The four of them made their way down the long grotto leading out to the beach of Rim. In front of them, the massive cave loomed. The pirate ship floated lazily in the water as if it didn't want to get involved in the present circumstances.
The ship floated there in silence. There was no movement on board. The gearborn had clearly forced the pirates to leave the chamber entirely. Still, seeing the vessel hover there in silence seemed to be a statement in and of itself.
Vizim glanced behind them and spoke in a hushed tone, "Is it really alright for all of us to just leave them? What if they leave the tunnel? Or come after us?"
"They won't," Derrin replied simply.
Zara continued, "Even if they do leave, it won't matter. They can't leave the island with their ship, or the gearborn will destroy them. Really, their only chance is to remain passive until the fleet arrives."
"But still? Shouldn't they want revenge?"
"That would just doom them all to death." She paused briefly in front of the wound in the side of the vessel.
Everyone else did as well. Red couldn't help but smile slightly at the ghastly wound. The wound he had been responsible for. The boards had been shattered and burnt. It had been unfortunate that the blast wasn't closer to the ship itself. Most of the damage was from fire that had been quickly extinguished.
None of that mattered now, though. Even if the pirates were still around, they were no longer a threat. There was only one real threat that remained, and that was the gearborn they were heading to see.
They passed the ship and reached the beach beyond. From here, the bay spread out into the faster sea. They could just start to make out the ship through the trees.
Red couldn't help but stare at the empty beach. The massive explosion had taken place here, and it was as if it hadn't happened at all. That wasn't really the case. Red knew that deeper in the forest would be the body of the man he killed.
Zara paused with him. "I don't know how anything you did managed to work. But I also don't really have any clue what you did. Whatever the case, you succeeded. You'll be a hero after this."
He couldn't help but feel a strange melancholy at those words. "Silas might be dead, you know. If the Pirate King was telling the truth, well, then it would be my fault."
Derrin paused his walk as well. "Maybe he is dead. However, Silas was a soldier. He may have had his fair share of problems, but he wasn't a bad tactician. He went into the plan knowing that there was a slim chance of survival."
"It doesn't matter. He's probably still alive, and the Pirate King was trying to get under our skin," Red nodded slowly.
"In any case, he was a soldier and had a mission to complete. We have a mission to complete ourselves, so we should stay focused." Zara stepped into the jungle and began moving to the westernmost tip of the island.
Red didn't want to think about the situation with Silas anymore. Nothing they said was comforting. Just because the man had agreed to something didn't make it any less of his fault.
He knew that there wasn't proper time to deal with that now, though. He was exhausted from Guardian's Blessing, and Zara was right. They had a mission to complete. He couldn't afford to get distracted. So, he chose to believe that Silas had escaped.
Their group reached the edge of the island and carefully remained hidden in the jungle. Out there, in the sea, Red could see the black silhouette of the gearborn vessel slowly rotating. It moved so slowly as to seem like it was unintentional.
The massive hull of the ship was slowly coming into view parallel to the island. If the gearborn were leaving, this would be the optimal route for them to take. However, there could be a plethora of other reasons as well.
"Do you think they know of the battle in the cavern?" Red asked.
Derrin didn't hesitate. "Yes. Their communication systems far surpass our own. That ship probably has near-instant contact with the rest of its fleet and any more powerful robots in Valencia. At the very least, they would have sensed their leader's death."
"What do you think their next course of action will be?" Zara asked without taking her eyes off the ship.
"That would be hard to say. We still don't fully know what it is they were after here. We also don't know if they succeeded or not. If they have, then perhaps they'll simply leave."
"You don't believe that," Zara said. "They may be smart, but they also have a superiority complex like no other. They won't view the death of their leader as a statement. Or at least in the way we would like."
"Correct. There would be a much higher chance that they simply invade the island and kill everyone here just to show their superiority. I'm sure there are other robots aboard that ship just as powerful as the one Red killed."
"I didn't really kill it…"
They all stared at him.
"I'm serious."
"In any case, we need to be prepared for whatever course of action may come. We should just need to last a few more days, maybe a week at most."
"I thought you said they'd be here in a day or two," Vizim's eyes narrowed.
Zara glanced at him. "That was a bluff. If the pirates know they have more time, then that gives them more time to prepare and a higher chance for them to do something stupid. We can't really guarantee any time for the fleet to arrive."
Red listened to the conversation half-heartedly. Most of his focus was on Silas and the events that had just transpired. There simply wasn't enough to register all that was happening or going to happen.
However, most of all, he was focused on the ship in the distance. Its entire hull now faced the island. Red could see countless cannons hanging lazily from the side as if their mere presence was enough to scare them. He would have enhanced his vision to try and see what was happening, but he was totally drained of mist.
Had he been able to enhance his vision, he would have seen the countless gearborn rushing around the ship. Rushing around their cannons as they prepared them to fire.
His alarm came a few moments later when an overwhelming electrical tingle ripped through his nose. Red's eyes widened in horror. The scent and taste of energy were so overpowering it made him want to vomit.
"They're going to bomb the island!" Zara's voice rang out a moment later.
"Oh fuck."
The sounds of thunder shook the sky.