Objective: Reconnaisance

[The Grey Man]

"Which way is Camelot?" Drive asked. Grey repeated the question back to him, and Dark Drive gave a small nod.

"It's, uh..." Grey leaned forward and pointed towards the gate that matched the description he'd read, as well as his own brief glances through the gates. "Well, it should be that one over there, I think. The one that looks kind of like a medieval archway."

Drive glanced over to him. "You're sure?" he asked. The Grey Man nodded, but also shrugged a little. He'd poked his head in, and he'd read Nealaphh's descriptions of the different verses, and it all seemed to point to that archway being the "gate" to Camelot... but he couldn't be certain until he'd been there himself. Explored the place in greater detail.

So, he decided to reply honestly. "I'm as sure as I can possibly be without going in to explore any of them," he said.

With that, Dark Drive ignited the engine. The NEXTridoron's console lights blinked to life, casting a slight blue tinge over the black interior. The A/C vents whirred to life, and the temperature quickly adjusted to become much more comfortable. The radio buzzed to life; all crackling sound, completely snowed out with white noise. Grey reached to turn it off, but, as if on cue, the radio began to play. It sounded like a power ballad of some kind, although he wasn't sure he'd ever heard this one. Still, but it wasn't terribly unpleasant to Grey, so he decided to leave it alone. Drive seemed similarly shocked that there was a radio signal in this barren place... or so Grey assumed, but in reality the man in blue's helmet really made reading his expression all but impossible. Still, it had made them both pause, if only for a moment.

"Ready?" Drive asked him. Before Grey could answer, they were off at an incredible speed. Grey clenched the passenger door handle and laughed. It was an involuntary response; he was quite surprised by the abrupt takeoff. "Wow, this thing really zips!" he marveled. In that moment, the anxiety of being separated from his comrades was lost. There was only this vehicle, zooming past the men in white powered armor, rocketing through the empty white expanse at speeds that couldn't be matched by any human being.

God, he loved these old cars.

It was not to last, sadly. Ron and Roger and David and all the worries of his separation from them--visions of Nealaphh, of The Smiling One stealing untold souls from their own worlds to bring them here--the rest of reality came back with just a few muttered words from Dark Drive. Words that, despite their seemingly mundane qualities, held some frightening implications.

"That's strange," he had said--and mostly to himself, "I can't get it to go faster than 128 kilometers an hour."

[The Grey Man]

Before Grey could ask what the problem was, he felt a buzzing behind his ear. Somebody was trying to reach him via his cochlear implant. He motioned to Dark Drive that he needed a moment to himself, then quickly depressed the small machine.

Who was calling him? Grey's mind raced for answers; he decided the easiest way to get them would be to gently wade into these waters of the unknown. In a calm, even tone, he said simply, "This is Grey. Talk to me."

"It's me, Grey." The Grey Man knew the voice: it was Ron. It was Big Ron! He'd made it here after all! Grey breathed a quiet sigh of relief as his friend continued: "... and I'm in a bit of a jam."

“You and me both, brotherman," Grey quipped sardonically. "I’ve been traveling for a bit with a man who calls himself Drive. We seem to be trapped in some kind of alternate universe, or something, and I can’t get in contact the rest of Strike Team. What’s your deal?”

“I’m here in the omniverse as well—I got taken captive my first day here. I’m in a place called The Endless Dunes. Have you heard of it?” Omniverse. Ron mentioned this place by name. So he knew just as much as Grey. Maybe. Sounded about right, honestly; Ron was always better at quickly gathering intel, though Grey was usually the more thorough one.

“Endless Dunes, huh?" Grey echoed. "Yeah, I know a little bit about the place. We’re headed to Camelot right now.” Grey paused for a moment, realizing how absurd it all sounded. He vocalized these thoughts as well.

“Yeah, really," Ron agreed. "Anyway, the lady who took me captive wants to talk to you.”

“Ah, figures," Grey shot back, referring to their earlier troubles during Proto-Gilgamesh. "You have to stop letting this happen to you... Put her on.”

After a brief exchange with his friend's captor, Grey clicked off his implant. Ron was being held in the Dunes by slave-runners. They were asking a ransom, to be determined during a meeting in person.

It was obviously a trap. Grey looked over to Dark Drive, and saw the rider looking at him as well. "What was that?" he asked. Grey answered him, "An old friend of mine. Got himself kidnapped when we arrived, seems like. I'm gonna have to bail on Camelot. I told her we were already there to buy myself the element of surprise. But, here..." Grey trailed off, pulling out his notepad and a pen. He quickly scribbled the range of radio frequencies he used on it and handed it over to the rider as the NEXTridoron halted to a stop. "I appreciate that you were willing to help me find answers, so we'll call it an open offer. If you're ever in a jam, call me. As for my friend... I'll need to take care of this one solo."

And with that, he began the long trek to the Endless Dunes. He knew just enough to make this work... or so he hoped.