Riv watched the three men on his level, one on his right, one on his left and one about two meters in front of him. Their faces were pale, a sheen of sweat coldly reflecting green ambient light. No one talked anymore, the mention of Sanctum having drained all cheer from them, sobering them up quicker than he thought possible.
******************
"ATLANTIS!", the party goers inside the dropship screamed, time and time again, then "VENICE!", Mason picking up the habit. The atmosphere within was ecstatic. "I AM GONNA @!#$ THEIR WOMEN BRUTALLY, LIKE AN ANIMAL!", a thin, bald man with an venetian mask screamed, and the other men inside replied with a resounding "FOR VENICE!".
"And I am gonna kick their men in their loins, punishment for your sins!", one of the women added dryly, to the general amusement of the females within.
Curie could sense it in them, the smell of rut on the men and carefully veiled resent on their women. The men would rape, but the women would went their hate in a far more harmful manner. Curie did not envy the helpless villagers below.
******************
There was a loud crack, like a gunshot only much louder, then the dropships shook, then another crack, and another, and another, until the dropships vibrated like the tail of rattlesnake and all one could do was to hold the metal guard with both hands and pray for survival.
Curie felt the wireless traffic of three dropships go stone cold, all the while feeding instructions to their own dropship, telling it to stick close to that of Steel.
*******************
Gravity really kicked in when the dropship thrusters suddenly ignited, sending their guts and head down for ten seconds, until the dropships landed with the tact of a drunk wastelander.
Suddenly the vertical sections began to revolve, and Riv quickly found himself outside, suspended in his seat some ten meters above ground. Then the column of seats began tilting down, like a drawbridge, until it stopped and Riv was suspended two meters above ground, facing the dirt below.
"GRAB THE CHESTGUARD! UNBUCKLE!", Steel bellowed, and then there was a loud click as everyone was released down to the ground.
"ATLANTIS!", Steel screamed. Somewhere far to the right several voices replied, "VENICE!".
********************
Looking around, Mason noted that they had landed inside some sort of hangar. Above the ceiling had been blown wide open, a fifteen meter wide hole revealing the night sky. Somewhere up there the Truth of Steel circled.
The acrid smell of burnt plastic and rubber filled the air, the smoke stinging their eyes. There was no one around, except the carnival-goers.
Gathering their Atlantean Harvester Rods, the crowd scattered through the empty hangar.
"Now, where are their women?", the bald man said.
*********************
Steel pointed at a hole in the ground.
"Down there, we go down there!", he said and then jumped into the crater in the ground. At its edges the grass burnt, inside red emergency lighting was flashing.
Peeking down, Riv saw the crater had blown open an entryway into a concrete walled corridor bathed in red light.
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