Dark Fate, Chapter 70 (Patreon)

Chapter 70 – Arrival

The last month flew by, as everyone quietly started making as many last-minute preparations as they could. My core team was on the cusp of Level 27, and the others were all coming along into their low 20s. I could have probably pushed it to get that extra level, but I figured it was better that everyone got plenty of rest. No sense in being so tired that you weren’t bringing your A game for the big show, right?

The pirate ship, which we identified as a heavily modified Ya’me-te Ku’rosai armed freighter. It had two, side-mounted turrets that provided some much-needed firepower and point defense, and someone had strapped on a massive ion cannon running along the spine of the ship. That thing could probably disable most civilian ships in one hit, even with shields. Which would then make those ships easy prey for the grapplers I saw by the airlocks.

The images we got back of the ship told me everything I needed to know about our incoming friends. They were ambush predators. They didn’t have the muscle or staying power for a stand-up fight, but that was fine, because they probably spent most of their time going low-power, and either preying on hapless merchants or combing through wrecked ships for anything of value.

They were the bottom of the barrel. More than that, they were scavengers and opportunists. They probably came to Earth because they saw a chance to make it big, or at least move out of the D tier. Too bad they were just going to get moved into Past Tense.

I could tell that they were scavengers, because they actually tried to respond to the ‘distress beacon’. Sure, they pretended to be a merchant ship, rather than the pirates they were, but they actually tried to get in touch with the crew of the supposed Keerla Theyra. They wanted information before they simply swooped in and started claiming the ship. When they didn’t get anything but the automated message in reply, they grew bolder, and increased speed.

That made sense. With no response, even after a few hours, they could reasonably say that the ship’s crew was probably dead, especially in gravity that was twice what many species were used to, without any kind of System assistance. And any countries that were advanced enough to be a threat to them would have to have detected the signal by now, right? Since there was no response, then they should be undetected if they ran basic stealth systems, which they were.

Not that they were wrong, in theory. The basic stealth systems were not exactly high-tech. Basically, have a perception-based illusion covering the hole, making technological sensors see what was behind the ship, instead of the ship itself. Nice and simple, right?

Sure, it wouldn’t work against scrying magic, or biological sensors, but that wasn’t really an issue. Biological sensors, aside from those used by certain hive-mind races or a few notable examples of space-based megafauna, were just simply not adapted to the kind of distances involved with space. Even if you looked up at the night sky on a very clear night, away from city lights, you couldn’t see the International Space Station unless you knew exactly when and where to look for it, and, even then, an observer could easily mistake it for a plane. If they bothered looking up at all.

As for scrying magic, that was a literal ‘needle in a haystack the size of a solar system’ problem, unless you knew where to look. Thankfully, we knew exactly where to look, so following the ship as it made its approach to Earth was not exactly rocket science. Which was good, because, as intended, it was headed straight for my trap.

Even better, the ship was running without wards or other spell-blockers, to try and minimize its magical presence, which is something that would be easier for a trained mage to detect and track than simple visual clues. This was great, because it allowed Lilith to get a full read on the ship, and its crew. And the news was good.

Lilith gave us the rundown as we waited inside the Hellspawn, our bait ship, for the raiders to come to us. “The ship is called the O’nich-an, and the crew are kovolds. Think about a little reptile, about three feet tall, with some dog-like traits. Cowardly little beasts, but clever, and great at making traps. They’re one of the less-powerful first-tier species, but they make up for it with numbers.”

“How many are we talking about?”

“On this ship? Sixty-five. Most of them are cannon fodder, with replacements coming in after every raid, but there are some veterans in there. Fodder will be roughly level 20, and the veterans at level 30. The Boss, and his inner circle, will be around level 35.”

Aezrelle was on ship-watching duty right now, and video conferencing in. “Master, the ship is in final approach now. The sensors cannot detect it directly, but the basic stealth systems aren’t hiding the atmospheric displacement of their entry.”

“Thank you, Aezrelle.” I stood up, and stretched. “Places, everyone. We have guests coming, and I would hate to disappoint them with a poor showing.”

I watched from behind the cover of the Hellspawn’s half-buried hull as the freighter moved in for a final landing. It was a crude, ramshackle thing. What had at one point been a utilitarian vessel designed for hauling cargo had been subjected to armor plating and gun turrets literally be welded onto the hull in a way that made it look almost like it was scrap metal, or some kind of neo-primitive, shamanistic design. Despite that, the ship flew well enough. I didn’t see any telltale smoke or hear any sounds that the ship’s internals were as cobbled-together as the outside was.

That fit what I knew of the kovolds. They were a primitive people who had still been in the bronze age when they were ‘uplifted’ by the orcad, to use as slave labor and cannon fodder. It turned out that, despite their small size and primitive culture, the kovold were clever creatures, and especially good with mechanics (though they specialized in traps and defenses). With the technology the orcad brought them, they were able to eventually escape their enslavement. Their homeworld was still occupied by the orcad, of course, so the kovold became pirates and scavengers, and setting up nests wherever they could.

Any permanent structure of theirs quickly became a warren filled with clever (and diabolical) traps and defenses designed to wear foes down by attrition, with minimal loss on the kovolds’ part. Clearing a kovold warren was an exercise in patience, as anything could be a trap, and they were skilled enough that their traps could certainly harm, if not outright kill, even those of higher tiers. The only ‘quick’ way to clear kovold warrens without a massive loss of life on the attacker’s side was by orbital bombardment.

Fortunately, the freighter would not have that kind of ingrained, layered defense. Any traps would be hastily made, and likely obvious, since the kovolds would have to alter the interior of the freighter, which was more difficult to do, without being painfully obvious, than it was with stone or earth. So, taking the ship wouldn’t be a problem, if we could take out the crew.

The freighter landed with barely a thud, showing the skill of the pilot, at least. The main cargo hatch opened up, and out poured at least forty kovolds, all armed and armored. The armor was a mixture of leather and metal, from what I could see, but there was the telltale glow of a basic life support belt on each of their waists. Which explained how they were able to move so quickly in Earth’s gravity.

Fortunately, the ship was lined up perfectly for what I was about to do. The kovolds landed perpendicular to my half-buried ship. They weren’t expecting resistance, but still that put the heaviest armor and the least vital systems (meaning things that weren’t the cockpit or the engines) facing the one source of advanced tech they’d see on their scanners.

One of the werewolves I’d enslaved was the same one that made the wardings on the houses they’d taken over. She put a small-scale abjuration on the ship, a subtle thing. Not enough to cover a full-scale activation, of course, but it was still enough to run power to the weapons systems.

The ion cannons fired, a blast of brilliant blue stretching out to strike the kovold ship, which didn’t even have its shields up, since there were no threats it could detect. Those shields wouldn’t be coming up anytime soon, either, as the ion cannons disabled the ship’s major systems. That included, most importantly, the ship’s engines, meaning they were not going to be running away anytime soon.

The kovolds stopped, stunned. I’m pretty sure more than one actually dropped their weapons in surprise. After all, they were just expecting to recover an abandoned corvette, and now their ship was disabled. That was, in most cases, a bad thing.

And then it got worse.

Before they could recover from the shock of the ion cannons’ firing, the point defense turrets spun up, and started spitting laser-y death at the kovolds. Turrets designed to take out fighters and missiles made short work of Tier 1 fleshbags. The forty-something kovolds all but evaporated into a shower of blood as the lasers tore through them.

With the initial massacre complete, I charged out of cover. Crossing the field as fast as I could, in full demon form, scythe in hand, I saw more of the kovolds, a little larger than the ones before, fearfully looking out from around the bulkhead. No doubt some of the elites, who were now a lot less certain about their fate.

They screamed as they saw me approach, and fired their pulse guns at me. My [Shadow Armor] spell protected me, as it always had, so the wounds I took were light enough that they would not even hamper my fighting style. But as Chimamire cleaved through the first kovold, and those few wounds healed themselves, that broke the cowardly creatures.

They turned, and ran further into the ship, no doubt seeking their boss, or even just some way to get out of my trap. But I wasn’t going to allow them to leave so quickly. Two stragglers fell as I gave chase, my blade separating their heads from their shoulders.

I turned a corner, and there was a kovold almost six inches taller than the others, with better armor, and holding what looked to be a belt-fed automatic shotgun. No, wait, that WAS a belt-fed automatic shotgun. FUCK! The creature screamed something that I wasn’t about to try and understand, much less translate, and opened fire.

The first two shots hit before I had time to even start reacting, tearing through my [Shadow Armor]. The third one, as I dove to the side, trying to get out of the line of fire, shattered it. I was hurt, and hurt bad, but I couldn’t just let myself get killed here. I had too much to do!

Rolling to my feet, Chimamire slashed through the kovold leader’s legs, causing his shots to turn towards the ceiling as the recoil got the better of him, while some of my wounds were healed, thanks to the blade. A healing spell falling across me, further curing my wounds, signaled that my team had caught up to me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Talia and Hibari slashing at a couple of the kovolds who thought that they could try and attack while I was focused on the leader.

My blade spun in the tight quarters, and more wounds appeared on the kovold leader. More of my wounds healed. The leader tried to bring his shotgun around to face me again, but I was too quick. I was behind him, my blade at his throat. And then he was dead.

With the leader dead, the rest of the cowardly kovolds quickly decided that surrender was the best course of action. They immediately began throwing down weapons and groveling, yipping out words that I didn’t understand, because I hadn’t learned the kovold language, and didn’t have a translator handy. That was fine. The kovolds knew what slave collars were, and did not object when I placed them around their necks. They were craven and cowardly, not stupid.

As the last kovold meekly took their collar, I grinned, a quote coming unbidden to my mind, “Now that’s what I call a close encounter.”