[GW2] Doomsday

[Auren]

Author's Note:  Before I get started, I just wanted to let all readers know that this story will contain spoilers for the living story in Guild Wars 2.  I wrote the first few "mini chapters" of this story during my time at Basic Military Training. They were written on small 2x3 inch pieces of paper and sent to Merila as I got to stopping places. Due to limited time, the first few "chapters" are quite small.

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Psitka’s vibrant teal eyes scanned the landscape laid out before her. From her vantage point on top of the rickety diving platform, she could see all of Lion’s Arch; or what was left of it.  Scarlet Briar had been brutal and thorough.  Her armies had faced little opposition when they descended upon the city and as a result, most of it was now a burning ruin.

Psitka curled her hands into fists as her gaze settled on Scarlet’s magnum opus: a gigantic airship dominating the skyline. Whirring and spinning like some sort of clockwork top, it hovered above the bay, a giant drill extending from the bottom into the churning water below. Scarlet was after the major aetheric leyline that ran under Lion’s Arch, but for what reasons, Psitka could only guess.

What she did know is that she had to stop Scarlet. So much more than Lion’s Arch was at stake, and she knew she could not fail.

However, her time in this era of Tyria’s history had taught her a great number of things, one of which was that she wasn’t alone. That she didn’t have to fight a war by herself.

Psitka glanced to the figure standing next to her and allowed a small grin to cross her features.

The figure glanced back, her brown eyes the only detail of her face visible beneath the black hood and mask she wore. Her hands moved to the hilt of an ornate jade short sword that hung at her hip as she sighed, her gaze returning to the ruins of the city.

Psitka’s expression turned grim again as she appraised the other woman. She was a human, wearing the traditional Canthan assassin’s armor dyed black. The bodysuit was form-fitting cloth reinforced with leather padding and covered in all manner of small throwing weapons. She was wearing the matching mask and cowl, which covered her entire face except for her eyes. The weapons that she carried were an ornately-carved jade-bladed short sword and dagger.

“Don’t worry, Xinjia. We’ll take Scarlet down here. This madness ends now,” Psitka tried to assure.

Xinjia looked to her again, the burning determination in her eyes clearly evident.

Psitka gave her companion a genuine smile, “We can rely on the others for this. I promise. I know you want to be down there too, but I need you to help me give them a fighting chance. We have to make sure that whatever defensive measures Scarlet set up to greet her ‘guests’ fail.”

The other woman’s gaze hardened as she nodded in agreement.

At that moment, the device on Psitka’s right wrist blipped. Psitka quickly tapped the glowing alarm notification with a finger, causing a detailed hologram to appear above the device. She deftly navigated several complex menus and detailed map layouts before she found what she had been seeking.

“You know, as much fun as it is to pretend to be from this time period, I really do miss being able to freely use my Aetheric Field Manipulator,” she chuckled. She looked over at Xinjia and noted that the other woman was watching the data display intently. “Ok,” Psitka started, “more of Scarlet’s forces are incoming via airship. One of them will pass by us soon. We need to hijack it and use it to get inside Scarlet’s leyline-drilling machine.”

Xinjia nodded her understanding and began to scan the skies for their target. At the same time, Psitka tapped a few more buttons on the device bound to her wrist, revealing a small compartment in the process. She reached in and gingerly removed a small round, slightly flat device.  It seemed to be made of some sort of polished metal that reflected light with a silvery gleam.  Aetheric circuitry covered nearly every inch on the disk, pulses of light traveling along the lines from the points where Psitka’s fingers met the surface.

Psitka regarded the object with a sly grin for a moment before she tapped a small button on top, which caused it to activate and light up with a warm, pink glow.

At that moment, Xinjia spotted the airship as it dipped through the layer of smoke and clouds that was hanging over the city. She turned and put a hand on Psitka’s shoulder, pointing the vehicle out with her other hand.  The sylvari looked up from the device glowing in her hand and grinned.

“Show time!”

[Auren]

Psitka passed the device to Xinjia with a mischievous gleam in her eye, "This is a little something I whipped up just for those pesky Aetherblades," she started.  "My own design, of course!  All you have to do it get it close to them and press the button in the center.  Not only will it jam their communications equipment, but it will also disrupt their armor and weapons' magitech enhancements!" she stated proudly.

Xinjia regarded the palm-sized machine with a respectful eye before she tucked it away in a pouch on her suit.  She glanced at the quickly closing airship and, gauging the distance at which it would pass by, pulled her scorpion wire from another pouch.  The assassin looked to Psitka and gestured at their target questioningly.

"Oh, don't worry about me," Psitka said as she began to tap some buttons on her Aetheric Field Manipulator, "I'll make my way over once I see you use my 'Aetherblade Disrupter'!  It should affect the entire crew at once, though the effects only last about 30 seconds.  Oh!  And don't look directly at it when you use it.  It's quite a brilliant show, if I do say so myself."

By this time, the roar of the airship's engines began to press in on their conversation.  Xinjia nodded once more to the grinning sylvari, completely ignoring the attempted pun, and then turned towards the ship as it passed by.

In one swift motion, she flung the barbed scorpion wire at the ship's rigging.  It found its mark easily, tangling and catching on the ropes, pulling the wire tight immediately.  The assassin flew easily into the air, swinging gracefully across the gap and landing with a silent roll on the deck of the airship.

Xinjia quickly checked the area around her for Aetherblades.  Though she spotted none nearby, she could hear them laughing and barking orders.  Sliding into the shadows, she hastily made her way to the bridge.

It only took her a few seconds to traverse the length if the ship, even while avoiding the crew as they prepared to join the invasion.  Xinjia stopped short of the opening to the bridge and peeked inside.  The captain stood behind the helm, directing the rest of the pirates manning control stations scattered around the room.

The assassin slowly pulled the Disrupter out of her pouch and placed a thumb on the center button.  She slowed her breathing as her other hand unsheathed a couple of throwing stars that had been hidden in her boots.

After a moment, absolute calm fell over her.  She closed her eyes and released a breath, putting pressure on the button.

Then the world went white.

[Auren]

Psitka watched from the diving platform as the airship slowly pulled further away from her.  The display on her Aetheric Field Manipulator read “TARGET LOCK,” blinking every second.  One of her fingers hovered over a large button reading “ACTIVATE.”  She chewed on her lower lip absent-mindedly, silently willing her friend to hurry.  On the display, a number marked “DIST:” was steadily increasing.  Her eyes were drawn to the number when it changed colors to yellow and began to blink.

All of a sudden, a wave of blue-white energy exploded out from the bridge of the ship, arcs of electricity climbing across the various surfaces as the wave expanded.  All of the airship’s lights and defensive matrices flickered and died as the noise from the engines faded away.  In the relative silence that followed, the panicked shouts of the crew could easily be heard as the ship slowed to a stop.

Psitka grinned in silent triumph and activated the device on her wrist.  In a flash of light, she disappeared, reappearing half a second later on the deck of the crippled airship.

It was complete chaos.  The crew ran about in a confused fervor.  Commands being shouted, but none were being heeded.  Psitka leapt into action immediately, taking advantage of the pandemonium to make a dash towards the bridge.  Ahead, she spotted two of the sky pirates and began to charge aetheric energy through the device on her wrist.

The pirates didn’t notice her until she was nearly on top of them.  Before they could even shout a warning, she’d released the stored energy as a concussive blast, knocking both of the unfortunate Aetherblades overboard.  The force of the blast pushed Psitka backwards, but she leaned forward and braced herself, quickly sliding to a halt.  Less than a second later, she was on the move again, heading towards a cluster of pipes at the corner of the deck.  As she skidded around one of the exhaust pipes, she nearly ran into another pirate who had been standing on the other side.  She came to an abrupt halt as quietly as she could, but the pirate noticed her and did a double-take.  Before he could react, Psitka sized him up.

The Norn Aetherblade loomed over her, easily twice her size.  He wore an Aetherblade battle suit, with flexible tubing, wires, and aetheric capacitors covering many of the surfaces.  He wore a plate helm and goggles, though the goggles had been pulled off his eyes and were resting on the headgear.  His hands, each the size of her head, were wrapped around a rather dangerous-looking war hammer.  The head of the hammer was as big as her torso and had two rows of wicked spikes on one side.  Psitka recognized the gear as being standard issue, though she could also see that all of the aetheric capacitors had shorted out, evidenced by the fact that they all lacked the tell-tale glow of functioning magitech.  It looked like her Disruptor had done its job, though it didn’t make the Norn any less intimidating.

The hulking pirate regained his senses at that moment, the surprise washing away into anger.

“Found you,” he growled, his grip tightening around the shaft of the warhammer.  “You’re a slippery one, but you aren’t getting away this-- gurrgh!”

His threat was ended prematurely by the jade dagger protruding from his throat.  The blade twisted and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.  The pirate’s eyes became unfocused as he took an unsteady step forward, blood gurgling from his throat.  He groaned and lost his grip on his weapon, letting it fall to the floor with a ground-shaking ‘clunk.’  Psitka jumped back in surprise, narrowly evading the enormous Norn as he fell forward.  Standing in his place was a familiar figure garbed in black.  The assassin wiped her dagger clean and sheathed it, then looked at Psitka expectantly.

At that moment, the ship’s engines roared to life.  Aetheric circuitry and capacitors flickered to life, bathing the deck in a red glow.  Psitka and Xinjia stumbled slightly as the ship lurched forward, propellers spinning up to their previous setting.

“I’m pleased to see you haven’t lost your edge,” Psitka laughed as she regained her footing.  “Now, let’s get to the bridge!” she exclaimed, bounding away before Xinjia could respond.

Xinjia shook her head in exasperation, running after the sylvari.  Moments later, the two charged onto the bridge of the ship.  The control center was strewn with the lifeless bodies of what was once the ship’s crew.

“Wow! You sure-” Psitka started to say, interrupting herself as she pressed a button her wrist display and disappearing in a flash, reappearing at the wheel, “-did a number on these guys!” she finished, unphased by her spatial transition.  “Now let’s see… if I do this…” she trailed off as she began deftly turning dials, pulling levers and twisting knobs.

Xinjia shifted her weight as the ship gently pulled out of its downward course and began to climb again.  She looked out at the nearest window and caught sight of Scarlet’s doomsday device dominating the sky in the distance.  As they drew closer and closer to it, Xinjia began to wonder what Psitka’s plan was, or if she even had one.  Just as Xinjia was going to try and get the magitech engineer's attention so she could try to ask, the sylvari spoke up.

“Alright.  The ride’s going to get a little bumpy really soon, but if you trust me, we’ll make it through,” she started ominously, but then she grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  “I’ve hooked my Aetheric Field Manipulator into the ship’s power relays.  I’m going to overload the engines and it’ll absorb a lot of the output.

“Then,” she paused for effect, “we crash into Scarlet’s toy!” The grin had turned maniacal. And then she started to cackle like some over-acted villain out of a play.

Xinjia looked at her incredulously, and after a few moments, the cackling turned into giggling. Xinjia rolled her eyes and snorted in annoyance.

“You should’ve seen your face,” Psitka managed to get out. “Priceless!” she squeaked in a high-pitched voice. After a few seconds, she calmed herself and wiped a tear away with a finger before she continued, her tone turning serious. “But we really are going to overload the engines and ram that eyesore,” she deadpanned.

Xinjia crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow, unwilling to be pranked again.  Psitka smirked in response.

“Yes, no joke!  We’re doing this, and it’s all going to go down… NOW!” she exclaimed as she turned a dial and pulled a lever.  A high-pitched whining came from deep within the bowels of the airship, slowly growing in pitch and volume until it was a shrieking, grinding noise.  After a few moments, the whine was cut short by the sound of a muffled explosion, followed by a deep, floor-shaking roar that began to build beneath their feet.

“Ramming speed!” Psitka yelled gleefully over the sounds of a magitech engine overloading.

[Auren]

Xinjia latched onto the nearest console to steady herself as the deck lurched under her. She checked the window again and to her dismay, Scarlet’s airship was growing larger at an alarming rate.  It was at times like this when she wished she could still scream.

Suddenly, Psitka appeared next to her, startling the assassin even further.  Xinjia glanced at the sylvari and her eyes widened.  Psitka’ wrist device was glowing a bright white, as was all the intricate embroidery on her clothing.  She radiated energy and the hairs all over Xinjia’s body stood on end just from being near her.

Psitka smiled and grabbed Xinjia’s arm gently, sending a small jolt through the woman’s body.  Xinjia didn’t notice, as her attention was focused purely on the monstrosity dominating her field of vision.  From this distance, she could make out individual panels, conduits, and other details on the gigantic airship.

Xinjia began to panic and tried to run to the edge of the deck, but Psitka didn’t let go of her arm.  The assassin turned to her tormentor to try and get her to let go, but as she did, the world went a deep shade of purple and then lost all color, leaving behind a landscape in greyscale.  Xinjia felt a wave of disorientation not only from the sudden loss of color, but also from the sensation of lost motion.  It was almost as if she were in a dream where she was falling, even though her feet were planted firmly on the floor.

Confused, the assassin looked at Psitka for answers, but the sylvari merely pointed towards the front of the ship with her free hand.  Psitka’s grip on Xinjia’s arm had grown vice-like, but the human didn’t have much time to think about it.  As soon as she turned her attention to the front, her mind went blank.  She stood motionless for a few seconds, trying to process what she was seeing.

The apparent harbinger of her imminent demise hadn’t gotten any closer.  In fact, it was eerily still, the blades that normally spun to keep it in the air completely frozen in place.  She could see steam shooting from various pressure release valves on the outside of the ship, though the steam didn’t dissipate like it should’ve, forming oddly-shaped clouds that jutted out from the hull.  Something else was off, but that thought was derailed when Xinjia’s eyes fell to the bow of her own ship.

It looked for all the world like the airship and the side of Scarlet’s airship had become connected.  The whole situation refused to add up in her mind, but before she could spiral into even deeper confusion, she felt a tug on her arm.

Psitka began to pull the dazed assassin along. First a slow walk, then a jog. The two women left the bridge and quickly made their way along the deck of the ship towards the still monolith ruling the sky in front of them. It was then that Xinjia realized what else was wrong: there was no sound. Everything was completely silent, even the wind seemingly stilled. She didn’t have much time to consider this new observation, as her thoughts were interrupted when they arrived at the connecting point between their airship and Scarlet’s machine.

The bowsprit was pressed against the side of the machine, but Xinjia could clearly see that much of it was bent strangely. Cracks and fractures ran all along it, and small chunks of it were hanging in the air nearby. The wall of the machine hadn’t fared much better, as pieces of metal were scattered about, frozen in place, and there was a hole that had formed from the contact with the airship. As they got close, Xinjia could actually see inside through the breach.

Suddenly, she felt another jolt of power and her world went white, only to go black less than a second later. Her eyes adjusted to the lower light quickly and she realized they were now inside Scarlet’s machine, standing in a hallway that stretched off in two directions. Behind her, the breach in the machine’s outer hull had gotten surprisingly larger, as had the cloud of shrapnel.

Xinjia glanced at Psitka, who was still latched onto her arm. The radiance that had been coming from the sylvari earlier was nearly gone and a red light on the wrist device was blinking on and off insistently. Unfortunately, it also looked like Psitka’s eyes hadn’t adjusted to the low light yet, as she was blinking and glancing around without actually focusing on anything.

Reacting on gut instinct, Xinjia grabbed the arm Psitka was still holding on to her with and began to pull her down the hallway as quickly as she could. Less than five seconds later, Xinjia’s vision was once again tinted with a deep purple hue. Color, sound, and motion returned all at once, and with explosive force, hurling the two women head-over-heels down the hallway.

[Auren]

The assassin was the first to regain her senses, taking note of the flaming wreckage of mangled metal, piping, and wiring completely blocking the section of hallway they had been standing in moments before.  She also took note of the smoke that was beginning to fill the air at an alarming rate.  Spurred with a new sense of urgency, she scanned the area for her friend, her eyes falling upon the sylvari almost immediately.  She wasn't difficult to pick out, a splash of green and white against the grungy bronze metal of Scarlet's ship.

Xinjia immediately went to Psitka and found her dazed, but mostly coherent.  It appeared that she had been flung against a wall on her way down the hallway, and was now bracing herself against it in a sitting position, catching her breath.  Xinjia began to check the downed sylvari for any injuries, and though she found none, her eyes were drawn to a jagged piece of metal that had embedded itself in the floor of the hallway uncomfortably close to Psitka's leg.  Noticing the assassin's gaze, Psitka looked to the piece of metal and then smiled at her friend.

"Wow," she started, releasing a small cough before continuing, "Looks like I got pretty lucky this time.  That bit of debris looks pretty nasty."  She coughed again, this time from the thick smoke that was continuing to grow worse, making it harder to breathe.  Grimacing, she extended her hand towards Xinjia and hoisted herself to her feet when the assassin locked her fingers around the sylvari's arm.  "Let's get out of here before anyone shows up to investigate," Psitka said before taking a few wobbly steps away from the burning rubble.

Xinjia's face was a picture of concern, but she nodded in agreement with Psitka's plan of action.  Quickly stepping over to walk beside Psitka, the human kept her pace matched to the sylvari's, in case she needed to catch her friend if she made a wrong step and lost her balance.  As they walked, Psitka's steps grew more confident, her trademark grin returning as they made their way through the bowels of Scarlet's floating fortress.

As they cautiously made their way down the hallway, Psitka noted that they hadn't passed any doorways or branching sections of the hall.  She also couldn't see very far down the hallway due to the curvature of the walls.  Like many of Scarlet's inventions, it seemed to be rather hastily thrown together, with many of the pipes completely accessable and curving around eachother in chaotic ways.  Some of the pipes even had steam pouring from their joints, which added to the ambience of the place, but definitely not the functionality.   There were lights at evenly-spaced intervals along the ceiling and the wiring that ran between them was completely visible.  Though she couldn't reach the wiring on the ceiling from the ground, sometimes the wires would drop down to small "access" boxes on the walls of the hallway.  Strangely, each one she saw was completely sealed with rivets, limiting their use as "access" boxes and leaving the engineer to further question the sanity of the designer.

Xinjia suddenly held an arm out to halt Psitka, interrupting her silent deconstruction of Scarlet's engineering prowess.  The human made a motion telling the sylvari to listen and  she stopped to obey the silent command without a word.  However, all she heard was the soft humming of machinery around her.  She was about to say so, when she heard a faint noise at the edge of her hearing, just barely louder than the ambient sounds around her.  Now on alert, she listened intently, trying to discern exactly what this new sound was.  As it got steadily louder, she realized it sounded like something dragging itself across the ground.  Like some sort of slithering.  Images of Scarlet's mutated krait warriors came to Psitka's mind and she immediately pulled up her Aetheric Field Manipulator's status menu.  Xinjia had already silently unsheathed her short sword and dagger and was settling into a combat stance, though she kept eyeing the nearby lights embedded in the ceiling uneasily.

Psitka frowned at what her Aetheric Field Manipulator was telling her.  "Temporal energy levels at nothing – no surprise there," she muttered to herself under her breath, "and aetheric energy levels are also nearly depleted.  I'll have to find a charging source..." she trailed off as she glanced around.  Noticing the uneasy look her human companion was giving the nearby lights, she had an idea.  The slithering sound was getting closer by the second.  She'd have to act quickly.

"Xinjia!" she whispered, drawing the assassin's attention, as well as an incredulous look.  "I know, I shouldn't be making noise, but I have an idea!  I'll take care of those lights for you before Scarlet's soldiers show up!  Get ready!"

At that, Xinjia gave a single nod and slid closer to the wall of the hallway, sheathing her short sword and wielding her dagger in a different ready stance than the one she had used previously.  Psitka grinned.  Though she didn't normally enjoy spilling blood, she had grown to enjoy ending the existance of those touched by Scarlet's corruption, and Xinjia had turned it into an art form.  Not wasting another moment, the engineer looked around and quickly found an access panel.  She tapped a few buttons on her Aetheric Field Manipulator and then placed her palm against the metallic surface, feeling the aetheric charge being converted from pure energy into a magnetic force that was directed by her will.

With a heave, she ripped her hand away from the panel.  The air rippled as her palm left the surface of the metal and made a sound not unlike that of a gong being struck.  Immediately, the panel buckled and then came free, flying into the wall on the other side of the hall with a loud clang.  Psitka winced at the loud noise, which was followed by a hiss that sounded surprisingly close from down the hallway.  Not wasting another second, she punched a few more keys on the holographic display of her wrist device, ignoring the flashing warning that her aetheric energy levels were completely depleted.  She quickly grabbed at the wiring that had been hidden behind the access panel and the lights immediately dimmed, getting darker and darker as the aetheric energy meter on her Manipulator filled.

Just as the meter hit 56%, the forms of a krait and two sylvari came into sight.  When they spotted the two intruders, they let out war cries and began to charge, their weapons raised.  Psitka grinned and gave the wires in her grip a mighty tug, snapping them and shorting out the lights in the section of hallway all of the combatants occupied.  The brief flashes of light from the arcs of electricity that jumped from the power box to Psitka's wrist device merely lit up the terrible smile on her face as she watched Scarlet's soldiers rushing towards their doom.

"Nighty-night..." she said in a soothing tone laced with venom.

[Auren]

Deep within the shadows, Xinjia was once more in her element.  With a few strange gestures using her free hand, her form became less solid, the outline of her body blurring into the darkness that surrounded her.  Her body was wound up like a coil, ready to spring forth with a flash of blades, but she held herself back.  Patience was key in her line of work, and it also allowed time to size up her marks before striking.  The Toxic Alliance soldiers had nearly reached the completely dark section of the hallway, and from this distance, the assassin could easily make out the details of each one.  Time seemed to slow down as she took in each one with a practiced eye.

There was a massive krait warrior wielding a fierce-looking three-pronged trident.  The shaft was unremarkable, and the eye was naturally drawn to the wicked hook-like spikes that sprouted from near the tips of each of the three prongs – a standard weapon for many krait.  The warrior himself was covered in the scale armor the race favored, though there were weak points one could exploit if one knew where to strike.  Any part of the serpent's body that wasn't covered by the armor was glowing a sickly greenish-yellow, even his eyes – evidence of Scarlet's corruption.  Though it granted them more strength, size, and resilience, it also seemed to make them a bit more aggressive.  Deciding that this foe was not much of a threat, Xinjia began to examine the other two fools that had decided to return to the earth today.

Both of them were indeed sylvari, as she had originally observed; one male and one female.  The male was wrapped in what appeared to be large amounts of dark-colored foliage – large fronds, giant thorns, and what appeared to be thick sections of bark.  Much of it appeared to be growing straight from his body.  The assassin was familiar with the plant peoples' armoring methods, but it never ceased to be a strange sight to her.  Adding his outward appearance to the fact that he had a sword in one hand and a shield in his other, she pinned him as this group's leader – the tactician, ordering the others around the field of battle while keeping himself safe using his superior armoring and defensive weapons or simply forcing his enemies to move as they tried to get a better striking position against his seemingly inpenetrable defenses.  This one could be dangerous, but a hidden grin formed on the assassin's features as a plan began to take form in her mind.  That just left...

The female sylvari.  This was the most dangerous member of the group by far, carrying a staff made of wood and thorns.  Taking half a second to take note of the black, flower-like dress the caster was wearing, which also seemed to grow directly from her enemy's body, Xinjia's thoughts almost immediately turned to just how she'd take this one out.  Alone, it would have been simple.  The sylvari had no real defenses to speak of, so it would be simple to cut through her before she even knew the assassin was there.  In a group, she was protected, free to cast her magic upon the battlefield.  And magic wasn't so easily dodged or tricked, especially the types that the Toxic Alliance magi liked to cast.  It also didn't help that the caster knew that Xinjia was there already.  She'd have to be taken out quickly.  With a plan formulated, time resumed its pace for the assassin.  The Toxic Trio were about to make their first major mistake in this engagement:  Stepping fully into the darkness.

Xinjia's grip on her dagger tightened and she paused just long enough to smirk before she leapt into action, darkness being disturbed like layers of dust in her wake.  Staying low to the ground, she sprinted towards her foes, angling herself to intercept the large krait.

"There!  Get the one in black!" the tactician shouted as he slowed his charge, allowing the krait warrior to charge ahead with a renewed fervor.

With a ferocious hiss, the krait thrust his trident at Xinjia, impaling her.  However, instead of bleeding, Xinjia's body simply dissolved into shadows, much to the confusion of the warrior responsible for the killing blow.  His glowing eyes darted back and forth across the area, looking for any sign of the assassin, weapon at the ready.  He growled in frustration and looked to his teammates for aid.  The tactician was keeping a wary eye in Psitka's direction as he scanned the nearby area, and when his eye met the krait's he nodded.

"Thystla!" he shouted at the mage standing nearby.  "Flush the human out!  We'll take her down while he friend watches."  A vile grin spread across his features as he moved closer to Thystla, preparing to cover her spellcasting.

Thystla nodded and grinned back.  "Gladly.  I'll get her to come out of hiding... After all, you can't hide from your own mind!"  And with that, she raised the wicked-looking staff high into the air, gathering aether around her body and weaving together a spell that would cause anyone caught in it to begin hallucinating as well as making it very difficult to breathe, effectively trapping those unfortunate enough to find themselves within its area of effect.  All in all, it was a devastating spell, one that the Toxic Alliance had perfected.

At that moment, there was a flash of green from above them and then three Xinjias fell from the ceiling.  They all hit the ground at the same time, one in front of each of the Toxic soldiers, then they all immediately leapt into action.  The Xinjia facing off with the krait leapt at his face and he recoiled, bringing his trident up to block the attack and hissing defiantly.  The copy nearest the tactician immediately went into a defensive stance and deftly dodged the thrust of his sword.  The shadow in front of the caster pulled back and hit her with a very solid punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of her, then pivoted and threw a bladed star at the krait's head in one smooth motion.

=====

The image that had attacked the serpentine warrior dispersed into shadows when it rammed the shaft of his trident, leaving him infuriated at being tricked again.  Before he could react, he saw a flash of light and then felt a sharp sting right under his left eye.  Bellowing in rage at nearly being blinded, he whipped around to face the one responsible.  He found his target easily and focused on the assassin, roaring again as he prepared to skewer his antagonist.  Much to the warrior's satisfaction, she seemed to be momentarily stunned as she took an involuntary step backwards.  He tensed his muscles and then lunged forward at blinding speed, the tip of his trident splitting the air in front of him in a powerful thrust.  This time, his weapon found its mark, the satisfying resistance of blades impacting flesh traveling up his weapon to his hands.

"Gotcha," he hissed smugly, eyeing his kill before he ended her with a final, devastating blow.    And then he blinked, not quite comprehending the humanoid on the other end of his trident.  Leaves for hair, a black, flower-like garment growing from her body, and a staff?

Before he could puzzle it out any further, a movement to the side of his trident drew his attention.  His eyes moved to the source and recognition dawned upon him in a split second.  There was the one in black, and she was throwing som--  FLASH!  The warrior let out a pained hiss as he was blinded by the flash powder the woman had lobbed at him.  He recoiled, taking his trident with him, and the sylvari that had been impaled on it slumped forward, her staff clattering to the ground.

=====

Xinjia stood next to the face-down body of Thystla.  She was still breathing, but just barely.  Xinjia could still get some use out of this one, yet.  The assassin checked how her defensive shadow was faring against the leader of the group, and noted that he was still engaging it.  The fool.  With a thought, she sent it careening into his blade, making it disperse into shadows once more.  Realizing his mistake at that point, he whipped around, eyes going wide at the sight of Xinjia standing over the bloody body of his teammate.

"You... You monster!" he shouted, brandishing his sword.

Xinjia merely quirked an eyebrow, and then rolled the body on the floor over with her foot.  At the sudden prodding and movement, the sylvari wheezed and took a shuddering breath.

"T-Thorne..." she managed, and then gurgled in the back of her throat.

The tactician's features grew grim.  "Don't worry, Thystla, I'm coming.  It won't end here," he said as he started to advance on the human clad in black.

Before he could take more than a couple of steps, the assassin drew her jade dagger from its sheathe and plunged it straight into Thystla's heart in one swift motion, twisting it for good measure as her victim sputtered on the floor.  Xinjia maintained eye contact with Thorne through the entire grisly motion.  After a few seconds, she withdrew the nectar-covered dagger and lowered herself into a defensive stance, noting the rage that was etched onto the other sylvari's face.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" he screamed as he charged, blade whistling through the air.

Fueled by anger, Thorne's strikes were powerful, but unfocused.  Xinjia easily dodged around most of the blows, parrying and deflecting others still.  Thorne lifted his sword high into the air and brought it down, trying to chop the assassin in half, but Xinjia merely side-stepped, then leapt over his head.  As she landed, she spun in place and kicked the sylvari in the back, sending him sprawling forward, his sword skidding across the floor in front of him and coming to a rest against Thystla's body.

Xinjia calmly walked past Thorne as he attempted to stand again.  When she arrived at her target, she bent down and picked up the sylvari's sword, then turned to him.  He had just managed to stand up and was eyeing her warily from behind his shield.  Listening, Xinjia could hear the sounds of a very angry krait behind her, his breaths coming out as frustrated hisses and snarls.  Her blinding powder should be wearing off right about now.  Time for the final act of this show.

With that thought, she flipped the sword in her hand so that it was pointed towards the ground,  then stabbed it directly into the heart of the corpse at her feet.  She watched as Thorne reached out to try and stop her during the act, but it was a futile gesture, as he was too far away to do anything about it.  She saw many emotions flash across the sylvari's face – bewilderment, confusion, anger, and finally righteous indignation.  Xinjia released the hilt of the blade, leaving it buried in Thystla's chest, then backed away and faded into the shadows.

=====

"Argh!  Why won't you die?!" Thorne shouted as he rushed forward.  He gripped the hilt of his sword, then began to scan the area, only to have his search stopped when his eyes fell upon two glowing orbs staring back at him from the darkness.  Preparing for another surprise attack, he quickly pulled his sword from its impromptu sheathe and brandished it at the bits of light floating far above the floor.

"Traitor!" the lights hissed angrily, causing Thorne's eyes to go wide.  He glanced down at his nectar-covered blade, then at Thystla's corpse, and finally back to the glowing eyes of the murderous krait warrior hidden in the darkness, realization dawning upon him.

"X'izsh, this isn't what it looks like," he tried to reason.

"TRAITOR!" the krait spat forcefully.  "Scarlet's ranks have no place for traitors!"

With that, X'izsh leapt from the darkness and thrust his trident at Thorne.  The sylvari barely got his shield up in time to deflect the blow, and it left a gash in the metal to show for the nearly fatal blow.  Again and again, the krait thrust his weapon, Thorne barely able to keep up with the speed and ferocity of the blows.  Finally, with a bloodthirsty snarl, X'izsh swung his trident from the side, knocking Thorne's shield away.  Before the sylvari could react, the krait warrior had spun his trident around and given a mighty thrust.  The blow pierced through the sylvari's armor and into his body.  Thorne coughed up nectar and X'izsh grinned viciously at him, sharp fangs glinting in the dim light.

Not sparing anymore breath threatening the sylvari, X'izsh grunted as he lifted his prize off the floor.  With a mighty heave, the krait swung his trident, flinging Thorne from its tips and against the wall of the hallway with a sickening crunch.  Pieces of armor and flesh fell from the end of the trident where it had been torn off by the hooks at the tips, splattering to the floor.  X'izsh stood breathing heavily, caught in the thrill of his kill, as his adrenaline rush began to ebb away.

Suddenly, he felt his breaths cut short.  It was becoming harder to breathe, and it felt as though he had more saliva in his throat.  He coughed and tasted copper.  His breaths came more quickly, but he still couldn't get any air.  His tongue felt heavy and there was an odd itch in the front and back of his neck.  Then, an odd sensation... something twisting in his neck and an explosion of pain.  He tried to hiss, but only a gurgling sound came out, followed by more coughing as he fought to gain breath.  He fell forward weakly, a pool of dark red spreading out in front of him.  His vision wavered and began to close in at the edges, growing darker and darker before fading to white.

=====

Xinjia pulled her dagger from the krait's neck and left him to bleed out on the floor.  She sheathed it and walked back to where Psitka was still standing.  They nodded to each other, then walked together past the corpses of their enemies, deeper into the bowels of Scarlet's doomsday machine.

[Auren]

As they traveled down the seemingly endless hallway, Psitka kept a close watch for anything that might activate a door or hatch that they could use to get to the true interior of the ship.  Though she spotted no exits, she did notice that some of the lights they were passing were dimmer than the ones surrounding them.  It was hardly noticeable really, so she just chalked it up to the stunt she pulled earlier when she ripped the wires out of the wall.  Sighing at having to use up precious aetheric energy, she activated her Aetheric Field Manipulator and set it to the scan mode.  When the results came back for the local area, Psitka's brow rose in surprise.

Apparently, the walls nearby weren't what they professed to be.  Checking back and forth between the scan data and her surroundings, she managed to spot the discrepency – one of the dim lights.

"Hey...  I think I found something!" she said, grabbing Xinjia's attention as she ran past, stopping right underneath the dim light.  "Do you see this?"

Xinjia nodded slowly and arched an eyebrow.

"How silly of me, of course you do.  It is a light after all.  But did you notice anything different about it?"  Psitka grinned with anticipation, eager to show her friend the secret to getting out of this trap.

The assassin slowly shook her head, then stopped and glanced at the nearby lights, then back to the one right above them.  Looking back to Psitka with a confused expression, Xinjia pointed at the light above them, then at one of the lights nearby, and then made an "X" with her fingers.

"That's right!" Psitka said gleefully.  "They are not the same!  And I think I know why.  May I borrow your sword?"  The sylvari held out her hands expectantly, grinning.

Xinjia shuffled nervously, hand going to the hilt of the jade sword protectively.  After a few awkward moments, the woman sighed and unsheathed the sword.  She looked it over once and hesitantly handed it over to Psitka, who quickly snatched it from her grasp.

Psitka giggled.  "Oh don't be a baby!  I won't hurt it, I promise!  I'll even give it right back this time!"  With that, she lifted the blade above her head so it was pointed straight at the light on the ceiling.  Unfortunately, the tassel on the end of the weapon dangled down into her face, sliding across her eyes and mouth as she tried to line it up.  Psitka's aim wobbled as she attempted to blow the strand out of her face, with mixed results.  After a few seconds of struggle, she seized upon a moment of clarity to gently thrust the weapon upwards.  The tip of the sword met the light with a metallic tap, and both Xinjia and Psitka let out a sigh of relief.

"Well, that was far more difficult than it needed to be," the engineer remarked with a huff.  "I mean really, all I had to do was put the blade to the light fixture!"

Xinjia looked less than impressed, shrugging her shoulders and gesturing to the surrounding area questioningly.

"Hold your horses," Psitka responded in mock exasperation.  "I'm not finished!  Watch!"  With that, she pushed up on the sword, depressing the light like a button.  With a rumble and the squeal of metal, a section of wall next to them pivoted inwards, revealing another hallway leading directly towards the center of the airship.  Satisfied with her discovery, Psitka handed the sword back to Xinjia, who snatched it away faster than the eye could follow.  The sylvari smirked and looked down the newly-opened hallway as her friend checked the weapon over for damage.

The new passage was lit by a soft red glow that came from further in, and Psitka could see a rather large room beyond where the hall ended.  Motioning for Xinjia to follow her, the sylvari made her way towards what she could only hope was the control room.  As they cautiously moved forward, Psitka took the opportunity to check the walls, floors, and ceiling for any obvious traps or defensive measures.  Her expression lowered into a thoughtful frown when she could find no traces of either, lending to her original thoughts that this airship had been very hastily constructed.  Hardly any defenses to speak of, small numbers of troops on board, and the unfinished appearance – they all lent to the idea that this gargantuan airship wasn't intended to be recovered.  It would serve its purpose, but then was fully expected to be lost during the endeavor.

In a way, it had Scarlet's fingerprints all over it, as she had a habit of abandoning her inventions and manipulations as soon as she achieved her own goals.  Then she'd slip away just before she was truly cornered.  The question bouncing around Psitka's mind was "why?"  This airship was supposed to be the exception to that rule!  Everything that had been discovered about Scarlet pointed to this attack against Lion's Arch as being her end-game.  Her brow furrowed as she contemplated the thought that perhaps this wasn't Scarlet's end-game, that it was an elaborate ruse to distract all of Tyria once again.

Releasing a sigh of frustration, the sylvari's attention was pulled from her thoughts as they came to the exit of the passage.  Keeping an air of caution, Psitka and Xinjia stepped into the room slowly, their eyes scanning for any trouble.  Upon finding none, the engineer began to examine their surroundings with more care.

The first thing that jumped out to her was the size of the room they found themselves standing in.  It was gigantic!  If she had to guess, she'd say this room was pretty much what the entire ship was built around.  She and Xinjia were standing at the top of a ramp that led down to the floor of the room, which was just a large flat expanse as far as she could tell.  The only light was being provided by large red tubes that protruded from the walls all the way around the area.  It seemed like there was fluid inside of them, moving around in currents and eddies that were visible even from across the room.  Psitka figured that the tubes must be some sort of cooling system for the ship's many moving parts, as well as for the large drill that should've been right below the center of this room.

With that thought, her gaze fell to the center of the room, taking in the huge column that ran from floor to ceiling.  It was surrounded by wires that ran off in all directions, most running across the top of the room.  There was also a large, flat, metallic disk that hung suspended near the top of the column, surrounding it.  It had large holes cut in it at regular intervals, but it all seemed more like an aesthetic touch than a functional one.  That oddity aside, the true draw of the center column were the three large crystals that floated within it, slowly spinning around the inner chamber.  They were glowing with a soft blue light, though it was so dim that it couldn't overcome the ambient red of the coolant tubes.

Psitka found her observations inturrupted once again by Xinjia.  The assassin had put a hand on her shoulder and was gently shaking her while pointing near the base of the column.  Psitka's gaze dropped to where her friend was pointing and as she focused on it, she could just barely make out what appeared to be control panels and monitors in the dim light.  The sylvari turned to the human and grinned.

"Great job!  Looks like that is where we need to be," she said.  She checked their surroundings once more before she added, "Keep your guard up.  Scarlet's not known for being predictable, but as long as she hasn't accomplished her goal here, she's bound to be nearby."

When Xinjia nodded, the pair made their way down the ramp that ran along the outer edge of the room.  In only a few moments, they found themselves at the bottom, staring straight at the entrance to what could only be described as the control center of the airship.  The control columns that came up to Psitka's chest created nearly a complete circle, the keypads topping each one glowing a light purple.  Some of the columns ascended further and were topped with holographic display monitors at eye level, though they were all off at that moment.  Psitka didn't waste a second, walking up to the nearest console, checking for any buttons or symbols she recognized.  Upon finding one, she pushed the button, activating a nearby holographic display.  After a moment of deciphering the information being displayed, she began typing at an amazing speed, her fingers flying over the keyboard with practiced ease.

"Let's see..." she began, "It looks like Scarlet's drill is about three-quarters of the way to the leyline.  We still have time to stop it!"  Psitka's grin was dazzling as she came to that conclusion, though it slowly lost its luster as she continued to dig.  "What in the...  There's no way to turn it off?"  Disbelief hung heavily in her voice and Xinjia turned to the sylvari with an eyebrow raised.  With a shake of her head, Psitka continued voicing her thoughts, "It looks like the only way to get the drill to stop is to destroy this ship.  I mean, that was the plan all along, but I was expecting a 'final showdown' to be the circumstance that brought this behemoth down...  Also, what kind of a name is 'Breachmaker' anyway?  I mean, I'll give it that it's ominous and describes what it does, but it really doesn't have much flair."

Xinjia simply looked at the sylvari like she'd lost her marbles.  Again.  She gestured angrily at the display monitors, then at the crystals in the center column of the room, finishing her charade with a gesture that looked a bit like an explosion.  Finally, she pointed at Psitka, crossed her arms, and tapped her foot impatiently.

The sylvari smiled sadly, but nodded.  "Yes, yes, I'll do it.  I'm not having second thoughts.  But before I destroy this ship, let's see if I can find anything in this database that would point to what her actual goal for tapping the leyline is."  At the assassin's enraged expression, Psitka put her hands up defensively.  "It's a safety measure!  I'll admit, I am curious on a personal level, but if we know what she really wants, we'll also be able to beat her to the punch if she manages to get away again.  Or to prevent another Lion's Arch from happening," she added when the assassin's expression didn't change.  At that, Xinjia's eyes hardened.  After a moment, she huffed and turned back around to keep a look-out for any possible dangers.

Psitka released a small sigh and went back to digging through the Breachmaker's data files.

[Auren]

It wasn't long before Psitka found something.

"What's this?  'Prime energy'?" she mumbled to herself before looking over the data detailing the term, her eyes getting wide when she started to realize what she was looking at.  "It's an energy construct that's out of phase with reality," she said with soft wonderment.  "But, this can't be.  The type of energy required to make this magitech work is--"

"Extremely difficult to find," a feminine voice interrupted from the top of the ramp they had used minutes earlier.

With a surprised gasp, Psitka whipped around to face the newcomer, though she already knew who it was.  There was no mistaking that voice.

"Scarlet!" she yelled, glaring at the other sylvari.  Xinjia had already unsheathed her weapons and fallen into a ready stance.  Psitka noticed that Scarlet looked a little different than the last time she'd spotted her and took a moment to look her over.

She wasn't much taller than the average human, though she had an intimidating air about her.  Her skin was a chalky grey-green color and the leaves of her hair were a bright red.  She had two spiky additions that grew out of the top of her head that were also bright red.  Her olive green eyes glowed with a crazed malice.

As far as armor, she wore a blood-red leather suit that was covered in silver buckles and reenforced metal plates.  Scarlet's weapon of choice was holstered on her back and appeared to be some sort of large rifle.  Her shoulders and arms were covered by impressive-looking magitech gear, which glowed a bright blue, and was accented by the same blood red coloration of her suit.  She carried the helmet that completed the whole look in her left hand.

Scarlet simply laughed in amusement at the two intruders before continuing her explanation.  "Luckily for me, the data the Inquest had collected during their studies with Dragon magic was enough to make a small generator," she gestured at the center column in the room.  "Using that generator,  I could manufacture the Prime Energy I needed for my inventions."

"More like abominations!" Psitka shot back.

"Oh please," Scarlet replied, waving away the accusation.  "You and I both know they're brilliant."

Psitka's glare sharpened.  "You don't know me!  Why would you even think that I'd agree with you?!" she spat venemously.

Scarlet's eyebrows went up, and then she giggled.  "My dear Psitka... You were the inspiration for the Prime Energy constructs!"  When she saw the look of disbelief and confusion on Psitka's face, Scarlet smirked.  "Oh yes.  I've had my eye on you for a while.  In fact, I do believe you were a blip on my radar while I was organizing the Molten Alliance.

"After all, that was when you ...appeared, is it not?"

Realization dawned upon the distraught sylvari.  Indeed, that was the point in this era she had been deposited after being flung backwards through time.  Her Aetheric Field Manipulator was damaged during the escape, and traveling through the time stream had the unintended side-effect of over-filling the device's Temporal energy reserves.  Unfortunately, these two circumstances combined with explosive effects.  The only way to safely vent the excess energy was to use it to make short jumps in the time stream, backwards or forwards.

Still grinning, Scarlet nodded at Psitka's realization.  "That's right.  You were making so many ripples across the aetheric spectrum, I couldn't help but notice!  I almost ignored them, you know," she went on, making her way down the ramp.  "That is, until you started showing up wherever my Aetherblades did.  I don't know how you did it, but you always managed to be right there when they tried to carry out my orders."  Scarlet's grin changed to a scowl in the blink of an eye.

"And then, when Tyria's 'heroes' met with my forces and traps in the Twilight Arbor, you came to their aid.  I was watching as you used magitech far beyond anything I'd ever seen to deactivate the best defense measures I had ever built.  Oh, your friends probably didn't understand enough about magitech to realize what you were doing...  But I did.

"So you caught my eye.  Good job," her scowl quickly transformed back into a malicious grin.    She reached the bottom of the ramp and stopped, taking Psitka's angry silence as invitation to continue.

"When I attempted to analyze those little aetheric bursts you generate, it almost seemed to be a completely new type of aethermancy, though it wasn't focused enough for a good read."  Scarlet's grin became wider when she saw Psitka visibly relax at that news.

"Oh, are you pleased that you have a toy I couldn't take apart?" she said sweetly before her voice took on a harder edge.  "It was nothing a little experimentation couldn't solve.  Imagine my surprise when the energy could be used to pull apart the fabric of reality, if only for a small amount of time."  The sylvari clad in red laughed in triumph at Psitka's look of horror.  Psitka shook her head and attempted to talk over Scarlet's laughter with a plea of her own.

"Scarlet, you don't understand what you're tampering with!  What you're doing has grave consequences!" she tried, and Scarlet's laughter halted abruptly.

"Oh no.  I know exactly what I'm doing.  I'm winning!" Scarlet proclaimed victoriously.

"But—"

"NO!" Scarlet shouted, her features shifting back to boiling rage.  "I will get rid of you, and your friend there," she said, pointing at Xinjia, "and then no one will be able to stand against me!"

With that declaration, Scarlet donned the helmet she'd been carrying and reached around to pull a large rifle off of her back.  She quickly readied the weapon and took aim at Psitka.  Without missing a beat, Psitka charged Scarlet while channeling a electro-kinetic blast through her AFM.  Xinjia reacted even more quickly, dodging out of the line of fire and then closing the distance between herself and her target with blinding speed.

In less than two seconds, the assassin was within striking distance of her mark.  She leapt into the air, determined to use her momentum to drive her blades through the sylvari's body and knock her over in the process.  Time seemed to slow down as she crossed the space between them.  Xinjia could see Scarlet's finger putting pressure on the weapon's trigger, the sadistic grin on her lips, and the way her body was glowing...  As time sped up again, Xinjia braced for an impact that never came.  She simply went right through Scarlet's body and slid across the floor on the other side of the sylvari before flipping to her feet and spinning to face what she had thought to be a solid foe.

Psitka skidded to a halt in front of the image of Scarlet, her wrist device glowing with the stored aetheric energy and a confused look on her face.  The image smirked and pulled the trigger.

"Bang."

Psitka flinched, but nothing happened.  The image of Scarlet began to laugh hysterically before fading away.  The sound of laughter did not fade away however, and instead started coming from behind the disoriented sylvari.  Gritting her teeth, Psitka spun around and spotted what she could only assume was the real Scarlet, who had taken her place at the control center.

"Holomancy has its perks," Scarlet said with a grin.  She started typing on the keyboard in front of her, and before Psitka or Xinjia could make another move, the crystals within the room's center column lit up with a thrum that left their bones vibrating and the room bathed in blue light.  As the crystals began to rotate faster, Scarlet stopped typing and held a finger over one of the buttons on the keyboard dramatically, then turned her head to look at Psitka.  "You know, it would be a shame if I didn't let you see what I was able to do with the inspiration you've provided.  Consider this thanks for that.  Where my Prime holograms are defensive in nature, this is my weaponized prototype!"

With a mad grin, she pushed the button.  Immediately, part of the ceiling slid open and one of Scarlet's mechanical monstrosities fell to the floor with a clang.  It didn't look much different than the ones she'd been terrorizing Tyria with for the past few months at first glance.  It had a small body with four long, spindly legs that ended in giant, sharp pieces of metal, looking all the world like claws.  Upon closer inspection, one could see that its face was completely different.  While the original models all had strange distortions of a woman's face on them, this one looked more like a nightmare.  Its neck had been extended with what appeared to be a flexible tube, and on the end sat a large, mechanical eye.  On the beast's back was a large lump that was also not part of the original design.  Clockwork components were visible all along its body and at limb joints, as well as inactive aetheric circuitry that covered most of the metal terror.

"Allow me to introduce... The Reality-ripper!" Scarlet crowed.

Psitka groaned.

[Auren]

The machine stood up with a metallic grind, its aetheric circuitry glowing to life and its clockwork components spinning up to speed.  For a machine, its movements were unsettlingly organic.  Its slender neck swayed back and forth as the eye on the end looked around the room.  As it continued to stand in place, scanning the area, Scarlet cleared her throat.

"Right, no friend-foe recognition," she said with a small hint of embarrassment.  "Prototype RR dash zero one, input voice command."

"Acknowledged," it deadpanned in a synthetic voice, its movements coming to a halt before it continued, "Voice recognized – Scarlet Briar.  Awaiting command."

Scarlet grinned maliciously as she paused for dramatic effect.  Psitka and Xinjia looked at eachother, then back to the monstrous machine as they tensed in preparation for what was coming.

"Command:  All lifeforms in this room are targets.  Exception:  Lifeform Scarlet Briar.  Command:  Destroy targets.  Command:  Execute."

As Scarlet finished her final command, the Ripper's single eye whipped around to stare straight at Psitka and Xinjia.  Its entire body followed suit and when it was facing the pair fully, it planted its feet with a metallic clank.  Its aetheric circuitry flared for a moment before a flash of light traveled up the creature's neck and into its eye, the tell-tale hum of energy being gathered reverberating through the room.

Psitka's eyes widened in panic before she shouted, "Look out!" and dove out of the way.  Not a second later, an energy beam that would've roasted her alive sliced through the metal where her feet had just been.  She let her momentum carry her further and rolled to her feet, her head snapping around to check for another attack.  The machine was still focused on her and if the glow in its eye and hum of energy were any indication, it wasn't going to give her a chance to rest.  With a grunt of effort, Psitka dove again, narrowly dodging another energy beam.  Panting, she scrambled to her feet and turned back to the monster, the color draining from her face when she saw it was ready to fire again.  Panic seized her mind and she froze, unable to think of anything but her own imminent death.

Just as the monster was about to fire its weapon, Xinjia crashed into its neck, pushing it sideways.  The beam sliced through pieces of the floor next to Psitka, startling the sylvari out of her fear-induced stupor.  Shaking her head and gritting her teeth, Psitka charged the monstrosity.  As she ran, she saw that Xinjia had managed to get on top of the eye and was attempting to stab it, though the blows she was raining down on it merely glanced off.  Whatever the creature was made of, it was extremely tough, even where she would've guessed a weak point would be.  Still, the action was distracting the creature.  It had started to whip its neck back and forth in an attempt to dislodge the assassin, but she refused to give up her position and continued to stab at her unwilling ride when she could manage.  As Psitka got closer, she began to charge her Aetheric Field Manipulator again.  She'd hit the beast with a blast of pure aetheric energy and see how it liked it!

The monster suddenly stopped trying to hurl its rider off and stared straight at Psitka.  She saw one of its back legs bend up and over its body at an impossible angle, its razor-sharp claws going in to catch her friend off-guard.  A look of horror passed over her features and she cried out to the assassin.  Xinjia noticed the incoming claws and leapt from the creatures neck, but she was a moment too late.  One of the blades caught her in the side as she twisted in the air, knocking her off balance and sending her crashing towards the ground.  The assassin managed to catch herself at the last moment and turn a potentially fatal faceplant into a painful roll when she hit the ground.

Psitka's attention was pulled back to the metal monstrosity when she heard the familiar hum of building energy.  The sylvari smirked and punched a fist towards the glowing eye of her foe, unleashing the stored energy within her wrist device with a bright flash of light.  The aether twisted violently in the air, the electric arc of pure destructive force finding its mark instantly and spreading in smaller arcs across the body of the metal monster.  It released a synthetic roar and took a few steps backwards, nearly stumbling on its own claws.  Its neck whipped around violently, the eye on the end scanning the room while its synthetic voice deadpanned "Acquiring targets.  Error: Optical feedback limit" over and over.

Satisfied with this small step forward, Psitka quickly made her way over to her friend.  Xinjia had just managed to stand up, though she looked a little shaky on her feet.  She was clutching the side she'd been struck on with one hand and Psitka frowned at the sight of blood oozing from the wound.

"Are you going to be okay?" she asked as she helped Xinjia steady herself.  The assassin nodded and took a step forward, but the movement made her wince and she drew a sharp breath in through gritted teeth.  Psitka smiled and shook her head before reaching into a small pouch that was hanging from a belt on her waist.  "You're always so stubborn.  Here, take this," she said as she pulled something out of the pouch.

Xinjia would've rolled her eyes if she wasn't in so much pain.  Without hesitation, she held out her unbloodied hand and Psitka carefully dropped a handful of soil onto the assassin's palm.  With a moment of concentration, the sylvari's hand began to glow and after a few more seconds a tiny flower bud burst from the earthen lump.  With a small sparkle, the flower bloomed and the human felt a wave of relief sweep through her body, pushing the pain away with it.

"There," the sylvari said with a grin, "That should help seal your wound up so it stops bleeding.  It'll also help with the pain."

At that moment, the Reality-ripper's voice drew Psitka's attention.  "Optical device online.  Acquiring targets.  Targets acquired."  The sylvari spun to face her foe only to find that it was already staring her down, the familiar hum of charging energy filling the room once more.

"Oh no you don't!" she shouted, jumping away from her friend and then running straight at the monster.  Confident that if she got close enough, the monster couldn't fire its beam at her, she channeled the aetheric power in her wrist-mounted device into a personal shield.  It would absorb the brunt of the creature's beam, but it would cost precious energy to completely negate it.

With cold efficiency, the monster released its destructive weapon, connecting with Psitka's shield with a blinding flash.  The force of it stopped Psitka in her tracks, threatening to knock her backwards.  She grit her teeth and braced against it, her shield holding against the onslaught.  As quickly as it had begun, the attack stopped, though that familiar hum was rising in pitch yet again.  Psitka's shield dropped, leaving her Aetheric Field Manipulator flashing a yellow warning at her.  She knew that meant she was at less than 20% power.  She was running out of time and options.  She was within sprinting distance now.  If she pushed she could--

"STOP!"

With that command the sound of charging energy faded away, accompanied by a synthetic acknowledgement of "Voice command accepted."  Psitka looked at the creature.  It stared back at her.  She looked over to Xinjia.  The assassin pointed at Scarlet.  Scarlet grinned at Psitka.

"Yes.  As amusing as it is to watch you smash your head against my creations repeatedly until one of you breaks, I sincerely doubt that tactic will work this time.  No, I promised to show you what my research into Prime energy has yielded, did I not?"  Chuckling, Scarlet began to type on the keyboard in front of her and after a few seconds, the generator in the center of the room grew brighter.

"I've actually just been stalling for time while my lovely generator converted enough aether into Prime energy for a proper demonstration."  She turned her attention to the inert metal fiend, "Prototype RR dash zero one.    Command:  Disable primary weapon system.  Command:  Activate Reaper weapon system.  Command:  Run Reaper weapon sub-routines."

Psitka felt her stomach do a flip.  She did not like the sound of this.  The sylvari was startled when a figure stepped up beside her, but sighed with relief when she saw it was Xinjia.  It was a small comfort to know that her friend was feeling well enough to fight once more.  Turning her attention back to the Reality-ripper, she realized that it hadn't moved yet.  Psitka looked over to Scarlet, only to find the other sylvari already staring at her with a sadistic grin.

"Now then," she started, her words laced with barely contained excitement, "I hope you appreciate what I'm doing for you!  This is the first field test of this system.  It is the first of its kind, and you have the honor of being involved in this momentous occasion!

"Ready or not!  Command:  Execute!"

[Auren]

The Reality-ripper's aetheric circuitry flared when the command was given, dimming moments later.  It turned its back towards the generator in the center of the room, all the while keeping its single eye focused on Psitka and Xinjia.  With a metallic whine, a fifth, tail-like limb stretched from the monster's back.  There were sharp spikes of metal at each of the joints and the areas between each joint were covered in smooth metal plates.  Instead of tapering to a point or a deadly bludgeoning device with yet more spikes, the tail instead ended in what appeared to be some sort of cylindrical socket.  Without hesitation, the tip found a matching plug hidden on the generator and plugged itself in.  The aetheric circuitry across the Ripper's body flared to life once more, even brighter than before, though it was tinged purple.  Even the beast's eye glowed with an ominous purple-white light as it continued to stare emotionlessly at its targets.

Psitka frowned at the sight, her brow furrowing.  "It can't be...  This isn't good," she mumbled to herself before she glanced at her friend.  "Xinjia!  Get closer!"  The assassin immediately followed the command and Psitka quickly expended half of her remaining aetheric energy to encase herself and Xinjia in a protective shield.  Her Aetheric Field Manipulator immediately began flashing a red warning at her, though she didn't have to look at it to know what it said.

Suddenly, a purple-tinged flash of light came from the creature, leaving Psitka and Xinjia slightly dazzled.  As they tried to blink away the spots, Psitka heard a distinct chime come from her Aetheric Field Manipulator.  The metallic whirr of clockwork gears sounded from behind them and before either of the women could react, something hit them with such force that the shield covering them shattered.  They were lifted off their feet and hurled across the room, landing hard and rolling a few feet before coming to a rest.

------

Xinjia was the first to get to her feet, turning the surprise tumble into a somewhat graceful recovery.  As Psitka slowly pushed herself up off the floor, the assassin looked across the room to see what had hit them.  Her eyebrows went high in surprise when she saw it was the Reality-ripper, which had just finished facing them once again.  The assassin figured the creature must've struck them, given that it was the only thing capable of the act in the area, but how it had gotten behind them was beyond her.  As she replayed the seconds leading up to being thrown across the room in her mind, she looked over to check on Psitka.  The sylvari appeared unharmed, though a bit shaken.  Psitka gave a small smile and nod of acknowledgement before her gaze snapped to the Reality-ripper.  A look of terror washed across her face just before a purple-white flash lit up the room again and another chime rang out.

Xinjia blinked, and as her eyelids rose, she saw something looming behind them out of the corner of her eye.  Without thinking, she shoved Psitka away and cartwheeled backwards.  Half a second later, the Reality-ripper's tail slammed into the metal floor, creating a sizeable dent where both women had just been standing.  Pushing the question of how the monster had gotten behind them yet again out of her mind, Xinjia ran towards it, deftly avoiding its talons when it swung at her.  The clockwork monstrosity's aetheric circuits were not nearly as bright as they had been when it was standing on the other side of the room, but they were getting brighter by the second.  Xinjia quickly glanced to the other side of the Reality-ripper, noting that Psitka had regained her footing and was dodging the creature's claws as well.  Their eyes met and Xinjia dashed underneath the clockwork monster to meet up with her teammate, looking for any obvious weak points as she traveled.

When she passed underneath the Reality-ripper, another clawed appendage attempted to skewer her, but Xinjia side-stepped and retaliated with a thrust of her dagger to one of the joints in the nightmarish hand.  The blade glanced off the joint with an ineffective "clink," and the monster responded by bringing its clawed hand across the ground in an attempt to sweep the assassin off her feet.  Xinjia nimbly leapt on top of it, using it as a springboard to launch herself towards the joint where the leg connected to the monster's body.

She immediately discovered that there were no handholds on the creature's leg and slipped off before she had a chance to test the joint with the tip of her dagger.  The assassin landed on her feet gracefully, but had to dive forward to avoid the Reality-ripper's fist as it slammed into the ground where she had just been standing.  Xinjia found her footing again near Psitka, and she pivoted on the ball of her foot to face the monster once more, her teammate by her side.  Instead of taking another swing at the pair, the monster planted all of its clawed appendages on the floor, widening its stance.  The aetheric circuitry flared brightly and it disappeared with a flash.  Less than a second later, Xinjia heard the tell-tale whirring of clockwork coming from behind her as well as a distinct chime to her side.  She immediately leapt away, narrowly dodging claws that punched holes in the floor where she had just been standing.  Spinning around, she saw that Psitka had also managed to dodge the claws that had been aimed at her.

-----

Psitka grimaced at the sight of the damage to the floor where she had been only moments before.  She paused only long enough to sight her target before running forward and landing a powerful kick onto the metal arm holding the claws.  The gong-like crash of metal against metal rang through the room - the greaves she wore were made of solid metal plates, molded out of an especially tough alloy that wouldn't be invented for another hundred years.  It wasn't obvious unless one looked very closely at them, but the added durability and shine offered by the alloy was especially unusual in this age, which often led her to wonder why no one had ever questioned her about them.  Either way, as she danced out of the creature's reach and readied herself for another attack, she was once again thankful that her predecessor had been such an accomplished martial artist, gifting her with just enough knowledge and muscle memory to see her through this kind of trouble.  She also noted with a small amount of satisfaction that she had left a dent in the monster's arm, though it would take many more blows like that one to even slow the beast down.

To her surprise, the Reality-ripper backed away from her.  She stood dumbfounded for a moment, watching as the clockwork monster fended off Xinjia's attacks with its claws, before she noticed that its aetheric circuitry was about as dim as it was when they first started fighting it.  The circuitry was slowly getting brighter, but it was nowhere near what it had been even a few moments ago.  Silently marveling at her good fortune, Psitka tried to organize what she knew about it while it seemed to be distracted. 

'The aetheric circuitry of the beast had been charged by the generator,' she thought to herself, her eyes flicking over to the column in the center of the room.  'Scarlet said the generator was able to create Prime energy.  Prime energy was based on Temporal energy.'  Psitka frowned.  She felt like she was forgetting something.  What had Scarlet called the monster?  Reality-ripper?  Understanding flashed through Psitka's mind as a grin painted itself across her features.

"Of course!" she shouted jubilantly.  She looked over towards the monster who was still being harried by the assassin.  A plan in mind, Psitka called out for her friend, "Xinjia!  Get over here!"

The assassin dodged another strike, then cartwheeled away from the Reality-ripper, easily getting out of range when it didn't pursue her.  She quickly made her way to Psitka, all the while keeping a wary eye on the clockwork machine.  It simply stared back as its circuits continued to grow brighter and brighter.

As Xinjia came to stand next to her, Psitka noticed that the assassin was breathing heavily.  Xinjia looked at her out of the corner of her eye, an eyebrow arched expectantly while she was catching her breath.

"Okay, so I think I have this thing figured out," she started, smiling at her friend.  "It's using Temporal energy to 'tunnel' through space.  It's like teleportation, but far less efficient than using aetheric energy," she explained, but her excitement began to drain away as she realized what she had just said.  "And if that's the case, then why wouldn't she use--?"

Before she could continue, a bright flash came from the Reality-ripper and both women took a panicked leap to the side again.  However, this time, there was no crash that followed their dodges, simply another chime from Psitka's Aetheric Field Manipulator.  Not taking any chances, both women spun around anyway and saw... nothing.  Psitka glanced towards the generator and spotted the machine.  It had just plugged itself in again, and its aetheric circuitry was slowly working itself up to a blindingly bright glow once more.  Unsure of how much time they had left to rest, Psitka started detailing the plan she had hastily thrown together.

"Xinjia, it's going to teleport again.  When we see the flash, we'll know it's going to be directly behind us.  It will try to strike us right after that."  Psitka glanced at the woman standing next to her and Xinjia nodded, never taking her eyes off of the clockwork machine.

Psitka's grin faded away.  The fact that it was using Temporal energy to teleport was gnawing away at her, and her gut was insisting that she had somehow come to the wrong conclusion.  And that chime was making her uneasy.  She hadn't been able to place it initially, but now that she had a moment to think about it, it sounded like the warning she received whenever events were happening or about to happen that caused timeline instability.  She shook her head to clear her thoughts and continued with her plan.

"We'll get out of the way, strike back the best we can, and then back up.  Make it come to us.  At the least, we'll force it to recharge every few teleports.  Best case, we'll discover a weakness."  She forced a smile that she hoped looked confident before turning her attention back to the Reality-ripper.  Its circuitry was glowing brilliantly and it had just unplugged itself from the power port, its one eye staring at them once more.  Before Psitka could say anything else, the room was lit by a brilliant flash and the chime sounded again.

With a surge of adrenaline, both women leapt away from eachother.  Psitka felt the wind coming from the monstrous claws as they sliced through the air right behind her.  Without thinking, she spun and took a spinning leap at it, her shin impacting the monster with another metallic clang.  Though it wasn't nearly as effective as she had hoped it would be, it still left a dent in the metal and she mentally patted herself on the back as she fell back towards the ground.  She nearly lost her footing when she landed, but steadied herself with a small hop backwards.  Going into a defensive stance, she spotted Xinjia on top of the monster attempting to find a weak point where the monster's legs connected to its body.  She seemed to be having a difficult time of it, dodging around the monster's deadly blades and only managing glancing hits on its joints every few seconds.  After a few moments of watching the near misses and fruitless struggles, an idea flashed through Psitka's mind, causing a true smirk to cross her features.  At that moment, Xinjia somersaulted backwards off of her perch, landing gracefully next to the sylvari.

"Xinjia," she said quickly, keeping an eye on the Reality-ripper as it once again prepared to teleport, "do you think you can get that thing to strike out towards its own neck?  I have an idea."  Psitka glanced over to Xinjia and saw the assassin nod once more.

Psitka had to admire the assassin's stoic manner.  Even against these odds, she was selflessly risking her life to protect all of Tyria.  She'd come a long way from the take-any-job hired killer that Psitka had met so long ago.  The sylvari smiled inwardly when she remembered the time the silent assassin had tried to assassinate her, accidentally causing a chain reaction that sent them into Tyria's past instead.  So much had happened on that little misadventure through ancient Cantha.

Her musing was cut short by a bright flash and another chime.  Yet again, both women rolled out of harm's way, but only by a hair.  The monster's strikes seemed to be getting more accurate, and it had nearly hit them that time.  Psitka hopped backwards and into an attack stance, charging a fraction of her remaining aetheric energy stores into a small kinetic blast.  She kept an eye on Xinjia's movements, waiting for the perfect moment to act on her plan.

She didn't have to wait long.  Xinjia expertly teased the monster into striking closer and closer to its neck, and Psitka seized the moment, predicting the assassin's next move.  She ran towards the head of the machine, easily dodging over a swipe of the monster's claws when she got within range.  She activated the stored kinetic blast in the middle of her forward roll, firing herself feet-first towards the neck of the Reality-ripper like a rocket.  On top of the beast, Xinjia had just leapt clear of a final clawed thrust, which, much like Psitka, was traveling at incredible speed towards the monster's neck.

Psitka's feet connected with her foe's flexible neck with a reverberating metallic clank, the force of the blow pushing the limb upwards as well as denting the armor plates she struck.  Unable to stop its own attack from striking true, the Reality-ripper ripped into its own neck, the squeal of metal puncturing metal ringing out across the room.  Psitka kicked off the underside of the neck, flipping backwards and landing solidly on her feet with a loud thump.  Smirking, she looked up at the metallic menace, hoping to see it go down for the count.

The Reality-ripper was still staring straight ahead, while one of its legs seemed to be stuck to the top of its "head."  One claw had become wedged within the monster's neck and Psitka could see the clockwork gears working inside the trapped limb as it attempted to dislodge it.  With a grinding noise, it pulled the claw from the metal sheathe, jagged pieces of debris, bolts, and rivets falling to the floor as it did.  The grinding didn't stop after the claws were again on the floor, though.  Sparks came from within the puncture wound, and the neck no longer seemed as flexible as it once was, shakily moving back and forth but unable to move far from the position it was now in.

"HAH!" Psitka shouted, slowly backing away from the Reality-ripper.  "Sorry Scarlet!  It looks like my head was harder than your abominations yet again!"  She looked backwards at Scarlet with a huge grin.  "I think I broke it.  I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really not," she teased.

If looks could kill, Psitka would have been nothing but a scorch mark on the floor right then.  Scarlet's hatred overflowed onto her features and she nearly spat her next words.

"Let's see how you like it when I break your friends, wretch!  Command:  Deactivate Reaper sub-routines!  Command:  Activate Scythe sub-routines!  Target Priority:  Human!  Command:  Execute!"

[Auren]

As the weight of Scarlet's commands sunk in, Psitka swept her gaze back to the Reality-ripper, not knowing what to expect.  After a tense moment, the monster responded with a stuttering, mechanical "Co-Command ack-acknowl-bzzt" and pivoted its body so it was fully facing the human assassin.  She had been patiently watching the machine, close to where she landed a minute before.  Psitka's feet were moving before she realized what she was doing.  She ran as fast as she could towards Xinjia, knowing their chances of success were far greater while they were together.  The assassin tensed as the Reality-ripper's malfunctioning eye began to charge energy, a familiar reverberating hum returning to the room.

Suddenly, the humming reached its peak and the world seemed to stop for a moment.  Xinjia, having predicted the Reality-ripper's next move, had leapt aside to avoid the beam attack that had been charging.  Psitka was sliding to a halt so that her friend wouldn't roll right into her, and it was at that moment that her Aetheric Field Manipulator made its distinctive chime.  A terrible wave of pressure blasted through the room, forcing Psitka to take a step back as the Reality-ripper unleashed its charged beam, the fabric of reality twisting and folding all along the destructive purple-white ray.  It was wider than its previous beam and caught Xinjia's legs mid-jump.  They twisted impossibly, bending at terrifying angles, all while appearing to remain completely straight.  Xinjia's eyes went wide and her back arched involuntarily.  She hit the floor hard and quickly slid to a stop.

Psitka shouted in alarm and ran to her friend, who was clutching her legs and trying to curl into a ball, her entire body trembling.  The sylvari ran her hands over the other woman's legs, but she found no blood, obvious breaks, or other wounds.  She looked into Xinjia's eyes and saw only one thing:  Fear.  The assassin's gaze flicked beyond Psitka, and the sylvari realized that the reverberation saturating the room was reaching its peak again.  With a thought, the sylvari activated a shield that encased both women, then pumped her remaining aetheric energy into it.  She turned to stare down the monster that had them pinned.  Its eye was glowing like a miniature sun, and for a second, Psitka had a distinct sense of déjà vu.

Her Aetheric Field Manipulator chimed, then the purple-white beam ripped through her shields.  Her world went white with pain.  She couldn't breathe.  She couldn't scream.  It felt like her insides were being twisted, broken, torn apart, and then put back together again so it could be done all over again.  And then it stopped, though the aftershocks continued to make ripples through her abused nerves.  As her brain started processing information again, she realized that she had felt that type of pain before.  Her mind flashed back to images of Dessa's laboratory within the Fractals of the Mists.  In her mind's eye, she saw the spatial distortions that effected any adventurers that dared venture to those islands locked in time.  Flashes of a dredge suit sending ripples in space-time each time it pounded the ground, a molten creature that shot arrows that ripped through the fabric of reality, and finally a tentacled monster within a frozen sea of jade.

Suddenly, she understood what she had to do.

Psitka pushed herself up to a kneeling position.  Her body felt sluggish and numb, but she willed her fingers across her Aetheric Field Manipulator.  As she punched in the necessary commands, she listened to the Reality-ripper charge its temporal beam.  She glanced down at the woman next to her, and a knot formed in her stomach when she saw that she wasn't moving.  Psitka pushed the thought out of her mind and continued to adjust the settings on her wrist device, hoping that she wouldn't be too late.  After few more commands and a single keystroke to activate them, Psitka held her palm out in the direction of her tormentor.  She stared death in the eye with steely determination.  Death stared back impassively, the purple-white flare on its head begging to be released.  Somewhere far away, Scarlet laughed maniacally.

Without fanfare, the clockwork monstrosity released the energy it had gathered, space and time once again distorting all along the massive beam.  It connected with Psitka with a boom that shook the room and she yelped in pain, though she didn't lower her palm.  The entirety of the beam appeared to bend so it could impact her hand and her Aetheric Field Manipulator began to glow a bright white.  Psitka felt like her hand was getting stabbed, burned, and broken all at the same time, many times over, and she grit her teeth in pain, stars appearing in her vision.  After what seemed like eternity, the pain stopped, leaving her panting.

"My turn," she managed with a small smile.

Responding to her mental command, her Aetheric Field Manipulator released the stored Temporal energy with such force that it nearly knocked Psitka over backwards.  A deep purple beam just as wide as the one she had absorbed shot across the room and impacted the Reality-ripper with a deep rumble that she could feel deep all the way to her core.  The screeching of twisting, shearing metal could be heard over the thrum of the wild energy, and after a couple of seconds, the flow of destructive Temporal aether petered out, leaving nothing but silence and a strangely still mechanical nightmare.  Psitka stared at the Reality-ripper.  The Reality-ripper stared back.

And then its head fell off.

When it hit the ground, it burst into a cloud of dust.  Not a second later, more pieces started falling off the prototype, each one disintegrating when it hit the floor.  Within moments, there was nothing left of the machine except for a small mound of rust-colored dust.

Psitka breathed a sigh of relief, then turned her attention to her friend.  Her eyes widened in panic when she realized that she couldn't see the other woman breathing.  She quickly pulled Xinjia's mask down to expose her lips, then moved her head directly over her mouth.  The sylvari held her breath, praying that she'd feel the tell-tale puff of air against her cheek that would tell her the worst hadn't happened.  After a few agonizing seconds, her heart fluttered excitedly.  She felt it!  It was there!  Xinjia's breathing was very shallow, but she was still breathing!  Psitka released her own breath and smiled before she reached into a pouch on her belt and pulled out another handful of dirt.  She placed it on the ground between herself and the unconscious woman, removing her hand after a few seconds to reveal a small sprout.  It quickly grew into a flower and bloomed, its petals radiating a rejuvinating aura.

Psitka took a deep breath as she felt her weariness drain away.  Now there was only Scarlet to deal with, she hoped.  With that thought, she got to her feet and turned to face her nemesis.  Scarlet was glaring at her and she glared back.  They remained that way until Scarlet broke away with a crazed grin.

"You're too late!" she shouted.  Eyes gleaming, she turned to the consoles in front of her and began typing frantically.  "Nothing will stop us!  Not when we're so close!"

Psitka's brow furrowed and she began walking towards Scarlet's hardware fortress.  "What do you mean 'us'?" she asked.  "Who else is working with you?"

Scarlet stopped typing for a moment and frowned before her fingers once again began flying over the keyboard in front of her.  "I said 'me.'  Just me!  It's mine!"  She punctuated the exclamation with a key press that set the entire room shaking.

A deep rumbling came from beneath Psitka's feet, and before she could do anything else, the floor fell away.  Psitka squeaked and winced, but when the feeling of falling to her death didn't happen, she opened her eyes.  While it was true that the floor had indeed fallen away, it had been replaced by a transparent force-field that was just as solid.  She gazed down through the force-field and saw, with some surprise, that the old floor had stopped near the surface of the roiling water of the bay.  It had also begun to spin much like the drill--  Her eyes widened in realization.

Scarlet had just set the drill into overdrive.