Ultima Ratio

Chapter 73: Repeating History

After a day of hopping between Earth's magnetic anomalies, they were finally on their way to Pali Uli.

And after days of separation, both forcefully and willingly, Akira and Danya stuck close together throughout the remainder of the journey. They squeezed into the tight corner Akira had occupied earlier, taking comfort in the confines of the walls and each other in preparation for what lay ahead.

For Akira, she spent the time ruminating over their uncertain fate when there was no clear path forward or orders to follow. In Danya's case, Akira could only guess that she was concerned about how her last memories of the place were filled with either violence or fear.

"Look alive, people," Makana announced from the cockpit. "We're entering their airspace in five minutes."

As the others gathered around behind them, each activating the electromagnets in their boots, Izzy squeezed through the crowd.

"I told you it's called the Storm Zone," Izzy protested as he stuck his head between Makana and Quyen's seats, his strange monitoring device already in hand.

"Only you call it that," Quyen said, working the controls in front of her. "And if you're going to keep naming things, at least call them something cooler. Like, I don't know, Storm Shield, or something."

For a moment, Izzy stared wide-eyed at the back of Quyen's head; soon after, he used his free hand to extract his pen from his hair and scribble a note on the inside of his arm.

Like the last time they saw Pali Uli, the view of the small, pointy island was clear and unobstructed. While their approach was slightly turbulent and accented with piercing alarms, it was a relatively smooth experience as they skimmed the water, then climbed up the steep mountain side.

"That was much less eventful than the last time," Izzy said, frowning.

Makana scoffed. "That's because Queenie and I are actually good at our jobs."

Quyen grimaced.

As they approached the peak, the island looked the same as it did before, as if it hadn't been nearly ten months since Akira was last there. But before Akira could mention that to Danya, the bottom of the crater came into view, and Akira realized just how wrong she was.

Pali Uli was in ruins.

To the north, the small forest was now strewn with logs, while the farmland to the south was nothing but dirt and dried crops. The pasture on the west side was littered with eerie, immobile lumps; the pond in the east was dry and barren. In the center, the thatched houses were nothing more than singed splinters.

It was like the war had finally found paradise.

The scene was worse when they landed. As soon as they opened the plane door, they were hit with a pungent odor of acrid smoke, rusting iron, and rancid meat. That heavy smell was the only greeting party that met them in the silent, still crater.

While Akira was still far from good health, she steeled her shaking body and got to work.

"Deploy helmets," Akira ordered, her own voice tight as she tried not to breathe. "Sam, Izzy: stay back. Squad, three by two; Makana with me."

They split up, creeping slowly through the remains with their weapons drawn. Akira led Danya and Makana north to the flattened forest, only pausing to peer into the windows of the few structures that remained. From what they saw, it was like an abandoned ghost town. A part of Akira hoped that would remain the case; the rest of her knew that the smell around them said otherwise.

As soon as they reached the forest, her dark thoughts were confirmed.

The first local they saw was no more than rotting limbs protruding from beneath a thick, fallen tree trunk. They saw the entirety of the next one: a man dangling from a tree branch that pierced through his chest, his long hair thankfully covering his face. With the third, they weren't so lucky, and Akira saw a rotting, sunken head before she spotted the rest of the body slumped against a boulder five meters away, the smooth gray stone splattered with reddish brown.