Sister, we need you!
Her paws touched the concrete, softly landing before the apartment. Iterna and the Reclaimers had forged a fragile peace after the Culling, and, in theory, nothing prevented Ravager from entering this country legally, but the pain brought to her sister by the treacherous country forever ruined any trust. I was right about the implants and the danger to our kind here. Eugenia lied. There is no helping me.
The Iternians prided themselves on their force field, their scanners, drones, search parties, cameras, radars, and more means of identification and suppressing threats. And yet she snuck past everything, digging under their shield, evading patrols, and dining in the trash cans, both disappointed and delighted at the absolute lack of homeless. Those always provided the most curious gossip.
There was no threat in Iterna. Zero. Its citizens grew metaphorically fat; their children played, unaware of the need to stay away from radiation zones, and never felt the fear of an insectoid creeping up on them or bandits raiding their homes. Smooth roads connected cities, fields of grass and forests provided fresh and clean oxygen, and there was no shortage of anything, be it food, water, or doctors.
We'll build a nation just like that. Ravager promised herself, genuinely curious that her anger seemed to be subsiding, and it was easy to commit to the stealth.
The monster, hand-crafted to lead armies, topple countries, and devastate population centers, entered an apartment building, crawled under the half-asleep concierge's window, and made her way up, contorting herself to avoid cracking the walls. Her ears picked up heartbeats, so many of them, but most were asleep at this late hour, and her nose led her to a door on the third floor. She rang the bell, waiting patiently for the resident to say, 'Coming, coming' and for his feeble footsteps to stomp toward the entrance.
"It's… you," said Brur, squinting his eyes to better see her. Occasional strands of hair on the Malformed's body went gray; he no longer smelled of pus, and a medical intervention 'trimmed' his sagging flesh, lessening the burden on the limbs.
But it was him. The Apocalypse class she had met thirty years ago.
"Good night." Ravager bowed her head, still towering over him. "Mind if I come in?"
"Call next time," Brur laughed, his voice dribbling, but she didn't catch any annoyance in it. "It's challenging for me to stay awake these days."
He invited her in. Wooden planks covered the floor, various ceramics stood on the shelves leading into the kitchen, well secured so that guests could not accidentally knock them over. Ravager glanced into the living room and noticed a family photo of Brur, a woman, and three smaller mutants who shared little of his traits. There were several such photos, but the woman was absent in the leftmost photo, and an urn standing on a table answered Ravager's curiosity.
Dolls lay on the table: a soldier in need of restringing its lame leg, a broken egg-shaped princess waiting for her head to be repasted, and a weird six-legged animal smelling of fresh paint.
They sat at the table, and Brur offered her an Iternian drink called coffee. She didn't enjoy it, and the gracious host simply gave her the milk. Brur briefly told her how he had opened a small shop selling handmade ceramics and a repair shop focused on fixing antique or old-fashioned toys brought in from outside Iterna. Such jobs were rare, as the children here preferred to spend all day in terminals or entertaining themselves in virtual reality, but it was enough to get by for a person who once had enough power to potentially conquer the world.
Brur's power wasn't just temporarily shut off; it was sealed during several surgeries; he explained to Ravager. He told her a story of how he met his wife, of his family, of the citizens who protested his family being thrown into the camps during the Culling. The local commissioner and the mayor ignored the presidential order and stalled long enough to join the nationwide revolt that toppled the president and her cabinet.
"It's a pity that I still had to sell the shop," Brur said, resting his head on his fist. "But both of my sons have left for the Oathtakers, disgusted by what happened to their friends, and my daughter will follow after… this house will be sold," he avoided clarification. "They call me daily, but I miss them. It isn't the same without them around."
"But why get old?" Ravager asked, furiously scratching her chin and sniffing the blood in her nose. "You could be young forever! Join your kids; see the world!"
"And forever be at risk of being used to harm the others. Or in danger of having my family kidnapped to influence me. I don't wish that. Besides, I have had a happy life, thanks to you, Eugenia, and everyone else who gave me a chance." He sighed. "Folks say you communicate with the other side. Tell me and be honest. Those people who died because of my power. Is that my fault? Will I go to hell when I die?"
"I am a god," Ravager lied. "Even if that Planet of yours considers it a sin, I absolve you of any guilt regarding your power." She embraced the elderly man, noticing that he was dozing. "Be at peace. I should be going."
"Sorry." Brur smiled weakly. "Old age. I used to stay up all night to finish orders. Now I can do two a day, if I'm lucky."
"You have problems with tokens?"
"We call it credits around here." Brur rubbed his eyes, trying not to fall asleep. "No, nothing of sorts. But I enjoy working. There's a drill up my ass; it's why I braved the top when…" He paused. "I don't think I'll have the strength to stand and close the door just yet."
"Don't worry about that," Ravager promised.
She waited in the living room, listening to his snoring for several hours, until a mutant from the family photos came in, loudly and worriedly calling her father. Ravager slipped behind her back, not producing any sound, squeezed through the door before it could close, and escaped to the roof.
I can't save people. Nor can I build. What I created, what I made of the little ones, is vile. She pondered, watching the rising sun. Eugenia didn't lie, however incredible it was. Brur, a person capable of potentially granting Iterna's world domination, had been provided succor and a home. I murder and corrupt. Between me and Eugenia, one was destined to be bad and another to be good, and fate corrected our paths as we tried to escape our destinies. There is no happy ending in the end for me, but my arms are strong enough to throttle those who threaten others, and I can lie and pretend to bring calm. Zero, The Dynast, Eugenia, Devourer, Outsider, Alpha, everyone. It is up to you to build a future.
She paid Brur three more visits, both to test Iterna's vulnerabilities and to learn more about the man. In two years, the link they shared had disappeared.
****
Wake up already, Commander!
"You held back." Ravager accused Geni, stalking around her. They were in the tunnel a kilometer and a half deep, forcibly dug by the Elite's body after she missed an attack.
"The pot calls the kettle black." Geni coughed out a tooth, grinning. Her cloak was tattered, half of the hair was missing, and ripples coursed across her suit as nanomachines were fixing the gaps. "Where were your claws today?"
"Don't need them," she barked, crushing the rocks with her fingers. "You will never beat me like this, weakling. Your every blow must carry an intention to kill. Stop worrying over imaginary rules; use your portals to cut my body, and I…"
"No. I'll bring about the resolution in which we'll both live."
"Won't happen." Ravager shook her head. "You'll fail."
"Am I?" Geni's grin grew wider. "Listen to the sounds above. The battle has stopped. I bet you can hear your captain calling for you to come back." She spread her arms. "None of us or our troops had to die, and the Reclaimers never got the data core. Your side lost."
"We weren't here for it." Ravager bared his fangs at the mocking look that accused her of lying. "Fat chance of getting the data when you were already in the control room. I never planned on getting it, and I knew your wimps would call a truce the second we showed up."
"But… what then? Why fight…"
"Geni, you are too immature," Ravager sighed. "Iterna's shortsightedness comes from the abundance of everything. It makes you oblivious to what is right under your noses, dangers, opportunities, or treasures. Alloys, resource crates, even dismantled Old World technology can aid our progress, and that is why I have removed you from the bunker. Have what you came for; with your surrender, we have secured what we sought."
The Elite paused. Then she slapped the ground near herself. "Let us sit and parley. Surely even you are bored after fifty years of us mauling each other. I can get us something to eat. What's your favorite dish?"
The world collapsed. Geni denied the course of fate set for her. How dare she? Rage boiled within Ravager; her body spasmed at this cruel treachery. If an angel won't smite a monster, how could a monster pay for her sins and be reborn into a happier existence as a human? Did this fool think she enjoyed waking up to corpses or harming those calling her a friend and family?
"I liked the old you better." Ravager ripped the helmet off Geni's head and grabbed her ear, planting a foot into the woman's chest. In a single thrust, she tore away the ear and then ate it, tasting the changes in the body of her rival. Nowhere close yet. They had time. "She was more honest."
"That Eugenia was a self-deluded brat, oblivious to what she was doing," Geni groaned and pushed the foot off herself. "Stop doing that! Use the claws next time; I am sick of you stepping on me."
"Then fight, pretty doll! Resist, go all out!" Ravager cheered her. "Hold nothing back; show me the full potential of Iterna's bioengineering before I show you the futility of your attempt and drown you in despair. Think back to the painful humiliations of the past years, recall every bone I broke, and pay me back tenfold!"
"I am fighting you, dumbass!" Geni laughed; her bleeding had already stopped. "Pay you back? No problem, but I'll choose the currency, and it'll be the very mercy you showed me. I'll beat you in my own way, and then I'll help you, Ravy."
"Help me?" Ravager whispered, retreating back, and soon her eyes glowed in the dark, watching the limply lying woman at the end of the tunnel. "Impossible. Improbable. Get this into your thick skull, Geni. I am better than you, always was and always will be. Our cat-and-mouse game has amused me so far, but stay wary of me growing tired of it. Because when that day comes, I'll hunt you down for real."
****
4,403 kilometers from Houstad.
"The people are in danger! Our Tribe is in danger! Ravy, your children are in…"
The amber eyes opened, filling the cave with a yellow light. Ravager woke up, facing her little sister, Zero. Her sole success in anything other than war.
What exactly did I do right in raising you? The question pounded in her temples whenever Ravager looked at Zero. Out of her spawn, her reflection risked being set to grow as the worst. The seeds were there; she drank the shamans' bullshit, believed in the ridiculous superstitions, and maimed Dragena. Then… Ravager corrected her. How did I do that? She desired to know, believing that in it lay the key to reforming the Tribe to be better than she. But her memory refused to answer.
The little sis took care of her appearance, combing her fur and hair after washing herself clean and preferring practical clothes, although after the incident in Iterna she stuck more to things that covered her whole body, like her current black uniform with silver buttons that complemented her natural dark fur.
"Situation?" the commander demanded, picking up a frozen bone and gnawing at a little remaining meat that had belonged to a slave trader trying to smuggle children out of the Inner Lands. The bone dropped as Zero hastily explained the situation.
An invasion. A howl escaped Ravager's lips, tearing away the roof of her remote rest and sending an avalanche of stones crashing down. She put her everything into it, wordlessly sending love and care to her distant kin. Zero raised her paws, shielding her face; the force of the air drew lines with the released claws of the woman's feet. Her uniform got torn, and she was left standing covered by many leather straps that held her guns, utility gear, and a helmet at her waist. The howling continued, carrying Ravager's message to every corner of the Inner and Core Lands.
Ravager stopped howling and plucked a terminal from Zero, activating it. She never bothered to learn how to read, but the gifts of her creators kicked in, solving that obstacle. The images made sense to her, giving her the current lay of the land and rough estimates of the prey's positions. The Gilded Horde will strike Houstad, but there were many settlements in dire need of more immediate rescue. Dragena was a smart girl, and Ravager trusted in her ability to endure.
Zero scowled, checking her guns and finding the ones that got crumpled by the air pressure. She sighed, shivered at the cold, and put on her helmet, checking the rest of her gear.
"Mind giving me a ride to Houstad…" Zero squeaked as Ravager tucked the terminal under her armpit and closed the paw around her sister. "Major danger! Not that! Bad idea! Ravy, don't you dare. The last time you pulled it off, I had to wait a month before my fangs…" The ropes of muscle pressing against the skin and the thoughtful, calculating look made the warlord grab her sister's big thumb and try to pry it away. "Let go of me, or I'll post photos of you in the morning on the Net! I swear, I'll do it. Ravy, for the love of Spirits, you are heading the same way…"
Her words were cut off as Ravager threw her sister, sending her flying across the sky, and a dark comet aimed at Houstad streaked through the clouds, shouting, "Fuck yoooo…." that grew more distant and quieter every second.
Ravager's fingers splintered the rock as she stood on all fours, her body swaying slightly as her muscles tensed. She craned her neck, fixing the position of her vertebrae. Blood dripped from her nose, her poor brain argued, demanding a return to sleep, but she ignored it, welcoming a surge of adrenaline. Her body had had enough rest; she'll hold out long enough; she won't collapse or falter.
The leap propelled her forward faster than any missile, and the mountain trembled, slowly coming apart as a wide, uneven chasm, the result of the paws that sent Ravager flying, split it in two. The commander did not howl; her mind was clear, helping her formulate the most acceptable approach to tackling the task.
There will be murders, but they had to be the right murders. She won't allow a repeat of the Mincemeat campaign, not here. Today, Ravager will control herself, even if that'll kill her afterwards.