Chapter 40

Haledon stared at Gazeas' wild expression, his heart pounding beneath the SOIL as he waited for her to continue.

"This needs to wait—" Sparrow injected, raising a hand towards Mek-Tek. "The Mecharrion could be here at any moment."

"Haledon needs to see this." Gazeas insisted and took Haledon by the hand before pulling him through the central trunk of the Nexus with a forceful tug. They both tumbled the short distance down the nutrient lines into the Nucleus and emerged into the dimly lit cavern.

"Gaz—the Mecharrion—" Haledon tried to reason with her. But Gazeas' sudden passion had caught his curiosity, and he felt it getting the best of him.

"Remember when we first met the Earth Druids?" Gazeas spoke over his protesting. "Right before the Mecharrion attacked—we discussed your day with Sparrow while eating at the watering hole."

"I do?" Haledon replied cautiously, unsure which part of the discussion Gazeas currently referred to.

Haledon observed the talking Gazeas move purposefully across the room to the raised platform and step through the tree. Haledon followed closely behind, stepping up and exiting onto the starry floor shortly behind her.

"Sparrow asked you about the tale of two Astralaceaes becoming connected and hull nutrients...or something along that root. Is this making sense?"

"Yes and no...Gazeas, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," She hissed as she crossed the floor and slipped a hand into the nutrient fluid. "When I was checking on Astra Druid vitals, I thought comparing them to Earth Druids would be fun. That's when I noticed something odd…an unusual genetic marker we had, and they lacked. I couldn't explain it. So I thought, 'let me check all Astra Druids across the fleet,' and—oh, Nature—I found something."

Haledon approached Gazeas' side and sank his hand into the fluid. His world spun in white fog before settling on an endless expanse of water framed by a dim, twilit horizon. Standing atop the passive ocean, he looked around himself cautiously, feeling a strange sense of remembrance.

"What did you find?" He finally asked.

"Well, first, I noticed that some of our rescued Druids had closer genetics with us than others. It's an exciting mixture of traits not experienced elsewhere in the fleet. Unfortunately, the fact that they're on this ship means that the Astra that aided us in ancient times was one that was felled in the Mecharrion attack."

Haledon felt a heaviness in his heart as he remembered Druids and Astralaceaes lost that day. The thoughts transitioned into worry as he recalled the approaching fleet of even more Mecharrion vessels. But he didn't have a moment to think further before Gazeas inhaled sharply and continued.

"But, when I couldn't find any sick Druids from the ship you were on with Sparrow, I took a sample from the core you brought back." The image of Gazeas appeared beside Haledon. Stepping before his vision, she cupped his face in her hands. "And that...that was it, Haledon. It was the answer, don't you see?"

"Gaz," Haledon muttered quietly. "I don't understand."

Stepping back, Gazeas waved her hand, and the water shaped and moved into dozens of spiralling helices that rose into the air. The spires appeared to freeze in place, with a single connecting liquid bar bubbling into a deep red colour.

"This base pair is corrupt," She said as she walked from one double-helix to the next. "So is this one, and this one, and this one. But this one has become so corrupted that it's beginning to fail. That was the sick Astra. And this—"

Gazeas lifted a hand, revealing a familiar dagger made of metal.

"This, Haledon, has the same profile as whatever corrupted the ecosystem of that Astra and is still in our genes. The anomaly you found in the astral-alloy—"

"It is a synthetic polymer," Birchbark spoke as her figure appeared. "Forgive the intrusion, but a recent block of data from the Mecharrion cache may be useful in this discussion."

"What's a synthetic polymer?" Haledon asked, his attention fixed on the metal shard.

"It would appear to be a Mecharrion-produced material constructed of repeating monomers. And it would also appear that—" Birchbark paused and thought before continuing. "Since introducing the polymer into the Astralaceaes ecosystem, we have all been experiencing slow cellular degradation and corruption."

"That means—" Haledon muttered as he approached the metal sliver. "The Mecharrion attacked us before...long ago."

"With genetic damage being passed down to every subsequent generation, it would appear the attack never ceased," Birchbark responded. "My sister appeared to take the worst of the hit, being the strongest at the time. But she was unable to recover from it, since it struck a budding Hypogeal Node. The remaining Astralaceaes, we were able to remediate the toxins as best we could—unaware of the long-term changes that had been done to our ecosystem."

"Sparrow needs to know this—" Haledon panicked, looking at Gazeas.

Slipping his hand from the fluid, he rushed from the room.

"Haledon, wait," He heard Gazeas yelling after him, but he continued.

Stepping through the first tree, he emerged into the lower level of the Nucleus with a frustrated Gazeas following.

"Haledon, stop. There's something else—" She yelled after him as he prepared to step through the foliage back to the Hypogeal Nexus. Pausing, he looked back at her as she caught up and continued. "I believe the synthetic polymers still in our system are allowing us to touch Mecharrion tech. And if what Birchbark says is true, we share a connection with—"

"All the more reason we need to speak with Sparrow." He said, taking her hand. "This is an amazing find, Gaz, and she needs to know."

Stepping through the foliage, Haledon and Gazeas emerged back into the bright, floral Nexus.

"Sparrow, you need to—" Haledon spoke urgently as he rushed through the tree, but immediately froze as he saw the Mecharrion simultaneously emerging through the floral wall opposite him.

"Mecharrion!" He yelled, reaching his hand.

The Mecharrion's head twisted towards Haledon before it released a deafening screech. Pain surged through the Druid's consciousness, causing him to grip at his ears before falling to a knee. Beside him, Gazeas' face twisted in pain as she dug her fingers into her thighs and silently screamed into the Mecharrion's cry.

The sound began to soften as the icy voice of Birchbark soothed Haledon's aching brain.

"I am interfering with its auditory wavelengths," Birchbark spoke. "Quickly, move it closer to the tree."

Muttering to himself in Druidic, Haledon looked over to Gazeas as she weaved her hands across an elaborate mandala. She glanced at him as blood flowed from her nostrils and over her lips. With a nod, they both extended their hands out toward the Mecharrion.

Haledon reached his fist out and slammed it into the ground. As he did, the floor beneath the Mecharrion erupted upwards as vines emerged, twisting and coiling as they weaved a restraining spiderweb of foliage. At the exact moment, Gazeas clapped her hands toward the beast, and flowers across her chest began to burst with clouds of white and purple pollen. Dozens of sharpened cactus needles erupted forward, impacting the Mecharrion and causing it to writhe against the restraints. An audible hiss filled the air as the armour began to bubble and pop where the darts had impacted.

"Taste Colides goo!" Gazeas yelled out with a smug grin.

"When did you learn to make Megacolides goo?" Haledon asked.

"I had time—"

"Birchy said closer to the tree!" Witch-Hazel interrupted as they forced their way forward and extended their staff.

"I didn't know how to do that," Haledon responded.

"Enough talking, more fighting." Sparrow chirped as she emerged from around the tree and raised her hands.

The Mecharrion snapped from the restraints and began to rush towards Haledon. As it did, the cardinal-capped SOIL of Spark raced into view from the concealment of the floral screen. Leaping forward, she rolled behind the obsidian armour and sliced twice at the bipedal legs. With a screech, the beast turned around and raised a claw to strike.

Haledon watched as vines erupted from Witch-Hazel's body and snared the Mecharrion's arms, holding them aloft. Pouncing on the opportunity, Spark sprang forward, plunging her obsidian daggers deep into the Mecharrion's armour. With a horrible cry, the body seized against the pain. It began to spill a black fluid onto the ground, coating flowers with its ichor. But, while appearing wounded, the beast was hardly slowed.

Its head twisted to Spark as razor-sharp claws tore through the binding vines. Reaching out, its enlarged hand gripped Spark by the helmet and hoisted her into the air. She cried out as the sharpened claws pierced through the SOIL, painting the pale flowers in a thick red sap before the creature threw her beyond the floral screen. Her blades—still dug into the beast's armour—glowed red hot before snapping at the hilt and disappearing into the creature's core.

"Spark!" Mek-Tek called out from the spiral ramp. "Consume this, you Mechano-locust piece of vastum!"

Haledon twisted his head in time to see the small Druid wielding a polished silver cylinder that had been partially covered in thick moss. Coming from the front of the weapon, a tiny mote of purple light raced along the single energy beam made visible thanks to the pollen in the air. 

The moment the bulb of light struck the black armour, Haledon felt a sudden and forceful tug towards the Mecharrion. It was as though the world had taken a deep breath, pulling everything in with it. A cloak of darkness quickly filled the space, and over a few moments, the light of the flowers slowly began to return. Haledon looked towards where the Mecharrion had once stood, discovering a hole dug out of the Astralaceae floor and ceiling.

"Viridios-sake..." Mek-Tek muttered to himself, looking at the object. "This is—whoa—"

The cylinder in the Druid's grasp melted into a liquid metal that defied gravity and flew through the air toward the crater. The Mecharrion, unfazed by the assault, raised its scarred claw and caught the liquid. Immediately, the fluid merged with the obsidian carapace, becoming one with its wrist. With that, the beast deftly launched itself from the hole and landed on the floor, where it reached its now silver-clawed grip forward.

"Move!" Witch-Hazel yelled, throwing Haledon and Gazeas away from the beam of light.

A flash of darkness consumed Witch-Hazel and half of the nutrient tree.

"No!" Haledon yelled as the light returned to the room.

He turned his head and watched the viscous lifeblood of the ship now spilling from the trunk into the pair of craters. A metallic whine from behind Haledon brought his attention back to reality. He adjusted his head towards the Mecharrion, watching it level its weapon with him and Gazeas once more. But before he could finish its assault, the flowers from behind the insectoid armour began to ooze sap as Witch-Hazel's thick, bramble form emerged from the floor. They reached their staff around the creature, pinning its arms to the side as thick, thorny vines began to constrict the beast.

"Any time, Sparrow!" Witch-Hazel yelled.

"Almost done," Sparrow shouted from the other side of the tree. "Haledon, I need you to remediate the damage done to the nutrient tree!"

"I don't know how." He replied as he rushed over to the sap pool that had begun overflowing into the flowers.

"Allow me to guide you—observe." Haledon felt Birchbark's suddenly hot, humid voice breathe painfully into his mind. "Gazeas will also assist you."

"Yes." She said with a nod, placing a hand on Haledon's shoulder.

The Druid felt the urge to reach his hand into the nutrients and allowed it. At that moment, it was as though his SOIL had grown a life of its own. As though his muscle memory knew the runes to trace, even though he didn't.

A surge of energy rushed through his body, and his tracing intensified as he felt Gazeas' hand sink into his armour. Her soft hand touched the bare skin of his shoulder, sending a chill down his back. Looking around at her, she stared at the point where their SOIL had merged and then at him.

"Focus, Haledon." He heard the voices of both Gazeas and Birchbark hiss, causing him to turn back around.

"Guys," Witch-Hazel groaned as a loud snap echoed through the room, and Witch-Hazel stumbled backwards.

The Mecharrion screamed out as its tiny insect scales flexed and straightened. Its form had shifted, now facing Witch-Hazel as both of the creature's obsidian arms transformed into the elongated shape of Mecharrion guns. A blast echoed as two shots cut into the Arbornaut, scattering branches and leaves across the wall in a woody spray.

Then, the Mecharrion again faced towards Haledon, the elongated head pivoting towards the damaged corkscrew that led to the Broadhead.

"Sparrow?" Haledon cried out, his hands still dancing within the nutrient fluid as energy flowed from Gazeas through his SOIL.

A thunderous clap burst from the other side of the tree, catching the Mecharrion's attention. Instantly, a burl began to form at its feet, but unlike before, the Mecharrion fought against being trapped. It stepped forward, one leg ripping from the creature, transforming into hundreds of crawling mechanites. The second step removed the other limb, and the Mecharrion continued its march as the insects scurried to catch up, rejoining and quickly forming new legs.

"Birchbark," Sparrow announced.

"Almost," The figure of Birchbark emerged from the nutrient fluid and placed a hand on the wounded tree. "Haledon, repeat after me."

"Ocius proventus quercus!" Haledon spoke as the words came to his mind.

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt the jolt of energy from Gazeas. He observed as roots raced from beneath the liquid and began to catch and store the energy, reusing the valuable resource to yield a new trunk. The vines quickly crawled, mending the destroyed roots and climbing to form the pith and heartwood.

Sparrow stepped around the tree, waving her hands and muttering to herself. The ground under the Mecharrion began to rise like a platform as a thick stump formed above it. Vines quickly encased it before the two surfaces collided with a sickening crunch and a horrendous screech.

A swarm of Mechanites began to crawl out from the trap before scurrying their way toward the Broadhead.

"Sparrow!" Haledon yelled out.

The Druid emerged from around the edge of the nutrient tree, examining the swarm. She reached a hand towards the trunk, concentrated, and Haledon watched as the bark quickly hardened into a thick oaken exterior.

"Birchbark, now!" She yelled out.

The air began to crackle and pop. Flashes of light pulsing along the pollen clouds' length created a prismatic cascade of bursts that reached down to the floor like miniature lightning strikes. The insects scurried faster, attempting to reform, only to become zapped by the energetic bolts. With each crackle, more insects fell to the floor as inert carapaces. Until, finally, the mechanized shrieks had all become silent, leaving only the static pops of energy above them.