I watched as the entire gathering of people sprang into motion. Anyone who wasn’t fighting ran for the church or the school. All of the other fighters sprinted the two or three hundred yards to fighting positions on the other side of the housing development. Daryl, the guy I scared awake, was the only one who had stayed, though I could tell he wanted to be on the other side. So I turned my attention to him as everyone including Colleen and Ed took up defensive positions in the distance. Already the sound of rifle fire could be heard, so I turned my attention to the man on the hunting blind.

“So, Scorpions?”

“Mostly, they wear armor and carry weapons, have 8 legs, and pointed tails, black shells. They’ve been hitting us since about the third or fourth day.” He looked at me pleadingly. Wants to ask for help, too foolishly prideful to ask, though. That’s alright. I’m not one for waiting for invitations, am I?

“Should we help?” Junipher looked out into the desert watching the dust rise as the Scorpions charged their position. Must be a couple hundred of them. Might be fun, might earn me enough experience to level. Might.

“I don’t see why not. They are encroaching on my land, aren’t they?” I assumed an arrogant posture, Junipher reached back to pinch my nearly non existent love handles.

Daryl cleared his throat to say something, “Uh, Coll-” My glare shut him up in an instant. And I urged Kaia to jump over the trailers leaving Daryl flustered and maybe slightly upset. I didn’t really give a shit. I had new toys that hadn’t been properly put through their paces. And this looks like a good opportunity.

As Kaia ran up to the front line I contacted Eli, “We got anyone out in the NorthWest? Past the Walmart?”

“Ah, no, wassup?” He responded immediately.

“Not much, made contact with the Indian Heights people, a bit more than half want to leave, the others grew up here, raised kids here, yadda yadda yadda. Oh, the fun news, weapons and armor using scorpions are attacking them right now.”

“Bollocks. And they don’t want to leave?”

“Of course not, these are the real dumb fucking Winslow people I hated before the System. Too much sentiment, not enough sense. I say we get a few hundred move-ins.”

“You gonna try to placate the holdouts somehow.”

“I thought about it, not really my style, I already own all their shit, so, they can play or hit the road.”

“Not questioning your judgement, Sir, though I think you should try to come to a compromise with them if you can.”

“I’ll see what I can do about the yokels. Right now I’m going to go play.”

Eli chuckled and ended the call with, “Alright, have fun, Sir.”

Kaia pulled up behind Colleen and Ed without my guidance. The duo looked back in irritation then went back to sending rounds down range. The scorpions were charging straight into the barrage and were closing to within 100 meters. Junipher hopped off Kaia and began singing her healing song up and down the line. The assembled fighters looked back bewildered for a moment before realizing that her song had invigorated them and they went back to killing the approaching tide of black scorpions.

I summoned my armor and weapons and yelled down to Colleen. “Don’t shoot me in the back!” Then I urged Kaia to leap over the fortified position. We landed less than a hundred meters from the front line of the scorpions and leaned into Kaia’s ear “Watch my back buddy.” He yipped and I rolled off his back and landed on my feet with the Heavy Plasma Machine Gun in my hands.

I took aim at a cluster of the scorpioni things and pulled the trigger. There was little recoil as a familiar hiss-snap began sounding in a rapid fire staccato. I released the trigger after five or seven rounds raced out and crashed into the onrushing monsters. The effect was instant. A trio of the creatures stumbled as the rounds punched through their thick armor that had been previously deflecting all but the heaviest rounds. The ones that fell were trampled by those behind them. Kill notifications popped into the corner of my vision and I laughed. “Whoah!”

I snapped off a longer burst. More scorpion monsters fell as the front line closed to within fifty meters. The smile under my ballistic mask was almost too wide to be properly contained within. I threw caution to the wind and held the trigger down and swept the barrel steadily from left to right, and then back again. The barrel hissed and steamed, red hot from the passage of superheated plasma, though it didn’t fail. After a few seconds the weapon buzzed indicating it was empty. “FUCK YEAH!” I roared in satisfaction.

In a span of less than 10 seconds I had collapsed the enemy front line. The bodies smoked and burned, bloody and broken and piled upon each other making it hard to pass easily. I ejected the large drum and produced another from my spatial inventory. I marched forward and climbed atop the bodies of the scorpion bodies and stared out into the desert at the next charging line of scorpions. Kaia found a spot to make himself comfortable, layed down and looked at me with humor.

“Yeah, yeah, just let me have my fun.”

I raised the machine gun as the second line of scorpion monsters charged from a hundred meters out. I was about to pull the trigger, then I remembered that I had bought grenades and had yet to try them out.

I fished one of the frag grenades out and reached my arm back, pulled the pin and launched the small object like a projectile into the center of the scorpion formation. The grenade left a dent in the armor of the scorpion I had aimed at. It stumbled backwards and was trampled by his comrades.

Now, most people don’t realize that a fragmentation grenade doesn’t actually explode in a fireball. It doesn’t contain enough fuel to create that type of explosion. There is a small flash, though it happens too fast to really observe without actually looking for it. What actually causes the damage is, of course, the tiny steel or iron fragments that tear through flesh and bone after the small amount of explosive contained in a small space is rapidly released.

So when the scorpions comrades trampled it down overtop the grenade, I could only smile. A small whump of pressure followed an instant later as the aforementioned metal shrapnel spread chaos across the charging ranks. I didn’t hesitate a moment longer and depressed the trigger on the machine gun and proceeded to mow down this rank of attackers. When the weapon buzzed empty again I stored it and surveyed my work.

Not all of the scorpions died, but they had definitely gotten the message. Bodies and limbs spread across the desert leaking green goopy blood into the dusty, rocky surface. Several of the semi-sentient creatures tried to retreat, many missing several limbs and a couple simply turned themselves in circles because they only had one leg. I drew my hand cannon and put them out of their misery.

A moment later a roar of rage barrelled across the desert and a larger scorpion with a spear and shield came charging towards Kaia and I. I leveled the hand cannon to end the angry boss. Kaia yipped behind me and whined.

“What?”

He yipped and growled, looked at the boss, then back at me.

“You want to play too?”

He hopped to his feet and barked louder and bounced back and forth, tail wagging, ears perked up, ready to go find a new chew toy.

I shrugged and before I could get the words out he was charging, “Have fun, buddy!” I then turned and headed back to the stunned defensive line. All of the men and women assembled stared at me like I had grown a third eye. I holstered the hand cannon and peeled back the ballistic mask and let a shit eating grin spread across my face as I heard the fight between Kaia and the boss scorpion begin in earnest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Colleen watched the irritating man, Karl, stride out into the field and single handedly murder almost two hundred of the scorpion soldiers. She didn’t call it murder because she felt any empathy to the bastard creatures. She called it murder because not only was it easy for him and that alien machine gun. The man actually laughed the whole time he fought. He was fucking enjoying himself. These monsters that have terrorized us were just targets to test his new toys. She had heard him say that as he walked up.

“Fuck…” Ed exclaimed from her side. She looked up and down her line and saw that everyone had stood in their fighting positions to get a better look at the unbelievable power this one man wielded.

When the Scorpion boss roared its challenge across the desert she wondered if it would even give the large man a workout. He raised the comically oversized pistol to shoot it when his pet coyote began barking and bouncing around like a puppy knew a new chew toy had been brought home for it to play with. Karl actually talked to the animal like it was talking back to him. For all I know he’s the fucking pet whisperer, too.

Then he shrugged and before he could speak the coyote charged the boss and Karl turned back to the defensive line, holstered that ridiculous cannon and removed his mask, flashing everyone the biggest shit eating grin she had ever seen. Arrogant prick. She couldn’t fault him though. He didn’t need to help them, and he single handedly broke the attack. And all to test out his new weapons.

“That man could wipe us out and not even blink doing it. I suggest we show him a whole lot of respect, Colleen.” Ed said as he turned to crawl out of their foxhole.

“Fuck.” I don’t want to leave my house. I don’t want to leave my Cliff and James. A smaller voice, the logical one was telling her she was being foolish. She couldn’t stay here and she knew it. Not right now anyway. She sighed and crawled out of the foxhole and planted her ass on the hood of the neighbors BMW that was now acting as a makeshift wall. Karl walked up and leaned against the door next to her.

“So. As I was saying, I’ve got walls, I’ve got food, and I’ve got guns. What do you got?” Karl asked her as he watched his coyote playing with the boss scorpion.

And playing is exactly what it was doing. It would hop around to avoid the boss's spear then lunge in to nip at its legs. The boss would try to hit the playful coyote with its shield then rage when it missed. Soon it was apparent that while Karls coyote was playing, he was still inflicting great damage on the boss monster. Green blood oozed from various wounds and it had all but spent its stamina.

“I’m not going to stop these people from leaving with you, but I can’t tear myself away.” Colleen stared at the fight some two hundred and fifty meters from where they sat, refusing to let Karl see the tears in her eyes. She had already broken in front of the man once. She refused to do it again.

“That’s fair, though, if I’m being fair, I should inform you I pretty much own everything for a hundred square kilometers.”

“The hell does that mean!?” Ed spun on Karl in anger. Karl locked eyes with the big black man but didn’t move. He’d already been weighed and measured, he was no threat to Karl. No one here was. Of course Ed forwent his previous advice and pressed closer to the dangerous, big man. “I paid off my mortgage years ago. That house.” He pointed down the street to his brown two story, “That house is mine, who the fuck are you to come in here and say you own it all!?”

“Ed.” Colleen pleaded a single word. Ed didn’t break eye contact with Karl, who still hadn’t responded with anything but a malicious glare. “Ed, c’mere, sit down next to me and calm down, let’s let Mister Brunett speak.”

Ed broke away and strolled off in anger. Karls coyote had just charged the boss and rammed it with the armor on its head. The boss tumbled over and the coyote barked at it menacingly. Fuck! We sent two parties to kill that fucker out there, they both never returned. This man’s fucking pet is using it as a play toy!

“So what does that even mean?” She asked the man while they watched the fight in the field wind down. Kaia tackled the boss bodily and latched down on what was probably its neck. It struggled weakly to dislodge the coyote, though ultimately failed. The oversized pup shook its head violently and ripped the creature's wide head from its body. And with that everyone received a notification that the Scorpion camp leader had been defeated.

Kaia returned to Karl with a small crystal held in his mouth that he happily and obediently dropped in Karls waiting hand.

“Good boy!” Karl cooed and scratched his animals neck and ears and happily accepted the large tongued licks he received for the attention given. Why do I feel that somewhere, someone is laughing at this.

When he was done congratulating his companion, Karl turned back to Colleen and handed her a small white crystal. She took it carefully and examined it in confusion. Small Settlement Core. “What’s this.”

“You asked what it means, well, it means, my people and I fought a camp much like this one that has been plaguing your people. We killed the boss and obtained one of these. If you’ve talked to your VPA, you know the closest pre-established safe zones are in Flagstaff and Show Low.”

“Ok, so, you used this and established a settlement on the other end of town?”

“Pretty much, look, here’s the long story.” Karl went on to explain where he got his first two cores, how he had killed people that meant to do harm, how he saved the plant lady, Junipher. Then how he went to the prison, wiped out the ones he thought were the most likely to do even greater violence and defeated another dungeon. How he had already given sanctuary to a couple of alien races, he even provided pictures and video. Colleen gasped at the appearance of Choox’il and absentmindedly crossed herself. He wrapped up the presentation with what the System had named the Second Siege of SooHoo and the acceptance of the Valkyr.

“So, it’s pretty much wrecked to shit out there?” She asked, finally looking at the man.

“Yeah, beyond wrecked. I figure I’m just going to order the System to tear it all down. Either way. I have plans, and this is the first of many ‘bullet points’.”

“What do you plan to do with it?” She asked weakly.

“It’s going to become the NorthWest fortification. Eventually a large effing wall will run through, right about where Kaia killed the boss actually.” He pointed. “I can’t really control what the System repurposes for its construction. I just tell it what I want and where I want it, and it starts absorbing material from around the build location to create it. I suspect the entire development will get absorbed to create my first fort.”

“Fuck.”

“Grab what you can keep in your spatial inventory.”

She looked at him as he started to walk away and held up the Settlement Core, “Don’t you want this back?”

“Nah, you keep it. I can’t give you your house back. But I can give you the opportunity to start your own thing. That will do it. Of course, if you come around, I might have a job for you, you held these people together for quite a while and without any support. I’m impressed, all things considered.”

“What’s to stop me from going to Flagstaff or Show Low and warning them you’re coming?”

He paused and looked at her, his eyes flashed violence briefly then returned to their normal silver-grey color. “Go ahead, I don’t care much about Show Low right now.”

“And Flag?”

He just chuckled darkly at her question, “I’m going to descend on that place like the Merciless Reaper that I am.”

Ok? “Uh, why?” This man basically just told her he was going to attack a city of thousands, while just a few minutes ago he was basically playing with the monsters in the desert. This oughta be good.

“Veep, send her the most recent media on the Crucified.”

A moment later she received a data transmission request and accepted it. Her eyes shot wide as she realized what he meant by the Crucified.

“Wh-when were these taken?” Her voice was shaky with a mixture of fear and anger. And maybe a little bit of despair.

Karl continued to walk away and his VPA answered for him, “The pictures are from a couple hours ago, the video is from yesterday. I do hope you choose to join us.”

Colleen’s mind raced and she opted to head back to her house and pack what she could. She’d talk to Ed later and convince him it was a fruitless fight, he’d probably listen to her. They’d been friends a long time and had counseled each other through the hardest of times. It looked like this would be the hardest of them all.