Garrick was the first to wake up and saw all the Crags at the bottom grappling at the tress and still saying, "Come meet the starlings?" In their creepy way.
In this condition, whatever it was, they were extremely slow, although they seemed to possess just as much strength. So maybe...
"Don't try it," A voice came up on his helmet.
"What? Who is this?" Garrick asked.
"We're here to get you out...look up." Garrick looked up and was overjoyed to see a Coldstone ship. Coldstone ships always have the coldstone chambers. The newest models even have the equipment to help them out of long term periods in Coldstone. This one was designed to make a gas in order to float silently in planets. It used a suction to move the air in front to behind without noise and when it went into space it had rocket engines.
"Great! Now can you get us out of here?" Garrick said.
"That's what we're here for." The voice replied as a rope ladder swung down. A soldier without armor slid down. He was short, probably not coldstone, but he was fit.
"Anyone injured?" He asked.
"Well...not enough to have immediate help, physically anyway." Garrick answered as they woke up obviously glad help had come.
"Great, start climbing then." The soldier said.
Garrick waited as the others went up. The soldier gestured for Garrick to go up and as he did the soldier said, "They're assembling a new team for you. It won't be the same, I know, but you'll still be in charge. They're going to let you choose the codename."
"The guardians. We'll be the guardians."
"Guardians it is." The soldier said following him up.
When they got inside Garrick voiced the question, "What are the starlings?"
"Starlings?" Asked the pilot glancing backwards.
The pilot, a bald pale man with pale eyes, leaned to look at them, "Where did you hear that?"
"Down there," Garrick said, "They wanted us to meet the starlings."
"You're very lucky to have escaped intact. The starlings are Crag sorcerers according to legend. They request human sacrifice and feed their followers a certain drug that makes them live longer and also not die from most things, it also slows them though." The pilot explained, "I'm John Charles by the way. Crag expert and new Coldstone experiment gone not entirely right."
"What happened?" Garrick asked.
"This," he said pointing ro his face, "My hair fell off. My eyesight has gone wacko. I'm seeing all sorts of things. It's great for military purposes but it drives me nuts. Even my hearings weird. Everytime I hear a footstep I almost see the way the vibration is. I could distinguish a fly from a mosquito without looking or touching."
"Any strength related...enhancements?" Garrick asked.
"Of course," Charles said, "I can lift fifteen thousand pounds. Move just as fast as you can. One other problem though, I don't feel pain very much. I have to check to make sure I wasn't injured."
"When did they start letting people use their full names?" Garrick asked.
"When my family died." Charles answered easily.
"Ahhh." Garrick said.
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