We spent the next week locking down the borders of New Phoenix. Nothing came in or out without our knowledge, thanks in part to Allison investing heavily in remote surveillance devices and automated defense mechanisms that could identify if someone was part of their alliance or not. The biggest concern with these types of devices was the threat of infiltrators coming in through one of the few checkpoints that were exclusively manned by a living being, claiming a one day pass, then entering the interior and causing as much havoc as they possibly could.

Vetting people coming in was a nightmare. A solution was coming from Maroo, more Siren/Dryad hybrids, his daughters, who could read the emotions of the people coming in. Junipher was obviously excited, lamenting that she’d not gotten enough time with her sisters before we moved on. I wasn’t as excited about the situation we were in, not knowing who could be trusted, the only plan we could come up with to assert our dominance in the area was to go total scorched earth.

To that end, Eli, Freya, and Gregor spent hours coming up with a battle plan to breach the few, but surprisingly well placed fortifications that Litchfield had in place, with a heavy emphasis on securing the safety of as many of the slaves as we could. Meanwhile, with the help of Captain Devers, as well as Irene’s people, we were slowly wrapping up all possible escape routes they had in case they decided to run rather than fight. When the time came, they would only have one route that I hoped they would be hesitant to use, to do so would announce to their fickle cartel allies they were no longer in power and would leave them at their mercy.

Of course, scouting parties were being sent into Chandler-Gilbert in an attempt to make contact with the survivors there. Stephen had left my group for another that was going into the mysterious city-zone. He and Courtney both had family there, and he was determined to make a solid attempt to find them. We left each other with a firm handshake and well wishes, and a promise to reconnect when our individual quests had been completed.

I was anxious to wrap up this campaign, I hated large cities and the type of people they attracted in general. People were generally rude or disrespectful, too impatient and self centered to consider how their words and actions are perceived. And here in New Phoenix, it was much the same as it was before the System, with a host of people coming and going to whatever was considered a job in this new world.

Many of the men and women in full retreat when we arrived had returned after seeing the crushing defeat my forces had delivered unto Litchfield’s raiders. They clamored to steal furtive glances at Eli’s cavalry, wary of the massive furry mounts that carried our riders to battle. As well, more than one intrepid man could be seen walking away from one of the tall, beautiful Valkyr with a bloody lip or worse, after making an unsuccessful pass at one of the warrior women.

Gregor’s people had already retreated to the now unused sewers, expanding them into an enclave for their people. Forges and other various crafting benches were assembled and put to work in this space, cranking out custom fortifications that they were quickly using to bolster the defense of the Highway Line. That’s what we were calling the border between Litchfield and New Phoenix.

In addition to Allison’s purchased upgrades, Gregors engineers had placed several layers of extra destructive defenses along the Line. Anyone attempting to cross the Line would be risking their lives to any one of several different traps and contraptions meant to maim, dismember, or outright murder those foolish enough to have a go at it. For example, a device placed on the ground that looked like one of the many errant loose hubcaps littering the highway was actually what was best described as a razor-wire bouncing betty. Rather than explode in hundreds of pieces of shrapnel, this device when activated would pop into the air to spin out spools of razor-wire in a nearly three meter diameter that would slice someone's legs off if they didn’t have high enough Endurance or sufficient armor. Already we had taken several prisoners to be interrogated due to this and many other equally devious contraptions the diabolical Dwarves could concoct.

Captain Devers and Sam were eager to wrap up this campaign and push on to Florence, even though it was clear no one there had survived. From what scant reports we could get from there, it seemed a combination of the absolute worst inmates the state housed, those that were on “Death Row”, gaining superpowers in conjunction with some of the worst monsters imaginable had leveled the place fairly well. Devers’ family didn’t live there, but they did live in Casa Grande, which was smack dab in the middle of the high level hunting ground. All things considered, it just wasn’t looking good, though I understood the need to confirm for oneself if a thing was true or not.

Back home, in Winslow, the base commander there carried out the executions of the Navajo Raiders that had been harrying us. The chosen method was hanging, done in the manner which resulted in a clean breaking of the back, by tying the feet to the neck, then having another rope tied in the middle. If the individual was still alive, the executioner would come and put a bullet in their temple. The executions were broadcast live to whomever had access to the System Net. According to Veep, the word was getting around that we were not to be fucked with.

In Flagstaff, Sheriff Zurmillion had run off several probes by the Cannibals of Kingman. Heavy caliber automatic turrets mounted on the large wall queried the VPA of any individual approaching the wall within a quarter mile. If said individual had visited one of the Flagstaff System Kiosks, they would have a kind of encrypted code downloaded into their assistant, the AI in the turrets would check the password against a database and allow them in, if no password was present, then they would be ordered to halt and a pair of the Sheriff’s men would do a face to face inspection. If you chose to ignore the directions of the turrets, well, they’d shoot you until you were dead. Afterward, a patrol would head out and see if they could run down any of their number that managed to escape the turrets.

In Show Low, Pestilence was true to his word and had begun restoring the town with the help of Albert, the Dark Elves, and the remaining townsfolk. He was quickly converting the town into a waystation for adventurers looking to challenge the Dead Fields and the dungeons within. Several inns surrounded a large market area where crafters traded with adventurers for their hard earned materials, creating superior arms and armor, enabling the adventurers to head deeper into the Fields to feed the cycle of advancement. Interestingly, a house of debauchery was opened upon the ashes of the Deer Lady’s former domain, seemingly some of the residents had quite enjoyed their time in the strange demon’s care and didn’t wish for the festivities to end.Additionally, it seemed that some of the people from that time had earned skills and abilities that fed off sexual energy, so, essentially Show Low had an official “swingers” club.

Lord Shubin and his Daemon’s had flipped the script on Litchfield, conducting non-stop raids against their forces in an attempt to keep them off balance, all from Sky Harbor Airport. They had decided to avoid directly interacting with this sample of humanity and isolate themselves. When I asked him, Shubin stated he understood what I was trying to do here, and he knew his people's appearance, so close to the demons in our popular culture, may have a detrimental effect on the way the populace of Phoenix saw us. I didn’t like it, though I had seen the effect Choox’il had as she followed Alyssa around town, specifically the wide berth anyone not from our group gave her. Though she seemed to be indifferent to the fearful humans around her.

Junipher and I walked among the streets, surveying the changes to the city I’d only been to when I needed to. Before the System it was one of the fastest growing cities in the country. Now it seemed frozen in collapse. A caricature of the worst that the System had thrown at humanity, as well as the worst that humanity could inflict upon itself. I thought silently if Phoenix looked like Bagdad, then what did cities like New York, or Los Angeles look like at this point?

That wasn’t to say it was all bad, while the Governor hadn’t rebuilt anything with the System, he had repurposed whatever buildings remained standing to provide ample housing and amenities. Allison pointed out he didn’t trust the gift the System offered, and for once I considered he may have had a point.

Allison, however, was one to use all the tools at her disposal. All around the outskirts of her zone of control the telltale signature blue haze indicated that she had directed the System Mana to begin clearing and rebuilding as she saw fit. One thing did remain untouched in all the chaos, a shopping mall. It was situated closer to Mesa than Litchfield so she chose that spot for a secondary System Kiosk location. Additionally, all of the civilian housing was moved around this location and another series of checkpoints and sentry locations were set up to keep watch for any interlopers.

Another interesting detail came to light in our tour of the city, the Phoenix Zoo was now a lush jungle oasis in the concrete desert. Several of the enclosures now expanded beneath the surface to create themed dungeons based on the type of animals housed there when the System took hold. It was one of the places that low level adventurers went to gain experience. Oddly, the petting zoo remained intact, and the animals there were friendlier than ever. Additionally, Eli sent his tamers into some of the dungeons to see if they could add new stock to our cavalry. The bear den was the most fruitful, as it afforded us War Bears. Though they would need to be returned to the animal pen at Winslow to begin breeding and be of no use to us currently.

A message from Shubin shook me from my reverie. I quickly read it, then grimaced visibly. Junipher picked up on my emotions and gently squeezed my arm before asking, “What is it?”

“They’ve changed tactics. And they aren’t good.” I forwarded the message to her, then contacted my command team. “Guys, they’re using suicide bombers. I’m going to Shubin’s position to see first hand.”

“We’ve got reports of troops massing behind the Line. Myself and Freya are preparing to repel, thanks for the heads up.” Eli responded over comms.

I whistled loudly, startling several people browsing a shop that apparently sold custom made armors. Soon more people were shouting in surprise, scrambling to make way for Kaia as he came barrelling around a corner, taking out a pair of shops as his hindlegs lost purchase on the smooth concrete. He skidded to a halt in front of me, tail wagging. I gave him a quick scratch behind his ear as I slid onto his back, tugging Junipher up in front of me, then we were headed off towards the airport at his best possible speed.

We found Shubin standing at the edge of a crater just below our side of the Line. The newly created hole in the ground was at least a hundred meters across. Several burning husks of abandoned vehicles were scattered some distance away from the blast center. Shattered, scorched concrete, plaster, and glass was similarly scattered about the field of battle for a good quarter mile in all directions. Even a divot had been gouged into the dirt highway embankment.

I noted a small horde of imps taking cover behind the remaining, mostly intact, vehicles that still sat on the highway. Several Volpari and Faceless flanked them on either side, supporting them from behind a loose gaggle of Jersey barriers. The occasional pop of a distant firearm could be heard, the Daemon would respond by ducking low, then popping up and returning fire with enchanted arrows or magic.

“Lord Shubin!” I called out as I approached from behind him, still mounted on Kaia. The coyote had grown enough that I could almost meet the tall doom demon eye to eye while sitting on his back.

He flashed me a horrifying smile in greeting, “Master Karl! I’m glad you could come so quickly.”

“You mentioned suicide bombers?” I asked, indicating the giant, smoking crater in front of us.

“Yes, a man, bloody and bedraggled, came running, screaming, from within a building on their side of the line. We thought he a slave escaping his captors, so a squad of the little ones flagged him down to guide him to safety. Of course, he stopped when he saw them, unsure of whether we were friend or foe. Then, all of a sudden, he charged forward screaming a battle cry. The last thing he said was, I’m sorry, before he blew up in the middle of our squad.”

“Doesn’t sound like he was all in.”

Shubin held out his open hand to me, revealing a broken and charred gold piece of metal, “He wasn’t. The act was compulsory, enforced by this.”

Slave Collar (Broken); When placed around the neck of a sapient being they must follow all orders given to them without hesitation.

Junipher hissed at the vile piece of metal in the Daemon’s hands, “This is a vile act, Karl. We cannot allow this to continue, my love.”

Before we could discuss the issue further, an explosion further down the Line echoed towards us followed by rising smoke from a bit over a quarter mile. I tuned into the patrol net to have my ears assaulted by utter chaos. Men and women were screaming for medical evac, covering fire, or support. Another explosion roared up from further down the Line, and the chaos intensified across the network. A long moment later, Eli joined the network, instilling a sense of calm command.

“Centurions! Get control of your commands and report. You’re troopers of SooHoo, and you represent the Warlord. You’ve been trained for this, start acting like it! Support is incoming.”

I listened as the remaining leadership sounded off, reporting attacks similar to what Shubin faced here on his corner of the battle line.

“Sir! They’re using suicide bombers, we’ve got four dead, fifteen severly injured with a handful of walking wounded. Healers are doing their work currently, Coyote two-two, out!”

“Ravager six-three, same enemy contact as Coyote two-two, no dead, several heavily wounded. There seems to be a larger group massing about a quarter mile in, their side of the Line, over?”

More reports rolled in up and down the Line, all similarly reporting the use of suicide bombers, while a few reported troop movement across the highway. Eli read the situation similar to myself, they would soon attempt a focused push in an attempt to break our defense.

“Well, Lord Shubin, looks like they’re going to push.”

“Indeed, Master Karl, hopefully they have someone out there that can give me a challenge. I’ve been getting bored.”