A Werewolf In Under-Town

Shaggy checked his claws as he stood with his arms crossed against the bar’s eastern wall. The sound of gunfire echoed in his ears as he watched a few tiny cracks in his wolfish claws heal slowly. He had been all fired up to rush out into the melee again, only to be stopped by Ren and Tinsel. After explaining a bit about the Pack link and the frenzy that had overtaken his Lackeys, Shaggy explained how he was ready to dive back into it. But his large grey friend put the kibosh on that.

Ren said that there was enough gunfire to suppress the oncoming robots for now. He and Tinsel were still moving robots around the giant dirt square in front of the Viper’s Nest. They were collecting resources as the other melee Lackeys got some practice fighting the few Bladelings that made it through their north-side. Shaggy had wanted to help, but Ren asked him to watch the east. They were going to run low on ammo at some put, and that’s when he was going to have to pick up the slack.

Shaggy sighed as he watched another four Bladelings fall to the combined fire coming from the eastern windows of the bar. He grimaced as he saw several shots hit the dirt, clearly missing their intended targets. But with so many firing, it hardly made a difference. The robots were weak, but fast, so he got to slice up the occasional breakthrough. Well, him or one of the other Lackeys lazing about on the bar wall.

Shaggy had even done a circuit of the building. Keeping his eyes open for any robots that made it near their building. But they were shot to ribbons before they had a chance to use their weird truncheon-like swords. The fliers were still an issue, but with concentrated fire and the help of the Needle Sisters, even they had learned their lesson. After April had used her telekinetic abilities to rip the wings off a Phreak that was strafing the second-floor with a shotgun. Most of the fliers had backed off.

Nothing was even coming from the south anymore. Shaggy was sure the Raks had done what his crew had done and holed themselves up in their homes. With the way Scholer’s house was warded up, he imagined that at least the Rak Captains would make it through the horde. He couldn’t get a read on the UGB and Phreak gangs, though. But from what he saw from on top of the bar’s roof, this little in-game Event was far from over.

Shaggy had jumped up there after his third circle around the building. Two stories weren’t a lot, but it was higher than most of the surrounding buildings. Well, it was now that several dozen of the nearby buildings had been knocked down. It at least gave Shaggy an idea of what was going on beyond their own safe square. The overall picture wasn’t too bad, really.

The Bladelings had climbed down off the walls of Under-Town and spread out in every direction. Like the Omegas, though, they were more interested in destruction than outright killing people. So groups of them would stop at buildings and start hacking away with their swords. Once the building, and sometimes the occupants, were smashed to paste. The Bladelings would move on.

Shaggy could pick out large groups of them running everywhere for a few blocks around their bar. It was that lack of any coordinated effort from the bots that was saving them. That and the denizens of Under-Town who were fighting back. The streets were filled with people fighting back with whatever they could get their hands on. A few had even ripped the chunky swords off the Bladelings and were using them on their attackers. Groups had formed all over now and Shaggy was sure more small-time gangs were going to pop up after everything had calmed down.

After he had gotten a general lay of the land, he had gone back to his spot on the wall. Now he was watching as more and more robots marched to their doom. Some tried that weird fencing thrust that the Bladelings did to attack people. It made them slightly harder to hit, but it also made them incredibly predictable. They just jumped and thrust an arm forward in a straight line. Which made it easier for the shooters to rain down bullets on them. Shaggy was rubbing his claws together again to watch them heal when the steady beat of gunfire died off for a few beats.

“Empty!” someone from inside shouted.

Shaggy stood straighter and waited. The voice was followed by another shout as someone else called for ammo. Shaggy turned to look at a few Lackey and saw looks of trepidation, fear, and some excitement. He was sure his own grin was growing by the second. Soon who ever was in charge of the eastern shooters screamed an order.

“Restock and Reload. Melee fighters defend.”

Shaggy’s grin became a full on belly laugh as he leapt forward at three Bladelings that were trying to clamber over the bodies of their fallen brethren. Shaggy weaved his way around the broken robot bodies in the street and attacked the nearest Bladeling with his claws. They sliced through the bronze metal of the machine’s torso and Shaggy ripped them out again. Nearly bisecting the whole robot.

But Shaggy was too excited to revel in his kill. He immediately spun to another robot and dodged the telegraphed thrust of the bot’s sword. Shaggy brought his claws up to the Bladeling’s wrist joint and twisted. There was a slight tug, and he felt the thing’s arm fall to the ground. He gave it a hard front kick and then jumped back. His third assailant had tried for their own thrust, but Shaggy narrowly avoided the fat blade. He was about to throw himself at the third machine when a silver spear struck the robot’s hip. The Bladeling went down as its legs no longer obeyed its commands.

Shaggy gave an annoyed grunt and turned to see who was kill-stealing. Chromia grinned back at him from her spot next to the eastern wall. The metal woman had come out to see what she could do and had taken up a spot near Shaggy. Someone had rushed the few spears the Professor had given them outside and Chromia had been using them to deadly effect. Shaggy pulled the spear out of the robot and used it to finish the thing off before he tossed the heavy metal weapon back at Chromia.

Small fights waged on around him, and Shaggy dove back into the melee. Their Lackeys still needed training, but if they went two to one against the bots, they could take them down easily. He clawed through anything that got too close as he noticed some Lackeys clearing the field of bodies. A few of their guys need to be helped off the field, but more often than not, if the Bladeling hit a Lackey, it would kill them. Those swords they used weren’t the greatest, but with the force they used, it could go right through a person.

Shaggy dodged one such thrust as he swiped his claws down the thing’s blocky torso. There was a twinge in his hands as he felt his claws crack slightly, but the robot fell over dead. Shaggy jumped back again as he looked down at his furry half-man, half-wolf hands. His claws had been wearing under the stress of a protracted fight for a while now. Even with his healing, they had been hurting more and more; it seemed. Shaggy was sure they were due for an Evolution, but he hadn’t wanted to check his points until this whole mess was over. Something was telling him he would not receive any points for Tillani’s defeat and he didn’t want to be proven right.

With a sigh, he return to the eastern wall near Chromia as he looked at his fingers. Chromia gave him a curious look as she threw another silver spear, but said nothing. His return was well timed as another shout came from inside.

“Clear the line of fire! We’re re-engaging.”

Shaggy rolled his eyes at whoever was giving orders inside and watched as the gunfire kicked up again. Although now it seemed like fewer guns were firing. They were reaching the limits of their ammo supply. Shaggy transformed his hands back to normal as Chromia spoke up next to him. She had to shout over the gunfire.

“We’re getting low.”

“Pfft. You think?” Shaggy asked sarcastically.

Chromia raised an eyebrow, but nodded her head toward the north of the building so they wouldn’t have to shout so loud. “Look, we are going to have to do something soon. Even if this all ends, we don’t want to be without ammo after this. Every time there’s an upheaval in Under-Town, new gangs start to form and people are killed by the dozens.”

Shaggy looked at the brunette woman and cocked his head. “What do you suggest? We go on a shopping trip? I doubt the shops are open and, from what we know, topside is even worse than down here. So that’s out as well.”

“No, damn it! Look, once all this calms down enough, one of the Big Four is going to call a meeting. Happens all the time. They’ll talk about what they want to do and how they expect the smaller gangs to act. The gangs rarely listen, but it’s a way for them to explain to people that they are still in charge.”

“Oookay? And at these meetings, they hand out ammo to everyone?”

Chromia slapped her face with her hand and then glared at him. Shaggy grinned at her and came to a stop near the bar’s front door. “No, you fucking nitwit! But we can use that time to sneak into Rakgu territory and steal some ammo. I know a repair shop in their turf that the Raks use as an ammo supplier.”

Shaggy nodded his head as he felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Wouldn’t a place like that be well defended? Also, won’t we be required to attend this little meeting you say is going to happen?”

“Oh, it’ll happen, believe me. As for protection, sure it’ll will be heavily guarded. But after this mess and with the meeting going on. It should be worth a look, at least.”

“Yeah. Sure. I’ll tell the others when things calm down.”

Chromia did something Shaggy hadn’t seen her do since he met her. She smiled. It wasn’t an unpleasing look on her pretty face, just incongruous with her usual attitude. Something must have shown on his face, because she quickly wiped the smile from her face and went back to her usual stern expression. Shaggy ignored it and asked.

“So I take it that means you and the Sisters are hanging around.”

“Yeah. Rashi and Flora didn’t really like it, but they got out-voted.”

Shaggy snorted a laugh, but then he thought of something. “Why don’t we just get Flora to teleport herself into that repair guy’s ammo shop and grab the stuff for us? That would be easier.”

Chromia scoffed. “Not gonna happen.”

“Why not?”

“Well, for one, Rashi wouldn’t allow it. Flora already damn near killed herself when she tried to port through a warded location. For another, I will bet the Rak’s ammo guy is ready for any teleporters.”

“But not a metal lady and a Werewolf?” Shaggy asked.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he was ready for us, too. But we aren’t the only ones going, are we?” She raised an eyebrow at Shaggy, but he waved her off.

“Probably not. How many do you think we’ll need?”

Chromia shrugged. “As many as we can spare.”

“We? Why I declare. Is our local one-eyed cantankerous metal lady implying that she is on our team?”

Chromia grunted angrily. “Shut it, wolf. My new family is here, so I gotta do what I can with the resources I have.”

Shaggy laughed. “HAHA! Whatever you say. I’ll inform the guys and we can think about putting together your little plan. But if your little meeting doesn’t happen, all our plans won’t mean shit.”

Shaggy had just finished his sentence when a hum went through the air. It didn’t sound mechanical and seemed to drown out all other noise. Soon the already dim Under-Town seemed to be plunged further into darkness. A darkness that was only lifted when a bright colorful image appeared in the sky again.

But unlike Cog’s message, this one was fully colored and not just light blue. Also, the speaker couldn’t have been more different. A nondescript figure was standing in a black, gold-accented room staring down at them all. Their head was covered in a heavy-duty riot helmet and their face was covered with what looked like a blank gold mask. When they spoke, it was through a voice modulator that screeched and popped as if it was rarely used.

“This is The Governor. Head of The Underground Government Body. We are calling for a meeting of the Big Four to be held at the Arena. Once you have your territories under control, please meet us there. Order must be brought back to our home. Attendance is not mandatory for the lesser gangs but is recommended, as we will discuss your very futures.”

Shaggy shuddered as the unnatural voice echoed throughout the whole of Under-Town. It was eerie, but not quiet as eerie as the deafening silence that followed The Governor’s proclamation. Even the robots seemed to have come to a complete stop at the powerful leader’s presence. But their message wasn’t done.

“As for the Rakgu’s treachery during this time. We are aware it was only a small group, however they have broken several accords set down by the Big Four. You will be brought to task for your transgressions. Reparations will be had. That is all!”

As quick as the silence came, it left again. Sound came roaring back as gunfire kicked back up and clanking metal resounded. Shaggy glanced around to see several Lackeys and his fellow Players blinking their eyes and covering their ears. It was jarring to go from such a quiet place to the cacophony of noise that now assailed them. Shaggy glanced at Chromia, just to see the short woman covering her own ears, but wearing a savage grin.

Shaggy gave raised his middle finger at her and walked inside. He could hear Ren and Tinsel’s loud footsteps behind him. Which was a good thing. They needed to have another meeting as soon as possible.