by wildbow
There was a crash, and the Pendragon shifted, almost veering into a dive. Defiant corrected the course. “Passing over the wall! One clinging to the top of the ship!”
Revel stirred. “Do you want me to fly out? I can escort us in.”
“No. The Pendragon is built to take a beating. We’re more secure with the ramp closed and everything sealed off. Hold tight. This is going to get worse before it gets better.”
There was another crash. I debated sending my bugs outside, then rethought it. No use, for much the same reason sending Revel out wasn’t going to change things.
Rachel looked exceedingly uncomfortable, and the dogs were reading her body language and getting anxious as a consequence.
I winced at the sound of tearing metal, followed by a sudden shift in the ship’s direction. Something had been torn free. Defiant corrected course again, compensating.
I wanted to say something to Rachel, to calm her or the dogs down, or simply to reach out and connect in the same way that the others in the craft were finding solidarity. The problem was, I wasn’t sure what to say. We’d separated, had walked different paths, and I’d betrayed her on a level. I’d led her to believe she had a friend in me, and then I’d walked away.
She met my eyes, scratched Bastard at the top of his head, then asked, “What?”
“You’re okay?”
“Yup,” she said. She didn’t look okay. She stroked two different dogs, but I almost felt like the gesture was more for her sake than for the dogs.
“Not right now. Just… in general? Are you okay in general? Living on the other world?”
“Yup,” she said.
I sighed, turning my attention back to the box.
“I’m hoping my dogs are okay,” she said, staring down at the metal floor. “Been a while since I’ve been away from them like this.”
“You have people, right? People you…” I let the sentence hang as I tried to recall whether trained was something appropriate for people and not dogs. “People you trained, to look after your dogs.”
“Yeah,” Rachel said.
“Setting down!” Defiant called out.
There was another tearing sound, like nails on a blackboard scaled up to a volume that made it resonate in my bones. Maybe the worst sound I’d ever heard.
Just that thought brought back recollections. The dull, faint sound of an old doctor’s body hitting the ground, after Mannequin cut her throat. My dad’s voice, crying my name, sounding very distant despite the fact that he was right next to me, in the moments before I killed Alexandria and Director Tagg. The non-sounds Brian had made as he’d opened his mouth, noises so quiet they weren’t even whispers, as he hung in the refrigerator, post-Bonesaw, pre-second trigger event.
No, there were worse sounds than the screech of metal tearing. Sounds I’d barely registered at the time, but nonetheless sounds that haunted me.
“Tattletale sent us some old guy to teach us how to butcher the bison,” Rachel said. “None of the others are any good at it, and it’s harder without the dogs there to help haul it off the ground by its back legs.”
The Pendragon set down.
“Taking off will be harder than landing was,” Defiant said. He didn’t flinch as a creature pounced on the glass of the ship’s windshield.
A heartbeat later, something hit the outside of the craft. Something big. The thing on top that was tearing at the metal struck again, no doubt peeling away at an armor panel.
“—And I’m thinking they’re probably getting hungry. Fucking up good meat, not carving out the fatty bits. Or they aren’t getting all the blood out. You have to cut deep to bleed the motherfuckers.”
Distracted by the landing, some of the junior heroes were paying attention to Rachel now.
“What the hell is she talking about?” Hoyden asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. Then I glanced at Rachel. “Either of you. Rachel, they’re going to manage fine.”
“They’re going to manage,” she said.
Defiant was already out of his seat. He had approached the device he’d placed next to my box and managed to get it going just as Rachel finished speaking.
Every monitor in the Pendragon’s cabin flared to life. Countdown timers appeared, white numbers on a black background, with fainter, smaller timers above and below. I knew they would be the minimum and maximum times. The one in the middle was only an estimate.
The craft was struck again, and a dent in the outer walls nearly knocked Tecton from his seat. Everyone reached for something to hold on to, as the Pendragon nearly tipped over onto its side. The dogs barked at the disturbance.
“There are forcefield generators,” Defiant said. “But they take time to recharge. We’ll hold out for as long as we can before using it, waiting until they are more numerous, and our options are limited.”
“Four minutes,” Tecton observed, looking at the monitors.
“We—I think so,” Defiant said. “Plus or minus one minute and thirty seconds. The forcefield generator is housed in the underside of the craft, to provide stronger defense from below. It’ll last after the walls come down.”
“Defensive positions,” Chevalier said.
“Protecting the decoder is a priority,” Defiant said.
We stood from our seats, backing towards the center of the craft, the decoder and my box of bugs at our center. I reached back and opened the box, letting the bugs flow out.
Without my even asking, Defiant opened the ramp at the back a fraction. Like a flower blossoming, slowly at first, then with increasing speed, I could feel my awareness expanding. I could feel the outside of the ship, the creatures that were gathering in ever-increasing numbers. Every shape and size imaginable.
Three were making good headway against us. I could identify the same creature, I was pretty sure, that had been pummeling the wall at the outer perimeter of Ellisburg. It was a quadruped, and it moved with a surprising slowness as it paced away from us. Strands of fur longer than I was tall hung off it, and its head was one armored plate with eyeholes, the edges flaring out and away from its head at the sides and back, allowing its long, pointed ears to freely move behind the plate. It lowered its head in the direction of the craft and tested the ground with one scuff of a spike-studded hoof against the pavement.
I set bugs to attacking its eyes, driving them into ear canals in hopes of distorting its sense of direction. It aborted the charge to shake its head violently.
“Possible incoming right in front of you, Tecton. Any second now.”
“Right,” he said. He held his ground.
“Might be worth moving,” I said.
He looked back at me. “Aren’t we supposed to defend the decoder?”
“Switch,” Chevalier said, with no elaboration. Tecton hurried to take up Chevalier’s position towards the nose of the craft, while Chevalier lowered his cannonblade in the direction of the bulge on the wall.
There were two more creatures that were gouging the hull. One used oversized claws to pry at metal plates. Another was drooling acid onto the roof.
I could sense the round-headed bald girl from earlier as well, one creature that moved with a startling speed as it scratched at the outer edges of the craft, one way, then the other, so the gouges in the metal formed hatch marks. Burrowing, almost. Burrowing very slowly.
Something howled, and it was loud.
The creations were piling around the craft, with a number gathering on the window over the cockpit. Tecton tensed.
“The window is stronger than the metal,” Defiant said. “Don’t panic.”
“It isn’t as flexible,” Tecton said. “One good hit like the one that dented the wall there and it won’t hold up.”
“It’s designed to take rocket launcher hits head on,” Defiant said.
“That doesn’t mean it’s designed to take them from an angle,” Tecton retorted. “My power gives me a sense of structural integrity. I’m saying I’m worried.”
&nbs
p; “Fine,” Defiant said. He watched the ramp, not moving an inch. “Be worried.”
The charger was incapacitated, its eyes devoured, eardrums perforated, with bugs crawling through the middle ear fluids that were pouring down its ear canals. I diverted bugs to the thing that was clawing the armor plates off of the outer edges.
An instant later, the charger lunged forward.
No sense of direction, no ability to see, not even any balance, beyond what its four legs offered.
But it was big, and its target was big as well.
“Heads up!” I shouted.
It slammed into the side of the Pendragon, closer to the back than the location of the first hit. The metal tore where two sections joined together, and a monitor fell to the floor, shattering.
Creatures began crawling through the gap. Defiant moved his spear to the opening, then activated the gray blur. He held it there, allowing them to die and be wounded on contact.
Golem used his power, raising a hand of metal to cover the opening.
Defiant lowered his spear and canceled out the blur.
The disintegration effect might have been worth keeping on hand, but I could understand if he was concerned about another impact knocking someone into the spearhead.
Creatures had hopped onto the charger’s back, and were helping guide it, babbling and screeching, tugging on its fur. It followed their directions, retreating.
I directed my bugs to attack, stinging and biting each of them on the same general side. They reacted, tugging and pulling away, and the charger changed direction. Only his flank glanced the back of the craft, and he trampled through a crowd of the little bastards who’d congregated on and around the ramp.
The round-headed girl sat there, half-crushed, and then began to swell.
“Heads up! Your left, Defiant!” I shouted.
She detonated, and gunk spattered the ramp. I felt bugs die on contact.
The ramp began to melt like candle wax.
I moved bugs to the fray while Hoyden and Defiant advanced on the ramp.
The creatures came in as a singular mass. Dozens at once, practically crawling over one another. A spine glanced off of Defiant’s armor and came within inches of striking the decoder. Foil swatted it out of the air.
Parian’s first doll joined Rachel’s dogs in reinforcing the space behind Hoyden and Defiant. Hoyden kicked and punched at the creatures, and small explosions tore through their ranks. One punch, two or three creatures dead. One landed on her, claws extended, and then promptly flew away as another detonation of flame and smoke flared from the point of contact. She was barely scratched.
If those claws were poisonous, though…
Still, she made for a competent front line, beside Defiant with his disintegrating spear. Every movement of the spear was as precise as Hoyden’s explosions were erratic. The blur effect cut through the enemy like butter, and in the rare occasions where the target did slip away or dodge the attack, Defiant followed up with jolts of electricity and darts.
The charger steered around and began to pick up speed.
“Chev, incoming!”
I tried to distract the charger again, targeting the riders, but it didn’t work. This time, they pulled in different directions, or simply dropped off. It continued on course.
It struck only two or three feet to the left of the first point of damage, and opened up the side. The thing with claws on the roof, squinting against the steady damage my bugs were doing, hopped over and began to pry the gap open wider.
I moved a swarm over the gap, trying to hide the entryway, but it did little good. Both Parian and Rachel shifted position to defend the opening. Golem began trying to patch it up.
“Careful!” Defiant warned, glancing over one shoulder. “Too much extra weight and we won’t be able to take off! Containment foam instead!”
The perils of physics-defying powers. Golem and Rachel both broke the laws of conservation of mass, and now we risked paying for that. The Dragon’s Teeth stepped forward to take over.
I could see the charger turning around. One creature was on its back, a heavily armored thing that had hard, multifaceted eyes like an insect. My own bugs couldn’t damage the orbs. It cheered in a high voice, urging the charger on, with some English words peppered in the midst of its gibbering.
One more minute to go. If we were lucky, it could open any second. If we were unlucky, it would take two and a half minutes.
Two crawled in through the crack in the side, clinging to the ceiling as they made their way in through the cloud of bugs. I pointed, and Foil slashed at them with her rapier. Tecton squashed another with his piledriver.
Over where another of the creatures had been trying to burrow into the side, a creature pushed it aside and spat. The effect was the same as the exploding bubble-head girl from earlier, if less dramatic. Looking at the exterior wall, I could see the hatch-marks appearing in the side as though they’d been drawn in marker, pale against the dark metal. They spread, the effect broadening, until the hatch marks were drawn out in white and the surrounding area was paler.
Something punched through, then reached in blindly to scratch and claw. Golem’s reaching hand broke the claw.
More spots were appearing, though. Dents, gouges, acid… I attacked the creatures that were doing the most damage, as far as I could identify them, but there were more waiting to take their places.
“Nilbog’s creatures!” I spoke, raising my voice. I spoke through my bugs outside. “We mean no harm! We will bring you back your king!”
Nothing but cries of rage and hate in response. No use.
Thirty seconds, now.
The holes in the exterior opened enough for the creatures to start pushing through. The acid burned them where they made contact, but that same contact opened the holes wide enough for others to follow.
The charger lunged, charging again. There was really only one rider it was listening to, but that pilot was a tough one to hurt.
The thing screamed one word in English, twice in quick succession, its voice high,
“Jump! Jump!”
The charger leaped. The result wasn’t graceful, nor was it particularly on target. What it did do was allow the charger to get one foot up on the side of the Pendragon, its upper body partially on the roof. It kicked and struggled in its attempts to move forward, and found one leg caught in the tear it had made on its last charge.
It placed the foot on top of the hands Golem had raised to block the gap, and sheer weight tore them down. It slumped, falling, and then brought the end of its nose inside the ship, dragging it against the tear in fits of thrusting, struggling to free both it and its leg, succeeding only in doing more damage. Reinforced shafts and beams held against the damage, but could see how each wiggle was bending the thick bars.
“I thought you said this thing was tough!” Foil shouted.
“It is,” Defiant said.
“Forcefield might be a good idea!” I called out.
Defiant didn’t respond. Hoyden had made her way down the ramp and was dishing out the hurt close-range. She was keeping the melee threats on their heels with a constant, aggressive offense, while her secondary powers rendered her resistant to the damage that came from a distance. Defiant was left to defend the opening himself.
I drew my knife and my handgun and advanced until I was just behind and to the left of Defiant. He shifted position a fraction, allowing for the extra assistance.
Who knew we’d get to this point, Armsmaster? I thought.
Fighting side by side. I used my knife to impale one creature in the neck, then kicked it back down the half-ruined ramp.
Two of the countdown clocks had hit zero. The one clock remained. The high end of Defiant’s estimation on the decoder’s progress.
“One minute,” I said.
“Maybe,” Defiant said.
“Maybe?”
“We took the time this past year to find Dodge’s old exit points, talking to ex-customers of
the—” he stopped, grunting as he swept the spear at one persistent spine-spitter, “—Toybox group. Used it to get readings, test the decoder. But this portal has different metrics, updated technology. More recent tech.”
“It’s not a guarantee?” Hoyden shouted the words, as explosions continued to rip out around her, tearing through the assembled creatures. They were keeping a healthy distance, now, which meant her very presence was keeping a whole area clear of the blighters.
Nothing’s a guarantee, I thought.
“I never guarantee anything,” Defiant grunted, echoing my thoughts. “Except for a select few promises I make to people I love and people I hate.”
Rachel’s dogs were tearing into the goblins as they made their way through the gap beneath the charger that had wedged into the gap, each dog biting their mouths down once or twice in quick succession before flinging the things away just so they could have their mouths free to bite others. Their paws swept out to club and claw at the creatures. Tecton and Foil guarded the space between dogs, striking out to catch the ones which slipped between the dog’s legs.
I plunged my knife down to stab one of the softer looking targets, then danced back to avoid the spatter of acid that flowed from the wound.
“I’m getting buried!” Hoyden shrieked. She’d been targeted by some critters that were dissolving into a slurry as they burned, with tendrils extending out to draw in the wounded and dead.
They’re reincarnating, feeding on themselves to make more.
“Stop using your power!” Defiant ordered.
“I can’t! They’ll kill me!”
I glanced over my shoulder at the clock, then whipped my head back around as a creature pounced, trying to wrap itself around my head. I shot it, feeling a flare of relief that I hadn’t just been killed, mingled with a regret over the loss of the bullet.
“How is it not done yet!?” I shouted. “Zero on the clock!”
Defiant didn’t respond.
