(Sara isn't sensing close enough to catch any of the espers in the dungeon - that would be insane - but she did feel that worm attempting to attack something. What did Flywheel do...? 

Doesn't matter. She updates the map again and then drops her sensing until her next check.)

Tim's doing his best not to stay tense.  You can't stay ready for something for hours and hours.  He's just going to cuddle his partner and at the first sign of needing to evac, he's going to pick her up and physically hurl her into the portal.  It should be fine.  Right?

Why wasn't Flywheel assigned as a strike team member in the first place, if she was capable of taking out a core?  Is it an inefficiency thing?  I'll ask in the AAR, it'd be fucked up to start questioning the choices they made while in a dungeon.

Flywheel lands not where the worm is now but where she can feel it will be when Strike Team 2 intercepts, tucks her momentum into her backpack, and stays perfectly still. Target 4 won't be drawn to her footsteps, but smaller ones nearby could be. 

Flay and Pendragon are about a minute out. 

Backlash check... 5. Workable. 

...she reports that she's going to be too backlashed to listen in on comms once things get started, and that Traceless can relay updates to her.

The plan is simple. She reviews it in her head repeatedly. 

1. Wait for Pendragon to get target 4 to surface and for Flay to lock it down. (Switch to comms with Traceless.)

2. Launch herself into the air, aiming for above Flay's platform. 

3. Shatter the core from the sky.

4. Try and get onto Flay's platform with her falling momentum. 

5. Report in to Traceless.

She runs through it again and again and again, trying to lock it into her brain. (It'd work better if she'd done this before getting any backlash - it's only working at all because she already decided on the general course of action before getting backlashed, and she hasn't been told that people want her to stop or do something else. Even now, she can't tell how she feels about this plan, just that she thought it was important to do it right.)

Tia would be proud, she thinks absentmindedly, but she's too backlashed to tell if she finds that comforting, in this moment.

1. Wait for Pendragon to get target 4 to surface...

She sees the black sandstorm approaching her, but the main operational constraint this applies is visibility. She needs to use her power to track Strike Team 2 and Target 4.

She sets up a thin shell domain in the sky above and in the sands below and ignores the millions of tiny pings from the black particles passing into and out of her space. 

"Black sandstorm at intercept location," she reports to Traceless. 

"Acknowledged, does that affect your plan?"

"No." She'll need to use her power more, to keep track of where the core is and where Flay is, but she can do that. "I'll just be a bit more backlashed, after."

"Understood." He updates the general comms that she is sticking to her plan through a black storm.

A warning tremor passes through the entire dungeon. 

Then another, about a few seconds later.

"Attention all teams - Infested Wasteland is trying to flee. Strike teams, you have five minutes until abort." 

2 timers appear in the helmet HUDs - one counting down from 5 minutes, the other from 10.

Nope, fuck this.  Sara, unless you actively resist being embraced in a position easy to pick you up, you'll be embraced.  Ha ha!  Just kidding.  Tim's power will brook no resistance from you.  "As soon as that timer hits five minutes, we're out of here.  Understood?"  Tim's tense, now.  He never did track, but he feels like a runner waiting for the starting pistol.

"Yes," she agrees absently in the middle of another check. She updates the map again, and then she raises a hand from the ground to squeeze Tim's arm. 

His arm muscles are flexed and unyielding.  "You don't have to do anything, just focus on your job.  I'll take care of getting you out, you don't have to do anything.  You're doing so good, Sara."  And he does squeeze her whole body back.  At this point, he doesn't even dare fidget.  His entire world is the sensor display and the four minute and forty-two seconds left on the clock.

Five minutes.  She can get them there in less than two.  Pendragon can surface the worm in sixty seconds.  Skybreaker's team is intact and will work faster than her's.  So if Flywheel's as good as she thinks she is -

She stands there motionless, watching the timers ticking down and the dots on her map representing the target and her strike team converge on her location. 

Around her, the sandstorm rages on.

There's a storm around target 3, too. Visibility -

hmm?

- visibility will be just fine because Skybreaker is approaching, apparently. 

(Fucking hell what the fuck is her proooobleeeem why is she even heeereeeee)

The ground shakes again as she gently sets Rhombus and June down. "I'll watch the timer and cover you. Focus on the target." 

Hey worm.

Chase me.

Ȳ̴̤̣̬̞̪̼̞̱͍̬̈́̌̇͋̎̅̌̑̾͑͐̈́̇̉̃͒̋̂̕̚̚͜͠͠O̷̢̟̦̎̃͋̀̐͊͜͝͠Ů̸̡̙̮̗̩̙́̈́̒̾̓̎̈́̍̓̚̚̕̕͝ͅ'̷̧͎̺̩͈̣̱̱̪̺̟̌̍͑̄̊̈́̈́͜ͅD̶̨̡̧̧̛̻̩͕̲͔͎̺̑̋͗͌̂̓̊͒͛̾͋͠ ̸̧̨̛̲͚̜̜͖̻̝̮͉͇̘̟̼͍̖̱̳͇̩̫͎̜̓̈̾̉̈́͆͌͑̅̽̉́̔͂͛̽͆͠ͅB̴̡̛̰̤̯̣͉̭͔̙̥̠̺̳̳̠̠̪̑͋́͒̄̏̂̃͗͌ͅͅȨ̴̜̞̮̻̥͒͗͊̓̒T̶̨̤͎̦̣͕̮͆̍̉͋́͛̂̈́̐̇̈́̚T̴̢̛͚̣̼̱̙͈͙̿̀̀̿̇̉͒̈̄̇̎͛̈͛̐̇̔͛̍̍͐̆̈́Ë̴̫̮͕͓̜̥́̔̅̂̔̂̑̌̓̉̍͒͝Ŗ̸̛̫̳͍̖̟̯̞͉͍̦̗̭̻̦͕̥̝̪̲̞͎͉̫̠̰̈͌͛̃̈́͋̍̎̃͑̀̀̔͂̓̇̌̇͌͘̕͝ͅ ̸̛̓͗͗́̏̈́̋͊̑͠ͅŔ̷̡̢̡̧̢̭̮̺̯̖͎̝̮͍͈͚̙̠̩͕͍̝̬͙̠̹̹͑̃̓͂̐̍̀̿̓͑̇͑̈́͒̂́͋̀̕͘͜͜͝͠ͅU̷̡̨̻̦͙̝̖͖̠̺͈̫̰̤̥̟̹̮̜̣̹̟̟̺̇̓̍̎͐̓̿̒̅͜ͅͅN̶̡̛̦̘̮͇̫̱̱̖̙̰̝̹͕͓̳̤͔̬̖̄̇͒̇́̈̎̄̓̅͗̚͠͠,̷̞͚̗͔̐̃̉̇̓͋ ̴͔͕̥̮̺̗̗̥͈͙̝͌̑͊̈̂͛̽͑͋̆͆̓͆̃̄P̶̰̲̞̟͚͖͙̗͕̼̒̍̽͐U̷̧̢̧̮̹͈͓̘͚͚̒̓̋̂̈́͆̈͒͂͊̀̒̕̕̕͘̚͜ͅŅ̶͍̥̯͙͚͍̝̞̼̳͙̖̪̙̝̞̻͛͌̚̕͜Y̶̨̲̱̬̣͖̮͕̗͙̼̫̜̤͈̻̦͇̮͐̈́̆̆̽̄̈́͂͛͂̀ ̵̢̰̯͓͌̇͋̆̌̿͒̏͝O̵̝̩̱͚̝̙̪̘͙̤͒͆͒̅̉̈̋͊̿̆̆̕͝N̵͎͎̲̙͙̳̾̾̍̾́͒̊͌̎͒́̋̽͛͌͝E̴̢̲̬̻̭̭̣͕͔̺̳̮̬̳̖̱̖̝͈͖̓̎̾̀͊̈́͆̈́̓̀̑͌̎̀̓͗̉̑͘͜ͅ

She's fucking great at running. It's the best part of this whole miserable business. She can run like the wind.

And the worm can unzip down the side like a snagged plastic garbage bag.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dungeon, the surviving members of strike team 2 rapidly approach the massive storm of black sand obscuring their target.

The sand traces the edge of her conditional power trigger, as she enters the cloud; all the grains that touch a three-meter radius sphere around her platform are caught.

Folks who know S-Rank espers know Flay's power: telekinesis that steadily winnows away anything she touches.  What she levitates is destroyed - not obliterated, but cut and ripped to shreds from the outside in.  The sand in Arrakis is finer than the pieces her power usually tears things to, so it simply skitters out of her control almost as soon as her power touches it - but none of it is allowed to cross the radius at which her power triggers.  Wind flows around her; black sand piles up against her telekinetic shield.

None of them can see a fucking thing.  But they don't need to.  Menhir can see everything in Arrakis, and Flay trusts her.

And as team 2 rockets into position, Menhir does another check.

"Team 1 is engaging target 3," she reports, before doing one more update on the worms' locations.