“I do dare.” The Gorilla-Woman chuckled, clearly unphased by his feigned outrage. “Mother warned that I might be forced to engage in civilities with all-prey, but this…” She gestured flippantly towards him with a single massive fist, her wolf growling under her. “It is beyond the pale.”

A low grumbling of agreement ran through the were-people behind her, and soon spread to the rest of the horde. It didn’t take long before the Imperial party was surrounded on all sides by growling half-humans.

Despite ostensibly being protected by their role as messengers, Jack doubted he was the only one who felt a small shiver run down his spine as the crowd got more and more worked up.

Shui though, she just rolled her eyes at the theatrics before she leaned in to whisper to him. “As much as it pains me to agree with that abomination, this whole thing will be easily resolved by you flaring your intent. Better yet, the fact that she could not sense your true nature immediately might well cost her face.”

Jack nodded. Right. Just flare his intent. Easy.

Except I don’t have any, he thought.

Right, it was time to improvise.

“I’ll do you one better.” Jack gave the boar-woman a smile as fake as his earlier anger as he glanced around them.

When he found he what he was looking for, he raised a single hand to point in her direction.

“Her.” Despite his voice not being very loud, a hush fell over the clearing immediately.

“What?” The Herald asked as her gaze flitted between him and the… ox-woman he was pointing at.

“As you seem to think I’m ‘all-prey’ how about a duel, here and now?” He could feel his micro-bots shifting about beneath his clothes. “Me and her. To first blood.”

Even as the silence around them got all the more profound, Jack heard a quiet grunt of approval from behind him. Clearly Shui was onboard with his plan – though given that his first meeting with the woman had involved her showing off a barely contained brawl to him, that shouldn’t have been too surprising.

“A duel with no stakes is meaningless.” The Herald waved a hand dismissively. “The domain of the Domestic.”

He shrugged.

“Alright, winner can do whatever they want with the loser. Kill them. Eat them. Make colorful clothing out of their fur.”

“Ha,” the Herald’s laugh echoed through the clearing. “We accept. Know that you court death, male. Baidar is an accomplished herd-mistress of many seasons. This night she shall feast on your marrow.”

Jack was barely listening, his focus was entirely on the minotaur as she stomped out of the crowd towards him. Curiously, she actually seemed a little irritated by the Herald’s words.

Then again, I suppose she is an ox, he thought. Would that make her a vegetarian?

Huh, that was an amusing thought. Though, as his gazed roamed over the bulging muscles in her forearms and her rippling abs, he couldn’t help but think that she had to have been eating something to maintain that kind of body.

“I accept the Imperial’s offer.” Jack was surprised, the woman’s voice was surprisingly feminine despite her massive stature. “Out of respect for your foolish bravery, know that this Baidar shall gore you swiftly.”

“I… thanks?” Jack cocked his head, drawing a solemn nod from the other woman.

“You, Boar-Woman, you acknowledge that this man walks to his death. I shall not have my wayward cousin accuse me of refusing to play by the quaint rules of your people.”

Shui scowled. “The Magistrate is no kin of yours. With that said, this Shui of the Iron Hoof Sect acknowledges that Jack Johansen proposed this duel. As to whether he walks to his death, we shall see. We shall seek no recompense should he perish.”

The Herald laughed again.

“So be it. Then without any further preamble, she raised her arm. “Begin.”

Wait, that’s it!?

Jack barely had time to think before Baidar was charging at him – and he quickly realized that she wasn’t being hyperbolic when she said she intended to gore him, her lowered head was aimed directly at him.

Fortunately, that meant she was running at him in a straight line. Something that the cultivators in Ten Huo had swiftly learned to avoid when dealing with anything involving him.

His hand-cannon was in his hands with but a thought, drawing gasps from those around them as it seemingly appeared from thin air. From the sleeves of his robes, his microbots emerged to help guide his aim and provide much needed stability as he aimed the massive mass of metal in his attacker’s direction.

And it was a massive mass. The phrase ‘hand cannon’ wasn’t hyperbole either. Even with his massive gene forged body, the recoil from the literal doubly barreled cannon he was holding in both arms might well have shattered his shoulder if it weren’t for the microbots acting as both a buffer and support.

Even then, this is going to leave a hell of a bruise, he thought as he calmly placed the butt of the massive thing against his shoulder, letting the subtle prompting of the microbots guide his aim.

In. Out. Squeeze. Gently.

The firing of the double barreled monstrosity was earth-shattering, and more than one of the bemused observers present – who had likely been wondering what he was doing – recoiled in fright as the gun went off.

Jack only had eyes for his target though, and thanks to the drugs running through his system, he actually managed to perceive the moment of impact, as the chain connecting to two cannonballs that had flown from the gun unfurled, wrapping around the midriff of the ox-woman.

Which was all kinds of bullshit. A regular person – hell, even a cultivator – should have been quite literally ripped in half by that kind of shot. The chain was meant to act as a scythe, intended to slice through an entire crowd of mortals – or a single hard to hit cultivator.

Must be some kind of defensive technique, Jack thought absently. Steel flesh or some shit. Might be worth swapping out the chain for some kind of carbon fiber wire instead for more cutting power.

Still, just because Baidar hadn’t been ripped in half by the shot, it didn’t mean she’d gotten away without damage either. Rather than a saw, the chain-shot had acted like a bola.

The ox-woman clearly had the breath driven from her as the chain wrapped around her midsection like a boa constrictor, the force of it pulping skin between the metal links and the steely muscle beneath it. That was nothing compared to the cannonballs, which arced around and embedded themselves halfway into the flesh of her gut and back.

Like the world’s most devastating kidney shot.

Baidar dropped like a sack, throwing up dust as she slid across the ground, eventually coming to a stop right at his feet.

Ironically, nearly goring him anyway, as one of her horns stopped dangerously close to his groin. Sure, the microbots would have stopped it if it had actually been about to hit, but it was still a rather heart stopping moment for him.

Still, he’d done it. Baidar was down and bleeding rather profusely. Likely both inside and out.

Slowly, and with great gravitas, Jack placed a single booted foot onto the woman’s downed and groaning form.

The clearing was filled with silence once more, broken only by the distant cries of birds and the sounds of far off camps being set up.

The ‘fight’ had taken all of three seconds.

Then yelling started.

Trickery, deceit, and cheating seemed to be the main gist of much of the shouting.

Jack just grinned, raising the smoking barrels of his now empty gun up into the air.

“This is my boomstick!” He grinned, taking in the aggrieved faces all around him, adrenaline flowing through his veins like liquid fire – likely making his smile all the more unhinged. “It’s my weapon. You don’t recognize it? Not my problem! If you didn’t want to be caught off guard by new technology, you shouldn’t have turned your back on it in favor of shagging trees and shitting in the woods.”

Predictably, the yelling only got louder – and slightly more animalistic.

“Enough!” The Herald’s shout was actually loud enough to rival the earlier discharge of his gun.

Instantly, the complaints from the horde ceased as they all turned to stare at their leader.

Who didn’t look happy. The Gorilla woman’s wings had flared out behind her and her eyes were quite literally glowing as she stared at Jack and his downed and bleeding opponent.

“The… male has proven he is no all-prey. Merely a coward who hides his fangs and feigns at weakness.”

Jack just shrugged as he unsummoned his gun, taking his foot off Baidar. “Yes, because ‘camouflage’ is such an alien concept to the animal kingdom. Or are those tiger stripes on that coat she’s wearing just for decoration?”

To his right, a goat-woman in a tiger-fur coat brayed at him.

In the back of his mind he could recognize that taunting the Herald probably wasn’t wise. Unfortunately, the front of his mind was filled with the high of once more defeating a cultivator near effortlessly - as well as the rather conventional high that came from the adrenal-stimms his brain was practically swimming in.

“You overstep yourself, male.” The Herald Growled, leather creaking as one hand gripped the reigns of her mount.

“Once again, it’s not my fault that you’re all just a bunch of tree-hugging primitives with only a basic understanding of the creatures you’re emulating with and an even more basic understanding of who you’re fucking with.” He stared into her eyes. “Bitch, I crack worlds. The only reason I haven’t cracked yours is that I like living here.”

The ape-dragon’s maw twitched as the tension only continued to grow.

“I think that’s quite enough.” Shui coughed lightly, as she laid a single calloused hand on his shoulder as she stepped past him, conveniently blocking the Herald’s view of him. “I trust that with this demonstration, Master Johansen has proven that he is no mortal.”

The Herald snorted irritably, before grunting. “He has.”

Shui’s smile was all teeth. “Then we can continue. My mistresses’s terms are simple. Leave or be destroyed. Retreat back to the barren wastelands you call your home and never again blight the Empire with your filth.”

Woah, for a woman that seemed determined to ratchet down his own smack talking, she certainly didn’t hesitate to throw out her own.

The Herald’s reply was instant. “Surrender or be destroyed. Throw off the shackles of Domestic oppression and embrace the one true Dao.”

Shui nodded, as if she’d been expecting that response. “Right, now that the obligatories are out of the way, I’m going to ask the only real question here.” The Boar-woman eyed the Ape-Dragon. “What the fuck even are you?”

The Herald smirked. “The future.”

“How do you have the blood of the dragon, abomination?”

The creature’s smirk grew wider. “I imagine, the same way you have the blood of the pig. Something I’m sure will get my cousin all worked up.”

A shiver of rage seemed to run through Shui at those words. “Once more, the Imperial line are no kin of yours, abomination.

The Herald’s earlier rage at the outcome of the duel seemed to have left her as she shrugged. “What a silly thing to say. My father is a dragon, thus I have the blood of the Dragon. Actually, by that logic, shouldn’t you be bowing before me? I am an Imperial princess after all.”

“We are done here,” Shui spat.

The Herald just shrugged. “I suppose this has been amusing enough. If disappointing.” Her gaze flitted towards Baidar’s now passed out form before trailing over him, before going back to Shui. “Go then. And know that destruction follows you.”

Jack’s microbots slipped from his clothes to form an ant-like raft under Baidar as he followed after Shui, the raft following after him. The sight drew a few murmurs from the Instinctives near them, but none moved to block their exit.

Even as they walked away, Jack couldn’t help but shake his head.

They came all this way for that? We could have shouted that shit from the walls.

Still, at least they hadn’t come out of this entirely empty handed. They’d gotten a prisoner for their troubles, one who would hopefully prove to be a valuable source of information on exactly what they were up against.

Assuming she survives the next few hours, he thought. If her injuries don’t do her in, a pissed off Magistrate just might. Because I sincerely doubt our glorious leader is going to take the news that the ‘Arch Traitor’ has been using an hitherto unknown missing Imperial Prince to spawn impossible half-breed monstrosities is going to be taken well.

No, she wouldn’t be taking that well at all.

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

Well, he wasn’t wrong. Baidar was still alive when he left, but how long that would remain true, he didn’t know. Nor did it much matter to him. He’d gotten some serious brownie points or ‘gained face’ when he’d presented her comatose body to the Magistrate.

Something he felt a… tiny bit guilty for given that she’d been rather respectful when she’d threatened to kill him. Of course, the fact that she had threatened to kill was why he only felt a tiny bit guilty.

New valuable source of information or not, the Magistrate had been spitting fire when he finally got to leave the wall. And that was not a metaphor. The Imperial scion could apparently emit flames from her mouth when she got worked up enough. Which made her words hard to understand - and only seemed to make her madder.

Regardless, he was glad to be out Huang’s present and back at the compound once more.

With that in mind, he turned his attention back to the other occupants of his command room.

“Gao,” he said, making the Captain sit even straight in his chair. “Are we set up and ready to unleash the big gonnes?”

The man nodded dutifully. “The new ‘cannons’ have been deployed to a nearby park. They are set up and ready to fire on command. You need only give them the order.”

Jack was grinning as he nodded.

“Right, and I assume they’re ranged for where our new friends are setting up camp.”

Which was just beyond catapult range – but not beyond the range of his new artillery guns. As in, brand new. As in, build one week ago – with a crew that was less ‘trained’ so much as basically familiar with them.

His point was, he didn’t expect his new artillery park to be a smooth running machine. But to be honest, they didn’t have to be. It wasn’t like they were going to be receiving counter fire, so it didn’t matter how long it took them to set up, load and fire the guns.

Hell, even if they blew themselves up… well, they had plenty of possible replacements to pick from.

“Theoretically,” Gao allowed, clearly not happy with how quickly the new weapon systems had been rushed into service. He’d had them practicing round the clock with dud rounds, but they’d yet to actually fire anything with an explosive payload.

Which was another innovation that was barely a week old.

“We need only ‘walk it’ a little.” Gao continued. “I have a spotter on the wall ready to relay results to my man on the ground.”

Jack resisted the urge to giggle in a distinctly giddy fashion – something he blamed on the last remnants of the adrenals leaving his system.

“Good. Hold off for now though. Let’s let them waste time and energy setting up camp.”

Gao nodded, and Jack knew that despite his misgivings, he was also eager to see the new explosive rounds in action.

And hadn’t it been a bitch when Lin had finally pointed out a solution to his problem. Ironically, he’d been overcomplicating the whole thing. He didn’t need impact explosives. At least, not for artillery. For them, it didn’t matter if the explosion came a second or two after they landed.

So all I needed to do was shove a timer into them.

Specifically, an oven timer, but no one but him needed to know that. All they needed to know was how to operate the little dial on the front of the shell.

Hell, he didn’t even have to worry about some idiot setting them off prematurely, because the timer only started after the propellant was fired.

They could even make air-burst shells, once they got the timing down. The trick was to make sure the shell didn’t go off too late or too early. Which was a vairable that changed depending on how far the shell travelled.

To that end, Gao had someone in charge of noting down the time between a shell being fired and when it impacted at different ranges.

That was a future development though.

For now, it was delayed artillery only.

“It would be my pleasure, great one.” Gao bowed in his chair.

Jack couldn’t help but note that no one was showing even the slightest bit of hesitation at the idea that they’d be hitting a lot of ‘non-combatants’.

Then again, there’s that whole pseudo religious nature of the rivalry between instinctives and reasoned cultivators, Jack thought. They might not even think of them as… well, not ‘human’, but people.

Personally, he wasn’t exactly psyched about bombing a bunch of civilians - but when you set up shop in a military encampment, one that was besieging a city, you didn’t get to claim you weren’t a ‘combatant’.

That was on them, not him. He really couldn’t afford to be pulling his punches here.

…Even if it did leave a sour taste in his mouth.

“Lin, are you ready?” Jack asked, turning his attention to the second mortal present.

The goat-woman gave him an exaggerated thumbs up, the same smile she’d had on her face for days still present. “With all the local birdlife gone, I’m five by five chief.”

To her left, Ren scoffed. “What does that even mean?”

“All good… I think?” Lin shrugged. “Honestly though, I have no clue.”

She must have heard it in the simulator, Jack realized.

Both Gao and Ren were frowning, neither liking her flippancy for entirely different reasons. Which was why Jack changed the subject.

“I assume Elwin’s still out collecting her students.”

He received a reluctant nod from Ren in response.

“Right, well I suppose we’ll just have to wait for our enemy to attack then. I can’t imagine it’ll take long.”

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

As it turned out, he was wrong. Tired, either from setting up their camp or from the march, the Instinctive didn’t attack that day.

In fact, Jack was still lounging in bed the next morning when he received a message from Gao.

Groggily feeling for the tablet – and accidentally giving Ren a good grope in the process – he pulled the device up to his face, blearily poking at the accept message button.

“Instinctives rallying for attack. Ideal time to fire back. Request to fire now.”

The words were all in same sort of ‘basic’ speak that Gao resorted to when forced to communicate through text. As adept at adapting to new technology as the former guard was, Gao’s literacy was not the greatest in the world. So much so that Jack was considering insisting that the man got an assistant so that he’d stop receiving reports written entirely in what felt like truncated haikus.

Jack glanced over at the nearby clock and saw that it was about six in the morning.

“A dawn attack,” he muttered. “I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised.”

He could be annoyed though. He liked sleeping in. As did Ren, given the way she stirred irritably at his voice. Glancing down, he was pleased to see that the bruises from last night’s session were already gone.

Personally, he wasn’t too much a fan of the S part of BDSM, but the more they engaged in it, the more Ren seemed to derive enjoyment from the M part of the whole thing.

And he could admit that said excitement tended to get him more into the role as well, even if he sometimes felt a bit iffy when untying the half-comatose and lightly bruised woman from her harness.

Shaking his head, he brought up the camera feed from Gao’s spotter on the wall.

Sure enough, the shaky helmet cam footage showed an energetic gathering of Instinctives forming in the camps opposite the wall, with those on the Imperial side rallying to prepare for the incoming attack.

“Request granted,” he messaged back.

It was time to show these primitives the power of modern warfare.

“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds,” he muttered to himself as he clambered out of bed, the first thuds of artillery firing echoing through the walls.

He didn’t know why he said that. It just seemed apt.

Maybe he’d heard it one too many times in recent days?

Apparently, he’d tripped the anti-weaponry filters on his AI one too many times in his search for weapon blueprints because that was the only response his AI seemed to give him these days when he flirted around the subject.

Some programmer must have slipped that in thinking they were being funny, he thought. And they must have been in a hurry to do it because the grammar is awful.

He was just reaching for his socks when the first explosions echoed out from the feed on his tablet, then again distantly through the open window.