Northern Grayscale Wastes

Summer on Madra fades to the season known as Stormer. Dark clouds obscure the sky for more than four hundred subsequent days. Rain falls constantly, while thunder and lightning become fast friends with the ground, violently embracing throughout the day.

Far to the Northeast of the Mashraha Desert lies the Northern Grayscale Wastes. Rocky and infertile, this terrain has long marked the end of the empire's reach.

It is here where the imperial armies gather. For in the wastes lies the very reason every imperial who claims rights as a citizen must serve for at least two seasons.

As the tides wage their endless war upon the shores, so too does the empire fight an endless campaign against its northern aggressors. The Graymin swarm, a never-ending tide of eerie beasts.

They come at night, every night, as they have for a thousand years. Their insatiable hunger is as likely to be sated as a desert is to be filled with water from a single rainstorm.

The Graymin come in only a few forms, the most common and numerous, the pawns. Many a nightmare has awoken a man screaming from the memory of these creatures. For they come in the millions, neverending, unrelenting, uncaring of their own deaths.

A pawn stands at three meters in height, half again taller than the average imperial. However, only from a very long distance could one mistake a pawn for a man.

Slender in the shoulders as a man cut in two, with no skin, an eyeless face, limbs far too long, and a mouth that splits from ear to ear in a grin that never fades. Their bodies are dominated by whipcord muscle, covered in wet acidic mucus. If they ever attacked during the day, they would shine with a grotesque sheen.

Their weapons are always the same. Four long fingers on each hand made entirely of sharp bone that could easily penetrate any hide below Tier four.

The most chilling aspect of the pawn is how it moves. In complete lockstep with its countless brothers, the beasts shuffle sideways with small, soundless steps.

In the night, the sight of thousands of pawns moving in unison is like gazing upon the silent sea. Their wet skin and sparkling, razor-sharp teeth, reflect spotlights as they move toward the stalwart defenders of the empire.

For a thousand years, these beasts have come to claim the lives of man, woman, and child. For far too many, the last sight of their lives was a grinning pawn approaching in a methodical shuffle, before pouncing in a great leap that crossed tens of meters.

At least their deaths were always swift.

In the western reaches of the wastes stood a military fortress that had stemmed the Graymin tide for two hundred years. Housing nearly ten thousand imperial soldiers and support staff, the Shillin Wall Fortress was responsible for manning three hundred kilometers of defensive fortifications.

Inside the Shillin Fortress operations center, several commanders sat at a conference table. They looked at each other with hard eyes, weary from a war that never ceased. A woman with the stripes of a Lt. Colonel sat at the head of the table. She addressed her only subordinate who did not have a place to sit.

“Captain Marliss, we’ve all read your report. If the current situation were reversed I would have you stripped of your rank and whipped in front of the entire Brigade.”

The Captain wilted under the intense glares of the seated command staff. Sweat broke out on her brow as she swallowed audibly.

“Luckily for you, the situation is not reversed. We haven’t seen a single incursion in four days. In my seven years of service to the empire, I have never heard of a four-day break in Graymin activity.”

The Lt. Colonel leaned forward menacingly, her fingers clasped under her chin.

“I’m sure you can understand why your report, lacking even the most basic details as to why we have not seen a single pawn in four days, has left me quite nervous.

"I don’t like being nervous, Captain.”

She pronounced the woman’s rank like it was an insult.

“You have been in command of the forty-third scouts for two seasons. In all that time, I have yet to be disappointed in your performance. So please, explain to me why I have been left in such suspense during what should be a relaxing vacation.”

The highly decorated Tier five Lt. Colonel never raised her voice. However, the aura of her mana body lashed at her surroundings, betraying her frayed emotional state. Her seated staff even began to sweat as the rage of their commanding officer was put on display.

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Captain Marliss’s salute was crisp enough to make the fiercest drill sergeant proud. Her voice turned robotic as she replied.

“Commander, my men and I have ranged over thirty kilometers further north than any map in our records cover. We have found no evidence of Graymin activity. The Filth thickens after ten klicks, which has slowed our advance. My deepest apologies for the lack of verification of enemy movements, Ma’am!”

Before the Lt. Colonel could respond, a knock sounded at the door to the command room. Two guards escorted a squad of seven scouts into the room.

Hope and fear waged a fierce battle inside Captain Marliss as she observed her elite scout group’s entrance. If they had not discovered any new information on the strange deployments of the horde, she feared her rank would be in jeopardy.

The leader of the squad took one step forward, then the entire squad performed a perfectly synchronized salute as they stood at attention. Then addressed the highest-ranking individuals along the entire western war front.

“Commander, Lieutenant Jedda with an urgent report,” He stood at attention waiting for permission to continue.

“Out with it, Lieutenant. Hopefully, you've brought us some news, I would even take bad news at this point.” The ambient sounds of the room stilled as everyone listened with rapt attention to the reporting soldier.

“Ma’am, my squad arrived at our designated position and found no sign of enemy movements.” Marliss’s heart seized for three beats at the report of no new information from Jedda. However, it was only a momentary pause before he continued.

“Under my orders, we took a calculated risk and flew further north.” This time he stopped speaking completely and waited for a response from his commanding officers.

Marliss’s hands clenched tightly into fists at the man's words. One of the seated Majors responded.

“Surely you did not forget standard orders. Any officer who orders a subordinate to fly over the Filth is subject to immediate dismissal from the army and their status as a civilian revoked. This breach of doctrine goes far beyond a ‘calculated risk’!”

The panic on the officer’s face was clear for everyone to see. Spittle flew from his mouth as his temper raged out of control.

You put the entire fort at risk with your actions. If the rooks come because you were spotted, we’re all going to die! Do you understand what you’ve done!?”

A powerful aura washed over the room as Lt. Colonel Allesen’s hand smashed into the conference table. Several cracks in the wood spread out from the impact. The table creaked as wood splintered apart, the sound filling the silence after the initial impact.

“That is enough, Major Crueshaunt. You will control yourself in my command room or I will have you removed. Is that clear?”

Venom practically dripped from her mouth as she directed far more disdain than was warranted, from his words alone, at the fearful Major. The man spluttered as he attempted to speak several times. The sharp and deadly aura of her mana body eventually brought him back to his senses.

He merely nodded in her direction, somehow managing to look condescending despite his weakened position in the room.

“Continue your report, Lieutenant,” Allesen demanded.

Relief swept through Marliss. Lieutenant Jedda was an excellent officer. Hearing that the commander did not intend to strip him of his rank just yet was the best they were going to get.

“Ma’am, my unit flew as close to the ground as possible for nearly ten klicks further north. We observed what appeared to be a conflict in the distance, so we made a landing and proceeded another two klicks on foot.

“From the strength of the attacks, I deemed it necessary to use three emergency stealth talismans.”

Several sharp intakes of breath could be heard around the room at the extravagant expense. It was unlikely the entire ten thousand-man Brigade had five of those talismans in its storage. Yet somehow this lieutenant had three and used them all on a single mission.

The Lt. Colonel narrowed her eyes at her quartermaster who now looked far more nervous than Captain Marliss. She then rolled her wrist at Jedda in a gesture to continue.

“Thank you, Ma’am. What we found was a slaughter. I’ve never seen anything like it. I honestly don’t know how to describe what we saw but I’ll do my best.

“Every few seconds a circular blue light appeared in the sky. I think it was about the size of my chest but it was very hard to tell at our distance.

"The light only appeared for an instant and never in the same place twice, usually a hundred meters from where it appeared previously.

"Each time the circle appeared, a blue fire would shoot at the Graymin far faster than I could track with my eyes. It almost looked like a blue ray of sunshine.

"Wherever those lights connected, the Graymin died by the dozens. The explosions were so hot that pawns and knights ten meters from the impact died instantly. Those twenty meters away were ignited and died all the same, if a bit slower.

"I estimate there were over two million pawns at the location of the slaughter. We could not see the end of their numbers and did not fly close enough to get an accurate count.

"We observed the blue light for roughly three hours, it did not stop or slow in that time. With only thirty minutes left on our talismans, we retreated."

Concluding his report, the man saluted once more and awaited the barrage of questions that would no doubt be sent his way.

The command center turned into a disorganized hubbub as nearly every voice tried to ask a question simultaneously.

With another pulse of her aura, Allesen silenced the multitude of voices. Her first question was not what Jedda would have expected.

"You're positive the fire was blue?"