“For the last time!” Abby shouted. “We are not calling our team The Cowboys.”
“Why not?” Two gun asked.
“Well, aside from most cowboys being giant racist, sexist, psychopaths. The other problem I have with the word cowBOYS is that three of us are women.” Abby huffed loudly.
*Quack*
“Maybe we should have left the team name for last.” D34d-I said as they all sat or leaned on something in the hangar.
They had been talking about things for almost two hours. They agreed on an Operational Agreement for their new LLC, a hierarchy for the group, and were currently discussing names for their Super Group. It was proving to be the hardest discussion to come to an agreement on. Some of them took the naming way too seriously. While others took it as an exercise in ridiculousness. Kaleb tuned out when Daivor wanted to name the team The Fancy Prancers.
Two Gun sighed in exasperation. “Cowboy is a JOB! It has nothing to do with the gender of the person doing the job. Cowboys would tend to cattle and do a bunch of other menial task on a ranch.”
“So you admit they were racist and sexist!?” Abby yelled.
“I do, but that was a sign of the times. You grow up in a racist and sexist environment, you will be racist and sexist. I’m not saying we all lose sense. What I’m saying is we honor the memory of the people that helped build this state.” Two Gun said.
“Yeah, on the backs of the Mexicans and the Indians.” Abby muttered.
Two Gun looked ready to continue the argument. But Claire placed her green hand on his shoulder. “Perhaps we should revisit this conversation at another time? Let's move to the next item on our list.”
She glanced hopefully at D34d-I and Kaleb. D34d-I nodded his head and said one word.
*Quack*
“Pay.”
Kaleb rotated his shoulders. “Okay, so we can take a lump sum once a month based on the crime rate in our district or they can pay us per crime.”
“Per crime.” Two Gun gave his vote still sounding angry.
“What’s our district?” Jar-lock asked.
Kaleb looked to D34d-I who said.
*Quack*
“We are just barely inside the limits of Austin. So we have a smaller chunk of the pie, so to speak. Unfortunately, that does not include Trevino Park. But we get everything north of the 969 all the way to and including Metro park. That is the area I recommend and the one we placed on the forms.”
“Stretching to where?” Abby asked.
D34d-I seemed to search his memory before answering. “Decker Lane and the 130 Highway”
“That’s right next to Hornsby.” Kaleb said rubbing his chin in thought.
“So?” Asked Roy who sat on a large cylinder of metal from Kaleb‘s junk pile.
“So, Maybe…” Kaleb trialed off again before suddenly snapping his gaze to D34d-I. “Can we take work in Hornsby?”
*Quack*
“Uhhhh, I don’t know. Technically, that is under the jurisdiction of Bastrop not Austin. So the laws would be different.”
“Can you look into it? If it works out, we can work in Hornsby Bend.” Kaleb said, smiling.
Two Gun removed his stetson and wiped his forehead. “Damn, son. We are only 8 people, we can’t patrol two counties.”
Farrah nodded adding. “Not to mention we have no way of monitoring the district we will have.”
“Yeah, but we have some stuff for a few basic drones and maybe a few monitors.” Kaleb said glancing around at his pile of junk.
He tapped Daivor with a finger. The Gnome had fallen asleep on his shoulder and as snoring loudly. When Kaleb woke him, Daivor rolled onto a shoulder and mumbled. “Yeah, yeah. Got plenty.”
D34d-I stared for a second before shaking his head.
*Quack*
“To pull us back to the conversation. I recommend we go with the lump sum option. It will make our financials easier to track and we can watch it fluctuate. Tracking multiple payments from the city based on where and who we take down will be a nightmare.”
Jar-lock shrugged his massive shoulders. “I’m gonna have to agree with our Financial Adviser.”
“Make sure you mark it down, HISTORIAN.” Abby groused.
She had been in a mood ever since Jar-lock won the vote to be the team Historian. It seemed like she wanted that job. Instead, she they voted her to be the head of Intelligence for the group. She didn’t argue, but she didn’t appear happy either. Farrah was communications, and Two Gun and Claire were in charge of Training both weapons and hand-to-hand. They voted Kaleb as the group mechanic and that left Vivienne stuck as the group medic.
Roy had initially raised a fuss about not being recognized as a part of the group. But D34d-I mentioned that he was still underage, so he had to be an intern for now. The group promised to make him their first full-fledged member once he turned eighteen.
Jar-lock just rolled his eyes at Abby’s sniping and looked to the others. Claire nodded her head in agreement and Two Gun also raised his hands, not wanting to argue. Kaleb and the others all seemed to agree, So D34d-I marked something down on a piece of paper he had picked up.
*Quack*
“Okay, so that leaves us with…”
Something cut d34d-I off as a rhythmic thudding approached them. Turning as one the group saw Mass running toward them, a lopsided grin on his face. The ground vibrations mirrored the large man’s steps to a tee. Claire snorted a laugh as Mass skidded to a stop next to them.
“Was he skipping?” Claire asked Kaleb from the corner of her mouth.
Kaleb just nodded as Mass seemed to vibrate with excited energy. Mass scanned their group till he found D34d-I. Head bopping like and excited puppy the big man said.
“Duck, there is something funny happening to the ground.”
D34d-I groaned as he responded.
*Quack*
“Stop jumping around then. You're the one making the ground shake, big guy.”
Mass got a confused look on his face before he ducked his head like a misbehaving dog. “But… jumping is fun.”
*Quack*
“I know it is, but when you do the ground shakes. So you can do it, but remember that you are the funny thing that is happening to the ground.” D34d-I said, sighing loudly.
“I’m funny?” Mass said a grin plastered on his tombstone of a face.
The group all nodded in agreement before the large man ran back outside. The ground vibrated with each step until Mass was far enough away. Kaleb and the others turned to D34d-I, who just shook his head and smiled. Coughing and readjusting his ammo belt, D34d-I tried to pick up where he left off.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
*Quack*
“So Group and Company name. As I said before: I think both should represent Texas and I think both names should inspire the community we are working in. We are trying to win hearts and minds. That is the only way we can win new districts and hopefully be granted the right to keep what we find.”
Two Gun crossed his arms and kept quiet as everybody exchanged glances. Kaleb coughed into his hand before offering his own suggestion.
“What about the Lone Star Hounds?”
“What?” Abby asked confused.
“Well, Texas is still the Lone Star state then you have a hound which is a dog bred for hunting. This community used to house the Hunter’s Association.”
Claire nodded with a contemplative look on her face. Abby and Two Gun kept noticeably silent. Jar-lock seemed to think it over. D34d-I was the first to speak out against it.
*Quack*
“It works for a team name, but not really for a company. Sounds more like a sports team more than anything else.”
Everyone grimaced, and they all fell into silence as the thought about different names. Kaleb felt the ground under his feet shudder a little. The others must have felt it too, because they all turned to look outside. Assuming that Mass had jumped again, Kaleb just ignored it and went back to thinking about Company names.
“What about the Super League Association?” Claire asked.
Jar-lock shook his head. “That’s a tautology. League and Association are the same thing. The correct way to say it would be the Super League or the Super Association.”
“Seems kind of simple.” Roy said.
Two Gun sighed and rolled his shoulders. “This is pointless. We will never agree on a name.”
“Kaleb’s name was okay.” Abby said heatedly.
*Quack*
“But not for a company name. Maybe the Lone Star League or Society. Then our sub teams can all have the prefix Lone Star and then maybe predator.”
The group all nodded, although a few faces still looked hesitant. They seemed to have to come to at least a tacit agreement. Claire sighed and put an arm around Two Gun, she looked happy that they finished the whole thing. Kaleb nodded and looked through the papers D34d-I had given him.
“Ok, so we will go with the Lone Star League for a company name and Lone Star Hounds as our Super Group name. It looks like we can file to change the company name later, but the Super Group name is permanent.”
Kaleb quickly wrote the names in the correct spots and then waved the documents at D34d-I. “So what do we do with these?”
It was Farrah who answered; she took the papers from Kaleb and rifled through them at a blinding speed. “They look like they are ready to go. I can run these to city hall and we can be working before nightfall.”
Kaleb rubbed his hands together and stretched his neck. “Sounds like we will be good to go. I’ll stay here and work on getting Farrah set up with some drones. What about the rest of you?”
Abby threw her hands up and said in a bored tone. “I guess I’ll take a harder look at the neighborhood and see what I can find.” Looking to Kaleb she added. “I’ll have to borrow your car.”
There was a sudden surge of wind and sparks of blue lightning as Farrah took off for city hall. Jar-lock stood and held up Kaleb’s keys. The big man stretched his legs and said.
“I’ll go with her and help. I have little to do right now.”
Two Gun eyed the big pile of junk. “I’ll go through that for weapons and see what we need to get a shooting range built.”
“I’ll help.” Claire said. “We will need workout equipment if we want to get a gym going.”
Claire stared at Kaleb until he nodded. He still needed to build her some dumbbells. Kaleb thought about buying some training mats or something. Maybe he could find a retail store that sold workout rather than building everything from scratch. He was about to ask Abby and Jar-lock to keep an eye out when the ground shook unnaturally hard.
D34d-I cast a worried glance at all of them before he quacked.
*Quack*
“No way that was Mass.”
The others all agreed and hurried toward the large open hangar doors. Kaleb’s rapid movements woke Daivor who had to grip Kaleb’s shirt hard to keep from falling off. Turning his head to the Gnome Kaleb said.
“Daivor, you and Roy stay in here. Be ready to shut the hangar doors if there’s any trouble.”
“I can…” Roy said.
“No arguments, Roy.” Kaleb said harshly.
Daivor cabled over to Roy’s shoulder as the kid sulked. Kaleb shook his head but rushed outside with the others. Outside the dirt airstrip was barren, with no sign of Mass anywhere. D34d-I placed a hand over his eyes shielding his vision from the sun. The others all scanned the flat plain until D34d-I pointed off to the south.
*Quack*
“There he is.”
Kaleb squinted in the direction D34d-I had pointed finding a large speck growing larger as Mass ran toward them. Kaleb glanced around as the ground shook noticeably again. Mass was too far away to be the source of the tremors and looking toward the others, Kaleb could see that they felt the same. The ground shook violently for a third time, this time almost throwing Kaleb off his feet.
Suddenly a large cone of dirt rose out from the ground just in front of the group. The large body of dirt shot out of the ground looking like a miniature volcano. It continued to grow until its peak was at least four stories tall. Jar-lock backed away from the large mound, a look of horror on his face.
“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” the 6’3” linebacker built man backed away, Mana glowing in his hands.
“It looks like a giant…” Abby started to say.
A burst of dirt exploded for the top of the mound and large ants poured forth onto the airfield. The ants were reddish brown and as soon as they crawled out of the mound they charged down the hill. The ants moved erratically, large heads twisting ever which way leading their bodies in odd patterns. As Kaleb looked stared in fascination and horror, he noted that the ants looked to be covered in some kind of shiny liquid.
A shot rang out, and a bullet passed through the head of a nearby ant. The group of Supers all jumped in surprise before the all turned as one to stare at Two Gun. The old cowboy had both of his guns raised and shrugged off their stares.
“Don’t just sit there damn it. FIGHT!”
The ants seemed to sense a threat because they all made their way toward Two Gun. Jar-lock flung Stone and Fire spells, but the mass of ants didn’t slow. Kaleb drew his Magic Gun and focused on an Explosion Spell. Claire moved forward and set herself between the ants and the rest of the group. Abby did the same as D34d-I drew his own pistol.
Kaleb released his spell sending a large red blast hurtling in to the midst of the ants. Unfortunately, the sizable chunk he took out of the horde of ants was quickly replaced. Bullets and magic fired upon the mass of ants in waves but the group barely made a dent as the ants replenished their numbers as they killed them. Abby and Claire hacked and ripped the ants apart but they continually had to move back or the ants would overrun them.
“We need to close the nest!” Jar-lock shouted nearly hysterical.
“How the fuck do we do that?!” Abby screamed as she cut the legs off a nearby ant with her shadow blade.
Kaleb looked up to the top of the mound. The mound was almost completely buried under a tidal wave of Ants. Turning to Jar-lock he screamed. “We need to concentrate our largest spells at the top!”
Jar-lock shook his head. “I’ve been trying. There’s too many of them we have to make a hole somehow.”
Before Kaleb could respond Mass’s large body leaped over the ant mound and rolled down the other side. Mass’s large frame crushed and shoved ants away as he quickly tumbled to the bottom of the hill. He stood with that same lopsided grin on his face as he eagerly swatted ants. Kaleb breathed a sigh of relief, with Mass helping Claire and Abby their front line seemed secure but they still weren’t making any headway.
“Running low here.” Two Gun said.
*Quack*
“Same” Confirmed D34d-I
Kaleb groaned. “Whichever one of you runs out first should run to the office and call Bob. He can close this thing no problem.”
Claire shouted as she lifted and threw and nearby ant. “It should be the duck. These ants look like they are aiming for Two Gun since he killed the first one. If he moves, they might encircle us.”
Kaleb shrugged and tossed his Cybar pistol at Two Gun’s feet. The old cowboy looked down then nodded gratefully. He had been wondering why the damn ants hadn’t tried that already. Moving forward he drew his Sun Gun and pelted the oncoming horde with Fire Bullets and energy blast. Their little group was being pushed back ever so slowly toward the hangar.
As Kaleb glanced back he sorely wished he had repaired the hangar defenses. But all they had to do was hold out until Bob arrived, then everything would be fine. Jar-lock kept hurling Fire Balls and Icicle Spells as fast as he could conjure them. But soon the large man jolted as a thought occurred to him.
“We need to hurry. These are just the workers, we are screw if the soldiers show up!”
Kaleb glanced over his shoulder to ask. “Why!?”
A loud humming from the top of the mound answered his question. Winged ants started hover over their group. Kaleb swore as the flying ants flew behind their group and landed, menacing Two Gun and D34d-I with its large mandibles. More and more soldier ants flew from the top of the mound and landed behind their small group.
Mass, seeing his friend in trouble left the front line and charged the flying ants. Claire and Abby shouted at him not to leave, but their attention quickly returned to defending the front. Kaleb felt his head throb as his Mana was wearing down. Pocketing his Magic Gun he aimed his Spike Launcher before he remembered it was empty. Kaleb looked around helplessly as the ants closed in and his group of friends tired.
Two Gun and D34d-I were dodging dive-bombing ants as Mass swatted a few from of the sky. Abby and Claire were being slowly bitten apart. Jar-lock was visibly sweating and grimacing in pain as he tried to use every bit of Mana had. And Kaleb felt like he was out of tricks completely, He continually fired his Sun Gun as he stared at the top of the anthill. More and More ants poured forth covering the hill in their bodies as they charged Kaleb and his friends.