Jaid felt rather out of place sitting in the back of the transport. She was surrounded by dozens of soldiers, but not in their usual garb. Instead, they were covered from head-to-toe in freshly tailored radiation-proof combat gear. The suits were a stark white that glowed in the presence of radiation, and there’d been a collective sigh of relief when they crossed the Pimitrad border and no one felt ill when the suits started to illuminate.
Coupled with their masks to filter the air, and the visors that protected them from Creti’s Curse, the soldiers looked ready to tackle any sort of contagion that would dare threaten their lives. The suits had all been reinforced by Dura as well and would be damn near impossible to rip or tear, even by a stray bullet or blast. No expense had been spared in their creation since the soldiers’ lives entirely relied on them.
Tusmon was one those donned in the unfashionable garb, and he’d been originally sitting next to Jaid. But there had been some shuffling during transit, and she genuinely couldn’t tell who was next to her now since they all looked virtually identical. There were patches on one of their arms to identify them, but unfortunately for her, they were on the side she couldn’t see.
And across from the woman was Chiulu, dressed in her ridiculous padded suit that made her look like an astronaut. There were no radiative benefits, not that the Fiend needed them. Instead, it was just to protect her from all the other perilous dangers. She’d initially protested against participating—endlessly, vehemently, to the point that she threatened resignation—but Tusmon won her over in the end. Her Curse was just too useful in a situation like this, able to possibly find secret passages or otherwise invisible threats.
All that combined, their small army looked straight out of science fiction—that or post-apocalyptic with their current destination and dozens of vehicles rolling through the glowing wasteland. Either way, the girl in knight armor certainly stood out amongst the rest of the caravan. At least there was Dura in his usual monk attire to make her not feel so silly.
Izma was along for the ride as well, but outside of her coffin to her chagrin. The obelisk was strapped to the back of a flatbed along with three other containment pods. After some tests, the CP scientists were confident that the coffin would be able to restrain Lieu even from escaping through his fog, assuming they were able to get him inside of it. And the other pods were more than enough to contain the other three members of above
Izma would only be participating from the sidelines, providing what boost she could. So to make up for her reduced ability, two other Fiends had joined the mission. The first had gone ahead of them to secure the perimeter, quite literally.
Her name was Hickedy, a young girl, only 11 years old, that a CP scout found living on the streets. And while she had never learned the official name of her Curse, amongst the organization it was simply called ‘Perimeter’. It essentially created an almost-invisible force field around an area—only visible by dotted lines on the ground.
Hickedy could dictate who could enter and leave the perimeter, and anyone else would have to barge their way through, met with strong resistance. And the smaller the perimeter was, the harder it’d be for them to pass, which made it perfect for capturing unruly Fiends. Jaid had tested it herself, and when the perimeter was only a few feet in diameter, she couldn’t escape no matter how hard she tried.
But at such a young age, the girl wasn’t suited for combat, and generally seemed to have no interest. So she’d just be securing the perimeter and steadily making it smaller as the operation progressed. And while they wanted to get the drop on their unsuspecting targets, they didn’t want them escaping prematurely. So Hickedy, along with several handlers adept in monster slaying, had made the trip into Pimitrad during the wee hours of the night.
The other Fiend went by the alias ‘Laquet’. His old name was somewhat well known from the incident that turned him into a Fiend, so he tossed it aside after joining the CP to get a fresh start. The man had been a sheriff in a small town and investigated strange goings-on at a research facility where his sister worked.
By complete accident, he’d caused one of their experiments to malfunction. This caused the entire facility to implode on itself, sucked and compressed into a gravity well, killing everyone inside. There had been plenty of evil scientists that wouldn’t be missed, but plenty more innocents. Laquet now worked for the Central Peace as penance.
His Curse was called ‘Round ‘Em Up’. It let him create gravity wells at any point he could see. He even went so far as to use his old revolver as a catalyst, making it look like he was shooting bullets that spawned black holes. But unlike such warping vacuums, the items didn’t actually go anywhere, just forcibly pushed to and squished against the gravity well for as long as it remained.
However, the major caveat to his Curse was that its maximum strength was dependent on Laquet’s distance from the gravity well. The farther he was, the weaker the maximum output. It turned the whole power into walking a tight-rope. If he wanted the effect to be stronger, he had to be closer, but then risked getting sucked into the well himself. This limited its functionality in combat, but also made it ideal for capture and containment.
That was the main focus when putting the roster together for this mission. The goal was to capture all members of Above with Creti being the utmost priority. Killing was only on the table if there was no other option. Each soldier had to verbally express their understanding of this before they’d been allowed to participate.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Besides the Fiends and Detective Tusmon, over one hundred Lessers were taking part, even more than had been allocated for the raid on the Fiends For Hire. Unlike that poorly planned mawhging mess, this was a mission that could actually succeed, had to succeed, so the CP wasn’t holding anything back. The additional Lessers were also to make up for the lack of humans.
There were actually a few humans in the caravan, but none of them would be taking part in combat. Most of them were the drivers for the transports, but there were a few technicians managing the scanners for life and hazards. Additionally, there was a medical team, both for the treatment of their soldiers but to also sedate and monitor the vitals of any captives.
The caravan came to a halt once the advanced party was in sight. Jaid hopped out along with someone in one of the hazmat suits, assumedly Detective Tusmon. This prompted Chiulu to follow after her partner, Izma hopped out to go hide somewhere, and Dura got out as well simply because he was bored. A handful of soldiers crawled out of each of the remaining transports. Some were going to establish their basecamp while others would do a full perimeter sweep for monsters.
“So this is the border then?” Jaid asked one of the waiting scouts.
“Yes, we’ve done dozens of scans and calculations,” she confirmed. “Once we cross the dotted line, they’ll know we’re here.”
“Alright, everyone move out and get into position,” a Lieutenant who had joined them ordered the rest of the caravan. The transports then split up and began encircling the area. Again similarly to the raid on the Fiends For Hire, they’d be attacking from all sides. It was assuredly the more inefficient way, because they’d spotted traps in a full circle around Above’s bunker, but they wanted to cut off any and all possibilities of escape.
Especially with Lieu Caffold’s Curse. That fog he could use to escape was going to be a problem. It was why Hickedy’s Curse was so important, since even he shouldn’t be able to phase through her perimeter if she got it condensed enough to withstand his strength. However, they did have a few experimental devices to try and capture the fog. Each one was modified a little differently, increasing their chances that one would work.
Laquet’s main objective was to disable the traps en masse, able to scoop them up and detonate several at once with his power. But it was still too much for him alone, so each transport had scanners and weapons specialized in disabling or setting off the traps to clear a path.
“Captain Jaid, I’m tired,” an exhausted girl ran up to the knight and smooshed her face into Jaid’s stomach. “And the air feels weird. And I can hear the monsters. I want to go to bed, but it’s too scary here.”
“Well, we need you to stay awake for just a while longer,” Jaid knelt down and patted Hickedy’s head gently with her armored hand. “And don’t worry, everyone here will keep you safe, so you don’t need to worry about being brave.”
“It’s okay, I can be brave,” the girl insisted as she hugged her stuffed animal even tighter for support.
Jaid smiled at the innocence, wishing that the girl didn’t have to be at such a treacherous place—sleep deprived and full of fear. But then she noticed exactly what Hickedy was hugging and asked a troublesome question, though she already knew the answer. “Is that a stuffed Pox?”
“Yeah, he’s so cute and soft!” The girl’s eyes lit up and she proudly showed off her stuffed animal, excited that someone knew what it was. All Jaid could see was innocence on her face, not understanding the grave insult to the Central Peace that she was committing to a point that even some among the upper ranks would go so far as to call it treason.
But it was understandable and honestly to be expected these days. The Fiends For Hire had become so pervasive in modern day culture that they simply couldn’t be avoided. Jaid still remembered the first time that Fiend TV had been playing in one of her favorite CP diners. It was the closest she’d come to demanding to speak to the manager—aggravated from the shock, but more to keep the owners from getting in trouble by broadcasting it.
What had started as wholy taboo, though, had become commonplace in more recent days. It was fairly regular that she’d overhear an officer in the army or a Rep and Vice-Reps discussing an episode from some Fiend TV series as she passed them in the hall. Hell, there was even a bit of Fiends For Hire merch sold in some of the civilian shops in the headquarters, mostly because a lot of the unaffiliated children had asked for it relentlessly. This was likely how Hickedy had obtained her doll as well.
“You know, I’ve met the real Pox,” Jaid couldn’t help but play along after seeing the girl's infectious enthusiasm.
“Really?!” This drove Hickedy into overdrive. “Is he as fluffy as they say?!”
“Fluffier!” the knight could still feel the soft warmth on her hands.
“D-do you think I could meet him some day?” the girl’s excitement retreated immediately, back into timid reservation, as if she’d already deemed herself unworthy of the prospect.
This right about broke Jaid’s heart, so her mouth went ahead and spouted promises without her consent. “Sure, someday. But only if you’ve been a good girl and help out the grownups. Staying strong during this mission would likely go a long way.” It honestly probably wouldn’t be that hard for Jaid to arrange it, more a mental hurdle than anything, and a big blow to her pride. But if it meant granting Hickedy’s wish, she’d get over it.
“Got it!” the girl’s eyes went wide with determination. Her previous grogginess had vanished entirely. If anything, she now looked a bit too eager which could possibly lead to her overstepping her bounds, but Jaid had faith in her handlers to keep her safe, even from herself.
A few minutes later, the Captain received word that all squads were in position and ready to mobilize. She called out over the comms, “The mission will begin when the first shot is fired. Remember, capture at all costs, but safety is your first priority. If your suit is damaged in any way, retreat to the camp at once for treatment. Now then, Laquet, you’re up. Go ahead and let them know we’re here.”
“Copy.” The Fiend stepped forward, right to the edge of the dotted line on the ground. In one hand he held a scanner that made him aware of all the traps in the area. He raised his revolver with his other hand, aimed at a dense cluster of mines, and pulled the trigger.