Then, Threnosh World
The flames winked out. Their teammates had done it against the probabilities. It was too late. The senior commander’s failure to listen had delayed things enough so that they now faced looming disaster.
Minutes under the curtain of fire had forced the defending Threnosh soldiers off their positions on the wall. They would’ve been cooked in their power armor otherwise. Like that coastal arthropod that Honor had dubbed a crabster.
That was one of the few things that Caretaker didn’t yet comprehend about Honor. The human’s interest in consuming lesser biological lifeforms bordered on obsession. Were the rest of his species the same way? The Threnosh were a lesser species from a physical standpoint when they were out of their power armor. It was an uncomfortable thought that Caretaker had kept to themselves.
The automated turrets on the wall eventually failed under the immense and continuous heat. Barrels warped, ammunition and internal mechanisms melted. They had taken a measurable toll on the charging cragants. Preliminary scans estimated initial casualties inflicted at roughly two hundred and thirty. It was a small consolation since the initial attacking force was nearly at four thousand.
Caretaker focused on the views provided by the surveillance drones flying out of reach of the cragant arrows and bolts. The foursome they had sent to take out the hierophant was surrounded by the enemy, but they weren’t worried. Three of them were quick and fast, while Tynk flew and had an ability to make their escape a likely probability.
Caretaker stood two hundred fifty meters from the wall in front of them, while the aerial transport landing zone was two hundred fifty meters behind them. They had chosen this position to start their fighting withdrawal. If they had been in command they would have already ordered a complete retreat. They didn’t need their predictive algorithm to know that once the giant humanoids breached the wall the battle was lost. They couldn’t be fought in close quarters.
As it stood, Caretaker had to wait for the senior commander to give the retreat order. If they took the T-Men and left ahead of an order then they would be insubordinate.
“Caretaker, it is as you had stated. The cloud over Cold Plains City is receding,” Volkharion said into the comms.
“How do you do it?” Primal grumbled. “How are you always ahead?”
“Reason and logic,” Caretaker said. “Designation: Hierophant has displayed magic. Specifically creating fire. It stood to reason that the cloud was also a magical effect. Disable the hierophant, disable the magic.” They didn’t add that their predictive algorithm played an integral role. “Volkharion, continue to maintain surveillance over the city with your aerial drone. Notify me immediately if a landing zone becomes clear of the cloud.”
Caretaker kept an eye on the blackened and charred wall. The senior commander had pulled their soldiers back and had squads set up in firing units at intersections between the prefabricated structures that comprised the base camp. The layout was done in exact, straight lines following a grid pattern. It provided clear lines of fire to the wall. They covered every part of the wall. Once the cragants breached they wouldn’t be able to avoid the projectile fire. It wouldn’t matter.
The giant humanoids breached the wall with a collective roar. Some burned their thick gloves to climb over, while others used tree trunks as battering rams to knock fire-weakened sections down.
The Threnosh soldiers opened fire. Standard soldiers fired short, controlled bursts with recoilless rifles, while heavy soldiers sprayed barrages from their miniguns.
Steel took the brunt of the fire. It took hundreds of projectiles to bring a single cragant down and there were thousands.
The first lines of Threnosh soldiers tried to fall back while the second line covered them. Once again the senior commander and their staff had sorely underestimated the amount of ground the cragants covered with their long legs.
“They are being overwhelmed. Request permission to begin firing,” Primal said.
“You may launch grenades at the space in between the wall and the first row of structures. Mortar free beyond the wall. Spread fire.” Caretaker’s predictive algorithm spun up as they reassessed the battlefield. It was a constantly shifting thing. They could keep up. The shape of their plan had started to solidify once Volkharion had confirmed that the cloud over the city was receding. Now it all depended on how fast and how much. They needed more time and the senior commander needed to order an organized retreat. The plan required soldiers.
Primal opened up with the grenade launcher on their left shoulder and the mortar on their right. Loud thooms were accompanied by smoke trails as grenades and mortars arced high into the sky. They landed amid the cragants with tremendous explosions that sent shrapnel and waves of concussive force into the giant humanoids.
“They are tough,” Primal said. Their attacks didn’t have the effect that they had anticipated.
Caretaker pinged a set of coordinates on the map, north of their position and sent it to Shira. “Will you be capable of engaging the cragants?”
“Affirmative. I am weakened by solar radiation, but I am never weak.” Shira’s reply over the comms was terse.
“Acknowledged. I need you to hold them off until the senior commander and their staff retreat from the command center.”
Shira nodded before their monstrous faceplate slid into place and they dashed off.
“Malendrax and Blueballs. You will go to the command tent and provide escort for the senior commander.”
“Acknowledged,” the two Threnosh chorused and ran after Shira.
“Actryarius, do you have the explosives?”
“Yes.” Actryarius pointed to the large pack on their back.
Caretaker sent them several locations on the map. “Set them in the order I have indicated. Once you are finished you will go to the landing zone and our transport. Tell the pilot to prepare for immediate departure. You will relay this in person, do not use the comms. Understood?”
“Acknowledged.”
“Make all haste.”
Actryarius turned and sprinted toward the first location. They went intangible right before they crashed into a structure. They would save time by being able to travel in straight lines without worrying about going around buildings or waiting for doors to open.
“A group of cragants has broken off from the main assault and are circling around to the south wall,” Dralig said.
Caretaker had just been about to address that development. There was only the minimum amount of Threnosh soldiers on the wall. “Kynnro, Dralig and Adjudicator, reinforce the defenses on the wall. Delay then retreat.”
“What if they seek to bypass us and attempt to assault our landing zone before we can retreat?” Kynnro said.
Caretaker had to consider the possibility. The cragants had likely seen them arriving in their aerial transports. They decided that the probability did exist. “Try to draw them into an engagement.”
The trio saluted and departed, which left just Primal and Frequency.
“Too many variables to keep track of,” Frequency said. “Are you having difficulty processing them all?”
“No,” Caretaker said.
“In some ways I prefer fighting monsters. They simply attacked. There was not much in the way of maneuvers and feints,” Primal said.
“You have changed your outlook then? I recall your constant and vocal desires for challenges,” Frequency said.
“Factually correct,” Primal said flatly.
“To be clear, these cragants have been rather direct attackers,” Frequency said.
“I will not engage your attempts to perturb me.”
“Frequency, I had intended for you to secure our direct path of retreat to the landing zone. Now I need you to do the same for Kynnro’s group. I know that it will stretch your capabilities, but what do you think?” Caretaker said.
“I can do it.” Frequency didn’t hesitate. Their mobile sound emitters detached from their power armor and hovered around them. The soft hum of their anti-gravity units was audible.
Caretaker sent coordinates to Frequency’s map. “These are the optimum locations for your emitters. Take cover here.” They marked a position one hundred meters back toward the landing zone.
“Acknowledged. However, the cragants are taller than most of our structures. I doubt that our structures will provide me with much cover and concealment.” The emitters floated away as Frequency directed them to their positions while they jogged back to where Caretaker directed them.
So many moving parts, multiple variables. One wrong decision or one mistake by their teammates and disaster would fall on them like an avalanche.
The key cog of their entire plan was about to turn, as the cragants bulled their way into the second line after utterly devastating the first.
“I am critical on ammunition,” Primal said.
“Save your last and take up position with Frequency. You are to guard them.”
“Acknowledged.”
Primal’s massive power armor stomped past Caretaker with earth shaking steps.
“Open channel to command center,” Caretaker said. “Command, this is Caretaker. Request for Senior Commander Saldin Flats 326.”
“You are not in the chain of command. Cease further interference.” The voice was flat.
“Senior commander. The first two lines have been breached in three minutes and thirty-nine seconds. There are only five defensive lines remaining. We are facing utter defeat. However, I have discovered a way through this. Direct your view to the cloud over Cold Plains City.”
There was only silence on the channel for three eternal seconds.
“Proceed,” Senior Commander Saldin Flats 326’s voice finally came back.
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Shira dashed past the command center. The prefabricated structure was one of the biggest in the entire camp. Only the equipment fabrication facilities were bigger and those were all on the eastern side. On the opposite side of the landing zones in the middle. It was perhaps this reason why a group of cragants had bulled their way through all of the defensive lines and were on what appeared to be a direct course.
Caretaker’s coordinates took Shira on an intercept course. Once again their team leader had displayed an uncanny prescience. They didn’t believe that it was solely Caretaker’s predictive algorithm at work. Half of the equation was the Threnosh within the power armor. Shira knew this to be true in their case, so it logically followed that it was the case for the others.
They ducked behind a structure. A small square of a building two and a half meters high, living quarters for the soldiers. Some of the cragants were nearly twice as tall. They couldn’t count on maintaining concealment for long. As soon as one of the cragants drew close enough Shira’s black power armor would be visible against the bare soil of the plains.
Shira struck first, as was their way. They pulled themselves up to the roof of the structure and vaulted at the closest cragant with the silence of a flowing shadow.
The cragant reflexively raised its massive shield, but Shira used it pull themselves right up to the giant humanoid’s face. They stabbed their blade-like fingers into its unarmored throat. Its skin and muscles were tough and dense.
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Shira really needed to put their strength into it. After the initial resistance they powered through up to their elbows.
Their power armor drank in the cragant’s lifeblood as the two toppled to the ground. Fortunately, there was so much of it in the cragant’s massive body. There was more than enough to replace the amount Shira had spent.
Daylight meant they were weaker and that their power armor drained its supply of blood at a faster rate. It was comforting to know that the cragants’ blood satiated their needs.
Shira drank in their fill just in time as the other cragants finally reacted. They charged.
The structures were spaced for the standard Threnosh. This meant that the walkways were only wide enough for one cragant.
A spear thrust aimed at Shira’s chest. The cragant was surprisingly quick, but they might as well have been a statue as the black-clad Threnosh blurred out of the way.
Shira sprinted low to the ground.
The cragant had seen what Shira had done to its fellow soldier. It pulled its shield up higher to protect its vulnerable neck.
There was just enough space for Shira to dash right under it and in between the cragants legs.
As Shira passed through to the cragant’s back side, they slashed out with their hands. Back and forth a dozen times in two blinks of an eye. They shredded through the thick cloth at the back of the giant humanoid’s knees.
The cragant cried out in pain and toppled to the ground like a felled tree.
Shira grabbed its forgotten spear. Their sharp fingers dug into the wood to help them get it into position. The enormous thing was as tall as a tree and as thick around as Shira’s thigh. They planted the butt of the spear into the ground and aimed it at another charging cragant.
The cragant met the spearhead with its shield. Their weight and strength bent the spear, then sent it flying.
Shira had miscalculated. They were strong, but they were a fraction of the cragant’s weight.
They had time to confirm the physics of it as they flew several dozen meters in the air only to crash into the side of one of the living quarters.
“My mistake,” Shira said.
They waited for their power armor to repair the damage to the both of them. The blood drain was immense, as expected.
The cragants moved to encircle them.
Shira was pleased that they didn’t have to expend more blood to chase after the cragants.
“Time to refill,” Shira said.
“You are a strange creature,” one of the cragants said as it eyed Shira warily from over the top edge of its shield, “so small, yet so deadly. We will gain great honor for defeating you.”
The cragant let out a roar. The others banged their spear shafts against their shields.
It made for quite the din.
Shira didn’t like it. She preferred the silence and the darkness. She had to fight in the bright of day. That was one thing she couldn’t control. What she could control was the noise. It was a simple calculation. No cragants. No noise.
They needed blood. It was the only thing they could see in their vision. The cragants became nothing except sacks of the precious liquid. The Threnosh forgot a part of themselves. Shira blurred toward the closest one.
While the black-clad Threnosh reveled in red-soaked violence a trio of T-men at the opposite end of the fortified base camp were presented with a different dilemma.
“The giant humanoids are not going to attack,” Dralig said.
“Cragants.”
Dralig waved Adjudicator away. “The names do not matter. What is important is that we force an engagement, as Caretaker commanded.”
“It does appear that the cragants are going to go all the way around to the east wall,” Kynnro said.
“Perhaps if we attack them they will be forced to respond,” Adjudicator said.
“They are thinking beings. I doubt that it will be so simple as to draw their aggro in the same manner as we do with monsters,” Dralig said.
“It is worth a try,” Kynnro said. They turned to the subleader of the soldiers on the wall, all forty-eight of them. “Commander, I request you open fire on the cragants.”
The commander refused to even look at Kynnro. Something they had done from the moment the T-Men had joined them on the wall. “You are not in the chain of command. Request denied.”
“The enemy is going to the east wall. There are no soldiers there. All have been pulled into the fight inside our base.” Kynnro didn’t add that it was currently a losing fight. No need to antagonize the commander.
“We will shadow them.”
“Yes, except that entails letting them dictate the terms of the battle,” Kynnro said. “Is it not preferable to force them to act according to our terms?”
“Request denied.”
Kynnro sighed.
“We will force compliance,” Adjudicator said.
“Yes.” Dralig’s mouth teased a hint of a smile.
The two looked to Kynnro.
“Proceed.”
Their faceplates slid into place. Targeting systems engaged.
Adjudicator walked over to the nearest automated turret. They ripped it from its cradle and wielded the enormous thing without difficulty.
They sprayed the hundreds of meters distant cragants with a stream of projectiles.
Dralig did the same with their dual miniguns. A four-armed, super strong power armor made it easy for them to control the weapons. There was something to be said about overwhelming firepower.
Kynnro waited. They wanted to unleash their attacks at just the right time for maximum damage.
The commander snapped their head toward Kynnro. Their eyes were wide.
Being around others of their kind and normal Threnosh that had gotten acclimated at varying degrees by their uniqueness, Honor’s uniqueness had led Kynnro to forget what the normal Threnosh were like. The look on the commander’s face was as emotive as they were capable.
The cragants abandoned their original plan, whatever it might have been. As one they turned and charged directly for the wall. A collective roar shook the air as the giant humanoid’s steps sounded like thunder.
“You should open fire. Don’t forget to engage the automated turrets,” Kynnro said. “Compliance,” they said into the team channel.
Both Dralig and Adjudicator chuckled at that.
The commander reluctantly gave the order and the rest of the soldiers opened up with their recoilless projectile weapons. The automated turrets sprayed the mass of cragants in sweeping arcs, as if they were trying to hose down a fire.
It was as if they were trying to put out a fire with a weak stream of water. Kynnro had learned from Honor that sometimes the best way to deal with a fire was with an even greater one. The explanation was not the best, but they had picked up on the sentiment that Honor had been trying to convey. Was it concerning that they had a hand in several raging forest fires over the past two years?
Perhaps, but that was not important at the moment. Kynnro planned to fight the fires approaching them with their own.
When the cragants had crossed within Kynnro’s range, they raised their arms and fired several canisters in a wide arc to encompass as much of the entire width of the enemy as possible.
Clouds of ash exploded out of the canisters. They engulfed the front ranks of the cragants. The ashes clung to their clothing, their skin, got in their eyes, nose and mouth.
The enemy was three hundred meters away, well within the range of Kynnro’s laser. The dish-shaped emitter on their helmet’s forehead flared with a bright red light as the laser lanced across the clear air. It ignited the ash cloud and fire bloomed. There was a loud whoosh as the sudden ignition sucked the oxygen in the surrounding area.
Cragants in the hundreds burned and suffocated.
“Impressive,” Dralig said.
“As always,” Adjudicator added.
The two had ceased firing as Kynnro’s fire engulfed the front ranks of the cragants. Indeed every soldier had stopped firing.
“Perhaps you should continue firing. The fires will not kill them all and there are more behind,” Kynnro said. They switched to the team channel. “I expended half my ash canisters on that attack.”
“Save the rest until absolutely necessary?” Dralig suggested.
“We will not be able to hold the wall,” Adjudicator said. “Retreat is the only viable option unless we are to die here.”
“No one is dying. Caretaker will convince the senior commander to take the best course of action,” Kynnro said.
At the command center the soldiers on guard duty desperately fired into the charging cragant. It blocked the majority of projectiles with its massive shield before brutally killing the Threnosh with its spear.
The giant humanoid was in despairing rage. Her fellow legionnaires had sacrificed themselves to occupy the tiny, black-clad demon that tore them to shreds to allow her the opportunity to complete their mission.
The command center had been marked by the general as important. To that end they were supposed to destroy it and capture, if possible, the tiny gray ones within.
The structure was several hands taller than her and the doors where much to small to fit inside. She dropped her spear and took out her side sword in an attempt to pry the roof open.
The plinking sound of projectiles striking her armored back and helmet interrupted her. She sheathed her sword, picked up her spear and faced the new attackers.
“Caretaker, single cragant at command center,” Malendrax subvocalized into the team channel.
“Understood, do what you can to keep it occupied. Shira is still in combat, but they will aid you when they are finished,” Caretaker replied.
“How are we supposed to do that? That thing is gigantic,” Blueballs said.
“Is that not what you are best at?” There was a distinct electronic tone to Malendrax’s voice.
The cragant let out a loud battle cry and charged.
Malendrax emptied their recoilless rifle into the giant humanoid’s shield.
Blueballs ran back around the other side of the living quarters to their right. They wanted to break line of sight with the cragant.
The giant humanoid thrust the spear at Malendrax, who dived to the left and barely avoided getting skewered.
The Threnosh didn’t avoid the follow up strike. The spear shaft caught them in the side. Their power armor broke and they broke along with it as they went crashing through three different structures. The composite walls were no impediment to their heavy metallic power armor combined with the force of the blow.
Malendrax’s vision went dark as they rolled to a crumpled heap many meters away.
“Alert, alert,” Blueballs said into the comes. “Malendrax is down, I repeat, Malendrax is down.”
“Focus, Blueballs,” Caretaker’s voice was calm. “I am reading Malendrax’s life signs. All you have to do is delay the cragant until they can come to your assistance. Remember your training. Remember the bosses and secret bosses you have fought. This is just another challenge to overcome.”
“Acknowledged.” Blueballs’ shoulders slumped slightly. They were on their own.
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Now, Earth
Remy walked across the starlit fields west of town. He had an unlit lantern hanging from his belt for emergencies since his eyesight was good enough that a clear night sky provided plenty of illumination. His real protection were the bits of metal and strings of wires orbiting around his body. Any surprise attacker would be immediately caught and pulled away.
He was traveling to the furthest location on Officer Lawrence’s map. A small airport.
It was further west from the farm where the kids had encountered the cultists and fishman almost a week ago.
The airport was merely an abandoned airport. There was no notification when Remy crossed its boundary. For some reason it had never turned into an encounter challenge or spawn point.
As soon as he reached the single landing strip a series of high-pitched barks and yips assaulted his ears. It was chaotic and unnerving even for someone with powers.
“Coyotes?”
From the sound of it there were a lot of them and they were close.
Remy loosened the chains around his arms. He extended the metal objects orbiting around him several feet further out. He added another layer closer to his body by emptying one of the hard cases at his belt. Nails, nuts and bolts created a deadly spinning cloud around him.
He kept walking toward the airport’s only terminal. There were no signs of human habitation. Broken glass windows and closed doors greeted him.
“I have to check inside,” Remy sighed.
His hand drifted to the lantern at his side. He kept his eyes and ears alert for any signs of impending attack. The coyote howls had suddenly stopped. That wasn’t a good sign, right?
He rummaged in his right pocket for his lighter. His eyes went to the lantern as he went to light it.
That was when the coyotes appeared.
Two to be specific. They came out of the dark airport interior. They stalked toward Remy until they stopped about thirty feet in front of him.
“Not coyotes are you,” Remy whispered. “Mutant coyotes.”
The creatures were huge. Now that they were in the star light, Remy saw that they were monstrous, misshapen things. Muscles bulged and stretched t skin to the limit. Their fur was patchy. He had seen wolves plenty of times at the zoo. These things were significantly bigger.
“So, are you two just going to stare at me all night. I’m busy.”
Remy’s eyes widened. He remembered some of the coyote facts from when he had to help his daughter for a report back before the spaces between cities weren’t minefields of mutant animals and monsters.
One tactic that coyote packs used against bigger dogs was to lure and distract them with one while the others attacked from behind.
There was a loud snarl and Remy felt something big crash into the wires and shrapnel orbiting at his back. He used his magnetic field to tighten the wires while raking the coyote he sensed in his trap.
More mutant coyotes emerged out of the airport. They all came for him at dead run. He was able to count up to ten with his enhanced perceptions before they were almost on top of him. He heard more howls from all around him. How many were there?
It didn’t matter. He was going home to his family. No amount of mutated animals was going to get in his way.
Remy turned the air around him into a tornado of metal death that shredded everything caught within. The growls and snarls quickly turned into yips and yelps.
“Sorry. I’m putting you out of your misery,” Remy said.
At least he could cross the airport off the list. There were definitely no humans around, unless they were in the mutant coyotes’ stomachs. He had no intention of confirming that.