Down within the undergrove there are two hard rules; know where you are and keep yourself armed.
For Azurea, it was her home for the past four years. She was deeply familiar with its depths as she worked as a scavenger, fighting tooth and nail for salvage to eek out a living. She was simply refuse, nothing, an average scavenger and trader hocking wares she was hoping to find her big break and escape to the surface.
Azurea sat on a crate, taking a short drag from her kretek, sighing softly as she waited for her number to be called. Her loot laden backpack sitting between her legs. She was number forty-two in line for the trade station with the surface companies.
"What the hell, this is prime salvage! You're ripping me off!" protested a scavenger at the station.
She knew better than to expect much from the companies. They're exploitive and often bought salvage at lower than market rates, then upmarked it for trade as second-hand goods on the surface.
"And I told you, all of your crap is worth fifty thousand drachmas, no more, no less." The clerk reported, slapping their hand on their desk.
The surrounding guards weren't even actual guards, but Chaldean Security guards who were easily identifiable by their expensive gear and militaristic attitudes.
Two of the guards at the entrance were turning their eyes towards the angry scavenger as he continued shouted. "Fifty thousand barely pays a damn room, much less food and water! This is a scam, and you know it!"
"And I said take it or leave it. If you want, we can get the guards involved! Fifty thousand or you can kiss your license with us goodbye!" The clerk grew angry, moving his hand towards the guards.
Azurea noticed one guard approaching the scavenger, who turned their head briefly before gritting their teeth and shouting. "Fine, farsiders be damned! Take the salvage!"
After receiving his money, the scavenger took their now emptied bags and left the room, mumbling expletives. The next customer quickly filled his spot.
Time seemed to pass slowly for Azurea as she simply puffed on her kretek, the line thinning ever so slowly as people either left with what little money, or with their hauls on denial.
Azurea recounted the worth of her haul. It would land her enough money to pay the protection fee and maybe some food. Her stomach growled a little at the thought of a good meal for once.
"You, number forty-two." A voice called out, snapping her from her thoughts as she looked forward as a guard motioned her forward. "You're next."
The clerk at the table, a bored looking dwarven man, watched her as she hauled her backpack up and unloading the odds and ends from her salvage run.
"Not bad a haul today, eh?" the clerk said as he began inspecting the salvage, either tossing it back towards her or sifting it into piles, which mounted up rather quickly.
Azurea just watched lazily as she put things back into her backpack, monitoring if he tried anything funny. It wasn't uncommon for clerks to nick things to sell themselves.
After a few minutes, he finished his sorting everything out and then spoke up. "Hundred and fifty thousand for the lot."
Azurea shrugged in response as she finished packing her rejected salvage, the clerk beginning to count out her bills quietly. Slinging her backpack around her shoulders and clipping it around her waist, the dwarven man held out her cash in hand.
Azurea left the station and made her way out of the trading station until she was well aware nobody was looking as she unraveled the bills and secured them into the wallet clipped to her bra before continuing on.
"Better head to the grocers before home." She muttered to herself as she began the trek through the well-trodden halls.
Making her way through the neutral territories, she kept her hand down on the holster of her pistol, watching warily at the people passing by, and those eyeing her up and down as if she were prey.
In the undergrove, there were few neutral territories, all of them she knew from heart. Ranging from the trade stations to the markets, the area well protected from the scum that lurked in the dark. For a lone traveler, it was wise to be aware, doubly so if you were a woman of any species.
For herself, it only took one look at her pistol for most folks to think twice.
Some stragglers followed her from a distance, hoping to catch her off guard, though her direction quickly dissuaded them, dispersing at the sight of the well-armed guards dressed in purple and white gang colors of the Sainthood.
Most of the housing in the territory was still shanties and whatever salvaged and repurposed buildings the undergrove had collected overtime in the many centuries Chaldea built from the bottom up.
"Hey Azurea." A man sitting on a cinderblock waved to her. She returned with a nod as she continued on her way.
As she moved through the narrow passages, party noises grew louder as she passed through the winding streets of the shanties.
Parties, get togethers, and the like were common down within, drug dens pushing their products, what little joy people could find they'd get in respite from a harsh life in the undergrove.
She had no part in most of it. Her choice of drugs always came back to kretek. It calmed her nerves compared to the menthol crap they smoked on the surface.
The marketplace was small, owned by the Sainthood that drained blood from stone for the locals living there. The price of safety on top of the 'taxes' they take for protection.
Pulling out fifty thousand drachmas from her wallet, she approached the grocer's store and entered.
"Back home so soon? Thought you were gonna stay overnight down in the hole." The grocer said to her as she passed by.
"Thought about it. Didn't think it'd be worth it." Azurea replied as she perused the shelves, taking a basket from the corner and filling up with food and drinks.
Most of it was synthetic food, stuff farmed from the surface and dumped down here as cheap alternatives to salvaged goods. Rarely, they brought down MREs sold at a massive premium.
It tasted like crap, and was likely made with crap processed into soylent meals, but it was better than starving.
After picking up all of what she wanted, she approached the grocer and sat the basket on the table. She knew the price immediately when the scale came up to several pounds worth of food.
"Fifty grand." The grocer said as Azurea held out the money almost immediately. "Eheh, figured it out already?"
"Yeah." Azurea said simply.
After the exchange, Azurea picked up the basket in one hand and left without a word to the grocer, who simply watched as she walked away.
Her home was once some old man's store. Whatever happened to them was long since lost to her, but it was better than nothing as she approached.
Unlocking the door, she slipped in before relocking it and sighing. Slipping her backpack off, she sat it down on top of a table filled to the brim with more salvage, followed by the basket on the kitchen bar.
Stripping down her scavenger rig and gear, she slung it over a chair before getting to work putting everything away and sorting her salvage out at the table.
She idly ate whatever processed nutrient brick she'd bought as she sat out her rejected salvage, sorting through and figuring what needed to be repaired or fixed up. It was tiring, but it was her work, and she soon had to pay tithe to the Saints anyway.
"Figures I'm gonna have to pay big..." she muttered as she pulled another kretek from her pack, preparing to light it up. "This isn't going to be enough."
It was money or salvage, and it was no matter what happened, it was that or get beaten.
She paused and looked at her ratty sofa. She sighed before setting the pack on the table and retrieving her holstered pistol from her rigging.
Untying her boots, she stretched herself out and rested her head on the pillow, staring up at the ceiling.
She hadn't even realized how sore she was, much less how far she went this time. With the increasing number of claims being staked and the scramble whenever junk was dumped from the surface into the usual piles, finding salvage was becoming harder now.
Eventually she'd need to move, or find another profession.
"Might even have enough to get out of here..." she mused to herself as she felt the wallet strapped to her bra press against her shirt.
She sat her holstered pistol close on the ground to her before she got comfortable, slowly drifting off to sleep.
===
Azurea roused from her sleep by thudding at the door, her hand instinctively reaching for her holster and drawing her pistol from it.
"Azurea, get your ass up!" Thundered a voice from outside. "The boss wants his dues!"
She knew the voice, and it filled her with anxiety as she eyed the salvage pile and then towards the door, the banging stopping and resuming intermittently.
"I know you're in there!" The voice shouted. "Open the damn door!"
Azurea approached it, keeping her pistol hidden just as another knock came to the door, she opened it wide enough for her face to be shown, pistol aimed against the door at the burly orcish man, black-haired and muscular, looking down at her with a dangerous look..
"Where's the salvage, girl? Boss wants his extra cut after that last batch." He demanded.
Azurea gave him a stoic expression as he put a hand on the door to keep her from closing it. "Told you I can only pay so much at this point. I'll get the salvage."
"Boss doesn't care, neither do I. You pay up or you know what happens." The orcish man warned her. "And don't talk back, just give me it."
Azurea sighed as she kept the door slightly ajar for the man as she turned to the salvage pile she had left, quickly stuffing a duffel bag with whatever good salvage she could find. It was a fluke she got her last haul, but now they're just extorting her to everything she had.
"Didn't get the good ready, didn't ya? Boss'll hear about this," he said out loud.
She hauled the duffel bag in one hand, pistol in the other hand as she opened the door enough to set the bag out at his feet before she went to close the door.
However, just as she did so, the man shoved his hand forward and opened the door wider. "Nah, this won't do. Move over."
She quickly cocked the hammer of her pistol, causing him to pause and stare at her. "You best be ready to pull that trigger if you're going to do this..."
It was a standoff as Azurea aimed the pistol at his stomach, staring at him with the same stoic expression. "I'll have another bag ready next week. Same as before, same as always."
The man stared at her for a moment before letting out a snort and hefting up the duffel bag and turning. "Won't hear the last of this, girl."
Shutting the door and locking it, Azurea carefully uncocked the hammer and turned her attention to her substantially lessened salvage. She took a deep sigh as she realized she wouldn't have enough for next week, much less hauling enough for Aezak to be satisfied.
She hated it. She was practically giving up everything to the man. The 'debt' she paid over six times now kept rising ever since they found her in that ruined church.
'Azurea' was her name. She didn't even know if it was her actual name. She didn't care to know any more other than to just survive right now, but now it's looking like she was in trouble.
Taking a seat on her sofa, she stared down at the floor quietly, trying to figure out what she needed to do.
Either she 'disappeared' on an expedition, or she used what she had to get a smuggler to take her to the surface, or... something.
She needed an out.
Between the safe box she had tucked away in the corner, and the amount she had in her wallet, she maybe had enough to scrape together to get a place topside. It was risky, but either she did so, or she'd pay dearly for her 'failure.'
She could only hope it was enough to get her out of here.
===
Azurea took a drag from her kretek as she walked through the shanties, her new objective to visit the gunsmith and stock up before she went into the depths for salvaging.
It wasn't hard to find the shop. It was in the marketplace in what was probably an old forge back in the earlier days when blacksmithing was a thing before better tech was salvaged.
She knocked on the door and opened it, only to be assailed by the acrid smell of herbal incense and what she presumed was cannabis. She wafted the smell from her face as she entered, closing the door behind her.
"Yo, AJ, you here?" She called as she entered, taking another drag as she looked. The forge wasn't big. It had everything secured behind a cage that contained many refurbished goods, ranging from repaired swords and knives to kitchen supplies, and anything else in between that was fixable.
She stood at the counter and waited, humming softly as she spoke up again. "AJ, you even awake!?"
She heard footsteps approaching from behind the counter until a man appeared from around the corner.
He was dark-skinned with black scales across his body, long ears poking from around a sizable afro as the man approached her. Raising his goggles, golden slitted eyes stared her down before he broke into a smile. "Hey soul girl, don't mind the smell, testing a new incense."
"Couldn't tell," Azurea said sarcastically. "Good to see you again, man. Need to top off, got another run later tonight and I need a few extra magazines."
"Where's the big adventure this time?" He asked as he turned and unlocked a case, producing a set of cartridge boxes on the table in front of her.
"Deepbore, going to try my luck in the city this time." She said as she watched him produce the familiar sight of double-stacked magazines and began loading it.
"Damn, girl, you're going down that far? What's the change from going near Sandy Banks or Highwatch?" AJ said in surprise.
"Aezak." was all she said. AJ immediately got a look on his face at the mention of the man.
"Figured as much. Ever since we nabbed that cache, he's been on my ass about payment. Wants even more weapons for the gang, more armor, more equipment, hard to keep up track when he's demanding everything and the kitchen sink here." AJ said as he slipped one magazine under the cage to Azurea, who clipped it to her belt.
"Not much we can do, man, gotta figure something out before he gets nasty." Azurea said, some sense of depression in her voice.
"Sis, you gotta get out of here. You already paid the man a dozen times over, use some of the cash. Get a coyote to bring you topside."
"Wish I could, but I'm low on cash, and I only got so much in the safe box."
"I can pool some cash for you. Might not be much, but a coyote'd eat it up."
Azurea paused for a moment at that before shaking her head. "Can't do that, man, it'd be too much."
"Hey hey," AJ said as he motioned for her to look at him. "I'll be fine. It's you who needs it more."
Azurea sighed, puffing out a cloud of smoke before she unbuttoned her holster and sat the pistol down on the counter. "Also, need this checked on. If we're doing this, I'm gonna need everything in working order."
AJ smiled as he slipped the last two magazines over to her. "No problem, soul girl, give me a few and I'll check everything."
Nodding, Azurea found a seat in a chair and leaned forward, finishing off her kretek before dumping it in a trash can.
She guessed it was time for the big one.
===
Soon enough she was back out the door, pistol hanging on her belt and her backpack empty as she milled about another group of scavengers as they waited for the lift that'd take them deep into the undergrove. Most of them, like her, were armed and grouped together in their own teams.
Taking a drag from her kretek, she noted armbands, gang colors, uniforms, and more of the group she was with. Mental notes for later, she needed to consider where she'd go and how to avoid them. It was a death sentence if you were alone, and especially if you were a woman.
"Stand back of the lift!" Shouted a voice, one guard with a white hand on their chest plate ordered.
Scavengers returning from the depths, laden with salvage, stood as the lift gate opened for them. Some battered, bloodied, and bruised scavengers, hunched over with loot as their bags weighed heavily on them.
"Next group descending in one minute!" Called out the guard again.
Azurea followed the scavengers as they shuffled into the lift, Azurea tucking herself into a corner, eyeing the groups as they were descending with her. Her hand was close to her pistol as she waited.
"Descending group!"
With a jolt, the lift began lowering, the light of the undergrove disappeared, replaced with solid brick and mortar, the only light an old yellowish light of the lift alongside the flashing lights of the lift.
Deep down they went, the bricks replaced by rougher, older walls, layers upon layers as they descended further into the bowels of the earth.
Soon enough, the lift stopped at the bottom, the sign 'Deepbore' on a makeshift wooden display before them
As the groups departed, Azurea stayed behind as the groups split apart into the tunnels. Once the parties were gone, Azurea took a glance at the surrounding guards before jogging down one tunnel.
Moving through the roughly hewn tunnels, Azurea passed over a bridge overlooking a deep chasm. Across, she'd gradually find the tunnel opening wider and wider before she came across the underground ruins.
Theorists proposed that as one delved deeper into Chaldea, they would discover older cities beneath the current one, eventually leading into the lithosphere and the strange lands within it.
Her first stop brought her into a ruined shop, turning on the chest light as she began exploring it. It looked like someone had run through it recently. She could see the disturbance of the debris, though she doubted the person who caused it had stayed for long.
Still, she drew her pistol and kept care as she began checking shelves, under counters, and more for anything of interest. Knowing that anything easily taken had clearly been looted, she entered the back room.
It was smaller than the main room, but she found what she was looking for; an untouched safe. She sat her pistol down on top and scanned it over. It was an older safe with a lock instead of a reading dial, to which she rolled out her electric lockpick and got to work.
After fiddling with it for a few minutes, she successfully opened it. Sliding her backpack off, she looked in. There were old, brittle papers that didn't handle the rush of wind well, but she found at least some old electronics and a small amount of coins in various standards that she deposited into her secure container attached at the bottom of her backpack.
As she was leaving, shadows approaching the building caught her attention, so she drew her pistol and ducked beneath the counter.
The footsteps grew louder, along with the sounds of them battering around anything in the store as they looked through.
"Damn, nothing good here, picked clean." A masculine voice spoke.
"Figured, we're too shallow, gotta go deeper into the city." Another voice said as they knocked something to the floor.
"Maybe the backroom's got something in it?" The first voice said.
"Nah, look at those footprints. Someone's been here already. Besides, James is waiting on us, so we'd better get moving as soon as possible." A third voice spoke up.
"Maybe, but those footprints look fresh, too. Maybe there's someone still back there?"
"Wouldn't bother. We're too close to the guards to jack some idiot rookie for their goods."
"Fine, let's get out of here, then."
Azurea waited as the footsteps receded and the voices grew distant. Taking the moment, she bolted fast enough to get down the street before a shout of 'hey!' made her run faster than before..
===
Stamping out her kretek, Azurea didn't want the wafting smell of smoke getting in the way as she made her way through the city ruins.
The deeper she went, the more things she found; repairable goods, old items that some collector might pay for, some old money here and there, and the odd scrap. She came across old shanties, what seemed to be underground streets filled with freestanding or carved buildings, and more. It still surprised her how ingenious people were in developing whole settlements down here, long before they abandoned them.
She avoided patrols by scavengers, most likely those watching out for claim jumpers who were looking to loot their areas. Most would not be nice towards a lone scavenger down here, and she knew better than to announce her presence with gunshots. It'd either bring down more scavengers or worse, bring down something else.
As she crept through the ruins, her backpack was getting heavier and heavier, and she soon decided it was well enough time for her to get going home.
As she turned and began backtracking, she couldn't help but feel something watching her, and she knew better than to confront whatever it was. No matter how far she went, the feeling never went away, even as she drew her pistol and swept it around for emphasis.
It wasn't until she made her way closer to the city exit did she find what was stalking her.
She raised her pistol into the darkness, one hand going for the flashlight on her rigging, that she spotted what it was.
It was something that unnerved her. It was a creature with earthly tone skin, rags and old gear strapped to their body. It was staring at her for the longest moment, as if studying her as she gripped her pistol.
"A goblin?" She muttered as she slowly moved away, only for it to approach her slowly. It felt like they were more curious about her presence than a threat, but she kept her gun trained on it as it kept watching her.
"No, warbred..." she said as she noted the makeshift knife held in its hand before she shone her flashlight in its eyes, making it scream as it clutched at its eyes in pain.
"Back off!" She ordered as she backed away slowly. The goblin angered before it began howling.
Azurea shot off two shots into its chest, one into its head, quickly downing it.
"Shit..." she muttered as she turned and ran. She needed to make the mile back to the lift and fast. She needed to warn someone before it was too late.
All around the ruins came the sight of the earthly toned creatures, more warbred as they began pursuing her, her gunshots easily attracting them to her location as she ran.
She didn't dare look back at the numbers undoubtedly swelling as she went for the radio on her rigging, shouting into it.
"Whoever can hear this, there's warbred in Deepbore! Big numbers, anyone who can get the hell out of here!"
Running for her life, the mile felt like hours as she ran as fast as she could, though she soon faced runners.
Gritting her teeth, she made the split decision. She unclipped her waist strap and dumped the heavy backpack onto the ground.
Freed from the weight, she began running as fast as she could, blindly firing behind her in the event she could hit one of the warbred in her escape.
"All stations, all stations. Deepbore is no longer secure. All scavengers retreat to the lift. You have ten minutes to get here before evacuation." A man evenly said on the radio, as if procedural.
Reaching the limit she could run, she panted heavily, knowing there was no way to stop before the following horde'd overrun her, the runners slowly catching up to her.
Seconds felt like minutes as she rushed and rushed until she saw the first floodlight did she shout.
"Scav, scav! I got runners on my back!" She shouted ahead as she her muscles strain and the strain setting in.
"Get your ass over here now!" called out one guard with an automatic crossbow, two others taking position behind barricades.
As she felt one of the warbred on her heels, she quickly ducked down as the volley of bolts went overhead, followed by another volley.
Turning, she flung herself back until she was beside the barricade and began firing her pistol rapidly at the oncoming horde. Once she was out, she scrambled over the barricade and reloaded her pistol.
"Princes be damned, girl, you nearly got it! Get the hell back to the lift!" One of the guards said, as they began firing their crossbow again.
Scavengers were crowding around the lift by the numbers, guards having to keep them back as the lift groaned, slowly descending.
Many were shouting, though others were quick to join the fight, between those armed with swords, spears, and other items, a few were armed with crossbows, bows, and other instruments. They were putting up a decent defense despite the oncoming horde.
"Hold the line, dammit! Hold it!" Called the guard captain as they aimed their semi-automatic pistol towards the sight of a large amount of warbred.
"This isn't normal, there's a shaman around here somewhere!" One scavenger said. "I don't wanna die! Get the damn lift down here!"
"It'll come when we can get it down! Go fight if you want to live, dammit!" The captain shouted back.
"Like hell I'm fighting! I don't want to die!" Another shouted as the guards pushed them back from the lift as it opened.
People began pushing themselves into it, eventually breaking through the guards until it was jam packed with people. As Azurea was about to get on, one scavenger pushed her back while the next group squeezed themselves in, causing the lift to groan.
"The hell!?" She shouted as the man who shoved her looked desperate.
"There's too many people! Get away!" They shouted as the lift began closing, the weight of so many people making it protest.
As it began ascending, there came a mighty screech as the lift became stuck just halfway up towards the shaft. There came shouts from those within before the lift ceased to function.
"No..." Azurea muttered as she turned her attention towards the oncoming horde, who were increasing in number and the guards were clearly struggling to hold on.
After a few moments, there came shouts and screams as the lift broke, the safety locks snapping and the lift plummeted down into the shaft below.
Azurea's mind raced as she looked towards the guards and remaining scavengers. The horde was growing too large as she watched one of the tunnel guards get knifed by a group of goblins.
"Get out of here, go! Get to the emergency tunnels!" The captain shouted as the guards and scavengers quickly abandoned their defenses and began running towards the back, the captain directing them towards the exits.
Azurea quickly fled into the emergency exit closest to her, climbing up the ladder that was leading her up and out of Deepbore.
Others were following behind her as she climbed as best as she could under the strain on her muscles.
After a few minutes, she shoved open the hatch and climbed out, turning and helping others up.
"The hell's going on!?" Shouted a guardsman as Azurea pulled a scavenger and his backpack up through the hatch.
"Warbred, lots of them in Deepbore." Azurea said as she helped the last person up before slamming the hatch closed.
"Gods..." the guardsman said.
"The lift broke, dunno who else is left." Azurea said as she sat down against a wall and caught her breath, checking her pistol's magazine and her remaining rounds.
She'd need to get back up and get some more ammunition, internally wincing as she'd wasted so much rounds in her panic.
Reholstering her pistol, she sighed and rested her head against the concrete.
===
Azurea took the long trek back up, everything about her sore and tired as she thought back on her abandoned backpack, knowing better than to head back. Yet she couldn't get it off her mind as she walked the route that led back to her home level.
Her nerves were frayed as she passed by the Saints guarding the entrance, giving her leery looks as she passed by. As she walked the streets, she observed that something was definitely off. Parties were subdued, and the people who remained on the streets were obviously armed and appeared worried.
As she approached her home, the sight of the door being busted wide open caught her attention. Drawing her pistol, she approached the door and peered in.
All of her salvage was missing, her furniture torn apart or upturned and broken. Entering the building, she kept her pistol at the ready. She scanned the room and approached behind her counter.
Her fridge, cabinets, and everything else were smashed apart, food and drinks all over the place.
"Who the hell..." she muttered as she slowly lowered her gun.
She went for her safe box, which was thankfully not found. Holding it by the handle, she knew it was time to leave.
As she approached the door, however, she'd face down several orcish Saints armed with weapons.
The leader of the group, Azurea recalled, was the one who took her tithe for Aezak.
"Looks like you're back, girl. Told you that you'd regret drawing that damn gun on me." He said with a grin.
