Tattoos & Rail Guns Chapter 21: The Chaos Becomes Order

Kev grabbed a gargoyle and tossed it just outside the circle of dogs while kicking another. The third clawed him across the belly, leaving deep wounds. Kev hit the one he had kicked, stunning it. The one tossed outside jumped back into the fray. Kev's wounds began healing, but he would not be able to keep up with the damage for long.

The eyes of the dogs shifted from green to red. The dogs opened their mouths and let loose with a barrage of machine gunfire. The kids froze but the bullets ricocheted off their shields.

Nail smiled. “Guess someone forgot that we were sorcerers inside a mana zone.” He signaled to the other kids to split up and attack whatever targets they could. “Bet they don't forget again.” The shepherds agreed; they closed their mouths while doors on their backs opened and a laser cannon came up. “Heads up, guys!”

Kev's combat had settled into a simple rhythm, where he would remove one gargoyle from combat, daze another, and get clawed by the third. He needed to do something to change that rhythm; he would only be able to last a few more seconds before they started shredding him.

The kids started waging their own war. Nail gestured at the dogs and small needles of force flew at the shepherds, piercing their armor. Spike shot at the dogs like a cowboy; explosions erupted around them. Neither attack brought down any dogs but they would make their armor easier to pierce for the others. Glorious spread her hands out and a wall of force erupted between the kids and the dogs. Lace clasped her fist and pulled it down; threads of force surrounded a shepherd and drew it down. Hyacinth put a hand up and one of the dogs was drawn into the earth below it. Surf drew back and tossed a water ball at a shepherd; it was surrounded by water.

Kev jumped out of combat and rolled away from the gargoyles. As he stood up he touched his armor tattoo and was covered by a force field. He then touched his tiger's claw tattoo and his fist found itself covered with blades. He spun around to catch the fastest gargoyle as it reached him; he smiled as he saw rows of ichor grow in its face from the blades. Properly armed and armored he now may actually stand a chance.

The four remaining shepherds fired at the kids but Glorious' wall held. Nail repeated his needle attack, but Glorious threw a lightning ball at the encapsulated shepherd; it exploded from the combination of electricity and water. Hyacinth tried the same trick but the dog jumped away from the hole as it opened. Surf found his spitball dodged as well. Lace collapsed her mana threads, crushing the dog within them. Spike's exploding bullets were still effective.

Properly armed, Kev put his all into his next claw strike and ripped through a gargoyle. He dodged one claw attack while getting slammed by the last gargoyle. He was dazed for just a moment but not long enough to get caught by the follow-up.

The last two shepherds ducked around the wall and hit Nail with a pair of laser blasts. The kid was sent sprawling by the force. Glorious panicked and rushed to his side while conjuring a ball of healing energy. Hyacinth nodded to Surf, Surf nodded to Spike; the shepherd jumped over Hyacinth's pit but got caught in Surf's spitball. Spike made a cocking motion and pretended to shoot the encapsulated dog with an imaginary shotgun; the dog exploded. Lace caught the last dog in her threads and then collapsed them, crushing the last shepherd.

Kev tossed a gargoyle out of combat and then sliced through the other gargoyle. He leaped at the remaining gargoyle and then punched through it.

Nail woke up. “Ouch.” Glorious' hug almost sent him back to an unconscious state. The other kids surrounded the pair, making sure that there were no other incoming attacks before making sure Nail was fine. Kev allowed his armor and tiger claw to fade away as he walked over to the kids. Kev looked at Nail to make sure he was okay. “You Green Skulls work together well.”

Nail looked at him. “Like I said: We're the defense force. Getting rid of invaders is what we do.” He stood up. “You didn't do that bad yourself. Those things looked tough. Well, for you anyway. We could have taken them a lot faster.:

Kev's eyes rolled. “I am sure you could.” The Skulls patted Kev on the back, which led to a rather informal debriefing. Well, if you could call bragging about defeating an enemy and insulting that same enemy a “debriefing.”

Meanwhile, a drone lifted up and left the scene, returning to its base on the fiftieth floor of a hotel miles away.

* * * * *

Deezle the Defiler smiled. He may have lost a significant portion of his resources, but he had secured a lot of great information. He not only had caught the tattooed warrior fighting but also footage of sorcerers in battle, something Lellend had been looking for. He sat back in his chair. Yes, today had been a good day.

* * * * *

Sharness smiled as the air hit her hair. She loved flying, the ability to ignore gravity through her own effort, the beating of her wings freeing her from the pull of gravity, as well as the gliding through thermals in order to watch the sunset, but there was just something exhilarating about the thrust between her legs and the wind in her hair. She was able to focus on speed, pure speed, like she couldn't when she was flying. Her motorcycle alone allowed her to enjoy her time on this mudball.

The three of them had been sent here to accomplish a specific goal, and now they were close to accomplishing it. Deezer the Dork had been assigned to make sure that the ritual wouldn't be interrupted; his security systems and system of gargoyles had managed that exceedingly well. She was to provide the fuel; she had more than enough potential sacrifices to take care of her end of the deal. Lellend had been tasked to infiltrate the nearest base and acquire any materials they needed, a mission he was remarkably suited for.

The mission was coming to a close. The circle had been drawn and consecrated, they had all of the materials they needed, and the spring solstice was only days away. She had arranged to have the dozen virgins delivered to Rochester-Fallon, and they would make their way to the 51st floor. Once there they would be used to fuel a portal that would let in an entire army and would be permanent. Of course, a good chunk of the building would be gone, but it would be so worth it.

She smiled as the thought of how the human military would react. At least, in the minutes before being overwhelmed by the horde of demons from the new portal. The screams would be well worth all that she had suffered through on this planet!

She lowered her head, allowing the wind to whip through her hair as she drove back to their base. She pushed the thought of conquest from her mind as she enjoyed the wind. Tomorrow they would rule the world, but today she would enjoy the warmth of the sun on her face, the wind in her hair, and the thrust between her legs. She hugged the bike as she twisted the throttle and sped off into the distance.

* * * * *

Lieutenants Sawyer and Prowse walked over to the entrance, discussing the final details of the treaty with Risk and Hazard. Kev was a few meters behind, his new friends having deserted him for the ongoing party.

Lieutenant Sawyer offered her hand to Hazard. “I just need to run it by General Martins, but we should be fine.”

Hazard took the hand and shook it. “Cool.” He let her hand go.

Risk gave her a pack. “This should keep you alive on the way back.”

She took the pack and put it on. “Thanks, but we should be back with our squad soon enough.”

Lieutenant Prowse smiled. “Thanks for having us. Here's to when we meet up again!” She started down the tunnel. Lieutenant Sawyer soon followed, with Kev pulling up the rear.

The trip back was uneventful, and soon enough they were back where they had begun. Lieutenant Sawyer pulled herself into the sunlight, eyes squinting against the glare.

“About time you came out of that pit, Lieutenant.”

She smiled as she recognized Rodriguez's voice. “Nice to be back, Sergeant.” She looked around, noticing the team was decidedly worse for wear. “I presume you kept busy during our little expedition.”

“Yes, ma'am, and we have a developing situation that needs to be dealt with.”

She walked over to the vehicle. “Sounds like fun. Let's talk about it on the way back.”

* * * * *

After a quick shower and an even quicker meal, she was yet again in the office of General Martins.

General Martins sat back in her seat. “You've had a busy day, Lieutenant.”

Lieutenant Sawyer sat up. “Yes, sir.”

The older woman looked at her tablet. “You've been blown up, negotiated a treaty, and uncovered a nest of demons.” She then looked at the lieutenant. “Sound about right?”

She glanced up. “Yes, sir.”

She rubbed her neck. “All right. The treaty looks solid: We get fresh blood, they get supplies. Luckily, we can spare the supplies.” Lieutenant Sawyers sighed. “Also, the reconnaissance of the cavetown is good, as well as the additional information regarding Kev and Douglas. Good job on that.”

“Lieutenant Prowse helped with that, sir.”

She smiled. “Obviously. However, there is the matter of the demon nest.” She paused to pour Lieutenant Sawyer some water and then topped off her own glass. “That creates a problem. Fortunately, Sergeant Rodriguez's report on the building is rather complete, including video. We just need to decide if we attack the floor or the building, and if so, how to proceed.”

She took a long sip of her water. She breathed out, then charged in. “The floor. We need to treat this like we would any other intelligence-gathering operation and see if there is any actionable intelligence. I appreciate there may be some serious obstacles, such as that one serpent demon, but I'm sure we can figure out something. It would be nice to be a step ahead for once.”

She nodded. “Yes, yes it would.” She paused to drink her own water. “All right. Then we just need to come up with a plan, and we need to act fast; there's a risk that they may be moving their operation.”

She allowed herself to smile but sobered up. “So let's put our technology to use. Here's what I'm thinking...”

[The last chapter can be found here.]