We left the grav-line as close to the site as I could calculate but I was beginning to wonder if my memory was failing me. We should have reached the entrance by now. A horrible thought occurred to me, it had been orbits since I was last here and there could have been any number of problems that might have closed off the entrance I was trying to get to. If so, there were a few other entrances we could try but each of them was more difficult than the main one I wanted to find. At least Thellip could fly down all of them in his tiny Avian Form but I was no longer a small child and all of my Forms were larger than the next.

Just as I was contemplating which alternative shaft I could squeeze down, the landscape suddenly matched the image in my brain and I hurried forward, careful of my footing and watching the surroundings. There it was, the hole in the ground looking nothing more than a gaping chasm but I knew what lay hidden beneath. Nodding in satisfaction, I turned around and started setting up the anchor for my equipment so I could repel down, no need to rely on the vines that covered the side of the shaft. Memories poked at my consciousness but I pushed them aside and focused on the task. I wasn’t even sure the route to the data vault would still be clear. Although it was unlikely we’d run into other individuals so far out into the Wilds, I still made sure I set up a net of sensors to alter us to any dangers while we were in the ancient site below ground.

Once I was sure the safety equipment was secure and all the sensors were working, we started our descent into the ruins. Well I did, Thellip just flew down in his Avian Form, making sure to keep pace with me while giving me plenty of space in the gaping shaft. I’d stayed in my Warrior Form ever since we’d left the Capital and I occurred to me how much easier this descent was compared to the last time I’d been here. I was really beginning to appreciate the added strength of this Form and why so many of the Icanthie spent the majority of their time in it. It felt like no time had past before we reached the bottom of the shaft, the dim light from above casting shadows and revealing very little. A small area of light with dark, yawning openings in every direction. This had likely been a central hall, or a reception area with a colossal skylight which we had just entered through. I turned to identify what had once been an entrance but that had long been block off and noticed that at least two more of the corridors has also been partially blocked since my last visit.

I frowned, a little concerned with what had caused the changes but reminded myself that it had been orbits and I should expect at least some changes. An idea sparked in the depths or my brain and I hastily got out my personal screen, searching for something on it.

“Come on, come in, I’m sure I would have…” I grumbled quietly as I searched. Dad and I had made a rough map of the complex based off of an old diagram we’d found our first time here, not complete but it at least showed the areas we’d explored. But where…? “Ah, found it.”

The map was basic, flat rather than three dimensional, because we didn’t have time to take the necessary scans which required slow movements and long stretches standing still so the scans can capture the detail. We’d outlined of each areas we’d explored and added brief notes of what we thought each area was, some more obvious than others. The two areas with the most comprehensive layout were the Power Room and the Vault, the most frequently visited places. Dad and I had figured out from some of the records that this had been a place of learning and research, a vast and well resourced complex that even has housing for those that worked here. They’d also invested in back-up measures which was why the Vault was so well preserved and the power room still functioning.

Satisfied that I’d familiarised myself with the area, I pinged the map over to Thellip, just in case, and retrieved a glow before leading the way down the correct corridor. We took it slow, checking for anything that could fall on us or any sign of other living things down here, all the time, the dark making things just that little bit more hazardous. The scent of decaying vegetation was tinged with something else, too faint to define but it made me wary. It may have been a while since I’d been here, but I knew this place fairly well and something felt different. This place had lasted for centuries but that didn’t mean it was untouched. The individuals that had built this place had done their best to stave off, its sharp claws but Time had lefts its mark, slowly grinding down any resistance it encountered. Maybe what I felt was simply the complex approaching that tipping point, when Time started to win.

We continued deeper in and I was reassured with each of the old markers I spotted. I made sure to renew them as we went, some of them so faint I had to check with my map to make sure it really was a marker. The low hum of the power reassured me that it was still working but I still wanted to check the Power Room just in case. I had a habit of tinkering with the power rooms, or in some cases the lone renewable generators, that I found on these ancient sites and added little devices of my own design to help keep them going. I couldn’t take copies of every record I found or do anything about the technologies that had already failed, wiping out untold number of precious records, but I could try to maintain what I found.

The glow followed us as I walked the familiar path to the Power Room, Thellip darting around my head and casting more shadows in the already gloomy tunnel. Hmmm, maybe a few extra glows were warranted, so I paused and knelt down to pull out two more from my pack, activating them but keeping the illumination low. Being in my Warrior form meant my vision coped better in low light and I didn’t want to risk ruining my night vision or dazzling myself into temporary blindness. The extra light placed strategically around us near the roof revealed more of our surroundings just enough to make me happy and so we continued, Thellips, flying figure now more easy to follow as he dipped and weaved around me.

It didn’t take long to reach “Engineering” as the Ancients had called it. I remembered that this facility was so well preserved because it used two forms of renewable energy that almost acted as their own back-up systems. Star energy was the main power source, collected by primitive solar panels which dad and I had maintained and, in some cases, replaced. We’d tracked down their locations painstakingly over the orbits by following the power gathering conduits and found that, though many had been buried beyond salvage, most had been designed to sit on tall platforms that reached above the forest canopy. A rather clever idea and, once we’d repaired them, they should be safe and remain in good condition for a long time. But even if they didn’t the geothermal energy was a perfect subsidiary system, drawing from a geothermal spout directly beneath the complex.

We reached the Power Room, which was surprisingly messy but, at first glance, it looked like all the equipment was still functional. The low background hum that had accompanied us as we traveled, almost ignored by the conscious mind, was now a prominent throb that grabbed my attention. Something was wrong. What should have been a smooth, constant sound had developed a hiccup. I tilted my head, wiggling my ears back and forth to try and find the location of the disruption to the energy flow. Moving slowly, a step at a time, I listened closely edging my way deeper into the cavernous room, closer and closer to the problem until… there! I’d found it. The hiccup was caused by a loose connection between the cables coming from the solar collectors and one of the transformers. How it had been worked loose I had no idea but…

I knelt carefully by the loose connector, absently shifty aside some built up detritus, and studied the equipment, highly aware of the vast power in front of me that was barely leashed. Nothing seemed broken but I couldn’t figure out how the connector had come lose. I frowned as a worry bugged at me but I had to get this fixed, so turned my to the room, trying to remember where the safety unit was. I’d need to redirect the power flow away from the mini circuit the problem was one so I could work on it sadly. The whole system was cleverly fragmented so I just needed to redirect the power to an intact circuit briefly. That done, I pulled a tool from my pack to check that there was no power in the area I needed to work on and smiled to myself when it showed clear. Still, out in the Wilds it was better to be extra safe so retrieved a tube from my toolkit and sprayed a protective insulating layer all over my hands and us my arms, checking that my dexterity was still intact when is ‘hardened’.

Safety measures applied, I reach back into my toolkit and pulled out my multi-tool. I loved this thing, it did so much and reduced how much I had to carry. I swear it had saved my life at least five times. Trusty too at my fingertips, I detached the connector from the transformer and stripped it from the cable. It seemed in perfect condition so I ran a scan on it checked both the cable and transformer as I waited for the results. Everything seemed fine, and thought the transformer was a little grubby from the detritus, nothing obstructed the actual connections. A quiet beep indicated the scan was done. The connector had a minor dent in the outer structure but it was superficial, it was perfectly functional. How odd. Shrugging at the odd situation, I focused scanning the cable and transformer, which also came back perfectly functional, and reassembled everything.

Once it was all put back together, I ran one more scan to make sure it all looked good before I tried rerouting the power back through the repaired circuit. I waited tensely, ready to duck and run if sparks flew, but the repair seemed to be sound. The hiccup was gone and the hum was smooth again. I let out a little sigh of relief and returned to my pack, putting away all my tools and absently listening for any other problems. I couldn’t check every piece of equipment here but my ears were a good preliminary check. I’d run a relatively quick widespread scan but if that turned up nothing, I’d feel happy moving on to the Vault and our true purpose here. Thankfully nothing like this happened at the first site or we’d be really behind schedule, what with dealing with the landlords or cave in. Too many delays and we’d either be late to the Gathering or have to leave without potentially vital data.

Suddenly, Thellip was next to me in his Warrior Form, knees slightly bent as he held a ready position and staring intently at the door way. He’d intended to stay in his Avian Form as much as possible to act as a look out and would only shift to his Warrior Form if we encountered trouble down here. Which meant only one thing: we were in trouble. I quietly put down my tools, trying to make as little sound as possible, and lengthened my claws, turning my kneeling position into a crouch that I could launch easily from. Thellip and I had agreed to keep communication to a minimum, just as a precaution, and Thellip didn’t know the sign language that dad and I often used to use, so we waited in tense silence as whatever Thellip had detected drew closer.

As I focused on the incoming threat, my mind seemed to clear and the little clues that I’d noticed since we arrived began to add up. The new strange smell as we’d entered, the messy floors, the dislodged connector. Something had made a home here, and we were in the heart of they’re den. This could be bad. The sound of soft foot falls grew louder and there were a lot of them. They must have detected us somehow because the steps falters and a warning growl rumbled out. Both Thellip and I tensed, ready to spring into action as the rumbling growl quickly built into a savage threat and our foes finally came into site. Their forms were clearly revealed in the illumination from our glows and my heart tried to choke me as it leapt into my throat. This wasn’t bad, it was a disaster. We’d wandered into the den of a pack of Armoured Lupines and we were trapped.