The Gauss rifle rested on its bipod as Luntian chambered a round. He sighted north, locking onto an empty jar three klicks away. His goggles’ HUD calculated the shot, adjusting as the wind picked up. He thumbed the power gauge to the right setting.
Confident in his assessment, Luntian took a deep breath, braced the rifle, and exhaled. Sweat trickled down his neck as the twin suns bore down, their heat oppressive. The earthy scent of dry grass filled the air.
He squeezed the trigger. A thrum of energy crackled, followed by an electrical snap as the projectile shattered the sound barrier, its sonic boom cracking like a whip. The rifle kicked hard, the recoil slamming into his shoulder and sending a dull ache down his spine. His goggles’ HUD lit up, confirming the jar’s explosion.
"Nice shooting, sugah," Quibilah’s voice drawled through the comm unit in his temple. "Saw that jar pop like a pimple!""
A faint smile tugged at Luntian’s lips as he glanced southward, where a tall building shimmered under the twin suns. He waved toward the structure’s peak, then tapped his comm unit. "Gotta keep my skills sharp, Q. It’s been a month, but danger could still find us."
"If that time comes, we'll be ready!" She drawled, her voice husky.
"Alright. Packing up and heading back." Luntian deactivated the comm unit in his temple, then tapped the holo-unit on his wrist—a thin, fitness tracker-like band that projected a holographic interface. He tapped it again, enabling the comm. "Team, status report?"
He stood, scanning the area—rifle, pack, electric motorbike, and a scattering of empty jars. His hand moved to the rifle. He reached inside for his power. The power surged through him. In his hand the weapon was not as solid metal and polymer, but was a constellation of energy patterns, shimmering and vibrating. One that he was intimately familiar with as the energy was of him. With a mental flex, he unmade it. The Gauss rifle glowed orange briefly before vanishing in a flash, the energy flowing through him, leaving him feeling strangely full.
"All-Day checking in. All quiet on the western front," Alysa’s soft voice echoed from the wrist unit.
"Really?" Quibilah sighed. "That one's old."
"My dad loved jokes like that. Oh, uh, Reinforce checking in! We’re all green on the south!" Kara’s bubbly voice chimed in.
"This is Houndtooth. I’m in the sky east of the forest, tracking movement. Not sure what I’m looking at, though." Harald’s midwestern drawl crackled through the comm.
Luntian broke down the jars, leaving the pack and bike untouched. He felt the familiar well of energy inside him replenish slightly. "What do you see?"
"The treetops are shaking. Something’s smashing through them." Houndtooth reported.
"Aren’t those trees the size of redwoods?" Kara’s voice chimed in, perky as ever. "Like, really fucking huge?"
"Yes, they are," Luntian said, his voice tight with concern. He secured the pack on the bike and fired up the engine. "I don’t like this. Hound, keep an eye out but don’t engage. Retreat if necessary, and we’ll assess. Team, meet me at the southeast gate."
A few minutes later, Centralia came into view. Once a small midwestern city, two square blocks of its downtown had been transported here—along with Luntian’s team and fifty others. At its heart stood the Hotel Davidson, a five-story, five-star hotel now serving as a makeshift headquarters and refuge. Surrounding it were mixed-use buildings, an open event space, a four-story parking garage, a Catholic church, and a bicycle shop.
A mountain range loomed west of Centralia, its snow-capped peaks snaking north to south before curling east, embracing the city in a natural barrier. Snowcapped mountain peaks littered the range and Centralia sat at the base of one of the mountains that made up the range.
The "big wall," as the Centralians called it, loomed ahead. Twelve feet high, it encircled the displaced blocks, constructed from roofing material and pipes replicated by Luntian and reinforced by Kara’s Omega ability. Her power made objects indestructible without altering their properties. She claimed nothing short of three tons of TNT could breach the big wall.
Each pipe that helped keep the wall vertical was dug ten feet deep into the dirt courtesy of Quibilah and Harald's enhanced strength. Then each segment was further supported by a pipe that was screwed onto each wall, further giving the structure a brace.
The south gate, flanked by two watchtowers, swung open as Armando and Genevieve waved him through. As the gate rose, his team greeted him.
Everyone wore the standard uniform: charcoal-gray tactical jumpsuits made of lightweight, breathable material, reinforced with plate armor on the chest, back, shoulders, arms, and thighs. Modular belts with pouches and holsters hung at their waists, and rugged boots—designed for any terrain and equipped with shock-absorbing tech—completed the ensemble. Every piece was reinforced by Kara’s power.
Quibilah stood ahead of the group, her six-foot-two frame towering over most. Her slate-gray skin, four muscular arms, and mane of red hair made her impossible to miss, as did the ivory horn jutting four inches from her forehead. Two large scimitars and a car door-sized bronze targe rested on her back. She strode toward Luntian, grinning, and pulled him into a hug before planting a soft kiss on his lips.
"Keep the PDA to a minimum, please," Alysa called from behind Quibilah. With her jet-black hair, lithe frame, and pale complexion, she made an exaggerated gagging motion at Luntian and Quibilah’s display of affection.
"Oh, stop it. You’re just jealous," Kara teased, her voice light as Luntian and Quibilah rejoined the group.
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"Boss?" Houndtooth’s voice crackled through their holo-units. "You’re not gonna believe this, but I think I found a solution to one of our problems."
Luntian pulled up his holo-unit, watching Harald’s live feed. The forest canopy shook in patches, the movement creeping closer to the camera.
"I’m dropping into the forest. You’ll see what I mean," Harald said through the feed. The canopy blurred past until he broke through, revealing massive redwood-like trunks that dominated the screen. Below, the forest floor came into view—vibrant vegetation in a riot of colors and textures. In the distance, where the canopy shook, large figures rustled toward the camera.
"Are those... giant boars?" Kara asked, staring at her holo-unit.
"Yeah, that’s what I’m seeing," Harald confirmed. "Six legs, the size of a damn grizzly, and—" He paused. "Five eyes. Freaky as hell
The feed zoomed in on one of them. The boars were a nightmarish fusion of familiar and alien. Thick, black fur, coarse as iron bristles, covered their immense forms, bunching and shifting with each powerful stride of their six legs. The extra pair of limbs, positioned closer to their hindquarters than their shoulders, gave them a disturbingly fluid gait, like some grotesque spider-boar hybrid. But it was their heads that truly chilled the blood.
Two pairs of eyes, small and beady, glinted with vicious intelligence on either side of their snouts, while a single, larger orb stared out from the center of their foreheads, giving them an unsettlingly knowing gaze. Giant tusks, yellowed and thick as a man's arm, jutted from their jaws. They weren't merely large; they were wrong.
"Hot damn," Quibilah muttered, her grin widening. "Keep an eye on them, Hound."
Luntian blinked, then groaned as the pun hit. Quibilah's grin widened, her ivory horn catching the sunlight as she basked in her own cleverness.
"Roger that. I’ll be honest—they’re freaking me the hell out—but I’ll keep an eye on them. Anything else?"
"Don’t engage. No idea what these hogs are capable of," Luntian ordered.
"Copy that."
The feed cut out. Luntian turned to the others. "Alright, ideas?"
"What the fuck are those? Five eyes? Six legs? Are they even boars?" Alysa demanded, her voice rising in disbelief.
"Whatever they are, they’re coming—and they’re coming fast," Luntian said, his holo-unit’s map syncing with Harald’s.
"We gotta nab a few, right? If they’re edible, that solves a ton of problems!" Quibilah said, her excitement palpable. "You’re taking point?"
"Yeah. But we don’t know if they’re edible—or how dangerous they are," Luntian said, his brows furrowing as he pulled up the map. It displayed the mountain range to the west, rolling hills stretching north, south, and east, and a vast forest to the east. A dot marked Harald’s location at the forest’s edge.
"Ten klicks to the forest’s edge," he said, tracing a straight path to Harald’s marker. "We can either hunt one down or draw the herd here."
"But wouldn’t that put Centralia at risk?" Alysa gestured broadly. "No offense, Kay."
"You’ve seen my powers, Lys. They can handle—" Kara started, only to be cut off by Harald.
"Hey boss, got some bad news," Harald said, sounding winded.
"Report."
"They’re trampling through the forest, heading west. Just cleared the tree line and charging straight for Centralia." A video feed streamed to their units, showing the boars charging as Harald sped away.
Luntian guessed Harald had shifted out of his crow form and hopped onto his electric motorbike. He was outpacing the boars, but they were gaining fast.
"Hound, didja try leading them away?" Quibilah asked
"I tried, but they didn’t even notice me. Something spooked them. I can outpace them, but my holo says they’ll reach Centralia in twenty-one minutes."
"Shit. Alright, get back here. We’ll figure this out," Luntian said, turning to the team.
"Hound, how many are there?" Q asked.
"At least thirty, maybe forty."
"Thanks Hound. Stay safe and see you soon."
Luntian turned to Quibilah. "Q, can handle any breaches?"
"No matter how big they are, they’re not breaking through the big wall," Kara said, pulling out her ORT Directed Kinetic Sidearm and priming it.
Three lights blinked on, signaling three shots before a recharge. She tapped her holo-unit, and a small, rounded shield materialized—a medieval-style buckler made of solid light. These fabricator units were a recent breakthrough, standard issue for every ORT holo-unit.
"Kay, get the civilians to safety with Lys. Update Councilwoman Rosa over the radio, then regroup at the east wall," Luntian ordered. Kara and Alysa nodded and headed off. He glanced at Q, who was grinning ear to ear—though probably not for the pun this time.
"I know, I know, I shouldn't be grinning like a kid in a candy shop, but it's been a boring few weeks! I need some action in my life, you know that!" She winked at Luntian as they climbed up the perimeter wall's catwalk. Here, Armando greeted the two of them with an unnecessary salute.
"Armando, who's on guard duty at the other posts?"
"Oh. Uh, Jasper and Karla are now solo on the west and south walls." Armando said as he looked down to where Alysa and Kara were heading off. "That leaves Big T and Francine at the north gate, sir."
"Again, you don't have to call me sir." Luntian sighed. ORT did not have a military command structure, but that didn't stop the guards they trained up from calling them sir or ma'am. "Any minute now, the call to retreat to the tower will ring. That's because there might be some danger coming our way."
Genevieve was walking over when Luntian had said it, and Armando paled. Genevieve had a concerned look on her face as she approached. "Sir? What danger?"
"A couple of giant boars. Big as an elephant and rapidly coming our way." Quibilah said matter-of-factly as she flexed all four of her arms. Her scimitars were out, both held in her upper hands. On the lower right hand, she held the large shield. "Best we can tell the big wall should hold, but we need everyone on deck ready."
"Rosa to the southeast gate, come in." Councilwoman Rosa's quiet voice crackled through the radio on Genevieve's chest rig. The dark-skinned woman tapped the radio. At the same time, Kara's face lit up in Luntian's holo-unit
"Gen here."
"Are Wildcard and Warbird there?"
"Yep. They just explained what's happening." Genevieve looked at the two of them concerned and slightly terrified.
"This is Wildcard. Councilwoman, we are in a bit of a pinch here, and I'd rather have folks be holed up and safe in the tower. We've got giant boars coming our way, and things could get dicey." He looked to his holo-unit and tapped the video feed from Houndtooth. "Hound, show the good councilwoman what we're dealing with here."
The holo-unit flashed, switching to a video feed of a stampeding herd of giant wild boars. They charged toward the camera, but Harald was comfortably outpacing them. "You should see the dust cloud these piggies are kicking up here soon, if not already."
Everyone turned east. Past a distant hill, a massive dust cloud billowed.
"ETA?" Luntian said.
"I can speed ahead and be at the gates in five minutes. They'll be behind by another five."
"Go. We'll meet you at the gates. You got bear form ready?" Luntian asked. He could already see that Q was giving orders to the rest of the guards on watch.
"Sure do. Haven't had the chance to unwind with it outside of sparring with Warbird." There was an eagerness to Harald's voice that mirrored Q's.
"Alright, we'll figure this out and work with what we got!" Luntian stood at the wall, watching the dust cloud loom closer.
Councilwoman Rosa's tinny voice spoke through speakers mounted on a post at both ends of Broadway. "Centralians, we ask that everyone please come to the Grand Ballroom. There is a situation outside the walls and Echo Team along with our Wall Guards are working on making sure that the situation stays outside."
Folks started coming out of the building and were asking everyone else what was going on. When they started making their way to the hotel entrance, Luntian turned back eastward just in time to catch sight of Harald speeding his way toward the southeastern gate.
Harald, unlike the rest of the team, wore his costume from before he joined up with Omega Response Team. He wore a hooded cape lined with thick, pale-colored wolf fur that draped around his shoulders, in muted brown and grey tones. On his back was a large ornamented axe and a large shield. It was a stark contrast to the electric bike that he rode in on. The gates were pulled up and he was let through.
Harald was an imposing figure, standing at a flat seven-foot, he towered over his bike as he dismounted and made his way up to the guard post.
"Glad you made it, hun." Q offered as she clapped him on the arm. "Where's your pals?"
"Summoning them now." Harald stepped aside onto the open catwalk. His hands moved in front of him and a faint blue glow trailed his index finger. He began tracing runes and three groups hung in the air. They disappeared and then figures emerged from thin air as if apparitions before solidifying into actual creatures. A large brown bear, a large white wolf, and a raven moved about Harald.
The crow cawed as it flew around, then landed on Harald's shoulder. The catwalk sagged a little under the bear and wolf's weight, though if they had noticed, they did not seem to show any sign. Q swept the bear into a four-armed embrace, lifting it clear off the ground. The creature's tongue lolled as she scratched behind its ears.
"Who's a good big bear? Freyja is!" Q cooed at Freyja the bear who groaned in satisfaction. The wolf padded over to Luntian, who scratched at the wolf's chin.
"As much as I would hate to interrupt, we have pressing matters coming our way." Luntian sighed as he turned eastward once more and saw the first of the dark figures emerge up the hill. "They're here."