Black Pawn 3 moved swiftly through Sacra-Hill’s crumbling streets, the sounds of chaos growing with every step. Smoke choked the air, and debris littered their path. The guttural cries of civilians mixed with sporadic gunfire, the city’s death throes echoing around them.

“Stay sharp,” Dagger muttered, his voice low and tense. “We’ve got movement up ahead.”

The team paused as a young Beastkin woman stumbled into the open, clutching a small child. Her eyes darted wildly as though seeking refuge, her body trembling.

“Get to the center,” Dagger instructed, stepping forward to steady her. “The collection point’s there. Follow the others, and don’t stop for anything. You stay out here, you’re dead.”

Her breath came in ragged gasps, her soot-streaked face frozen in a mask of terror. She flinched at the sight of the soldiers, as if unsure whether they were friend or foe. She then saw it, Beastkin ears, she swallowed hard as her tears came flowing. She wiped her tears and nodded shakily, her grip tightening on her child as she whispered a tearful 'thank you' before disappearing into the haze.

“Dagger, we’re burning time,” one of his men muttered, keeping his rifle trained on a darkened alley.

“Civilians are part of the mission,” Dagger replied curtly. He gestured for the team to move, his voice hard. “Let’s go.”

“Black Pawn 3, this is Showdown 2 Alpha,” a voice crackled over the comms. “What’s your status?”

Dagger tapped his earpiece. “On route. Minor delays. Civilians everywhere.”

“Get here now,” 1st Lt. Chip Lancer’s voice came through, tense but steady. “You’ll see why.”

When Black Pawn 3 reached the overwatch position, the scene before them was grim. Showdown 2 Alpha was entrenched behind rubble, their weapons trained on a large stone building looming over the area. Chip Lancer turned as they approached, his face lined with exhaustion and focus.

“What’s the situation?” Dagger asked, scanning the building.

“Shadow Paw gave us bad intel,” Chip replied, jerking a thumb toward the structure. “They said it was wood. That? Stone. And it’s packed with slaver collars and… worse.”

“Worse?”

Chip’s jaw tightened. “We’ll get to that.”

An Invictus 360 gunship roared overhead, its cannons ripping into a nearby Austorian position. The building next to their target shuddered under the assault, chunks of debris tumbling to the ground. The team watched as the blast revealed gaping holes in the roof of the stone structure.

“Roof’s rotten,” one of Dagger’s men observed. “Could use that.”

“We’ll have to,” Chip said. “Helos are off-limits for this. Orders are to save their ammo for massed formations. That means it’s up to us.”

“If we rig the boxes of collars inside,” Sgt. Drake Tanner, the Demolition expert said, thinking aloud, “we could collapse the whole roof. The roof has holes but it’s still heavy enough to crush everything underneath.”

As they prepared their plan, a horrific, guttural scream erupted from the warehouse, followed by a second, more agonized human cry. The team froze, eyes narrowing as the sound of screeching metal echoed across the street.

“What the hell?” one soldier whispered, his rifle tightening in his grip.

“Alpha, what’s in there?” Dagger asked, his voice tight.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Chip’s face darkened. “The collars worked on one of the prisoners. Looks like they’re making more.”

“More?” a soldier asked, disbelief coloring his tone.

“Yeah,” Chip said grimly. “And whatever’s in there isn’t happy.”

Another scream, then screeching of metal, this time a twin unnatural Roar followed by screaming from the building, then…nothing.

The back door of the stone building suddenly shuddered violently, buckling outward with each impact from within.

“Time to move,” Chip snapped. “Front entrance. Hit ‘em before they hit us.”

The team breached the entrance, weapons raised. The dimly lit interior revealed a scene of horror: shattered cages, bodies torn apart, and crates stacked with slaver collars. Several female Beastkin sat dazed in smaller cages, each wearing slaver collars that glowed faintly. Their blank expressions showed their minds had been shackled.

Two grotesque figures lumbered into view. Their fur was matted with sickly green veins that pulsed beneath the skin, and their jaws hung open unnaturally wide, revealing jagged teeth that couldn’t been there before. They had once been Beastkin but were now hulking monstrosities, their bodies twisted by the Chaos Collars embedded in their flesh. The creatures moved with an unsettling grace, their joints popping audibly as they twisted their grotesque forms toward the team, their eyes glowing with an unnatural green light.

“Contact!” Dagger shouted, opening fire, his rifle barking round after round into the mass of muscle and danger.

The rest of the team followed, the roar of their rifles deafening in the confined space. The creatures moved with terrifying speed, their glowing eyes locking onto the team as guttural growls filled the air. Their twisted forms seemed impervious to the hail of bullets tearing through them, each step a testament to their monstrous resilience.

“These things just don’t die!” the machine gunner shouted, the muzzle of his weapon glowing hot as he unloaded belt after belt into the nearest beast.

“Keep firing!” Dagger barked, his voice barely audible over the deafening gunfire. His rifle bucked in his hands, every shot aimed with precision.

Finally, one of the creatures collapsed, its massive frame crashing to the ground in a heap. But the second surged forward, claws raking at the air as it closed the distance.

“Reloading!” someone yelled, fumbling with a fresh magazine.

Dagger cursed, unloading the last of his rounds into the creature’s skull. It fell, twitching once before going still, mere feet from the team.

“Status?” Dagger called, his voice sharp as he reloaded.

“Ammo’s low,” Tanner reported grimly, wiping dust from his face. “We won’t last through another fight like that.”

With the monsters down, the team swept the room for remaining threats. The air was thick with the coppery tang of blood and the acrid scent of gunpowder.

Dagger approached the cages. “Slaver collars,” he muttered, inspecting one. “No runes. Still bad enough.”

Chip joined him, his expression hard. “Get them out. They’re coming with us.”

The soldiers freed the women from the cage and collars, though they were too dazed to react. One woman blinked slowly, as if waking from a nightmare, while another curled into a ball, rocking slightly. Their eyes darted around the room, filled with fear and confusion.

“You two, escort them to the collection point,” Chip ordered, assigning them to guide the women to safety. “Use the back streets. Fast and quiet.”

As the team planted explosives, Tanner crouched over a crate, hands steady as he placed the charges. “This structure's more brittle than it looks. One wrong move and this whole thing could go early,” he muttered.

As Tanner set the last charge, the building groaned ominously, dust and pebbles raining down from above.

“We’re out of time!” Chip barked. “Move, now!”

The team raced out of the crumbling building and moved to the nearby warf as some of the damaged roof crashed down, smashing the dead Beastkin Berserkers.

Chip delivered the final blow of bad news.

“This isn’t the only one,” he said grimly. “We’ve got intel on four more warehouses just like this.”

Dagger shook his head, a bitter laugh escaping him. “Four? Seriously?”

“Dead serious,” Chip replied. “If this is what one looks like...” He gestured to the carnage. “We’re just getting started.”

Dagger exhaled, running a hand over his face. “Shadowpaw really dropped the ball on this one, this is only going to get worse, isn’t it?”

“Oh, absolutely,” Chip said with a dry smirk. “Now let’s bug out. We’ve got a bridge to demo.”

The sound of gunfire erupted near the bridge. Chip and Dagger exchanged a glance.

“Gunfire,” Chip noted.

Dagger grinned, his rifle at the ready. “When in doubt?”

Chip chuckled. “Move to the sound of gunfire.”

The unit checked their ammunition, cross loaded with the extra ammo they carried and moved like shadows through the smoke-filled streets, their boots barely crunching the debris below their feet. As quick as they assaulted the building, they disappeared heading towards the bridge. Seconds later the stone building last internal support exploded, destroying the Chaos and slaver collars in a ball of flame, any remaining smashed and buried in debris as the roof completely caved in.

Dagger glanced back as the building collapsed in on itself, sending up a plume of dust and smoke. "Four more of these," he muttered. "We’re going to need a hell of a lot more ammo."