by SK Benton
"Dons, I apologize for the intrusion, but we need to train for an upcoming battle and this is the only place where we can fight against live Vrol," said Max, uncharacteristically interrupting Bagatelle.
"Heya mate! Anything you like. Less demons is a good thing for us all ya know?"
"Sorry for cutting in, Admiral, but Dons aspires to very little - less demons/Vrol and more teeth/currency."
Bagatelle knowingly nodded to Max and turned, and then ordered his troops to file in formation in front of the Hotel California.
Jennie still didn't want to let go of the fact that Marko had been a jerk to Max, so she sauntered over to him, making sure the top buttons of her field uniform were undone. "So, you're the lycan who fought my husband, aren’t you?" she asked the stunned Marko, who could do nothing but stare at her unrealistically-exposed cleavage.
"Umm, yes… erm… he was…a … great opponent… victor… yes."
Jennie looked around and noticed that nearly the entire village had awoken to view the friendly invaders. Massive throngs of people gathered around the off-world troops, staring at their alien wares and armor.
"Max told me you were a formidable opponent," she continued.
"Well, I was… honestly… your… oh crap!" Marko dropped to a knee in front of the gorgeous dega. "I am nothing compared to Max. He destroyed me. He is what I aspire to be, even though I shall never reach his level. You are a goddess, Mrs. Gunnarsson. Please, accept my humble services."
Marko almost started to sob, when Max shot over, wearing an awkward look that matched Jennie's, neither knowing what to do at the moment. Fortunately, Max was a quick thinker.
"Marko! Stand up!"
"Sir!
"Do you know what you have, soldier?"
"No… I really do not sir."
"You have dumb-ass bravery. That is the most valuable currency a soldier possesses."
"Huh? Max… what?"
"Take the compliment!" Max yelled.
"Yes sir!"
Then, the now-famous lycan mage gave Marko a kind and considerate glance, while saying, "Marko… I could use bravery such as yours. Would you like to join our fight?"
"Yes sir! It would be my honor!"
"Then you must first do one thing, Marko!"
"And what is that, sir?"
"Never… never, ever look at my wife's breasts again!"
"Oh my god baby, you are so in for it tonight! You'd better get that master suite."
"You know it, love."
"Sir, I apologize! I am sorry. They are… just… so… perfect!"
Max was about to berate the lycan when the entire contingency, at Bagatelle's command, yelled out, "Correct, sir!"
Jennie nearly fell to her knees in laughter, while Max did everything he could to keep from doing the same.
"Heya Maxie. You got the master suite, ya know. No one's ever allowed there. Anyway, welcome, mate. I…. missed ya."
I took about 30 minutes to assign rooms to the soldiers, with Max having to modify some habitations to facilitate more occupants. They were not there for comfort; they were there for training. Fortunately, before he could finish, his parents showed up, along with his daughter and grandfather.
"My boy, shall I assist in room modification? It does seem you may be a bit overwhelmed at the moment," mused Draagh.
"Heya Pops, ya, I think I could use the help. Hey, why'd you bring Mom and Liliana?"
"They should watch your good deeds, my boy. Plus, I shall soon transport your daughter's friends from Saxman, so they may be able to extract any leftover items from their village up north."
"Hello, Max, sweetie. You are doing such an excellent job," said Max's usually doting mother.
"Papi, what I believe Abuelita means to say is that you are simply awesome at everything you do," added his precocious daughter.
Marko and Adam, always at the perimeter, merely stared at Max's mother, not knowing how to absorb the fact that the woman who gave birth to the lycan mage was such a smoking-hot female. Marko grew a wide grin, until he was kindly reminded by his fake-mage counterpart, "Dude. Ain't gonna happen. Ever. That's Max's mom."
Marko sneered for a moment, until Clarisa hooked her arm into Michael's and looked up at him lovingly.
"And he, as you might remember, is Max's dad," informed Adam, while Marko's face sagged and he stomped off to the bar.
Max and his entire crew sat in Dons' bar, with Liliana sandwiched between her parents on a couch that Dons had certified to be neko-free. Everyone had cold beers, except for the young girl, who was enjoying Jessica's old favorite - non-alcoholic ginger beer. The establishment was packed full of soldiers, all enjoying their drinks, with the Rhönen soldiers being uncharacteristically well behaved.
"So, how far do we need to go out before we run into any Vrol?" asked Max, wanting to get down to business and get his troops some live action to very next morning.
"They've been staying pretty far out - a few clicks, recently. We have a static population, and a certain amount of teeth in circulation, so no inflation. But if we were to hit a shortage of teeth we'd have to go out hunting, ya know?" Dons certainly had a good handle on supply and demand, and appeared to nearly be the leader of the entire area.
"Great. Well, it's still light out, not that it would matter anyway," said Max, "but I think we need to do some recon. Michael, you wanna check out the area?"
"Sounds like fun, son," replied the timeless archangel as he stood up and stretched out his wings, with Max doing the same. This caused a bit of surprised to most everyone in the bar. They were all familiar with Max the off-world lycan and mage, but he had never returned to show the abilities he gained once he had acquired his ghanlo.
"Whoah! Max! You're just full of surprised, mate!" Dons exclaimed while wearing a huge grin.
"My papi has un poco de todo, Mr. Dons," informed Liliana.
"Huh? What's that, little girl?"
"He has a bit of everything. You should really study Castilian, Mr. Dons," said the smallest Gunnarsson, causing the usually stoic Bagatelle to break out into a smile.
Dons turned around and was about to say something to Max, but the Hybrid and his father had already departed via convenient 3d slips. Looking over, Dons saw Marko working the bar like crazy, bringing in plenty of revenue by selling beers and various drink concoctions. Aside from meeting Krynos, it was the first time Marko had been surrounded by fully activated lycans from other worlds. He felt small and weak around them, but he was still stronger than Dons or Adam, so that much kept him satisfied.
"We need to feed the boys before they drink too much. I want them all at their best when we go Vrol hunting," said Bagatelle. "We're getting up, unannounced, at four a.m. for some recon."
"I'll sleep in, if ya don't mind," laughed Dons.
The two angels - a father and son - streaked over the west side of Los Angeles, searching for any signs of Vrol. They noticed some small communities, mostly mixed but having a larger percentage of normals than enhanced subspecies. They kept heading toward the ocean until Max remembered Vrol don't like open water.
"Hey, um, Mike, we won't find any Vrol here. They don't like water. But let's hit Santa Monica anyway. I read a lot about it and wanna see if there are any hidden lairs for ground bugs."
"Max, we should probably wait until nightfall. The rancid creatures shall leave their domiciles in order to hunt their helpless prey."
"Rancid? Domiciles? Really? You lived in hippy-land for a quarter-century and you instantly revert back speaking like William Shakespeare half the time?"
"Dude?" Michael tried.
"Better. Try some contractions too. Anyway, did you notice the buildings along the seashore are in much better shape the further inland?"
The two landed on Santa Monica Blvd., Max hitting the ground hard and trying to mimic how his father and uncle make their impressive, unannounced entries. Getting up from his one bent knee, Max looked around at the vacant buildings and turned to his father, noting
the archangel had an appraising grin on his face.
"What?" Max demanded, giving his father a quizzical glare.
"Your landing was impressive, son. When you were born I imagined us one day flying together."
"Oh yeah, and then you decided to hang out in the land of stinky people for 100 years. You know, if Draagh had never found me I would have simply died as an inactivated normal before you ever showed up."
"Max, first of all, you would have never died - even without activating your mother's part of your genome you still had mine and would have thrived forever. Plus, one of us would have eventually found you. And some things are simply meant to be. Father made sure all went according to plan. He told me so."
"Um, yeah. Right. Okay, so let's start looking for nasties. I wonder if they have dens or something. Never really gave it any consideration when I was stuck here."
"Let's look from above. And remember to use your view. What do you call it? A HUD? I am certain it is much more enhanced now that you have a ghanlo."
"Oh yeah you bet it is! Before it was only some lines giving me personal info, but now it gives me data on other things."
"Very well, son. Use it to identify those whom we seek."
"Boy, you will not end a sentence with a preposition, will you?"
The two bolted up into the sky, the younger of the two relishing in his ability to fly… with his father.
"Jennie, now that Draagh has been so kind to provide us with the raw materials, could you assist in meal preparation, my dear?"
Jennie gave Clarisa Gunnarsson an alarmed stare, being the younger woman had relatively no cooking experience whatsoever. They were standing in the kitchen of the hotel, and Jennie couldn't have looked more out of place.
"Um, mamita, erm… I don't know how to cook. I always just went to the mess hall," stammered the beautiful young woman. She had on two occasions clumsily put together some empanadas for Max, and while they had an excellent flavor, they were amazingly simple to prepare. What Clarisa requested was on a completely different level.
"Fear not, my dears," boomed Draagh, "if you stand aside, I shall prepare the food for our hungry masses. Jennie, I do believe your efforts would be better concentrated on assisting Liliana with her schoolwork."
Jennie gave her grandfather-in-law an awkward look and bolted out of the kitchen and up to the master suite, where Liliana was going over an assignment due the following day.
"Now, young Clarisa, you have done an excellent job in basic preparation. I shall merely replicate your efforts and then bring our hungry soldiers over for their dinners."
Twenty minutes later the dining area of Hotel California was filled with soldiers from various worlds, eating their evening meals and engaging in loud conversation, as was typical of lycan soldiers. They were, however, cautious with the furnishings - especially the soldiers of the Rhönen.
Clarisa, Draagh and Bagatelle sat at a small breakfast counter watching the soldiers eat dinner, when Clarisa noticed something odd.
"Draagh, these boys consumed a great deal of alcohol before crossing the street for dinner. Why does it appear they are all sober now? This place should smell like a brewery."
"A simple alcohol-purging cantus at the front door, my dear granddaughter. Quite simple, indeed."
"Well, that was smart. I'd like to know how to install some of those on Azul once we've taken care of business. And speaking of taking care of business, have you mapped out our portals from Vera Base to the predetermined locations I earlier requested?" Bagatelle was all business, all the time, and he was never more serious about getting things in order.
"Yes, my dear Luigi. May I ask if you have determined who your group leaders might be?"
Bagatelle nodded his head while he took a bite of an empanada, the chosen meal for the evening.
"Yes. I'll be going to New Sydney, Max and Jennie are going to Portlandia, and Krynos is going to Buenos Aires."
Draagh gave the admiral an odd glance, not liking the choice of locations.
"My dear boy, might I ask why Max and Jennie shall not be going to their home country, but instead to a place filled with pacifists? Do you lack faith in their abilities?"
"I know for certain that Max and Jennie will not wantonly murder those in their target location. The other teams… I am not so sure. Aside from this, once they have captured the ports, local law enforcement and occupy City Hall they will move over the New Sydney to accompany me into the Capitol area. Krynos will encounter resistance in Argentina, but we are sending a massive group of Azul military with him. I only hope he doesn't go into a berserker rage."
"No, my boy. I shall accompany my old friend and make sure he does not wantonly slaughter the innocent. We wish to perform this operation as cleanly as possible, with minimal bloodshed, am I not correct?" said Draagh.
"Yeah, especially now we have the media on our side," said Bagatelle. "They'll pump out the right information and keep all of the citizenry in their home."
"Except for gen vamps. They'll run around all crazy and need to be eliminated," added Clarisa.
"Correct, and it will provide us with a…"
"A… culling opportunity? Yes, I believe that is what we would call it, Luigi. At one time they were a necessary part of the ecosystem, so their fates were intertwined with the rest of the humanity."
"Okay, I'm ready to hit the rack. Let's put these guys to bed. They have a busy day tomorrow."
Max and Michael found a rather massive nest of Vrol in the south-central area of Los Angeles. Many of the industrial buildings in the area had been coated with what appeared to be an organic layer of paint or extra protection. It wasn't enough to keep them out, but they refrained from entering, using their considerable magic skills to send in small, invisible camera drones which showed web-like areas where the putrid creatures slept. They appeared to be nocturnal, and Max mad a mental note that they might not function well during daylight hours if they ever made it to Azul.
"Hey Pops, check out the middle of the warehouse. See that tall construct? Now scan the electromagnetic spectrum and watch what happens," said Max, looking into a large building via his drone.
"It appears that they are receiving some sort of signal, my son. Shall we follow it?"
"Straight up. Race ya!"
The two rocketed out of the atmosphere, easily eclipsing Mach 8, surprised to see what they should have noticed long before. A badly-damaged Brood Carrier maintained orbit, still providing an energy signal to the various Vrol nests below.
"So that's how they maintain their psionic armor," exclaimed Max. "Should we destroy the ship right now and be done with it?"
"No, Max."
"But… why not? Don't you care about the people down below? I do! They're my friends!"
As the two floated in the vacuum of space, Michael put his hand on Max's shoulder while looking at him with a warm, yet serious gaze.
"Did I not inform you that we in positions of power must make decisions that would seem illogical to normal beings? I mean, yes, we could decimate the Vrol here and now in this timeline, but the truth is, Max, that they are an embedded part of this ecosystem. They hunt, cull, and help to maintain the population. Their teeth provide currency for the myriad of denizens here. They are all in this together, Max. We cannot interfere in such a manner."
"Okay, I understand. I guess. Let's get back. We found a nest so this is where the soldiers can train."
Max sat on Dons' private couch, relishing in the music performed by Lennie's band. They were playing a lush, rhythmic beat, accompanied by synthesizers and distorted guitars. Lennie's pregnant wife, Jellie, was using her substantial voice to add to the arrangement. Once they were done, Lennie made a bee-line to Max, sitting down next to his friend.
"Heya Maxie! Good ta see ya, mate!"
"Hi Lennie, same here. How's Jellie doing?"
"Getting big. Little Max will be healthy and happy."
"I'm sure he will be. Anyway, we're only here for a short whi
le, but I'll make it so you can send me a message when he's born. Jen and I'd love to meet the little fellow."
"Max," said the mellow vampire, "I got ahold of a history book, and there was something called godparents. Anyway, I was wondering if you and your wife would agree to be little Max's godparents. It seems like a ceremonial thing, nothing formal, ya know."
Max smiled and nodded his head. "You bet, Lennie. It would be our honor."
"Max, you do realize that the duty of godparents is to take charge of the child in case of the death of the parents, right?" Jennie thought out to her husband over their shared comm.
"I know, sweetie. That's what friends are for."
Chapter 14 - Raid
Four a.m.
A massive group of lycan soldiers from three very different worlds stood in formation, their commanding officer, Luigi Bagatelle inspecting them for any irregularities. Accompanying the admiral were Max, Jennie, Draagh, Michael and the newly arrived Gabriel and Jessica, the latter along to assist in pointing out the weak spots on Vrol necks.
This was to a slaughter-in-training. While Draagh and his sons were initially reticent to wantonly disrupt the balance of the local Vrol population, it would soon recover. The most important part of the exercise was to train soldiers how to kill Vrol in case they made it to Azul, which in itself was a waiting game. The side slip drive capabilities on Azul's massive naval carriers were still inaccessible to the military, thanks to Len Johnson's tinkering. Although they were making headway in the project, they were developing contingencies for alternate scenarios. It was smart, effective planning.
Bagatelle walked out to the troops and announced the beginning of the exercises.
"Troops, we are here for critical training, as you all well know. We are slipping out south by southeast, the location of the nest too far to go on foot. This shall be facilitated by Michael, Gabriel, Max and Draagh. We'll go in small groups, so stick together. The termination point is four kilometers away from the nest, so there will be ample Vrol activity in the area. Remember your briefings, keep your wits about you and good hunting." Bagatelle walked off to the side, allowing Max to address the troops.
