The pair sneak upon the listening station from the side furthest from the valley. A five-story bastion made of metal, a smooth concrete yard with dozens of large artillery guns and crates of artillery shells, and a low perimeter wall with raised guard tower at each of the eight corners. Each of the eight guard towers has two soldiers, a heavy machine gun, and two industrial floodlights that illuminate every inch of the 100-meter field of concrete.
Avi grabs her chin. “[If we get inside the camp, we could easily hide in that maze of artillery containers.]”
“[But the real challenge is getting across the field.]”
“[Maybe we could distract a guard?]”
“[They’re on high alert. These aren’t dumb conscripts, these are professional, well-paid soldiers. The gurant ordered all mountain passes cut off since there’s a huge uprising on the one side, and they don’t want any rebels to escape. They’re pulling out all the stops to prevent insurgents from doing exactly what we’re trying to do.]”
“[Hmh. That old guy. Do you think he was genuine about his tribe just wanting to flee, or do you think there are rebels with his group? I mean, the gurant will rebuild this station after we destroy it, but there’ll be some time for people to pass through the valley. If they’re just refugees, that’s kind of a waste, don’t you think?]”
“[It’s possible they have some rebels in their ranks. Perhaps the ‘friend’ is an insurgent commander and he set up that meeting thinking we’d fall for the old man’s sob story. Then, once the way is clear, he’ll send agents through the gap. Ultimately, there’s no way of knowing for sure, especially since I don’t really care. But let’s assume this isn’t some plot. I’m fine with doing it just to help his tribe.]”
“[Teehee,]” she pokes his cheek “[you’d be fine with doing this just to kill the gurant in charge.]”
“[True, and killing these human collaborators is a nice bonus.]”
“[So how do we get in?]”
Tammy frowns. “[The distance is too far to sprint without getting shot to death. We don’t have a gun long enough to start picking them off. We can’t dig under the concrete since and they have seismic sensors. Perhaps we could intentionally make a noise elsewhere, and goad the guns into firing in that direction while we attack from the opposite side?]”
Avi gently rolls to her back and folds her arms. “[I have my revolver and, like, 10 bullets. What do you have?]”
“[My sub-machine gun, two and a half magazines, and a grenade.]”
She looks over at him, eyebrow raised, “[have we been tearing through our supplies that much?]”
“[It’s been a busy few weeks. All we have left is whatever food and medical supplies are back at camp. I planned to start scavenging, bartering, and stealing once we reached the warzone, but we got sidetracked.]”
She pats his shoulder, “[some of life’s best moments are when you get sidetracked.]”
He looks at her radiant smile and can’t help but agree. “[Let’s get to work.]”
Tammy lays flat on his stomach, using his crossed arms as a pillow. Avi carefully undoes a small pouch on her waistband and pulls a blindfold, then silently ties it around his face. It’s pure black, thick, and wide enough that no light slips under.
Tammy goes limp, and Avi watches the nearest guard tower. Two guards standing up top, past a chest-high metal wall and a heavy machine gun. On the roof are two bright flood lights that make it a little hard to see.
One guard yawns, stretches his arms, then steps backwards and falls off the tower. He lands on his neck, and the snap makes his partner jolt, quickly running over the ledge. He shouts something and quickly climbs down the ladder.
On the far side of the station, another guard shouts, points into the distance, and grabs the heavy machine gun to start firing. Tracers fly out into the rocks beyond the concrete field, and everyone’s eyes are drawn over there.
Avi grabs her sleeping husband and throws him over her back, waiting for the right signal.
The guard shooting into the distance suddenly turns and shoves his partner’s chest, knocking him backwards over the wall. That soldier manages to rotate just enough to land on his butt. He breaks a lot of bones but isn’t dead yet. When the guard up top regains his senses, he looks over the ledge, trying to figure out why his partner is on the ground and screaming.
A guard to the left of the tower closest to Avi’s position pulls his pistol and shoots his partner in the chest, and that’s when Avi decides to move.
Tammy may be over 200 pounds of refined muscle, but a bone-tail measures her strength in tons. She rushes across the field in the midst of the confusion as one guard after another suddenly goes crazy. Randomly shooting into the distance, jumping off the edge, attacking their comrades, the eight guard towers are in disarray while the remaining soldiers in the yard are lost. Are they under attack? What’s happening? Where’s the enemy?
Everyone is too busy to notice Avi’s approach
One guard standing amidst the stacks of ammunition crates raises his rifle and opens fire on his comrade, his finger doesn’t leave the trigger until the man falls. His reload is messy, then he runs between the boxes and takes position around the corner of a large metal container, watching the only door to the bastion.
The metal door is thrown open and the heavily armored artillery crew runs out to fix whatever the problem may be. The traitorous guard opens fire at the distant crowd but only manages to get a few shots off. Behind him, one of the few soldiers alive in the guard towers levels his rifle and shoots the traitor in the back of the neck, severing his spine and protecting the artillery crew from harm.
“-AAAH!” Tammy yelps as his body spasms, the sensation of death launching him straight back into his body.
“You died?” Avi presses her back against the low perimeter wall and sets Tammy down with his back against the concrete.
“Damn it!” He yells a little too loudly. Avi puts a finger to his lips as a signal to shush, but he ignores it. “What the hell is wrong with me? How’d I not see him?!” He struggles to rip the blindfold off, but Avi tied it tight.
Avi looks around frantically from all the noise her husband’s making. He won’t be quiet, and she knows that he’ll have a debilitating headache for a few minutes after experiencing death in someone else’s body. After just a second of panic, Avi decides the best course of action.
She circles around the wall until she reaches the far side of the guard tower on their right. Then she grabs her revolver and hops over the wall, instantly picking a target and blowing his head off with a high-caliber round.
Now that she presents a clear threat, the guards’ training activates and they home in. The men in the towers take their shots, the artillery crew and the soldiers remaining in the yard silently coordinate to surround her.
Avi is quick, her instincts flawless. She maneuvers between the metal ammunition crates stacked taller than her head and always ensures nobody has a clear shot. She saves her revolver ammo for the guard towers, and takes out the soldiers with her bare hands, or stabs them with the needle on the end of her long tail. She turns a corner to lunge at a man, putting him in a headlock, then she turns around to use him his body and vest as a shield before his comrades can open fire. She charges forward, knocking them off balance, then dispatches the soldiers with punches and kicks that shatter bones. It takes only a second for Avi to steal rifles or submachine guns, though the urgency prevents her from ever reloading. If the gun runs out of bullets, all she can do is throw it or use it as a bludgeon, then steal another.
As Avi puts her life on the line in the maze of artillery crates, Tammy finally rips off his blindfold. He looks out over the concrete field, glowing brightly from the powerful floodlights. It’s the worst sense of disorientation possible. He was up on the rocks when he started using his powers, and then his soul returned to his body in a strange place. The lights hurt his eyes; the gunshots pound through his earplugs.
It takes a few seconds for him to even realize that Avi charged over the wall.
With that realization, Tammy grabs his foldable submachine gun and heads clockwise along the wall, closer to the bastion and away from the maze of ammunition crates that Avi is distracting the enemy in.
He peaks over the wall and sees the artillery crew march towards the artillery crates, guns up and ready to blast Avi if they see her.
With a smile, Tammy rests his gun on the top of the concrete barricade, then pulls the trigger.
One bullet hits the side of a man’s bullet proof vest. The second punctures his armpit.
There is no third bullet. The gun jams.
Tammy’s eyes round in disbelief. “Shitty fucking gurant gun!” He cries as he reaches forward to yank back the bolt, forcing the jammed bullet to eject.
The soldiers would have quickly figured out where Tammy was after he started shooting, but the screaming makes it easier to snap their aim towards him.
Tammy’s reflexes are sharp, and he dives below the wall before they can open fire. Bullet after bullet impacts the wall, cracking concrete and ripping holes in the spots where hot lead strikes repeatedly. With so many soldiers forming a firing squad, Tammy scrambles around the perimeter wall, hiding behind the thick metal base of a guard tower.
Using his psychic powers, Tammy sees the burning flame of every soul in the vicinity. Avi’s distinct pink flame is off in the distance, causing souls to fade here and there, while the firing line of souls attacking Tammy is lined up between the bastion and the artillery crates.
They’re adjusting their shots, firing their automatic weapons in a wide range, knowing that Tammy left his spot behind the wall, yet not sure exactly where he went.
“Push forward!” An older guard yells in a deep, grizzled voice.
The men break into three teams. Most men stay lined up, keeping their eyes trained on the guard tower and surrounding walls. The second team heads to the concrete wall about 20 feet clockwise of the guard tower Tammy’s hiding behind, with the third team doing the same counter-clockwise. Tammy is just one man, so they can overpower him with numbers.
Tammy grits his teeth and snuggles against the guard tower’s base. The perimeter walls are straight, so each guard tower stands at the corner of an octagon. Tammy’s best option is to kill the men coming on the counter-clockwise side, then turn around and keep the other side from approaching.
“[Tammy! You alive?]”
“[Not… for long, probably.]”
“[AAH! I’ll be right over, there’s just this pest on a tower. He brought out the heavy machine gun, and he’s being annoyingly observant. I can’t get a good hit on him.]”
Holding his breath, heart pounding, Tammy backs up from his tower, getting an angle so he can see over the wall to the guard tower that’s giving his wife so much trouble, without giving the three squads line of sight on him. He can see the soldier who took the heavy machine gun off its hinges, and he is indeed watching the container field. With years of practiced precision, it doesn’t even take a second for Tammy to line up the shot, fire a single bullet down range, and hit the guard in the head.
“[He’s dead.]”
“[Thanks! Now stay safe!]”
“[Not… really possible, to be honest.]”
To delay his death, Tammy reaches into his pack and pulls his one grenade. He yanks the pin out, then tosses it over the wall, right where the cluster of souls are for team three. It’s a perfect throw, right on target. The soldiers have no cover, and if they try to scramble over the wall to avoid the shrapnel, he’ll simply shoot them.
Two men dive over the chest-high wall, and Tammy opens fire. This time the gun doesn’t jam, but even as he senses the soldiers beyond the wall dive out of the way and scatter, there’s no explosion. The grenade doesn’t go off.
It’s a dud.
As Tammy senses the second squad coordinate themselves over the wall on the clockwise side of the tower, he also senses the third squad recognize that the grenade isn’t a threat. The third squad picks themselves up and keeps moving to the wall.
Tammy is seething with such bitterness and hatred at gurant engineering that there’s almost a risk of him dying from a stroke long before the soldiers can shoot him to pieces. The seconds tick by as he waits for the soldiers to get within line of sight, and Tammy’s mind is aflame with the worst curses and slurs imaginable for the toadmen who run the empire.
He realizes that the second squad around the corner is approaching faster, so he grits his teeth, turns around, and starts blind firing around the metal base of the guard tower. Left hand on the trigger, right hand beneath the barrel, with the receiver pressed against the side of the guard tower for stability.
Blind firing usually isn’t accurate, but he can sense the position of their souls and roughly triangulate where he’s shooting. Though, because of where the chamber on the gun is, and how he’s holding the rifle in front of him, the discharged shell casings are popping out and hitting him in the face. The impact of burning brass is painful, and he has to keep his eyes shut tight, but at least he’s hitting the enemy. They’re diving for cover and spreading out, so it’s working, and he doesn’t have time to worry about comfort.
His magazine runs out of bullets, and he rips the next magazine out of a pouch and slam it in. Unbeknownst to him, he accidentally grabs the spare magazine that’s only half full.
“[Here!]”
Tammy feels Avi’s soul crash into the first squad, the firing line, from the side. 500 pounds of dense muscle and indestructible bones send the men stumbling, and she quickly gets to work finishing them off. While doing so, she grabs a soldiers hand, aims his gun at the third squad that’s only just recovering from the dud grenade, and opens fire.
Avi has no psychic talent, but her instincts give her a general idea of where to fire.
“[Okay, come over to this side!]” Avi yells, prompting Tammy to throw himself over the top of the wall before the second squad can round the corner. He lands hard on his back but quickly aims and dispatches the rest of the third squad that Avi was absentmindedly peppering.
These gurant troopers might be the elite of the empire, but training only goes so far. No matter what lessons in hand-to-hand fighting they’ve received, Avi is taller, stronger, and has been fighting since she was a kid. They pull knives, but Avi uses her thick revolver to break their fingers. They try to pull back and open fire, but Avi’s tail shoots forward and stabs or slashes their vital points. Two men charge at her side and try to knock her off balance, but they’re simply outclassed, with Avi grabbing their throats, raising them up, then slamming them hard enough to crack concrete.
Tammy rushes over to the dead soldiers of squad three, scavenges a grenade, then quickly tosses it over the wall. It lands perfectly next to the tower, right when the soldiers of squad two are rounding the corner.
One of the soldiers reacts quickly and punts it into the concrete field. It detonates harmlessly a few dozen feet away.
But by that point, Avi has finished her job with the firing line.
She takes a deep breath, then launches into a full sprint, cracking the concrete underfoot by the sheer force of her legs. She slams into the wall on the far side of the guard tower, behind the second squad. The concrete wall, already weakened by hundreds of cracks and bullet holes, is ripped straight through when the full weight of a speeding, 500-pound bone-tail connects. Even the inside rebar tears and snaps. Though Avi does suffer a few rips and gashes across her body, the wounds won’t bleed for long.
The soldiers are already disoriented by the grenade. Some try to level their rifles, but Avi kills them first. Others grab their knives, but Avi dispatches them as well.
Tammy hurries over the wall and joined the fray too, using a stolen rifle as a club.
Avi is a creature of instinct. She knows exactly when to hit, where to hit, she’s confident in her strength, and her body is so durable that she doesn’t need to worry about a few slashes or even a bullet wound.
Tammy is a normal human, albeit one who developed with a steady supply of growth serums from Avi’s tribe, so he’s a bit taller and stronger than the typical imperial citizen. A gunshot would be devastating to his mortal body, as would a sufficiently deep knife wound. As such, Tammy has spent almost a decade perfecting a unique form of martial arts. Focused on these types of brawls where his wife would be the main focus, Tammy acts as support, a thorn in the side of the enemy where his objective is to keep Avi from getting overwhelmed. He pulls pistols from holsters to shoot the enemy, he grapples and throws to keep the foes off balance, he holds both ends of the rifle and uses it like a shield against knife swings or kicks.
It works well, until one soldier brings down his knife in an overhead arc. Tammy raises the stolen rifle to block, but the gun has taken a lot of abuse at this point, and it’s the typical shoddy gurant construction. The impact is hard, and while Tammy can take it, the pins in the rifle can’t. The middle section comes lose, splitting into two parts, and the soldier stabs his knife down into Tammy’s right shoulder. While the assassin’s body suit is made of bullet proof fibers, it doesn’t stop the blade from penetrating two inches deep.
The pain is immediate and intense, and Tammy sharply inhales. Before Tammy can properly respond, Avi’s arms wrap around the soldier’s neck, and she twists his head 180 degrees. She lets him fall to the ground before rushing to her man’s side.
“Ah! What happened?” She grabs Tammy and gently brings him to the ground, holding him upright, with his butt on the ground and his back against her thigh.
“I-I fucking-!” He rips the bloody knife out and flings it across the concrete field.
Their body suits are tight and compress wounds to help with bleeding, but Avi nevertheless brings her tail up and gives him a fast-acting coagulant serum.
Tammy takes a deep breath and speaks through clenched teeth. “I’ve hated every aspect about tonight.”
“I understand. Also, uh…” She smiles weakly, “our supplies have been running low lately, and I don’t have a painkiller serum ready to go. I can make one, but it’ll have to be a full-body sedative. I don’t have the compounds necessary for a local anesthetic.”
“Meaning that even when you do make it, I’ll be asleep for hours.” Tammy inhales slowly and deeply, then looks up at his wife and puts a gentle hand on her cheek. “You couldn’t have known that I’d be continually screwing up like this. It’s okay.”
She can see clear as day that it’s taking a lot out of him to not scream. The dark circles under his eyes, the crumpled mouth, he’s in a lot of pain and she appreciates his reassurance. Despite it, he grits his teeth and forces himself to stand.
“Aaaaaaaah-hahaha.” His groan turns into a forced laugh. “Let’s go kill that toadman already.”