Now
Orchestral Meridian was an impossible city in Cal’s eyes. Its architecture was impossible from a human standpoint. It covered the entire surface of an island several miles off the coast. Its heights reached up into the clouds, while its depths plunged deep into the ground.
Three gargantuan bridges made out of the Threnosh’s superior metal alloy connected the city to the mainland. They rose hundreds of feet above the dark blue ocean. They reminded Cal of the Golden Gate Bridge, except on a much larger scale. Each one had to be at least four or five times as wide.
The broken remains of the bridges were magnificent.
When the Threnosh had lost the city they promptly destroyed the bridges. Still they were so large that there were sections standing that one could fit multiple blocks of houses.
Which was why Cal set up their base camp on one of the island pillars that rose up out of the ocean.
They didn’t have to deal with monster attacks had they been based on the mainland, nor did they risk the unknown monsters that populated the island city.
Cal stared across the expanse of empty space between him and Orchestral Meridian. The waves crashing below was a distant and soothing sound. There was something melodic in the air. He shook his head.
Strange.
He glanced down at his PID.
“The fuck…”
Several minutes had passed.
He turned around to see the rest of his team standing at attention. No doubt waiting on further instructions.
“Subcommander Tioga Blue 635, how goes it?” Cal smoothly hid his confusion. He definitely didn’t realize that much time had passed while he was staring at the city and listening to the music of the ocean waves far below.
“Automated defenses are operational. Mobile trueskin maintenance bays have been erected. Temporary living facilities are in place.”
“Good, good,” Cal said with a brisk nod. “Drone operators begin preliminary scouting of the city. Interceptor squadron you are on standby. Subcommander, I want your squad on yellow alert.”
“I do not understand your word, Designation: Honor.”
“Uh… right, maintain readiness at threat level three, er, make that four. Keep scanning the skies and the waves.”
“Acknowledged,” Subcommander Tioga Blue 635 saluted.
“T-Men, gather around.” Cal beckoned his team of elites.
Ten Threnosh in unique power armors clustered around him. Eager, expectant. Some were veterans of many tough tasks against all kinds of monsters. Some were fresh from their first boss fight. All looked at Cal with laser focus.
Orchestral Meridian was one of the oldest and grandest cities on the Threnosh world. For it to turn into a spawn point was something that struck deeply even through the stoic nature of the Threnosh. The special candidates were defective, which meant it hit them even harder. They all understood what it would mean if they were able to reclaim the city.
“I know you’re all excited,” Cal began, “but we’re going to take this slow and careful. So, relax. We don’t want to burn ourselves out before the hard stuff actually starts. It’s going to take a day or two of scouting with the drones to identify a good spot to enter. Just make sure you get plenty of nutrients and liquids, although I suppose that’s redundant for you guys.” He paused. There was no reaction. He shook his head ruefully. “One day, I’ll get you guys to laugh. Alright, dismissed. You’re free to do whatever. Except you, Adahn,” he pointed at the Threnosh in the slim and sleek power armor with subtle, glowing lines that shifted colors, “don’t bother the engineer or the fabricator. They need to get ammunition production going.”
The Threnosh dispersed. With one exception.
“Question, PJ15?”
“Yes, Honor.” The Threnosh’s power armor was a dull, slate gray in color and was skintight. Very similar to Prime Custodian 3’s, which wasn’t surprising. Their voice was distorted, electronic-sounding.
“Go for it.”
“My… fri—, my trueskin is concerned.”
“About?” Cal felt something growing in the pit of his stomach. He forced it away with an effort.
“It hears the city calling. I apologize. It is a vague thing on the edge of my understanding.”
“Yeah, but I’d bet there is something there. Just keep trying to communicate, like PC3 said, it takes time and effort. Thanks, you’ve given me something to think about,” Cal said.
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Cal floated above Orchestral Meridian.
There was a surprising lack of any signs of decay to the structures and streets. Ostensibly the place had been abandoned and unmaintained for almost a decade. Yet, there was no corrosion from the ocean salt in the air. No signs of the violence that had occurred when the spire had appeared somewhere deep in the heart of the city.
He was expecting bones and long-dried blood stains. Perhaps damage to the buildings. Maybe overgrowth from the plants and grass outside of the city. Or at least a bit of rust. That really bothered him for some reason.
Except the city looked nearly pristine aside from a bit of dustiness and the strange cocoon-like pods scattered liberally throughout. They were suspiciously-sized just about right for a Threnosh.
Those were definitely going to turn out to be monster eggs or something equally horrible.
Cal kept an eye on the bank of tiny images projected at the bottom of his face-plate. The live, first person views from each of his team members as they slowly and cautiously explored the immediate area around the intrusion point they had selected.
The place was on the fringes of the city. Cal had selected it because it allowed for a retreat out of the city to a long and wide plateau that ended in a cliff that rose high above the ocean. One of the bridges connected to the plateau. It still had roughly three hundred yards of solid-looking roadway up to the point where the Threnosh had blown it up.
In the event that a retreat became necessary they had all that space to set up a choke point for defense while they waited for an aerial extraction from their base camp.
Furthermore there was a fabrication facility close by and Cal had an eye toward future operations. Being able to create weapons and ammunition while in city limits was going to be a boon for the eventual Threnosh reclamation force.
“Honor, we have reached our first cluster of monster eggs.” Salamander’s voice was clear over the comms.
“Okay, get in position and hold until Team 2 is in place.”
They only had to wait a few minutes.
“Team 2 is ready to kick some monster rear ends.” Telatrine’s voice was loud and eager.
Cal floated down closer to the large cluster of what he had termed, monster eggs, in the middle of a fairly wide metallic road in the shadow of a pair of tall, wide structures. It was time to find out what exactly were in those things. He hoped that his initial read on them was wrong.
“On my mark,” Cal said into the comms. “Go!”
Cal kept one eye on the live images in his face-plate and one eye on the eggs a few dozen feet below him. He broadened the reach of his third eye, his telepathy to encompass not only his immediate area, but the area that his teams were in. He wasn’t going to miss a thing.
Salamander cut the egg in front of them with the taloned fingers of their right gauntlet at the same time that PJ15 transformed their gauntlet into a sharp blade to cut their egg open.
There was an instantaneous keening sound that somehow cut through the automatic protective features in their helmets. The noise came from everywhere and nowhere that Cal could detect.
It subtly shifted into something almost musical for him. A song that gave him an overwhelming feeling of something like anger and want. Singers’ lament of longing. For what? He didn’t know, yet still he lost himself in the terrible song.
Both teams fell into high alert. They were separated by several blocks of gleaming pathways and densely packed structures. The noise had tapered off a little, but it was no longer a concern as the eggs turned out to be just that. They broke open and out of them emerged horrors.
The monsters resembled Threnosh, except bulkier. Their muscles bulged so much that their gray skin split in places. The bones at the tips of their fingers and toes had lengthened into bloody claws. Their mouths were grotesquely wider and filled with sharp teeth.
They joined their voices to the keening wail that seemed to permeate the city as they attacked.
----------------------------------------
The Threnosh-like monster, for that was the only way that Salamander saw the thing slashed at their arm. Its claws sparked off the scale-like armor on their arm. Their armor had been nearly impervious to every type of monster that they had encountered to date. This new monster wasn’t the one to break that streak.
Salamander stabbed their taloned right hand into the monster’s throat. It died gurgling on its own blood.
Three more eggs in the alley discharged their contents in a squelching gush of disgusting liquid gore.
Salamander didn’t give the monsters the chance to get to their feet. They spat out an intense gout of flame from the maw of their draconic helmet.
The monsters screamed as they burned. The sound. The voices were disturbingly familiar.
“The motion sensors we seeded shows multiple hostiles coming for us,” Unseen said. The Threnosh held a recoilless rifle in one hand while they consulted the tracker in their other hand.
“Specifics?”
“On the same plane,” Unseen hesitated, “and above… and below.”
Salamander decided in an instant. “We’ll fight them at the fall back position.” It was a wide space with only two ways in. One led to their incursion point and was defended by automated turrets. The other was the perfect funnel to serve the monsters up to them.
The team moved swiftly, while Unseen gave frequent updates on the closing monsters. Salamander led the party. Unseen, Drega Tali and Winding Myriad were in the middle of the formation. Maul brought up the rear. Their power armor superficially resembled the standard heavy soldier’s. It was a lot better though, more heavily armed and armored. It bristled with a wide variety of ranged weaponry that covered all distances.
“Visual contact,” Maul said.
They stopped running. The micro grenade launchers on their lower legs swiveled to their rear and barked. They were already running again when the micro grenades exploded with a series of loud popping sounds.
“Keep moving,” Salamander said.
They would have plenty of opportunity to fight soon enough.
The team reached the fall back position and quickly fell into formation.
Salamander was at the point of the triangle. Maul was to their left. The rest were clustered together on the right.
Unseen’s and Drega Tali’s power armors were not primarily combat-oriented. Their primary weapon was the standard recoilless rifle. For defense they were relying on Winding Myriad’s force fields.
“Myriad, as soon as the first monsters reach the opening you will use your lighting,” Salamander said. “Maul, I will give the order for you to open fire shortly after. I will burn the remainder that make it further. Unseen, Drega, pick your shots. Target those that survive. We must conserve ammunition while we are uncertain on enemy numbers.”
They didn’t have to wait long. The monsters came howling down the alley. If they were bothered by the Threnosh-like appearance, they didn’t show it. It was a testament to their training and experience.
Winding Myriad discharged an arc of bright, white-blue lighting that flashed across the open space, from the long, thin staff of smooth, unknown material they held upright in one hand. Threnosh science couldn’t explain how they did that. Nor could Winding Myriad explain. It was instinctive. Honor had chalked it up to ‘science-magic’, which was unhelpful to his vexed Threnosh scientists and researchers.
The lightning didn’t behave in a manner consistent with the laws of physics. It was so bright that it lit up the day momentarily. It lanced into the first monster that emerged out of the alley. The monster seized up in place for a split-second before it fell to the ground a charred, smoking corpse. Meanwhile the lightning had arced to several more monsters back in the alley until it finally fizzled out.
“Maul.”
“Acknowledged.”
The heavily armed Threnosh held out both of their arms. A small, underslung rotary autocannon beneath their right gauntlet spat out projectiles at tremendous speed. Underneath their left gauntlet, an automatic weapon spat out penetrative shells that exploded into shrapnel that blew apart monsters from the inside or showered them in piercing, hot metal. Micro grenades exploded and filled the space with a deafening sound that forced the Threnosh’s automatic audio protection measures in their helmets to kick in.
Salamander stepped up and swept across the space from left to right with a breath of fire. The billowing orange cloud engulfed all of the monsters.
“Unseen. Status on hostiles.”
“More incoming.”
“That is fine.” Salamander said. They killed so many without expending a significant amount of their ammunition or energy. They could handle more of the same.
----------------------------------------
Team 2 was in a potentially dire situation. Unlike the situation for Team 1, the Threnosh-like monsters emerged all along their line of retreat to their designated fall back position. They were in danger of being overwhelmed by sheer weight of numbers.
Telatrine dragged the weapon in their right hand through a monster’s chest. There was something satisfying to the whir of the motor that spun the metallic teeth as they tore into the monster. It cleaved the monster’s torso in two in a spray of blood and flesh. Honor had called it a chainsword as soon as he saw it in their hands after they emerged from the spire. It had quickly become their most prized purchase from the marketplace.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Another monster jumped at them. They stabbed the chainsword into its gut and engaged the teeth. It was a painful and messy end.
Telatrine had a momentary respite. They glanced behind them and saw that their formation had become stretched.
Adahn and Rodinian were back-to-back while they desperately fired their recoilless rifles at the monsters charging at them in all directions. Brightstrike held a bright, yellow blade of hard light in both hands as they whirled around the pair in a failing attempt to keep them safe. The former two didn’t have power armors that were meant for direct melee combat. They would be in trouble if it wasn’t for the latter’s efforts.
Further back, some thirty or forty meters distant. The diminutive PJ15 was being swarmed by the much larger and more muscular monsters. For some reason the monsters were being drawn to them in greater numbers.
Telatrine paused. From the looks of it PJ15 was doing alright.
“PJ15, do you require assistance?” Telatrine spoke into the team channel.
“Negative. I have things under control.”
Their words rang true. The monsters couldn’t penetrate through the skintight power armor. PJ15 cut freely and easily with their clawed fingers, while a handful of long, tendrils emerged from their back. They whipped and bashed at the monsters. Sending them flying.
Telatrine was reluctantly impressed. Their chainsword whirred hungrily as they hurried to aid Brightstrike in keeping the monsters away from the more vulnerable Adahn and Rodinian.
Telatrine cut through an arm that was poised to gash Brightstrike’s back.
“My thanks.” Brightstrike spun around Telatrine and in a smooth motion lopped the head off a monster.
“I suppose the same goes for me,” Telatrine said.
“Telatrine, I cannot reach Designation: Honor,” Adahn said. Their eyes were visibly wide behind their translucent face-plate.
“What about the other team?”
“They are fending off hostiles at their fall back position.”
Telatrine took a moment to hack apart a pair of monsters.
“What does the path to our fall back position look like now?”
Adahn stopped firing their rifle to consult the tracker. “Not good.”
“Damn.” Telatrine felt good at the opportunity to use one of Honor’s words. It didn’t dawn on them that Honor only used such words when the situation wasn’t favorable. “We need to clear the way.” Their eyes glanced over to PJ15. It sparked an idea. “We will need to perform a fighting withdrawal.”
“I do not recall if that is what Honor called it,” Rodinian said.
“It matters not,” Telatrine said. “Rodinian. I need you to prep some of your traps.”
“Purpose?”
“Delay more than destruction.”
“Acknowledged. I will need time.”
Telatrine didn’t reply. They attacked the monsters with a renewed ferocity. Brightstrike picked up on the sentiment and did the same. Together, along with projectile fire from Adahn, the pair were able to finally clear a space around them.
“I am finished,” Rodinian said.
“Set them at this location once we withdraw several meters,” Telatrine said. “PJ15?” They switched to the team channel.
“Yes?”
“Prepare to disengage. I need you to clear the path to the fall back position.”
“Acknowledged.”
“Begin withdrawal,” Telatrine said to the other three.
Once they retreated to the designated spot, fighting at each step, Telatrine gestured to Rodinian.
They tossed a handful of flat, plate-sized disks across the space they had just vacated.
“PJ15… now,” Telatrine spoke into the comms.
PJ15 tossed the monsters swarming them with the lashing tendrils on their back. They gathered their legs underneath them and jumped. They went high and far. Over the monsters, over the traps and over their team. They hit the ground many meters behind the team and took off with impressive speed.
“Clearing the way.” PJ15’s voice came strong and clear over the comms.
Telatrine was impressed.
“Let us go. We do not want to be too far behind. Adahn, keep trying to reach Honor. We need direction.”
----------------------------------------
Then, Year 4, After Spires
A surprisingly large crowd had gathered around the apartment complex. It was located in what was considered a rougher part of the city in pre-spires time. It seemed that hadn’t changed. Although, Cal was surprised at the large number of people that were alive.
He hung back as Detective Ordonez, Jake and Flo went to talk with the armed men and women standing at the gates to the complex. From what Cal was told this area was gang territory, which is why it was odd to see that the people gathered around weren’t mostly young men, the expected demographic for gangbangers. In contrast, there was a mix of men and women of a wide range of ages.
Aside from the machetes, axes and sawed-down pool cues menacingly brandished in his direction, Cal wouldn’t have pegged the people as belonging to a violent street gang. The contradictory images of the entire scene was surreal.
“So… I’m here to help. Um, any sort of information you might have…”
Hard eyes, suspicious eyes and dead silence greeted him.
Thirty seconds of staring and being stared at was enough for Cal.
“Okay…” He moved to turn his back on the crowd.
“You ain’t with the po-po?”
Cal stopped and turned back. The speaker was an older man. Bald head, wispy beard gone white.
“Nope.”
“You sure bout that?”
“I think I’d know if I signed up to become a cop. Don’t have a badge or a gun either.”
“Don’t know if that means much when they got little girlies workin’ for them…” The old man spat out a glob of tobacco spit and chewed in contemplation for a few seconds. “You from across the river?”
The old man’s eyes searched. Cal didn’t look away. He wasn’t tempted to use his telepathy to get a read on the old man’s mind. Bleed through of thoughts wasn’t a pleasant thing for him. He didn’t like feeling and thinking as if he was that person. He settled on keeping eye contact. He projected honesty and the lack of fear.
The old man spat. He held out his hand.
Cal shook it. The grip was surprisingly firm. Old Man Strength. Cal squeezed just enough to surpass it. The old man’s lips split in a grin.
“You alright.”
Cal had no idea how the man came to that conclusion, but he wasn’t going to argue.
“Thanks, you too.”
The old man beckoned to someone in the crowd behind him.
A young man came out. He looked to be in his early twenties.
“This my grandson.”
“Omar,” the young man held out a hand.
Cal shook it. “Cal.” He looked back to the old man. “I’m sorry, sir. I never got your name.”
“I ain’t givin’ it out. Can’t be too careful with them bad magic goin’ round.” The old man crossed himself. “Never mind dat. Omar’s a smart boy. He was goin’ to go to college before this shit started. Where was you goin’, boy?”
“Penn.” Omar’s shoulder hunched.
The old man whooped in obvious joy. “Dat’s them Ivy league shit right there. He’s smart like his momma and daddy was.” The old man grew somber. “Omar’ll show you around. You won’t get anywhere without him. Those po-po definitely won’t. We ain’t gonna forget that they only watched out for them rich white folk when the devils came out.”
Cal didn’t have anything to say to that.
The old man returned to the crowd.
“So… did your grandpa just offer you up to be my guide?”
“Looks like it,” Omar grumbled.
“Alright, cool. So, how’d you like to get paid.”
Omar’s eyes widened a moment. Then he became suspicious.
“What? If you’re going to do work and potentially place yourself at risk then it’s only fair.”
“Risk?” Omar looked hesitant.
“Dude, I’m on the trail of some kind of monster. Something worse than anything I’ve fought to date. That’s inherently risky.”
Cal could see the wheels start to turn in Omar’s head.
“What’re you going to give me? Cash is worthless. Gold? Silver?”
“Those are kind of worthless too when banks and jewelry stores respawn their contents.”
“Really? Just like the food? We didn’t know that.”
Cal nodded sagely. “Only difference is that it takes longer than food buildings. About a week instead of a day. I could totally pay you in gold or silver if you want. You want bars? I’ve got bars.”
Omar shook his head. “You’re from Davis right?”
Cal didn’t say anything. He just looked at Omar.
“Word is you guys have got a pretty good setup.” Omar lowered his voice. “You’ve got powers and magic?”
“Don’t you?”
“Yeah, but not as much or at least that’s what I heard. You’ve got actual classes, ones good for fighting the monsters. Like warriors and mages?” Omar’s eyes lit up as he spoke.
“Omar,” Cal began, “do you mind if I ask you what your class is?”
“Student,” Omar’s shoulders slumped. “Useless…”
“I don’t know about that. I’m sure your skills aren’t useless.”
“Oh yeah, they’d be great if I was actually in school,” Omar sighed. “Trust me, they’re useless against monsters.”
“Fair point. So, what do you want?”
“The secret to gaining a better class.”
“Sorry, but I can’t help you with that. From what I’ve seen. The class you gained at the beginning of this shitshow was the product of a combination of self-perception and actions. So, in your case, I’d guess that your identity as you see it is intrinsically tied with being a student. Hence the class. I have no idea if you can change your class or add another one.”
“That’s my price. You bring me along on this investigation and help me try,” Omar said.
“No way, man. I can’t guarantee your safety. There’s a chance that you’ll die and it will be horrible. Judging by the smell coming from that apartment complex.” Cal jabbed a finger over his shoulder. “I don’t know if you can smell it from here, but I can. There is a lot of blood and rotting guts wafting over.”
“That’s why I’m standing across the street. I made the mistake of getting closer earlier. So, do we have a deal or what?”
Cal considered it. He saw that Detective Ordonez wasn’t having any success at talking her way through the crowd blocking access to the apartment complex. Sure, he could just force their way through. He doubted that these people were a threat, at least to him and Flo, if she was as strong as advertised. Naturally, such action would poison the well of future interactions with this particular community.
“Alright, you’re an adult, Omar. You don’t seem to be drunk or high, so you aren’t impaired.” Cal held out a hand. “You’re hired as our guide in this area. With the exception that if I deem a situation as potentially violent then I’m sending you home. You follow my orders and hopefully you won’t get killed or worse.”
Omar shook his hand vigorously. “Thanks!” He smiled.
“Okay. Your first job is to get us into the complex.”
“No problem!”
Omar rushed across the street with Cal in tow.
“Guys, it’s alright. You can let them pass.” Omar raised his voice as he strode to the big men staring down implacably at Detective Ordonez.
Cal beckoned her to him. Jake and Flo followed.
“What the hell is going on?” Detective Ordonez glared, which was to say she looked as she always did to Cal.
“That’s Omar. He’s our guide while we are in this… territory,” Cal said with a shrug.
Detective Ordonez blinked. “Who the fuck do you think you are?! You can’t just bring random civilians in on my investigation!”
“Fine, he’s my guide. There, no worries. You don’t even have to pay him. Besides…” Cal pointed toward the crowd, which had just parted.
“He’s your responsibility,” Detective Ordonez said as she stomped off into the apartment complex.
The rest of their group followed shortly.
“Yeah, as I expected,” Cal grimaced, “the smell is worse in here.”
The warmer temperature meant that dead bodies and parts putrefied and rotted quicker and more disgustingly.
“Fuck me! Why didn’t we bring masks?” Jake’s voice sounded comical with the way he was pinching his nose shut.
“Watch where you step and don’t touch anything,” Detective Ordonez glared at Cal and Omar.
“No problem, I’ll just stand right here.” Omar was right under the overhang that led into the inner courtyard.
Cal laughed. “No way man. You’re sticking with me. We have no idea if the monster is still somewhere in one of these apartments.”
“Whatever. I don’t need to see any of this.” Flo walked over to a bloody bench and sat down in the narrow space that was mostly clean. She paid no mind to the chunk of meat that looked like a raw pork butt on the ground close by. “Shout if you’re getting killed.”
“Gates!” Detective Ordonez.
“Yes, boss.” Jake hopped to attention.
“You’re with me. Cruces, you and your intern stay close, but do not step in anything or touch anything. We’re going to clear the place before we start looking for evidence.”
Detective Ordonez chambered a round in her shotgun with a loud chack that echoed in the empty courtyard.
“Good acoustics,” Omar said.
Jake pulled out a pair of smartphones, one in each hand.
Cal and Omar exchanged a look of confusion.
“You got a weapon?”
“Um… yeah.” Omar pulled out a knife and held it in shaky hands.
It looked like one of those cheap survival knives you could get at Big 5 or Home Depot.
“Oh… kay… maybe we’ll get you something better later,” Cal said. “Just try not to cut yourself.”
They did as the detective had ordered. The scenes inside of the apartments were many times worse than the grisly display out in the courtyard. It was so bad that they gave up on avoiding stepping in the evidence.
Omar only made it to his second apartment before he vomited. Jake lasted a bit longer, so Detective Ordonez sent them back to wait with Flo.
Cal gagged a few times, but he powered through it. He reminded himself that he had seen similar scenes, if not quite as terrible. He took his mind off the physical by partially retreating into his telepathy. He stretched out across the entire apartment complex on the look out for potential monsters or the specific one that was supposedly responsible for the carnage that was assaulting his physical senses.
“So, does this look like the mauler’s work? It doesn’t seem possible that this was all done by one thing.”
“The scale of it is worse than anything I’ve ever seen, but… yeah, from a cursory look I’d say the damage on these bodies looks like what the mauler did to the other vics,” Detective Ordonez said as she crouched down and examined what looked like a headless and limbless torso, at least judging by the remains of the Kings t-shirt partially covering it. “This just turned into a clusterfuck.”
“Huh? Wasn’t it already that?”
“A monster serial killer was one thing. After this crap we’re looking at all out war.”
“You lost me,” Cal said.
“See, what we are looking at are the remains of several consolidated street gangs. Mostly crips and bloods, plus a few smaller ones. After the world went to shit the gangs suddenly had more important things to worry about instead of who could sell what drugs at which street corners. So, they joined up along racial lines to protect themselves and their families. Mostly.”
“I get it,” Cal said. “So, these are the black gangs. Which means there’s a power vacuum that the other gangs are going to want to exploit. More specifically they’ll be coming to take over this territory. How many other gangs are we talking here?”
“How many races are there in the area?”
“Is that a rhetorical question? Cause there are a lot or there was. Sacramento’s a pretty diverse place from what I remember.”
“It breaks down like you’d expect. Hispanics, Asians and white power types, but those were mostly to the north of the city and we’ve broken their grip and scattered them.”
Cal made a disgusted face.
“Yeah, I heard you had your issues with those types.”
“I guess so, except they were cops and bikers. I didn’t look too deeply into it. Just kicked their asses and moved on. Had enough problems with monsters to deal with stupid people falling back on base tribalism and thinking the wrong sides won the Civil War and World War II.”
“This is going to be a problem that we don’t have the manpower to respond to,” Detective Ordonez said. “The gangs don’t have much in the way of guns, but they’ve got numbers and we don’t want to waste our ammo. Nor do we want to waste lives. We’ve lost enough people as it is.”
“I see where this is going,” Cal sighed. “Just tell me where I can find their leaders. I’ll have a little talk with them. Impress upon them the folly of street warfare on their fellow human beings.”
“Understand that I’m not asking you to do this. That you decided on this course of action on your own.”
Cal shrugged. “Yeah, whatever.”