Spires

Now, Threnosh World

Malendrax set the remainder of the explosives to go off with the barest margin of time for them to escape the doomed structure. They turned to leave just as a cragant reached into the structure and grabbed their body in a crushing grip.

The Threnosh didn’t waste any time. They punched at the cragant’s gauntlet-covered fingers with their impact fists.

The booms echoed out of the ruined structure. Yet the cragant held on despite the deep dents Malendrax was driving into its gauntlets.

The countdown loomed in Malendrax’s faceplate. The numbers ticked down. The beeping lent an urgency to the Threnosh’s rapid-fire strikes.

Punch after punch landed. The cragant held on somehow.

Until it suddenly relinquished its hold.

Malendrax briefly noted the giant broken fingers as the cragant pulled its arm back. They didn’t have time. The numbers were dangerously close to zero. They stumbled towards the rear of the structure. Their legs had been broken and were in the process of healing and repair.

They weren’t going to make it.

Malendrax made for an open window. It was their only chance to put as much distance between them and the impending explosion. Each step was steadier than the last as their power armor fixed itself and the limbs within.

They dived out of the window just as their world suddenly turned bright, thunderous and scorching.

Malendrax picked themselves out of a ruined structure several hundred meters away. They’re armored body had crushed it like a missile. They warily scanned their surroundings for cragants while they waited for their power armor to complete its repairs. Judging by the clock in their faceplate they had actually been rendered unconscious for a short amount of time.

Fortunately, their gambit appeared to have worked.

The cragant advance had been halted by the explosion.

Malendrax could see them through the fire and smoke the explosion had scattered. The giant humanoids had pulled back for the moment.

The Threnosh turned and followed the rest of their retreating forces. They had complied with Caretaker’s orders. It was time to await the next one.

Elsewhere in the city Caretaker was distracted at the wrong moment by a pair of emergency alerts in their ear holes. They were fortunate that Resplendent Zabriium was there to block the cragant spear with their pole axe.

Caretaker blinked. Then they shot the cragant in the face with their viral pistol.

The two Threnosh were now clear of enemies in their immediate area.

“It is unlike you to be unaware of your surroundings in combat. Do you need a moment before we proceed to the next target?”

“Yes.” Caretaker focused on the alerts in their faceplate. “Two of our teammates are in critical danger.” They focused on the readings. “Malendrax’s trueskin is already repairing itself and their vital signs are improving rapidly. Kynnro is near critical levels.” They knew exactly where the latter was located. What was Kynnro doing there? They should’ve been bolstering the fabrication facility’s defense. “Dralig, status report? I require emergency evac for Kynnro.”

Caretaker was greeted by silence on the team channel. Concerning. They waited a second and were about to repeat their message when a reply pinged back.

“Dralig is currently incapacitated,” Adjudicator said.

A slight frown creased Caretaker’s smooth brow beneath their helmet. They checked Dralig’s status. Injured, but stable. Not in immediate danger. They cycled through the many flying drones providing battlefield surveillance until they located one with a clear view of their team.

Adjudicator had Dralig wrapped up in one of their tendrils as they ran. They trailed well-behind Blueballs, Actryarius and the few remaining regular Threnosh soldiers that had held the line at such great cost. The effort hadn’t been wasted. The cragant advance had been stalled.

Unfortunately, none of them were in position to provide aid to Kynnro.

“Acknowledged. Proceed as planned,” Caretaker said. They switched their comms to Whoosh. “These are Kynnro’s coordinates. You are to provide emergency evac for them to the exclusion of all other tasks. They are injured, but their trueskin will keep them stable enough for transport. Take them directly to the medical facility.”

“Acknowledged,” Whoosh replied immediately.

“Zabri, proceed to the next target area,” Caretaker said as they took the opportunity to reload their viral pistol. Their ammunition was dwindling. They were going to have to be more judicious with its use.

Shira waited in the dark as they listened in on the comms.

They clung to the side of the maintenance access shaft beneath the street with their power armor’s claws. They had waited for over a day, but their time to act was drawing near judging by the flow of the battle above them.

The shafts and tunnels beneath the city were laid out in an orderly fashion. In normal times they had been used by maintenance drones to traverse the city to perform their myriad duties. Now they were the perfect place to travel unseen and get into the perfect ambush positions.

Shira had been comfortable. Their power armor was locked in place, which removed any physical strain on their body within. However, that had done nothing to alleviate the itch of anticipation and impatience inside of them. Blood was being shed and they yearned to partake.

The only thing that made the wait bearable was the fact that Shira had filled up after their last battle with the doomed cragant patrol squad.

Even still one of their fingers twitched from where its claw pierced the metallic wall. They focused their thoughts on the flow of the battle above to distract themselves. It wouldn’t do to emerge too soon and ruin Caretaker’s plan.

Things were proceeding along projections from the sounds of it. Their teammates were inflicting sufficient casualties while creating the necessary amount of chaos within the enemy compound for their true aim.

Shira remembered their role and visualized how they were going to successfully comply with Caretaker’s order. It wasn’t difficult. They had been doing it constantly since they had descended beneath the street to make their way to their position below the command structure that the cragants had erected out of tree trunks and some kind of thick, primitive textile material. Canvas, Honor had called it upon viewing surveillance video. Although he had admitted that he was only guessing.

The thought of Honor led to the thought of ice cream. The only other substance that Shira truly craved. It was a sufficient distraction to quell their rising hunger for the second substance until their time finally arrived several long minutes later.

“Shira, target has emerged. Go.” Caretaker’s voice sounded strained over the comms.

“Acknowledged.” Shira blurred up the side of the access shaft with the squeal of their claws rending metal.

Those above her were too absorbed by the chaos of battle to hear them coming.

The access panel on the ground was practically seamless. A Threnosh would be hard-pressed to spot it without mechanical aid even though they were ubiquitous throughout the city.

The cragants were unfamiliar with how the Threnosh city functioned. Perhaps the clever among them realized the possibility and probability that there were hidden pathways beneath their feet. In practice they hadn’t factored it into their strategic and tactical plans. After all they were a proud and strong people used to their overwhelming physical dominance. What was there to concern themselves with tiny insects that they could crush with a simple step?

Shira moved too fast for the panel’s automated sensor. It had barely slid a few centimeters when they tore right through it as if it was a thin sheet of cloth.

Their black-colored power armor was an even darker blot in the darkness of the night. The light from the cragant torches seemed to abruptly die out the closer it got to them. It didn’t make a difference. The sounds of battle had thrown the giant humanoids’ entire compound into disarray. Shira’s small form went unnoticed until they struck.

They cut through the cragants with surgical precision. Sharp claws and bladed protrusions drew blood as they weaved between tree trunk-sized legs. Blood that splattered on their power armor was absorbed to fuel their assault.

The cragants cried out in surprise more than pain. Shira wasn’t going for the kill. They only wanted to sow chaos and confusion as they searched for their true target.

Shira’s enhanced senses picked up the whizzing sounds of projectiles that forced the cragants to raise their shields and focus their attention on Caretaker and Resplendent Zabriium’s charge rather than track the small, black shadow that had penetrated their defensive formation.

An anguished scream was accompanied by a sickly odor. Caretaker’s viral pistol had claimed an unfortunate victim.

A growl heralded a crash of metal muscle with natural ones. Wooden shields were shredded and metal armor was rent by Silver Wolf’s monstrous, bipedal form.

A second, even louder crash washed over Shira’s form. They saw giant bodies knocked to the ground out of the corner of their vision. Resplendent Zabriium’s battering work.

Shira ignored it all. Their target was highlighted in their visual sensors.

It was an average-sized cragant standing with sword drawn next to a more impressive specimen that was booming out orders.

The target was wearing a helmet that obscured its features and its clothing and armor were no different from the rest. Yet, the program Caretaker had installed in Shira’s power armor was certain.

The cragants’ leadership was unlike the Threnosh’s in that they didn’t shy away from direct combat. Shira respected this fact of the giant humanoids’ nature. From the highest ranked commander to the lowest soldier, they were all fighters. Warriors that didn’t fear testing themselves against their enemies.

Shira would honor this by attacking with all their strength and skill.

The cragants noticed Shira’s approach as the Threnosh slowed. Caretaker would not approve, but Shira felt that it was only fair for their enemies to see their death take shape.

The giant humanoids attacked with swords that were longer than Shira was tall. They struck with surprising quickness for their size. They might as well have been moving in slow motion to Shira.

Shira stopped short of a stab. They leaped up and dashed on the spear shaft. The cragant’s eyes widened in shock as Shira opened its throat before it could even think to pull their spear back or raise its shield.

Shira used its shoulder to launch themselves at a sword-wielding cragant. They struck well-within the arc of the sword slash. Their clawed gauntlets pierced deep into the cragant’s chest through the thick fabric of its clothing. Had it the time to don its thick metal armor perhaps it might’ve survived. The chaos of the surprise attack had robbed it of the chance. Shira robbed it of its life as they took a moment to absorb as much of the giant humanoid’s blood as possible before the next cragant swung its sword with an angry shout.

Shira dodged back and blurred forward.

Another cragant died.

The last two cragants stepped in front of Shira’s target. They met the same fate.

The target cragant stepped back with its sword held in a defensive stance with practiced ease. Shira smelled fear, but the target was steady as it watched with wary eyes.

It was time to finish the task.

One pass, a handful of seconds and the commander of this branch of the cragant army had fallen to its knees, futilely clutching at a ruined throat.

A small shadow melted away into the darkness.

The only reason that Caretaker could track Shira’s movements was thanks to their predictive algorithm and the tracking system that linked each individual of the team. The impossible way that Shira’s power armor seemed to become one with shadow and darkness concealed them from even the best sensors that Threnosh technology produced.

“Shira is going for their commander. We must draw the rest of the soldiers’ attention,” Caretaker said. “Silver Wolf, Zabri, cause as much chaos as you can.”

Resplendent Zabriium slowed enough for Caretaker to jump off. They drew the recoilless rifle from their back in one smooth motion as they landed.

Resplendent Zabriium veered wide to the right to clear Caretaker’s firing lane.

Caretaker squeezed the trigger and sprayed projectiles across a wide arc in order to force as many cragants to reflexively raise their shields to protect their eyes. Now, they couldn’t track Shira snaking through their midst.

Caretaker’s predictive algorithm zeroed in on a threat. A cragant was going to be in position to strike an unaware Shira in the back several seconds in the future. The giant humanoid hadn’t even unsheathed its sword. It was only moving towards a spot were Shira was going to be.

There was only a narrow window to take care of the threat. The mass of giant bodies made for a poor firing lane. Caretaker stowed their recoilless rifle. It was out of ammunition in any case. They drew their viral pistol and took aim along the line that their algorithm indicated. They squeezed the trigger and turned their attention to the wider battle.

Silver Wolf entered the fray with a growl. They shifted from their four-legged to their bipedal form before launching themselves into the left side of the cragant shield line.

Spear points skipped off of Silver Wolf’s armor. Spear shafts as thick and strong as young trees snapped and splintered underneath their combined strength and weight.

Silver Wolf tore at the wooden shields with a savagery that fit their power armor’s monstrous appearance. Despite the fact that they only stood three-quarters as tall as the average cragant they drove the surprised giant humanoids back as they claimed a space past the formation’s front line.

The cragants moved to surround Silver Wolf, but from what Caretaker observed the close quarters worked in their teammate’s favor. The giant humanoids couldn’t effectively bring their weapons to bear on the Threnosh.

The best they could manage were glancing strikes as Silver Wolf fought like a wild animal. They bit and clawed without staying in one place for more than a split-second.

Caretaker scanned over to the right side of the enemy formation just in time to watch Resplendent Zabriium crash into the shield line.

Massive cragant bodies went flying.

Resplendent Zabriium spun around in a circle with their striking pole axe to keep the cragants from swarming around them. They kicked out with their hind legs to knock a cragant down before galloping back out of the enemy formation to gain enough distance for another charge.

That side of the formation was taken care of, so Caretaker turned their attention back to Shira. They readied their viral pistol and its dwindling ammunition just in case their teammate needed further support.

From the looks of it that wasn’t going to be necessary. Shira was tearing through their enemies. Soon only the commander was left.

Then the task was completed.

“Withdraw,” Caretaker said into the team channel. They fired two shots from their viral pistol to give Silver Wolf the opportunity to disengage.

Their teammate transformed into their four-legged form as they ran away from the cragants’ pursuit.

Caretaker leapt onto Resplendent Zabriium’s back as they thundered by.

“Awaiting extraction.” Tynk’s voice came over the comms at the same time that they pinged their location on the tactical map.

“On the way,” Resplendent Zabriium said.

The plan had worked as Caretaker expected and hoped. It was time to go for a more important and more dangerous target. Time to break the enemy’s ability to maintain conflict and their control of the city.

They were pleased, but they were concerned about the casualties the other parts of their team had suffered.

Now, Earth

“I’ve got movement,” Mads whispered.

“How? It’s so dark and far away,” Johnny said.

“Dude, you know she has Lesser Enhanced Vision,” Olo said.

“I thought that was more for distance. Didn’t know night vision was part of the package.”

“Shut up,” Gene said. He crawled over to get closer to Mads. “Can you give me more details?”

“I just got the upgrade to Enhanced Vision a few days ago. I’m picking out guys eight hundred yards away inside a house, in the dark, with only candle lights to go by and you still want more?” Mads rolled her eyes, but kept her focus on the distant location.

“Sorry, er… thanks,” Gene said sheepishly.

The other three young men snickered in the background.

“Okay, okay, so we’ve got confirmation that there are people over there,” Gene said.

“Don’t say it…”

“Too bad, Johnny, but he’s gonna say it,” Bastien said.

“We need a closer look,” Gene finished his thought.

“Fuck you, man,” Johnny sighed. “Why you always sending me into enemy territory?”

“You want to be an Assassin, if that’s even a class,” Olo said.

Johnny bared his teeth at his much larger friend and party member.

“You just need to get a quick look. Find out if they’re with the cult and maybe discover what they’re doing in there,” Gene said.

“Probably trying to summon some fishmen,” Johnny said. “It’s not like they do anything else…”

“That’s very likely. Shouldn’t we just let Officer Lawrence know?” Bastien frowned. “I don’t like the idea of sending Johnny near there by himself. We’re not allowed to get close and if there’s any trouble we can’t help him.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mads said. “This distance isn’t a big deal for me.”

“They’ll just have Remy swoop in and take care of it like usual,” Gene said.

“Yeah,” Johnny nodded. “It’s hurting our Universal Point gains. We barely get anything.”

“Better a few points than, you know, dying… or worse,” Olo said.

“I don’t want any of us to end up like Don and Eric,” Bastien shivered.

The four young men and one woman all looked sick for a moment.

“I’m the first to say that I don’t want to get tortured and sacrificed,” Johnny shrugged, “but we need to get stronger in order to lessen the chances of said fate. We need points and action to do that. Ergo…”

“I don’t know,” Gene said. “It’s a risk…”

“C’mon, man! Now you’re having second thoughts?” Johnny threw his hands up.

“This situation is too much like our first encounter with the cultists and that one fishman,” Olo laid a hand on Johnny’s shoulder. “We don’t have Tessa and Vee with us this time.”

“Smh, man, they’re like in the top five of the most powerful people we’ve got and they're still grounded. It’s been months,” Johnny said.

“Vee’s twelve,” Mads said without looking back from her prone position at the window.

“Desperate times,” Johnny said, “desperate times.”

“They’re not available, so we have to work with what we’ve got, which is our team. We’ve worked hard to improve our spells and skills,” Gene said. “We need to start pulling our weight in this war. We need to step up.”

“If you stick to the windows facing me I can cover you,” Mad said.

“Damn… Enhanced Vision is pretty awesome if you can tell that it’s me from this distance and in the dark,” Johnny said.

“Not exactly,” Mads said. “I was planning to just not shoot the one guy being chased by the rest.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence in this.”

“Look, Johnny, I’m actually fine with just dropping this in our more powerful people’s hands if you don’t think you can pull this off,” Gene said.

Johnny stared at Gene flatly for a few seconds. Then he realized that it was pitch black and Gene couldn’t see the implied daggers he was sending over. “Fine, I’ll do it, just a quick look though.”

“Yeah, that’s all we need. Just find out if they’re cultists and if they’re doing that summoning thing again,” Gene said.

“I said I’m doing it, but I’m out of there if it even looks like I’m about to be murdered and tortured. I’m not ending up like Don and Eric,” Johnny shivered, “poor bastards.” He pointed a finger at Gene. “And you, sir, are a dick monkey.”

With that last parting shot Johnny slipped out of the window and down onto the street.

Several heartbeats passed in silence.

“Is he gone?” Olo said.

“I can never tell. I didn’t hear him take a deep breath, but he’s pretended to leave only to scare the crap out of me a few seconds later. Sooooo…” Bastien abruptly spun around in a circle while waving his arms around wildly.

“Don’t be stupid,” Gene said. “Johnny’s annoying, but when it’s time to be serious he doesn’t play around.”

“He’s halfway to the house,” Mad’s said.

She was the only one with the ability to track the dark-clothed Johnny skulking toward his target. She watched through the iron sights of her shotgun providing coverage for Johnny’s stealthy approach. The changes her main class had wrought on her physical capabilities meant that a scope was no longer necessary.

All, except for Mads, waited with bated breath. Their muscles tense with worry as the seconds, then minutes ticked away in the darkness. They existed in the space between fight or flight. Was it going to be necessary to rush to Johnny’s aid? Or were they going to need to flee for their lives? A fight with a fishman along with human cultist support was something that they couldn’t expect to win, let alone survive.

Their wait had stretched to close to an hour when a voice in their midst made them all jump.

Johnny’s sudden appearance was greeted by weapons and readied spells.

“Fuck you guys. I do all the work and this is how you thank me.” Johnny’s words didn’t fit the happy grin on his face that only one person could see.

“What’re you so happy about?” Mad’s said with suspicion before spinning on her back and aiming her shotgun back out of the window.

“Well… I got a Quest and a good amount of Universal Points for that little scouting mission,” Johnny said.

“What?”

“Unfair.”

“Shh,” Gene snapped at Olo and Bastien. “That doesn’t matter. What’d you find? Cultists? Are they summoning?”

“Second bit of good news. Not cultists. No summoning. Just a small group of people and a couple of kids that look like they’ve seen better days.”

That wasn’t the answer that Gene had been expecting, but he decided he wasn’t going to be upset. Better that than fishmen and cultists with their disgusting magic.

“Okay. Good job. We’re out of here. Officer Lawrence is going to want to hear about this,” Gene said.

“But if there are kids, shouldn’t we bring them back?” Olo said.

“It’s dangerous out here on the edge of our territory,” Bastien said.

“I’m not seeing anyone else out there besides these people. No major monsters either,” Mads said.

“See, they can wait a few hours,” Gene said. “Our orders are clear in this situation and I’m not getting in trouble again. We can’t keep getting sidelined and losing out on opportunities to get points. Who knows, we might get a Quest and points if we do what we’re supposed to and bring this info back through the proper chain of command.”

“I’m all for that, but these people looked like they were in pretty bad shape. If they get attacked…” Johnny shrugged.

“We only really have to send one person back. The rest of us can keep watch just in case,” Olo said.

“Too bad we can’t just call it in,” Bastien said.

“Can’t use the radios until we figure out how the cultists are listening in. Got to keep using old school communication methods,” Olo shook his head.

“We should train squirrels or pigeons or something,” Johnny said.

“Is that even possible? I thought they needed to be pets first. Like there had to be an existing, deep-level bond already?” Olo said.

“Guys, focus,” Gene warned. “I agree that it’s a risk to leave these people here, but it’s a risk we’ll have to take. I’m not splitting the party.”

“Alright, our leader has spoken,” Olo said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Yeah. We shouldn’t waste time. The sooner we bring this info back the sooner we can get these people back to safety,” Bastien said.

“If they’re deserving,” Mads said.

No one contradicted her.

Five young people slipped out into the dark streets in varying degrees of stealthiness and made their way back to the relatively safer core of their territory.