Chapter 37

“In position,” came the slightly distorted radio message from Dunon and his team as we surrounded what appeared to be an unauthorised horde confrontation.

“Destroy the portal link, then target any security force personnel you can spot; prioritise the leadership,” I replied.

“You got it.”

‘Security force personnel are approaching, ‘ came a message from Abi.

‘Thank you, my love. Can you target the sleds and give control to the bioneural cortex?‘

‘Yes, John. And done ... ooh!‘

‘Take it the Orcs didn’t like that?‘

‘Not with the information package we sent with it, no. Most sleds did a 180-degree flip to dump the Orcs and then used their beam weapons to take out ground targets. A few have been shot down, but there are still twenty or so on the loose.‘

‘Keep us updated on any orbital involvement.‘

‘Yes, my love.‘

“Want us to ghost the rioters, John?” Esira asked.

“Yes. See if you can keep them focussed on each other until it’s time to unleash them on the security forces,” I replied after a moment’s thought. “Stay out of trouble though.”

“Yes, John,” she replied before they all engaged their cloak.

‘They’re bringing Waargs in by road, ‘ Abi warned.

‘Adok!‘ I sent out.

‘We have them in sight!‘

‘Pull back on the Seers’ command.‘

‘You got it.‘

Senior Land-boss Gan was a very frustrated Yr’ch. What had appeared on the surface to be a simple ‘kill the rioters’ mission had turned very complex indeed. His support formations had been delayed or, in the case of the sled-borne, vanished entirely. He’d also had reports of his troops being attacked with beam weapons, but clearly they had to be mistaken.

“Waarg convoy reports they were under attack but have now gone off air,” Ground-Boss Finnt alerted him.

“Attack? Attack by whom?” he almost yelled.

“They didn’t say. Probably one of the hordes though.”

“They aren’t travelling through either of the fighting hordes’ territories!”

“I’ll ... I’ll get someone to check.”

“Do so!”

“Sleds approaching,” another subordinate confirmed.

“Good. Order them to attack the rioters and act as a swift response fist.”

“I cannot contact them ... Sir, look!” The subordinate pointed.

The surviving sleds were now strafing the Yr’ch positions, clearing the way for the rioting horde to charge screaming into the shattered defensive positions. Other sleds appeared to be doing the same in the distance for the other horde involved.

“What is happ...” Finnt began only to notice three small objects come sailing into the command centre and end his thoughts forever with a massive series of explosions that took out the entire command group.

“Orcs have seized the weaponry of the overrun positions; surviving sleds have moved on to target other formations of militia,” Dunon informed us over the radio channel.

‘Waargs and their handlers are all down, ‘ Adok sent back.

‘Massive confusion in the Orc ranks as the loss of the Ground-Boss is hampering co-ordination, ‘ Esira confirmed.

“Right, let’s keep this going,” I sent over the radio and mentally. “You know what you have to do,” I added, getting various confirmations.

“We’re ready, John,” Kate confirmed.

“Good. Let’s see if we can cause an incident with that horde that controls the central block, give them a few more issues to deal with,” I nodded as we portalled to a new location that Abi had confirmed was clear.

Getting the Orcs to fight was easy. They responded with violence towards any sort of threat or insult; though Athena had now successfully brought her worshippers away from constantly fighting each other through a little mental rewiring of their psyche. These however were unreconstructed Orcs and using their building systems to call for a horde assembly right next to an adjoining horde’s territory (something that the ones in control never did) was enough to start another riot in the small (only 15 million or so occupants) city.

‘That did it, John. The military base has gone on full alert, ‘ Abi confirmed for me.

‘Good. Are our little surprises in place?‘

‘Yes, Heimdor and Naimh are in position over the likeliest of routes they’ll take.‘

“Last of the rogue sleds has gone down,” Clara announced.

“I hope they’ll find peace in the afterlife,” Kate murmured.

“As do I, but for now we’ll deal out death in another way,” I nodded.

Almost two hundred sleds lifted off from the desert base to form an initial strike team to bring the rioting in the city of Pock to a halt. Their job was to assemble a portal to enable the transportalling of the remainder of the horde into the city and quash the riot. What they didn’t realise was that in lifting off they exposed themselves to one of Teali’s sanctums who were all carrying hand-held surface-to-air missiles and had been trained extensively in their use. The Orcs never knew what hit them. The sleds were not designed to be particularly mobile, weren’t particularly fast and the pilots weren’t trained in evasion. Seventeen went down in the first few seconds, many falling directly on the base, causing further havoc and casualties as another wave of missiles streaked in.

‘Out now, Teali. They are scanning from orbit, ‘ Seer Jemima warned.

‘We’re gone.‘

In less than thirty seconds the sanctum of forty Azurans had returned to base, leaving behind utter chaos as the remaining sleds were rapidly grounded. The base commander ordered the vicinity, from where the missile launches had been observed, searched by his ground troops and several Waargs before he launched again to relieve Pock.

“Definite enemy action in Pock, Seeker. Plus, they attacked the military base when support troops were launched,” Slaarg announced urgently to Crnnch.

“Status report in Pock?” Crnnch asked Kurl who had turned to check the militia channels.

“Out of control. The militia are being overrun and the rioting is spreading to other hordes. Any attempts to regain control are hampered by the loss of the command teams and the deliberate targeting of any Yr’ch leadership trying to take local control,” Kurl replied.

“Seems they have found and are exploiting weaknesses in our command structure,” Crnnch hissed.

“We have never faced a foe like this, Seeker. Always we have had good intelligence on another race’s abilities and equipment. Of these, we know nothing,” Slaarg replied.

“Get me in touch with the local Adept,” Crnnch replied thoughtfully.

“At once, Seeker.”

“Adept Vrok, attend!” Crnnch hissed out once the connection had been made.

“I am yours to command, Seeker,” came the very nervous reply.

“What are your plans for dealing with these riots?”

“I have detached several squads from the surrounding cities, Seeker. We are moving them by cart as the central portal in the city is damaged. It will take several hours before they are in position. I have ordered the surviving Militia to dig in and hold until they have support. I have forbidden any air traffic into the area as it is either shot down, or somehow turned by this enemy.”

“Turned?”

“Yes, Seeker. The Militia were attacked by our own craft after those craft had rid themselves of the pilots and troops aboard. I do not know how the enemy did this, but the reports I have confirm at least fifty of the craft were under enemy control.”

“Thank you, Adept Vrok. I will be in contact once this is over.”

Crnnch signed off thinking furiously. This was a very unexpected development. The enemy had normally simply killed any of the Yr’ch creations who had disturbed them, not taken them over and used them ... as far as he was aware.

“I must go to Pock,” he finally announced. “Unfortunately the method I use will not permit you to come with me. Continue to gather data. I will return in due course.”

“Yes, Seeker,” came a series of replies as Crnnch activated his own personal independent portal and stepped through into Pock.

‘We have a Seeker in the city, ‘ came a warning from Abi.

‘Move any of our people out of his way if necessary, but carry on with your tasks, ‘ I replied after a moment’s thought.

‘Yes, John.‘

“All units, be aware! A Seeker is in the city,” I sent out by radio and mentally.

“I have a shot at him,” Pilorus, one of Dunon’s squad, informed.

“Leave him until we have at least placed the sabotage charges,” I replied.

“Yessir!”

‘He’s examining a downed sled, ‘ Esira sent back. ‘Valon’s squad have him under observation.‘

‘He’s doing well, I doubt he really needs your oversight, ‘ I replied as I checked a map and moved a few markings on it.

‘I’m just here to tick boxes; next time he’s on his own, ‘ she replied with a mental laugh.

‘Explosives placed on the bridges over the river, ‘ Brianna sent to me.

‘Good. It will prevent any link up from the ground troops sure to be on their way, ‘ I mentally nodded, moving a few more markers.

‘We are in the data-centre. We will begin to download any records we find for later perusal, ‘ came a message from Sinnead’s group.

‘Hopefully something new, ‘ I replied.

‘We hope so; it was unusually well guarded compared to others that have been observed.‘

‘Seeker is killing any ‘rebel’ horde members who approach, but so far is static in position, ‘ Abi noted.

‘Let me know if or when he moves.‘