Now, Earth
Veronica let loose a high-pitched battle cry and dashed into the formation. She came across a man, except there was something off about him. His muscled strained against his clothing and there was a crazed look in his eyes. She clubbed him across the forehead. Instead of going down he swung his ax at her. She stepped back and parried the ax with her staff. The impact sent vibrations up her arms.
She now knew that stupid, evil symbol was a buffing spell.
A woman with a spear came charging out of the wheat to Veronica’s left. She dodged the spear, grabbed it and pulled the woman into a headbutt. The woman staggered back and plopped down on her seat. Her nose was a bloody mess, but she was already getting back to her feet.
A man with a chain struck Veronica in the back of her head. She staggered forward.
“Oww… that hurt.” Veronica couldn’t believe that she actually got hit by a stupid weapon. So unrealistic.
The man whirled the chain over his head while others filled the circle around Veronica.
She kept them at bay by swinging and stabbing out with her staff in one hand and the spear in the other.
“Bringing you back will wipe away my failures. I will become touched.” A creepy looking man came out of the stalks. “As you see this is the power that the Deep Azure provides. If you’d like to become a part of us, I’m sure I can put in a good word for you. In exchange for… favors.”
Veronica knew that this creepy old man was responsible for the weird spell thingy in the air. Just glancing at it made her want to puke. Knock him out, no more spell. Easy enough.
She had two options. Fight through the ten people that were now almost as strong as her to smack the creeper upside the head. Or fry his brain from where she was standing. That was her preferred plan. The only problem was that would leave her vulnerable to the others. Especially if the buffing spell didn’t cancel immediately.
“Hey old guy, why are you so creepy looking?” Just as she was taught. Try to distract. Misdirect. By time to see if a better opportunity presented itself. Uncle Cal said it was in a book about battles by some old guy from China.
The creepy old man squinted at Veronica. He opened his mouth to say something.
Johnny appeared behind him as if out of nowhere. “Slap!” He struck the back of the creepy old man’s head with his patented sock full of batteries.
The creepy old man flopped bonelessly to the ground.
“Did you see that, Vee? The sock worked! You are my witness. In your face, Gene!” Johnny whooped.
Veronica rolled her eyes.
Their remaining enemies wailed in unison as the evil symbol floating in the air seemed to pulse. The people frothed at the mouth. Their muscles grew bigger, straining against their skin. The veins in the face and neck bulged.
“Oh shit! Vee, get back to the barn. I’ll try to distract them.” Johnny took a deep breath. He appeared behind the woman closest to Veronica. He sliced her hamstrings with a kerambit in each hand. The woman dropped to the ground but still swiped at him.
“No way! Justice doesn’t run.”
“Call it a tactical withdrawal. Justice can’t do justice things if justice is dead.” Johnny gulped another lungful of air and vanished from sight. He appeared behind the biggest looking man and cut his achilles tendons. When the man tried to take a step he crumbled to the ground.
One of the mountains of muscle charged at Veronica. She stabbed him in the knee with the spear. He kept coming. The spear shaft broke. She dived to the side and tripped him up with her staff, which was almost torn from her grip. They were probably stronger than her now. She and Johnny were in real danger.
Another man charged her, an ax held high.
Veronica pointed a finger gun at his head. “Bang!”
The man seized up and fell face first into the ground. Where he started twitching and flailing. She had popped a small electromagnetic pulse right into his brain.
The effort wasn’t easy. Veronica was winded. From her practices she knew that she could do about twelve of those in succession before she was pooped out. That was under ideal conditions when she was rested and relaxed. She was neither of those at the moment.
A woman attacked Veronica from behind. She grabbed her around the head with one grotesquely over-sized hand.
There was a loud bang.
Veronica felt the woman’s hand go slack. She turned around to see the woman without half her head, dead on the ground. She felt like she was going to be sick.
“Damn, that’s some good shooting, thank you Mads,” Johnny said as he appeared behind another man and crippled him. “C’mon, Vee… tactical withdrawal,” he pleaded. “I can’t keep this up for much longer.”
Veronica thrust her staff at a charging man. He actually grabbed it and pulled it away from her. She had to release her grip or go flying along with it. Now she was unarmed. She did the only thing she could do.
She pointed her finger at the man’s head. “Bang!” She jumped over his body as he tumbled to the ground and slid under her.
Veronica looked wildly for an escape route. The large bodies charging at her blocked her view. She went two finger guns for double-fisted brain frying.
Two people went down.
Maybe she didn’t need to run. There had to be only a few more of them to knock out.
Suddenly, she was face down in the soil. She saw stars and her ears felt muffled.
Someone was yelling something.
Veronica turned over to see four, no two, of the magically-altered people standing over her.
One raised a machete.
Veronica threw her arm up and closed her eyes.
She felt pain like nothing before as the machete chopped all the way to the bone.
“Nooo!”
There was a loud bang that shook everything. Veronica opened her eyes. The two people were no where in sight.
Tessa appeared next to her. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.”
Veronica cried as her sister hugged her tight.
“I’m so sorry, Vee.” Tessa looked around, frantic. She thrust her hand out toward a rustling in the stalks. There was a handful of bolts and nuts in her upturned palm.
“Whoa!” Johnny appeared. “They’re all down.”
“Get Bastien here! Now!” Tessa snapped.
Johnny looked over her shoulder and saw the wound on Veronica’s arm. His eyes widened. “We’re all dead,” he whispered. “I’ll get him right way.” He sprinted away.
Tessa pulled out the first aid kit from the small pack at her belt. It was dark, but she could see well enough plus she was panicking a little. The only thing she could see was the nasty slice on Veronica’s arm. White bone was visible.
“This is going to sting,” Tessa poured alcohol over Veronica’s wound.
“Owwww.”
“Stop moving your arm.”
“You should make sure the bad guys can’t get away. I’m fine,” Veronica complained. The tears in her eyes and the waver in her voice revealed the lie.
“They aren’t going anywhere.”
“But what about the two that got me?” Veronica looked around wildly.
Tessa frowned at her younger sister. Veronica was acting funny. They took some classes about this. Shock? “Those two are definitely not going anywhere.” What she didn’t add was that they definitely weren’t going to be able to walk off her huge, all-metal kanabo crushing them at several times the speed of a bullet.
“Oh no!” Veronica’s eyes widened and she tried to get to her feet. “That creepy magic symbol in the sky… it made my stomach feel bad.”
“It’s gone.”
“But the creepy old man that cast it? I hit his brain.”
Tessa stopped. “Well… shit.” It had totally slipped her mind. The cult leader guy was definitely their number one target, since the fishman had escaped.
The rest of the team came running through the stalks.
“That cult leader! He’s around here somewhere.” Tessa snapped.
“Johnny with me,” Gene barked. “Olo and Mads. Spread out, find him!”
“Bastien,” Tessa urged him urgently over. “Fix her arm.”
“I’ll try. The barn fight took a lot out of me.”
“Then make sure there isn’t any weird evil magic crap going on. I’ve already cleaned it out,” Tessa said.
Bastien whispered a prayer as he held a softly glowing hand over Veronica’s wounded arm.
“I’m gonna find my kanabo and your staff,” Tessa patted her sisters head. “I won’t be far.”
A couple of minutes later Tessa returned. She had both custom, dad-made weapons.
“Thanks,” Veronica took her staff back. It felt comforting to have it in her hand.
The rest of team came back ten minutes later.
“Well?” Tessa wasn’t scowling at anyone in particular. It was the entire situation.
“He got away,” Gene said flatly.
“We secured the rest of them,” Olo said.
“Zip-tied nice and tight,” Johnny said. “At least the ones that needed them. A few are de—”
Gene flashed an angry look at Johnny. “Are unable to run away.”
“You can say if they’re dead,” Veronica chimed. “I’m not a baby.”
“Well, a couple are,” Gene said reluctantly.
Johnny laughed. “A couple aren’t going to be running away from anything… ever. What?” He shrugged at the disgusted looks thrown his way. “They’re like trashy bikers. I don’t care about them. They shouldn’t be joining up with evil cults and taking shots at my teammates.” He pounded a fist on his chest toward Veronica.
She returned the gesture.
Tessa shook her head. “Okay. We’ll deal with him later. Let’s just get out of here and get back home.”
“We’ll need to take the prisoners back,” Gene said.
“I noticed a small trailer back near one of the warehouses,” Olo said.
“I can pull it.” Olo and Tessa spoke at the same time.
“Okay, that works. Bastien and Veronica you stay here with Tessa. You guys keep an eye on our prisoners. The rest of us will bring the trailer over.
Olo raised a hand. “I might have trouble pulling it out of the field once its full.”
“I’ll help if necessary,” Tessa said.
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Gene looked up into the dark night sky. “We should probably hurry. Mads, I want your eyes up in the sky. All the fighting probably drew some attention.”
“Awww, bro, why you got to remind me there are wyverns out here,” Johnny said. “Fuck my life.”
“Language!” Mads snapped.
“C’mon, guys. I’m not a baby!” Veronica sighed.
“Technically, since you’re the youngest by far. You sort of are,” Bastien grinned weakly.
Veronica pouted. “Lame.”
“Yes,” Johnny agreed. “Yes they are.”
They worked fast to load the injured prisoners. Some had regained consciousness, but all looked too drained to do more than moan weakly.
“That’s a ragged looking bunch, I wonder were the cultist dudes found them.” Johnny said. He pointed to the three that were dressed distinctly from the others. “Like those were the cultists, but the rest…”
“Going by their motorcycle club vests, I’d say they’re a motorcycle gang or maybe were?” Olo huffed as he pulled the trailer next to Tessa. It looked comical. A teenage girl half the size of huge young man, yet it looked like she was doing a larger percentage of the work
It turned out that once the trailer was loaded with people it was faster if the two of them pulled together. As Gene kept pointing out. They needed to get back to city limits as soon as possible, since the wyverns were going to attack at any moment.
“I think we’re looking at two separate groups. The biker people are probably new recruits they picked up in the area. Their clothes are dirty and ragged. They look malnourished. Probably barely getting by,” Mads said.
“Meat shields?” Veronica looked up at Mads.
“Bingo,” Mads winked.
Veronica smiled. She was pleased. The pain in her arm was mostly forgotten.
“We’ll find out more once we can ask them questions,” Gene said.
“Right, right. Which is why we need to go faster?” Johnny said.
“Shouldn’t we call this in?” Bastien said.
“Not in range yet,” Tessa said.
“Also, we want to delay the ass kicking we are about to receive for as long as possible,” Johnny said. “Hey, Tessa?”
“What?” Tessa sighed.
“I got a question… so, on a scale of one to ten. How mad are you’re parents going to be with us? And please explain why the number will be eleven.”
“God, you’re such a child,” Mads rolled her eyes.
“I believe that you are factually incorrect,” Johnny held his head high. “I am now a young man as are the rest of us,” he pointed at Gene, Olo and Bastien. “It is you women, excuse me, girls,” he dipped his head in mock seriousness. “It says so in your ages. The word being teen… well, Vee’s eleven, but you get my point. Right?”
Everyone except for Veronica gave him disgusted looks.
“Besides, you’re just jealous that me and Vee are tight. That’s why we fought so well together.” Johnny pointed a finger at Veronica. “We should have a subteam. A team within a team. The most dangerous duo. Team Brainstab.” There was a stunned silence. “Team Slicebrain?”
“Nope,” Mads said.
“Whatever, we’ll figure it out. Right, Vee?” Johnny nudged Tessa. “Should’ve seen your sister. Much ass kicking was unleashed!”
“That’s great, cause I’m sure my parents will want to know all about how Vee got that slice on her arm,” Tessa glared. “Oh and that number, ninety-nine and the only reason it’s not a hundred is that no one died.”
Johnny paled and moved back as if struck. For once he was speechless.
“I’m more worried about what Miss Nila will do,” Olo muttered.
“Yeah, I’ve already accepted that she’s going to work us over for like the next month,” Gene said.
“Um… I have a question?” Veronica raised her uninjured arm. “Are they going to be okay?” She looked back at the captured prisoners.
The prisoners didn’t give any indications that they were listening to the young people’s conversation.
“Maybe,” Gene said after a moment.
“I think I hit them too hard,” Veronica said in a soft voice.
“They attacked you. You defended yourself. They made their choice to work with some kind of cult,” Olo said.
“Which was clearly evil?” Gene nodded. “Right, Bastien?”
“I don’t know if I can make judgments, but my magic definitely saw them as evil. Whether that’s based on some kind of magic type interaction or its based on my own personal moral code…” Bastien shrugged. “I don’t know enough right now to say.”
“Sometimes upholding justice requires tough decisions,” Olo said as he patted Veronica’s head.
“Man, why so serious?” Johnny said. “It’s pretty straightforward for me. They’re evil dudes doing evil things cause I’m pretty sure that blood circle wasn’t from rabbits. Fight bad guys, beat bad guys. Simple.”
“Worst role model,” Mads said flatly.
“Oh come on! I’m just saying that you’re all being a bit too down on this. Sure it was scary and dangerous,” Johnny nodded to Veronica, “but she did take on like a dozen dudes while they were all on some weird magic roids. I’m saying that’s a pretty awesome accomplishment.”
“She’s eleven!” Mads snapped.
“Exactly what I’m saying!”
“Um… guys, I’m right here,” Veronica said.
Silence descended on the group like a meteorite out of the sky.
At least it wasn’t a wyvern.
“Hey?” Gene leaned over to Bastien. “So, how much trouble do you think we’re in?”
Bastien’s lack of an answer was enough.
Gene reassessed his earlier statement. A month a hard training was now the least of his concerns.
“Prisoners have to be worth something. Right guys? Right?” Johnny said.
----------------------------------------
Then, Threnosh World, Shortly after the fall of Cold Plains City
“What do you want, Elgorit? I’m busy.”
“General Zanya. Still having difficulties lodging your soldiers?”
“The gray beings this world belongs to are extremely diminutive. Paradoxically, their metal work is stronger than anything we have encountered across the worlds we’ve conquered. It is difficult to pry their doorways large enough. And when we do, we find that the interiors are partitioned into rooms too small for us to make use of.” General Zanya looked around the cavernous space. Some kind of building that the tiny gray ones used for manufacturing strange, shiny automatons. Her thick brow narrowed into a scowl when she noticed Elgorit’s caged chattel arrayed along the furthest wall. Even from the distance, she smelled their unwashed bodies, their waste and other things that were much worse. She noticed Elgorit's blood-caked hands for the first time. “I see that you are making use of this space. I can fit a hundred of my soldiers in here. They’d need not sleep under the constant threat of the gray ones’ mechanical dragonlings.”
Elgorit turned to face the general. He looked up at her. She had the bigger and stronger body type. He was shorter, thinner, as if he was wasting away. “I commune with the Savior. This is his house.”
Elgorit’s dirty coverings flared as he threw his arms out wide. The stench from him forced the general to breathe from her mouth. She could see meat chunks in his uncleaned teeth and underneath his untrimmed nails.
“I am certain that our soldiers will not mind some hardship for the time being, so that I may continue to commune with the Savior.”
“The Savior would not have this place if our soldiers hadn’t bled and died for it,” General Zanya growled.
“Peace, general,” Elgorit backed a pace. “I and the Savior have full confidence in our soldiers’ abilities. After all you have led victorious crusades to several worlds now. I do not foresee that changing in this one.”
“Be careful, hierophant. Don’t lose sight of the war outside your mysteries. For if our soldiers fall then you face the enemy on your own.” General Zanya’s eyes glanced at the caged chattel as Elgorit turned and returned to his basin.
“Yes, of course. I know as well you do that there is only victory or death. The way back is barred to us. Forward unto eternity. As decreed by the Savior. So, perhaps you should concentrate on taking the battle to the enemy. Even I’ve been part of enough campaigns to know the dangers of being bogged down in this city while our foes gather their strength.”
“Again, what do you want?”
“The gray ones you’ve captured. I want them when you are done extracting your precious intelligence. I am eager to see what they may reveal to me.”
General Zanya clenched fists strong enough to crush stone.
“They are worthy opponents.”
“But they are small and weak.”
“Their strange carapaces grant them strength and their weaponry is formidable. I would see them turned to our cause as is our way.”
“Yes, yes,” Elgorit waved his hands in irritation. “I’m not telling you to bring me every gray one you capture. Just… say one in every hundred.”
The general ground her teeth.
“The Savior wills it.”
“One in every thousand.”
“Very well, but I want all of the ones you have already captured. When unlocking new mysteries it is important to have an adequate initial supply.”
“Very well.”
“And general, I may have a way to help you with your dragonling pests.”
“Continue your words.” General Zanya’s instincts were warning her.
“Sacrifice, as always. Do not be concerned, for now. I may have enough chattel to use on my spell once you give me the gray ones. Their lifeblood is the key to my working. If more is needed, then I shall inform you immediately.” Elgorit’s eyes blazed with unnatural power. “We are the dominion.”
“We are eternal.”
General Zanya stormed out of the huge metal building. Her thick plate armor clanked as her boots thudded with each step. Interactions with the hierophant had always roiled the anger within her into a storm. It would take time to find calm. Which meant time wasted when she needed to be directing all of her energy into figuring out how to extract her army from the dire situation they were in.
They had captured the city, but the battle was fiercer than she had planned for. The gray ones were small and weak, but their weaponry was strong. She needed new strategy and tactics if they were going to break out of the gray ones’ siege. She didn’t intend to be the first Cragant general to lose a war.
----------------------------------------
Then, Threnosh World
“What do you want, Primal? I am occupied.”
“You have not replied to my request, Caretaker.
Only Primal’s head was visibly from the other side of Caretaker’s desk. Primal was even smaller than the already diminutive standard Threnosh. Out of their power armor, they were a full head shorter than the standard 1.22 meter tall height.
Caretaker, on the other hand, was a giant among Threnosh. Out of their power armor they could look Honor in the eyes. They were even taller when wearing their power armor, which was almost always.
Caretaker heard the motors of Primal’s crude Threnosh-made exoskeleton. Without which they wouldn’t have been able to walk down the corridor without falling to exhaustion.
Primal seemed crankier than the usual, which was noteworthy.
“Your request is denied. I need you with me at Cold Plains City.”
“Honor’s Orchestral Meridian Quest will yield Universal Points like no other spawn point or encounter challenge that we have already conquered. An entire city, untouched for years. Think of the powerful monsters it must contain. Think of the strength I can gain through the experience and the upgrades to my trueskin that I will be able to purchase from the marketplace. And naturally, Honor will need my strength and firepower.”
Caretaker moved the holographic projections on their desk to the side so that they could look at Primal without obstruction.
“Have you reviewed the recordings of the battles at Cold Plains City like I ordered?”
“Of course I have. I may think it is a waste of opportunity, but I am a warrior and a professional. I will not go into battle without knowing my enemies.”
“Then you are already aware that Invasive Organism 1867 are giant humanoids with immense physical strength and durability.”
“Yes, I have seen the calculations of their physical attributes. They are still weaker than me,” Primal scoffed.
“On an individual basis. The army that emerged from the spire numbered 20034. I calculate that on average it takes eight to ten of them to equal you in a contest of physical strength.”
“What is your point?”
“An army of powerful opponents. One of which somehow created a curtain of fire to blanket entire sections of the walls.”
“I watched the recording. Honor called it magic. His subsequent explanation was lacking.”
Caretaker nodded. In truth, Primal was correct. “My point is that you want a challenge. You want Universal Points. You will get both at Cold Plains City. Understand that this fight, this war will be nothing like we have ever faced before.”
“Are you certain? You know nothing of war. Even Honor stated that his knowledge was not from direct experiences.”
“Factually accurate. However, how often have I been wrong in the past?”
Primal fell silent as they considered the matter with a scowl on their gray, checkerboard-patterned face.
“Very well. I withdraw my request of transfer.”
Primal abruptly turned and strode out of Caretaker’s office. Their exoskeleton whined in protest. It wasn’t designed to move with such force.
Caretaker would’ve rejected the request regardless. Primal’s capabilities were suited to the siege warfare that Honor had described.
Their PID beeped. They tapped the surface with a gloved finger.
“Communicator Blackswamp 649.” Caretaker greeted the communicator with a nearly imperceptible nod.
The communicator’s holographic projection reciprocated.
“Message from Honor’s Adventuring Party. They have reached Orchestral Meridian and are setting up base camp. They will commence scouting operations shortly.”
“Acknowledged,” Caretaker said.
The communicator’s projection disappeared.
Honor’s Quest had begun.
Caretaker’s was going to start soon. They pictured it in their minds’ eye to bring it back from their memory.
Task Received.
Reclaim Cold Plains City.
Success Parameters: Expel the enemy army.
Failure parameters: Retreat or Death.
Reward: 500000 Universal Points.
Caretaker had always wondered why Death was listed as a parameter. Wasn’t it understood that to die meant that one wasn’t going to successfully complete the Quest? It seemed… redundant.
The immense point total was another concern. It was several times higher than the highest they had ever received and that was from killing secret bosses and clearing spawn points.
If the point amount scaled to the difficulty as Honor had surmised then fighting for Cold Plains City was going to be the team’s most difficult task to date.
Caretaker had concerns of their ability to succeed. Especially without Honor’s presence.
Their PID beeped. It was Shira.
“Caretaker, I am still awaiting your word on my request.”
Caretaker suppressed a sigh. Shira was the third today with the same request. First Dralig, then Primal and now Shira. It seemed like everyone wanted to transfer to Honor’s expedition.
“Have you reviewed the recordings of the battles at Cold Plains City like I ordered?”