B3-31 - Glow on the Horizon (Patreon)

Planning and organization for an extended trek across the rainbow sky hellscape had not been a thing that the Tarvana did often. Their world, accord to Bad Blood, was only a few hundred square kilometers they called the Motherland. That is where they were born, died, and added to the biomass that the Mother used to create different forms of the Tarvana.

Maya peered down at the crawling resupply convoy. It was about ten thousand Tarvana, pushing, pulling, and carrying loads of what appeared to be food and needed materials.

She wasn’t that big of a history nerd, but Maya had once heard claims that the Aztec Empire had reached its maximum size due to the fact they had to rely upon a human logistic chain. Without beasts of burden, people had to become the beasts of burden. For every day traveled, it would require two days of food, one for the person doing the carrying and one for the soldiers.

At the same time humans were limited in what they could carry. They were not horses or donkeys that could easily move several hundred pounds.

The Tarvana were in the same predicament. They did not use system tech, they had no beasts of burden, and even with Skills and abilities, they could only move so much material. The Tarvana born into the RSH did not have the Dimensional Inventory that people who survived dimensional instabilities gained. They did not use Dimensional storage containers. The only ones with levels seemed to be the soldiers that the Mother used to put down rebellions and maintain her grip on her society.

Although with the RSH suffering from the mana purge anything system tech wouldn’t be working for them either. The limited logistics Skills they did have wasn’t enough to fully offset the sheer amount of material and food that sixty thousand fighting SIL needed.

Maya watched it all and tried to harden her heart. The Tarvana or the High General had attacked her and destroyed much of what she had built, but they were soldiers. She knew that it was all apart of that little thing called war. Yet as she looked down at the Tarvana hauling materials, and the other seven logistics convoys that were snail-pacing their way across the RSH, she couldn’t feel a bit sorry for what she was about to do.

“You sure about this?” Marcus asked as he stood beside her. He watched the view, the new armored suit he wore providing him with a clear view of what was going on in the dark RSH.

“‘No such thing as a fair war’,” Maya quoted.

“Pops? Yeah, he said a lot of that kind of stuff.”

“I can get behind killing monsters and rogue AIs, but killing SIL is always hard,” Maya said. “It just feels wrong.”

“I get it,’ Marcus said. “There’s a whole bunch of psychology around the act of taking a life. I suppose it just boils down to if you think your cause is just and you’re doing it for the right reasons.”

“I suppose.”

Marcus set a hand on Maya’s shoulder. “They’re the bad guys,” he said. “They’re not gonna give you hugs and help you out. They’re gonna destroy everything you’ve built and probably eat you.”

“They wish,” Maya muttered. She nodded and then smiled at him. “Alright, let’s get this party started.”

“Back in the day, you’d have to spend a shit ton of hours in training and handling before they even let you touch these,” Marcus said as he stood over a weapon.

The FMG-148 Javelin was a pre-Integration shoulder mounted, man-portable anti-tank missile launcher. It consisted of a boxy computerize sights that gave it a fire and forget ability and a long tube that held a single missile.

Marcus grinned down at the weapon and shook his head.

“It’s pretty awesome tech, when you think about it, but it’s got nothing on the weapons that system tech can make,” Maya said. “Human electronics and technology is super complicated when it comes to system tech. I could maybe make one of these in a few days within the Engineering VR and have a prototype done in a week.”

“Then why don’t you?” Marcus asked.

“Time and mana,” Maya said. “We’re running out of both.”

“That bad?” Marcus asked.

“Well, we’ve managed to collect a few million gens from kicking out everyone who’s not essential to the war effort from the Cage. It does seem that even low leveled people have pretty dense mana in their auras. We’re talking thousands of gens, not just proma. But if we keep it at this rate of mana expenditure, we’re gonna have to cut everything back, as in no more opening thresholds to other parts of the world and no more using the teleporter to move goods to the Sullivan Boxes. Basically I’ll be back to square one, even after spending nearly a year building up everything I now have. The energy requirements are just too damn high.”

Marcus nodded. “You can’t just buy more mana from somewhere?” he asked.

“We could get batteries, but the sheer amount we need is equivalent to battleships in the multiverse at large. C5 mana cores that are large enough to economically produce the mana we need aren’t sold often, they’re specially made for each ship they’re in.”

“How about hunting big prey in the RSH?” Marcus asked. “You said all the cores you gained were from that hiveship you defeated, so why not hunt for more of those kinds of things. Collect their cores, steal their black goo, and build up your network.”

“Only the big ass rogue AIs are alive and moving nowadays,” Maya said. She opened a window, showing a recording from the time they had stolen liquid mana from the lake. The mass of high leveled rogue AIs were battling along the shore and taking to the sky.  “Not all the big rouge AIs have cores we can take. A lot of them are purely black goo based. It comes back to mana, right now Veskari and Zoya can bring in enough mana to keep us running, but we’re still using more mana than we are bringing in. We’ll only have a few days of mana if we don’t have Veskari and Zoya brining in the extra from the mana network.”

“The world seems like a game sometimes, but I guess setting up more energy collectors doesn’t automatically settle your energy problems,” Marcus said.

“If this mana purge just stopped for a day or three, we’d be back to rolling in all the mana we could ever need,” Maya said, closing the windows.  Her comm chime and she looked at it. “They’re here.”

Maya raised her hand and opened a door in the wall. The door opened and Chu and several soldiers walked in. They were looking around, wide eyed and surprised.

“These the people?” Maya asked.

“Yup,” Chu bounced on his feet as he grinned at her. His eyes locked on the weapons set on the floor, his mouth practically drooling.

“Yo, my eyes are up here,” Maya said as the soldiers stopped to gape at the Javelins.

“Once the president learns about your thieving ways and the Colonel’s corruption, there’s gonna be heck to pay,” Chu said, still grinning.

Colonel Gary Canton had fallen from grace since Chicago had reestablished contact with the west coast. It seemed the Colonel’s totalitarian beliefs were frowned upon by the higher ranked officers that had survived. There were no questions about his efficiency in keeping the population of Chicago alive, instead it was his harsh measures that drew a lot of ire, especially from the President.

He hadn’t been demoted, but he’d been moved to overseeing salvage from various bunkers, silos, and depots that held military equipment. That had been a blessing for Maya, as she was willing to give him credits for the weapons that weren’t useable anymore. He was willing to give them up, since he understood that they were absolutely useless to humanity.

“Don’t worry, she knows how to play dumb real good,” Marcus said.

“Easy there, cowboy. You’re talking to a Tier 2 House Matriarch. Roci and Yosi will take turns disemboweling you if they hear you speak like that,” Maya said.

“Oh, who’s this?” Chu asked.

“Marcus Sullivan,” Marcus said, extending his hand.

“Husband?” Chu asked. “Didn’t figure you’d be married.”

“Brother,” Marcus said.

“Plus I’d never take someone’s surname,” Maya said.

“Oh? Maya Chu doesn’t sound good to you?” Chu asked.

Marcus snorted. “Who’s this guy?”

“Sergeant Daniel Chu,” Chu said. “US army and spy.”

“Private Marus Sullivan,” Marcus said.

“Oh, when did you go up in rank?” Maya asked.

“I did manage to worm my way into your graces and have provided the United States with a massive influx of cash to set up settlements and provide safety to its citizens,” Chu said. “They bumped me up a rank for all of that.”

“I’d have asked for a percentage,” Maya said.

“Spy?” Marcus asked.

“A lot of people are spying on me in hopes to gain all the secrets I know,” Maya said, shrugging. “All apart of the job, I suppose. Anyway,” Maya turned toward the gathered soldiers, “y’all ready to fire some rockets?”

“Yes, ma’am,” a man exclaimed. “It beats killing murder crabs in Hawaii.”

“The ghost crabs are the worst,” another said.

“Alright, gather up the weapons, check them out, make sure they’re good to go and then we’ll start the party,” Maya said.

“What is the target, ma’am?” another solider asked.

“An oil tanker,” Maya grinned.

***

Black Horizon snarled and snapped her jaws at the lesser Tarvana before her.

“Move!” she shouted. “Move or go into the pot!”

The ten thousand Tarvana porters groaned and heaved, pulled and dragged, and cried out as whips lashed down and the commanders stomped among them, killing those that did not put their all into the effort.

Sixty thousand of the Mother’s finest warriors were stuck many weeks from the Motherland. The biggest expedition across the desolate rainbow sky hellscape had been attempted and although no one wanted to admit it, things were not going well for them.

The heretic Bad Blood had come a month back and had spread horrible lies about how they could be free form eating the weak. How they could use the trash that filled this world to live a better life. Although it went against everything the Mother had taught them, there were enough fools to lend an ear to the heretic.

Seven thousand had fled the Motherland, crossing the great desolation where only the tribes that were expelled ever went. Seven thousand had left and now supposedly only five thousand remained.

Black Horizon looked at her own ten thousand Tarvana and hissed with displeasure. Never had such an undertaking occurred before. None remembered a time where the Mother had pushed her Blades, Claws, and Blood Harvesters out beyond their borders, into the rogue AI infested lands.

As with anything new, there existed many problems and shortages. For the Blood Harvester army that was food and mana stones, it was equipment to repair their weapons, and it was the absence of mana that weakened them all.

Consuming mana stones kept the worst of the effects of the mana purge at bay, but everyone was weaker for it. The Mother had taken the great tesseracts for her own uses, returning her to the greatness she had maintained before the purge. Black Horizon could only imagine what it would be like to bathe in the glow of the tesseracts, where the mana was so pure. It was like the glow of the Afterlife that Mother promised them all.

Something wet struck Black Horizon. She glared at the Tarvana near her, wondering if the spittle of some fool had struck her. She felt it again, a wetness that splattered across her skin. She looked at it in confusion. Water?

Liquid water was rare in the RSH, there were no lakes, rivers, or streams, there definitely were no seas. Black Horizon licked the wetness on her arm, it tasted of salt. More drops splattered on her arms and those around her. The convoy slowed as they felt salt water rain down upon them. As one they looked up to the dark skies and they saw something darker growing in their vision.

***

Before Integration it was said there was a patch of trash in the ocean that was the size of Texas. As Maya lived in Texas, she realized just how big that was. When Integration occurred, that patch of Texas sized trash still remained, but it was also joined by everything that had been afloat at the time. That included scores of ships of all sizes and makes.

The ocean was a modern day ocean going vessel graveyard. None of the great works of mankind were functional anymore. It was why Maya had purchased the US naval vessels at such a reduced price. It was trash and she bought and sold trash.

Chu claimed there were over sixty thousand ocean going ships at any time, that the entire world relied upon all the cargo, oil, and material that was being moved from Location A to Location B across the world.  Most port cities had suffered greatly from Integration, as most port cities were massive places, with large populations and heavy infrastructure.

Yet there were also far more ships just abandoned in the oceans, their crew dead or dying, or eaten by something that had gotten on board. As a [Salvager], Maya saw the opportunity that these ships provided. She was a [Salvager] and a [Pirate], so taking ships wasn’t too difficult to accomplish.

Maya nodded and tried to ignore the sobbing thanks of half a dozen survivors that she had rescued. They had been adrift for a month and were nearing starvation and dehydration. She hadn’t done it for them, instead she had saw the ship they were on and needed that vessel. The survivors was secondary and although it warmed the cockles of her heart, most of her energy was focused toward hitting back against the Tarvana.

The oil tanker, an eighty-four million gallon vessel of crude oil sat in a massive room half filled with sea water. The hours she had spent pulling in naval vessels had given her the finesse and skill needed to pull in the great ship without destroying it or harming it. She looked at the ship and a slow smiled played across her lips.

“Well, that’s utterly terrifying,” Chu said.

“Oh, her ‘I’m gonna kill someone’ smile?” Marcus said. “Yeah, its creepy as hell.”

“Open Sesame,” Maya announced.

A threshold formed beneath the ship, the water rushing out and the ship began to list. Force fields and beams kept it steady as the threshold formed slowly. She couldn’t just make it appear, especially for the big doors. They formed slowly, but with a lot of practice lately, she could make them form far faster than she had been able to before. The threshold opened up and the great oil tanker sat floating above a void of darkness.

Maya shut down the force fields and beams. The ship vanished down into the void without a sound.

“Fuck, that’s crazy,” Chu said. “Just like that, one of man’s greatest builds and billions of dollars tossed out like trash.”

“We could have used that oil,” Marcus said. “Old automobile engines and generators still work. Simple lightbulbs and circuits still function. We could have used all that oil to fuel old cars and generators.”

“There’s more where that came from,” Maya said and stepped away. The transparent wall vanished or did the room the oil tanker exist in disappear?

“Get those men ready,” Maya said.

***

Although Integration warped the laws of physics, for the most part it still existed and worked as normal. Drop something from high enough and it would still impart its Kinect energy when it came to a crashing stop.

At half a kilometer off the ground the two-thirds of a million tons of the VLCC that Maya had plucked from the North Sea fell toward the straggling line of Tarvana, food, and materials crossing the wastes of the RSH. Eyes of ten thousand Tarvana looked up as salt water sprinkled them. Then they saw the shape of the ship.

There were high leveled SIL among the group. They threw up shields, walls, and barriers, they moved the earth to protect themselves and their cargo. Yet it was the sheer mass and energy that was released when the VLCC hit the ground that made all their attempts moot.

Maya watched as the ship just shredded apart as it hit the convoy. A creature formed in the center of the convoy, kicking up trash and dust and crude oil. Millions of gallons of crude oil rained back down upon the surviving Tarvana.

“Do it,” Maya said.

The soldiers stepped forward, the Javelins ready. Without saying anything Chu fired. Everyone followed suit. Two dozen missiles flashed out from a threshold two kilometers away. The blast of the VLCC was still spreading, the shockwave, the fountaining oil, and the dust still in the air when the missiles homed in on the crater.

The first missile struck, an explosion blooming, followed seconds later by the rest of the missiles. There was a spark, a fire blossoming in the crater, and a moment later all hell broke loose.

Maya watched without an expression as crude oil rained down upon an area several kilometers wide and everything within it began to burn. She shut the threshold.

“Reload,” she ordered. The soldiers stood slack jawed for a moment and then rushed to do her bidding.

***

High General Deathblade felt the rumble through the ground. He had plenty of Skills to his name at level 88 and he felt the deaths of his troops.  He could feel their deaths like pinpricks on his skin. Thousands had died, thousands more injured, thousands more would die soon.

The High General stared into the dark horizon, his massive eyes making out what appeared to be a glow in the distance. What was it? He wondered. What lay in that direction that was killing his soldiers?

The logistics convoy, the thought him him suddenly. Beyond the horizon was the convoy that would bring them much needed food and supplies. Thousands would be coming, to become food or to haul food.

The High General rose to his feet and stared. Another pain hit him again as he felt another attack form. He could feel it, the direction, across the horizon and beyond the distant glow. Another convoy. Thousands more dying.

Dread filled the High General’s heart. He stared at the glow on the horizon and knew that there would be no support forthcoming.

He looked in the opposite direction. Where the heretics had fled, where they were being protected by a strange creature the heretics called a Merchant. Their logistics line was broken. They would starve and die here if they waited for too long.

The High General made his decision.

They needed to attack now.