On a foggy morning in the Everglades, a leopard frog lay in wait on a spatterdock that drifted through the marsh water. Any dragonfly unfortunate enough to appear before the frog was snatched up and devoured. Never mind how unnatural the fog was; for the frog, this was a perfect life that should last forever.
An airboat zipped through the fog and the ripples capsized the frog’s perfect life. More airboats tore through the grasslands to head for the twisted mangrove tunnels. Usually, these boats were driven by captains and ridden by tourists.
Today, they were commandeered by the Pantheon and carried silver knights as passengers. Their bulky armor was not at home in the marsh, but it was the best option they had against the enemy they expected to face.
‘ Cheetum Hammock ‘ was the destination they got from the prisoner, though even without their testimony, one would only have to follow the endless flow of energy that began to emanate from the epicenter. Satellite dishes and ham radio alike picked up the surge. Mutants felt rattling in their bones, one that grew stronger the closer they were to it.
The boats slowed as they reached the mangrove tunnels where they steadily kneaded along pathways that were made narrow by tangled roots.
Above the canopy, drones watched over. The Broadswords and Stilettos kept close to the convoy, while the Sabers scouted ahead only to find nothing.
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The drones were being remotely controlled from a mobile center at the dock. The view from the camera feeds also allowed Saint Aaliyah and The Streaker to provide support from afar. Soldiers who stood guard at the mobile center set up in the building next to it. They had driven here in Humvees that were of no use in the water.
The whole operation had to be hastily thrown together. They gathered all the forces they could as soon as they could because this was the moment that would decide the fate of the war.
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Overlooking the wetland was a helicopter that stowed the GalvanGal. From here, she sat over the edge to scan the area for unusual readings and conserve her energy for when she was needed. She did not detect the radioactive waste of the gargoyle armor that the immortals wore or of any of the monsters. Not even this unnatural fog gave any signs of magic; she had tried to blow it away, but even her thunderous clap made no dent in it.
Near the destination, however, was an all-consuming dirge of energy that she could not see past. Inside of it was supposed to be her former teacher but what he has become remains to be seen.
The boats came out of the tunnels to a bald cypress tree forest. The taller, more spread-out trees gave more clearance and breathing room but were no less haunting than the tunnels. The water was shallow enough for some of the knights to disembark. By now, most of the fauna had been dispersed, and the roar of the engines drowned out most other sounds. The knights plodded through the water alongside the boats, cautious of any movement that could be made out of the fog.
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A knight caught his sabaton on something under the water. He could not see that it was rope before the stakes whipped up. One stake shattered on his placard but the other pierced his gambeson into his throat.
The convoy stopped as he gurgled on his impalement. His fellow knight pulled him off, and Aaliyah’s healing sealed the wound. A log swung down to bludgeon a knight into a boat’s propellor. Crystal-horned snakes fell from the trees upon the knights to bite down their venomous fangs and release their poisonous fumes. Spider mines caught the boats in shimmering webs.
Traps like these went off around the knights. In the midst of the panic, immortals sprang from the water to drag victims down and perched in the trees to rain molten blood from above. The branches were ordered to entangle the drones. The spatterdocks turned into concussive mines. Profane cleavers rent the silver armor, the hardness of technology no match for monstrous blows.
The cryo-weapons were the best tool the knights had against the immortals' magic, but the chaos of close-quarters ambush was where the enemies' advantages thrived. Here, guns were supplanted by swords and sorcery.
GalvanGal dove off of the helicopter and bolted into the fog towards the fray. As thick as the obfuscation was, now that the enemy appeared, GalvanGal could see them clear as day.
Amethyst Lances pranced across the canopy, striking the branches that held back the drones and smiting the perched immortals who fell with the leaves. Her time in California taught her how much voltage she needed to neutralize the gargoyle armor. Lightning struck the arena again and again, flashing through the fog as the battle raged around, each one an immortal made a man. The sparks danced with the vapor, every strike adding to the concert, and the air coursed with electricity, all the better for her to flow across it.
She stooped out of her dance to pick up an injured knight. An immortal took aim at her with a plasma carbine and pulled the trigger. She covered the knight with her back but did not feel the burn she expected. Instead, that immortal was frozen in place—no, the time was slowed so much that plasma was barely getting out of its barrel. Hannah threw the knight to safety and axe-kicked the immortal.
Thanks to the reprieve brought by GalvanGal, the knights and the drones were able to regroup and return fire. The Sabers lazed targets for the others to see through the fog. With a better visual of where the hostels were, the helicopter was also free to rain salvos upon the lazed targets. While regular bullets could be shrugged off by the gargoyle armor, .50 cals would leave a bruise; twin .50 cals at 1100 rounds per minute would pulp them regardless of armor. Those bullets tore apart the cypress trees and sent the enemy into a scurrying retreat.
Arcane orbs rose from deeper in the marsh and zeroed in on the helicopter. It was enough to set off the radar warning receiver but the pilot could hardly move before glares of color grew brighter in the fog. Just as all the vapor was dyed red, yellow, and blue, amethyst lances exploded the orbs into a rainbow of light. She stayed in the sky to protect the helicopter’s retreat, but even when it left, the orbs kept coming. On the ground, the knights continued their grueling march against more brutal traps and unpredictable attacks with the worst yet to come.