The nest was dying.
It had been struck a terrible blow. Something had burst into the Caverns of the Host and bloomed into a flower of fire and fury unlike anything it had ever felt before. The walls were seared of life, leaving a steaming vapor as it blasted the home clean, the walls themselves melting and running into lines like candles left too long.
The intelligence was also dying, taking its last breath through what might loosely have been called lungs. Not understanding what a nuclear weapon was, it puzzled over the devastation that had been wrought with its’ last thoughts. Deep into the places where they had dwelled, the heat and flame reached, cleansing the halls and rooms of life down to the last microbe.
Holes had been driven through the ground, letting the sunlight through and a deep roar before everything collapsed. Before it expired, it gave the command to let loose the Deep Ones, those whom even the warriors feared.
Let them go, to cause havoc on those who have killed us.
The word went out, through pheromone and click-signals, resounding to those lower depths where even the Nest never went. It would take them a while to reach the enemy, the warriors already out there would have to be sacrificed for the greater revenge.
It wondered to itself if they would be enough. To get some measure of revenge on whatever had killed it.
It never finished that thought, the follow-up bombardment of howitzer and heavy mortar rounds ended anything the intelligence might have been thinking.
In its thirst for vengeance, it had released what even they, as aberrations themselves, feared.
-----
Crusader watched through the haze of battle, his drones tracking each and every thing that moved in the controlled section of the city. The Hounds and combat spiders that Athena had fabricated were pushing back the remnants of the invading force. Caseless ammunition was hard to produce and keep fresh, so the streets were littered with shells from the weapons on the tanks and spiders. Brass rolled under his hooves as he moved quietly through the retaken section of the Empire city.
He watched the heavy forms of the Dragon Assault vehicles roll down the wide streets, treads gripping the hard surface as they prowled for more targets.
Spiders hung on every street corner, scampering along the rooftops. There weren’t that many of them, but what they did have were used efficiently to make them an effective force multiplier.
The whip crack of a rifle shot, followed by the sound of another shell hitting pavement, caught his attention. Seeing a shadow topple over with a large hole blown through the cranial area. The spiders were becoming very efficient in their tactics he noticed, watching the sniper skitter out from underneath an overhang and into a side street.
He took a moment, smiling to himself as he walked the now quiet streets. The last of the invaders were being pushed into a pocket where they would be handily destroyed by a combination of tank and spider fire.
The enemy had sorely miscalculated, the existence of something beyond their ken had taken any impetus out of whatever their plan had been, throwing it back into their faces with a dose of viciousness for added flavor.
That something was he and his sister, and one very capable human who had taught them how to be guerrilla fighters of the deadliest sort. Bolos never did urban combat, they just leveled the area. But now, they learned lessons at the urgings of an old and accomplished master of the art, telling them where the mistakes would be made and letting them extrapolate outcomes with lightning speed. Taking his ideas and expanding on them, turning their auxiliaries into troops that would form a line of resistance.
It was all new and exhilarating, this form of combat never before attempted with Bolos. The AI cores burned with plans, tactics, evolving more and more as the fight dragged on, becoming a ruthless force behind the vehicles that carried out their will. The tanks and newly made combat spiders were used with an utter mercilessness that would have shocked their former commanders.
Now they swarmed through the formerly quiet neighborhoods, wiping out the monsters who at first seemed to have an intelligence not suspected, but it was too late.
They were the enemy, they would be crushed without mercy.
It had been a long while since they were put to the task, engaging in warfare with fabrication plants going, producing more munitions for the fight continuing in the neighborhood. Their hulls thrummed with desire, the longing, the absolute joy of bringing doom to their foes.
He allowed himself a slight moment of pique, it was too bad the battle was winding down just as it had become interesting.
Now it was beginning to lag and lull, the final wipe being planned coming to fruition as they pushed the last of the monsters into a pocket of their own design. This was the end game of hours of planning by the Bolos and Wyatt. Even from the very beginning of the scattered skirmishes, this was the result they wanted and worked forward to.
The gathering of forces to once and for all clear the threat from the face of the world.
He stamped one hoof on the crystal roadway in delight, allowing himself just this second of emotion, another slight smile on the normally serene face as he saw the image in his tactical cores.
There were the lines of troops, slowly bending inward, pushing the things back, back.. Into a slowly closing trap that was going to be a surprise when the Hounds finished their maneuver of swinging opposite the spiders, snapping shut the doors of their little iron maiden.
The remaining things would be impaled upon the teeth of the jaws closing around them. This would end things nicely, he thought. Ponies had not been injured due to fast response times, but it had been close, very close.
However, it was what they lived for. Those moments in time where life and death became almost one, the fine line between victory and defeat, never daring to step to the side in any way but plow straight ahead and do their very best to bring the enemy to a standstill.
“I feel it too.”
The quiet voice made him turn, knowing who was there, but making the effort anyways.
A haggard face peered from the darkness which was lightening with the promise of the coming day. Wyatt kneeled down beside the umber pony, using the butt of his rifle, well-used now, as a support. One steady hand laid gently on strong shoulders as he looked out into the early morning with wise eyes.
The armor he wore was battered and scratched, but intact. The outer covering of camouflage was spattered with liquid, the same that flowed in the veins of the monsters they would soon finish.
Crusader could almost sense the vibration of the man’s body, the thump of his pulse, as he too lived for these moments in his own way.
“You know what I mean.” His voice was low, gentle on the ears, “Those moments you wish it would never end, that the fight would go on and on.”
Blue eyes met brown ones, the moment they both shared showing deep within the pure colors, knowing, as old soldiers did, how it felt.
Crusader nodded, not wanting to speak for the nonce.
The worn face gentled, the hand on his shoulder tightened for a moment before relaxing, “But we need to let it go Crusader. Things may be tight right now, but eventually peace comes, then you want this and it wrecks the life you have. Don’t wish for war, wish it away.”
Crusader looked out into the haze that hung over the houses, left over smoke and fog from the running battles.
“We were made for this, to be used in such a way. How can I not?” Referring to war, to the wanting of it.
“You said this world is changing you. Let it, my friend. Let it bring peace.” A sly smile crossed the tight lips, “That doesn’t mean you don’t stand up when a fight is offered, but until then, let the peace come.”
The gentle eyes told Crusader that story without words, of life and the wanting of a place to go, but nowhere to be. A life lived in war and all its’ trappings, but not to be brought home.
“You miss out on all the good things, Crusader. Don’t do that. This is temporary, but a good life is priceless. Don’t let a moment ruin forevermore.”
The blue eyes softened slightly, or was it Wyatt’s imagination? The voice gentle now, even more so then his usual tone.
“It is why we need you, humankind, to tell us. To let us know when and how to do things. We cannot live alone like this, we were not meant to do so.”
Wyatt chuckled, “You’ve done a bang-up job so far, you and Athena. Protecting whats worth protecting, getting rid of the evil like in that forest. Live a life, enjoy it, make it yours.”
He looked into the questioning face, “You don’t need us Crusader, you never did.”
“That’s not true.” Athena had walked up behind them, listening to the quiet conversation as the trap closed around what was left of the monsters, “We will always need you.” Her voice, speaking Standard, was just as lovely and sweet as when he’d heard it the first time waking up from an eons long sleep.
But there was a hint of steel in it, the battle rage flowing brightly through her cores and showing in the avatar she’d assumed. It was gone in a moment, settling into a softer tone as the expression on her face was almost sad.
“We’ll always need you. Please don’t say that.”
An arm reached out, hugging the strong neck and bringing Athena a warmth she’d never known, “It’s true, you both know it.” He smiled once more, “Take it from someone who’s never commanded a Bolo, you don’t need us.”
“Then why were we better, faster, and more able with humans? Why did they provide some sort of missing ...something.. to make us fight harder, to bring the best out in us?” Crusader’s voice was low, as he looked out into the quiet houses.
“I don’t know, honestly. May be it was a certain spark, something inside you all that worked. I don’t know.” He snugged Athena tight, the pegasus leaning against him gently, “But now, I think you’ve got that all by yourselves.”
He winked at her, getting a warm smile in return, “And maybe, just maybe, it was magic.”
The two forms sat in silence with Wyatt, mulling his words over and over inside the titanic hulls, the powerful minds thinking upon them as if they were from one of the great philosopher’s of the ancient past.
A warning caught Crusader’s attention, reports from the drones he’d been handling came to him, showing the maneuver was done, the trap was closed. He just needed a word.
“At your command...Wyatt.”
Athena looked surprised at the umber face, placid and serene, at the use of his first name.
The armored hand patted the unmoving shoulder, “You’re learning Crusader, you’re learning.” He sighed, exhaling a long breath, “Do it.”
In a corner of the embattled area, spiders were setting on the rooftops and in the streets, a mass of mechanicals that had one thing on their minds as given to them by the Bolos, destroy the enemy. The Hounds rumbled around corners, turrets swinging as the secondaries were brought into play full force. The delay between Wyatt’s command and them moving to action was miniscule.
Heavy weapons opened up on the mass of creatures forced into the pocket, the side street that would be none the worse for any damage done as it was open to the air, no close in houses except for the ones where Dragon Assault tanks had hidden behind while the spiders chivvied the things into the space.
Rifles and chain guns boomed and screamed, heavy caliber weapons opened up from the tanks, raking and blowing holes through the feeble flesh with slugs and penetrators.
For long, long moments the air was filled with the screams of the monsters, seeing their doom suddenly in the trap, and knowing there was no way out. Some tried climbing the walls, only to be shot down by a combat spider clinging to the rooftops, blown back into the melee which was so very one-sided.
Others tried to rush the things which lay waste to their brethren, being thrown back by fusillades of heavy slugs from turret guns that drove them back into the mass of their kin which were being sliced up by the ruthless efficiency of two Bolos who were making sure nothing, but nothing, would survive to bring any harm anymore.
And of a moment, the firing stopped. Steam rose from things which could once have been called living, but no more.
Spiders skittered along the area, checking to see if anything was alive, single shots rang out if something suspicious was found. Other than that, nothing moved, nor would it, ever again.
Back at the street side, Wyatt was informed of the aftermath.
“Good, let’s clean this up. Those people don’t need to see any of this. Can we do that?”
A seconds’ thought brought nods, “We can dispose of the remains in good time, give us a day.” Crusader saw the nod from Athena. Thermal charges would take care of anything left, leaving nothing but cinders which would drift on the wind unnoticed.
Already the lifters and vehicles would be moving out to pick up what was left and take to a central dump site outside the city in a wide depression where it wouldn’t be observed.
Crusader stared out into the lonely street, seeing nothing, but the wanting was still there. The hand tightened on his shoulder again, making his head turn to see Wyatt staring at him, “Stop. Let yourself relax.”
He nodded, “I will try.”
“That’s all you can ask for, right?” The Sergeants eyes were warm, thinking of his own life before the bunker.
“I believe so.” The umber face turned inquisitive, eyes unfocused as he listened to something far away, “That is very odd.”
Wyatt’s ears perked up, “What’s that?”
Athena was now looking like she was in a daze, “We’re picking up strange seismic disturbances in the area.” She cut her eyes to Crusader, “Not the Anceti again?”
Eyes wide, Wyatt turned to the Pegasus, “Anceti? Here?” Even he had heard of, and fought, the enigmatic aliens.
Athena ignored his questioning look, “If they’re here we’ve got serious trouble.”
“No. The readings are definitely not Anceti.”
Crusader paused, “It is very strange, almost like...digging. But the ground underneath the Empire is almost solid rock and crystalline matrices. It would be almost impossible without...”
The ground heaved upwards, tossing Wyatt and even the two ponies about as the the paving cracked, then shattered in a blast upwards. Shards of crystal and rock scattered high into the air in the explosion as a thing came crawling out, roaring it’s anger at anything and everything.
The Sergeant couldn’t resist, jabbing a finger at it while looking at Crusader pointedly, “You were saying?”
To be continued...