by Ramy Vance
“All right. That sounds pretty solid to me. I’m going out on a limb with you here. I want you with Stew. Give him backup. And, I’m going to tell you this right now, if you hurt anyone under my watch, I will stop you. And I’ll give you to Sandy. Do you understand?”
Tobin shivered as he answered. “Even if I wasn’t completely on board, I would listen purely not to be alone in the same room with her ever again.”
“Either way, that’s good enough for me. Go figure shit out with Stew.”
Tobin left and went to Stew, leaving Suzuki to watch as the Mundanes all figured out their separate pieces of the plan. Now Suzuki had to figure out how he was going to make a difference in the battle to come. He sat down, looking out into the night, the moon hanging heavy in the sky, swollen as if pregnant with possibilities.
It was a little past one in the morning when Suzuki saw the caravan approaching over the small bump of a hill in the distance. He sat up from his hiding spot, momentarily shedding the grass camo he and Beth had fashioned earlier in the night as they spoke about the plans of the evening, also talking about their other plans, the latter being vague and ambiguous, confusing and frightening them both while also planting a fire firmly in both their chests.
Suzuki raised his axe and set off his fire enchantment for a moment so the axe flashed in the night. It could have been easily mistaken for a shooting star, not that it needed to be. The flash was bright and fast and was meant for certain eyes. It was doubtful anyone else would have noticed.
The battle cats had been corralled somewhere in the darkness, watched by Diana. Suzuki thought it would be best to keep her out of the mix. If the tanks had been developed for the Mundanes, Diana’s role was close enough to Sandy’s old one that she could easily be compromised. Diana had reluctantly agreed. If the situation became horrid, she would rally the battle cats and bring the fight to the tanks. For the time being, she would wait and see how the ambush unfolded.
Suzuki took out Beth’s spyglass and surveyed the caravan as it approached. There were five tanks, the exact same model as the one Suzuki had seen before. He wondered what it meant that these tanks had been designed for the Mundanes, and why the one they had encountered before was only a prototype. Maybe there was one tank per Mundane. Suzuki was flattered by the idea that it would take an entire tank to fell one Mundane. That flattery was short-lived as he focused on the war machines moving through the valley.
The first tank wasn’t too far from Sandy’s handiwork. That was the sign for the Mundanes. If everything went smoothly, they could take care of most of the tanks without a problem. And Suzuki had no lack of faith in his party members.
Suzuki heard the explosion before he saw anything; there was a loud bang but no light. Suzuki looked through the spyglass. He spied a cloud of deep green smoke rising from the ground, nearly obscuring his ability to see. He had already thought something like this might happen, so he jumped to his feet and ran to his second vantage point.
The first tank had crossed over Sandy’s trap. The explosion had been her corroding bombs unleashing. As the miasma settled over the tanks, the hands of the dead trolls burst from the ground, grasping for the wheels.
The tank sped up, trying to speed past the reanimated appendages of the trolls. It was able to, flying past them, but the second tank was not so lucky. By now, the trolls had mostly pulled themselves up from the ground, their bodies still in fairly good condition, their eyes burning red in the night as they turned toward the tank closest to them, surrounding it, their massive arms slowing the tank down to a stop, tipping it over while the rest of the tanks, backed away and tried to go around the obstacle.
Up ahead, the first tank exploded in a flash of light. Suzuki glassed the area. The tank must have just gone over Beth and Chip’s traps. They were simple things. Mere explosions but rigged expertly so the slightest touch would cause them to engulf in flames whatever passed over them. And there were more. That was just the first. The whole path had practically been lined with them.
The other tanks flew off the road, trying to avoid the path. That was when Stew stepped in. Even in the darkness, illuminated only by the flames of the fire, Stew’s hulking presence could be seen as he leapt from the shadows like some overgrown mix between a man and a wolf and ran toward one of the tanks, his shoulder cannon firing.
The tank’s cannon turned to face Stew, but he was too fast. He slammed into the side of the tank, sending it flying through the air as his shoulder cannon fired two more shots that tore the top of the tank off. It was close to where the prisoners were being held, but Suzuki trusted that Stew had his shit together enough not to make a grave mistake such as that. As the tank fell to the ground and skidded, Suzuki could see Tobin running toward the tank, holding to the darkness, so he could free the giants held within.
Suzuki looked over the entire battlefield. That was three tanks taken care of. There were only two more left. “Converge on the tank closest up the road,” Suzuki commanded through his HUD as he checked the percentage of the party’s success. It rested at a comfortable ninety percent. “Sandy, keep the tank in place. Stew, get in there and do damage. Beth and Chip, spread out and get ready to deal with the second one. Tobin, keep opening up those tanks.”
There was a chorus of “rogers”.
Suzuki watched as bones ripped out of the ground and covered one of the tanks moments before Stew, having grown larger and much less lean, barreled into the side. The tank tipped over before Stew leapt atop it and ripped the cannon off. That means just one more, Suzuki thought, glassing the last tank.
As Suzuki watched the last tank, he noticed it had not followed the other tanks, nor had it veered off its path. It had stopped dead in its tracks. Within seconds, it became obvious why the tank had ceased to move.
The night air filled with a siren. It sounded like the old World War II sirens Suzuki had heard in the movies.
The tank’s wheels shot out from under it and four spindly legs stretched out as the top section of the tank extended into the air, arms stretching from the new upper torso as the cannon extended farther up. The arms split apart at the elbow so each had two separate appendages attached and ended in two plasma cannons each.
Suzuki leapt onto his battle cat and pulled his axe out.
He wasn’t sure which of the Mundanes this tank was meant to target, but he was acutely aware it was not something any of the Mundanes had been expecting. He rode off toward the tank, his free hand gripping his battle cat’s fur tightly as the rest of the Mundanes looked up, aware of the gigantic mechanical fiend that had risen up against them.
The mobile tank fired four shots, one from each of its hands, and another from the cannon atop its head. The plasma ripped through the air, leaving the scent of sulfur. The bolts hit the ground near Chip, searing away the grass and the earth as she leapt into the air, barely avoiding the blast. Diana ran toward Chip, casting a levitation spell and tossing Chip away from the burning earth.
As Suzuki rode toward the massive mechanical monster, he pulled up his HUD. Twenty-five percent chance of success. Goddamn it, Suzuki thought as he stood up on his battle cat. He scanned the battlefield. The rest of the Mundanes were getting into defensive positions, hiding behind the hills that enclosed the valley. It looked like Suzuki was the only one who was heading toward the machine. That was probably the best idea. The rest of the Mundanes had abilities that set them apart from each other. Suzuki didn’t. He added nothing exceptional to combat other than his mind, and that was not something you could pin down and attack. At this point, it didn’t make sense to try to micromanage the party. They knew what the threat was. They would be able to figure it out on their own. All he had to do was make sure he wasn’t fucking it up.
Suzuki took aim at the cannon atop what looked to be a head on the giant mechanized tank. He slowed his breathing, tried to imagine his axe flying in an arc toward its destination. Then he launched it and waited to see what would come.
The tank turned a
ll its cannons toward Suzuki’s axe and fired. Suzuki watched as his prized axe was obliterated. “Oh, that’s just fucking great!” Suzuki shouted as the cannons turned in his direction. Just my luck, Suzuki thought. The tank meant for me would be the one that was left over.
Suzuki ran through his inventory until he came across the magic flares. He fired one into the air, setting the sky aflame with a streak of red. “All Mundanes on me,” he shouted as he kicked his battle cat’s sides, racing for the hill he had come from.
The machine fired five shots, one from its head and the others from its arms as its multiple legs scrambled in Suzuki’s direction, steel and gears groaning as it raced past the rest of the Mundanes.
Sandy stretched out her palm and bones erupted from the earth, snagging the machine’s legs. “Battle cats!” she shouted.
The battle cats lying in wait bounded from the darkness, each of them going toward their rider. Azrael was first amongst them, and as Sandy leapt onto him, a massive bone spear shot from her palm, nearly the size of her entire body. Blood gushed as she screamed in pain, and the spear connected with the back of the machine moving toward Suzuki.
The machine paused in its attack. It turned, swaying its cannon like some sort of eye to the rest of the Mundanes. “All right, guys,” Beth said. “This is where we end it.”
Suzuki patched himself into the rest of the Mundanes as he swung around on the other side, oblivious to the tank now that it had another focus. “Stew! Take the legs out with Sandy. Chip and Beth, if you can get on top of that thing, go for the cannon. Diana, come in strong. I want as much fucking wind as you can bring to topple this son of a bitch.”
Diana took off from her position. She levitated into the sky, the black clouds swarming behind her, her wand outstretched. The cracks of her skin shone bright blue in the dead night, and bolts of lightning streaked through the sky, striking in a circle around the giant machine.
As the ground tore itself asunder, Stew’s body pulsed and swelled. He fell forward on all fours, his jaw stretching as if he hoped to swallow the whole body of his prey, and he bounded forward as Sandy ran after him. Stew threw himself against one of the machine’s legs while Sandy shot bone spear after bone spear at the other.
The machine took aim with its head plasma cannon as it began to topple, trying to fire but unable to choose a target. Its plasma beam went flying into the darkness of the night as its massive hands hit the ground, trying to hold itself up.
Suzuki was closing in atop his battle cat. He saw his opening and stood. Even if he didn’t have his axe, he still had the standard weapons in the MERC inventory. He pulled down his HUD to see his percentages. Eighty percent chance of success, and that was unarmed. Fucking perfect. He leapt from the back of his battle cat, sailing through the air as, across the battlefield, Beth did the same. They both landed on the back of the machine as it stumbled to its feet in awkward movements.
Beth pulled out her daggers and slammed them into what would have been the spine of the creature. Suzuki ran toward its head cannon, pulled a broad sword from his inventory, and began hacking.
At the machine’s base, Stew had set to the task of crippling it. He threw his entire body into the attempt. Sandy was beside him, pulling up bone after bone to wrap around the machine’s other foot as Chip slid beneath the machine’s legs, firing plasma shot after plasma shot, tearing through the machine’s crotch. Above, Diana was bringing down another series of lightning bolts.
Suzuki raised his sword and drove it deep into the machine’s main cannon.
There was a puff of smoke and something like a groan from the machine. Then the giant mech tank collapsed forward. Beth and Suzuki leapt off it, letting the machine crash into the ground.
The Mundanes gathered around the broken machine as Tobin rushed over and freed the giants within.
Suzuki only caught a glimpse of Tobin. His focus was elsewhere. In the distance, he saw a tank heading for the lights of the facility. Goddamn it, he thought to himself. They had a backup plan.
The Mundanes watched as the tank disappeared into the distance, the giants surrounding them and standing silently. “I’m going to assume I’m not going to be able to persuade you guys to help us.”
The largest giant nodded and opened his mouth, no doubt to give the same speech the giants they had encountered earlier had given. Suzuki raised his hand and nodded quickly to show the giant he already understood their reasons for not wanting to join the fight. “No problem, don’t worry about it. We understand.”
Stew clicked his teeth as he looked at the giants but kept his mouth shut. Sandy was coaxing him so his muscles would return to normal.
Beth peered at the facility through her spyglass. “It’s not that far away. We could get there in under half an hour.”
Suzuki took the spyglass from Beth and looked through it. She was right. It wouldn’t take too long to get there. The problem was not knowing what they were walking into. The fact there were giants heading to the facility meant it was probably manned, but they also weren’t getting any deliveries from a sphere overhead. That meant there was a chance the facility wasn’t filled with angels. It was most likely this was going to be a trap. The Dark One had already anticipated the Mundanes' decision to try to derail the caravan. It would not have been a hard guess to assume they would chase after the giants to free them.
Suzuki handed Beth the spyglass. “They’re going to be waiting for us,” he admitted.
Beth scoffed and pocketed the glass as she jumped onto her battle cat. “Obviously, but we’re the heroes. We gotta do what we gotta do,” Beth countered. “What else are we going to do? Sit on our asses and wait for them to come out and greet us?”
“We’re going to have to go into this one blind.”
The rest of the Mundanes climbed on their battle cats, Tobin jumping onto Diana’s steed as Diana awkwardly looked around while Tobin wrapped his arms around her waist.
Suzuki pointed his new MERC axe at the facility. “All right, Mundanes. We know there are giants, probably angels, a shit ton of sprouts, and maybe the hardest fight of our lives,” he shouted. “For honor!”
“For glory!” Beth, Stew, and Sandy shouted.
“For XP!” Diana and Chip joined in.
Tobin looked around confused, his eyes jumping from Mundane to Mundane. “You guys have a fucking catchphrase?” he asked.
Suzuki’s HUD dinged. He looked down to check it. The message was from Myrddin. It said, Most recent intel. Omega-level threat. Facility is massive. All staff is armed. Unclear how deep it runs long and down. Sending reinforcements. Do what you can. Stay alive until the cavalry arrives.
“Tobin, I think you should head out for this one,” Suzuki said. “Just heard from Myrddin. Apparently, we are in for a fucking fight. He doesn’t know all of what’s inside there, but whoever the hell is there is armed. We’ll give you the coordinates for the Red Lion.”
Tobin tried to argue but Suzuki raised his hand. “No, you’re going to the Red Lion. But you are a MERC now. Get your ass out of here. All right?”
Tobin finally stopped putting up a fight and nodded. “All right, but the next one, I’m coming with.”
Suzuki extended his hand and Tobin took it. “That’s a fucking promise.”
22
The Mundanes approached the facility, coming up on it slowly. Staying to the outskirts so they would not be caught in the light, the Mundanes attempted to be as quiet as possible. It felt like a useless decision. Suzuki was certain whoever was inside the facility already knew the Mundanes were coming. There was no way they didn’t. Still, he wanted to avoid walking into a trap outright.
Once they were along the side of the facility, Beth and Chip separated from the main group to attempt to find a way in. It took less than ten minutes for them to find a suitable window to crack open so they and the rest of the Mundanes could sneak inside.
Suzuki was the last one to go through the window. He’d taken a moment to pull another
axe from the MERC inventory, remembering Stew’s endless weapons stock and drawing a new one. He stumbled onto the cool, sterile floor and picked himself up as quickly as he could. He looked around the room. None of the lights were on, and it was very dark. It had the same feeling as the last facility they had gone through, but Suzuki knew this one was not abandoned. “Find some lights,” Suzuki suggested.
Chip’s eyes glowed a bright white. She scanned the room, light falling wherever she cast her eyes. She found a switch and flipped it.
Once the lights were on, Suzuki could see the layout. They were in some kind of research room. There were scientific devices laid out on different tables, the likes of which Suzuki had never seen before. The tech in the room, as usual, was far beyond what Suzuki had ever seen before. The only thing Suzuki recognized was a datapad lying on the table. He grabbed it and tossed it to Chip.
Chip caught the datapad and booted it. “Might not be a good idea to go hacking in. Could mean giving away our position and a shite-ton of ghoulies coming up our asses.”
“Get as much information as you can,” Suzuki replied. “We’re blind here. Maybe a layout, or at least the closest guess of where they would be taking the giants.”
Chip looked through the datapad, groaning with irritation as she searched for the answers. She finally found what she was looking for. “Most likely going to be in the breeding room,” she said as she pocketed the datapad.
Stew coughed and tried to stifle his giggling. “Is it seriously called the breeding room?” he asked.
“That’s what it said.”
“Sweet. I’ve always wanted to check out a breeding room. See how it’s done.”
Suzuki shook his head as he sighed and headed for the door. “Stew, can you keep the stupid jokes down until we have a better idea what the fuck we’re doing?”
