The blue light of the depths finally gave way to the lush greenery of the upper forest. After what felt like an eternity in the blue glow, Allisa was grateful to finally be out into the familiar forest green she was used to, even if parts of it reminded her she was in an alien world.

The path upwards was just as much a maze as before, yet this time. The noticeable exception was the small islands on the assent, held up by the coiling vines and parts of metal embedded within.

“Alright. The way out is just ahead.” Berken said, flying before the girls onto the first island. “Keep close and make sure Ion doesn’t fall behind,”

Allisa looked back to Ion who had just finished her assent. She was looking exhausted from the trip upward.

“S-Sorry.” She said gasping for air. “It was… more taxing than I expected.” She took another step forwards and tripped. Allisa caught her before she fell. It seemed she was reaching her limit.

“.... Hey Berken. Find a spot where we can rest.” She called out.

“I don’t take orders from you!” Berken proclaimed stubbornly. “.... Buuuttt… I’ll find a place so Ion can catch her breath.” Adding before flying off.

“I-I’m okay.” Ion panted. “W-we’re nearly out of the woods-”

“You look like you’re about to pass out.” Allisa pressed. “Come on. Let’s take a break.”

****

Berken returned and led the girls to a small cave in the floating islands. There, Allisa lay Ion down, resting her back against the wall. Not only did she look exhausted, but she also seemed pale as well.

“Geez, are you sure you’re okay?”

Ion didn’t respond, falling into a deep sleep.

“Ion?” Allisa shook her, but to no avail.

“Relax. She’s alive.” Berken said hovering close to Ion’s side. “But she won’t be waking up for a while.”

“Do you know what’s wrong with her?”

“Ba! Of course, I do?” Berken huffed. Allisa waited for an answer that didn’t come.

“Aaaannndd….?” She pressed impatiently.

“She’s….” Berken paused. “Uh, she’s just low on eather. As the Star Singer, she needs to replenish eather by singing in eather dense places. Remember; In the cragg.”

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Allisa recalled. She also remembered them breaking into her bedroom for Ion to sing after she performed teleportation for herself, Markus and the two pilots. “So… If she doesn’t sing she collapses?”

“... Something like that,” Berken said after a pause. “Bottom line is we need to get her to an eather rich source for her to replenish her eather. Then she’ll be up and about in no time.”

“Right. And where do we go?”

“.... The depths should be perfect.”

“...... Anywhere that isn’t dangerous?” Allisa furrowed her brows. She certainly wasn’t keen to retrace their steps back into the depths.

“No Idea.” Berken scoffed. “Anyhow, there’s no point talking about it now that Ion’s completely outta it. It’s best we wait until she wakes up. Then we can find her some eather.”

Allisa looked back at Ion, who looked to be in a deep sleep. This was confirmed when Allisa prodded her shoulder gently. Ion really wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

“Has this happened before? You know, her passing out?”

Berken folded his little arms as he hummed. “.... Not during my operation. Though I think Bec said she was out for a few days when her song manifested.”

“Bec?” Allisa briefly recalled the name. “Is he another of Ion’s friends?”

“Uh… more like an acquaintance,” Berken said setting himself down on a rock. “He’s a salvager out at a place called Figmar’s End. Due to an accident, he lost his face so it’s pretty much all metal.”

“R-Really?” Allisa had a hard time trying to imagine a man with a completely metal face, even after everything she’d seen.

“But he is trustworthy, I’ll give him that much at least. Though he is the reason why we’re in this mess, to begin with. The plan to change allegiance was his.”

“Oh? I thought it was Markus.”

“... It was his idea to lose Altosk in the void, but Bec was the one who convinced Ion to swap allegiance. He then staged a kidnapping of the star singer at High Rise and handed her to Markus to smuggle her to Marina. You know what happens after that.”

“Right,” Allisa couldn’t help but chuckle a little. What seemed like a simple escape plan ended up with her effectively trapped in another world with no way home, and far far away from her friends and family. She tried not to dwell on it too much. They all must be very worried about her. “So if Bec’s the one who came up with the plan, shouldn’t we be trying to get Ion to him?”

“Good idea. We’ll only need to walk all across Ter’figmar to reach him,” Berken said sarcastically. “From where we are, Figmar’s End is right at the other side of the biome. Not to mention going that way would take us past the cities which are all under Altosk’s thumb.”

“Oh, right.” Allisa nodded. She certainly wasn’t up for a long walk over an alien world. It made going for this ‘Rika’ the only viable option. “... I just realized I didn’t ask about Rika,” She said to herself looking at Ion. “What kinda person is she?”

“Reckless and hot-headed,” Berken snorted. “But also Ion’s closest friend.” He sounded sad saying it.

“... Did something happen between them?”

“.... Nothing really bad, as far as I’m aware. It’s been two years since the two saw each other, and it was really brief. Frankly, I do think going to her after what we tried to pull is a pretty big risk. Buuuuttt… as it stands we don’t have another option. That is if Rika’ll hear us out.”

“.... I think she will,” Allisa said confidently. “Ion trusts her enough for us to be here. That’s good enough for me.”

****

Chika, the sentry of the forest spied his prey on top his skidder. It was as the matriarch had said, two hune’s and a machine. The lens on his helmet retracted as he raised his rifle up. Regs and skar hunters flanked him. With a simple flick of his lower right arm, the hunters disembarked.

“The pray must be taken alive.”

****

All of a sudden, the hairs on the back of Allisa’s neck stood on end. She could feel it, some kind of malice directed at them. Qucikly, she shot up, startling Berken.

“Wh-What? What is it?” The robot said startled.

“…. I don’t know,” She said as she scanned the immediate area. She didn’t have Nel’s sensor abilities, but she had a good sense of danger. She still didn’t understand it, whether it was something she got from Excalibur or an instinct from all her brushes with death. “I… I think we should keep moving.”

“What? Ion’s in no condition to move!”

That was true, Ion was still out cold. But if Allisa’s bad feeling was true, then it would be more dangerous to stay put.

“How much further until we’re out,” Allisa kneeled before Ion, gently guiding her onto her back.

“Hey! You can’t be serious!”

A loud hiss echoed.

“….. Uh oh,” Berken shook.

“Berken!” Allisa raised up with the sleeping Ion resting on her back.

“R-right! This way!” The small rabbit flew out of the cave, leading Allisa up the root bridges that connected the islands together. Allisa hoped she was overreacting, but the hisses and snaps that occurred around her told her that her bad vibes were a genuine threat.

“Those are definitely ravengers,” Berken said up ahead, flying under a small gap. Allisa followed, trying to squeeze through with Ion on her back. “Over here spy!” Berken called from ahead. “And be careful of-”

There was a crack of gunfire and a spark as something struck Berken in the side of the head. The little robot flew out of control before regaining his altitude.

“Berken!” Gunfire cracked around Allisa, hitting the ground before her. She could now see them, the bone-armored regs with gun spears, hissing and snarling as they fired crudely unarmed shots at her.

Allisa backed behind cover along with Berken. He wasn’t badly damaged, just a graze on his left cheek with the bronze shell holding.

“Ahh! They’re here!” He shouted in a panic. “WHAT DO WE DO?! WHAT DO WE DO?!”

“Obviously we can’t stay here!” Allisa yelled back, grabbing Berken and holding onto Ion before teleporting back the way they came.

“WARN ME WHEN YOU DO THAT?!”

“Just find us another route!”

The roar of engines echoed overhead. Above them, a skidder flew overhead, full of ravengers that hisses and cheered at the trio before zooming off. They stopped on an island close by with the full force leaping off the craft, chanting and hissing as they advanced.

“Berkeeeennnn!!!”

“Th-This way!!”

Berken lead them away from the newly dismounted threats as they began to take potshots at them.

“Can’t you fight back?! That’s the whole reason you’re here spy!”

“I can’t with Ion still sleeping! Not unless you want to carry her!”

Now she genuinely wish she had some kind of backup. Even running with Ion on her back over the uneven terrain was a challenge in itself, especially under fire. She was grateful ravengers aim was terrible, but it nonetheless made her nervous if one shot find its mark on her or Ion.

“Please tell me we’re close to the end!” Allisa asked looking over her shoulder.

“Uhhh… I don’t know!” Berken said as he flew up another vine bridge.

“What do you mean you don’t know?!”

“I’m just focused on getting Ion away from danger!”

Another skiff passed overhead with more ravengers dropping from above. It wouldn’t be long before Allisa was completely overwhelmed, even if she stood her ground. The brief skirmish at their base was enough to show how tenacious they were compared to the other mobs she had fought.

So far they were successful in evading the pursuers. That was until a large island surrounded by the large roots of the trees where a group of regs jumped them, blocking the way forward. Allisa turned to run back only to find the pursuers had caught up, cutting off her means of escape.

“Oh not good,” Allisa muttered as the regs prepared their weapons. She kept a tight hold of Ion, feeling like a cornered animal.

“Not good not good not good!” Berken flew into a panic, circling around Allisa. “Do something spy!”

“..... Grab onto Ion.”

“Right. What?” As soon as Berken grabbed ahold of Ion, Allisa let go and rushed the regs blocking the way forwards. Excalibur appeared in her hands as she teleported towards them to close the distance, striking the first one down before they could react. As expected, the rest swarmed her. Changing her weapon to Aqua heart, Allisa skidded back to avoid being overwhelmed, deflecting shots fired at her with her water blade as she stopped in front of Berken, lumbered with Ion.

“Do you even have a plan?!” He yelled, trying to keep in the air.

“Uh… working on it!” Allisa turned and parried a lunge from one of the regs behind them, knocking the weapon to one side before striking it. With water jets skidding on her feet, Allisa dodged another lunge. Her weapon uncoiled and wrapped around the neck of the creature. Using her momentum, Allisa spun the creature around like a propeller, catching two others before sending it flying into the regs blocking the path.

“J-Just like I planned!” Allisa said out loud, barely hiding her uncertainty before running to the open. “Come on!”

“I-I’m going as fast as I can!” Berken said flying over the fallen regs.

*****

Chika could see why the matriarch wanted this hune. Watching it through his telescopic lens on the left of his helmet. It was a sight to behold, watching a loan hune battling its’ way through the hunters of the woods. Yet like with all pray, one simply didn’t deliver the killing blow when the creature is on the run.

It must be headed to the ideal location. Then the hunter strikes.

“The immobilizer.”

The reg behind him handed a large weapon with a slit barrel. Chika took it, cradling it with all four of his hands as he stabilized it on his shoulder. His lense whirled as the scope extended.

****

A reg pounced from above. Allisa skidded back to avoid it, parring another reg before kicking it off the path. She deflected two more blows before finally outmaneuvering the reg and slashing at its back.

“How much further?”

“H-Hold on…” Berken hovered behind, still struggling to hold Ion up. “Uh… right!”

Allisa rushed up the vine path that lead up, ignoring the warframes and wildlife that ran past her. As expected, more ravagers blocked her path. This time a group of skars, fired their guns at her. Allisa used her water blade to deflect them before shooting a jet of water at her enemies, dislodging them from her path. Allisa rushed through the opening, taking her to another island. Another skiff passed overhead with more regs dropping down from the craft, once more blocking the path.

“Ahh, I’m getting really sick of these guys!” Allisa swore as the enemy rushed her. Allisa used her movement to outmaneuver the enemy, moving behind them striking down one, parrying another and kicking a third away. The regs hissed as they regrouped and lunged again.

Backing away, Allisa retreated to Berken’s side, unwired her weapon-

****

Energy coerced through the immobilizer as the pray broke her engagement with the hunters. The time was now. Chika squeezed the trigger and fired his shot.

****

Something smacked into Allisa’s neck, hard enough to give her whiplash, knocking her off her feet.

“Spy!”

“Ahhh! Wha-” Allisa felt her neck where she had been hit. There was something metal, and very uncomfortable wrapped around it. Allisa then jolted and screamed as her body was struck by a painful shock. Excalibur vanished as Allisa riled on the ground, frothing from the mouth.

“Spy! Get-!” Something then hit Berken, forcing him to drop Ion. A group of regs grabbed the machine, forcing him to the ground. A group surrounded Ion who was still out cold.

“G-Get away from her!” Allisa fought through the pain and summoned Excalibur. Or at least she tried. There were sparks of her mana but the weapon didn’t materialize. “Wha-?” She collapsed again as the pain got began to overcome her again. With willpower alone, she forced herself to her fours. She tried to summon Excalibur again but to no avail with the pain only intensifying. Even teleporting was not possible, as much as she tried, willing herself to close the distance to Ion.

In front of her, the ravengers had swarmed Ion, tying her arms and legs while Berken was being carried away by a group of regs, yelling at max volume before being bashed on the ground. They passed another reg that walked up to Allisa as she riled on the ground gasping at the choker around her neck. She recognized him, the one on the skidder before they entered the depths.

It looked at Allisa with a large gun held by three of his arms. With a hiss, it brought the weapon up, pointed the butt at Allisa before slamming it into her.