Out in the oppressive grey, Everla's reconnaissance team moved with practiced caution. The 'hidden path' Kael had sensed continued to feel subtly different – the pervasive thrumming seemed less aggressive here, the visual distortion slightly less intense. It wasn't safe, but it offered a measure of concealment that the open grey lacked.
They were deep in Sector 7 now, a desolate ruin of collapsed structures and ash. The air was still, heavy. They hadn't encountered any manifestations since leaving the sanctuary, a blessing they didn't take for granted.
Back in the sanctuary, Kael sat with Elara, eyes closed, a map of Sector 7 spread before them. He was straining, pushing Vispera's awareness out into the grey, trying to follow the faint thread of the team's presence. Captain watched nearby, his tension palpable.
Sensing the team over this distance was incredibly difficult. Kael felt their movement as a distant flicker of light in Vispera's perception, a feeling of cautious progress. But details were almost impossible to grasp.
Elara guided him, touching points on the map. "Are they here, Kael? Near the old processing plant?"
Kael focused, trying to match Vispera's faint 'location' feeling with the map. He felt a resonance, a sense of the team being... near. "Near... here..." he rasped, tapping a point on the map close to the plant ruin.
Captain noted it grimly. Confirmation of location, however vague, was better than nothing.
Then, a shift. Kael flinched. Vispera's warmth pulsed with a feeling of "Stop. Still." The flicker of movement ceased. Followed by a sharp, cold feeling – "WATCH!" – the same feeling he'd sensed earlier, but stronger now, closer to the team's position.
Kael gasped, eyes wide with fear, pointing frantically at the spot on the map. "Stop! Watch! Here!"
Captain's hand went to his sidearm. Elara's face paled. They had stopped. And something was watching them.
Was it the manifestations that took the patrol? Or something else, something drawn by their presence?
Back in Sector 7, Everla's team had found it. The old processing plant. Or what remained of it. A skeletal structure, partly collapsed, yet still standing amidst the ruins. And near its entrance, scattered debris, broken equipment... and the chilling evidence of a struggle. Salvaged weapons, pieces of armor... the remnants of Patrol F.
They hadn't found survivors. Only the grim confirmation of their fate.
And as Everla and her team took cover, scanning the silent ruins, a subtle shift occurred in the pervasive thrumming. A feeling of unseen eyes, of cold, focused awareness settling upon them. The feeling Kael had sensed.
They were being watched. And The Void, or whatever controlled its manifestations, knew they were there.
The chapter ends with the reconnaissance team discovering the fate of the lost patrol near the old processing plant and realizing they are being watched, while back in the sanctuary, Kael confirms their location and senses the watchful presence, confirming the immediate danger they are in.