ADVANCED SCOUT TEAM: Six hours from Maelun

  "Jack, what’s a wolverine?" Tony asked as the wind pushed at the hood of her cloak.

  "A small animal, like a badger, but terribly ferocious. It's also the name of the local sports collective," Jack replied. "That’s what friend Yumi told me."

  "What is a badger or a sports team?" she asked.

  The ride was rough; the mount moved swiftly across the terrain. Both kobolds sat on a motorcycle style seat while Jack controlled the construct, holding onto handlebars, Tony sat behind him with her arms around his waist. Erica and Maddie followed closely behind on the second mount.

  "These humans say some strange things. I also no longer feel the compulsion, Jack, to obey. This is good. It feels like a leash," Tony said.

  "It’s important, Tony, to remember that the rules that oppress us on this world are not of Earth and are the same rules that oppress the others as well. We are here to fight these shackles, this leash. I've listened for many nights to the humans, even when they thought us not able to understand the language. And although you are young still, relative to this world, I can tell you that around the hearth we have always been treated as equals. The forces of this place seem to tease and try to pull us astray in ways that I think are only intended to divide us. I've seen the humans risk themselves for kobolds many times. That is why those who came before you fight as we do. The Ward even told me herself that the Architect turned down an ability that would have tightened this leash that you speak of. Hear these words, and tell the others when they'll listen."

  It'd been six hours since they left the keep, and the ride hadn't been comfortable. Knowing that countless numbers of kobolds were under siege in the city only hastened their resolve.

  "Jack, is it true that we come from Earth? How can this be so? If it’s also true that our kind come from this world..." Tony asked.

  "I’ve had many long conversations with friend Kyle about this subject. Our kind originated on this world, and he believes that once, our people were able to traverse the stars, a space-faring civilization. He said that our people colonized many worlds, including Earth. So, although kobolds may have originated from this world, we come from one of these colonies. We are of Earth. We may not have any memory of our previous life, but know this, Tony. Every one of us had to volunteer to join this fight. I heard this from the Ward herself on many occasions. Take this as you will. For me, I find great comfort in this," Jack said.

  "That means that one or more of these civilizations ravaged both of our worlds," Tony said softly. "Even if these Nox Reapers were not one of the original perpetrators, they’re here now to lay claim to what's left."

  "Tony, this is why I volunteered to take Earth's terms to the kobolds of this world. Others are here to conquer. Earth is here to liberate. I hope that the others will hear our words," Jack said.

  Tony held on tighter as Jack poured on the speed.

  "I am troubled, Jack. And I find myself sad," Tony said.

  Glancing back over his shoulder, Jack looked at Tony. "I'm sad, Jack, because you have only left two or three of these Reapers for my sisters and I to tear apart."

  EARTH FORCES TWO DAYS SEVEN HOURS FROM MAELUN

  I opened my eyes and felt the repetitive sway and rocking of the large construct I was riding in. I stared up through the canopy and watched the light bleed and shift through the openings as we moved forward. I was surprised to find myself waking after passing out again. I had watched her seal the halls and passages leading down to the den. My last vision of her was her projection leaning over me in concern when I accidentally taxed myself to the point of passing out. I hadn't planned on spawning another Control-Node. I mean, I had already spawned every Praetorian I could, leaving ARi in Sawyer and Red's hands. Looking back on it now, maybe it was a stupid gesture, but I wanted her to know I was doing everything in my power to keep her safe.

  The Sun was much lower in the sky, and I felt like I’d lost most of the day. I carefully sat up and leaned over the railing of the large, flat basket I had woken in.

  "Do you like it?" a voice called from the ground.

  I looked down to see Yumi and Tanya walking at the side of the construct.

  "Do you like the basket?" Yumi grinned, repeating herself.

  "I don't remember this being part of the design," I hollered back.

  "It was a last-minute addition. ARi called it the Gavin Catcher. She said chances are you would continue to do stupid shit, like overtaxing yourself, and that we were going to need a place to toss you."

  "Don't get up too fast, Gav. I'd hate to stop the entire column so I could heal you for something dumb, okay?" Tanya said.

  "It's a nice basket. Can I ask how the hell I'm supposed to get down though? I hate to be a bother, but I have to use the bathroom."

  "Maybe you should have brought a bottle," Yumi snickered.

  "Hold tight, Gavin. We'll get you down," Tanya said, gesturing to one of the shield kobolds.

  It was one of our new Principes-Swordsmen. After kneeling down and explaining something to the little kobold, he darted forward along the side of the column. Rows of shield-bearing kobolds, shoulder to shoulder, stretched up the road.

  Toward the front of the column I heard one of the squad leaders yell something before the entire column came to a sudden stop, each kobold tapping their spears on the ground twice in unison. The massive construct came to a stop as well.

  Tim and Kyle walked from the front of the column back toward Yumi and Tanya.

  "How goes it there, Gav?" Tim hollered up. "You feel like you might want to go for a stroll?"

  "I'm feeling like I don't want to be in this damn basket anymore," I called back.

  Trying to hide his amusement, Kyle hollered up, "I was told to tell you if you didn't like the basket that you should think about that next time, before you do dumb stuff."

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  "Yeah, well, how about it, guys? Can I get down now?"

  Tim walked to the front of the massive construct and it leaned down, angling its single socketed eye toward him. Tim ordered it down, and the construct squatted, pulling its chassis all the way to the ground, and I hopped off the basket. It was still a decent height, about nine or ten feet, something that might have hurt back on Earth, but with my upgraded stats I barely felt the impact.

  "All right, Gus, back up," Tim said. He swirled his finger above his head, and swung his hand forward in the direction the column had been moving. I could hear another squad leader give an instruction before all the kobolds tapped their spears on the ground twice, lifted their shields, and the column began to move again.

  "How long have we been on the road?" I asked.

  "We've been marching for about six hours." Kyle said.

  "Has there been any problems?" I asked.

  "Not much," Tanya said. "About every forty-five minutes the kobolds sing some kind of cadence while they're marching. It's kind of strange sounding. But they slam their shields or spears on the ground as they walk, and it's loud as hell. We've probably scared off every predator for miles. But they do seem to like it, and it keeps spirits up."

  "Honestly, Gav," Yumi said as she made her way over to Kyle, almost skipping to give him a little kiss on the cheek before turning around, "I feel like we're in a Tolkien novel or something. This is amazing."

  Doing a quick headcount as we marched, I realized that we were missing eight.

  "What's going on with the two squads that aren't here? And where's Charlie?"

  "Charlie took the closest kobold to level five, which actually ended up being one of our new swordsmen, and ran ahead with some of the others," Tim said. "They're going to try to see if they can't get leveled up. Charlie said he's closer to hitting ten than the other kobold was to hitting five. They were going to try and find something challenging to bump them both up."

  "It works out though, because without Bishop here, or any of the rogues, we're kind of driving blind. It wouldn't have been so bad if we could have taken the same path that Jack and the other rogues took. But Gus isn't going to be able to make it across some of those ravines. So having an advanced force is kind of a win-win."

  "How long before we have to stop for the night?"

  "Gav, that's up to us. These guys are machines! They would probably go all through the night if we'd let them."

  "I'm not going to lie, Tim, depending on what happens back at the city, that could potentially be something we have to do. But we don't have to do it yet."

  "Well, if that's the case, I'd say we're probably good for another few hours, at least long enough to give Charlie and our advanced team a chance to make it back."

  "That makes sense," I said. "Where are the other constructs?"

  "I have one on either side of the column," Tim said. "We're probably going to have to make some field modifications though. Our gunners are getting beat up pretty bad when they push through some of the thicker stuff."

  "I told you guys," Yumi chimed in, "we should have caged those things up. It wouldn't have stopped everything, but at least it would have kept some of the bigger stuff out."

  "Yeah, looking back on it now, Yumi," Kyle said, "the argument about keeping them lighter so that we don't slow them down kind of ended up being irrelevant when they have to move at the same pace as Big Gus anyway."

  "Well, they're only fully weighed down while we're on the march, because they're carrying a lot of the kobolds' provisions. We could probably help with some of that. I don't know about you guys, but I got plenty of room in my inventory," I said. "So we could probably try to take some of the heavier stuff off the constructs and carry it ourselves."

  "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Kyle said, as he tried not to trip over his feet.

  "I can take a look at working on that tonight. My energy reserves are still recharging but my stamina is good now so I feel like I probably got a bit more rest than you guys did."

  "When we stop for the night, if you guys want, we can look at level ups. You guys have got to be close to level five."

  "Actually, Gav, that kind of happened while you were sleeping," Kyle said. "Only me, so far. But I'll be happy to show you everything once we're stopped. Probably not a good idea to walk around with system windows in front of our face."

  "Well, you don't seem to be disappointed, so I'm excited to see what you got," I told Kyle. "I know I have three levels as well. I'm hoping that I'll get something that will help with spawning reinforcements a little closer. Also, I'm not gonna lie, I've put so much attention and effort into my architect path I've ignored my combat stuff, and I'm feeling underwhelmed on a personal level."

  "You should see what Yumi can do with her shield drones now. It's pretty awesome," Tanya said.

  "Yeah" Yumi said, smiling through a devilish grin. "How do you think you got up in that basket?"

  A million terrifying possibilities involving her little shield drones started racing through my head.

  "Tim, I know that you don't normally share a lot. Anything interesting that you've managed to pick up?" I asked.

  "Only more combat specialization stuff. I did pick up a skill that allows me to regenerate health and energy a little faster, but I have to be stopped for it to take effect. I also picked up another skill that allows me to phase my kopesh through one object so that I can hit another behind it. I've been dumping a lot of points into Strength and Constitution as well. I know that nobody was eager to play the role of a tank in our party, but I'm okay with it, honestly. I have to be up close anyway. I've spent a lot of time training with our legionaries. Before we had our new swordsmen, I would stay back from their formations, and when something tried to get around them it allowed me to skirmish and take them out so our cohorts could focus on what's in front of them. Honestly, I'm probably only about sixty points away from hitting level five myself."

  "I can't believe Kyle beat you."

  "Well, to be fair, Gav," Kyle said, "I kinda had a one-up on you guys with that. I didn't gain a lot of experience setting the spike traps around the walls of the keep, but it was so steady and repetitive that eventually I was able to creep past the others in overall gains."

  "I've still got a ways to go," Tanya said, "and I'm fine with that. It means that fewer of us are getting wounded and hurt, and that I'm not having to throw necrotic bolts at things trying to eat me."

  "What?" she said, looking at all of our expressions.

  "Tanya, you know that I prefer to be an optimist," Yumi said. "But, sweetie, I have a feeling that you're gonna level up before we're done with this fight. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're gonna level more than once."

  Before we had a chance to think about that grim foreshadowing, a kobold at the front of the column sang out loudly, "Aye, yay!" The rest of the kobolds replied, "Aye, row!" tapping their spears against their shields in unison.

  At the back of the column, another squad leader hollered, "Aye day, Aye day, Aye yay!" and again the column responded, "Aye, row! Ah rooh!" slamming the bottom of their shields on the ground twice before the cadence repeated.

  Tanya and Yumi looked back at me with huge grins. I shook my head back and forth.

  "Holy shit. Gav, could you imagine if we had five hundred, or more of these guys marching?"

  I looked back at Tim. "They're shaking the ground now!"

  "I thought it was weird, Gav, that they were singing in some kind of language. I mean, it's not English, but it's also not their native kobold with all the little chirps either. I asked Charlie about it, and he said the cadence and songs were something they inherently knew. I think what we're hearing is actually some form of ancient kobold from the tribes of Earth."

  "Is this something that you gave them through your interface when you created the legionaries?"

  "No, it's not. And I think that's pretty interesting, honestly. Something of their past bleeding through, maybe."

  "Well, wherever it comes from, it's freakin' awesome," Yumi said, before joining in on the cadence. "Ah roo!, Ah roo!" She tapped her spear to the ground.

  I leaned over to Tanya. "I noticed Yumi is still carrying a spear?"

  "She says it helps her coordinate the drones. She doesn't spear anything, but she kind of moves and dances, and the drones react to it."

  I couldn't help but think of that first night in the Den watching ARi. That night felt like forever ago.

  Kyle interjected, "I asked her if she wanted some kind of cool staff or something instead. She told me she'd rather keep the spear because, in a worst-case scenario, she'd still rather stab something in the face than bonk it over the head."

  I thought about that for a moment. "Yeah, actually, I could see that."

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