Prologue:
January 8, 2024 11:21 PM
Romy felt himself shiver as another gust of cold wind blew into his face. Winter was still going strong and the wind stabbed into him even through his large coat. For once, Romy could not wait to get down from Christa's shoulder and on the ground. At least down there the bare trees would provide some wind breaks. Up here, the only thing between him and the biting wind was the cage's bars.
Far below, the ground was covered in naked trees and dead grass. A few clumps of snow were still scattered about here and there, but most of it had melted in the midday sun. Off to Christa's right and left were a few other giantesses moving through the area, all of them Swords. Seemed they were doing more and more operations with the Swords lately.
"Dammit it is colder than an polar bear's ass! Are we almost there?" Kian asked before sneezing. Romy looked over to Kian's cage resting beside his own. Kian was bundled up completely leaving his tanned Hispanic skin hidden behind his hoodie. He was shivered even more than Romy was and Romy felt bad for the skinny guy. Kian was just not built for cold weather.
"Its just over this next rise, Kian," Christa said as she keep moving toward the hill just ahead. Kian grumbled out his annoyance, but didn't push the issue.
"Shouldn't be out here. We're urban Rangers not rural. If them damn politicians and news people would stop stirring shit up about that attack..." Ian said as he grumbled on Christa's other shoulder. Romy couldn't see him past Christa's massive neck and head, but could imagine he was just as miserable as the rest. His bald head and constant scowl would be freezing right about now.
"Since most of Five got killed during that attack, someone had to pick up the slack. We just happened to be the lucky ones today," Romy said sighing a bit as he remembered the attack. They had lost more than just Patrol 5 that day. Three Shields and two Swords giantesses had been killed along with about twenty normal-sized security guards. Resistance bastards almost got into the base itself. That was almost a month ago, though.
"And you might not care enough to want to pay the Resistance back for that attack, but some of us do. Even if it means freezing my balls off," Kian added with slight anger in his voice.
"Hey! I ain't minding killing nor paying the Resistance back. Just ain't no reason to be out 'ere. As cold as it is, them terrorists are probably all 'old up and bundled up waiting for it to get warm. Ye know it, I know it, Christa knows it, the Matriarchs know it, but the politicians and those idgit news people don't know or just don't care," Ian said.
"Leave me out of this and stop arguing. We are almost there," Christa said as she began to head up the hill to their destination. Romy didn't like Ian too much, he swore Ian still looked down on him just because he was black, but he did have a point. Ever since the attack happened the people of Atlanta had been putting a lot of pressure on the Matriarchs to take the fight to the Resistance. A lot of their missions had gone from just simply patrols to these types of search and destroy. Well, more like they search and then the Swords destroy. It wouldn't be so bad if it hadn't been the dead of winter when the Resistance, usually, laid low. They had been on more than one of these missions that ended with nothing being found save a cold and Ian was not the type to keep his annoyance of that to himself.
Finally, Christa climbed to the top of the ridge and their search area came into view. The place looked to have once been a grazing area for cows or horses. Now it was, from this vantage point, a tiny little forest laid bare by the winter. A few bits of garbage and other junk were scattered about the area. The remains of an old barbed wire fence lined the area, though most of its wire had rotted away. A rusted to the point of uselessness tractor sat out in the middle of the area looking about to fall apart if someone so much as breathed on it wrong.
Christa knelt down and pressed a button on her wristpad. Their cages shifted and pulled away from her shoulders before slowly lowering down to the ground. Romy began to flex his fingers and arms, trying to get some blood back into his limbs. He would have done his legs too, but they were secured to the cage.
A minute later saw all three cages on the ground and the three Rangers piled out, stretching their legs and getting ready. Christa got the cages to start heading back up as she went over their mission again.
"OK, the mission is the same as the last one. Head into the area, look for any signs of Resistance, and report back any sightings. If you find any Resistance, don't engage them. Let the Swords do their job and you stick to yours, understood?" she whispered to them. They all nodded and said yes ma'am. She got back to her feet and began to head back down the ridge, leaving them to their task.
"Alright, radio silence from here on out. Normal spread or we going to split up for this?" Romy asked as he turned off his radio. Kian and Ian did the same. Romy would rather have split up, but didn't want to voice his opinion. Ian would probably disagree with it just to disagree.
"Lot of area to cover together. Vote we split, get this done quick," Kian said rubbing his arms and biting back a shiver.
"Yeah better split up 'fore Kian here turns into a Mexican popsicle," Ian said with his annoying grin.
"I'm not Mex- you know what its too damn cold for this shit. Hope a feral catgirl uses you for a scratching post," Kian said before storming off. Romy gave Ian a nasty look before turning and heading off on his own as well. Damn bastard would have had an "accident" a long time ago if he wasn't damn good at his job. Racist redneck to be sure, but a damn good Ranger and Romy would want no one else beside him if shit hit the fan.
Now alone, Romy took out his axe and headed deeper into the pasture, turned forest. The wind had died down now that he was on the ground and the sun helped make it at little warmer. The ground crunched under his footsteps thanks to all the dead leaves and branches everywhere and made it nigh impossible for him to move about with causing some noise. Ian might be an asshole, but he was right in them not being the best choice for this.
Romy searched through the forest for about an hour or so finding nothing but dead trees and the occasional random junk. Most of the parts and other stuff he found did look like the kinds of things the Resistance would use, but were so old and rusted as to be useless now. The Resistance had been here, that was sure. But Romy was beginning to think HAD was the keyword.
He sighed to himself, getting annoyed by yet another wild goose chase of a mission. He agreed with Kian that it was good they were taking the fight to the Resistance, but also agreed with Ian that doing such in the winter was rather stupid. He was tired of being cold all the damn time and really tired of catching colds and nothing else. Demanding war and revenge was all well and good, but not if you couldn't find the enemy.
Grumbling to himself, Romy climbed to the top of a small ridge and found himself staring down at a Resistance base. He swore in his mind before scrambling back down out of sight. He gripped his axe tighter as he waited for the yell of alarm he was sure to come, but none came. Romy let out his held breath and slowly inched his way back to the top of the hill, flat on his stomach.
He crested the hill and looked down into a small valley where a number of wooden crates and cardboard boxes had fallen, the old farm logo that had been on them nearly faded completely. Beneath the boxes, hidden from sight from above, were a number of tents and a few larger wooden structures. The base would a good ways away, at least a hundred scale yards, so he took out his binoculars to get a better look.
He could make out a few people in the torn rags and furs of the Resistance moving about the area, ten or so at most. Most of them were just lazing about, cooking, moving stuff, cleaning weapons, etc... None of them looked to be on alert or ready for an attack, though. The buildings were shut tight and none had windows so Romy had no idea what was inside. Looked like Commands intel had been good after all. He inched back out of sight before using his wrist computer to mark down the location. With that done, he slowly creep away from the base. Once he was confident he was out of ear shot of it, he took off running.
After running a few minutes he stopped to catch his breath and looked at his wrist computer again. He activated his beacon for a split second before turning it off. He waited a few seconds before tuning it back on for another second and switching it off again. The first blip should have gotten his squadmates attention, the other would have shown them where he was.
The Resistance didn't usually have any tech capable of tracking their beacons, but it still paid to be prepared. Ranger Patrol 1 had assumed they couldn't listen to radio signals and had tipped a Resistance base off a year back. By the time the Sword got there the base was cleared out and the Resistance long gone, leaving a few traps to greet them, though. Romy wasn't about to let that happen to them.
A few minutes passed as he waited for his squadmates to show. He wished he could start a fire, but that would tip off the Resistance faster than anything. So he suffered the cold and paced about to try and keep warm. Finally, Kian showed up, still shivering, followed by Ian.
"Find something?" Kian asked as he walked over to a tree to use it to break the wind.
"Yeah. Resistance base in some crates and cardboard. Marked it down on my computer," Romy answered.
"Well, what ya what'in fer? Tell the Swords so we can get outta 'ere," Ian said as he put his hands into his pits. Romy thought of telling him he was waiting to make sure his sorry ass didn't get stepped on by the Swords, but decided he was not in the mood. Instead, he turned on his radio and brought up his map.
"Christa, Resistance base found. Location: 245,781. Confirm?" he said giving the grid location of the base.
"Confirmed. Good job, you three. Turn on your beacons and sit tight till I can get to you," Christa said getting a smile from Kian and a nod from Ian. The all turned their beacons on as they waited for the inevitable earthquakes.
"Hey, there is a hill back that way that might be high enough for us to watch the base get trashed. Want to go check?" Kian suggested.
"Beats just standin 'ere," Ian said and Romy nodded his agreement. They hurried over to the hill and scrambled up it. While their beacons would warn any Swords they were close to them, it was still better to sit tight and stay put when they were moving through an area just to be sure. Easy to avoid an unmoving spot rather than three mobile spots.
The three of them managed to get to the top of the hill just as the first rumbles began to shake the ground. Kian had been right that the hill had been tall enough for them to see the base. It was a good ways away and they couldn't see the actual base, but they could see the boxes that hid it. Ian motioned over to their left as three Swords leap the fallen barbed fence and began to rush toward where the boxes were, their footsteps shaking the ground. Two more came from the right and front along with four catgirls on leashes. They held back from the boxes and keep a tight grip on the catgirls, a clean up crew meant to mope up any Resistance the first three missed.
By then, the three attacking Swords had circled the boxes. They kicked the boxes away with ease and were greeted with a volley of five missiles. The missiles detonated on their shields, but were too spread out to take down any of the Swords' shields. The Swords began to stomp their feet through the area where the boxes had been, sending huge shockwaves through the ground. Romy and his two comrades had to brace against the trees to not lose their footing as the ground shook under the Swords' titanic stomps.
"Jesus! Glad I am not over there!" Kian yelled to be heard over the booms.
"No kidding! Don't know why those idiots even try to fight!" Romy yelled back as the carnage continued. They couldn't see any of the Resistance being crushed thanks to the trees, but Romy was sure he didn't want to.
Two more missiles came flying up, missing their targets, but they looked to be the last as the Swords began to slow their stomping. One chuckled as she stomped one last time and the three stopped.
"Don't see anymore, do you?" one asked, her voice reaching them even from this far away.
"No, might be more in these buildings though. Let's see if they want to come out and PLAY!" another yelled before stomping down, assumedly onto one of the buildings. Suddenly a loud crunch and wet splat came echoing over as a strange brown liquid slashed up and out from where the Sword and stomped. The stuff covered her leg and splattered onto the other two.
"Wha- oh GROSS! What the hell is this?!" the Sword who had stomped said as she started to try and wipe it off. Romy looked at Kian in confusion and saw the same look on his face. He turned to Ian just as a wiff of something odd, yet familiar came to his nose. Ian, however, seemed to recognize it and his eyes went wide.
"Oh sweet Jesus, RUN!" he yelled into the radio. "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! THAT'S GASOLINE!" Romy's eyes went wide too as he realized the implications and he saw the Swords doing the same.
"Wh- OH SHIT!" was all one of them had time to say before a massive explosion rocked the area and sent Romy falling to the ground. Romy swore as he picked himself up, his ears ringing from the explosion. He turned toward where the Resistance base had been as the ringing in his ears died down.
Where the base had been was now a virtual fire storm that was spreading outward at incredible speeds. The three Swords that had been next to it were now covered in flames. They were screaming in agony and pain as they trashed around trying to put the flames out. Their own stumbles and wreathing were putting more places in the field on fire and spreading the fire like a flaming plague. The radio came alive with alarm, surprise, confusion, and general chaos. Romy stumbled back and heard the same crunch that he had been hearing all through his trip. he looked down and looked the leaves. The leaves...it had been a trap, the whole thing, this whole pasture, it was all one big trap!
"Kian, Ian, we've got to get out of here!" he yelled at his buddies as they stumbled back to their feet. They looked at him in confusion before a voice cut through the radio's chatter.
"Fuck! They set the outer edges of the pasture on fire too! They were in the damn fence posts waiting for us!" another giantess, who Romy didn't know, yelled causing even more chaos to erupt on the radio. He had been right, this was a trap and they had taken the bait. A trap they were smack in the middle of.
"Damn Resistance fuckers, can't fight like men so th-" Ian was saying before the ground began to rumble and shake like crazy. Romy turned just in time to see a catgirl, her fur on fire, running in complete terror straight for them. Romy dived to the side, hoping to avoid her foot, and watched in terror as her foot smashed down barely inches from his face. The blast sent him flying back and blasted his hearing away, but he was still alive. Unlike Kian.
Romy watched as Kian tried to run only for the catgirl's other foot to come crashing down on top of him. The noise, thankfully, drowned out the crunch, but did nothing for the sight of Kian flattened into a red mess onto the catgirl's foot. His corpse vanished from sight as the catgirl keep running, fire spreading off her to the trees nearby. Romy yelled out in lose as he tried to go after him, but two arms wrapped around him. His hearing slowly came back to let him hear Ian yelling at him.
"Goddammit, he is dead, Romy! Come on, we're gonna be too if we don't find Christa! COME ON YA DAMN BLACK SON OF A BITCH!" Ian said as he began to drag Romy away. Romy cursed under his breath as he finally let Ian drag him away and into the forest.
By now, screams and cries of alarm were filling the air and the radio was utterly useless. Yells of "Put her out!" "Get some water!" "HELP ME, HELP ME!" and all sorts of other sounds were all around them and the rumbling of footsteps seemed to always been far too close. Ian was yelling into the radio, trying to get heard through the chaos. Romy swore he heard Christa every so often, but never clear enough to understand her.
Finally, they crested another hill and came into sight of Christa. Christa was looked around like mad for them as fire was spreading behind her. Romy let out a gasp of relieve as Christa's eyes locked on them. Ian turned and smiled back at him before his smile turned to panic. Romy saw Christa's look turn the same as he turned to look. About halfway down the hill, the area was a literal wall of flames. The fire was spreading insanely fast and coming right for them.
"Oh fuck, RUN!" Romy yelled as he and Ian took off toward Christa. Christa did the same rushing toward them as fast as her massive legs could take her. The two of them huffed and scrambled through the brush, trying to reach their salvation as Christa loomed larger and larger ahead. They were a few feet away when Christa looked to her side and was knocked off balance by another giantess bathed in flames. Christa stumbled and then fell down, her body mostly hidden by the trees and smoke. When she reappeared, fire had lept onto her hair and clothing and she was screaming in pain and agony. Romy watched in muted horror as the flames began to consume their only way out and his friend was cooked alive.
Both he and Ian stumbled to a stop as Christa gave one last gasp of pain before falling to the ground. Ahead of them the wall of flames was advancing and behind them another was coming. There was nowhere to go and the radio was still so full of noise that no one was going to hear them. Romy was wondering if slitting his throat would be better than burning alive when a massive tree branch above him snapped. He never even felt it hit.
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11:26 PM
Derek couldn't help but smile as he watched the fire slowly spread over the old pasture. The Society had fallen right into the trap just like Darius had planned. Now five of their number were on the ground, burned to a crisp, along with four catmonsters. Three more of the giant bitches were still on fire, though had gotten out of pasture. Their friends were trying to put them out with the water in their canteens or with blankets. Even if they succeeded the three would be so badly burned that it would be months before they recovered, if they did at all. While Derek was smiling at the sight, Darius simply looked on without a hint of emotion.
Darius was a good foot shorter than Derek, or had been when their height could be measured in feet. His black hair still looked well kept, despite not having been washed in a few days, and his green eyes stared out toward the pasture. He wore a simple bear skin coat over some resown scraps of cloth and a large cloak made out of a wolf's fur. The wind had picked up thanks to the fire, though now it was a bit warmer too. He stared at the sight, his face a mask, before looking over toward Ollie.
"Tally?" he asked getting a held up finger from Ollie. He keep his eyes on the blinking light off in the distance and was writing down the message it spelled out in morse code. Finally, the blinks stopped and Ollie raised a piece of glass to send a confirmation signal. Ollie stood up reading over the message he wrote. His scrawny form was well protected from the cold by a massive coat of various animals and he had to push his long brown hair out of his face a few times thanks to the wind.
"Ok. For confirmed dead, five giantesses, five catmonsters, and a Ranger patrol. Injured: six giantesses three severely, five catmonsters three severely," Ollie reported as he put down the message. Darius nodded in satisfaction and looked back at the slowly dying inferno.
"More than we thought we would get. That's at least eight giantesses out of action and a Ranger patrol. If those rumors are true, they are down two Ranger squads now," Derek said, satisfaction in his voice.
"Yes. And this will make the Society assume their foes are here in Roswell. They will not be disappointed," Darius said getting the barest hint of a smirk on his face.
"No, but the Snakes will," Derek said returned the smile. Damn bastards had it coming after they hit one of their outposts. Attacking and stealing supplies was one thing. Doing that AND murdering everyone there AND leaving it on fire so as to attract the Society's attention...well that was outright war. A war that the Snakes had just lost.
"It was nice of the Snakes to let us use their fuel to kill all these Society fuckers. They can freeze now knowing it was for a good cause," Jacob, Derek's son, said as he walked up to the top of the hill to join them. Jacob was nowhere near as tall as Derek, but did has his dad's hair and eyes. He wore a simple fur coat over his patchwork clothing and had a large cobbled together rifle over his shoulder. Darius nodded his agreement, but didn't look at Jacob.
"Too bad we couldn't take it with us. All that gas would have helped us," Ollie added as he started to send another message off in another direction.
"It would have slowed us too much. Any word from the fire teams?" Darius asked, going straight back to business. Jacob's smile faded as he looked down at his feet.
"Some of them. Gerard, Maybelle, Tim, Colin, and Amber's groups have all signaled that they got out and are falling back. Haven't heard from the rest, yet," Jacob said, stressing the yet part. Derek loved his son more than he could ever hope to voice, but the boy needed to get over his naive outlook on things. Likely most of them never would. Fire attacks worked wonders, but fire didn't care what it burned and would gladly roast them as readily as the Society.
"Half is good enough. Derek, get everyone ready to start the trip back," Darius said as he keep looking over the carnage, in particular the place where the base had been. Where fifteen good men had knowingly died for this to work. More now that half their fire squads had vanished.
"We're just going to leav-" Jacob stared to say, Derek tried to stop him, but Darius beat him to it as he turned to glare at Jacob. Jacob stopped as he saw Darius' glare.
"We are leaving. If they find a way back, good. But we are not going to stay here and risk all of us to, possibly, save a few of us. The Society will be combing this area soon and we need to be as far away as possible before then. Derek, take your son and go. I want to be ready to leave in two minutes," Darius said as he turned back to the fire. Derek nodded as he hefted up his laser cannon and lead his son away. Jacob hung his head down as they walked away and was silent until Darius had vanished from sight.
"Dad, I...I ju-"
"I know what you were trying to say, son. But its just not the world we live in now," Derek said, putting his arm on his son's shoulder. He loved his son, and, truth be told, loved that he wanted to save everyone and be the hero. But it would not be long till he realized the truth. There were no heroes out here. And sacrifice was the only way to survive.