the air. He knew the other citizens of Undertown were similarly crouched behind emplacements. He thought back to his conversation with Prilock--what he intended to set his mind to do in mere moments. Since that first time three weeks ago that the air had crackled over his head, he had been unable to make it back to the Rogue's house. What's more, he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to anymore. Sal had become invested in this war--but particularly in Prilock.
After the first wave of energy had rippled overhead, Prilock had nearly dragged Sal into safety as Sal's feet and mind were no longer working in tandem. In the distance, Sal could just barely hear a sustained low hum--rather like chanting. Not long after that, the red-hot energy would pass through the air. Sal hadn't a clue as to what the hell was going on, but he had managed to figure out bits and pieces from the orders Prilock had shouted as they moved into cover.
The attackers were using what Prilock was calling a Psionic Storm. By joining all their minds on certain frequencies with specific intent it was possible to manipulate the holographic reality. It was crude by Sal's standards, but effective and deadly.
Sal had never broached the black art that was deception to cause actual harm. His job had never been to directly KILL someone else. Perhaps his work might be used to achieve such an end, but he had always drawn the line at any job that necessitated that he use his skills to directly kill people. These attackers, whoever they were, were not honoring any such ethical allegiance. What was needed were defenses, quick.
Prilock had wasted no time in organizing the Undertown members into some hologram-bending once everyone had assembled in the square between bouts of energy surges. Most everyone there had arrived on their bellies. It was fortunate that the attackers had not chosen that moment to invade. Likely, they figured the quiet through Undertown was one of preparedness as opposed to the anarchy it was.
The way the Undertown citizens were organized defensively by Prilock was interesting to Sal. he subdivided a block of members into the center of the community and gave them orders to commence chanting. As the Undertown members began to chant, they formed a shield barrier around their community. Once the center was secured, Prilock would post other chanters near the edges in an effort to blanket the town with the protective barrier. With attackers and defenders manipulating the hologram in their respective ways, a standstill was reached. What was a test of strategy quickly became one of endurance and attrition. The battle would likely be decided by who gave out first.
Sal had thought of making a run for it in those early days. After all, he knew how the history of Undertown was going to turn out, and his actions would not make much if any difference. Unfortunately, a splinter cell of attackers had cut off contact to the path needed to reach the Rogue's house. Though the group was not formidable in size, the constant barrage of attacks combined with the waxing and waning of the shield barrier made Sal think better than tot take on the entire group at once.
The only other option was slipstream travel. Matters were already strange enough without invoking a travel method that was unpredictable and fickle in his own time period. Sal wasn't about to attempt to navigate in an unfamiliar slip-stream situation. For all he knew, he was already in a parallel universe.
Sal found himself in the unenviable position of being stuck outside of his time period in a pincer attack in what he knew was one of the highest casualty areas of this particular Runic War. Additionally, he wasn't sure how much action to take because of the risk of creating a parallel universe. The last concern plagued him until about week two of being stuck where he was when some part of him unceremoniously decided that he really didn't give a fuck if he messed up all of history. Prilock hadn't really talked much to him since the ordeal began, as he seemed to to constantly organizing and rotating members out to give the chanters a break. Priolock was evidently some commander or community leader. Sal decided between volleys to make his way to Prilock and get some answers.
