I hid myself under a fine layer of sand, my sense of smell allowing me to detect the patrol and give me enough time to hide before they’d reached me. The slight vibrations in the ground, accompanied by their scent, allowed me to pinpoint them exactly. I knew that they’d be crossing over my location, as the ground where I’d hidden myself was the easiest to traverse. I began to hear voices.

“-just one guy and they send all of us? This much power armor and artillery? We’d be better used at Medina.”

“You’re just bored Everett. I don’t hear anyone else complaining. Besides, do you really want to be there? It’s been a bloodbath. Between the explosives, the ambushes by deadmen, and the Horde pushing at our lines with their trucks… Did you see Drew when he got back from Medina? He had a tire print on his fucking face. You’d really prefer that to a bit of walking every day?”

The voices and footsteps were getting closer, I kept myself still, gripping the hilt of my sword. I hadn’t yet tested it on power armor, but I had alternative solutions in mind if it didn’t work out.

“Okay, sure, the fight at Medina is a shitshow, but at least we’d be doing something. Fighting for America. Hunting a single deadman just because he’s been seen in the area. With five fully armed and armored men. Come on!”

A third voice spoke up. “This one deadman is the one that killed the Science and Tech Chief. Killed two ‘fully armed and armored’ men with his bare hands. We’ve had three patrols go missing here in the last few weeks, with a single survivor. Not to mention this is the guy that stormed the republic, crossed the Cut, and has been dealing bloody justice across Horde territory for years now.”

“Seriously?” said Everett. “There’s no way it’s just one guy. It’s just something those spooky undertakers spread around to intimidate us. I’m telling you, this is a waste of fucking time.”

They were nearly on top of me, one of them passed a few feet to my right.

“The job is what it is, I’d rather be bored tha-”

I popped up from beneath the layer of sand, activating my sword and driving it through the closest enemy. There was some resistance to push through, but between my strength and the sword's vibrating edge, I got through with little issue.

As blood gushed from the wound I inflicted, I kicked the power armored body off my sword and pivoted quickly, throwing myself at the next closest of them. He raised his las-rifle to fire on me, but the red bolts dispersed across my energy field harmlessly. I closed in, slicing through the gun and cutting deeply into his chest.

The other three rallied as I finished off their friend. One drew a hammer that crackled with energy, while the other two drew long, brutal looking, spiked metal rods that arced with electricity.

The one with the hammer charged me, and I blocked the hammerblow with my sword. It bit halfway through the haft of the hammer before he yanked it away. He followed up with a flurry of strikes, trying to buy time so that his allies could move to surround me.

I let them get into position. When the hammer wielder attempted an overhead blow I slipped around him, and kicked him into a shock staff blow that was meant for me.

While those two untangled from one another, I wheeled around at the other one. He surprised me with a jab at my sword that knocked me off balance, then he went to strike directly at my face, his stave pulsing with energy. I caught it with my hand, feeling the voltage of it run through me, then I squeezed with all my strength, shattering and deactivating his weapon before I threw a kick to his chest and knocked his power-armored form several yards back.

His allies had untangled themselves, and one of them made the mistake of attacking me alone, taking a wide swing at my head. I ducked below it, and rammed the point of my sword through the chin-piece of his armor, killing him instantly.

The hammer wielder let out a roar at his friend's demise and charged me. I roared in response, and drew my sword from his ally, and charged him right back. When we met I slammed the edge of my sword through the handle of his hammer, and nearly bisected him. He folded like a lawn chair, and I let him slide off my blade and onto the ground.

Two las-bolts dispersed at my back and I turned around to see that the last one had drawn his rifle. He unloaded on me, but it was useless. I closed the distance between us just as my shield overloaded. I grabbed his rifle and kicked him to the ground a second time, tossing his weapon aside. I worked my hands into the slight grooves between his helmet and faceplate and ripped it open.

The man inside was young. Maybe early twenties. His expression was a mixture of hatred and terror as he looked at me. I held his faceplate in the air, pondering it for a moment.

“They sent you to hunt me, huh?” I asked.

“Fuck you!”

“Take that as a yes.” I tossed the faceplate to the side where it thudded lightly against the sand. I began easing out a small trickle of radiation into the air around myself. “How would you like to live?” I asked.

His eyes darted to friends, but he didn’t answer.

I turned my full attention back to him. “Do. You. Want. To. Live. Yes or no?” I asked again.

“Yes.” he managed through gritted teeth.

I continued to let out radiation, ensuring just the right amount was dispersed. “I just want you to deliver a message for me. A short one, just four words.”

He stared at me, his expression unchanged.

I leaned forward, ensuring he was poisoned just enough to take him out of commission, but not enough to kill him. “Tell them, ‘Send ten next time’.”

…

I piled the armored bodies on top of one another directly in the path of a Remnant supply route, and left them there to rot. The survivor was long gone, likely nearly to the closest Remnant outpost. I hope my message was enough for them to send a larger response next time. The five I’d fought had been a challenge, and I was glad to help the war effort by causing them to waste their resources, but I knew it wasn’t enough. In spite of the early successes the deadmen and the Horde had made, things had begun to turn in the Remnants favor. They were besieging Medina, they’d managed to hold most of their outposts along the border, and they seemed to have ramped up production of their power armored suits and las-rifles.

I could see the issue, and I was certain that both Nix, and the Khan did as well. Both of our forces were incredibly specialized. The Horde stayed mobile, keeping out of the range of the enemy while peppering them with heavy fire. Focusing on shock and awe above all else. The Deadmen, though new to warfare, were also focused on quick targeted attacks on high value targets, then fading back into the nearest deadzone. Neither of these overall strategies blended well with the idea of holding territory.

The Remnants themselves seemed incredibly adept at it. Their outposts and fortifications had layer upon layer of defense. Their armored men and women could act as a bulwark allowing them to hold important defensive points, even without cover. It made sense, their plan was to ‘take back America’, and that implied holding a massive amount of territory under their control. It wasn’t as if it was easy for them. They were enduring raids constantly, their supplies got cut off with incredible frequency, and they couldn’t react quickly to Horde raids deeper into their lands. They were enduring though, and the longer they did so, the more firmly entrenched they would become.

I sat on one of the armored bodies as I thought, absently chewing what dried Ursan meat I had left from my stint in the black woods. I was certain that this was all already being considered by whoever was in charge. I finished my food, and ran my hand through the sand, letting it run through my fingers for a few moments. I’d been focused on doing my own kind of damage, waging war on my own in the way I thought was most effective, but it may be time for a change. I needed more intel, and was just about due for a resupply anyway.

I stood up. I’d doused the corpses with enough radiation to make them a deathtrap for any non-deadmen. That would make for a nice surprise if the Remnants came back for the armor they lost. I would see if my request for ten power armored combatants was met, and after that, it was time to head to Medina.