“Two small children, Minister Helen.” Her interface map sprouted a flood of green dots.
“Good enough. Welcome to Invictus. You have thirty minutes to search your homes and retrieve whatever you can.” Helen waved them toward the Stronghold. All but Rhonda moved inside to scavenge.
Searching the cargo bay, Amanda spotted Prime. “General, please assign some battle droids to secure this Stronghold until we figure out what to do with it.” The general saluted.
“I have assigned one hundred standard reserve troops. They are en route and will arrive here in approximately twenty minutes.”
“Thank you, General. Allistor has already paid for repairs, and the structure should be back to one hundred percent in a day or two.”
Rhonda’s head shot up at those words, clearly surprised. After a moment, she stepped toward the ramp. “Will he… talk to me?”
Amanda stared at her for several long seconds, trying to judge the wisdom of letting the woman see Allistor right then, versus giving him time to cool off.
“You can try. He’s in the captain’s quarters. Nigel can direct you. Do I need to take your weapons from you?”
Rhonda shook her head. “I’m going to ask forgiveness, not to fight.”
Both Amanda and Helen nodded, and Rhonda walked up the ramp past them, disappearing into the ship’s main corridor. The two women looked at each other.
“He might be pretty mad at us for this.” Helen ventured.
“It’s for his own good. He’ll see that eventually. If he comes out mad, we’ll just have to deal with Prince Grumpypants until he cools off.” She gave Helen a sad smile.
Helen returned it in kind, saying, “I just realized Fuzzy’s in there with him. If she says something to make things worse, he might eat her face.” She winked and Amanda snorted.
*****
The moment he heard a knock on his door, Allistor knew who it was. None of his people would bother to knock on an open door.
“Come in, Rhonda.”
She stepped inside and moved to stand near a chair opposite him, looking down at her hands, which were clasped together in front of her as she fidgeted with her storage ring. When she didn’t speak for a long, awkward period of time, he asked, “Your people are all situated?”
“They’re your people now, but yes. Thank you.” she murmured. Then, taking a deep breath, she raised her eyes. “I came to apologize, Allistor. I… don’t know what came over me. My suspicions seemed justified at the time, and…” She paused, then shook her head. “No. No excuses. I was wrong to accuse you. I appreciate the sacrifices you and your people made, more than I can ever express. Once my people have settled in, I’ll leave quietly. Until then I’ll stay out of your way.” She nodded once and began to walk toward the door.
“I’ve been sitting here thinking.” he said, his words halting her progress. She turned back to look at him. “It didn’t occur to me that claiming your Stronghold would look suspicious to you. But I see how it could have. We don’t know each other well enough to trust one another. And me making you stay in the ship… well, I get how it might have seemed to you.” He shook his head, patting Fuzzy and pushing him off the sofa so he could get to his feet. He stepped toward Rhonda, who shrank back slightly before stiffening up and standing her ground.
“I still think you were a total ass for coming at me like you did.” He held out a hand for her to shake. “But I think I understand. How ‘bout we agree to try and understand each other a little better going forward?”
She took his hand, her grip firm as she shook it once. “I can do that. Thank you.” She looked him in the eyes, and he saw the tracks of tears on her face.
“Take a seat. Let’s talk about your Stronghold.” He motioned toward the chair she’d been standing by. Seeing that Fuzzy had stretched out and taken over the entire sofa, he snorted and grabbed the other chair. “It’s like having a two-year old with claws and sharp teeth that eats twenty pounds of food a day.”
Rhonda half-smiled as she watched him look fondly at the bear. She sat in the indicated chair and folded her hands in her lap.
“So… your Stronghold will be fully repaired in a couple days. And don’t worry, it didn’t cost you anything. If you and your people want to continue to live there, we can resupply you with food and some basic necessities. But if you ask me, you should all come live inside Invictus City. We’re clearing apartment buildings – which you and your people could help with if you’re so inclined – and have more than enough room. Your people can focus on improving their skills, or developing new ones.”
Rhonda didn’t really need to think about it. “It’s better if we move inside the walls. The goblins took us out easily, and there’s nothing stopping another group from doing the same. Especially with the losses we’ve suffered. I’m grateful for the offer. And my people are, too.”
“Then that’s settled. When we get back, speak to Harmon. There might be a way for you to sell that Stronghold. Or, if the goblin horde somehow respawns in there, it might make a decent training dungeon for our people. I’m still learning how all this system stuff works.” He shrugged slightly. “In the meantime, if you’d like to continue to level up, we can always use healers in our raid parties. I was planning to hit some new cities and pick up new territories today, but I’m rethinking that now. We have new Strongholds in the Caribbean, Florida, DC, Boston, Toronto, Detroit, and Chicago in addition to our City here in NY and our western properties. That’s enough. I think I’ll have our raid teams go back to each city and simply expand our holdings there a bit. Oh, and the US government would like our help in clearing out a few facilities they’d like to reclaim.”
“Just tell me when and where, and I’ll be there.” Rhonda had gained six levels during the goblin battle, and she was anxious to put her newly improved attributes to work.
The vibration of the ship landing let him know that they were back inside Invictus. He got to his feet and led her toward the elevator and the exit. “As soon as we get back, I’ll call some people together and we’ll interview all your people, see if we can’t figure out where everyone will fit best. Then we’ll get you someplace to sleep, and some supplies.”
When they reached the cargo hold, everyone was still there. Rhonda’s people and Allistor’s all mingled together, staring at the two of them as they walked through the door. Allistor and Rhonda stared back, unsure what to say. The awkward silence was broken when Fuzzy squeezed past them, farting loudly as he crossed the bay toward the ramp.
“Everybody run for your lives!” Helen shouted, holding her nose. “He’s been eating goblin, and that can’t smell good comin’ out!” She glanced at Allistor, grinning before she made a theatrical dash for the fresh air outside. Fuzzy ignored the insult and just kept walking.
Chapter 17
The following day Allistor chose to accompany his raiders on a trip to West Point. Colonel Chapman had reached out the day before while Allistor and company had been fighting the goblins, and wanted the mint cleared and claimed as quickly as possible. So Allistor loaded up his twenty best fighters and healers, including Meg with her newly regenerated leg, along with Prime and a squad of twenty battle droids, and they flew the yacht to DC. Landing on the wide-open space of the ellipse south of the White House, they lowered the cargo bay ramp and awaited the colonel.
He and half a dozen of his men came jogging across the lawn and up into the ship. As they took off again, he shook Allistor’s hand. “Thanks for coming so quickly. The Secretary is sweating, worried the aliens or some other human faction will decide to take the depository. There was apparently a probing attack yesterday morning. We lost six men fighting them off.”
“Happy to help. Can you give us any idea what’s inside? Both the floorplan and any info you have on monsters.”
“The only soldiers that’ve been down there and survived were killed yesterday. But their reports say they fought some skinny white gremlin-looking things that moved fast and had sharp claws.”
&nbs
p; “Creepers.” Helen supplied helpfully.
“Yeah, okay. Creepers. Hundreds of them. They killed a bunch before they were overwhelmed. The report says they were level twelve to sixteen.”
“Alright, we can handle that. Will you be coming with us? We can loop you into our raid and you’ll still get experience points if you wait topside.”
Chapman shook his head. “That’s good to know. We should have brought the Secretary along to take advantage of that. Next time.” He looked at his men, who each nodded. “These men all volunteered to fight. We’ll be going in with you.”
Allistor looked over the soldiers. They each carried a plasma rifle, and he assumed they had more conventional weapons in their inventories. “You guys all have healing and damage spells?”
Chapman said, “I have one of each. My men can all cast fire.”
Allistor looked to Ramon, who shook his head, chuckling. “C’mon guys, gather around. Papa’s got some presents for you.”
Allistor left them to it as Amanda moved to study the soldiers with her Internal Analysis while they learned from the scrolls. He spoke briefly to Prime. “I’d like your troops to tank for us in the front, and cover our backs as well. Maybe half and half?” A question occurred to him. “Do your troops have shields? I’d prefer not to use guns if we don’t have to. If your battle droids can form a shield wall and hold the monsters, we can kill them.”
“Of course, Sire.” Prime used one of his upper arms to reach up over his head and grab something from his pack. He brought it back down with a rectangular sheet of the same composite his body armor was constructed with. Slapping it to his left arm, he flexed his wrist, and the one-foot by two-foot sheet suddenly expanded to a three-foot wide by five-foot tall shield.
“That’s awesome!” Michael said from behind Allistor. “I gotta get me one of them!”
Prime responded. “They are mainly designed to deflect weapons fire, and will be less effective than your own shield in melee combat. But facing small creatures like those described earlier, the shields should perform well enough.”
“Right on! Can I… touch it?” Michael reached out a hand and hesitated.
“That’s what she said” Bjurstrom called out from where he was sitting.
The flight to West Point from DC only took a few minutes. Kira landed them in a nearby field outside the facility’s fence, and the colonel led them through the gate. The building was nothing special to look at, a single-story square structure that looked more like a server farm than a mint. As they walked inside, Chapman said, “This is where they print the Gold Eagle coins.”
Chris nodded, the information he’d found said the same.
Allistor replied, “Great! We’d like our share in those coins, if that’s at all possible.”
Colonel Chapman shrugged. “You clear this place for us, you can have your twenty million in liquid gold as far as I’m concerned. Whatever you want.”
Twenty million was a small fraction of the gold stored at the mint, but Allistor didn’t need gold. The payment was what he’d agreed upon with Secretary Marschner. He’d figured he would bring twenty of his people to each raid, and let them each earn a million klax worth of gold for their time and risk.
Inside there were two large elevators leading to the lower levels, of which there were three. However, there was no power to operate the lifts. So Chapman had his men cover one of the two stairwells while Allistor and company descended the other. The soldiers covering the other stairwell piled filing cabinets and desks in front of the door, not wanting anything to break free.
Allistor, Michael, and Logan led the way, stopping at the first basement level door. The ten battle droids who would tank for them stood right behind the trio, ready to rush through the door. Each of them had attached their small shields to one arm, though they had not expanded them in the tight confines of the stairwell.
“Okay, so we know there are creepers in here. Which means they’ll probably rush the door as soon as it opens. Droids, Logan will yank open the door. I’m going to send a Flame Shot through to knock back whatever is on the other side. Then you get in there and form a shield wall. Use your staff weapons to damage the monsters, but don’t shoot unless I tell you.”
The droids all saluted with a free hand.
Allistor cast Barrier in front of himself, then began to channel a ball of flame in his hand. When he’d built it up for a good six seconds, he nodded to Logan. The big man yanked the door open, and Allistor let the beachball-sized fireball loose. It quickly expanded as it cleared the door. Several light globes went in right behind it, lighting the darkened hallway.
As expected, the small white bodies of creepers flew at them, some knocked back by the fireball, others scooting around or below the spell. Two bounced off Allistor’s barrier when they leapt for his face. A quick examination showed him these were slightly different than the urban creepers they’d faced before.
Shadow Creeper
Level 14
Health: 9,800/10,000
Michael and Logan took them down as the droids quickly rushed past Allistor and through the door, moving to form a shield wall. It only took five of them side by side to bridge the width of the corridor, so the first row took a knee and set the base of their shields on the floor, and the second five formed up behind them and reached out to set their shields atop the first. This gave them a solid wall ten feet high that completely blocked the corridor.
Michael called out, “Forward” and the droids began to move, pushing the unseen creepers back easily and making room for the humans to fill in behind them. They stabbed the pointy ends of their staff weapons through small gaps between the shields with robotic precision.
When all twenty raiders plus Allistor and Fuzzy were set, with spells and weapons ready, Michael called, “Upper row, tilt shields backward seventy degrees!”
Instantly, the second row of droids crouched and the upper row of shields were tilted downward at a nearly-flat angle, covering the heads of the droids. The creepers began to leap over the first row of shields, easily able to clear the five-foot height. They scrambled up the slope of the flattened shields even as fire blasted them back. Allistor wasted no time, casting his Storm spell and watching it build as his people used magic, swords, and spears to keep the creepers at bay. He couldn’t tell exactly how many there were, as many were hidden below the level of the shields right in front of the tanks. But his best guess was more than a hundred.
Finally the cloud finished forming, and the lightning began to strike. Bolt after bolt rained down, blasting into the massed creepers. Most took two or three hits to die, but all were stunned with the first hit. Allistor only needed to channel the spell for about ten seconds before they were all dead.
Michael commanded the droids to stand aside, and advance along the walls. When they were clear of the bodies, they spread out again, shields at the ready. The raiders looted the corpses, then checked all the side doors. They found a few more creepers who’d spawned inside closed rooms. These hadn’t had a chance to kill and feed, so they were a much lower level and easily dispatched. Chapman wisely made sure each door was secured after the room was cleared.
In this manner they advanced through the rest of the first level. Twenty minutes later they pronounced it all clear and moved to the stairwell they had not used. A quick look inside confirmed that it was empty, both above and below. Chapman radioed his men above that they could relax.
Back at the first stairwell, they made their way down to the second basement level. Having no idea what monsters might be inhabiting this floor, Allistor and Logan both put an ear to the door. After half a minute, both men shook their heads. Logan whispered, “I got nothing” into his throat mic.
Shrugging, Allistor motioned for the droid tanks to stay back. He cast Barrier again, drew his sword, and nodded to Logan to open the door.
The moment it was open, Allistor pushed through with Michael and then Logan right behind him, light globes passing over their hea
ds to spread out ahead. The corridor was empty as far as Allistor could tell.
He and Michael moved forward, stopping just before the first set of doors on either side of the hall. Both were closed, and each man put an ear to one as the others joined them. When they heard nothing, Allistor motioned the droid tanks forward. They advanced slowly, clearing each set of doors, then securing them.
When they’d cleared the entire floor, Allistor said, “It can’t be that easy.” before pulling up his interface and the Stronghold tab. He was about to try it, when he remembered this one wasn’t going to be his. He was just a hired gun here.
“Colonel, do me a favor and try to claim this place on behalf of the Secretary, or whatever.” He waited as Chapman’s eyes unfocused. A moment later he shook his head. “Says there are other occupants.”
“Yup, that’s about right.” Allistor sighed. “Whatever they are, they must be downstairs. Let’s go.”
They returned to their stairwell and descended. This time when they reached the bottom, there were clear indications of something trying to get out. The metal stairwell door was dimpled in several places, as if someone had shot it, or struck it with a heavy hammer.
Once again motioning for the droids to stay back, the men listened at the door. Allistor could hear a sort of tapping sound, but it seemed faint, maybe distant.
Making the usual preparations, Allistor nodded at Logan, who pulled open the door. Allistor waited for the light globes this time, following them in. Two seconds later he was very glad he did.
About halfway down the hall was a living nightmare.
Mantis Prowler
Level 30
Health: 71,000/71,000
It was basically a supersized praying mantis. At least a dozen feet long, its forearms looked like jagged wheat scythes made of chitin. Its body was jet black, reflecting the light from the globes that hung above it. Razor sharp mandibles clicked together on the front of its triangular head.
Allistor heard murmurs from his raiders as they poured into the hall behind him. The loudest was Meg.
Shadow Sun Rebellion Page 29