You run back towards camp as fast as you can, and even weave some of your Temperance through your body just to make yourself that much faster. All manner of critters run from you in alarm, but none of that is your concern now.

Not with what seems like vicious Crags heading your way.

“Guns up!” you shout out as you near the clearing. “We might have some nasties incoming!”

Everyone in the caravan immediately leaps to action, with most reaching for their longarms first. Frank and Nance both run up to you, their teams not far behind them.

“I sensed some Crags up ahead,” you say. “They’re more or less headed this way, and either we run away now or try to fend them off.”

“Alright then, what do we do?” Frank asks. “Never come across ‘em before, not outside a story anyway.”

“What’ve you heard?”

“That they come directly from hell, engineered by the devil himself so he can reap our souls. I’m told the proof is how they smell, like rotten eggs baking under the sun. And they’re covered in razor-sharp bone that rips our skin apart so bad it can’t get stitched no more. I don’t believe much of that, honestly speaking.”

“Besides the hell bits, most of that is right. Though they aren’t always outwardly hostile. These ones coming at us, though? Well I know that they’re pretty damned hungry.”

You spin around and point in the direction where the Crags are coming from. A quick Scan reveals their exact position, and you adjust to make up the difference. Frank and Nance peer out in the direction you’re pointing, as though in an attempt to see that far.

Nance certainly attempts a Scan herself, but how far she can sense falls short.

“With their current pace, and their current trajectory, I guess it’ll take them five or so minutes to get to us. Ten at the maximum.

“About what they’re like - yeah, they’ve got bone armor, kinda. It’s more like… they’ve got bones on the outside. If you get past it, you’re in the meat. They’re also about a meter tall, though these ones feel slightly taller. They move around a bit like ants. Or spiders maybe.”

“Alright, so higher calibers needed,” Frank says after a moment. He and Nance then instruct their teams to switch weapons, asap.

“Those 5.56’s won’t do a thing to these,” Frank tells them. “Grab the big game guns and plenty of rounds.”

Their teams run off to the carts, where they frantically untie the tarps and search for their weapons. Though they make a bit of a mess, they’re able to swap out and load up quickly and efficiently. Once they’re kitted out, Frank directs them into a wide defensive line a dozen meters past the clearing itself, about right at the point where you’ve stopped.

While they post up behind stout trees and thick logs defensively, you reach out with your energies and join Noir and Nance to your Network. Your spare energies fill the shared pool inside, temporarily boosting all your powers.

“I’ll do what I can to ‘em, like I always do,” you say. “I don’t want to have to kill them if I don’t want to - but if we do, we’ve gotta kill all four of them. If we kill three and let one live, that one is going to remind the rest of the hive of us, who we are. We’ll be… imprinted in their memory, so to speak. They’re likely to hunt us down wherever we go, as long as we’re in their territory. That’s the kind of vibe I get from Crags in general.”

“How’d you know this?” Nance asks. “Or is that your powers talking?”

“No, nothing like that. Well maybe a bit. You could say that I kinda made friends with the city Crags. Maybe more like a nonaggression pact now that I think about it. Like I said, they’re like ants - expansionist and warlike and methodical. They wrecked entire city blocks on their own, just to make their hives.”

“Can you try to befriend these ones, then?” Frank asks.

“I can try, but I don’t think it’s going to work. Crags are a hive mind. Every splinter group carries the general mood and thoughts of the main group, and in this case, it’s an aggressive need to subsist. The ones I befriended were in a mood of… curiosity and gratefulness.”

“I see. So we’re forced to put ‘em down. All of ‘em.”

As Frank ponders what’s in front of all you deeply. You sense his apprehension at the coming fight. You sense old memories bubble up in bits, of times when he’s had to fight against armored targets.

You decide to extend Frank and his team an invite into your own Network, though they don’t share the primary Network between you, Noir, and Nance. Instead, you’ve placed them into a Subnetwork that all three of you could access at any time. More than that, they’re all linked to you as a group… no, a Fireteam.

Nance, did you see what I just did? Try to make one yourself, but with your team.

I don’t think I could… Even if I did, it won’t turn out very good.

Better than nothing, and that always makes a difference.

You’re right…

You sense Nance reach out with her energies Telepathically at first, but then morphs and shifts them into what resembles Network. It takes her a good minute to get the shape just good enough to take hold. But once she does, she’s able to smooth out many lumps and flaws quickly.

With her Subnetwork more or less solidified, she invites each of her team into it. Which of course, they happily do.

Great job! you tell Nance. As you know, using your powers affects everyone in the Network. Kinda. Only if we’re psions, too. Anyone who isn’t… well, they get a bit buffed up in general. But you otherwise still have to actively use your powers on them if you wanna make a difference. I hope that makes some sense.

So like, I do a Scan, but they don’t sense it like you do? So how do I tell ‘em what I need to?

With your Telepathy. You can even send them pieces of your Scan or your Foresight if you want, almost like an attachment. They’ll sense what you sense, if only for a moment, and for that specific thing, such as targets around corners or hidden in bushes. They just don’t get it automatically like we do.

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As you instruct her as best you can, Nance reaches out and adds her team to her Subnetwork. You sense their mood and morale elevate instantly, as they subconsciously realize that Nance is connected to them. That they’re connected to each other.

You even sense her sending them Telepathic messages directly, which causes them to become more unified than ever.

Wait so I can talk to them Telepathically, but they can’t reply? Nance asks after a few moments.

No, not exactly. They aren’t psions, so they can’t use Telepathy at all, you reply. But they can bring their thoughts clearly and concisely to the forefront of their minds. It would be up to you to Scan them to find out what they’re saying.

Got it. Thanks!

Nance then turns back to her Subnet to further discuss things with her team. You watch as the team itself adjusts physically - they spread out just a bit more so they cover more area, and with Nance herself pairing up with the teammate in the middle of them.

From there, they have their guns at the low ready, and scan the forest ahead of them for any movement.

You do something similar with Frank and his Team, though you’re not anything like the leader Nance is. You don’t exactly have a deep rapport with them to make such a deep connection. Frank being psionic would be the ideal thing, but he’s just a regular guy. Definitely a good one though.

So you perform a subtle Surge at their direction, with it echoing Frank’s brand of stoicism. That feeling fills further inside of each of them, giving them a deep sense of determination and camaraderie. You also send in a sliver of your own emotions, specifically that of your enthusiasm.

It’s an odd feeling to fear what’s coming, while also inviting it at the same time. There’s a kind of joy in it, as though life is richest and densest and most satisfying in moments like these - collisions. This feeling imbues itself somewhat in each of them, helping their hearts settle and their minds sharpen.

You then take a cue from Nance and send Frank and his team a Telepathic message.

Hey everyone, please don’t freak, you tell them through the Subnetwork. It’s like when we briefly connected against Carl and them. But that connection only lasted maybe a second. This one’s gonna last this whole fight.

You sense their awe rising, along with some of their superstitious fears. But mostly they’re curious and eager. This isn’t something they’ve felt before, not really, but you know that it feels empowering. Every psion in the Network is contributing their energies into the whole, boosting and buffing every member within.

I know it’s weird having someone else talk in your mind, alright? you continue. But the best way to fight a hive mind is to kinda have one yourself. I’ll send you what I can about what we’re facing, a bit like this… Noir?

Noir pings you and Nance, then performs a Scan while high in the trees. She’s also a few dozen meters ahead of you, giving you a wider sense of the land than otherwise. A shiver passes through all three of you as you sense the Crags pass closer towards her, towards you.

When you glance up and out to the forest, you can just see the shrubs and other foliage shake as the Crags themselves trample over them.

You send a portion of Noir’s Scan to Frank and his team, specifically the locations and general shape and size of the Crags themselves. You also send them the surface thoughts attached to their psyches, though muted down quite a lot.

Injecting raw thoughts and emotions into non psions probably isn’t a good thing, especially from an alien source.

But they get the picture easily. They can practically sense the Crags’ density through what you’ve sent, and it unsettles them a fair amount. You sense a spike of fear course through them, but another low level Surge helps them control it with ease.

You don’t feel the ground rumbling at first, at least not until they get close enough for you to see with enhanced sight. You pour in a bit more of your Temperance, just enough to properly focus that far a distance.

But you’re able to better see the Crags themselves, as they skitter between the trees.

Alarm sweeps through you the moment you see their chitin - they aren’t bone. In fact, they look like stone. Granite, specifically. Though they don’t have sharp ridges like the Bone Crags, their segments are thick and robust and far more heavily armored.

You try your best to observe their movements and note that they don’t skitter like Bone Crags, but instead lumber forward smoothly and steadily. They do seem like little tanks to you, which worries you a great deal.

At the same time, you send snippets of what you see to everyone in the Network, every Subnetwork included. Everyone needs to know what you’re up against, and hopefully someone will figure out a tactic against these things.

You quickly follow up with a Surge covering everyone in the defensive team, and infuse everyone with a bit of resolve. But that isn’t enough to counter the spike of anxiety that shoots up around you. Even you can’t tamp down your own fear.

The fact is, the Stone Crags are definitely headed in your direction. Two of them begin to splinter off, as though attempting to flank you from both sides. This you also transmit to your Network, which causes Frank and Nance to adjust their firing lines.

They all eventually come into everyone else’s visual range about a dozen meters out, which causes them to tense up ever so slightly. Everyone raises their weapons up and aims down their sights. You can feel them breathe in and out, as they do their best to tamp down their drumming chests.

I’m going to try something, alright? you transmit across the Network. Don’t do anything just yet. But be ready for if they attack.

You transmit a Telepathic greeting out towards the Crags, mixed in with a focused Surge filled with calm. The psionic Crag halts the moment it senses your greeting, causing the rest of them to halt as well.

Like you’ve done with the Bone Crags, you follow up by sending a second Telepathic message, a kind of invitation to exchange. More an experiential exchange than anything - it’s not like you have much to negotiate with in the first place. Even if they don’t agree to such a thing, you hope to at least hold them back for a second.

Your heart skips a beat when the Crags do stop moving. But whatever hopes of a peaceful outcome is wiped away when you sense the Crags’ anger rise. Their aggression also rises, and you get a sharp sense of their killing intent.

Their thoughts immediately focus squarely on you, though you’re unsure why. How did a passive Surge invoke that kind of anger?

I think I mighta made them pissed off instead, you tell everyone through the Network. You send along muted versions of the Crags’ emotions along with the message.

“Probably they’re always angry like some folks we know,” Frank replies aloud.

Probably they thought you’re a City Crag, Nance adds Telepathically. Maybe them two hives don’t get along.

It dawns on you that Nance is very likely right. They only got angry after the second Telepathic message - the one that you use to communicate with Bone Crags. Meaning they think you’re a Bone Crag. In their territory. You’re their version of a ‘ganger’.

You slap your forehead with your palm on realizing your bone-headed mistake.

I’ve gotta go out there and fight, you tell the Network.

“The hell you say?!” Frank yells out.

They’ve zero’d in on me now, and if I fight at the firing line, they’re going to be all over everyone. Best I fight from over there, only way to win. I’ll do what I can to give you all openings to shoot.

You step out from behind a thick tree, then start walking towards the Stone Crags. As you do so, you pour your energies into your Temperance and ESP, empowering your physical self as much as you can. The very act of you doing so causes the four of them to take a step back.

But the psionic Crag sweeps through you with a Scan of its own, sweeps its team with a powerful Surge, and takes hold of their collective fear. Each of the four of them sidle and flank you as you approach.

Then, you draw your katana from its saya with your Telekinesis, and have it dance it defensively in the air in a circle around you.