The Waystation Ch.26 (Patreon)

Chapter 26

The Approach. I

“Are we there yet?” Bell groaned.

“Where?” Bert asked.

“Anywhere!” Bell yelled in his ear and giggled.

“Fuck sake, Bell,” Bert grumbled under his breath. “We aren’t even moving!”

“That was kind of my point,” Bell sighed. “I mean, what’s the plan here, oh mighty Caretaker?” Bell pointed ahead.

“I’m thinking about it,” Bert tapped the arm of his chair.

“Do we have time for that?” Bell chuckled.

Bert ignored her and focused on the problem.

Problems.

The road to the city they were headed for went through a gorge. The Waystation would definitely fit, but it was not that simple. The road they had been following was simply… gone. Nature had taken it back completely. Thick vines and gnarled trees crowded the space where the road used to be.

There were also a substantial number of rock falls, and Bert could see several large cracks in the ground. If they were superficial cracks, then no problem, but if they were hiding a significant drop… the Waystation was a big ole girl and would definitely crash through the floor.

To make it worse, this was just the first mile or so, then the gorge turned and continued out of sight. Who knows what other nasty surprises were waiting for them up ahead?

There was nothing for it; they needed to go scout the way ahead.

“I’ll do it!” Bell said. “I can do it faster than any of you and safer too.” She hurried on when Bert opened his mouth to argue. “First, I can fly; second, I am small enough to hide. And third, well, no offense, but….”

“You’re stronger than the rest of us?” Bert offered.

“Glad you agree,” Bell said with a proud smile, “You can check on the rest of the people, and I will be back in under an hour.”

Bert looked at the pixie, who was physically vibrating in excitement. “Fine, but be careful.”

“Promise,” Bell cackled in a slightly unsettling way, “If anything so much as twitches at me, I’ll kill it.”

“That wasn’t what I mea-” Bert cut off. Bell was already halfway down the tower.

==========

Bell flew out over the walls of the Waystation and marveled at the act. This was only the second time in her life she had left the grounds of the Waystation. Hovering momentarily, she looked around and felt the anxiety settle on her shoulders.

All her life, she had wanted to get out and explore. To leave the Waystation grounds like everyone else did. So why did she feel so bad? When they headed to the dungeon for those revolting rabbits -may their species burn in fire forever- she had distracted herself by destroying things.

Looking back over her shoulder and waving to Bert as he watched her, Bell knew that would not be an option this time. Bert would know something was up.

Dropping down out of sight of Bert, she felt the vast emptiness around her.

It felt wrong.

There was no Waystation there to catch her if she fell, no reassuring sense of everything in the area. Just open fucking space. She felt like she was dying. Everything was too loud, too bright, too… open.

She couldn’t breathe.

“Bell?” Bert’s voice was soft and careful.

She looked up, finding him leaning over the wall. It was so irritating how he always seemed to know.

“Bell, it’s okay.” He smiled, “You just aren’t used to being outside. It will pass.”

Bell just looked up at him as her heart continued to race.

“Can you make a mana shield?” Bert asked.

She nodded.

“Make a mana shield as a bubble around you,” Bert said. “Then expand it a little.”

Bell summoned her mana in a shield around her, pushing on it a little until it formed a sphere all around her.

“Can you feel the Waystation in there with you?” He asked.

Bell tried, letting the Waystation’s influence spread out of her, filling the bubble. As she felt the comforting presence all around her, she finally was able to take a deep breath. She gasped and filled her lungs, feeling her heart slow, and that awful exposed feeling faded. Way Way was still there with her.

“As time passes, you won’t need the bubble anymore,” Bert said.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing something?” Bell snapped.

Bert just laughed and waved.

Every now and again, she still thought about murdering him.

Now feeling more herself as she imagined feeding Bert through a shredder, Bell could focus on the task at hand…

As Bell flew through the gorge, she could not believe this was once a major trade route. As a Waystation Pixie, she had seen her fair share of roadways, trade routes, etc. It was prime real estate to a Waystation, after all.

This was just a mess. Huge cracks marked the floor of the pass, narrow but extremely deep. They would not be a problem for her new Waystation as the track thingies were huge.

She had flown down into a few to check they weren’t hiding some massive hole in the ground, but they were just deep. Not dangerous.

Beyond that, she came to densely packed trees; flying below the canopy, she saw an army of dead bodies. Or rather, their gear. Rusted shields, swords, spears… you name it. There was no end to them. They were even arranged in rows and lines. Formations of them seemed to have all just died where they stood. Weirdly enough, nothing had reanimated them or fed on them.

There was nothing to feed on them or even to walk over them except the trees.

Nothing moved in this dense overgrowth, not even the smallest bug. Bell tested the mana in the air, finding no sign of undeath energy. She also summoned a Multi-Bell and sent her walking among the corpses. She even kicked a couple and a few of the trees.

No reaction.

She flew on, leaving the Multi-Bell to keep an eye on the area. The next problem was a massive rock fall. It had filled the gorge from one side to the other and rose to almost five meters in places. It would slow them down, but it was not dangerous.

As she flew over the top, Bell swore. On the other side of the rockfall was a grand bridge that crossed a vast chasm. Or there used to be. Bell kicked a pebble in irritation as she looked at the two ends of the bridge, they were fine and dandy, but the middle was utterly collapsed. A single metal beam stuck out into space from the far side. It was all that remained of the sturdy bridge.

Looking beyond the bridge, a series of ruins stretched away into the distance, built from the sides of the gorge. It looked like some kind of defensive structure. There were more rock falls, more trees, and finally, at the edge of sight… enormous city walls.

Bell stared at the walls for a while before she realized what was wrong with them.

They weren’t destroyed. Or even weathered. They gleamed in the light.

The city was definitely occupied!

She turned back, flying carefully toward the Waystation.

She had done her job; now it was time for Bert to do his.

============

“What the fuck is a Garbage Truck?” Bell said in exasperation at a grinning Bert.

“The answer to our problems.” Bert beamed.

“So it builds bridges?”

“Well, no-” Bert started to say.

“Does it cut down trees?”

“No, I-”

“Does it clear rubble?” Bell asked.

“Would you just-” Bert tried to say.

“Does it do anything useful at all?” Bell sighed theatrically.

“Well, ours will!” Bert snapped.

“Why didn’t you say so then?” Bell giggled.

Bert glared at her as he slowly got up from the table and walked out of the Barn.

He had some building to do.

As he walked out, he heard her giggling to herself.

Bert deployed the spears as he walked down the drawbridge. Bert felt the land come under their control as they dug into the ground around the Waystation. He summoned a chair and settled into it as he slowly relaxed. Once his mind was calm, he dropped into the Mana Tides of the Fae. Feeling the mana ebb and surge inside him before connecting to the Waystation. The enormous mana cycle of the Waystation moved slowly, like the tide of an ocean.

He slowed his ebb and flow to match, the rhythms aligned, and the connection became much closer. It was time to build himself a Garbage Truck.

He pictured the ones from back on Earth: the large storage section, the lifts at the back, and the large prongs on the front. The tilt mechanism was used to empty them, and the enormous hydraulic rams lifted the massive storage. It was easy to remember. Ask any kid from Earth, and they can tell you everything about certain vehicles. The Firetruck, the Garbage Truck, the Big Rigs. As kids, we are fascinated by these massive machines.

Bert smiled to himself in the depths of his trance. Unlike most people, Bert would get to design his own. He began by removing the wheels. That was too pedestrian, too weak. Bert replaced them with the tracks. That was better. Next, he needed the storage to be significantly better than the space he could physically build into a vehicle.

He had an idea for that.

Moving on, for now, he made some adjustments to the front of the vehicle. The giant prongs they used to pick up skips were replaced with huge mandibles. The Cab moved up as space was made for the mandibles when not in use. It also allowed the mandibles to funnel things directly into the storage area.

Power came next. Bert could obviously power it himself with his mana, but that would be complicated and require constant focus. It would also not help with the storage problem.

This was where that dungeon core would come in useful. Placing it in the center of the storage space and crossing his fingers, Bert moved on to the control system. Then connected levers for each side of the treads. A pedal would deploy the mandibles, and another would activate them.

Bert looked at the completed design. It was good but not quite there. With a huge grin, Bert doubled the width; it was now the Humvee of garbage tucks. With the extra space and the fact that the dungeon core would hopefully handle the storage, Bert added a new feature.

The left side now folded down, revealing a food truck built into the side of a garbage truck. It was an unholy abomination, to be sure. But hey, he would not be carrying actual Garbage; it would be fine. With a shrug, he also decided to create a fold-out on the other side. In this one, he put an instant campsite with bedding, a tent that automatically deployed, and even a small crafting table.

Bert added upgraded suspension and a trailer hitch on the back. For good measure, he duplicated his crossbow design and enlarged it into a large, freely rotating ballista on the very top.

Bert wanted to add a hundred more things, but honestly, it was just for fun. He had already tricked it out way beyond requirements. The Cab was now so large it had seating for six besides the driver.  Two huge gleaming wing mirrors sprouted from the side doors, with giant light crystals lining the front in place of headlights…

Okay, he really had to stop now.

Bert activated the build as he lost himself to the tides.

Bert came to a few hours later, voices waking him from his nap. Even with the Waystation doing most of the work, building always drained him. He opened his eyes and beheld perfection. It gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight.

The vehicle was huge. Eight meters long, five meters wide, and three meters high with giant treads. It was amazing. Climbing inside the cab, he sat in the driver’s seat and reached for the controls. Sending a thread of mana into the levers on each side of the chair, he heard a ping.

Name Vehicle?

Bert grinned to himself, “The Hudson Express,” He said.

Integrate Core?

Crossing his fingers, he accepted.

Integrating…

Bert felt the consciousness of the Waystation reach through him, pouring into the dungeon core…

Parameters received.

Configuration received.

Adaptations received.

Integration Complete.

As the Waystation influence receded from the vehicle, Bert felt the vehicle come alive around him.

The Hudson Express

Unique Vehicle

Owner: Bert J. Hudson

Dimensional Storage System

Mana Absorbing System

Storage - 0%

Integrity - 100%

Mana 10000/10000

Bound Spirit - none

“Fucking Hell!” Bert cheered as he saw the pale blue flash of his mana integrate into the Express.

He spent the next twenty minutes or so moving it slowly back and forward, learning to turn the vehicle and generally getting to grips with his new toy. He climbed up on the vehicle for the final test and got into the ballista mount, aiming and firing a few giant steel spikes.

When he was finally done, he stood on top of it and waved to the cheering orcs; they had watched and cheered as he went through the tests.

He could not help but pose proudly on top of his new vehicle.

“Just how small is your dick?” Bell laughed from her perch on the Gate House.

“Fuck sake, Bell!” Bert growled as the orcs laughed.

=============

Bert looked out the windscreen of the Hudson Express and got ready to move out. It was a lot of fun building this, but now it was time to prove it was worthwhile. Pushing both levers forward, he started the Express moving.

Taking position in front of the Waystation and turning to face the gorge. Bert pressed down on the left pedal, two enormous mandibles folding out from under the cab. The right pedal extended a thin sheet of mana between the two. Moving slowly forward, he came to the first of the boulders. A tree was growing around it. With a crunch, the mandibles closed on the rock, shattering it as it was ground between the giant mandibles. The tree and boulder both disappeared beneath the cab. Bert kept moving, clearing the way as the Waystation moved slowly along behind him.

The Express ate up the obstructions, slowly beginning to move things into the Dimensional Storage as the internal storage reached capacity. When he came to the first of the chasms, Bert turned around and emptied the accumulated stone into the gap. Driving back and forth, he pressed it down. In no time at all, the chasm was filled.

They moved on. Bert worked as the Waystation crept along behind him, clearing the path ahead and filling in each large crack. Even with the Express having to move from side to side and clear the way, it was still faster than the trip through the forest to the skyship crash site.

The rest of the day passed quickly as Bert kept up the work. As night started to fall, the light stones played warm light over the ground ahead. An hour after night had fallen properly, the Express shuddered, its mandibles stuck in a large boulder. Bert pulled them clear and tried again. It took ten strikes with the mandibles before the boulder finally shattered.

Bert Analyzed it by climbing out of the cab and picking up a piece of the rock.

Sky Ship Grade Iron Ore

Rare

Grinning to himself, Bert climbed back into the cab and gathered it all, the giant mandibles sweeping it all into the Express. Once it was collected, he gathered it all into a single space in the storage and then activated the back. The giant storage tilted, and a single block of ore rolled out.

Bert continued on his way, leaving the prize for the Waystation to absorb. In the subsequent few passes, all found boulders contained the ore. It was amazing.

As Bell began to beat the Gong, her way of saying it was time to eat, He sat in the Express and closed his eyes for a second, enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done.

A feeling of vertigo shook him for a second. A sense of no longer being in his body. Lights swirled around him for a second; then, he looked down at a night sky. Below him, figures rode through the air on horses, wolves, carriages, and even leaves. They did not speak or acknowledge his presence as he was brought through their column and up to the front. As he floated there, disembodied and voiceless, the lead rider turned to him and smiled.

“We will be with you soon.”

Lights flashed again, and vertigo. A sense of movement, and then he was back in his body.

Bert opened his eyes and gasped. “What the fuck was that?” he asked the empty cab of the Express.

The gong rang again, much louder.

Telling himself he must have fallen asleep, Bert grabbed the controls and headed back to the Waystation.

=======

“Way Way is getting stuffed full of rubble again!” Bell complained the following day as everyone ate breakfast. The table had been extended now, with the orcs, Scruff, and Trav all joining them for meals these days.

“I know, I know,” Bert said defensively. “There is just a lot of stuff to move, and the Express doesn’t have the room to carry it all.”

“Well, we should just dump it then,” Bell said grumpily. “My little Way Way is not a damn rubble hauler.”

“I hate to waste the materials, though,” Bert complained.

“Why don’t we use it for something then?” Scruff asked nervously.

“Like what?” Bell asked curiously.

“Well, we did kind of destroy parts of the road getting here,” She said, “Can we build a better one?”

“Oooh, I like that!” Bert said. “Bell, you said it looked like the city was occupied, right?”

“Yeah, it was too shiny to be ruined,” Bell said as she fussed over Mic and Ric, insisting they needed to eat more.

“They might be quite happy with the people that built a new road through the blocked pass,” Bert said thoughtfully. “It would be nice to visit somewhere that didn’t hate us when we left.”

“Also, they might give us nice shit.” Scruff grinned.

“I might be able to build a new machine that-” Bert started.

“No!” Bell said sternly. “We do not need another Overcompensation Express.”

“Fuck sake, Bell,” Bert growled as the orcs laughed.

“I will get Way Way to do it,” Bell said with finality. “You just keep clearing the way. Those bodies up ahead will give us loads of metal and weapons. You keep working on that in the Desperate-saddo-machine.”

Bert threw a bread roll at her as she giggled.