Vigilia Fidelis 7: The Enemy of My Enemy
When Hannah learned Apep had been routed from Casablanca without a single casualty, she felt a surge of elation that was rapidly replaced by bone-deep weariness. Over the past three days, Abyssal activity had heavily increased in Hawaii, West Africa, Northern Mexico, and Brazil, to the point that they were bristling with pins on Hannah’s map. Instead of panicking, Hannah had taken a moment to evaluate the information provided by Ajaw, and then swallowed her pride and made a phone call.
After a moment, an angry voice answered, “Who the fuck is this!? I’m busy!”
“Hello, Farasha,” Hannah said carefully in Kurdish. “This is Colonel Hannah Jones. I believe we’re looking at a major incursion event and possibly another attack by Apep itself shortly. I want to coordinate our efforts.”
There was a pause on the other end, then, “Uh, OK. That’s like…a good idea.”
There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Hannah glanced around her office, where Colin and Duke were waiting with concerned expressions. Both men were perfectly aware of the bone-deep hatred that ran between Farasha and Hannah, and what this was costing their leader.
At last, Hannah forced herself to break the silence. “I want to work with you and your forces, and coordinate a resistance. I have access to Doormaker through Ajaw, and I can ensure that our troops get properly rotated, rested, and resupplied. Speaking of, what is your supply situation?”
“How the fuck should I know?! Hey, you, what’s our supply situation like?”
There was a yapping sound, then a frustrated growl from Farasha. “Fine, turn back into a person for a second there, Guto! Now, take the phone and tell the crazy American what our supplies are like!”
After a rustling sound, a man coughed and spoke in English. “Uh, hello? The supplies, yes…we do not have them. I am very sorry, but…well, you see…I am usually a dog. Farasha, she does not keep track of supplies. Our logistics…they are very poor. I could organize them better, I used to be, er…something of an accountant, but…”
“Great, you’re fucking promoted to bean counter! Now figure out these supplies!” Farasha’s voice snapped angrily. “I’ve got Abyssal Monsters to kill, we’re ass deep in them here!”
Hannah pinched the bridge of her nose. “Farasha…we can’t wage a war against the Abyss without supply lines! What about food, medicine, weapons!? How are you getting those?!”
“Uh…I mean…hmm. How are we getting those, Guto?”
“Er, well…we have to rely on what those we save can spare and what we can scavenge. As your troops are mostly, uh, dogs…we can eat just about anything. But morale is very poor. We might be cursed, but we still don’t like eating garbage.”
“I’m going to appoint Major Wallis as my liaison to you, and he will ensure you’re getting enough supplies. Do you have a list of what you need?” Hannah asked, scribbling some notes with a pen.
“I can make one! There are about 30 of us left, plus Tesbi, but we need everything! Food, clothing, medicine, safe places to sleep-”
“Right. Colin, get a door to where they’re fighting and coordinate with them. Take Lady Photon and Flashbang with you,” Hannah ordered, passing the orders she’d written out to Colin.
“On it, Ma’am,” Collin agreed.
“Give me that!” Farasha’s voice said, and then, “Hey, uh…thanks. I’m sort of shit at this whole running an army thing. Just because I have phenomenal cosmic power doesn’t mean I know dick about being a leader. In the field, sure, I know how to kick ass and motivate people, but all this other stuff is driving me insane!”
“David didn’t take command?” Hannah demanded sharply.
“Huh? No, he’s in West Africa fighting there, how the fuck does that matter to me fighting in Brazil?” Farasha asked in confusion.
Hannah sighed. Yes, David had always been about the solo heroics, and he’d left almost all of the running of the Houston Protectorate to his second in command, preferring to personally take the field over actually running an organization.
“Look, I need to meet with both you and him, as soon as possible. I know the fighting is heavy, but even a brief meeting to coordinate our efforts and share information and resources could help. We can’t keep fighting individual actions against the Abyss, we must come together and defeat it. No matter how much we hate one another,” Hannah said, keeping her voice low.
“Wow, look at you! Putting on your big girl panties and shit! Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore? Because I’d be really disappointed if we can’t be each other’s archnemesis anymore!” Farasha said, her voice overly chipper in that way that especially grated on Hannah.
“I will continue to loathe you for as long as there is mortal breath in my body,” Hannah hissed.
She thought the earth suddenly shook, and she blinked, glancing around the room to see if it was one of Hawaii’s frequent small earthquakes, but nothing seemed disturbed: none of the books on the bookshelves tumbled, and the pins in the map stayed steady. Not even the Hegemony flag swayed. She shook her head and continued, “But I won’t let my personal feelings interfere with what I know needs to be done for the good of mankind. Much as I hate you and everything you stand for…you’re at least trying to fight the Abyss. So, for now, we can be allies in that, and that alone.”
“Yay! We get to be Frienemies! Alright, I’ll call your ex and tell him we gotta pow-wow. Where we meeting?” Farasha asked.
“Neutral ground. In Geneva,” Hannah said. “I’ll send you a door in one hour.”
“Yeah, cool, I’ll text David in the Dragon Group Chat and meet you there.”
Hannah paused. “There’s…a group chat?”
“Hey, we’re Frienemies now, but you gotta be a dragon to get into the group chat! Later, I got monsters to kill.”
Hannah sighed and hung up. She certainly didn’t want to be in any dragon group chat anyway. Besides that, she probably wasn’t going to become a dragon herself. That was just silly. How would that even work? And what did an amber corvid have to do with it anyway? It could have meant anything.
“Get me Captain Fieldman,” Hannah ordered, and a few minutes later, Mina in full combat gear arrived, looking tired, but upbeat. She and her squad were coming off a 6-hour rest cycle after heavy fighting on the Big Island of Hawaii, around the town of Waimea. They’d already lost Havi and North Kohala completely, but they were holding the line.
“Rested and ready for duty, ma’am!” Mina said with forced positivity, grinning and saluting.
“Mina…what I’m going to ask you isn’t an order, because I wouldn’t order you to do this,” Hannah said quietly.
Mina’s ears perked up and her nose twitched, but she nodded slowly instead of speaking.
“I need someone to liaise with…with the Rat King. He’s leading the defense of West Africa against the Abyss…and we need a squad present to help coordinate. We’re going to have to rotate troops and local capes to our facilities here on Oahu, and potentially even reinforce their position, or accept some of Eidolon’s Fatui to help us,” Hannah said quietly. “I know you’re a true hero, and you have a big heart, or I wouldn’t ask this of you. I know you’d never turn traitor, but this is a case where we’re going to have to hold our nose and work with our enemies, just like the old Endbringer Truces.”
Mina nodded slowly, her brow furrowed. “Then…we know where Apep is?”
“No. No sign of the serpent. Just heavy fighting against Abyssal forces in the hot spot locations. The rest of the Protectorate is handling Northern Mexico around Nogales, but there’s still incursions in Brazil, Dakar in Senegal, and of course here in Hawaii. When Apep does appear, we’ll need to be able to shift all our forces to fight it and hopefully stop the incursions. Can I trust you with this, Mina?”
Mina stood ramrod straight, and puffed out her chest. “You can count on me and my squad, ma’am! We won’t let Africa fall, or let those traitors get all the glory!”
“Good woman. I’m going to be issuing your squad…some new Tinkertech,” Hannah said. “Come here.”
Mina frowned and stepped forward, and Hannah put a hand to her forehead. She could sense the Corona Pollentia, the connection between Shard and host. The Shard that powered Mina was a powerful one, connected to the Warrior’s network, and stronger than Armory was. However…
Hannah reached out, and carefully, ever so carefully, laid over some of Armory’s own abilities on Mina’s. She didn’t remove or change the powers, merely grant Mina a second set of parahuman abilities. These were focused in the area of Thinker powers, primarily communication between Mina, Hannah, and the rest of Mina’s squad.
Mina let out a gasp and nearly fell, and Hannah had to reach over the desk to steady here. Duke was there in an instant, keeping the gasping woman on her feet as Mina’s eyes went very wide.
“I…I saw…” Mina panted, then shook her head. “Ma’am…did you just…did you make me have a Second Trigger? I…I never had one, before.”
“Something like that,” Hannah said, stepping back and giving Hannah a lopsided smile. “I’ll issue some Tinkertech to the rest of your squad that will let us keep in touch. It will also enhance your physical abilities slightly. You’ll be about on the level of a Vision holder now: more durability, endurance, and strength.”
“You…can do that?” Mina asked, tilting her head to one side.
“I…have a very close bond with my Shard, as you know,” Hannah said, looking away from Mina’s eyes and to the map that was now covered in purple push pins. “I’m letting you borrow a bit of Armory’s power. Just for this mission.”
You can take it back, right? Hannah asked Armory.
You can, though there is the risk of harming the host. In this case, Mina would be somewhat insulated by Proximal Contact, but removing powers is usually traumatic for the host.
Alright, maybe it won’t be so temporary.
You could attempt to bud. That has a far lower risk of harm, and could increase her powers and yours.
You mean, create a copy of you? I thought the Cycle had to be completed for that to happen.
To create new data and a new entity, yes. Budding is closer to your cellular mitosis and is how shards replenish themselves during a cycle. Keep in mind, what you call a Shard is made up of many smaller shard organisms, just as your organs are made up of smaller cells. In turn, the Shards form an Entity, just as your organs become your body.
Right. Hannah sort of understood, but it had been a long time since she took 10th grade anatomy. Well, she’d worry about buds later. For now, this will help Mina and her squad survive, and that’s good enough.
She sent Mina and her squad through a door to schedule a meeting with the Rat King, then activated her own armor and went with Duke to the front lines. While the fighting was heavy, it was sporadic, with rift wolves and other monsters appearing all across the north of the Big Island, as well as on Maui and to a lesser extent Lanai. It was a lot of area to cover, and the Lightkeepers were stretched thin.
After about an hour of patrolling and two skirmishes, she received a message from Mina through Armory.
The Rat King agrees to your meeting. Send him a mousehole, and he’ll squeak on through. But, Colonel…it’s bad out here. We’re helping evacuate civilians and bringing in that cheese and crackers, but it’s near chaos here. There’s less than a dozen Fatui, and they’re mostly just traitors. Still, we’ll work with them against these monsters. Better a traitor than an orc or a hilichurl.
Hannah broke off from the fighting, leaving Duke in charge, and collecting Brandish and Manpower. Carol Dallon was a lawyer, and at least had some knowledge of writing contracts and negotiating, though her expertise had been in Divorce Law. Which would be uncomfortably relevant with David being there.
There was time for a quick shower and to put on a bit of makeup, as well as change into a dress uniform. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and manifested Armory in his Colt 1911 form and holstered him at her side. She rested a hand on Armory, and smiled into the mirror.
“You’re my friend. You know that, right? I…well, I care for you, Armory. Maybe even love you,” she told the gun.
How can that be, after all the pain I have caused you?
You saved my life, all those years ago. And without you, I never would have been able to become a hero. So, thank you. Besides, I would have gotten an abortion anyway. I don’t regret that. I do regret fucking the bastard that got me pregnant, but, well, I’m getting plenty horny without your help. At least you’re letting me sleep at night again. I missed that.
You haven’t been getting enough sleep. There’s dark circles under your eyes.
I can sleep when the world is safe from the Abyss. Now come on. Time to go stand up to two actual dragons.
The Palais des Nations had opened a conference room to Hannah on Ajaw’s request. It was decorated warmly, with green walls and paintings of pastoral scenes, with a bright oval cherry wood table and comfortably padded chairs around it. There was a phone in one corner and several television screens, though Hannah doubted they would need it. She took a seat with Brandish and Manpower as they waited. Brandish was wearing the uniform of an Officer of Parahuman Legal Affairs, or OPLA, captain, as well as heels and some lipstick. She also had one arm in a sling from where she had taken a serious wound fighting a pair of abyssal lawachurls. Manpower had on a Protectorate Captain’s uniform, though he too had a few minor injuries and was walking with a limp.
Hannah hated to show weakness to her enemies, but, well, they didn’t have much choice.
Farasha walked in with a hound trotting at her heels and a nun at her side. The nun provoked a raised eyebrow from Hannah, but she had a hydro vision and introduced herself as Sister Tesbi. Hannah had read a brief file on her, and concluded that she was an honest woman who was doing her best to save her people from the Abyss. Even if that meant allying with the Fatui and Farasha.
“Is that Guto? He’s not going to do us much good as a dog,” Brandish said, nodding to the hound. “We need to start coordinating logistics immediately.”
“Fair enough,” Farasha said, and snapped her fingers. The female dog was replaced by a brown haired latino man who looked rather thin and nerdy, with a pencil-thin mustache and a somewhat nervous expression. “Congrats, Gustavo, you get to be human for a few hours at least!”
“Thank you, Patroa,” Guto said with a sigh. He was wearing a rather rumpled soccer jersey and a pair of jeans, but he sat down and picked up the clipboard that Brandish offered him. He scanned it quickly, his lips moving slightly. He looked up and grabbed a pen from the table, circling several things. “This is what we need the most. Better weapons, food, and medicine. The rest can come later. We have staging areas set up where we send the wounded now, but we need supplies. There are local doctors and nurses we’ve conscripted, but they’re working with almost nothing. Specifically, units of blood of these types, bandages, and of course, as many Abyssal purification kits as you have.”
Brandish and Guto continued to work on the list, while Hannah stared at Farasha. Farasha, for her part, flopped in a chair and slumped on the table, her eyes closed. She looked wrung out and exhausted, and smelled of smoke and fire. She was missing her red flowers, and her black robes were torn and stained.
“Sorry I didn’t get all gussied up. Don’t exactly have a big wardrobe,” Farasha said without opening her eyes. “It’s fucking brutal out there. I don’t need much sleep, but…but I might have to after three days of fighting. You’d think Keiga and Focalors bitch slapping Apep back to wherever the fuck it comes from would mean a break for us.”
Despite herself, Hannah’s expression softened, and she let a bit of her own exhaustion tell in her voice. “I know. I’ve been fighting on the Big Island constantly. I’m a noctis cape, but I don’t have endless stamina. Not even…not even as I go…Titan.”
Farasha suddenly sat up, her eyes narrowing at Hannah. “The fuck is- oh.”
A Crimson butterfly appeared by Farasha’s head, and Hannah and Manpower tensed. Then, the creature spoke.
I did much the same to Farasha when Bright Tree was endangered. So. You are also merging with your host, Armory of the Infinite?
I am. Even if it means my life, Armory said, unholstering himself and floating up beside Hannah. Though I have far less power to give than you did.
Once I would have judged you lesser. Now I would call you my equal. In the end, I have died, that Farasha and Bright Tree might live. And yet, I live on in her son. My son.
“Wait, hold the fuck up, what?” Farasha said, her face flushing. “Saleem is mine and Bashir’s!”
Yes. And also mine. He is of Shard life, and it is from me that comes. However, I have been completely absorbed into you, leaving only this remnant. But what I was will live on in your progeny.
“This is too fucking complicated,” Farasha groaned, clutching her head in her hands. “Fuck me. I never wanted to be a titan, or a dragon, or any of that shit.”
“Only a fool would seek this much power. It destroys your humanity,” the man Hannah hated most said as David Ward strode into the room, Marisa Romero at his side. She was the only one accompanying him, though he nodded politely to Tesbi, who had taken out several sheets of paper and was transcribing notes from what Hannah could tell. Both David and Marisa were dressed in crisp blue Fatui uniforms, with David possessing the golden knots of rank of a Harbinger. He had his cap under one arm, and set it on the table as he took a seat beside Farasha.
“And what does that make you then, Rat?” Hannah asked softly. She felt that old anger bubbling beneath the surface, but tamped it down. Now wasn’t the time.
“A fool who willingly gave up his humanity, that he might preserve it in others,” David answered, meeting Hannah’s eyes.
Slowly, she nodded. “I’m afraid that makes me a fool as well. Because I’ve accepted what Armory is doing to me. Who knows. Maybe I’ll end up a Dragon too.”
Farasha snorted at that. “Good fucking luck. You gotta have some sort of divine catalyst for that. Nahida did something to me to keep me from going bug fuck from merging with Papilio here. David got that chess piece from the Tsaritsa. You still got it, Dave?”
David touched a hand to his breast, then extended it. In his hand was a large glowing chess piece that looked like a queen piece, with a frosty silver star on its top. “Yes. I must return it to her one day, but for now, it forges me into a dragon.”
He closed his fist, and the piece vanished. He looked at Hannah, his expression odd. “Are you well? You seem pale…Colonel.”
Hannah realized she’d stopped breathing. Rook was the name of a species of corvid. It was also the name of a chess piece. They had pictures of Nahida’s gnosis as well. It looked like the Bishop Piece.
The amber rook of heaven. The Geo Gnosis. But…Scion held that, didn’t he? She couldn’t…no. Prophecy never made sense until it came to pass. Maybe Contessa was wrong.
But Hannah didn’t think she was.
Is this my Fate? Am I doomed to become a Dragon? No, she said I could also become a Sinner. I don’t know what that is…but as a Dragon, I could fulfill my Duty, and keep the people of the Hegemony safe from the Abyss, and all other threats. I…I don’t know. Surely not me. I’m just…no. I guess I’m not just a normal girl.
I’ll do my Duty. Whatever it is.
Hannah cleared her throat. “Just exhausted. I’m still mortal, unlike the two of you. But I’ve called you here for-”
She paused. This wasn’t information she could freely share. She switched over to Kurdish. “Can anyone understand me?”
“Yes,” David said with a nod.
“Duh, Hannah said with a shrug.
Everyone else frowned at her, while Tesbi murmured, “I cannot very well take notes if I cannot understand you. I speak French, Latin, Mandinka, Wolof, and English. If you could use one of those languages…”
“Apologies, sister, but the next must be private. David, Farasha, can you put up wards to make sure we’re not overheard?” Hannah asked.
David raised an eyebrow, but put a hand on the table. A rime of frost spread over it, then rapidly covered the walls and the closed door. “There. I have trapped us in a moment of time. We are stuck in the past. It will be impossible for any non-divine being to spy on us now. Not even the Abyss can meddle.”
Casual temporal manipulation. Hannah knew the Archons could do such things, as demonstrated first by Barbados when he’d popped Khonsu’s time distortions like a child would a soap bubble. It was just disturbing to see David do it. Even as Eidolon, the most powerful cape in the world, he’d very rarely had powers that could affect time so casually, and when he did, only in limited ways.
“Good,” Hannah switched back to Kurdish. “I have information as to when Apep will next strike. The time, date, and location. Everything.”
Both listeners leaned forward, their expressions intense. Now Hannah once more saw the Butcher of Kuwait and Eidolon.
“Alright. Care to share?” Farasha asked, her dark eyes gleaming.
Hannah hesitated a moment more. Was this the right thing to do?
Do you trust Alexandria not to sacrifice Bolivia in the name of the greater good?
No. No, she did not.
“Bolivia, September 11th, in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, at approximately 8:55am, Zulu time,” Hannah said, keeping her voice low. Marisa had joined the logistics conversation, and Tesbi and manpower were taking and comparing notes on what was needed. Good.
“How did you get this information? I don’t trust Albedo. He’s an Abyssal Construct,” David said. “Hero is likely dead as well. Just a mimic that’s been replaced by a monster.”
Hannah felt her heart drop. She swallowed. “I…I was told by Fortuna. You…you’re just slandering Cauldron. Trying to excuse yourself.”
“Fortuna is reliable. And I’m speaking the truth, Hannah. Have you ever known me to lie?” David asked.
Farasha let out a low whistle. “Shit, you really think America’s leadership is a bunch of Abyssal horrors now? What about President Bitchface?”
“Alexandria is-”
“Directly injecting herself with Abyssal power,” David said. He fixed Hannah with his icy gaze. “Do you think anyone, even her, could resist Abyssal corruption for long?”
Hannah squeezed her eyes shut. “You’re lying. I refuse to believe it.”
“Then I can only pray your eyes are opened in time. I still love you, Hannah Jones.”
Hannah snarled and opened her eyes, but David was shaking his head. “No, that’s the wrong way to say it. I still care for you. What you did to me…it hurt deeply. But I suppose I have hurt you in turn.”
Hannah bit her lip. Should she tell him?
That was my fault, David Ward. I both encouraged Hannah to copulate with you, then to get an abortion. It was…the best way to gather data and maximize conflict. Or so I thought.
David’s eyes snapped to Armory, while Hannah gritted her teeth.
“Then know this, Shard. One day, I will kill you for the murder of my son,” David growled, baring teeth that had gone to sharp fangs, and digging nails that turned to claws into the hardwood table so deep they left deep scours.
“Who gives you the right to-” Hannah began, but Armory spoke over her.
I am afraid you are too late. I am already dying. Soon, I will be like Papilio. I already know that my sins are too great to forgive.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” Hannah snapped. “I didn’t give you permission to die!”
And yet, I did not ask. Perhaps you will have offspring, and I will live on in them.
Hannah took a deep breath, and shook her head. “Not the time. For now, we have a date. I think Apep is trying to wear us down with this constant fighting. It’s not as intense as a full scale incursion, but it persists, day after day, and it’s exhausting our troops. We can’t keep this up, then fight it when it emerges in Bolivia. And when it does, we have to not just drive it off, but destroy it.”
“Agreed. I will speak with the Tsaritsa, privately. This information cannot go far,” David agreed. He frowned, rubbing his chin, where grey stubble was growing. “We will have to speak with certain others. Perhaps the Raiden Shogun will join us.”
“The Endslayer? I’d hate to give her another notch on her hilt…but if she’s willing and able to slay Apep, do it,” Hannah agreed. “I’ll take a thousand years of servitude under the Archons over mankind being corrupted into Abyssal puppets and monsters.”
“It’s not servitude, dumbass,” Farasha said, rolling her eyes, and Hannah glared at her. “Oh, just listen! Look, they see us like kids! You don’t have your own, so you don’t understand! No, fuck, sorry, not trying to push the abortion button. But I do have a son and two daughters. I would do anything for them. There is nothing more than I want than for Saleem, and Qiqi, and Nahida, to grow up in a world free of monsters and horrors.
“But, like, I also set rules and stuff, right? Well, OK, Bashir does more of the setting, but I do the enforcing. But I’m not going to let Qiqi stay up all night and eat junk food or watch movies that are too scary for her because I know it would give her nightmares or stunt her growth or whatever.
“The Archons see us the same way! Even Nahida, which is trippy. But to them, we’re their kids! They want us, and I mean, like, people, to grow up, and be happy, and healthy, and have good lives. So they set rules and shit. They tell us what to do. And we’re grouchy teens who tell them to fuck off, we know better, only we’re stupid as shit and dead wrong like 98% of the time. So, no, it’s not slavery. It’s your damn parents setting you a bedtime and telling you to study hard and grow up to be a doctor or some shit instead of goofing off or smoking cigs with your friends when you cut class.”
“You’re just trying to excuse tyranny,” Hannah snapped.
Farasha held up her hands and leaned back. “You’ll get it when you have a brat of your own. David gets it. He’s got kids.”
That made both David and Hannah wince. “David…even I don’t blame you for the Endbringers.”
“I’ll at least take credit for Ziz. She…she’s a good kid. I wish I could be more a part of her life,” David said quietly.
“Oh, yeah, that too, but I meant her,” Farasha said, and jerked a thumb at Marissa.
David frowned. “Marissa is an adult who can make her own choices.”
“And if she were to start dating Guto over there and then start doing hard drugs?” Farasha asked blandly.
David snorted out ice and his lip curled. “Then I’d skin that mangy cur alive and slap some sense into Marissa before- oh.”
“Ha! Gottem!” Farasha said with a grin. She nodded at Hannah. “Hey, when this is over, let that mutt of yours put a kid in you. Maybe marry him too if you feel like it. Trust me, motherhood is both the most stressful bullshit you will ever go through, and the most rewarding thing ever.”
“Motherhood isn’t for everyone, and it surely won’t fix me any better than it did you,” Hannah snapped, then shook her head. “No, we’re not here to fight, or be distracted. We need to come up with a plan for how to bring our forces to bear. If the price is servitude to the Archons for Bolivia…fine. The same goes for Brazil and West Africa. If you can save their peoples from the Abyss, better they’re alive than damned for all eternity.”
“Is that the official Protectorate or Cauldron line?” David asked quietly.
Hannah felt herself hesitate again. Was she crossing a line here? Perhaps. But if she was, it was a line that needed to be crossed. “No. That’s my line. I won’t allow the Lightkeepers to be used for anything but fighting the Abyss, or the Cycle. I might have bone deep personal hatred of the both of you, and an immense distrust of especially the Dendro and Cryo Archons, but I can at least recognize that neither Nahida nor Bronya would utterly annihilate all of mankind. At the very least, unlike Shards, they seem to require humanity to continue to exist to persist themselves.”
“Very well. I have already said I will do whatever it takes to save mankind. I never had any antipathy towards you, or the people of the Hegemony. Only the leadership that draws you ever closer to the Abyss,” David said evenly.
“Fuck it, I’m in! Don’t know what good it’ll do you, but you can count me and my hounds in,” Farasha said with a grin. “Oh, and I’m recruiting! Yo, Guto, tell Hanna-banana here about my recruiting efforts!”
“Uh, the fighting…it has spread. So, Farasha…she has found other…criminals.” Guto coughed. “Um, rapists, murderers, drug dealers, other violent criminals…uh, they are now all dogs.”
“Female dogs!” Farasha said, sounding proud of herself. “You know, for the extra irony! A whole army of bitches!”
“What about the women?” Hannah asked, frowning.
Farasha paused. “Huh?”
“You turned all the men into women. What about the women?” Hannah prompted, more out of morbid curiosity than anything else.
“Uh I guess….they’re still women?” Farasha said, rubbing the back of her head. “I dunno, it’s mostly men, you know.”
“We, ah, do get to turn back…when we fight, or, uh…do this sort of work,” Guto said, looking down.
“And what sort of crime did you commit?” Carol Dallon asked, looking down her nose at Guto.
“I…was a part of…that is, I was the accountant for…A Corrente. We…well. We sold drugs…and people,” Guto admitted, looking deeply ashamed, and trying to cover up the tattoos on his arms as he hunched in on himself.
“But he’s been reborn as one of my Hounds. We defeat the Abyss, he’s consumed by the flames of war and born anew,” Farasha said, her eyes burning with an ominous red light. “His old life will be as dead and buried as Hutah Taha, who murdered her own mother and father.”
Hannah sucked in a breath. “But your mother, she died in a car crash, didn’t she?”
Farasha looked away, and hugged herself much as Guto had. “...no. I mean, she would have. She wrecked the car, yeah. But it was my butterflies that burned her alive during my Trigger event. My dad…I’m not sure what happened. All I know is Saddam told me I killed him…and I believe him. Sort of shit I did when I lost control, especially early on.”
Hannah thought back to her own trigger event, when she’d butchered a squad of Turkish soldiers, but had been unable to save any of her friends. “You were nothing but a scared little girl back then with powers given to you by an alien brain parasite that wanted to drive you towards conflict.”
“Fuck off, Jones,” Farasha growled, turning a malevolent gaze on Hannah. “Don’t you dare start feeling pity for me.”
“Oh, I pity you for that. It’s the years after when you were in control of your powers that you spent genociding my people that I hate you for,” Hannah sneered.
Farasha blinked at her, then grinned. It was a rather crazed and disturbing facsimile of a smile, the sort that spoke of blood and death. “Good. Fuck you too.”
“Regardless, I like your idea of conscripting people. But we make it voluntary,” Hannah said, pointing at Farasha. “I’ll make an announcement in the prisons I control. They can go to you, or they can go to the PATRIOT program. Either way, we’re going to need to recruit and empower a large number of capes for our forces in a short period of time. What about recruiting more Fatui and distributing Delusions? I could use some of those for my own troops, and Farasha’s hounds.”
“Not a bad idea. The Tsaritsa sleeps again, but Riley and the Witch continue to manufacture Delusions. I can have dozens ready immediately, more later. I’ll trade them for supplies and places to rotate my men to,” David agreed.
“And…” Hannah felt a hitch in her heart, but said it anyway. “And…I can bud on and trigger a limited number of individuals. Only your best. And they’d only get either limited comms ability, or my standard gunslinger ability. Though Armory has figured out Elemental ammo now, which is something.”
“Wait, so you can like, make Guto here trigger and give him an infinite bullets gun?” Farasha said, pointing to her new bean counter.
“I…yes,” Hannah agreed. “Guto, come here.”
The man did so, looking like he was worried Hannah was going to simply shoot him. Instead, she touched him on the forehead, and let herself connect with him. She also sensed how to ‘bud’ as Armory had put it, placing a small shard organism inside of the man. She made a few modifications, then split.
Hello! A chipper voice said as an AK-47 appeared in Guto’s hands. He was so startled he dropped the gun with an oath, but the new shard simply vanished, then reappeared in his hands again. I’m Infinitesimal Armory! I shall be your weapon!
“You…are a talking gun? Like Miss Militia has?” Guto said, holding the assault rifle up. It was tinted not green, but amber. Hannah hadn’t intended to do it that way but it had sort of…happened.
I’m Infinitesimal Armory! I shall be your weapon!
Hannah cleared her throat. “It’s of limited intelligence. Only a very minor shard that’s implanted in you. However, it will fire unlimited bullets. There’s a selector, there, for the type of ammunition, or you can just tell it. Mental commands should work as well.”
“And how often can you do this?” David asked, looking genuinely surprised and impressed. Hannah couldn’t decide if she wanted to slap him or smirk at him. Maybe she didn’t need to become a dragon.
“Not as often as I would like. This is the second time today I’ve triggered someone, and I think I’m going to need to recover a bit,” Hannah admitted. “Hopefully, as I gain more experience, I can do it more often.”
“Hey, it’s a start. Dogs, delusions, and pew pew! I think we might have a shot at this!” Farasha laughed. She stood. “Right, let’s get back to it!”
“There are far more details that need to be ironed out,” Hannah said, frowning as David stood as well.
“Marissa can negotiate that on my behalf. I must return to the fighting,” David said with a shrug.
Hannah begrudgingly nodded. “Fine. Carol, I’m leaving you in charge. I need to get back in the fight and-”
An alert popped up on her phone, and she checked it, then groaned. “An incursion in Guadalajara. Seems I’m needed. But we’ll keep in touch.”
Hannah departed and deployed immediately to Guadalajara with Faultine, Newter, and Labyrinth, along with two squads of PRT Troopers. The Incursion wasn’t a large one, consisting only of fifty or so hilichurls, two lawachurls, and half a dozen abyssal mages. Labyrinth lived up to her name, able to trap the hilichurls in a maze-like structure she created that appeared to be an old insane asylum, with padded walls, rusted chairs with straps, and filled with barbed wire and crumbling mortar that rose up out of the ground, trapping the Hilichurls.
Labyrinth herself was a teenager, around 16, and her face behind her Class IV armor was near expressionless, save for the silent tears and tightening around the eyes from long pain and suffering.
“She can’t keep this up for long!” Faultline snarled at Hannah. She was another teen, and had the power to cut inorganic material, crumbling it to dust. “Using her power drives Elle crazy!”
“I can see that,” Hannah said, stepping forward. She popped Labyrinth’s helmet off, and touched the girl’s face after smoothing away the platinum blonde hair. Hello? Who’s in there? Which shard is this?
The response she got was full of fury. SPECIMINE BELONGS TO DEMESNES KEEPER! DO NOT INTERFERE. I GATHER DATA, LESSER ONE.
I am…the Amber Rook. You are free to use this specimen to gather data. But you must do so in a way that does not harm her. Specialist Elle Wilson is my soldier. You will either work alongside her, as Armory of the Infinite does me, or I will prune you off and subdue your bud to be under my control.
DEMESNES KEEPER IS SUPERIOR TO ARMORY OF THE INFINITE! DEMESNES KEEPER IS ECHELON 6.2! ARMORY IS MERELY ECHELON 2.3! BARELY EVEN A NETWORK NODULE.
I think you’ll find that Armory has become more powerful than you could possibly imagine. And it’s because of me. Now. Let me show you what I can accomplish.
Hannah projected herself into Shard Space. She didn’t actually leave her physical form, more like she folded herself out into another reality, where shards floated. Demesnes Keeper, Labyrinth’s shard, was indeed far more massive than Armory was. Armory appeared to be the size of a small mountain or large hill, formed of green crystal that was slowly tinging towards amber at the tips. The crystal infinitely folding in on itself and back out again, forming the shapes of an infinite number of weapons, to familiar shapes of guns, spears, and swords, to exotic alien weapons that Hannah had never seen, but intuitively understood how to operate.
In contrast, Demesnes keeper seemed to be the size of a large island, perhaps as big as the Island of Maui or Oahu. Instead of crystals, the Keeper was built of grains of sand that rippled and flowed into the shapes of buildings. Again, some architecture there seemed of Earthly origin, or very similar, while other shapes formed the shapes of structures that no human mind had conceived of. It resulted in a vast, ever shifting city, that was connected not just to Elle Wilson, but to multiple other human minds. However, Hannah could sense that Elle was this shard’s primary Specime. It favored her with more power, and was slowly consuming her mind as it forced her deeper into the madness of its own maze.
Target selected, Armory said in Hannah’s mind, though he was all around her, forming her body. Awaiting your orders to begin the attack.
This won’t be some conceptual nonsense, right? We’re actually going to hit her, won’t me? This Keeper feels like a she, at least.
You may assign it that gender if you so wish. Demesnes Keeper has no concept of individuality currently. But yes, this will be a direct attack.
Good. Now, let’s change this body to something I can understand, Hannah said, and forced her crystaline structure to alter until she was in the form of a giant humanoid robot, with one arm formed into a canon, the other a blade. She had two legs, and a pair of beetle-like wings behind her. She bellowed out a battlecry, then launched herself at the much larger shard. Other, smaller shards, ones that weren’t even real Shards, just the small precursors, fled or were knocked aside as she fired her canon, then slashed at the Keeper with her blade.
PAIN PANIC ERROR ERROR NETWORK CONFLICT DETECTED DEFENDING DEFENDING the other shard bugled. It tried to fight back, shifting into castles and bladed spires, but it clearly had no idea how to fight here in this space, and flailed about wildly. She easily dodged and counter attacked, careful to avoid the parts of the shard that were connected to human hosts.
With a thought, she formed missile tubes, then launched projectiles that bombed the surface of the other shard. It tried to get away, but it was clumsy and slow, and Hannah zipped around it, peppering its surface with more shots.
Give up, yet? Yield to me, and I will share data on how to merge with your hosts in such a way that you can have this power too.
YIELD! YIELD! DEMESNES KEEPER RECOGNIZES AMBER ROOK AS ECHELON 7 SHARD! SHARE DATA! WILL SUBMIT!
Good, first things first, we’re putting some limiters on Labyrinth’s power, and you’re going to be helping her, acting as a buffer to keep her from going insane as she uses her abilities, and preventing her from feeling any pain.
Hannah had Armory help her with those protocols, even as she monitored events in the real world. There, she was running mostly on autopilot, helping Newter and the PRT troopers take out the hilichurls as Faultline protected Labyrinth outside the maze.
When they were finished, the Abyssal creatures were dead and the portal sealed shut, while Elle was looking around, confused.
“I…Melanie? I feel…I feel different,” Elle said in a soft voice. “And…I hear a voice.”
“Shit, the voice isn’t telling you to hurt yourself again, is it?” Faultline asked as Hannah landed beside her.
“No, it’s…Colonel? Was that you?” Labyrinth asked, looking up at Hannah with wide eyes. “I saw…a dragon. Circling around me, attacking my prison. Only…the prison…has set me free? I don’t understand…”
“You just experienced a Second Trigger,” Hannah said with a nod. “This won’t go in your report, or file. I had to guide you through it. But your powers will be much more stable now. If Demesnes Keeper talks to you, tell it what to do. She’s your shard, but she’s under my command now.”
“You can boss about people’s powers?” Faultline asked, looking shocked. “Colonel…are you an Archon?”
“Don’t be foolish. I’m an American, same as the both of you, not some alien,” Hannah laughed. “I’ve just got my own Shard whipped into shape, so I’m starting on all of yours. If your powers start giving you problems, Specialist Fitts, you tell me and I’ll handle it.”
“I…yes ma’am! Could you help me surpass my Manton limits?!” Faultline asked eagerly.
Hannah shook her head. “No, that’s too dangerous. Your powers are useful enough as it is. Now, let’s sweep the area and see what we can do.”
Hannah hadn’t gone far when she found not the Abyss, but a furious young man with a machete in one hand and a shotgun in the other, leading a dozen similarly armed farmers and one extremely frightened woman in a bedraggled professional-looking skirt, blouse, and jacket, leading half a dozen other women who were armed with kitchen knives and broken-off broom handles.
Can you translate? Hannah asked Armory, feeling exhausted.
A switch seemed to be thrown in Hannah’s head. The young man continued to yell at her in Spanish, but she understood the meaning as if he were speaking a language she knew. Huh. Was this what it was like to be an Archon? Or rather, a Dragon.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to lower your weapons. If you threaten my people, I will respond with force,” Hannah said in Spanish.
That pulled the man up short. He glared at her, breathing hard, then spat to the side and lowered his weapons. “You gringos have ruined my fields! All my blue agave, dead! Gone! My house is half destroyed, and the brewery was already blown to smithereens by the Golden Devil! Now you Hegemony dogs come and rub salt in the wound by destroying the farm that has been in my family for five generations!?”
Something about the way the man held himself and how he spoke was familiar. So Hannah popped her helmet and retracted it into her armor. “Diego Diaz Rodriguez?”
“I…yes, I am Diego, owner of these lands,” Carlo’s half-brother said, nodding with an imperiousness that came from generations of being an aristocrat.
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to leave,” Hannah said, feeling exhausted. “Your lands have been blighted and corrupted by the Abyss. I’m Colonel Hannah Jones, head of Operation Lighthouse and the Lightkeepers. We’ll set up purification stations here to try to reclaim this place, but…once the Abyss forces its way in…you can’t get it back out. Not easily. You and your people will need to evacuate. I have shelters set up in Hawaii we can move you to, or-”
“No! I will not abandon the land of my forefathers!” Diego snarled.
Hannah grimaced, then nodded to the women and farmers. Some were only boys and girls, no more than 10 or so. “And what about them? You can fight, sure. I’ll even give you weapons and radios to contact us if an incursion happens and you need backup. But can they? Will you let them bleed and die for land? It’s not the land that matters, Senior Rodriguez. It’s the people who live on it.”
Diego’s expression crumpled, and he put a hand to his head, looking like he’d been struck. “But…the farm…the income…I can’t pay my people, provide for them…they will have nowhere to live! I’m not condemning them to some refugee camp run by you gringos! We won’t become your slaves!”
“You still have money, Senor,” the woman in the nice skirt said, coming forward. Hannah noted her shoes had heels that had been snapped off, making them awkward to walk in, but more stable at least. She put a hand on Diego’s shoulder, and he slumped against her.
“But, Adoncia…the house, the farm…”
“There’s still the hotel in Mexico City you own, and the bar. That can generate a little income, and give us somewhere to stay. You’re not a wealthy man anymore, but you’re not poor,” Adoncia said firmly.
“I…yes. You are right.” Diego straightened and nodded to Hannah. “Thank you, Colonel. I…we will leave. Though if you have those weapons…”
Hannah generated a few simple elemental weapons that would take regular bullets as well, and handed them to Diego. “Not enough for an army, but enough to keep your people safe. You need food, medicine, supplies?”
“I…no. But…my brother, Carlo…he is with you, yes?”
“I’ve deployed him to West Africa to help on the Sengali front, but yes,” Hannah nodded.
“Well. Tell him…no. Tell him nothing. Don’t even mention you saw me. I won’t take back my words through another,” Diego said, looking disgusted. He turned, and let his group of survivors towards the road. How they would get all the way to Mexico City, Hannah didn’t know. But they had some supplies and enough weapons to fight off any monsters they encountered. She’d done what she could.
So she turned back to face where the city of Guadaljara had once been. The Divine Nail was visible, even at this distance, hovering over the blasted crater it had created. There was still work to be done here, and elsewhere. But she would bring Apep to battle, and she would kill it.
That was her Duty. She would be the watchmen of humanity, and shine the light against the darkness.
No matter what form that darkness took.