Now, Earth
Congratulations!
You have received a Quest.
Defeat the Cabal.
Success Parameters: Destroy the Cabal, scatter their forces, take their territory, free their slaves.
Failure Parameters: Death, capture, retreat.
Reward: 8000000 Universal Points.
Failure: Death or enslavement.
Rescued Slaves
0 / ?
Killed Cabal and allies
0 / ?
Will you accept?
“Assuming equal division of points, then that means we each get 20,000 points,” Smores said as he jotted something down in a small notebook.
“Won’t be exactly equal, never is,” Aims shook his head, “individual contribution to the total success is counted.”
“And we’re stuck up here,” Mouthy said, “more bullshit than a bag of dicks!”
“Watch your mouth,” One-eye whispered harshly.
Mouthy waited until the eye-patch wearing woman turned her head to look at the two people standing a few arm lengths in front of them to shoot a rude gesture into the blind spot.
“We’re not going to be contributing much flying up here safe and sound with the captain and manlet superman,” Hardhat said as she spat.
“Well… you don’t see that everyday,” Iz pointed down at the hard hat wearing young woman’s feet.
The glob of spit had splattered in the space between Hardhat’s feet instead of falling all the way to the ground.
They had been deathly afraid of moving. Understandable given that there was nothing between them and the ground except hundreds of feet of open air.
“Invisible platform,” Catscratch bent down and ran a scarred hand experimentally next to his boots, “seems solid,” he grunted.
Smores scribbled furiously, muttering all the while.
“I’m just saying that it’s shitballs. We’re stuck here getting no fucking points just cause we got into a little scrap doing what we were supposed to do in the first place,” Mouthy whispered. “We should be fighting instead of babysitting.”
“Shut it!” One-eye hissed. “The ranger captain will hear.”
Mouthy snorted. “Captain’s cool, I’d be more worried about the fucking sarge,” she glanced down to the other end of the formation and saw that Sgt. Butcher was giving her the eyes, “well… fuck me.”
Cal listened to the squad of rangers bickering with a mixture of bemusement and annoyance.
They were indeed annoying, but the insults didn’t bother him.
With all his power it seemed petty to be affected by mere words.
“You can create invisible platforms,” Kayl shuffled and stamped her feet with no apparent concern about the dark void underneath her, “maybe an enclosed space,” She stretched her hands out to her front, sides and above her head, “can’t feel the walls and ceilings, but seeing as how it’s not windy and cold, I’m going with that. So, kind of like Rayna’s bubbles, fully enclosed, but since she does gravity it’s like being in zero g, all floaty and stuff.”
“You’ve been in outer space before?” Cal felt obligated to make conversation. The Ranger Captain was Rayna’s friend after all. Also, she was pregnant and he wasn’t going to be a dick to a pregnant woman.
“Nah, but we used to have a guy who did one of those simulations. They take you up in a plane and dive down really fast, he said it was supposed to be like being in space,” Kayl said.
Cal recalled seeing videos of people doing said activity. “I know what you’re talking about. There was this band that did a music video in one of those planes. They also did that cool treadmill music video.”
Kayl stared at him blankly.
“You said, ‘used to’…”
“He got eaten,” Kayl said.
“Sorry,” Cal stiffened.
“Don’t be. He distracted a gremlin alpha long enough for your dad to jump in. Saved a bunch of kids. I’d be so lucky if I went out the same way,” Kayl said.
Cal didn’t know what to say to that so he simply nodded.
“So, you don’t have gravity powers,” Kayl’s voice perked up. “Is it forcefields like your mom? Except she can’t move them, plus they’re like rainbow-colored.”
“Opsec,” Cal tried and was promptly ignored.
“Your dad’s power is all muscle and bone. Are you as strong as him? Stronger? Weaker?”
“The latter… when it comes to pure physical strength and durability,” Cal said.
“Like Rayna,” Kayl nodded, “while your mom is strong, but only like those huge world’s strongest man guys from back in the old days, even though she’s barely five feet tall. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still jealous,” Kayl said. “I’ve managed to finally get Lesser Enhanced Strength after years of lifting, but it doesn’t compare.”
“There being a lesser implies greater being a possibility, something to strive for,” Cal said.
“We’ve got rangers with Enhanced Strength, so we’re definitely aiming for the next level,” Kayl said.
“So, you’re due any day now?” Cal said.
Kayl grunted a reply, but ran her hand lovingly over her distended belly.
“Do you have a name for her, yet?”
Kayl’s eyes widened.
“What… I’m sorry?” Cal ventured.
“It’s just… we didn’t know… wanted it to be a surprise,” Kayl scowled
“Embarrassing,” one of the 13th squad members whispered loudly.
Kayl’s eyes sharpened like a falcon spotting a rabbit on the ground. “How can you tell?”
Cal stifled a groan. “Looks like Rayna’s getting the rest of the rangers in position. We should do the same.”
He studiously ignored Kayl’s questions as he flew the invisible telekinetic box over the group of mansions.
“And so the hills of Beverly lay before us,” Iz said strumming an exciting tune on his ukulele. “Rayna’s Rangers go to war.”
“Shut up, limpdick!” Mouthy snapped.
----------------------------------------
The bastards knew they were coming!
Rayna grit her teeth at the strain as she was forced to strengthen the gravity fields around her rangers against the bullets, arrows and spells flying from down below.
It was difficult enough to split the squads and send them to their planned attack locations.
At this rate they’d start taking losses as soon as she was forced to drop the fields.
I can help with that.
“Cal? Your voice is in my head? Is this you and not a trick?”
Fair question, but it’s me… how about this?
Rayna blinked and she was floating above everything. Time had stopped, she could even see herself with a strained look on her face.
“Is that how I look?”
“Yup,” Cal was floating next to her.
“Mindscape?”
Her brother nodded.
“Okay, I guess this is good enough confirmation. So, what can you do? I don’t want my guys to go through a Normandy situation.”
“Couple of things. Although it’ll probably mean my involvement rate goes up…”
“Which means you take a bigger share of the points…” Rayna chewed the inside of her cheek, “do it, I’d rather we get less points if it means more of us survive.”
“Alright, can you land your rangers and drop your fields all at the same time?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Do it whenever you’re ready. I’ll give them a hand.”
Rayna blinked.
She was back in her body.
“So weird.”
She deposited all of her ranger squads just as Cal had asked. Trusting in her brother.
At that same instant all of the enemy fire suddenly stopped.
She watched as the men and women defending the mansions clutched their heads in pain.
The rangers rushed in. Guns, bows and spells breached barricades and killed the enemy as they gained entry into the five mansions in the relatively small area of winding streets and hills.
Dropped a little mindbomb in the ones defending the exteriors. There’s a lot more inside, but I’ve got another trick. Hopefully the spires won’t see it as too much help.
“Thanks,” Rayna looked up into the dark night sky at her brother and the rangers in his care.
Now all she could do was stay back and watch.
Even thought it killed her on the inside.
----------------------------------------
24th Squad, Rayna’s Rangers overwhelmed the defenders at the back door of the mansion.
It had looked like they were about to be thrown into a meat grinder, but their enemies, gangbangers and such suddenly stopped firing and doubled over clutching their heads.
The momentary distraction was all the squad needed to punch through.
Blades finished the job that bullets, arrows and spells had started.
The kitchen was enormous with two, no, three doorways leading into the mansion.
Lack of intel was a problem.
They had no idea where the bastards were keeping the slaves.
Neutralize the enemy.
Secure the poor victims for an extraction that hadn’t been specified.
Odd that.
The commanders had been tight-lipped about that part of the plan.
The sergeant blinked.
He suddenly and with conviction knew exactly where he needed to go.
“Watch your ears. We’re going silent,” he said. One look at his squad and he somehow had the knowledge that they also knew where to go.
Each ranger put their earplugs in and readied their weapons.
What the hell was going on?
The sergeant knew the layout of the mansion. He was about to direct his point man, but the ranger moved with a purpose, no hesitation, just like the rest of the squad as they trailed behind.
It was almost like there was a small voice in his head telling him which doors to take. That this particular hallway was safe. That the room to their right in the middle of the hallway had a dozen men and women waiting in ambush. That they needed to be careful since their HVT’s where being kept in the three rooms surrounding the middle one.
The sergeant knew that the enemy had three shooters stacked up next to the door. One prone, one on a knee and one standing ready to blast away with guns as soon as the door was breached.
He tapped three of his own shooters and silently gestured to the wall
They moved and aimed their old police M-4’s in the exact spots that the enemy shooters were before the sergeant could direct them.
The sergeant shook his head in amazement.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
One of his men shrugged.
He directed the rest of the squad to take positions on either side of the door with silent gestures.
A deep breath.
They were ready.
An impression of someone saying ‘good luck’.
Bursts of gunfire from the shooters tore through the wall sending splinters flying as the loud sounds filled the narrow hallway.
At the same time the lead tank kicked the door open and charged in behind one of the mage’s lobbed spells. Someone had discovered a combination of a light spell and a loud sound spell to create a Flashbang spell.
“Eat Shit!”
The tank drew enemy eyes to him just as the glowing orb of light in front of him detonated.
The rangers shielded their eyes and trusted their ear protection.
Not so for the enemy.
It was over in seconds.
“We’ve got HVT’s in the surrounding rooms. I want them secured and I want a defensive position at the hallway entrance. We have to hold long enough for extraction,” the sergeant barked.
“Wonder how they’ll get them out of here. It’s a war zone out there,” another ranger said.
Indeed, the sounds of gunfire and spellfire could be heard from outside.
An explosion from somewhere shook the mansion like an earthquake.
“Fuck, I hope they can keep them safe. They’ve been through enough shit.”
“Cut the chatter and focus!” the sergeant snapped.
“Yessir!” the rangers hurried off.
“Sarge?” the tank said. “What was that? It’s like I knew exactly where these fuckers were posting up in the room,” he kicked one of their dead enemies.
The sergeant could only shake his head.
----------------------------------------
“You’re sweating,” Kayl said.
“Trying to concentrate here,” Cal said.
“Your only supposed to extract the HVT’s once we’ve secured them.” Kayl’s eyes narrowed. “You’re doing something else,” she said excitedly.
“Just cheating a bit, not that big of a deal,” Cal said.
“My guys are supposed to face a tough fight so they can get more points and grow stronger. If you’re—”
“I’m winning the battlefield information war. I’m pretty sure that was a thing back in the old days. Just a standard part of any battle. Shouldn’t take too much away from your rangers,” Cal said.
“Flare!” Sgt. Butcher barked.
Cal followed her sight line.
A flare had indeed been fired out of a mansion’s window.
He reached out with his telepathy and quickly singled out the HVT’s for extraction.
The brief touch into their thoughts filled him with pity and revulsion.
The former for what these people had been forced to endure and the latter for those that did those things to them.
He forced himself to keep calm and refrain from taking out his anger on the enemy. The rangers needed to do that themselves.
“Fifteen for extraction,” Cal said as he moved his invisible telekinetic box to hover directly over the mansion.
Without further preamble he telekinetically ripped the walls and windows out.
Young men, women, boys and girls began to float up to Cal in his telekinetic grip.
Most were in a drug-addled haze barely cognizant of what was going on. For those that were more aware, there was only terror.
Cal clenched his fists.
It was beyond unpleasant to see and know what they had gone through. He touched their minds briefly just to put them to sleep. They needn’t suffer more.
“They’re never going to be hurt again,” Kayl said softly as Cal place the freed slaves in their own invisible telekinetic box higher up in the sky.
An enormous fireball exploded below their feet.
Kayl and 13th squad lost their footing as the telekinetic platform shook violently.
Cal carefully steadied Kayl before the pregnant woman could hit the invisible floor.
“Pregnant women shouldn’t be on the battlefield.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes they don’t have that choice. I’m here because I do,” Kayl said. She unlimbered her rifle from her shoulder and racked the slide. “I’ve got eyes on the mage,” she sighted down the scope.
“Don’t unless you want the bullet to ricochet in here,” Cal warned. He tracked the rifle’s line.
A cold gust of wind suddenly buffeted Kayl in the face. It took her a moment to reacquire her target.
“Now you can shoot.”
“Thanks,” Kayl whispered and squeezed the trigger.
Hundreds of yards below a fairly powerful enemy mage suddenly had a wet, red eye in the middle of their forehead.
“Nice shot, captain,” PK rumbled.
“Got some Universal Points,” Iz said lightly.
“More than the rest of us,” Mouthy muttered.
Cal ignored them. There were more people to gather and save. His mental load grew steadily as he picked up more enslaved people while providing valuable intel to the rangers fighting room to room.
It was a strain on him, but not nearly up to the level it took to fight Mother Madrigal.
He could do this.
A sudden thought struck him.
His eyes snapped down to the foot of the hills.
There was another mansion.
Unlike the others in its general vicinity, this mansion wasn’t dark.
Cal spent a portion of his telepathy to probe it.
“Son of a bitch!” Cal snapped.
“What happened?” Kayl said in alarm.
“These bastards are beyond evil,” Cal spat. “There’s a mansion down there,” he pointed. “We need to prioritize it.”
“We can’t. Our squads are already stuck in, I can’t redirect any of them,” Kayl said.
Sgt. Butcher cleared her throat. “We’re willing and ready captain.”
Kayl scowled at the tough-looking woman. “Ranger Sergeant you have one squad. The plan calls for each target to be assaulted by no less than seven.”
Cal focused on the distant mansion. “Smaller number of defenders. I see twenty fighters and one stronger presence.” He glanced at Sgt. Butcher. “I can’t give you much assistance with how much I’m already doing here. Your casualties might be substantial.”
“What’re we fighting for?” Sgt. Butcher said.
“Babies.”
Kayl cursed.
“13th Squad volunteers to secure the location,” Sgt. Butcher saluted. The rest of her squad followed suit.
“Do it!” Kayl snapped.
Cal nodded and sent the squad away in a separate telekinetic bubble.
Screams filled the air.
He sent them fast.
Time was of the essence.
----------------------------------------
Congratulations!
You have received a Quest.
Defend your territory.
Success Parameters: Defeat Rayna’s Rangers.
Failure Parameters: Death, capture, retreat.
Reward: 8000000 Universal Points.
Failure: Loss of territory. Loss of slaves. Death.
Will you accept?
Cambion read the text and listened to the voice.
The Quest represented an immense opportunity for wealth and strength.
The young man had surrendered his old name when he had risen to membership in the Cabal.
The old name represented the suffering and degradation he had endured in the early years after the spires had appeared.
It was a truism of human nature that children always suffered the most in times of crisis and upheaval.
The master had shown him the path to power.
Now he made others suffer to strengthen himself.
Never again would he be at the mercy of an other's cruel whims and depraved desires.
He had changed for the better and he intended for his transformation to continue.
“Where will you stand, Cambion?” Baal said.
He regarded the fat, bald man with cold contempt.
Baal had chosen his name because it was the first thing listed in a book about demons he had picked up at the local bookstore.
The man had been a petty office tyrant in the old days. His delusions of grandeur only increased when he had stumbled upon actual power.
“The master’s sanctum must be defended,” Cambion said.
“Jeez, listen to yourself. It’s just a master bedroom. I doubt that master cares” Baal sneered.
“And where will you stand?”
“The breeding house. Someone must protect our most important assets,” Baal said.
The mansion furthest away from here. You hope to escape notice, Cambion thought. “Paimon has already selected her place,” he said.
“No doubt the most fortified mansion with the greatest number of our fighters,” Baal chuckled. “I’d wish you luck, but I actually hope you die,” he sneered.
Cambion held Baal’s gaze with unblinking eyes for several long seconds before he spoke. “Good luck,” he said evenly.
The young man turned and headed straight for his master’s sanctum.
Baal was a fool.
The master had performed thousands of rituals within his sanctum.
The suffering of so many had been bled into the floors, walls and ceiling.
It stank of potential power.
And with the master gone it fell upon him to make proper use of it.
Their enemies knew not the pain and suffering that awaited them.
Soon he would be free to revel in it.
----------------------------------------
The Vitiator heart raced for the first time in centuries.
He had opened the portal just in time.
The powerful presence had made itself known.
The Vitiator felt it as a great and terrible eye searching for him.
He had fled into the dark rent he had torn in the fabric of space. Two of the Cabal trailed in his wake.
They emerged a short span of time later at the top of a dry, dusty hilltop.
Lights to the west marked their ultimate destination.
“I must not be disturbed,” the Vitiator rasped. His long fingers curled into a claw. Too close. He had almost been discovered. To fear inferior beings was galling. “Beleth, fifty paces,” he pointed to his left.
The heavyset woman inclined her head and moved off.
“Asmodai,” the Vitiator pointed to his right.
“At once, master,” the weaselly man bowed and scampered off.
The physically powerful patriarch needed to be occupied.
Over the centuries the Vitiator had rose along the path to his present class. One didn’t necessarily lose access to all of their former spells. It was wise to keep the most useful ones.
The Vitiator said the words.
A cacophony of roars, yowls and screeches answered across the wilderness.
He thrust his will to the lights in the west.
The effort made his knees tremble.
It had been a long time since he had cast that particular spell.
He took a few moments to compose himself before he called the Cabal members back to his side.
“Scry for our quarry,” the Vitiator commanded.
Beleth closed her eyes and spoke the words.
Seconds turned into minutes.
A sheen of sweat appeared on her face as she frowned in concentration.
“I have them,” Beleth said through clenched teeth.
The Vitiator palmed Beleth’s head like an apple.
The woman grimaced.
The Vitiator’s touch was never gentle.
“I will open the portal. Secure my quarry. You may strengthen yourselves for our ultimate prey, but do not tarry overlong.”
“Y-Yes, master.” Asmodai’s thin body quivered. “What if the rangers scry us?”
“Weak,” Beleth hissed. “Their mages are nothing to us. They won’t be able to stop us.”
Fear and excitement roiled in waves off the two Cabal members.
Good.
The right thoughts to hold before a battle.
“I will be watching. Do not fail me in this,” the Vitiator intoned.
He swept a hand across his body with a harsh gesture and tore an ugly, flat, circular rent in the air in front of him.
Beleth strode through first. Asmodai was hesitant on her feels.
They emerged inside a hotel lobby.
Four guards, men and women armed with guns and hardware store axes and hammers, stood agog as the rent in the air sealed itself shut behind the two Cabal members.
“Pain Bolt!”
Ugly darts of crackling magic emerged from Beleth’s and Asmodai’s hands.
The black cores of the spells were outlined in a reddish purple glow.
They struck the guards before the unfortunate men and women could raise their weapons. Excruciating pain wracked their bodies as they thrashed on the cold tiles.
They screamed, but the loud music from the nearby conference hall drowned them out.
Beleth and Asmodai drew back a fraction of the power they had expended from the guards’ pain before silencing them with wicked-looking knives.
Asmodai regarded the congratulatory banner hung up on the lobby wall.
“Graeme Lindsay won the election… which one was that again?”
“Elections!” Beleth spat. “What a waste of time.”
“To go from the joys of hard fought victory to the sheer terror of pain and certain death will provide quite a bounty for us,” Asmodai.
“Yes, their suffering will be great,” Beleth intoned.
They strode to the conference hall’s double doors and threw them open.
Two more guards tried to fire, but they fell just as easily as the ones in the lobby.
Dozens of people were seated at tables, eating, drinking, laughing.
The main dance floor in the center of the hall was filled with more revelers.
Happy music filled the air from the band on the raised stage at the other end.
“Agony Aura!” Beleth held her bloodstained knife over her head.
“Wait until I’m out of range,” Asmodai hissed as he doubled over.
Beleth ignored him as she strode purposefully to a table near the center.
Shocked screams turned into pained ones as her aura hit the people within ten feet.
Asmodai kept his distance as he followed and harvested the suffering in her wake. He used them to replenish and strengthen himself, just as the Vitiator had taught.
By now the Cabal’s presence was noticed.
People on the fringes fled for the doors screaming for help that would go unanswered.
They were foolish to have so few guards.
Did they think they were safe?
There was no safety. Not even in the center of their territory.
They would learn that their faith in the rangers had been misplaced.
Beleth stopped a step away from ten feet of the newly elected governor of Orange County.
The man was gray-haired, but fit. Judging by his appearance along with a teenage daughter and son Graeme Lindsay was in his middle years. His wife appeared to be a decade younger.
“Please, whatever you want, just let everyone else go,” Graeme said with quivering voice.
Beleth looked at the nearby tables within her aura.
The people had fallen to the floor, writhing in an agony they couldn’t comprehend.
“Exactly,” Beleth sneered at the man. “Asmodai!” she barked.
Asmodai’s face darkened.
“We have a few minutes before the master will open the portal,” Beleth began, “you may harvest them first before I take my turn.”
“I’ve already begun,” Asmodai muttered resentfully.
“Governor-elect, your victory was unfortunate for you. Had you not won, the Cabal wouldn’t have bothered with your paltry existence. You could’ve lived in blissful ignorance, at least for a time. How does it feel? To go from the thrill of victory, the happiness, to this,” Beleth raised her meaty arms out wide, “you will watch as your wife and children suffer. You will beg and beg, yet nothing will save them. Then, when they are bloody ribbons at my feet it will be your turn,” she took a step forward.
The governor-elect threw himself at Beleth, but the agony turned his charge into a stumble.
His wife tried to pull their children away and flee, but Beleth’s aura caught them in it’s embrace.
Screams filled the conference hall.
The Vitiator watched it all with pride.
These beings were inferior, but they were capable of learning with the right guidance.
The Cabal was just the first of many.
He prepared the next portals. One for the Cabal, one for him.
It was near time to take their true prize.
Such pain to come.
His mouth watered.
He could almost taste it.