"What we know is that a rift takes on some aspects of how it came into being. For instance, if it randomly found the world through the void, it would mimic the area that it attached in. If it landed in a woodland, you could expect flora and fauna based on that location. If it was drawn to the world by a ritual, it may be influenced by the location, 'material components' used to enact the ritual or even the ritualists themselves." – Gle' Natro lead researcher assigned to rift instance studies, Order Stabilitas.

Kurt casually walked back into the hub, fully kitted up and dragging an intensely protesting Val by her armor's drag handle. He had her slung over his shoulder like he was Santa carrying a sack of toys, despite her trying to grab hold of everything they passed, trying to prevent the inevitable.

"I don't wanna. Noooooo-" Her words were cut off as Kurt wound up and threw her through the portal of the rift like he was slinging a bale of hay.

Looking back at Penny, Kurt shrugged. "She doesn't like the cold and wet."

"Ah-ha, yeah but that was a little… ruthless." She replied.

Anna was standing right beside her. "Does this happen often?" The fey woman looked equal parts concerned and amused.

Penny just shook her head. "Not really but I wouldn't expect the shower to be free when they get back tonight."

"Why the shower?"

"Just…" Penny sighed and placed her hand on Anna' shoulder. "You will see. Come on, you have orientation and training to start. Kevin will be meeting you in my office to get you started while I handle this rift."

With nobody left to talk to, Kurt turned and stepped through the portal bracing himself as he dropped several inches into the shin deep water. Rain pelted his face in an inconsistent pattern that randomly alternated between a fine mist and a thirty-mile an hour gusting downpour. The sky was dark and cloudy, barely providing any light. The natural light was meaningless when compared to the ambient light pollution coming from the only thing of note in this rift.

The effect of wind was also interesting as it made waves in the shallow water. Naturally the waves weren't very big because there wasn't much depth, but it was a strange feeling as the swell went from knee deep to just covering the top of his foot as it passed. He could see some of the larger swells causing issues when moving, given how hard they hit.

Hearing a splashing, he turned to his left and saw Kristi walking his way, a completely sodden Val behind her. "The rig is that way with the light. I haven't been able to find any deep spots and there aren't any landmarks or variation to this place other than that."

Kurt turned to the central focus of this rift, the oil rig, standing as a beacon with all its exterior lights shining. Or rather, what the rift thought passed for an oil rig. The structure was a dead ringer for what was commonly seen in the typical offshore platforms except it was much wider and didn't have nearly as much elevation change.

He would estimate that it was several hundred yards to a side, but the main deck was only seven or eight feet off the surface of the water. The structures on it were also only one level high despite several cranes sticking up above them. There was also the noticeable absence of the central drilling tower which made it more like village on stilts than the industrial construction it was.

"Any sign of the local creatures?" Kurt asked as he squinted and looked around.

Val shook her head, her ears flattened as she squinted into the wind. "Not yet. I thought I saw movement on the rig but didn't get a good look."

Kurt turned to Kristi, and she immediately answered. "I can't pick out any movement over the vibrations of the waves. That might change when we get on the deck."

"Well, let's get moving. I don't want to sit out here all day if we can help it." He said and began moving off. He felt Val settle an illusion over them as they moved. Squinting as the wind picked up, he hoped that the Rain-X on their optics and glasses would keep the worst of the spray off. Thankfully it wasn't a salty spray like a real ocean would have.

They moved in a narrow, triangular formation to try and maximize their firing angles and the line of sight. Kurt was in the back left with Val on the back right. Kristi was running in the lead position since her senses would be best with limited visibility. They didn't have far to go, just a couple hundred yards, but it was still a slog through the inconsistent waves.

After far longer than it should have taken, they arrived at a low platform that hovered just above the water at one corner of the main platform. It was made from metal grating with several metal poles that suspended it from the deck above them with a set of stairs running to the higher level. Now that they were close, it became obvious that this wasn't a typical oil platform as the deck was actually a series of interconnected walkways rather than a solid platform. They gladly climbed up onto the grating, wanting to get out of the crashing waves.

Kurt looked under the platform, trying to see if there was anything different but couldn't make out anything besides dark water. The lights that lit the top side leaked through the openings and cast the light at strange angles onto the choppy waves below. Getting an idea, he summoned an IR chemlight and cracked it before pulling out a fist sized rock and tying it on. He then aimed into the darkness and tossed it under the center of the rig.

All three of them could see the chemlight clearly through their glasses and then watched as it landed in the water. They watched the effect of the IR light bloom after it fell below the surface, but it didn't go far, only sinking a foot before resting on the bottom.

"I don't know what I was expecting." Kurt admitted, somewhat let down that there wasn't anything under the center of the rig. "Just kinda figured that all this water would be hiding something."

Kristi, who was looking over the edge and onto the platform suddenly snapped her fingers, grabbing his attention. "Movement. Something humanish in size."

"Anything else?" Kurt asked back in a whisper.

When Kristi shook her head, he made the decision to have her move them toward the edge of the first building. They crossed several yards of open deck to fetch up against the side of a shipping container like building. Once standing on the deck, they noticed that while there were walkways, there wasn't a safety rail in sight. It was like the rift didn't bother putting anything in to keep people from walking into a hole. They would have to be very careful when traversing the decking to not fall or trip.

Kurt, while keeping a little over arm's length from the side of the building, risked a look into the window that was on the side of the container and saw something strange. To be more accurate, Kurt saw several things that were strange. The first thing was that the window didn't have any glass in it, just empty cross hatch in a frame. The second thing was the hunched figure in a reddish-orange raincoat that covered it from head to about knee height. The remaining strangeness was not only the creature itself but what it was holding.

The creature looked like an overgrown muskrat shoved into a raincoat with a wide hood covering most of its furry head. A blunt, rodent-like nose with overgrown teeth stuck out the front with whiskers that extended far past the edge of the hood. Its small beady black eyes were reflecting the light coming from the lantern it held in its clawed hand. That lantern also illuminated the giant fucking revolver that was making its way around to point at Kurt.

On reflex, Kurt centered the glowing dot of his optic and fired, thankful that he had stayed far enough back to bring his rifle up. The silenced rifle coughed twice as the heavy, subsonic rounds smacked into the muskrats' face before it could even fire a shot.

It crumpled to the floor in a boneless heap where it began to thrash as its nerve endings fired for the last few times after being separated from the brain. That thrashing was exactly what Kurt had come to expect after small game hunting squirrels, but it was startling to see it on such a large scale.

While Kurt's rifle was silenced, the resulting impacts and death throes were not. "Contact." Kristi hissed and settled into a better firing stance. "Got at least four coming from nearby."

"Over the side." Val suddenly said. Both Kurt and Kristi followed her lead, not questioning the decision as they backed away and dropped off the edge. She then led them back under the rig, keeping to the shadows along the edge and around the support pillars.

Val hid them under an illusion as they all looked up at the gaps in the deck, barrels trained on the flickering shadows cast by the storm lanterns. They could hear the slap and scrape of bare feet against the metal decking and a barking chittering noise as the creatures 'talked' to each other.

Kurt could count five of the creatures, just going by the way the lights moved. He watched for several minutes as they scuttled about above them, moving along the metal grating and into the buildings. There was a tense moment when they began chittering loudly after entering the building, likely discovering their dead comrade. But other than that, no real action and they dispersed a few minutes later, leaving two of their number behind.

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Those two monsters that were left behind began to patrol, walking a square route around the building. They could see the beam of the lanterns occasionally flick out over the water, casting about several yards from the edge of the platform. It seemed that these things would come right to the edge but didn't look down, for whatever reason.

A sudden idea struck Kurt, and he pulled Val and Kristi into a whispered conversation. "I'm going to shift. The next time one comes to the edge, I will haul him over and kill him."

"What? Just like that?" Val asked.

"Let's try and see what happens." Kurt said while storing all his equipment.

"Alright. Be careful." She said and leaned forward the last couple of inches to give him a quick kiss.

For her part, Kristi gave him a stern nod and a forced smile. She then sat down, leaning back and shouldering her machine gun while scanning the deck above. She turned as still as a statue, only her eyes flickering back and forth as they tracked the movements overhead.

Kurt shifted after completely stripping down. He didn't limit his growth this time, assuming that the extra height and reach would come in handy for those enemies not right on the edge. He had to fight hard to suppress the urge to howl after he completed his shift. It seemed that every time he did, that inner instinct knew it was time to hunt and was very excited at the prospect.

Now that he was significantly taller, Kurt had to walk in a hunch. It was a task made all the easier by the werewolf body which already was inclined to move that way with how the hips and legs rotated. He found the task rather natural as he crept to the edge of the rig and waited, turning around and looking up while waiting for his prey to approach the edge again.

He didn't have to wait long as one of the remaining rodents once more came to peer into the darkness. It stopped just half a step shy of the edge and held its lantern out in one hand, its other shielding its eyes from the rain rather than holding its weapon. As the beam of light passed behind Kurt, he lashed out.

The slightly hooked claws of his werewolf form found good purchase as he grabbed the rodent-man with both hands under the arm pits. He then yanked it into the darkness before it could make a noise, taking the lantern and all. Quickly he rolled his body and shoved the creature face first into the water then bared down on him with his full weight.

Kurt held the rat-man under by its neck while he put a knee in its back and held the legs with his other hand. Due to his size, it was easy to hold the smaller creature at all three points. After that, it only took a few seconds for the monster to stop thrashing and eventually quit twitching all together.

"Well, that worked." Val commented idly from where she watched the spectacle unfold. "Thin-" She stopped talking and they all looked up as the other patrolling monster suddenly came scurrying over, its webbed feet slapping on the metal over their head.

As one, they all retreated farther under the platform, not that they needed to with how the beam of the lantern didn't come close to the edge of the platform. Once it became clear that the second creature wasn't going anywhere, Kurt began prowling away to the opposite corner.

"What are you doing?" Val mouthed at him.

Kurt pantomimed his plan by pointing to the floating body of the first guard. He then motioned like he was pushing something and pointed in the direction the second guard was looking. That seemed to be enough to tell them what he was doing as Kristi grabbed the body and looked back to him, waiting.

Poking his muzzle above the deck level, Kurt remained at a half crouch to avoid being spotted as he looked around. He quickly confirmed that there weren't any more creatures in the area and flashed a thumbs up to Kristi.

He didn't see what she did but he did see the remaining guard suddenly turn and shine his lantern over the edge. Moving quickly, Kurt silently clambered up and over the edge. He kept low, his belly nearly dragging along the deck as he silently rushed forward, crossing the dozen yards to his next victim.

The sentry suddenly flinched and began to turn just as Kurt sprang forward, leaping the remaining twenty feet. He had been worried about his grip and slipping but his toe claws easily dug into the metal grating. He launched forward with a speed that impressed even him and slammed into the monster.

The guard didn't see a damn thing as Kurt hit him like a freight train, taking both of them over the edge as he bit down hard on the creature's neck. He rode the flailing monster over the platform and landed atop him in a bone jarring impact. He then made sure it was dead by thrashing his head back and forth, with the smaller creature still in his jaws.

Kristi and Val watched as several hundred pounds of werewolf smashed into a creature a fifth its size then crushed it in a fall. They also watched as said werewolf then began to death shake the already dead monster, its body slapping against the shallow, water-covered bottom of the rift.

"I think that worked." Kristi said after Kurt dropped the now shredded monster. She then grimaced as she heard the bones and muscles in his face readjusting.

"How many do you think we can take over the edge?" Kurt asked in the rasping voice his werewolf form had.

Val looked up from where she was looting the bodies of the two monsters. "No idea but we should find out. If it works, we might even be able to drag some through the gaps between the walkways and decking."

"What do you mean we?" Kristi asked with a sly smile. "Kurt is the one doing all the work here."

Rolling her eyes, Val stood up from the now looted corpses. "I will do the illusion thing, mostly manipulating shadows since I have some affinity with that. I can also lure them over with an illusion."

She stopped as the sound of feet slapping on metal could be heard coming their way. Again, they all looked up and noticed the slowly bobbing lantern casting shadows through the gaps as it swung from side to side in a searching pattern.

Kurt just stalked toward the opening where the creature had stopped and looked at Val. She gave him a thumbs up and he waited until the thing's back was turned before reaching his arm up through the gap. He was careful to stay clear of the edge and bend his elbow enough to get around the walkway.

Once his claws were within a couple feet of the creature, he committed and lashed out, grabbing it by the ankle and yanking it back to the gap in the floor. This time the rat-man let out a shrill screech until its head banged against the grating and it was stunned. Once more, Kurt held it under water, but this time stomped on its neck, ending the struggle in moments.

Stepping back, Kurt looked up from his latest victim to see Kristi hanging from the deck above. She had her hands wrapped around one of the horizontal support members and had lifted her feet from the water.

"What are-" Kurt began but she shook her head.

"Three more incoming. From that way." She pointed along one of the walkways and Kurt finally understood what she was doing.

Since she couldn't detect the movements over the waves below and with the platform being above them, she decided to attach herself to the deck above. She could apparently detect the vibrations of the monsters as they ran along overhead through the girder she was gripping with her hand.

Val moved off in that direction with Kurt following alongside. She stopped them at a four-way intersection of walkways and then cast another spell. Kurt shuffled into position as the shadows seemed to cling to his fur and obscured his shape in the near complete darkness.

In silence they waited as the slapping of feet grew louder. Sure enough, three of the creatures trooped their way in a spread-out line. There were a few yards between each and none of them seemed to be paying attention to anything but the path ahead.

Letting the first two pass, Kurt darted forward with his arm, snagging the last one around its bony knee. This time, he pulled back before yanking downward. The motion allowed extra room, so the stunned creature didn't smack against the decking and vanished cleanly into the darkness.

Unfortunately, the rat-man let out a startled shriek, but it was already below the deck with a broken spine before the other two could turn around. Both of them panicked and scrambled to draw their guns from under the raincoats they wore. In doing so, they made the mistake of standing still.

Snap-Snap. Kristi and Val both fired at the remaining two rat-men. Their silenced guns barely making a sound as they each placed a perfect headshot on the fumbling creatures. One of them fell forward off the platform and landed in the water with a splash while Kurt had to reach up to drag the other one over the edge.

Val quickly looted the bodies, taking the pistols and lanterns. That process also showed that the creatures really were just giant, bipedal muskrats under the coats. They all had a sort of harness that held a holster and a small pouch of ammunition with not much else to note.

"What is this?" Kristi asked, holding up a small vial of a slightly green tinged liquid.

Kurt shrugged, the gesture looking ridiculous in his werewolf form. Val peered at the vial for a moment before also shrugging. "No idea, let's maybe pass it on to Sam to take a look." She said in a whisper.

With that, they moved off to continue killing off the rest of the creatures in the rift. It was mostly a repeating cycle of ambushes from below. On a couple occasions they had to hide or break contact as one of their victims alerted the nearby monsters.

In one of the less successful ambushes, Kurt learned the little bastards also had the teeth of muskrats. One that he had grabbed around the neck bent its head down and bit his wrist, nearly going all the way through but stopping against the bone.

That particular one was why they had to break contact on one occasion as Kurt got a little mad and smashed its head against the underside of the platform. The motion didn't do anything to help the pain but at least the creature let go and he could pry its jaws open.

After killing a few dozen of the rat-men, they once more ventured onto the deck. They had done several laps and were certain that none remained. Still, they kept the guns ready as they cleared each of the buildings, finding mostly nothing. In fact, the only thing of interest was inside the largest and most central prefab structure where they discovered something strange.

This building had bright lights that illuminated the inside, reflecting off the clean white walls and stainless-steel tables. The entire space was filled with various types of lab equipment and there seemed to be an assembly line of sorts.

Starting at the far end of the room were several sets of stainless-steel appliances and glass wear with the green tinged liquid running through it. It honestly looked like a high-tech distilling operation with what appeared to be evaporator towers and sets of condenser coils.

All of that equipment ran through a series of tubes to small, sealed barrels in the middle of the room. Those barrels were set on tables with several trays under each of their spouts. The trays held the glass vials that they had found on the rat-men, each one empty and waiting to be filled.

"This is quite the operation." Kurt muttered. He had transitioned back to his human form so he could fit in the buildings.

"Yeah, and look at this." Val said while pulling the lid off of a tray. It revealed a ten-by-ten grid of vials. All of them were full and sealed, looking all the world like they were to be shipped out soon.

Kurt didn't hesitate. "Bag it all. We can let Sam take a look at it and figure out what is going on." He moved off to close the valves on all the barrels before storing each in his inventory. He then went and collected all the equipment and supplies from the far end of the room. There was no separation or choosing, and he just took everything that wasn't bolted down and could be stored in his ring.

After looting everything they could, Kurt looked around one last time in the empty room. "Alright let's grab the core and get out of here." He got no objections, and they quickly moved off to finish the job and get home.

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