“They’re over there.” said Kev as he highlighted a patch on his mini-map that Bob fed through to the rest of the team. “About fifty clicks out.”

“Can you get in their heads yet?” asked Sally.

“Yes but I’m going to wait,” he replied. “No point tipping our hand right now and it will be more impactful if I time it right.”

“I’m going to start setting up traps. You guys ok for trinkets?” asked Simon.

“I could use a couple of shields,” said Andrea. Simon walked over and handed over a pair of small metal cubes.

“Who are you copying?” he asked quietly.

“Ryn, but I’ve got snippets of all your powers now.” Simon blinked. He had always worried Andrea would outsrip them all with her power mimicry. He felt left behind, he could transmute matter and if he got a chance to prepare an area he was extremely dangerous but compared to the others he was… dead weight. He nodded to the woman and ran off to go set his traps. He had enough time that he wouldn’t be completely useless on this occasion.

“You’ve got thirty minutes at their current speed,” said Bob through the comm links.

“On it,” muttered Simon as he ran towards the probable line of advance and began scattering metal cubes that dug themselves into the ground. “Jane, Ryn, can one of you clear the scrub please? Back about half a kilometre would be good.”

“That will be a lot of smoke.” said Ryn. “Won’t that tip them off?”

“They know we’re going to have to hold this place. They’re expecting a fight. Fury and Splinter are both planning to betray the other at the final moment. Turns out there’s no honour among thieves,” said Kev. “It’s fine, give us a fire break.”

Ryn and Jane obliged and thick smoke roiled into the air as the mutated plant life was burned back. They both hovered above the ground and swept back and forth to clear the area quickly. Armand conjured a swarm of magpies that flew up to drift south with the smoke.

“The waiting is the hardest part,” muttered Bad as he tossed a summoned kukri up and down in one hand.

“Nah. Not getting mobbed by Fury’s psycho minions or ripped into fragments by Splinter is going to be the hard part,” said Sally as she stretched out next to the depression the mineworks had left in the ground.

“It’ll be good to get back into action. These assholes won’t be a problem,” Bad replied.

“They’re all over our level now, you cocky doofus. They’ve spent five years killing everything they wanted to and we’ve spent five years raiding the surface for rare metals,” Bolf replied. He stretched out next to Sally and gratefully accepted the ear rubs that were his due.

“Stop lazing about and secure the area,” Kev ordered over the comms. “There are scavengers nearby. They’re running but some of them might turn back.”

“Just loop them, Kev. That’s why we bring you along on these little escapades,” said Bad with a laugh.

“I’m saving my strength, Bad. Just do a sweep to the north to make sure they keep running, please. We do not want them to show up at the same time as the Ravagers.”

“Yes sir, Captain Kevin,” Bad drawled as he stopped juggling knives. “Well lady and dog, care to join me?” The pair looked up and nodded.

The trio swept the area to the north, sprinting across the scarred landscape in leaps and bounds. They didn’t encounter anyone and began grumbling about Kev being overly paranoid.

“I can still hear your thoughts guys,” Kev said over the comm link after the mutterings turned to his obsessive security and what childhood trauma had prompted him to go down the dark path of paranoia.

The three bruisers got back to their primary defensive position and found the rest of the team were all relaxing and drinking tea from a pot Jane had heated in her hand.

“Dicks. I’ll have a mug,” said Bad.

“No time, sorry. They’re almost here. Right, Andrea and Ryn, surgical strikes on Fury and Splinter, plus any other heavy hitters you can Identify. Let them get caught in the trap line before you move. Bruisers stay back to start, let the mechs and monsters deal with the chaff but be ready to get blipped in. Jane and Bolf are on overwatch. Don’t go charging in, you hear? These pricks are all veterans and while their teamwork isn’t the best they’ll band together to fight back.” Kev said firmly. Jane blew him a raspberry while Bolf nodded solemnly.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

“We don’t need to kill them all, just drive them away from the portals. If they want to run, let them. Armand and I will be working on Sylvia’s pets. The plan is to set them on each other but it’s mostly going to come down to you mate, I’ll be busy negating Fury’s hold on his flying monkeys.” Kev sighed at the end.

“Flying monkeys? I beg your pardon?” asked Armand.

“I just meant his minions. I can already see the cracks in his control. It’s not like me or Mindscar, it’s like he supercharges some of their emotions. I can undo it, I think, but it will take time. Ryn, Andrea, Fury is the primary target. If he goes down it will free me up. Let’s go,” Kev finished.

“Good briefing bro,” said Bad as he sipped from a coffee he’d acquired while Kev spoke. Kev grinned at him.

“Move it!” he barked in his best Master Sergeant Bob impression.

The team spread out to take up their positions and wait for the final minutes to elapse.

It began with a series of explosions and screams as the lead elements entered Simon’s territory. Smoke was cleared by the pressure waves then filled with more of the same. The screams echoing out sounded more enraged than terrified and they began to creep closer.

“Ryn, Andrea, any sign of Fury?” Kev asked. “He’s in the middle of the pack. I’m weakening his ability, but I haven't broken it yet.”

“Orbital support incoming,” Bob announced.

Twelve lines of fire burned down through the sky and smashed into confusion of the smoke and explosions, throwing dirt high into the air. As the explosions of their impacts spread out, six of the metal tear drops that had smashed down unfurled long mechanical legs and rose up to loom over the engagement. The Tarantulas were Bob’s current state of the art. They looked hairy from a distance but up close it was clear the “hairs” were short metallic tentacles. These were all tipped with either the equivalent of a plasma rifle or a monomolecular blade. Fighting humans with powers was a challenge for Bob’s constructs and he had adapted his designs to try and offset as many of his disadvantages as possible.

Beams of energy slashed out as the giant spider-bots waded into the fray. Then the other drop pods cracked open and Pete’s nightmares rolled out. Amorphous blobs of flesh three metres tall undulated across the battlefield. Limbs tipped with razor toothed maws formed to slash at a foe and then dissolved back into the main mass as soon as their target was disposed of.

Name: Herman Gorst

Level: 54

Ability: Aggravation

“I’ve got eyes on Fury. No sign of Splinter. I’m going in,” called Andrea.

“I’m with you.” Ryn’s voice was flat and cold.

The two young women appeared in the midst of a cacophony of yelling and violence. Ryn reached out and wrapped Fury in fire but he slipped through her grasp and she couldn’t port him out.

“He’s got some kind of immunity,” Ryn noted over the comms.

Andrea unleashed a blast for fire that tore through the ranks surrounding the small man. Ryn cut another line across them perpendicular to Andrea’s effort. The minions who were below level forty one died immediately as the flames consumed them but most of their target's closest guardians were above their level. They ended up looking scorched and took some damage but all it achieved was to exacerbate the thinly controlled rage that marked them as under Fury’s sway..

Ryn switched to surrounding particular fighters in fire and blipping them away. None of them shared Fury’s resistance to her level beating teleportation and they began to disappear in rapid sequence. Andrea barrelled down on a column of fire and slammed into Fury, launching him forwards and hurling him through the air.

“He’s headed your way, bruisers. Prepare to play catch. Ryn, let’s find Splinter.” Ryn nodded and flew off after her friend.

“Got him. He’s not a happy little psycho, is he?” said Bad cheerfully.

“I’ve set some of the tribulation level monsters against each other. Bob, I need the Gargants to deal with the swarms,” said Armand.

“No problem,” Bob replied. The nightmarish biological machines rolled out to the east and began to consume the smaller monsters that the Beastfolk faction had brought along with their titanic primary beasts.

“Orbital fire incoming,” Bob added as the clouds above split and lines cut across the masses surging towards the last portals left on Earth. Humans and monsters flashed into gas as the invisible beams ripped into the mob.

“Still no sign of Splinter,” called Ryn as she flew across the lines, raining fire down on anything that moved below her.

“I’ve seen three of her but they were all fragments. They got cooked by the Bob-beam,” called Andrea as she hunted for the other primary Captain.

“Ryn, can you come and collar this prick?” called Sally. “He’s a tough son of a bitch. Collar him and his forces will break.”

Ryn vanished and appeared over the bruiser battle. Fury was tossing her friends around like rag dolls. The first thing she saw was Bolf being tossed straight up. Fury leapt after the dog to deliver some kind of killing blow but Sally intercepted him and they engaged in a furious exchange of punches and kicks as they flew to the side. Bolf sprouted his wings, stabilised himself and dove back into the fray, snapping his jaws closed around Fury’s leg and eliciting a scream of pain. Ryn pulled out a collar and blipped in behind her target.

As soon as she appeared she reached out to snap a collar closed and she watched as his head craned round to glare at her just as the horrible little legs of the living collar sank into his throat. Suddenly all the fight went out of him and a casual flick of Bolf’s tail sent him hurtling back to the ground.

“Done. Splinter?” She called over the comms.

“A few more fragments. Kev, is the real one even here?” Andrea asked.

“It’s hard to tell. Now I’m free from dealing with Fury, his troops have broken by the way, I should be able to pin her down but I can’t. Maybe this was a fake out from her? I’m going to work on the tribs and Sylvia, ah they’re breaking off as well.”

“We need to pursue them,” said Bob firmly.

“Why? Let them run? Whatever forced them to work with these psychos is gone.” Kev snapped.

“We need the materials, boy. It’s not pretty but we need as many dead tribs as possible for harvesting.”

“I’m not going to help you with that,” said Kev. “Stand down guys.”

“Christ alive boy! Fine, I’ll use the Tarantulas and the Gargants. The lighter is coming back in for pick up. I’m dispatching salvage teams as well. I’ll provide my own security,” Bob snarled.

“What do we do with him?” asked Ryn, looking at the battered former Ravager Captain, being nursed back to life by Claire.