Now, Threnosh World
The cragant legions charged through the broken remnants of drones they had destroyed in previous battles. The Threnosh had used the remains as barricades to block the streets leading to this particular fabrication facility. There were so many that the mounds had grown to the same height as their single level structures.
They proved useless.
The cragants plowed right through behind the weight of their shields and their immense physical strength.
The defense of the facility was desperate. The Threnosh were caught off guard by the ferocity and numbers of the cragant assault.
Arrows, javelins and bolts smashed through drone metal casings. Even if some couldn’t penetrate the metal completely they transferred enough force to damage the electronic and mechanical components inside.
Tracked turret drones spat projectiles into the charging cragants, while aerial drones strafed from above. Occasionally an orange-yellow bloom signaled a bomb drop.
The cragants attacked on three sides. They overwhelmed the defensive lines with frightening quickness. As was the story to date. The Threnosh needed to pour too many projectiles into each individual cragant to take them out of the fight, let alone to kill them outright. The larger explosives proved more effective, but those were in short supply. They didn’t have the raw materials to manufacture them in greater numbers. Those weren’t stored anywhere in the city and resupply requests were continuously denied by the Collective. Not even Prime Custodian 3’s intervention worked.
Lines of soldiers in baseline and heavy infantry power armors were the last lines of defense just outside the fabrication facility. Caretaker knew that more would be firing their projectiles from inside. They also knew that the battle was already over. The facility was lost. They saw it all before it happened from the overhead views of the surveillance drones.
A chime sounded in their helmet.
“Yes,” Caretaker said.
“Senior Commander Saldin Flats 326 requests your team deploy to aid the defense of Fabrication Facility 547984351.”
It was the command staff.
Caretaker mulled an outright refusal. Their presence would change nothing. The right tactical decision was to retreat and save the soldiers. They still had another fabrication facility to rely upon and the cragants didn’t have enough numbers to control the entire city. They could just start up another facility elsewhere. The hierophant’s cloud was no longer a concern. As they had surmised live Threnosh was somehow integral in the creation of said cloud.
“Understood. Preparing task immediately.” Caretaker switched off their comms. “Code S,” they said. They waited for Actryarius to do the same to their comms. “Go to the pilot and verbally indicate that they are to begin takeoff procedures. Then gather the team and verbally direct them to begin preparations for a task. On my orders.”
“Understood.” Actryarius saluted and left the command center at a measured pace. They neither hurried nor moved slowly.
According to Caretaker’s calculations the battle with the cragants would be finished by the time the team was ready to depart. The command staff would have no reason to question their compliance.
Caretaker did feel a pang of sympathy for the Threnosh soldiers. They were the ones that paid the price for their leader’s refusal to deviate from standard doctrine.
Weeks turned into months as the battle for Cold Plains City dragged on.
Cragants destroyed any buildings that remotely resembled fabrication facilities, while the Threnosh threw a seemingly unending tide of drones at them.
The Threnosh commander had learned something after all. Their soldiers never attempted to defend a fixed position again. They fired as many projectiles from a distance as they could before retreating back to the sublevels where the giant humanoids couldn’t follow.
Unfortunately that was as far as Senior Commander Saldin Flats 326 was willing to go when it came to listening to Caretaker’s suggestions.
Whoosh was bored.
Their task was simple. Place explosive traps along the cragants’ likely avenue of attack to the fabrication facility. All they had to do was follow the route in their tactical map. They were even instructed on exactly where to place the explosives. After that all they had to do was press the button to arm them. The explosives were smart. They would only explode when they detected cragants within the trigger radius.
Whoosh’s problem was that it was a mindless task. Caretaker had even mapped out the most efficient route to take and indicated the speeds at which they should skate down to the last millisecond. Any deviation would lead to censure.
They didn’t care too much about Caretaker’s lectures. They had gone through enough to predict what their subleader was going to say. Again the only problem was that it was boring to simply stand still and listen for many minutes at a time.
Whoosh disliked being still.
The worse case scenario was that Caretaker might ban them from active duty for a time. Whoosh decided that the risk of that was low. They were in a battlefield. They were needed.
However, they decided that it was best not to take the chance. They’d follow Caretaker’s guidelines as much as possible and perhaps hope for a cragant patrol to force a deviation.
Resplendent Zabriium’s composite hooves thundered across the metallic surface streets.
“Too loud,” Tynk said into the comms.
“I know. I cannot control it.”
“Then we must work quickly.”
“That is why I am running as fast as I can.”
“Galloping,” Tynk corrected. “Honor stated that the correct term for what you do is galloping. It is because your trueskin resembles a creature from his world. Although I fail to see how such a biological form can evolve naturally.”
“Perhaps Honor’s world is more capable of genetic manipulation than he has stated.”
“Approaching first dispersal point. I will meet you at the retrieval point. Do not be late,” Tynk said.
Resplendent Zabriium checked the tactical map projected into their faceplate. Trust in Caretaker to provide the optimum instructions. “Acknowledged.”
Tynk’s wings deployed and buzzed as the hum of their anti-gravity generators engaged. The flying Threnosh zipped up in the air to the first of their assigned explosive trap locations. They moved slower as they labored with the container of explosives strapped to their front.
Resplendent Zabriium kept one eye on their fragile teammate’s live feed as they ra— galloped to their own trap locations.
Caretaker’s instructions had Tynk set the explosives on the cluster of taller buildings, so that they’d hit the cragants at eye level and from above. Meanwhile, Resplendent Zabriium completed a loop and set their explosives closer to the ground.
“Any sign of cragant patrols, Zabri?” Tynk’s voice came in through the comms.
“Negative. I am not detecting any. This task would be less risky had they not pulled back drone surveillance over our assigned areas.”
“I partially concur. The data does seem to indicate that the cragants have a tendency of aggressively moving to areas with drone coverage overhead.”
“Please do not concern yourself overmuch. Whoosh has the furthest ring and Silver Wolf has the next one. Our area of responsibility is closest to the fabrication facility. Our teammates will likely encounter cragant patrols first.”
“Yes and we are closer to reinforcements,” Tynk said. “Your point is received. I will focus on my task.”
Resplendent Zabriium galloped at close to a hundred miles an hour. The city streets in the area were relatively and the turns more numerous. They couldn’t go as fast as they wanted.
They were loud. Resplendent Zabriium recognized that. They hoped that their words to alleviate Tynk’s concerns were accurate.
Silver Wolf loped on all fours in their canine form. They reached their first explosive trap location and transformed into their bipedal combat form. They set the explosive where indicated against the side of a building wall at roughly their height.
They were glad that the explosives had been modified to allow their clawed fingers to handle them. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to be a part of this task.
The lack of combat or any other sort of action over the past several weeks had begun to wear on Silver Wolf. They didn’t like being confined to the underground base. They preferred the open skies and open spaces.
The narrow city streets were an acceptable compromise because they made for good ambush opportunities. They were disappointed to note that there were no cragants nearby.
Silver Wolf smelled their scent in the air. They could track them to the nearest group of giant humanoids. To hunt them and kill them. They had the urge, but it was weak and easily dismissed in favor of dutifully following Caretaker’s commands.
They knew that there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. They just needed to be patient.
“I have come as requested, Kynnro.”
“As prompt as always, Shira.”
“Why have you called for me?”
“You are departing on an extended task.”
“Yes. I leave as soon as it is dark.” Shira turned to leave. “I have preparations to complete.”
“And you will be on an extended deployment.”
“That is correct. I am confused. Did you forget the information in the briefing? You were present,” Shira said.
“I did not.” Kynnro held up a small, cylindrical metal container in their hands. “I requested you here for this.”
Shira’s expression was unreadable behind their monstrous faceplate. They recognized the container and what it contained. It was the second thing that they enjoyed the taste of. The metal surface of the cylinder was already covered in condensation from the warm ambient temperature of the city sublevels. Their time was short.
“That is the last one?” Shira said flatly.
“Yes and I realized that I would not be able to control myself and wait for your return.” Kynnro opened the cylinder to reveal a smooth, creamy substance. Faint wisps of moisture curled from the white substance. They produced a pair of small, shovel-like instruments that were roughly the size of a Threnosh finger. “Do you have time?” They held one of the instruments out to Shira.
Shira’s faceplate slid up to the top of their helmet. It revealed a speckled gray face that had faded closer to a pale whitish color. Their mouth opened to display razor-sharp fangs. “For that? Yes.”
The cool and creamy texture of the substance from Honor’s world was pleasure to the two Threnosh. They savored the sweet taste as it melted in their mouth. When it had completely turned into liquid they carefully spat it out into an empty cylinder Kynnro had brought along for that purpose.
“It is unfortunate that we are incapable of consuming this substance,” Kynnro said. “It seems wasteful.”
“I concur. Even if I was sickened in the attempt.”
“Yes. That was surprising,” Kynnro said.
What was left unsaid was that Shira was capable of consuming blood.
The two tasted in silence. Each taking an instrument full of the cold, creamy substance in turn. The cylinder was emptied in short order and the second cylinder was filled with their spittle.
“I am certain that this is Honor’s greatest contribution to our world,” Kynnro said.
“It is unfortunate that we have consumed the entire supply we brought along,” Shira said.
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
“I had great difficulty convincing Caretaker to bring along the supply in the first place. They deemed it an unnecessary item that would only take up space for task-critical supplies.”
“Will not the others be upset that the two of us finished the last cylinder without equitable division?”
Kynnro shook their head. “The two of us are senior members. Primal cares nothing for the substance. Caretaker will give me a censure if the others complain. It is worth it. It might be a long time before we can share again.”
“That is true. I doubt that Caretaker will authorize a resupply from our home base. Thank you, Kynnro. I appreciate your consideration,” Shira said.
“Perform your task well and we shall look forward to the next time,” Kynnro said.
“You are off by approximately eight meters at thirty three degrees from target zone,” Volkharion said.
Primal grumbled and adjusted their aim. They loosed the arrow in a high arc. Several thousand meters in the distance a faint flash of yellow-orange light brightened the dark night. It was immediately followed by a muffled boom across the silent cityscape.
“Enemy outpost destroyed,” Volkharion said.
“My distance to target?”
“Irrelevant. The explosive arrowhead functioned as intended. Several cragant casualties. Survivors withdrawing with the injured. Unable to determine kills.”
“The distance.”
“… five meters at one hundred sixty-four degrees.”
“It is these fabricated arrows that are throwing my aim off,” Primal complained. “Each of the spire-made arrows are exactly the same. These are all different.”
“I understand that their variances are within millimeters and milligrams,” Volkharion said.
“The slightest differences create flight drift over such long distances.”
“Consider that you would be without arrows if not for the fabricators.”
“My statement is factual,” Primal grunted.
“As is mine,” Volkharion said blandly.
“Just give me the next target.”
Volkharion switched their view to the next group of insectile surveillance drones that they had sent to the various forward outposts that the cragants had established near the fabrication facility. They relayed the coordinates to Primal, who loosed an arrow after a few seconds of careful aim adjustments.
“Twelve meters at ninety-three degrees,” Volkharion said.
Primal made an inarticulate sound. “I would not be so far off target if I was allowed to use the standard surveillance drones. Relying on you as a spotter is a poor substitute.”
“We would lose the element of surprise and Caretaker stated that the enemy—”
“I remember our orders,” Primal snapped. They angrily nocked another arrow took aim and loosed.
A flash of light was followed by a boom a split-second later.
“Negligible drift from target.”
“Finally. What is the enemy doing?”
“One moment. I am waiting for the smoke to clear.”
“This is the fourth outpost I have destroyed and the cragants keep retreating. I thought that they were ferocious warriors. Yet, they run away. Why am I continually denied a true fight? Months of this sniping from a distance,” Primal grumbled.
“Enemy is withdrawing.” Volkharion’s slight smile was hidden behind their helmet. Primal was abrasive to be around for prolonged periods during the best of times.
This was not a good time for Primal, which made it just as bad for Volkharion.
“There are five more outposts to attack. Perhaps those will draw the desired reaction,” Volkharion said.
“Doubtful, but I have my orders. Next target?”
The task had started out so promising. Destroy enemy encampments to provoke a hasty and unprepared assault. Caretaker’s plan had been to goad the cragants into attacking their fabrication facility before they were ready.
Primal was eager to comply. They got to attack the enemy from a distance and then they were going to face them in direct combat when the attack on the facility occurred. To their regret that attack had yet to materialize. The enemy displayed an uncharacteristic caution as they retreated each time Primal had destroyed an outpost with their explosive arrows.
Once again a brief flash was followed by a boom.
Volkharion received an urgent chirp from their aerial drone. The one that they had set to monitor the closest cragant base camp where roughly forty percent of their entire army was gathered. They switched their view to look through the drone’s eyes.
“Enemy appears to be mobilizing. Awaiting confirmation.”
“Finally,” Primal said. “Quickly, give me the rest of the targets. I want to greet the enemy with more destroyed outposts.”
Volkharion complied while they kept most of their attention through the eyes of their aerial drone over the main enemy army. From all appearances it seemed that Caretaker’s plan worked.
Their desired battle was at hand.
Dralig had four hands for four miniguns. The guns were set on stands behind a one way window. They and Dralig were inside a building that was at the end of a long, wide street. In normal times it was the main street for heavy traffic to and from the fabrication facility. Its width made it the main avenue of attack for the cragants if they wanted to keep some semblance of an organized formation.
They waited for the cragants to get closer. Explosive traps lined the street. The giant humanoids had no idea what they were marching into.
“Stop it,” Dralig said.
“Apologies.” Blueballs ceased tapping their armored boot on the metallic floor. For a moment. They resumed several seconds later.
Dralig looked at Blueballs.
“I am sorry. I have concerns with the plan.”
“Your role is simple. Once I have expended my ammunition all you have to do is use your balls to seal up the window. Then we egress out the back to the next ambush position with haste,” Dralig said.
“Acknowledged,” Blueballs said.
This time they kept still.
“Dralig, Blueballs,” Kynnro’s voice came in over the comms, “cragants are nearing your area.”
Kynnro stood in a fifth level window several streets behind Dralig’s ambush position. It was the tallest building in the zone before the space occupied by the fabrication facility. It was full of Threnosh soldiers. Projectile weapons were pointed out of every window facing the cragant advance.
“The cragants move quickly. It is a risk to stay in this position. They may be able to close faster than we can fall back,” Adjudicator warned.
“Kynnro, I detect a small cragant detachment circling to the southwest. They may bypass the explosive traps,” Volkharion’s voice came in on the comms.
“Malendrax, take the squads with you and draw them into the traps,” Kynnro said.
“Acknowledged.” Malendrax’s reply was immediate.
“Do not be concerned,” Kynnro said. “I will disperse my fire cloud at maximum range. Then you will carry me directly down to the street and we can proceed to our next ambush position.”
“Neither of us are fast movers,” Adjudicator said. “It is fortunate that the soldiers will hold this position. They should delay the cragants.”
“Yes, fortunate.” Kynnro didn’t see it that way and they knew that Adjudicator didn’t either.
Individual Threnosh were expendable for the needs of the collective whole.
----------------------------------------
Now, Earth
“What’s your deal? Are you a spy? Infiltrator? No, that can’t be it. Cause you’d be the worst.”
Bennett frowned at the tall, burly middle-aged man studying him with an appraising eye. He was surprised that he couldn’t detect any real fear in the bearded man. Just wariness.
“If I knew who I was speaking to—”
“No. You’re dangerous, pale face. You’ve been living in the sewers,” the man sniffed, “that much is obvious. But, I can tell you aren’t a fighter and I’m willing to risk my life on my guys’ aim. Unlike that idiot kid, I do have a bunch of archers and shooters covering you from every direction.”
Truth. Bennett could tell.
“So, you’re the Resistance. What exactly are you resisting against?” Bennett said.
“Idiot kid talks too much.” The bearded man chewed his lip. “You’ve been here what? Two, three weeks?”
Bennett didn’t answer.
“That should’ve been plenty of time for you to answer your question.”
“Is it?”
“Look, kid. I don’t know you. You’re an unknown. You definitely don’t look right, so I figure I’m not going to be losing much sleep if I take you out right now. I’m giving you a chance here.”
“What do you want, exactly?”
“You tell me what you’re all about and I’ll decide after.”
“Yeah… no. That doesn’t really sound like a quid pro quo.” Bennett raised a finger. “Maybe all of your arrows, bullets and such don’t scare me. Maybe they’ll just piss me off. How about you tell me what you want from me and I’ll decide if you have anything I want in exchange?”
The bearded man stared Bennett down without expression. Just a blank look, like he was a piece of uninteresting trash on tide of the road. He had to remind himself that he was a vampire with supernatural abilities.
Bennett stared back.
“We want video evidence of what the scions get up to behind closed doors at city hall. We’re willing to discuss your terms.”
A nervous laugh escaped Bennett’s lips.
“What’s so funny?” The bearded man narrowed his eyes.
“Nothing. Just that it seems that we want the same things. I’m after information on the scions and the cult. Members, classes and their plans. Generally everything about them.”
“Deal.” The bearded man held out a hand.
Bennett hesitantly took it in a flaccid grip. He didn’t want to accidentally hurt the man.
The man felt differently. He crushed down on Bennett’s hand. It had no effect. Bennett barely noticed.
“Great.” Bennett smiled with closed lips. “So, how’s this going to work? You’ve got a camera?”
“What? You don’t got a phone?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Fine, we’ll get you one. We also know where we want you to sneak in and get the footage.”
“Where?”
“City hall. We got our hands on some inside info. A big meeting is scheduled eleven days from now. All of the higher ups are supposed to be there. You can find out all about their plans then. Assuming you can get in undetected and from what we’ve seen I think you’ve got a chance of pulling it off.”
“What about your end of the bargain?”
“What about it?”
“I want my information.”
“It’ll take time to gather, plus we can’t risk you taking off before you fulfill your end. Get us the footage and you get yours.”
It was reasonable and it made sense. Bennett had to admit he would’ve been tempted to get out of the city with what information he could get his hands on. It was better then nothing.
“Fair enough. How will I contact you?”
“You won’t. We contact you.” The bearded man handed Bennett a slip of paper. “Memorize that address before you leave. Check it every day at midnight for messages. You can leave anything you might want to communicate with us as well.”
“Is there any useful information that you’re willing to share?” Bennett studied the address on the slip of paper.
“I suggest you don’t spend too much time out of your sewer hiding spot. Those dogs are on your trail already. I don’t want you leading them back to us. Like I said, you’re a terrible infiltrator. That idiot kid managed to track you down. The dogs are the real deal.”
That was not a comforting thought.
Week Three
The address turned out to be an abandoned dry cleaning place. Bennett had waited a few nights before checking it out. He didn’t want to look too eager.
“What the hell is this?”
Bennett was greeted by weapons pointed in his direction after he brute-forced his way through the back door.
“You could’ve maybe knocked.” The teenage lookout from before said while he stood behind the others.
“Oh. It’s you. What’s your name again?”
“Nice try, bro! How about you just call me, Eyes.”
“Alright, Eyes… you going to explain all this.”
“Totally, but first I have to let you know that we’ve got an archer watching your every move. So don’t try anything.”
“That’s quite the archer seeing as how there aren’t any windows and that door is closed.” Bennett pointed behind the group of armed young people.
One of them went and opened the door with a sheepish look on her face.
“We’ve been waiting every night for you to show up for like three days,” Eyes said.
“And?”
Eyes cautiously approached Bennett and handed him a book.
“The Complete Guide to Dogs… what is this?”
“We’ve marked the ones you have to look for.”
Bennett thumbed through the bookmarks. There were four of them. “Akita, American Bulldog, Golden Retriever, Scottish Terrier.”
“Yup.”
“Your boss mentioned that I needed to watch out for the dogs on my trail. The only people on my trail are… well, people, sure they’ve probably got some weird classes, but…” Bennett shrugged.
“So, this hasn’t been confirmed, but we’re like ninety percent sure that those dudes can, like, turn into dogs. You see any one of those following you then you know you’re in trouble.”
“Are you saying,” Bennett spoke slowly, “that these people are weredogs?”
“Probably.”
Bennett’s mouth dropped. “That’s… ridiculous!”
The young people took a collective step away from him.
Eyes visibly swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t know, bro. Those teeth of yours look pretty sharp and pointy. You only come out at night. Someone stole a bunch of blood from the hospital…”
“Yo, he’s totally a vampire.”
“Why isn’t he sparkly?”
“He broke the doorknob. Couldn’t he just turn to mist and go through the gaps.”
“Don’t look at his eyes!”
“Shut up, shut up!” Eyes waved his arms.
Bennett stood as nonthreatening as possible. He decided to keep his mouth shut.
“It’s probably a Class. No big deal. There’s a lot of weird classes. Right?” Eyes kept his eyes directly at Bennett’s chest.
“Yup, so you don’t have to worry about me,” Bennett lied. Their fear had made the scent of their blood sweeter.
Bennett left before the young people saw the hunger in his red eyes.