EVENTS:

The woman flicks her hair backwards in a slightly over-dramatic fashion, then sits down on an old motorcycle that seems to have appeared out of thin air. A large sidecar materilizes beside her, and she points toward it with her head.

Woman: "Hmph. I thought you'd at least remember my face, after carrying me on your back for so long.
Get in, we'll talk on the way."

_________________________________


Sally gawks at the giant's footprints for a few moments, then grits her teeth to the point that a few crack.

Sally: "AAAAAAAA CURSES. Load the wounded in the walker and move it inland! Everyone who can walk, get back to the rig!"

She starts trundling back, spouting a torrent of expletives.

EVENTS:

Rosa enters the sidecar, sitting in one of three available seats, while Pierre takes another. Eigla elects to seat herself on her Sword's lap, sighing in contentment as she sinks in the mud sphere up to her navel. Almost immediately, the vehicle breaks into a wheelie, speeding down the melting road at a completely unreasonable pace.

After a couple of minutes, the path becomes a downward slope, and the deafening drone of the engine quiets down enough to allow semi-intelligible conversation.


???: "I'm Anne. Anne-Marie, if we're being formal. After you got me eaten by your overgrown sister, I was lucky enough to come across the old man. He's been doing some exploring, you see."


Pierre: "Yes. As I said before, this place reminds me of somewhere. And, if my intuition is right, there should be a way to stop it. Maybe it was providence that made things turn out this way."

Anne: "Which is why I'm giving you all a ride. I have no love for the Rig or the three-headed beast in charge of it, but can't stand to see these beaches sullied by yet another massacre. If I have one last chance to act for myself and stop this abomination... Eh. There are worse deaths."


______________________________________________________________________________


Klimt and Malia help the wounded into the walker, for once using their meatsnakes for non-destructive purposes. As the spindly vehicle begins to disappear in the mists, they turn their attention to Sally's form, still slowly waddling through the muddy terrain, closely followed by the few remaining combat worthy Dolls.

Sally: "Oof. Phew Cough. Thrice-damned Ironclad, I'm made for bursts of speed, not bloody marathons! AAAAAAAAAAAGH!

Ye, ye go on ahead. I'll be right there."

The surviving sailors don't seem too keen on leading the charge, however.

EVENTS:

Anne raises an eyebrow.

Anne: "Your what?

No, I'm the motorbike."


Meanwhile, Eigla scans the surrounding area. The road is now an almost vertical incline, descending vertiginously into the unknowable abyss. The walls are lined with the skeletons of gutted skyscrapers, and torrents of muddy saltwater disgorge themselves upon the void, filling the air with and unpleasant mist.

She finds it hard to believe all this would fit inside Gigarosa's body, however huge the creature may be.

___________________


Klimt wraps his tentacles around Sally's debris-covered body, trying to help pull her along the muddy path. She blushes and pauses for a moment, but accepts the contact

Sally: "Of bloody course we are! It's my home yer talkin' abaot! We'll die for the Rig if needs be, ye included!

Without it, there'd be... Nothing."

Despite his best efforts, however, Sally's adhered armor is too bulky and unwieldy. Malia, who's moving ahead, begins to quickly open the distance between them.