The Autumn War Vol. 02: Remnants

Gustave made a low rumble of affirmation, hefting his cannon as he began to lumber away. Fortunately, the industrial nature of the building meant that the doors were large enough for him to get through, but the floor shook worryingly with each heavy step.

"That one can handle a whole squad of Drones on his own?" Miqi asked as she turned her head to watch him leave.

"You're about to find out," Xipa replied, dialing up the voltage on her rifle. "Are we clear to use comms now? My squad functions more effectively if we can share information in real-time."

"I suppose it doesn't matter if we're abandoning the stealthy approach," Miqi replied. She reached below her cloak, producing one of the grenades, then handed it to Xipa. "It's a modified gas grenade," she explained as Xipa examined it. The device was of Bug origin, that was clear from the resin casing and the organic primer - what looked like a little blob of mucous that sat on top of it. It was spherical in shape, just large enough to fill her hand. "The insects deploy them with chemical payloads - usually toxic gasses - but we've been able to tweak the system to disperse aerosolized pheromones. Just squish the blob, and throw."

"Where do you get the pheromones?" Xipa wondered.

"From pheromone glands," she replied. "Where else? We'll hit the right squad. You hit the others when you see us make our move."

She waved for her scouts to follow her, and they slunk off into the building, keeping clear of the windows. Xipa relayed the plan to Bluejay and Ruza, and they followed her over to the left corner of the building, where they took up position. Their targets were standing in front of a pair of glass doors that had been rendered opaque by grime, the Bugs at once eerily still and restless.

"Wait for Miqi's signal," she whispered, readying the grenade. Bluejay put his shoulder to the wall beside one of the empty frames, securing his odd, two-piece helmet while Ruza flanked him. After a few tense moments, there was a popping sound from outside, followed by the telltale hiss of releasing gas.

Xipa moved to the window, pressing her thumb down on the squishy button as she went, then tossed the grenade into the street below. It sailed through the sparse canopy, then bounced off one of the glass doors with a clang, rolling to a stop in the ferns. The Bugs reacted quickly, but not quickly enough, an obscuring shroud of smoke engulfing the squad. Xipa could see through it easily with her thermal optics, their figures writhing, clawing at their helmets as the pheromones assailed their senses.

The trio opened up, firing out of the windows, their slugs shredding leaves and branches as they tore through the trees. The Drones were in no position to take cover, the rounds dismembering them where they stood, the kinetic energy enough to blow fist-sized chunks out of them. They were thrown to the ground with the force of a sledgehammer, the stray projectiles digging craters in the carbcrete, shattering the glass doors.

To their right, Xipa heard the roar of Gustave's cannon, a stream of molten slugs spewing from the building in an almost unbroken line. The hail of projectiles punched through the swirling gas, the garage door behind the unfortunate Drones appearing to disintegrate as the tungsten chewed through it. Puffs of white dust joined the smoke as the projectiles blasted through the surrounding carbcrete, fragments of asphalt whizzing through the air, Gustave saturating the area with fire. One of the Bugs was bisected, tossed back against the door, its companions toppling all around it. The reptile swept his weapon back and forth like a fire hose, only relenting when there was nothing left but a pile of quivering meat. There was a creak, then a loud cracking sound, a tree that had gotten in his way toppling into the road.

Further to the right, glowing bolts of emerald plasma were pounding the final squad of Drones, starting small fires where they came into contact with the foliage. As the breeze slowly carried away the clouds of pheromones, Xipa saw that they were all dead, their carapaces blackened and melted.

"That's all of them," Xipa said, slamming a fresh mag into her XMR. She stepped away from the window, heading for the stairs behind them. "Let's get moving before reinforcements show up."

Miqi and her scouts came hurrying to join them, Gustave lumbering along behind them.

"We'll go in through the door on the left," Miqi said, taking the stairs two steps at a time. "Be ready. There's no telling how many more of them might be inside."

They covered each other as they rushed out into the street, heading for the relative safety of the factory. The doors had already been shot to pieces, fragments of shattered glass crunching underfoot as they made their way past the ruined bodies of the Drones, their ichor staining the ferns. The scouts fanned out into the lobby, finding it not so different from the one where they had encountered the dead Hunter. There was a large desk in the center of the room, the wood splintered and perforated by stray slugs, the potted plants that had once adorned the room having long since desiccated. The damp carpet was now home to colonies of fungi, and some of the panels on the ceiling had fallen to the floor, exposing rusted pipes and old wiring. The company's logo was still emblazoned on the wall behind the desk, the name no longer legible, as it was missing too many letters. To the back of the lobby were a pair of elevator shafts, and there were corridors branching off the room to the left and right.

Miqi cursed loudly as she noticed the body that was slumped limply against the far wall. It was a Valbara'nay, her tattered clothes singed by plasma weapons, the tiles around her melted where the bolts had missed their mark. There had been a shootout here, or maybe an execution...

She hurried over to the unidentified woman, crouching beside her to pull off her mask. Xipa wanted to ask if it was someone she knew, but in such a tight-knit community, there wouldn't be anyone she wasn't familiar with.

"Indigo team," she announced, taking a step back. "It's Chotli."

Ruza strode over to the body, giving it a cursory examination. There was no need to pronounce her dead, it was obvious to everyone that she had passed on. At least Miqi had been spared the pain of finding a dead flockmate, but who knew what had happened to Cyan and the rest of Indigo.

"They would never have left her body like this if they weren't under fire," one of the scouts said. "We don't let them take people away. We have standing orders to burn anyone we can't carry back."

"The elevators are blocked," another said, leaning into one of the shafts and shining her flashlight up into the darkness. "They must have taken the stairs."

"The signal was on the right wing of the factory," Xipa said, nodding down the hallway that branched off the lobby. "Bluejay," she added, switching back to English. "What do you smell?"

He popped open the little panels on his helmet, uncurling his long antennae, then scented the air for a moment.

"I smell ozone, burnt flesh, and Bugs," he replied. "I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to differentiate the direction in an enclosed space like this."

"Keep your antennae stowed, then," she replied. "Gustave," she added, turning to the towering Krell'nay. "We're going to need someone to stay behind and make sure none of them follow us into the building. Can you cover the lobby? I'm not sure that those stairs will even be able to handle your weight."

He hefted his massive cannon, rotating the three barrels with his scaly hand, the mechanism making an ominous clicking sound.

"I will dam the river. Go. Complete the broken circle."

She gave him an appreciative nod, then turned towards the hallway.

"Gustave will stay behind to cover our rear," she explained. "Let's go."

The reptile lumbered over to the crescent-shaped front desk and took up position behind it, leveling his rifle, the rest of the team heading off down the corridor. This place was in the same state as all the other buildings in the city. There was water damage everywhere, covering the carpets in mold and staining the walls, bundles of exposed wiring hanging from gaps in the ceiling. A thick layer of dust coated every surface, making Xipa glad of the air filters in her helmet. Fungi abounded, making it feel more like they were venturing into some kind of dingy cave than a building that had once been inhabited. They flourished in the damp and the dark, their colorful caps rising from the carpet in clusters, taller spires skirting the ceiling in places. She could see where some of them had been disturbed, leaving smashed and broken mushrooms, some of them crushed underfoot.

They passed an open door, a couple of the scouts dipping inside for a moment to check that it was clear. As Xipa made her way past, she noted that it was some kind of conference room, a long table surrounded by chairs dominating the space. The floor above it had partially collapsed, burying a lot of the once lavish furnishings under a pile of rubble.

"This way," Miqi said, rounding a bend in the corridor. "At least it's easy to tell where they went," she added, gesturing to the footprints in the dust and grime. "This place probably hasn't been disturbed since the invasion."

They soon came upon the stairwell, a long, square staircase spiraling up through the higher floors. Sunlight flooded in from high above, suggesting that the roof had given way at some point, and crimson vines spilled down over the banisters. The ground floor here was flooded, the grey water reaching ankle height, a steady drip falling from above.

"Guess we're going up," Ruza grumbled, his paws splashing in the shallow water as he made for the first step. Xipa had been right - Gustave wouldn't even have been able to get up them. They were almost too narrow for Ruza.

They mounted the stairs, climbing them two by two, the tall feline leading the way. As they neared the second floor, they came across another body that was slumped on the landing. It was a Drone, its carapace pocked with nasty burns, and there was a second one just behind it. Plasma fire had burned holes clear through the wall behind them where it had gone wide, evidence of a short and brutal engagement,

"Two bodies," Bluejay muttered, pausing to examine the nearest. "The Bugs here work in teams of six. Where are the other four?"

"The footprints continue up the stairs," Miqi said, crouching to examine them. "They were pursued. Look, there are more plasma burns on the wall further up."

She hurried along, everyone else following behind her. Bluejay walked backwards, keeping an eye on the corridor to their rear, steadying himself on the overgrown banister with one of his lower hands. After two more floors, they encountered a blockage. A huge chunk of carbcrete had fallen from above, plunging through the staircases on the higher floors, severing them completely. It had embedded itself on the landing ahead of them, broken pieces of rebar jutting from it like broken bones.

"I guess they didn't come through here," Xipa mused, trying to lean over the twisted banister to get a look around the obstacle.

"They must have taken a left off this landing and made their way higher using another stairwell," Miqi grumbled, leading them down another corridor. "Come on, there's no time to waste!"

The short hallway soon opened up into a large space, big enough that it spanned the building, a cold wind flooding in through the broken windows that lined the walls to their left and right. It was a factory floor, rows of vaguely cube-shaped industrial machines stacked end to end, breaking up the lines of sight. There were colored markings painted on the floor to show where the workers could safely walk, now faded and chipped, broken light strips dangling from the high ceiling. Support pillars were spaced out at intervals, probably the only thing keeping the place from caving in on itself.

"What the hell are these?" Bluejay wondered, sweeping his rifle around the room as they made their way inside. "Some of these look like...giant microwaves."

"Looks like an old manufacturing center," Xipa replied, pausing by one of the machines. Like everything else, it was caked in dust, but the old markings and company logos on the chassis were clearly legible. It was almost as large as a car, big enough that a whole flock could probably have stood inside it. A long-dead touch interface was mounted beside the window that occupied its front face, and through the foggy aperture, she could make out the print bed and the laser on its mechanical arm. "These are printers," she explained. "They'd be filled with argon gas, then a layer of metal dust would be extruded onto the print bed, which would then be fused with a high-powered laser. Those smaller ones over there are old polymer printers. They would have made things like home appliances and furniture here."

"Check it out," he said, gesturing inside one of the printers as they passed it. "This one has half a chair inside it."

"They were probably still running when the power shut off," she replied.

"Spread out," Miqi ordered, signaling to her people with a flash of colored feathers. "And watch your angles. There could be a mealworm hiding behind every printer..."

They fanned out, stalking between the aisles, the machines tall enough that even Ruza couldn't see over the tops of them. Ruza and Bluejay stuck close to Miqi, the printers spaced far enough apart that they could walk side by side. When they reached about the middle of the room, a sudden sound made them pause, the unmistakable report of automatic fire making Xipa flinch.

"It's coming from below us," Ruza growled. "Gustave..."

"He can handle himself," Bluejay replied. "We need to pick up the pace."

They began to jog, the exit coming into view maybe a hundred meters ahead of them. Someone else had been alerted by the gunfire, however. From the shadows came pouring a procession of Drones, their spiky carapaces catching the sunlight that bled in through the broken windows as they emerged into view, the red and orange patterns that streaked across their overlapping plates making them stand out against their drab surroundings. They skidded to a halt when they saw the team, one of the creatures looking right at Xipa through the lenses that were spaced out around its helmet, its jaw-like mandibles flexing. There were a dozen of them, maybe more, the two groups staring at one another in silence for a split second before chaos erupted.

"Contact!" Xipa yelled, throwing herself behind the nearest printer for cover.

Bluejay and Ruza dove behind the one in the adjacent aisle, the Jarilan firing from the hip as he retreated, his XMR barking. A barrage of plasma bolts answered him, the Drones scattering, spreading out into the factory as they lay down covering fire with impressive coordination.

"Here we fucking go!" Bluejay growled, leaning out to let off another burst of blind fire. "These bastards aren't going to let us through without a fight!"

"Then they shall have one," Ruza replied, pulling his long rifle against his shoulder.

The room was filled with green strobes, like glow sticks were being tossed back and forth. Miqi and her scouts were fighting back, but Xipa couldn't worry about them right now - she had to trust that they could handle themselves.

From the far end of the aisle, a Drone leaned into view, forcing Xipa back into cover as it spewed plasma at her hiding spot. She could feel the heat of the projectiles through her suit as they splashed against the printer's housing, slagging the polymer, heating the metal frame beneath until it glowed red.

Bluejay saw an opportunity, darting into the open, his XMR already raised. He was quicker to the draw than the Drone, a three-round burst catching it center-mass, splattering the nearest printer with its fluids. As it dropped, one of its kin emerged to fire back at him, the conductive rails on the end of its rifle crackling with arcs of emerald electricity as it leveled the weapon. There was another loud crack, and its head exploded like a ripe fruit, the decapitated body sent twitching to the factory floor. Xipa turned her head to see that Ruza was standing over his smaller companion, tall enough that the Jarilan's horn barely reached his armpit, his rifle raised over the Jarilan's head.

There was a puff of gas from somewhere on their left, the scouts deploying some of their grenades. As well as driving the insects mad, it had the side-effect of creating a lingering haze, not unlike a smoke bomb. Xipa reached up to tap at the touch panel on the side of her helmet, switching to thermal mode as the cloud was carried by the wind, quickly filling the space.

"Push them!" Xipa ordered, moving up between the printers. "The gas will only keep them busy for a minute or two!"

Bluejay checked the seal on his helmet, then stalked into the gas, drawing his sidearm with one of his lower hands as he kept his XMR raised. Ruza loped along behind him, matching pace, the blade of his serrated bayonet glinting as he moved.

A Drone stumbled out from behind one of the nearby machines, holding its rifle in one hand as it clawed at its face with the other. It balled its lowers fists, its violent, erratic movements conveying its fury. Bluejay didn't give it time to get its bearings, cutting it down with a controlled burst of XMR fire. The slugs sparked off the printer behind it as it fell, the Jarilan putting two rounds through its helmet with his sidearm as he stepped around it.

Ahead of Xipa, another disoriented Drone floundered into view, shaking its head vigorously as it tried to dispel the effects of the gas. They had spread out into the factory, and with the rows of boxy printers, there was no way to tell where they might emerge from. She felt a pang of fear as her eyes played over its spiky, layered carapace, its sharp mandibles clicking. As its lenses turned in her direction, she froze up. Suddenly, she was right back in the forest again, staring down the nozzle of a Bug flamethrower as its glowing pilot light reflected in the compound eyes of its wielder. Fletcher wasn't here to save her this time. She had to take care of herself, and people were depending on her now.

Xipa fought through the shivers of dread that were crawling up her spine, channeling it into resolve, raising the barrel of her XMR. The weapon kicked against her shoulder as it fired, the vibrations shaking her entire body, but she kept it under control with her tight grip. The hypervelocity slugs hit the thing in its chest, fracturing its rigid carapace like glass, exposing the off-green meat beneath. Fragments of shell zipped through the air like shrapnel, viscous bodily fluids splattering the printer behind it as the rounds tore gaping exit wounds in its back. It was thrown against the machine by the impacts, bright sparks showering as the projectiles overpenetrated, slicing through the polymer and steel with the ease of a blade through flesh. The insect slumped to the floor, leaving a smear of goo on the printer's housing, more mucous-colored fluid spilling from its mandibles as it went still.

Her heart racing, and her suit panels flushing red, Xipa willed herself to keep moving. She didn't have the option of losing her nerve - not when there were people who needed her. This wasn't about revenge anymore.

She glanced to her left, seeing Bluejay take down another Bug with a burst of gunfire, his rounds punching swirling holes in the smoke. Some of the Drones were already starting to recover, one of them moving between two of the printers to his left, raising its plasma rifle as it shook off the pheromones. Without missing a beat, Bluejay aimed his sidearm at it, clutching the weapon in his lower hands as he put three slugs through its visor. He didn't even seem to aim, moving with absolute confidence as though this was a dance that he had rehearsed a thousand times, memorizing every beat and step. The same ruthless efficiency that she saw in the Bugs was still there, but there was an elegance to his movements that they lacked - a higher awareness.