《The Defective Hermit》


 Chapter 1: Youve got to be kidding me?

    DING


    Warning, failure of all long distance forms of communication which are based on advanced technology in three hundred hours, countdown begins now.  Notice simple analog radio will work at first but reception will grow progressively worse and prone to failure between three hundred hours and six hundred hours.


    Warning, failure of all advanced electronic technology in three hundred hours, countdown begins now.


    Warning, failure of all smokeless gun powders and other similar propellants or explosives in four hundred hours, countdown begins now.


    Warning, failure of all internal combustion engines, jet engines, hell the failure of anything but some steam engines in five hundred hours, the countdown begins now.


    Warning, the failure of all electrical devices in six hundred hours, the countdown begins now.


    Warning, you are screwed.


    I was sitting on my back porch when that screen suddenly appeared before me.  I was overjoyed; the damn visual message wasn¡¯t blue like in all those stupid stories.  Blue lit screens aren¡¯t good for your eyes everyone knows that.  What was appearing before me was a nice orange screen with black letters, easy to read and no eye strain.


    Hmmm, it looks like the world is fucked.  I wonder when the monsters will start appearing.  When messages like these typically show up in stories, monsters and player notices always appear.  I bet black powder will keep working but I wonder if percussion caps will.  I better start making myself a powder mill while things continue to work, the stuff will probably be sold out by the time I get to town.  It¡¯s lucky I got big supply of it here already.  I can make powder so long as I can get sulphur.  I ran into the house got on my computer and placed an order for four hundred pounds of sulphur with rush delivery.


    I should have a day or two before other people start thinking about the chemical.  The modern guns and ammunition I have already should last me until smokeless powder stops working.  I got to place more orders while the internet still works.  I bet only the stuff I order today will have any chance of reaching me in time.  But I got so much shit stockpiled now, what more do I need?  A steam engine, I need a fucking steam engine or maybe two or three.  I researched steam engines and I found four companies making them.  I placed an order for two of every kind that all four companies made.  Most of the companies only made little engines.  I ordered replacement parts too, for the things that regularly wore out according to their websites.  With luck I¡¯d get some of the twenty-four engines that I ordered.


    I had another thought and I called two different office supply stores that I knew delivered and told them both that I wanted every case of paper they had in stock, four computer packages, and four high end printers with ten cases of replacement ink cartridges delivered to my home as soon as was possible. I offered to pay double and I would give the delivery person a five hundred dollar tip upon delivery.


    I called three home stores in my area, I bought every piece of copper pipe, fitting, and brass valve that they would sell me.  I also bought a variety of plastic pipe too.   When possible I used my debit card or credit cards for all of my purchases but I did offer large cash tips for the delivery men.  For every delivery from all three stores, the store manager would ride along with the driver and share in the tip.


    Thankfully, I¡¯ve got the money for all this shit; a year ago I was almost living in a cardboard box.  My wife who was a CPA and handled our family finances took off with her lover after cleaning out all of our accounts while leaving me with a mountain of debt.  We had a lot of loans because she had told me that it was a better strategy to keep our money in the bank and to take out a loan for any big purchases like our twin daughters¡¯ college expenses and their weddings.  I think the bitch is living in Europe now; she really set me up good.


    Two years later my boss sold the company after he had been promising for years that I would one day take over for him.  He split suddenly too, too cowardly to face me.  I walked in to work one day to find new owners with their new management team.  A month later they decided I was redundant.


    My daughters covered up for their mother¡¯s affair and might have known what she was planning.  I know that they take odd vacations out of the country from time to time and I suspect that they are visiting her.  I confronted my two children on many occasions asking what I did to deserve this but they would always stop talking as soon as I asked.  I never cheated on my wife, yelled at her, hit her, abused our kids and I was always a good provider.  Just what the fuck happened?


    I had to sell the family home to pay off all of my debts but I still owed on the house so I didn¡¯t make a dime.  I had filed for divorce based on abandonment and the Judge gave me what was left and a judgment against my wife for half of what she took if I can ever find the bitch and have her served.


    A year ago I was working two part time jobs to keep a roof over my head.  Just for grins and giggles I bought a lottery ticket at the gas station I was working at.  I didn¡¯t check the numbers for three days, just so I could dream a little.  The numbers I played were the day my wife skipped out combined with the day I was fired.


    I was disappointed when I heard on the radio that someone in the next state over had won.  So I checked my numbers expecting to get the sorry no winner message.  Instead I got please contact the lottery commission.  It turns out that for that jackpot, which had been a big one, there were three winners, and I was one of them.  I asked the lottery officials to keep my name quiet and they did.  If my name became public and my daughters started treating me decently again, I would never know if they did it for me or the money.


    I found a piece of property a hundred miles away from my daughters.  Far enough away where I didn¡¯t see them all the time but close enough to visit if they or I wanted to.  Most of the time I didn¡¯t want to and they never came to see me.


    I bought forty acres.  Half of it is crap and half of it is good farm land but it¡¯s nowhere near any other good farming land and thus with something this small not economically viable to be a commercial farm.  I got plans to grow my own food but I would probably have never have done anything, because I¡¯ve become kind of lazy of late.  Now, things are changing.


    My house is fifty feet by twenty four, two floors and a basement.  Half the first floor is my garage.  The walls are built from precast concrete; double thick with an insulating foam barrier between the two layers of concrete.  The windows are top of the line and the whole house has working steel external shutters on the windows.  The roof is metal.


    There¡¯s a new pole barn in back with a machine shop, tool room and some other toys.  The two acres around my home and outbuildings are surrounded by a twelve foot high chain link fence with barb wire at the top.  Inside the chain link is a privacy screen that I can open up in sections like a shower curtain.  When you got money and everything is a simple design with nothing fancy they can build things quickly.  I had my home done in five months.


    Some think I don¡¯t like people anymore after all the hardships I¡¯ve had in my life; both recently and in the past and they¡¯d be right.  I now view myself as a professional hermit and that¡¯s what I want to remain, the rest of the world can fuck off.


    DING


    Class Selection:  Professional Hermit


    Level: 0


    A Partial and Possibly Accurate Description of the Professional Hermit Class.


    A professional hermit prefers not to be around other sentient creatures, particularly those of their own species.


    It is not unusual for hermits to have unique skills in magic, healing, alchemy, precognition or martial arts.


    Some hermits are insanely strong or smell strongly, usually both.


    It is not unusual for hermits to have pets or familiars; lice, fleas and ticks don¡¯t count.


    Servants are possible in small numbers if they don¡¯t bother you.   And they can take being yelled at.  Hermits prefer that servants not belong to their own species or that they are people who have been screwed at least as badly by others as the hermit has been.


    Wives or mates of any kind are not possible for the average hermit or professional hermit.  But indentured or enslaved pleasure girls kept in a basement dungeon are possible and maybe even likely.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    I¡¯ll be damned if I¡¯ll keep anyone in my basement that¡¯s where I got all my food supplies.


    DING


    You have gained four hundred experience points as a professional hermit.  Your next level in thirty-six hundred points.


    DING


    Qualifications for a Professional Hermit:


    A residence far from most people.


    To have been betrayed by someone close to you.


    To have either the skills or materials to support your isolated lifestyle.


    To have been a professional of another class at one time, and to have deliberately chosen to become a crazy antisocial recluse living far from everyone.


    I better get some chickens.


    DING


    Plus two hundred experience points for desiring live poultry.  More experience points will be granted for getting them, letting them run loose in an uncontrolled fashion or for wearing a few of their feathers in your hair or beard.


    Five hundred points if you grow a beard.


    Shit I better order a ton of razors.  I hate growing a beard and I better not talk out loud about the piglets, I¡¯ll be wanting to get.


    DING


    For desiring swine plus two hundred experience points, more points when you acquire them.


    For refusing to grow a beard I can¡¯t take off points but I really want to.


    DING


    You are a professional hermit.


    All land that you legally own is yours to rule.  Since you are a professional hermit, have food supplies for at least five years (but only enough toilet paper for two, I¡¯d fix that Bubba, could be messy), financial resources including precious metals, have a quantity of weapons, your own water supply and live off the grid, you are now King of your tiny kingdom of one.


    Land you legally own is yours and yours alone, you do not owe any entities, taxes or fees though you might have to protect that right.


    As being in essence your own monarch you are granted certain skills as are all other monarchs.


    DING


    Skills Section:


    Appraisal Skill Level: 1


    Earth Magic Level: 1


    Sword Beginner Level: 1   (Note: this is so monarchs when they knight someone don¡¯t chop off important bits and pieces which can get their clothes all bloody, yuck.)


    Leadership Beginner Level: 1   (You couldn¡¯t lead a drunken Marine to a bar.)


    True Sight Level: 1   (Detecting the truth or lies about you is a necessity for a monarch.)


    I found that crack about leadership insulting.  I have in fact on multiple occasions led several drunken Marines to various bars.  I have never been a Marine (or served in the military) but for some reason I¡¯ve always got along well with them.


    DING


    Leadership Beginner Level: 2   (It figures about you and Marines.)


    DING


    Pluses and Perks for being an asshole, I mean professional asshole, excuse me I mean professional hermit who is an asshole.  It took me long enough to get that one right.


    Any earth magic that you invoke is 40 percent more effective on your own land.


    You have +30 percent greater chance of learning magic, healing, alchemy, or martial arts than some other newb.


    You have a +20 percent chance to learn crafting skills.


    You have a +20 percent chance of teaching your abilities and skills to others.  Your students will always perceive you as grumpy, an additional +5 percent if you actually are grumpy.


    Things you make or do will be superior to others of a similar level and experience this is so other people will seek you out and bother you.


    You have a +25 percent chance that strangers will come to your door.


    You have -15 percent on your Charisma.  (You have charisma??)


    You have +25 percent chance of being perceived as grumpy.


    You have +20 percent chance of appearing unkempt or ill-groomed to others, despite how your perceive yourself.  You are a slob.


    Question:  You can do simple math can¡¯t you?  Or are these numbers and percentages too much for you?


    I wonder, if I can acquire anymore land around my own?  It seems to me the county was trying to sell some off.  More land will make it harder for people to get to me.


    DING


    For wanting more land to protect your privacy plus five hundred points.  It¡¯s not going to work but it¡¯s a good try.


    I hope you¡¯re keeping track of all these points, because I¡¯m sure as hell not doing it.


    ¡°Asshole Dinger!¡±


    DING


    For being grumpy plus one hundred points.


    DING, DING, DING, DING!


    I got my old college chemistry books which might help with alchemy.  As for magic I ain¡¯t got a clue except for possibly meditation.  Healing, maybe my old biology book will help though I should order books on first aid, and anatomy.  Earth magic, I should order books on geophysics and geology.  Martial arts would be good too but I don¡¯t want to go to town and see an instructor, besides that there will probably be too many people around those kinds of teachers now.  I¡¯ll just order every book and DVD on martial arts instruction that I can find.


    DING


    For being so stupid as not to go to town and receive proper instruction in martial arts while you have the chance, plus 500 experience points.


    Plus twenty-five percent chance of learning martial arts from books, scroll or DVDs.   Though it won¡¯t be as good as seeing an instructor, you moron.  You better watch those DVDs quick too because they¡¯re not going to work for very long.


    Did I mention that you are an idiot in this message, because if I didn¡¯t I just wanted to let you know that you are one, a really big one too.


    Nancy Conner was staring in horror at the blinding blue screen before her.


    DING


    Class:  Thief


    Level: 2


    Types:  Embezzlement, Tax Cheat, Illegal Billing Practices


    Title:  Adulteress Whore and Betrayer of Vincent Standish


    Qualifications


    You stole money from your clients and husband.


    Cheated on your personal and business taxes


    Billed clients for hours you never worked and sent the bills in the mail, didn¡¯t you ever watch the movie ¡°The Firm?¡±


    Congratulations, due to your past success of being a general lowlife scum who left your devoted husband with a ton of debt that you had conned him into so you could you steal all the cash and run off with your long time dirt bag lover.  You now have the second title of COMPLETE SCUM.  This title cannot be removed and can be seen by anyone with even a low level appraisal skill (a lot of people have it already).  Guess who is one of them?  Though it could be worse some people have titles like PEDOPHILE or MURDERER OF fill in the blank or RAPIST OF fill in the blank.


    You know while a lot of you humans are okay, there is a significant minority that are real assholes.  Guess what, you¡¯re one of them.


    Steve walked into their apartment smelling of whiskey and pot as usual.  ¡°Nancy what the hell is going on?  I nearly got arrested by the police outside.  This gendarme took one look at me and started pulling out his cuffs.  Then he sees someone else, gets really angry and runs after him.  Did your ex-husband finally track us down?  They can¡¯t arrest us for that, can they?¡±


    ¡°Steve what titles do you have?¡±


    ¡°Titles, what the fuck are you talking about titles?¡±


    DING


    He¡¯s so wasted that he didn¡¯t care about my timely Warning and Information Notices as a result he just dismissed the BLUE SCREENS OF YOUR FUCKED INFORMATION.


    Sucks to be you, I bet you really wish that you had that appraisal skill right now, don¡¯t you?

 Chapter 2: The Lights Start Going Out

    12/10/2015


    I did a general edit of this chapter; hopefully I made it easier to read.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 2: The Lights Start Going Out


    I was in my barn trying to figure out how I could build a water tower next to my house.  I¡¯ll need to insulate it and the pipes running from the water tank to my home.  I should probably enclose the whole tower and put a Franklin stove beneath the water storage tank.  That way I can keep the water from freezing.  I like running water and I don¡¯t want to start using buckets.  I¡¯ll use one of my new steam engines to power the pump to periodically fill the tank.  Damn I should order some more hand pumps too!  I only got one now and it might break.  What about a windmill powered pump, they¡¯ve had them for centuries!


    Shit, the Dinger mentioned servants.  I don¡¯t want any servants but some situation might force me into getting a few.  Hell, NPCs might even just show up.  I don¡¯t want anyone else living in my house or here for that matter.  I better order a couple of double wide homes.  They got some for sale down the road.  I bet not many people will be buying them now.  I¡¯ll pour some pads and get them installed in a week.  I don¡¯t need to worry about running electricity to them, only water and sewage.  My septic field is over engineered and I can tie into that.  But I should order some wood stoves right now.  Hell, I¡¯ll get in my truck and run to the feed store and pick up a couple.  They¡¯ll be sold out too fast if I don¡¯t do it now.


    I was driving down the road when my phone rang.  I answered it.


    ¡°Hello¡±


    ¡°Daddy, did you get one of those funny blue screens?¡±


    It was my daughter Linda.  ¡°What are you talking about?  I got a nice gentle on the eyes orange screen, just like the fruit.  Not too bright, it¡¯s kind of pretty.¡±


    I heard a little crying.  ¡°Daddy, I¡¯m sorry.  I¡¯ll call you back later, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay, goodbye.¡±


    Damn it.  I¡¯ll have to extend my fence and get two more double wide homes.  I just know that my daughters and their families will want to move out here but not in my fucking house.  Goodbye my glorious life as a hermit.  Fuck!¡±


    DING


    You can still be a hermit with blood relatives or their spouses living nearby.  It¡¯s not like you want them living close.  You just have to be cantankerous and you¡¯ve got that covered.


    I called the fencing company that had put in my old fence.


    ¡°Mack; it¡¯s Vincent Standish.  Crazy shit happening with all those screens isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, when that orange screen appeared in front of me I thought I was having a heart attack.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can get it done but I¡¯ll pay double if you can build me another fenced in enclosure connected to mine.  The same size fencing and such, but with its own entrances as well as gates between my old one and the new one.  On second thought, make the new fencing even tougher I want something that can stop several angry full grown stampeding buffalos.  When you got that figured out and done, then reinforce my existing fence.   I want the new area to be at least two acres in size and larger if you can do it.  ¡±


    ¡°Hell Vincent, I imagine it will be either feast or famine for my business during the next few weeks.  But you¡¯re the first one in with an order and for double pay I¡¯ll have a crew out there tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Do you do concrete work?¡±


    ¡°We can but not normally.¡±


    ¡°I need pads for some double wide homes in that new area, if you can pour them I¡¯ll pay top dollar.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done.¡±


    While I had a shit pot of money in the bank, I was probably one of the few people around that had a half a million in cash and two hundred thousand, when I bought it, in gold and silver.  I wasn¡¯t even going to bother trying to get into my bank right now.  I would make all of my purchases over the internet using direct payments from my account.  Locally, I¡¯d pay cash because unless they were stupid that¡¯s all they should take.


    Shit, I better transfer a lot of cash to those local charities I donate to.  With this shit coming down they¡¯ll need everything they can get.


    DING


    Most hermits aren¡¯t known for being charitable.


    ¡°Listen here, Dinger.  If I take care of them now and from a distance maybe they won¡¯t come knocking on my door later.¡±


    DING


    Plus one hundred points for planning ahead so you won¡¯t be bothered in the future, one hundred percent chance of failure.


    ¡°Hey Dinger, why is this all happening?¡±


    Silence


    ¡°Oh well, I thought it wouldn¡¯t hurt to ask.¡±


    The next ten days were busy ones.  I had multiple fenced in enclosures built.  The reason being, the fencing company wasn¡¯t getting much other business, they had materials on hand and I paid cash.  They put in extra larger steel pipes, twice as many verticals and they used five times as many cross members.  The additional cross members made the lower five feet look like one of those heavy metal enclosures used at cattle yards.  One fenced in compound got six homes, the others got one each.  The other enclosures were intended for gardens or livestock.  I had a well drilling company come in and drill a well for each fenced in area.  A plumber I hired, for cash, connected up all the plumbing for the modular houses and laid out the septic fields.  We pulled no permits with the county and no inspections were done.


    There was a huge problem our country faced and that was the large number of people in prison with either orange or green screens.  It seems that blue was bad, green was sort of okay and orange was good.  Three days after I saw that orange Warning message, I joined a large protest demanding that all of the orange screen people be immediately released and that work should also immediately start on evaluating all of the green screen prisoners.  We had no time for bureaucratic bullshit.


    It almost came to violence especially since a lot of politicians, bureaucrats, lawyers, judges, policemen and prosecutors; had blue screens or at best green screens.  They we¡¯re the ones saying that we couldn¡¯t trust in the screens and let all of those people go.  A few days after our protest, the President was forced by civil unrest to grant pardons and immediate release, to all the people with orange screens that were locked up in this country.  That happened on day six.  The President had a green screen.  We would worry about the blue screen people who had positions of power later.  The priority now was to help screwed-over people and stop the pain.  The same day, a bunch of ordinary people were given files of prisoners, with green screens, to review.  I was spotted with my orange status so I got roped into helping out.


    I hired one of Mack¡¯s employees who had a green screen to get done what I needed done on my property and accept deliveries of all the shit that I was ordering.  Mack got dragged into the prison situation too because of his screen color.  We both had the appraisal ability but I had true sight, which is like a super lie detector.  He got the skill, lie detection the first day we spent interviewing people with green screens.  It was looking like fifteen percent of the prison population in our area shouldn¡¯t be locked up.  That is a lot of people.  There was a judge with us.  If we said that they were innocent, the prisoner was immediately let go then and there.  I would give them, one hundred dollars in cash, and a two thousand dollar check out of my own pocket and wish them well.  I hoped that they could find some place to cash the check.


    We worked for ten hours a day, six days a week.  Personally I thought that the prison system would collapse in about three weeks.  But we still needed to keep the really bad ones locked up for as long as possible so they didn¡¯t prey on innocent.  When we first started it took us an hour for each prisoner interview.  Within two days we had it down to twenty minutes and the word was out, not to even try and lie to us; so some people didn¡¯t even bother showing up.  The people with green screens that we didn¡¯t let go were mostly convicted of bullshit crimes but it was still a crime so we couldn¡¯t just release them, according to the judge.  Though we did keep their names in a separate file and we recommended that the government pardon them.


    I very quickly acquired some servants that way, crap.  They were men or women that shouldn¡¯t be in prison and had no place to go.  Truthfully in my opinion, many of them were borderline oranges.  So most days, I would come home with a person or sometimes two.   A lot of times they would contact their significant others, who would then soon show up and add to my headaches.  I had given away about six million to local charities, another ten million to the local orange men and women that had been wrongly incarcerated and now I¡¯m spending about thirty thousand a day for the released green prisoners.   But I still got a lot of dough in the bank.  I¡¯ve started delegating things with my new servants in terms of getting us prepared, they don¡¯t dare lie to me because I¡¯ll spot it.  I ordered four more homes, that¡¯s another place that has been getting no business the big modular home yard between my home and town.  I¡¯m buying their display models now.


    I think if I didn¡¯t bitch out the Dinger in my head so much, that I would lose my status as a hermit.  Fuck, I want my privacy back!  I fucking hate people.


    Many countries were doing similar things with the people incarcerated in their prisons.  Another thing that many countries were doing was deporting foreigners with blue screens back to their home countries.  The United States hasn¡¯t started doing that yet and I doubt they will.


    People all over the world are trying to get back to their homes.  The President has brought back a lot of troops.  I understand that they are trying to get back in service all of the old warships that work on steam power.  I think that the only ships the United States can possibly do that with are the old battleships.


    Somehow, I received the majority of the orders I placed on the internet those first two days, including twenty of the twenty-four steam engines I ordered.  I should be spending all of my time practicing skills and leveling up but I got to get as many of those poor bastards out of prison as I can, before it all goes to crap.


    DING


    This is warning, inter-reality barriers are failing.  Expect penetrations by what can only be called MONSTERS.


    There will be other sentient species arriving besides humans; these may be friend or foe, good luck.


    ¡°Ah, crap!¡±


    We still got sixty hours on the lose-communications¡¯ and electronics¡¯ clock, I thought we had at least until then before monsters started showing up.


    Mack wasn¡¯t able to make it any longer and I got a new judge to work with.  Judges with orange screens are permitted to do this alone but a judge with a green screen is expected to have someone like me.  Today I¡¯m wearing class III body armor with stab resistance and a helmet.  I also have gauntlets, combat boots and a combat helmet.  My weapons are an M1A rifle and a nine millimeter pistol.  When I first moved into my home I went a little crazy and I bought a lot of those bang, bang toys that I always wanted to own.  I almost brought my fifty caliber Beowulf rifle today but I thought it might be overkill; but don¡¯t monsters usually take a lot of killing?


    I thought the judge would be intimidated to see me packing but she brought her own shotgun and a nine millimeter pistol.  We¡¯ve both heard reports of large bears, wolves and large cats appearing all over the world.  I¡¯m glad that it¡¯s the small stuff for now.


    I got home that night and both my girls, conference called me.  ¡°Daddy we¡¯re really sorry for what we did.  We behaved badly and wronged you.   We¡¯re scared Daddy, we both have little babies now and we live in apartments.  What will happen to your grandchildren when we lose electricity, phone service, natural gas, water and sewage?   We know we have no right to ask after what we both did but can our two families move in with you until we figure out what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ¡°You both have never been out here before but you have my address.  You had better get moving, we only have ten more hours before the phones and your modern cars stop working according to those notices.  I won¡¯t be here when you arrive.  But I¡¯ve got some people working for me now and they¡¯ll show you where you can put your stuff.  I was expecting this to happen so don¡¯t sweat it.  I really like my privacy now so don¡¯t you two knock yourselves out trying to form some kind of bond with me, okay?¡±


    ¡°Sniff, okay Daddy we won¡¯t.  But how can you afford to have people working for you?¡±


    ¡°Over a year ago while I was working at that gas station; I did something stupid, I bought a lottery ticket and surprisingly I won.  I didn¡¯t tell either of you because I wanted to know if you wanted me in your lives because you loved me or because you needed something like money or protection.  The people I hired are men and women that I recently helped release from prison because they were wrongly convicted, they¡¯re good folks.  I¡¯ll see you in the next few days when I¡¯m not too busy but you all should hurry up and get here as fast and as safely as you can.  Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Goodbye Daddy.¡±


    I really don¡¯t want to know what my true sight will tell me about my own daughters but while I don¡¯t like them, I do love them and I have to do whatever I can to protect my grandchildren.


    I was picking up Judge Faith Harper today, so I drove one of my good cars, a 1954 fully loaded blue and white Chrysler Belvedere.   I saw it at a small car show just after I won my money.  The older man who had owned it; had loved the car and he had beautifully restored it.  However he was hard up and needed some money but nobody would pay him what he thought the car was worth.  It was fully loaded and I thought it was the coolest car there.  I paid him what he was asking, maybe I could have gotten it for five grand cheaper, but the car was in mint condition.  Soon after that, I bought a gorgeous Model A, a not so bad 1964 VW Beetle, an old Jeep, and a 1949 Custom Desoto.  I just got the Desoto restored when all this Ding-Ding stuff happened.  I¡¯m hoping I can put steam engines in some of my cars but you never know.


    Linda arrived, at her father¡¯s address, leading a little convoy and she was shocked to see extremely tall chain link fences topped with barbwire.  Hanging on the inside of the fences were heavy dark green privacy tarps.  By the driveway there was an outside intercom with a press to talk button.  So she pressed the button.


    ¡°Hello, I give you notice that you are now on the lands of Vincent Standish, Professional Hermit.  Per the change in the world Mister Standish has certain rights, powers, skills, and abilities but he has responsibilities towards none, other than himself.  I am Ms. Boon, his public intermediary.  How may I help you?¡±


    Jennifer Boon read off her prepared speech.  Mister Standish had her doing that because he thought it would better establish his status in regards to the Ding-Ding system, as he called it, and maybe get him some more experience points.  To Jennifer¡¯s surprise he did in fact receive a small amount of experience points when she delivered that little speech to visitors, to her further surprise she got some as well.  She was happy to be out of jail, have her children back and a safe place to live.


    ¡°This is his daughter Linda.  I¡¯m at the gate, can you let us in?¡±


    ¡°Please drive down to the next gate.  That is for the compound where your new residence is located.  This gate is for Mister Standish¡¯s private home.   I¡¯ll alert Mister Monet and he¡¯ll open the other gate and show you where you¡¯ll be living.¡±


    Jennifer sat back with a happy sigh, noticing her additional experience points.  Every point helped, she knew how the boss bemoaned the fact that he was stuck working at the prisons instead of learning skills and earning points.  But if he hadn¡¯t have been at the prisons Jennifer would probably never have been released at all, she vowed that she would one day repay him.


    Today, she was overjoyed at her latest success.   She had successfully negotiated with four different companies for detailed plans for their products as well as production and construction notes.  None of their products were patented since they were all old inventions.  Three of the companies made steam engines and the fourth made wind powered water pumps.  Multiple copies of the files that she had just received were even now being printed off.  In every home within the compound people had been furiously downloading and printing paper copies of online books, how-to manuals and other similar documents.


    Though her personal favorite big score; were the three truckloads of toilet paper, and the split truckload of baby and feminine products.  The Boss originally hadn¡¯t had anything in stock for babies or for a woman¡¯s personal needs.  She had even managed to buy the trailers too, so they didn¡¯t even have to unload them.  However her greatest success must have been when she was able to negotiate the purchases of over one hundred and sixty acres, from three different parties, surrounding Vincent¡¯s original forty acres.  That had earned both her and the boss a ton of experience points and bumped them both up a level.


    Steve Monet hurried over to the gate and opened it for his boss¡¯s daughters.  Mister Standish had already warned his employees that he wasn¡¯t on good terms with his daughters but they were still family and he wanted to see them safe.  All of his new employees could understand that.


    The cars pulled in and Steve was surprised and glad to see one of the new men was an orange but he was dismayed to see that all three of incoming adult women were blues.  Of course the babies were both oranges and there was another man who was a green.  Steve had gotten the appraisal skill when he became a servant for the Professional Hermit Vincent Standish.


    He asked for identifications, you had to be careful nowadays.  Two of the blues were the boss¡¯s daughters, the third blue¡¯s identification showed her name as being Nancy Conner.  Since she would be staying in the same house as the orange man, he would let it go, but he¡¯d inform the boss as soon as he got back that night.  The orange would be permitted personal weapons if he had them.  All others would have to sit for an interview session with the boss before they would be allowed to use or carry a weapon.  He informed them of the policy, the green guy was a little upset but nothing too bad.  Steve pointed out that he himself was a green and the boss had hired him.


    Mister Monet showed them to their new homes and got back to work.  They had to get those new greenhouses assembled while their modern tractors still worked.  The orange, lemon, lime, cacao and coffee trees would need the protection.  They had an old 1940¡¯s model tractor that the boss had bought from a collector down the road but it was a pain in the ass to operate and the attachments weren¡¯t nearly as good.


    Glen Stewart, Ronald Lewis and Andrew Thomas were working frantically to get functioning alternatives for everything that they thought would fail when the countdown clock hit three hundred hours.  The men had already rewired the compounds freezers and refrigerators so they weren¡¯t using their fancy electronics anymore.  Now they just had simple mechanical thermostats and relays to turn the power on and off.


    The men were all afraid that they would lose outside electricity when the clock hit three hundred hours since the electric grid was computer controlled.  But the Boss had paid a fortune to acquire an ancient huge WWII era generator and with luck their little community would have electricity until the very end.  They were already connecting one of the Boss¡¯s small steam engines to parts taken from another generator which would hopefully work all the way to the six hundred hour expiration limit.  It was lucky that Mister Standish was kind of old fashioned and because of that, all of his machine tools were all 1950¡¯s and early 1960¡¯s stuff so they should keep on working until the very end.   By that time they should be ready to run them off of steam power or compressed air.


    We had gone to the women¡¯s prison today and I was bringing home two new additions.  The first was Grace Lee a retired Navy petty officer and helicopter mechanic.  She was a green screen and we had bent the rules with her but it was actually the Judge that did it.  Her husband had ripped her off, given her a nasty but curable STD and thought that he could hit her.  Grace didn¡¯t take kindly to that and according to the prosecutor and her judge; Grace had gone beyond what was necessary in defending herself.  I think her husband had gotten less than he deserved.  Grace had been in prison for almost a year.  She had sold everything rather than risk it being stolen while she was in the joint.  So she had no place to go home to and with the way the banks were messed up, she probably had no way to get her money out either, though I expected money to be worthless or almost worthless very shortly.  She was a trained mechanic and knew some martial arts, so I made her an offer.  I was hoping her knowledge of jet turbines might help us with our steam engines.


    The other woman was Isabella Gomez and she was plant crazy and not plain crazy.  She was basically a self taught botanist, who loved and knew everything about plants.  She should never have been in prison in the first place and was only in there because of an abuse of power.   There was a difference of opinion between her and the city in which she lived.  They said she couldn¡¯t have a vegetable garden on the side of her house, which sat on a corner lot.  It was in a fenced in area too.  She fought them and told them to go to hell; sadly she didn¡¯t have any living family or local friends to help her with the situation.  The city got fed up with her defiance and sent out a city crew to remove her garden.  Words were exchanged, admittedly nasty words but that was no reason for the boss of the crew to punch her.  Now they had a problem.  The crew put some bruises on their boss and even cut him using an old knife that Isabella used for weeding her garden.  She was sent away for assault with a deadly weapon.  Her home was sold and her ¡°victim¡± got half of the money.  I was furious when I heard her story.  Isabella though was overjoyed about being my new botanist.  I just couldn¡¯t figure out why she was a green screen while I was an orange.


    ¡°Vincent?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Judge Harper¡±


    ¡°What are we going to do now, with no phones and no computers?  Do we go back to the prisons tomorrow?  And call me Faith, please.¡±


    ¡°Well Grace Please, that is up to you.  I can¡¯t do anything on my own.  The prisons might still be as functional tomorrow as they were when we left today or they could be out of control madhouses.  We could drive by them tomorrow and see if they look safe, if they do then we can go in and if not we drive away.¡±


    She groaned and punched my shoulder because of the Grace Please.  ¡°That sounds reasonable, but can we go to the women¡¯s prison again?  Women are normally less violent than men, so we should be safer there.¡±


    ¡°We will do, what you want us to do.  You are the boss; I am the mere lie detecting flunky.¡±


    ¡°Vincent, could I see your home tonight?  You¡¯ve been moving so many people there, that I¡¯ve gotten curious.¡±


    ¡°No problem, it¡¯s on the way to your house.


    We pulled down my road and my three passengers got silent when they saw my fenced in compounds and Faith had a question.  ¡°Vincent, why do you have all this tall fencing, you¡¯re not starting some kind of cult are you?¡±


    ¡°Actually I wanted to be a hermit so the original fence was to keep me safe and visitors out.  When the first warning came I had a gut reaction to it.  In all the stories I¡¯ve read, when you get a warning like that you soon get angry mobs and monsters.  So having more than enough money; I called the company that installed my first fence.  I ordered another large area fenced in; originally I was thinking to use it for my daughters¡¯ families.  But it turns out in this situation that nobody else was having their property fenced in or maybe they wanted walls instead of fencing.  So the fencing company had nothing to keep them busy or any income to pay themselves or their employees.  Again I had money, in fact I had cash.  Though to my surprise I¡¯ve been able to use my debit card for a lot of things, I pay with it and they in turn use the electronic money to pay other businesses.   I¡¯ve kept the fencing company busy, putting up fences and doing other side projects for me.¡±


    Steve showed Grace and Isabella to their new homes.  I showed the Judge around.  It was nice to see that all of the greenhouse kits had been assembled.   They weren¡¯t huge but I had a lot of them, which I thought might be better but I could be wrong.   I had three sizes: eight by twenty-four, eight by twenty and sixteen by twenty.   I thought that the eight food wide models with their clear panels were prettier than the white sixteen by twenty greenhouses but I had no idea which model was the best.  I or Jennifer simply bought what we could get.  I hoped Isabella would approve.


    Faith seemed to be impressed with my tiny kingdom.  She was quiet as I drove her home.  She almost froze in her seat when she saw the empty roads and the stalled modern cars.  When she finally realized that there were only a few electric lights shining I think she got really scared.  It seemed like the twilight of mankind.


    ¡°Vincent, an old boyfriend of mine got me into camping.  We bought a trailer but then we broke up.  I kept the trailer.  Could I move out to your compound?  Do you think this car could pull my trailer?¡±


    ¡°How big is your trailer?¡±


    ¡°Eighteen feet¡±


    ¡°Maybe if we drive slowly, I do have a hitch on this car.  The car came with it when I bought it.  I don¡¯t know about the electrical connections or whether your trailer brakes will work but if we go slowly enough, we should be able to make it.  Do you want to go tonight or in the morning?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid but I¡¯ve got a lot of packing to do, so please pick me up in the morning.¡±


    ¡°Fine, but I¡¯ll be by early in case you need any help, say about five thirty.  You don¡¯t have to be ready then, that¡¯s just the time I will arrive.¡±


    I pulled into her drive an escorted her to the door.  My body armor and combat helmet seemed to make an impression on the watching neighbors.  I¡¯ll bring a spare set for her when I come back tomorrow.  I drove home to interview my new guests.

 Chapter 3: The Lights Go Out

    To say I was shocked to see my ex-wife was an understatement, I would leave her interview for last.  It surprised me but my son-in-law James Lopez who was married to Linda and an attorney had an orange screen.  I hadn¡¯t seen too many lawyers with that status.  Jacob Schwartz who was married to my daughter Sandra had a green screen which was no surprise.  He¡¯s the manager for new car sales for the dealership he works at or worked at but he used to be a used car salesman.  My grandbabies were adorable and had orange screens.  I questioned them rigorously while bouncing them on my lap.  Their giggles were very profound.


    My daughters had disappointed me greatly.  I found out that they had aided their mother in keeping me in the dark.  They had also gotten some of the money my wife had stolen.  I had puzzled over how they could afford those overseas trips.  But they were my daughters and their children were innocent.  I would have my people keep an eye on them and I might speak to their husbands.


    Talking with Nancy was an unpleasant chore.  I wish Faith was here.  Jennifer sat with me to help me keep calm.  In the end the three of us drew up an oath for Nancy to say in front of all the adults living here.  It might help keep her honest.


    Nancy Conner read the oath that she and her ex-husband had drawn up after her interview with him.  Every adult was in attendance.


    ¡°I Nancy Connor do freely make this oath to the Professional Hermit Vincent Standish.  I admit that I stole from him, gave him bad council, besmirched his reputation, broke my wedding vows, and led his daughters astray.  I will never again do anything directly or indirectly to harm Vincent Standish, his possessions, his reputation, his employees, his servants, his friends or his family.  If I do, I understand that I will be at the very least immediately exiled from his lands.  While here, I will be assigned duties and I will do them to the best of my ability.  Furthermore, unless rescinded by Mister Standish, I will do my best to stay out his sight and I will take all reasonable actions to do so.


    I do so swear this oath to the Professional Hermit Vincent Standish, my daughters; the others gathered here, our Heavenly Father, and the Ding-Ding system.¡±


    DING


    Nancy Connor has sworn a powerful oath.  In view of the great amount of money that she stole from Vincent Standish, and the debts she left with him, Nancy Connor¡¯s class has been changed to Convict Laborer.  That will also be her third title and will remain so long as she is a Convict Laborer.  The owner of her contract is her ex-husband, the Professional Hermit Vincent Standish.  Convict Laborer is a class beneath Indentured Servant and above Slave.  Do with her what you will Mister Standish.  The cost to construct a one level dungeon beneath your personal residence will be thirty ounces of gold.  Do you wish to have it constructed now?


    All those present saw that message screen.  Nancy and her daughters paled.


    Vincent said.  ¡°Crap!  No, I don¡¯t want a dungeon.  Nancy, just live up to the oath you took and you¡¯ll be okay.  I doubt I can change your status right now, or change it so soon without incurring a penalty against myself, so I won¡¯t even try.  But I do imagine that eventually your status will change, so don¡¯t screw up.  To you others in attendance, historically it is traditional in these situations for the owner of such a contract, which is me in this case, to incur some penalties if their convict laborer messes up; please don¡¯t let Nancy screw up.  I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on but my status might be the only thing that protects us in our new world.¡±


    There were eight former prisoners living there now.  They knew all about living with the worst sorts of people.  Nancy Conner would find herself almost constantly watched whenever she left the residence assigned to her daughter.  A lot of the former prisoners had their own children here and they weren¡¯t going to trust her one bit.


    I did have one bit of very good news I had ordered some large steam engines, two 100 hp and two 330 hp engines.  While I had paid a lot of money for them I had no expectations that they would be delivered.  Glen told me that at roughly noon today a steamed powered truck had arrived with my order.  Evidently while the delivery men were here he had relentlessly pestered the team of three with questions about their truck.  They were currently using fuel oil to heat the steam to power the vehicle.  The manufacturer of the steam engines was refitting conventional trucks (long nose trucks) so they could keep on making deliveries, test their products and advertise them, all at the same time.


    I got up early the next morning.  I had all kinds of fenced in lands but only twelve modular homes and ten of them were now assigned.  Maybe I should get some more?  I drove down to the modular homes sales lot.   There were still a fair number of units left.   I put a hand written letter through the mail slot on the office door.  I missed computers and printers already, fuck cell phones.


    Up until yesterday I had been contemplating that all of this was some great cosmic joke by aliens and nothing would really happen when the first deadline was reached.  I¡¯ve spent tens of millions of dollars buying shit to get ready for this and it all might not be needed or the things I bought might not work.  But if everything does come to pass like the warnings say, I pretty much think what I have left in the bank will be valueless.  But if this is some cosmic joke, I¡¯ll still have enough for a comfortable retirement.


    I left the sales lot and drove to Faith¡¯s home.  She seemed really glad to see me and even happier with the armored vest I handed her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you heard the gunshots last night since you live so far out but it was terrifying.  It sounded like a war zone.  I don¡¯t know if it was humans fighting humans or monsters, because there were a lot of roaring noises too.  But thank you so much for letting me, live at your enclave Vince.¡±


    ¡°No problem, what do we need to do?¡±


    ¡°I have everything boxed up that I wanted to take with me.  We just need to load it into my trailer.  I didn¡¯t want to go outside last night it felt too exposed.¡±


    It took us a little longer than an hour to load everything up; I told her if she had forgotten anything then we could always come back.  She was happy with that offer.


    I took it slow going home, she literally rode shotgun with a shotgun!  The fastest I got going was twenty miles per hour and only when I had a long open stretch of road.  When slowing down I was even more careful.


    To my surprise Bill the owner of the modular home lot was at my gate when I arrived.  He was in an old classic Corvette; there was a young woman in the passenger seat.  Jennifer and Steve were talking to him, both were armed.


    ¡°Hey Bill what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I got your letter.  How would you like to buy all of my remaining stock?¡±


    ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want any checks.  I¡¯m not asking for much.  I want a working car, a couple of guns, extra gasoline, some cash and some gold if you got it.¡±


    ¡°That is one heck of a whole lot Bill.  In fact it is too much.  A couple of guns I can do but they will only work for less than one hundred hours according to the warnings.  I can give you extra gasoline.  Gold is out of the question.  Cash is no problem.  I might be able to do a car.  Jennifer, do you know if Glen was able to make that deal we had been talking about?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he bought those things you both wanted.¡±


    ¡°Okay Steve, go find Glen and find out if in his opinion we can spare the 64 Beetle.¡±


    ¡°Okay Boss.¡±  Steve took off jogging through the open gate.


    Bill started to complain.  ¡°You¡¯re offering me a Bug in exchange for over eight hundred grand in modular homes!  You¡¯re crazy!  What about the car you just drove up in?¡±


    ¡°The Beetle is newer and probably more reliable than the Belvedere.  But I like the Chrysler and I¡¯m only willing to possibly trade the Beetle, depending on what Glen says.  You don¡¯t have to take the Bug.  There should be other cars out there you can buy or trade for.¡±


    ¡°But no one else is interested in my modular homes, especially now that I can¡¯t deliver them or set them up.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s another thing if we make this deal it¡¯s for their transport trailers too.  I¡¯ll need them to get the homes over here.  And I want the older mobile homes you got on your back lot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I already figured as much concerning the trailers and you can have those old single wide homes too.  What kind of guns do you have?¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°A couple of AK47s¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that but I can give you two SKS rifles, they¡¯re kind of like a semi-automatic version of the AK and they fire the same ammunition too.  I can also give you a case of ammo.  But you don¡¯t seem too familiar with firearms.  If I trade with you, you got to spend a few hours here learning how to shoot them.  I don¡¯t want you shooting someone by accident.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good and I¡¯d appreciate the lessons for me and my daughter.  I said I wouldn¡¯t accept any checks but how about a check for fifty thousand dollars.  It will be my responsibility to cash it.¡±


    ¡°I can do that but I¡¯ll write on the check that it is not an IOU and you can only use it to get money from my bank.  If you can¡¯t get the money out of my bank don¡¯t be coming back to me with it or sending someone else with it.¡±


    ¡°No problem.  The guns, ammunition, the car, full tanks for both of my cars, ten extra gallons of gas, the check and five thousand in cash?¡±


    Steve came running, back to us.  ¡°Sorry it took so long.  Glen says it¡¯s okay to sell the Beetle.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Steve.¡±


    ¡°Okay Bill, I¡¯ll accept your offer.¡±


    Faith had whipped out a notebook.  ¡°That check can possibly get you into trouble later.  I¡¯m writing up a contract for you both to sign.  That way you¡¯ll be protected Vince.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Faith.¡±


    I informed Steve about our deal and to give Bill and his daughter some lessons with the SKS rifles.  There was a big hill in back that they could use as a backstop.  Bill and I quickly signed both copies of the contract.  Jennifer had left briefly and was now back, with my checkbook.  We completed the transaction.  Jennifer took over driving my car to park Faith¡¯s trailer, she looked excited to do it.  I needed to speak with my mechanics.


    I went to the pole barn, now called the shop.


    ¡°Hello gentlemen and Grace.  I just bought the rest of the houses at the modular home place.  The problem is moving them here.  If you recall I traded for my old tractor with a gentleman just down the road.   He has a lot of old tractors left.  Some of them look pretty big and powerful.  Could we offer this trade to him, if he¡¯ll tow those modular homes here, we¡¯ll convert one of his smaller tractors to steam once we start making our own steam engines?¡±


    The guys and gal exchanged looks and nods.  Glen spoke, ¡°yeah boss we can do that but tell him that it might take as long as three months to do the conversion just to stay on the safe side.  Personally with Grace¡¯s help I think we can do it in a month.¡±


    I walked out and there was Mack pulling in with some old battered trucks.


    ¡°Hi Mack, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°You got any work for us?  Do you need some more fencing to go up?¡±


    ¡°I got work for you; I just bought out all the remaining modular homes at the State Street lot.  You helped with all the ones already here so you should know what to do.  But what do you want in compensation?¡±


    ¡°My guys and I want in with our families.  Things are turning ugly out there and this place seems safe or safer than any other place we could hook up at.¡±


    I had been almost expecting that, I had already read the status of every man with him so I knew that they were safe.  ¡°Okay but I interview their families too, to make sure there are no bad apples.  If there are any bad ones I might not accept them.  I know all of you guys are decent human beings so I have no fears there.¡±


    We shook hands on the deal and then I told them about the tractor guy, who he already knew, and the offer we were willing to make.  I would let Mack handle the rest.  Jennifer was back with my car.  Faith and I needed to go to prison.  We got there and we found a stream of women leaving the facility.  The warden had gotten permission to release everyone with a green screen.  That was so she could better keep under guard the blue screen inmates.  We were told that the same thing might happen at the men¡¯s prison but no final decision had been reached yet.  They were afraid of releasing all of those men without a way to transport them nearer to their former homes.  They weren¡¯t really evil men but they could become desperate and the local people nearby could become victims of their desperation.  The warden here had wisely provided the newly released women with food packets and had also let them take all of their old bedding and other things too.


    I had fifty grand in hundreds.  I was dumb and I know it.  But I started handing out hundred dollar bills to the now free women.  I hoped it would help.  I even drove down the road and caught up to some of them that had left before I began giving out cash.  I didn¡¯t want to look at Faith and see her condescending expression looking back at me.  By the time I was done I had a little over twenty grand left and six additional passengers in my car.  They were all in the back seat and three of them were sitting on laps.  The passengers were not my fault.  Faith had picked them, had me question them and then she had asked my permission to make them an offer.  Three of the women were really old and three were really young.


    What with passing out money and interviewing the women the day was mostly shot and we headed back to home.  I turned the six women over to Jennifer, she and Steve could tell them where to stay for now.  I then found Mack who was looking very despondent.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Mack?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t get the concrete we need to pour any more pads.  I¡¯ve got my guys scrounging up bags of concrete and we have an old cement mixer but that will give us at best one pad for one single wide home.¡±


    I had been worried about this problem and I had hoped that Mack could solve it for me, but I guess not.  There was a small pile of gravel by my feet.  It was time to see what this Earth magic was all about.  I bent down closed my eyes while concentrating on the stones.  When I thought I held the right mental image I willed the stones to form together into one flat piece.  I heard Mack mutter, ¡°Holy shit.¡±


    I opened my eyes and looked down.  There was a flat stone laying there before me.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Earth Magic is supposed to be one of the perks of being a hermit and landowner.  What happened, I had my eyes closed and didn¡¯t see?¡±


    ¡°The stones melted and flowed together like syrup.¡±


    ¡°Can we get stones?¡±


    ¡°Hell yeah, especially if we load them ourselves the gravel pit is only two miles from here.  We can get couple of Clyde¡¯s tractors and hook up our trailers to them.  The tractor tows the trailer down there and we use the tractor¡¯s front bucket to load the trailer.¡±


    ¡°Will Clyde give us that much help?¡±


    ¡°He wants to move here with his wife.  He thinks it¡¯ll be safer for them.  Since he¡¯s an orange screen I figured you wouldn¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to have him here.¡±  I knew Clyde besides being a tractor nut, was an ex-tanker from the Vietnam War.  He could come in really handy here.  ¡°Alright Mack, you get the stones and put them where we need them.  No need to level them out I¡¯ll take care of that, but when I¡¯m doing my trick I might need a few guys standing by and ready to toss some more stones or gravel in.¡±


    ¡°Are big stones okay?¡±


    ¡°Not too big, I¡¯m just a beginner, figure head size or less.¡±


    ¡°Got it; Vince.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m heading to the shop.¡±


    I spent the day there working on getting some of the old lathes and other tools I recently purchased running on steam power.  We were converting our air compressors to run off of steam engines; with them we could run all of our air tools.  We might even start plumbing our homes with air lines.  That way we could run some appliances converted over to air power; like refrigerators, freezers, water pumps and fans.


    I tried to start one of my toys which I had just recently bought.  It had been working just the other day but today it was kaput.  I had expected as much and if I hadn¡¯t gotten it so cheap I would have never have bought it.  If we have time this might be one of the first vehicles we convert over to steam power but we¡¯ll only put a 100hp engine in it, which is far less than the engine that formerly powered it but I don¡¯t want to waste a 330hp monster in this thing.   My other green toys all started fine, they better have they certainly cost enough.


    It took three hours before Mack had some gravel pads for me to fuse together.  On a whim I walked on the gravel barefoot and channeled my power that way, it worked.  I was tired by the time I was halfway through the first pad and I was completely whipped by the time I was done with it.  I had to rest and eat for an hour before I could start on the second pad.


    DING


    Earth Magic now at level: 2


    Stone Fusing skill at level: 2   Now requires less energy and you can do a greater area.


    Suddenly finishing the second pad became much easier.  I rested for another hour but it was starting to get dark.  Despite that I was able to finish two more pads and I got my fusing skill up to level three.  I would do more in the morning.  Hopefully I will be able to do four more pads which should be plenty for Mack to get a start at moving homes.


    I rested at home listening to an old tube radio.  Jennifer was there with her children.  She was taking notes of important government announcements.   Other areas had encountered real monsters at this point and what only can be called small raiding groups of nonhuman intelligent beings.  We had an armed watch now and interior patrols.  Every green and orange screen adult living here but me was required to donate two hours to such duties.  All watches and patrols were comprised of two people.


    I was currently reading books about heat energy, physics and thermodynamics.  Supposedly I had pluses for learning magic.  I was hoping that we could forgo using fuel to heat our steam and use magic instead.  I had a candle which I kept on trying to light with my mind, so far no luck.  Presently, I had a children¡¯s energy book in front of me for laughs. It even had some little experiments that should only be done with adult supervision.


    Stolen story; please report.


    DING


    Fire Magic Level: 1


    I spent the rest of the evening, before going to bed, lighting things on fire and heating up tea kettles full of water.  I eventually got three kettles whistling at the same time and I brought my Fire Magic skill up to level two.  I think I could have done more kettles if I had them.


    I did two double wide pads and two single wide pads in the morning.  That was all Mack had ready for me.  I brought stone fusing level up to four but my Earth Magic stayed at two.  I bet I have to learn some other spells before I get that to go up.


    Faith really didn¡¯t want to go to the men¡¯s prison with me but she sucked it up and we went.  It was a good thing we did go, we learned some things.  As we drove up we saw a stream of old yellow school buses wheezing their way out of the parking lot there.  The buses were loaded with men.  We were escorted in to see Warden Gordon as soon as we got there.


    ¡°Judge Harper, Mister Standish I¡¯m glad that you came.  By order of the Governor and the President all green screen prisoners are being released and transported as close to their former homes as is possible.  Old military fortifications in this country are being reactivated and since prisons are close to be forts themselves we are being repurposed.  We will still keep prisoners here but only the most dangerous.  All guards are moving in with their families.  The local state police post, the Sheriff¡¯s department and two companies of our National Guard are doing the same thing.  The local hospital is moving here as well.  By releasing the orange and green prisoners our prison is now only at fifty five percent occupancy.  We¡¯ve drawn up a list of blue prisoners that we¡¯d like you to question.  If they are truly remorseful and you think they have mended their ways you are authorized by the government to release them.   We want as many of them out of here as we can get.  We understand that mistakes will be made; but these prisoners you will be questioning are in my opinion the best of what remains.  Most of them have not been convicted of deliberate violent acts.¡±


    ¡°How has the government been coordinating all of this?¡±


    He laughed.  ¡°Old fashioned phones with switch board operators and old fashioned ham radios.  The phones only connect to a few places in each state but it¡¯s enough.¡±


    We spent ten hours there and we saw a new prisoner at least every ten minutes.  I lost count of the total but at the end of the day we had approved four hundred and six for release, this was one big prison.  Surprisingly I brought back one of them.  He was a man convicted of multiple vehicular homicides, he was almost done with his sentence, he was truly remorseful and he was an old machinist which was something we needed.  I already had too much work to do.  He¡¯s an alcoholic; which is something we¡¯ll have to watch out for but his skills should come in handy.


    It looked like Faith and I were out of a job.  She breathed a sigh of relief when we got home.  I introduced the shop crew to Scott Blaine our new machinist.  He appeared to be a very humble and quiet man.


    Mack had succeeded in moving two doublewide homes.  People that already had homes were opening up their houses so that¡¯s Mack¡¯s crew and our other new people could safely stay in our compound.  I didn¡¯t think it was quite so bad yet but everyone else was very nervous.


    The next day I got up and called a meeting at the machine shop.  Besides the regular shop crew, Steve, Clyde, Mack, Jennifer and my son-in-laws were in attendance.


    ¡°I¡¯m teaching myself magic.  You all might try doing the same thing.  My starting point has been meditation and my knowledge of science.  My profession as a hermit gives me an edge in learning.  You all know about my small Earth magic ability and how I¡¯m helping to make pads for the new houses.  Two nights ago I had a small success with learning a little Fire Magic.  Once I learn more about magic I will attempt to teach others but if I tried right now; it would be like the blind leading the blind.


    I am very keen on learning fire magic.  With it we can heat provide steam to our engines without using fuel.  We can also heat our homes and water the same way.


    I also have an idea in case our cartridge primers stop working and the few alternatives I¡¯ve researched fail to work as well.  Imagine a brass cartridge with holes in the side blocked with paper, that¡¯s so the gunpowder doesn¡¯t fall out.  Now on the outside of the barrel is a touchhole, through which a fire mage could direct a small bit of flame down and ignite the black powder through one of those cartridge holes I mentioned before.  Using that admittedly cumbersome method we could have manual action repeating firearms.  My second idea is my preferred means for getting repeating firearms back in our hands, in short a magical firing pin.  Instead of a primer at the back of a brass cartridge there is simply a piece of paper to contain and protect the powder.  The firing pin will be hot enough to ignite the paper and powder.  I got some ideas on how to approach making one and I¡¯ll be working on it.  But I wanted to keep you all informed about what I was doing and you might want to experiment yourselves as you get time.¡±


    I was forced to demonstrate my new ability by boiling some water.  Hey, look at me I¡¯m a magical hot pot.  Let¡¯s make some ramen!


    Clyde wanted to talk to me about my green toys.


    ¡°Vince, where the hell did you get tanks?¡±


    ¡°Once I started thinking about black powder, I then thought about cannons because monsters are supposed to be large and I have no confidence in us learning any powerful magical spells at this time.  Then I thought about steam engines and protecting the guys shooting the cannons.  I didn¡¯t want to reinvent the wheel so I did a search on the internet for what was within five hundred miles of here and was old enough to keep working when advanced electronics stopped working.  The British Scorpion is obviously too modern and sadly it even has an advanced replacement engine of some type but I got it cheap and hopefully we can modify it. The other three vehicles all run right now but of course their cannons were made deliberately inoperable or their previous owners could never have legally owned them.


    The Sherman tank you saw is the Canadian Grizzly variant and there¡¯s a Hellcat Tank Destroyer which I¡¯ve always thought was pretty cool.  But I think my best find is the M7-B1 Priest 105 Howitzer Motor Gun Carriage.  Except for the cannon barrel being plugged and only able to fire gas now, the rest of the cannon is in pristine shape, which will give us a fine example if we attempt to build our own breechloader.  The owner even sent along the old breechblock.  With all the quality metals I¡¯ve stockpiled we can easily build our own muzzle loading cannons but breechloaders I think are fundamentally safer since it keeps our gun crews behind the cannon and doesn¡¯t unnecessarily expose them to any monsters or any other potential enemies.¡±


    ¡°Vince, I think you¡¯re nuts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you think so, Clyde.  Besides making rifles, once we know everything the warnings say are real, we will begin working on cannons with twenty-five, fifty, and seventy-five millimeter bores.  We might build larger mortars but they¡¯ll be simple muzzleloaders with loose powder charges, they won¡¯t use shells.  We don¡¯t have the time to be making mortar shells; we¡¯ve got too much other stuff we need to do.¡±


    ¡°Vince, you¡¯ve gone around the bend.¡±


    DING


    Plus two hundred points for being called, in a roundabout fashion, a crazy hermit.


    ¡°I honestly hope we need none of this and the world goes back to normal and I can go back to living alone.  But I want everybody here to be safe, especially my grandchildren.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a look at that Scorpion and see if I can¡¯t get it working or come up with a plan for putting one of your steam engines in it.  What size are you planning to put in it?¡±


    ¡°It will be underpowered but a 100hp model is what we have for it.  I want to save the big engines for the Sherman and the Priest.  We might put another 100HP in the Hellcat.  We paid for a set of plans for that size steam engine and we sort of have a licensing agreement in place.  I¡¯m confident we can build engines up to forty horsepower and I think we can eventually build 100hp engines within a reasonable time frame.  I don¡¯t know about the 330hp monsters.¡±


    He grunted in response and started poking around the Scorpion.


    I spent the day working on my magic.   I concentrated on three areas, earth, fire and healing.  I would exhaust myself for an hour, rest for an hour and repeat.  I put a cut on my bicep that I would repeatedly try to heal.  I was taking a break walking around through our various interconnected fenced in areas.  It was late at night but because of my true sight I seemed to have night vision.  I was carrying a nine millimeter carbine and my pistol.  I had lent out my more powerful rifles semi-automatic rifles to our patrols and watch.  I was in the section that was our most northern fenced in area, when I heard the sounds of the fence clashing together like someone was attempting to climb it and a small number of people casually talking.  I jogged over to see what was going and I was shocked and frightened to see monsters attempting to climb the fence and four of my people standing around and doing nothing, they were just calmly watching the jiggling fence and the climbing monsters.  The monsters were dark gray and black, bipedal, heads like male lions including the manes, long claws on their hands but luckily they had fat feet that couldn¡¯t easily grip the tight weave of the chain link fence.   We were additionally fortunate that the monsters weren¡¯t apparently strong enough to tear open the heavy gauge steel wire fencing that I had specified to be used.  The beasts were obviously predators and they had no business on my land!


    I first shot the monster that was almost over the barbwire at the top of fence. My people started yelling at me.


    ¡°What the hell are you doing Boss?¡±


    ¡°Killing monsters you idiots and saving your lives!¡±


    ¡°But there are no monsters here.¡±


    I kept firing and I emptied my carbine.  I ripped an SKS from Andrew¡¯s hands and I discovered that the SKS did a far better job.


    ¡°Boss, there are no monsters.¡±


    ¡°Give me another fucking magazine or pack up and leave.¡±


    They started handing me magazines and rifles, while muttering that I had gone nuts.


    I had to keep running around this small fenced in section and killing the monsters at other places that they were trying to climb over.  Why the fuck couldn¡¯t anyone else see them?  Was I nuts?  I kept shooting.  More people came running up.  Steve, Faith, and Mack closed on me.


    ¡°Vince what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Invisible monsters I guess.  I have the skill true sight and I think that lets me see them.¡±


    I still think they didn¡¯t believe me but they left me alone so I could blast away.  I didn¡¯t dare let one of those things over the fence.  It could kill everyone here.  This must have gone on for over forty minutes until I finally killed the last one.  As soon as that happened people started yelling, screaming and shooting at the dead monsters stuck on the fence.


    There had been a lot ding dings while I was shooting but I had ignored them now I would take a look at them.


    I used appraisal on one of the corpses.


    Night-Stalker Cat Hybrid


    Nocturnal Hunter


    Unique ability to cloud minds so it and its pride are ignored.


    I told the few people around me what I had just read but many of them had appraisal too and had already seen the new information.


    I had earned combat shooting level three and I went up to Professional Hermit Level five because I had killed so many interlopers.  My true sight skill went up a couple of levels too and with all my experience at the prisons it was now at level six.


    People were upset and to keep them from panicking I promised that I would stay awake all night and actively patrol our large compound, I ended up riding a bicycle which let me cover ground far faster and comforted those others still patrolling.  People kept me well filled with coffee and tea so long as I stayed on the job.  The next morning I had two of the corpses loaded onto a small trailer.  We needed to warn other people about these beasts.  Figuring the women¡¯s prison would have a phone I drove there since it was only an hour away and an hour closer than the men¡¯s prison.


    The Warden there was not happy to hear our story and she did have a phone.  Since Faith and I were there, she asked if we would mind talking to a few carefully selected blue screen women.  We spent six hours there and I was tired.  We took one of them home with us.  Gloria Bennett had been a nurse practitioner with a gambling and drug problem.  To pay for both she started writing prescriptions she shouldn¡¯t have and dealing drugs.   She was remorseful and had been in therapy but we would have to keep an eye on her.  Faith drove home, I slept.  I got another three hours of sleep when I got home that is until Jennifer timidly woke me up.  Everyone was too scared not to have me on night patrol.


    I¡¯m supposed to be able to teach people stuff, how the hell I am going to teach true sight so I can get some sleep?  I had an idea and it was cruel, perfect for a grumpy hermit.  That night was peaceful.  Jennifer had been listening to my old radio and she informed me that our monster warning was being broadcasted.  The next morning, I slept for six hours and then I gathered all the oranges together and Faith.


    ¡°You are the most unlucky people here.  You are my guinea pigs.  I¡¯ve been informed by the Ding-Ding system that I have certain pluses in teaching people the things I think I know.  It also informed me that the meaner I am when teaching the more likely you are to learn.  You are all fucked.  I got a lot of mean in me because I¡¯m short on sleep and I¡¯m fucking living with a million people when I wanted to be alone.


    I figured out this much, true sight which is what I used to see those monsters, is related to both lie detection and night vision or rather it encompasses them both.  My thought is to torture you four until you have both skills and work from there.  Mack and Faith, you already have lie detection.  So I¡¯m going to lock you in my basement with about twenty big garden snakes I have here in this bucket.¡±  Surprising me, it was Mack who looked more frightened than Faith but she didn¡¯t look too happy either.  ¡°I¡¯ll go down there from time to time to heckle you and toss a snake on your lap.  Hopefully in only a few days you¡¯ll get night vision.  Clyde and Jim we¡¯re going to play truth or get smacked.  Jim I feel like I especially owe you for the way you treated me after I paid for your wedding and I recently found out that your wife knowingly got some of the money my ex-wife stole from me.  I still can¡¯t figure out how you¡¯re an orange screen after all that?  Clyde do you remember how you called me nuts yesterday.   I decided I didn¡¯t like that so now you¡¯re both screwed.  Once you can accurately tell when I¡¯m lying, one hundred percent of the time, I¡¯ll lock you down in the basement too.¡±


    I was a mean grumpy bastard until it got dark, I could get to enjoy this.  James picked up lie detection in only two hours, I guess being a lawyer helped.  Why I had them I forgot but I had five rubber snakes in some of my old boxes.  I would go downstairs and sometimes I would throw a piece of rope and sometimes a rubber snake at my victims, I mean students.  The real snakes I would place on their shoulders while holding the snakeheads so that they couldn¡¯t bite.  I picked up a new skill, ninja sneak level one.  Mack screams like a little girl and Faith just whimpers.


    It took Clyde all day to learn to detect my lies; boy was he pissed at the end.  I was angry too; I had to patrol all night long again.  Nothing attacked us but I did see things that no one else did, what had me worried was that some of the things I saw were flying.  Now we fucking need anti-aircraft guns, fucking wonderful.  I told the shop that we needed upward pointing searchlights and I went to bed.  Fucking bunch of freeloaders is what everybody else here is and the blasted Ding-Ding System says I have no charisma.


    DING


    ¡°Oh shut up!¡±


    Our modern guns stopped working and none of our alternative primer substances did a thing.   Black powder muzzleloaders were issued and so were the crossbows.  We didn¡¯t have many rifles so people would have to share them.  Mack got true sight and he doesn¡¯t like me anymore.  I found a doll in an old box and gave it to him along with a rubber snake.  We¡¯re making fifty caliber Hawken style rifles with bayonet lugs.  We got some bayonets and we¡¯ll make more but they¡¯ll probably be longer than the modern kind.  The shop guys had already made a lot of the parts for the rifles so all we really needed to do was assemble them.  We produced four rifles, one muzzle loading 25 mm cannon and one muzzle loading 50mm cannon the first day which I didn¡¯t think was bad.     The fifty was mounted to the side of the Priest and could be swung on a pivot for reloading.  The shop crew was our only gun crew at this point.   Clyde was the driver for the Priest.  The 25 millimeter was on a little cart that could be towed behind just about anything.


    I split the night with Mack and he didn¡¯t like the things he saw at all.   Sleep blissful sleep, I love my bed.


    Clyde was a slow learner when it came to lies but he learned fast in the basement and got the true sight skill almost at the same time as Faith did.  Or it could have been that I was just extra good at being nasty that day.


    Now there were four of us for watches and I told them that they could improve their true sight by having people lie to them.  Once Jim graduates I will torture another four.  For now I¡¯m working on my magical abilities when not abusing Jim.


    Something came down from the sky and nearly made away with Ron.  Ron thinks he shoved his bayonet up its ass but he got some claw or talon punctures on his shoulders from it in return.  Gloria cleaned him up and gave him some antibiotics that I might have gotten slightly illegally.  I tried my healing ability on him and it might have actually done something.


    The shop is going to start making armor and helmets.  We¡¯ve got a ton of shit to make.  I can now enchant a fire pin for a rifle but the magic only lasts for a several minutes.  I just have to make it last longer.  From time to time I get ding dings but unless their warnings I generally ignore them because the information they give me is like ¡°hey, now you can blank or now you can do blank better.¡±  That is shit I already know because I¡¯m told after I use a new skill or an old skill improves.  I don¡¯t need to be distracted and those orange numbers don¡¯t make much sense to me in the first place.


    By busting our butts we got the Scorpion and two tractors converted over to steam before we hit five hundred hours.  It really helped that steam engines are direct drive, though the steering on the Scorpion needs to be improved.  The two small tractors seem to have much more power than they did before and the Scorpion doesn¡¯t seem to be underpowered at all.  Jim now has true sight and wants to kill me, fuck him.  I¡¯m thinking about two of Mack¡¯s crew and two of our reformed green screen ladies as my next victims.  I¡¯m amazed my screen is still orange.


    We started making 20mm cannons instead of the twenty-fives; the reason being Clyde knew where could get a whole shitload of 20mm brass.  The cannons are basically large bolt actions rifles which are fired from fixed mounting locations.  We¡¯re using a variation of my first idea with holes in the brass blocked with paper and a touch hole with a flint lock mechanism from our Hawken rifle production line.  The first functional 20mm is going into the Scorpion¡¯s turret.  The turret doesn¡¯t rotate yet, but by putting the small cannon in the hole where the old cannon and cover plate were permits the gunner to do a lot of aiming without the need to rotate the turret.  The 20mm rifles or cannons have two round magazines, so the rate of fire isn¡¯t too bad.  We built the first one in a day and it only cost us three of my old muzzle loaders, and one of them a pistol, for all that 20mm brass we picked up.  Our short term standard rifle is going to be our Hawken variant and we¡¯re not trading those.


    Mack has all the modular homes moved including the old stuff.  We have enough new houses for single people to have their own homes but right now they don¡¯t want them, they¡¯re too scared to live alone.  I graduated my third class of people with true sight but three of them failed.  They got lie detection and night vision but it didn¡¯t evolve into true sight, maybe I wasn¡¯t nasty enough.   There are some other people that I want to try and teach but they¡¯re too busy and really so am I.


    Work was proceeding on the Sherman tank and the Priest to get them converted to steam power.  We planned on equipping the Priest with multiple 20mm guns with alternate mounting points for the little cannons.  So if all the action is on the right side, the left side gunners can move their big ass rifles over to where they are needed so they can help with the fight.  We barely got the Priest working by the six hundred hour mark.


    We are coming up on six hundred hours, the radio was playing the lights were working and suddenly they weren¡¯t, it was really spooky and all of us would have cried if it wasn¡¯t for the earthquake.   It didn¡¯t do any damage but this part of the country doesn¡¯t get earthquakes, not that big.  We all had a hard time sleeping and I made it mandatory that half of us be on watch for the next few days and the boilers on our fighting vehicles be kept at a reasonable temperature for rapid deployment.  It¡¯s a good thing I did.

 Chapter 4: Bless me Father

    Cross a dinosaur with a mammoth, give the mammoth natural armor plate, now put ugly gray skinned lizard like humanoids on their backs.  If that isn¡¯t enough put partial metal armor on the assholes and equip them with bows and spears.  That¡¯s what I saw coming towards me out of the setting sun to our west across my twenty acres of good farmland, that we had just planted in winter wheat.  I had only gone out for a stroll, for some reason I had been keyed up today and I just couldn¡¯t concentrate on my work.  So thinking to clear my head I had come here, it was lucky that I had but who the fuck wants to see something like this?


    I started screaming my head off when I spotted the enemy that was only six hundred feet away and coming in fast with too many reinforcements behind them.  They may have been scouting us for days.  The open ground of the farm field gave them the best chance to make a mass charge against us, what with those massive animals.  We had made a lot of short barreled three inch mortars during the past eight days.  They were mounted on turntables and had gears for elevation.  Each outside fence line got at least two of them.  Once we put one in place it was test fired to get its range and marker flags were placed outside the fence.  I was now regretting my own cowardice regarding explosive shells.  I dropped a premeasured charge down the tube, put in the cannonball, primed the pan, aimed as best I could for the estimated center of the attacking forces and pulled the string triggering the flintlock action.  I might not have hit anything but I spooked them.  The two people patrolling this fence line were shooting steadily, the damn fools were standing out in the open and appeared to be trusting in their armored vests or maybe they didn¡¯t realize their own danger.  I screamed at them.  ¡°They¡¯ve got bows get behind some sandbags you idiots.¡±  They looked startled, turned to look at me and then ran to do what I had told them.  We had little sandbag forts all over the place.


    Thankfully someone else was operating the other mortar.  I fired mine off again.  I was hoping that this was the only point of attack when the first mammoths hit the fence.  Surprisingly it stopped them; I had been thinking I was going to die.  The fence was helped no doubt by having twice as many uprights and far more crosspieces than was the norm but the fence posts did bend alarmingly.   At least ten of our people had quickly showed up and they began firing in volleys.  Steve was controlling their rate of fire.  He was our chief firearms instructor besides everything else he did.  The first wave of mammoths had hurt themselves; by hitting the fence and didn¡¯t look happy about it.  But a second wave of elephants had just arrived and they were simply leaning against the fence which then began to bend over even further.  A rain of arrows had been going on but their shooting wasn¡¯t very accurate, maybe our noisy weapons were scaring them?  The monsters were taller than our fence before it was bent; some of their riders began to jump over the fence by simply leaping from the mammoths¡¯ backs.  My fire magic wasn¡¯t very powerful yet but I could do some things with it.  I launched two blasts of flame that swept along almost thirty feet of fence line.  It looked really impressive, and maybe I even scared the enemy and their beasts but at best I caused only second degree burns to any exposed skin.


    I fired another mortar round and then the Priest thankfully showed up.  Bless me father for they have sinned, now shoot their asses!  The 105 was gone and had been replaced with six gunners, each firing their own little 20mm cannon.  They were firing at targets bigger than elephants and at close range too, they didn¡¯t seem to miss.  Clyde stopped the Priest broadside to the fence.  The vehicle is basically an open steel box that sits on top of a Sherman tank chassis.  There is no overhead cover, the mammoths were far taller than the Priest and our enemies had bows.  We started to take casualties.  I could hear yells from the gun crew.  I fired off two more bursts of flame trying to sweep the backs of the mammoths and distract the archers there.  Then I climbed into the box on the Priest and I took over a vacant gun while straddling the body of the former gunner.  I am such an asshole.  The little cannons were killing the mega elephants in short order and without those beasts the lizard men could not so easily get over our fence which gave us time to kill them with fifty caliber rifle fire.


    The fence slowed them, the mortars spooked them, the bolt action cannons killed the elephants, and Hawken rifle fire killed the lizard men.


    With all the big monsters dead and the lizard men dying while not seeming to getting anywhere with their attack they finally began to retreat.  But we kept shooting and perhaps only forty of them got away, I don¡¯t know how many we killed.  We¡¯ll have to count the bodies and see.  Now it was time to help the wounded and pay the butcher¡¯s bill.


    Out of twenty combatants we had six seriously wounded that might die.  My magic was exhausted and for medics we only had Peggy and Gloria.  Which I guess on second thought is pretty damn good; I imagine that there are a lot of people in this world right now; that would be happy having available both a nurse practitioner and a nurse.  I could only pray that my magical energies would recover quickly and that my healing ability had magically improved.


    Dusk was coming and we had to secure our perimeter.  Steve went out with a detail making sure the dead were really dead, that sometimes took the use of a bayonet.  I had to wonder if that was the right thing to do or if I could do it to a human attacker but I still didn¡¯t stop Steve.  Mack started repairing the fence.  A steam powered air compressor was brought out and used to power our carbide cut-off tools.  Mack cut out the damaged posts, dug holes for the new posts, put posts in the holes, filled the holes with gravel and once he had the new posts almost perfectly vertical he called me over to fuse the stones.  By that time I had enough magic that I could deal with that small chore.  With living and probably pissed off enemies out there; repairing the fence became extremely important but was it more important than our own wounded?  We had six posts that needed to be replaced.  The power posthole digger attachments on two of our tractors made very short work of that so I was able to fuse all the holes in less than a half an hour.  Once I was done I left the rest to Steve and Mack and I hurried to our infirmary which was in our sole triple wide modular home.  Grace was in bad shape.  She was on my ¡°I can tolerate her¡± list.  Gloria and Peggy were standing next to me when I dumped all my healing ability and magic into her, then I passed out.


    I woke up with my head splitting while puking onto the floor.


    DING


    Due to your stupid, reckless and profligate use of your healing talent, when you were magically and physically exhausted you moron, you nearly killed yourself.  Because of that act you have greatly increased your own reservoir of magical power.  Despite knowing only a few spells (what are you doing just sitting on your ass and farting?), your magic levels have gone up slightly because of the amount of sheer power you now possess, you unbelievably lucky son of a bitch.


    Furthermore, since you recklessly exposed those close to you, to such a powerful and desperate flow of magic they have now been altered.  They will soon become human-cat hybrids and grow ears and tails; they will also end all of their sentences with the sound ¡°Nyaa¡±.   And if you believe that you¡¯re an even a bigger dumb-fuck than we thought you were.  So get your mind out of the gutter hermit boy.  Gloria Bennett and Peggy Barnes have both acquired level one Healing Magic.  Grace Lee has acquired level one in both Fire Magic and Earth Magic.   Those types of magical skills are most in tune with their personalities, mental traits and former professions.


    Don¡¯t do this again!  Don¡¯t just dump healing magic into someone with no plan and next time leave a little energy for yourself, if you had done this anywhere else besides on your own land you would have died.  And more importantly, I would have lost the bet for when it¡¯s going to happen.  By the way, Tuesday of next week doing this two or three times is perfectly okay with me or maybe you can try putting a pound of black powder down your shorts and hit it with a burst of your Fire Magic just to test your new one hundred percent invulnerability to explosions and heat, I can guarantee that you have it.  You can trust me.


    Oh, what a nice message.  After puking and reading it, I passed out again.


    The next morning I once more regained consciousness.  Peggy was looking at me.  ¡°Hi Boss.¡±


    ¡°Hello; how is everyone?¡±


    ¡°Alive but they wouldn¡¯t have been if you hadn¡¯t have been here.   Somehow you saved Grace and changed both Gloria and I into healers.  Grace is not only healed now but she seems healthier than before but the others will need a little more time to fully recover unless you want to do to them with what you did to Grace.¡±


    ¡°Maybe in a day, I might try something but right now I¡¯m too whipped.  Is the compound safe?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the fences are fixed, the enemy bodies have been looted and the useable meat harvested from the mammoths.  Now they¡¯re trying to figure out what to do with all the corpses.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I guess I¡¯ll get up, eat something and then see how I can help.¡±


    ¡°Boss when we got our new powers, we got a message saying that the only reason, that we got them is because our idiot Boss nearly killed himself expending his energies to save Grace.   You got to take care of yourself or we¡¯re all screwed and not just the injured person lying in front of you.  You stay in bed and I¡¯ll bring your breakfast here, then you can leave; Healer¡¯s orders.¡±


    I nodded my head and laid back down, I still felt awful.


    Breakfast was pancakes and sausage with coffee.  I would survive.  After I ate, I went out to talk to Mack who looked completely exhausted but when he saw my grumpy looking face he perked right.


    ¡°Hey Boss, I¡¯m glad to see you up and moving.   At first, I thought you were a few cards short of a full deck, like Clyde did, what with buying those tanks but I¡¯m ready to kiss your feet at this moment and I¡¯ll never doubt you again.  I wish we had a hundred armored vehicles now and more of those big steam engines too.  It¡¯s a good thing that you insisted that we keep their boilers hot or they would have never made it in time.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but we¡¯re going through all of our firewood and cooking oil far too fast.  All the petroleum based fuels we have, don¡¯t do squat anymore not even coal.  I expected that to happen because of how the warnings were worded but it makes things harder for us.  Hell, not even methane burns anymore but I¡¯m not even sure that it¡¯s being produced when things decay in our newly altered world.  The only slight saving point we have is that our wood and organic oils seem to burn hotter, cleaner and last longer than they used to.  But we¡¯re still in trouble.¡±


    ¡°What do you think we can do about it?¡±


    ¡°You heard my ideas before, I still think that we need to learn how to harness Fire Magic and produce the needed steam that way.  My work in creating a fire pin for our rifles has given me an idea.  I just have to scale it up to a much larger extent for our boilers.   Do you any ideas what we are going to do about all those bodies out there?¡± I pointed beyond the fence.  ¡°We¡¯ll be all day and then some digging holes with our two working tractors.¡±


    ¡°I was honestly hoping you had an idea.  My only thought is to cut up the mammoths and drag them to that ravine on the northern edge of your property.  We can use those air powered chain saws your shop people built to cut them into pieces.¡±


    ¡°That ravine is a long ways from here and we can¡¯t be letting our people go out there unprotected.  Get together with Clyde and then you two have to figure out a way for the Scorpion to do the job.  We won¡¯t be sending out anyone in an open tractor or on foot.   There are still a bunch of those lizard men out there and I expect that they are looking for revenge.¡±


    ¡°Vince we need walls, admit it you only had me put up fences because it was the only thing you could get in a reasonable amount of time and my company wasn¡¯t busy.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re stating the obvious Mack but you forgot that fences are also cheaper than walls.  On top of that, without the fences you built, I suspect that we would be dead many times over by now and not just from this latest attack.¡±


    ¡°How about we start bringing in more stone from the gravel pit?  I¡¯m talking about a whole shit load of stones.  We build giant boxlike forms; dump the stones into them and you fuse the whole mess together?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too far to the gravel pit, we need too much gravel, and we don¡¯t have enough people to keep our compound and any workers at the gravel pit safe at the same time.  However I got an idea about building some walls.  It¡¯ll take a lot more work right here on my own lands or maybe some magic but it should be far safer.


    The problem I face is that I have a lot more than one thing on my plate right now.  First thing we need are repeating firearms for every adult here.  I was just going to make my first attempt today to create one but I¡¯m exhausted.  Next thing we need is a magical heat source for our steam engines.   But I¡¯ll probably postpone that and work on the walls since we got enough firewood for now.


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    I¡¯ll speak with Glen about making more body armor for people.  I just wish I had been able to buy some more readymade stuff before they stopped selling it to civilians.   We need the Sherman working as soon as is possible and equipped with a breech loading cannon firing grapeshot.  Face it we have too much work to do.  If we can have a week without another attack like last night we should be good but this next week is going to be precarious.¡±


    ¡°Shit, I¡¯ve been seeing too many of those damn night fliers out when I have late watch.  Do you know what they are?¡±


    ¡°I thought you knew; they¡¯re owls, damn big owls.  They¡¯re not cutesy little wise old owls but big nasty night flying hungry predators.  The funny thing is that I¡¯ve been seeing them flying in formations of four or five, I thought owls were solitary predators.  I think our lanterns are keeping them away for now but that¡¯s another drain on our oil.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, now we need anti-aircraft guns.¡±


    ¡°I already thought of the same thing and it¡¯s on the to do list, while I can¡¯t do any magic right now I can do some planning so I¡¯m going back to my office and prepare for the work I¡¯m going to attempt tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll get with Clyde about the bodies.¡±


    Before heading home I went to the shop and I talked with Glen about all the projects we had going on.  It turns out that there were some problems with the Sherman conversion and now he was actually further ahead with the Hellcat.  He wanted my permission to stop working on the Sherman and concentrate on the Cat.  I gave it.  The prototype fifty millimeter cannon, was almost ready for testing and that would go in the Hellcat if it didn¡¯t blow up.  It shouldn¡¯t, it was overbuilt and heavy as a result.  We had separate bags filled with powder and fifty caliber balls to use with the cannon.


    We still had a lot of black powder but I would need to start on that powder mill as soon as I had time to do so.  I¡¯ll probably blow myself up but I¡¯ll make damn sure not to do it  on a Tuesday!


    Miles away people huddled scared in their basements.  They heard the battle last night and took hope that someone was out there and still fighting the horrors that had come into their world.


    I was working on my own version of a magical language.  I had taken symbols used in physics, chemistry, mathematics and blended them with binary code and a bit of computer language for if-then situations.  It was admittedly an ugly cumbersome kludge but I was not enough of a mathematician or scientist to do any better.  My only hope was that it was more important what I believed the symbols stood for than what they might actually look like to someone that was more knowledgeable and smarter than I am.


    My test rifle was a Mauser Karabiner 98K, the reason I chose this rifle is because it¡¯s my least favorite.  I know Mauser rifles are supposed to be great and the ones I own do function perfectly.  I just don¡¯t like the name.  Every time I hear someone say that word, I want to say Gesundheit!  All the other military rifles of that same era have better sounding cooler names.  My favorite rifle is the SMLE, the magazine is detachable and it holds ten rounds, enough said on that subject.  But the Springfield has that big ass cartridge that can shoot for miles, which is pretty cool too.  I used a permanent marker to trace all of the symbols I wanted to engrave tomorrow onto some scrap pieces of metal.  Then without using magic I used an air powered engraving tool to practice what I needed to engrave on the rifle, bolt and firing pin.  I needed the practice; I needed lots and lots of practice.  I soon discovered how much I missed bright indoor lighting.


    I got so frustrated that when I had a crazy notion, I dropped what I was doing and grabbed one of the few incandescent light bulbs I still had in my house.  I looked up a few symbols in my books and gently engraved them into the metal base of the bulb.  I had regained a little energy so I directed a small heat spell towards the tungsten filament inside the bulb.  It glowed!  I increased the power, it got brighter.  When it was near the brightness of what I thought a one hundred watt light should be like, I pumped magical energy into the bulb to sustain the heat spell on the filament.  It worked I am a genius, I am a master, I am, the bulb burned out, crap!


    It took me three more attempts to get it right.  Now I just have to figure out how to turn it off.  That took making a simple metal shroud to cover the bulb and redesigning the spell I used to make it light it up in the first place.  The shroud was easy; I used aluminum foil but the spell redesign took a couple of hours.  I fixed it so that when the spell detects metal covering the bulb it instantly stops feeding heat magic to the filament.  Removing the shroud and the spell resumes the flow of heat as long as there is any magic left stored in the bulb.  It really doesn¡¯t take much to heat up the filament so even the tiny amount of energy I had pumped into the bulb should be good for several hours.


    I felt eyes watching me.  I turned to look behind me, it was Jennifer.  ¡°Hello Jennifer.¡±


    ¡°Hello Boss, are we going to have electric lights again?¡±  There was a real hopeful tone to her voice.


    ¡°This bulb is not lit by electricity but by but magic now, I needed better lighting to work on my repeating firearm idea.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Her shoulders slumped down and she looked far too depressed for me to deal with it.


    ¡°Tell you what Jennifer I need to practice my engraving.  Go to the shop and in the storeroom there you should find cartons of rough duty one hundred watt light bulbs.  Bring me back a whole case of forty-eight of them, we¡¯ll also need some aluminum foil to turn them off and that¡¯s in the basement.¡±


    She ran off looking quite happy.  So I did bulbs for the rest of the day and it was decent practice.  I only had four symbols to engrave unlike the firearms which would be a lot more work.  I could do one bulb every five minutes, they didn¡¯t take very much magic and I was feeling stronger.  One thing I noticed when I was engraving symbols and simultaneously feeding my magic into them, was that they would slowly take on a slight orange glow.  That evening every one of our thirty-two adults got a bulb, the infirmary got two, the shop got two, and the rest went to critical locations around our compound.  I guess I¡¯ll have to work on auto headlights, floodlights and spotlights next.


    I finally got back to practicing the long set of symbols needed for our firearms.  Before bed I checked on our five wounded, and I found that they were slowly recovering but I would try and speed up their recovery tomorrow.


    Everyone seemed to be in a better mood the following day.  Most people had crafted makeshift lanterns to carry and protect their light bulbs.  Evidently the night flyers tried something last night but the added illumination seems to have scared them off at least according to James and Clyde.  I didn¡¯t spend as long with our patients as I had intended to.  I helped them but I was asked to do what everyone felt was more important, more light bulbs.  They wanted floodlights, spotlights and auto lights.  My people were now afraid of the dark.  I was greeted by a tearful Jennifer and boxes of the bulbs.  I don¡¯t know where they found so many.  I hope no one went outside the fence but I had heard what I think was the Scorpion this morning.


    I didn¡¯t get all the bulbs done that they had brought me but I did change the enchantment slightly, hopefully the lights will now reveal anything their radiance falls upon, even the invisible.  I pray that this will solve our Night Stalker problem.  I told this to Jennifer and she seemed even more ecstatic than before.   She wouldn¡¯t even listen to me when I told her that I wasn¡¯t even sure the new spell would work or not, because we had no way to test it.


    I charged everyone¡¯s personal bulbs and went to bed.  I had honestly kind of enjoyed the new darkness; the stars looked beautiful at night and now light pollution was back again.  I am such a fuck up.


    That night, people from miles around looked out from their homes and saw small search lights pointed at the sky.  They did see fearsome monsters flying in the beams, but the light gave them a little hope.


    The Hellcat was working, and so was its new cannon; which made me feel better, now Glen needed to get the Sherman running.  I spent two hours with our patients and worked an hour on exterior light bulbs.  Then I went back to working on the Mauser, it only took me three hours since I had gotten so much practice in engraving.  I also had the luxury of being able to engrave deeper in comparison to the thin shells of metal on the light bulbs, which I had been barely scratching.  I hadn¡¯t really needed the power tool for the bulbs but I needed the practice for the firearms.


    Steve went with me to our makeshift range when I tested the rifle.  I fired the gun and nothing happened.


    ¡°Damn Boss, this was only your first attempt.  I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get it to work next time.¡±


    I looked at him, grinned and worked the action.  ¡°This time I¡¯ll try it with a loaded rifle.¡±


    I fired all ten rounds from the magazine, I think Steve called me a dirty name but I couldn¡¯t hear him over the sounds of my rifle shots.  I handed him the Mauser when I was done.  ¡°It¡¯s yours if you¡¯ll clean it.  I went back and I did another Mauser which only took two hours and then a Mosin Nagant, I was out of Mausers, Gesundheit!


    I handed out the rifles, charged some light bulbs and went to bed.  I was woken up by gunfire.  I grabbed my own Hawken rifle and headed out the door.  I saw flying shapes but they weren¡¯t owls, they were bat like and very large.  I did an appraisal while running, Night Stalker Bat Hybrid.  Oh fuck me.


    This wasn¡¯t a battle with clean lines, they were within our perimeter and unless you had true sight or they were illuminated by the new lights they were essentially invisible.  I had given Mack the Mosin Nagant and James had the other Mauser.  They along with Steve and a few others had true sight.  The bats were thankfully not powerful enough to carry off their prey.  So they had to get down on the ground to feed, and on the ground they were slow and clumsy.   I stumbled on one bat feeding on Janet Cooke.  I drove my bayonet through its head which broke its teeth lose from her shoulder.  She was gasping for breath.  I pumped a quick heal into her which would hopefully hold her for now and then I stood guard over her body.  I saw a bat flying by; I aimed, led the bat by a little and fired.  Its wings folded up and it hit the side of a house.  Another bat was flying by but it was just out of reach of my bayonet.  I roasted the son of a bitch.  The Priest arrived on the scene and it was festooned with the new lights.  All six gunners had more than enough illumination to see their targets.  But they had to crouch low in the steel box to get enough elevation on their guns to hit the flying monsters.


    Next to arrive was the Hellcat.  It too had lights and its crew started firing as soon as it got on the scene, later I heard that the crew only hit one bat but grape shot blew that one bat to pieces.


    Multiple fenced in areas might slow down attackers but it slows down the defenders too and made coordinating our defenses beyond difficult.


    I don¡¯t know what scared off the bats.  We were just holding our own against them.  I certainly didn¡¯t do much.  I might have killed five of them.  We didn¡¯t lose anyone but a lot of people had large chunks torn out of them and without Peggy, Gloria and I, they would have died.  The three of us stayed up all night long with our patients.  By morning they were stable but we were all exhausted.  It was a combination of basic first aid and our new magic that did the trick.  We needed more medical supplies and more people; which I was sadly coming to realize but I fucking didn¡¯t want more people.  Hell I didn¡¯t want the ones already here.


    My family¡¯s and my former employer¡¯s betrayal had left permanent deep scars in my mind.  I recalled those first few prisoners which I had helped to regain their freedom, they were people that had been screwed over far worse than I had ever been, so there was no way I could not help some of them when they were homeless and from there this whole thing blossomed.  I could act like a nice guy but this whole situation was grating on my nerves, especially when I saw the happy families here.   Shit, I made a commitment to keep them safe and while no one else will live up to their commitments to me, I¡¯ll keep on doing my best.  I needed to talk to Clyde, Mack, Steve, Glen, James, Grace, Peggy and Jennifer.

 Chapter 5: Hermitswart?

    I¡¯ve tried a new method for proofreading my chapters.  I drastically change the fonts and background color to help me look at my story anew so I can hopefully spot more of the mistakes I¡¯ve been skipping over.  Hopefully it will make for a more pleasant reading experience for you.


    Linda, Sandra and their mother were sitting in Linda¡¯s house as they saw their father, and ex-husband slowly walk by the window, he looked exhausted.  James, Linda¡¯s husband, had returned well before dawn to collapse into his own bed.  He had loudly refused to let go of his rifle or take off his shoes.


    Sandra turned to her mother.  ¡°Mom, why did you do all those nasty horrible things to Daddy?  And don¡¯t give me any more bullshit this time.¡±


    ¡°I guess, I was simply selfish, lazy, envious, and I wanted the best of everything.  I was no longer sexually attracted to your father and instead of working on that problem I hooked up with one of my clients instead.  But while he was very attractive, he was also a dope and his business failed.  So for years I was supporting him, or rather your father was supporting him.  I expected your father to look at our family¡¯s finances at any time but he didn¡¯t because he trusted me.  Then I talked Vince into taking out loans instead of paying cash for all of those big purchases we made over those last few years.  I had to lie myself blue in the face and falsify some information to convince him.  I¡¯ve known for years that I was no damn good.  Hell, one of my titles which everyone can see now is Complete Scum.  I would do anything to earn back a little self respect but I don¡¯t know how.  So how about you Sandra, why did you so easily believe the lies I told you about your father?  You knew I was cheating on him, and you also knew that I was mismanaging the family¡¯s finances years before I left him.  Later on, you were even visiting me in Europe and in order to pay for those trips you were spending some of that very same money I had stolen from your father and bribed you with.  So Sandra, why did you do it?¡±


    ¡°Just greed, pride and stupidity Mom; Daddy warned both Linda and I that the college degrees we were trying to get were valueless but we wanted to show him that he was wrong and we were right.  As for visiting you, you were always more fun than Dad.  He was for emergencies and the hard stuff.  You were there with chocolate cake and ice cream when we were little and then later on you gave us wine, pot and a night at the casino.  I got to hand it to you Mom you raised us right.  Well I got to get going now.  I have to work milking some cows this morning; who would believe it, me milking cows?  I just wish that sometime soon Dad decides to trust me with a weapon.   I would feel a whole lot safer and I hate being one of the few adults here that isn¡¯t carrying one.  You¡¯ll keep an eye on little Johnny while I¡¯m gone, right Linda?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but remember I got my own afternoon work shift, so you have to watch Angela when you come back.¡±


    Nancy left her daughter¡¯s house since she had to get to her own job in the pig pens.  She felt a few tears trickle down her face; neither of her two daughters trusted her to watch their babies.  And the worst part for her was that she felt they were absolutely right not to trust her.


    I had called a conference.  We were in my garage next to the shop because I wanted to at least look at my Desoto and the Belvedere.  Man, those were pretty cars.  I began speaking.  ¡°We might pull through our current situation as we are or we might be nibbled to death by constant attacks.  I¡¯m going to spend the entire day making us repeating firearms but I don¡¯t think that will be enough.  Very reluctantly I¡¯ve come to the conclusion that we need more people here.  I think we need some professional warriors.  I would love to get some Army Rangers or Marines to join us.¡±  And if they¡¯re drunk I know how to lead them.  ¡°Clyde and Grace are our only trained ex-military personnel and they¡¯re busy with too much other work that is equally vital to our survival.  So how do we go about finding and recruiting some orange or green screen former soldiers?  Do any of you have any ideas or thoughts on this subject?¡±


    Clyde spoke, ¡°Boss this wasn¡¯t the only place that I and my wife could have gone to for refuge.  I was made another offer by some older guys at the VFW, they were fellow Nam veterans.  The only problem was that the guy leading them has a blue screen and he¡¯s an asshole in my book.   He¡¯s actually slightly younger than most of us Nam vets and he became an officer just after the Vietnam War had ended.  Somehow while he was in the army he managed to acquire a shit pot of combat medals but to the best of my knowledge he left the military before either the Iraq or Afghanistan conflicts.  I¡¯ve never liked or trusted the man.  Whenever I asked about his military service he would get a smarmy look on his face and say it was all classified.  I now worry and wonder about those families that decided to hook up with him; since a lot of those people are my friends.  He¡¯s got an actual estate about sixteen miles from here; his plan was for everyone to fort up there.¡±


    ¡°How would we get there and how could we safely approach them?  But there is no way in hell, that I will let a blue that you say is an asshole be in charge of our defenses here, hell I don¡¯t even want him near us.  So you have to figure out a way to convince your friends to join us while leaving the blue you¡¯ve been talking about behind on his estate.¡±


    ¡°I think by this time, they might be running low on supplies and we got plenty of extra thanks to all the millions you spent.  We can offer some of the good ones an alternative home and I know for a fact that there are some good men and women that went to his estate.  We can trade a few things to the former Major Martin Kilmer to make it look like he can profit more by working with us than by fighting against us.¡±


    ¡°Kilmer?  I might actually know that asshole.  If it¡¯s the same one I¡¯m thinking of, he labeled me as redundant and fired me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably the same asshole.¡±


    ¡°But Clyde, aren¡¯t we forgetting something?  You¡¯re talking about recruiting some old Vietnam vets, emphasis on old.  You¡¯re doing okay now but how is a bunch of old guys supposed to fight for us?¡±


    He and Mack started laughing.  ¡°Vince have you really looked in the mirror when you shave every morning or have you just been too busy?¡±


    Jennifer interjected, ¡°He¡¯s been too busy.¡±


    Mack spoke, ¡°Vince, I¡¯ve probably dropped at least ten years since this all started a month ago.   You need to find a mirror and take a really good look at yourself.¡±  He chuckled and shook his head when he finished speaking.


    This shit just keeps on getting weirder and weirder.  I glanced around searching for a mirror and finally I just looked at my reflection in the Desoto¡¯s window.  I must admit that I had been ignoring some things and I did look years younger.  My bald spot was gone and my hair roots were dark again instead of gray.  For that matter I had stopped using my reading glasses three weeks ago because I had found them to be annoying and unneeded.  My quick powers of observation absolutely astonished me, I thought sarcastically.  ¡°Okay, how do we approach them?¡±


    ¡°I know of a lot of back roads which should get us to his place without too many people seeing us.  He actually lives further out in the country than you do.  We¡¯ll go there with your light bulbs and some muzzleloaders as trade goods to sweeten any deal we strike with him.  We¡¯ll need to take at least two armored vehicles and they¡¯ll tow trailers.  We¡¯ll armor up some of those utility trailers we got laying around here and put some benches inside them; then we¡¯ll use the trailers to transport whoever decides to join us.   Actually I¡¯d like to take three of our armored vehicles.   We could send the Scorpion in to negotiate, the Hellcat stands off to guard the Scorpion and the Sherman remains on over watch behind both of them.  Kilmer will have nothing that can harm the Grizzly and it¡¯ll keep him scared and therefore honest.  You¡¯ll have to come too Boss, in case we need to convince some of the good ones there that you¡¯re a better alternative than Kilmer.¡±


    Objections were raised about me going and using three of our four armored vehicles but if we left tomorrow at midmorning it should be safe enough, maybe.  Besides that everyone should have repeating firearms by that time and I¡¯d order those staying behind here to fort up while we were gone.   Hell, I¡¯d even tell them all stay in my house.  It¡¯s got reinforced concrete walls that are over sixteen inches thick and a heavy gauge steel roof but they better not leave any messes behind.  ¡°Grace, do you know of anyone that might want to join us?¡±


    ¡°I might but I¡¯m not sure how I can contact them.  They all stood behind me when I was convicted but when all this shit came down a month ago, they had to start making plans and preparations to keep their families safe.  Let me think about it, the last time I saw one of them she mentioned a rendezvous point.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve got some magic stuff to do.  Mack I need four really tough solid rocks.  The kind you can drop onto concrete and it won¡¯t shatter; the kind you can throw into a roaring fire and it won¡¯t crack.  The rocks have to be fairly big too.  Glen, we¡¯re going to need special metal boxes to hold those rocks that Mack finds.  Those boxes have to be able to fit inside the fire boxes on our vehicles.  Here¡¯s the idea.  I¡¯ll put almost the same magic that I¡¯m putting into the fire pins into the rocks.  When they are fully enclosed inside the boxes they won¡¯t heat up but when you retract the cover on the box or open it in some other way, heat is released and that heat now generates our steam instead of us being constantly forced to use firewood.


    For the time being, Grace or I will have to refill the rocks with magic but I think I know a way for them to absorb excess heat in the future, however that¡¯s a little tricky and it¡¯ll take too much time for me to figure it out right now.   Mack, once you find those rocks bring them to me and the same goes for the boxes, Glen.  I¡¯ve got more rifles to enchant so I¡¯ll talk to you all later.¡±  Glen stopped me with a raised hand and began speaking.


    ¡°Boss before you go, I need to talk to you about a problem we¡¯re having in the shop.  Ever since we hit the five hundred hour mark we lost the ability to gas weld, and at six hundred hours we lost arc welding too. Now we all expected that and we did all those welding jobs we could foresee needing before that final day, like for our mortars.  We can still machine parts and bolt them together but without the ability to weld metals we¡¯re limited in what we can do and make.  Ron Lewis is trying to learn how to hammer weld but he has no confidence in that.  He¡¯s hoping that since you were able to give Grace Fire Magic, that when you have the time, you might be able to teach him to use it as well.   Then it will be up to him to figure out how to use that magic to weld and cut metal.  He¡¯s been a welder all of his life and a damn good one too, but now with him not being able to do his old job, has kind of mentally pulled the rug out from under him.¡±


    ¡°Glen, I¡¯ll be happy to try and teach Ron.  I¡¯ve been thinking about the loss of our ability to weld too but there¡¯s just so many other things keeping me busy.  When I get back from the trip to Kilmer¡¯s I¡¯ll talk to Ron about it then.  But now I have to get back to working on rifles.¡±  Glen nodded his head at me and I left.


    I had a lot of guns to engrave and not much time.  Some people that came here like Clyde and Mack brought their own firearms so using those weapons along with my own collection should give us more than enough long arms.  The problem was that we had a lot of different calibers which meant a shit load of different cartridges were needed.  Well, loading cartridges was somebody else¡¯s problem.  I just had to make all of our rifles and shotguns work with magic now and not percussion caps.  At least our shotguns were all twelve gauges.


    It soon became clear that we were not going to get all of our preparations done in time for our departure tomorrow morning so we decided to delay it for another day.  I was forced to take a three hour nap too; I was just too tired to keep on working.  By dusk I had enchanted two fire stones, their boxes and four rifles.  I was falling into a grove now and I began picking up speed.  Grace was now busy charging our lights.  I continued to work until one a.m. and I managed to enchant five shotguns that had been urgently requested and two revolvers that I thought we also needed.  As I got done with the guns my daughter Linda, who was assigned as my assistant for the day, would run them over to Glen or Steve for testing, ammunition and distribution.


    With the new firestones the Priest and the Hellcat could stay on active patrol all night long.  They were like two great monsters prowling the night.  While they might have scared any attackers or monsters away they were comforting to us.  Twice the sound of gunfire woke me up, and on one occasion it was actually the sound of the Hellcat¡¯s cannon being fired but runners came to my house each time, catching me just as I was leaving to tell me that everything was under control and I could safely go back to sleep, which I promptly did.


    The next day I went back to work.  I was now enchanting a firearm or firestone in an hour or less.  The firearms were far trickier to engrave but the stones took a lot more magic.  My engravings were not artwork and I made the occasional mistake but it worked, which was the important part.  I did sixteen more firearms and two stones working until midnight.  The two tanks now joined the nightly patrol.  Clyde was training additional crews for them.  There was a furious but short lived battle at three in the morning.  The bats had returned but by the time I had made it outside, it was already over.  Repeating rifles, shotguns and a lot more enchanted light bulbs had made a huge difference.  I have to start making black powder soon, we still have plenty of it left but I worried.   I should have ordered potassium nitrate too and a lot more sulphur.  I know both are sold in drug and hardware stores so maybe we can trade or scavenge for some of the chemicals we need.  I still have to see if I can develop any skills in alchemy.


    The next morning I enchanted two firearms for myself and I recharged all four of the already enchanted heat rocks before we left at noon; which was a little later than we had originally intended to depart.  Two weapons I enchanted for myself; one was a lever action rifle and the other was a revolver, both were in 44 Magnum.  I liked buying weapons in sets or pairs like that; I would sometimes daydream about the life of a lone cowboy with his trusty rifle and pistol by his side and both chambered for the same cartridges, though I have never bought or owned any firearms that could shoot the traditional 44-40 cartridge.  I have two other sets of the same thing in 357 Magnum and 45 Long Colt.  I would have enchanted the set in 357 Magnum which I liked better but since we were stuck using black powder I went with the larger cartridge.


    Each vehicle had only a gunner and a driver; we couldn¡¯t risk taking any more people from home.  I was a passenger in the Hellcat and riding in the center of our formation.  The two lead vehicles were towing trailers.  Clyde planned a route for us that took us down lonely dirt and gravel roads.   We were stupid, we thought we wouldn¡¯t have to fight but we were forced to twice.  Once by the lizard men and that was soon after we left our compound.  They may have been watching our base but the attack came when we were already two miles down the road, so how did they catch up so quickly?  Did they have more mammoths left?  But we didn¡¯t see any when they attacked our expedition.


    Our vehicles had been maintaining a steady pace of twenty miles per hour.   Grape shot fired by both the Hellcat and the Sherman chased the lizards off, with them leaving a handful of dead bodies behind.  The second attack was by a flock of enormous ground birds.   Pissed off super chickens and our armor saved us from their fast and furious attack, we were forced to keep firing until they were all dead.  At my insistence I harvested some of their meat, the mammoth feet had been tasty so why not bird legs?  All three of our vehicles had air compressors that could be powered by their steam engines.  I took out one of our air powered chainsaws and cut the chickens up.   We would be bringing Kilmer a gift of giant drumsticks.


    We had passed many a lonely house and too many of them had been severely damaged.  Finally, Clyde led us up a very long driveway, the Sherman stopped and our two other tracked vehicles proceeded on to a wrought iron gate that looked like it was barely hanging together.  There was a very small old cannon pointed down the drive.  Clyde stopped the Scorpion about seventy-five feet from the gate.  Some people there were cheering and some were looking terrified.  There was one guy there wearing an old officer¡¯s full dress uniform, which looked a little tight on him.  Yes, it was indeed the Kilmer that I knew, the same man who had fired me.  I used appraisal on him and just examined his titles.


    Name: Martin Kilmer


    Title: Major Asshole


    Title: Legally Not Guilty


    Title: Morally Guilty as Sin


    Title: A Smart Crook


    Title: An Expert and Accomplished Liar


    Clyde got out of his tank and went to talk with him.  Clyde was carrying a Hawken rifle and not his new weapon.  We had brought ten of the Hawkens with bayonets, five pounds of powder and lead bullets for trading purposes.


    Kilmer looked pretty excited while talking to Clyde.  However, Clyde kept on shaking his head no.  He walked over to the Scorpion¡¯s trailer and opened it, showing all those gathered around the giant bird legs.   They had been heavy and I had loaded every one of them since the others had to man their vehicles.  Clyde made a gesture that seemed to indicate that they should help themselves and the crowd of people gathered there, eagerly unloaded the trailer.  They looked a little hungry; I had to wonder what was going on at Kilmer¡¯s estate.


    Clyde came walking back to the Hellcat, I popped the hatch.


    ¡°Boss these folks are hungry.  Kilmer says he ordered truck loads of food but they never showed up.  Thanks to true sight I know the fucker is lying.¡±


    ¡°Well your Kilmer is the asshole that fired me, I recognize him.  We are not a charity.  We might come back here if they have some things to trade but we had to fight twice this time, next time might be worse.  Is there anyone here that wants to come back with us?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t asked yet but I will.  You want me to see if they got any brass?¡±


    ¡°Ask them for brass, copper, steel pipe or any other metals we can melt down or machine into something useful.  Of course any modern firearms they have would be good too but especially those with manual actions; use your best judgment though.  Offer them muzzle loaders, powder and shot in trade.  Give them the light bulbs but I want incandescent bulbs back in exchange, they can be any type of incandescent bulb even auto headlights.   Cheap metal scrap has no value for us, but you already know that.¡±


    Clyde went back to resume talking, Kilmer seemed to be pretty upset with some of the things he was hearing.  Clyde suddenly spoke very loudly but not quite loud enough for me to hear, in response Kilmer jerked his head up and looked at the Hellcat.  I wondered if a big shot like Martin, even remembered my name.


    Clyde came walking back.  ¡°Vince we got a problem.  I think they all want to come with us.  I finally had to tell Martin your name and he remembered it.  His most loyal people are staying with him but we¡¯ve got over forty people who want to come with us.   There¡¯s not enough room for all of them in our trailers.¡±


    ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°Martin has let his true nature show and he only lets those closest to him, live in his mansion.  The other people here have been crammed into the few travel trailers that they have.  Others were camping out in tents trusting in Kilmer¡¯s six foot decorative fence to protect them.  I think some of those Night Stalkers showed up here.  Something came on two different nights and killed over thirty people, so now no one lives in tents anymore.  I don¡¯t think the trailers are that safe either.  I propose that we take everybody.  We cram them into our trailers and hook one of their travel trailers onto the Sherman and tow it home.  Then for the next few days we can travel back and forth bringing the rest of the travel trailers back home with us.  The trailers don¡¯t belong to Martin and we¡¯ll probably need them to house all of our new people.  For every safe trip we make, I¡¯ll promise Martin one muzzleloader so hopefully in that way we¡¯ll buy his willing cooperation and he won¡¯t mess with us.  I¡¯m trading six of them today.  He¡¯s got no steel or copper pipe, all he has is empty brass and a lot of loaded useless cartridges.  He¡¯s bringing a box of various bulbs too.   I told him I had surprise for him if he brought them.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    ¡°Sounds good Clyde, when my trailer is loaded, the Hellcat will go back to where the Sherman is parked.  I¡¯ll tell the crew there what¡¯s going on and send them back to you, and then you can show them which travel trailer to hook up to.  But make damn sure that none of Kilmer¡¯s people manages to slip inside one of our tanks and simply takes it away from us.¡±


    ¡°Got it; Vince.¡±


    I saw Clyde talk again with Kilmer; boxes of empty and full cartridges were exchanged for the six Hawken rifles and the black powder.  Martin seemed amazed when Clyde demonstrated our new magical light bulbs.


    It took time but eventually we all got loaded up and left.  Two miles down the road I hit the air horn to stop our convoy.  I met with Clyde and handed him two rifles and ammunition from my vehicle.


    ¡°Clyde, the travel trailer is tail end here and has no defenses.  Get at least one firearm from all the other vehicles and give them to your friends inside that trailer in case we run into trouble.  Make them understand how the guns work and that we get them back when we arrive home.  I¡¯ll enchant some more firearms for them later.¡±


    He smiled at me and nodded, ¡°that¡¯s a great idea Boss.¡±


    Dusk was coming and we needed to get home.  But we had more problems, those abandoned homes we passed earlier, weren¡¯t so abandoned and this time they were ready for us.  We came by the first house and four people came running out screaming at us to stop and waving their arms wildly, two of them were children.  We shoved them into the travel trailer and continued on.


    This kept on happening all the way home.  We packed them into the trailers and we were forced to put more air holes into armored utility trailers so they could breathe.  We now had people riding on top of our vehicles and on the trailers¡¯ roofs.  It got dark and I became very afraid, we un-shrouded our lights which thrilled our new passengers.  I took back my lever action rifle.  We now had four miles to go before we were home.  I was using every bit of my true sight ability and hoping to turn it into precognition because I knew that they were coming.


    But it wasn¡¯t the fliers this time, it was the Cat hybrids.  We were moving fast enough that they couldn¡¯t surround us, so they attacked us from our left flank.  I was riding on the Hellcat and we had six small children stuffed inside.  I started firing, the turret turned and BAM!  Good thing I was wearing earplugs.  The Sherman with its bigger cannon also fired.  Clyde had stopped the Scorpion, we could have sped away but the lion hybrids would have concentrated their attacks on the slower moving Sherman and its travel trailer which was packed with people.  Because of the lights and their new enchantments everyone could see the Night Stalkers that we were currently fighting.  I jumped down at one point to prevent our enemies from getting to the travel trailer and I was careful not to get in front of our own cannons; which were firing about two or three times per minute.  I took my station to the rear of the trailer and I emptied my rifle into the cats.  They were still coming so I swept them with elemental fire; thankfully I had gotten much better at it.  Once again we were forced to kill all of cats since they wouldn¡¯t retreat.  For some reason I felt or sensed that they had simply had been too hungry to turn away from us but I also had the impression that these monsters were always starving or felt like they were always starving.  On the other hand it could have just been entirely in my own imagination.


    We were in sight of home when a flight of owls made a try for us.  Please, only four owls that was a piece of cake.  The compound was well lit and all of our passengers started cheering.  The gates opened up and we drove on in.  We had brought back over ninety people and they were all crying with relief; I let Steve and Jennifer take over.  I had to get back to enchanting weapons, with luck I might get four more done before I fell asleep.  Grace and Mack seemed especially relieved to see me.


    Linda was walking back to her own home from her father¡¯s house where she and many others had been temporarily sheltering.  She paused to watch as her father leaped down from the Hellcat.  People were tearfully clutching at his hands, thanking him for their rescue.  She and others in the compound had heard the cannons firing in the distance and they had all instantly realized that the expedition members were probably fighting for their very lives at that instant.  There had been many times now when she felt that she didn¡¯t deserve to be her father¡¯s daughter.   What was worse for her; was that many of her fellow inhabitants of her father¡¯s little village didn¡¯t believe she and Sandra were in fact Vincent Standish¡¯s biological daughters.   They were loudly saying that since her mother was a blue and Complete Scum that they wouldn¡¯t be a bit surprised if the Scum¡¯s daughters were not in fact the Boss¡¯s biological children.


    I was getting more than a little tired of all the work I was doing and having to rush from task to task like a fireman.  The previous night I had enchanted a number of firearms including one SKS.  I know everyone says that black powder won¡¯t work in an automatic weapon because black powder doesn¡¯t have enough power to properly cycle the action and it produces too much fouling but I thought it was worth a shot.  Steve and I took it out to our gun range; we rigged up a stand for it and pulled the trigger using a string held on with some duct tape.  That simple improvisation brought up some serious questions in my mind, things I had been ignoring because of the sheer horror of it.  Will mankind ever be able to make duct tape again?  What will we do when we run out of duct tape?  Truly these are dark days.


    We already knew from experience that black powder was extremely filthy, our guns and brass had to be cleaned as soon as was humanly possible after every use.  So it was no surprise to us that our experiment managed to screw up even the famous SKS, a semiautomatic variant of the even more famous AK47.   We started to experience jamming problems with the fourth shot.  We had to pound on it a bit to get the cartridge case out but then the sixth shot jammed as well.


    This rifle wasn¡¯t something that we could with confidence give to people and expect them to be able to successfully protect themselves and others with it.  We gave up but Steve and I both had the same impression that during our test firings, that the bullets fired out of the SKS had sounded much weaker and had penetrated far less into our wooden target than we had expected them to, even allowing for the fact that we were using black powder.  To get a comparison, I fired a bullet from my own 44 magnum rifle into the same piece of wood and it went in over three times as far as the 7.62 x 39 bullets did, which didn¡¯t make much sense to either of us.  For now we¡¯re giving up on automatic firearms, Steve is keeping the SKS and he¡¯s going to play with it as he has time to do so.


    Clyde was organizing an expedition to go back to Kilmer¡¯s and to pick up some more travel trailers.  Maybe we could find some closer to us but that felt a little too much like unneeded looting to me.  The owners of those trailers that are now living with us have a right to them.  All of those people are furious with Kilmer; they feel that he deliberately deceived them.  He had promised to make his estate into a fortress with plenty of supplies but according to Clyde, Kilmer had instead waited until the very last minute before he attempted to improve his defenses and order provisions.  They all think that he had been reluctant to spend any significant amounts of money until he knew for a fact that all of this shit that is now coming at us was in fact real.  As a result all the people he had promised to help keep safe had been soft targets when the monsters came for them.


    Richard Jacobs was probably the most vocal about his hatred for Martin Kilmer.  Rich had lost his grandson and his grandson¡¯s wife to some predators that took the both of them the same night.  Luckily his great grandchildren had been sleeping in his trailer with him and his wife.  ¡°Clyde, I¡¯m telling you that Kilmer did as good as kill all those people.  He talked big at the VFW but he had squat for us when we got out to his place.  I should have turned around right then and gone home but I kept on believing in Martin.  He made more promises about workmen being on the way and that trucks full of food and weapons; were coming too but no one and nothing ever came.  Because of me and Kilmer, my grandson and his wife are dead.  I spent hours convincing them to leave home and go with me and Martha to Kilmer¡¯s and all I did was get them killed!  If my Martha and my great grandchildren didn¡¯t need me, I would eat my own gun if it still worked but I would kill Martin Kilmer first!¡±


    ¡°Listen Rich you can¡¯t keep blaming yourself.  Kilmer has always been a champion grade bull shitter and all around asshole.  I haven¡¯t liked him for years but even with his blue screen he had almost convinced me to go to his place with my wife.  I just got lucky and met up with the Hermit.  I saw Vince actually doing shit to get ready for all this nasty stuff we¡¯re facing right now.  If you want to make things up to your grandson then shut up and soldier, do your best to keep your great grandchildren alive.  We¡¯ve faced heavy attacks here on three occasions and I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll be facing more.  That¡¯s why I talked the Boss into offering all of you a new home here.  But I can tell you one thing for sure and that is that Vince will do his damndest to make certain that you¡¯re well armed enough to face any monsters that make another try at you or your family.  You¡¯ve seen the machines already, hell they even towed you home!  Vince went out and spent a small fortune buying four old tanks and the new steam engines that were needed to replace their old engines, so they would still be running when we hit the five hundred hour mark.


    He planned for the loss of electricity too and he had his machine shop ready to switch over to steam and air power when we hit the final day.  If you listen you can clearly hear the men and machines in his shop making us cannons and other weapons as we¡¯re talking right now.  Just recently, he figured out a way to make magic lights that can let us see the invisible monsters.  Hell, he even managed to figure out a way to give us back repeating firearms.


    When we were coming back last night from Kilmer¡¯s; Vince gave up his place in the Hellcat and put three kids inside instead.  Then when we were attacked, he dismounted and took up a position behind the travel trailer to defend it.  I don¡¯t know if you saw him do it but he cut loose with his Fire Magic and he burned down half of those cats attacking us to their very bones.  What he needs from us is time, time to build up this place into a fortress that no monster or army can touch.  So suck it up.  Now answer my question, do you still want to go back with us and pick up your trailer?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t think we can trust Kilmer.  When he saw that Scorpion show up his eyes took on a greedy glow.  He doesn¡¯t have any working modern weapons but he has a fair amount of black powder and when I was there we had already figured out that cooking oil could still burn.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s you and I talk about what we should do.  But we should also get with George Mesquida and seen what ideas he has.¡±


    I was currently multitasking.  I was engraving some symbols onto a shotgun and yelling at Ron Lewis at the same time.  It was great for lowering my blood pressure.  Ron wanted to learn Fire Magic, so I had him doing all kinds of little experiments relating to heat energy while I constantly berated him.  I am such a nice guy that the Dalai Lama would probably want my autograph and even move next door just to be closer to me.  I had also given Ron a pile of books to read.  If this keeps up I might have to open up my own magic school, I might call it ¡°Hermitswart¡± and I¡¯ll change my own name to ¡°Stupidfucker¡± for getting myself into these messed up situations.   I feel some more rage building up, I better release it.


    ¡°Ron what the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing now?  How many times are you going to try that little experiment with crayons and hot water before you get it right?  How fucking hard can it be?  You are a complete fuck up.  But at least you¡¯re not trying to burn down my house anymore with another FAILED paper bag hot air balloon experiment.  I don¡¯t think you were ever that competent as a welder in the first place!  I think it would be better and safer for me, if a dumb fuck like you just gave up your dream of being a fire mage.   Honestly, the idea that you could master something so difficult is stupid, just like you are STUPID!¡±


    Ron was looking at me and his face was getting redder and redder.  I had only been berating him for four hours now.  My son-in-law had to put up with days of my shit.   But I do feel kind of nervous now whenever I see Jim walking around with a loaded rifle.  The glass of warm water Ron was holding in his hands suddenly started to steam.  I kept yelling at him.  ¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re doing now ASSHOLE, MAKING TEA?  I THOUGHT YOU WANTED TO BE A WELDER AGAIN!¡±  The water in the glass vaporized and Ron dropped it with a yell.


    ¡°Congratulations you are now a Fire Mage.  Now get the fuck out of my house and learn how to weld.  You can leave the books behind I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll need them anymore.¡±   He stood there looking stupidly at me and slowly he began to grin.  The moron even began to thank me.  I had to push him out the door and I barely restrained myself from kicking him in the ass to speed up his departure.   I am a fucking genius as a magic teacher!  Every child will dream of coming to Stupidfucker¡¯s School of Magic.  I better change my address and move, maybe to a mountain in Tibet?  Don¡¯t the better class of hermits all live on mountains?   If all the other hermits saw where I was living now they would probably laugh at me and I bet you that they wouldn¡¯t let me play in any hermit games.  Right now it¡¯s like I¡¯m living in a fenced in trailer park.  What kind of hermit lives in a fucking trailer park?


    I kept on engraving as I dreamed of moving someplace far away from people; and basking in my now blissfully empty home.  Just then I heard my back door open and sadly I heard the sound of little children so I had to rein in my temper.  It was probably Jennifer¡¯s kids.  They thundered into my kitchen which was now my magical laboratory.


    They were followed in closely by Jennifer, Grace, Isabella and Faith.  What the hell was going on now?  Jennifer began to talk.


    ¡°Vincent, we have a slight problem with all the new people.  We¡¯ve run out of places to put them.  Even when including the trailers you¡¯re going to pick up today.   It¡¯s so bad that we¡¯re even running out of good places to park the trailers when you bring them back this afternoon.  Most of the land you have fenced in is for our gardens, greenhouses and livestock, and not for houses or trailers.¡±


    ¡°Jennifer I don¡¯t have the time to work on expanding this place yet and Grace isn¡¯t nearly strong enough to attempt what I plan on trying to do and even if my crazy idea does work, it¡¯s going to take weeks to make this place bigger.   Steve, Mack, Clyde and I all think that what we need right now are more repeating rifles which is what I¡¯m working on right this minute as you can plainly see.  I don¡¯t know what more I can do right now to help with building this place up and putting roofs over people¡¯s heads.¡±


    ¡°Vincent we have an idea.  Every little bit of space we can save will help this housing emergency we currently face.¡±


    I didn¡¯t like where this was going.  But I had some problems with being too vocal in my opposition.  The biggest one was Isabella Gomez a really nice lady who had been framed by some city workers.  She was our botanist and plant expert.  Besides managing our greenhouses and teaching people, she was also helping with our outside gardens as well.  When I looked at her with my appraisal skill, I could see that both her class and title said the same thing Expert Botanist, so I kind of felt that we were extremely lucky to have her.  I also strongly suspected that she had some kind of plant based magic.  I didn¡¯t want to get her angry with me, since the next time I ate a salad she might command it to attack me.


    Then there was Jennifer, who was the first aid cream that people spread on thickly after I pissed them off.   I couldn¡¯t afford to alienate her.  Grace could use magic now and was a hell of a mechanic especially when it came to our steam engines.   And I hated to admit it but I felt some kind of connection with Grace ever since I healed her.  Finally there were the children, and so because of those five people I had to keep my cool.  As for Faith, fuck her.   When she starts pulling magic out of her ass then I¡¯ll cut her some more slack.  Damn it, I forgot she has true sight, I can¡¯t really go pissing her off either.  I am so screwed!


    I schooled my features and tried to keep from snarling.  ¡°What is your idea Jennifer?¡±


    She got suddenly nervous.  ¡°Well, we all thought of this idea.¡±  Ah, trying to spread the blame now, you chicken shit.  She pulled her two children in front of her and they smiled at me.  ¡°We think that,¡± then she said the rest in a rush, ¡°Faith should park her trailer in your driveway to free up space in the other fenced in sections.  Then Izzy, Grace and I will give up our homes and move into this house and into your second floor bedrooms.   We¡¯ll keep the house clean and cook all of the meals.  So you won¡¯t have to worry about that stuff anymore and you¡¯ll be able to concentrate on your magic and enchanting things.¡±


    The women looked nervously at me and the children smiled.  I felt my head fall and hit the kitchen table.  I thought I might be having a simultaneous heart attack and stroke from keeping my feelings bottled up inside.  I then talked into the table top; ¡°how can all six of us live upstairs and where would I work?¡±  I lifted my head up and spread my hands indicating my cluttered kitchen/workshop.  I¡¯m going to break a molar if I keep on grinding my teeth like this!


    Seven year old Elizabeth spoke because the adult women were too cowardly.  ¡°No; only the five us, will live upstairs.  Aunt Faith will live in her trailer which is really nice and you¡¯ll live downstairs in your office.  We¡¯ve got it all figured out.¡±


    I counted the rage spots floating before my eyes before I asked my next question.  ¡°Honey, my office is full of stuff, there¡¯s no room for me to sleep there.  On top of that where will I do my work from now on if I can¡¯t use this kitchen?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll move all of your stuff out of your office and into the garage and then you can work out there.¡±  She answered with a bright smile.


    ¡°Elizabeth I can¡¯t work in my garage, because it¡¯s right next door to the shop and it¡¯s too noisy there for me to think.  And besides that there isn¡¯t enough room for me there.¡±  No way was I going to move my Desoto and the Belvedere outside, they might get rained on!


    Surprisingly Grace answered.  ¡°Not your garage connected to the shop but the garage that¡¯s right there.¡±  She pointed at the door leading from my kitchen and into my house¡¯s six hundred square foot attached garage.


    Oh yeah, when I had to stop using my two more modern vehicles I had kind of put that room out of my mind.  In fact there was a little car out there that I had deliberately put out of my mind because it had depressed me far too much to realize that I would never be able to drive it again.  Win the lottery, buy a fun car and the entire world goes all to hell.  It was a Caterham Seven 280, it had taken me a week to put it together and it was a blast to drive.  But there was now no place in this new world that I could safely drive that little car even if I did get it working with a small steam engine.  Thinking about it now, I guess I could park my Grand Cherokee outside and squeeze the Seven into my other garage by the shop.   It could then keep my Desoto and the Belvedere, company.   In truth, the attached garage here would give me a lot more working space and it was insulated too but I absolutely refused to admit that it was a good idea, because of certain other factors.


    On top of that what kind of magic using hermit uses a garage for a magical laboratory?   A basement is acceptable, a hut deep in the woods is the norm, a tower is traditional, an abandoned half wrecked castle is great, and a cave is perfect, but a garage?


    Now while I had been mulling over the rediscovery of my house¡¯s attached garage, I had failed to notice the children bringing in several small suitcases, but they suddenly captured my attention when the small pile of luggage that they had stacked up, fell over.  At that moment Clyde came in.


    ¡°Hey Vince, we¡¯re all mounted up and ready to go.  Are you all set?¡±


    Jennifer quickly presented me with my weapons and rather forcibly helped me don my vest; then she and Grace pushed me out the door of my own home saying that they would take care of moving everything and that I needn¡¯t worry.   I¡¯m doomed; at least they didn¡¯t kick me in the ass!

 Chapter 6: Knight Captain

    As I followed Clyde and looked about, I reluctantly came to the realization that it seemed like we did have too many people living here in the compound without enough solid roofs to shelter them.  Or at least it appeared that way to me, upon seeing the confusion caused by so many people moving and running about right now.  On the other hand in my opinion two people are a crowd let alone this overgrown cluster fuck.  I had thought that I had bought enough modular homes but we obviously needed more houses because of the refugees we had picked up during our actual journey back from Kilmer¡¯s.


    At Kilmer¡¯s, Clyde on my behalf had told his friends that I would do my best to keep them safe.  But with night flying monsters and no hard roofs over their heads, I wasn¡¯t living up to that implied promise.  Maybe the women had a point about moving into my house but I won¡¯t ever tell them that!


    ¡°Vince I got somebody I want to introduce you to.  I think I found the guy to lead your army.    His name is George Mesquida, he was a captain in Nam and he should have been promoted, but he pissed off some REMFs, and as a result the army lost a good officer.


    Before all this shit started, he had some severe health problems.  The doctors put him on several drugs that really messed up his thinking.  If it hadn¡¯t have been for those drugs I¡¯m sure that George would never have been dumb enough to follow Kilmer and go to his estate.


    But just like you and I have gotten healthier; the Captain is looking better now too and thankfully his mind is back to being as sharp as it ever was.  Out of all the guys we picked up I think he¡¯s the best one available to lead your security forces.  And frankly I think we¡¯re lucky to have him here with us now.¡±


    ¡°Well I pray your right Clyde but I hope he can deal with my terms.   I already told you and showed you what the Ding-Ding system has told me about being a Professional Hermit and I hope he can handle that.¡±  He grunted back at me.


    I wasn¡¯t happy about going back to Kilmer¡¯s estate today but I had made some promises and we did need some more hard sided living spaces.  What with flying monsters, tents were now far too dangerous for people to live in.  As far as the predators were concerned they probably viewed tents the same way I used to look at the paper wrappings on fast food hamburgers.  Hell, it was only sixteen miles to Kilmer¡¯s, if we didn¡¯t have to fight or waste time negotiating today we might be able to make two trips before dusk.  There had to be at least ten more trailers there that we could return to their rightful owners.


    Clyde and I were walking towards a group of men gathered near the Scorpion, the Sherman and the Hellcat.  All of them were in army green but most of their fatigues looked pretty old and faded.  Hell, even Clyde was in an old set of army fatigues.    There was one man there that seemed to be doing all of the talking and those gathered around him, appeared to be listening intently to all of his words, including Richard Jacobs who I recognized from yesterday.  I used my appraisal skill on the talkative Mister Popularity.  Even looking older than I am he was a very distinguished looking and handsome man.  I hated him immediately.  Hell, he probably had all of the girls in his high school in love with him.  He was sure to be an asshole and I think the best job for him was to be a speed bump on a test track for our armored vehicles.


    Name: George Mesquida


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl Mesquida


    Clyde should have mentioned to me that this asshole was an orange.  All the greens and oranges here have learned to control what another person sees when appraisal is used on them.  Currently blues are out of luck and we can see everything on their status screens, which is a pain for me because blue hurts my eyes.  George must have learned to hide things too, since I could only see that little bit of information about him.  I suspect he had hidden his asshole and lothario titles.  But he was an orange and I guess I¡¯ve sort of learned to trust that.  I walked up behind him, controlled my urge to kick him in the ass and introduced myself when he paused in his talking.


    ¡°Captain Mesquida, I¡¯m the Professional Hermit Vincent Standish.  Clyde tells me that you¡¯re an excellent leader of soldiers,¡± and probably a seducer of women too, you good looking asshole.  How would you like some second degree burns to your face?


    He did the Spock eyebrow raise and he pulled it off perfectly too, damn it.   I could never do it that accurately and once years ago I even dressed as Spock for a Halloween costume party.  Maybe that¡¯s when my marriage went wrong?   George Mesquida looked back at me and I¡¯m certain he ran his own appraisal.  ¡°You don¡¯t seem very much like a hermit Mister Standish, especially what with all the people you have here.¡±


    You mean I don¡¯t look impressive enough; don¡¯t you, you prick?  So I¡¯m still growing my hair back and maybe I¡¯m wearing a few chicken feathers in what I do have on my head.  But I get some minor bonuses for the feathers and I think they¡¯re rather stylish too.  All the best dressed hermits are wearing them this season, so fuck you.


    Maybe I should get a chicken as a familiar and whenever it pisses me off or if I get hungry enough, I can simply make soup out of it and then just get a new chicken.  And let us not forget the eggs that it can lay, can a cat do that, I think not!  Handsome Hank seems to be waiting for a reply, so I guess I better say something.


    ¡°If everyone on my lands had somewhere else go to, then you would be looking at the happiest hermit in a thousand miles.  Sadly we¡¯re all screwed.   Monsters are eating us, our cars don¡¯t work, electricity is kaput and I got far too many fucking people living on my land right now.   For the time being, we all just have to learn how to deal with all the shit that is going wrong in our lives.  Clyde says you¡¯re good and you¡¯re obviously an orange.  So I¡¯ve got a job offer for you but you probably won¡¯t like it.  The Ding-Ding System has acknowledged me as a Professional Hermit and Landowner.    As such, again according to the DDS, I am the absolute ruler of all the lands I legally own and beholden to no one.   Because of that, I have certain magical gifts that have come in handy, such as the ability to enchant light bulbs and manual action repeating firearms.    To protect my gifts, I have to play the role, the DDS has given me.   That means that I¡¯m the only noble here and everybody else is my flunky.   If people disagree with that or with me, then I am forced to take action or risk losing some or all of the abilities and skills that I currently possess, which could fuck us all and not just me.  I need a Captain of the Guard, and for that matter I need some trained or semi-trained thugs to staff any guard he might lead.  The question is Captain, can you put up with this kind of fuck upped situation or do you want to get off of this crazy train while you still have the chance?  Truthfully while looking at you, I don¡¯t find you that impressive but I guess you¡¯re the best I¡¯m likely to find,¡± you miserable arrogant too pretty son of a bitch.


    ¡°Will you do everything in your power to keep my darling wife Maria and her sister Sofia safe?¡±


    You¡¯re probably sleeping with both of them aren¡¯t you, you shithead?  ¡°Captain Mesquida, I¡¯m a mean asshole.  I might have an orange screen but I can assure you that I¡¯m an asshole.  I can¡¯t promise shit.  I¡¯ll do my best to keep everyone here safe and I pray that I don¡¯t screw up too often.   That¡¯s the best response you¡¯ll get from me.  If that won¡¯t do, then fuck you,¡± I snarled.


    Clyde made a sudden inhalation of breath, and maybe a few of the other men around us did as well.  George looked back at me without making a reply and I waited.  I used the time to observe everything that was going on in our immediate vicinity.  You can never have too much firsthand knowledge.  I noticed a rather loud dispute, going on about a hundred feet away from us.  ¡°Clyde, do you see those four jokers over there, that look like they¡¯re about to start swinging at one another?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I see them.¡±


    ¡°Good, I¡¯m waiting on a response from Captain Numb-nuts here.  Can you go over there and tell those four men to come see me right now, because I have the urge to yell at someone.  And you might mention to them that if they don¡¯t come here, then they won¡¯t like what happens next, though I might.  I feel the sudden need to release great amounts of anger.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing Boss,¡± he took off at a run, that chicken shit.  I better stop using that expression since I¡¯m the guy who¡¯s always wearing chicken feathers!  I kept looking around.  I saw Faith, which was good.   It was time for a little payback.   She and Isabella had evidently borrowed a tractor and it looked like they were hitching it up to Faith¡¯s travel trailer.  I yelled and waved my arms to get her attention.  She saw me and started walking over in response to my call.  In the other direction was my son-in-law James, I threw a rock at him to get his attention since he was rudely ignoring my silent telepathic shouting.  Sadly I missed his head.  He looked around angrily and saw me waving at him.  I suddenly remembered that neither of us were telepaths.  Oops, my mistake.  He started to trot in my direction.


    Faith made it to me first.  ¡°Do you need something Vincent?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until everybody is here Faith and then I¡¯ll explain.¡±  The four arguing yahoos showed up next and then Jim arrived.  They all started to talk and I politely asked them to be quiet.  ¡°Shut the fuck up you morons.  We obviously have many more people here today than we had yesterday and I have no time for settling any arguments.  Nor can this community afford any disruptive disputes.  Any fucking minute now we could be attacked.  A dragon could come out of the sky and try to kill us all.  So when I saw four arguing idiots, I decided that we needed some people to settle disruptive quarrels quickly, fairly and efficiently.  Faith Harper here,¡± I pointed at her, ¡°was a Judge in our old world and might still be one as far we know.  I worked with her and I was impressed.   James here is or was an attorney and he has an orange screen.  Both of them have true sight, so they can tell when people are lying to them.  Faith and Jim, I would like you two, to be my Peace Officers and to settle any arguments before they get out of hand.  We don¡¯t need injured people, damaged equipment or sore feelings here, not if we¡¯re going to live.  Will you both please do that for me?¡±


    They focused their attention on one another and they seemed to be communicating solely by facial expressions.   It must be some kind of secret code used by assholes, I mean lawyers.   After a final nod from Jim, Faith began talking.  ¡°What exactly are we going to be, cops, judges, or counselors?  Give us a clue Vince?¡±


    ¡°Faith we are a small community.  I don¡¯t expect this to be a full time job for you and Jim but you never know.   I wish for you to solve things as peacefully as possible.  You do have the authority to hand out punishments but I want a one line summary of all punishments at the end of the day and your victims, I mean the accused, have the right to an appeal with me.  But warn them, my punishments will be much worse than yours if I think they¡¯re in the wrong.  If the situation warrants it, think like Judge Dredd and I¡¯ll back you both up.  Remember I have true sight too.¡±  I grinned evilly at them and they both shuddered.  I believe they were recalling, how I had gently helped them gain their own true sight ability.  ¡°You are not to act like a couple of gentle Care Bears.  If some assholes give you too much grief, we can always kick them out, except for me of course.¡±


    The two lawyers walked several feet away and began whispering.  The four yahoos looked nervous and wisely kept their mouths shut.  After a few minutes the sidebar ended and the ambulance chasers came back.  Faith did the talking again.  ¡°My associate and I are willing to take on the job.¡±


    ¡°Fantastic and I thank you; first off find out why these four clowns were arguing and settle it.  Next thing to do, is to get with Steve and have him issue each of you, one of the revolvers that I¡¯ve already enchanted.  There should be three or four .357 magnums left, unless he¡¯s given them out already.¡±  I¡¯ve always liked that caliber, so I purchased it, in a lot of different models from almost every revolver manufacturer there is, once I had the money to do so.


    ¡°Then get with Glen and have him make you some shields, not badges but real functional metal shields, maybe make them buckler size so you can wear them on your belts.  Have him put some intimidating official sounding words on the front of them.   I don¡¯t have any ideas on what to say, so just figure out something on your own.  Don¡¯t put any words on the back of them, since I¡¯ll probably enchant the shields later on and I¡¯ll need the space to engrave some symbols.¡±


    I know you still have that armored vest Faith, so just keep using that.  But Jim, you need to have Glen give you some of that armor he¡¯s making now, if you don¡¯t already have something better.   I see Isabella has your trailer hooked up and ready to go, Faith.  When you get back to my house search it, some place in there, I¡¯ve got some asps and a few cans of pepper spray.  I think they¡¯re with my knives, in a big wooden box in one of my closets.   Each of you should grab a can of pepper spray and an asp.  When I have the time, I¡¯ll enchant your asps too.¡±  Why does that last sentence sound so wrong?  ¡°You might think that I¡¯m arming you up far too much for the job that I just asked you to do but I¡¯d rather have you carrying heavy than being hurt.   Besides that, you both have already fought monsters, so you must already suspect you¡¯ll likely be forced to fight them again and it wouldn¡¯t hurt, that when that time comes you¡¯re carrying a few more weapons than you previously did.  Oh, if you see any knives you like in that box you can take one but only if there are two of them.   Make sure to leave one of every style for me.   I like to buy things in pairs and sets so there should be duplicates of almost all of the knives that are in the box.¡±


    I have no idea why but when I started talking about issuing them revolvers their expressions went from being sort of gloomy to looking hopeful.   Then when I talked about the shields and asps they actually began to smile.   Perhaps they¡¯re perverts, since when did lawyers get so excited over weapons?


    I¡¯ve always liked guns for plinking and hunting.  Back when I was married I would go into the gun stores and just drool over what I saw there but I would never buy anything because I needed to save money for my family.   Before my wife left me I had one shotgun, a Mosin Nagant and a twenty-two rifle, which is not exactly like owning an arsenal of firearms.   The Mosin was my deer rifle and I bought it because it was cheap and so was the ammunition.   The shotgun and the twenty-two were my grandfather¡¯s.  Later on, I had to sell off all three firearms when I lost my job because I was still badly in debt from all the bills my ex-wife had stuck me with.


    When I won that lottery money, suddenly I could go into a gun store now and actually afford to buy something.   So I did, I bought lot of things, and it made me happy at the time, I was like one of those people that you always hear about who are constantly buying shoes or watches but never wearing them.   If I bought a certain model of firearm, I normally bought two of them, one to occasionally shoot and the other as a spare, which I left untouched in its box in case I damaged the first one.


    Now all of my firearm purchases were paying off.  Especially since ninety percent or more of the handguns, rifles and shotguns I bought were manual actions and not automatics.  I¡¯ve just never cared for automatics that much, they¡¯ve always seemed cheap to me.


    Faith and Jim took off running, like they were two kids on the way to the candy store.  I had to yell at them, to get them to stop.  Then I pointed at the four men they still had to deal with.  Boy did those two look sheepish when coming back.  Their faces were red with embarrassment, morons!


    Faith was mortified to have forgotten her first assignment.  But Vince had told them to get more weapons!  Weapons were now a very good thing in Faith¡¯s world, weapons were wonderful.   She had been issued one of Vince¡¯s Enfield rifles and now she slept with it next to her bed.   Guns kill the monsters that want to kill and eat her.  She knew that for a fact, since she had already killed more than one of them, that had been attempting to make a meal out of her.  Now she was going to get a revolver, which thrilled her but what she really wanted, was for Vince to enchant her own shotgun, in case the bats came back for her again.  However now that she was living in Vince¡¯s house, though he didn¡¯t know that yet, she could easily ask Jennifer to sneak her shotgun into his to-do bin.


    Arriving back at her starting point; she and Jim, quietly took the worried looking four men off to the side.  She stopped her daydreaming and started to question them.


    Now that Faith and Jim seemed to have that under control, I turned my attention back to Captain Don Juan who suddenly seems to have gotten shorter?  Why the hell is he on one knee in front of me?


    ¡°My Lord Standish, I George Mesquida do faithfully swear to serve you, in these times of trouble, to defend your lands and to protect those people who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    I do believe Captain Asshole is mocking me.  Well two can play at this game.  I didn¡¯t have a sword with me, so I used my carbine which is deadlier.  I touch his right shoulder with the barrel and then his left.  I even refrained from accidentally smacking his head with the barrel as I moved it from one shoulder to the other, I am a saint!  I wonder if I¡¯m doing this right, hell these are my lands, I can¡¯t be doing it wrong because I¡¯m always right.  ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir George Mesquida and I name you Captain of the Hermit¡¯s Thugs, I mean the Hermit¡¯s Guard, and may you serve long and honorably.¡±  This will teach you, you son of a bitch just who is the biggest asshole around here.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    DING


    Boy, you two really stepped in the shit this time.  George swore an almost completely open ended oath and ¡°Wonder Where his Ass is At¡± accepted it.  You¡¯re both fucked now.  Neither of you ever saw that movie ¡°Dumb and Dumber¡± did you?


    Sir George Mesquida, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Professional Hermit and Landowner Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you fulfill your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight: Every good commander needs to be able to tell truth from fiction; and accurately see what lies all around them.


    Fire Magic Level One


    Earth Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level One:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by ten percent.


    +50 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +25 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +50 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    George¡¯s eyes had gotten very big.  I had to wonder why I hadn¡¯t gotten some of the perks that he just received.  I mean I am supposed to be the Big Kahuna around here, right?  Well fuck it, the surf is up and we got things to do.  ¡°Captain Mesquida you are now in charge of all of my military forces, I will not second guess you because I don¡¯t know jack shit about military matters.   No that¡¯s probably a lie, I¡¯m an asshole so I will second guess you but I¡¯ll do my best to keep my mouth shut.  We need better defenses for this compound but we also need those trailers which will offer better protection for some of the homeless people now living here.  You decide the best way we should go about accomplishing those two goals.   Whether we should leave now or postpone our trip for a day or two while you get things better organized here.¡±


    He quickly gave me his response.  ¡°Give me an hour and then the expedition can leave.¡±  He ran off while calling out names.


    Well, I guess my hope of making two trips today is falling into the crapper.  ¡°Clyde, please find Steve and tell him how I just made George the man in charge of our defenses.  Steve is still the person in charge of organizing everything else in this rat fuck.¡±  I waved my arms about indicating everything in sight.  ¡°If he needs to see me, I¡¯ll be moping over there in that corner and working on my Earth Magic.   I hate to use you as a messenger so if you spot someone else that you can stick with the job, do so.¡±


    ¡°I got it covered Vince,¡± and he jogged off.  I yelled ¡°thanks¡± at his retreating back and he waved a hand over his shoulder acknowledging my gratitude.


    I went to the corner as I had told him I would and practiced my latest magical skill; that I had just developed.   The new ability allowed me to call rocks up from the Earth.  I had gotten the idea from an old fantasy novel that I had read years ago, it seemed to work fine during the two short tests that I had done by my house.  While some of the over two hundred acres I owned was decent farming land most of it was so full of rocks that it was next to impossible to grow any food crops on it.  I hoped in the near future to take advantage of all those rocks.


    Almost an hour later I was enjoying my quiet time.  I was in nice shady spot with no breeze; I might have even dozed off.  ¡°Vince?¡±   I heard Clyde¡¯s voice calling me to me but it was coming from above my head.  I opened my eyes and looked up.  There was now a sloped wall of rocks almost ten feet high surrounding the spot I was sitting on, not one of the rocks was touching me.   Clyde¡¯s head was peeking over the top of the rock wall and he was looking down at me with a slightly amazed but puzzled looking expression.  I explained my predicament to him.


    ¡°Mack and I need a lot of rocks to build the new walls we¡¯re planning for this compound; that is when we find the time to do it.  I was just testing a new way to get them.¡±  Almost every time I¡¯ve read an adventure story, the main character keeps their associates in the dark, so he or she can later spring surprises on them during an emergency and thus prove how wondrous he or she is.  I think that¡¯s one of the stupidest things a person can do in a real life situation like this.  If I don¡¯t see a definite reason to keep secrets then I won¡¯t keep any secrets.  On the other hand if I need to keep my mouth shut, I will and fuck them if they don¡¯t like it.


    Clyde¡¯s puzzlement disappeared.  ¡°Rocks from up to sixty feet away from you; began working themselves out of the ground and then once free of the earth, they would slowly roll or slide in your direction.  It¡¯s a good thing that it all began so gradually and you were sitting out here in the open where people could see you or they might have panicked.  Once the rocks got close enough to you, they would stop and then they just sort of naturally piled themselves up all around you, like they were a bunch of puppies trying to get closer to their momma, it was a little creepy.  The ground in some areas is now sunken in a little, in those locations where a lot of the rocks came out of the earth.  Mack is inspecting the fence to make sure that it didn¡¯t take any damage but so far it looks alright.   Since the fence nearest you is one of the inner fences it¡¯s not even close to being as important as the outer fence line.¡±


    I nodded my head in agreement to Clyde¡¯s last statement and I was thankful for his detailed report about what had happened.  I had actually been trying to only call rocks from twenty feet away or less; not sixty feet, which means I was also grabbing them from sixty feet down.  I was lucky that I hadn¡¯t caused any damage with my first large scale attempt of this spell.  Maybe next time I should keep my eyes open but it¡¯s so much easier to do most of my magic tricks and keep my mental focus when my eyes are shut.  I had the strongest feeling during this magic experiment; that the only reason that it had been so easy for me to do, was because I was doing it on MY LAND.


    Clyde continued to talk.  ¡°The Captain has things organized so we can go now.  He¡¯s appointed two lieutenants, some noncoms, and he¡¯s gotten some additional weapons out of Steve.  The other new members of the Hermit¡¯s Guard will patrol and drill while we¡¯re gone.¡±


    We mounted up and left the compound, Captain Mesquida had changed our formation.  The Hellcat was now in front, the Sherman Grizzly was in the middle and the Scorpion took the tail.  I was curious why he had changed things but I didn¡¯t let it bother me.  I knew the Hellcat had one inch of steel armor compared to the Scorpion¡¯s half inch of aluminum.  The only thing that I didn¡¯t like was that I was stuffed into the Grizzly now.  I thought the Hellcat was cooler and of course Captain Mesquida had chosen that as his new ride; that putz.


    We were making good time but when we were halfway there we were suddenly charged by six mega rhinos.  I have never seen a rhinoceros before but they don¡¯t usually get as big as a full size cargo van, do they?


    Somehow, Captain Mesquida seemed to be ready for them and he had the cannon on the Hellcat already pointed in the right direction when the rhinos first appeared.  Grape shot, consisting of fifty caliber lead balls, were the only projectiles we had for our fifty and seventy-five millimeter cannons.   They seemed to work against the beasts but only at close range, which I didn¡¯t appreciate at all.  I¡¯m just glad I didn¡¯t pee my pants.  Luckily, the rhinos weren¡¯t super tough, just super aggressive.  The Scorpion veered off to the side, in order to get clear lines of fire on the beasts.  It managed to kill half of the monsters with its little 20mm bolt action cannon.  The Sherman¡¯s cannon only fired once and I¡¯m not certain that it killed any of the monsters on its own.  Afterwards the Captain insisted that we stop and examine the animals, he wanted to know how we had killed them and where their vital organs were.  In case we ever fought them again, so that the next time we could kill them even faster.


    George ordered the armored vehicles to form a rough triangle around two of the corpses and I dug out a chain saw.  Cutting into them was kind of like sawing into a hardwood like black walnut at first.    It was a messy job but I guess we had to do it and I had no objections.


    Storm Wind had heard the sounds of thunder and the roars of monsters.  Ever since coming to this cursed place, he had been in constant fear for the tiny portion of his clan; that had been swept away with him from their mother world.  At far too young an age he was now the Clan Chief after the passing of his Aunt, may gentle winds take her valiant soul to Heaven.  He wanted to investigate the sounds of thunder himself but he knew that doing so was no longer his job, so he sent Tornado Challenger instead.  He had firmly ordered the Challenger to be careful but he knew that it was a futile desire.  No other flyer in the world would soar when there were tornadoes about but the Challenger had done it twice.


    I was wondering if rhinos were good eating when I got the urge to stop and take a piss break.  I wasn¡¯t that desperate to take a leak so I slowly meandered over to the gap between the Scorpion and the Cat.  Clyde called out, ¡°Hey Vince where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to inspect my penis, ever since all this shit started it¡¯s been growing about half an inch per week.   I hope it stops growing soon because it¡¯s gotten so big that¡¯s it¡¯s a little uncomfortable now if you know what I mean.¡±  There was a sudden silence behind me as all the men stopped talking.  I imagined that all of them were now wondering if every man¡¯s penis on this planet was growing bigger except for theirs.


    George yelled out, ¡°You really are an asshole, aren¡¯t you?¡±  I flipped him the finger and Clyde called out in reply.


    ¡°How could you have ever doubted it, Captain?  But whatever you do don¡¯t ask him to ever teach you anything.  The Ding-Ding System has set things up so that the nastier he is as an instructor, the better chance you have of learning any subject that he teaches, and I¡¯m firmly convinced that the Boss enjoys being nasty far too much.¡±


    I was pissing on the grass when I looked up and something immediately caught my attention.  I couldn¡¯t stop peeing and since there seemed to be no immediate threat, I decided to use appraisal while I continued to water the grass.


    Challenger looked down at the strange flightless beings with the large moving noisy machines.  His people had mastered windmills, waterwheels and the printing press so while he was impressed he wasn¡¯t in awe.  Tornadoes could awe him but nothing less than that.  He used his new appraisal skill and was gladdened to see that there were two oranges and all the rest were greens.   He was wondering if he should try and make friendly contact with them.  Others thought of him as being reckless and he was, but only when it was just his own life at risk.  He would never do anything to jeopardize his clan, especially not now when every pair of wings mattered to them.   He watched as a person, with an orange plaque, walked between two of the machines and started to relieve himself.  For a moment there he was certain that the man had spotted him but the strange person hadn¡¯t reacted at all and had just continued to calmly pee.


    I read the green status screen I suddenly saw before me.


    Name: Tornado Challenger


    Title: The Daredevil


    Title: Scout of the Long Flight Clan


    I loudly called out.  ¡°All right men I need you to listen to me very carefully now.  Hold your fire; I have just spotted a nonhuman green screen sentient.  He is observing us.  He is a tan and brown feathered humanoid, and is less than four feet tall.  He¡¯s on a large tree branch about one hundred feet away from me.  There are wings coming out of his back and when they are folded up, they look like they extend another foot and a half above his head.  So if you¡¯re measuring from the bottom of his feet, to the elbow joint in his wings, that makes him almost six feet tall in total height.   He¡¯s dressed in what appears to be a thin brown leather shirt and pants.  He¡¯s carrying a spear and there might be a knife on his belt.  His green status screen says his name is Tornado Challenger.  I suppose that has to be a translation of some kind.  His title is Scout of the Long Flight Clan.  He is certainly far from home and probably scared so let¡¯s not screw this up.¡±


    DING


    As an absolute monarch you have the ability to understand any sentient being, you wish to communicate with and have them understand you as well, if you so desire.


    Well that¡¯s a convenient new skill.  I could hear the Captain giving out orders to the men.  I let Challenger see that I was watching him, but boy he has the coolest name.  He could meet Luke Skywalker in a bar and just sneer at him because of his superior sounding name.  Why don¡¯t I have a cool name like that?


    Challenger read the screen of the man that was now obviously observing him.  How could this strange person be a hermit when he was surrounded by so many people?  Suddenly the man began to speak and an orange screen appeared before Challenger¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Tornado Challenger the Ding-Ding System has given me the ability to talk with you, so please don¡¯t be alarmed.  We wish you no harm and I¡¯m hoping that you feel the same way towards us.  We were warned by the Ding-Ding System that our world would be changing.  Many of our machines no longer work, we are gaining strange abilities and we see colored status screens.   Monsters are coming onto our world and have killed many of us.  Be careful, some of my fellow humans, out of fear, might mistake you for a monster and attack without warning.   I also give you another warning a small minority of humans are not good people and might attack you just because they can get away with it and they are evil.  I would like to talk with you, so we may learn about one another and hopefully in that way pose less of threat to each other through ignorance.  Another warning, I am a rude person but not an evil person.¡±


    Before me I saw a green screen as he replied.  ¡°Vincent Standish I see you.  I am a scout for my clan.  I am sure my clan leader will want to meet with you.  Can you wait here while I bring him?¡±


    ¡°Challenger, my group here is on a short expedition to retrieve some shelters for my people.  I would like to complete this task and meet back up with you on our return trip in no more than four hours time.  If we do things that way, you won¡¯t need to rush and I can still get the shelters my people need.  Is that alright with you?¡±


    That is very okay with me.  We will be waiting here upon your return.  Journey safely Vincent Standish.¡±


    Journey safely, Tornado Challenger.  If your people eat meat and you find these beasts we recently killed are appetizing for you, you may freely help yourselves to them.  But watch out for the large pellets of lead that we drove into the creatures to end their lives.  The pellets are slightly poisonous for my people and they may choke you if mistakenly swallowed.


    Challenger lifted his spear in salute and took off flying away from us.  Our examination of the rhinos showed us, as we had expected that the fifty calibers balls had been far less individually effective than the 20mm bullets.  It looks like we¡¯ll be mounting some 20mm rifles, by the commander¡¯s hatches on our vehicles as soon as we can and we¡¯ll also be making some slightly bigger grape shot for their main guns.

 Chapter 7: Ouch!

    I don¡¯t know what the other two vehicle crews talked about for the rest of the journey to Kilmer¡¯s but, in the Sherman tank, we couldn¡¯t stop speculating about the Long Flight Clan.


    Captain Mesquida was taking no chances with that son of a bitch Kilmer.   George was sure that Martin would attack if he thought he had even the slightest chance of capturing one of the Boss¡¯s tanks.  A half mile away from the estate, Captain Mesquida and Rich Jacobs dismounted to scout on foot the rest of their route to Kilmer¡¯s.  George was carrying an Enfield rifle and upon overhearing Vince¡¯s earlier conversation with his two new Peace Officers he too had gone to Steve Monet and requested a revolver.  Rich was armed with a Springfield rifle and an absolutely huge Bowie knife.  They knew Kilmer had twenty-two adults that were still loyal to him, so they were cautious but not unduly worried since those adults were former employees and none were known to be military veterans, except for Kilmer.


    George and Rich found two trees that had been almost completely cut through.  The cut trees only remained upright because of a network of ropes tying them to the intact nearby trees.  Once those ropes were severed the trees would fall and block the long driveway in to Kilmer¡¯s estate.   They also found two poorly disguised shallow and wide muddy pit traps that might cause a track to be thrown or a tank to get briefly stuck, thus giving an attacker an opportunity to douse their armored vehicles with burning oil.  Or more likely cause the travel trailers to get stuck on their return trip back to the Hermit¡¯s compound.  To their relief they found no hidden charges of black powder.  Rich ascertained that one of the trees had been cut improperly and would not fall across the driveway; instead it would twist and fall to the right.  As for the other tree they would use Kilmer¡¯s own ropes and a come-along from the Hellcat to pull it down in the opposite direction.   But first George wanted to deal with the two pit traps using his new Earth Magic.  He had seen Vince call up those rocks and he had been itching to give his own new powers a try.  They had to hurry though, because even with their quieter steam engines, both men were certain that Kilmer must have already heard the three tracked vehicles.


    Captain Mesquida crept up to the pit trap that was closest to the estate and put his hand on the ground while Rich kept watch.  George closed his eyes and concentrated on the earth around him and the pit trap.  It was fairly shallow and the trap probably wouldn¡¯t have worked anyways but the Captain wanted to take no chances besides that they wanted to leave the estate with the trailers, which the traps might have actually damaged.  It was hard for him, since it was his first attempt at magic, but he managed to subtly change the pit into a sloped and wide gentle dip in the driveway.  Fifteen minutes later he did the same to the other pit and ten minutes after that they were back with the tanks.


    All three armored vehicles then drove forward and stopped just before the cut trees.  George and Rich got out and pulled the tree down as planned using a come-along, they both hoped that the sound of the three steam engines covered up the crashing noise caused by the falling tree.


    Kilmer heard the tracks coming close to his estate and then the engine noise stopped for almost an hour.  The engines finally restarted and resumed drawing closer but he was worried by the long delay.  He knew that he had messed up once again but this time his money and lawyers couldn¡¯t bail him out.  He had been raised in a family of unscrupulous business men who had three mottos, never give a sucker an even break, if you are not cheating you¡¯re not trying, and if you haven¡¯t been sent to prison then you¡¯ve done nothing to worry about.  His political and military contacts had assured him, that what the Warnings were saying was exaggerated and that there was no way that the Earth would completely lose electricity, fossil fuel powered engines or explosives.   Because he didn¡¯t want to spend his own money in preparing properly, he had stupidly decided to put his complete trust in his contacts.  However, he had hedged his bets a little and he had gathered a large group of veterans at his estate to act as cannon fodder or as canaries for any danger that might come his way.


    But things hadn¡¯t gone the way he had planned on; in fact everything had gone completely to hell.  Almost half of his canaries had died in two silent night time attacks.  Those still alive were getting younger, healthier and what was worse for Kilmer; they were getting back the clear quick thinking minds of their youth.  His wife, mistress, children and grandchildren were terrified; then had come Clyde Jenkins with his three tanks.  He had thought that they were now saved and he had proclaimed as such to his family but he had been wrong.


    Instead he had learned that the man leading the group Clyde now belonged to was one of those he had personally shafted.  Martin didn¡¯t like to remember that decision because it had turned out to be a huge mistake that had cost him a lot of money.  He had thought of Standish as simply being another overpaid senior employee that he could cheaply replace with someone younger, he had been wrong.


    Kilmer had listened in as Clyde talked to his fellow veterans and had described the paradise that Standish had built.  Running water, magic lights, extra strong twelve foot tall fences topped with barbed wired, plenty of food, toilet paper, four tracked armored vehicles, cannons and a working machine shop that was turning out even more wonders.  Kilmer wanted what Standish had built and planned on stealing it as soon as he could, and Martin had a lot of experience in taking what belonged to others.  He figured that once he got his hands on either the Sherman or both the other tanks, that he could just roll on back to Standish¡¯s place and declare himself the new master there.


    To Kilmer, it sounded like the tanks had paused again.   Soon they might get stuck in the pit traps and he would joyfully come out, offering assistance.  If that didn¡¯t work before they left with the trailers he would drop the two trees forcing them to exit their vehicles and he would then sneak his own people into the tanks.  Hopefully he wouldn¡¯t be forced to kill Standish.   Kilmer thought if he was going to set himself up as a king in this new world that he might need a court wizard and apparently Standish had the magical ability necessary for the job.   Suddenly he heard the sounds of a soft crash but he wasn¡¯t entirely sure because of the noise that the tanks were making.


    George went back to talk to his new boss.  ¡°Lord Standish what do you want me to do when we enter Kilmer¡¯s estate?¡±


    ¡°First off, don¡¯t call me Lord Standish ever again.  Vince or Boss are both fine and I¡¯ve been known to answer to ¡®Hey, Asshole¡¯.   The trailers at Kilmer¡¯s estate belong to people that have freely come to me for protection, while in turn offering their services.  According to Clyde who has true sight as you do too now, Kilmer tricked you and those other people into coming to his estate by telling lies and fabrications.


    Now according to the Ding-Ding system, I am the head of state of my own little country.  What I would like for you to do is to ascertain by questioning Kilmer why those traps were laid, if they were intended for us which is probably true.   Then I would like for you to take Martin Kilmer into custody for that deliberate action, which represents a planned and premeditated attack against me and those who serve me.  But only do this if you think we can do it with a minimal risk to yourself and the others here.


    Once you have him in custody, you and I will talk and then we¡¯ll decide what our next steps should be.  I expect that we might keep him with us for a few days while we¡¯re returning all of the trailers back to their rightful owners and then on our last trip we¡¯ll return him here but you never know; things may change.  I¡¯ll of course leave the planning and execution to you and if you think we should turn around right now, then that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.  If you need my abilities they are of course at your disposal.  I can do a pretty mean flame strike which is something like a very powerful flame thrower and I¡¯m a fair shot.  I can also function as a healer if it¡¯s necessary but I hope it¡¯s not.  Remember the lives of the people here including your own are more important to me than Kilmer¡¯s life.¡±


    ¡°I understand Vince.  I¡¯ll brief the men.  Basically I¡¯m going to instruct them to keep their guard up, keep alert, and think smart. I¡¯ll designate sectors and areas that they¡¯ll be focusing their attention on.  We¡¯ll look too for an opportunity to take away the weapons his people currently possess.¡±


    George briefed his men, and I was assigned to be the medic.


    Kilmer was waiting in his mansion along with everyone else; the gate was no longer manned.  He saw the tanks drive up and Richard Jacobs dismount and open the gate.  The Sherman stopped in the gateway while the other two vehicles drove over to the travel trailers.  Martin got concerned and then furious when they didn¡¯t even knock on his door to talk with him!  They barged onto his estate like they were the lords of all they surveyed.  Absolutely nobody treated him that way.  While there were twenty-two adults with him, only nine of them were men and he completely discounted the women.  Kilmer was an old fashioned male chauvinist and held little respect for any female.  He made certain to marry a woman who was weak willed in his opinion, he had a mistress who was the same, and he only hired women with feeble personalities so in that way nothing challenged his world view.  Of course nothing was perfect and some of his senior male employees had married bright, successful and assertive women but he simply ignored them.  He did have a problem though with his teenage granddaughter.


    I watched from the Sherman as the Scorpion and then the Hellcat each hooked up to trailers.  Some of the trailers located here were of the fifth wheel variety and we would have to leave those for later.  We first needed to locate a fifth wheel trailer dolly to move them.  Clyde had mentioned that he might know a place where could find one.  George¡¯s plan was to goad Kilmer into action simply by ignoring the arrogant bastard.  If we didn¡¯t get him today we could always try again tomorrow.  The Scorpion moved towards the gate and Jeff who was the new commander of the Sherman ordered us forward so we could hitch up to a trailer of our own.  The Hellcat with its trailer parked itself about halfway to the gate.


    Kilmer was beyond enraged, they were just going to drive off and not even give him the Hawken rifle that he had been promised.  He gathered what he thought of as his fire team and went outside to confront the trespassers.


    George had the Hellcat positioned in such a way that it could watch both the north and east sides of the mansion.  He kept an eye on both doors and windows to make sure the Kilmer didn¡¯t try anything.   Captain Mesquida had been certain that Kilmer would angrily storm out when he saw that they were ignoring him but that hadn¡¯t happened.


    He saw Vince was outside the Sherman and directing it as it slowly backed up, so it could hook to a large travel trailer by the house.  George took his eyes off of Vince for just a couple of seconds and went to take a quick glance at the front door of the mansion when out of the corner of his left eye he caught a flicker of movement.  He felt the blood drain from his face.  HOW THE HELL DID THEY GET THERE?


    I was looking down and watching the tank¡¯s hitch get closer to the tow ball on the trailer.  When a shadow fell across where I was looking.  The tank had already stopped, I looked up.  Now how in the fuck did this happen?


    Kilmer loaded his old antique coachmen¡¯s blunderbuss.  Terence, Allan, Bradley and Troy were all armed with new Hawken rifles and had their bayonets fixed.  All the men were a little nervous but they were loyal men and blue screens just like Martin.  So Kilmer knew that they had their priorities right and didn¡¯t believe in any of that fair play bullshit.  Terry and Allan were accountants, while Bradley and Troy were both lawyers, all four men were his employees.  The group of five men took the stairs going down to the basement; Kilmer was going to teach those moronic peasants outside his home just who was the smarter man here.


    Martin and his team went to the northeast corner of the mansion¡¯s basement; there they came to what looked like an extremely large electrical panel.  Kilmer hit a couple of hidden latches and whole panel box swung away from the wall.  On the other side of it was an almost duplicate panel on the outside of the house.  Kilmer had this secret entrance installed years ago because of some of his more questionable but perfectly legal activities.  He needed a stool to climb through the two foot by three foot opening.  As planned, the bushes he had his gardeners plant at this corner of his home, perfectly hid his exit.  His men quickly followed him.  He peeked through the bushes and saw that the watchers on both of the closer tanks were looking away for a moment.


    Seeing the opportunity Kilmer led his team at light jogging pace over to the person who was ground guiding the tank.  Martin gloated, he would have his hostage now and soon everything would be under his control!


    Jeff Vargas had been a sergeant in Nam and had commanded and occasionally driven an M113 APC.  The Sherman wasn¡¯t as nimble in comparison but he was getting the hang of it.  He was still trying to figure out why Clyde liked the Scorpion so much.   Jeff, in the command hatch, was relaying instructions from the Boss to the tank¡¯s driver, when he suddenly saw some movement that wasn¡¯t supposed to be there.  He ordered the tank to halt and turned pale at the scene that had abruptly unfolded before him.  Ah, fuck!


    I looked up and I found I was looking into the mouth of short piece of pipe with an inner diameter in excess of an inch, which was far too close to me.  It took me a second to figure out what I was looking at, in Martin Kilmer¡¯s trembling hands.  It was an old short barreled flintlock shotgun or blunderbuss as they used to call them and I knew that at short ranges they were extremely deadly.


    Kilmer began to speak and he was almost foaming at the mouth.  ¡°I¡¯ve got you now Standish.  You miserable thieving bastards thought you could come in here and simply take away all of my trailers and then just drive off because you have some old tanks, didn¡¯t you?   Well you¡¯re not inside your tank now, are you?   You are now my prisoner and you will do exactly what I say or I will blow your head clean off.  You might be wearing a fancy vest but your face sure as hell isn¡¯t protected.  Now toss away that revolver you¡¯re wearing on your hip.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Damn it, my magnum is going to get all dirty now!  I gently tossed the gun as directed but away from my foes.  I sure as hell, didn¡¯t want to get shot by my own gun.  Seeing the barrel of Kilmer¡¯s weapon pointed at me, only one solution came to mind since my nonexistent magical force shield was on the fritz.   A flame strike might cause Kilmer¡¯s weapon to fire, so I had to rely on my Earth Magic.  My power was weaker in this instance for two reasons.  The first being that we weren¡¯t on my land and the second because there was no direct earth connection between me and the old shotgun, instead there was a large air gap between us.  I viewed any solid materials as being part of my Earth Magic, even liquids to a slight degree but one day if I lived through this, I would have to work on learning both Water and Air Magic.  My plan was to pull the shot and powder out of the blunderbuss like I had called the rocks out of ground back at my compound.  The problem with that, was that Kilmer¡¯s weapon was pointed directly at my face, so even if I started to loosen the powder and shot, at this range if he pulled the trigger it would still hurt, but it was the only game in town and I decided to play the cards that I had been dealt.  The frizzen on the blunderbuss¡¯s pan was down so I couldn¡¯t dispose of that powder; I could only call the shot and powder loaded in the barrel.


    ¡°Now Standish you and your men are going to do everything that I say or I will kill you.  Thanks for our new rifles by the way, they¡¯re a lot better than the old antiques that I have, especially considering the bayonets.  You order your men to turn off their engines and get out of the tanks, while leaving their personal weapons behind and do it now you piece of dog shit!¡±


    I had to handle this calmly or I might get killed here and death was the one thing that I feared most in this world.  Oops, I almost lied to myself because I feared canned spinach more than death and karaoke too, then there were gelatin desserts, I really hate those.  Crowds, I fucking hate crowds.  Hey, if I died here I wouldn¡¯t have to go back to my now crowded house!   So exactly why did I fear death, so much?  I¡¯d have to think about that.  I was slowly pulling the shot and a little bit of the powder through the barrel of the old shotgun, certainly the explosive charge wasn¡¯t as compacted as much as it had been.   The patch on top of the shot was slowing things down, so I was yanking that out too.


    As the saying goes dust to dust and earth to earth, if it¡¯s solid matter then it falls under my Earth Magic¡¯s purvey as far as I¡¯m concerned.  I decided to distract Kilmer with some polite and witty conversation, and answer his latest request.


    ¡°Fuck off Kilmer; I am not going to order anyone out of their vehicles.  You might kill me and shoot one or even two of the others but then the others will blow you and your mansion to pieces.¡±  My witticisms are astonishingly entertaining.  I have to wonder why the President and the Governor have never invited me to any of their fancy soirees.  I can even do card tricks.


    Kilmer saw his vision go red with rage and then he saw things beginning to fall out of the barrel of his blunderbuss.  Curious he began to lower it.  As he started to lower it he realized what was falling out and in desperation he pulled the trigger while there were was still something in his gun.


    I saw the patch fall out of the barrel but Kilmer seems to have noticed it too.  He started to lower the weapon away from my face which was good.  It was now aimed at my vest but it continued to lower and then it went off.  I found myself moving a foot or two backwards and experiencing terrible pain in my entire pelvic region.  Just another normal day in my life, instead of being kicked in the crotch, I get shot in it!


    All the men in the vehicles had the same thought.  ¡°Oh my God, they shot Vince!  Those bastards!¡±  Then they opened fire which might not have been needed since Vince as he was pushed slightly backwards by the shot launched a flame strike with his right hand.  That magic attack instantly killed three of the men and seriously wounded the remaining two.


    Thirteen year old Melissa Kilmer watched as the man she hated most in the world confronted the men with the tanks.  She was scared but she had been scared for over a month now.  At first she had hoped to get some wonderful magical power that could change her life and her parents¡¯ lives for the better but that hadn¡¯t happened.  Then it got worse as she and her parents were forced to go and live at her grandfather¡¯s estate.  Her parents were completely under his thumb and she hated Grandfather Kilmer for that.  He made her father do awful things that he didn¡¯t want to do and humiliated her mother at every opportunity.  She wanted him dead!  She saw her grandfather in his silly too-tight fancy dress uniform confront a man wearing jeans, a t-shirt and an armored vest like she¡¯s seen policeman wear on television.  Suddenly her grandfather shot the unarmed man and in response fire leaped from the right hand of the stranger and engulfed her grandfather and the other four men with him.  She screamed and so did everyone else who was gathered at the window and watching.


    Clyde had been watching the scene with a pair of binoculars one of his small crew had already disconnected the trailer and he was ready to drive the Scorpion back to aid Vince.  When he saw the Boss get shot, he got his tank moving and aimed for the very large double front doors of the mansion.


    Rich was cursing a blue streak, as he aimed the Hellcat¡¯s cannon at the first floor windows on the northeast corner mansion.  He was certain that Kilmer was dead but he was wondering what he and everyone else was going to do if the Boss was dead too which he probably was.   As far as he knew while some other people at the compound might have some magic, Vince was the only one who was enchanting things that everyone could use.


    Clyde too had seen Kilmer¡¯s people gathered at the windows inside the northeast corner of the building.   So when he crashed through the doors and he saw another wide interior doorway immediately to his left, he did a skid steer right through it and into the mansion¡¯s large front living room.  To say that the people there were terrified would be putting it mildly, to say they crapped their pants would be describing it accurately.


    Bill Kilmer, the son of Martin Kilmer, put himself in front of the group gathered there.  He didn¡¯t know what he could do to protect his family but maybe if he sacrificed himself to the no doubt furious men in the tanks they might leave the others unharmed.


    It¡¯s a good thing that I had a lot of practice healing other people.  The first thing I did was to block the pain and the second was to try and stop the bleeding.


    DING-DING


    We have a winner, yes it is TUESDAY!  I¡¯m in the money, I¡¯m in the money, and the sky is honey.


    For once, I¡¯m not only seeing an orange screen I¡¯m hearing the words too.  It¡¯s a man¡¯s voice but it¡¯s nothing special in terms of musical talent, however I¡¯m also experiencing a strange vision of a cartoon rabbit dancing around a carrot patch while throwing golden coins about with its paws.


    Well Vince or should I call you Vanessa considering you¡¯re now missing a certain part of your anatomy.  You really fucked up this time.  Safety tip, don¡¯t tell a man who is pointing a shotgun at you to fuck off.  Now you might survive this if you can get your bleeding under control but so far you aren¡¯t doing so hot.  I estimate that you¡¯ve already lost, at least a pint and a half of the red stuff, if you lose just over three pints you¡¯ll probably lose consciousness and die since you won¡¯t be able to fix yourself.  Fix, get it, you know how you humans take your pets in to be ¡®fixed,¡¯ well you¡¯ve just been ¡®fixed¡¯ really good.  You know if you had seen a martial arts instructor when you had the opportunity to, you might have learned something and as result you might have increased your stamina which would have given you a better chance of surviving this cut to your manhood, Vanessa.  But some idiot decided to rely on martial arts books and DVDs and said idiot, never even bothered to take the time to watch any of those DVDs or read a single one of those books he bought.  Ooh, it actually looks like your getting the bleeding under control and you¡¯re only down two and a half pints.  In the future when you want to know your blood levels just stick a dipstick up your ass instead of getting shot.


    The orange screen faded away and I saw Jeff looking down at me.  I held up my right hand to signal him not to approach any closer.  I needed help but only certain kinds.  I most definitely did not need anyone to open my pants right now.  I needed all my bits and pieces in one spot and close as possible to me.  I motioned him over with my finger.  He bent down over my head so he could listen to me.  ¡°Jeff you¡¯re new but you might have already heard that I¡¯m a healer.  I¡¯m going to need a supply of water to get my fluid levels back up and you need to wash my right hand.


    I need to manipulate some things down in my pants, and my hand is far too dirty right now to safely do that.   If my cock hadn¡¯t grown so much during these last few weeks I would have taken far less damage.¡±  I joked with him.


    Clyde had backed his tank out of the house thinking it wasn¡¯t the best idea to drive his multi-ton vehicle onto the first floor of a house with a basement.  But first, he used the threat of sudden life ending violence to get all of those in the mansion to exit via the shattered front doors.


    George was not amused, he checked on Vince and then he turned his attention on his prisoners.  There were only five adult men left alive, two of those men were blues and the other three were greens.  There were thirteen women and they were surprisingly all greens.   Then there were eight children with the oldest one being a girl.  She was an orange and two of other children were also oranges.  The rest of the children were all greens including surprisingly enough what appeared to be the youngest child, ¡°he must be a little hellion to be a green already,¡± thought George.


    Captain Mesquida started giving orders to his tank crew.  I noticed the Hellcat had come roaring up with its trailer and both were now parked between me and the house.  I very carefully and gently stuck my hand down the front of my underwear.  I needed to align and move some of my formerly attached pieces of flesh so that they would properly reconnect.


    I didn¡¯t need to see things with my eyes.  I had developed something I called healer¡¯s sight which was like a three dimensional holographic image that I held in my mind for whatever person I was currently working on.  I could zoom in and easily see things at the cellular level in this image.  Using it, I knew exactly where to exert my power to make a repair.  It took me over an hour and a half but I got Franken-dick sort of put back together again as well the other parts in my pelvic region.  I would still need to do a lot of fine repairs to my body but I had fixed worse than this on other people.  So I knew that it would just take time especially what with all the nerve damage.


    I called George over and he hurried to my side.  ¡°How are you doing Boss?¡±


    ¡°Well at least you didn¡¯t ask me; how are they hanging?¡±  He snorted back a laugh.  ¡°I¡¯m sort of in one piece but I¡¯m tired and in very delicate shape right now.  I¡¯ll need you to get a stretcher or something like it.  I need to be carried and put on a bed in one of the trailers we¡¯re moving.   We still need to meet with the Long Flight Clan but we¡¯re probably going to arrive late.  What about the people here?  What do you think we should do about them?¡±


    ¡°Well Clyde messed up their front doors but while you were healing yourself Rich found some lumber and put a patch on the mansion.  I¡¯ve spoken with all of them and truthfully, I think we should take the entire group back with us, even the blues.   Kilmer was an asshole and he forced them into doing things that they didn¡¯t want to do.  All of them even his wife, mistress, son, daughter-in-law, daughter, granddaughter and his former employees are relieved that he¡¯s dead.  The man was able to spin a web that these people just couldn¡¯t see a way out of while he was alive.¡±


    ¡°Okay, if that¡¯s how you feel, I have no reason to object.  Let¡¯s get going then as quickly as possible.  I don¡¯t want to keep the Long Flight Clan waiting longer than is necessary.  I¡¯ve just expended a lot of energy in healing myself.  I don¡¯t know what food we have on hand but if you can find me something to eat, it would be great.  Right now, I need protein and carbohydrates.¡±


    I had used some of the tissue from my conveniently close fat ass to fix little Vincent.  It felt really creepy while I was moving even those little tiny bits of tissue, almost like I had little worms moving beneath my flesh.   What the hell am I thinking?  I needed more than a few little bits of tissue to replace the missing pieces in my mighty member.  I needed vast quantities of flesh from my taut Adonis like buttocks.   Those are the lies I¡¯m telling myself and I¡¯m sticking to them.


    I was gently moved into the trailer that was hitched to the Sherman, and put on a bed inside.  George came through for me and he found a couple bags of turkey jerky and some snack bars for me eat.  Rich appointed himself my keeper and stayed with me in the trailer for our trip.   Our latest recruits were put in the Hellcat¡¯s travel trailer and we set off.  I was thankful for my skill in pain blocking during the bumpy ride.

 Chapter 8: Who Likes Calamari?

    Faith, Grace, Isabella and Jennifer were busy getting things organized in their new home.  Vincent Standish might be a grump and look disheveled but he had certain qualities that the four ladies found most attractive nowadays.  Those qualities had encouraged the ladies to slightly exaggerate the housing problem that the Hermit¡¯s Village was now experiencing.  Luckily for them, they had embellished things only a trifle, and Vince had been so distracted by his work and their presentation, that even with his true sight he had failed to catch on to their slight overstatement of the true situation.


    Despite having a prickly exterior Vincent was in fact a caring and compassionate man and all four women liked that about him.  This attribute was proven by the way he had helped so many wrongly incarcerated people regain their freedom, and then financially helped those newly liberated people.  And for a lucky few, such as themselves, he had even opened up his home for them.  That was not even taking into account the charities that he had donated heavily to before and after the first Warnings messages.  The four ladies appreciated how he was bringing new magical conveniences back into their daily lives to replace the old ones that they had lost.  The four women were thrilled by how he was making their old repeating firearms functional once again.  They adored how he could burn monsters down to their very bones with a single wave of his hand.  And they absolutely loved his house, which had exterior walls built of sixteen inches of reinforced concrete and a heavy gauge steel roof.  Yes, those were all qualities that could cause a girl to fall hard and fast for such a man who possessed them, poor Vince.


    On the other hand, all four of the green screen women were extremely honorable and intelligent.  Two of them had lost their orange status by only the smallest of margins while the other two were only fractionally worse.  The ladies realized that they were putting a burden on the Hermit by moving into his house.  Real life was about giving and taking.  Right now they were only taking from Vincent and they were intelligent enough to comprehend that such was an untenable situation for the long term, which could easily lead to disaster for all four women.  They were also honorable enough to thoroughly detest being only a taker, like his ex-wife and children had been.  Isabella, Grace, Jennifer and Faith, had all privately vowed to make things right with Vincent for their recent actions.


    Beyond that, the desperate mind bending world altering situation that the ladies, were all now living in, could alter the strongest personalities or perhaps let some people perceive what is really and truly important in life.  Because all four women now found that grumpy unkempt foul mouthed compassionate dependable men, who wore chicken feathers in their hair, were now almost irresistibly attractive.


    Boris Khan was now the newly appointed senior Lieutenant of the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  And he felt really small and lonely as he saw the three tanks drive out the front gates.  He and his family were definitely in a better position now than they had been in yesterday.  But he didn¡¯t like the fact that he was losing the firepower and armor of all three vehicles and the local wizard to boot, especially when it was now his responsibility to protect the village until the Captain returned.


    Even though over a hundred people including himself; had been brought to the compound yesterday only twenty-one of them had any military training or combat experience, which was actually a pretty high ratio when compared to a normal civilian population sample.  Boris¡¯s problem was that eleven of them just left the compound and according to Clyde only two other people in the Hermit¡¯s village had any military experience and Clyde, who had just left, was one of them.  He turned to resume talking to Steve Monet the village logistics expert.


    ¡°Steve, I appreciate the repeating firearms but can you please let me have some more experienced fighters?  I¡¯ve got ten men, including myself and the six you¡¯re willing to lend me but that isn¡¯t enough, not with the size of this place.¡±


    ¡°First off Boris, you don¡¯t know how hard it was for me, to get those repeating firearms away from the people who had already been issued them.  They did not like having to go back to using the muzzle loading Hawken rifles for self defense.  Currently, Vince is the only one here who can make repeating firearms.  Grace and Ron have both tried duplicating his engravings but they haven¡¯t been able to make an enchantment work as of yet.  As of today, we only have thirty-four functional repeating long arms and six revolvers, not counting the 20mm rifles which are flintlocks.   Twelve of those repeating rifles and shotguns, along with one revolver just now left with the tanks.  The Boss has his own personal weapons, so I didn¡¯t count those.  Our new Peace Keepers get to keep all of their weapons, and in addition Glen, Mack and I get to keep our revolvers.  That leaves us with twenty-two repeating long arms and you¡¯ve got all of them plus twenty-six Hawken rifles.   And don¡¯t forget all of our fixed mortar emplacements, with the steel the shop had in stock; they were actually easier to build than our Hawken rifles, according to Glen.


    As for manpower, I wish I could let you have some more but with all these newcomers I need experienced people to show them around and where to work.  If you can find any newcomers that are willing to be trained, you can grab them; so long as they don¡¯t already have a skill that we desperately need, like a machinist or farmer.


    I suggest you get with Glen and have him familiarize you with the Priest.  Clyde has probably already told you about it, but it¡¯s basically configured as an APC now and it¡¯s equipped with six 20mm rifles.¡±


    Boris sighed in defeat, ¡°Okay Steve, introduce me to Glen.¡±


    They walked to the shop and Glen Stewart showed Lieutenant Khan the modified Priest.  ¡°Lieutenant, we had some casualties a few days ago, caused by enemy archers who were riding on the backs of mammoths.  As a result of that battle we put some extra armor on the Priest.  On the left and right sides of the Priest¡¯s steel box we installed armor panels on swing arms.  Right now, it takes at least two people to move and raise the panels but later on, when we have time, we might power the swing arms with air cylinders, so it will only take the simple turning of a valve to lift them into place.  When those two panels on either side of the box are pulled on and lifted, they swing overhead and form a roof for the armored box on the Priest.  Additional new steel panels in slots on the inside of the steel box can be raised and locked into place to complete the walls for our armored personnel carrier.¡±


    Boris was impressed; he had seen better but for right now he realized that he was extremely lucky to have such a vehicle.  Glen showed him the new armored vests and helmets that were currently making, they wouldn¡¯t stop a most rifle bullets but they would stop an arrow or a sword thrust.


    The three men then talked about a ¡°shit hits the fan plan¡± for the community.  They decided that when the village was under attack that the noncombatants would seek safety either in the Boss¡¯s house or in the shop where they were presently talking.  Glen already had a steam whistle piped in, and it now would be used like an air raid siren if danger was detected, thus signaling people to seek shelter.


    Boris after some instruction from Glen took possession of the Priest and drove it to the infirmary building which the new Hermit¡¯s Guard was currently using as a command post.  Steve was still accompanying him.


    Lieutenant Khan had a pleasant surprise when he arrived at the infirmary, eleven people had already volunteered for training and most of them had some experience with firearms.  That brought his current forces up to twenty-seven men and women.  Lieutenant Murphy had twelve people deployed either on foot patrols or as lookouts on various high vantage points in the village.   The patrols were equipped with whistles and the lookouts had either air horns or alarm bells that Steve had given them earlier.   Candace Murphy had kept two guards back with her, to act as a reserve in case of an attack.  She was extremely happy to see the Priest arrive with Boris.  Boris was a former Captain in the Vietnam War and he had a lot more combat experience than she had because of the U.S. Army¡¯s current position on women in combat.  However, because of some loopholes, and pressing needs at various times, Candy while a sergeant in the U.S. Army, had participated in combat operations on more than one occasion; frequently filling the role of a sniper because of her vast expertise.


    Besides all the death and destruction that was going on in the world now, the other thing that had her extremely ticked off, was that she didn¡¯t have any of her own modern bolt action rifles currently with her.  When she had been picked up with her parents, they had all been carrying fifty caliber flintlock rifles.  She desperately wanted her .300 Winchester Magnum, even though she was more comfortable with her .308 or the .260 Remington.  She desired the bigger rifle because of the new necessity to use black powder and she wanted a larger cartridge case that could hold more propellant/explosive.  On the other hand she was experienced with the Springfield rifle and had even won contests with it; said contests had been limited to guns from the same era.


    Boris began speaking.  ¡°Candace let¡¯s take our recruits out to the gun range that Steve has constructed here.  We need to see the new guardsmen shoot and we both need to get familiar with the Priest and the weapons it carries.¡±


    She had some of the new guards climb up into the Priest, while she led the others off at a jog, following along behind.  Upon arriving, they all spent the next hour and a half practicing with their weapons and then they were shown by Steve how to clean them and their brass, at the cleaning station specially built next to the gun range.  All the new recruits seemed reasonably competent with their new weapons though five of them were a little upset at being stuck with single shot, muzzle loaders for the time being.


    They all came back to the infirmary, where Steve scrounged up a late lunch for the sixteen of them, including himself.  They were half way through with their meal, when the lookout on the small water tower, to the northwest, began hitting his alarm bell.


    Boris cursed, ¡°Damn it!  Candace you take charge here and organize our recruits.  Steve and I will take the Priest and see what¡¯s wrong.  If I want you to reinforce us, I¡¯ll blow this air horn three times.¡±  He lifted up his right hand, showing her a small portable air horn that he was holding.  ¡°If you hear three honks, send one of your people to the shop and have the foreman there, blow the steam whistle which will hopefully alert all the noncombatants to seek safety at the Hermit¡¯s house or the machine shop itself.¡±


    ¡°Understood Lieutenant¡±


    The Priest arrived at the northern water tower in less than three minutes, to the very great relief of the lookout stationed there.  Steve and Boris hurriedly, climbed the built in ladder on the side of the thirty foot tall tower.  The lookout was shouting and pointing to the northwest.  He handed his binoculars to the Lieutenant.


    ¡°What the fuck is that?¡±  Muttered Boris terrified at what he saw there.  He began to pray that the tanks would somehow magically return.  Lieutenant Khan unclipped the air horn from his belt and hit the button three times.  He then handed the binoculars to Steve who was clearly desperate to take a look for himself.  The Lieutenant began planning on how to defend the village without the tanks and air support he so desperately wanted.


    Stephen Monet had once owned a trucking company that primarily handled intermodal work.  At a young age he had started the company with his father and upon his father¡¯s death he had assumed complete ownership of the business.  Everything had been fine, until six of his truck drivers had gotten greedy and had begun smuggling drugs using his company¡¯s trucks.  The six men weren¡¯t the brightest and they were all caught after only eight months in business.


    The problem for Steve was that the authorities, for some reason, had assumed that he was the criminal mastermind of the operation, and they made offers to all six truckers for lesser prison sentences, if they would agree to testify against their boss, when in fact Steve had been completely innocent.  The six truck drivers had leaped at the offer.


    Steve Monet was found guilty of drug smuggling.   He lost his company and to protect his wife and children, he urged his wife Barbara to divorce him so she could at least salvage something financially and perhaps have enough money to take care of herself and their children.  When Vince pronounced him innocent, Steve had been in prison for over three years.  Because of his expertise in the trucking industry he soon became the logistics expert for the Hermit.


    Upon assuming the job, Steve quickly saw that things needed to be improved at the compound and he arranged with Mack to have a large fenced in graveled parking lot built.  The lot would be used for storing steel shipping containers filled with the newly bought supplies.  Sadly Steve didn¡¯t obtain as many full containers as he had wanted to acquire and the storage lot was only half full at the five hundred hour mark but anyone else would not have done nearly so well at the job.


    Because of Steve¡¯s past professional experience with transporting and signing for various goods, he had diligently inspected every single delivery that was made to the compound and he had used his appraisal skill while doing so.  As a result his appraisal ability was probably one of the highest in the village, if not the highest.


    Steve Monet looked through the binoculars, used his appraisal skill and began to loudly read off what he saw on the blue screens in front of him.  That was because the Lieutenant and the lookout were audibly wondering what the hell kind of monster they were currently looking at.   The immense horrific creature was casually ripping apart and eating a mammoth, less than a mile away from where they now stood.


    Name: Shark Devourer


    Title: Eater Of All Living Beings That Are Not Sky Kraken


    Species: Sky Kraken, Young Adult


    Air Magic Level: 5


    Water Magic Level: 5


    Steve next appraised the words Sky Kraken.


    Sky Krakens are sentient and the apex predators on their world of origin.  They are highly aggressive creatures that can travel through both the air and water.  They are carnivorous and will eat any animal not of their own species.  Intelligent and knowledgeable in Air and Water Magic, their magical abilities are primarily used for propulsion.  Some rare specimens will know some basic Earth Magic as well.


    Sky Krakens have an oddly shaped ¡°W¡± pupil that permits each eye to look in two directions at once.  They have no blind spots and have excellent vision in all conditions.  Their eyes bulge out from their mantle for better observation around their own body.


    Sky Krakens communicate between themselves by altering their skin coloration and patterns.  They can roar and send simple signals using sound.  The ability to alter their skin colors, allows them to blend into most backgrounds.  Sky Krakens normally travel in shoals or large groups and frequently send out small scouting parties to locate new sources of food.


    Sky Krakens propel themselves; using both jet action and magic.  In water their maximum sustained cruising speed is fifty-six kilometers per hour and they can dash up to ninety kilometers per hour for as long as fourteen seconds.  In the air, their sustained cruising speed is between thirty-five and seventy kilometers per hour, maximum sprint is one hundred forty kilometers per hour for as long as eighteen seconds.  They have the inherent magical ability to create a lifting gas from water, which is then used to fill expandable sacs in their own mantles.


    Natural weapons include tentacles equipped with both claws and suckers; eight powerful legs and the ability to mimic an air or water cannon, which is dependent on their current environment and using their inherent jet propulsion ability.  The air cannon, is effective up to one hundred meters and the water cannon is effective up to forty meters.  Both weapons are used to stun their prey.  They like to eat their meals while their food is still alive or freshly killed.


    Largest Observed Specimen


    Sky Kraken mantles have a circular cross section.  The mantle is twenty-one meters in length, fifteen meters in diameter when inflated for flight, five meters in diameter when deflated for underwater travel.  The mantle is surrounded by an undulating wing or fin that is used for stabilization, steering and helps to provide additional propulsion or station keeping.


    Two eyes: each ninety-six centimeters in diameter.


    Eight Legs: fourteen meters long.


    Two Tentacles equipped with claws and suckers (the round suckers are lined with teeth).  Tentacles are thirty-seven meters long.


    Boris was not pleased with what he was hearing from Steve and he was even less pleased, because of the two krakens he saw moving behind the first one.  The creatures basically had the shape of a fat dirigible with tentacles hanging off of one end.  They blended well against the sky and it was possible to even miss them despite their immense size if not for their prey they were so bloodily tearing apart.  The monsters were definitely far too close for comfort, in Boris¡¯s mind.  The steam whistle went off and he winced, hoping that the noise didn¡¯t attract the colossal carnivorous creatures.


    ¡°Steve the only effective weapon I think we have against them are the 20mm rifles.  But get with Glen and see if he can whip up some Molotov cocktails or maybe even some type of short range flaming spray gun.  Something you can use if those monsters get past the Guard and the creatures try attacking through the doors and windows with their tentacles.  Heck, even throwing a big pot of boiling oil onto one of their tentacles or legs will probably get them to withdraw their limbs.¡±


    Steve nodded his head and started climbing down the ladder.  Lieutenant Murphy was already waiting there at the bottom; she started climbing up the moment Steve got down.  When she arrived, Boris handed her the binoculars and started briefing her.  When she saw and heard what they were facing she was glad that she had gotten at least a little practice in on the 20mm rifles.


    Shark Devourer and its siblings were well aware of the little monkeys scrambling less than a quick squirt away from them.  But there was no reason to rush, they would soon finish their mammoth snack and then see if there were enough monkeys gathered over there to make it worthwhile calling in the rest of the shoal.  The monkeys were fun tasty prey but they were so tiny that they were barely a mouth full.  In the end, the krakens were so lazy after their big meal that they didn¡¯t even dash in to attack the monkeys.   They just drifted slowly over that way, by fluttering their fins.


    It took over an hour for the krakens to finish their meal and advance on the compound.  Boris had gotten lucky and among his new unit, he had found a former Marine, who while in the Corps had been an M60 tank driver.  The man was assigned to the Priest and he had spent the past forty minutes getting a feel for the vehicle.  Candace meanwhile had selected their best shots and she had been drilling them in how to aim the 20mm rifles when fighting against aerial targets.


    The plan was for Lieutenant Murphy, in the Priest¡¯s box, to start the ball rolling.  She was authorized to start firing when the monsters were within five hundred yards.  The other nineteen guards would fight dismounted and target the large eyes of the creatures.  Personally with her current weapon, she held out little hope of accurately shooting the monsters from anything more than two hundred yards so that¡¯s what she told her crew of sharpshooters to prepare for.   Once they heard her shoot, they would then be free to fire as well.  They would all start with the nearest monster and target its eyes if at all possible.


    Sky Devourer drifted closer to the monkeys and he was readying to fire an air blast at them.  Suddenly there was a puff of smoke and pain is his left eye.  There were more puffs and more bursts of pain all over his mantle.  Instead of using that puff to stun his prey, he used it to squirt away.


    His nearest sibling did not realize what was going on and not only didn¡¯t retreat with her brother but continued to slowly advance towards the monkeys, she was feeling a little peckish.  Her siblings had been greedy and they had eaten most of the two mammoths that they had recently caught.


    Lieutenant Murphy was a little disheartened not to bring down the first monster with those shots but she refused to show it to her team.  She ordered them all to reload, refill their primer pans and fire on the second creature.  This time they had much more success; three shots hit the same eye and drove deep into the monster¡¯s brain.  Creatures that size have big brains and while the shots didn¡¯t immediately kill it, they did blind the monster in one eye and caused it extreme pain and internal bleeding.   That monster was stunned and didn¡¯t immediately withdraw.  This gave the sharpshooters time to put six more shots into the beast which sealed its fate, though still not killing it instantly.  Some of the shots punctured two of the twelve gas sacs that kept the monster in the air.


    The third kraken was now making roaring noises in alarm, while Shark Devourer was completely enraged.  How dare these monkeys hurt him and his sibling?   He decided to dash in, and hit them all with an air blast.


    All the sharpshooters were shocked, to suddenly find the first squid, was now almost directly over their heads, all of them but Candace Murphy that is.  She crouched down and fired her 20mm into the beast while screaming at the Priest¡¯s driver to get the vehicle moving, since she clearly saw the monsters tentacles swinging towards the armored vehicle.  After firing the 20mm, she scooped up her Springfield rifle and emptied most of its magazine into the monster¡¯s open beak, despite the creature¡¯s eight legs that were in the way.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The Priest finally started moving and not a moment too soon for her.  The other guardsmen that were hiding throughout the compound began to fire.  Their shots were no more than bee stings to the giant monster but bee stings hurt.  The third and much smaller kraken was checking on the second monster that was slowly sinking and communicating distress through its skin colors.


    The first beast was beyond enraged now and started lashing the compound with its tentacles.  Which was disastrous for the compound and fence but it also hurt his tentacles.  Flying debris hurt more than one guard but luckily there were no fatal wounds delivered.  Derrick Miter was the driver of the Priest and he was busy looking for a good safe place to stop, that would provide the gunners with another opportunity to shoot the massive monster.   Meanwhile the gun crew was desperately hanging on so they weren¡¯t thrown out of the steel box on the Priest, while it was being wildly driven about the compound.


    Shark Devourer let loose with a half power air blast which sent more debris flying and succeeded in stunning two guardsmen.  The third kraken was roaring for help and was considering leaving its stricken sibling to help his brother crush the tasty monkeys.  It was at that moment that Derrick finally found a good location to stop.  Fifteen seconds after braking to a halt, all six guns fired and at only three hundred feet they had far more power and the bullets drove deep into their furious foe.


    The sudden painful nearly simultaneous wounds caused Shark Devourer to recoil back over the fence line.  It was now his turn to be stunned.  Six more shots quickly followed, and then six more.  A third set of shots were fired into the monster.   The Priest shifted locations and the gunners now took under fire the third smaller kraken.  Distressed and seriously injured, the third kraken fled beyond range of their guns and then out of sight.


    Boris breathed out a sigh of relief but he knew that he couldn¡¯t let down his guard.  If anything the situation was now worse because of the escapee.  According to Steve the krakens used scouts and in his opinion the teenage krakens they had just fought had been exactly that.   Soon the village might be facing an attack by a full shoal (whatever the hell that is) of angry adult Sky Krakens.  He ran to consult with Candace in the Priest and while running he shouted out orders to the uninjured guardsmen to see to their wounded compatriots.  He quickly found Candace outside the vehicle and moving in his direction, which he liked better since they could now discuss things in private.


    ¡°Candace, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°We were unbelievably fucking lucky, is what I think.  If they would have attacked us all at once or if the big one had laid a tentacle on the Priest or if the little one had backed up the big one, we would all be dead right now.  We don¡¯t have enough weapons or manpower to protect an area this big from monsters like that.  Do you think we¡¯ll see more of them?¡±


    ¡°According to what Steve said the Sky Krakens send out scouting parties.  I have to assume that¡¯s exactly what we just fought.  So yes, I expect them to come back and soon, probably tonight in fact.   Supposedly they have excellent vision in all light conditions.¡±


    ¡°So what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t assume that the Captain and the others will make it back in time and even with the three other armored vehicles it will be a tough fight.  So we have to plan on fighting those krakens with what we have on hand right now.  You have the men take care of our wounded and get all of them to the infirmary.  I¡¯ll run to the machine shop and send the healers back to help you.  Once you¡¯ve seen to the wounded, have the guardsmen clean their weapons and get back on patrol as quickly as you can in the Priest.  I¡¯ll organize things with Steve, Glen and Mack.  Don¡¯t let your guard down and get some lookouts back into position.¡±


    ¡°Understood Boris¡±


    He took off at a run for the shop.  He was wondering about his decision to accept the Hermit¡¯s offer but he knew that if he had been anywhere else, that he wouldn¡¯t have had even a remote chance against such monsters.


    He ran into the shop where he found Glen and Mack.  Steve was evidently in the house.  A messenger was sent to get him.  People were demanding answers and he asked them to get the healers to the infirmary so that the wounded could be helped.  Steve arrived and Lieutenant Khan then gave them all a report on the battle and his prediction that the monsters would soon be back and probably that very night.


    Steve asked, ¡°What do you think we should do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my understanding that Mack is in charge of all construction here.  I think he has to do two things.  He has to repair the fence and we need slit trenches dug in this small fenced in section around the shop and house.  We also have to contract the area we need to defend for tonight.  We need the slit trenches built with overhead cover to protect our people from the air bursts the krakens have and for that matter the monsters might just start dropping multi-ton rocks on us.  So the slit trenches should be as narrow as possible with strong roofs and reinforced sides.  But we only have three hours to build them before dusk, so whatever you can get done in three hours Mack.¡±


    Mack nodded his head in acknowledgement and Boris continued.  ¡°Glen I have a question about those mortars.  How strong are they?  Can they be overloaded with powder or not?¡±


    ¡°Lieutenant, we were all paranoid when building those things.  Heck we¡¯ve been paranoid with every gun or cannon we¡¯ve built.  We knew that those mortars would only be used from fixed locations and never moved so we built them tough and heavy.  All of our mortars have been proof tested with a four times powder charge and our first mortar was tested with an eight times charge.¡±


    ¡°So you would have no problem if I put in powder charge of two and a half or even three times?¡±


    ¡°Up until recently none of us have built any firearms, including Vince, so I would have no problem with a two and a half times charge.  Three makes me feel a little uncomfortable.  Why are you asking?¡±


    ¡°To use their tentacles those things have to come in pretty low.   I want to move all of the mortars around the house, shop and trenches.  We¡¯ll increase their powder charges, load them with grape shot and use them like shotguns.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea; we¡¯ve already got four mortars here, two on the eastern fence and two on the southern portion.  We¡¯ve also got a fifty millimeter cannon that we¡¯re still debating where to put.  Clyde likes how easy it is to aim that 20mm on the Scorpion and how quickly it can fire.  While I liked have six 20mm rifles on the Priest when I was commanding it.  So the fifty has just been sitting here, we saw no reason to build another big cannon, until maybe today.¡±


    ¡°If you have the time just fix mount the fifty inside the shop door.  But I think you won¡¯t have time for that.  You need to help Mack¡¯s crew scrounge up some materials to reinforce the trenches and then help me reposition the mortars and maybe make some more grape shot for us as well.¡±


    Steve spoke up, ¡°We won¡¯t have any trouble finding wood for the slit trenches.  I wasn¡¯t able to get as much food or some other materials as I wanted to acquire but I was able to fill several containers full of lumber and we even got a small fortune in structural steel too.  The Boss won almost sixty million dollars in the lottery a year ago.  Jennifer, Glen and I were the first he helped to regain our freedom.  And the very first day we came here, he turned over thirty million dollars to us.  Vince told us to think like we were going to be cut off from the rest of civilization in two hundred hours and to buy everything we thought that we might possibly need in order to survive in a world filled with monsters.  As he freed more innocent people and gave them a home, they helped us buy even more stuff.  We paid double and triple what the materials and supplies should have cost, just to get things here in time.  When the countdown ended we still had over half; that thirty million dollars left.  So while we don¡¯t have all the guns, gunpowder, food or toilet paper that I would like; we got building supplies coming out our wahoos.  More than enough to build some slit trenches.¡±


    After that, the four men quickly decided who was doing what and everyone started moving.  People were permitted in small groups to retrieve a few precious items from their homes, since except for Vince¡¯s house none of the other residences were going to be defended.


    They feared an attack from giant flying intelligent monsters, not a flight of bombers, and so consolidating their defensive lines made sense.


    The badly injured little Sky Kraken limped its way west to where it expected to find the rest of its shoal, periodically the monster would pitifully hoot for help.


    Chief Storm Wind was thankful for the meat that Vincent Standish had left for his clan but he was concerned since it was past the time Standish had told Tornado Challenger that he would return.  But finally he heard the sound of the traveling machines that Challenger had spoken of.


    His gathered clan hid in the tree branches, while he stood by one of the slain beasts and waited as was his responsibility and right as Chief.  The noisy green vehicles arrived pulling small metal houses on wheels.  He had been very impressed with how much metal he had seen in this world; he was even more impressed now.  Tornado Challenger had related to him what Standish had told him about this world and how it used to be before the Warnings.  Evidently, they used to have many machines that use to work before the calamity that had befallen this world.


    The traveling machines assumed a very rough triangular formation which was obviously difficult because of the cumbersome houses they were pulling.  Chief Storm Wind waited as one man got out of his machine and approached him.


    The man tried to talk to him with both words and hand signs but Storm Wind did not understand at first.  He tried to recognize a pattern in the sounds he heard but it was to no avail.  His people had always been gifted with sounds and different languages but even he needed more time than this, to learn a new tongue.  He did an appraisal on the man before him.


    Name: George Mesquida


    Sworn Knight of the Professional Hermit Vincent Standish


    Title: Knight Captain of the Hermit¡¯s Guard


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl Mesquida


    DING


    As Chief of the surviving members of the Long Flight Clan on this world, you have the ability to understand any sentient being, you wish to communicate with and have them understand you as well, if you so desire.


    Ah, just as Challenger related to him on how Vincent Standish was suddenly able to make himself understood, so too had now happened for him.  This was a good thing.  Chief Storm Wind began speaking.


    ¡°George Mesquida, I am Storm Wind, Chief of the flyers of the Long Flight Clan that are now on your world.  The Ding-Ding System as your own Chief Vincent Standish calls it, has gifted me too with the ability to communicate with those who speak languages yet unknown to me.  I wish you no ill and I only seek to meet with you in peace so that we may come to understand one another.  I do not see any one else here who is an orange.  Is Vincent Standish in one of those small moving homes?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad that the Ding-Ding System has given you the gift of understanding.  It makes things far easier for me.  Yes, my chief is inside one of the travel trailers.  He is not here greeting you himself because he was wounded by a blue screen human.  Luckily my chief along with his other abilities is an accomplished healer and is recovering but he¡¯s unable to move at this time.  Would it be possible for you to come inside his trailer and speak with him?  With your wings you are very wide but I believe you can fit sideways through the door and once inside, it¡¯s larger and it will be easier for you to move.  If that¡¯s not possible for you, we can open a window by his bed and you two can talk through it.   Whichever way you wish to handle things is fine with both my chief and I.¡±


    Melissa Kilmer had her face pressed up against the window and absolutely refused to give it up.  Now this is what she had been hoping for when the Warnings had first started happening.  New intelligent peoples in the world and these ones could fly too; though they were kind of short, if you only measured from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.    For some reason the person she was looking at, reminded her of a sparrow, maybe it was because of the color of his wings?


    Mesquida, I would like to try and fit inside one of your houses.  If I have too much difficulty, then I will speak through the window with your Chief Vincent Standish.


    I was lying on a queen size bed eating some turkey jerky and sipping water.  I had made some very rough repairs to my penis, bladder, pelvic region and thighs.  And I needed to do still more work on myself before I attempted to move on my own.  The door opened and a winged being started to sidle through the opening.  Hallelujah an angel has come down from heaven to take me away from all this crap, I have been saved!  For an angel his clothes looked kind of dirty and he definitely needed a bath.  I wish I could think of a good sarcastic joke to tell myself about bird baths and bird feeders but I was drawing a complete blank, must be because of my injuries or maybe the turkey jerky.


    With his wings it looked like he would be far more comfortable with four feet of shoulder room instead of the less than three foot gap he was forced to deal with inside the trailer.  Personally I might have been claustrophobic in his shoes or his wide leather boots in his case.  The boots had obvious slits in them with stitched edging; I speculated that his talons could emerge from the slits when needed.  Challenger seemed able to easily grip that tree branch when I saw him upon it earlier.  I hit the new guy with appraisal.  Oh great, another asshole with a name cooler than mine.  I bet the females of his species thinks he¡¯s hot too.


    ¡°Greetings Chief of the Long Flight Clan, my name is Vincent Standish.  Please refer to me as Vince or Vincent.  Because of the Ding-Ding System, I am the ruler of a very small piece of land on which a number of my fellow humans are seeking refuge from this calamity that has befallen all of us.  As I told Tornado Challenger, the Ding-Ding System or DDS as I call it, started warning us about a month ago.  We had many machines and most of them were powered by chemical and other energy sources.   Those energy sources, no longer work nor do the majority of our machines.  We had devices that let us communicate over extremely long distances and they no longer work as well.  Right now, my tiny group is just struggling to survive.  A short while ago an evil human wanted me surrender myself and the land that I own.  I refused, made him angry and he injured me with a smaller version of the same weapon that we ourselves used, to kill the rhinos that attacked us here in this clearing.¡±


    ¡°Greetings Vincent, I am Storm Wind and Chief of the portion of my clan that was swept to your world, two nights ago.  We numbered over a hundred when we first arrived but now we only number sixty-two.  Things attacked us last night, even though we had built crude platforms high up in trees on which to sleep.  We did that in order to keep ourselves off the ground and hopefully less vulnerable, it didn¡¯t work.   Invisible monsters came for us and we fought them, but poorly as if we were half asleep.  Our confusion and ineptness persisted despite the fact we saw friends and family being torn apart before our very eyes.  My aunt was made the first Chief of our splinter group and she valiantly put herself in the path that we knew the monsters were taking.  She fought hard and I think she killed some of them but she fell in battle against them.¡±


    ¡°Chief Storm Wind, I think I know the monsters that attacked your clan.   They are called Night Stalkers by the DDS.  They have the ability to make themselves invisible to our eyes.  So long as one member of their attacking pack is still alive all members of their pack, even their corpses remain invisible.  We have seen two different varieties of the Night Stalkers.  One is a lion hybrid which is bigger than a human and has long claws and very sharp big teeth.  The other is a bat hybrid that is a little smaller than your own body.  We can offer you lights that when used to illuminate an area will reveal all of the Night Stalkers that the light¡¯s radiance falls upon.  At least these lights have worked that way for us.  We don¡¯t have many of the lights with us right now but we have more back at my home.  I can give you a few now and more lights later if you visit us.  Upon our return, I¡¯ll alert the people in my compound to keep an eye out for you so you will be greeted in a friendly fashion.¡±


    Rich and George were both giving me dirty looks.  I think they had expected me to offer sanctuary to Storm Wind¡¯s clan.   When I offer sanctuary to someone, that means I think that I can do a better job of protecting them than I think they can do on their own and I don¡¯t know that.  Tonight for example, Night Stalker dragons might attack the compound.  I just don¡¯t know what is going to happen and as such I won¡¯t offer the Long Flight Clan sanctuary when I don¡¯t know their capabilities.


    ¡°Vincent, I am a young clan chief, a very young chief.  I have my wife and child with me.  This world is too strange for us.  May my clan seek shelter at your compound?  I fear if we spend one more night without sufficient protection none of my clan will be alive in the morning.  We will work hard to contribute to the mutual defense of both our peoples.¡±


    This man should be ashamed of himself, puppy dog eyes.  He¡¯s got a wife and child and he¡¯s making puppy dog eyes at me and their really big eyes too, suitable for a flying humanoid that needs to see over long distances.


    ¡°Yes, you may enter my compound at least for the next few days, while we talk things over and we can both decide if a long term relationship between our peoples is a good thing.  It will be necessary for you to allow us to arrive first.   We have been attacked more than once by some very large non-sentient owls and the people in my compound might mistake you for them if I don¡¯t tell my people about you first.  But be warned, while I will try my best to protect you and your people, the dangers we now face are new to me as well and I can make no guarantees about your safety.  We are approximately eight miles from my home; can you and your clan, follow us over that distance?¡±


    I had expected him to say eight miles was an easy distance for them to fly, I was wrong.


    We have many young and injured with us.  I know I ask far too much but may some of us ride in your moving homes?¡±


    A half an hour later, we were all on the move again.  My trailer and one other was stuffed full of the feathered folk.  They must have been desperate to willingly jam themselves into such small places when they were so broad shouldered or is that broad winged?  Storm Wind was in the other trailer since he could make himself understood to humans.   As he mentioned they had a lot of children with them, in fact over half the sixty two clan members were children and some of them had recently lost a parent.  Then too, there were many adults and children that had bloody wounds on them.  But despite all of that the children were fascinated by the trailer and were poking into things, I shamelessly eavesdropped.  It¡¯s not like I could do anything to stop them.


    George could handle the introductions once we got back home.  I hated to do this but the only place I could think to put this crowd of bird brains at least for tonight was in my two garages.  Someone would have to move my classic cars outside but I¡¯d make damn sure that they put some tarps on them!  Both the shop and the garage had full bathrooms but that wouldn¡¯t be enough for this crowd.   I would have to give them access to the bathrooms in my own home and maybe the ones in the infirmary as well.  And then, we still need to put roofs over the seventeen people that we just took from Kilmer¡¯s estate, oh joy.


    It took us only a half an hour to make it the rest of the way home.  To say that we caused some commotion when we arrived would be putting it very mildly.  To say that I was pleased with what I learned and saw when we arrived would be a big fat fucking lie.

 Chapter 9: Mad Minute

    George handled things when we got home.  Looking out the trailer¡¯s windows I could see that it looked like everyone in the entire compound was now crammed into my own private two acre fenced in domain.  They also looked like they were preparing for an attack.  It took some time to empty my trailer of all the feather heads.  Finally George, Mack, Glen, Steve and a new guy came inside.


    They didn¡¯t seem to like how I looked, especially with my bloody pants which stank of blood and other things.  At least I hadn¡¯t shit myself yet.  I was introduced to the man I didn¡¯t know.  He was Boris Khan and was now one of the two lieutenants for our new Guard.  Next, Steve told me about their battle with three Sky Krakens and he briefed me on what they were doing to prepare for an expected second attack.


    Damn it, not only did it look like I would never get rid of all these assholes but now everybody was crammed into my final refuge.  I was angry, I stank, I wanted to get cleaned up and most of all I wanted to kill some more of those damn monsters that were constantly fucking up my life.  I had another weapon I could possibly give them, if I had enough time to make it for them.


    ¡°Well done all of you, especially you Boris.¡±  I think I can add something else to our arsenal.  When we were attacked by those mammoth riding lizard men I was seriously disappointed with how ineffective our mortars were in actual combat because of their solid non-explosive cannon balls.  It obviously takes a direct hit for such a projectile to cause any damage to our enemies.  But I still don¡¯t like the idea of putting explosives in mortar shells because, as far as I know, none of us here have much experience with such explosives or the time to experiment to get things right.  So instead, I went looking for a magical solution.  I used the knowledge I gained from developing the fire pins and heat stones as a starting point for a new weapon.


    I was originally planning this enchantment for our mortars but it should work for our 20mm rifles too.  I¡¯m pretty sure a 20mm projectile is big enough for the enchantment.  Imagine this, a 2omm bullet is magically prepared to accept and store a heat charge.  Next the barrel of the 20mm rifle is altered so it will ¡®arm¡¯ the bullet once it¡¯s shot from the rifle, so that the very next solid object that said projectile hits will cause all of the heat energy stored inside the  bullet to be instantaneously released.  I haven¡¯t fully tested the magic but I¡¯m pretty sure that I¡¯ve worked out how to do it.  Put me in my shop, give me a 20mm rifle, and a bullet, and in an hour I should be able to give you something to test.  I¡¯m hoping to make projectile that is at least the equivalent of a small explosive charge.  What are your opinions?  Will such a weapon be a worthwhile addition to our defensive capabilities?¡±


    Their eyes got very big, and soon I found myself being carried into my garage.  I had to order the impatient bastards to drop me off in my bathroom first.  What was going on in my pants was really gross and it would be far too much of distraction for me to work without getting cleaned up beforehand.  But there was no way I was going to ask for any help in the bathroom; I didn¡¯t want anyone to see Franken-dick.


    Since the ladies had moved all my stuff, I asked Jennifer to locate a pair of my sweat pants, boxers, a t-shirt, robe and slippers.  I was left sitting on the toilet seat with a large pair of scissors.  My shoes and socks had already been removed by Steve.  Now that I was alone I cut off my pants and underwear, then I very painfully emptied my bladder.  Next, I slowly and carefully climbed into the bathtub to gently wash myself.  It was embarrassing but I had to call for help when I was dressing myself.  I just wasn¡¯t able to pull my pants up.  Jennifer must have been waiting right outside the door.  She came in immediately to help me finish donning my clothes.  She then spoke.


    ¡°Vincent I got your big office chair in the hallway, it¡¯s not a wheelchair but with its large casters it rolls pretty easily.¡±


    ¡°Good idea Jen.  If you can help me get seated and then wheel me out to the garage, I can get to work.¡±


    ¡°Boss, do you think we can stop those monsters if they do attack tonight.¡±


    I looked at Jennifer¡¯s face.  Her face was pale, her lower lip was quivering and she looked ready to cry.  I would have lied but she had true sight.  ¡°Jennifer from what Steve and Boris told me, I think we have a fifty-fifty chance against them.  This house is strong and Mack and his crew have dug a lot of trenches.   In addition, Boris has repositioned the mortars and the tanks are all back.  If the krakens come in stupidly and my new bullet enchantment does work then I think we have a fair chance against them.  But we¡¯ll all have to do our very best.¡±


    She nodded her headed in reply but she looked pretty glum.  I guess she was looking for a more hopeful response from me.


    Jen pushed my chair out to the garage.  I asked her to locate Grace for me; soon both ladies were inside my new magical workshop.  I guess, for now I could just imagine it as being in an isolated cave in a deep dark forest.  The four ladies had done an excellent job in moving all my stuff to my new man cave.  Grace had even built me a couple of nice large work tables that were a lot better than my old kitchen table for performing my experiments on, though I won¡¯t tell her that.  I quickly found my research/design notes for what needed to be engraved on the 20mm rifle barrel and bullet.  It took me twenty minutes to engrave both and another two minutes to carefully charge the bullet, which I thought wasn¡¯t bad at all, considering the hoped for destructive power of the round.  If the bullet hadn¡¯t already been part of a cartridge I could have charged it much quicker; as it was the black powder made me nervous and cautious.  I gave the rifle to Grace, with the bullet in the magazine.


    ¡°Grace, find someone to shoot this gun.  They should be very careful with it and shoot at a target that is at least one hundred yards away for this first test.  If it works, find Glen and get me some 20mm bullets that have not already been mated with cartridges full of explosive powder.  He can load the bullets after you or I charge them.¡±


    She nodded her head and carried the heavy gun carefully out the garage¡¯s side door, let me correct that.   Grace very carefully carried the heavy rifle out the dank, dark, depressing side tunnel of my cave.   Ten minutes later I heard a muffled ¡°Whump!¡± noise.  Ten minutes after that, she came running back in with Glen, a bag full of bullets and one more rifle.


    ¡°Captain Mesquida says make more, make lots more!¡±  Her eyes were alight.


    Damn it, they didn¡¯t even tell me how well it did, how rude!   Andrew Thomas and Scott Blaine who were both shop guys came in a few minutes later pushing a large cart, which was packed with cartridge reloading supplies and equipment.  I would engrave a bullet, Grace would charge it and then Andy or Scott would carefully load it into cartridge.  We soon found a problem.  It took Grace a lot longer to charge a bullet than it took me.  I could engrave a bullet before she finished charging one.  It was necessary to bring Ron in to help and have the two of them alternate in charging bullets.  I was even forced to charge a few when they got too tired.  I know that both of them had been charging heat stones but I had never stuck around to see them complete one from start to finish.  I had to wonder how long it actually took them and if they were giving the fire stones a full charge or not.  On the other hand, we never completely emptied the heat stones and just topped of their stored energy whenever it was convenient, or at least I did.  It was of course a lot quicker adding more heat energy than starting when it was totally empty.


    Every time a cartridge was completed a runner immediately took it away for delivery.  Dusk was just starting when I began engraving bullets.  When I got three bullets done, I started modifying a second rifle.


    I asked Glen while I was working to empty out my garage by the shop and make it available for the Long Flight Clan.  I suggested that he talk to Steve about getting them some things that they might need, like blankets.  He was gone for over an hour once I gave him that little chore.  I got the second rifle and five more bullets completed while he was away.  When I finished my tenth bullet, I was brought a third rifle to enchant.


    Storm Wind was both worried and astounded.  He saw the corpses of the monsters that the strange ground walkers had successfully fought and he knew that his own clan would have all died facing even one of the giant Sky Kraken.  Steve Monet took the time to see to his people¡¯s comfort and explain what he knew about the monsters.  The human called Mack and his work crew was even now busy digging wider slit trenches to accommodate his clan so they could take cover when the expected battle came.  All the humans he saw, seemed to be amazed when his clan first exited the ¡°travel trailers,¡± especially the younger ones.  Their healers had immediately started to assist his injured clan members.  He just wished that there was something that he and his few warriors could do to help fight the monsters that they all expected to come that night.


    Sky Devourer was furious, two of her children had been slain and a third one had been seriously wounded and might die.  She called her shoal together.  For now, they would stop trying to crack open another one of those strange blocky hills that contained so many monkeys and follow her youngest, while he lived, to the place where his siblings had been slain.


    Almost for every hour that went by, I was able to enchant five bullets and modify one rifle.  Isabella stood by me constantly, feeding me bits of food and drink when I needed it, which was frequently.


    Sky Devourer saw the camp of the monkeys.  There were strange lights illuminating the area and even the sky above.  She was tempted to rush in and destroy them immediately but she was old and canny.  She well knew the traits of monkeys, their poor night vision and sleeping habits.  She would wait for the middle of the darkness, and have her shoal slowly and stealthily creep up on them.  By using only their legs and tentacles to move while just above tree height, her shoal should be nearly silent.  They would surround the monkey camp and when she thought she and her fellow Sky Krakens were ready, she would order the attack.  Sky Devourer was proud of her plan and twisted her tentacles about, as she visualized turning monkeys into bloody pulp with her powerful limbs.


    She knew that her tactics would make it easier for her and her fellow Sky Krakens to slay all the stupid sleeping monkeys and thus she wouldn¡¯t have to go chasing any of them down.  For she had vowed to herself, that not of one of those damn delicious little tree climbers would survive to reproduce after killing her own children.


    George and Steve were up on the little water tower by Vince¡¯s house, since this tower serviced the Boss¡¯s two story home it was ten feet higher than the village¡¯s other water towers.  Because of the men¡¯s true sight ability and two pairs of damn fine binoculars stolen from the Hermit¡¯s house they could easily see the Sky Krakens gathering in the distance.  Both men were praying for just a little more time, so that Vince could make more bullets and modify a few more rifles.  They now had three rifles and fifteen bullets but they counted over sixty of the giant flying squids.


    Personally, Captain Mesquida thought Boris¡¯s idea of using the mortars as giant shotguns was brilliant but George also thought they would be lucky to score any hits with the twenty-four mortars.   He expected the tanks only to be useful as a distraction since their guns probably couldn¡¯t elevate and aim quickly enough to pose any kind of real threat to the krakens.


    Over five hours passed and the Captain was feeling better, not exactly happy but better.  He couldn¡¯t understand why the krakens hadn¡¯t attacked yet.  The past few hours had let them install an improved 20mm rifle by the commander¡¯s hatch on all three tanks and put five of the newly enchanted guns in the Priest.  All of the twenty millimeters guns had five bullets each and they were now out of the large rifles.  Vince was now only engraving bullets.


    George was standing in the commander¡¯s hatch in the Hellcat when he heard the toot of an air horn, coming from the water tower in Vince¡¯s yard.  Steve was signaling that the krakens were moving in.  People had been hiding in the trenches or in Vince¡¯s basement for hours at that point.   They had taken shelter ever since the enormous group of Sky Krakens had first been spotted.


    What with monster¡¯s sprint speed, they didn¡¯t dare do anything else.   Strangely, instead of rushing in, the monsters came in at almost a leisurely pace.   They took over twelve minutes to travel the estimated two miles from their former position.  However, the manner the krakens used to approach and surround the Hermit¡¯s courtyard was certainly way beyond being creepy.  It was like the monsters were walking on top of the trees.


    Sky Devourer didn¡¯t want to get too close, her plan was to have her entire shoal bombard the monkeys with air bursts, stunning them and thus making them easy prey.  She knew that monkeys could not throw their rocks and sticks further than her own shoal could shoot air blasts.


    George watched the squids encircle the compound.  It was evident they were concentrating on the Hermit¡¯s private fenced in enclosure, where all the activity currently was, and for now ignoring the rest of the compound.   The Priest was stationed between the house and the shop, the Sherman and the Scorpion were north of the shop while his own Hellcat was south of the Priest.  It wasn¡¯t the most ideal arrangement but he thought it was the best that he could do with what they had.


    Captain Mesquida reflected on the test results, of Vince¡¯s new enchanted bullet, that he had earlier witnessed.  Candace had fired the projectile into a small hill on the gun range.  The bullet had either blown or melted a hole almost seventeen inches wide and just as deep.   It had also fused the dirt lining the hole for another six inches.  When he and the other spectators had walked up to examine the results more closely, they could all still feel the extreme heat radiating from the small crater.  Clyde had told him how one of Vince¡¯s forty-five pound fire stones could produce over five hundred degrees Fahrenheit of heat continuously for a little over fourteen hours.  If what Vince was doing to the 20mm projectile, scaled down accurately from a forty-five pound stone to a one hundred gram bullet, then that was one hell of a lot of heat to instantaneously release on a foe.


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    George had his 20mm rifle aimed at the largest Sky Kraken in his sector.  He had ordered his men to commence firing when either a kraken in their area got closer than one hundred and seventy-five yards or when they heard someone else begin firing.  There was a loud bang that sounded like it came from the other side of the shop and George began shooting, he just wished that he didn¡¯t have to prime the pan on his rifle between shots.  If he survived this he hoped that Glen and Vince would make proper rifle bolts and enchanted fire pins for the 2omm rifles as soon as was possible.


    Each mortar had a jury-rigged spotlight affixed along its barrel.  It wasn¡¯t a laser targeting sight but it was installed on a really big ass shotgun and not a handgun or an assault rifle.  Each mortar was loaded with thirty, fifty caliber balls and a triple charge of black powder.   While Glen wasn¡¯t entirely confident about that amount of powder, the people who loaded the mortars and who were pulling the lanyards figured that they would only have one shot, so that they had better make it a good one.


    What happened next should be the new text book definition of a literal mad minute. When the 20mm sharpshooters began firing, six of the eight bullets delivered mortal wounds, three of them being instantly fatal.  The projectiles, besides penetrating deeply and burning the monsters, triggered steam explosions in the creatures flesh.  These were caused by the moisture in the krakens¡¯ soft tissues being instantly converted into super hot vapor, thus causing horrifically painful wounds.  The two rifles that failed to deliver deadly wounds still struck their targets; they just blew off legs and tentacles instead of hitting the mantles of the beasts.


    The wounded krakens screamed which provoked the rest of the Sky Krakens to rush in; which was what the mortar men and women had been waiting for.  Those brave individuals thought they were dead when they first saw those massive monsters and they didn¡¯t want their deaths to be for nothing, nor more importantly did they want to fail their families.  Never had twenty-four men and women been more vigilant or careful.  So when the monsters entered their targeting spotlights for their individual mortars, lanyards were pulled and flintlock mechanisms were triggered.  George had hoped that four of the mortars would cause significant wounds to the beasts, but instead sixteen of them caused horrendous injuries.  One of the sixteen actually managed to kill an unlucky kraken and seven others delivered fatal wounds but not instantly so.  The remaining eight mortars hit their targets as well but they failed to deliver the level of damage that the other sixteen had done.   It is kind of hard to miss a target the size of a bus when using shotgun.


    This second blow to the krakens caused almost twenty of the monsters to scream in pain, which caused a ¡°what the fuck¡± moment for the rest of the beasts.  Tragically for them, they all paused to look around and figure out what the hell was exactly happening to them and their fellow krakens.  That many Sky Krakens being severely hurt simultaneously; had never happened before as far as any of them knew.  That pause was disastrous for them and their fellows.  It gave the sharpshooters time to reload, and it gave the men manning the cannons in the both Sherman and the Hellcat time to aim.  The 20mm rifle men and women shot first, followed almost immediately by the Sherman and the Hellcat.  The Hellcat mostly missed but the Sherman blew a large hole in the Sky Kraken it had been aiming for.  This was too much for the krakens, they had the same fight or flee instincts as most other creatures do, and even though it was rarely used when they were together in a large group, the flee instinct was still there deep inside of them.  Almost half of their number was dead, dying or badly hurt; the rest of them fled as fast as their jet propulsion and magic could make them go.  Too bad for those that were severely wounded and couldn¡¯t escape quickly enough.


    Candace Murphy was in command of the Priest.  One of her sharpshooters was her own mother Denise Murphy who was a nurse.  Candace and Denise had been in many marksmanship competitions together ever since Candace was a child.  Candy¡¯s father, Sean Murphy, had been dying before the Warnings came and was still not in the best of health.  He was waiting things out in the machine shop.  All the repositioned floodlights and spotlights clearly showed retreating and falling squids.  Suddenly Candace heard her mother begin to sing and upon hearing the words she couldn¡¯t help but sing along with a terribly hacked up version of the old Pointer Sisters¡¯ song while giggling in relief at still being alive.


    ¡°It¡¯s Raining Squid! Hallelujah!


    It¡¯s Raining Squid! Every Sky Kraken!¡±


    When I heard the first shot go off, I started using my feet to push my chair towards my cave¡¯s side door.  I was betting I could cook a couple squids before I went down.  I got to the door and there was big blast of sound.  I was certain that every mortar in the compound had just simultaneously been triggered.  I struggled to my feet, and grabbed an old steel rake which was racked on the wall to use as a cane.  Getting my hand on the door knob, I could hear terrific screaming and roaring noises coming from the outside.  Throwing the door open, I stood shakily in the entranceway, my bathrobe had come undone, there were more rifle shots.  Next came the sound of two cannons letting loose, which nearly deafened me because of the Hellcat being so close by.


    I stepped through the door using the rake and I looked up, searching for a target.  There were squids that were falling, some barely floating and a huge number jetting away as fast as they could go.  The ones that were floating were being taken under fire.  I stood by and watched, ready to lend a hand if needed but it wasn¡¯t.  Finally the shooting stopped, those with appraisal, searched the area, verifying that the fallen monsters were dead.


    George was in the commander¡¯s hatch in the Hellcat and looked down at me.  I picked up the rake in one hand like a cane, and shook it at him.  I snarled, ¡°You mind telling me why there are dead kraken on my front lawn and who the hell dug all these trenches in my yard!!?  Getting no reply from him except an open mouthed look, I retied my bathrobe, turned around, stumbled back through my cave¡¯s side door and slammed it shut.  This is worse than that one devil¡¯s night when my parents¡¯ house got covered in toilet paper and egged!


    The crew of the Hellcat couldn¡¯t figure out how their Captain had managed to fall out of their vehicle immediately after the battle.  Strangely, after nearly killing himself in the fall, they found him on the ground roaring with laughter.  It was a story that went down in history and whenever he was asked him about it, he would just start laughing again.


    I gently lowered my aching body back into my chair and let out a sigh.  Jennifer was looking at me with wide eyes; her children were in the basement so it was safe to let my feelings be known.  I grumbled, ¡°There are fucking dead giant squids littered all around my house and they stink!  I even think a few tentacles and legs are lying across the roof.  Lord knows what¡¯s going to happen when those kraken start to rot.¡±


    She looked back at me, ¡°we won?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we won but who¡¯s going to clean up that mess?¡±


    She ran into house screaming ¡°we won.¡±  I guess she was going to find her kids.  I wonder if I offered her children five bucks if they¡¯d clean up all those dead monsters.   Heck, I¡¯ll even let them use my rake.


    Forty minutes later George, Mack, Glen, and Steve came inside to speak with me.  Steve began talking.  ¡°Boss, there are thirty-one dead krakens out there not counting the two that were killed earlier.  We¡¯ve got a shortage of beds and we might have to hot bunk for a while but we¡¯re dealing with it.  The two krakens from this afternoon wrecked a double wide home, two older single wide houses and one of our big greenhouses.


    Vince I did an appraisal on the monsters they are edible and we¡¯ve got a lot more people.  What do you think?¡±


    All those present in the garage looked at me with concerned expressions.  ¡°My rule is that since they came here to this compound looking to kill and eat us that I will make a onetime exception to eating the flesh of a sentient being but only for the krakens that were killed tonight.  The flesh taken from them will only be eaten by those adults who volunteer to do so and children are forbidden to eat that meat.  Who knows, gathering and eating such a meal might get us in serious trouble with the Ding-Ding System.  But before you start cutting them up, I want other people¡¯s opinions, have Faith and Jim do that and make sure that they talk to Chief Storm Wind and get his clan¡¯s opinion on the subject.  Once I¡¯ve heard other people¡¯s thoughts on that matter then I¡¯ll make a final decision.¡±   I saw some relieved expressions on the faces around me.  We discussed a few more matters and then the four men left.


    While I was troubled with the thought of eating the kraken flesh, I would be the first to do so.  The meat was from monstrous beings that had tried to eat us, we had a lot more people now, our supply situation could be better and this new source of fresh food was literally on our door step.


    Faith, Jim and Steve returned twenty-five minutes later.  Faith did the talking.  ¡°Vince we talked with over half the adults and Chief Storm Wind talked with all the adults in his clan.   The Long Flight Clan has no objections and all their adults are willing to eat the kraken meat.  Everyone we talked to; had no objections since eating the meat is voluntary and half of those we spoke with, volunteered.¡±


    ¡°I guess most people are as crazy as I am.  Grace can you get me a fry pan and some cooking oil.  I¡¯m going to cut up one of those animals and try some calamari right now.  If someone is going to take a hit from the DDS it¡¯s going to be me.¡±  I got some objections to my plan but I snarled them back down, hard.  This was my fucking place and I get to eat first!


    I had Steve get me wheelbarrow and he laid the tip of one tentacle across it.  It was one nasty, vicious looking limb and actually it didn¡¯t have a lot of useable meat because of the sucker teeth and claws.  I had to use a handsaw to cut off a hunk, which I then cut down into smaller pieces with a large serrated knife.  I poured some oil in the fry pan and tossed in the meat.  I didn¡¯t like doing it but we had to know if there were any repercussions to my actions, so I temporarily made public everything in my status screen and I had Steve use his appraisal skill on me while I was cooking and eating.  The flesh was definitely chewy but it seemed fine.


    ¡°You notice any change Steve?¡±


    He had a very strange expression on his face.  ¡°Vince does the DDS always talk to you so sarcastically?¡±


    ¡°Pretty much¡±


    ¡°Oh, well you have a new title as the ¡®Worlds Worst Calamari Chef¡¯ and a skill as a Beginner Calamari Chef Level 0.2.  While you were cooking the squid your Leadership went from intermediate level four to level five.  When you ate the cooked meat it went from level five to level six.  So I don¡¯t think the DDS has any problem with your actions.¡±


    He had seen the same things that I had but I could really use a beer while eating this squid.  I couldn¡¯t actually be the ¡°World Worst Calamari Chef,¡± could I?  I mean I hadn¡¯t poisoned myself, yet.  ¡°So Steve, do you have any ideas on how we¡¯re going to store all of this meat?¡±


    ¡°Not really Boss, I was hoping you had one?   We do have some space in our steam engine powered freezers but it would only two kraken legs to fill them up.¡±


    ¡°Do we have any empty steel shipping containers?¡±


    ¡°Yes we do, we¡¯ve got two completely empty and two more that I can get empty if I shift some things around.¡±


    ¡°I mentioned before that I was going to setup a way for our firestones to recharge themselves, well it¡¯s time to start doing it.  I¡¯ll need Glen to make some steel boxes with two doors or lids.  Once I enchant the new boxes and stones it will work like this, if door one is open the stone absorbs the heat around it, down to zero degrees Fahrenheit.  If door two is open, then the stone releases heat like our old firestones.  They will need periodic touchups on their enchantments but this will still be a time safer for those of us with fire magic.  If Glen wants to make smaller boxes for household use we can do that too.  We¡¯ll stick a new stone in each container and pile dirt against them to act as insulation.  There is only so much heat the stones can absorb, so once their full they stop working.  By my calculations they should last for at least seventy hours while in a sealed room, it all depends on the ambient temperature.¡±


    ¡°Boss I know you¡¯re tired but if I have Glen whip up some boxes in the next few hours, do you think you can do a couple before morning?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I expected you¡¯d need them right away.  As for the parts of the krakens you don¡¯t want, pile them up on the road in front.  We¡¯ll gather all those with Fire Magic and we¡¯ll reduce all the bodies to ash.   That way we get rid of the mess and get some practice in at the same time.  I¡¯m going inside, when Glen has the boxes and rocks ready, just have him bring them on over.  It shouldn¡¯t take long for me to enchant them since I don¡¯t have to throw a big charge into the stones.¡±


    I finally got to bed at five a.m., after taking another painful piss.

 Chapter 10: Bombs Away

    I woke up in my former office and now new bedroom, which pissed me off to no end.  My mechanical alarm clock said the time was one in the afternoon and I could smell frying squid.  I was starving and thirsty.  In fact it was so bad that I only put on my bathrobe before using my legs to push myself out to the kitchen in my office chair.  I should have kept my rake; I could have used it like an oar.


    Jennifer was cooking in a pan that was being held by Grace, who was using her fire magic.  I probably should make some magical hot plates soon.  I looked at the women and growled.  ¡°Please feed me now.¡±  If they are going to live in my house then they had better learn to promptly feed and water the angry Hermit that they are imposing upon.


    Grace and Jennifer looked at Vince and both ladies thought the same thing; that he looked like shit.  He was extremely pale, his lips looked like dried leather and his eyes were sunken.  The girls had been making their own lunch but they decided that they could wait.  There was more than enough food.  In fact, there was actually far more calamari than the village had storage space for.  A few minutes later Faith came inside for her own lunch but Jennifer took her aside to speak to her quietly.


    Faith looked at Vince and quickly left; she came back as he was finishing his second large plate of fried squid.  Gloria Bennett who was a healer and nurse practitioner was following along behind Faith.  She walked up to Vince; who looked at her suspiciously while putting his arm protectively around his plate of calamari.  This was his fried squid and he wasn¡¯t sharing it with anyone else.


    Gloria put her hands on his shoulders, she seemed to meditate and then spoke.  ¡°There¡¯s nothing seriously wrong with him, he¡¯s just a little malnourished and dehydrated.  Keep feeding him and he should be fine in a day or two.  The Boss still has things to fix in his pelvic region but he can probably do a better job of that, than I can.¡±


    The small gathered audience breathed out a sigh of relief.  Vince used that momentary distraction to steal a plate of calamari and fried sweet potatoes that had been sitting in front of Isabella and resumed eating.  Gloria continued talking, ¡°Mister Standish, Peggy and I believe that there is a problem with some of the wounded flyers from the Long Flight Clan.


    We¡¯ve already fought two different types of the Night Stalker Monsters.  I don¡¯t imagine that Peggy and I are alone in thinking that with the Stalkers¡¯ ability to cloud minds and their very descriptive names, that they have at least a little semblance to the vampires from our own legends.  You, Peggy and I have all healed people bitten by the bat variety.  Both she and I have found it difficult to heal people bitten by those monsters, it¡¯s like there¡¯s something else inside of them that has to be fixed beyond their wounds.  Thankfully we¡¯ve gotten to all of our own people in time.  But twelve of the wounded flyers are very sick with high fevers.  It¡¯s a wild guess from both Peggy and I, but we both fear that there is now a virus inside of them that¡¯s attempting to change those seriously ill flyers into a new variety of Night Stalker.    We¡¯ve been able to hold the virus at bay but both she and I don¡¯t have enough power to clean it from their systems, at least we don¡¯t have enough with having to take care of twelve patients at the same time.   I know you¡¯re still exhausted but so are Peggy and I.  Do you think you can take a look and see if you can help any of them?¡±


    I nodded my head but I kept eating and drinking.  Finally I paused to speak.  ¡°I can¡¯t walk very far yet.  In fact it would be better if I didn¡¯t walk at all right now, I just find it too debilitating.  So either someone has to carry me to the infirmary or some of your patients need to be brought here to my cave.¡±  I pointed at the interior door leading to the garage.


    Jennifer spoke up, ¡°Gloria have two of your patients brought here.  Vincent needs to recover his strength as quickly as possible and we can look after him far better if he remains in his own home.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send over our two youngest patients, as soon as I get back to the infirmary.  They¡¯ll be accompanied by our new nurse.¡±


    I decided that I¡¯d better stop eating for awhile and give the food time to digest.  I pushed myself back to my room and struggled into my sweat pants.  Jennifer then pushed me back to my hermit¡¯s cave.  While I was waiting for the flyers to arrive I used my healer¡¯s sight to take a look at my own injuries.  I did some low energy tweaking on my repair job.  Not much but every little bit helps.


    A woman came through the side door.  ¡°Hello Mister Standish, I¡¯m Denise Murphy, the new nurse.  I¡¯ve got two young flyers outside, but they and their escorts are a little wide.  Do you mind if I open up the large garage door?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead but you¡¯ll have to do it yourself.  I can¡¯t stand up and I don¡¯t want to waste any energy trying to perform that task.¡±  I pointed to the garage door pull cord.   She walked over and tugged the heavily insulated door open.  Outside were four flyers carrying two young ones on improvised stretchers.  Jennifer had just walked in and she had an armful of thick blankets and quilts.  She laid them out on one of my new large worktables and made a sleeping pad with them.  The young Flyers were so small that only one table was needed.


    I put my hand on one of my patients to determine its condition.  I immediately found out it was a female and that there was indeed a nasty virus inside of her.  I checked the other one and discovered it was a male.  He was in worse shape but I first gave the girl a quick jolt of healing energy to hold her stable for the time being.  Then I rolled my way back to the boy.


    Denise suddenly spoke.  ¡°I wish I could do that.¡±


    I paused before starting to work on the boy because I had a sudden thought.  ¡°Denise, I¡¯ve got a dumb idea, it might not work but who knows.  I¡¯ll put one hand on the boy and you¡¯ll take my other in hand in one of yours, then you¡¯ll put your free hand on the boy like I¡¯m doing.  I¡¯ll not only push healing energy into the lad with my own hand but also through your own body as well.  It will sort of be like we¡¯re completing an electrical circuit.  It shouldn¡¯t hurt you, and at worse I¡¯ll just waste a little energy.  But if we can get another healer out of the deal, it will be worth it.¡±


    She eagerly nodded her head and grasped the hand, I was offering to her.  ¡°Close your eyes and try to sense what I¡¯m doing but don¡¯t do anything and most importantly don¡¯t try to fight it.  It will probably take several attempts for you learn to heal, so don¡¯t expect any immediate results.¡±


    I ignored the adult flyers for now.  I wanted to first spend some time healing the youngsters and I would talk to the grownups after I was done and while I was recovering my energy.


    The boy was extremely ill; I hoped he was the sickest of the lot, because if he wasn¡¯t then someone else was seriously fucked up.  At first all of my healing energy was just entering the boy through my left hand and nothing was passing through my link with Denise but towards the end, of this first session, I could finally detect a trickle of energy that was flowing into him through her hand.


    After about forty minutes I felt the need to take a breather, and I stopped.   I checked on the girl and found that she was holding steady but I had little extra energy so I gave her body another slight healing boost.


    ¡°Jennifer I¡¯m going to take a break for about an hour.  Can you please rustle me up a snack?¡±


    ¡°Sure Vincent, I hope that calamari and potatoes are okay because we¡¯ve got a lot of both.¡±  She said with a little laugh.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine Jen, thank you.¡±  I finally turned to the adult flyers who were watching me anxiously.¡±


    I am the rude and nasty Professional Hermit, Vincent Standish.  I think I can help both of these children.  The boy is sicker than the girl, so I¡¯m concentrating on him at first.  I have done two minor healings on the girl and she has responded well to them.  Do you have any questions or anything to tell me?¡±


    The largest adult female began speaking; the tips and edges of her wings were black instead of the all brown that seemed to be much more common among the flyers.  ¡°Vincent Standish, I am Night Storm.   I am the second chief of our clan.  This is my husband Metal Grinder.¡±  She pointed at the only adult male flyer in the room. ¡°This little girl is our daughter Smokey Night do you honestly think that you can help her?  If you can save her life and prevent her from turning into one of those monsters, my husband and I will spend the rest of our lives repaying you.¡±   The male flyer nodded his head vigorously in agreement.  I had to wonder if they had the same gesture or if he had already picked it up from us?


    ¡°I don¡¯t charge for healing kids, for that matter I have never charged anyone for any healing that I have ever done, so don¡¯t worry about that.  As for your daughter, she¡¯s sick but I do think that I can help her.  However, because of the boy¡¯s condition it¡¯s necessary for me to concentrate on him.  I¡¯ll get him completely well first and then finish curing your daughter.  If you will check on her, I believe you can see that even with two small healings that I¡¯ve given her, that she is already breathing easier and her fever has gone down.¡±


    The couple did examine their daughter and visibly relaxed when they saw that my words were true.  I turned towards the other two flyers who were both females.


    ¡°Chief Vincent Standish, I am Autumn Blaze and this is my younger sister Fish Diver.  Thank you for treating my son, Star Bright.  I have heard your words to Night Storm but I too owe you a great debt.  I lost my husband the other night and I don¡¯t know what I would have done if my son had died as well or worse yet became one of those monsters.¡±   She bowed her head to me and I nodded back.  Both tiny families resumed watching over their sick loved ones, anxiously.  As for myself I hate a date with plate of fried calamari, potatoes and a cold beer.  Please let there be beer.


    After my second session working on Star Bright, I had some visitors.  Steve, Glen and George came by to see me.  Steve was the first to speak.


    ¡°Boss with that battle last night, we¡¯ve used up half of our black powder.  I know you wanted to personally operate our powder mill but I don¡¯t think you have the time to do it, not when you have so many other jobs that only you can do.  We¡¯ve got a new man in the shop named Sean Murphy he was a gunsmith in the army and after he retired he continued to work as one while a civilian.  According to Glen, Sean seriously knows his shit.¡±


    Glen interjected, ¡°he sure as hell does know his stuff.¡±


    Steve resumed talking.  ¡°Mack has got a building out by the gun range which we can use for our little powder mill.  I know you stockpiled a lot of sulphur but back when Glen and I were buying things, we scoured local stores for both potassium nitrate and charcoal.  We didn¡¯t get as much as we would have liked but we found enough potassium nitrate to make fifty to sixty pounds of black powder.  So, is it okay if we go ahead with the production without you?¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to say yes because I thought my potential alchemist ability might aid in making gunpowder, but Steve was right.  I didn¡¯t have the time right now to make any black powder especially since I had patients.  On top of that, I was still fucked up myself and I had so much other shit to do, that I didn¡¯t know where to start.  ¡°Go ahead, but be careful and don¡¯t let anybody blow themselves up.¡±


    Glen was next to talk.  ¡°Boss, you know Scott Blaine that blue screen machinist you freed from prison?  Well he¡¯s got an idea on how we can conserve our gunpowder.  Have you ever heard of a Holman Projector?¡±


    ¡°No, is it some type of film projector?¡±


    He chuckled, ¡°Nope, it was actually an air or steam powered anti-aircraft gun that the British used during World War One.  It was really more of a light artillery piece or mortar that could shoot out improvised anti-aircraft shells.  The projectiles were made by placing hand grenades in metal cans.  It could shoot as high as a thousand feet though the early models only managed six hundred.  We were thinking that if we starting making Holman Projectors and aerodynamic shells out of wood, that we might have an effective defensive weapon.   Our idea was to put a hole down the vertical centerline of those wooden shells, just big enough to hold an iron rod.   Then if you would hopefully enchant those pieces of iron with your new explosive heat spell; we all think that the resulting weapon system could probably replace our mortars.   The Holman Projectors should be capable of firing faster and of course not use up any of our precious stocks of black powder.   On top of that the new weapon could function as it was originally designed to, and that is as a close range anti-aircraft gun.  Well, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I think you¡¯re all fucking nuts but did the British really use these things?¡±  I looked at him doubtfully.


    George spoke up.  ¡°I¡¯ve heard about them too Vince, but I don¡¯t know how to build one.  I know that while they only downed a few enemy planes, the projectors successfully scared of many attackers and were mainly mounted on ships.¡±


    Glen jumped right back in.  ¡°And they¡¯re a lot easier to make than a gun.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you can make a prototype but I¡¯m going to have to rework my enchantment for anti-air use.  Remember whatever goes up must come down, and I don¡¯t want one of those shells falling on our own heads when they inevitably miss a flying monster.  Once you got something that actually works, I¡¯ll enchant some of your iron rods of death and we¡¯ll see how they do.¡±


    I thought I was done but then George began talking.  ¡°Vince, when Steve was running appraisal on you last night he saw a title he didn¡¯t know you had, ¡®Awakener of Talents.¡¯  Almost everyone in this village who has any magical abilities has got them, in some fashion, through you.  You knighted me and I got a shitload of upgrades out of it.  I would like you to knight my two lieutenants.  Just giving them true sight would dramatically improve their fighting and command ability.¡±


    ¡°George when I knighted you, you gave me a rather strong oath of allegiance.  Also I didn¡¯t mention it at the time but when I knighted you it sucked a lot of magical energy out of me.  I¡¯m low on juice now and I haven¡¯t even bothered to finish healing myself yet, because of all the sick flyers.  How critical is it that I knight your two lieutenants within the next day or two?¡±


    ¡°Vince, it¡¯s a crap shoot you know that.  We might not get attacked for another week or it could happen in the next five minutes.  If Boris and Candace get any abilities out of the deal, then that just might make the decisive difference in our next battle.  As your only dedicated military officer with true sight, I feel that I have to get them that same ability or I might never get any sleep.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you convinced me, sleep is important.  I¡¯ll try and knight, one of your lieutenants in two hours time and the other one, three hours after that.  But they¡¯ll probably have to make some kind of powerful oath of loyalty because I¡¯m pretty sure that was part of the magic, that got you your gifts or at least I got that impression from the Ding-Ding System.  Does that sound acceptable to you?¡±


    ¡°Thanks Vince, I¡¯ll have either Boris or Candace here in two hours.¡±


    ¡°Oh, another thing spread the word among those that are helping me run things here, like Faith and Mack for example.  Tomorrow around mid-afternoon I¡¯m going to be having a meeting.  We need to get things better organized in this compound and stop running around so half assed.  What I have in mind for us will probably need a lot of tweaking but it will do for a start.  So spread the word and I¡¯ll see you all here tomorrow.¡±


    It took another long treatment spaced over two hours to finish healing Star Bright.  As for Smoky Night it took me six hours to cure her, because when the boy was healed Gloria sent over another patient and the new one was in such bad shape, that I had to dump a full healing session into her or bad things would have happened.  That forced me to delay in knighting Boris by an additional hour.  But eventually, he was kneeling down before me, as I sat with my Professional Hermit ass in my chair, my green and red plaid bathrobe wrapped tightly around me.  I listened carefully, sort of, as he made his oath of allegiance.


    ¡°My Lord Standish, I Boris Khan do faithfully swear to serve you, during these dangerous times, to defend your lands and to protect the people who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your rules and commands.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have my carbine with me this time, so I used my rake, which if I closed one eye and squinted with the other, sort of looked like an oddly shaped pole-arm, something that I imagined all the best ninjas would probably like to own.  I touched his right shoulder with the handle and then his left.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir Boris Khan and name you a Lieutenant in the Hermit¡¯s Guard, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Don¡¯t you idiots ever learn?  Boris just swore almost the same oath as Gorgeous George.  And you Vanessa knighted him.  By the way how is your penis working?  Has it turned black and fallen off yet?


    Sir Boris Khan, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Professional Hermit and Landowner Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you fulfill your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight: Every good military officer needs to be able to tell truth from fiction; and accurately see what lies all around them.


    Water Magic Level One


    Earth Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level One:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by ten percent.


    +55 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +15 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +50 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    ¡°Congratulations Sir Boris, now get the fuck out of my cave and get back to work.  You¡¯re interrupting my nap time.¡±  I had found that if I actually slept instead of just sitting quietly or meditating, I regained energy much faster especially when I was completely exhausted and couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open.


    When Smoky was finally cured Denise got a DDS announcement that she was now a level one Healer.  She was happy but looked absolutely wrung out at that point so I sent her inside to get some sleep on my couch.  I was dragging ass too but I figured Peggy and Gloria had to be in worse shape.  In an act of extreme stupidity, I told Jennifer to get the two Healers to send me their worst three patients.  I had my one remaining patient on the mend, and I thought I could keep three more stable if they weren¡¯t too bad off, while at the same time sneaking catnaps and regaining my own magical energy.  Ooh magical energy, I wondered if it was all sparkly inside of me and maybe looked like something from the teleporter scenes in the old original Star Trek series.  Man, I really needed some sleep.  I had to postpone knighting Murphy, I was just too tired.   She looked like I had just killed her puppy when I told her about the delay.


    I guess, I had gotten a little too big headed and arrogant. I just barely managed to keep all four flyers alive and I wasn¡¯t able to get any real rest until Denise finally woke up and was able to pitch in and help.  I got almost three hours of uninterrupted sleep before she shook me awake and told me that she was out of energy and our patients were starting to get worse.  I told her to stay inside, grab a bite and to take another nap.  Isabella fed me while I worked on the four feathered fowls.  I put fifteen minutes of energy into each one of them, rested for an hour and then repeated the same treatment.  At that point I could start concentrating on one of them and I did so.


    I was settling down to take another catnap when suddenly my garage started to fill up with people.  Damn it, I had forgotten about the meeting I had arranged.


    We met in my kitchen and I began speaking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like people being here on my property and I don¡¯t like being the boss.   But we¡¯re all fucking stuck with this situation.  As of today I¡¯m creating a Village Council.  Your new jobs are just going to formalize things that you have already been doing.  Jennifer is now my chief of staff and personal assistant.  Steve is in charge of logistics and everything else that isn¡¯t assigned to someone else for the time being.  Mack, you¡¯re in charge of construction and maintenance.  Peggy, I want you to head our medical services.   Isabella you¡¯re in charge of every bit of food that we grow.  Clyde, every vehicle we have including tractors is your bailiwick.  Glen, obviously you¡¯re in charge of the machine shop and manufacturing.  Captain Mesquida is in charge of our security and the Hermit¡¯s Guard.   Faith, in addition to being a peace keeper, you are now my minister of justice.  I want very brief written summaries every afternoon for what you did the previous day.  And by brief, I mean a paragraph or less.  You might want to rope someone into being your clerk or secretary.  Jennifer is my intermediary; please send all those summaries to her.   My goal is to delegate as much of this bullshit as I possibly can and thus get back to being the hermit I want to be.  I figure with my true sight ability that I can hopefully get away with it.  Does everyone understand the new order of things?¡±  I didn¡¯t give them any time to reply.  ¡°Good and fine, were done here.  Now get the fuck out of my house, I might still be able to get a nap in.¡±


    People started standing up when Peggy timidly spoke.  ¡°Boss, I don¡¯t want to be in charge.  I think you should make Denise the new head Healer.  She¡¯s got a lot more experience as a nurse than I have and Gloria respects her.  I know she¡¯s new here but Denise is an orange screen.¡±


    I looked at her and because of my true sight I could tell that she was being honest with me.  ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll tell her but you¡¯ll be number two.  Oh Steve, I nearly forgot.  If it¡¯s not too late please try and get me a sample of the Sky Kraken¡¯s lifting gas from one of their corpses.  I don¡¯t think it is hydrogen gas or just hydrogen gas alone.  I¡¯m kind of curious what kind of properties it has, in terms of buoyancy and flammability.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Glen interjected, ¡°Vince, Ron was curious too, so he got several samples of the gas this morning.  I¡¯ll have him send some over later.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good Glen, give Ron my thanks.¡±  I growled some polite goodbyes and they all shuffled out of my home, except for Jennifer.  I was just ready to shut my eyes when.


    DING DING


    Because of the large number of people, from two different sentient species, that have come to you for protection, safety, food and justice; and since you are a sole monarch, who is responsible to none and a consummate asshole.   You are awarded the new title of Hermit King not to be associated with Hermit Crab.  Good luck you are going to need it.   For further information about your new status please read the fine print.  As a Hermit King you are a rule breaker but you still retain all the rights, skills, abilities and powers of a Professional Hermit.  Go out and break some rules you cretin, don¡¯t worry we have complete faith in you and we¡¯re sure that you¡¯ll still manage to screw this up in a spectacular fashion.  In fact we¡¯re betting on it.


    Additional Authority for a Hermit King, they may legally claim vacant lands as part of their Kingdom. Lands that are populated by sentient beings may also request to join your Kingdom.


    I looked up at my kitchen ceiling and the sky beyond.  ¡°Are you nucking futts?¡±  I must be delusional from lack of sleep.


    Steve had requested more of the freezer/fire stones but I couldn¡¯t take the time to make them not with the sick flyers.  So he was forced to shuffle the two I had made earlier, from container to container in order to save as much meat as possible.


    Another six hours passed before I mentioned to Jennifer that I might now have enough magical pixie dust to knight Lieutenant Murphy.  Or it could be flatulence, maybe if I strike a spark while ennobling Candace if it might work just as well.  I could just imagine looking at Lieutenant Murphy¡¯s shocked soot covered face while at the same time she was holding her nose.  I suddenly got the giggles and nearly choked while eating, I really missed my bed.


    I must have spoken too loudly to Jennifer because before I could get ready and while I was still eating and maybe still giggling but only a little and in a very masculine way, Candace suddenly appeared kneeling at my side.


    ¡°My Lord Standish, I Candace Murphy do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    Shit, I couldn¡¯t reach my rake.  Why the fuck, did this impatient bitch just rush in and kneel down right away?  The only thing I have right now is my fork with a piece of fried squid already stuck on it.  No way am I getting my food dirty.  I stuffed my mouth full and using the fork I touched her right shoulder and then her left.   I mumbled out, because I was still chewing.  ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Candace Murphy and I name you a Lieutenant in the Hermit¡¯s Guard, may you serve long and honorably.¡±  Damn, I got class.  I hardly spit any food on her at all.  If only I could scratch my buttocks.  But if I lift up a butt cheek, I might cut loose with a stinky.  Using my Hermit like superpowers I resisted that urge, which was especially hard since Murphy was still kneeling alongside me.  This moment should be immortalized; maybe I should have a tapestry made to reflect such a solemn and dignified occasion?


    DING


    Well ladies, you are both a couple of real winners.  You know Vanessa, when you knight someone you should use something that has at least some slight resemblance to being a weapon or a scepter.  Are you going to have your fork gold plated now and maybe add some diamonds to it or is that too classy for you?  As for you Cross-eyed Candace, couldn¡¯t you see that your future liege lord was stuffing his face?  You should have at least given the man time to fetch his rake.  You¡¯re doomed I tell you, you are all doomed.  But remember if you¡¯re going to die, do it on a Tuesday.  I¡¯ve still got that bet; and I¡¯ve mate and 412 children to support.  Or is that 412 mates and a child?


    Lady Knight Candace Murphy, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Professional Hermit and Landowner Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you fulfill your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight: Every good military officer needs to be able to tell truth from fiction; and accurately see what lies all around them.


    Fire Magic Level One


    Air Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level One:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by ten percent.


    +40 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +40 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +45 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    2.8x Telescopic Vision


    ¡°Congratulations Lady Knight Murphy the Ding-Ding System seems to hold you in as high a regard as it holds me.  You must really be a fuck up.  Now that you¡¯ve become all magically bad ass, get the hell out of my cave and get back to protecting my royal behind.¡±


    The Lieutenant jumped to her feet and it looked like she was trying to think of something to say but couldn¡¯t.  I am a hard act to follow.  Jennifer ended up pushing the stupefied girl out the side door.


    Three hours later Glen was bothering me.  Evidently they had gotten a Holman Projector to work and they wanted me to enchant the thing and a couple of rods for testing purposes.  I engraved them but he would have to get some people with fire magic to charge the iron rods of death.  The rods were about twice as big as a 20mm bullet and thus should hold more of a charge.  Glen reported to me that the projector was consistently putting shells well above eight hundred feet and they expected to improve on that.  The rods I engraved for him used the same enchantment that I had put on the 20mm bullets.  I hadn¡¯t figured out a failsafe for them as of yet.  I would do that as soon as I had time.  For the time being they had to be careful.


    It took me over twenty-four hours before I had the four bedridden bird brains better.  That was because my rest periods were constantly being interrupted by Glen or Grace asking me to engrave more iron rods.  I guess George had really liked the results of the first two that were tested.   I think Glen mentioned something about a four foot crater but I couldn¡¯t swear to it.  He also had me engrave steel bands that would fit at the end of a Holman Projector instead of enchanting the whole tube.  In that way, they could easily move the enchanted bands from old tubes to new tubes.  That is if they were successful in building improved models of the projectors which is something they expected to do.   I was able to do two enchantments per break hour while still regaining enough magical energy to heal the sick flyers.  But just as we had done earlier they had to get someone else to charge the rods.


    Grace had been fascinated by the flyers.  She had been worried ever since the Sky Krakens had shown up.  Being a former naval petty officer who served on an aircraft carrier she well knew the importance of airpower.  She was worried that the massive flying monsters would wise up, stay above ten thousand feet and just start dropping rocks and trees on the compound while ceasing their attempts at close range combat.  She had hopes that the Long Flight Clan would join their little community and thus give them something she thought the village desperately needed a combat air patrol.  But they would have to figure out a way to arm the flyers.


    Now that his daughter was finally cured, Metal Grinder was indulging his fascination with the human¡¯s machine shop which was right next door to the large room in which all of his clan was now staying in.  He had been a blacksmith and a maker of machines on his home world and he longed to give the human¡¯s more advanced tools a try.  So desperate was he that he had even dragged his wife away, from their daughter who was playing with her friends, to interpret for him.  His wife, Night Storm, luckily had the gift of understanding, the same as their chief did.


    When Night Storm looked in the shop she found the place quite intimidating with all the noise, smells and occasional sparks.  As Second Chief she could not show her fears but she felt far more comfortable with approaching the smaller female shop worker than the large men working in that scary place.  Her husband could have cared less he just wanted to talk to one of them and get his hands on some tools.


    Grace, Metal Grinder and Night Storm started a strange three way conversation while she worked.  They talked about tools, metalworking, aerial combat and their respective pasts.  While Night wasn¡¯t the tool fanatic her husband was, she was an accomplished warrior and she relished those pieces of knowledge that Grace gave her; when the former petty officer started talking about naval airpower, wingmen, finger four formations, squadrons and combat air patrols.


    Their long conversation finally resulted in Night Storm forcibly dragging Storm Wind into the talk and then Glen joined who in turn brought in George.  Ideas began to flow amongst the six of them.  Storm Wind had long since made up his mind to do everything possible to convince the Hermit to let his clan stay in this village.  Beyond that Storm wanted a better way to strike back at the monsters that so terrified his people.


    Several hours later, George watched through his binoculars, as four flyers used practice shells to dive bomb a large target out in the center of the ruined wheat field.  Grace and Glen had made a bomb carrier that strapped to the chests of the flyers.  It had been tricky to design because it was critical that the shells, once they passed through the arming ring, did not come into contact with any part of the flyer¡¯s body.    It had taken three attempts but they finally seemed to have gotten it right.  None of them had wanted to bother the Boss to get him to change the enchantment on the iron rods, especially the flyers since he was working so hard in healing members of their small clan.


    What was nice about this target practice session, was that because of the soft ground and the flyers own abilities, the bombers were able to retrieve their own dummy shells thus reducing the need to make more of them.  George was already thinking about giving the flyers firearm instruction.  He knew that the flyers were strong but he was concerned because they were so light of body and he didn¡¯t know if they would be able to use firearms effectively while flying because of the recoil.  He just hoped that some of their skill with bows and arrows transferred over.


    Peggy and Gloria were absolutely dead on their feet; their spy had just informed them that the Boss had healed his sixth patient.  They knew it wasn¡¯t fair but they had to get some real rest soon, so they sent him two more of the sick flyers and without even asking his permission.  They felt badly because he had already handled the sickest of their patients but they honestly believed that they had no choice.   Despite the little trick they had developed of healing one another when their exhaustion got too great for them.


    Candace with her new telescopic vision and Vince¡¯s binoculars was keeping a lookout from the Boss¡¯s water tower which was the highest structure in the village by ten feet or more.   Just at the horizon which was almost eight miles away she saw some large shapes bobbing up and down amongst the trees.  Every time she saw them they came a little closer.  She hit her air horn button and sent a runner to find Captain Mesquida and warn him that the krakens were returning.


    A minute after she pressed her air horn button, the emergency steam whistle gave three long toots.  Soon, villagers started streaming back into the Hermit¡¯s courtyard and taking shelter in the slit trenches once again.


    The armored vehicles started their engines up.  The Holman Projectors weren¡¯t quite ready for wide spread deployment.   But twenty-four mortars were already loaded and had been ever since their gunners had cleaned the stubby cannons and reloaded them, the night of the big Sky Kraken attack.  Since then the mortars had sat, covered with protective plastic and their pans left unprimed.


    Sean Murphy was working in the machine shop with Glen and Scott.  He was trying to finalize his design for a proper bolt action.  It was going to replace the simple solid pieces of metal that were currently being used to make the 20mm rifles work as crude repeating firearms.  He just wished that he had his own reference books, tools and firearms.


    Clyde had been getting things organized in what he was beginning to think of as his motor pool.  He raced for the Scorpion and met his two other crew members there.  He knew that if he survived this battle that he might have to give up his armored ride in order to concentrate on his new job but he would miss his tank.


    When Storm Wind heard the alarm go off he immediately turned to Captain Mesquida and spoke.


    Knight Captain Mesquida I know your valiant Guards have practiced diligently with the new Holman Projectors but in target practice my own flight has done much better as you well know.  Please, instead of putting those three enchanted rings on the projectors let my flight put them on our bomb tubes.  There are only sixteen of the precious shells completed, shouldn¡¯t we take care and use them with what is currently our most effective means for delivering them?¡±


    Captain Mesquida couldn¡¯t believe the effrontery of his new ally.  Puppy dog eyes, the young Chief of the Long Flight Clan was making puppy dog eyes at him.  He was tempted to tell Storm Wind no just because of that but Storm¡¯s argument made too much sense.


    George just wished that he had one more of the enchanted steel arming bands, so that he could send up the entire flight of four with bomb tubes.  A bicycle messenger sent by Lady Murphy had just arrived.  Candace told of eight or more krakens approaching who were apparently in her own words, ¡°playing leapfrog over the trees in an attempt to disguise their approach.¡±  She went on further to say that at the squids¡¯ current rate of progress she expected them to arrive in no less than thirty minutes


    Because of his new air force, George decided to run with a forward defense instead of retreating into the Vince¡¯s private yard.  The main reason for this was because he didn¡¯t want any of their own bombs dropping on the Boss¡¯s house.  The Captain also wanted to be in position where he could support Storm Wind and his flight.


    Reluctantly, George decided to leave the Priest where it was, as a last ditch defense for those hiding in the slit trenches.  The Scorpion would also remain, just north of the machine shop in order to defend that approach.  It had finally been equipped with the fifty millimeter cannon despite Clyde¡¯s objections.


    George decided to take the Hellcat and the Sherman just outside the outer fence line and fight from there, while the flyers dive bombed the attacking the squids.  He just wished that he was capable of shooting a real fireball with his magic.  As of today the best he had managed to do was launch a large spark the size of a golf ball which could just barely succeed in igniting some extremely dry wood at a distance of fifty feet.


    It had been a couple of days from their last battle and the guards had since then, trained in the use of signal flags and air horns for simple communications.  Even Storm Wind¡¯s flight knew the meaning of the flags and had smaller versions that they could wave in their hands to communicate things back to the compound.


    Moon Eater had a simple plan.  Sneak up on the evil murdering monkeys and then rush in at the last moment while firing air blasts until everything was flattened.  He would avenge his mother and siblings!


    Candace remained up in the tower since she and her fellow officers had decided that information would be the key to winning this battle.  Boris was in the Priest.


    She was actually getting most of her intelligence from the flight of flyers, who were communicating things back to her with their own small signal flags.  Her vision was so good that she didn¡¯t even need to use the binoculars, to see the color and markings on their little flags.


    The krakens hopped closer, so far there had been no altering in their course.  They were coming straight in from the west, that poor field of wheat would probably never get a chance to grow.


    Storm Wind was not equipped with a bomb tube no matter how much he wanted one.  His success rate had been equal to Metal Grinder¡¯s but behind that of Tornado Challenger¡¯s and Fish Diver¡¯s.  Diver¡¯s ability with the bombs was significantly greater than anyone else¡¯s and had made her fianc¨¦e, Tornado Challenger a little envious.  Because of his own low scores, Storm Wind had decided that it was better for him to fly above the action in order to better direct the attack by his flight and to communicate with Lady Murphy.  His flight had a total of twelve of the bombs and as far as he could tell there were only eight krakens.  His flight was to start their attack when the squids were four hundred yards from the Captain¡¯s tank.  When Storm Wind judged the appropriate distance had been reached, he called out to his clan members and ordered them to attack.


    The bomb tube was a rather simple device.  One shell or bomb was loaded in the top of the tube by the flyer.  When the flyer pulled out of their dive they squeezed a pilfered bicycle brake lever, this action released the bomb down the tube and through the arming ring.  Upon getting clear the flyer would then take another bomb from their newly manufactured vests and reload the bomb tube for another attack upon their foes.


    While Sky Krakens have no blind spots, that¡¯s only true  if they don¡¯t have their complete attention focused on one location, like a village, and also if they¡¯re not ignoring what¡¯s in the air above them, simply because no Sky Kraken has ever been attacked from that direction.  Who would be crazy enough to do that?  A Sky Kraken is instant death with a bottomless appetite.  Besides being the ruler of the skies as well as all the oceans.


    George saw the flyers start their dives and prayed for them.  All three of the armed flyers were diving as one to give them the best chance for success but it also gave them the best chance for disaster.  The flight was diving at almost one hundred miles per hour and approaching from the side.  According to Steve Monet¡¯s appraisal, if both of the kraken¡¯s eyes are focusing to the front then they are also focusing to the rear as well.  That means, that they won¡¯t be paying much attention to the sides, that¡¯s just the way their eyes work.


    Fish Diver was in her element and she was ready to show her fianc¨¦e, Tornado Challenger, just who was the wickedest wind rider in this clan.  Ever since she was a little girl she had adored eating fish, that¡¯s why she had gotten so good at fishing and diving.  And as far as she was concerned, what was in front of her were eight big tasty fish and she was feeling hungry.  She was supposed to pull out of her dive when she was one hundred and fifty yards above her target this was because of the monsters¡¯ air blast ability.  But she knew that they couldn¡¯t see her and she was only worried about their nasty looking tentacles.  She dropped her bomb on the big monster that was at the southern end of the kraken line.


    The two test shells had made steaming craters that had been over four feet wide and just as deep in the muddy earth.   Diver¡¯s bomb hit the relatively soft kraken flesh at almost one hundred miles per hour.


    The krakens heard the screams from three of their brethren and immediately launched their attack, racing for the monkey camp.    They broke the tree line and right into the waiting guns of the two tanks who knew where to approximately aim their guns, thanks to the dive bombing flyers.  Cannons and 20mm rifles thundered; it was a d¨¦j¨¤ vu moment for the squids.  But the krakens¡¯ attack was too swift and only one kraken was seriously wounded during their charge.  Four, largely unwounded squids attacked the tanks, with air blasts.  One blast caught Captain Mesquida as he was closing his hatch.  He might have been killed by the extremely short range burst, if not for the recent physical enhancement he received when he was knighted.


    Jeffrey Vargas was the commander of the Sherman, and being a sergeant he was smarter.  He had his hatch already sealed by the time the krakens attacked.  While he might have missed with the 20mm rifle that was mounted by the commander¡¯s hatch, the three inch gun on his tank had succeeded in striking a deadly blow.


    Two krakens attacked each tank.  They couldn¡¯t quite pick up the Hellcat and its armor was proving to be a formidable defense.  If the squids would have cooperated better they might have actually gotten the tank destroyer off the ground.  As for the Sherman tank it laughed at their efforts.   The krakens latched onto the tank and it pulled them both hither and yon over the muddy field.  Destroying more of that poor wheat crop and eventually drawing the anger of Isabella Gomez.  Jeffrey Vargas would come to regret his exuberance as he encouraged his driver to pretend as if he was in a NASCAR race.


    The 20mm rifles were ripped off of both tanks but every once in a while the gunner in the Sherman saw squid out his gun sight and in response, fired off the seventy-five millimeter cannon.


    Storm Wind longed to have his flight launch another attack but he had been specifically ordered not to once the krakens got within one hundred yards of the compound.  George had carefully explained to him, how friendly fire wasn¡¯t a good thing for either of them.


    The tanks were shooting and holding the attention of the flying sashimi family but finally their wounds got too much for the squids and three of them squirted away in retreat.  That¡¯s what Storm Wind had been waiting for, he ordered his flight back in to attack.  Ten minutes later Tornado Challenger was thoroughly disgusted when after missing his target Storm Wind called him back.  Metal Grinder had missed as well.  A frightened and alert giant squid proved to be a much more difficult target than an overconfident one.


    What was worse for Challenger was the way that his fianc¨¦e, Fish Diver was gloating over her second kill.  She was proclaiming to all that she was going to open up her own seafood store and that it would specialize in fresh squid.

 Chapter 11: What鈥檚 In a Name?

    I¡¯m starting to pretty up some of my older chapters.  In this one I changed the font and put in dashed lines to signify point of view changes as I¡¯m doing in newer chapters.  Vince is typically in first person, while others are always in third person.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 11: What¡¯s In a Name?


    Just when I thought I was done working, Peggy and Gloria without even asking, sent me two more infected birdbrains.  Luckily these latest two weren¡¯t as sick as the previous flyers had been and Denise had developed through hard work a lot more power and skill by this time; so we managed to cure them both in only eight hours.  P & G cured the rest and the last I heard the two Healers were sleeping like the dead.


    When I finally made it back inside of my own home to get some real sleep, I was surprised to see Denise sleeping on my couch and snuggled up with some guy, who was unknown to me.  I ignored them and went to my room, where I slept for the next six hours and awoke about midnight.   My body¡¯s internal clock was all screwed up.  I remained in bed for about an hour while I worked on healing myself.  After which, I sat myself down in my chair and using my legs, I pushed myself out to my garage/cave.  One more long healing session and I should be able to walk around without having to endure severe pain.


    During the previous half day, I had heard some gun and cannon fire but Jennifer had kept me informed, telling me that everything was under control or as under control as things normally got around here.  Evidently, a group of eight squids had come close during the day but they had been dive bombed by a flight of flyers using some improvised bomb racks that Grace and Glen had whipped up using the enchanted steel bands and the shells that had been intended for the Holman Projectors.  I guess our defensive battle had gone pretty well.  Evidently a healthy flyer is faster than a Sky Kraken particularly in a dive.  The attack had killed over half of the squids and the few wounded survivors had squirted for safety.  But the krakens did manage to damage the Hellcat a little and both tanks had their 20mm rifles torn off.


    The flyers were now living in my big garage by the shop, which I didn¡¯t like at all.  It was too much like they were being relegated as a second class intelligent species but the problem was that they were physically so wide that our normal homes and doorways were uncomfortable for them.  Besides that, I didn¡¯t want to force anyone out of their current living arrangements.  However, the flyers seemed willing to put up with their accommodations for now.  It had been worse for Kilmer¡¯s people and especially his son.  William Kilmer, his wife and daughter were now living in Faith¡¯s trailer.


    It was a good thing that I had made Faith and Jim my official Peace Keepers; they were both needed when Kilmer¡¯s former flunkies and family arrived.  Martin Kilmer had made a lot of enemies for those that were formerly close to him.


    I mulled over my current situation and what was facing my tiny village.  I would feel a lot better if I was alone but there was no way I was going to let children be eaten by monsters or known innocent people rot in prison while I had the power to change things.


    I thought over what I now believed about the magic that has flooded our world.  It is my conjecture that magic has replaced electro-magnetism.  We¡¯ve had thunderstorms since the great change and when I¡¯ve seen lightening, I¡¯ve sensed magical energies in the jagged bolts.  This magical energy can be shaped by those with appropriate talent using focused will, enchantments and probably spells as well, though I¡¯ve only really used the first two methods.  While there are probably many different types of magical abilities like healing and physical enhancements, the four major types seem to be elemental based.  Those being earth, water, air and fire but I don¡¯t think of them that way.  I think of them more as the four types of matter which are solid, liquid, gas and plasma.  I used to define plasma as a highly excited gas with electro-magnetic properties but for our new world I¡¯ve changed that to a highly excited gas with magical properties and thus my ability to be a human flame thrower.


    It suddenly occurred to me to wonder how Ron was doing as a welder.  Also, I should probably make some enchanted tools for our machine shop.  If we had our own small foundry and forge that would dramatically increase our capabilities.


    I had a lot to do, in order to give us all a better chance at surviving in this new world.  Honestly, I would be far happier if everyone had a better place that they could all go to for refuge and thus leave me alone and in peace but I doubted that was going to happen.  The six month time period before the first Warning came was probably the happiest I have ever been since my late twenties.  I know I¡¯m back in a younger body again, which is kind of nice, but I still wish that none of this shit had ever happened.


    I had pulled down one of my old physics books.  I was idly flipping through the pages thinking about the four states of matter.  I had no handy fluids to play with and I didn¡¯t want to make a mess, so I focused my attention on the wind/air/gas element of magic.  I know that winds are created by differences in atmospheric pressure and those differences are typically caused by the heating and cooling of the Earth.  But air or gases can also be moved by mechanical means, such as a fan.


    I¡¯ve enjoyed creating new things with magic, like fire stones but once I¡¯ve made the prototype, I¡¯ve found the repetitive production of the same item to be extremely boring and tedious.  I just wish there was someone in this compound with the untapped talent for being an enchanter but I haven¡¯t spotted anyone as of yet.  I¡¯ve kept it a secret so far, though it¡¯s possible Steve might have caught on, but besides being able to awaken the talents, abilities or enhancements in people, I also seem to have the gift of seeing what untapped magical potential a person might hold.


    I instinctively knew which people I could successfully teach true sight to.  The people that failed my torture session were there because I hadn¡¯t believed what my intuition was telling me.


    I knew that Denise could be a healer, though I still doubted myself at that time.  Additionally, I have more magical authority or power in areas or things that I magically recognize as being mine.  When George, Boris and Candace swore their oaths to me, they in essence became mine and thus I had greater magical capability in awakening their buried potential.  George had been a surprise, Boris¡¯s outcome had been no shock and as for Candace, I had known almost exactly what all of her talents and enhancements would be prior to her being knighted.  But the oaths they swore had been very powerful and I will not seek out others to do the same, they must come to me.


    I pulled down two of my new books, one on meteorology and other on climatology.   I¡¯m not even sure if I even know the difference between the two.


    I know I¡¯m a grouch and that far more people in this world have been betrayed much worse than I have been but I have never felt that comfortable around large groups of people and it was almost like I was destined to be an angry hermit.


    I idly tried sensing the gases that made up the air around me.  The components of which, were of course a lot more diffuse than what is in solid matter but in only a short while, I could sense what I thought were oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide and argon.  I pulled down a chemistry book from a high shelf or rather I magically/telekinetically called down a chemistry book that was on a high shelf.  There really is not much difference between a rock and a book to my magic and some books are so heavy, like the CRC Chemistry Handbook that I now held in my hand, that I¡¯d rather be hit by a rock.


    There were things that we needed to do.  This compound needed better and stronger facilities to house the inhabitants.  We needed some magical tools in the machine shop, because any means of improvement that could increase both quality and our rate of manufacture should be grabbed with both hands and our teeth if necessary.  I also needed to instruct some more trustworthy people in the use of magic.  I wonder if ¡°Dumbfucker¡± is a better name than ¡°Stupidfucker?¡±  We should start patrolling the nearby areas, there is probably a lot of material out there that we can salvage, liberate or loot.  Though, I will try and avoid doing the latter.


    I looked again at my newest title; I still had a hard time wrapping my mind around it, especially the fine print.  While it might seem like it offered me a lot, to me it meant a boatload of unwanted responsibility and work.  Steam engines, I hadn¡¯t checked with Glen about our progress in building our own one hundred horsepower engines.  How is that coming along?  We definitely needed that size engine or larger, in order to build our own armored vehicles.  We could no longer afford to deploy three of our four tracks at the same time, both George and I had agreed on that point.  At least two fighting vehicles had to remain here to defend this compound.  For that matter I better come up with a name for this place.  I¡¯ve got to stop calling it a compound, that implies something that¡¯s temporary to my mind and I¡¯m pretty sure that this situation is permanent.


    I get power from owning this place and if I don¡¯t name this village soon, some other idiot will.  Hmmm how about, The Village of Idiot, nope; Vinnie¡¯s Village and Grill, no that sounds too friendly; The Town of No Trespassing, that has potential; The City of Grilled Kraken and Grub, nah; The Hamlet of Fuck Off and Die, I like that one but we¡¯ve got kids living here.  The Village of You Can Leave Now, nope; Tanksalot, hell no; The State of Insanity, over used.


    I want a name that is slightly intimidating but doesn¡¯t scare the locals too much; a name that communicates strong defenses and might discourage visitors.  Off the top of my head I can think of four words that tend to communicate strong defenses: armor, stronghold, castle and fortress.  I don¡¯t have castle so that¡¯s out.  We don¡¯t have a fortress but we are pretty heavily fortified so that is still a viable name.  If the majority of the people living here survive; it will, in the short term, be because of our Guardsmen.  But in the long term, I think it will be the machine shop and what it produces that saves our asses.  Forge is another word for making, it¡¯s a strong word and it also has connotations of being an unpleasant place in which to work, which might discourage people from coming here.  So how about I name this place The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge?  It¡¯s a fucking pretentious name but if anybody doesn¡¯t like it they can leave.


    I again focused my attention on wind energy and air, trying to better my limited understanding of the subject.


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


    Jennifer was awoken by a rushing noise coming through the floor beneath her room, concerned she decided to awaken Faith, who was probably the most heavily armed of all the women living in the house.   Faith armed herself and both women went down the stairs, to Vincent¡¯s room in order to alert him to what they were hearing.  They knocked on his door, and getting no answer, they opened it.  Upon entering they found him missing from his bed.   The women cautiously went to the door leading from the kitchen and into the garage, they paused to listen.  The rushing noise was much more pronounced there.  Jennifer opened the door as Faith stood ready with her rifle.  There in the middle of the room was Vincent, who was surrounded by a miniature tornado that was lifting both him and his office chair, a foot or more above the floor.  He seemed to have his complete attention focused on a book that was floating before him; the women decided to quietly and quickly close the door.


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


    I¡¯ve found that every time that I¡¯ve exerted myself to perform some greater magical feat, that the size of my personal magical gas tank increases and my rate of energy recovery goes up as well.  These last few days of busting my ass, to heal those sick featherheads, has almost doubled the size of my fuel tank.


    I slowly lowered myself back down to the floor.  Once I had stumbled onto learning the initial secrets of Air Magic, I hadn¡¯t wanted to wait for a more appropriate time or setting.  Neither, with my injured body, could I easily move outside my cave to perform any Air Magic experiments in the open air.  I had stumbled from one insight to another, while keeping my complete focus on this my latest type of magic.  I had been on a roll and I had thought it was worth the risk.  As a result of my learning experiments, my workshop was now a little bit of a wreck but I think I had made the right decision.  I¡¯m now able to use magic involving the three states of matter.  I suspect that learning Water/Liquid Magic will not to be that difficult now.  But what I need at this moment; is a snack and my bed.  I think that it must be within an hour or two of dawn right now.


    I rolled into the kitchen, where I saw Faith and Jennifer sitting at the table and drinking tea.  Good, they could make me something to eat.


    Hello Jennifer, hello Faith; could one of you make me a fairly large snack please?¡±


    Jennifer leaped up.  ¡°I¡¯ve got a charcoal grill burning just outside the back door.  I¡¯ll have you something in fifteen minutes Vincent.¡±


    I once again reminded myself of the need to make some magical hot plates, at least for my own home.  Jen quickly gathered some food and hurried outside the back door, she seemed to be a little nervous.  Faith as well, looked a little disconcerted but she visibly pulled herself together and began to speak.


    ¡°Vincent, we saw you in the garage with the wind swirling around you and holding you up, it was kind of freaky.  Jennifer and I are worried that if we don¡¯t have any magic ability, besides true sight, and if other people do gain magical skills, then she and I might soon be seen as weak and easy targets for foes and bullies alike.  Do you think it¡¯s possible for Jen and me to gain greater magical abilities?  Can you please teach us?¡±


    ¡°Faith, as far as I¡¯ve been able to tell, most people have at least a little bit of magic in them now.  I¡¯ve been able to awaken talents in people through painful instruction and by using magic.   I can teach magic that I already know to people but if I don¡¯t know a particular branch of magic, where your own potential gift may lie then I can¡¯t help you.¡±


    ¡°But you knighted George, Boris and Candace and they suddenly got all kinds of magical abilities?¡±


    ¡°I only unleashed their potential and I¡¯m almost positive that it wouldn¡¯t have worked without them swearing those binding oaths to me.  You already know that my power, here on my own land, is greater than if I¡¯m someplace else.  I think it¡¯s the same when someone swears an oath to me.  In a sense that person becomes mine and agrees to never betray me; the magic inside of me and the magic in our new world recognizes that, which in turn gives my magic the ability to awaken the magic and hidden talents inside of the person swearing an oath to me.¡±


    ¡°So, if I swear an oath to you, you¡¯ll magically awaken my talents?¡±


    ¡°I might, we would both need to think about it and you would have to come up with your own oath.  I¡¯m not going to tell you what to say.    This isn¡¯t slavery but it¡¯s too much like a master-servant relationship to my mind and I don¡¯t like it.  You don¡¯t lose your freewill but you might lose your abilities if you ever betray me.  Please keep what I told you in confidence; I want everyone who comes to me to do it of their own volition.  I don¡¯t want rumors and peer pressure influencing people.¡±


    ¡°Can I think about it too, Vincent,¡± asked Jennifer?  Who was now standing just inside the back door off of my kitchen and holding a plate of some wonderfully smelling food.  She must have been listening from just outside the rear entrance.


    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Of course you can Jennifer.  You can both tell me your decisions tomorrow.  Right now, I¡¯m too tired to do anything or to talk more about it.


    By the way, I¡¯ve settled on a name for this compound and I would like you to make an official announcement about it.  I was afraid of hearing some name that I didn¡¯t like, so I decided to come up with my own.  The Hermit¡¯s Village is still okay and variations similar to that but the official name is now The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  A stronghold is a strongly held defensive position but not necessarily a fortress or castle.  I think we qualify on that score, since we¡¯ve managed to defeat some pretty significant attacks.  The word forge can mean many things such as to create or to move forward but it is also the word for a metal workshop.  All those definitions are, to my mind, good things and I think that the machine shop here will play a big part in saving all of our lives.  I used the word hermit because I didn¡¯t want to use my own name.  I¡¯ve been secretly afraid that someone would start calling this place Vinnie¡¯s Village.


    You might thing that the new name is unduly bombastic but this is a new world and I think we have to start thinking and talking in strong terms.  We¡¯ve been attacked by Night Stalkers, giant armored mammoths, lizard men, and Sky Kraken.  Well now we¡¯re living in The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge and we will fucking kill anything and everything that attacks us!  I¡¯ve got plans for this place and if I have my way it will become an impenetrable fortress.¡±


    Both women smiled slightly, at the end of Vincent¡¯s little speech.  Faith had a question though.  ¡°Vincent, do I have any hidden talents?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you do; not too many potential physical enhancements but more than I have which is zero.   However, you have the potential gift for at least two forms of magic.¡±  I stared at her quite intently.  ¡°In fact your potential is pretty sizeable if you work at it.¡±


    Faith gasped and started to grin.  Jennifer spoke, ¡°Vincent, what about me?¡±


    I focused my attention on Jen.  ¡°You have potential too Jennifer, perhaps not as much as Faith does but that¡¯s a judgment call and you might like your hidden talents better than what Faith has inside of her.


    I have more than a suspicion that besides our genetic makeup, that our own thoughts and feelings also play a part in want awakens inside of us.  But I¡¯m still pissed off that I didn¡¯t get anything in the way of physical enhancements.  Now, if you can give me that plate of food, before it gets any colder, I¡¯ll be a happy man.¡±


    Jennifer flushed red in embarrassment and rushed over with Vincent¡¯s snack.


    After eating, I went to my room, got in bed and wound my alarm clock.  The time was five a.m., I set it for ten.  Then I did a full healing session on myself and went to sleep.


    Including the sleep I had gotten last night and this morning, I actually awoke feeling quite refreshed before my alarm went off.  Lately, I had found that I no longer needed eight hours of sleep at night but I wasn¡¯t certain if I could get by with only four hours or if I needed at least six.


    I woke up pain free but I still felt a little weak in my pelvic region.  I thought that with a lot food, a couple light healings and a few more days that I should be back to one hundred percent fairly soon.  I bathed and closely examined little Vincent.  What I discovered, forced me to recall the ending for the movie Young Frankenstein, where Gene Wilder gets something in exchange for giving up a portion of his brilliant intellect.  I hadn¡¯t been as calm as I had pretended to be when my penis was blown into pieces.  At the time what tissue was left, didn¡¯t seem to me, to be enough to effectively rebuild that appendage, so I was forced to steal tissue from my ass.  Perhaps too much tissue, at a guess my penis was at least thirty percent larger in all dimensions.   It wasn¡¯t a monster like some men have but it was definitely now larger than average.  I wasn¡¯t going to let it bother me, it¡¯s not like anyone else was ever going to see it.


    After eating, I walked over to the shop.  ¡°Hey, Glen¡±


    ¡°Hi Boss, I heard about the new name for this place and I like it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.  I came by to find out if there had been any problems here in the shop or if you needed my help?  Have you been able to make one of those one hundred horsepower steam engines yet, because we¡¯ll need another armored vehicle if we¡¯re going to start sending out salvage and supply gathering expeditions; and for that new vehicle we¡¯ll need an engine.¡±


    ¡°Yeah Vince, we¡¯ve got it working but I have to tell you that we all, including yourself, screwed up a little.  We never looked at all those steam engine plans that Jennifer bought for us.  The one hundred hp engine we built is a good one and it¡¯s light too but it was a little tricky for us to construct, nonetheless we¡¯ve mastered that now.


    However in some of those plans that Jen got for us, are designs for a one hundred and twenty five horsepower engine and a two hundred horsepower engine.  Not only that but she got us plans for the needed boilers and  complete plans for how the steam engines and boilers can be installed into boats or land vehicles.  The type of steam engine, in those plans, is easier for us to build but it¡¯s heavier, six hundred pounds for the smaller one and over a thousand for the larger engine, but that¡¯s including the weight of the boiler.  Surprisingly the size of the things isn¡¯t too bad at all.¡±


    ¡°So what do you think we should do?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to cast some engine blocks in order to build them.  Do you think that¡¯s something you can help with?¡±


    ¡°I know that I can get generate the required heat and I think I can help make certain that the cast metal piece is a good one.¡±


    ¡°If you can give us a solid engine block that would be great, it would certainly leave me with a lot less to worry about.  If some of your magic works on metal, I would like you to take a look at the Hellcat.  Clyde is worried about it.  Those damn krakens bounced it around and we¡¯re pretty sure it¡¯s got some stress cracks in it now.  After you see him if you can come back here?  I want to introduce you to our new gunsmith; he¡¯s got some interesting ideas.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go see Clyde but while I¡¯m gone, you think about building some kind of armored personnel carrier for us, something like the Priest but on wheels.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that Vince.¡±


    I walked outside and I saw both Clyde and George inspecting the Hellcat.  ¡°Hello George, I heard you got bounced around a little, how are you feeling today?  Hey Clyde, how¡¯s it going?¡±


    ¡°Hello Vince,¡± responded Clyde.


    ¡°Morning Boss, I¡¯m feeling better this morning.  Gloria fixed me right up.  But my poor baby is all banged up.¡±  He patted the Hellcat.


    I put my hands on the Hellcat, closed my eyes and concentrated on the vehicle.  Just like with my healer¡¯s sight, I was presented with a 3-D image of the tank in my mind.  I started to do my own inspection of the machine.  It took me awhile.   Both men were still there when I reopened my eyes.  ¡°Yeah she is fucked up a little.  But I think she can be fixed with some big hammers, a hydraulic jack or two and some magic.   It will probably take half a day to get her back into a functional state.


    Lately, I¡¯ve been thinking about the enchantments that I could possibly add, to things like shields, personal body armor and armored vehicles; enchantments that would make those things tougher for as long as the magical energy held out.  Maybe in a few days, I can have some magic along those lines that we can test.  Clyde, I¡¯ll come back this afternoon and if you¡¯re available, we¡¯ll start to work on fixing this old girl.¡±  I patted the tank destroyer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting for you Vince.¡±


    After hearing Clyde¡¯s answer, I resumed talking.  ¡°I¡¯ve already mentioned to Glen that we need another armored vehicle or two.  He¡¯s got a steam engine built that could power one.  Do you two have any ideas where we can find an APC, either with wheels or tracks?¡±


    George replied.  ¡°The closest National Guard Armory is over forty miles away.  Who knows what we¡¯d run into between here and there.  Using three armored vehicles on our expeditions gives us greater redundancy and drastically increases our capabilities over just using two of them.  Honestly, I would like to use all four of them when we send people out of the compound but after fighting monsters here, like those krakens, we don¡¯t dare risk doing that.  The Priest and either the Sherman or the Hellcat has to remain here at the Stronghold at all times.  Actually, I would like a second APC for this compound.  If we¡¯re going to send an expedition to that armory, in my opinion, we would need a minimum of four armored vehicles and I would prefer six.  The only option that I can see is to add armor to some of the heavy pickup trucks that we have here or can find nearby.   Of course we¡¯ll have to convert them to steam power as well.¡±


    Clyde then gave us his opinion.  ¡°I think that might be our only option too but maybe we can find one of those armored trucks that the banks all use?  I don¡¯t know where they¡¯re stored but maybe we can look in the phone book and see if there is a place close by or where one might be.  Better yet, perhaps the County Sheriff has something?  The Army was handing out all kinds of armored vehicles and I think our county did get armored truck or something from them.¡±


    George took up the conversation.  ¡°Let¡¯s put armor on a truck that we have here in the compound.  When it¡¯s ready, we¡¯ll send out an expedition to the County Sheriff¡¯s Department.  While on the way, the Guardsmen will keep an eye out for an abandoned armored bank truck.   There are plenty of trailers here, and all three vehicles could tow one.  Who knows, we might get lucky and find two or more armored trucks that we can bring home.¡±


    ¡°I guess that sounds reasonable, but it¡¯s going to take at least two weeks to convert a truck over to steam power and put armor on it.   Today, I need to enchant some freezer-fire stones for Steve.  Is there anything that I need to do for you George or for the Guard?¡±


    ¡°Yes, if you could please enchant another arming band for those new shells that we¡¯re making and some more iron rods too.  Also we need some carbines for our newest recruits.  They are simply too light of body to shoot a large rifle especially when their flying.¡±


    I stared at him.  ¡°What new recruits?¡±


    George¡¯s eyes wouldn¡¯t meet mine and he had kind of a grin on his face, the bastard.  ¡°The entire adult membership of the Long Flight Clan begged to join our Guard; we now have some air assets.¡±


    I cursed under my breath.  ¡°So they want to stay here?¡±


    ¡°Boss, they are crazy desperate to stay here, even with living in that garage.¡±


    ¡°How are they fitting in?  I¡¯ve been too busy to check on them.¡±


    Surprisingly it was Clyde who responded.  ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a bit of trouble Vince.  Our people feel sorry for them, because of how they were all swept away from their home world and then trapped here.  A lot of our people are fascinated by the Long Flight Clan too, because they are from another world, have wings and can fly.  On the flyers part, I think that they are so desperate to find a home here with us that they are trying to be the perfect guests, which has Steve going a little crazy because they won¡¯t ask for the things that they need, like blankets or food.¡±


    George added.  ¡°The adults that have worked with my soldiers have done well and they¡¯re extremely quick at learning our language so we won¡¯t need their two clan chiefs or you to translate for us for very much longer.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make a metal ring and half a dozen shells.  But I have very little spare time today, not with having to repair the Hellcat.  Besides that I have only two manual action carbines amongst my depleted gun collection, so you¡¯ll have to dig some up, on your own, if that¡¯s the type of firearm that you want them to have.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can find.  But Vince, the flyers would all like to be knighted.  They¡¯re hoping to get some of the same magical abilities that Candace, Boris and I got.¡±


    I glowered at him.  ¡°To start, I will knight or ennoble only the two Chiefs.  I think I¡¯ll have time to do that this evening.  I might accept an oath from the other adult flyers however they will not be knighted.  That is only for military and community leaders and those performing heroic acts.  I¡¯m fairly certain that simply accepting a flyer¡¯s oath, without a knighthood, should be enough for the magic to work.  Understood?¡±


    George nodded his head in acceptance.


    I left them and returned to the shop to talk with Glen, the new gunsmith and to place an order of my own.  The gunsmith was Sean Murphy and the husband of Denise.  He was the guy I saw sleeping on my couch with her.  It turned out that Sean was desperate for an expedition to be sent to his former home, which was less than nine miles away, in order to retrieve his tools, firearms and books.  I told him that I would discuss the matter with Captain Mesquida and Lieutenant Murphy.  A distance that short and on back roads, just might be worth the risk for the improvement in our gun making capability, that Sean says he can deliver on.


    As I was leaving the building I stole a new welding and cutting torch kit which was sitting on a shelf.  I had spotted Ron looking kind of depressed and I had an idea.  Through the grapevine, Jennifer, I had heard that while he could magically weld and cut metal, that he didn¡¯t have a lot of magical stamina or precision just yet.  I thought I could help him.

 Chapter 12: Firearms Won鈥檛 Defeat Every Foe

    Chapter 12: Firearms Won¡¯t Defeat Every Foe


    I slowly made my way back home.  I had been carrying my 44 magnum carbine and wearing my holster but I decided I wanted to make a new permanent addition to my wardrobe.  I went to my room, opened a large wooden box that was in my closet there and dug out an asp with its scabbard for my own use.  The next time I had to accept someone¡¯s oath, I would be ready for it!  Since smacking someone with a fork isn¡¯t very satisfying.  I was wondering what kind of enchantments that I could come up with, to put on the asp?


    After adding to my wardrobe, I went to my cave and enchanted four freezer-firestones and their associated boxes over the next hour and a half.  I was getting faster but a big part of my productivity increase was because I didn¡¯t have to charge these stones up; they would instead gather their own heat.   Glen had dropped the rocks and boxes off yesterday, because Steve had been hoping that I might have been able to take some of my time, away from my sick patients and enchant the freezing/heating devices that were needed for our new giant size freezers, needless to say Steve hadn¡¯t gotten his wish.  I hollered at Jennifer to get a message to Steve that the units were now ready.  Within fifteen minutes he had a crew inside my cave, and picking up the magical devices.


    I then started on the acetylene torch kit.  It took me over an hour to perfect what I wanted and when I was done, I had Jennifer send it over to the shop with the instructions that they had to figure out some way, to feed it with compressed air and only compressed air.  They could use air tanks or make a direct connection to an air compressor, a standard air fitting would probably be best but they could figure it out.  I instructed Jen to tell them, not to attempt using the enchanted torch until I instructed them in its operation, which I would do later today.  I guess that the newly enchanted torch, counts as the first magic wand that I¡¯ve ever created, since only someone with Fire Magic can utilize it.


    I had a new runner today; she was an orange screen and surprisingly the granddaughter of Martin Kilmer, the man who literally shot my balls off.  She seemed very anxious to please.  She and her family; were now living in Faith¡¯s trailer which was still parked in my driveway.  That was actually excellent accommodations for them, considering our current housing shortage.  Faith thought it was necessary because of the great anger that certain people felt towards the deceased Martin Kilmer.


    Melissa had brought back my order from the machine shop.  It was a rather thin metal box containing a quarter inch thick piece of steel plate.  It was to be my prototype for a hot plate/refrigeration device.  The enchantment, if designed correctly, will hopefully cool things down to thirty four degrees Fahrenheit if the side panels on the box are opened.  But if the lid is opened, exposing the steel plate inside, it would then heat up to five hundred degrees, becoming in essence a magical hot plate.  I don¡¯t know if five hundred degrees is too hot or not hot enough for cooking, but we will just have to see.  I¡¯ll need to come up with a temperature regulator but I haven¡¯t yet figured out a way to do that for those people without Fire Magic.  When I finished the device, I threw a quick quarter charge into it and gave it to Jen.  She was pleased with the new kitchen appliance and promised to evaluate it for me.


    Melissa hung back against the wall and intently watched whatever I was doing.  Because of her obvious fascination with magic, I secretly assessed her for any hidden talents.  Magic wise, she had less potential than Jennifer but she was still above average.  However her latent physical abilities were absolutely crazy.   As far as I could tell, if she somehow managed to unlock them she would get a boost in all her body¡¯s attributes, I just wasn¡¯t sure by how much.


    It took me over an hour to enchant the six shells and an arming band that George had requested for our new Air Guard.  I really didn¡¯t like the destructive power of the shells.  I might have been a closet gun nut and a death dealer when it came to paper targets but all this killing, except for Martin Kilmer, just purely sucked. The new shells or bombs, gave a fire mage the ability to concentrate several minutes worth of their magical energy into an item and then have it all release upon physical contacted with their target, there was no wasted energy in the process.  I certainly didn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of one of those bombs.  Thinking about it, I decided to test an idea that I had previously come up with, when I had first thought up the enchantment for the heat/explosive shells.


    I found a piece of scrap metal and enchanted it with the fire-explosive runes or least my own version of magical runes.  I then put some different marks on a piece of scrap wood and went outside, carrying the wood, the arming band and my scrap metal.  I had Melissa position the board against a rock while I charged that small piece of metal. When it was charged, which took less than a minute, I had Melissa stand behind me as I telekinetically launched the metal through the arming ring and into the board, where it stuck.  The board started to char but it did not immediately blow up or burn up.  My idea had worked as I had expected it to, and they thought I was mad when I decided that the perfect accompaniment to a fine, single malt scotch whiskey was chocolate chip cookies and not a cigar.


    I had feared the power of my explosive fire enchantment so I had built into it a backdoor or loophole for exactly this type of defense.  Of course to gain any benefit, you had to know the backdoor was there and how to utilize it.


    ¡°Melissa please keep an eye on that board and don¡¯t let anyone come closer to it than fifty feet, it might blow up.  I expect it to catch fire, but there¡¯s nothing nearby to spread any flames about, so just let it burn.  It¡¯s that small piece of metal that we have to worry about, so even when the board is totally consumed don¡¯t let anyone get close to it.  Tell them, that I¡¯m commanding that no one approaches that spot.  I¡¯ll tell Jennifer what you are doing so she can spell you, if you need a bathroom break or something.  I¡¯ll ask you to report what happens to the board and that piece of scrap metal, when I come back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep watch, Mister Standish.  Sir, I¡¯m really sorry that my grandfather shot you.  Do you think it¡¯s possible that I could learn any magic?¡±


    I looked at her.  ¡°I think it¡¯s possible for you to learn magic Melissa.  Probably a good way to start is to study some basic science and to meditate.¡±


    ¡°Mister Standish, could you teach me how to do magic.¡±  She was looking at me with big tear filled eyes, which wasn¡¯t fucking fair and she was an orange screen too, damn it.


    ¡°Melissa because I¡¯m a hermit, it¡¯s expected by whatever magical rules that exist in this altered world, that I be a grouch.  And in all honesty, I am one.  I hate that there are so many people living here and to me, two people is too many!   Because of my nature and the magical system, I actually do a better job of teaching any students that I have, when I get mean and nasty.  You should ask Faith Harper, Jim Lopez and Ron Lewis what I did to the three of them.  I am not a nice person.  I might consider teaching you but first I want you to try learning magic on your own and before asking me again you have to get your parents¡¯ permission as well.  I warn you, that I still might say no.¡±  Before she could say anything else, I retreated into my cave and left her outside.  Cute little girls with tear filled eyes should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention!


    I went to the machine shop and showed Ron how to use his new wand, that doesn¡¯t sound right.  I showed Ron how to use his new magical tool and that sounds worse.  I showed Ron how to use his new magically modified welding torch kit, okay that will work.  It¡¯s a good thing that I did tell them to wait for me; the thing has real potential as a short range weapon, an exceedingly scary weapon.  Compress air goes in, add magic and blazing plasma comes out, it¡¯s efficient and powerful.  Ron was able to blast things up to twenty feet away.


    It took Clyde and I, four hours to fix the Hellcat.  I engraved my new enchantment on to the tank.  In fact, I did that to all of the vehicles there, including the tractors.  I only told Clyde and George what I was doing.


    ¡°The new explosive fire enchantment worries me.  A friendly fire incident could destroy any of our vehicles and worse yet, kill the crew inside as well.  Even when I was considering this for a mortar round, I had thought it to be a problem, so the enchantment has a built in failsafe that can be activated by the enchantment that I have just engraved on all of our vehicles.  The new enchantment will prevent the shells from instantaneously releasing all of their heat.  Instead, the projectiles will release their charged energy over several hours and thus hopefully prevent any mass destruction.  Sadly, they will still produce enough heat to start fires but it¡¯s better than going boom.  Please keep this new defense measure a secret; you never know when we might need some kind of edge in a battle.¡±


    Both Clyde and George were happy about the failsafe enchantment, in fact George was pretty damn enthusiastic about it.  As I had time and opportunity, I would scribble or engrave the low power enchantment on everything in the Stronghold, including the fence!


    I went back to my home, grabbed a shovel, relieved Melissa from her assignment and buried that piece of scrap metal which was still radiating heat.  I would check on it tomorrow morning, by then it should be out of energy and cooled down.


    Jennifer fed me dinner cooked on our new hot plate.  Her opinion was that it didn¡¯t get quite hot enough and it needed some kind of temperature control.  My thinking was that it would be easier to enchant four different hot plates with each one being a different temperature.    I could manage a magical on and off switch but temperature controls for someone who does not possess Fire Magic was beyond me, at least for the time being.


    After eating, I went around my home, removed various pictures, scribbled my failsafe runes on the walls and re-hung the framed artwork.


    Sometime later that evening, I was out in my cave enchanting a revolver chambered in 45 Long Colt; when I had some expected visitors.  I had already enchanted the matching lever action rifle that went with the revolver.  Storm Wind and Night Storm came inside, they both bowed to me. Surprisingly they spoke English when greeting me.


    ¡°Hello Vincent, as Captain Mesquida told us to, we have come to you to swear our oaths and become your sworn warriors,¡± said Chief Storm Wind, he bowed again.  If he does it one more time, I¡¯m going to smack him.  I¡¯ve got my asp now!


    Second Chief Night Storm spoke next.  ¡°Greetings Great Healer, thank you again for saving my daughter.  I too wish to become your sworn warrior.¡±


    ¡°Hello and welcome, I find your ability to speak my language to be amazing.  Can you explain your proficiency to me?¡±  They glanced at one another and Storm Wind began talking.


    ¡°Our people are naturally good at mimicking sounds; we also have a tradition of recording history through song.   This gives us the ability to quickly learn unknown languages but in our case, our ¡®gift of communication and understanding¡¯ has dramatically accelerated the speed for us in becoming fluent in English.  You will find that it will take the rest of our clan at least a month to reach our level of skill.¡±


    ¡°Even doing it within a month is amazing to me. George should have already informed you, but you will need to swear a fairly powerful oath in order for the magic to work.  Please speak honestly if you have any reservations, I will not hold it against you.  Also, I can only do one of you at a time and you Night Storm will need to come back in about two hours.  I am sorry for that inconvenience.¡±  The two flyers again exchanged a look and Night Storm spoke once more.


    ¡°May I stay and watch my chief swear his oath to you?¡±


    ¡°Of course you may, there is no great secret in this.  And Storm Wind, please do not kneel if that is something that Captain Mesquida instructed you to do.  That is an act that I think would be difficult for someone like you, who has wings, and the custom of kneeling during this formality is something from our ancient history and not strictly needed.¡±  Though, it does give me a better chance to give someone a good smack in the head.


    Storm Wind stood before me and began to speak. ¡°My Lord Standish, I Storm Wind, Chief of the Terran Sept of the Long Flight Clan of the Mountain Flyers.  Do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and possessions; and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and commands.¡±


    He seems to have been coached in what to say but I wasn¡¯t going to sweat it, however the words ¡°Terran Sept¡± had me wondering.  I used my 44 Magnum carbine rifle to knight him.  ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir Storm Wind and I name you a Lieutenant in the Hermit¡¯s Guard, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Idiots this world is filled with idiots, not only that but now you¡¯re even importing them from other worlds.


    Sir Storm Wind, Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you fulfill your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight: Every good leader and military officer needs to be able to tell truth from fiction; and accurately see what lies all around them.


    Fire Magic Level One


    Air Magic Level One


    Plant Magic Level One


    Body Augmentation Magic Level One


    Hearing is 2.3 times as acute


    Crud, their eyes have just gotten really big.  I hadn¡¯t mentioned to anyone my new title.  Well it¡¯s too late now.  ¡°Congratulation Sir Wind, as a token of my esteem for you and your position as Chief of your clan and as a Lieutenant in my Guard, I gift you with my personal weapons, this 44 Magnum rifle that I used to ennobled you and a revolver in the same caliber.  I understand that Sir Mesquida has been training you in the use of firearms.  May these weapons, serve you well.¡±  I handed him the rifle, the holstered revolver with a belt and a box containing a cleaning kit and ammunition.


    ¡°Thank you Great Chief, excuse me I mean King Vincent.  I will do my best to fulfill your trust in me and bring honor to your weapons.¡±


    What a suck up, I should have smacked him with the rifle barrel.  ¡°I¡¯m sure you will Knight Chief Lieutenant Storm Wind.¡±  I grinned, ¡°We¡¯re going to have to figure out your proper formal title since that is a real mouth full.  As for your new magical abilities, please experiment carefully with them.  I suggest you speak with your fellow officers in the Guard since their talents were awakened the same way as yours.  If you have any problems either as Chief of your people or as a military officer please come to see me.  Now that you¡¯re officially my flunky, I can be just as rude to you as I am to everyone else.  Get out of my garage, so I can get back to work and have a nice night.  I¡¯ll see you Night Storm in two hours if you¡¯re still stupid enough to swear an oath to me.  I¡¯m a mean nasty rude person and you might want to change your mind.¡±


    I turned back to my work table and ignored them.  They stood there in silence for a few minutes and then quietly made their way out.  I had another rifle and revolver to enchant, something to replace the firearms I had just given up.  I started with the revolver, a Taurus Raging Judge which can shoot 410 shells, 45 Long Colts and more importantly 454 Casull cartridges.  I was still debating which rifle I was going to start carrying but I was leaning towards my pump action Remington 7600 chambered in 30-06.  I liked that it had a detachable magazine.  I hoped that our new gunsmith would tell me that my idea of making larger magazines for it would work; I don¡¯t see why it shouldn¡¯t.  I already had one spare four shot magazine for the rifle.


    After finishing the revolver, I started engraving the 7600.  I was adding a new enchantment to the two firearms; hopefully the new magic would make the guns materially stronger and help them resist corrosion.  I would have to keep them magically charged up, just like we did with the fire pins but it would hopefully make the barrels and other parts last much longer.


    I was just starting to enchant my last carbine, which was a 357 Magnum lever action and had been my favorite all around rifle; that is before we were forced to switch back to black powder.   There was a knock at my cave¡¯s side door and I yelled at whoever it was to come in, I wasn¡¯t getting up from my chair.  The door opened and Night Storm timidly looked inside.  I used my hand to motion for her to come closer; surprisingly she was followed by Lady Murphy of all people.  Perhaps Night had changed her mind?  She just might have some common sense.  Candace began talking.


    ¡°Boss, I was wondering if you might have a better rifle for me.  This Springfield is okay, ¡°she held it up in her hand.  ¡°But I would like something with more power and accuracy.  I¡¯m not bragging but I am probably the best shot in this Stronghold, my mother¡¯s good too and my dad¡¯s better than average.  I¡¯ve seen combat as a sniper and I¡¯ve won numerous competitions.


    Steve Monet had in the village armory, a Winchester 70 in 300 Win Mag but one of our sergeants spotted it first.  He¡¯s a good shot and I don¡¯t want to pull rank and take it from him for my own use, it wouldn¡¯t be good for morale.  What I would really like is to go back home and get my own rifles but the Captain says it will be at least few days before we may attempt something like that and perhaps longer.  So I¡¯m hoping that you have something available that is better than a Springfield?¡±


    I sighed; I knew it would come to this.  I pointed at a very fancy green hard sided gun case which was lying on top of a row of bookcases, which were lined up against the garage wall.  Night Storm looked on in interest.  I could see Lieutenant Murphy¡¯s eyes light up.  She grabbed a chair to stand on, grabbed the gun case and put it on one of my worktables.  She turned to look at me anxiously and I nodded my head that she could open it.


    She got it open and sighed like a school girl meeting a handsome movie star.  ¡°Oh Boss, it¡¯s gorgeous.¡±  She looked at me again and I motioned with my hand.  Carefully she picked it up.  The rifle was a Weatherby Mark V Safari, chambered in 378 Weatherby Magnum with a Swarovski 2.5x ¨C 15x scope.  It was a beautiful gun and for many years it was my dream rifle which I never thought that I would be able to afford.   I have only fired it ten times or so.  Truthfully, it was too much of a rifle for me and beyond my meager talents to do justice to it.  Before the Warnings came I would sometimes put it on my kitchen table and eat dinner with it as my dining companion.  It was truly a work of art.  I didn¡¯t want to give it up nor did I want to risk marring its appearance with my inferior engraving ability when I enchanted the firearm but necessity can force the most, ugly acts upon us.¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Boss, can I really use this rifle?¡±  Candace¡¯s eyes were sparkling like she had found true love, that bitch!


    ¡°I still need to enchant it, so you¡¯ll have to leave it here for now.  With luck I¡¯ll have it done around noon tomorrow.  You¡¯ll need to get Glen, Steve or I guess even your father to make you some ammunition for the rifle.  I only have one hundred and forty rounds for it and someone will have to pull the bullets and reload the brass shells with black powder.  But if you get your own rifles or find a superior weapon then I want it back.  I¡¯ll understand if it gets destroyed in combat.  I¡¯ll cry but I¡¯ll understand.¡±


    Because of the necessary delay, Candace quite sadly put the gun back down in its case, but she eagerly picked up the ammunition once I told her where to find it.  I expected that she would immediately be pestering her father to load the cartridges for her.


    Night Storm approached me.  ¡°Second Chief Night Storm, you seem most nervous around me now.  You do not need to swear an oath to me and I will not force you to.  I might say rude and cruel things but I don¡¯t think I¡¯m a villain.¡±


    She came to stand before me.  ¡°King Vincent, I am sorry but I find this world scary, this situation scary and you being a King, scary as well.  Please ennoble me and awaken my talents; I need this for my family, my clan and myself.  King Vincent Standish, I Night Storm, Second Chief of the Terran Sept of the Long Flight Clan of the Mountain Flyers.  Do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and possessions; and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and commands.¡±


    She might be featherhead but she was copycat when it came to her oath.  I used the 45 carbine that I had enchanted earlier to ennoble her.  ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Night Storm and I name you a Lieutenant in the Hermit¡¯s Guard, may you serve long and honorably.¡±   I almost burst out laughing; I get to call her Knight Night and it will still be a polite form of address.  I am going to have so much fun with this!


    DING


    My amazement with the stupidity of you people just keeps growing.  Soon I will be rendered speechless by it.


    Lady Knight Night Storm, Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you fulfill your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight: Every good leader and military officer needs to be able to tell truth from fiction; and accurately see what lies all around them.


    Healing Level One


    Air Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level One:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by ten percent.


    +22 Percent Increase in Strength.


    + 58 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +17 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +1 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    1.7x Telescopic Vision


    +41 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    Hearing is 1.1 times as acute.


    1.9x Scent/Odor Detection


    Before I could say anything the watch tower air horn went off.  I handed the startled flyer the 45 Long Colt carbine that I had just used to knight her; a holstered 45 LC revolver on a belt and I pointed at a nearby box with a cleaning kit and more ammunition.


    ¡°Congratulation, here¡¯s your firearms and gear.  Go see to the safety of your clan and family.¡±  I picked up my rifle and ran for the side entrance, Candace was closely following me.  I flung the door open.


    I stepped outside; I heard screams, yells and gunfire.  I had been in my brightly lit garage and now I was in an area cast in shadows, even with true sight, my eyes need a moment to adjust.  But I could see that the ground immediately in front of me seemed to be crawling.  What the fuck?   I used appraisal on one of the moving spots.


    Paraponera Giganteas, Giant Bullet Ant


    Before I could read much of the appraisal, I felt something crawl up under my pant leg.  I gave up a brief manly scream, before my lungs seized up from the pain.  Damn it, someone had shot me in the leg.  The agony brought me down to my knees, in reaction to the pain I had also let loose of my rifle during my fall, which fell a foot or two to my left.  More ants crawled onto my legs.  The only action I could think of taking was to block the pain sensors in my body.  It was getting hard to breath and my body was starting to go into convulsions.  As I fell on to my stomach I realized that there were thousands of the giant rat size ants in my courtyard.   They were biting me and tearing out little pieces of flesh, it was like one of those stories you hear about piranha.


    I was beyond pissed.  In desperation I coated my body with Fire Magic.  I had noticed that whenever I shot flames from my hands that I never felt any heat nor was I ever burned.  The heat succeeded in killing the ants on my body, but I could sense my clothes burning and I think while my own Fire Magic couldn¡¯t burn me, the heat generated by my burning clothes could, but with my pain sensors blocked I wasn¡¯t sure.  Sadly I forgot about something else, though I probably would have done the same thing since I was screwed no matter what.


    ¡°BANG¡± and my body rocked as the bullets in my newly enchanted revolver, which was holstered on my right side, detonated.  Fuck me!  I was going to die here because I let ants get in my pants!  Fire had always been my go to magic weapon of choice but I was actually stronger in Earth Magic and those ants were on MY LAND!  I closed my eyes and stretched my magic as far as I could sense.  I could feel all those ants crawling over my land and they had to pay for that infraction!  In the recent past, I¡¯d called up rocks from the ground but this time I sort of reversed the process.   I sucked all those ants down into the Earth and crushed them.  I not only did that but I crushed all the nearby ant tunnels as well, killing thousands of the creatures.  I used up all of my energy while doing that.   I no longer had enough strength to maintain the pain block, and then I think I died.


    Candace¡¯s reflexes were exceptional so while her boss had stepped onto the moving ground she was already leaping back into the doorway.  She saw ants ranging in size from six to eight inches.  She didn¡¯t need a gun, she needed a flamethrower; sadly she was still mastering her own Fire Magic.


    She dumped her rifle on a table near the door and grabbed a metal rake hanging on the wall.  She heard a brief scream from her boss, and saw him fall.  Ants were crawling all over him and taking away bits of flesh.  ¡°Damn it,¡± she thought, ¡°who¡¯s going to enchant that Weatherby rifle for me now!¡±  In anger at the possibility of being deprived of such a beautiful firearm, she started to flail about with the rake, trying desperately to get close enough to the Boss, so that she could drag him back inside.  Night Storm was stomping on the ants that were coming through the doorway.  Suddenly her new King burst into flames, then there was a loud BANG and something hit the outside concrete wall.


    There was smoke coming off of Vince¡¯s body.  Then suddenly as is if there were thousands of vacuum holes in the ground, every ant that was on some kind of natural earth was sucked down and disappeared.  There were still ants crawling about on walls, trailers, concrete and other things but all of those that had been on the ground were now gone.  Candace and Night Storm took care of the nearby ants and went to check on Vince.  He didn¡¯t seem to be breathing or have a heartbeat.  Lady Murphy immediately started CPR.


    Night Storm not knowing first aid and seeing her oath sworn lord in dire straits; spread her wings and knelt down at his side.  She brushed aside the charred remains of his clothes, put her hands on his lower body and willed her strength into him with all of her being.  She had just had her Healing talent awakened.  What she did was the only thing she could do and luckily it was just enough.  There were still shouts, yells and gunshots going on but things seemed to be getting under control.  Jennifer was the one who found the pair of Lady Knights working on Vincent.


    The village Healers were kept busy that night.  The venom from the ants caused those bitten to go into convulsions and to stop breathing.  While the Healers could not fix everyone¡¯s wounds that night, they could by running around like chipmunks on speed, get everyone who was bitten, breathing again and neutralize the paralyzing and painful agent in their systems.


    I woke up briefly in pain and almost immediately felt my eyes close again.  When I woke up again I found myself in my bed and an IV in my arm.  Isabella was sitting in a nearby chair and dozing.  I am royally sick of waking up in pain.  Hey, I¡¯m a king now; everything I do is an official royal act!  I found I didn¡¯t have enough energy to put up a pain block.  My throat was dry but I could tough it out.  I idly looked out my window, it was still dark outside.


    Though I had no energy, I didn¡¯t feel sleepy and I started to plan what defenses we could put up to protect us from creatures such as those ants.  I heard sounds coming from left.  I turned my face away from the window and I saw Isabella slowly coming awake in her chair.  She looked kind of cute and almost childlike with how she was rubbing her eyes.  Her eyes got really big when she saw me looking at her.  She rushed over to my side.


    ¡°Vinnie, how are you doing honey?  We¡¯ve been worried sick, can I get you anything?¡±


    I tried talking but I couldn¡¯t because my mouth was too dry.  She quickly lifted a glass from my bedside table and held it while I drank using a straw.  I slowly sucked down half the glass of water and I finally nodded my head when I had enough to drink.   ¡°Isabella how long have I been unconscious?¡±


    She stroked my head.  What¡¯s up with that?  ¡°You¡¯ve been asleep for over a day.  Peggy, Gloria, Denise and Even Lady Storm have been busy keeping everyone alive but you were the most badly injured.   You seemed stable to them and they planned to do some more healing on you tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°My being asleep that long isn¡¯t good and I need to speak to one of my officers right away, preferably Captain Mesquida but I¡¯ll talk with anyone.¡±  Isabella left immediately to relay my request to Jennifer and then returned to my side.  Embarrassingly she had to help me use a portable urinal but I had no choice, I hoped that I wouldn¡¯t need to use a bedpan.  Little Vincent had severe first or maybe even second degree burns and I had just gotten him fixed, that was the wrong word for me to use.


    Isabella fed me some thin soup, while I waited for a Guard Officer to arrive.  Luckily it was Captain Mesquida who showed up, it¡¯s normally best to deal with the man in charge.


    ¡°Hey Boss, how are you doing.¡±


    ¡°Safety tip, if covered in a swarm of flesh eating ants, remember that if you use your Fire Magic to coat yourself in flames; that while your own flames won¡¯t burn you, secondary fires started by your own flames will and you will also detonate any explosives, like gun powder, that might be nearby.¡±  The rat bastard had the effrontery to laugh at me.


    Still chuckling he asked, ¡°Why did you need me Vince?¡±


    ¡°Before I passed out last night, I managed to pull down into the ground all of those ants that were on natural earth, where I crushed them and their tunnels too for that matter.  I know for a fact that I didn¡¯t get all of them.  I also know that there is a nest out there someplace and other tunnels nearby.  I¡¯m too weak to go after that nest right now but we need to protect ourselves against further incursions.


    I need to be carried outside and laid on a piece of natural ground, to better let my senses scan the nearby area and alert us to anymore ants or their tunnels.  I know you and Boris have both got Earth Magic.  I think that by telling you what I sense you, that two can get close to the possible incursions sites, where then your talents will direct you the rest of the way to the little bastards.


    I recently built a magical welding torch for Ron.  It needs to be fed with compressed air but it has really possibilities of being a potent weapon in the hands of a person with Fire Magic such as yourself, I think it will be a good weapon against those ants but you will have to run compressed air lines around the compound to get the most benefit out of it.


    In regards to that ant nest, I¡¯m pretty sure that it¡¯s to the east of here and maybe a little to the south as well.  That¡¯s why my private little courtyard was attacked first, because it¡¯s located in the southeast corner of this Stronghold.  Those ants don¡¯t have any brains just voracious appetites and I¡¯m sure that they will be back and soon.¡±


    I got my wish; I was carried outside and laid on a thin mattress on the ground.  From there I could reach out with either of my hands and touch the bare earth.   A tarp was erected over me, like a tent, to protect me from the night breeze and the light mist that was raining down.   I could sense more tunnels that were being dug outside the fence line and in our direction.  Last night I had enough power to violently collapse those tunnels, but tonight forget about it.


    By overhearing some loud talking outside of my tent, I learned that the shop guys were trying to figure out a way to pump smoke down into any tunnels that were discovered.  Not a bad idea, I hope it worked.  I was shivering in my tent, in my weakened condition the cold night air was getting to me.   Isabella spotted this and arranged for some hot rocks to warm my tent and for some warm water bottles to warm my bed.  I was forced to mumble out a thank you, because her actions did indeed help.


    After about an hour I realized something.  Pieces of the nearby land that had not been mine before last night; were now MINE.  It wasn¡¯t a great swath of property.  It was just the areas that I had forcibly extended my magic into the previous night, when I destroyed the ant tunnels.  That land had been vacant for years and I guess my magical actions had established my right of ownership of those properties.


    The battle started about one a.m., Ron¡¯s torch proved to be useful.   As for the tunnels, George and his men would vector in on a tunnel that was close to the surface, dig into it and then attack with a burst of flame, stemming the first onslaught of ants and thus giving our forces time to act.  Burning wood and cooking oil would be poured down into the hole; or at other tunnels they would insert one end of a pipe, leading from the smoke generator that Glen and Grace had whipped up.  The smoke generator seemed to be much more effective than the fires but those fires worked as well.


    The ants did try to climb our fences but they couldn¡¯t.  They were the wrong size to climb it like the normal ants could do, yet they weren¡¯t big enough for their legs to grip the metal mesh properly.  But some ants did make it through gaps and under loose portions of the chain link fencing.  Luckily Glen had figured out another effective weapon.  During the night he and his crew had attached steam hoses to four of our tractors.   They then used those hoses to steam blast any ants that made it successfully into our compound.  Too bad we weren¡¯t being attacked by crabs or lobsters.


    I was nursed all night long.  Isabella fed me and I was given a few light healings by P & G.  Finally about an hour before dawn I started to finally regain my magical strength.   I was starting to wonder if there had been something in the ants¡¯ venom that had been inhibiting my recovery of magical energy or if it had been because I had pushed my Earth Magic well beyond its former limits.


    Two hours after dawn, when I was magically reenergized, I had myself carried to various areas in and outside of the Stronghold; of course I started on the inside.  I would be set down on a spot and over the next five to ten minutes I would collapse any tunnels and suck down any ants that were within forty to fifty feet of me.  Since I had pushed my range to well over a hundred feet last night, fifty feet didn¡¯t strain me at all.  It also helped that I took my time and I wasn¡¯t being eaten alive.   I worked for three hours that way.  But finally when I thought I had given us a reasonable safety margin, I decided that I just had to get some rest.  It was at that point that I heard the shop¡¯s steam whistle alarm go off and I saw all of our armored vehicles, race off towards the west and northwest, but fuck it.  I just couldn¡¯t keep my eyes open any longer.

 Chapter 13: Awaken You Foolish Humans.

    Chapter 13: Awaken You Foolish Humans.


    Candace was furious, as she looked at the army of lizard men hiding in the trees on the other side of the village¡¯s mangled wheat field.  If it wasn¡¯t for those blasted ants she would have had that beautiful Weatherby rifle in her hands rights now.  Using her magically sharpened vision, she focused in on one particular group of the lizards, what the hell?


    Captain Mesquida climbed up the ladder to the top of the water tower that Lieutenant Murphy was using as an observation post.  ¡°What do we have Lieutenant?¡±


    ¡°At first I thought we were going to be attacked by those mammoth riding Lizard Men that we were warned about.  But when I did appraisal on some of them it showed me only green screens.   Besides that, I swear that I briefly saw little babies in the arms of some of those beings and more astonishingly, I think I saw some humans out there as well but they are in back of the lizard folk.


    Captain Mesquida who had been looking out through his own binoculars did a double take on the Lieutenant.  ¡°So we might not be looking at an attack but instead some desperate refugees, who can still pose a hazard to us.¡±


    He climbed back down the tower and called ¡°Lieutenant Wind.¡±


    Sir Storm Wind hurried over, ¡°Yes Captain?¡±


    ¡°Those lizard people who are out there right now might not be staging for an attack but instead looking for a safe haven.  Lieutenant Murphy thinks she saw both babies and humans out there.  My problem is that I need an interpreter and I know that the boss is exhausted even though he¡¯s still working.  Are you up for the job?¡±


    ¡°Of course Captain.¡±


    Twenty minutes later the Priest with Storm Wind and Captain Mesquida riding in the armored box, along with two sharpshooters, headed out of the Stronghold¡¯s most western gate.  To the Captain¡¯s mind the village had far too many exterior gates, twelve of them in fact, most of which he considered to be worrisome weak points.  The Priest was flying a white flag indicating that they wanted to parlay.  He was concerned because he had no way of knowing what that kind of colored flag meant to the lizard men, he could only hope.  The Captain had chosen the Priest because it was the only armored vehicle they had, big enough to hold Lieutenant Wind.


    Captain Mesquida had the armored vehicle slowly approach the tree line.  He winced as the track further destroyed the winter wheat field it was driving across.  He knew that Isabella was not going to be happy with him.  As the Priest approached the trees he used his own appraisal ability on one of the short greenish gray skinned humanoids he saw hiding there.


    Name: Blender Apothecary


    Species: The Craft Makers for the Majestic Gray Scaled Warriors of Sabok


    Title: Apothecary for the Majestic Gray Scaled Warriors of Sabok


    George couldn¡¯t help but wonder who in the hell were the Gray Scaled Warriors?  Were they the ones that had previously attacked the compound?  And most importantly where in the hell were they?  Seventy-five feet from the woodland, he had the Priest stop, side on to the trees.  He remained in the armored box but he dropped one of its side armor plates.   The shop crew had added two plates to each side of the armored box on the Priest.  Dropping only one plate did not expose all of the men inside of the box to direct fire, besides that the plates were heavy and having only one contiguous plate running along the inside of the Priest¡¯s armored box would have been a pain to lift into place.


    George stood partially revealed as he slowly waved a white flag.  Because of their wings it was difficult to fit the flyers with body armor.   So the Captain, in his armored vest and helmet, thought that it was better if he only showed himself, at least initially.


    Slowly the lizard man, that George had just appraised; came out with both hands empty and held chest high.


    The greenish gray man began to speak, Storm Wind heard his words.  ¡°I, Blender Apothecary of the Craft Makers greet Captain George Mesquida, Knight for the Hermit King Vincent Standish.¡±


    Storm Wind was not surprised to hear, or rather see on the translation window, the Captain¡¯s name and title being used; he had expected Blender to know that information because of the appraisal ability.


    ¡°My people and I wish you no harm.  We have a small number of humans with us.  We all seek refuge in your village, from the monsters that plague this land.  We offer our services in exchange.  My people will work tirelessly for you, and we will swear binding oaths to your King; as our people¡¯s guide, Star Astrologer has told us to do. We wish to talk with you in peace.¡±


    Storm Wind translated Blender¡¯s words for Captain Mesquida.  The two men discussed the matter and then invited Blender to approach the Priest for a longer discussion.  The lizard man was slightly startled to see Storm Wind but for some reason the sight of another nonhuman caused him to visibly relax.


    They talked for almost two hours.  George found that that the Craft Makers were a servant species of the gray skinned lizard men that had attacked the compound several days ago.  They¡¯re two defeats by Vincent¡¯s forces had decimated their numbers but worse was to befall them.  Sky Krakens had attacked their camp.  The Captain learned that the Craft Makers had been enslaved by Sabok Warriors so long ago that the Craft Makers had forgotten their own origins as a people.  Even their traditional names were long gone and had been replaced with the names of their professions and other words relating to their occupations.  George also learned that the Gray Scaled Warriors had a secret ability that shut down all aggressive or combative tendencies in the Craft Maker people, making the grayish green lizard folk easy prey for the larger grays.


    With magic now loose in the world, George hoped that such mind control powers did not work on humans as well.  Blender told him about the humans that his people had encountered and how they were very tentatively working together.  But there was confusion and mistakes being made because of the lack of common language.  The refugees had no one with the ¡°gift of understanding.¡±


    Under his own authority George invited the Craft Makers and their human companions into the compound.  The Stronghold consisted of sixteen fenced in plots, all approximately two acres in size and arranged in a four by four rectangular grid.  There were fences between all sixteen plots with strong gates leading from one fenced in area to another.  It might have been inefficient but that was just the way that the Boss had Mack construct the Stronghold.  During the early days, Mack and his crew would fence in another area whenever Vincent felt that more land needed to be added to the compound.  The last ten acres that were fenced in was currently being used as grazing land for the community¡¯s small herd of cattle.  George was granting the new people temporary access to a two acre portion of that land which was in the most northwestern corner of the Stronghold.


    The Sherman tank was brought out to stand guard and offer protection to the Craft Makers while they walked to the compound.  George finally saw the humans at the tail end of the column and the description that came to his mind when he saw them was shell-shocked and desperate.


    George would get with Steve and see what they could offer the refugees and then afterwards he would inform the Boss about his actions. The Captain assigned Storm Wind as the refugees¡¯ guard/protector and interpreter.  Lieutenant Wind was given command of ten humans and six flyers to aid him with the task.


    I was peacefully sleeping in my bed when there was a knock at my door.


    ¡°Vincent, Steve and George need to speak with you it¡¯s urgent.¡± It was Jennifer.


    ¡°Send them in; I¡¯m not getting out of bed.  And please bring me something to eat along with a pitcher of drinking water.¡±


    George and Vince came in a few minutes later.  They briefed me about our new refugees.  ¡°Okay I understand but I need to get some rest because I still have to deal with those ants.  So the Council will have to handle the problem of these new refugees.  Using true sight, you will interview them and decide if you think that they should stay or not.  If the Council decides that all or some of them should join us, then Steve you will need to supply them with the essentials and decide where best to house them and use the new manpower that they represent.


    Gentlemen we are getting behind the energy curve here and we¡¯ve got to fix things before we drown.  This place needs walls, we need more armored vehicles, firearms, housing and I¡¯ve just come to learn that we need more magic users too.  I think those ants would have fucked us if not for my magic.  I¡¯ve got more magical energy now but I have a lot of things to do.  I need to enchant all kinds of gear, awaken volunteers and magically build some walls around this place.  I¡¯ve wanted to do the last item for some time now but something always comes along and fucks with my plans.  I¡¯ve decided that we have to start taking some risks or we¡¯ll all be fucked.  As you can tell I am not fucking happy about having my sleep interrupted.


    I¡¯ve got an idea which I want you two to bounce off of Clyde and Glen.  They just put steam engines into two of our modern tractors.  The engines only have half the rated horsepower of tractors¡¯ former diesel engines but we¡¯ve all learned by this time that the horsepower rating on a steam engine is rather deceptive.  So while those tractors aren¡¯t fast they have plenty of torque.  We also still have those two armored utility trailers we used on that first run to Kilmer¡¯s.  Here¡¯s my idea.  Glen puts armor on those tractors¡¯ cabs, which will then be used to tow those armored trailers behind them like mobile pill boxes or a poor man¡¯s APC.  They wouldn¡¯t be any good on the road but for inside this compound they should be barely adequate, not great but adequate.  For communications between the trailer and the tractor, Glen can install an old style speaking tube, like what was used on the early steamships, between the wheelhouse and the engine room.


    By creating those kludged together armored vehicles, it allows you George to send off an expedition, using three of our tanks, to get Sean¡¯s tools, guns and black powder.  One of our tanks; with at least a two inch cannon, has to stay here as well as two of our dive bombers.  We need to start gathering supplies and more firepower.  There can be no more delays.  Also spread the word about me being able to awakening talents; warn them about the oath that is required too.  I will not be knighting them.    I plan on awakening six people a day, so see if you can find any suckers, I mean volunteers.


    George, I also need you to consult with Mack about our passive defenses.  I need you two to come up with a design for walls and a moat to put around this place.  I don¡¯t need you to build it, but I¡¯ll need Mack to lay out the design and maybe do some tree and brush cutting.  Right now we have approximately thirty-two acres fenced in.  I want to put a wall around fifty to eighty acres and I think I can do it magically if I¡¯m given a week or two.  Figure on walls fifteen feet thick and twenty feet high but I¡¯ll try to do better than that.  A lot of the land around here has been vacant for years and as a Hermit King, I now have the right to claim those properties, according to the DDS.  So your design does not have to keep strictly to the lands that I already own.  Also please make it a simple design, I think I can do something complicated but that will drastically increase the time it takes me to make the walls.


    Jennifer is here with my meal now.  So get the fuck out of my room.¡±


    Both stunned looking men left my room without even asking a single question.  Grumpy Hermit Powers Activate!


    I felt like crap and they had to go and wake me up, the assholes.  I ate a meal of calamari, beans and potatoes.  Following that, I spent an hour healing myself, set my alarm for five in the afternoon and grumbled as I went back to sleep.    I have got to get a new handgun.   I can¡¯t believe I blew up my newly enchanted revolver even before I used it even once!


    I woke up at five feeling like I was getting over a bad case of sunburn.  Isabella brought me a snack and Jennifer arranged a patrol to go with me, outside the compound, while I crushed more ant tunnels.  Tomorrow I planned on finding their nest and destroying it.  I heard noises going on in the shop and I saw some lizard folk and unknown humans running about performing various tasks.  We really needed to find another enchanter!


    When I got back to my house I had a little surprise waiting for me.   All four of the women who were sharing my home nervously arose to their feet when I walked in.  Jennifer began talking.


    ¡°Vincent we talked the other night about having our powers awakened.  It seems that Grace and Isabella overheard our conversation.  Then this early afternoon, I along with Grace listened while you talked with George and Steve, you were talking kind of loud.  The four of us would like to swear oaths to you and have our powers awakened.  We all agree that without your magic those ants might have eaten us all alive.  We are desperate and scared Vincent, so please help us.¡±


    The four nervous women looked at me.  This did fit in well with my new plans, I am such an asshole.  ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll do it.  But Grace I¡¯m sorry to say that while I will awaken your talents, I will not knight you at this time.  The other ladies are leaders in this community and I will knight them, because I need them to be recognized by others as having authority here in this Stronghold.  I know that you are quite skilled but you are not a leader at this time, not that you don¡¯t have leadership abilities.  I hope you can understand?¡±  At least, I wasn¡¯t going to knight her before I knighted Glen.  I would speak to Glen first about the possibility of ennobling Grace.  As far as I have seen she was the assistant boss or foreman in the shop and she might well deserve the title, she had been a petty officer in the Navy.


    Grace nodded her head in reply but she did look a tiny bit disappointed.


    I can do one person an hour.  Figure out amongst yourselves who is first.  I¡¯ll be out in my cave enchanting stuff.


    Upon entering my workshop I found a stack of hotplates, arming bands and iron rods to enchant; that was not including the long line of rifles and revolvers, on my worktables, that I still had to engrave.  Two of the rifles were noticeably larger.  It looks like Sean and Glen have managed to manufacture a couple of real bolt actions for our twenty millimeter rifles.   I would save them for later because I didn¡¯t like to be interrupted while I was engraving firearms.  Damn it I forgot, I still have to enchant the Weatherby for Candace!  Groaning, I sat down at my workbench and began enchanting a hot plate.  Food was just as important as bullets to my mind.


    Faith came in first and knelt before me.  Shit, I had no idea where my asp was!  It¡¯s probably lying outside the door still, on the ground where I lit myself on fire.   I grabbed the closest thing to a weapon that was within arm¡¯s reach, which was a large hammer.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I Faith Harper do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    Using the hammer I touched her right shoulder and then her left.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Faith Harper and I reconfirm your role as my Minister of Justice, may you serve long and honorably.¡±  Maybe I should have cleaned the hammer off first?  I seem to have gotten her clothes dirty, oh well.


    DING


    Lady Knight Faith Harper, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Water Magic Level One


    Light & Darkness Magic Level One


    Telekinesis Level One


    +55 Percent Increase in Strength.


    ¡°Alright Faith, you are now a magical girl.  Whenever you invoke your magic, time will stop and you will magically strip down and put on a really skimpy costume.  You might even get a magical familiar, I recommend a chicken.  Now go out there and practice your new magical abilities.  Try not to hurt yourself or any other people.¡±


    She left my cave wearing a slightly amused expression.  I got up to search for the weapons that I had been wearing before I did my firecracker impersonation.  I looked outside, I ransacked my cave and I couldn¡¯t find jack shit.   I yelled for Jennifer and explained my problem to her; she left my cave like I had lit her ass on fire and I¡¯m now an expert about having one¡¯s ass on fire.


    She found my weapons in the machine shop where Sean had been keeping them after cleaning them up.  The scabbard for the asp was damaged, as was the sheath for my knife but both knife and asp seemed to be okay.  My rifle was perfectly fine since I had literally thrown it away from my body last night.  But what was shocking was that my revolver seemed to be fully functional.  Its finish was marred and the metal strengthening charge I had put into the gun was exhausted but it was intact and according to my magic, it was metallurgically sound.  I had at least expected for the revolver to be cracked around the lower cartridge hole in the cylinder but it wasn¡¯t.  I didn¡¯t know whether to thank my latest enchantment that I had put on my revolver, the Taurus Company, or the weakness of black powder; it was probably a combination of all three factors.  The only problem I had was that I needed a new holster for the gun now.  The leather one I had destroyed had been sort of a custom job.  The manufacturer regularly made them but they only made enough to fill orders, and never stocked them.  Of course ordering a new one was impossible now and I was not happy.  I might not have blown up my revolver but I did wreck a brand new hundred dollar holster.


    Jennifer returned for her own awakening.  Why do I feel kind of sleazy while doing this?


    ¡°Your Majesty, I Jennifer Boon do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    I snapped out the asp which startled her, and I didn¡¯t enjoy that one bit, heh-heh.  Using it, I touched her right shoulder and then her left.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Jennifer Harper and I reconfirm your role as my Spokes Person and Chief of Staff, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Lady Knight Jennifer Boon, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Healing Level One


    Body Augmentation Magic Level One


    Telekinesis Level One


    Levitation Level One


    1.1x Hearing Multiplier


    An hour later in came Isabella. ¡°Your Majesty, I Isabella Gomez do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    I touched her right shoulder and then her left ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Isabella Gomez and I reconfirm your role as my Chief Botanist, may you serve long and honorably.¡±  I already could detect that she had Plant Magic, and I knew the other magical abilities that she would receive but I didn¡¯t know the precise numbers she would get for physical enhancements.  When it came to magical abilities everyone generally started out at level one and would then grow to their personal maximum ability level.  Sometimes their maximum was only level one and other times their bodies, minds and magic would let them grow much further than that but they would have to work for it.


    DING


    Lady Knight Isabella Gomez, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight Level One


    Earth Magic Level One


    Water Magic Level One


    Alchemy Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Two:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by twenty percent.


    +13 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +36 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    +18 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    +5 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    1.1x Telescopic Vision


    1.6x Scent/Odor Detection


    Isabella seemed quite happy with her new abilities, and gave me bouncy hug before leaving.  To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement.  Isabella has rather large breasts, her behavior and rapid departure left me flushed and open mouthed.


    I got another hotplate and a couple of iron rods completed before Grace showed up.  The hot plates were a bit of work because I had added a safety shut off to them, if a flame sprouted up within a few inches of the plate, it would shut itself off and then it would have to be sent back to me, to be reset.  It wasn¡¯t like we had a fire department we could call upon.  I better mention something about that to Jennifer.  The engraved runes for that safety enchantment were rather long and complicated in comparison to the limited failsafe that I was able to engrave on to 20mm bullets and the iron rods of death.


    I stopped Grace before she could kneel down, she seemed quite nervous.  ¡°Grace, I think you are a good person and fully the equal of anyone else that I¡¯ve knighted so far but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea for there to be too many knights, at this time.   As for yourself, you already have true sight, Fire Magic and Earth Magic.  Are you sure that you want to swear an oath to me, because I really can¡¯t see any reason why you should.¡±


    ¡°Vincent, I heard you talking the other night.  Do I have any more talents for you to awaken?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡±


    She knelt before me.  ¡°Your Majesty, I Grace Lee do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    I put my right hand on her left shoulder.  ¡°I accept your oath Grace Lee, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Grace Lee, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you are now an oath sworn citizen of his domain and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Healing Level One


    Light & Darkness Magic Level One


    +44 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +58 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    Hearing is 1.9 times as acute.


    2.7x Scent/Odor Detection


    Before I could remove my hand from her shoulder she captured it with both of her own and held it.  ¡°Thank you Vincent.  You freed me from prison, gave me a home and these wonderful gifts.  I am grateful that you accepted my oath and I trust you.¡±


    She then got up quickly and left.  I swear that her eyes looked wet.  Well no matter, I had to get back to work.  I needed to enchant some rifles.  I did learn her numbers for physical enhancements.  Why did she get such a great increase in her healing rate?  I¡¯m the guy who¡¯s getting wounded all of the time!  Then I remembered how she had obtained Earth and Fire Magic.  Oh yeah, she did nearly die on that occasion.  I also learned that physically putting my hand on someone that I am awakening; drastically reduces the power required to perform that process.


    Early the next morning an expedition left for the Murphy¡¯s former home.  The Priest, the Sherman and the Hellcat all went, towing two unarmored but fully unenclosed utility trailers.  Among those going were George, Candace, Sean and Night Storm.  My Weatherby rifle went with Candace, I nearly cried.  I just know that bitch is sweet talking my rifle, promising to oil its metal parts and polish its wooden stock every day.  I had been extra careful when engraving that rifle last night and I had even used some magic and an old plumbing valve to fill the engraved runes in with bronze so as to pretty up my work.  Since electricity is no longer a part of this world I probably didn¡¯t have to worry about galvanic corrosion but you never know.  That¡¯s why I applied bronze to the engraved steel rifle.


    Mack, Clyde and Glen asked to see me about something.  Mack began talking.  ¡°Vince, we all know that we need more armored vehicles.  Well I had a thought and I brought it to Clyde.  Whenever I saw one of those mine resistant vehicles on the news, I couldn¡¯t help but see the similarity between one of those big boxy vehicles and a dump truck.  The bed of a dump truck is made of pretty tough steel, not as tough as armor plate but pretty damn strong all the same.  Besides that, I think I know where every nearby dump truck is probably parked.  I even own one but it¡¯s a piece of junk.  However, just two miles from here at the gravel pit, there are three dump trucks sitting there.  One is probably too big and another is a little small and bedraggled but there is one there that I think should be, as Goldilocks would say, ¡®just right.¡¯  I even asked Storm Wind for a favor and he flew by to check things out.  From his description it sounds like that all three of those dump trucks are still parked there.¡±


    Glen took over, ¡°yeah Vince, adding armor to one of those beasts will be a lot easier than putting steel plate onto a pickup truck.  We wouldn¡¯t have to worry about weight for one thing and there are some other tricks we could use as well.  In another day, we¡¯ll probably be ready to pour an engine block for a two hundred horsepower steam engine which should be plenty powerful enough for such a vehicle.  So what¡¯s your opinion of Mack¡¯s idea?¡±


    I turned to Clyde with a questioning look, he commented.  ¡°I think it¡¯s a great idea too, I wish I had thought of it.  The reason I¡¯m here now, is that since your knighting and awakening folks, I want in too.¡±


    I heard a similar sentiment from the other two men.  ¡°Okay I like the idea of armoring a dump truck.  We¡¯ll talk to George when he gets back.  Maybe the Priest, which is lighter than the Sherman, has enough power to tow it back here if we can get the dump truck¡¯s brakes to release.  As for the big dump truck you say that is still there, I wouldn¡¯t mind having that vehicle either.  I¡¯m thinking of something like a school bus sized APC for transporting people.  But we¡¯ll have to see.


    Oh Clyde, what¡¯s your opinion about those armored trailers we¡¯ve hooked to our tractors as stop gap APCs?¡±


    ¡°Glen and I did our best but they¡¯re pretty cumbersome.  However, they¡¯re better than nothing and surprisingly not that slow.  Just armoring up the cabs of those two tractors, makes them more versatile since we can now use them more readily outside our fences for construction projects.¡±


    Mack commented.  ¡°Boris doesn¡¯t like them that much as armored vehicles but they are better than nothing, like Clyde said.  I¡¯ve lent the Lieutenant some of my people who are currently directing our latest batch of refugees in building fortifications and shelters in the northwestern section of our Stronghold.


    I¡¯ve been going over ideas and mapping out on paper a plan for those walls you want.  I¡¯ll consult with George when he comes back.  What do you need in order to magically build our walls?¡±


    ¡°I need the design staked out and strings run between the stakes.   There will be a moat directly in front of the wall.  I¡¯ll be taking the dirt and stone from where the moat will be to build the walls.  Figure on having only one entrance at this time and we¡¯ll have a land bridge across the moat with a heavily reinforced gate and not a drawbridge.   I think it would take a couple of weeks to build such a bridge and we don¡¯t have the time to do that right now.  Where the walls and moat will be, I¡¯ll need the ground clear cut but you can leave the stumps and I¡¯ll be available to help with the clear cutting.  Figure the width of wall and moat combined to be somewhere between forty and fifty feet.


    I will also need several solid rocks like we¡¯ve been using for our fire stones.    I¡¯ll need one rock for every eighty feet of linear wall, perhaps more.  Put the rocks in a single layer in the southeast corner of my courtyard.  I¡¯ll need to enchant them.  Since I¡¯ll need so many rocks try to get them trickling in as soon as is possible, I would rather they weren¡¯t all dumped on me all at once.  I¡¯ve been doing some scale model experiments but this will be my first full size attempt.  We will also need a marked path leading from the northern most edge of the proposed moat to that ravine to our north.  That ravine takes quite a significant amount of spring runoff every year and dumps it into a stream to the west of us.  I don¡¯t want our moat to be a stinking stagnant mess attracting mosquitoes and flies.  I¡¯m fairly certain that I can tap into the local aquifer and fill the moat, thus giving it constant supply of running water which should prevent the worst of my fears from happening.


    Well I guess that¡¯s everything, if you have any more questions you know where to find me.¡±


    The men looked confused, Clyde spoke.  ¡°Boss what about awakening our talents?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, I forgot.  I can do two now and one more in an hour.  I just discovered an energy conserving trick for the awakening process.   All I have to do is touch you with my hand, instead of using a sword or other implement.¡±


    Surprisingly Clyde volunteered to go last.  He left to do some work, promising to return in an hour.


    Glen knelt down.  ¡°Your Majesty, I Macallister Smith do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    Using only my hand I touched his right shoulder and then I moved my hand to his left shoulder where I kept it.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir Macallister Smith and I reconfirm your role as Minister of Construction and Maintenance, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Sir Macallister Smith, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Earth Magic Level One


    Telepathy Level One


    Light & Darkness Magic Level One


    Sound Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Two:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by twenty percent.


    +31 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +9 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +32 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +54 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    +14 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    2.7x Telescopic Vision


    Hearing is 1.5 times as acute.


    2.3x Scent/Odor Detection


    Mack seemed quite pleased with his results.  I was happy that it only took about half the energy to knight someone this way as compared to using a fork, rake, hammer, rifle, or asp.  Glen was next.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I Glen Stewart do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir Glen Stewart and I reconfirm your role as Minister of Manufacturing, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Sir Glen Stewart, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Earth Magic Level One


    Levitation Level One


    Teleportation Level One


    Alchemy Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Two:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by twenty percent.


    +39 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +17 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +46 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    Mack and Glen left my cave comparing their new stats and arguing like a couple of kids about which football team was better.  Well, unless they both worked hard their abilities would be stuck at level one, except for Quick Thinking which apparently maxes out right from the start and is more of a mental enhancement than a magical ability.


    Exactly an hour later Clyde appeared.  I¡¯m positive he had been just outside my door for at least the last ten minutes, waiting for the time to elapse.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I Clyde Jenkins do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir Clyde Jenkins and I reconfirm your role as Minister of Ground Transport, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Sir Clyde Jenkins, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Healing Level One


    Air Magic Level One


    Plant Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Eight:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by eighty percent.


    +30 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +24 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +24 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +30 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    +17 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    1.7x Telescopic Vision


    Hearing is 2 times as acute.


    2.7x Scent/Odor Detection


    Clyde¡¯s results had left me kind of stunned.  He got every single physical enhancement, the rat bastard, and with decent upgrades too, no single digits enhancements for him.  He didn¡¯t know it but he had the potential to be a master level healer too but he would have to work at it.  But what was really amazing to me was his Quick Thinking ability; I hadn¡¯t even suspected that it could go up that high.  Gorgeous George would be jealous.


    I was feeling a bit pissed off for some reason.  I think I¡¯ll borrow a squad from Boris and find some more ants to crush.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    In this chapter Vince has used his ability to awaken talents to a much greater extent.  It is truly a powerful and incredibly rare talent, more powerful than I had planned on it actually being but it¡¯s too late now.  I do note that some of you already recognized this while I did not until now.  Vince¡¯s ability to enchant things is also extremely uncommon but ¡°Awakening¡± is several orders of magnitude more rare.  Basically once a person swears a binding oath to him, he is able to awaken every hidden magical talent or physical enhancement that a person has inside of them.  Except for a select few characters all of the characters receive their abilities through random number generation and throws of a dice.  However, I do give characters a slightly better chance of awakening abilities more in keeping with their past professions.


    I already cooked the books, so to speak, in making it hard for characters to get magical abilities and physical enhancements, but in this chapter there have been no losers.


    I normally don¡¯t like revealing secrets but I feel like a crooked pit boss in a Casino and everyone is winning despite my rigged games.  This shit has got to stop.


    While I will not bore you with awakenings of other characters, except for certain ones, I will have to roll up a bunch of stats for a lot of them and keep them in mind for future chapters.


    Thanks for reading.

 Chapter 14: Shopping For a New Ride.

    This chapter might need some more editing.  Please complain if you think so.


    # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 14: Shopping For a New Ride.


    I dug up a cheap nylon shoulder holster for my revolver.  I had bought it but I had never used it because it had seemed too flimsy even though it was from a name brand manufacturer.  It was a general purpose design for big magnum revolvers.  The holster straps came with pouch on the right side which sort of balanced out the holster on the left.  I could carry extra bullets in the pouch.  Wearing a heavy shirt, the thin straps didn¡¯t dig in quite so bad.


    Boris wasn¡¯t pleased with my decision to go ant hunting.   I had assured him that I didn¡¯t plan on going further than a quarter mile from the Stronghold.  He had the Scorpion follow me.


    I could sense the direction of the crushed and active ant tunnels and I just followed them back to the nest.  I in turn was followed by the tank and a fire team armed with a mixture of repeating firearms and Hawken rifles.   While walking along, I claimed the vacant properties that I tread upon and I discovered that it took noticeable amounts of magical energy for me to stake my claim.  Recalling what had happened with Grace and later on with the men that I had knighted, I took off my boots and socks.  Sure enough, it took far less energy to acquire new land that way.  It also allowed me to sense things in the ground far better, which I had expected, but my feet got a little cold and the ground was more than a little rough.  I hadn¡¯t walked barefoot in years.


    If direct skin contact saved me that much energy, I had better put up the Stronghold¡¯s new walls as fast as possible before the ground became too cold for me comfortably walk upon without shoes.


    Now knowing how to detect and defend myself from the giant bullet ants, things went relatively smoothly, except for a couple of factors.  Their nest was a little further away than I thought it would be and by the time I found it, I was low on energy from claiming all those new properties.  But I wanted to do destroy that ant nest today, so I waited for an hour nearby their nest, while my energy recovered, then I crushed those miserable land piranhas into a fine paste.  There might be a few of them that escaped but I don¡¯t think that there were any females that made it out of their tunnels.


    Both the Sky Krakens and the bullet ants seemed to pose a significant threat to all creatures, whether big or small, and I have to wonder if just their mere presence nearby the Stronghold has been keeping other dangers away from us, and what might possibly happen now, with them gone?  Well no matter, it had been them or us and as the old saying goes, I chose us.


    Upon my return to the Stronghold, Lieutenant Khan visibly blew out a sigh of relief.  Everyone was happy that the nest was destroyed.  Though, I was a little worried since the expedition had not yet returned.  They had departed at seven and it was now almost two.  I returned to my cave to enchant some more firearms.  But I had a visitor waiting for me.


    Jennifer had brought in Barbara Monet; Steve had been divorced from her for almost three years now, because of his wrongful conviction.  When he had gained his release, he had immediately contacted her because he was desperate to relocate his three children to his new home, inside my compound, in order to ensure their own safety.  Of course his ex wouldn¡¯t let them go without her and according to some gossip that I overheard from my new housemates the two of them still had some feelings for one another but there was a problem, the two men that Barbara had dated while Steve was in prison and the fact that the most recent one had been a cop.  That particular man had gotten quite close to Barbara and her children, and while with them he had encouraged them to believe that Steve was in fact guilty.  Steve¡¯s children communicated this to their father through emails and letters, which hadn¡¯t helped Steve¡¯s emotional state while he was in prison.  When Steve was released and the truth was revealed, things had gotten a little crazy for the five of them but because of the countdown clock they had had no time to resolve their feelings.


    ¡°Mister Standish, my name is Barbara Harris.  I used to be Barbara Monet and I want that name back.  I was talking to Steve last night about how you were accepting people¡¯s oaths and awakening their talents.  Right now, he¡¯s trying to make up his mind if he wants to do that or not.¡±


    I nodded my head, at last somebody with some brains.  ¡°I think the fact that Steve is carefully evaluating things is an excellent example of his intelligence and commons sense.  If he decides not to be knighted I will in no way be disappointed or insulted and he will remain one of the leaders here and retain his seat on my council, so you have nothing to worry about.  But since you are no longer husband and wife, I think it inappropriate to talk anymore about Stephen with you.¡±


    ¡°I hurt my ex-husband badly by believing my last boyfriend when he told me that Steve was guilty and worse yet, I let my former boyfriend tell my children the same thing.  Stephen is a wonderful man.  He was an excellent husband, a good father and an honest businessman.   Steve is working hard here, sixteen hours a day and then comes home to even more stress as we try to patch up our family.  I would like you to awaken my talents however I have a question for you.  I understand that if I betray my oath to you that I could possibly lose any abilities that I might have.  Can I also put something in my oath about my ex-husband so he might believe in me and trust me again?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to disappoint you but I am not getting in the middle of this situation.  Steve is one of the most important people here.  We would all be in far worse shape without him.  If I took your oath and Steve thinks it¡¯s a bad idea, I could definitely see that upsetting him and I absolutely refuse to do that.  But answering your question, you could probably tack something onto your oath and it might work.  But as I said, I don¡¯t want to speak with you anymore unless Steve is present.  If you will please leave, I have to get back to work.¡±  I frowned at Jennifer; I didn¡¯t need this kind of bullshit and she shouldn¡¯t have brought the former Mrs. Monet in here to talk with me.  Jen has to work closely Steve and she should be more concerned about maintaining her relationship with him rather than helping Barbara out with her family life.


    Jen left my cave looking awfully nervous; this is her first screw up and not a big one.  So I¡¯ll forget about it for now.  But I¡¯m a Grumpy Hermit!   And not a fucking relationship counselor and she should remember that!


    Mack started dropping off rocks I needed for the new wall.  I had decided to do the rocks in pairs.  One stone goes where the moat will be and the other where the wall will grow.  I had to run a long air hose outside, to power the air grinder I was using to engrave the runes, into the rocks.  The first two stones took me almost an hour each.  It would have taken much longer if I fucking gave a shit about artistry.  The runes were complicated and I needed to charge up the rocks too.  This was going to be MY WALL on MY LAND.  The rocks would ease the burden on me and my Earth Magic during construction phase and I was engraving defensive runes into them as well, in case of various worst case scenarios such as being attacked by another Earth Mage.  I am not trusting person, any longer.  Nobody is going to be able to magic those walls down but me or at least I hope that¡¯s the case.


    An hour before dusk the expedition finally returned.  They brought back another twenty or so refugees.  The tanks looked kind of banged up and they were practically dragging one of the trailers home.  I had got a quick report from George.  The most important fact was that we had no dead amongst our forces and that our wounded were already being treated by our Healers.  The expedition had been attacked twice, once by a blue screen Fire Mage leading a group of bicycle mounted blue screen villains.  It seems they thought that they could carjack our tanks, idiots.


    According to George, he spotted the ambush early on but he and the Guards withheld their fire because they weren¡¯t sure the idiots were going attack.  The action started when Mister Fire Wizard started throwing bottles of cooking oil at the tanks and igniting the oil with his magic.  The only problem for him was that both George and Candace have Fire Magic as well.  Of course the guns the Hermit¡¯s Guards were all packing, didn¡¯t hurt either. As soon as the attack was launched, the Guards all opened fire.  Those blue idiots must have been awfully desperate to attack our convoy.  I should remember to enchant the same strengthening magic, I put into my own personal firearms, into our armored vehicles.  George or Boris, who both have Earth Magic, should be able to keep the enchantment charged up.


    The second attack was by a pack of giant Daeodon.  Three meter tall, meat eating pigs with long legs and teeth better suited to be on an alligator.  That¡¯s what nearly destroyed one of our trailers.  Our wounded came about because four of the Guards had given up their places inside the Priest to some small children.  Personally, I think that those soldiers were lucky to escape with only wounds, no matter how severe, when fighting such huge creatures, even with firearms.


    The next day and a day late, the shop crew and I poured some engine blocks.  We used our magic and high temperature fire stones, to melt scrap iron, evaluate the quality of the molten metal, stabilize the sand mold, warm the mold, control the pour into the mold (in order to make sure there were no air pockets or cavities) and lastly to cool the mold and the engine block.    It worked so well that we actually did it three more times.  Now the engine blocks need to be machined and the other parts manufactured as well; which will probably take a week or two even with the detailed plans that Jennifer got for us.  However Glen, Grace and Ron are all optimistic about the task, they think that their magic will be speed things up by quite a lot; we¡¯ll just have to see.  I¡¯ll be extremely impressed if they get even one engine done in a week.


    I had about an hour and a half of down time between each engine block pour; I used that time to enchant some of the rocks that Mack had been bringing me for the wall that I hoped to build soon.  I am very much afraid though, that with my current rate of progress that it will be at least a week and more likely two or more before the wall actually starts going up.  Mack and George had shown me a preliminary plan for the curtain wall that they wanted.  Originally George wished for something he called a star fort but I nixed that idea; the spear point shaped block houses that he wanted at every corner would be too time consuming for me to build.  We needed to put something up as quickly as possible, and thus we quickly came to an agreement on a simple octagon shape, with each wall being anywhere from eight hundred to a thousand feet long, depending on Mack¡¯s survey on the best place to construct the walls.   George wants the walls to be a minimum of twenty feet thick and forty feet high, I don¡¯t know if I can do the latter but we will have to see.  I think I read somewhere that our local mosquitoes can¡¯t fly higher than forty feet, so walls a little higher than that might be a good thing, if I can do it, I do hate bugs.


    We have construction crews building houses out of whatever materials we can scrape up.  We are using logs, rocks, and even sod; besides the manufactured building materials we had stockpiled before things went all to hell.   The Craft Makers have been diligently working and producing marvelous results, according to Mack.  Storm Wind and Night Storm have taken those people under their wings so to speak and they have real wings to do it with too.


    When dusk came I switched from enchanting rocks to enchanting firearms.  I expected to see a rifle from Candace, to replace my Weatherby, but she hasn¡¯t brought anything by yet.  I suspect that the bitch doesn¡¯t want to return my rifle.  I wonder if my magic will lend itself to the creation of a voodoo doll.  That night, I also accepted the oaths and awoke the abilities in Sergeants Jeffrey Vargas, Richard Thomas and Derrick Miter; and I knighted Denise Murphy.


    They all got true sight which almost anyone can obtain, to varying degrees, so long as they are not into aggrandizing self deception.  If a person is deceiving themselves most of the time, how can they possibly expect to acquire true sight?


    Rich received some skills that I think would make him an almost ideal scout, but what do I know, before this all shit happened I had never been in combat or even played paint ball.  Jeff got a big goose egg for magical abilities but he acquired all of the enhancements.  Derrick did well, it turns out that he has great potential for both Levitation and Telekinesis; additionally he also picked up Teleportation however his aptitude is on the low side for that ability.  As for Lady Murphy; she received Fire Magic and Quick Thinking level six, in addition to her Healing Magic that she had worked so hard to get.


    The next day a short expedition left for the gravel pit in order to retrieve the truck that Mack had been talking about.  George was leading it.  Riding in the Priest were Glen, Mack, Ron and Vera Daugherty.  Vera was a diesel truck mechanic; she and her husband had arrived with the Craft Makers.  The truck¡¯s brakes would need to be released and either the truck¡¯s gearbox  put into neutral or perhaps the drive shaft would have to be disconnected or maybe even cut loose, that¡¯s why Ron had gone along, taking his magic wand with him.


    The George¡¯s Hellcat was in the lead, and the Sherman had the tail; in the cradle were the Priest and one of the new armored tractors which Clyde was driving.  While gravel was the only thing dug out of the pit, sand was stockpiled there for the convenience of customers and the machine shop needed more sand.  The plan was to put a light load of sand into the dump truck before towing it back to the Stronghold behind the Priest.  Clyde and Glen had made a tow bar for the armored vehicle.


    Rich rode in helicopters when he served in Vietnam and not in tanks.  So he was still getting used to riding in the Hellcat; and it was definitely the same situation for his brand new magical abilities and enhancements.  He felt like the character from that old television show, The Bionic Man.  He was now stronger, faster and his senses had all been cranked up.  That wasn¡¯t even counting his new magical abilities: Sound Magic, Telepathy and Animal Trainer.


    He liked their present tactical situation too.  No enemies in sight, armed flyers in the air keeping a look out, the tanks ready and things were progressing quickly with the work on the truck.  Really, they should be heading for home in perhaps as little as a half an hour.  So why did he feel so nervous?


    Mack was examining all of the large equipment that was parked at the gravel pit, paying special attention to the dump trucks.  Every piece of equipment had a hand lettered sign, saying that they were for sale in exchange for either food or weapons.  There had also been a big cardboard sign on the fence by the road, saying the same thing.  All of the signs had been made using crayons and they looked like children had made them.  Mack shook his head, the way the world was now it was kind of late in the game, to be attempting to sell any heavy construction equipment.   The smart people, like the owner of the modular home lot, had sold or traded off what they didn¡¯t need for those things they did need, while their old stuff still retained some value.  Like how Steve had bought that used crawler crane, for less than half of its value when the compound had needed something to pick up and move all of the fully loaded steel shipping containers that had been purchased.  Sure, they had only been able to use the crane for three days before its modern diesel engine stopped working.   But because of that crane, for those three days the compound had been able to receive supplies at a drastically increased rate by accepting entire containers full of miscellaneous provisions and materials.


    Those supplies being the types of things that most people saw no immediate use for and were happy to sell, in the hope that the Warning had lied and that the two, three and even four times cash price that they were being paid for the items, would leave their sellers all wealthy when this crisis blew over, like the famously overblown ¡°Millennium or Y2K bug.¡±  As a result of all those purchases the machine shop had mountain of quality metals, machine cutting tools, drill bits and whatnot; which the Stronghold was putting to good use and that didn¡¯t even include all of the other materials and provisions that they had been bought.  Steve moaned about the storage yard being less than half full and not acquiring all of the food that he had wanted, some of which the compound had even prepaid for, but Mack figured that The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge was probably doing better than 98% of the rest of the world right now.


    Mack had known the Fletcher family who had owned the gravel pit for years.  The elderly Chester Fletcher hadn¡¯t been too bad but his son Keith, who had taken over, was sort of a con man and a chiseler; always looking to scrape that last penny of profit away from the other guy, never quite buying at a fair price nor selling at one either.  It might have made Keith some money but it pissed people off too and whenever Mack could do it, he took his business to someone else.   He hadn¡¯t been surprised at all, to see Keith with a blue screen after that first warning.


    The for sale signs on the trucks and loaders, all said to go to the house across the road and to knock on the door, if interested but Mack had already seen the house during the drive in and the place had been flattened.  He doubted if anyone was still alive there but maybe he should go and see?  He knew that the boss wasn¡¯t in to being a looter, nor was he himself and the Stronghold did have things to offer in trade.


    Glen, Ron, and Vera were working on the dump truck that they wanted.  Ron and Vera were disconnecting the drive shaft while Glen was using the brake cylinders¡¯ caging bolts to release the brakes.  The truck was a 2011 Kenworth model T800 and in excellent shape, it almost looked new.  The dump body was four feet high, sixteen feet long with an inner width of seven feet and it was built of extremely tough steel.  The rugged machine looked like it was already ready for war.  But Glen with some ideas that he had gotten from Clyde, George, Jeff and Boris had plans that would make the truck even tougher.


    In the Hellcat, Rich offered an opinion.  ¡°Captain, something stinks around here but I don¡¯t know what it is.  Can I dismount and take a look around and see if I can spot anything?¡±


    George glanced down from the commander¡¯s hatch at Rich.  Rich had always seemed to have good instincts in the past.  ¡°Go ahead Sergeant but stay in sight and don¡¯t go too far.  Our job is to protect the mechanics and Clyde.¡±


    Rich got out of the Hellcat; he was carrying his deceased grandson¡¯s tactical shotgun loaded with five rounds of rifled slugs and four shells with a buck and ball combo.  He liked that his shotgun held four more rounds than a Springfield rifle and he also preferred a pump action firearm over a bolt action.  He was kind of hoping that the Boss would get around to enchanting his own 357 magnum revolver but he was satisfied for now to have the shotgun.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.His eyes were focused on the actual gravel pit which, since electricity had stopped working, was now filled with water to about thirty feet below surface ground level.  The slope was steep and he walked far enough forward so that he could see where the water actually met the slope.  He was feeling increasingly uncomfortable and was wondering if he had the right load out in his shotgun to face whatever was coming, because he knew something was coming.  He could feel it inside his head, something hungry and kind of mean.  He walked back to where the Hellcat was parked.   The crew working on the truck were running an airline from the Priest, evidently they needed to use an air powered tool or Ron¡¯s magic wand.


    Rich had to speak up because of the noise. ¡°Captain; I swore my oath yesterday and I¡¯ve been on more than my fair share of combat patrols too.  I¡¯m telling you now that there is something in that pond.  I don¡¯t know what it is but there¡¯s something there.¡±


    George grew alarmed because he knew that Sky Krakens were aquatic as well as being aerial creatures.  The pit was certainly large enough to hold several of them.  Back at the tank, Rich could no longer see the water¡¯s edge.  What crawled over the lip of that pit shocked him.


    They were long, wide, and grayish tan colored; they had enormous claws and tails.    Rich started to shoot twelve gauge slugs into them; he was an excellent shot, especially now with his boosted reflexes and vision.  He didn¡¯t miss, but his shots weren¡¯t stopping any of them.  The slugs were cracking their armor and definitely hurting them but at seventy-five yards the slugs were not killing any of them.


    George had the turret rotate and the cannon aimed at the beasts.  He did an appraisal on the creatures, while shooting them with the newly enchanted twenty millimeter rifle that was affixed near the commander¡¯s hatch.


    Jaekelopterus  Giganteus, Giant Water Scorpion


    While Rich¡¯s shotgun couldn¡¯t stop the scorpions, the 20mm was just the ticket.  George had once seen a salt water crocodile and the approaching giant spiders were at least equally as large and in fact, broader because of their claws.  The cannon on the tank fired, destroying two of the beasts.  One of the sharpshooters in the Priest was also firing.  There were only two gunners in the vehicle because it had to carry the mechanics, who were all now retreating back to it.  George had a problem, there were just too many of the damn monsters.  They were coming over the lip from the gravel pit like an ocean wave.


    Storm Wind and Tornado Challenger heard the guns start to fire and looked down.  They were both armed with bomb tubes and they each carried four bombs.  Both flyers went into a dive, aiming for the densest clusters of the monsters.


    Ron was the last person to board the Priest.  He had almost disobeyed Glen, because he thought his magical cutting torch would prove to be a fearsome deterrent for any aquatic type monster.


    The Sherman tank rumbled into position.  It too began firing with both its own main gun and the 20mm rifle located by the commander¡¯s hatch.  But the monsters were rapidly closing, and the armored vehicles were forced to button up, thus depriving the Hellcat and the Sherman the use of their 20mm rifles, probably their most effective weapons against the giant arachnids.


    Rich was very relieved to be back inside of the Hellcat and happy too that the Boss had magically strengthened the armor, on all four vehicles, that had gone on the expedition before their departure this morning.  But he was beginning to have second thoughts about his choice of personal firearm.  He was quite disappointed that he hadn¡¯t even been able to stop one of the monsters, though he had cracked the armor on several of them and made them bleed.  He resumed his job as the gunner for the tank¡¯s fifty millimeter cannon.


    Storm and Challenger both dropped their first bombs.  Killing five of the monsters which was actually extraordinarily good considering the bombs did not sent out shrapnel and only killed with heat in a limited area.  Both flyers quickly regained some altitude in order to reload their bomb tubes.


    Ron was cursing the fact that there was no way to supply his cutting torch with compressed air while inside the Priest.  He wanted to fry some spiders!   The only thing that Ron could do; was wait until a scorpion climbed onto the armored vehicle and then use his fire magic on it.  It was only when the monsters were that close that his magic had enough power to slay them.


    Seeing no other options, the drivers of all three armored vehicles began using their machines to crush the giant scorpions.  Clyde who was in the tractor was doing his best to stay clear of the action.   Only his cab was lightly armored and he wasn¡¯t sure that his vehicle had enough weight to hurt the heavily armored arachnids.   He didn¡¯t know if he should run for home or stay in the immediate vicinity.  He was glad of one thing though, that the giant water scorpions were relatively slow on land, their top speed seemed to be no more than a human¡¯s jogging pace.


    While the tank drivers were having fun crushing the bugs, they were all also extremely worried about the possibility of getting stuck or throwing a track while they made scorpion paste.  Both potential calamities were actually not that hard for a tank to fall afoul of, despite what most people might think.


    Lieutenant Wind was disgusted with how the power of his bombs was going to waste against the spiders.  He suddenly had an idea and called out for Sergeant Challenger to follow him down.  Their first two bombing runs had only killed eight of the monsters.  This time, Storm did not aim for the creatures; he dropped his bomb in the water, right where all the monsters were emerging from and that enchanted shell did far greater damage.   Water boiled and flashed into steam, at least a dozen of the monsters thrashed and died; their corpses floating on the surface.


    Challenger loved the results and he wanted to do it again!  The steaming water had another unseen effect; the scorpions that had been ready to follow their brethren onto land now dove for the depths, of the gravel pit, in order to avoid the painfully hot water.


    Seeing a pause in the emergence of the monsters, Storm gave his last shell to Tornado and said, ¡°I¡¯m going back to the Stronghold for more bombs.  You watch the pond and use your shells as you think best.¡±


    Tornado nodded his head in agreement.


    The armored vehicles were doing a fairly good job of crushing the scorpions.  The driver of the Sherman thought it bore a distinct resemblance to the old bumper car amusement park ride; that he used to enjoy as a child but in today¡¯s game his armored bumper car wasn¡¯t getting stuck in the corner, which had always happened to him in the past.   In the back of his head he also thought that he was a better scorpion crusher than the drivers of the other two armored vehicles.


    Meanwhile Clyde, who was driving the tractor, was trying to steer clear of the idiotic tank drivers as well the giant scorpions; while all the time cursing up a storm at everyone at the pit but himself.  ¡°Rotten, miserable, sheep fucking crazy drivers; you nearly hit me you moron!    Get out of my way you asshole!   I fucking hate spiders, especially giant scorpions!  I want my own tank back!¡±  The winds started to pick up at the gravel pit; did Clyde perhaps forget that he had recently acquired Air Magic?


    The passengers who were riding in the Priest were loudly regretting that the idiots, who had modified it, hadn¡¯t thought to install seat belts.  Glen, being the chief idiot, kept his mouth shut and tried to hang on as the armored vehicle swerved about and rolled over scorpions.


    Storm Wind landed back beside the machine shop and rushed inside to the armory.  He shouted an explanation as he ran to get more bombs.  Metal Grinder who was working in the shop, rushed to don his own flight harness with its attached bomb tube.  By the time he was ready to go, his clan Chief was already flying back to the pit.


    Just before Storm returned, Tornado was forced to use one of his two bombs, slaying some more of the scorpions; this action again forced the other monsters to retreat deep into the pit.


    The dust and dirt, being thrown up by the wind was making it hard to see.  Clyde wanted to get the fuck out of there and he was looking for an escape route when he saw some activity across the road.  Thanks to being knighted, he had telescopic vision.  He recognized the figure standing there waving a large white sheet.  Saying the hell with it, he found the gravel pit¡¯s gated entrance; drove the tractor through it and across the road.


    Chester Fletcher had been secretly watching the battle from the ruins of his home.  He was naturally a suspicious man and he hadn¡¯t known if he could trust such a heavily armed group and if he should warn them about the giant scorpions.  He suspected that this bunch of people were from the place a few miles north of him from which he frequently heard the thundering sounds of guns and at night saw beams of light stabbing up into the sky.


    Chester was extremely depressed about his current situation.  He had been in extremely poor health back before and just after the first Warning had come.  Too ill to use his own earth moving equipment and fortify his own home.  There was so much he could have done but was unable to do.  His son had dismissed his concerns until it was far too late and everything had already stopped working.  Keith had disappeared  a day before the countdown clock hit six hundred hours, he left riding his daughter¡¯s bicycle on a trip to a party store that lay three miles distant and had never returned.  Keith had been out of beer and had been looking for news about what was going in the World.


    Chester sighed; his boy had always had a warped view of reality and his place in it.  Chester had to wonder how his son had ever managed to convince, a nice girl like his wife, Lauren to marry him.  Chester had loved his son but he had never found Keith to be a likeable or trustworthy person after his entrance into high school so many years ago.  Maybe Lauren had been attracted to his son¡¯s arrogance which she might have mistaken for confidence?  He shrugged his shoulders.  It looked like the guys with tanks were winning their battle.  He, his wife, grandchildren and daughter-in-law were all living in the basement after enormous pig like monsters had destroyed the upper stories of the family home.  Chester and his family were nearly out of food and winter was coming.  He knew it was a lost cause but he had to get something for the truck the tankers were stealing.  He stood up and started waving a white bed sheet in the air.


    Clyde drove his tractor across the street and turned into the driveway for the home.  Clyde had known Chester Fletcher for decades.  While they had never been friends they had respected each other as distant neighbors.   They had lived less than a mile from one another and back in the day, there had been very few homes out their way.   But their wives had always been extremely cordial with one another.  Clyde opened the tractor¡¯s cab door, he had his revolver ready but hidden, ¡°howdy Chester how you doing?¡±


    ¡°Damn Clyde is that you?  If I had known that was you over there, I would have given you all heads up about them big water spiders.¡±


    ¡°I can understand you being cautious, especially nowadays.  I don¡¯t think any of my friends have been hurt and we would have had to fight those damn scorpions anyways; so no harm no foul.¡±  Clyde had done an appraisal on Chester and he was sort of surprised to see that the man was a green screen.  But he still promised himself that he would pay close attention to Chester¡¯s words and watch out for any lies using his true sight skill.


    ¡°You mind telling me what you are doing with my dump truck over there?¡±


    ¡°Seeing that your house was destroyed, we didn¡¯t think anyone was alive over here.  You¡¯ve got a sign on the truck saying that you¡¯ll trade it for food or weapons.  We¡¯ve got both to offer you.  If you don¡¯t want to trade your truck we can look elsewhere, seeing as how the world is so fucked up, there has got to be at least one dump truck close by without an owner.¡±


    ¡°Clyde I need your help.  I got my wife, three grandkids and my daughter-in-law to take care of, we¡¯re all living in my basement and we¡¯re low on food.  Keith set off weeks ago for a store, riding on a bicycle and never returned.  You look like you have a safe place to live.  I won¡¯t bargain with you, I¡¯ll just give you my best offer.  I¡¯ll give you every piece of equipment I have over at the gravel pit and I¡¯ll work hard for your community too, if you¡¯ll just let me and my family join you.¡±


    ¡°My Boss will probably accept that kind of deal.   I remember you as being a pretty fair mechanic and not a half bad farmer.  I¡¯ll need to talk with the Captain over by the pit first.  But I¡¯ve got tell you that we¡¯re currently short on roofs back at the Stronghold, so you might be stuck in a tent or worse for awhile, and if you own a tent you should bring it with you.  Also we got some aliens living with us; I¡¯m talking about intelligent beings from other worlds.  You¡¯ve probably seen them big birds flying over head, well they¡¯re not birds, they¡¯re our friends, they work and fight right alongside us. You still want in?¡±


    ¡°Clyde, I don¡¯t care if you¡¯ve got talking dinosaurs as part of your group, if it lets my grandchildren live another day.¡±


    ¡®Okay Chester, I¡¯ll talk to the Captain.  Here, take this.¡± And Clyde stretched his arm down from the tractor, handing Chester his own shotgun and a canvas bag filled with ammunition.  ¡°That¡¯s my gun and it works too, thanks to the Hermit.  The shells are loaded with black powder so it¡¯s not as powerful as the old stuff.  I¡¯ll be expecting it back, but it would be shame to leave you and your family defenseless when you might be getting a safe place to live fairly soon.  If you got any firearms you should bring them along, especially anything with a manual action.  Bring all of your brass, ammunition and anything else gun related.  Our machine shop and the Hermit might get it working again.¡±


    ¡°Clyde it looks like the men over at the pit, are fixing to tow that truck back using one of the tanks.  I don¡¯t have a trailer but I¡¯ve got an old RV which would be better than any old tent for my family.  Do you think I could get it towed back to your Stronghold?¡±


    ¡°That will be up to the Captain.  You¡¯ll have to ask him, when he comes over here to talk with you.


    ¡®I¡¯ll do that Clyde, thank you.¡±


    Clyde closed the door on the tractor¡¯s cab and drove back to the pit now that it seemed like the fighting was over.


    When he arrived, he found George out of his tank and talking with Storm Wind.   Lieutenant Wind almost immediately took flight and started circling the pit along with Tornado and Metal Grinder.  George turned to Clyde.  ¡°Well wasn¡¯t that an exciting waste of good black powder?  Lieutenant Wind has figured out a tactic that is keeping those scorpions bottled up but it takes the judicious use of a bomb every five to ten minutes or so.  I saw you talking with someone across the street.  What¡¯s up with that?¡±


    ¡°That was Chester Fletcher the owner of this gravel pit and all the heavy equipment kept here.  He¡¯s offering to give all of it to us, if we¡¯ll give him, his wife, three grandkids and his daughter-in-law a home with us back at the Stronghold.  He¡¯s got an old RV he¡¯d like us to tow to the Stronghold too, in order to give them someplace to stay.  He¡¯s a fair mechanic, a green screen and he didn¡¯t lie to me once; I was watching him with my true sight.  I told him that you would need to talk with him first, before a decision could be reached.¡±


    ¡°Hell Clyde you¡¯re an orange screen and a knight.  If he¡¯s everything you say he is, you can make that decision.  If everything goes smoothly we should be able to be back here in two hours or less, to pick up his family and his RV.  I¡¯m sure that Vince will approve the deal.  There¡¯s a lot of stuff over at the pit that we might be able to make use of and having another mechanic won¡¯t hurt at all.¡±


    ¡°Okay, since the truck looks almost ready to go, I¡¯ll dump four or five buckets full of sand into it using this tractor, then I¡¯ll make a quick stop at Chester¡¯s, while we¡¯re leaving.  I¡¯ll tell him to get packed up and ready to go, for when we come back to get him.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good Clyde¡±


    I was so freaking bored enchanting the same old things, I¡¯m going fucking nuts.  I heard gunfire, south of here, but I heard through the grapevine that the expeditionary force was able to handle it.  Then I saw the dump truck towed in and a couple of hours later an old RV showed up.  I want to do something new.  I¡¯m dying to play with some of that lifting gas that Ron salvaged from those dead Sky Krakens.

 Chapter 15: A Pleasant Drive in the Country.

    If you spot any glaring errors that spoils the reading experience for you please point them out with a comment.


    To those of you that are reading Swamp Boy, I should have the next chapter out in a day or so.


    # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 15: A Pleasant Drive in the Country.


    I was going insane enchanting rocks!  I needed a break.  When I had created Ron¡¯s magic wand, I hate saying that phrase, the resultant tool had even impressed me with its power and efficiency; that sounds awfully bad too.  But as a weapon it was lacking in power and it wasn¡¯t especially convenient to use because it needed to be supplied with compressed air.  I on the other hand have both Fire Magic and Air Magic.  It was time to make myself a new toy.


    In my scrap bin, I found a piece of stainless steel tubing with a three inch O.D. and about a two and three quarter inch I.D., the tube or pipe was just over sixteen inches long.  No puny little cutting torch for me, this thing would be able to melt a tank in one blast!  Using some additional scrap metal and my Earth Magic, I fashioned a handle that looked like a pistol grip when I was done.  I attached the new handle to one end of the pipe, which turned the resultant item into a large ¡®handgun shaped¡¯ looking thing.  Using a fire brick for materials and more of my magic, I coated the inside and the outside of the last six inches of the pipe, that being the segment which was at the other end from the pistol grip.  I attempted with my Earth Magic to alter the coating so that it would become extremely tough and have a minimal conductivity to heat, I was afraid of getting burned after my experience with the bullet ants.  I used up the entire brick because of my paranoia and I must have reduced the pipe¡¯s I.D., for those last six inches, to approximately an inch.  I put a thin coating on the grip as well to play it safe.  Finding the materials and putting it all together took me only an hour because I built it using solely my magic; it was a flagrant waste of my magical energies.  It then took me about an hour and a half to enchant the thing.


    When I had it complete, I got on my bicycle and rode back to the firing range.  George was there with some flyers and craft-makers.  Lieutenant Wind was training the new Guards in the art of aimed volley fire.  I had heard from George that with so many large monsters now in the world that he wanted our troops to be experts in the use of synchronized volley fire.  His thought was that five or more bullets striking a large monster almost simultaneously might possibly deter such a creature because the beast may interpret simultaneous strikes as one single blow or attack.  While on the other hand, a large monster might just shrug off any bullets that hit it consecutively, because of the projectiles individual weakness, the idea kind of made sense to me.


    George was looking on with pride while he watched Lieutenant Wind call out the orders to fire.  Those at the practice range were using Hawken rifles; the Hermit still needed to enchant many more of the modern repeating firearms.


    ¡°First rank, kneel!¡±  The Guards knelt as ordered.  ¡°First rank aim,¡± there was a short pause as they aimed, ¡°Fuego!  First rank, withdraw to the rear and reload.  Second Rank, kneel.  Second rank aim, Fuego!¡±


    I looked at George who was grinning; he smiled back at me and spoke.  ¡°My favorite movie is Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  And I just love the ending of that movie, when the Bolivian Army shoots their asses.  In the movie; an Army Officer calls out ¡®Fuego¡¯ and the guns thunder out; then a different officer calls out ¡®Fuego,¡± followed by another crash of rifle shots.  I promised myself that if I ever had my own army that I would change the command to shoot from ¡®Fire¡¯ to ¡®Fuego¡¯ and I finally got my chance to do it.


    I shook my head.  I noticed that all of our new non-human Guards were now sporting large American Flags on their apparel.   ¡°George, what¡¯s with the Star and Stripes on their clothes?¡±


    ¡°Sometime soon we¡¯re going to meet some other survivors, who have also learned how to fight and kill monsters.  And if they see one of our new non-human friends, those survivors just might attack, without hesitating, but if they see them wearing the American Flag, they just might pause, giving us all a chance to talk before any blood is spilled.  I don¡¯t know how long we should have them wear those flags, because for the long term it¡¯s a bad idea.  We are in no way formally part of the United States Government and we shouldn¡¯t pretend to be, and that is without even considering your own unique status as a Monarch, ruling over your own domain.  But for the present those flags just might save some lives.  Now that I think about it Boss, you should come up with your own flag.¡±


    I believe the Captain of my Guard is now a few cards short of a full deck. ¡°How about my smiling face, on a field of light green with the words ¡®Fuck Off¡¯ beneath it?¡±


    ¡°On second thought Vince, seeing as how that kind of flag might just get my soldiers shot and any other groups to declare war on us, I think that instead I¡¯ll just mention the need for a flag to the rest of the council at our next meeting.  By the way are you going to start attending any of those gatherings?¡±


    ¡°Fuck no, not unless I have to.  I read the daily reports that you all send me, and that¡¯s enough for the present time.  Now if you can warn people to get the fuck out of my way, I¡¯ve got a new tool to test.¡±


    Captain Mesquida had the Guards fall back and watched as the Hermit donned a welder¡¯s mask and gloves.  Next Vince, standing sideways extended, what looked like a ridiculously large silver and red handgun, and as far from his body as was humanly possible for him to do.  Suddenly there was roar.


    I was a little afraid of what I had made.  I put on some protective gear just to play it safe when testing my new Steel Cylinder of Red-hot Extermination.  I had to resort to a thesaurus to get an acronym that I could actually pronounce for my new wand.  In an effort to keep the heat as far away from me as was possible, I stretched out my arm as far as I could.  I was still afraid of the heat burning me so while using my Air Magic, like a compressor, I forced an overly powerful flow of air into the end of tube that was closest to me.  It was time to aid some heat to this sucker.  I had previously decided, in an effort to play it safe, to use only a fraction of my power in this first test, flame on!  Sometimes I can be really stupid.  My wand shot back towards me, I lost my grip and the S.C.O.R.E. cracked into my welder¡¯s facemask knocking me down.  What the fuck happened and how come I¡¯m not seeing any little birds or stars?   In the cartoons there are always little birds and stars.  I really need an official artist to follow me around so scenes such as this can be immortalized in tapestries that can then be displayed in ¡°Stupidfucker¡¯s School of Magic.¡±  Such pieces of art would probably bring me students by the thousands.


    George came running up to his fallen Boss.  ¡°Vince, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m unharmed and I meant to do that.¡±  Who knew that snickering craft-makers and flyers sounded almost exactly the same as humans snickering?


    ¡°That¡¯s great, it looked really cool.  Do it again.¡±


    I struggled to my feet and wrapped my frayed dignity around myself as I drunkenly walked towards my bike.  ¡°I¡¯ve got no time to do that now, I have to get back to enchanting rocks and other important stuff, but maybe some other time.¡±  My bicycle wobbled as I rode it back home.  One of these days Gorgeous George you will get your comeuppance!


    That night after dinner, Grace came into my cave.  ¡°Vince, I heard that you tested a new weapon at the firing range, can you tell me about it and maybe show it to me?¡±


    I had just finished enchanting one of the two bolt action fifty caliber rifles that Sean had brought back from his old home.  I think that the bullets it shoots are just big enough for my explosive fire enchantment.  I wanted to glare at Grace but if I did then she would probably guess that my new weapon¡¯s test results were not what I had predicted or expected them to be.  Hell, if I tell her the truth she will then know of my stupidity.  I showed her the SCORE and I kept quiet for the moment.


    She asked me questions and I gave very short answers in reply, while I pretended to do some other stuff.  Finally, ¡°Vincent, I was an Aviation Machinist Mate in the Navy.  What I think you built here, especially considering the way that you used it, is a crudely constructed jet engine.  You definitely got more thrust out of it than I would have expected, but that could be because you just supplied it with an over abundance of both air and heat energy.  Would you mind if I kept it for awhile?  I would like to examine it more closely.¡±  She held up the SCORE, looking at me.  I promised myself that I would never tell anyone the acronym that I had so carefully thought up for the device.


    I waved both her and it away.  I had important work to do; I needed to enchant another rock.  Also I needed to investigate how to make a voodoo doll and get a lock of Captain Mesquida¡¯s hair.


    The craft-makers and the flyers were used to working with primitive building materials.  Add air powered tools and some modern materials, like screws and nails; and they were house building speed demons.  They were constructing relatively crude dwellings but the buildings were well insulated with wooden floors.  The structures also had running cold water and firestones for heat.


    The Guard continued to grow.  During the day I enchanted rocks, while at night I enchanted rifles, hot plates and IRODs (iron rods of death).  I also accepted the sworn oaths of those that my Knights brought to me and in addition I knighted two of the craft-makers.  I had a little surprise when I awakened Sean Murphy, he got both Earth and Fire Magic like I had expected but he also received Healing Magic as well.  However, I was astonished by the two craft-makers that I knighted.   Star Astrologer got four high powered magical abilities plus all of the physical enhancements.  Blender Apothecary received talents suitable for his profession.  But the most amazing thing of all is that both craft-makers may possibly be able to learn Enchantment Magic, albeit of a weak variety; though Blender has a slightly greater chance than Star.  The two of them don¡¯t have the ability yet but if I torture, I mean instruct them enough they just might learn the skill, I can only hope.  But they will only be able to enchant magic that they have the corresponding ability for.  Those two craft-makers along with Storm Wind and Night Storm now have seats on the Stronghold¡¯s Council.


    We were attacked during that two week time period but with our larger and improved combat forces we easily fought off the assaults whether they came from sentient or non-sentient monsters; though an attack by some giant sentient chameleons with a talent for Water Magic was worrisome for a short while.   Steve¡¯s appraisal of the beings revealed that they were handicapped by the season¡¯s normally cold weather.  If it had been warmer we might have been in trouble.


    It was getting colder and if I was going to build the new walls then I would need protection from the elements.   Reluctantly, I put in a request with Glen and the crew at the machine shop.  They in the meanwhile had been working on the dump truck.  They almost had the engine installed and they were working on armoring the truck cab.  The windows had been replaced with transparent aluminum.  Grace, Glen, Sean and I, all possessed Earth Magic while Glen also had Alchemy.  Transparent aluminum is a ceramic composed of aluminum, oxygen and nitrogen.  Between the three of us we figured out, how to utilize the oxygen and the nitrogen in the air that was around us, to make a thick plate of regular aluminum, transparent.  We used that extremely tough material instead of normal glass for the truck¡¯s windows.  As for armoring the dump bed, Glen did something I thought was quite clever.  He had Ron weld in an inner wall made up of quarter inch thick steel plates, set six inches inside the dump bed¡¯s existing thicker tougher steel wall.   The gap between the two walls was then filled with dry sand.  Glen informed me that the old rum runners during the prohibition era used to do the same thing to their boats in order to defeat Coast Guard¡¯s bullets, except the walls of the runners¡¯ boats had been made of wood.


    The shop had used some old tires to make hard rubber inserts for the dump truck¡¯s existing tires; that was to give the vehicle a ¡°run flat¡± capability.  The dump body had the height of its walls increased and a roof added; also a doorway was cut through the dump body and into the cab.  The power tilt mechanism on the dump bed had of course been removed but the rear gate had been turned into a full length powered ramp, for ease of entrance and exit.  I thought it was a pretty bad ass vehicle and probably our most comfortable armored ride.  I wanted more of them.


    Glen, Sean and the rest of the shop crew were also busy making 20mm and now fifty caliber rifles as quickly as they could produce them.  My tests with a fifty caliber bullet proved that I could indeed enchant the projectile but it had a little less than half the power of a 20mm bullet.


    Even though a twelve gauge slug almost massed the same as a fifty caliber bullet, I could not enchant them.  That was because I couldn¡¯t engrave the full set of runes onto a slug.  The size and shape of the slug prevented me, as well as the rifling on the sides of the projectile.


    Clyde after his battle with the Giant Scorpions had gone to Sean and complained about the disappointing lack of effectiveness of the slugs that he had fired into the monsters.  As a result, the shop had stopped making the Foster type of shotgun slugs and switched to producing slugs based on Brenneke¡¯s slug design.


    On the gun powder front Glen, Isabella and two other people with the Alchemy ability, have significantly improved our black powder.  The new stuff is about twenty-five percent more powerful and produces far less smoke; however it still causes our enchanted SKS test rifle to jam, so we are still forced to use manual action firearms.  A Gatling gun might work but figuring out how to make one will be very time consuming and I think that we will get much more bang for the buck by just building more fifty caliber rifles and supplying them with enchanted bullets.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    It took me three weeks to enchant all of the rocks that I thought that I needed for the walls.  Mack had already laid out the design for the octagon shaped fortress.  Each of the eight walls was nine hundred feet long, surrounding an area almost ninety acres in size.   Mack and his people had removed the trees and brush from those areas where walls and moat would soon be; the armored tractors had come in especially handy for that big job.  Almost all of those cut down trees were used for home construction within our small compound.


    Now it was time to pick up my new ride from Glen.  He and the shop crew had it outside giving it a final polish.  I had entrusted my green Caterham Seven 280 to them so that they could modify it.  They had given the car a removable aluminum hard top, replaced the gasoline motor with a forty horsepower steam engine and made it so that either the driver or the passenger could open up a hole in the floor and put their feet on the ground.  It wouldn¡¯t go very fast but I didn¡¯t need it to and later on I might have bigger engine installed when we had something better that would fit.


    Mack had already been emplacing the enchanted rocks where I needed them to be for the wall project.  There were one hundred and eighty charged large stones.  Each of those rocks had six hand size stones that would demarcate the borders for the walls, moat and the land bridge across the moat.  The wall was going to be twenty-five feet thick and the moat was going to be fifty feet wide.


    The Council came up with a flag design, I just grunted when they gave it to me for approval.  It consisted of three equal sized horizontal bands.  The top and bottom band were sky blue, the middle band was white.  In the center of the white band was a green army man with his rifle at the ready.  To his left and right were a flyer and a craft-maker in their natural colors, both wearing army green and holding rifles.  The flag is supposed to show the unity of our three species.  Maybe I can get them to add ¡°Fuck Off¡± to the lower blue band.  All of the Guards now wear two armbands one with American Flag and the other with my domain¡¯s flag.


    I spent one day enchanting my modified car and finally it was time to start working on the wall.  My bare feet were already calling me nasty names.  I would ride on the passenger side while a series of drivers would drive extremely slowly in order to give me the time that I needed to work my magic as we traveled over the land.  Having someone else drive my car just made the whole experience more miserable for me and really frosted my, magically recreated and impressively large, plums.  I couldn¡¯t drive because I needed to concentrate on my magic.


    Other people, lots of other people, would be driving my car!  A Caterham Seven, the direct descendent of the Lotus Seven, the same model car that The Prisoner drove in the old British television series.  Almost every time I drove MY CAR before the Warning came, I would listen to the theme music from that old show, perhaps the greatest theme music ever made, while imagining myself as being someone cool. Now a series of asses, both literally and figuratively, would be sitting in the driver¡¯s seat of MY CAR.  ¡°Grumble miserable assholes driving my car, the sacrifices I make, why the fuck, am I doing this?  I ought to stuff them all in a box filled with bullet ants!¡±


    We traveled along at only a mile per hour, if I had tried to walk at that speed I couldn¡¯t have done it, it was just too slow but it was necessary for my magic.  I called to my Earth Magic and I linked to all of the rocks that I had enchanted.  We went around in an anti-clockwise direction on top of the ground where the wall would grow.  The Sherman and the Priest kept pace with us to our right and a pair of armed flyers were, always overhead.  Every two hours or so, a new ass would sit on the driver¡¯s seat of my car.  If they put just one scratch on my car, I¡¯ll insert an iron rod of death into some orifice on their bodies!


    Clyde Jenkins happily sat down in the driver¡¯s seat of the little car.  He had been looking forward to this all day long.  He knew that he had to be quiet and drive slowly but he didn¡¯t care.  He noticed that Glen, who was just getting out of the Caterham, was looking quite pale and seemed to be shivering.  Could he be sick?  Maybe he has an upset stomach?  Clyde sat down while imagining himself, to be Number Six and started driving the Seven.  Soon Sir Clyde started to sense that something was very wrong in the little car, he glanced over at the Hermit who had his eyes tightly shut.  Clyde could swear that he heard some barely audible muttering.  He looked again at the Boss; no it wasn¡¯t coming from him, because his lips were obviously too tightly clenched to be making any noise.  Dark images and terrible scenes started to assail Clyde¡¯s mind.


    Massive dogs attacked once, while they almost made Sir Clyde jump through the car¡¯s roof in a panic because his nerves were so frayed, the attack also distracted him from the invisible monsters that were within the small roadster.  Soon Clyde was hoping for another external threat to his life.  At the end of two hours he was a wreck.  His body was twitching and he had developed two nervous tics, one in his right eye and the other a rapid shaking of the head.  He clawed his way out the car and blindly stumbled past Ron who looked so eager to take his place in the little vehicle; that poor fool.  Clyde went off to find a Healer or possibly an exorcist.


    I had to concentrate on what I was doing so my various drivers couldn¡¯t even talk to me.  I kept on getting orange screen messages about Telepathic Intimidation; the damn persistent pop-ups almost broke my concentration!


    Mack, Steve. George, Glen, Clyde and Star Astrologer were talking about the bizarre sensations that all of the drivers of Vince¡¯s car were experiencing.  While Star Astrologer had only been with the community for less than a month she had learned English in an uncannily quick fashion, almost as if she could read a person¡¯s thoughts.  It had been three days since Vince¡¯s car had started going in endless mind numbingly slow circles around the Stronghold.  Volunteers to drive the little car had almost disappeared.  Glen was talking.


    ¡°I had been so happy to sit in the Seven, I knew that after the first twenty minutes or so that I would get bored but it was only going to be for two hours.  I thought to myself how bad could that be, well it was horrible!  As soon as I sat down, I started feeling this sense of dread overwhelming me.  I knew that there was someone in the backseat, of that little car, who wanted to choke the life right out of me.¡±


    Steve interrupted, giving Glen a look that conveyed that he thought that the man was nuts.  ¡°That car doesn¡¯t even have a back seat!¡±


    ¡°I know that, that¡¯s what made it even worse!  It was like the car wanted me dead.   No, it was worse than that, it was like the car wanted to torture me to death in the worst way possible!¡±


    Clyde, who kept on looking behind his own back, agreed with Glen¡¯s observations.


    Star Astrologer spoke next.  ¡°I have talked with many people about our King.  I have learned that he would prefer to be left to his own company and wishes that we were all gone.  While saying that, he doesn¡¯t wish us ill or to be put into any danger.  So despite these feelings, he has opened up his home to us, offering us all a safe haven in these troubled times.  He has worked long hours, spent a small fortune and even risked his life on numerous occasions to help secure our safety.  But there are personal possessions that are painful for him to share.  From what several people have told me, he is extremely attached to his three cars, I speak of the Belvedere, the Desoto, and the Caterham, even more so than his own house.  I don¡¯t think he likes other people to drive his automobiles.  He must find it extremely galling for so many different people to be driving one his personal vehicles, yet he consciously swallows his anger for the greater good, but what about subconsciously?  He is the most powerful magic user in this Stronghold by a considerable margin.  Clyde and Glen, I wonder if you two would allow Stephen and I do to a full appraisal of the both of you.  I think we might learn something useful that way.¡±


    Both men were reluctant since most people now thought of a full appraisal as being too revealing but after a few minutes of thought and persuasive conversation they agreed.  It took Steve and Star only a short while to learn something that both men had missed, because of their fragile emotional states.  Clyde and Glen now had something new, ¡°Resistance to Telepathic Attack.¡±  Glen had a 36% resistance and Clyde had a 41%.   No one else at the table had that ability.


    George sat up straight when hearing the news and Star Astrologer¡¯s eyes almost glowed.  Captain Mesquida had been fearing what would happen if his soldiers ever had to face someone with mind control or telepathic powers.  Whereas Star Astrologer remembered all too well the oppression and cruelty her people had faced while under the control of the Warriors of Sabok.


    Even Glen and Clyde felt much better after learning that they had actually gained something from that horrible experience of driving the Seven.  Thus began what would be always referred to as ¡°Hell Week¡± in the Stronghold, even though it went on for over two weeks, but ¡°Hell Two Weeks and a Bit,¡± didn¡¯t have quite the same ring to it.  Terrified human and craft-maker ¡°volunteers¡± would be forced into, correction they would cheerfully sit down on the driver¡¯s seat of the Seven.  They were required to drive two slow loops around the Stronghold, and then the next screaming eager volunteer would take over, while the previous driver went to the infirmary for some enforced ¡°nighty-night time¡± courtesy of either a bit of Healer¡¯s magic or a hypodermic needle.  Storm Wind was both sad and glad that his own people could not fit inside the tiny car.


    It took me three, fourteen hour work days to prepare the base of the wall and I had thought that enchanting rocks was boring.  In essence, I had to compact the earth and rock beneath where the walls would grow, into something like extremely dense and tough bedrock, I made that compressed rock as absolutely strong as I could.  The ground, where the wall would be, had sunk in by over fifteen feet and I know that if not for the great preponderance of rocks and boulders, already in that soil that the ground would have sunk even further than that.  Most of my land truly was completely worthless for farming, unless you were lucky enough to have Earth Magic.


    I started moving earth, from the designated moat area, to where the walls would grow and it was a pain in the ass because I had to stabilize the outside wall of the moat while doing it or it would have collapsed into the growing moat.  The side of the moat where the wall was going up had already been turned into dense stone during my preparatory work for the wall.  It got too difficult for me to stabilize the outer wall of the moat and we were forced to spend one full day driving on top of the moat¡¯s outside edge, in a clockwise direction this time, while I fused and compressed the earth making up the outer wall of the moat.


    We had an expected problem after the third day of wall growth; our vehicles would temporarily have to stay either inside or outside of the wall.  That was because in order to make the stone arch that would go over the Stronghold¡¯s gate it would be necessary for me to finish the wall and then using my magic cut a short tunnel through the wall and to the land bridge that crossed the moat.  For our safety and the safety of our vehicles we built a temporary fort using some spare fencing on the land bridge.  Ladders permitted the tank crews, access to the Stronghold.


    We had some other problems; we were attacked numerous times while working on the wall.  Three notable occasions were by some enormous saber-toothed dog like monsters, the monstrous chickens reappeared (appraisal says that their proper name is Terror Bird) and some unseen archers or spearmen, we weren¡¯t sure which because either they were shooting really big arrows or throwing really small spears.  Even with our true sight no one caught sight of those particular foes.  Luckily they only attacked once and even my car¡¯s enchanted aluminum body and rubber tires could stop their projectiles.  As for the giant dogs and chickens they got added to our larder.  Roasted dog meat with onions wasn¡¯t too bad.


    The wall grew by about five feet per day and without my enchanted rocks, I would never have been able to do the job so quickly even with my Earth Magic.  I concentrated on making the outside of the wall as glassy smooth as was possible; hopefully that feature would prevent monsters, like giant bullet ants, from easily being able to climb the Stronghold¡¯s new wall.


    Fourteen days later I was mentally exhausted, both my brain and my feet had gone numb.  In fact my feet wanted to kick my ass.  The wall was over forty feet high and it had battlements six feet in height and three feet thick.  I had a problem, we had been driving my car on top of the wall, and currently I had no way to get it back down.  On day fifteen I cut the tunnel to give us access to the land bridge.  When I had grown the wall in that segment we had laid out a net of steel reinforcing rods to strengthen that portion of the wall.


    The shop had just completed making steel faced thick wooden gates for the Stronghold, one double door for either end of the short tunnel.  Both the tunnel and the land bridge were constructed wide enough for two way traffic.  There was a smaller entrance for people in both gates.


    Work was started on building four stairways to the wall walk on top of the curtain wall.  For now we were using long ladders, later on I might grow a ramp so I could get my car down, but for the present time it¡¯s under its custom car cover plus an additional tarp.   The flyers of course have no problem getting to the top of the wall.


    It took me an additional day and a half to cut an extremely deep channel from the moat to the ravine just north of the Stronghold.  A similar amount of time to create the tunnels or pipes beneath the land bridge for proper water circulation,  and then three days to adjust the water level of the moat.  The last task was by far the most difficult but I finally had the water table fixed at slightly less than twenty-six feet beneath ground level, from its former thirty-two.  I would have left it at the deeper value if not for the fact that I needed the water to flow down to the ravine and so as not to become a stagnant.  While that task did call heavily on my Earth Magic, I did gain Water Magic while doing it.  Later on I might add wind powered air bubblers to the moat, we do have plans for them.


    When we were done, attackers were now faced with a moat slightly over fifty feet wide and fifty feet deep, with the water level almost twenty-five feet below them.  The walls of the moat were smooth and the fortress side of the moat blended in seamlessly with the Stronghold¡¯s walls for another forty-two feet or so above ground level, that did not include the battlements since they were broken up by the embrasures.


    With the walls done, it was now time to get started on the dungeon.

 Chapter 16: Vincent, Take Me Once Around the Stronghold.

    If you spot any glaring errors which ruin this chapter for you, please point them out with a comment.


    Might I say how much I hate editing my stories because my rough drafts truly suck! There are probably lots of mistakes this time; sorry.


    # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 16: Vincent, Take Me Once Around the Stronghold.


    The walls were up and I was actually going to a Council meeting, it was now winter so I guess it¡¯s possible that Hell has frozen over.  The meeting was being held in my former garage located next to the machine shop.  The flyers had been living there but they¡¯ve since managed to construct crowded yet comfortable homes for themselves, said homes being far away from the noisy machine shop.  However, my poor cars were still stuck outside for now but at least they were covered with a couple of tarps a piece.


    I was actually early for the meeting; no one else was had arrived as of yet.  It seemed like all of my days were filled with never ending work and I was getting kind of wrung out from it all.  I no longer needed as much sleep as I used to require but that was true for a lot of us now.  However when I did doze off, I would almost immediately fall into an extremely deep sleep which was extremely difficult for me to awake from, so long as I was still tired.  If I was awoken from such a slumber I tended to be a bit more of a grouch than was usual for me, which is saying something in my case.


    People finally started to arrive and they were certainly surprised to see me.  Jennifer was looking at me with a puzzled expression on her face.  ¡°Vincent, how did you get here?  The last time I saw you, you were in the garage at home and that was less than ten minutes ago.  I should have seen you, if you walked over here.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to go outside in the cold and wet, so instead I used the tunnel.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a tunnel between your house and this garage?¡±


    ¡°There is now, which is one of the reasons I decided to come to this meeting today.  Mack and anyone else with construction experience should feel free to comment on my plans.  I magically moved a lot of dirt and rock from the moat to build our new walls.  I also compressed and altered that rocky soil into something even harder and denser than most natural rock formations.  Tunneling is even easier for me to do since I only need to compress the soil to the sides, top and bottom of any tunnel or room that I¡¯m trying to make.  That is of course not taking into account that while building our new walls and the moat, I used hundreds of enchanted stones to assist me during that process.


    I¡¯ve put in three hours of work today, digging tunnels and rooms.  Without the assistance or a boost from any enchanted stones I¡¯ve been able to move and compress approximately 15,000 cubic feet of dirt per hour.  The tunnels and rooms that I¡¯ve been excavating are twelve feet wide and ten feet high with arched ceilings.


    Because I raised our local water table it isn¡¯t safe for me to make any tunnels that are deeper than twenty feet or so.  My current plan is that I will construct a single layer of tunnels and rooms that are ten feet deep and ten feet tall; meaning, that there will be ten feet of earth and compressed rock between our tunnels and the surface.  When we fought the krakens I was worried that the squids would simply resort to just dropping boulders and trees on us.   We would have had little defense to such a tactic at the time.


    My construction plan leaves a little more than five feet of compressed impermeable rock between the tunnel floors and the local underground water table.  The new tunnels and underground rooms won¡¯t be a perfect sanctuary for us but they should help to keep us all safe.  Of course they can also be used for storage and for additional living space; fire stones and other enchantments should make those areas reasonably comfortable.


    But we¡¯ll need to find a way to properly ventilate our new underground areas.  Mack and Glen, I would like for you two, to research that matter and come up with a plan for us to implement.¡±  Both men nodded their heads in acknowledgement of my request.  ¡°There is now a three thousand square foot basement beneath this garage and the shop.  I built a stairway to access the basement, it¡¯s over there in the corner behind those boxes,¡± I pointed to it with my hand.


    ¡°My plan is to continue digging tunnels for the next week.  I¡¯ll create a small bunker complex, for each cluster of houses, which people will be able to get to without leaving the safety of their own homes.  I¡¯ll also do the same for the infirmary and the barns.  I¡¯m pretty sure that I can get that much done in one week.  Later on I¡¯ll connect everything together so we¡¯ll almost literally have our own underground city.


    Now about our future plans, in one week I would like for us to start sending out daily expeditions.  We need to know what¡¯s going on out there and it¡¯s too dangerous for us to send out Lieutenant Wind¡¯s flyers without ground support.  There could be things worse than Sky Krakens and Giant Bullet Ants about and we need to take those monsters down now, before they get too strong for us to fight.  We also need to gather additional supplies and while I¡¯m a nasty cuss there are probably children out there that need rescuing if they¡¯re not already dead.   Our new dungeon could also be used to house any additional refugees that we find and decide to rescue.  Doing all of that is likely to draw attention to The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge and quite possibly attacks from powerful, evil or desperate beings.  That is why I want to make the bunkers first before we send out any scouting expeditions.  I would like for this Council to come up with plans for such reconnaissance and scrounging missions.  Such as what forces should go, what supplies they should look for, where they should explore and what procedures should be followed to maximize everyone¡¯s safety.  I¡¯ll be going on at least the first expedition; any comments or questions?¡±


    Clyde spoke up immediately.  ¡°I think we should grab that big dump truck that is sitting at the gravel pit and start modifying it immediately.  I know that Glen has at least one extra 200 HP engine completed.  We¡¯ll need that big truck if we¡¯re going to be rescuing people or gathering a lot of supplies.  We should send our first expedition to the County Road Commission building.  They¡¯ve got a lot of equipment there that we could use; most importantly they have extra large snowplow blades that we can fit onto our trucks.  We¡¯ll need those blades what with the winter season being here and they might help in combat situations too.¡±


    Glen spoke up; ¡°I¡¯ve got two spare two hundred horsepower engines with more almost done.  Clyde, Vera and I have been working on getting the crawler crane running again and we¡¯ve already put an engine into it.  We thought that what with the new wall and all, that it might be handy to have something that could lift heavy objects to the top of it.  That might not be the biggest or most powerful crane in the world but it can still lift in excess of eighty tons, over a hundred feet into the air.


    For everyone¡¯s general information, the shop is regularly producing three types of engines now.  We are making forty and two hundred horsepower engines, both of which have a conventional type of piston arrangement.  Those two engine models have no capability to condense and re-circulate water as is described by the Rankine cycle, and they use anywhere from three quarters to two gallons of water per mile.


    We are also making a one hundred horse power engine with an extremely modern and sophisticated piston design and layout.  That engine does use the Rankine Cycle and it also has a very sophisticated steam generator.  We are currently preparing one of our spare 200 HP engines so that we can exchange it with the 330 HP steam engine that is already in the Priest.  While we have some spare parts for our two 330 horsepower engines we have no plans for them, and I sadly doubt that we¡¯ll ever hear again from the manufacturer of those marvelous steam engines.  We need to take apart one of those big engines while it still works so that we can reverse engineer it and build more of them for ourselves.  By studying the designs of our more sophisticated steam engines, we are trying to determine how we can incorporate their more powerful boilers or steam generators into the older steam engine designs that we possess, as well as adding water condensers to them too.  A more powerful boiler will add horsepower to those engines and drastically reduce startup and warm up times.   Every morning when I wake up, I wish that Abner Doble, one of the greatest experts in steam powered cars, was alive today and living with us here, because we are still having a hard time figuring a lot of this stuff out.  None of us here in the Stronghold, is an expert in thermodynamics and beyond the pure science aspect involved with steam power, there also seems to be an element of artistry, when it comes to designing a reliable and powerful steam engine or boiler.


    The shop is currently tooling up to manufacture steam engines that can produce anywhere from fifty, to one hundred and twenty-five horsepower, the amount of power it generates is determined by how much steam pressure the engine is supplied with, which is in turn dependent on the size and power of its boiler.  Many engines can produce more power if they are given more steam that is so long as they don¡¯t blow up.  Jennifer got us the designs for that particular engine, as well as the plans for the two hundred horsepower model, and their boilers.  She also obtained detailed instructions on how to install those steam engines into land vehicles and boats, before the internet failed.  I stupidly forgot about those designs during the confusion of our earlier days.¡±  Glen nodded his head at Jennifer, who preened a little bit at the acknowledgement of her success.


    I spoke up.  ¡°I forgot about them too Glen, so don¡¯t beat yourself up about it.  By the way, I think that I¡¯ve figured out a way to make a firestone and its attendant box that will produce three different temperatures.  Last time we spoke you mentioned that you wanted a stone that could produce five hundred, seven hundred and seven hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit.  I can do that now but you¡¯ll have to make a slightly different box, we can talk about it later.¡±


    ¡°That will help with both startup time and steam generation.  I¡¯ll get you the boxes as fast as I can make them, Vince.¡±


    I had a question concerning another topic.  ¡°George, how are the defenses on top of our new walls?¡±


    He answered, ¡°I was just preparing my report to you.  We are already mounting Holman projectors up on the wall walk.  When the crane is operational we¡¯ll move our large mortars up there as well.  We are also installing numerous fixed mounting points for our 20mm and fifty caliber rifles in the battlement¡¯s embrasures.  That way one of our sharpshooters can just move their rifle from embrasure to embrasure as needed.  The problem we are having right now is the cold; the wind up there is fierce.  We¡¯ve set up some dome tents which are being held down with sandbags but they are barely adequate shelters even with fire stones.¡±


    I responded.  ¡°Once Glen, Clyde and Vera get the crane working again, it can then be used to lift up the tons of gravel and rock that I need, in order to build block houses on top of the curtain wall.  No one else should be able to use Earth Magic to alter that wall; I enchanted it to be that way.  I had some concerns about us fighting, in the future, a person or a monster that possessed Earth Magic.  Hopefully my protective enchantments will hinder or even prevent an enemy from ever destroying the Stronghold¡¯s walls with mundane or magical powers.¡±


    When the meeting ended, my councilors promised me that they would put together their thoughts about my plans and get back to me with their comments and ideas.  George and Clyde planned a morning trip to retrieve the big dump truck parked at the gravel pit.


    Chester Fletcher was in the Priest riding back to the land that he used to own and had turned over to the Hermit.  He, Ron, Vera and Glen were the crew that was going to get the big gravel rig ready to be towed back to the Stronghold.  The semi-truck was a 2008 Kenworth C500 and its dump trailer had a steel bed that was 27 feet long, eight feet wide and just over five feet tall.   Chester was kind of proud of his contribution in modifying the T800 and he was looking forward to turning the C500 into a real monster.  He and the others just wished that they had another 330 HP steam engine to put into it.  A 200 HP engine should have enough power to move the C500, considering that the trailer would now be routinely used with only a partial load.  The truck might be a little slow but then again, tests of the T800 had it easily reaching sixty miles per hour, so the C500 might not in fact be a sluggish steel armored turtle.


    A flight of two flyers were overhead and freezing their feathers off while keeping an eye out for the emergence of anymore scorpions.  Two more flyers were keeping warm and standing by in the T800, ready to switch off with their frozen brethren.  The rear of the T800¡¯s dump bed had been further modified with a wall and a large double door, made of half inch thick steel plate.  With the new rear wall, the armored ramp could be lowered and those inside the dump bed would still have some protection from both enemies and the elements.


    Things went smoothly for once and they never even saw anything dangerous on the trip to the pit.  The Priest returned to the compound towing the C500 with another small load of sand onboard.  For the heck of it, the T800 towed back Chester¡¯s old Ford dump truck too.  They thought that it might be good idea to repair it, so that they actually had a dump truck that could be used for its designed role instead of being converted into an APC.


    The Council was worried about Vince¡¯s plan, to go looking for trouble.  As a result they were frantically doing everything in their power to prepare the Stronghold for any calamities that might befall it and they were urging others to do the same.  Meanwhile, not that deep beneath the Stronghold, Vince was very quietly pretending to be the Mole Man and was busy building his subterranean secret lair, though he was slightly worried that the Fantastic Four might discover his location or worse yet, Marvel Comics might learn of his effrontery and sue his Hermit ass off.


    The shop crew and the motor pool overshot Vince¡¯s time line; it took them ten days to get the new truck modified and ready to roll.  But those working on the armored rig were quite proud of their achievement when they completed it.  The C500 had been armored in the same fashion as the T800 except for two differences.  Since its trailer could be disconnected from the semi-truck, the trailer was equipped with its own forty horsepower steam engine with an air compressor to power the trailer¡¯s leveling jacks, powered rear ramp and more amazingly a retractable armored roof.  They could have used a smaller steam engine for the task but they just didn¡¯t have any available.  The retractable roof was made of three armored panels, all of which were nine feet long.  The two rear sections could be slid over on top of the front panel, thus opening up an eighteen foot long segment of the trailer.   This was a large enough opening to permit a flyer to take off or land with their wings fully outstretched.   The rear ramps on both trucks, if held parallel to the ground like a porch, could also be used as a landing pad for the flyers.


    The shop crew was already working on a new toy.  It was decided that having a construction tractor with its attached backhoe, which could double as a lifting boom, might come in handy for future expeditions.  So they had staged another retrieval operation at the gravel pit.  They had come back with a Case 590 backhoe loader.   They were busy armoring the hell out of it and readying it for the installation of a two hundred horsepower engine, which had almost twice the rated horsepower as its, no longer functional, modern diesel motor.  They thought that with the steam engine¡¯s greater horsepower and direct drive that the modified tractor would be able to easily keep up with the other armored vehicles.  There was also a large Caterpillar front end loader at the pit but at the present time they didn¡¯t have an engine large for the huge machine.


    I had been digging tunnels, enchanting stuff and awakening abilities in people, for ten days.  I needed to do something different.  We now had over one hundred thousand square feet of living space underground, which was accessible either by stairs or by wide ramps in some places like the barns and the machine shop.  As soon as I found the time I would interconnect all of the separate underground areas into a larger body.


    I went to asleep that night anxious to do something different for a change, even if that meant seeing the outside world.  I groggily awoke, Grace was shaking me.  I heard the sound of gunfire and the shop¡¯s steam whistle.


    ¡°Vincent you have to wake up, we¡¯re under attack.¡±


    I grunted and sat up, putting my feet on the floor.  My pants were at the side of my bed and bloused over a pair of zippered winter boots, just like the firefighters do.  I stuffed my feet through my pants and directly down into my boots.  I stood up pulling my pants up and then my suspenders over my shoulders.  My eyes felt like they were full of sand.  Life was fucking wonderful.  I pulled a sweatshirt over my head, strapped on my armor, grabbed my weapons and while yawning, I hauled ass out my home¡¯s front door.  Leaving my house, I worried over how long the alarm had been sounding since Grace had time enough to come downstairs to awaken me.


    I had made an addition to my personal weapons, after my experience with the bullet ants and the failure of my SCORE wand.  I was now carrying, slung on my back, a Winchester Marine Defender shotgun with an extended tubular magazine, in addition to my Remington Rifle and Taurus revolver.   The shotgun was loaded with shells filled with buck and ball.


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    Once I was outside it quickly became apparent that all of the gunfire was only occurring on top of the Stronghold¡¯s curtain wall.  Damn it, I knew I should have built some armored pillboxes up there but being lazy, I was instead waiting for the crane to be made functional again.  I ran for the nearest stairway which was located by the front gate.  Climbing the steps, I was quickly passed by Lieutenant Murphy, who had been avoiding me for weeks.  She was carrying my Weatherby which she still hadn¡¯t returned.  Rumor had it, that it was the post powerful rifle in our Stronghold, next to the fifty calibers, and that she didn¡¯t want to give up the Mark V because of its power and its accuracy.  I was also irritated with her because she had gotten some nice physical enhancements and ran like chipmunk on speed, while I had squat.


    Out of breath and with my heart racing, I finally got to the top of the wall.  Is it time to puke yet?  Candace was blasting the flying Night Stalkers out of the air, as fast as she could work MY RIFLE¡¯S bolt action.  I knew that she was a better shot, and that she had telescopic vision as well as faster reflexes; all of which just angered me even more.  She went to reload but since the range was fairly short, I took Lady Murphy¡¯s rifle (sob) from her and handed her my shotgun instead.  She took my gun with a grateful grin and immediately went back to terminating the giant bats.  Damn it, she just did not miss.  I had the Weatherby slung, by the time she emptied the shotgun, I then handed her my Remington pump action rifle figuring that at such close ranges that it would be a better firearm than the more powerful Mark V.  I was then forced to hand her; a second four shot magazine for the Remington because I didn¡¯t get the shotgun reloaded in time to return to her.  Two Night Stalkers got too close to me and I took out my anger on them by incinerating the creatures with a flame strike.  I¡¯ll teach those flying bloodsucking fornicators not to disturb the sleep of a GRUMBY HERMIT KING!


    We had things under control in our immediate area but there were the sounds of gunfire and screams coming from other sections of the wall.  The curtain wall was almost a mile and a half in circumference and the wall walk was twenty-two feet wide, not including the battlements.  Parked just twenty feet from me was my Caterham.  I ran to it ripping off its cover, using my hands and magic.  I hit the four levers popping open the new aluminum roof, ¡°Candace, get in the car!


    The car¡¯s water filled boiler was kept from freezing by an auxiliary one hundred degree firestone.  All of our vehicles now had such additional firestones since the advent of the colder weather.  Lady Murphy quickly got jumped in, assuming a funny position with her left foot on the floor boards and her right knee on the seat.  She had the shotgun at the ready.  I handed her a canvas bag filled with twelve gauge shells.


    I had ridden in this car for over two hundred hours while concentrating and working magic.  If there was one thing that I knew well, it was the steam engine in my car.  It would normally take fifteen to thirty minutes to get the steam car started up and rolling.  I did it in less than twenty seconds.


    Cue The Prisoner theme music!  I was driving my car again baby!  I had a hot looking gun-slinging girl in the passenger seat and she was putting some serious hurt on some flying monsters.  I might finally be cool.  I refused to acknowledge that thought that she was quite possibly a better driver than I was.


    But another problem surfaced, since my car¡¯s steam engine was direct drive; there was no transmission and thus I had no gears to shift, which was lowering my coolness factor.  To repair my fragile ego, I used only my right hand to steer and I started to launch flame strikes with my left.  Burn and die you filthy flying vampire rats!  As far as I know steam engines don¡¯t as general rule accelerate all that quickly.  I used my magic to make the Caterham a bit more responsive.  We were over forty feet up, on top of a wall that was twenty-two feet wide and there wasn¡¯t a guard rail on the inner side, I should certainly fix that.


    Stanley Steam cars, from what I remember hearing, typically had only twenty horsepower engines.  Those cars cruised around at thirty-five miles per hour and could get up to fifty or even sixty for short bursts.  My car had a forty horsepower engine and it should be able to cruise at sixty, but up here on top of a wall with a 135 degree corner every nine hundred feet, there was no way that I was going to go that fast.  Especially with Lieutenant Murphy giving me orders, I had a woman passenger seat driver!  ¡°Stop here, slow down, go faster, don¡¯t drive off the edge of wall walk, watch out for the battlements, you almost hit that man!¡±  I don¡¯t why she complained about that last one, he was able to cleanly jump off of the wall, good thing he had wings.


    Steam cars are quiet so I could easily hear her words even with the frequent blasts from the shotgun.  I need to get the shop to put a steam powered ejector seat in my car, all the cool spies have cars with ejector seats.  Then my asshole brain started talking to me.  ¡°So Vinnie, you think you¡¯re cool like Simon Templar, John Steed, Number Six, Derek Flint or James Bond?  It is to laugh; you¡¯re more like Austin Powers, International Man of Mystery.  You know the guy who always has the female sidekicks that are more competent than he is.  However you don¡¯t have to worry about any of that with Lady Knight Candace Murphy, like hell you don¡¯t, she would totally kick your wimpy fat ass.  But it¡¯s unfair to compare you to Austin Powers because at least he¡¯s got mojo, which the ladies all find dead sexy, and you¡¯ve got jack shit, LOSER!¡±


    ¡°You better shut the fuck up brain or I¡¯ll drive this car right off the edge of this wall.  Not only will the two of us go splat but your darling Candace will too.¡±  Fucking asshole brain, I refocused my anger on Candace.  If I aimed for the edge of the wall but hit the brakes at the last second, would she be catapulted out of my car, and plummet to her doom?  And more importantly would her fall be accompanied by a whistling noise like in the Road Runner cartoons, when the Coyote would fall off of a cliff?  I glanced at Candace she gave me a fierce grin in return as she blasted away at the Night Stalkers.  No, I better not do it; she¡¯s likely to keep a hold of that shotgun and she would probably somehow manage to twist around in midair like a cat and blow my head off.


    We had to stop at the opposite side of the Stronghold, so I could render some emergency healing aid to two Guards.  Fucking Night Stalkers had been chewing on them when we arrived on the scene.  I had to blast a few giant bats before I could start healing the wounded Guards.  After I had them stable and reinforcements had arrived, we departed and proceeded to give assistance to other portions of the wall or any other soldiers that needed it.


    I had a new concern now, besides building blockhouses on the curtain wall.  Old fashioned vinyl records should work in our new world.  I should be able to find an old record player but was The Prisoner theme music ever recorded on vinyl?


    Luckily we didn¡¯t have any fatalities that night but we would have without our magical Healers.  I would have felt like crap if anyone had died.  Our plan now was to build temporary wooden fortifications on all of the curtain wall¡¯s corners, while we were waiting for the crane to be made operational.  Lifting tons of rock forty feet high, is far too time consuming for me.  I had to really push myself to make the walls as high as I did.  There were many better things that I could spend my magical energies on rather than doing a poor and inefficient impersonation of a crane.  I just prayed that my decision didn¡¯t get anyone killed.


    Candace Murphy was surprised by the Hermit after all the action was over, because he hardly exchanged any words with her except for telling her well done.  Vincent let some steam blow off from the car¡¯s boiler, thus cleaning it of any scale deposits.  He put the car¡¯s roof back on, and then the Seven¡¯s protective covers.  As he was walking away towards the stairs, he said something that had shocked her, ¡°keep the rifle.¡±  She had been expecting for him to demand the return of the Weatherby, so his almost offhand comment had stunned her speechless.  And frankly she had been a little bit afraid too because she had been holding out on him for weeks by not returning the rifle to him.  She definitely didn¡¯t want him to have any negative feelings about her, none at all; not after the way he built the Stronghold¡¯s walls in only three weeks, and then how that very night he had incinerated scores of those flying blood suckers.


    She recalled what happened less than hour ago, when they were forced to stop on the opposite side of the Stronghold.   The Night Stalkers had been swarming the two Guards there.  There must have been thirty or more of the monsters.  Vince had raced the car right into them, telling her to ¡°hold on¡±.  He had braked hard and slid into a sideways stop.  The Hermit had then climbed out of the car, extended his hands and, like a blazing searchlight being operated by a demigod, fire had sprung forth and whatever that fire hit, simply exploded into ash. After which he had rushed forward to kneel down between the two severely wounded troopers, he put a hand on each of them and simultaneously healed them both.  Sure he had looked a little dizzy for a moment or two there, after he stood back up, but WTF?  Candace decided that she did not want to get the Boss angry with her, not one little bit.


    As I walked away from Candace I grumbled to myself, because I hated facing reality.  The truth was that the world was now a seriously dangerous place.  In addition, Candace was without a doubt the best shot in the Stronghold and because of the limitations of even our magically improved black powder, she needed a more powerful rifle as her daily carry firearm.  A fifty caliber rifle was simply too big and besides that the Weatherby Mark V was more accurate.  I, on the other hand, am not the greatest shot in the world, nor do I have her enhancements.  I am better off with my faster firing Remington than the Weatherby, especially if I can get Candace¡¯s dad to make me some larger magazines for the rifle.   But reality still sucks.


    The following morning, we left on our first exploratory mission.  We were going to the County Road Commission building.  Our goal was to acquire snow plow blades for our two trucks.  The Sherman was leading our tiny convoy, followed by the T800 then the C500 and the Scorpion had the tail.  The T800 was pulling a large flat bed trailer.  Night Storm and three other flyers were riding in the C500¡¯s armored trailer.  We left behind the Priest, the Hellcat and the two armored tractors with their trailers.


    We got to the County Building with no problem.  The County had a massive parking lot in back, which was surrounded by a fence that was eight feet tall and topped with barbed wire.  We could easily see a fleet of county trucks and cars parked back there.  There were also three large pole barns within the fenced in area.


    The County Building was standing but it looked like it had been through a war, windows and doors were all broken in.  The fence was still intact so we decided to use bolt cutters on the lock rather than knocking it down.  We might have a use for the fenced in lot at some future date and why destroy anything we didn¡¯t have to.  A mixed fire team of humans and craft-makers went to the gate to open it.  George was keeping Lieutenant Night Storm¡¯s flight grounded for now; he was concerned that some terrified human with a flintlock rifle might just take a shot at one of her unarmored people.


    We pulled into the lot and drove in a big circle so that the C500 was pointed back towards the gate in case we need to make a quick getaway.  The gate was closed again and the Sherman positioned itself nearby to guard the entrance.


    We started searching the parking lot and the pole barns for things that we could use.  We quickly found plow blades both inside and outside the large warehouse like buildings.  We also found air compressors and we certainly had a pressing need for them, air had replaced electricity in the Stronghold.  There must have been at least six large V-plows which were exactly what we were looking for, for our trucks.  Glen, Clyde and Ron were trying to figure out if we should load the plows on our trailer or try to connect one or both of them to our trucks, while we were still in the lot.  They finally decided that they would attach one to the T800 and in that way, they could be sure that they would be nearby to any missing parts or manuals that they might need to find.  It would be a pain to get back home and learn that we needed to fabricate an unknown part which we could have more easily located here with just a little bit of diligent searching.


    Star Astrologer was walking by my side.  As a knight she had her choice of firearms and she had selected a shotgun which she seemed to be extremely fond of.  I still had to talk to her and Blender about letting me torture them so they could become enchanters.  Suddenly she turned her head and focused on the County Office Building.  A moment later we heard shouts coming from that direction.


    Fred Stone had been a civil engineer for the county for almost thirty years.  He was almost due to retire when the first Warning came.  He had not been impressed with the County¡¯s response to the message nor for that matter the response from any other governmental body.


    The Warning forced him to change his own plans, instead of retiring he decided to keep his job until things settled out.  But things didn¡¯t settle out, they only got far worse.  The people running the County Road Commission were a bunch of know nothing do nothing political appointees who were only there for a paycheck and free lunches paid for by the taxpayers.  The County big shots had tried to make some grandiose plans but they were bunch of fat ass politicians who had very little time to do much of anything.  If anyone knew all of the real resources that the Road Commission had it was Fred but they didn¡¯t ask him, and he liked it better that way.  He started talking to some of the regular employees that he worked with, people he knew, liked and trusted to a degree.  It didn¡¯t hurt that he could see the color of their status screens.  Two days before the clock hit three hundred hours all of the big bosses disappeared for their own secret hideaways and families.  That¡¯s when Fred made his move.  The County Road Commission Building was a huge old edifice that had been built well outside town where land was cheap.  It was built in 1958 during the Cold War and as result, when it was built, it was constructed with two basements, the deepest basement was the County¡¯s emergency bunker.  It was stocked with hundreds of metal tins filled with survival crackers as well as other supplies.  At the time, the County got such things for free from the Federal Government.


    Periodically, during the Cold War supplies were replaced with newer things, this practice held true until the end of the Reagan Administration, after that the bunker was almost completely forgotten about.  The administrators who had known about the bunker had retired or gone on to other things over the years.  Fred was one of the very few people, still working there, that even knew about the second basement.  After the Warning message he snuck down to the old bunker and brought up multiple samples of every kind of food still stored there. Using his position as a County employee he sent off the food samples to a food safety testing laboratory.  He had his results back in six days.  Almost seventy percent of the samples that he had sent off had tested as good.  He had already been organizing things with his trusted fellow employees, family and friends.  They had acquired additional supplies which were being temporarily stored at Fred¡¯s nearby home.  A few very old County work trucks, which hadn¡¯t run in years, were quietly being repaired which would provide them with transportation until the five hundred hour mark.


    They had collected bows, spears, and black powder weapons including two small cannons.  Livestock was gathered and placed in the County¡¯s garages which Fred¡¯s group planned to use as barns.  At the five hundred hour mark they thought that if anyone was prepared for what was coming, it was certainly them.  There were one hundred and sixty-eight of them, ten cows, six horses, twenty pigs and forty-three chickens when the monsters showed up.


    When Fred woke up that cold winter morning, all of the livestock had been dead for weeks and there were only ninety three people still alive, however he wasn¡¯t sure if four of their number were still human.


    While munching on a survival cracker, slathered with peanut butter, he heard some strange noises coming from in front of the building.  He picked up his muzzle loading double barrel twenty gauge coach shotgun.  It had cost him a small fortune after the first Warning but he thought of it as money well spent.


    He went up the stairs followed by four other armed survivors, Fred disarmed three of his booby traps along the way.  He didn¡¯t have to disarm any of the other traps because they had all been sprung during the night.  He walked past the beheaded corpse of a lion humanoid creature.  The kind of monster that had killed so many of his friends and had made four of the survivors so terribly ill, an illness that was either changing or killing them as had happened to too many others.  Fred prayed that they died and didn¡¯t turn into a Human Night Stalker variant.   He desperately didn¡¯t want to put to sleep four more of his friends but he didn¡¯t know what else he could do.  They had slipped up with Jack White, the monsters¡¯ first victim.   When he had turned, Jack had killed four and infected two more before he was killed by Fred who had blindly fired his shotgun at his invisible foe.


    The group of five survivors snuck into the northeast corner room of the first floor basement and standing far back from the broken basement windows, they cautiously peeked outside.   What they saw astonished them.  Two armored vehicles and two huge trucks were idling almost silently by the front gate.  They saw a small group of humans and humanoids get out of one of the trucks to open the gate.  Then all four of the vehicles very quietly, except for the sounds of the tanks¡¯ clanking tracks, drove into the lot behind the County building.


    The five observers quickly moved to a basement window that looked to the west, so that they could continue watching the strange people.  They were shocked when they saw bird people walking down the ramp attached to the large armored trailer.  Jean White a civil engineer and the recent widow of the deceased Jack White noticed that besides the vehicles flying the American Flag, they also had aloft a blue and white flag.  The flag made her intensely curious; it didn¡¯t look like the UN Flag.  It took her several minutes but she located a pair of binoculars and focused them on one of the strange flags.  She told the others, what she saw.  Not knowing what else to do, they got very long piece of plastic pipe, tied a white towel to it and started waving it out one of the basement¡¯s broken window.  The five knew that without help all of them were dead so why not try and make contact with such impressive people.

 Chapter 17: New Survivors

    If you spot any mistakes please leave a comment, so I can fix them, thanks.


    I thought it might help some of my readers if you had pictures of some of the things that I¡¯ve been mentioning in this story.


    Sherman Grizzly


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_I_cruiser</a>


    M7 Priest


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest#Variants</a>


    Defrocked Priest or Kangaroo


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_(armoured_personnel_carrier)</a>


    M18 Hellcat


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Hellcat</a>


    FV101 Scorpion


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV101_Scorpion</a>


    Kenworth T800 without sixteen foot dump body


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/t800/</a>


    Kenworth C500 without thirty foot dump end trailer attached, one bad ass looking truck.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/c500/</a>


    Caterham Seven 280


    http://us.caterhamcars.com/cars/seven-280</a>


    Cue the music.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zE-EMinj69o</a>


    Weatherby Mark V Safari; isn¡¯t it beautiful.


    http://www.weatherby.com/products/rifles/mark-v/mark-vr-safari.html</a>


    Taurus Raging Judge


    http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=702&category=Revolver&toggle=&breadcrumbseries</a>=


    Remington 7600


    http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire/model-7600/model-7600.aspx</a>


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 17: New Survivors


    Fifteen minutes after Star and I heard the shouts, I was talking with Fred Stone, a former civil engineer with the Road Commission.  Star was standing just behind my right shoulder and she had her shotgun at the ready.  For some reason the craft-makers and her in particular were rather protective of me.


    Fred seemed to be having some difficulty in focusing on me.  It was like he wanted to look at everything else but me.  I knew that I wasn¡¯t that impressive looking a man but I still found his behavior rather impolite.


    ¡°Hello Mister Stone, my name is Vincent Standish.  The World Warning and Commentator System which I call the Ding-Ding System or DDS, has for some reason pronounced me to be a king, the Hermit King to be exact.  As such I have certain magical abilities which have helped me to protect myself and those who have chosen to follow me.   We came here searching for materials to boost our capabilities and sustain us in the difficult days to come.  We only really need a few things, V-plows being the most important item.  As we are all or almost all of us, former residents of this county, I feel that we have the right to take those things that we want but since you were here first, I would not be averse to trading for those items.  But I will not trade any of our vehicles or repeating firearms.  Is there anything that you might need or want?¡±


    Fred¡¯s was so nervous that his stomach was twisted up.  This strange group had people from at least three different species and they had tanks!  Before things had been simple, kill anything that attacked.  Now if he said the wrong thing he might be regretting it for the rest of his life.  The people surrounding the shabbily dressed so called ¡°Hermit King,¡± standing before him seemed to be a serious bunch of hard cases.  They looked like a crazy collection of post-apocalyptic warriors from a bad science fiction movie, which he guessed was actually the case considering what had happened to the world.  The humans and lizard-men all were wearing armored vests of some kind and WWII German coal scuttle style combats helmets.  Some of the vests were of modern manufacture, while the others were made of leather, chainmail, steel plates or combinations of all three materials.


    The bird men were wearing obviously backless long brown leather overcoats or dusters, leather pants, leather gloves, leather boots and what looked like WWI leather flying helmets.  One of them was even sporting goggles, equipped with very large lenses for their equally large eyes.  All of their clothes were slightly puffy looking as if they were filled with some kind of insulation.  Fred seeing their feathers made an obvious guess about what kind of insulation was being used.  Each flyer seemed to have a single attendant, either a human or a lizard man.  That person carried a large leather duffel bag.  He saw one attendant dig out a bulky blanket from their bag and then wrap the huge cloak over and around the wings of a shivering bird woman.  The woman nodded her head in thanks to her human attendant.


    All of those present except for their ¡°King¡± were wearing brassards on their arms.  The brassard on their left arms showed the American Flag, while the one on their right arms displayed the three banded, blue and white flag that Jean had first spotted.


    Fred had of course been using his appraisal skill, so he knew some of the names and titles of many of those that were present, but there were far too many for him to remember all at once.  However the most important people, he tried to fix in his mind.


    Name: Knight Captain George Mesquida


    Title: Commander of the Hermit¡¯s Guard


    Name: Lady Knight Night Storm


    Title: Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Title: Lieutenant in the Hermit¡¯s Guard


    Name: Sir Clyde Jenkins


    Title: Minister of Ground Transport.


    Fred refocused his eyes and his appraisal skill, on the man of slightly less than average height that stood before him.  What he took to be snowflakes in the unkempt man¡¯s hair he realized were in fact small white feathers.  He guessed that they must be from the bird people.  It¡¯s not like there were any chickens around.


    Name: His Royal Majesty Vincent Standish


    Title: THE HERMIT KING


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit, aka The Grumpy Hermit King


    The last title reminded Fred that he had better respond to the slightly pissed off looking disheveled man with the bloodshot eyes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude but how should I address you sir?¡±


    ¡°Well first off, I¡¯m not a knight so don¡¯t, fucking address me as sir.¡±  Fred noticed several off the nearby strangers either wincing or shaking their heads in response to their King¡¯s behavior.  ¡°If you were one of my people you could call me Vince, Vincent, or Boss.  But not Vinnie, I fucking hate Vinnie and most especially don¡¯t be calling the Hermit¡¯s Guard, Vinnie¡¯s Thugs, as I¡¯ve heard a few of my people do.  I might be almost half Italian, but I¡¯m not the fucking Godfather.


    Since you are not one of my people and this kind of protocol shit matters to the DDS you can call me Your Majesty, King, or the Hermit King; possibly followed by my first or last name.  This is a hard fucking world we are all living in now, and I am one rude and grumpy asshole.   Now that we¡¯ve got the nice diplomatic bullshit out of the way, what do you want for four of your V-plows?   Since you will never be able to fucking use them, you better give me a fair price or we¡¯ll just fucking take them considering that we are former taxpayers for this county and we have as much right to them as anyone else.¡±


    Fred¡¯s unease grew; maybe his delay in responding to the grumpy bastard hadn¡¯t been the smartest thing for him to do.  ¡°There are ninety-three of us hiding in the County¡¯s old emergency shelter in the building behind me.  We¡¯ve got a lot of food left but all of our livestock is gone and the monsters have been killing us off, one by one, for months.  There were over a hundred and sixty of us before everything turned to crap.  If we join with you, what kind of rights will we have?  Do we have the right to vote?¡±


    The humans from the Stronghold started to laugh.  The lizard men looked confused and the few bird people simultaneously did a face palm, like they didn¡¯t want to see what was coming.  The Hermit King just grinned, evilly.


    ¡°Sure you can vote, you can vote for anything you want to but IT WON¡¯T MEAN SQUAT!  What about me being a sovereign monarch, has you so fucking confused?   I delegate shit to my Council, who are all ennobled.  They tell people to do other shit and if those people don¡¯t do as they are told to do, they are banished from my lands.  Anybody who wants to join my community has to go through an interview process, except for those with an orange screen.  That way we can catch trouble makers early.  We are in a fucking lifeboat and I don¡¯t need anyone punching more holes into it!


    I¡¯ve got six rules for those who live on my lands but my Minister of Justice probably has a few more, none of them apply to me by the way, because I¡¯m an asshole.


    Rule one: Treat others with respect until they screw up.


    Rule two: Don¡¯t use violence against another sentient unless in defense of your life, personal property, or another¡¯s life or personal property.  It is permissible to use violence to punish someone when any of those things that I mentioned previously have already taken place but you should see one of my Peace Keepers first and let them handle things, because if you mess up, it can be mean your ass.


    Rule three: Act honorably, for example if you¡¯re married and swore to be faithful then, don¡¯t fucking cheat on your spouse.  That rule also means that we watch each other¡¯s backs.  Children are to be treasured, that doesn¡¯t mean that they have a license to misbehave and be disrespectful little shits.


    Rule four: Don¡¯t fucking steal!


    Rule five: Don¡¯t lie.  I know people tell so called ¡®white lies¡¯ all of the time and I can tolerate those but lying nowadays is bullshit when even a small one can get someone killed.   I especially hate lies that are deliberately harmful to others, like giving false testimony.  Many of us have the true sight ability and we know when someone is lying to us.


    Rule six: You will obey my rules and commands.  You will also obey those people that I have put into positions of authority.


    Like I said, my Minister of Justice probably has a few more rules or laws but those are the basics.  This world is filled with monsters that want to eat us.  I¡¯ve got no time or inclinations to chair any debate societies.  I really have not much more of an inclination to talk with you, for that matter.  I¡¯m making you a onetime offer for those plow blades.  When we haul them away with us we can also take a delegation from your group back to the Stronghold.  They can see our compound and talk with some of our people.  Tomorrow we¡¯ll bring your delegation back and then they can describe what they saw and heard to you and the rest of your survivors.  Those who wish to join us can go through our interview process as for the rest, I don¡¯t give a fuck.  How does that sound to you?¡±


    ¡°But the monsters, they come every night.  We¡¯re getting low on powder and the other things that I use for my traps.  Those are our only effective weapons against those horrors.  Those damn creatures are invisible.  If I or if any of our leaders go with you then we¡¯ll lose our best fighters for the night.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like fucking Night Stalkers, to me.  Do they look like lions, bats, humans or some other beasty?¡±


    ¡°Most of the monsters have lion like features but we¡¯ve been seeing some more human looking ones recently too.  Four of our people have been infected by the monsters.¡±


    The Hermit¡¯s expression suddenly became sharp like a naked blade.  ¡°Are they still human?  Do they still have a normal human screen or does it say Night Stalker now?¡±


    ¡°When I checked this morning they were still human.¡±


    ¡°Believe it or not; this expeditionary force has three magical Healers.  I¡¯ve already healed several people infected with the Night Stalker virus.  I might be able to help your people depending on how far gone they are, it¡¯s something that is very time critical though.¡±


    ¡°If you can do that for us, we¡¯ll willingly join you.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll try and help but buddy you¡¯ve got to prove to us that we should let you join us.   Lead the way to your sick people, like I said time is of the essence.  George, please gather a security detail for us.  Clyde, you¡¯re a Healer so please follow me.  Lady Knight Night,¡± I love saying that, ¡°please return to the armored trailer and keep warm there.  If we need your help with these infected people we¡¯ll bring them out to you.¡±


    I followed Star Astrologer into the building.  She had insisted on going in front of me, she in turn was following three others, George being one of them and Clyde was following me.  I had slung my rifle and I now held my shotgun at the ready or as Ash (Evil Dead, Army of Darkness) would call it, my ¡°boom stick.¡±


    To get to their bunker we had to pass through cluttered hallways and makeshift barricades, the place was a wreck.  Upon arriving at their basement refuge one thing that immediately struck me was that it stank!  After passing a large number of wide-eyed fearful looking smelly people, we finally came to what appeared to be an old storage room that had been clumsily made into sort of a prison cell.


    There were four people strapped down to some heavy metal and wooden tables.  Appraisal, true sight and my healing ability; all told me that they only had a short time before they completely succumbed to the virus.  I put a hand on each of the two that were closest to me.  ¡°Clyde, I know you did some healing after that bat attack last night.  I¡¯m pumping a quick healing into these two.  When I¡¯m done I¡¯ll start with the others, but I¡¯ll need you to start healing the woman on my right.   George, once I remove my left hand from this man here, I need you to restrain him and carry him out to Night Storm have her do what she can.  We¡¯ll need to take all four of them back with us tonight or they¡¯ll be Night Stalkers by morning.¡±  I only pumped four minutes of healing into the first two, because I felt that I didn¡¯t dare delay in starting on the others.  I could sense that they were in far worse shape.


    Glen and Ron with a lot of manpower, hydraulic jacks and a chain hoist, got a V-plow attached to the T800 in a little over an hour.  They locked the blade up off the ground, and scavenged for parts to get its hydraulics working.  While they were doing that three other V-plow blades were loaded onto the T-800¡¯s flat bed trailer.  After searching the maintenance shed and disconnecting some manual hydraulic controls from older vehicles, the men finally decided that they would have to return to the Stronghold in order to get the plow blade¡¯s hydraulics operational, but they were confident that they had almost all of the parts needed to accomplish that task.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Clyde had been a tanker, a farmer, and a collector of tractors however the one thing that he had always wanted to be was a doctor but he had always thought that he just wasn¡¯t smart enough for the job.  Now he was a Healer and he was doing his best for the infected woman on the table before him.  After twenty minutes Clyde felt himself growing weak and unsteady on his feet.  A craft-maker Guardsman helped him over to a chair.  Vince though was still working on his two patients.   The Hermit continued to do so for another fifteen minutes beyond what Clyde had done, who was now sipping water and eating a survival cracker.  When Vince started to waver, Star helped him to sit down on a chair of his own.


    I put my hand onto Clyde¡¯s patient and I was impressed.  He had done far more than I had expected him to do.  ¡°Clyde you did a good job with this woman, you should be proud of yourself.¡±  While drinking some water and eating the worst tasting cracker of my entire life, I looked up at Fred, who was wide-eyed.  ¡°Mister Stone, if the other Healers back at the Stronghold are not too busy tonight, we should have these people cured by morning.  But there is a possibility that they won¡¯t physically be fully human anymore, their bodies have been altered some but not their brains, we caught that just in time.  I don¡¯t know if we can undo those alterations, we can only do our best.  If you want to organize a delegation you should do it quickly because I want to get out of here as quickly as possible.  Star, how are things looking outside?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, the plow has been attached to the truck and the blades loaded onto the trailer.  The last word that I had was that they were still scavenging for a few more parts and that they were almost ready to go.¡±


    ¡°Very good, let¡¯s restrain these three just to play it safe and carry them out to the armored trailer.  Their claw like fingernails make me a little uncomfortable, they might attack us just out of fear.¡±


    Fred wanted to go and see the ¡°Stronghold¡± but he was his group¡¯s leader and the best trap maker, so he knew that he needed to stay behind, Jean White went instead.  Before leaving Captain Mesquida gave Fred five Hawken rifles, a half pound of black powder and much more importantly, four magic lights that Sir George said would reveal any invisible monsters that their illumination fell upon.


    Jean had insisted on bringing her two children with her to the Stronghold.  She didn¡¯t know if it was safe or not but she didn¡¯t think that her group¡¯s old bunker was that safe either, and after their father¡¯s death it terrified her to have her children out of her sight.  She was told that it was little less than seven miles to ¡°The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge,¡± she thought it a grandiose and ridiculous name.  So far she had seen steam powered vehicles, repeating manual action firearms, and magic lights.  While she had been impressed, she hadn¡¯t been that impressed.   She couldn¡¯t envision the supposed ¡°Stronghold¡± as being a truly imposing place.  Probably at best, it was simply a cluster of old structures with makeshift walls made of piled dirt between the buildings; they might even have a little ditch too.  But with these strangers possessing steam powered vehicles and repeating firearms she did her best to control her facial expressions.   She had nearly snorted in derision upon meeting the ¡°Great Hermit King,¡± what an unkempt and worthless looking man.


    During their journey home, the convoy was attacked by a large group of what her appraisal skill identified as Daedon Giganteas, Giant Prehistoric Feral Hogs with teeth and jaws that looked like they belonged to an alligator.  The monsters were horrid looking, she was riding in the T800 and the creatures were almost exactly the same height as the large truck.


    She screamed and gathered her babies into her arms, the only monsters that she had been exposed to were the Night Stalkers, who were at least human size.  The soldiers aiming the large rifles that were mounted within the truck started firing and the monsters started blowing apart.  The noise was deafening even with the ear plugs that she and her children had been given earlier.  A Sergeant roared out.  ¡°You stupid idiots, use the standard ammunition!  Stop wasting the special stuff.  You¡¯re ruining the meat and I want barbecue for dinner tomorrow night!¡±


    Jean saw the discomfited expressions on the marksmen as they changed the magazines on their weapons.  The sharpshooters weren¡¯t afraid of the huge monsters; they were instead embarrassed and frightened of their Sergeant.


    Later, Richard Jacobs was working an air powered chainsaw and complaining to his Captain.  ¡°I can¡¯t believe how much meat those morons wasted!  Almost a month¡¯s worth of good eating is just gone!¡±


    ¡°Calm down Rich, I would rather have them make that kind of mistake than going the other route and not shooting a powerful enough bullet to kill a monster.  Besides that we barely got enough room on the flatbed for the meat we do have.  All of that blood is making a mess of the trailer and the plows it¡¯s hauling.¡±


    Rich grumbled but went back to cutting meat.


    The chainsaws and many willing hands made short work of dismembering the monsters.  The Guards were all very experienced, by this time, with that sort of task.


    Jean watching out the thick windows, of the T800¡¯s armored body, was astonished with how efficiently and calmly the soldiers went about their duties, she began to hope for the first time since her husband¡¯s death.  A little over an hour later, the convoy resumed its journey for home.  The returning Guards loudly complained about the messy butchering job and were wishing that the new armored tractor was already operational.


    After another twenty minutes of travel time they turned down a gravel road and Jean started seeing what appeared to be a wall just beyond the trees.  The wall grew rapidly, the wall grew larger; the WALL WAS IMMENSE!  There were corners to the structure and at the top of the wall she could see crenels in the parapet.  She gasped, as a little girl she had always wanted to live in a castle, which was part of the reason why she had become a civil engineer in the first place.  She ¡°oohed and aahed¡± when she saw the moat, with its smooth sides blending in seamlessly with the fortress¡¯s walls.  She helped her children to stand on their seats so that they too, could see the same things that she was seeing.


    Jean, being a nut about castles and fortifications, liked the moat but she wished it was wider.   She was also disappointed that there wasn¡¯t a drawbridge, nor had she seen a single tower or turret which lowered her spirits still further.  But the heavy metal double gates at both sides of the reasonably thick wall mollified her.   They drove inside the fortress, she darted from window to window looking at the vastness inside and she was overjoyed.  They drove a short distance more and the convoy came to an enclosure with a twelve foot tall fence topped with barbwire.  She was feeling safer and safer.  Her babies were going to live!  She didn¡¯t care what she had to do, they were staying here.  Jean had been ignoring the other members of the delegation but they were amazed as she was, at what they were seeing.


    I got home and got back to work, there were tunnels to dig and things to enchant.  I spoke to Star Astrologer on the way home; she had reluctantly agreed to become my student, it was time to break out the whip and chains.  She also said that she would talk to Blender Apothecary for me.  She had looked a little frightened when I had started discussing the matter with her, I wonder if some of my earlier students had perhaps warned her?  We would be meeting for two hours every other day, until we got some results.  Since neither of them actually had the enchanting ability it would take some time for me to beat it into them, if it worked at all.


    Our patients were brought to the infirmary; I would stop by during the evening and check on their recovery.  Even with the attack last night we had enough Healers now where we should be able to kill the virus in their bodies and save their minds.  The delegation was turned over to Jennifer that was her sort of job.


    I was tempted to help out with the conversions on both the Case 590 and the crawler crane but there were things that only I could do, and it was better if I stuck to them.


    I had to admit that I wanted to acquire that old County Building and the fenced in parking lot.  I could easily fortify that structure in a single day.  It already had a bunker equipped with a well and water hand pump; in addition there was a lot food stored there as well.  That location was on our route to town.  We could make that place a fortified waypoint for our expeditions into the city and other destinations further east of us.  Any of our people could then retreat to it if necessary rather than making the longer trip back to home.


    Because of the excellent maintenance that Clyde and his crew have been performing on our vehicles we hadn¡¯t yet had a breakdown but our luck was sure to turn sour at some point in time.  I still had some of those stones that Mack had gathered, left over from building our fortress¡¯s walls.  I hadn¡¯t enchanted them but I would only need a few for the County Building.


    The delegation was given a tour of the Stronghold by Lady Jennifer and Lady Faith.  Jean was amazed by the giant stone edifice but being a castle aficionado and an engineer, she could readily see ways in which it could be improved.  The rest of the delegation while also amazed was horrified by the tales of the monsters that had already attacked the place.  The group actually had to be shown frozen pieces of the giant Sky Krakens before they truly believed what they were being told.


    The survivors at the County Building with plenty of food and water, had basically been in hiding for the past several months, barely poking their heads out like timid groundhogs.  While the Night Stalkers had found them, larger monsters had been passing them by.


    Isabella peeked in Vincent¡¯s bedroom fifteen minutes after he went to bed.  Just like usual he was already fast asleep.  He might need to only sleep three or four hours per night but it was the sleep of an exhausted man.  The women had moved into his home because of the safety both it and he represented.  But how could he help to protect them if he slept through whatever danger came for them during the night?  Thus the women, without his knowledge, had taken to staying with Vincent while he slept, just so as to wake him up in case of an emergency.  At first they had taken turns sitting in the comfortable armchair that was in his room.  That had quickly gotten old and they had started making a pallet on the floor on which to sleep.


    Waking Vincent up could take as long as five minutes.  But when he woke up on his own, it was almost a cartoonish event and could take as long as a half an hour or more.  First he would start to make a grumbling noise and stretch.  Then he would sit up with his eyes still closed, turn his head like he was looking around the bedroom, he might also yawn some more or scratch his head, after which he would collapse back upon his bed for a few more minutes of sleep.   This behavior would repeat several times before he truly awoke thus giving anyone in his bedroom plenty of time to make their escape.  Isabella was the first one to actually start sharing Vince¡¯s bed with him.  His queen size bed was far more comfortable and warmer than the floor, besides that until Vincent started to wake up, he never moved an inch so it was perfectly safe for the women.


    Even with Vincent¡¯s deep sleep, Isabella thoroughly enjoyed the experience of ¡°sleeping¡± with him.  For years she hadn¡¯t had anyone that she could truly count on; then had come her time in prison which was the worst experience of her life.  Vincent might be a rude unkempt individual but he had gotten her out of that horrible place, supported her since then and made her feel safe.  Sleeping in his bed brought her a level of emotional comfort that she hadn¡¯t felt in decades.


    The next day we returned to meet with Fred Stone and the rest of his survivors.  Both trucks had been fitted with V-plows.  The four formerly infected patients were still in our infirmary, recovering their strength.  The delegation was enthusiastically supporting the idea of joining with us.  George, Faith, Star Astrologer, Glen, Night Storm, Clyde and I would all be performing the interviews.  On the way, we were attacked by some of those giant sized saber tooth pit-bulls, the same kind of beasts that had bothered me while I was building the Stronghold¡¯s walls.  The two meter tall monsters barely slowed us down and no one wasted any enchanted bullets on them.  There were only seven of the beasts and they had to be pretty stupid to attack us.  Actually they had focused all of their attacks on the Scorpion but it was still a pretty damn dumb thing to do.  We threw their bodies onto the T800¡¯s trailer and continued on to the County Building.  We would butcher them when we got there.


    I met with Fred after he heard from his delegation. ¡°Fred, this is a brutal world now and I¡¯m a mad tyrant.  If you join with us you¡¯ll almost certainly be working for Mack, who is my Minister of Construction.  I don¡¯t know what kind of leadership post he¡¯ll give you, if he gives you any at all.  Can you handle being demoted from your position of leadership here?¡±


    ¡°I would love not to be in charge anymore.¡±


    Almost all of the interviews went smoothly, we had to put a few people on notice that they had to change their ways and behave in a more honorable and cooperative fashion but nobody was too much of an asshole until John Smith.  He was one of the two blue screens that they had and he had been hiding at the back of the line.


    It turns out that John had been a former city employee that was forced to resign because he had been caught stealing, one too many times from the City¡¯s Public Works Department.  His union and some other connections had gotten him a job with the County but he still hadn¡¯t reformed.  What was worse was that he was one of those that helped frame Isabella and had lied during both her criminal and civil trials.


    That put me in a quandary, if we didn¡¯t accept him then he would remain here and I couldn¡¯t claim this land.  I sure as hell didn¡¯t want this untrustworthy bastard in my Stronghold.  Beyond that, it would upset Isabella and personally I wanted to kick this guy so hard in the crotch that his balls literally came out of his mouth.  I was finally sorry that I had killed all of those bullet ants; I could have staked this guy out for them.


    ¡°Mister Smith, we already know that you¡¯re a piece of shit from your actions involving Lady Knight Isabella Gomez our Royal Botanist.  But I¡¯m told that you have an ex-wife and an eight year old son.  Where do they live?¡±


    He was looking nervously at me.  ¡°They have an apartment in the city.¡±


    ¡°Fred told me that you overheard his plans and forced your way into his survival group.  I¡¯m impressed with what Fred, Jean and the others did here.  Did you attempt in any shape or fashion, to get your son to join you here in safety?¡±


    ¡°My ex is a bitch.  I¡¯ve been paying a fortune in child support, she can damn well look after him, herself.¡±


    ¡°Have you ever hit your wife or son?  I remind you that I have true sight.¡±


    ¡°I might have put some bruises on them.¡±


    ¡°What kind of family did you grow up in?  Were your parents, good people?  Did they ever hit you?¡±


    ¡°My folks are great.  They always did the best for me.  When I flunked out of college my mom got me my job with the city.  They never hit me or shit like that.¡±


    ¡°From the way you are talking, your parents are still alive.  Where do they live?  Did you try and bring them here?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re old, they¡¯ve got a little house downtown; they would never want to leave their home.  So I never even asked them.¡±


    The maggot before me didn¡¯t even realize that he wasn¡¯t human.   I looked at Fred; he had a disgusted expression on his face.  ¡°Fred, as I¡¯ve told you earlier I have more magical power on lands that I claim.  I would like you as the leader of your group to cede this building and property to me.  I will then fortify this place to be a combination safe haven and embassy for my domain.  I don¡¯t feel that John here is a real member of your group or has any standing with you.¡±


    Fred had been watching people and supplies leaving all day long from the bunker and going to the Stronghold.  Personally he wanted to rejoin his wife as soon as possible and if he never saw this place again it would be fine with him, and if he never saw John Smith again that would be okay too.   ¡°Your Majesty, I willingly turn over these building and lands to you.¡±


    I put my bare hand on John Smith¡¯s left shoulder.  ¡°John Smith you are worthless piece of shit and I seal away any abilities or enhancements that you might have inside of you.  You¡¯ve abandoned your child, your parents and gave false testimony against Lady Isabella.  You will be given a pack full of food and warm clothes but no weapons.  I can¡¯t trust you on my lands nor can I trust you not to harm some innocent.  You will get the fuck off of my lands and keep off of them!¡±  He looked at me in horror, so I took the opportunity to kick him in the crotch!  My status screen flashed up for just a second.  I didn¡¯t even have time to read it.  I thought that I was going to see my status go to green or something.  But when I called my screen back up it was still orange.   However during that brief initial flash, I swear it was red.


    Rich Jacobs, who looked like he wanted to shoot John Smith, gathered some things for him and sent him on his way.  The self-centered maggot was crying like a little baby as he stumbled away.  Yeah he was probably going to his death, but it was no better than that asshole deserved.  I could only hope that it was an ugly painful death and that he didn¡¯t take some innocent down with him.


    I was exhausted after sealing Smith¡¯s abilities away.  I felt as tired as if I had spent a full hour healing someone.  Normally when I awaken a person, it only takes a fraction of my energy but I am always doing it with their consent however in Smith¡¯s case I had imposed my will upon him.  The reasons for my actions were twofold.  One, I didn¡¯t trust the little rat fuck not to use his abilities against some innocent party, that is if by some miracle he manages to survive and then gains access to his magical skills and enhancements.  In my mind John Smith is a criminal by his own admitted actions and you typically don¡¯t trust criminals, especially blue screen criminals, with weapons.  I could see his magical potential and while it wasn¡¯t much, it was too much for a person like him.  The second reason I sealed his powers away is for payback.  Smith helped to frame Isabella before I even knew her but the timing of his actions doesn¡¯t matter to me.  The only thing I care about is that he did it.  In my book, she is a class act and that scumbag deserves far worse than what I did to him.


    After resting, I claimed the land.  George and Ron used their Fire Magic to warm the ground so my bare feet didn¡¯t get cold but they did get muddy!


    We continued to transport items to the Stronghold.  Clothes, bedding, light bulbs and furniture were the things that were really needed.  The building had a huge number of those stackable chairs and large folding tables; they could all be put to good use.  I emplaced my enchanted stones around the building.  We finally had everything that we thought we wanted, but we could always come back if we forgot something.  Using the stones to aid me, I grew walls of compressed rock around the building, completely covering up all of the openings.  The walls were only a foot thick, I planned on coming back later to reinforce them; my enchanted stones still had a lot of life in them.

 Chapter 18: Monkey Pile

    Sorry for the long delay but I was under the weather.  If you spot any mistakes please leave a comment.  For any of you that are following Swamp Boy, I need some names for two oceans and two continents.


    After much encouragement, if not outright criticism, I am putting in indicators ( ------ ) for changes in character or point of view.  Please leave a comment whether you like that sort of thing or not, and how my implementation works for you.  Personally I don¡¯t like P.O.V. indicators since they distract me from the story but I¡¯m giving it a shot.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 18: Monkey Pile


    People in the Stronghold were learning how to use their magic.  As for myself, I was magically stagnating because I was spending almost all of my time enchanting things or working on various construction projects.  I know those magical endeavors were causing my magical energy reserves to increase but equally as a result I was learning hardly anything that was new to me and I found that to be EXTREMELY frustrating.  I also desired to see my grandchildren but I had been in such a foul mood lately that I had been putting it off; they didn¡¯t deserve to have me inflicted upon them.


    I know that most of my close associates have enthusiastically embraced their magical skills and are diligently practicing with them.  For example, Glen and Star Astrologer both have Teleportation Magic.   They can¡¯t teleport very far as of yet but it¡¯s certainly a really cool ability to have.  Glen is like a kid in a candy store whereas Star tries to pretend like she¡¯s this knowledgeable and supremely mature adult but I¡¯ve caught her twirling around like a ballerina and giggling like a child after a successful teleport.  Macallister has Light and Darkness Magic, and he dreams of being able to create a laser beam with it one day but the best he can produce right now is a beam with the power of an automobile headlight.  Faith Harper has the same ability but she¡¯s been concentrating on her Telekinesis skill.  Jennifer has been studying her Healing talent but Levitation is another of her abilities, I think we should tie a string on her and use her like a party balloon; her kids think that¡¯s a great idea but so far Jennifer hasn¡¯t let us do it yet.  My Stronghold is turning into a mad magical place and I feel like I¡¯m being left behind or losing my edge.


    I was doing some more boring things yet again.  I was busy expanding the underground portion of the Stronghold.  It was far easier for me to create living quarters beneath the earth than above.  The Stronghold¡¯s new dungeon areas have definitely relieved our housing problems, though we were now having difficulties with sanitation and sewage.


    To resolve those problems, Mack is supervising the construction of bathroom and bathing facilities on the surface but things are a trifle inconvenient for now.  While we will eventually install some toilets and such in our ¡°dungeon¡± complex, our new subterranean residents will be encouraged to use them as infrequently as possible since those bathrooms necessitate the use of sewage pumps.  Waste water and muck have to be pumped up to the septic tanks and the Stronghold¡¯s new sewage treatment facility.  Our alchemists under the direction of Lady Isabella Gomez and Sir Blender Apothecary have begun to recover potassium nitrate and plant nutrients from that yucky stinky stuff.  I really should figure out some way that I can help them before they quit their jobs out of sheer disgust.  As I was taking a breather from making more underground chambers, I heard some footsteps coming down the tunnel from behind me.  I turned to look and see who was coming.


    ¡°Hey Steve, how are you doing today? No problems I hope.¡±  He was walking towards me along with his ex-wife, Barbara.


    ¡°Just the usual headaches; Vince, I¡¯ve decided to bite the bullet and have you knight me so as to awaken my talents.  Is that okay with you and is this a good time to do it?¡±


    ¡°You know it is okay with me Steve, so long as you¡¯re happy with your decision.¡±


    He got down on one knee before me.  ¡°Your Majesty, I Stephen Monet do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    I touched his right shoulder and then I placed my hand on his left shoulder.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Sir Stephen Monet and I reconfirm your role as my Minister of Logistics and this Stronghold¡¯s Castellan, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Sir Stephen Monet for being such an idiot, as to swear such an oath, to the Moron and Supreme Asshole Vincent Standish; OUCH, WHY ARE YOU HITTING ME?!!¡±


    Seconds pass¡­¡­¡­.


    More seconds pass¡­¡­¡­


    Steve was looking rather worried.  I was thinking as powerfully as I could to whoever it was, to hit that particular System Commentator one more time for me.  Too many people thought of the DDS as being all wise, all seeing, all knowing and all powerful.  I was convinced it was a bunch of bleary eyed underpaid drunks working in a cubicle farm, who ran something like our old national weather service and I remember all too well, the all too many times that our old weather service got things wrong.


    As far as I could tell the DDS had a heck of an information gathering capability and I had abundant evidence that they could read minds too, when they felt like it, but mind reading doesn¡¯t seem like that it¡¯s something that they can do all of the time.  The sheer volume of information would probably overwhelm them.


    The DDS is obviously able to detect and evaluate the abilities that people have but any evaluator can be wrong so I don¡¯t put a lot of credence in their statistics.  The Ding-a-Ling System during its early days was almost purely a warning service but it hasn¡¯t delivered any new warnings since the clock counted down or up to six hundred hours.


    In regards to the Appraisal ability, that seems to be either a function of the DDS or a skill that has somehow been subconsciously trained or implanted into many of us, because those of us with the greatest Appraisal ability are still seeing screens of information but we also have invariably accurate hunches and emotional feelings about whatever we are trying to assess.  Those people with minimal skill levels in Appraisal may only receive a screen containing the most basic information and sometimes not even that.  It has also become apparent that only those people with the True Sight ability have the strongest and most reliable Appraisal skills.


    The Translation ability seems to be a function of the Ding-Ding System and only some leaders get access to it, though the few telepaths we have might be able to do something similar once they improve their skills.  I just got flash of green color it appears that the DDS is back online or at least in our heads again.


    Sir Stephen Monet, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted, by the Wise and Compassionate Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Healing Level One


    Earth Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Six:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by sixty percent.


    +18 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +53 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +17 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    +6 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    2.9x Telescopic Vision


    1.8x Scent/Odor Detection


    Everybody else gets physical enhancements but me.  I ought to complain to the Hermit¡¯s Union but we don¡¯t meet that often, I think the next meeting is in the Himalayas in the year 2050.   Steve stood back up.


    ¡°Boss, does the DDS talk to you like that all of the time?¡±


    ¡°Only about half of the time; it sort of depends on whose work shift it is and if they are sober or not.  I can sort of sense when there is a change in the person or entity that is communicating with me.¡±


    Steve looked at me wide-eyed for about a minute.  After which, he shook his head as if trying to get some unpleasant thoughts out of his brain and then he spoke about an entirely different topic.  ¡°Vince can you please awaken Barbara as well?   I think of her as the last line of defense for our children.  I¡¯d appreciate whatever combat edge you can give her.¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders.  ¡°If that¡¯s what you want Steve.  You are one of the most important people here and I¡¯ve got to do my best to keep you happy because I sure as hell don¡¯t want your job.  Remember you can only quit after everybody else is gone and the Stronghold is empty.¡±  He nodded his head to me and Barbara walked up to kneel before both of us.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I Barbara Harris Monet do faithfully swear to serve you, in these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.


    In addition, I Barbara Harris Monet, take you, Stephen Monet, to be my mate.  I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.  I will love and honor you for the remainder of my life.  I will furthermore promise to undo as best as I can, all the damage and hurt that I have caused you and our children.¡±


    I touched her right shoulder and then rested my hand on her left shoulder.  ¡°I accept your oath to me, may you serve long and honorably.  As for your oath to my Castellan you must speak with him.¡±


    I looked over at Steve, who didn¡¯t look exactly happy.  Actually he looked a little pissed but after a moment, he nodded his head in acceptance and muttered ¡°I accept.¡±


    DING


    Oh, isn¡¯t that sweet.  You may now kiss the bride.  She promises to be good now.  Listen here girl, you don¡¯t know how close you came to getting a blue screen and you are still on the cusp.  So you better not screw up.


    Barbara Monet, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you are now an oath sworn citizen of his Kingdom  and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oaths to the Hermit King or his Castellan, Sir Stephen Monet, and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight Level One


    Fire Magic Level One


    Teleportation Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Two:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by twenty percent.


    +55 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +59 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +34 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +38 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    Hearing is 1.3 times as acute.


    Her physical enhancements made her monster and they were even greater than Steve¡¯s!  I was definitely going to file a grievance with my shop steward.


    After awakening both Steve¡¯s and Barbara¡¯s talents, I was more than a little tired.  I chased the two of them away so they could argue in private, while I went off in search of a comfortable chair.


    What I got instead was Lady Faith who had a shy thirteen year old Melissa Kilmer standing timidly behind her.  ¡°Vincent, we are doing okay for the moment but in this messed up world we can¡¯t count on our defenses being able to stop everything.   Melissa is an orange screen.  I know her grandfather was an S.O.B. and her father is a blue screen but despite those developmental handicaps, Melissa is growing up to be a good person in her own right.  She¡¯s been helping me on a daily basis, and to such a degree that she could almost be considered my squire or apprentice.


    What will the Stronghold¡¯s children do if some monster makes it past us adults?  I think that we should alter how we do things and that on a case by case basis some of our youngest and wisest residents should have their abilities awakened.  Many of them have already been receiving limited combat training from Captain Mesquida and the Hermit¡¯s Guard.   While it would be nice to let the kids have a pampered childhood, doing so only sets them up to be monster chow.  Historically, children were treated very differently in Earth¡¯s past and I think we should seriously considered returning to some of those old ways.  Alexander the Great and Joan of Arc were leading armies when they were seventeen.  I think that we either help our children to grow up as fast and as strong as they can or we risk them being killed and not being able to grow up at all.¡±


    ¡°Faith if you want her talents awakened, I¡¯ll do it but she¡¯ll be your responsibility and your squire.  Is that something you can handle?¡±


    ¡°That fine with me Vincent.  Melissa, go kneel before our King and don¡¯t be afraid of him.  While he is a rude, foulmouthed, obnoxious, and disheveled man; who frequently SAYS the wrong thing; you can always count on him TO DO exactly the right thing and nowadays that¡¯s the only thing that truly matters.  It also helps if you ignore the chicken feathers in his hair and his mismatched clothes.  Additionally, never look at his feet, today he¡¯s wearing one black sock and one white sock but at least his shoes match, unlike yesterday.¡±


    Everybody is a fashion critic; I was wearing my grimy work clothes.  It wasn¡¯t like I was planning to pose for GQ magazine.  Isabella and Jennifer also made disparaging comments about my attire this morning.  I suddenly produced a jaw cracking yawn, I was exhausted from what I had done a short while ago and I had been tired before that from digging tunnels.  But I guess I had enough left in the old gas tank to awaken Melissa, especially after that glowing evaluation that Faith had just given me, I wonder if I can turn my Minister of Justice into a frog?  Melissa knelt before me, her eyes were very big and she looked a little scared.


    ¡°Your Ma-Ma-Majesty, I Me-Me-Melissa Ki-Kilmer do faithfully swear to serve you, in these pe-pe-perilous times, to de-de-defend your lands and to protect those sen-sen-sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and co-co-commands.¡±


    I gently touched her right shoulder and then I put my hand on her left shoulder.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Squire Melissa Kilmer, you are to take instruction and guidance from Lady Knight Faith Harper, my Minister of Justice.  May you serve both she and my Kingdom, long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Squire Melissa Kilmer, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Kindly Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties to him, his Kingdom and Lady Knight Faith Harper.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    True Sight


    Water Magic Level One


    Light & Darkness Magic Level One


    Telekinesis Level One


    Quick Thinking Level One:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by ten percent.


    +36 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +22 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +59 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +32 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    + 9 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    2.1x Telescopic Vision


    Hearing is 2.7 times as acute.


    1.1x Scent/Odor Detection


    ¡°Congratulations Melissa, you are now a magical girl, just like Lady Knight Faith Harper who is your union steward.  You gals have weekly meetings and really cool enchanted staffs that are able to shoot out magical rainbows, which carry streams of stars and heart shaped glowing symbols.  I¡¯ll let Faith tell you all about that stuff later on though; you have a good day and again my congratulations.


    Melissa was still kneeling before me, her eyes had gotten really big and she was looking at me like I might be a crazy.  How dare she doubt me!  Of course I was bughouse nuts.  I realized then that Melissa was rather unobservant which got me to wondering about her suitability as a squire but it was too late now.  I was going to chase the two females off so I could take a nap when I noticed that Faith had a buckler riding on her right hip.  ¡°Faith, did you finally acquire that shield I told you to get so long ago?¡±


    ¡°Yep, Glen just got around to making it for me the other day.  You know how busy he¡¯s been.  He made it out of thick aluminum, so it¡¯s nice and light.  It was his thought, that when you have a chance, that maybe you could enchant my new buckler the same way that you did for the Scorpion¡¯s aluminum armor.¡±  She held up the small round shield for me to look at.


    The buckler looked like it had a diameter of about twelve inches and it had been painted to resemble the flag that my Council had designed for my Kingdom.  Personally I thought the flag sucked, it was a little too much ¡°kumbaya¡± for me.  I wanted something that carried a message like ¡°Fuck Off or Die,¡± but I got talked out of it. The top and bottom portions, of Faith¡¯s small shield, were light blue and the middle band was white, in that band were drawings of three green figures, representing the three intelligent species living in Hermit¡¯s Forge.  There was black lettering on the buckler.  Around the top rim it read ¡°THE KINGDOM OF HERMIT¡¯S FORGE;¡± above the white band it said ¡°PEACE KEEPER AND JUDGE,¡± and beneath that band was printed, ¡°LADY KNIGHT FAITH HARPER.¡±  It looked serviceable but not very badass.


    ¡°Give it to me tonight and I¡¯ll enchant it for you, Faith.¡±  Maybe I¡¯ll engrave a few alterations on the front too, like ¡°We¡¯ve Killed Hundreds of Enemies and You Can Be Next if You Mess with us!¡±


    Faith smiled back at me and said ¡°thanks.¡±   I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ask her about the literary improvements I plan on making to her shield, ¡°it is better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission.¡±  The Knight and her new squire left shortly thereafter, Melissa had been looking rather dazed but I thought I heard her asking Faith if she could have a sword now, as they walked out my back door.


    I wanted my bed and I smelled barbecue.  Yesterday, Rich had been promising us a hog feast for today¡¯s dinner and I was looking forward to it.  My plan was to take an hour long nap, so as to recharge my batteries, and then to go out and pig out on pig.  I was just walking past the front door of my home on the way to my bedroom, when I heard the steam whistle alarm go off, CRUD!


    I grabbed my long arms and took off out the door, the sounds of screaming and gunfire filled me with dread.  Looking towards the closest portion of the curtain wall, I saw what looked like a flood of small furry humanoids coming over the parapet by the front gate.  My guts twisted up when I realized that any of our defenders that were on the wall there, were probably already dead or shortly would be.  The damn creatures were hard to see, their coloring was a mix of white, gray and brown and they just blended into the wall and the winter landscape.


    I ran out the gate of my private compound, yelling at someone who was standing nearby to close the gate behind me.  After running about the length of a football field, I went to one knee and I started firing my rifle.  I ended up missing at least half of the time, those monsters were too fast; and they were simply pouring down the stairway located next to the front gate.  I emptied both of my four shot magazines and my three new ten shot magazines that Sean had recently fabricated for me.  For some reason he had been extremely interested in my pump action rifle, so much so that I had loaned him the other Remington 7600 that I owned.


    In this new battle I was conserving what little magical energy that I had left.  I had been tired before I knighted Steve.  I really should have told him to come back later at the time but I had gotten too complacent since the fortress walls had gone up.  I had made my condition much worse by awakening Barbara and then Melissa; I can be such an idiot at times.  Our new walls had easily stopped every foe since we had built them except for the flying monsters, like the bats and the owls.  With my magazines empty, I switched to my shotgun and ran closer to the action.  I did an appraisal on one of the beasts.


    Mandrillus Rex, King Mandrills are extremely powerful and they have a gecko like ability to climb smooth surfaces.  Males can weigh as much as 103 pounds and females can weigh up to 82 pounds.  Both sexes, have pronounced canine teeth that are almost saber like.  They are comfortable in cold climates with temperatures as low as minus four Fahrenheit, though they prefer warmer climes.  Mandrill troops or societies can hold as many as 1300 members, though the more common size is approximately 200.  These large monkeys instinctively cooperate as almost a hive like intelligence when they are defending their troop.   The fur of a Mandrillus Rex, slowly changes color to match the season or their environment.   King Mandrills are omnivorous and they will form large hunting packs to take down bigger prey.  While their intelligence is unknown and subject to debate, they have been observed throwing rocks and using sticks against prey and enemies alike.  Bloody conflicts between troops, resulting in numerous deaths, are a fairly common occurrence.


    It was my understanding that monkeys were timed creatures that hardly ever attacked humans!  Perhaps these new monsters came from a world where there were no humans or maybe Mandrillus Rex was the apex predator on their world?  Whatever the answer, I was screwed.


    I had out run everyone else; actually I think my semi-loyal subjects had been running the other way, towards the compound.  I bet they had been expecting me to use a flame strike or two; well I fooled them, I didn¡¯t have enough juice left to launch a flame strike.  There was way over two hundred of those damn monkeys charging towards me.  I didn¡¯t know what to do, lately my emergency go-to weapon had been my Fire Magic but I was almost out of gas and my only loaded weapon was my revolver.  I had barely enough magic left in me, for maybe one very brief flame burst and after that I would be lucky to remain conscious.  My three most energy efficient and practiced magical skills were Earth Magic, Enchanting and Healing.  Maybe I could make earth spikes shoot up from the ground but there was no way to properly target those screeching creatures.  In desperation, I did the only thing that occurred to me since I only had seconds left.  I knelt down and using my magic, I covered myself in small dome of earth and stone.  It wasn¡¯t the super hard compressed stone that I had been making but it was still harder than plain old dirt.


    If anyone outside of my bunker saw it, they would probably say that it looked just like a big upside down mixing bowl.  But screw those kinds of snobbish architectural critics because I had made my tiny sanctuary just in the nick of time.  I had started creating my dome on the side facing my enemies and several of the creatures had run into my magical bowl of protection even before I had finished making it.  I had incorporated firing slits into my blister style instant pillbox, so I could contribute to the battle.  The slits turned out to be too big and too many of the creatures were able to force their arms inside, they had long claws too.  Their arms were reaching inside even before I had drawn my revolver. I flopped, onto my back, kicking at their hands with my feet.  I hurriedly willed the slits to narrow, and I shot a 410 shotgun shell at the mass of hands that were clawing at me.


    DAMN IT!  The bang from the gunshot had driven immaterial spikes into my ears; my mini-bunker had amplified the noise and possibly ruptured my eardrums.  I had some foam earplugs in my shirt pocket but I hadn¡¯t thought to put them in.   Many of the monkey arms were trapped and the furious beasts were howling and screeching.  I blocked my ear pain with a trickle of magic, dug out my earplugs, stuffed them in and resumed shooting.  Maybe I should have utilized my knife, but it would have been difficult to safely use, what with my awkward physical position and the claws that were just a hair¡¯s breadth away from my body.  The earplugs helped but it was still damn loud firing my pistol.  I emptied my revolver twice before I could safely return to a kneeling pose.  Those intact or mostly intact monkey arms sticking into my pillbox of pain were looking pretty lifeless; I guess I had pinched them too well; maybe I had little more magical gas than I thought I had remaining.  Oh well good things can happen, even to me.


    I used the new bayonet that Metal Grinder had made for me.  He was Lady Knight Night¡¯s husband and now one of Glen¡¯s shop crew.  There had been a long and furious debate about the proper size of bayonet to issue the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  The standard in our old world was bayonet about seven inches in length.  But that was when soldiers had automatic rifles and they fought only men.  The Hermit¡¯s Guard on the other hand specialized in fighting monsters.  Still, many of our human soldiers thought that sticking with a seven inch bayonet was the best option.  However, most of the flyers and the craft-makers thought that such a small blade was next to useless and only suitable as a dining implement. So to settle the argument, George and I had decided, that each Guardsman would be allowed to select their own bayonet but that the bayonet¡¯s blade must be between seven and sixteen inches in length.  Night Storm and Metal Grinder being advocates of the bigger is better philosophy had presented me with a fourteen inch bayonet that was absolutely gorgeous and I think made of true Damascus steel, apparently Metal Grinder knows the secret of creating that wonderful material.  I know one thing my new bayonet is great at hacking off monkey arms.


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


    Storm Wind was emotionally devastated, it was his people¡¯s job to be the Stronghold¡¯s long range observers and somehow the local aerial patrol had failed to see a swarm of OVER A THOUSAND FLESH EATING LARGE MONKEYS!  The gates had been closed but the mandrills had easily charged across the wide land bridge and then seemingly without any hindrance at all began to scale the smooth fortress walls.


    Sir Wind had 8 flights in the air now and each flight contained four flyers.  Six flights were dropping shells outside the Stronghold¡¯s walls and two containing his most skilled flyers were dropping shells inside the walls but outside the compounds fence line.  People were dying and it was his clan¡¯s fault, Storm wanted to dive down into the monkeys and tear them apart with his own claws and talons as a way to make amends for what he saw as his own failure.


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


    Captain Mesquida cursed himself for being a fool.  He had a bigger army now; and he could have had all of his armored vehicles standing ready except for the Priest and the C500 but no.  He had decided to lower the readiness levels of the Guard because of the new wall.  His stupidity had gotten soldiers killed and possibly even his own boss.  He had heard from one of his soldiers how Vince had gone running out the front gate shortly after the alarm had been sounded and a hundred yards beyond the fence, there was for some reason a huge conglomeration of angry mandrills.  George well knew that the Hermit King was a consummate master at pissing people off, so he suspected at the bottom of that monkey pile was the corpse of Vincent Standish.  The Captain was thinking that after this monumental failure that he should probably turn over his job to Boris.


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


    I could hear the muffled whump sizzling noises that the explosive fire enchanted shells make when they strike something solid; at least someone is on the ball, unlike me.  I was cautiously reopening a firing slit in my solitary sanctum.


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


    Lieutenant Murphy was inside a wooden bunker that was built on the wall walk located over the front gate.  It was constructed of heavy logs and she blessed every one of them as monsters tried to break in, in an effort to get at her and the other three survivors.  She was disgusted with herself; she had true sight, telescopic vision and she had even been looking down when the attack came but even so, she had failed to see the enemy until the very last minute.  The mandrills¡¯ natural camouflage was virtually perfect and what with their fast leaping ground speed, she hadn¡¯t realized that they were there until they began climbing the Stronghold¡¯s wall.


    She knew one thing, the next time a strongpoint was built on the curtain wall; she would insist that it have smaller windows, even on the sides that faced the interior of the fortress.  She carefully lined up her shot and her powerful Mark V rifle blew a hole through five of the monsters at once.  She silently cursed; she had been hoping to beat her previous record of seven monkey kills with a single a bullet but four of the mangy fur ridden beasts had moved at the last millisecond.  She wasn¡¯t sure if the powerful .378 magnum bullet could shoot through nine mandrills, but the range was extremely short and it was a way to save ammunition which was rapidly running out.  It also seemed to give the beasts pause whenever she was able to do that trick successfully.  She had already exhausted half of her magic with flame bursts and flame strikes.  She promised herself that if she lived through this that she would practice her magically abilities to the point of exhaustion every chance she got from now on.  It had only been her magic that had saved them during the monkeys¡¯ initial rush.   She had seen the Hermit create flame strikes that had lasted for a minute or more and she wanted that same kind of ability.


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


    The T800 armored truck was outside the fence and in combat but the truck¡¯s sharpshooters were not using the big 20mm rifles that the truck was equipped with, those guns were serious overkill for their current foe and slow to fire as well.  Instead the sharpshooters were firing out the gun slits with their own personal weapons and when the occasion permitted, those who had the right abilities launched magical attacks at the screeching monkeys.


    The Scorpion was also outside the compound¡¯s fence line and the armored vehicle was doing its best to crush the mandrills beneath its treads and blow them apart with canister shot fired from its fifty millimeter cannon.


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


    Meanwhile Captain Mesquida was trapped inside the compound because he dared not open one of its gates so that the Hellcat could sortie.  There were just too many of the mandrills pressing against the fence line.  The fortress¡¯s walls had failed to stop the monkeys but the razor wire at the top of the twelve foot fence was proving to be a serious deterrent to the hairy fiends, though a trickle were still making it over.


    Guards were making careful almost point blank shots through the diamond mesh of the chain link fence or launching magical attacks.  Those with Air Magic or Telekinesis were hindering the mandrill¡¯s ability to climb the fence line.  Sound Magic practitioners were screaming back at the monkeys, causing them to become disorientated.  Light and Darkness magic users were blinding the beasts.   The Captain had ordered those with Fire Magic to withhold their attacks since their spells might also damage the fence.  He wasn¡¯t pleased with that restriction himself since he had been diligently practicing his own Fire Magic.


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


    The C500 slowly trundled up with its armored trailer, its boiler had been cool and it had taken time for the big truck to get moving.  Star Astrologer was riding on top of the massive trailer in order to get a better view of the battle.  Ever since she was a child she had been receiving brief occasional visions of her people¡¯s possible futures.  Upon meeting the Hermit she had gotten another vision which seemed to indicate that the happiness and success of the craft-makers; was inextricably linked, at least for the next several years, with Vincent Standish.  As he would have success, so shall the craft-makers and now that stupid human might have gotten himself killed.  She strained her telepathic abilities to ascertain his location.


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


    This situation well and truly sucked!  I was out of ammunition and I didn¡¯t have enough magic in me to light a candle.  Now the only thing that I could do was wait inside my tiny bunker and hope it held together while the mandrills pounded and clawed at it.  The not so stupid monkeys were using some big rocks and large wooden sticks to increase the damage that they were doing to my dome of desperation.


    Sure it had been great for a short while there until I had expended my last few remaining cartridges.  I had wasted the bulk of my ammunition earlier, when I had first emptied my five magazines at the beginning of the battle.  Now all I could do was watch for cracks to form in the compressed earthen walls of my tiny shelter.


    # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Okay a little bit of a cliffhanger there but this chapter seems long enough and the surprises continue in the next chapter, which should be out in two days.

 Chapter 19: Along Came a Spider.

    A note about names:


    Storm Wind, Night Storm, Tornado Challenger, Star Astrologer, Blender Apothecary, etc, etc, are all English translations of their real names, just as on this planet many surnames and family names having meanings behind them.  In this story when someone is addressed by their name what is really being said is the correct phonetic pronunciation of their name in that person¡¯s native language.  But both for my convenience (mostly mine) and the convenience of my readers, all extraterrestrial sentient beings are referred to and addressed, in this story, by the English translation of their names, even though that is not what is actually being said.  I hope that all makes sense to you.


    If you see any mistakes please point them out, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 19: Along Came a Spider.


    Lieutenant Night Storm was in command of the flights that were bombing the mandrills outside of the Stronghold¡¯s walls.  Her flyers had figured out that the best place to bomb the monkeys was on the land bridge, because that location naturally forced the creatures to bunch up, even so her Guard detachment was extremely lucky when they got six mandrills with one fire bomb and they were already nearly out of shells.  According to her observations her flights had only killed a little over a hundred of the filthy beasts but the attacks made by her forces had delayed what looked liked almost four hundred of the creatures.  She wished that the Holman projectors could get into the action but the bunker over the front gate and the two bunkers on walls to either side of it were literally covered by their screeching foes.  She began sending her flyers back to the armory to reload.


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


    I had been hoping that the mandrills would allow me a chance to magically recover my strength but they hadn¡¯t been so accommodating.  Instead, whenever I felt I had enough power in me I was forced to patch my little dome or risk it being destroyed.  I had been using the dirt that lay beneath me to repair my sanctuary of soil, as a result I had gotten a fairly large hole dug, which in turn gave me more room to move about, and I could actually stand upright now, if I so desired.


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


    Lady Faith was beyond frustrated, she was flat out pissed.  Her Telekinesis ability would not work inside the little furry horrors as she had expected it to.  She thought that she would be able to stop or even rip out the hearts of the little monsters but her magic wouldn¡¯t work that way.  She could use her power on the monkeys but she couldn¡¯t use her abilities inside of them and according to the snatches of talk that she had overheard, other magic users were facing the same problem.  Instead she had to be satisfied with knocking them off the fence and shooting them with her revolver.  At least the mandrills were perfect targets for improving her gun slinging proficiency.


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


    Without machine guns or explosive shells, Captain Mesquida didn¡¯t see a quick victory here; it was going to be a battle of extermination with each kill made almost one by one.  Why the mandrills had come here, he didn¡¯t know but from their behavior and the noises that they made, he could only guess that the beasts were insane with rage now.


    He watched the Sherman and the Hellcat trundle around the outside corner of the fence.  Less than ten minutes ago he had ordered Lieutenant Khan to take the two armored vehicles out through one of the back gates so that the tanks could engage the enemy.  George had great hopes that the cannons on the two vehicles would drastically increase the rate at which the mandrills were being killed.


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


    Squire Melissa Kilmer had told Lady Knight Faith Harper that she was going to check on her parents, which she did.  But unbeknownst to Lady Faith, her squire had returned and was standing quietly behind her; ready to aid her Knight if it proved necessary.


    The sheer weight of the mandrills was starting to cause the chain link fence to deform and to be pulled away from the steel uprights.  Just when it looked like a section of the fence might entirely give way, the Sherman tank came driving by, right next to the fence line.   Acting almost like a garden tractor the tank mowed down the monkeys as if they were nothing more than tall weeds.  Slightly behind and off to the Sherman¡¯s side was the Hellcat performing a similar maneuver.


    Most children would have been horrified at the sight of blood and squashed mandrills.  Melissa Kilmer on the other hand wished she was driving one of the two tanks.  Girls typically dream of nice clothes, learning to drive, a new smart phone or maybe a boyfriend.  The new Squire wanted a shotgun, a rifle, a pistol, a sword, and body armor.


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


    Each of the eight curtain wall sections had eight Guards assigned to it at all times, meaning that there were sixty-four soldiers on the entire wall walk, at any time of the day or night.  Only three of those sections were besieged, so the other five sections started sending reinforcements to those that needed help.  Thirty troopers, forming two squads of fifteen Guardsmen, started fighting their way along both the eastern and western sides of the curtain wall walkway and to those wall sections that were swarming with mandrills.


    Amongst them was Benjamin Nord, he had been a computer technician and a software instructor in his old life.  Ben had been among the human refugees that had come in with the craft-makers.  Today he was carrying a Mauser rifle with, in his newly revised opinion, a bayonet which was far too short on the end of it.  Recruit Nord was a past master of computer games and he didn¡¯t see a screeching mass of monkeys, he saw a horde of hairy goblins whose stats were far too high for their race.  If he lived, he planned on sending a scathing email to the developer of this game.


    His group of fifteen Guardsmen; were advancing along the western side of the Stronghold¡¯s wall walk.  Their Sergeant ordered them to form two rows and to prepare for volley fire.  Nord was one of those kneeling in front, he heard, ¡°FRONT RANK AIM, FRONT RANK FUEGO!¡± A crash of shots went out, Ben cursed because he was pretty sure that he had missed.  ¡°RELOAD, SECOND RANK AIM, SECOND RANK FUEGO!¡±


    Even with that dense group of monkeys as their targets, one in three shots missed its objective but the range was short and many of the bullets were going through one mandrill and striking another one or even two behind it.  When it got close to the time where it looked like Benjamin Nord was going to have to use his dinky bayonet, slightly over fifty of the hairy goblins had already fallen dead.  Too bad that there were still over seventy of them left and to Ben it looked like all of them were looking and charging directly towards him.


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


    Sergeant Derrick Miter would normally be commanding or driving the Priest but for the past few days it had been in the shop having its engine swapped out.  Today he had been commanding the Watch on the most northern wall.  Seeing the attack, he had proceeded along the western walls, gathering reinforcements for the beleaguered Guardsmen located on the southern most walls.


    When he had his soldiers prepare for volley fire, he had been expecting them to be able to get off far more shots before the monkeys closed with them.  While he had feared for the lives of those under attack as well as his ad hoc squad, he had also looked at this battle as an excellent opportunity to give the Rookie Guardsmen some much needed seasoning.  He was especially concerned about Recruit Nord who was all the time talking about experience points and worrying about his stats.


    Sergeant Miter grimaced as his plans fell apart because of the speed of the hairy beasts.  He ordered his squad to retreat to the bunker that was four hundred feet behind them and then readied his own favorite weapon, a Remington 870 shotgun loaded with buck and ball.  When he was a young man he had been well known for the speed of his reflexes, and since regaining his youth, all of that old speed had come back to him.  But he had also been awakened by the Hermit King, and because of that, Derrick was much, much faster now.  He watched his soldiers retreat and decided to buy them a little more time.  Sergeant Miter smoothly racked the shotgun and fired off the shells to devastating effect.  There were eight shells in his shotgun and they cut a swath through the charging monkeys.


    The enraged mandrills hurled themselves at him.  With his shotgun empty he drew his .357 revolver and fired off four more shots until the monkeys had gotten too close.  Having no other way out and seeing that his soldiers were all safe, Sergeant Derrick Miter leaped off wall, because he didn¡¯t want to die beneath the claws and fangs of the slavering mandrills.


    The beasts stopped their own charge across the wall walk, as they watched their prey leap to his death or at least serious injury.  But there was a strange problem, while their prey¡¯s leap had carried him away from the wall, he wasn¡¯t falling.  The human looked back at them with an evil grin on his face as he calmly reloaded the shotgun.


    Sergeant Miter yelled out.  ¡°Surprised assholes?  I can fly!¡±  With that he resumed shooting at the now terribly confused creatures.  When Derrick had been awakened, one of the abilities he had received was Levitation which he had diligently practiced because of a childlike desire to be able to fly like Superman.  While he couldn¡¯t fly all that well, he could certainly float really good.  Of course he had a problem with his gun¡¯s recoil, which required him to reposition himself after every shot; but Derrick¡¯s actions completely stalled the enemies attack on his squad.


    The tactic worked beautifully but Derrick had one minor complaint, because he didn¡¯t feel like he was properly dressed for this battle.  The Officers had been talking about making or acquiring combat uniforms for the Guard, he now wondered if he could talk them into adding a cape?


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


    The battle started to wind down.  The southern fence line had been severely damaged but it had held.  The vast numbers of monkeys had been whittled down and now precision shooting was taking care of the rest.  Outside of the Stronghold almost two hundred mandrills were retreating back into the woods, their natural camouflage let them blend into the trees and bushes like ghosts.


    The Sherman Tank Commander, Sergeant Vargas, seeing one pile of living monkeys decided to fire a load of grapeshot into them and then crush them beneath his treads.  The tank¡¯s steam engine was far quieter than the old gasoline engine that had originally been installed in the tank.  So when the Sergeant yelled out ¡°Ramming Speed¡± to his driver, that woman heard him.


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


    Star Astrologer screamed when the Sherman¡¯s gun fired and almost immediately teleported herself in front of the charging tank.  The driver was barely able to stop in time; even with Star moving back by several feet.


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


    I was sitting in the bottom of my hole, deciding if I should patch up my little dome once again.  When it sort of came apart and disappeared.  HOLY FUCK, I was dead now!  I didn¡¯t have enough magic to build myself new sanctuary or do much of anything else.  I stood up and there were monkey parts all over the place but there were also two or three relatively intact mandrills that looked rather perturbed with me, for some reason.  I had my bayonet in my right hand I wished I had a buckler for my left but I had nothing but an empty shotgun.  I buried my knife into the chest of one monster which was leaping at me from my right but two more came at me from my left.  One aimed for my neck but I swung up my arm and that limb got bit instead.  A more seriously injured monkey sort of scooted itself across the ground and bit me just above my left knee.   Their fangs were more like knives because of their size.  I had been healing a lot of people for the last several months and while I had almost no energy to repair myself, I was touching those two mandrills, or at least they were touching me, and even though I didn¡¯t have enough power to heal, it didn¡¯t take very much energy to reach inside of them and stop their little monkey hearts, not very much energy at all, in fact.


    The Sherman tank came clanking up and stopped just shy of my hole.  It would have been a good time for me to faint dramatically, what with two monkeys hanging on to my limbs by their teeth, but instead Star Astrologer appeared and started bawling me out.


    The Hellcat arrived a few minutes later and Clyde climbed out of the driver¡¯s compartment.


    ¡°Hey Clyde, what are you doing driving a tank again?¡±


    ¡°You look like shit boss.  Are mandrills a new fashion accessory this year?  I hate to say it but they do actually improve your look.¡±  Star was still trying to pry open the jaws of the dead monkeys; so she could remove them from my limbs.  I was learning some new curse words from her.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that being a fashion critic was part of your job, Sir Clyde.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s me, fashion critic, mechanic, Minister of Transport, healer and backup tank driver.  Boris was short a trained driver so I volunteered for the job.¡±


    ¡°I need a medic Clyde, I¡¯m out of magical gas and I don¡¯t have anything left to heal myself.¡±


    He got a concerned look on his face and hurried over.  Star succeeded in prying off the one mandrill on my arm and then I fainted or is that swooned?


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


    George and Steve were trying to straighten out the mess that the attack had created.  Tractors were already at work scraping up monkey corpses.  It was decided that the most intact bodies would be harvested for their meat.  Guards were already talking about making mandrill jerky out of them.


    The Minister of Health, Denise Murphy and three of her healers were on the southern wall looking for survivors.  Of course they had a very strong guard with them, one of whom was floating overhead.


    When the mandrills had first attacked that wall section, four of the eight person detail had been in the bunker keeping warm while the four others had been out on the walkway, walking their posts.  Miraculously, three of the four were still alive.  They were badly chewed up and missing limbs but they were still alive!  Two of them owed their survival to Vince¡¯s little car and its enchanted aluminum body.  They had taken shelter in the car just before their foes had completely overwhelmed them.  Sadly the car was in equally bad shape now.


    The only fatality was Private Quentin Lee a young man of thirty who was one of those picked up on the trip back from Kilmer¡¯s estate.  Quentin had no family but he had been well liked and had been fitting in admirably.  He was the first fatality for the little community.  Oh sure, the Guard had killed monsters and even humans but up until now they hadn¡¯t lost a single sentient being.  The recent group of refugees was quite astonished over this little piece of information.


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


    I woke up in the infirmary with several pissed off looking people staring at me.  It was a dirty and tired looking Candace Murphy who began speaking first.


    ¡°Boss, have you always been an idiot?¡±


    ¡°Why yes, I thought that was obvious.  What over hermit would invite people to live on his land with him?  It kind of defeats the point of being a hermit, you know.¡±  I hoped to shut her up, but I didn¡¯t get my wish.  She simply pretended like she hadn¡¯t even heard me.


    ¡°Boss, when over a thousand carnivorous monkeys are charging down upon you, safety tip, run the other way.  While you might have some recent combat experience, you are not a trained soldier.  Your job is to lead from the rear and to support the Guard, not to get in front of everybody else and to run straight towards the hundreds of hungry monsters that want to eat you.


    Can you imagine what those mandrills thought?  Here they had dinner charging right at them.  They must have been thrilled except for those that mistook you as just a larger version of one of their own species that is.¡±


    That last sentence sort of hurt, maybe I had been looking a little scruffy earlier, it was still a mean thing to say but there was one thing that I needed to know first.  ¡°Lieutenant how many people did we lose and how many were injured?¡±


    She drew herself up, almost to attention or at least I think it was almost to attention, I¡¯m not much for that military stuff.   ¡°I am sorry to report Your Majesty, that we lost Quentin Lee and we have nine wounded, three of those are seriously injured.  They have lost limbs or other portions of their bodies.¡±


    That was better than I had feared.  In fact, it was a lot better but it still sucked.  I took stock of my own body.  I must have been out for at least an hour.  Clyde or someone else had done a good job of patching me up, my energy reserves weren¡¯t full but they were close to it.  I tweaked my own body a little and started to sit up.  To the best of my knowledge, I was the Stronghold¡¯s expert on regenerating lost body parts and it was time for me to get back to work.  Just then the steam whistle alarm sounded.  The facial expressions on the people around me plummeted.   It was going to be another one of those days; hopefully we would all survive it.


    ¡°Buck up folks, we fought the sky krakens and won.  A short while ago we faced a horde of mangy mandrills and we beat them too.  We¡¯ll deal with whatever is coming our way this time as well.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    I cursed our lack of electricity once more.  Without it we were forced to use crude audible alarms or messengers for all of our communications.  Just then Star Astrologer, who had seemingly been meditating, bent down and spoke quietly into me ear.  ¡°Your Majesty, large things are coming from the North, many large things.¡±


    I don¡¯t know who prepared them, but there were some clean clothes sitting piled on a chair next to my infirmary bed, however most of those standing around my bed were female.  ¡°You had better turn your backs ladies, you are about to see a naked and ugly hermit.¡±  I threw off the thin blanket that was covering me, swung my feet to the floor and started reaching for my clothes.  I peripherally noticed that I seemed to be cleaner than I should have been; I guessed someone gave me a sponge bath while I was unconscious.  Maybe they had to get me clean because of my wounds?  I pulled on my boxers and then my socks, they even matched!  Curses, I had been trying to start a new fashion trend.  I pulled on a t-shirt and I was then handed a pair of pants by Star.  I noticed two things, none of the women were turning their heads and the pants were made of leather, they looked like what the flyers have been wearing lately but the trousers Star gave me weren¡¯t as puffy looking.   Since when did I own a pair of leather pants?  If I was going to wear leather pants then they should give me a whip too or at least a really cool hat, like a Stetson.  I put the trousers on and then my Red Wing work boots.  I stood up in all my hermit glory, the ladies gasped at my splendor or maybe yawned, who can really tell anything about women.


    I put on my shoulder holster and checked the attached ammo pouch.  While there were no .454 Casull cartridges in it, it had been refilled with .45 Colt and .410 shotgun ammunition.  My revolver had been cleaned as well.  How long had I been unconscious?  Next, I was handed a long coat and it was also like what the flyers wore but mine had a solid back unlike theirs.  I definitely needed a Stetson and maybe a Sam Browne belt.   Disappointingly, I wasn¡¯t given a cool hat; instead I was presented with a coal scuttle style WWII helmet that had some leather flaps to protect my ears from the cold.  It totally spoiled my new look, it wasn¡¯t even made by Gucci!


    I limped my way out of the infirmary, and I was followed by Lady Knights Star Astrologer, Faith Harper and Candace Murphy.  Candace looked more than a little worse for wear but she had such a fierce expression on her face that I didn¡¯t dare tell her to go back inside the infirmary.  At the back of our little group I noticed Squire Kilmer.  We had a few more unarmored steam powered vehicles now; amongst those were two old pickup trucks, the old Ford dump truck from the quarry, and my old jeep.  The Ford was passing by and we flagged it down to hitch a ride to the Northern wall which was almost six hundred yards away and much further than I wanted to walk, with the way that I was feeling.  I was dreading the stairs that I would need to climb when we got there.


    By the time I reached the top of the wall, over twenty minutes had passed since the alarm had first sounded.  When I looked out over the parapet, I could barely make out some shiny silvery objects in the distance and through the tree line.  George handed me a pair of binoculars and I lifted them to my eyes.  I could now see what appeared to be several, metallic spider like shapes that seemed low to ground.  I said ¡°spider like¡± because I could see multiple legs.  There were at least eight of them.  I turned to George.  ¡°What are they and how far away do you think they are?¡±


    ¡°I wish we had an optical range finder but we don¡¯t.  Storm Wind wanted to overfly them but I told him not to, we have no idea what kind of magic or technology they might have.  The U.S. Army certainly used to have a lot of weapons that could shoot twenty miles or more.  So to play it safe, I had Sir Wind fly high over the Stronghold and report what he could observe from there.  According to Storm, those silver objects are huge mechanical metal spiders that look to be over a hundred feet tall and at least that long.  He counted twenty-four of them and by looking at a map and comparing landmarks; we¡¯ve determined that the closest spider machine appears to be about twelve miles away.  Thankfully they seem to move extremely slowly.  Lieutenant Wind also said that they are quite clumsy and he¡¯s seen many of them almost fall down after stumbling.   In addition, he has seen what he thinks to be smoke or steam coming out of them, so they might be steam powered.


    Their rate of travel seems to be a little over two miles per hour, according to our best estimate.  Storm said that the central body looks like a large cylinder with its length parallel to the ground.  On the top of the cylinder is what looks like two tank turrets and the underside has one as well.  Lieutenant Wind said that the front of each cylinder looks like a mirror.  I suspect that the vehicle¡¯s cockpit or bridge is behind that mirrored surface.¡±


    George took a deep breath before continuing to speak.  ¡°Vince, I think that after this next battle that I should resign as Captain and Boris should take over.  If I had only kept all of our combat vehicles at the ready our fight against those mandrills would have been over in half the time.  As for why our lookouts didn¡¯t spot them earlier¡­..¡±


    I interrupted him.  ¡°Stop George, I will not accept your resignation or anyone else¡¯s.  The Hermit¡¯s Guard only has 232 soldiers in it.  Every one of them, in fact every one of us has been working nonstop for months.  We are lucky to get a full night¡¯s sleep and one relaxing meal a day.   We¡¯ve stopped keeping track of the lesser monster attacks that we face every day because your forces defeat them so easily.  There are three guard shifts on the wall, each shift requires sixty four Guardsmen; that is a total of 192 soldiers, who still have to train and maintain their equipment.  Leaving you with only forty soldiers for everything else and that includes manning our armored vehicles, which takes another twenty-five Guardsmen, and that is without even counting the crew requirements for the Priest and the C500.


    Of course you stood down two of your vehicles after the wall was built.  You informed the Council and we all agreed with your decision too.  So don¡¯t worry about it.  As for those hairy horrors getting so close to us, I could barely make them out when they were coming over the parapet.  They must be able to blend into the woods around this compound like white on rice.  We¡¯ve been planning to cut more of those trees down but you already know how busy Mack and his people have been and we sort of thought that those woods would help hide the Stronghold too, so it hasn¡¯t been something that we¡¯ve been too concerned about, until now.  I guess we have no choice now, our walls are not impregnable and those trees have to go, so that we can see anything that is sneaking up on us.


    I know one thing though; we definitely have to replace that land bridge with a drawbridge and as quickly as possible.  Candace told me how those monkeys just streamed across that tiny isthmus; the moat might have stopped them.  Maybe those former employees of the County Road Commission can help us out with our new bridge, at least I hope so.


    There was only one person who screwed up and that was me, I let myself get too exhausted and I wasn¡¯t able to contribute magically to the battle.  So don¡¯t blame yourself or any others for that matter.


    As for whatever is coming towards us now; how do you think we should fight them, if they are hostile?¡±


    George closed his eyes for a few minutes as if deep in thought, he then opened them and began speaking.  ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for our new dungeon, I would say that we should send out our armor to fight them outside our walls.   We don¡¯t know how strong their armor is but I¡¯m afraid it might be too tough for our guns and those things are too tall for our walls to stop them.  Our first line of defense will be here on the battlements, with our 20mm sharpshooters and the Holman projectors.  Flyers will be operating the projectors since they can get away far quicker if a retreat is called for.  As for the sharpshooters, if their weapons have no effect, then they will immediately withdraw.  The tanks with solid enchanted shells will be standing by inside the Stronghold, ready to either fight from inside or sortie outside the gate if necessary.  Four flights of flyers will be standing by in the bunker on the Southern Wall.   They went through a fourth of our available IROD shells fighting those mandrills, which was kind of a waste but they could only use what we had.


    Grace is working on a design for a steam bomb, powered by an IROD, however it¡¯s not even at the prototype stage but we definitely need a munition of some kind that can scatter shrapnel and has a wide kill radius without using any of our available gunpowder.


    If the twenty millimeters and the IROD shells don¡¯t stop those things then we¡¯ll go underground and fight them with magic.


    Vince, we desperately need more black powder and bigger cannons as well.  We don¡¯t have enough powder for adequate training and our cannons just aren¡¯t that great.  Right now we have metal spiders marching towards us that are the size of a ship and I don¡¯t know if the weapons we do have will even touch them.  I don¡¯t know what the local National Guard Armory has but even if we can only get a supply of fifty caliber brass or some rugged militarized vehicles, I still think that it will be worth the forty mile trip.  Ideally, I am hoping for some artillery; mortars or howitzers.  I would love it if they had an old M60 tank or two.  I think we could successfully convert one of them but it¡¯s my understanding that all of those tanks are in some bone yard out in California.  I¡¯m not sure if a Stryker would be any of use to us, I¡¯ve kind of grown partial to the T800 but you never know, an old M113 would certainly be nice, though.  If that armory has nothing that we want, then there are other ones within a hundred or two hundred miles of us.  Of course there is the Anniston Depot but that is over five hundred miles away and if any place is keeping it together it should be them.  So they might not want to give us anything or want to trade either, even if we made such a long and dangerous trip.


    If the government acted in a timely fashion and truly believed the warning messages, then Anniston should have been able to convert their machine shops and many of their armored vehicles over to steam power just like you did.¡±


    He was rattling on.  I had to stop him.  ¡°I get it George; I will approve a trip to the nearest Armory if we survive this and I might go along as well, since we might need to negotiate like I did at the County Building.¡±  Why did he wince, I thought I had done a great job at negotiating.  ¡°But we might both be forgetting something, that armory is to the north of us and that is in the direction those spiders are coming from, there might not be anything there anymore for us to take.¡±  George¡¯s wince turned into a grimace.


    If those spiders were only traveling at two miles per hour it would be well past dark by the time they got here.  It turns out that we didn¡¯t have to worry about that, because when it got dark, they simply stopped moving, wasn¡¯t that convenient.  Several of our flyers had true sight and they kept watch on the metal beasts throughout the night but the armored arachnids never moved.


    During the night, I spent a few hours at the infirmary, helping out with our wounded.  Three of them had been seriously messed up and it amazed all of us that they were even alive.  It was going to take months, to get them back to the way that they were, before we met the mandrills.


    The spiders didn¡¯t start to move our way again until all of their stragglers rejoined the forward most group.  There were twenty-eight of the metal beasts now and they were definitely aiming for the Stronghold.  When they were about three miles away Steve was able to perform an Appraisal on them.  He told us what he saw.


    Arachnid Dominator Class Mobile Unit, Mark XXII


    The central cylindrical body is forty-five meters in length and has a diameter of fifteen meters. The body¡¯s shell is made up of three layers.  The outer and inner most layers are made of a smashed aluminum alloy and each aluminum layer is thirty-seven millimeters thick.  The middle layer is a cavity that is seventy-four millimeters wide and that cavity is filled with a ballistic gelatin made of long chain molecules.


    The Mark XXII¡¯s six legs are hydraulically activated and powered.  The computer control and stabilization system for the Mark XXII and its legs; is no longer operational.  Movement is now under manual control.  The legs have a designed range of extension from 6.1 to 35.1 meters.


    Power was supplied by a 35,030 hp steam turbine and an MHD generator.  The MHD generator is no longer functional.  Steam was previously supplied by a Series 97 thorium reactor, which is also no longer functional.  Steam is now being supplied to the turbine by alternate and less efficient means; as a result total power has been greatly reduced.


    Primary weapons were three Pulsar Series 148 mm coilguns; these weapons have been crudely converted into steam cannons. Secondary weapons, which included lasers and smaller coilguns, are non-operational.


    Defensive electromagnetic shields are no longer operational.


    HOLY CRAP!  H. G. Wells and Jules Verne would have loved to have seen something like those mechanical monstrosities.


    We all turned to look at Steve who wouldn¡¯t meet our gazes; he finally spoke.  ¡°What can I say, ever since Vince knighted me, my Appraisal ability has been doing crazy shit like that.¡±


    I muttered under my breath.  Somebody at the DDS must like him.  When it comes to me, the DDS schmucks place bets on the date of my death, Steve on the other hand gets to be Super Appraiser.


    For laughs, I tried appraising the arachnids myself.


    Large, steam powered, mechanical spider made of aluminum.


    Which was slightly better than what I had been expecting, I thought I would get something like ¡°Hi, I¡¯m a shiny giant spider,¡± which now that I really think about it, that description is really not any better than what I got through Appraisal.  What we needed to know; was what kind of beings, were operating those metal beasts?  George spoke up, interrupting my thoughts.


    ¡°Does anyone know what smashed aluminum is and anything about the ballistic gelatin that Steve just mentioned?¡±


    I reluctantly spoke up since I might have the answer.  ¡°I could be wrong but the smashed aluminum that he mentioned is probably similar to titanium.  As for the ballistic gelatin, we normally use that stuff for testing bullets, from what Steve said I think that the spider¡¯s gelatin is formulated to stop projectiles.  So at a guess, the arachnids have more armor than the Sherman but less than an M1 tank.  Their aluminum armor should be more susceptible to our explosive-fire munitions than our steel armor but I don¡¯t know what else that gelatin might do, it¡¯s probably not flammable, so don¡¯t get your hopes up in that regard.  In fact, since they had laser weapons I would expect that gelatin to have cooling properties and to be heat resistant.


    My next observation is probably no longer relevant but depending on how those spider¡¯s electromagnetic shields worked and how strong they were, those machines were probably able to fly in the electromagnetic field of their former planet.  So those legs might not have been those mechanical monsters¡¯ primary form of locomotion as they are now.¡±


    Captain Mesquida paused before speaking again.  ¡°Okay, I still think my plan is the best way to go, if they are hostile.  I¡¯ll have our gunners try and concentrate on one spot on their armor.  If we can break off enough of that outer armor, then the gelatin just might fall off, exposing the inner layer to our weapons.  Though, we might want to concentrate on their legs, if we can knock out two on the same side that should render them immobile.  For now we¡¯ll estimate the maximum range of their steam cannons as being no more than two thousand feet which is twice the range of our Holman projectors.  But we also have to take into account that they probably have magic too.   It is likely that the ¡®alternate means of making steam¡¯ might very well be something like our own firestones.¡±


    ¡°George, only let one of those metal contraptions approach within a half mile of this Stronghold.  While they might not be fully functional now, they were at one time far more powerful than our own tanks, and as such I view them as dedicated war machines.  If twenty-eight of those things attempt to get too close to here, put them down anyway you can.  They are the ones coming to us and it¡¯s up to them to make the peaceful overtures.  Our only job is to make sure that we live through whatever happens.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll fire some warning shots with our mortars; they can put out an impressive amount of smoke and that should make them hesitate.  If not, our 20mm rifles can reach out to over a half a mile and with targets that big, our sharpshooters shouldn¡¯t miss.¡±


    I didn¡¯t like the sight of those silvery beasties at all, especially since we could now hear their giant footsteps.  They looked to be following the county road, maybe they would just pass us by, but I somehow doubted it.


    After a short while it became certain that they were following the road even though the road was really too narrow for them but I guess any kind of path is better than none at all.  If they are coming to the Stronghold then I would expect them to turn off the county road and onto the gravel road that leads to my place and it¡¯s a little less than a half mile from the county road to the Stronghold.


    We had to reposition our forces along the fortress¡¯s walls as the location of the machines changed.  We had fifty-two sharpshooters on the northern and western walls.  Each marksman had a designated target within their range.  I spoke with George about a change in plans that I had just come up with.


    ¡°Captain, I expect them to turn onto the gravel road and to come here.  I think I should go out and meet them in the Scorpion when they do, so they don¡¯t get too close and we don¡¯t start fighting prematurely.  Being as how the Scorpion has aluminum armor, they might recognize that and that small piece of information might just elevate our status in their eyes since aluminum smelting requires electricity to the best of my knowledge.  That will tell them that we too, once had electricity.  Additionally, I have the Translation ability, so I can negotiate with them.¡±


    ¡°Boss, are you nuts?  Even with your enchantment on the Scorpion¡¯s armor, that tank is not that tough and they¡¯ve got those big ass steam cannons.¡±


    Why do people keeping doubting my insanity?  For gosh sakes, I¡¯m living in a fantasy, where I won the lottery and the world lost electricity but gained magic.  I hate to think where I might really be at this very moment but for now I¡¯ll keep on chugging along.  For some reason Star just gave me a frustrated look.  It¡¯s possible that she was just inside my head.  Poor girl, I wouldn¡¯t wish that on anyone.


    ¡°George, we¡¯ll crew the vehicle with those people who have the ability to teleport.  I know that no one as of yet, can teleport very far but they just need enough skill to escape the Scorpion if needed.  As for myself, though I haven¡¯t used it all that much I do have the ability to sort of fly with my Air Magic and I¡¯ll be standing in the commander¡¯s hatch.  If necessary I¡¯ll fly myself out and back to the Stronghold.¡±


    It took a lot of arguing but with the addition of a shield made of transparent aluminum, they finally agreed with my decision.  Mack was going to drive, however Sergeant Miter who was a better tank driver but possessed inferior Teleportation skills was selected instead.  Star insisted on being the other crew member.


    We watched, as the arachnids marched by on the county road.  Four metal beasts passed our gravel road but the fifth one turned right and headed towards us.  I ran down the stairs and to the Scorpion.  The gate on the stronghold was opened and Sergeant Miter drove the three of us out to meet the mechanical spider.

 Chapter 20: Down Came The Rain and Washed the Spiders Out.

    First off, my apologies because this is later than I had planned on.  Secondly, this chapter doesn¡¯t include everything I wanted to get to but it was getting a little long and what I still had to say would make up another chapter at least.


    As always, if you spot any mistakes please point them out, thank you for reading.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 20: Down Came The Rain and Washed the Spiders Out.


    As we slowly drove towards the giant silvery spider, I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that we had all been transported into the H.G. Wells¡¯ novel War of the Worlds; the alien machine was absolutely immense.  I don¡¯t know how Sergeant Miter was able to drive so calmly towards it; this plan of mine was idiotic at best.  I was literally shaking in my boots; I hoped Star and Derrick thought it was because of the cold.  I conveniently forgot that Star could read my mind, ah crap, I just remembered it.


    We were only going to drive two hundred feet beyond the Stronghold¡¯s walls, which should still leave us outside the two thousand feet maximum estimated range of the spider¡¯s steam cannons, at least we hoped so.  Once we arrived at our stopping point, we simply waited.  I stood fully exposed in the commander¡¯s hatch with my new transparent aluminum shield held before me.  Star had the gunner¡¯s hatch open but she was wisely staying down inside the turret.  Derrick on the other hand had his head poking out of the open driver¡¯s hatch.


    We decided not to wave a white flag because we didn¡¯t know what that might mean to the aliens.  I tried to wave my right hand in a friendly fashion as the mechanical beast came closer.


    I felt like a Monty Python village idiot as I stood there and I¡¯m sure that I looked like one.  Maybe I should practice my lines, ¡°Ooh, Ar, Ar, Aargh, Oogly, Ooh.¡±  Lady Astrologer; peeked her head out of her hatch and gave me a very concerned look.  I held out my hand but she didn¡¯t give me a farthing or even a dead sparrow.  It could be that my performance was lacking something maybe I should have fallen off the tank?


    The ground shook more violently as the giant mechanical spider drew closer and the sounds of its footsteps were like explosions going off, boom, Boom, BOOM!


    I almost told Derrick and Star to teleport out now because I was sure as hell leaving but I didn¡¯t, nor did I leave.   I could see my own epitaph, ¡°Here lies the Hermit King Vincent Standish, he was stupid, got stepped on and died.¡±


    The machine finally stopped when it was less than six hundred feet away from us, which I had to assume put us within range of its steam cannons.


    The arachnid gave an immense blast from a mournful sounding steam whistle, and I almost crapped my pants.  A few minutes after that blast all of the spiders on the county road stopped moving as well.  At least there were no more thundering footsteps as a background noise.


    Our cannon was pointed at the armored arachnid, they were coming to our home and they should realize that we wanted them to come no further, sadly their belly cannon was also pointed at us, kind of, they seemed to be having problems aiming the thing.


    The spider crouched down, lessening the height of its central body by more than a third; then it gave an even longer blast of its steam whistle, as if it was angry.  It was acting almost like an enraged bull just prior to charging.


    Star again poked her head out of the turret but this time to speak to me.  ¡°My King, they are arrogant creatures and they are angry at our effrontery in blocking their way.  At the same time they are scared and recognize that we might represent a powerful force, they are far weaker than they once were.  I feel that if they weren¡¯t so weak right now that they would happily and negligently squash us as if we were ants beneath their feet.  But I am having trouble reading them; their minds are so very different from our own.¡±


    Well isn¡¯t this good, so we have a chance to get out of this peacefully but only a small chance.  On the other hand did we want to get out of this peacefully?  It sounded like the people in those machines were not the sort that we would want for neighbors and what happens if they regain some or all of their former power.  The thought of such huge machines flying around was terrifying, I wondered if they were space capable?


    Well everyone deserves a chance but only a small one in this case; let us see how this plays out.  We no longer had radios and we had been forced to fall back to audible communications, as a result the Scorpion had been equipped with a loud air horn.  After warning Star and Derrick, I gave our visitors a horn blast which was just as long as theirs, if not so loud as their steam whistle.


    The spider in front of us did nothing but the spiders that had stopped on the county road let loose with almost all of their cannons, firing towards the Stronghold.


    I took that as an aggressive act.  ¡°Get us out of here Sergeant Miter!¡± I screamed at him.  We started to back up and the spider¡¯s belly cannon fired at us.


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


    Captain Mesquida was on top of the southeastern wall, which was closest to the enemy spider and the Scorpion tank.  George thought that it was slightly humorous that there were two arachnids facing off against one another.  He just wished that the Stronghold¡¯s own Scorpion was a little larger.


    He had almost opened fire when the monster got too close in his opinion but he swallowed that urge.  When the mechanical creature crouched down and sounded its steam whistle he and Candace had to rush along the firing line, calming the sharpshooters and ordering them not to shoot.  The Scorpion¡¯s defiant blast of its own air horn had bolstered their spirits but when over twenty of the giant aluminum arachnids had fired their cannons at the Stronghold that was too much.


    ¡°SHARPSHOOTERS,¡± George roared out, ¡°FUEGO!¡±


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


    The steam cannon had missed the retreating Scorpion by over ten feet but the projectile had been huge and it would have surely spelled the end for the tank¡¯s occupants if it had hit.


    Star had, had enough; she was ready to climb out of her own skin.  Craft-makers were extremely intelligent and none more so than Star Astrologer.  She learned things quickly and she learned them well.  As a result she had kept the Scorpion¡¯s cannon locked on the central body of the beast, even when Derrick had started to back the Scorpion up.  Hearing the 20mm rifles firing she decided to add to the noise and fire her own cannon at the beast.  Does a hot knife through butter mean anything to you?


    The Scorpion¡¯s fifty millimeter enchanted shell of death went through the giant spider in a blast of molten fury that any modern tanker would have envied.  The mechanical monstrosity not only fell but it lost structural integrity as well, causing the armored central cylinder to collapse in on itself, at the locations where its legs connected to the main body.   With the cylinder being so grievously compromised, it lost structural strength.  Its own immense weight acted like a hammer, while its still rigid legs admirably performed the role of an anvil.  Then the spider crashed down to Earth, it all looked really cool.


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


    The sharpshooters were exuberant at the defeat of the lead spider but they were also pissed.  They were sure that their own projectiles had been effective and they were certain that they could have killed the arachnid, if only the Scorpion had not butted in.  In response to their anger they started shooting at those spiders that were still on the county road, at least at those spiders that were within the range of their rifles.


    The fifty-two sharpshooters had been broken down into teams of four; almost every team was targeting a different mechanical beast.  The team members coordinated amongst themselves on which location to target on ¡°their¡± monster, such as the ¡°hip joint of the front leg¡± or ¡°just above the middle leg.¡±  A single round would destroy an area almost the size of a manhole cover in the spider¡¯s outer layer of aluminum armor and put a crater in its middle layer of ballistic gelatin.  A second projectile, on the same spot, would blast out the gelatin and dimple the inner layer of armor, with a third round very bad things began to happening to the arachnids.  It took less than a minute and a half for all fifty-two sharpshooters to accurately fire three times.  That put a minimum of twelve enchanted bullets into each of the eleven spiders that were within range.   Most of those spiders came apart catastrophically; only two or three of them looked like they might have a significant number of surviving occupants.


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


    Captain Mesquida was elated by the success of his soldiers.  He ran down the steps from the curtain wall because he needed to confer with his boss, whose tank was just now driving into the Stronghold.


    ¡°Vince what should we do now?  Do we pursue them or do we let them go?  With how slowly they travel we should have at least an hour to make up our minds.¡±


    ¡°My opinion, is rather gruesome, I think we should end them now while they¡¯re still weak, because according to Star that is the only thing that saved us today.   But let¡¯s get the council quickly together and we¡¯ll get a few more opinions.  I could be making a mistake, and like you said we have at least an hour to make a decision.  However, you might want to pass an order along to your Lieutenants and have them ready a pursuit force in case we do go with that option, that way we won¡¯t be wasting any time.¡±


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


    We met in the Council room which used to be my second garage located next to the shop.  As for my classic cars, they were now underground where they were better protected.  As for my Caterham, I heard whispers that it was pretty banged up, but if it had saved two people¡¯s lives, I wasn¡¯t going to bitch and moan about it.


    Star spoke first telling us what she had sensed from the occupants of the mechanical spiders.


    Most of those in the meeting did not offer an opinion or even speak.  Captain Mesquida said that if we were going to do anything that we should do it now.


    Lady Night Storm stood up.  ¡°We should not show mercy to a foe that threatened and attacked us without provocation.  I believe Lady Star Astrologer as regards to their character and I do not believe that they would have shown us any compassion.  I have a child and I want her to be able to grow up and I will gladly kill anything that threatens her life.  We are a small community and we cannot afford any mistakes.  I still have trouble sleeping at night because of the horrors my clan faced when we first came to this world.  Please don¡¯t give those horrors a chance at killing my baby.¡±


    I spoke next.  ¡°I was going to take a vote and get it on record but I just decided not to, because whichever way you voted I was still going to order the Guard to destroy those spiders.¡±  There seemed to be a sigh of relief that went around the table, like that is what they wanted me to do, but they were afraid of looking like a bunch of merciless bastards.  I had no problem with that; I liked being a merciless bastard.   ¡°Captain Mesquida, you will order your forces to pursue and destroy the Spiders.  You will take into custody any orange or green screen beings that surrender to your troops but as for any blue screen foes you will allow your soldiers to make that decision on the battlefield whether those blues should be taken prisoner or not.


    I will speak more plainly, if your troopers wish to execute surrendering blues, they can.  We do not have the luxury of keeping many prisoners like that nor can we allow them to leave, because of the possibility that they will return at some time in the future seeking revenge.  We also have to keep in mind that there are other good people on this world that would possibly suffer because of those Spider drivers.¡±


    My orders drew some gasps from those at the table but nobody objected, it wouldn¡¯t have done any good anyways, perhaps they sensed that.


    Captain Mesquida sent off two pursuit groups.  One group was based on the Sherman, the T800 and eight flyers.  The second consisted of the Scorpion, the Hellcat and another two flights of flyers.  The flyers would attack first, the armor was there to rescue them if needed and would get their own shots in as well, if presented with the opportunity.


    Two of our armored tractors were going out with forty Guards to check on the downed spiders, I would be going with that force.  Captain Mesquida would be in his Hellcat and Boris Khan would be commanding the other pursuit group.  Meanwhile Lady Murphy would be in charge of the Stronghold¡¯s defenses.


    We had to keep in mind that enraged mandrills might still be out there and that was a part of the reason why, I was going with the dismounted soldiers.  I was fully charged now and I could burn down a good number of those monkeys if it proved necessary.


    The two pursuit groups were just in front of mine.  My group was being commanded by Lady Knight Night, some of us, okay maybe it started with me, frequently use the English translation of her first name and it could be that I also corrupted her young daughter into doing the same thing, she likes caramels and I have a supply of them.


    When we reached the first spider we found Boris¡¯s forces had been stalled because the giant arachnid was blocking the gravel road and even its verges right up to the tree line on either side.  Tracked vehicles could pick their way through the trees but not the T800 so it and the Sherman, which it was partnered with, were stuck.  As for the Hellcat and the Scorpion they had gone on ahead.


    Star informed me that she didn¡¯t sense any living minds in the spider which made sense from looking at it.  When its central cylinder had been compromised, the body had been crushed inwards by its legs starting at the front pair and working its way back to the middle and then the rear legs.  The legs had remained upright and rigid just long enough for all of that to happen.  When the legs¡¯ hydraulic fluid had bled off sufficiently, the spiders had collapsed, dropping the main body from over fifty feet in the air which hadn¡¯t help it much either.


    The central body was blocking the road and there was nothing we could do about that right now but if we removed its legs on its left side, the T800 should be able to get through, by driving just to the right of the road.


    Using my Earth Magic, I dismembered those three legs into sections which the two tractors pulled out of the way.  That took almost a half an hour.  During that time we could hear the sounds of combat and once we saw flyers returning to the Stronghold probably for more IRODs.  It was convenient that both they and the Holman projectors used the same kind of shells.


    Once the way was cleared Lieutenant Khan and his forces took off in pursuit of their share of the metal monsters.  We followed along behind until we reached the county road, then we turned right, there were four fallen arachnids south of us and seven more to our north, we would check the southern ones first.


    The second machine had lost its legs on its right side which caused it to obviously fall in that direction.  The cylinder had been only partially stove-in on that side.


    I thought there might be some survivors but Star told me no.  For now we would rely on her abilities for this first sweep.  While the county road was wider this mechanical beast was also an impediment to travel so we took the time to remove the legs along one of its sides.


    The next three spiders had all failed catastrophically like the first one and additionally they had all been at their maximum height when they fell, so that had aided in their destruction.  Star detected no survivors and we only delayed long enough to clear away some more legs, we were beginning to get good at doing that.  We then turned our attention to the northern group of seven arachnids.


    The sixth mechanical spider was damaged similarly to number two and again Star detected no life signs.  I was beginning to think that we should give her a mock up of a tri-corder and make her the Stronghold¡¯s official science officer for any and all away missions.  Would she look good with pointy ears?  Could I teach her to say ¡°Live Long and Prosper?¡±  She just gave me a dirty look; she might have heard what I just thought.  I think it¡¯s time to start mentally singing the worst commercial jingle or pop tune that I can remember.


    Spiders seven through nine were in even worse shape than number sixth and there were no survivors in them according to Star, so far we still had no idea what the enemy actually looked like, I had to admit to being curious.  We removed legs and went on to ten, eleven and twelve.  Number ten looked to be in fairly good shape.


    Star looked at me, ¡°Vincent there are definitely survivors in that cylinder.  I can feel at least eight minds.¡±


    I had Star inform Lieutenant Storm, who was commanding this shindig, about what she had sensed.


    Lady Knight Night had us rush the machine so that we were too close for its one intact top turret to target us.  Its cannon probably couldn¡¯t work anyways but you never know.  Then she had me use my Earth Magic to remove a large portion from the mirrored front of the cylinder, which was almost exactly like our own transparent aluminum except it was denser.


    We finally saw the dead body of one of our foes.  It was a snail, a really big snail.  It was about four feet high, two feet wide and six feet long.  The one in the destroyed cockpit was mostly withdrawn into its shell but its shell had apparently gotten crushed when the machine fell.  I did an appraisal on it.


    This is a corpse of a Gleaming Shell of Radiant Intellect.  Many portions of it naturally contain substances that are poisonous for human consumption.  Since its death these toxins have saturated almost all of its body, leaving very little of its meat safe to eat.


    Well that wasn¡¯t exactly helpful and I had never been that much of a fan of escargot anyways.


    Star yelled ¡°Get Back!¡±  A burst of flame suddenly came through a partially open door that was in the back of the large cockpit.


    I tried to use my own Fire Magic to take control of the approaching flames but I didn¡¯t have much time and we were not on my land any longer.  If I only had a second or two I might have been more effective.   Being burned hurts, a lot!  I could feel myself falling, I blocked my pain centers and I used my own Fire Magic to extinguish all of the high heat sources that I sensed nearby me.  I knew that I had not been the only recipient of that attack.  The question was would any of us live?


    The major damage seemed to be to my face and hands.  My body armor and leather clothes, seems to have done a good job of protecting me from that flame attack but I had a feeling that what I wore had lost most of its usefulness.


    I ignored my hands for now and concentrated on my face.  I could feel that I was being picked up and carried away.  They had better not concentrate on healing only me, there were other wounded too!


    I¡¯m pretty sure that I was brought to the infirmary and that I was given an IV.  Someone was cleaning my wounds, removing dead flesh and skin.  It¡¯s a good thing that I had almost a three quarters full magical gas tank before all of this happened or it would have been curtains for me and I¡¯ve always preferred shades to curtains.  Boy, is that a bad joke, it lacks the sophistication of a true village idiot.


    I was concentrating on re-growing at least a partial covering of flesh and skin over my exposed jaw bone as quickly as I could.  I was ignoring everything else that was going on about me.  I could always regenerate my nose and those portions of my ears that were gone.  I could also repair my eyes but if I lost my jaw how was I going to be able to eat and gain the nutrients that I needed to complete my repairs?  Could I possibly scavenge materials from let¡¯s say my foot to repair my jaw if necessary, I¡¯m not sure that I could.


    When I had blocked incoming pain signals, I had actually turned off all of my physical senses, so that¡¯s why I couldn¡¯t hear, it¡¯s not like I needed the distractions anyway.  But I could still somehow sense what was going on all around me, though I felt much removed from it.  Which was a good thing since Healer Denise Murphy was busy snipping off the charred digits from my ruined left hand.  I wondered if I had a kind of new magical hermit sense, perhaps I was bitten by a radioactive hermit as a child?


    I was of course worried about the other casualties but there was nothing I could do for now.


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


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Sandra was working in the infirmary that day, she saw a man with his face practically burned off, which caused her to rush to the bathroom to puke.  A short while later she found out that the burned man was her own father and she fainted dead away.


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


    After fourteen hours, I had my mouth and jaw functional again if not exactly looking pretty.  I could even talk a little but it was painful to do so.  Currently, Star was feeding me some terror bird soup which wasn¡¯t too bad. The council would be having a meeting this morning which I planned on attending, my legs were perfectly fine and my right hand was healing.  Give me a week or two and I¡¯d have my eyes, nose and left hand back as well.


    Healer Murphy wrapped bandages around my head, making me look like the invisible man.  I then walked to the Council Meeting holding onto Star¡¯s arm, she was my seeing-eye craft-maker.   ¡°Ouch,¡± she had just painfully pinched my ass.  One of these days I¡¯ll have to remember that she can read my thoughts; that is if I begin to truly care about something like that.


    I was still perfecting my Amazing Hermit like abilities but perhaps I had guessed wrong about the origins of my super powers.  Maybe, the flames that had burned me were in reality some kind of toxic magical radioactive plasma that had just sharpened all of my senses.  Even though I was now blind I should still be able to fulfill my dreams and go to law school.  Once I graduate I can fight for the oppressed against the dreaded Queen-Pin of crime, Star Astrologer, and her evil Craft-Maker Gang.   ¡°OUCH!¡±  Everyone in the room stopped talking and I could sense that they were all looking at me.  Star has little claws and when she wants to give you a pinch, it¡¯s a PINCH!  But I still plan on making myself a cane with lots of cool hidden gadgets.


    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m glad to know that we are all here except for Lady Knight Night Storm who is still in the infirmary.  First off, Lady Denise Murphy, how many total casualties do we have?


    ¡°Your Majesty, there is only one fatality and that was from our battle with the mandrills.  Quentin Lee died up on the Southern Wall.  Our three most severely injured were also wounded at that location.  As for the battle with the Gleaming Shells, you are the most grievously injured with Lady Knight being second to you.  The craft-maker, Stinky Tanner, was injured at the same time as you but not nearly so severely.  That is the total of our dead and injured.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad our casualties were so light, all things considered.  On reflection, I think I should have ordered even harsher rules of engagement against the Gleaming Shells; we could have just cracked that tenth spider open and not tried to enter it.  Besides the emotional pain we have to deal with when our people are killed or wounded, we cannot afford the loss of trained personnel when that happens either.


    In regards to Private Quentin Lee, I was going to do this myself but I can¡¯t now.  I want a cemetery to be built somewhere along the road leading from the Stronghold¡¯s gate to this compound.  The cemetery should be at least a half an acre in size but whoever makes the thing should sadly plan for it being made larger at a later date.  I want a memorial statue made of Quentin as true to life as possible, perhaps showing him in his combat gear, it will be used as his headstone.  That man died doing his duty while protecting us and we will not forget him, which is why I want the cemetery along that road, we will pass by it almost every day and it won¡¯t be hidden in some far off corner of the Stronghold.


    Captain Mesquida, how did the rest of the battle go?¡±


    He snorted, ¡°except for what happened to you, it wasn¡¯t much of battle.  It only took three or four bombs from the flyers to bring a spider down and when their shells crack on the top, those machines are almost guaranteed to fold in upon themselves and crush their crews.  The tenth spider that you assaulted and the eleventh according to Lady Star were the only ones to have any surviving Gleaming Shells.  Enchanted bullets from fifty caliber rifles and a couple of bombs from some nearby flyers put paid to them.


    Boss, what about the trip we were planning to the National Guard Armory?  Now that you¡¯re wounded are we going to delay it?  Because I don¡¯t think that we should, you can¡¯t go along on every mission outside this fortress.¡±


    ¡°Let me think about that George.¡±


    Lady Knight Faith Harper spoke up.  ¡°I don¡¯t know what else is at that armory, but I seem to remember hearing that there was a transportation company stationed there with some huge heavy hauling equipment.  I don¡¯t know if that information helps or not.¡±


    Mack; was next to speak, ¡°it might Faith, I have a proposal for you or rather Jean White who was a civil engineer with the county does.  Jean, go ahead and talk, Vince won¡¯t eat you, he only acts like he will.¡±


    I gave Mack the finger and Jean began to speak.  ¡°Your Majesty, I would first like to say thank you for saving me and my children.  I also wish you a speedy recovery.¡±


    ¡°Suck up,¡± I thought.  SHIT!  That got me another pinch. I started mentally singing ¡°Safety Dance¡± by Men without Hats.  I secretly liked the song but I knew many people that found it annoying.


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


    Star had been talking to the humans about what kings were supposed to be and she was bound and determined that her people were going to follow a proper dignified king that inspired his people, AND LED FROM THE REAR WHEN THERE WAS A BATTLE, if it was the last thing that she did!


    Exactly what kind of King thinks of himself as the village idiot?!!  ¡°Ooh, Ar, Ar, Aargh, Oogly, Ooh.¡±  Indeed!!  The next time he even thought that she would give him such a pinch!  She decided that it was long past time, that she talk to the women in his household and get them to start taking proper care of their man.


    ¡°We can dance, we can dance.¡±  She stifled a groan, please someone make him stop.


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


    Jean continued talking.  ¡°I¡¯ve been in love with castles, walled cities, fortresses and keeps since I was a child.  I¡¯m a nut about the subject and with my education; I think I qualify as a fortification expert in our new world.¡±


    There were some snickers around the table mainly from the men.


    ¡°I did not mispronounce fortification. What kind of Royal Council are you?  Maybe you should all be back in high school!¡±  Jean said with a huff of breath.  The snickers turned into smothered laughs.


    Jean paused to collect herself and then resumed her presentation after glaring at certain men sitting around the table.  ¡°This fortress looks impressive but it has some great weaknesses.  One of those being it doesn¡¯t have enough soldiers to adequately defend its walls.  What you have here, you¡¯ve appropriately named a stronghold.  It¡¯s not a castle since it¡¯s missing many key elements and it¡¯s not a walled city since the population is too low.  At best it¡¯s a walled village with a really impressive wall and moat, but both should be improved.


    While historically, the majority of ancient fortifications had walls that were between twenty and forty feet in height, many of those quickly fell when faced with a determined assault.  This stronghold has walls that are according to my measurements almost forty-three feet tall, which is in my opinion the lowest height that a fortress¡¯s wall should be in our old world.


    In the past there were many castles with walls in excess of sixty and even eighty feet, personally I always thought eighty feet was the minimum height for the walls of a truly impressive and nearly impregnable fortress.   As for the best shape, all experts agree that the star fort is the ideal design.


    The great Mehrangarh Fort in India has walls that are 118 feet tall and sixty-nine feet thick.  The compressed stone, you used to build the walls here, is at least fifty percent stronger than natural stone but if the walls could be made thicker, I think they should be. The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge has already been twice assaulted by giants; I am referring to the sky krakens and the mechanical spiders.  Who knows what else is out there or still might be coming to our World?


    My proposal has six stages or steps.  What I am proposing may sound extreme, Your Majesty but I have been greatly impressed with what you have already done with your Earth Magic.


    Step one; widen the moat that lies in front of the Southern Gate Wall to at least one hundred feet.  Where the current gate is located, the wall needs to be built outward by at least another twenty feet. Where the land bridge ends a barbican should be built with walls at least forty feet high.  A barbican in our case is a smaller fortress which protects the outer end of the Stronghold¡¯s bridge.


    Step two; raise the height of the Southern Gate Wall to be higher than the length of the drawbridge that will be required to span the newly widened moat.  The wall should also be thickened overall by another ten feet.  We will need heavy trucks for that phase of construction and for the rest of the work as well.  What I envision Your Majesty; is that you if you will use your magic to remove dirt and rock while widening the moat.  Then that material will need to be magically compressed into large blocks of stone, which will then be trucked inside the Stronghold and used for the projects that I am describing.  I am told by Chester Fletcher that you now own a very large Caterpillar loader that still sits at your quarry.  That loader can be made functional and used to load the trucks, while inside the Stronghold the crawler crane can be used to unload them and position the blocks on or next to the curtain walls for you to magic into place.


    Step three; build a bascule bridge which is the correct name for a drawbridge.  We are fortunate in this new project for two reasons.  One, because with your magical powers we can build the bridge on top of the existing isthmus and when it is complete, Your Majesty can magically remove said isthmus.  The second reason is that, courtesy of the Gleaming Shells, we have a large supply of ¡°smashed aluminum¡± sitting right outside this very fortress.  Glen told me that you said that smashed aluminum is similar to titanium.  Titanium would make an excellent building material for our new bridge.¡±


    I held up my hand to stop her from talking.  ¡°I hate to rain on your parade but from what I¡¯ve read smashed aluminum is literally made by mechanically compressing aluminum.  While it might have a similar strength to titanium it will still have aluminum¡¯s old low melting temperature, which might make it not the best material to use in a project like you are talking about.  Please continue with your proposal.¡±


    Engineer White said, ¡°Well shit, I had been really looking forward to using that stuff.¡±


    Many of us laughed at her change in decorum, then she resumed.  ¡°We can use steel for the bridge then.  The hardest part to make will probably be the giant trunnion for the bridge which is large pin approximately ten feet in diameter and the width of whatever bridge we build.  Can you do that Your Majesty?¡±


    ¡°I would need a supply of metal and at least a day to get it right.  Making intricate parts with my magic is beyond me but I should be able to manage such things as pins and I-beams.¡±


    She breathed out a sigh of relief.  ¡°A properly made bascule bridge is counter weighted and it doesn¡¯t require a large motor to be lifted.  I am thinking what with the low torque of our steam engines that even a single one hundred horsepower engine with no gearing might very well be able to lift the bridge but we will have to do some testing to make sure and we can always use one of the two hundred horsepower units or even two of them if necessary.  But one thing we do not want to do; is to lift that bridge or lower it too quickly.  Newton¡¯s First Law of Motion, ¡®an object in motion stays in motion.¡¯  Moving something with too much mass too quickly can lead to a calamity.


    Step five; thicken all of the other walls and raise them to at least eighty feet in height.  At the same time widen the moat that corresponds to that section of wall.  We now live in a world filled with monsters that not even the Stronghold¡¯s smooth walls can prevent some of them from climbing.  Starting at the height of our existing walls, I think we should incorporate spike strips into the outer face.  The lowest wide band of spike strips would stick out three or even four feet to stop the largest monsters, and as the spike strips go up the wall they would reduce in size in order to stop the smaller creatures.  I realize that some creatures will be able to use those spikes in their climb but anything that can already go up forty-three feet of glass smooth wall, probably wouldn¡¯t be stopped by another forty feet of it.  That isn¡¯t even taking into account that it is actually in excess of seventy feet of wall from the water in the moat to the top of the currently existing battlements.


    At the top of the new heightened walls, machicolations will be built and on top of them another parapet and wall walk will be constructed.  Machicolations permit our defenders to fight from cover and drop things on anything that is directly below them.  The machicolations will be equipped with armored hatches and shutters to prevent unauthorized entry through them.


    Step six; add extremely large bartizan turrets to all eight corners of the Stronghold and to either side of the bascule bridge.  Oh, going back a few steps, the gate wall was thickened to either side of bridge in order to protect the bridge and accommodate the required machinery.  The counterweight room will be quite large and it will probably dip below the water level of the moat.  Normally, a star fortress has spear-tip shaped towers that go all the way to the ground.  Because of the already existing moat, I think that it will be far easier for us to incorporate turrets that are built on the wall and project outward from it instead.  These turrets will also have a spear shape and rise upward at least thirty feet. As for how far outward they will project, that will be at least fifteen feet but I am still calculating what is feasible with our current materials.


    I realize that this all sounds like a daunting task but what you have built already, Your Majesty, is honestly amazing.  For obvious reasons, it is my recommendation that the work on the Southern wall and the bascule bridge be done as quickly as possible, the rest could be done at a much slower pace.


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


    ¡°Captain Mesquida, what is your opinion,¡± I asked?


    ¡°I wanted the star fortress design to begin with, but we settled on an octagon as the best compromise, Engineer White¡¯s plan gets me one.  I like it.¡±


    ¡°Mack,¡± I called out, ¡°how about you?¡±


    ¡°We still need to clear cut the woods on two sides of the Stronghold but I like the plan too.  She¡¯s shown me some sketches and they look damn impressive.¡±


    ¡°Clyde, we¡¯ll need more heavy trucks and trailers.¡±


    ¡°I know where we can get some and so does Chester but if that Armory did have a transportation company stationed there, they might have some or all of what we need, though it¡¯s long drive.¡±


    ¡°Glen, we¡¯ll need more of the big steam engines.¡±


    ¡°Vince, we¡¯ve got production lines going for 40, 100, 200 and the variable 50 to 125 horsepower engines and their matching boilers.  We have also started careful disassembly of the Priest¡¯s former 330 horsepower engine and hopefully we¡¯ll be able to reproduce it.


    When we have the time, Grace and I would like to tear apart one of those spiders and look at its steam turbine, it might give us some ideas or some useful materials.


    Clyde and I are currently deliberating the addition of some small steam engines to the turrets of our tanks.  The engines would be located in an armored box mounted on the outside rear of the turrets.  Right now our turrets can only rotate two hundred degrees before being forced to go around the other way because of the hydraulic controls we installed.  If the turrets had their own power sources they could rotate in three hundred and sixty degrees circles all day long but there are weight concerns with mounting engines and their boilers on the turrets.  It might only be barely possible for the Sherman and not for any of the other tanks at this time.  It¡¯s the boilers that are a big part of that problem if we could build a smaller and much lighter steam generator that might solve that dilemma for us but so far we¡¯ve had no luck, not that we¡¯ve had much time to spend on that matter.


    However I had been hoping to use some of that ¡®smashed¡¯ aluminum to manufacture engines and boilers.  I thought that since engine blocks could be constructed out of normal aluminum then that smashed stuff should work for our steam engines as well, but hearing now that it still has the same melting temperature as normal aluminum has ended that particular idea.¡±


    I replied, ¡°Don¡¯t forget the Gleaming Shells probably didn¡¯t construct their steam turbines out of aluminum, they may very well have used titanium.  If so, there should plenty of it in couple of those spiders to build some small steam engines and boilers.  Even so that will only get us a forty percent weight reduction and that still might not be enough.  When I have the time and my vision is restored; Grace, you and I should sit down, discuss what we know about steam generators and see if we can come up with a magically enhanced version that will do the same job but be both lighter and smaller.  It will probably need to be frequently recharged but it might be our only option.  So many great mechanical ideas missed being successful by only a smidgen, in this new world while we lost electricity, we¡¯ve gained magic so when it comes to engineering we can sometimes cheat if necessary.


    Also it will be a good idea if we save everything we can off of those mechanical spiders and store what we recover properly.  That ballistic gelatin of theirs might offer our vehicles a significant lightweight armor upgrade.


    Back to the snails, I never saw a living one.  Did they have arms or what?  How did they manipulate things?¡±


    Star answered me.  ¡°They had four tentacles that were very strong and muscular; which looked like large worms or leeches to me.  The tips of their tentacles ended in a natural spear point and each tip could splay apart into four equal sized fingers.  According to my appraisal their tentacle tips were poisonous as well.  They had two eyes on thick muscular stalks and they possessed pupils that were very strange which allowed them to look in two directions at once.¡±


    Steve commented; ¡°their pupils sound like those that the Sky Krakens had.¡±


    There were murmurs of agreement, from around the table, about his observation.


    ¡°George I am going to be down for at least a week because of my eyes.  Come up with two plans for your Armory expedition. One plan doing it without me and the other with me.  But you might be delayed anyways, since those spiders represent a real windfall in materials, which we should recover as quickly as possible, and we¡¯ll need an adequate security force to protect our salvage teams while doing that.


    I think we¡¯ve covered everything or at least everything where I had something to contribute.  I¡¯m tired and going to bed.  You can continue or depart but I¡¯ll see you all later.¡±


    I got up to leave the room with my faithful seeing-eye craft-maker leading the way.  DAMN IT!  Star pinched me again!


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Monty Python Village Idiots Sketch


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhDJxEPRDek</a>


    Safety Dance by Men without Hats, only masochists should select this link.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM4okRvCg2g</a>


    Mehrangarh Fort in India


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehrangarh_Fort</a>


    Star Fortress


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_fort</a>


    Bartizan Turret


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartizan</a>


    Machicolation


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machicolation</a>

 Chapter 21: Salvage

    Did I make a mistake?  I was looking at my notes about the Mountain Flyers so that I could verify their horizontal air speed and dive speed.  When I did I find something them it was confusing to me.  I had given the numbers in mph but I labeled them in kph.  I¡¯ve tried searching the story¡¯s published chapters but so far I haven¡¯t found anywhere I mentioned those numbers.  If I did and you know which chapter, could you drop me comment so I can go back and fix them, thank you.


    The correct numbers are:


    Horizontal Speed: 56 to 70 mph, or 90 to 113 kph.


    Typical Dive Speeds:  75 to 160 mph, or 121 to 257 kph.


    Maximum Air Speed (dive): up to 210 mph, or 338 kph.


    These numbers apply to young adults (teenagers) and adults; there are no differences because of sex, some flyers are just naturally weaker or stronger than others.


    What I used to arrive at those numbers:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_birds_by_flight_speed</a>


    I let Vince get a little crazy in that last chapter.  There were some things that I was going to hide from you but I changed my mind and I decided to explain some of his motivations in the beginning of this chapter.


    This chapter was going be too long, so I split it up into two chapters.  The second one should be released fairly soon, within hours of this one.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 21: Salvage


    I sat in my workshop and in the depths of my inner mind, I wondered if Star Astrologer had any real idea of what a cold hearted son of a bitch I really was.


    Shortly after my experience with building the Stronghold¡¯s walls, I had realized that something strange had been going on with my car¡¯s various drivers.  I¡¯m not entirely stupid and I¡¯ve read more than enough fantasy and science fiction to deduce that I had transmitted something to my numerous chauffeurs which had caused them to be emotionally and mentally disturbed.  Popular in fiction is the concept of surface thoughts, inner thoughts and mental shields.  A popular SF notion is a mental shield that either appears not to be there or a shield that allows access to only certain thoughts or certain subjects; that class of shields allows a person to deceive anyone that might be snooping on them.  I¡¯ve used Star to test and hone my abilities, and so far I think I¡¯ve fooled her ninety percent of the time or better.  I think it¡¯s better to master my skills with an ally rather than learn painful or even fatal lessons from an enemy.  I¡¯m not sure if she knows what I¡¯m doing or not but it doesn¡¯t really matter to me one way or the other.  Besides it¡¯s kind of fun.


    I have no interest in reading anyone else¡¯s mind, which might be a mistake after what happened to me yesterday but the thought of delving into someone else¡¯s thoughts thoroughly disgusts me, on an instinctive or primal level.


    Star is amusing and I don¡¯t mean that in a cruel or a derogatory way, but her pinches do hurt.  She is a genuinely good person if a bit too concerned about appearing extremely dignified at all times.  I¡¯ve made allowances for her behavior for primarily three reasons.  She is a member of an alien species and I don¡¯t want to be the one that screws things up between her people and the human race.  Secondly, Star is a former slave and for that alone I will cut her a great deal of slack.  And lastly, she is the primary leader of her people; Blender Apothecary is but a distant second.


    I hate to think about what is happening to the rest of the human race.  I firmly believe that billions are dead and it is possible, that as ludicrous as it sounds, that the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge might be one of the last bastions of civilization.  I might be an angry and possibly a slightly insane want-to-be hermit but I hate what has happened to this world.  Too many children have died because of the Change and it makes me sick.  So I swallow my anger and I¡¯m doing my best to see that a few more people survive when I would rather be alone.  But if any of those people would ever want to leave the Stronghold, excepting for a very few, it wouldn¡¯t make me sad in the least.


    I might act a little crazy from time to time and possibly slightly silly too but it keeps me amused and I think I deserve a few laughs. Now if I could just get that song out of my head.  Good thing I didn¡¯t think of that Backstreet Boys tune; that would have been too much to bear.  Oh crud!


    Doing my best to ignore the music in my head, I concentrated on healing my eyes.  I was allocating fifty percent of my available energy for that task.  Forty percent I was keeping in reserve and ten percent I was using for other things.  Like the concept of my mind having both and inner and outer level.  It is now my confirmed belief that True Sight has two levels and that the deeper level doesn¡¯t require a person to have functioning eyes.  I had already subconsciously used small bits of that skill from time to time.  I was, at this moment, trying to actively develop the skill, so I could use it consciously.  It seems to have two modes; one is just listening, similar to what a passive sonar system does and the other is sending out strong signals and seeing what bounces back, which is more akin to radar or an active sonar system.  The signals are combination of both thought and magical energy.  Using those signals, I am almost imposing my will upon reality and demanding that it reveal everything to me that my magical scan signals touch.  It takes more power to reach further and if I reach too far and try to cover too wide an area, I can be overloaded with information.  Currently I was able to scan an area approximately twenty-two feet in radius, and in extremely fine detail.  Focusing in only one direction or dropping the level of detail can extend my range.  I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m doing too badly, considering that this was my first real attempt at further developing my True Sight skill.


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


    Isabella Gomez snuck into Vince¡¯s room that night but she didn¡¯t lie down with him because of his wounds.  She quietly put down her makeshift pallet and after checking on him she fell asleep.


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


    The next day we had a memorial service for Private Quentin Lee.  Excepting for me, everyone with Earth Magic helped build the cemetery, which honestly didn¡¯t require that much work, but the statue that Sir George and Sir Boris made, was very good and true to life according to what everyone told me.  My own developing senses told me the same thing.  Lady Gomez brought flowers that we put on Quentin¡¯s grave.  I¡¯ll try and stop by from time to time, he deserves not to be forgotten.


    George¡¯s expedition was delayed.  The spiders¡¯ mechanical carcasses were a veritable treasure trove of valuable materials.  There were actually two steam turbines inside of each arachnid.  One of which was a massive machine that produced the over thirty-five thousand horsepower that Steve had told us about when he had first appraised a spider.  The second unit was much smaller and it is what we believe was actually powering the spiders when we fought them.  This smaller turbine was hidden inside the housing of the larger unit.  It might have been designed as an emergency unit or be something like a ship¡¯s cruising turbine, used only when the snails wanted to conserve energy or didn¡¯t want to power up the larger turbine.  Both turbines were built out of titanium alloys and ceramics.  We haven¡¯t opened up all of the spiders yet but in those we have opened, half of the smaller turbines have been relatively undamaged except for some weird modifications that the snails had evidently done in order to get them functioning in a world without electricity.  The smaller turbines are still very large and I¡¯m not sure, if we¡¯ll ever have a use for them.  Grace¡¯s best guess is that they produced around six thousand horsepower.  As for the big turbines, they are a great source of titanium and some advanced ceramic materials which might come in handy, if we can ever figure out how to reshape them.


    Strangely we have found no iron or steel in the spiders.  However we have found many very large gray ceramic blocks.  Those we believe were at one time, super conducting magnets.  But even Steve¡¯s appraisal ability tells us nothing about them.  The blocks do a great job of stopping bullets but we have to do more testing, that is once we figure out a way to slice one up without destroying the material.  When I magically cut one up it becomes brittle and worthless but I¡¯m still working on it.  By volume that particular ceramic seems to be lighter than steel and it¡¯s also a very poor conductor of heat.  I wonder if that would make it a superior or inferior material if used for one on my fire stones.  I¡¯ll have to test that and see.


    The ballistic gelatin is marvelous stuff for stopping high speed projectiles but it can be easily be cut by knife.  By volume it is slightly lighter than normal aluminum.


    All of the salvaged materials are being carefully separated into what we believe they were used for, that is especially true for the titanium and ceramic turbine parts.  Titanium turbine blades go into one pile, high temperature pipes into another, ceramic inserts into a third, and so on and so on.  We already have many different piles.  We can take a guess at some of the titanium alloys but there seem to some, that pre-Change Earth never had and post-Change Earth probably will never have, unless those people with Earth Magic, like me, get much better at using their abilities.  The same goes for the ceramics.  But while we can¡¯t make those materials, we should be able to make use of them.  That is especially true for the titanium we¡¯re salvaging.  While titanium alloys are normally difficult to machine, those of us with Fire Magic can use our abilities to control the temperature of the metal so that it doesn¡¯t weld itself to the machine tools that we are using to cut it.  I might even enchant some of the fixtures that will hold the titanium while it is being machined and have them drain off any excess heat into a nearby firestone.  It will be easier for the shop crew and we¡¯ll even be recovering what would have been wasted heat energy.  Actually those types of fixtures, clamps and vises would be a good idea to use when machining practically anything in the shop.


    One of these days I need to figure out how to turn heat back into magical energy.   Every Fire Magic user can go the other way but not the reverse.  Turning a heat source into a magic source just sounds so convenient to me.


    Originally, I had been hoping that we could get a ten to twenty percent weight reduction in our steam engines and boilers by using titanium but if we can figure out a way to use those ceramics I believe that we might be able to get at least a thirty percent weight reduction and it¡¯s possible that if we feed those engines with even larger boilers or a magically enhanced boilers/steam generators that we might be able to get even more horsepower out of them.  But that is something that will have to be rigorously tested.   However, there might not be much usefulness in doing such a thing because at most I think that we would see a thirty percent increase in horsepower for our standard steam engines, with the possible major pitfall that any increase in horsepower will give us a reduction in engine reliability, plus we already have enough engines that operate below 200 HP and we¡¯re slowly figuring out how to reproduce those modern 330 HP engines.


    What we have a need for are engines between 400 and 600 HP; and the design for the 330 HP does not lend itself to being up-rated in the same way as the older steam engine designs.  The 330 engines were constructed with some very advanced materials and even for us to manufacture them; we will probably have to use some of what we salvaged from the mechanical spiders.  To my mind what we got from the snails, in the way of materials, was worth every bit of the price that we paid and that includes what happened to both Lady Knight Night and me.


    I can¡¯t shake the idea that there might be some way to combine the magical lifting gas of the krakens, which is much more buoyant than normal gaseous hydrogen, with the light weight materials of the snails to make a dirigible to end all dirigibles.  We could even use the Gleaming Shells¡¯ smaller turbines to power the craft.  So many attempts to make a modern lighter than air craft; have ended in economic failure but magic allows us to bend the rules.


    For now that wild notion will have to be a distant dream since there are far too many other things that we have to do first and we haven¡¯t even quantified the buoyancy of the kraken gas though we know that it is at least twice as buoyant as hydrogen and while it does contain some (probably enchanted?) hydrogen gas, in our new world hydrogen gas doesn¡¯t burn; which is something that I¡¯m still trying to get my head around along with the fact that magnets no longer work.  We will also have to figure out how to produce the gas for ourselves, it¡¯s not like we recovered kiloliters of the stuff from the krakens.  At most I think we have only a little less than one hundred liters of the gas, hopefully that¡¯s enough for us to magically analyze it when we have the time, so that its formula will be available to us if we ever do need it.


    Sean Murphy took a look at the coilguns that were mounted on the spiders and he thinks that it¡¯s possible that we might be able to use their barrels for black powder artillery.  He will have to do a lot of testing but there are two sizes, the 148mm monsters that were converted into steam cannons and some 74mm guns that the snails didn¡¯t have operational.  The gun barrels are built out of a titanium alloy and they have coils inside of them made out of that same gray ceramic that we think was a superconductor.  If we do use those barrels we may very well leave the ceramic rings in them since the material seems tough enough and we might use finned stabilized projectiles rather than attempt to rifle the barrels.  According to Sean, all of the attempts by Earth gun makers to make a rifled barrel out of titanium have failed to produce a long lasting success, the rifling simply doesn¡¯t last.


    Once the southern road was cleared of fallen spiders; George, Chester, Clyde and Glen took a crew to the quarry and came back with the Caterpillar loader that Jean White wanted.   The C500, without its trailer, was used to tow it home.  That loader would certainly need the biggest engine we have but do we have one big enough is the question?


    It was taking two days to salvage each spider and haul it¡¯s carcass within the Stronghold but it would have taken much longer without the crawler crane.  Getting that machine in and out of the Stronghold is a real pain, what with it needing pass through the tunnel in the Southern wall.


    The smashed aluminum was easily cut up with Ron¡¯s magic wand; I¡¯ll have to make more of those.  As for the steam turbines, whenever it was possible they were hauled out and transported back to the Stronghold in one piece, we could tear them apart later.


    We wanted all twenty-eight spider bodies but there were eight that were blocking our way if we wanted to go the armory, so those had to be cleaned up first.


    By that time that was done, I was healed, and the Case 590 had been armored and made functional.


    During that time period I was busy enchanting some of the rocks needed for Jean¡¯s proposed remodeling plan for the Stronghold.  I hate enchanting rocks, it is so BORING!  I also awakened Jean White¡¯s and Fred Stone¡¯s abilities, too.  Unsurprisingly they both received True Sight and Earth Magic.  Additionally, Jean got Fire Magic but that was all.  At least someone else around here is a loser with no physical enhancements.


    I checked on my Caterham Seven, sob.  It will need A LOT of tender loving care to become well again and right now we don¡¯t have that kind of time.  I¡¯m thinking about having a steam engine put in my Belvedere.  It possesses a very large engine compartment and we should be able to put in one hundred horsepower unit.


    We were finally ready to go to the National Guard Armory.  All salvage operations would cease while we were gone for the day, and while it was risky for them the flyers could be used to transport emergency messages to and from the Stronghold if a situation warranted it.  They could easily fly the forty miles in a half an hour or less.  But there were both monsters in the air and on the ground, so it was my standing orders that they were not to fly in areas that our ground forces could not get to in short order, that was in case any downed flyers needed rescuing.   What would have happened to them if those snails had loaded their steam cannons with shot?  It would not have been good.  Except in extreme emergencies, our flyers only take flight in those areas where ground support is readily available.


    On our trip to the Armory, we were taking the Sherman, the Hellcat, the T800, the 590, the C500 and its custom trailer.   If necessary we would use the C500 to tow things home and leave its trailer at the Armory for later pick up.  We hoped to maintain a pace of twenty to twenty-five miles per hour.  The T800 and the 590 would be towing those two large armored utility trailers of ours.


    Chester, Clyde and Ron had kludged together a hitch for the tractor which allowed it to tow a trailer while still keeping its heavy backhoe attached.  The so called ¡°hitch¡± attached to the two rear stabilizer legs on the 590.  Both utility trailers had their tongues extended so that they could better work with their ¡°tow¡± vehicles.  This was needed so as to keep the one trailer away from the backhoe attachment and it was needed for the other one too, so that the T800¡¯s rear ramp could be lowered to the horizontal without hitting the utility trailer it was towing.  In that way people could still get in and out of vehicle, though they would have to jump or climb up on top of the partially lowered ramp instead of walking up its sloped surface.


    We didn¡¯t face a single attack during our trip to the Armory which has to be some kind of record for us.  We did pass a heavy equipment store that Glen wanted to stop at but we would it hit it on the way home or on a later date.  None of what I could see from the road looked any bigger than what we already had but Glen wanted to raid their parts store.  He, Clyde and Derrick Miter have this crazy idea that we can start making our own tanks and that they can use parts stolen from bulldozers to help them do it.  They are also talking about fitting cannon turrets on more trucks, like the T800, once we find a few.  My biggest concerns are the turret rings and the traverse gears.   Can we make those parts successfully? I know that at the start of WWII that the United States had a difficult time figuring out how to build a proper tank turret, that¡¯s why they initially produced the M3 Lee/Grant rather than going straight to producing something like the M4 Sherman.  I know that the Sherman was better than the M3 but I¡¯ve always thought that the M3 looked far more bad-ass.


    It took us an hour and forty minutes to make the journey and we mainly took quiet country roads that went wide of the city to get there.  We passed some homes but we didn¡¯t see anything except for some smaller monsters that ran away from us.  The last mile took us down a four lane city road and we drove through a suburb before getting to a light industrial area.   Across the street from the Armory was large factory or warehouse complex that looked like it had been closed down, years ago.  Next door to the Armory was another old closed down factory but it was a third of the size of the other one.


    We drove into the Armory parking lot and my mouth dropped open.  The lot was packed with these huge big ass semi-trucks, and just by looking at them I could tell that they were armored.  As a side note I saw two Stryker armored cars, which we would probably take as well but I personally liked the T800 that I was riding in better.  I think our ride was more comfortable and I¡¯m sure that its armor was stronger too.


    First thing George did when we got there was knock on the door and call out.  We even used our air horns; we played ¡°shave and a haircut, two bits,¡± should I make that my kingdom¡¯s national anthem?  No, if we were going to have a national anthem, I wanted it to be something badass.  Off the top of my head, I came up with three songs; the Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin, Thunder Struck by AC/DC, and the Highlander theme by Queen.  But I know that there are a lot more, good songs out there or rather were out there.  The question is how the heck are we going to play them now?  Do we have to go back to entirely live music?


    I suddenly had a brilliant idea; if we could make the Hermit¡¯s Guard big enough it will need an official marching band.  All big military organizations have bands.  We could have them out front playing Tusk by Fleetwood Mac before we battled anything.  The lyrics aren¡¯t exactly right but the music is pounding and our foes would surely surrender because of our sheer awesomeness.  And if it didn¡¯t work, it would be the band¡¯s fault and since they would be in front of everyone else, the monsters would eat them first, giving the rest of us a chance to run away, my plan was flawless, I am a genius!


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    After twenty minutes of my musical ruminations, Star¡¯s extremely disapproving looks and no response to our calls or horn blasts; we carefully broke into the Armory¡¯s warehouse.


    George and Boris, two dignified officers in my Hermit¡¯s Guard, looked inside the building and started doing a happy dance.  They wouldn¡¯t let me get too close because they were still checking things out but they had found exactly what they had been looking for, six M119 105mm towed howitzers.   I know earlier that they had feared that there would only be M109s here or worse yet some M777s.  Those 155mm howitzers were simply too big for us and would taken too long for us to learn how to use.  They have very heavy projectiles and their powder is loaded separately.  Though the M109 is self propelled which might have some value for us.  Both cannons would also require too much of our precious black powder.  No, the M119s were perfect for us and I was happy that we had located some.


    Star suddenly spoke, ¡°Vincent, I sense a small group of humans who I don¡¯t recognize, slowly approaching us.¡±


    I yelled out, ¡°FOLKS, STAR SAYS THAT WE¡¯VE GOT SOME UNKNOWN HUMANS APPROACHING US. WE DON¡¯T KNOW IF THEY ARE FRIENDLY, UNFRIENDLY OR STUPID, SO KEEP YOUR GUARD UP AND IF THEY ATTACK US, WASTE THE FUCKERS.¡±


    ¡°Vincent, they have stopped approaching and I can sense a sudden spike in fear from them.  I think that they heard you.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± I then yelled out once more.  ¡°I AM THE HERMIT KING VINCENT STANDISH.  THE DING-DING SYSTEM NAMED ME AS SUCH.  I HAVE ACCEPTED THE TITLE, RESPONSIBILIES AND ABILITIES IN ORDER TO BETTER PROTECT MYSELF AND THOSE THAT HAVE COME TO ME FOR PROTECTION.  I AM THE REIGNING MONARCH OF THE SMALL KINGDOM OF HERMIT¡¯S FORGE.  WE COME IN PEACE AND WHILE WE ARE NOT THIEVES, WE WILL SALVAGE THINGS, THAT ARE UNCLAIMED OR WITH NO KNOWN OWNERS, IN ORDER TO BETTER PROTECT OURSELVES.  HOPEFULLY, IN THE FUTURE, WE¡¯LL BE ABLE TO EXTEND OUR PROTECTION TO OTHERS, THAT IS IF THEY WANT IT.  WE HAVE ALREADY FOUGHT GIANTS AND OTHER MONSTERS WITHOUT NUMBER BUT WHO KNOWS WHAT THE NEXT HOUR WILL BRING, SO WE SEEK TO IMPROVE OUR COMBAT CAPABILITIES.  I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE AND I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.¡±


    As I finished talking I was confronted by an angry Captain Mesquida.  ¡°Boss, you just finished putting yourself back together and here you are making a target out of yourself again.   Will you please get your ass back in the T800, before I have a heart attack?¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I did as requested; since I really hadn¡¯t had any combat training and I would probably only get in the way for now.  Besides that, Rich was in the truck and he had a pack of Twizzlers that I wanted.  Someone should have taught that man how to share when he was a child.


    There were two flights of flyers, and their attendants in the C500¡¯s trailer and not counting the vehicle crews, we had two fire teams taking up positions in the Armory¡¯s warehouse and the parking lot.  A third fire team was remaining behind in the T800.¡±


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


    Captain Barbara Long was the commander of the Transportation Company assigned to the local Armory.  There had been a Battery of M109s stationed there but five days after the first Warning Message it had been ordered to Anniston for refit.  For some reason though, the Armory had received in its place the equipment for a battery of M119s but no personnel. She personally, with the way things had gone lately, would have been much happier with a battery of Revolutionary War era three pound black powder cannons.  The local area had been devastated by monsters and if she and a very few others had not somehow acquired the True Sight skill then everyone in her group of survivors would already be dead.  That skill, the massive use of black powder and a few magical healers has been the only thing that had saved their now greatly reduced numbers.


    Her company, their families and many local people had taken refuge in the abandoned factory across the street from the Armory.  The building might have been old but it was built robustly, much more so than the Armory.  It was larger too and better able to hold everyone.  She had transferred everything from the Armory but those things that no longer worked, to their new home.  But she didn¡¯t know how much longer they would be able to hold out, even with the stocks of black powder and Kentucky rifles that the Armory had received, just prior to the failure of all internal combustion engines.  Her company barely had fifteen percent of the black powder they had originally been supplied with.  So far, their attempts at scavenging the materials to make more of the stuff hadn¡¯t been very successful, not with so many monsters about.   Food was also running low.


    She was drinking her one rationed cup of coffee when she heard some steps running towards her.  One of her new privates burst in, a girl who had just turned eighteen a month ago.  ¡°Captain, there are tanks and trucks coming down the street.¡±  The girl said in a rush.


    ¡°Hallelujah,¡± thought Captain Long.  The promised reinforcements had finally arrived even if they were over three months late.   She hadn¡¯t had word from anyone since the clock had struck six hundred hours.


    She ran up to the lookout post, grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked out.  What the hell?  It was a Sherman tank of all things leading a small convoy.  It was followed by three odd looking armored vehicles; one of which was a construction tractor!  At the convoy¡¯s tail, there was what looked to be a WWII Hellcat?  If it was, someone had obviously put an armored top on the tank destroyer¡¯s turret.  But what was with that strange blue and white flag that they were flying alongside the Stars and Stripes?  Didn¡¯t Argentina have a flag with those colors?


    Captain Long told her people to hide themselves for now, until they learned more about the strangers.  She watched as they dismounted from the convoy¡¯s vehicles.   And she noticed that there were several oddly moving people of slightly less than average height, amongst the group of post-apocalyptic warriors.  Barbara focused her binoculars on one of the short people and blanched at what she saw.  When she saw bird people come out of the largest trailer, she could only gasp.


    What caught her eye beyond the fact that there were aliens now knocking at the door of her Armory was the fact that everyone over there was wearing two brassards, one showing the American flag and the other with that peculiar blue and white flag.  She had finally gotten a good look at it and she had been able to discern green figures in the center horizontal white band, which seemed to depict three different species.  She had also noticed that they were all carrying repeating firearms which made her envious when she glanced down at her own Kentucky rifle, one of the less than a hundred of which her forces possessed.


    Perhaps it was time for her to meet with these strangers.  Gathering a security detail, she snuck out of the factory, circled a few buildings, crossed the street, and crept down the block; suddenly she heard a very loud authoritative deep baritone voice.


    ¡°FOLKS, STAR SAYS THAT WE¡¯VE GOT SOME UNKNOWN HUMANS APPROACHING US. WE DON¡¯T KNOW IF THEY ARE FRIENDLY, UNFRIENDLY OR STUPID, SO KEEP YOUR GUARD UP AND IF THEY ATTACK US, WASTE THE FUCKERS.¡±


    Captain Long froze in her tracks.  ¡°Now what in the hell do I do?¡±  She thought.


    ¡°I AM THE HERMIT KING VINCENT STANDISH.  THE DING-DING SYSTEM NAMED ME AS SUCH.  I HAVE ACCEPTED THE TITLE, RESPONSIBILIES AND ABILITIES IN ORDER TO BETTER PROTECT MYSELF AND THOSE THAT HAVE COME TO ME FOR PROTECTION.  I AM THE REIGNING MONARCH OF THE SMALL KINGDOM OF HERMIT¡¯S FORGE.  WE COME IN PEACE AND WHILE WE ARE NOT THIEVES, WE WILL SALVAGE THINGS, THAT ARE UNCLAIMED OR WITH NO KNOWN OWERS, IN ORDER TO BETTER PROTECT OURSELVES.  HOPEFULLY, IN THE FUTURE, WE¡¯LL BE ABLE TO EXTEND OUR PROTECTION TO OTHERS, THAT IS IF THEY WANT IT.  WE HAVE ALREADY FOUGHT GIANTS AND OTHER MONSTERS WITHOUT NUMBER BUT WHO KNOWS WHAT THE NEXT HOUR WILL BRING, SO WE SEEK TO IMPROVE OUR COMBAT CAPABILITIES.  I KNOW YOU ARE OUT THERE AND I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.¡±


    Barbara thought, ¡°What the hell is a Hermit King?  Isn¡¯t that an oxymoron?¡±


    She peeked out and saw the strange people had all sought cover.   She cursed herself for not bringing a white flag.   Hesitantly she called out.  ¡°I AM CAPTAIN BARBARA LONG, UNITED STATES ARMY.  I WISH TO SPEAK WITH YOU.  MAY I APPROACH AND DO I HAVE YOUR WORD THAT I WILL NOT BE TAKEN PRISONER OR HARMED?¡±


    She heard a different voice this time.  ¡°I AM KNIGHT CAPTAIN GEORGE MESQUIDA, COMMANDER OF THE HERMIT¡¯S GUARD.  YOU MAY APPROACH AND IF YOU TELL US TO GO, WE WILL.  WE ARE NOT THIEVES.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t believe it, first a king and now a knight but in this new crazy world she had seen and killed stranger things.


    She told her detail to stay behind and not to do a thing even if she was killed, because she knew that her forces would not survive if they went up against people who possessed tanks and repeating firearms.  Her detail had been to protect her from random monster encounters and not to fight against the strangers.


    She called out.  ¡°I AM COMING OUT NOW, DON¡¯T SHOOT.¡±  She came out with her empty hands raised.


    She had left her own rifle behind and when she got to the armored vehicles, she was thankful that no weapons were being pointed at her.  She was greeted by a handsome man of obvious Spanish descent.  ¡°Hello, I¡¯m a Knight Captain George Mesquida.  I was in United States Army and I served in Vietnam.  It¡¯s my pleasure to meet you Captain.¡±


    Barbara was a little flustered.  ¡°I am Captain Barbara Long, I command the Transportation Company that is stationed here, I was in the National Guard but we were federalized and formally made a part of the United States Army.¡±


    ¡°The Hermit King is waiting inside the armored truck over there.¡±  Captain Mesquida pointed to the smaller truck.  ¡°He has a habit, of getting himself shot up, bit up and burned up.  So I requested that he wait inside where it¡¯s relatively safe, if we lose him his subjects, including myself, will be up shit¡¯s creek without a paddle.¡±


    Captain Long was rather startled by that admission.  She had to wonder what made the Hermit King so special.


    She had to hop up on top of the truck¡¯s rear ramp because of the trailer it towed.  An armored door at the head of the ramp was opened for her.  Inside were seven people.  Three of them were lizard like humanoids with greenish gray skin and four were humans.  One scruffy looking man was in front of the group.  He was slightly shorter than average but he had very broad shoulders.  Barbara thought she saw some feathers in his hair, ¡°he must have gotten them from the bird people¡± she thought.


    She assumed him to be a bodyguard; behind him was a very distinguished looking man, whom she immediately assumed was the King.  She brushed past the bodyguard and approached the King.  ¡°Your Majesty it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you.¡±  She said with an almost courtly bow.


    The King before her groaned and the scruffy man behind her started chortling.  The ¡°King¡± spoke, ¡°Captain, you just cost me, my last pack of Twizzlers and I¡¯ve been saving them for months.  I even kept them from my own great grandkids.¡±


    The scraggly man reached out an arm around her and said, ¡°Pay up Rich, I told you that you look more like a King than I do.¡±


    Captain Long was quite embarrassed, she realized that she should have waited to be introduced or at least used her Appraisal skill but she had been so flustered at seeing this strange group she had forgotten to do that and now she might have insulted the real Hermit King.  She noticed that one of the two female humanoids seemed to be quite upset for some reason.  Deciding better late than never she cast Appraisal while listening to the scruffy King.  She looked at the public stats for the King, Captain Mesquida and the upset female.


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Title and Class: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    -------


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Title and Class: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    -------


    Name: Star Astrologer


    Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight


    Class: Wise One


    Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People


    Title: The Dignified One


    # # # # # # # # # # # #


    M3 Lee


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_Lee</a>


    Oshkosh M1070


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter</a>


    HEMTT


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Expanded_Mobility_Tactical_Truck</a>


    M119, 105mm Howitzer


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M119_howitzer</a>


    Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEGuHdKn0Lc</a>


    Thunder Struck by AC/DC


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2AC41dglnM</a>


    Highlander Theme by Queen, some parts get a little wimpy but it¡¯s still a good song.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqhHgT4mvRQ</a>


    Tusk by Fleetwood Mac


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrRVW-p8SJ8</a>

 Chapter 22: They鈥檙e Back

    If you spot any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 22: They¡¯re Back


    With the Twizzlers in my pocket, I was now a happy man.  I would share them with Rich¡¯s great grandchildren the first chance I got but they would first have to promise me that they would eat them in front of their great grandfather.  I am a bad man and every good looking guy on this planet deserves every evil thing that befalls them.  I wonder if there is some way that I can make Sir George go bald and grow warts?  Star just gave me one of her looks; I tightened up on my thoughts in response.  I guess I slipped up a second ago and I didn¡¯t even mean to.  I gave myself minus one point.  She would probably warn George and I can¡¯t have him being warned.  I finally started talking to the woman with the slightly dazed expression that was standing before me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let that little mistake, worry you Captain.  I am the Hermit King Vincent Standish.   My subjects can address me in many different ways but in order to keep my standing with the Ding-Ding System, which is what I call the people who send us warnings and messages, I request that outsiders formally address me as King Vincent, Your Majesty or you can use any of those other silly male monarch type titles, so long as it¡¯s not insulting.  I have a question; do you want us to immediately depart, because if you do, we¡¯ll mount up and hit the road in record time.¡±


    ¡°No, Your Majesty, I would like to talk with you.  I¡¯m Captain Barbara Long and the Commander of this Armory.¡±


    ¡°Okay, a brief history lesson about me.  Over a year ago I won a lottery jackpot and using some of my winnings, I had a modest house built about forty miles from here.  When I received the Warning I used more of that money to buy supplies and secure my home. Shortly after I started my doomsday preparations, I opened up my home and land to some people so that they might find refuge with me.  The DDS first named me a Professional Hermit and gave me certain bonuses for my class.  A lot of those bonuses come into play only on land that I legally own.  But as a caveat to that, it recognized me as being the ultimate authority on my property, an authority that I must actively defend.  Later on, the DDS named me a king.


    We fight monsters daily, while we have a machine shop and we are making many of the things that we need, we still occasionally go out on salvaging expeditions, such as this one.  Though, we still haven¡¯t built up our forces to such an extent where we feel entirely comfortable with leaving the Stronghold.  I hope that one day, that the Hermit¡¯s Guard will be powerful enough where they can go out on expeditions within a hundred miles of our home, in the hope that they might find other survivors and rescue them if they need assistance.  An attack we had on the Stronghold three weeks ago has proved to me that we still have a long ways to go until we can safely achieve that goal.  To that end, I would like to trade goods or services for some of the things that you possess within your Armory here.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, you tell me that you are the King of a piece of land within the continental United States.  I am sworn to defend this country and the Constitution.  I don¡¯t know how I can trade with you.  In fact, I should probably be arresting you.¡±


    ¡°Captain, as far as I know the United States doesn¡¯t exist anymore.  But I could be wrong.  If a large force shows up at the Stronghold¡¯s gates and proves that they are an official part of the United States Military or some other authority.  My people can leave, they still have free will and I will not order them to fight but I¡¯ll tell you this much, I will be dead before I give up a square inch of my tiny kingdom. I won¡¯t take from others but neither will I allow things to be taken from me.


    Captain Long, you have a chance here to trade some things that no longer work and get back some things that do work.  We have fifty caliber Hawken rifles to trade, all revealing magic lights and fire stones which can keep you warm.  If you need food, we have tons of calamari and even wheat.


    What we want are some trucks, some cartridge casings and those 105mm cannons.¡±  I thought about smiling at the woman before me, but she might punch me in the nose if I did.


    ¡°The 105s, are you nuts?!!  They would have me shot, if I traded those away to a foreign power within the United States.  It would be treason!¡±


    ¡°I tell you what we¡¯ll do.  In exchange we¡¯ll put steam engines in those two Stryker vehicles of yours, how about that?  You could be driving around in style.¡±  This time I did smile, she noticeably winced.  I refuse to believe that I am that ugly.


    ¡°They will still have me shot.¡±


    ¡°Okay, here¡¯s my final offer.  Don¡¯t tell me your decision right now, wait awhile and think about it.  You could take a walk outside with Captain Mesquida and he could tell you all about my Kingdom.  He¡¯ll give you all the nasty details and fill you in about my new dungeon.


    This is my last offer, for two of the cannons and half of their shells you have stored here, I will personally enchant two more of those cannons for you to use.  We will furthermore put 200 HP steam engines into each of your two Strykers.  And we will do the same for up to eight of your trucks but we get one truck and a trailer for every truck we install an engine into.  I¡¯ve walked your parking lot.  You¡¯ve got twenty-seven of those massive semi trucks and at least eight of those slightly smaller ones.  You must know that we can find similar trucks almost anywhere; it¡¯s true that your trucks are armored but we¡¯ve gotten extremely good at putting armor onto civilian trucks, like the one we¡¯re in now.  Honestly speaking, while I am impressed with the sheer ruggedness of your vehicles, I am not that impressed by their armor.  I don¡¯t think it¡¯s strong enough to face all of the dangers of our changed world.¡±


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


    A few minutes later Captain Long found herself being escorted out of the truck by the scowling Lady Knight Star Astrologer, following Barbara was Captain Mesquida.


    Once the door closed behind her she breathed out a sigh of relief.  Captain Mesquida chuckled with sympathy.


    ¡°Sir Mesquida what is going on here?¡±


    ¡°I thought it was obvious to you.  Electricity is gone, magic has replaced it, old people have gotten young again and we are all struggling to survive.  The best hope my family and I have of staying alive is that man inside there.


    Several years ago he was betrayed by his wife and daughters, then by his long-time employer and finally by someone who bought the company that he had been working for.  I verified that information from independent sources by the way.  He is a hardworking man of above average intelligence and average looks when he tries.  Despite the fact that he wants to live alone, he has opened up his lands to hundreds of people.  When there is trouble, he runs towards it in an effort to put himself between the danger and those being threatened.  It¡¯s a habit of his that we are trying hard to break.


    Captain the last time we met with another group of survivors, Vince offered them a chance to see the Stronghold so that they could make a well informed decision.  But that group was far closer to our home.  It took us almost two hours to get here and I¡¯m surprised that we didn¡¯t have to fight along the way.  If you want to see his Kingdom you¡¯ll need to pay the fare both going and coming back.  I think Vince is ready to call it quits here; other people would just take what they want but not him.  I think it is all part of him being a King, if he doesn¡¯t respect other people¡¯s property rights, why should they respect his.¡±


    ¡°Would he trade food, black powder, repeating rifles, and some steam engines for a few of our trucks?¡±


    Captain Mesquida looked at her like he thought she was crazy.  ¡°You don¡¯t want much do you?  There are heavy trucks lying around all over the place.  How our shop crews modified the two trucks we drove here is a wonder to behold.  Those vehicles could survive things that would easily kill your Strykers.  If you supply some manual action repeating firearms he might enchant them for you but we have none to spare.  Basically he makes it so your ammunition doesn¡¯t need primers anymore; you¡¯ll still need to load your cartridges with black powder, which we don¡¯t have enough of ourselves, so we won¡¯t be trading any of that either.


    You have only one thing that we want and can¡¯t get any other place locally, as far as we know, and that¡¯s those howitzers.  But if you offer us some brass or maybe one of your smaller trucks, you might be able to buy a ride for a delegation to and from the Stronghold.  You have to understand, that we risk priceless irreplaceable assets whenever we leave the Stronghold, so the cab fare isn¡¯t going to be cheap.  In fact, now that I think about it, you¡¯ll probably have to give us a truck and some brass for a ride home with us and another truck when we bring your delegation back.¡±


    ¡°I feel like you¡¯re a shifty character trying to trade one of my trucks for a hand full of magic beans.  Well I¡¯ve got news for you, my name isn¡¯t Jack.¡±


    Captain Mesquida laughed.  ¡°You shouldn¡¯t say things like that.  We¡¯ve got someone with Plant Magic back at home and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me one bit, if she could give you some real magic beans.  Captain, I don¡¯t know what kind of shape your company is in but I don¡¯t think it can be good.  You¡¯ve got one chance here at turning things around for your people.  If the United States Government still exists you might, might be putting your freedom in jeopardy by trading with us.  Personally I think that if they are still around, that they would do everything in their power to ally themselves with Vince once they find out what he can do for them.  There are other nations that already exist within the United States, consisting of the descendants of people that were here even before there was a United States.  So what I am postulating is not that farfetched.  Right now, Vince has at the most about six hundred acres of land at three different locations; that really isn¡¯t a lot of land for the U.S. to give up any claim to.   Step up to the plate and make me an offer Captain, you¡¯ll be absolutely astonished by what my King can do for you.


    By the way, I assume to have survived this long that you must have the True Sight skill and maybe some other magical powers as well, so you should already know that we haven¡¯t been lying to you.¡±


    Captain Long took a deep breath, he was right her True Sight skill had told her that they hadn¡¯t been deceiving her.  But she decided not to answer him immediately.  So instead she asked a question of her own.  ¡°You must have magical powers too Captain, what kind do you possess?¡±


    He paused in making his reply, taking a moment to decide if he wanted to answer.  ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got Fire Magic and Earth Magic.  Other people have different kinds of abilities.   There is a sergeant in the Hermit¡¯s Guard, that can levitate and teleport.  As for me, I¡¯ve finally gotten my Fire Magic to where it can actually be useful as a weapon but I¡¯m nowhere near being as proficient as the Boss.¡±


    Barbara wanted to snort in disbelieve but again her True Sight skill was telling her that he wasn¡¯t lying.  Some of her people had magic; there were two with very weak Fire Magic, one screamer with Sound Magic, two with weak Telekinesis and four Healers.  The only really useful ones were the Healers.  ¡°Can you show me some magic Captain?¡±


    ¡°Only a little bit, none of us like to waste our magical energies, we never know when we might need them to counter an attack.¡±


    She expected him to show her a small hand full of fire.  What he did was launch a gout of flame; fifteen feet up into the air.  She could feel the heat on her face.  Yes, that was indeed a serious weapon.   There were yells coming their way asking if everything was alright, the Knight Captain took a minute to explain what he was doing to his concerned soldiers.


    He resumed talking to her.  ¡°This has been a strange day for us, we¡¯ve been here for almost an hour and we haven¡¯t been attacked, nor were we attacked on the drive here.  That has got to be some kind of record for us.  We even saw monsters running away from us, which is a real first.


    She too had noticed that things were extraordinarily peaceful that day; normally her people were all barricaded in the old factory trying to prevent some monster from tearing its way in.  A strange thought entered her mind which caused her to stumble. Could the monsters be afraid of the Hermit and his Guard?


    Throwing caution to the winds she made an offer.  ¡°Captain, you said that you wanted brass.  Well, I¡¯ve got four pallets of 20mm practice ammunition; there are thirty 100 round ammo boxes per pallet.  It was dropped off here by mistake and we don¡¯t have any 20mm guns.  The fact that it¡¯s practice ammunition just might save me from a court martial even though it is still deadly if you¡¯re struck by one.  I will give you a pallet of it, if you will take my delegation to your stronghold and another one when they return.  I might be going along as well if I can swing it.¡±


    Captain Mesquida couldn¡¯t hide his glee, had Captain Long not noticed the fact that his vehicles were equipped with large bore rifles, or didn¡¯t she care?  It was true that a bureaucrat might think that practice ammunition was harmless stuff but for the Stronghold¡¯s uses it was perfect.  Six thousand rounds of twenty mike-mike, made the entire trip worthwhile; now the shop didn¡¯t have to spend its valuable time making 20mm cartridge cases and bullets.  He decided to sweeten the deal because he wanted those other two pallets of ammunition.


    ¡°Captain just to show our concern for your people, I¡¯ve got ten, fifty caliber Hawken style rifles with bullets and bayonets that I can give you as a goodwill gesture.  When you¡¯re fighting monsters, those bayonets can really make a difference.  We¡¯ve also got some food that we can give you, flour, dried beans, as well as some potatoes and tomatoes from our greenhouses.¡±


    Captain Long perked up at the mention of greenhouses; maybe these people really did have their shit together.


    Slightly less than two hours later she and three of her civilians were riding in the back of the T800 armored truck along with the Hermit King and what looked like his bodyguard.


    Howard King a former electrician and a member of her delegation, decided to risk asking a question.  ¡°Your Majesty, it has been hell for us ever since we lost our cars and guns.  How have you managed to do so well?¡±


    ¡°Thanks to a lottery jackpot, I had enough money where I could buy things to prepare properly.  I also had no one I needed to answer to, which I think was equally important.  I could risk being wrong and making a fool out of myself.  I was buying stuff within minutes of the first Warning but I already had quite a few things, like my own machine shop and a few years worth of food.  I think anyone could have done the same thing, if they had what I had, to start with.¡±


    There was suddenly a weird pattern of horn blasts, the truck slowed down and stopped.  The soldiers were at the firing slits in the truck and readying their huge bolt action rifles.  Barbara suddenly realized that the worthless ammunition she had traded away might not be as worthless to these people as she had previously thought.


    She stood up to look out one of the armored windows.  What she saw was a decent sized group of ragged people running away from three squirrels; very, very large squirrels.  The soldiers fired their guns and cursed when only one shot hit, the squirrels were blindingly fast.  They had large heads in relation to their total body size, just like normal squirrels, heads with very big mouths filled with very sharp teeth.  She heard the Hermit King ordering the ramp to be lowered in an expletive filled voice.  The good looking man, that she had mistaken for the King originally, was following the order but he was also trying to talk his King out of going outside.


    A screaming man was brought down by a squirrel.  The giant rodents looked to be toying with their prey and there seemed to be nothing that the Hermit¡¯s Guard could do, at least in time to stop the enormous squirrels from slaying anymore of the running terrified people.


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


    DAMN IT!  I knew we would be picking up refugees on the way back home, it almost always happens that way.  People would hear or see our vehicles as we traveled away from home and later when we return, following the same route, they would be waiting for us.  But those FUCKING SQUIRRELS were too bloody fast, only my people with the fastest enhanced reflexes were even coming close to hitting them.  I needed to get out there or those people were dead meat.  I was not going to watch some little children die, not today.


    I had the door open at the back of the compartment but the ramp was going down so slowly.  I was insane with rage and I started kicking at the ramp to speed it on its way.  When I thought I had enough room, I slithered my way out, I then ran and leaped to get in between the survivors and those blasted rodents.  Those fuckers might dodge bullets but how in the fuck are they going to be able to dodge a wall of flame.  I screamed at them and I let loose.


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


    After some loud banging noises at the back of the truck she was shocked to see the Hermit outside and taking huge leaping running strides as he rushed towards the monsters.  He was going up in the air at least eight feet or more and traveling over twenty feet horizontally for each leaping step he took.  It was like something out of a comic book.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    He came down just in front of the squirrels and he roared at them.  Almost simultaneous with his roar, flames shot out of both of his hands.  The flames were everywhere and there was no way for the squirrels to escape them.  When she saw the creatures again they were nothing more than falling bones.


    ¡°Holy Shit,¡± she muttered.


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


    The squirrels were down, now there were some bodies for me to check on.  I started walking towards them.  OUCH!


    DING


    As per one of the listed attributes for your base class of Hermit; ¡°some hermits are insanely strong or smell strongly, usually both.¡±  Congratulations Asshole, you have achieved this distinction and in a fit of insane rage you have pushed your body beyond its physical limits.  I bet you¡¯re sore now, aren¡¯t you!  And I already know that you stink.  For this accomplishment, your stats will now include a ¡°Warning Label,¡± no need to thank me; I already know how much you appreciate all of my actions on your behalf.


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit, It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    I was limping and groaning as I hurried towards the fallen man.  I saw another two bodies behind him.  I knelt down by his body; he was still alive even with his shoulder being nearly torn off and a large piece bitten away. I had a lot of magic left but I had better save it for now. I stopped the bleeding, put him to sleep and stabilized him, that would do for now.  I got up to limp towards the next body.  But I was passed by Clyde who drove the 590 tractor straight to the next body; he leaped down and started working on that person.  Lady Knight Night flew overhead with her flight and landed by the third body. I decided not to move and just groan in pain for a few minutes, I really hurt.


    Suddenly, Star appeared and she started casting aspersions on my character; such as dumb, stupid, idiotic, moronic and brainless.  A fire team showed up shortly after, I asked them to rescue me from Star but the cowards refused.  Another Healer also arrived and started working on the man that I had treated.


    Seeing no other choice I tried to make my own escape but the Cruel Queen-Pin of Crime kept right after me, despite my best efforts in breaking the blistering speed of one mile an hour.  I finally made it to where the crying refuge children were gathered by the C500.   I started handing out some of the Twizzlers that I had won off of Rich. The dirty ragged children¡¯s eyes got very big when they saw what I was offering.  Star finally shut up.


    I started using a trickle of magic to start fixing my poor abused body.  The refugees were loaded into the C500¡¯s trailer and I went back to the T800.  I noticed that while the ramp was closing up that its mechanism seemed a little noisier than normal; I couldn¡¯t recall it making those types of sounds before.  The next time an emergency occurs, I¡¯ll just go out through the driver¡¯s compartment, it¡¯ll be much faster that way.


    With a sigh I finally sat down.  Captain Long spoke to me.  ¡°It¡¯s always difficult watching people die.  I know since it has happened to me far too often.¡±   There was a strong note of sympathy in her voice.  ¡°How many of your people have you lost over the last five months, Your Majesty?¡±


    I let out a sigh.   ¡°We lost Private Quentin Lee about three weeks ago.  A horde of King Mandrills attacked us and we weren¡¯t prepared for them, they can climb walls like a gecko lizard.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t had any fatalities in almost three weeks?  You must be the luckiest sons of bitches in the world,¡± exclaimed Howard King who had been listening in.


    Sergeant Rich Jacobs spoke up.  ¡°No Mister King, we¡¯ve only had one death at the Stronghold or amongst the Hermit¡¯s people since he started granting people refuge.  Of course there were deaths in groups, such my own, before they joined up with the Hermit but since coming under his protection only Private Quentin Lee has been killed.  Though three others were seriously wounded at the same time and they have to be the luckiest people alive.  Well over a thousand King Mandrills attacked the Stronghold.  Those monkeys, while they¡¯re not chameleons, have a natural camouflage that is unbelievably good.  We didn¡¯t see them until they were almost over our parapets.  It was an ugly battle, we got almost five thousand pounds of monkey jerky out of the deal but of course we would all prefer having Quentin back with us.¡±


    Our guests had stopped asking questions for some reason.  Richard¡¯s words reminded me that I had to tell them something.  ¡°When we get to the fortress you might not want to eat everything that you are offered.  None of it is poisonous but a lot of the meat comes from monsters.  In particular the calamari comes from some Sky Krakens that attacked us.  Those monsters were all blue screen sentient beings.  Only adults who know where the calamari comes from are allowed to eat it, you can of course refuse to do so and some of those in the Stronghold do.  As for myself, those monsters came to our home looking to eat us, it¡¯s not like we hunted them down, so I consider it just desserts that they help add to our diets and they do make a good source of protein.  The largest ones were up to thirty-five meters long including their legs but their tentacles were up thirty-seven meters in length.  With so many of their bodies laying dead I simply thought it too much of a waste if we didn¡¯t try and harvest some of that meat, as it was we could only store a fraction of it and we magically incinerated the rest.¡±


    The truck got even quieter.  I always know exactly the right thing to say.  I wonder how come, I¡¯m not invited to any parties.


    Three miles down the road we picked up another larger group of survivors.  Captain Mesquida gave them a speech telling them who and what we were but they all decided to come along anyways, the fools.  The flyers were now riding on top of the C500¡¯s trailer, ready to take flight if needed and to give the new people more room inside.  That trailer was packed tight now and soon we would be filling this smaller truck.


    I explained as much to Captain Long and I told her that was one of the reasons why we wanted her trucks.  So we could convert them into armored buses and use them to transport survivors in situations like this.


    At our next stop we picked up a family of four survivors. We had room in the T800 so they joined us.  They were all very wide eyed and their eyes got even larger, when they heard me addressed as ¡°Your Majesty.¡±  I gave each of their two children a Twizzler rope.  The mother who was a little frantic actually tried to curtsey before me, I had to catch her before she fell over which made things even worse for her, so I gave her a Twizzler rope too.  Star seemed to approve of the woman¡¯s behavior.


    Another ten minutes down the road and we picked up six more people.  They had a baby in their little group; she was too young for a Twizzler.  The T800 was getting crowded; it would soon be time for some of us to climb up on top.


    We were being lucky in terms of monster encounters.  A few miles down the road we picked up another pretty good size group of humans.  The delegation was now crammed into the driver¡¯s compartment and the rest of us had climbed up on top of the truck.


    Five miles down the road and I was ready to kick myself.  I must have jinxed us; it had just had to be.  Eight Sky Krakens were approaching and coming in fast.


    The flyers took off trying to gain altitude.  Our vehicles quickly stopped and formed a square in order to mutually defend one another.  The roofs of all of our trucks and armored trailers had been fitted with threaded holes into which pipes could be screwed; the pipes supported mounts for our 20mm rifles.


    The flyers didn¡¯t have enough altitude yet for them to dive safely.  Counting their attendants, the three fire teams and the tank commanders with rifles mounted by their hatches, we had twenty-five gunners, not all of them were up to sharpshooter standards.  The krakens were coming in at us from three sides.


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


    Captain Mesquida watched the flyers climb up into the sky.  The battle would be upon the convoy too soon for them to do any good instead they would attack when the krakens retreated or if the convoy was in extreme danger of being defeating.  The weather was cloudy and the krakens had barely been above tree height allowing them to get too close before they were seen.


    Maybe he should have had a flyer on over watch but it was a very dangerous thing for them to do when they were far from the Stronghold.  He just hoped that his stubborn King didn¡¯t do anything stupid again.  But Vince¡¯s Hulk impersonation had been new and rather entertaining.  George thought ¡°Hermit Smash¡± and snickered into the scarf which was wrapped protectively around his lower face.  His wives didn¡¯t like it when his face got chapped and they gave him grief when it happened too often.


    His standing orders were for the sharpshooters to engage any Sky Krakens when they were no more than five hundred yards away and no less than three hundred.   The krakens were coming in two waves that were closely following one another; each wave consisted of four krakens.  The northern and southern ends of the box that the convoy had formed; each had two krakens flying towards them.  The western side had four coming at them in two waves of two.


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


    Captain Long was trembling either from excitement or from fear, perhaps it was both.  The Hermit had told her about the Sky Krakens and some of her observers had reported seeing large flying squid like creatures in the past but she had never truly believed that such creatures actually existed.  Just like, she hadn¡¯t wanted to believe in the giant mechanical spiders which had passed so close to the Armory and those she had seen with her own eyes.  It was a good thing that those silvery arachnids were gone because she thought that even the Sherman tank would be nothing but a toy when compared to them.


    Her face was pressed up against the window as she watched the battle unfold before her.


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


    I was now standing on the C500¡¯s trailer which was on our western side, mainly because it was the most difficult to maneuver and it had already been in this location when we spotted the squids.


    The gunners started to fire.  It looked like at least four 20mm bullets hit two of the lead krakens on the west side.  One was a hit to a creature¡¯s mantle but the other shots only hit legs or tentacles.  However, two of those bullets did massive amounts of damage to the legs that they hit.  The krakens started to scream.  The two in the following wave surged past their wounded kin.


    It looks like all but one of our northern gunners missed the two coming towards them and that single bullet only slightly wounded the creature it struck.  The same thing happened at our southern side, which is going to piss off Captain Mesquida since he¡¯s one of the gunners there and he is an expert marksman.


    I called the wind to me, just in case I was needed.  The western side fired again, the range had been greatly reduced but fear can cause even the best sharpshooter to miss.  Four or more shots hit the unharmed pair of krakens and drastically changed their status.  Each squid was hit on the mantle and they both had legs and tentacles blown off.  They were still over two hundred yards away and they were going down.  The western side looked to be safe now.


    Things weren¡¯t looking so good at the northern end; they had scored multiple hits but none to the lead kraken¡¯s mantle.  Because of its injuries it was being passed by the one following closely behind it.


    The southern side did much better.   They got a hit on their lead kraken¡¯s mantle and two devastating blows to its legs and tentacles.  That creature was also passed by the one trailing it.


    On the western side the kraken with no wounds to its mantle was withdrawing the other three were sinking to the ground.  I could see a pair of flyers diving down towards the retreating squid.


    The gunners on the C500¡¯s trailer now turned their rifles towards the southern and northern sides, which were almost in range of the krakens¡¯ natural air cannons.  Because of the angle those located nearby me, could shoot at all four krakens.


    The guns roared and those krakens on the southern side were blown apart as hit after hit, struck their mantles.  As for the northern side the krakens were likewise defeated if not so spectacularly.  I could see the lone western kraken falling to the ground after being absolutely shattered by the flyers¡¯ IROD shells.


    It was now time to clean the rifles and for several weeks now we¡¯ve been doing it magically.  Or rather those of us with both Water and Earth Magic have been doing the cleaning.  Our alchemist made black powder left less residue but it was still a pain to clean the normal way.  People like me or Boris, were very popular when it was time to wash our firearms.  We could clean a weapon in only two to five minutes.  I started washing those on the C500.


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


    The cheers inside the T800 were nearly deafening to Captain Long.  Even before leaving the Armory, she knew that pissing off the Hermit¡¯s Guard wouldn¡¯t be a smart thing to do; now she felt it in her very bones.  She also vowed to treat the Hermit much more respectively in the future.  The way he dealt with the squirrels had been very impressive, but what had happened minutes ago had been a battle against Titans!  She could definitely understand now, why Captain Mesquida had insisted that they be paid cab fare for transporting her delegation.  She now considered the price that she had paid to be cheap.


    After a pause of nearly a half an hour the convoy resumed its journey home.


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


    Our next stop happened just a few miles down the road and it was another good size group.  We were now forced to start putting people inside the two armored utility trailers that the T800 and the 590 were pulling.  I didn¡¯t like those things, especially considering the way we had one hooked to the 590, but it was the only option that we had.


    After three more miles we halted again to pick up two very ragged but happy survivors.


    For the last twelve miles we had no more friendly or even unfriendly encounters.  From my vantage point on top of the trailer, I could now see some of the spiders that we still had to clean up.


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


    Captain Long was wedged into the cab of the T800 so she could easily see the destroyed mechanical spiders as they drove up, upon them.  To say she was stunned was putting it mildly.


    ¡°What happened here?¡±  She gasped out.


    The driver replied.  ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about them; we put twenty-eight of those mechanical monstrosities down almost a month ago.  Without electricity, all of their high tech gizmos no longer worked and they were easy meat for us.  Right now, we¡¯re still salvaging materials off of them.  The King Mandrills that we battled just a day before we fought the snails, that¡¯s who built the spider machines, were much worse but those monkeys seem to be gone for now, knock on wood.¡±


    As they drove past the destroyed machines, Captain Long¡¯s lofty opinion of the Guard rose even higher.  The truck took a right turn down a gravel road.  Beyond the trees, she was just able to see an immense wall, the wall grew in size.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    When Vince kicks at the ramp in this chapter and bounds towards the squirrels, he is subconsciously (or is that unconsciously?) using his own Telekinetic ability in addition to his own temporarily increased physical strength.  That is why he could do what he did and the truck¡¯s ramp was indeed kicked out of alignment by him and now needs to be repaired.

 Chapter 23: Wild Boar Round Up

    Announcer:  ¡°Are you sure you want me to read this?¡±


    Sponsor: ¡°Go ahead, our advertising department says it¡¯s a surefire, can¡¯t miss, wiz-bang, attention grabber.¡±


    Announcer: ¡°Well, you are paying me. Thirty chocolate chip cookies and a fifth of scotch, right?¡±


    Sponsor:  ¡°Just like we agreed, now read the script.¡±


    Announcer:  ¡°The following episode of The Defective Hermit is brought to you by Swamp Boy.  It is back.  What do you mean ¡®it is back?¡¯  It hasn¡¯t been gone; they just came out with three new episodes.¡±


    Sponsor:  ¡°Will you just read the @#$% Script!  We¡¯ll throw in some fruit cake and a case of pumpkin beer, if you just read the script.¡±


    Announcer: ¡°The following episode of The Defective Hermit is brought to you by Swamp Boy.  It is back, it¡¯s better than ever, The New and Thrilling Adventures of James Drake.  Watch as he flies without pants through the skies, ties up naked women, eats bugs and kills defenseless men.   He surely should be a role model for all of today¡¯s youth.


    I really don¡¯t think you should have had me read that blurb, your advertising department is nuts.  You should have had me talk about the long chapters, magical potions, runes, wards, the Royal University and sailing ships.  I know they are only in the last four chapters or so, but I really like the sailing ships, everybody likes sailing ships.  That part where he flies, without his pants on, is just sick, you freak. You better come across with my pay you bum, because I know where you live.¡±


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


    I know, that I don¡¯t have the best release rate for story chapters, but I hope that it helps that most of them are at least five thousand words.  However I might have a little bad news for some of you.  I was attempting to release alternating chapters for the two stories that I am writing.  That hasn¡¯t been working for me since it takes me too long to switch my mind back and forth from the two wildly different fantasy worlds.  What I am going to be doing, from now on, is that I will only switch back to writing the other story when my muse sort of dries up for the one that I am currently working on, which normally takes one to three chapters.  For example, I released three chapters of The Defective Hermit, in a fairly short time span, then I did three of Swamp Boy and now I¡¯m back to doing DH.


    I am fairly confident that by making this sort of change to my writing schedule that I will in fact be more productive for both stories in the long run.  Despite my best efforts, I lose three days getting my mind to switch from world to world, so by doing it less often I can use those days to do more writing.  I expect to crank out at least a couple of chapters before switching back to SB.


    If you spot any mistakes please point them out, I would really appreciate it.


    A note to Jakyl, who sent me a correction for DH by private message, I tried to send you a thank you but your profile has private message acceptance turned off.


    This chapter is over eleven thousand words; I hope that you enjoy it.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 23: Wild Boar Round Up


    The walls grew in height, until finally her view was no longer partially blocked by the small forest.  Captain Long was now looking at a gigantic fortress from less than one hundred yards away, she couldn¡¯t even comprehend the walls that she saw curve off into the distance.  For how long had the Hermit been preparing for this new world?  How much did he spend?  The massive citadel before her, must have taken years and hundreds of millions to build.  Surely people would have heard, even with it being so far out of town, people would have talked.  Vincent Standish would have been a major employer and the politicians would have loved him for it, though they might have doubted his sanity.


    The convoy drove across a land bridge and through the massive entrance.  She could hear hopeful shouts, coming from the rear passenger compartment, as the people back there realized that they were now safe, from the horrors outside of this mighty fortress¡¯s walls.  She turned to the driver who was hiding his grin.  He damn well knew, how impressive the place really was and he wanted to show the Army Captain, who was refusing to trade any of her cannons, just how far out of her league the Hermit King really was.  He turned towards her.  ¡°Welcome to the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge, Captain Long.¡±


    ¡°How long did it take for him to build this place?¡±  She asked in a voice filled with awe.


    ¡°My King built it almost completely by himself in less than a month.¡±  The driver said while grinning at her.


    Barbara Long suddenly couldn¡¯t breathe and she felt a little like Alice who had just walked through the looking glass, because her True Sight skill was telling her that the driver of this truck was telling her the exact truth as he knew it.


    Barbara was met by a man who introduced himself as Sir Stephen Monet, Castellan for the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge, and by Lady Knight Jennifer Boon, who was the Hermit King¡¯s Chief of Staff and Spokesperson.  Evidently the King and his Military Commander no longer had any time for her.


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


    I had to meet with Clyde, Glen and Chester and see where else we could pick up some heavy trucks.  We needed light bulbs too since so many of us were now living underground. What were we going to do, when we couldn¡¯t find any more old fashioned incandescent bulbs, could we make our own?  Or perhaps those people with Light Magic could do something?


    First thing I had to do was take a trip to my bathroom.  I walked in there to find two large plants cluttering the place up.  What the heck?  I brushed through the large leafy foliage and made my way to the porcelain throne; I would ask Isabella about them later.  Either that or get a machete.


    After grabbing a snack, I met with the shop and motor pool people.  We marked out locations on a map where we could find some of things that the Stronghold needed.  Chester said he knew of a used equipment lot that was fourteen miles away from us and he was sure that they had at least five Western Star dump trucks about the size of the T800 and all of them were in good to excellent condition.  A comparatively short fourteen mile drive made that lot, a great deal more attractive than the Armory.  But those big tough rigs at the Armory had certainly looked badass and I had weakness for such things.


    Glen talked about the wealth of materials that his people were sorting out from the spider salvage.  He had stars in his eyes, though he was a little upset that we hadn¡¯t stopped and picked up those bulldozer parts that he wanted.  We still needed steel and iron but we had just about everything else we might need, in terms of metal for now and probably for years to come for that matter.


    Because of my prior career, I knew of a few sources that might have what we need.  But the metal distributors, I knew about, would all require trips of twenty miles or more.  As for our bridge, Fred Stone luckily knew of a major highway construction project that was within thirty miles of us, which had a fenced in storage lot filled with just the sort of steel that we needed for our drawbridge.  I probably could have used my Earth Magic to make what we needed but I was still a beginner at this stuff.  I¡¯m not sure that me turning a whole bunch of scrap steel and iron into the parts that we needed to build a bridge, and that we would all be driving across, was particularly good idea at this time.  Heck, now that I really think about it, making that giant trunnion that the bridge needs has me worried but we have no choice and I¡¯ll certainly take my time and use only the best scrap available when I do create it.  When I¡¯m molding and blending those tons of scrap metal together into the huge pin, would it be possible for me to form the resultant product into something like tool steel?  However, there¡¯s a chance that if I aim for such a goal, that it might turn out being too brittle.  A shock resisting tool steel should be good, but can I get enough of the necessary materials to produce a piece of metal that large and is my power precise enough, to alloy them properly together?


    It had previously been decided that the Armory Delegation would be spending two nights with us.  That way they would have enough time to look around and make up their minds.  I know that Captain Long was concerned about leaving her command for so long but she thought that she was the only one with the power to make a deal with us.  We would just have to wait to hear her decision.


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


    Barbara Long was astonished and amazed at how smoothly the Hermit¡¯s people were at handling the sudden influx of over a hundred refugees into their tiny Kingdom.  She followed along since Steve and Jennifer seemed to be ones in charge of that activity.  They were all shown to a small stone fortress with heavy steel doors.  The doors were opened and they immediately saw a ramp wide enough for a truck.  Descending the ramp they came to the Hermit¡¯s Dungeon.  It was well lit by the magical lights that she had been told about.  There were two massive tunnels running side by side with cross tunnels between them.  It reminded her of a city boulevard with a median between the two directions of traffic.  Off of those tunnels were rooms of various sizes and the spaces down below were kept comfortably warm by the Hermit¡¯s magic firestones.  Some of the rooms even had raised wooden floors for additional comfort.  It was more like a small underground city than anything else that she could think of.


    Barbara had been introduced to the craft-makers and the flyers.  She saw both groups helping the refugees.  It all made her feel as if she had stepped into the pages of a fantasy novel.


    She compared it to her own band of pitiful survivors and she almost wanted to weep because of the situation that she was in. As a commissioned officer, she was strictly limited in what she could do and what she wanted to do, might cause her to face a firing squad in these troubled times.


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


    I found out about the plants in my bathroom, they¡¯re named Wooly Lambs Ear and it¡¯s a previously existing plant that Isabella has modified and improved using her Plant Magic.  It¡¯s going to be our replacement for toilet paper.  It grows leaves rapidly and my bum gives it two thumbs up.  When you need to wipe, you just snip off a mature leaf or two.  Civilization has been saved!


    I was attending another Council Meeting, which sucked, but it was necessary.  People needed to share information and express their concerns, I needed to hear what they had to disclose and afterwards we¡¯ll invite Captain Long in and hear what she has to say in regards to my last offer.


    Star was the first one to begin speaking.  ¡°Fellow members of the King¡¯s Council, per the request of our King I have been looking into what percentage of humans have survived to this date.  I was ably assisted by Jake Nord who was an elected Legislator for this region.  He was quite familiar with the demographic data of his constituents; Mister Nord possessed invaluable information and is quite skilled at interpreting it.  After interviewing the latest group of survivors, we have determined that the survival rate for isolated humans in our local area is between five and seven percent.


    That does not include groups that organized themselves such as our own, the former County Road Group and Captain Long¡¯s Command.  If we include the County Group and Captain Long¡¯s survivors, that pushes the number of survivors upwards but we must also allow for the larger population base that was in the same area for those two groups.  Thus the survival rate rises to almost fourteen percent. If we include our own group and only count the humans that are here, the survival rate is twenty-two percent but that data is faulty since many of the Stronghold¡¯s humans were picked up at Kilmer¡¯s estate and the majority of those came from outside of our local area.  Additionally, I feel that this Stronghold is a one of a kind statistical outlier and that the true human survival rate for our local environs lies between seven and fourteen percent, when all humans are looked at as a total aggregate.


    I am sorry my King but after numerous discussions with knowledgeable people, it is my opinion that we cannot give you a global, national or even a regional survival rate for humans.  Some high density urban areas might have fallen completely apart because of a lack of basic services or they might be where the United States government invested all of its resources and as a consequence those locales might be doing well.  Then there are areas that have never had any services whatsoever and the people there may possibly be adjusting just fine because now they have access to magic.  We also don¡¯t know if the high frequency of monster encounters that we are experiencing is universal or not, so I can only give you with confidence the numbers that I presented just now and even then there is a significant variance between the high and low, so again, my King, my apologies for failing you.¡±


    ¡°Star thank you for that information.  It is more than we had before and you did not fail me.  Your presentation was excellent, overly butt-kissing but still excellent.¡±  Ooh, she just gave me a nasty look.  Good thing that I¡¯m the King here.


    Glen spoke next.  ¡°One of those refugees that arrived yesterday is a real find Vince.  He was an M48 tank crewman in Vietnam and after that he was a mechanic and a drag car racer.  Luckily for us, he knows all about hooking up multiple engines to power a single vehicle.  He says that we¡¯ve been over thinking the synchronizing issue.  If what he says is true then we can put two, 200 hp engines into some of our vehicles or even two of the 330 hp engines, once we get them into production.  Of course we¡¯ll need to put in either two boilers or a single larger unit to supply steam to two engines.  But we¡¯ll fit them in somehow or modify our vehicles if needed.  That is if we decide to put two engines into them.¡±


    I had a question.  ¡°Glen, if one engine fails, can the other engine still provide power to the vehicle?¡±


    ¡°According to Rufus, yes the other engine should continue to function which will give us redundancy.  I know that we¡¯ve all been worried about a mechanical failure, while a vehicle is on the road or in a combat situation.¡±


    ¡°Our current vehicles have so far been working fine and we need them to stay in service.  I think we should only try putting two engines into our new conversions for now.  Clyde, Glen what to do you two think?¡±


    Clyde answered first.  ¡°I agree and I hate to contradict Glen but I don¡¯t think that our existing tanks have the room for another boiler without some heavy and time consuming modifications.  Now, the new tank that Glen and I have been talking about, we can design it for two engines and two boilers.  Rufus has got some excellent ideas about its design too.¡±


    Glen spoke up.  ¡°I still think that I can wedge in another boiler into our tracked vehicles but I agree that your plan is the sensible one for now, Boss.¡±


    Steve stood up to speak.  ¡°The current population of the Stronghold is now 678; the latest group had 128 people in it, of which 67 were adults.  They seem to be overjoyed at being here, even with the shortage of bedding and furniture.  The craft-makers have been performing herculean work in correcting that shortfall by utilizing lumber, fresh cut trees, monster hides and furs.  We really should raid a bedding or fabric store as soon as we possibly can.¡±


    I made a comment.  ¡°You know I think we passed a small fabric store on the way to the Armory.  When we go back we¡¯ll stop and check the place out.¡±


    It was then Faith¡¯s turn and she didn¡¯t even bother to stand up.  ¡°We¡¯ve had no idiots doing stupid things, since our last meeting.¡±


    The Council all then voiced our collective thanks to Lady Knight Gomez for our new TP plants.


    She stood up to receive our thanks and then launched into her own speech.  ¡°King Vincent and my fellow Councilors, I have concerns about this coming spring and summer. I personally wouldn¡¯t mind if winter stayed around for another six months, we are doing well with our greenhouses and we now have the means to expand them.  What has me worried is the thought of foreign invasive bugs and insects; creatures that are too numerous, too small and too voracious for us to fight with the means that we currently have available.  Our world changed in mid October giving little time for any new insects to reproduce and make their presence felt before cold temperatures set in.  I am no fan of insecticides but right now I wouldn¡¯t mind it at all, if we had a secure stockpile of DDT.  I have been trying to breed up some plants so that they naturally discourage pests but if I alter them too far, then they become unpalatable and possibly even unhealthy for human, flyer or craft-maker consumption.  Many of us remember the fear of Africanized bees or the more modern fear of disease carrying mosquitoes but there are many places, in the world, that fear locusts even more.  Who knows what small horrors will appear when things get warm again?  I think that air filters sufficient to stopping the smallest of insects should be installed on all of our buildings and on the ventilation shafts for the dungeon.  That way if something does appear, we can seal things up if necessary.  I also believe that Knight Captain Mesquida should be looking into fighting a smaller foe, one their current weapons are inadequate for.  While I fear the large monsters of our new world the thought of the small ones has me petrified.  Imagine swarms of flying insects with the venom of a black widow spider.  It is my firm belief that we need to prepare now, while we have the time to do something.¡±  She resumed her seat, looking nervous and worried.


    Mack spoke but remained seated.  ¡°Isabella, I¡¯ll start looking into filtration systems right away.  I don¡¯t think we need to worry about HEPA standards but we might want to consider using something like those metal reusable filters, so that any creepy crawlies can¡¯t bite their way through.  We could have a layered defense, a large grate, followed by a smaller grate, then something like a window screen and finally the filter.  But I¡¯ll have something in place within a month.¡±


    Isabella nodded her thanks, seeing that her concerns were being seriously accepted and not derided.


    George was next with something to say.  ¡°We¡¯ve been talking about having the majority of the Guard carrying two firearms.  We¡¯ve been debating what to pick, your speech Isabella had made me make up my mind; as soon as I can manage it all of our soldiers will start carrying a shotgun in addition to their regular weapon.  Something like a sawed-off, five shot, pump action with a pistol grip carried in a back scabbard.  It will add another six to eight pounds to their normal loads but it¡¯s a heck of a lot better than a revolver.  Of course, we¡¯ll need to find more shotguns but when we fought those ants our rifles were nearly useless and I never want a repeat of that incident ever again.  Some of my soldiers have Fire Magic and they¡¯ve been getting better with it but I¡¯ll try and increase their training in that regards.  Boss, I know that your second attempt at creating a magic fire wand didn¡¯t work out that well but you might want to give it another go.  It is common knowledge that fire makes an excellent weapon against insects.¡±


    I looked George right in the face.  ¡°That wand worked perfectly, asshole.  But I will get with Grace; perhaps with her knowledge of jet engines, she can help me design something with a little less recoil.¡± George, being the good looking asshole that he is, just grinned at me.  I¡¯m going to turn him into a frog one day.  As for Isabella, she was looking a lot less worried.


    Sir Blender Apothecary after being visibly prodded by Star; spoke as well.  ¡°Lady Isabella just like you I have some skill with alchemy.  Things are running much more smoothly with our black powder production.  I have some extra time now and I would be happy to assist you with the development of any insecticides or insect repellants.¡±


    Isabella nodded her thanks; Steve took the opportunity to put in his own two cents.  ¡°Our former world had an overabundance of bug repellants.  I¡¯m sure that if we just go out and look, that we will find more than enough insecticides and such, stocked in some nearby hardware store, big box store or warehouse.  I¡¯ll be sure to add that to our scrounging list.  Hopefully, within a couple of weeks, we¡¯ll have enough spare vehicles and people available that we can start sending out ¡®shopping¡¯ groups to search for the things that we need.¡±


    Glen inserted a comment.  ¡°We¡¯ve already manufactured a lot of engines, boilers and other parts; we just need the vehicles to convert.  On a side note about a different topic, once we are able to do it, Captain Mesquida has agreed that the Guard will standardize on the 30-06 bolt-action rifle as their general purpose firearm.  It uses a big powerful bullet and there is a lot of brass out there that we should be able to easily scrounge up.  I think you can all see the benefit, if the majority of our soldiers¡¯ rifles, all use the same cartridge caliber. Captain Mesquida, his officers and Sean have come up with their dream weapon.  It has a detachable eight to ten shot magazine, sling, bayonet lug, mage light and possibly a low powered scope.  There are some hunting rifles which already have detachable magazines but we probably won¡¯t be able to find as many of those as we need. So as time permits, we will convert other 30-06 rifles into their dream firearm, we also hope to be able to make one standard magazine that will fit all of those rifles.¡±


    George interjected.  ¡°Don¡¯t forget Glen, that one or two members of each five soldier fire team will instead carry a fifty caliber rifle since bullets of that size can be enchanted.¡±


    Glen nodded his head.  ¡°Yep, I know that you are the boss but since your doctrine is never to fight too far from the Stronghold or your armored vehicles, which all carry a shit load of 20mm rifles, I still feel that equipping your teams with anything more than one fifty caliber is a waste of our current manufacturing resources.¡±


    George¡¯s expression looked like he didn¡¯t completely disagree with Glen¡¯s viewpoint.  I would let the two of them fight it out but if push came to shove, I would back George since he and his people were out at the sharp pointy end of things.


    There was a little more discussion about various matters; most of it related to when we would start scrounging outside of the Stronghold in earnest.  Then it was finally time to hear Captain Long, she was invited into our Council Room.


    She appeared to be awfully nervous.  Somehow she had managed to get her uniform cleaned and patched up.  ¡°Your Majesty and Honored Councilors, thank you for allowing me to speak with you today.¡±  I gave Star the evil eye; I think she¡¯s been filling the Captain¡¯s head with too much proper protocol nonsense.  She on the other hand, looked to be beaming with pride at a favorite student, as the Captain continued to speak.  ¡°I am not the wisest of women but I like to think that I am both an honest and honorable one.  I find myself between the proverbial rock and a hard place.  By my oaths to the United States, I should not be dealing with you but if I don¡¯t, the people in my charge may very well perish.  I am hoping that we can reach some accommodation that will satisfy us all and allow my people to come here, even if I cannot.¡±


    Faith spoke.  ¡°Captain so long as people are honorable, do not have a blue screen and agree to abide by the rules and laws that we have here within this Kingdom, they are generally not refused.  But one of our rules is that all must work together for the common good.¡±


    Captain Mesquida; was next to speak.  ¡°Captain, as I mentioned to you before, the Native American Peoples have nations within the United States so what we have here, while unusual is not unprecedented.  Perhaps with our King¡¯s consent you can setup an embassy compound within the Stronghold¡¯s walls.  However, while I hate to say it; I don¡¯t think the United States or any other government, for that matter, has survived what has befallen this world.  I will grant you, that there are probably many isolated compounds and military bases with the vestiges of the former government but I don¡¯t see how they can possibly reconstruct this country.  Considering how little time they had to prepare, I don¡¯t see how any of those bases could possibly be in better shape than we are.  The politicians would have naturally doubted the first Warning message and bureaucracies are famously slow to act.


    Captain Long replied.  ¡°That¡¯s the thing Sir Mesquida.  According to my sources, they didn¡¯t dismiss that first message.  I heard a reliable rumor that NASA had detected something, something bad that they thought spelled the end for us all, a calamity that they would be powerless to prevent.  Since they could do nothing about it, rather than tell the world, it was decided to keep the secret and let us live our final days in peace.  Supposedly the disaster would have fallen upon us almost at the speed of light, so it would have all been over in an eye blink.  But then came the Warning and it matched closely with NASA¡¯s prediction.  Suddenly, the people who feared that they could nothing could do something and they acted.  Perhaps not well or efficiently but they did move faster than one might expect.


    But while saying that, what with what has happened locally and the fact that I have had no contact with any higher command authority, I must assume that things have not gone well in those compounds and military bases that were supposed to be the linchpins for saving this country and its residents.  I should have heard from someone within the past four months and I haven¡¯t; despite the fact that are two small military bases within three hundred miles of here and numerous National Guard facilities within two hundred miles. I honestly don¡¯t know what to do at this point.¡±


    I decided to speak up.  ¡°Captain, I am trying to save people here.  I have no wish to expand my country but I may very well do that in an effort to save more people.  I haven¡¯t made anyone here give up their former allegiances or citizenships, honestly I forgot to ask them and now that I am thinking about it, I still don¡¯t care.  I just ask incoming people to respect me and to obey my rules and commands.  If they can¡¯t do that, then they can leave.  Those who have sworn to me or in other ways have shown that they want to be citizens of my country; I will protect to the best of my ability and if the United States Government mistakenly comes after anyone of them, it will be over my dead body.  But that is assuming a worst case scenario and there is no reason to assume that any dealings that we might have, with any remnants of the United States will be so adversarial.


    You have seen us fight Sky Krakens and seen the corpses of those mechanical spiders.  You know that there are giants out there for us to fight.  We need those 105mm howitzers of yours and while we are making our own cannons, they are not the precision instruments that yours already are.   I am prepared to allow you, as Captain Mesquida suggested, the right to establish a walled embassy compound within this Stronghold.  But as Lady Harper has said, your forces must contribute to the common good.  We will help build your embassy and I will allocate five acres of land for your use.  But you must pay the freight costs, for us to haul your people and things here.


    You must also swear to abide by my rules, while you are within my kingdom and associated with us.  If you decide to act against me, you must leave first and separate yourself and your people from this Stronghold and my country.  Additionally, you must militarily put yourself under Captain Mesquida¡¯s Command, so as to better defend this place and all of the people living here.  Finally, I want two of your cannons and at least one hundred and fifty shells.  While you are here, you will still own the remaining four but they will be stored in a secure building by the gate.  You can take them with you whenever you exit this fortress but you can¡¯t have access to them while you are inside the Stronghold.  They could do too much damage, if someone dishonorable gets their hands on them.


    You might think that I am forcing an unfair deal upon you, since this is a life or death situation for you but it is also a life or death situation for my people here; we might need a well made cannon in order to defeat some monster, or a gun crew might blow themselves up because we, due to our inexperience, failed to make that cannon properly.  So that is why I am forcing such a hard choice upon you.  I think that I am offering something that is more than fair.  If you need time to consider my offer, you may take it.¡±


    Captain Long took a deep breath.  I was suddenly distracted by her rather large breasts.  But I think a few of my male councilors were as well and not all of them were even human.  ¡°I have no choice your Majesty.  I will accept your offer.¡±


    Why did I suddenly feel like Doctor Evil?  I had a strong urge to put my pinky to my mouth and say ¡°Excellent!¡±  ¡°Good, I¡¯ll get started on your compound this evening.  It will have twelve foot high walls and be primarily underground.  Since it will be in essence foreign soil, it will only connect to our own dungeon network at one point.  I think we¡¯ll put it by the northwestern wall.  That keeps it off of our winter wheat and gives this compound room to grow without running up against your embassy.


    While I am working; Lady Faith if you, Steve, George and Jen can draw up the necessary documents.  Captain Long can review them and we can then start transporting people and materials tomorrow.¡±


    After some more discussion I left the meeting.  Mack followed me and we gathered up a few more people, such as Boris who had Earth Magic, and we walked over to the northwestern wall.  The moat and the Stronghold¡¯s octagonal wall were enchanted, so that supposedly, only I could work on them.  But anyone could do things within our fortress.  My assistants would do the aboveground work and I would take care of everything beneath the surface. I wouldn¡¯t be able to finish the tunnel connecting, the embassy basement to the dungeon, but I should be able get almost a fourth of the underground living quarters completed tonight and we can finish up the rest during the next three to five days.


    That night my sleep got interrupted by Grace shaking me awake.  ¡°Vincent Darling, you have to wake up.¡±


    ¡°Huh?  What?  Who?  Sleepy!  Go away.¡±  My brain wasn¡¯t functioning but I could tell there was no steam whistle alarm, so I could let my eyes close and go back to sleep.  Did she call me darling?  Sleepy brain dreamed stupid stuff, back to sleep for sleepy brain.


    ¡°Vincent there is a huge sounder of Daeodon Giganteas, on the land bridge and pushing against the front gates.  The Captain is afraid of what might happen once they start shooting.¡±


    My eyes snapped open.  Daeodon Giganteas were giant prehistoric three meter tall feral hogs with long legs and jaws that belonged on an alligator.  A large enough sounder of them might just crack our gates but more importantly; this was just like someone was delivering tons of barbecue, right to our very front door!  Yeah Baby!


    Suddenly, I was wide awake and looking at Grace.  She hadn¡¯t even bothered to put on a robe before coming to get me.  She was wearing a large t-shirt as her nightdress.  She quickly blushed pink and clutched a pillow to her chest.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    I could hear some whispering voices coming from outside of my room.  I couldn¡¯t hear exactly what they were saying but I recognized George¡¯s voice.  He probably came over here, looking to add some more women to his harem.  Turning him into a frog was too good for him.  I dragged on my pants and stumbled out my bedroom door.  Suddenly everyone stopped talking.  There was George, Jen, Faith, Isabella and what the heck was Jean White doing in my house?  Don¡¯t tell me that she was living here too!  I know that I¡¯ve been seeing a little too much of her and her children lately.


    I walked up to them growling.  Seeing Gorgeous George being surrounded by a bevy of beautiful women, right after having my sleep interrupted just really ticked me off.  He looked suddenly nervous for some reason.  The only George that I liked was the one from the Jungle and I really wanted to smack the one that was in my house with a tree, or at least a big heavy branch.


    ¡°I am sorry to wake you my King.  But we have a situation at the main gate.  At first, there were only a couple of hogs and the watch decided to ignore them.  It was their wish not to fire their rifles; they were hoping not to disturb anyone¡¯s sleep.  Then a few more pigs appeared, followed by a few more, till there were almost a hundred on the other side of the moat.  Suddenly they were augmented by over two times their number and for some reason, many of them came across the land bridge and started pressing against the gate.  Even with how strong that gate is, we fear what might happen once we start shooting.  We may just need your assistance your Majesty, my apologies for having you awakened.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let me get dressed and we¡¯ll see what¡¯s happening.¡±


    I quickly put on my new leather duds and my coal scuttle helmet.  I suddenly felt like a German motorcycle dispatch rider from WWII.   I wondered if I could make some kind of steam punk battle motorcycle.  I¡¯ll put it on my ¡°to do¡± list, I think I have an empty slot on it, in about ten years.


    I was still sleepy and grouchy when I started climbing the stairs, to the top of the wall.  I was wide awake and very grouchy, by the time we reached the top.  There must have been at least fifty Guardsmen on the wall walk.  They were being led by Lieutenant Boris Khan.  I looked over the wall.  Holy shit; there were a lot of big pigs down there.  There were so many of them and they were so large that even from my home I had felt their weight upon my land, as if someone was firmly pressing their hand against my body.  I turned to face those encircling me.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to state the obvious here.  We want to kill all of those pigs.  They are an invasive species from another world.  Wild hogs, from this planet, are notorious for destroying the environment; those monsters down there just have to be worse.  Also just one of those things is a huge threat to small groups of people, even if they have firearms.  The only beneficial thing about them is that they taste good and each one of those pigs should give us at least a ton of meat.  What with it being winter we¡¯ll have plenty of time to harvest and store it too.  We have some underground freezer rooms available but I¡¯ll have to build some more for that much meat and we can construct additional smokehouses as well.  I¡¯m open to suggestions, as for how we can kill them all while still being able to salvage their meat, does anyone have any ideas?¡±


    Jean White spoke up, what was she doing here?  ¡°Without bartizan turrets there is no way to hit them with enfilading fire.  You might just be forced to bomb them and then have your marksmen, make what shots they can, as the hogs run away.¡±


    ¡°Jean, we will build your towers when we can.  We¡¯ve already conceded that we need them but other things have to come first.  But in your redesign for this fortress, do us all a big favor and add some blasted freight elevators.  I already hate going up the stairs we have now, when the walls become twice as tall, it will truly suck to climb all those steps.¡±


    My words generated sounds of agreement from most of the surrounding Guardsmen.  Except I heard Boris softly mutter ¡°but it¡¯s such good exercise.¡±


    Jean¡¯s eyes glazed over and it looked like she was already trying to figure out how and where to add the elevators.


    Lieutenant Wind spoke up.  ¡°We don¡¯t need to kill them all at once; we just need to confine them, so we can then take our time killing them.  Your Majesty can you erect earth walls entrapping that huge horde?¡±


    I looked back out over the parapet.  ¡°That is one big wall we would need.  Even if we used some of the enchanted building stones that I¡¯ve got stockpiled, it will take me almost an hour, that is if we can get at least five of those heavy rocks out there.  I¡¯ll have to be out there and on the ground too, to create that barricade.  So how do we hold back the pigs while I¡¯m building the wall and more importantly, what¡¯s to prevent those monstrous hogs from eating me?¡±


    ¡°When my people have to transport our injured, we routinely use nets like you use stretchers to carry those who are incapacitated.  Your Earth Stones weigh less than one of my adult clan members, it should be no problem for us to carry them out there and drop them into position.  We can attempt to drop one such stone and see how they react, if the hogs ignore our actions we can continue with formulating a plan.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t think of anything, so let¡¯s see what happens when you drop a rock.  I¡¯m envisioning a half circle running up against the moat, surrounding the land bridge and that entire sounder of hogs.¡±  I pointed out over the parapet showing Sir Wind what I meant.  ¡°Please drop the test rock at the point in the half-circle that is furthest away from us, directly opposite the land bridge.¡±


    Storm nodded his understanding, gathered up another of his clan and took flight to collect the needed materials.


    George spoke up.  ¡°Boss, in all of our encounters with those mutant hogs, they have been extremely aggressive and not ones to retreat.  I don¡¯t think that if you do start building a wall to fence them in, that they will care one little bit. But if they do, maybe we can use fire to hold them back.  As for keeping you safe, which is the most important thing, perhaps we can somehow get you out there undetected and underground.  I remember how quickly you built that little shelter when the King Mandrills attacked us.  It seems that it should only take you a two or three minutes to get yourself underground, what with your powers.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea but I can¡¯t turn invisible or teleport.  I can sort of fly, however the way I do it, is noisy.  But I¡¯m willing to try any reasonable stratagem.  While those pigs can¡¯t hurt us right now, they do represent a long term danger and that is far too much meat delivered right to our door step, to ignore.¡±  Suddenly I had an inspiration.  ¡°George I need to get back to my workshop.  I need to test something.  If the hogs start leaving, drop bombs on them and kill them anyway you can.  Have someone inform me if Sir Wind¡¯s test proves successful.  I should be back in about an hour.¡±  I hurried away from him; at least going down the stairs was easier than going up.  I started thinking about the enchantment I needed to create.


    Back in my mad hermit¡¯s laboratory, I was engraving a rock that weighed over thirty pounds.  I wish I could just stretch out my Earth Magic beyond the land bridge and raise that wall but my range wasn¡¯t that great as of yet.  My idea was to create a magical hole digger.  I would drop the rock while I was still in the air.  The rock would dig me a hole and I would lower myself into it, sealing the top once I was down safely inside.


    It took me three attempts to get it right but finally I had a rock that when invoked and dropped on the ground, would make a hole ten feet deep and four feet in diameter in slightly over thirty seconds.  I had a strong desire to label it as an ¡°Acme Instant Hole¡± and start hunting for road runners.


    While I had been working, I was told about the results of Storm¡¯s experiments.  The first drop was perfect, in fact instead of chasing away the hogs it actually seemed to attract them when the flyers returned to the Stronghold.  The current theory now is that the hogs are hungry and since it¡¯s known that feral pigs have an acute sense of smell, our hypothesis is that the Daeodon detect something good to eat inside our fortress.  The flyers started dropping more enchanted rocks.  With my reluctant agreement it was decided that they would attempt to drop twenty stones, which should shorten the time necessary for me to make the wall.  They had no problem until the tenth rock, when a number of hogs got spooked and briefly ran off.  They resumed dropping rocks but at number thirteen, a large group of hogs fled the scene.  While most of them came back, a few did not.  So it was decided that the flyers would stop dropping rocks.


    Star wasn¡¯t very happy with my plan but you can¡¯t spit in the face of every opportunity that comes your way.   I was leaving behind my rifle but my shotgun was going with me and it had a full load of slugs, however I doubted if such projectiles would even tickle those monsters.


    I took off from the Western Wall.  I was wearing my leathers and helmet; I had also added a pair of classic aviator goggles that I used to wear when driving my Caterham.  I was flying belly down like a parachutist, being airborne that way required far less wind than if I was standing upright.  It was my plan to circle the beasts and approach them from their rear.  I had to say it was scary, while I had flown before it was never this high and generally I hovered rather than moved about.  I kept my pace at about a fast walk because I wanted to make sure that I was keeping control of the mini-tornado that was holding me up.


    It took me almost fifteen minutes to complete my flight, briefly I crossed above land that I hadn¡¯t laid claim to as of yet.  It had been my thought that it would make no difference, since I was utilizing Air Magic rather than Earth Magic but it did.  Suddenly I felt weaker and it took much more effort on my part, to stay in the air.  It was with a sigh of relief, when I crossed back over to my own property or rather airspace.


    My mode of flight wasn¡¯t exactly quiet but to my surprise instead of running off, the hogs if anything tried to get closer to the fortress.  Perhaps they sought to shelter against its walls.  At my designated target point, I dropped the rock.  Thirty second later, I lowered myself down inside the new hole, letting myself drop for the final six feet or so.


    The plan was for me to give myself at least a half an hour to recover and then get to work.  I didn¡¯t exactly do that.  I started work immediately but I was working very slowly and everything that I was doing was below ground.  First I needed two tunnels, going to my left and right.  Those tunnels would extend around the perimeter of the half circle so I could make my magic work on those two far opposite ends of the proposed wall.  The closer I was to the wall, the easier it would be for me build it.  I used most of the dirt that I excavated from my tunnels to firm up the ground beneath where the wall would be.  By working slowly and efficiently, I had my tunnels dug and my personal magical gas tank full, after approximately an hour.


    I don¡¯t know what had those hogs so focused on the Stronghold but well over two hours since their first appearance, they still hadn¡¯t wandered off yet, despite their inability to break through the gates.  When I left, the gates had been creaking and groaning but they had seemed sound and Captain Mesquida had both the Sherman and the Hellcat stationed side by side inside the gate tunnel, just in case those pigs did manage to break through.


    I had thirteen fully charged Earth Stones to work with and an almost four hundred foot long wall to build, as quickly as I could manage.  Why did I suddenly feel like I was in some kind of game show?  ¡°Yes I am Chuck Standish and this is ¡®Can You Build a Wall, Before the Killer Hogs All Escape.¡¯  Tonight we have Vince, say hello Vince.  Fuck you Chuck.¡±  My hallucination now shows studio security staff, beating the crap out of me for swearing live on network television.  I am one weird hermit.


    ¡°Well time to, say it with me folks, Build That Wall!¡± And the studio audience goes wild.  I started at the far eastern end, picking the spot furthest from any hogs.  Almost immediately, I could feel through the ground a small number of them leave, from the opposite side.  My plan was to slowly grow the wall to three feet in height, hopefully that would be small enough where they wouldn¡¯t perceive it as a threat.  Then once I had it that high, I would crank things up to my maximum and try to get it better than six feet tall as fast as I could.  It took me fifteen minutes to get the wall up to three feet and except for the first bunch no more hogs wandered away.


    I got at one end of the half circle, took a deep breath and I started walking, fast; pushing my power to grow the wall.  I made it to the opposite end in about a minute and I think I had grown the wall a foot.  I turned around as quickly as I could and now went the other way.


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


    It was still an hour before dawn.  Captain Mesquida was looking out over the battlements and at the wall the Hermit was building.  A tiny few of the pigs had fled the area but George had ordered everyone to hold their fire for now.  The wall reached what looked like a meter in height when suddenly it started to increase rapidly in height.  When it was what looked like two meters tall, a pack of hogs numbering about twenty charged the growing barricade.


    George wasn¡¯t worried because the wall was thick and at six feet, surely such massive monsters would not be able to leap such a structure.  He was wrong.


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


    My tunnel was no longer a tunnel because I had used the overhead dirt to help build my wall.  My idea was to turn the pigpen into a more permanent structure later on and make it part of the planned outer barbican.  I figure waste not want not, but sometimes I can be really dumb.  The wall was at least six feet in height when I sensed a small sounder of hogs running towards it.  The dirty rat bastard fornicating pigs made it over my wall!  What were they, Olympic class hogs practicing for the high jump?  A number of them fell into my former tunnel which was now a deep ditch, a ditch which I was also in.  Luckily those that fell in my mini-moat seemed to have hurt themselves just enough, where they weren¡¯t a threat to me.


    But the fallen swine were a road block to my magically growing the far end of the wall.  I now had to stop fifty feet from the most western terminus, which forced me to put more demands on my Earth Magic in order to make the wall located there, grow higher.


    I got the wall up barely another foot before I sensed some more hogs coming at it.  This time, they didn¡¯t make it over but they came close to succeeding.  I must be fighting giant super jumping pigs.  When the wall was nine feet tall, another group tried it and again they almost made it over.  Finally I had the four hundred foot long wall, twelve feet high.  That had better stop those alligator mouthed swine because I just had to take a break.  I was exhausted, magic wise, and there was a small group of pigs, outside of my trap that I should better start worrying about.


    Figuring that the top of my new wall was the safest place for me, I used some of remaining strength to call the winds, to lift myself out of the ditch and to the top of my ten foot wide wall.  I noticed flyers overhead; I had heard the distinctive sounds of IRODs earlier, while I had been working.  I guess Storm¡¯s crew had taken care of those few hogs that had escaped.


    As for myself, I sat my butt on the new wall, and began eating some monkey jerky.  Star appeared shortly after I took my first bite; she glared at me and then stood ready with her shotgun.


    I estimated that it would take me a half an hour to recover my strength, after which I would then resume working on the barricade.  Star refused to sit down, she stood next to me while glaring at the pigs below us.  Dawn was breaking, and I could hear the hogs snuffling at the wall.  As for me, I kept my butt down with my left leg dangling off the outer lip of the wall and ate my jerky.  It was good to relax.


    I had time to scream ¡°HOLY FUCK,¡± which was immediately followed by the sounds of gnashing teeth.


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


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs was up on the wall and manning a 20mm rifle.  He breathed out a sigh of relief when the wall became too high for the Daeodon to jump over it.  Then he saw the Boss float himself to the top of the wall and sit down, apparently he needed to rest.


    Jacobs¡¯ anxiety returned.  He witnessed Lady Star teleport herself to the new wall.  But instead of sitting down, she remained standing in plain sight of the pigs down below her.  A large number of swine went to the wall near her location.


    Rich called out, ¡°Sharpshooters prepare to defend our King and the Wise One.  Aim carefully and use standard ammunition.¡±  He tightened down on his shoulder stock and followed his own words.  Someone came up beside him.


    ¡°Sergeant,¡± it was Captain Mesquida, Rich didn¡¯t take his eyes off the boar he was looking at.  ¡°What¡¯s wrong, why did you give that order?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever been to the circus, Captain?  And seen the animal trainers make the elephants stand up on their hind legs?  For that matter when those monsters screw one another in order to make little monsters they have just got to be climbing on top of each other¡¯s backs, it¡¯s only natural.  Down there is our irreplaceable King, with only a couple of feet separating him from the teeth of those prehistoric porkers, if you don¡¯t mind me saying so Captain, sometimes that man can be awfully stupid.  DAMN IT!¡±  Sergeant Jacobs shouted and then he began shooting.


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


    Lady Knight Star Astrologer didn¡¯t trust the current situation or her King.  He was acting like he was on a picnic.  Suddenly a hog stood up and lunged across the wall.  Instinctively, Star jumped backwards into empty space.  She was falling towards the ditch when she abruptly vanished.


    The Wise One reappeared in the safe room within her underground apartment.  She had diligently practiced teleporting to that location in case an emergency forced her make a sudden unplanned jump, but what about her King?  The Lady Knight ran out the door of her quarters.  Her magical energy was nearly gone because of her two most recent teleports and she was still not comfortable teleporting to a location that she could not see, unless it was to someplace like her always vacant safe room. As she ran, she started cursing her idiot of a King in all the languages that she knew.


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


    The pig that tried to eat Star had gotten its head over half way to us.  I was glad that I made the wall so thick, that I was sitting on the outside lip of it and that my pants were made of dark brown leather.  I suddenly found the energy to launch a flame strike right into the mouth that was trying to eat me.  I heard shots, I debated leaping down into the ditch and I looked around for Star, but she was gone.


    I looked in the ditch but she wasn¡¯t there.  I started calling out for her.  ¡°Star, Star, where are you Star?¡±  I don¡¯t think another pig got her, maybe she teleported out in a desperate bid to save her own life while leaving me here to be eaten?   I knew she was evil!  Nothing can stop the Queen Pin of Crime.  Now if I can lower myself down into the ditch, I can then clean and dry my pants hidden from view which will make me a happy hermit.


    Oh crud, here comes Sergeant Tornado Challenger in for a landing.  The hogs were squealing, grunting and roaring.  The sharpshooters were firing.  I only had one slim hope now, that a sharpshooter misses a shot and I¡¯m struck instead.


    After several embarrassing moments, I chased a grinning flyer away, retreated to the ditch and washed up, using a little of my Water and Fire Magic.  I rested for slightly over a half an hour and then I finally resumed working on the wall but this time at a much more reasonable rate of five minutes per foot in height.  A little over an hour later the wall was twenty-five feet tall and I figured it was time to go back to bed.  I¡¯d trust in Captain Mesquida¡¯s forces to put those huge hogs down for good.


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


    The next morning Captain Long was starting to have doubts about signing, in a few hours, the Documents of Understanding which would formally state the relationship between her command and the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  But before she could change her mind, she was greeted by Lady Star who took her on a walk to what was supposed to be her new embassy compound.  Barbara was a little puzzled by the Lady Knight¡¯s frazzled looking appearance.


    While strolling there, Star explained about how the scheduled departure for the Armory would be slightly delayed.  ¡°Captain Long, last night an unusually large number of Daeodon Giganteas, set up camp by the front gate.  Those creatures are extremely destructive and deadly so it was decided that as many of them as possible should be destroyed.  Our King succeeded in entrapping them but now we are forced to remove their bodies from the land bridge, which even with our heavy equipment will take several hours.  But do not be concerned; we expect to have a path cleared by midday.¡±


    ¡°Just wonderful,¡± thought Captain Long, she was in fact worried about the people that she had left behind but what she saw when she arrived at her new embassy astonished her, and drove all other thoughts from her head.   Because she knew for a fact, that last evening there had been absolutely nothing here but an empty field.  Now a walled rectangular compound surrounded by a deep ditch lay before her.  The walls were over twelve feet tall and four feet thick.  At each of the four corners was a guard tower almost twenty feet in height.  Inside the walls were several small stone buildings, one of which was very large.  Star began speaking as they entered the larger structure.


    ¡°This will serve as the primary entrance to your underground areas.  It also houses the majority of your bathing and toilet facilities.  Without pumps or magic it is impossible to make water flow uphill to our septic services, so we try to avoid that if at all possible.  We will be installing bathrooms underground with steam powered or wind driven pumps but we urge people to use the above ground washrooms whenever possible.  If you follow me below ground, I will show you what my King has accomplished and explain what he still has to do.¡±


    Open mouthed in amazement, Captain Long numbly followed behind.  What with her trailing position, she failed to see Lady Star¡¯s triumphant smile.


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


    I had been thinking about the snails¡¯ ceramic materials the entire time I had been doing that boring work on the U.S. Embassy last night.  And now in my workshop, after a long morning nap, I had proved to myself that my idea had been correct and that I could now manipulate the material without destroying it.  I hurried to the shop so that I could show Glen.


    He was busy talking to Scott Blaine, a blue screen, who is a skilled tool and die maker.  They both looked up as I approached.


    ¡°Hello Glen, Hello Scott, I figured out how to manipulate the ceramics that we¡¯ve been salvaging.  I am now able to turn them into something like a thick molasses syrup without destroying their structural properties once I have them re-harden.¡±


    Glen spoke, ¡°That¡¯s great boss that brings all kinds of ideas to mind and I know that Sean will be happy too, with that bit of information.  Scott and I were just talking about new body armor for our people; we kind of feel that we let Quentin down, by not equipping him with the very best.¡±


    ¡°I feel bad about his death too Glen, but we are all working as hard as we can.  Heck, I was sure that with our new walls that nothing would ever be able to surprise us but I was proven wrong yet again.  Our new world has the disgusting habit of doing that to me.¡±


    He nodded his head in agreement and resumed talking.  ¡°I was talking with George last night and we want to come up with some standard armor.  Our idea is to make it all out of one particular titanium alloy that the snails had; it¡¯s wonderful stuff and fully the equal, in terms of toughness, of our best steel armor plate but it¡¯s over forty percent lighter and it has greater heat resistance to boot. Scott knows he can make us a wire pulling machine for the titanium and he¡¯s pretty sure that he can build another machine that will turn that wire into chain mail cloth, which we can then use to manufacture suits of chain mail.  Both machines will have to be enchanted to control heat and the second machine will have to be operated in a vacuum and run by someone with fire magic but it should be feasible. And once we have one machine done and figured out, we can build a couple more of them since the machines will probably have to run pretty slowly, while forming the links and welding them shut.  But it is far better than doing it all by hand.


    On top of the chainmail, people will wear a scaled armor vest, greaves, bracers and a helmet; all made out of titanium.  Our new helmets will be more like a lobster tail design, in order to give us better neck protection, and they¡¯ll have visors constructed out of transparent aluminum.  Now that you can work with that ceramic material, except for the chainmail, we¡¯ll probably ask you to plate or paint all of the other pieces, of the new body armor, with it.


    After talking with Glen about the proposed armor, we then went to talk with Sean who was speaking with a new man that I didn¡¯t recognize.  I was soon introduced to Rufus Stokes, former M48 tank crewman and drag car racer.


    Sean began talking.  ¡°Hello Vince, we¡¯ve got some real interesting salvage we¡¯re getting off of those spiders.  For every big coilgun that they had, they also possessed two smaller ones that they didn¡¯t bother converting to steam power.  Those guns had particularly thick walls probably to withstand the massive recoil forces from their projectiles.  The smaller cannons have an I.D. of seventy-four millimeters and they are beautiful pieces of metal.  The shop here is still having problems making large pieces of precision metal and it seems to me that it would be waste not to use those smaller barrels.  I am certain that they can be bored out to a larger inner diameter.  The only problem that I can foresee is that titanium does not like to be rifled.¡±


    Glen spoke up.  ¡°Sean, the Boss has figured out how manipulate the snails¡¯ ceramics.¡±


    Sean suddenly got a big smile.  ¡°Now that is good news.  I¡¯ve been talking with Rufus here and we¡¯ve been discussing the 90mm gun that his old tank was equipped with and the benefits that size cannon would have over a 105mm.  A ninety would be lighter, use less black powder and our tanks would be able to carry more shells, as well.  To put a long story short, we want to bore out those 74mm titanium barrels, line them with the ceramics, and put rifling grooves into that material, turning those 74mm coilguns into 90mm rifled howitzers.  What do you think?¡±


    Glen spoke up before I could answer.  ¡°In my opinion, it would be a shame to waste all of those titanium barrels when they could be put to good use, especially since the existing ring grooves, which once held those magnets, are cut so deeply into the barrels, and would serve ideally in allowing a new ceramic liner an extremely firm way to ¡°grip¡± the titanium alloy.  As far as we¡¯ve been able to determine the coils within the spider gun barrels were completely unpowered, at least we¡¯ve found no wiring, instead the projectiles themselves contained what looks like a capacitor.  We¡¯ve guessed that the capacitors were charged just before they were put into the coilguns and fired.¡±


    All three men were looking at me, as if I was the father and they had done something particularly brilliant, which they were extremely proud of and that I should praise them for, assholes.   ¡°Glen, if George likes it, I¡¯ll be all for it.  I have to concede that it sounds good but our military commander has to give it his stamp of approval, too.¡±  They looked a little crestfallen but I had things to enchant to and tunnels to dig while the pigs were still being cleaned up.  So I left them, as they continued to discuss their plan and pat each other on the back.  Can you feel the love?


    I¡¯m going to let George and the other officers in the Hermit¡¯s Guard decide which cannon the shop is going to make.  I still remember hearing stories about how during WWII, American field generals were begging for a more powerful tank but they were repeatedly denied one, by some armchair generals back in the States, even though a more powerful tank had already been designed and was ready to be produced.  Senior Officers, in Washington, insisted that the M4 Sherman was good enough yet it took on average, from what I am told, three Sherman tanks to kill one German tank.  While M4 tanks might have been cheap to those people back in Washington at the time, what about all of the American tank crews that were lost?  So I am going to stay out of any decision making process regarding which munition is to be built for our military, I¡¯ll let the experts handle those things and I¡¯ll support them as best as I can, unless I come up with a really cool idea that they don¡¯t want to implement; like steam powered battle motorcycles.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    I¡¯ve got part of the next chapter done already, so I should be releasing one or more in five days or so.  I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter.


    The large sounder of Daeodon that besieged the Stronghold was actually a collection of sounders and not a single herd.  That large a group of hogs is not unknown in our world.  The Bearded Pig can form temporary sounders of three hundred members and feral hogs in North America can have sounders with one hundred swine in it, though most sounders have between six to thirty pigs.  I am certain that I¡¯ve read of temporary sounders of up to four hundred hogs but I can¡¯t find the reference at this time.


    http://www.untamedscience.com/biodiversity/bearded-pig/</a>


    http://animals.mom.me/difference-between-pig-peccary-5943.html</a>


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daeodon</a>

 Chapter 24: A Peaceful Drive Home.

    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some minor errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple messy files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the beginning of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.


    Partial Character List:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard:


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. Note: He can levitate and teleport.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest.  Note: Burgeoning Earth Mage, that¡¯s his only ability so he is working it for all that he¡¯s worth.


    Private Dominic Jackson, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


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


    Construction and Maintenance:


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building


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


    The Shop Crew:


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


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


    Motor Pool:


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers:


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running:


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


    Star Astrologer (green screen) is the Chief of the Craft-Makers, known as the Wise One.  Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production:


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply:


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department:


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research:


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # #  #


    Chapter 24: A Peaceful Drive Home.


    After her tour of the new embassy compound, Captain Long went to the Council Room to sign the official Documents of Understanding.  Captain Mesquida was there waiting for her along with another man.


    ¡°Captain Long, this is Lieutenant Boris Khan, he¡¯ll be going with us and staying behind to help with security at your base while we¡¯re getting everyone transferred; that is if it¡¯s okay with you? I must say, that since we never saw the inside of that factory complex you took over, that we were quite surprised when you told us about the number of people that you¡¯ve managed to keep alive.  We know that many have died and we grieve with you but you¡¯ve done a remarkable job with little in the way of resources.  But because of your success, it will take us five to six days to move everyone, if there are no complications.


    Sir Khan will have six fire teams, armed with repeating firearms, fifty caliber and 20mm rifles.  In addition they are also taking four, three inch Holman projectors with their required steam powered air compressors.  Those weapons are like short range mortars or grenade launchers.  While right now we only have IRODs for them, one of our shop people is very close to making a steam powered shrapnel shell.  Even so, the IRODs are quite deadly and they have been used to kill a number of Sky Krakens.¡±


    Barbara clearly had a puzzled expression on her face.  ¡°IRODs, Captain?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry for the confusion, that stands for ¡®Iron Rod of Death,¡¯ it is an aerodynamic wooden shell that contains an iron rod which has been enchanted and loaded with heat energy.  After passing through an arming ring, if an IROD hits anything with sufficient force, it will detonate and instantly release all of the heat energy that it holds. Once primed, they are generally safe enough to drop from five feet or be launched through a driving rain but anything more than that can get kind of dangerous.¡±


    Lieutenant Khan spoke next.  ¡°I¡¯m a beginning Earth Mage, as is the Captain, though we¡¯re not even close to being in the same league as our King.  I was talking to his Majesty last night while we were working on your new compound.  He too was surprised at your number of survivors.  As a consequence, he has authorized us to take along a number of his enchanted Earth Stones.   He will use them to construct walls around your current base, to better protect us all during this transition phase.¡±


    Barbara found her doubts being chiseled away.  She still felt like she may be betraying her oath but this kind of aid was worth facing a firing squad.


    With barely a sign of her former reluctance she signed the documents.  And shortly before noon they were exiting the Southern Gate.  Barbara thought she couldn¡¯t have any more surprises that day, but she was wrong.  What greeted her eyes were the corpses of hundreds of giant monsters, almost as large as an adult African elephant.  Workers were quite casually going about the task of moving and butchering the immense creatures.


    She knew that there had been some disturbance last night that the Stronghold had viewed as a minor wild boar attack but at the most she had expected fifty or so swine and for them to be no more than half the size of the monsters, that she was currently seeing.


    The huge hogs distracted her to such a degree that she completely missed the new wall until they stopped before it.   What yesterday she would have considered a marvel of defensive engineering, now after seeing the Stronghold; she only considered it a modest barricade.  Still it was impressive, being at least twenty-five feet tall and somewhat less than five hundred feet in total length.


    Barbara was again riding in the T800 along with the Hermit King.  Upon reaching the new wall, the ramp was lowered to let him out.  He descended and put his hand against the barrier.  Before her very eyes a section of the structure began to melt.  In slightly over five minutes, there was a gap there almost twenty feet wide.  Driving through the gap she was astonished to see how thick the new wall really was.


    The vehicles all drove through and on the other side they paused again.  Lady Star explained.  ¡°Since our King only put up that wall last night we¡¯ve had no time to construct and install a gate.  While other Earth Mages could make a doorway in it, no other could do it as swiftly as the Hermit King.   He now needs to reclose that door to give those toiling inside a safe place in which to work.¡±  Several minutes later the unkempt, slightly short, burly Monarch returned to the truck.


    They were just six miles away from the armory when a group of screaming and crying people bolted out of a partially wrecked roadside home trying to flag them down.


    The convoy pulled over and stopped, the grateful people were greeted and the situation explained to them.  After which the new group, happily walked up the ramp to board the C500¡¯s trailer.


    Upon arriving at the old factory Captain Long was horrified to see the building being repeatedly rammed by a herd of giant rhinos.  The huge beasts seemed to be enraged; she saw one large creature standing over what looked to be the corpse of a much smaller rhinoceros.


    The armored vehicles quickly got into action.  She heard Sergeant Jacobs call out.  ¡°Use the enchanted rounds; we need to put them down fast.  Go for head shots if you can, you¡¯ll waste less meat that way.¡±


    The sharpshooters started firing and where their bullets struck; flesh exploded and disappeared.  It was all over in little more than five minutes.


    The Hermit¡¯s Guard secured the area and then she and the Hermit King disembarked from the T800.


    She heard cheers coming from the old factory building and she saw her Senior Lieutenant Jay Nichols push his way through an obvious makeshift barricade that was patching a hole in the southern wall of the old structure.  When she had left two days ago, there had been no large hole in that wall.


    She greeted the man.  ¡°Hello Jay, what¡¯s been going on?¡±


    ¡°As you know our food stocks have been running low, Corporal Lewis saw a small isolated rhino and decided to get us some meat without first asking permission.  She had no reason to know that the rhino she saw was only a baby and that its family was nearby.   It¡¯s a good thing that you showed up when you did, they¡¯ve only been attacking for less than a half an hour and despite everything that we were doing to stop them they would have broken inside soon.¡±


    ¡°Jay, I need to meet with our senior people and then address everyone.  I made an agreement and you might not like it.¡±  Looking worried because of her words; the Lieutenant nodded his head and ran off to arrange things for his Captain.  Barbara turned to look at the Guard; a number of them were bringing out what looked like chainsaws.  She had seen similar tools being used earlier to butcher the giant pigs.  She mused, that Corporal Lewis was probably going to get her wish and find out what rhino meat really tasted like.


    She saw other Royal Soldiers disconnecting the trailer from the C500.  Barbara knew that as quickly as they could manage it, the soldiers would be hooking their semi-truck up to one of her; no, the Hermit King¡¯s new Oshkosh 1070.  The plan was for them to race back to the Stronghold with it, so that their machine shop could immediately start the conversion process.  It was possible that by working twenty-four hours a day, that they might have it ready in three or four days, which would greatly aid in getting everyone and everything moved to the Stronghold.  Hopefully by the time the C500 returned along with its escort she would have her first load of fifty people ready to go.


    Before walking back inside the old factory, she took one more glance around the old parking lot and saw the Hermit directing where to emplace some of his Earth Stones. With how shabby her building was looking, the wall that he would soon build would be a greatly appreciated.


    Ten minutes later she was addressing Lieutenant Nichols, Lieutenant Kellie Cross, Sergeant First Class Patrick White, Staff Sergeants Lindsay Collier and Bernard Ballard.  ¡°What I have agreed to may very well get me shot but what with our current situation, I feel that I have no other choice.  I will give you all written orders to protect you as best as I can however it may not be enough to save you from a court martial.


    As I told you before I left, that short broad shouldered man out there is an orange screen and his title is Hermit King.  I have been to his kingdom and while it is small, I was still impressed nonetheless.  He has built a fortress with walls over forty feet in height which enclose and protect almost ninety acres of land.  The whole thing is surrounded by a deep moat.  They have food, water, shelter, security, warmth, steam engines, repeating firearms, tanks, greenhouses, farm animals, two other intelligent species and most importantly the Hermit King, without him everything falls apart.   He is a grumpy cantankerous man who drives a hard bargain but he also seems to be honorable and according to the stories that I have heard, self-sacrificing.


    He has agreed to permit us to live in a five acre embassy enclave within his fortress, they¡¯ve already started construction on it and by using magic it should be completed in a few days. We will be provided with food, water and other daily necessities.  In turn, we will be required to work with them in defending the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge and on other projects for the common good.


    They will convert both of our Strykers to steam power as well as eight of our trucks.  The Hermit King will personally enchant all of our 105mm howitzers so that they will be able to fire shells loaded with black powder.


    However, there is a cost for them to do all that for us.  For transporting us all to their Stronghold, which is a perilous task, building our enclave, converting our vehicles, enchanting our cannons and providing our daily necessities besides our full cooperation, they want eight of our vehicles and,¡± Barbara took a deep breath, ¡°two of the 105mm howitzers for their own use.¡±


    Her lieutenants though they had shocked expressions remained silent, they knew how desperate their situation truly was; it was SFC Patrick White who spoke up.  ¡°Captain, you¡¯re telling us that the shabby man out there is some kind of King?  That he has established a tiny Kingdom on U.S. soil and he wants two of our artillery pieces?  If we go along with that, despite your written orders, we¡¯ll be lucky if we only get locked up.¡±


    ¡°Sergeant, I don¡¯t like it either but we have a duty to protect U.S. citizens.  We are long overdue for the promised resupply and reinforcements.  Agreed, we might get locked up.  Hell, we might even be shot but if don¡¯t do something soon; some monsters are going to eat all of us for lunch.  I have already signed a Document of Understanding with his Royal Council.  While we are living there we abide by their rules and if we cannot do that, we will be asked to leave.  If we decide that we are going to come into conflict with them, then we must exit the Stronghold first.  The only reason that we were delayed in getting here today was because of the corpses of over three hundred huge monsters that were blocking their front gate.  Thirty monsters of a similar size almost ended your lives today; to the Hermit¡¯s Guard those monsters that they are cleaning up in our parking lot right now, are nothing more than a minor inconvenience which represent a windfall of tasty meat.


    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    We have over six hundred people that are looking to us for salvation and I feel like we have no choice but to accept his offer.  By making this bargain with King Standish we have a chance that all the men, women and children here; have a chance at living for another year. That man has an orange screen and we¡¯ve all come to learn and trust what the different screen colors mean.  He might be rude and slightly insane but he¡¯s honorable and powerful.  If you have a plan that will guarantee, that we¡¯ll make it alive to tomorrow morning then I am I all ears, because King Vincent has such a plan and he¡¯s already implementing it.


    Six fire teams, armed with large bore rifles, loaded with enchanted bullets and led by one of his Knights will stay here with us, until we¡¯ve all been transferred.  What¡¯s more they have four steam powered grenade launchers with them which shoot enchanted shells.  Right now the Hermit King is out there magically building a stone wall around this place and he¡¯ll have it done before dark.  Yes, we are giving up two M119 howitzers but right now they don¡¯t work.  If we don¡¯t take this deal, all the Hermit¡¯s Guard has to do, is to wait a month for us all to be dead and then waltz in and take everything they want, it will be easier for them too.¡±


    Reluctantly Sergeant White agreed, later Captain Long addressed everyone and while there were some people who disbelieved her tale about a great fortress, everyone was so desperate that they willingly decided to follow her plan.


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


    All the vehicles were gone and I was left behind with Sir Khan, his platoon and a wall to build.  This was my first real attempt at building something not on my land and it was a lot more work than I had been expecting it to be.  I was attempting to build four walls, all in excess of four hundred feet in length, six feet thick and over twenty feet high.  But not only could I do more on my own land but I recovered faster there too. I had been at it for over two hours now and I barely had these walls six inches high but that didn¡¯t include the four feet of compressed rock which I had made for the wall¡¯s foundation.  Even with the aid of my Earth Stones I might be staying here tonight.  Thanks to the rhinos, the factory was now a wreck.  Boris and a few other Earth Mages in his platoon were patching the building but it was still going to be in sorry shape.  I still find it amazing that they have over six hundred survivors crammed into that place.


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


    Captain George Mesquida was in the Hellcat at the tail end of the convoy.  They had found out through experience that it was best to keep their big gun, the Sherman tank at the front. He was scanning his surroundings, when he heard a blast of the T800¡¯s air horn.  He saw Lieutenant Night Storm riding on the vehicle¡¯s roof.  She was gesticulating and pointing off into the sky behind him.


    What he saw made him curse, another new group of bloody damn monsters.  But they were some of the weirdest looking creatures he ever thought could exist. He put his binoculars on them, hoping that his appraisal skill would work from that distance.


    Dimorphodon Giganteas is an omnivorous predator.  It has four legs, a body length of up to three meters and a wing span greater than six point two meters.  The animal despite having wings attached to its front legs or arms is able to run on all four limbs for long distances.  When on the ground its wings fold back along its body like a stiff cloak.  They are sprint flyer and are unable to stay aloft for long periods of time without the aid of updrafts. While running they can maintain a speed of over sixty kilometers per hour.  They are able to fly for brief intervals in excess of ninety kilometers per hour.  Their primary form of locomotion when chasing down prey or running from larger predators; is a pattern of run, hop, fly, run, hop, and fly; repeating that sequence until they are successful.  Dimorphodon has a strange multi-colored beak.  Body coloration varies from a drab brown, to molted green, to sky blue for some rare individuals.  The last case might be akin to albinism. Packs of Dimorphodon Giganteas generally contain fifteen to thirty members.


    George was grateful for the information but despite the new knowledge that he had just received he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that they were being pursued by a pack of wolves.  He wished Grace¡¯s new steam explosive shells were ready but she was still calibrating how much heat energy was needed and how thick to make the shell casings.


    The T800 was loaded with passengers and towing a trailer which made it difficult to turn around and face this new threat.  Not having any better idea, using simple horn signals, George ordered the convoy to maintain its pace while preparing for an attack from the rear.  He then rotated the Hellcat¡¯s turret to face the rear.  He shot at the monsters with the 20mm rifle mounted next to his hatch, while the gun crew started firing canister shot from the 50mm cannon. At less than two thousand yards the monsters were in theoretical range of both weapons. The fifty millimeter cannon on the Hellcat went to rapid fire which was five rounds per minute.


    The first round of canister shot did nothing because of the extreme range but the flapping beasts had twice the speed of the convoy and were soon within range of the fifty millimeter cannon¡¯s shotgun like rounds. Eighteen, fifty caliber balls blasted out at the hopping flock.  For the first time in George¡¯s experience the large gun performed above his expectations, four of the sixteen monsters went down and he could see that a fifth might have been wounded.


    As for himself he was getting frustrated with his marksmanship.  He was still trying to live down his abysmal performance against the Sky Krakens the other day. But today, he was facing smaller targets from a moving platform, and with three shots, he had only succeeded in scratching one Dimorphodon¡¯s wing.  He was just deciding if he should button up the Hellcat or not, when the cannon fired once more.


    This time the cannon performed as he had originally expected.  It only succeeding in hitting one creature and that monster remained in pursuit.  George descended into the Hellcat and closed the hatch.


    The fifty millimeter fired yet again, one monster fell and another was wounded.  Unlike the Sherman tank, the Hellcat did not have a 20mm rifle that could be fired from inside the vehicle.  Nor did the tank destroyer have any firing slits for their personal weapons.  The crew of the armored vehicle was now relegated to shooting at targets of opportunity with the cannon but the monsters were so close and swift that those opportunities for a good shot; did not happen all that often.


    Lady Night Storm had retreated inside the T800; she chafed at her orders to avoid aerial combat whenever possible.  She appreciated the sentiment about keeping her and her people safe but it was frustrating nonetheless.  The armored truck was crowded, what with eighteen refugees, eight flyers and their eight attendants but all firing slits were armed and ready, when the leaping flying lizards broke around the Hellcat and then the trailer that the T800 was towing.


    The heavily modified, former dump-truck had no firing slits to the rear so they had to wait until their side guns could bear on the enemy.  Lieutenant Storm wasn¡¯t personally afraid, because she doubted that the attacking monsters could make it past even the outer layer of steel armor on the truck but she was worried that the beasts would inconvenience the convoy by destroying a tire or two.  It would be especially bad if one of the 590¡¯s tires was wrecked since they had no spares for those tires.


    There were eight 20mm rifles in the T800, all were manned and for once Lady Knight Night; was one of the sharpshooters since she had decided to make the best of a bad situation.  For the first salvo only four rifles could fire, they succeeded in disabling or killing two and wounding a third.  Six rifles had targets for the second fusillade.  They killed a monster, finished off the wounded beast and wounded another.  Now, all eight rifles had beasts in their sights, and another three of the leaping lizards were removed from the battle and one more was wounded. At that point, the four still living Dimorphodons decided that maybe these large strange moving creatures weren¡¯t prey after all and perhaps their best course of action was to run, hop and fly away; which they succeeded in doing.


    Since that attack, the convoy had driven another eighteen miles towards home.  Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas was standing up in the commander¡¯s hatch of the M4.  On his left he saw some large stone boulders, which were over two hundred feet away, the strange thing was that he couldn¡¯t recall ever seeing so many large rocks in that location before?  He shrugged his shoulders, it was not his job to be concerned about inanimate landscape features; he was supposed to keep alert for monsters.  He turned his eyes back to the road in front of the Sherman.


    Suddenly there was a deafening clang on the left side of the turret which made the whole tank shake.  Sharp fragments of stone flew into and by his face. He looked to his left to see what was happening and blanched.  He screamed out ¡°GIANTS!  ACTION LEFT,¡± as he twisted the 20mm rifle around to bear on the approaching foes that were charging towards the convoy.


    Chester Fletcher was driving the 590 that he used to own.  Instead of a 100 hp diesel engine, the tractor now had a 200 hp steam engine.  Additionally, the cab of the vehicle had been heavily armored using steel and compressed stone. There was an inner and outer layer of three quarter inch steel plate, and a middle layer which was made of two inches of compressed stone.  The four inch thick windows were constructed out of transparent aluminum and steel shutters could be closed over them, reducing possible weak points to only a narrow vision slit.  Behind the driver¡¯s seat, a gunner¡¯s stand had been added on.  The gunner or sharpshooter had their head and shoulders in a manually operated turret made of steel and four inches of transparent aluminum, the weapon installed was a 20mm rifle.  When the backhoe portion of the tractor was in use, the gunner was forced to leave their stand but for normal driving operations that location was manned.


    Chester nearly loaded his underpants when he saw the strange boulders unfurl, becoming giant humanoids and start throwing rocks at the Sherman and his own tractor too.  He jerked the tractor to the right, trying to make the small boulder that was coming his way, miss his cab; while silently praying that the magical enhancements that the Hermit had placed on the 590, lived up to all their hype.


    Sergeant Vargas got off a hurried panicked shot; the creatures were running straight towards him which greatly improved his odds.  The first enchanted bullet blew the left arm off of one huge monster.  He racked in a second cartridge, mentally thanking the Hermit King and the shop for the fact that he didn¡¯t have to manually prime this type of rifle anymore.


    Private Jackson had seen action on the Stronghold¡¯s walls many times now.  While many hated the new world and he still feared it.  His own self-image had been bolstered when he found that he had the makings of a natural marksman.  He got off his first shot before the incoming rock hit the tractor that he was riding in.  It was standing procedure that all suitable weapons were always loaded with enchanted bullets or shells, it was thought that if you needed enchanted ammunition, then you needed it right now and not after you changed what was previously in your weapon.  Dominic was gratified to see that his shot had taken the head clean off of the monster that had thrown the rock at the Sherman tank.


    He only had a microsecond to be elated because after that, a thrown rock hit the left front wheel of the tractor.  The vehicle started to lean to the side.  Chester knew that at the very least, that the tire had been destroyed.  He hit the brakes and dropped the front bucket to stabilize the loader/backhoe.   The loss of electricity meant that vehicles no longer had break lights, it was soon discovered how necessary they were for driving safely while in a convoy.  The Stronghold had two solutions for that particular problem; both used a simple mechanical linkage.  The first and more primitive method caused a bright red flag to be raised; the second and preferred solution opened a small shutter that masked an enchanted light bulb within a modified brake light assembly.


    The driver of the C500 which was towing the Oshkosh truck and following the 590; heard the shot, saw the rock hit the tractor and quickly drove the rig around the right side of the 590 when she saw it stop with its brake flag raised.  She cursed the fact that the cab of her truck, as of yet, hadn¡¯t been equipped with a turret like the 590.  The C500 currently only had three gun slits which were only good for personal weapons.  Deciding that forward was her only option she also drove to the right of the Sherman, in an attempt to break out of the ambush.  She figured that if she got clear, those other vehicles could concentrate on their own safety rather than having to defend her truck.


    Sergeant Vargas got off his second shot as the turret slew around.  He saw that the 590 had been disabled and he yelled out and order to his tank¡¯s driver to position their vehicle between the monsters and the tractor.  There was one problem with that order; he doubted that his driver would be able to do it in time, to save the crew of the loader/backhoe.  Jeffrey mumbled a bad word, when he saw that his most recent shot had again only succeeded in blowing off the right arm of a different monster, however both monsters that he had shot were down and rapidly bleeding out.


    Captain Mesquida heard the clang and the first rifle shot.  Turning his head from the rear, he saw the huge humanoids.  He didn¡¯t want to get too close so he ordered the Hellcat to stop and take the creatures under fire.  After issuing his orders he appraised one of the monstrosities.


    Devolved Stone Giants: These creatures are not actually covered in stone but instead grow a natural armor that has the appearance of stone.  This species of humanoid giant is not sentient but they are the magically warped descendants of the Greater Stone Giants which were/are sentient. DSGs can grow as tall as six meters but some genetic throwbacks can be as much as ten or even eleven meters tall.  They are extremely tough and strong, but as a consequence of their extreme weight they are not particularly fast though they can briefly sprint up to fifteen kilometers per hour.  An adult DSG can pick up as much as 7,750 kilograms. They seek foods that are rich in calcium and enjoy eating bones. They normally ambush their prey and despite lacking sentience, they instinctively use rocks and clubs as weapons and they are also able to dig crude pit traps.  A family of them will typically contain five to twenty individuals.


    George was already firing his rifle at those monsters charging towards the disabled 590.  He had large slow ground targets before him and the Hellcat was stopped, this sort of situation was much more to his liking. He fired of one round which hit a monster in the right hip.  While a fatal wound because of the amount of damage that the enchanted 20mm bullet did, it was not where he had been aiming for.  He muttered a curse.


    Dominic fired again but it was just as Chester did something with the tractors front bucket which caused the whole vehicle to move and threw off Private Jackson¡¯s aim.  The result being that he missed.


    Because of their limited view, the sharpshooters in the T800 were late in getting into action but finally all four of them on the left side fired nearly as one.  Only one shot hit but it took of the head of the giant it had struck.


    The Sherman tank fired its main gun, but it was not exactly the easiest weapon to fire accurately when both it and its target were moving.  The 75mm enchanted shell missed in a spectacular fashion. Deciding that any hit was better than nothing at all, the crew reloaded with one inch grape shot.


    Captain Mesquida fired and his second shot blew off the right shoulder of one of the creatures.  A split second later, the Hellcat fired its cannon for the first time in this particular battle.  They followed the Sherman¡¯s example and failed miserably.  The gun crew of the vehicle also independently decided to load one inch grape shot for their next attempt, deciding that fifty caliber canister shot would be too small against this literally giant sized foe.


    The shots from the convoy had killed the monsters closest to it, while temporarily slowing and confusing the rest of the giants.  But DSGs were now next to the Sherman and the 590.  Sergeant Vargas snaked his way back down into the turret, pulling the hatch closed behind him.  A huge creature ran right into the tank and was rather surprised when its charge failed to do much of anything to the armored vehicle, except shove it to the side for a few feet.


    Meanwhile, Dominic got off one more shot before a monster piled into the tractor, knocking it over onto its side.  His shot blew off the right leg of a second monster preventing it from also ramming the loader/backhoe.


    Chester was buckled in, and while he was slightly dazed he was okay for the moment.  Dominic was badly bruised and acquired a knot on the side of his head but other than that, he too was fine.


    George¡¯s next shot struck the pelvis of a monster, separating its legs from the rest of its body.


    The sharpshooters in the T800 fired again.  Two shots hit, blowing off the left arm and left leg on two different giants.


    The driver of the Sherman had turned the tank in order to position it, so he could drive the armored vehicle back to protect the disabled 590, as a result his co-driver was now able to engage the enemy with the 20mm rifle located in the Sherman¡¯s bow ball mount.  Taking her time she aimed carefully and successfully shot the giant that was pounding on the 590.  The enchanted bullet removed a major portion of the creature¡¯s torso.


    A rock was thrown and hit the driver¡¯s door of the T800, the over thirty-five pound stone, traveling at almost seventy miles per hour put a large dent in the enchanted steel armor but luckily no more than that.


    Sir Mesquida had another giant in his sights and again nailed a monster in its pelvis.  If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was killing the monsters, he would have been quite angry with his marksmanship, he promised himself that he would get the Hellcat¡¯s 20mm rifle checked for accuracy upon his return to the Stronghold.  He just hoped that there really was something wrong with the rifle.


    The Sherman¡¯s crew fired its first load of canister shot at the monster that was beating on their tank.  They discovered that a load of grape shot fired at point blank range did an excellent job of turning the torso of a giant into a disintegrating cloud of bloody mush.


    The soldiers in the T800 fired once more, this time in a series of shots instead of a single salvo.  They really wanted the monster that had dared to hit their ride with a rock.  That particular monster also had its torso blown apart while a second giant had its head taken off.


    The Hellcat fired again, four of the one inch balls struck four different monsters.  Causing moderate wounds on two, severely wounding a third and scratching a fourth.


    There were only five surviving giants on their feet and what had happened was enough to put fear into the creatures.  Only one of their foes was down while fifteen of their own family/pack was dead or dying.  The monsters turned away from the battle and attempted to lumber away.  Too bad for them, that none of the Hermit¡¯s Guard had any difficulty at all with shooting them in the back.  None of the giants successfully made their escape.


    The Sherman was immediately dispatched to catch up with the virtually unarmed C500 which was sitting an eighth of a mile down the road.  A flight of four flyers took to the skies, to provide a local over watch while the rest of them all saw to the fate of the two that had been manning the tipped over 590.


    The eighteen refugees that had been picked up earlier had been terrified during the short battle but now they were overjoyed after seeing the Hermit¡¯s Guard victorious in a fight against such huge creatures.  It had been the refugees¡¯ experience that when humans went up against monsters, the monsters generally won.  The convoy¡¯s encounter with the Stone Giants had certainly lasted no more than seven minutes and probably less than five but the battle¡¯s very brevity, had underscored the Hermit¡¯s Guards abilities even when surprised.


    Chester and Dominic emerged from the tractor¡¯s cab to subdued happy cheers from the gathered soldiers.  Chester performed a quick inspection on the damaged loader/backhoe.  While he was doing that, others removed the firestone, rifle and associated 20mm ammunition, from the disabled vehicle.


    After a delay of almost twenty minutes they were back on the road.  Captain Mesquida was beginning to have serious doubts about being able to make the return trip to the Armory today, since it was already past four in the afternoon and night time excursions were extremely unwise and against the operational procedures that he and the Council had agreed upon.


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


    It was dusk now and I was hoping that the convoy had stayed home, if it hadn¡¯t Captain Mesquida and I would have words like, YOU¡¯RE FIRED!  The barrier that I was building was nowhere near how high I wanted it to be.  Because the wall was so long and I was off my own land, it was taking me twenty-five minutes to engender every foot of vertical growth.  What with having to build a strong foundation for the wall, the result was that after four hours of work, it wasn¡¯t even six feet tall.  I could possibly empty my magical energy reserves into it and jump the wall another two and half of feet in height but such an act could leave us defenseless while I took at least an hour to fully recover.  By matching the magic that I expended with my magical energy recovery rate, I was able to keep my energy levels up while still making progress with the wall but it was so damn slow.


    Boris came out to talk with me.  ¡°Boss it¡¯s starting to get dark, don¡¯t you think you better come inside?  I¡¯ve been talking with Captain Long.  She¡¯s informed me that for the past two months now, human night-stalkers have been attacking them almost nightly.  Those monsters should be coming out anytime and your wall isn¡¯t high enough to slow them down by much.¡±


    ¡°That species of night-stalker can¡¯t fly; they seem to be only a little stronger and faster than normal humans.  Let me push the wall up to over seven feet, that should stop some of them or slow them down enough, that it will make it easier for us to kill them.¡±


    He nodded his head and kept pace with me, as I walked quickly alongside the stone barricade, dumping about half of my energy into it.  Less than ten minutes later we were inside the factory and I was blocking the entrance we had just used with summoned stoned wall.


    I knew one thing, the inside of the factory stunk with the smell of unwashed humanity.  The building was now lit with mage lights but not at many as I would have liked.  They should have some incandescent bulbs lying around here someplace; perhaps I could enchant a few more later on, after I recovered a little bit.


    ¡°Boss, I¡¯ve got two fire teams down here on the first floor for interior security, that¡¯s in case something breaks in.  On the second floor, there is one fire team stationed along each of the exterior walls.  If what Captain Long told us is true, I find it amazing that they¡¯ve held out for so long with less than fifty percent casualties.¡±


    We were soon joined by a young girl wearing a ragged military uniform.  ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m Private Shelly Hines.  I¡¯ve been assigned to you as your aide and escort while you¡¯re here. If there is anything that I can do, please ask.¡±


    ¡°First I need to speak with Captain Long; then I need as many old fashioned incandescent bulbs as you can dig up.  With those bulbs, I can make more mage lights which will reveal any Night Stalkers that their radiance falls upon.¡±


    Private Hines¡¯s eyes got very wide for a minute, she chirped ¡°Reeaally?¡±  Like a schoolgirl who had just been given a diamond ring by her favorite movie or singing idol.


    ¡°Yes really, I¡¯ve been making them for over four months now.  But make sure that they are incandescent bulbs and not fluorescents, halogens, or LCDs because they won¡¯t work.¡±


    On the second floor, we found Captain Long looking out a window.  ¡°Hello Captain, I¡¯m sorry that I didn¡¯t get the wall any higher.  I wasn¡¯t expecting to have to build such a long wall nor was I fully conscious about how much more difficult it is, for me to use magic outside of my own Kingdom.¡±


    She turned to face me.  ¡°Well, I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m not a little disappointed, you were talking about constructing a twenty or even twenty-five foot wall but to surround us with a barricade over sixteen hundred feet long and five feet wide in slightly over four hours is still a pretty amazing thing to do.  What do you think happened to the convoy?¡±


    ¡°As you already know, we don¡¯t travel at night if we can possibly help it.  I expect that the Captain got delayed and decided that he would not be able to make another round trip today.  If there has been some kind of calamity, we¡¯ll probably see a flyer tomorrow who will explain things to us.  At that point, we will have to make other plans but the Hermit¡¯s Guard is pretty battle hardened, it would take a lot to defeat them.¡±


    I looked out through the window and over the wall that I had just built.  I could see shapes scurrying in the darkness, lots of shapes.  Suddenly I felt like maybe I hadn¡¯t brought along enough ammunition with me and I began to fervently hope that Lieutenant Khan and his fire teams had extra.  Boris had enchanted floodlights and spotlights shining down upon the parking lot that was encircling the old factory but there was certainly not as much illumination as I would have liked out there.


    Coinciding with that last thought, a breathless Private with a troop of younger children came running into the room with boxes of old light bulbs.  She needed the help, some of the bulbs were quite large and of a variety that I hadn¡¯t seen in years.  One type was an extremely large fifteen hundred watt bulb built into a metal reflective housing, the sort that used to be suspended high off of factory floors in the old days.


    I let Boris and the Captain talk; I was not a professional military person.  Instead I broke away from them and began inspecting bulbs.  Of the twenty-five giant bulbs, only three of them were still any good.  Using some magic and the tip of my knife, I engraved the metal base of the first one, charged it and then activated the light, which might have been a bad idea, since the brightness was absolutely blinding.  Private Hines went off to search for aluminum foil.  Boris took the light from me and added it to those shining down upon the parking lot.  Sporadic gunfire broke out from the northern side of the building.  Boris left to see what was going on, I resumed enchanting light bulbs.


    That night made feel like I was living through a zombie apocalypse.  If the old factory hadn¡¯t have been built as stoutly as it was, Captain Long¡¯s command would never have survived for so many months with no support.


    According to Boris, each Guardsman was issued with 150 rounds of ammunition for their rifle.  By the time dawn came, they had all gone through slightly more than eighty percent of their personal allotments and those soldiers didn¡¯t miss very often.  I had been busy throughout the night enchanting bulbs and healing sore shoulders bruised from the recoil of those powerful rifles.  The fifty caliber and twenty millimeter rifles had been barely used; too much overkill for our current foe.


    When the sun rose, the parking lot that surrounded the building was covered with Night Stalker bodies.


    Surprisingly, a great number of those people that had been living here had been able to sleep last night.  I was actually told by Private Hines that they found the sound of such rapid and frequent gunfire to be reassuring.  As for me, I wanted a nap.  I snuck out to the C500¡¯s trailer, rolled out a foam pad and went to sleep after telling Private Hines to wake me in two hours.


    Captain Long had two hundred people outside moving bodies.  All of the corpses that didn¡¯t have obvious fatal wounds had their heads bashed in with a fire axe.  Then the bodies were stacked in small piles about the parking lot, creating clear lanes for people to walk.  Two hours later the clean up was almost done.


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


    The convoy, minus the 590, was heading for home again.  Six miles down the road, Jeffrey Vargas saw people frantically waving from the second floor of a mostly demolished large house.  The building was being pounded apart by another family of Devolved Stone Giants.


    The M4 tank stopped with its bow pointed toward the giants so that all three of its guns, could take the monsters under fire.  The C500 parked behind the tank while the T800 pulled up alongside the Sherman.


    There were only ten of the creatures this time and all of the armored vehicles had sufficient time to position themselves properly while gunners took careful aim.  The short battle was over in less than four minutes and it only lasted that long because the M18 Hellcat had to reposition itself in order to kill the last two giants.


    Sixteen more refugees were rescued from that home, after which the convoy made it back to the Stronghold without anymore encounters.  They only had one problem, how to get through the new wall without their King?


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Oshkosh M1070


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter</a>


    Case 590, Loader/Backhoe, Construction Tractor


    http://www.casece.com/en_us/Equipment/Loader-Backhoes/Pages/590-SuperN.aspx</a>


    Armored Version of Case Loader/Backhoe


    http://thedealerconnection.org/2008/11/03/case-delivers-first-50-armored-backhoe-loaders-to-u-s-army-for-deployment-to-southwest-asia/</a>


    YouTube demonstration of a drop test onto a rugged steel plate, this impact or collision demonstration is within the ballpark of the DSGs thrown rocks.  It was my thought that the DSGs would select rocks based on which ones they could throw the fastest.  So I made estimates based on scaling up a baseball using the monster¡¯s base strength as the multiplier.  That resulted in a rock weighing around sixteen kilograms.  I mentioned in the story that DSGs are slower than humans, so I maxed out their throwing speed at seventy miles per hour or 31.3 meters/second.  Resulting in an impact that should look something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IqTa3Qo4q8</a>


    I didn¡¯t fudge things to match this video; I found the video after I calculated everything out.  At first I thought the convoy was screwed when twenty DSGs ambushed them.  I was surprised when the Guard got off so lightly but armor and enchanted bullets proved to be a heck of an equalizer.

 Chapter 25: Larger Than Life

    Partial Character List, Version 2:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some minor errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the beginning of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.


    People with assigned jobs: 550


    Note: Many people help out where ever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Unassigned: 172


    Partial Character List, Version 2:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (256):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate and teleport.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Private Dominic Jackson, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (60):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building


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


    The Shop Crew (80):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


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


    Motor Pool (20):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


    Star Astrologer (green screen) is the Chief of the Craft-Makers, known as the Wise One.  Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (76):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (15):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (12):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (26):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors.


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants  SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


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


    Miscellaneous:


    Name: Nina Rivera


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    # # # # # # # # # # # # #  #


    This chapter was a pain to write, the next one is too.  I¡¯m not saying that they are any good.  I¡¯ll let my readers be the judge of that; the chapters were difficult because of the number of encounters and the new things that I had to figure out so that incidents were more believable (at least to me).  I¡¯ve put some notes at the end explaining my reasoning for certain things; it¡¯s there if you want to read it.


    I plan on doing at least one more chapter before switching back to Swamp Boy.  There is a lot of new stuff in my head that I have to write down before I forget.


    If you spot any flaws please point them out, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 25: Larger Than Life


    The Sherman tank took station off to the side of the gravel road and a hundred feet away from the new wall.  Since it was the toughest armored vehicle that the Guard possessed it was always first out of the gate and last in.


    The T800 pulled to stop just short of the ditch that ran along the outside perimeter of the new barrier.  The driver, of the truck, turned and shouted back into the passenger compartment.  ¡°Lady Night, we¡¯ve arrived but we need someone to open a hole in the wall for us.¡±


    Suddenly Night Storm stopped talking with her attendant.  Her eyes grew large and she said a very bad word in her native language, followed by.   ¡°Let me speak with the Captain first and then I¡¯ll fly inside to arrange for an opening.¡±  In a very soft voice she added, ¡°I hope.¡±


    The C500 pulled up and then the Hellcat.  After descending from the rear ramp from the T800, Lady Night walked over to the Hellcat.  Captain Mesquida was standing up in the commander¡¯s hatch of the tracked vehicle.


    ¡°Captain, my driver just asked me to open a hole in that wall.  How are we going to do that?¡±


    George looked down at her, did a face palm, and muttered something about ¡°Ah crap, I¡¯m never going to be able to live this down.¡±  He then took a deep breath and spoke to her.  ¡°Well I guess your clan members won¡¯t have any difficulty but the rest of us might have to use ladders.  Why don¡¯t you go inside and see if Mack or Glen; have any ideas.  We¡¯ve got about an hour and a half before dark and I¡¯d like everyone inside the Stronghold before then even if we have to abandon the vehicles.¡±


    Lady Night nodded her head and after a brief flight she landed just inside the new barricade.  She was surprised to see that part of the interior wall now had a large patch made out of what looked like aluminum.


    She saw Glen and Mack admiring the new patch with big smiles on their faces. Upon seeing Lieutenant Storm they walked over to speak with her.  Mack was the first to talk.  ¡°Hello Night, what to do you think about our new gate?  All we need is for the boss to cut a new hole in the wall and it¡¯ll be ready for service.   Glen had a brilliant idea which we implemented.  We used some of the snail¡¯s smashed aluminum along with two hydraulic spider legs.  The legs are sunk deep into the ground and attached to the wall to stabilize them.  When we turn a valve the legs go up, lifting the gate with them and when we release pressure, the gate glides right back down.  It¡¯s pretty slick, if I do say so myself and we were able to use a lot of spider parts with very little modification, in fact the gate is made up of a section of arachnid hull consisting of all three layers, so it¡¯s pretty darn tough.  So where¡¯s the Boss?¡±


    Glen was beaming with pride because of the success of his idea, sometimes things just click together and the new gate was an excellent example of that.


    Lady Night on the other hand grew embarrassed.  In a very soft voice she said.  ¡°We left him behind at the Armory because he needed to finish the defensive wall he was making for them.¡±


    Glen shouted.  ¡°YOU, WHAT?!!  Have you all gone insane?  Vince hasn¡¯t locked this new wall yet like he did the Stronghold but even so, attaching those spider legs took Mack and me over a minute per hole, for each of the sixteen attachment points, which we had to make in that stone bulwark.  I was feeling pretty cocky about how fast we were working, when Mack burst my bubble by telling me that it was Vince who practically did all the work on that embassy compound last night and that the six Earth Mages that were assisting him, didn¡¯t even do five percent of the labor.  So based on how fast Mack and I were magically drilling anchor points, we estimated how long it would take for either of us to make that big hole in this solid stone barrier that the Boss did at noon today.  We calculated that it would take one of us, forty-six hours to do the same thing that he did in only five minutes.


    Without our King we wouldn¡¯t have the Stronghold, a safe place to live, or food to eat.  As for me, I would probably still be in prison or more likely lying dead somewhere.¡±  At that point Glen got rather incoherent.


    Mack spoke up.  ¡°Glen calm down.  It¡¯s not Lady Night¡¯s fault, you know how the Boss can get.  As for how we get the convoy inside, I see the crawler crane still sitting right there after we used it to install the new gate.¡±  Mack pointed to the nearby crane with his right hand.  ¡°It can lift eighty tons and it should have no problem picking up even the Sherman tank and lifting it over the wall.  As for the Boss, it takes a whole lot to kill him and I¡¯m sure that any monster that tries to get to him will first have to go through Boris and his platoon.


    But we better have Lady Jen tell Lady Star that Vince won¡¯t be home tonight because that crazy lizard lady can get downright scary when it comes to the Boss¡¯s safety.   I¡¯m surprised that she let him go off without her for once.¡±


    Luckily because of installing the gate they already had one of set of chains and cables available nearby.  While the Oshkosh 1070 truck was being hooked up, more chains were sent for.   A major part of the job was properly attaching steel cables and such, to the vehicles to be moved.  By having more than one set of chains, vehicles could be prepared in advance of their lift slot thus making everything more efficient.  Still it all took time, when it grew too dark to continue working safely; the Sherman and the T800¡¯s armored utility trailer still remained on the other side of the wall.  Captain Mesquida decided to risk leaving them outside for the night.


    Two hours before dawn, lookouts with true sight spotted large objects floating in from the west and they were about a mile up.  The steam whistle alarm was sounded.


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


    Sir George Mesquida ran to the Western Wall, to get a better look at the enemy.  He sorely wished that True Sight worked with binoculars or telescopes but if wishes were fishes, we¡¯d all cast nets.  He wondered if the boss could fix that problem, maybe by enchanting the optical devices.  Candace was there since she was in charge of the current watch and besides possessing True Sight, she also had Telescopic Vision.  She spoke, ¡°Captain, I make it twenty Sky Krakens and they¡¯re all carrying large objects with their tentacles.¡±


    ¡°Captured prey of some kind?¡±  George asked.


    Still looking up, she squinted her eyes to see better and then shook her head.  ¡°No, I can definitely see one panel van and a pickup truck.  I think the other things are all cars.¡±


    George cursed.  ¡°Vince was always talking about them bombing us, but I think he was expecting trees or rocks, not automobiles.¡±


    Lieutenant Wind arrived with two flights.  ¡°Captain, I and my clan are willing to fly up there and fight them, please let us go.¡±


    ¡°No Sir Wind, I think we¡¯re going to have to take our lumps for this first time.  Most everyone should be underground by now, so they should be safe enough.   But correct me if I¡¯m wrong, those squids up there are about as high as you can normally fly, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    Storm Wind looked up, paused for a moment and replied.  ¡°I must reluctantly agree with you.  We do go higher on occasion but conditions have to be right.¡±


    ¡°So, as I thought you won¡¯t be able to easily or safely dive bomb them with IROD shells and our 20mm rifles don¡¯t have the kind of range we need, to hit them from the ground.  As for our artillery pieces, they don¡¯t have sufficient accuracy and I¡¯m not even sure if they have enough power to shoot that far straight up.  If we fire those guns, we just might do more damage to ourselves, with our own shells falling back down upon the Stronghold, than if we let the krakens drop their car bombs on us.¡±


    Sergeant Derrick Miter chose that moment to speak.  ¡°Captain, when I fought against the King Mandrills; I levitated myself off the wall and I used my shotgun on them.  Though each shot knocked me ass over teakettle, it did work reasonably well, I just had reposition myself after every pull of the trigger.  Now a fifty caliber rifle has about the same recoil as a twelve gauge firing a three inch shell.  Regretfully, my current flying ability isn¡¯t good enough yet, such that I could levitate up high enough and engage in aerial combat with those squids.  However the scuttlebutt has been that one of the guns being considered as the standard firearm for Lieutenant Wind and his people is a twenty gauge pump action shotgun. Now I know that there is a heck of a recoil difference between a twenty and a twelve gauge or a fifty caliber rifle for that matter but maybe some of Lieutenant Wind¡¯s people have the strength to fly a fifty up there, fire it from the hip and then recover when the recoil disrupts their flight.  It¡¯s too late now but if those krakens come back maybe we could give it a try then.¡±


    Just at that moment the first eight Sky Krakens dropped their loads, which after only a dozen seconds or so, impacted in and around the Stronghold.  A few minutes later eight more did the same, followed by the final four.  The krakens seemed to almost lazily let the wind continue to carry them to the east and then they dropped down, disappearing from sight.


    Damage reports started coming in.  The Stronghold had apparently dodged a bullet.  All impact sites hadn¡¯t been found yet but only two objects had fallen within the compound proper.   A car had crashed into a winter withered garden and a truck had almost hit a greenhouse.  Everyone breathed out a sigh of relief.


    Storm Wind had been talking with some of his people, one of whom was Tornado Challenger.  Lieutenant Wind returned.  ¡°Captain I have spoken with my clan.  I have eight strong flyers that would like to undertake the task of taking our battle to the krakens.  We were born to fight in the air, and we refuse to let some overgrown fish, beat us in our own territory.¡±


    George sighed, ¡°I don¡¯t like doing this but I¡¯ll reluctantly okay it.  We don¡¯t know when they will be back, so have your people immediately meet with Lieutenant Murphy and Sergeant Miter at the firing range, so that they can instruct your clan members on how to fire those big fifties.


    Lieutenant Murphy, make sure that you rig up some proper slings for those rifles, we don¡¯t need them dropping on our heads, especially if they¡¯re loaded with enchanted bullets.


    Lady Night Storm, I need you to get a few more hours of sleep.  With the Stronghold under threat, I don¡¯t dare leave later this morning to return to the Armory.  So you¡¯ll be in command of the convoy and I want you well rested.  Alright folks, quit standing around and let¡¯s get to work.¡±


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


    A little over two hours later and the Sky Krakens still hadn¡¯t returned.  Lady Knight Night had her convoy back at the wall waiting for the first vehicle to be lifted over.  She had heard that Sergeant Tornado was in love with his new weapon, even if it knocked him into a spin every time he fired it.  She flew up to the top of the new wall, looked down and cursed.  She found where one of the ¡°car bombs¡± had landed.  They were going to need a new armored utility trailer; perhaps the one left behind with the disabled 590 still remained useable?


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


    ¡°Your Majesty, please wake up, you told me to wake you in two hours and it¡¯s past that already.¡±


    I opened my eyes and looked up at the strange young face looking down at me.  ¡°Sleepy go away, must sleep.¡±


    ¡°You promised that you would finish the wall today.¡±


    Oh yeah, I remembered where I was and who she was.  I sat up with groan.  ¡°Good morning Private Hines, thank you for waking me.¡±  She wasn¡¯t one of my subjects, so I figured that I had better not start abusing her, just yet.


    I smelled something good.  Seeing my nose twitch, Shelly hurriedly handed me a plate with two rolled flatbreads on it.  I took a massive bite, rhino meat and fried onions, not bad at all.  She giggled at my expression and spoke.  ¡°I know; they taste really good, don¡¯t they?  I didn¡¯t think that I would ever have something that tasted that good to eat, ever again.  I ate six of them this morning and there¡¯s plenty more too, enough for weeks, maybe even months.¡±


    I wolfed the food down, stood up and stretched my aching back.  I missed my comfy bed.  A minute later I was walking down the armored trailer¡¯s ramp.


    I next used my canteen to provide water for brushing my teeth.  That was another thing that we needed to manufacture or locate, toothbrushes.  After that I went off in search of the little Kings room.  Fifteen minutes later, I was back at work on the wall.  I was surprised that the convoy hadn¡¯t already returned but I wouldn¡¯t let myself start to worry about them until noon, there were plenty of innocuous reasons for the convoy to be late.


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


    When the convoy arrived at the site of the wrecked tractor, they found the trailer a little banged up but a few field expedient repairs had it fixed in twenty minutes and attached to the T800.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    They were within six miles of the Armory when they ran into a large pack of leaping lizards; they were gathered around the entrance of a residential driveway for some reason.  While they might be deadly in most situations, if a person was in an armored vehicle they were no more than a mere nuisance.  Three of the pack managed to escape death.


    The soldiers of the convoy were astonished, when a small human crawled out of the large corrugated pipe, running beneath the driveway.  The petite person stood there unmoving, numbly looking at the convoy.  Lady Night hurried out of the truck with some of her soldiers.  The little one¡¯s eyes got very big.


    Night approached the small person slowly, so she wouldn¡¯t scare the human.  ¡°Hello there, my name is Night Storm.  I¡¯m what you humans call a flyer.  Is there anyone else with you?¡±


    The small form sadly shook its head no.


    Night held out her hand.  ¡°I live in a big fortress, it¡¯s not completely safe but it¡¯s much better than any other place that we know about. Would you like to come with me?¡±


    The small human put their hand in Lady Storm¡¯s.  The Knight then led their latest petite survivor up the steps as she was doing so she thought about what Appraisal had just revealed to her about the tiny girl that she was leading.


    Name: Nina Rivera


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Night Storm had to wonder what horrors the child had faced to have such a title, to have awakened so many abilities and to have them already at such a high level.   She knew that in the Stronghold that the highest level anyone had reached so far, excepting for the Hermit, was Level three.  And almost everyone had been awakened or instructed by their King too.


    Once they had the girl inside the trailer, the women of all three species began to fuss over her.  They got her cleaned up a little and fed.  Despite the fact that she smelled pretty ripe, Lady Night held her on her lap.  Three miles down the road and they had another encounter.


    The latest oddity had everyone confused, since it was a simply a herd of American Wood Bison but they appeared to be much larger than normal and their horns seemed to look more pronounced too.  However it was peaceful meeting, with the few bison that were blocking the road quickly moving off of it.


    A mile further down the road and they were once more passing the Farm/Construction Equipment Store.  The crews of the armored vehicles were slightly surprised when nine people burst out of what they had all thought to be an empty building, the members of the small desperate group frantically began waving their arms.  Some of whom were obviously children.  The convoy stopped and picked up the new refugees.


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


    I had the wall just below ten feet in height when the convoy finally arrived.  I had to melt a hole in the wall to let them inside.  The first one down the ramp was Star and she was coming my way with fire in her eye.  I am so glad that we are two different species.  Because I could just see her wanting to marry me, so that she could control my actions and life a little bit more.  On the other hand if she was human, I doubt that I would be acting so polite with her.


    ¡°Your Majesty I am glad to see that you are safe.  But while you were gone the Stronghold was attacked by twenty Sky Krakens.  From a great height, those monsters dropped cars onto the inner compound, and while nothing was damaged and no one was hurt, I¡¯m sure that you realize that a great calamity might have befallen us while you were gone.¡±


    Damn it, ¡°I get the picture Star, I am a bad negligent King.  I will be returning home today but I still need to get this wall higher and make some more weapons for the people here.  I¡¯ll go speak with Captain Mesquida, immediately.¡±


    ¡°The Captain, knowing that his primary duty is to protect the Stronghold, remained behind today.  Lady Night is in charge of the convoy.¡±


    She just won¡¯t give it a rest, will she?  I walked over to speak with Lady Night Storm, who was already talking with Boris.  Upon arriving there, I was told about the new monsters that they had fought and defeated, yesterday and this morning.  I was not pleased to find out about the giants, not one little bit.  Upon hearing their stats, I knew that we would have to drastically change our plans and increase our military buildup somehow.  Captain Long was standing nearby and listening to our conversation.  I turned to her.


    ¡°Captain, those giants change things for me.  This is what I would like to do today.  First, I need to get the wall up another fifteen feet or so and then I¡¯m going to enchant two of your howitzers so that they can fire black powder shells without an external primer.  I¡¯ll also put an explosive fire enchantment onto a small number of the 105mm projectiles.  Between Boris and me, we will then load the cannon shells with black powder but since we have limited stocks of the explosive, we will only be able to do four or five of them.


    The monsters that we are fighting seem to be getting larger and larger.  What I need from you is one of your 105mm howitzers to take back with us, today.  We can¡¯t afford any delays in this matter; even one single large well made cannon, might very well give us the ability to save the Stronghold, when fighting the right or perhaps I should say the wrong foe.


    Lady Knight Storm, you should be able to make a round trip while I¡¯m taking care of those things here.  I¡¯ll be ready to go upon your return.¡±


    ¡°My King, I cannot do that, I was ordered to return with you.  We don¡¯t know what perils we may face on the trip going back home.  We might only be able to make one trip today and not two or three as planned.¡±


    I looked at her, but she returned my gaze unflinchingly, I sighed.  ¡°Okay if you¡¯re going to hang around here, how about going to that Farm Machinery Store that¡¯s just a couple of miles away.  Glen has been going nuts over those parts that he wants.  You can load up the utility trailer with everything that it will carry.  That way, all of your time here won¡¯t be going entirely to waste.¡±


    She hesitated for a moment and then replied.  ¡°Agreed, that location isn¡¯t too far from here and we should be able to easily hear any gunfire if you do get into trouble.¡±


    ¡°Oh Lady Night, we will also need a semi-trailer to use as a gate for this compound, since I won¡¯t be returning here.  Before the convoy leaves for the Stronghold, we¡¯ll have the C500 hook up to it and roll it into place.  A trailer won¡¯t make a perfect barrier but it will be better than nothing.  See if you can¡¯t find one that is heavily loaded, that will make it a better road block.¡±


    She nodded her head, before walking away.


    With that settled, I went back to work.  I never would have believed that we¡¯d be facing humanoid giants, up to eleven meters tall.  I know that they hadn¡¯t fought one that size, yesterday but I was sure that it was only a matter of time.


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


    David Hu, his wife Linda and Nick Silva had all been employed at the Farm Equipment store.  Their two families had become good friends over the years and when the first Warning had come, the Hu and the Silva households had quickly agreed to form their own small survival group.  During their preparations, they had acquired several inexpensive single shot shotguns and using their practical skills they had successfully converted them into flintlock firearms that hadn¡¯t blown up on them as of yet.  The men had also constructed body armor and spears for their two families.  Through luck, foresight, preparation, a few magical skills and keeping hidden as much as possible; the tiny group had been able to survive virtually untouched so far, but they knew that their good fortune would surely evaporate one day.


    Then two days ago, they had heard the sound of clanking tracks, but because of too many monsters prowling around nearby, it had taken them the next two days, to make the mile long journey from the basement of the Hu home, in which they had all been living, to their former place of employment, which seemed to be closer to the location where those clanking noises had been originating from.  They had all speculated before arriving at the abandoned store that perhaps someone had gotten some of the equipment parked there, working again.  All of the adults were gravely disappointed upon entering the Farm Machinery Store, to find it as empty of human life as it had been months ago, when they last saw the establishment.


    However, shortly after sitting down to discuss what they were going to do, they again heard those clanking sounds and had been overjoyed to soon see coming down the road, what appeared to be a small well armed convoy of working armored vehicles.


    And now after a trip to the old Armory, they were back at their former place of employment on a shopping trip.


    Sergeant Vargas was speaking to David Hu, Linda Hu and Nicholas Silva.  ¡°You¡¯ve already seen and ridden in our vehicles.  We are looking for parts to help maintain them, more parts to build different vehicles and even tough steel that we can repurpose and use to make armor.  It doesn¡¯t matter what physical shape the steel has, it can be a backhoe bucket, a large ground tine or whatever; our magic users who have Earth Magic, especially our King can reshape it.


    You probably won¡¯t believe it, but we are hoping to soon start production of our own tanks.  We only have three old ones now and I¡¯ve lost count of the number of times that they have saved our asses.  We want to make something bigger and better for this crazy new world.  We¡¯re looking for steel dozer tracks that are twenty-eight inches wide and can go on a vehicle that is twelve feet long.   One idea that we have is to reduce or cut off entirely the traction blades that stick out from the steel track, I¡¯m talking about those pieces of metal that dig into the ground.  You know what I¡¯m describing, right?¡±


    All three newcomers nodded their heads that they understood, David spoke up.  ¡°That part of a track¡¯s steel shoe is called the grouser.¡±


    Jeffrey continued.   ¡°Thanks for that piece of information.  After we remove the grouser, we¡¯ll glue or bolt on pieces of rubber tire to the tracks¡¯ steel shoes to make them more like a modern tank¡¯s tracks and more suitable for road travel.¡±


    Nicholas replied first.  ¡°I think we have one set of steel tracks that long in the parts warehouse, but they¡¯re probably only twenty-four inches wide.   I¡¯m pretty sure that we have a set of rubber tracks too, which if we can¡¯t use them as tracks, they will probably make a better source of material for the rubber pads that you want. I don¡¯t think that we have any rubber track pads in stock; they¡¯re not only used on tanks.  Most heavy steel tracked construction equipment that are moving on hard surfaces, are normally fitted with pads.  And you might want to rethink about cutting off the grousers.  We¡¯ll need sprockets, idlers, rollers and all the other undercarriage parts too, but we should have at least some of those in stock.  This store mainly dealt in agricultural equipment, so it doesn¡¯t have too much in the way of dozer or crawler parts.  Now if you need a cherry picker, there are six of those on the back lot.¡±


    Jeff looked disappointed at the news but there was nothing to be done.  Until Linda spoke up, ¡°Nick, we had some pallets dropped off, just before our cars stopped working.  If I remember correctly, from the shipping list that I glanced at, there might be two more sets of steel lubricated track chain and shoes sitting just inside the warehouse¡¯s big doors.¡±


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


    A short while later there were some happy soldiers loading the utility trailer.  But they had two problems.  The trailer could not handle the weight of everything that they wanted to take and without the 590 it was damn difficult, loading the over half ton of track chains into the trailer.  They found one set of shoes in a twenty-eight inch width and two more sets in twenty-four.  For now they only took the twenty-eight inch shoes, they would be back for the other things that they wanted during the days to come.


    The Hermit¡¯s Guard had a very small herd of Rhinos attack them, but they were easily dealt with, greatly impressing the newcomers.


    During the loading process they did hear some gunshots coming from the direction of the Armory but the shots seemed very controlled and very brief.  Lieutenant Storm rose briefly into the air to see what was going on.  She saw that a flock of Terror Birds had stupidly attacked the old factory.  Lieutenant Khan had ended them, quickly and efficiently.  And while Knight Night was looking, she saw Boris¡¯s platoon already begin the work of butchering the monsters.


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


    The convoy had returned and I had the wall up to sixteen feet.  That¡¯s when a new round of gunfire began.


    Star immediately took my hand and started dragging me to the T800.  ¡°Vincent, Devolved Stone Giants are attacking, we need to get behind some armor.  They throw rocks, very large rocks.¡±


    She was right, they did throw rocks, most of which were about the size of those that I used to make the fire-stones for our steam engines.  Ten or more such small boulders; landed within the walls but luckily no was hit.  More shots rang out and then I saw my first giant.  He had his hands on the wall and he was starting to climb over it, like an adult hopping a backyard fence. A third fusillade occurred and then Star informed me that the surviving monsters were now fleeing but a fourth set of shots soon followed her words and she then notified me that all the giants were down.  Did she find out that information by using her Telepathy or was it some other ability?


    I don¡¯t know if our presence brought the giants here or if it was damn lucky for Captain Long that we made contact when we did.  We would probably never know.  I got back to work.


    Five and a half hours later, and the four walls were all over twenty-five feet in height.  Additionally I had enchanted two cannons and six shells.  The trailer that Night had found for me was loaded with books, later on we would check to see what kind but for now, they made the trailer nice and heavy.  I had used my magic to partially dismantle another trailer for its steel.  Then I had magically welded that metal to the top and undercarriage of the gate trailer so that the gaps above and beneath, would be smaller, thus making it more difficult for monsters to break in.  I had also constructed a very crude door in the steel wall beneath the trailer; so that people could crawl in or out if it proved necessary.


    Boris had installed the proper type of hitch to the back Sherman tank.  It would be towing our howitzer home with us.  With fifty of Captain Long¡¯s survivors loaded into the C500¡¯s trailer and the gate trailer in place we were ready to return to the Stronghold.


    We did have one minor monster encounter before we left; three Jackalopes weighing at least sixty pounds each.  They had two antlers, each with two wicked looking sharp tines.  When we saw the creatures, I just couldn¡¯t take them seriously.  According to my appraisal they were herbivores.


    When I entered the T800, I almost immediately acquired a passenger, a freshly washed young lady timidly approached me and I was introduced to The Survivor, Nina Rivera.  She gave me a big eyed look and then sat down on my lap without asking.  I believe she mistook me for a seat cushion.  I didn¡¯t have any Twizzlers or caramels but she seemed to be satisfied with hunk of monkey jerky.  After eating, she rested her head against my shoulder and promptly went to sleep.


    We ran into both Terror Birds and Stone Giants on the way home, neither seriously inconvenienced us.  It was a shame to leave all of that excellent poultry behind but we had no place to put it.


    Upon getting home I melted a hole in the wall.  It was a little difficult to do while holding a sleeping child with one arm but I managed it.  The gate that Mack and Glen had made was pretty ingenious.  It seems that they had, had a pretty uneventful day.  They had only seen one oddity since the convoy had left; a large herd of American Buffalo had wandered by.  My mouth started to water upon hearing that, the best steak that I have ever eaten was from a buffalo.


    But I had no time to daydream about steaks; I needed to get back to work.  There was embassy to build, a dungeon to expand and things to enchant.


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


    Nina felt for the first time in months like she was truly safe.  The man that was carrying her was quite obviously the Boss and everyone called him the Hermit King.  She couldn¡¯t read minds but without even talking to him very much, she had been convinced that any monster that wanted to eat her would first have to kill him and that it would take a really big monster in order to do something like that.  She let herself drift off back to sleep.


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


    Tornado Challenger and seven other flyers had practiced during the day with their new weapons and they were currently resting in the old Council Room by the shop, waiting for the Sky Krakens to return.  Grace peaked in on them and she suddenly thought back to the early days of WWII when English Spitfire Pilots would lounge about near their planes, waiting for the word to scramble, so they might meet and combat the German planes bombing England.  As she was thinking that the steam whistle alarm sounded.


    The flyers sprang up, donning their ammunition vests and then picking up their heavy rifles.  They dashed out the door and leaped into the air, in an attempt to get as much altitude as possible before they met the enemy.


    What with their heavy winter clothing, ammunition and enormous rifles, the flyers were carrying approximately twenty or more pounds than they were really comfortable with lifting to such an extreme altitude as was their goal.  All their rifles had been equipped with tight beam mage lights that the shop had recently started producing, they weren¡¯t laser sights but they were better than nothing.


    Sergeant Tornado was working his wings for all that he was worth.  As he circled going for greater altitude he could see the krakens approaching in the distance.  It was his goal to attack the monsters while they were outside the Stronghold and before they dropped anymore car bombs but he didn¡¯t know if he and his two flights would be in time to do that.


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


    The Sky Krakens had crept up on the Stronghold, barely above tree height, until they were about ten miles away; at that point they had inflated their lifting bladders so that they could achieve their maximum altitude as quickly as possible, this was done so as to keep them out of the weapons¡¯ range of the stupidly dangerous monkeys.  That was exact time when the lookouts in the Stronghold first spotted them.


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


    By striving mightily the flyers had succeed in getting slightly above the krakens but not until eight of the twenty monsters were already above the Stronghold.  Since the flyers did not want to let their own bullets rain down upon their home, they took to braking momentarily before firing so that they might be able to point their weapons better.  With bus size targets it would be difficult to miss the squids. But because of certain obvious factors, the flyers were unable to shoulder and aim their weapons and thus they were forced to shoot from the hip, so to speak, though the mage lights attached to their rifles did help.


    The flyers closed to two hundred yards so as to stay out of the natural air cannon range of the krakens.   Then in two fusillades the flyers let loose their bullets at their giant floating targets.  With those cracks of gunfire, the squids all dropped their car bombs.  Four, fifty caliber bullets hit the mantles of four different krakens, doing damage to the creatures and in one case, possibly fatal damage.  Because of the flyers¡¯ braking action and the recoil from their weapons, their ability to fly stably had been momentarily disrupted and they lost altitude.


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


    I felt my ear pops as I gained altitude.  I cursed the fact that I was so difficult to wake up nowadays.  But I was glad that I had taken the extra three minutes or so to dress properly, because it was damn cold!  I had no weapons since nothing that I could carry would be useful against such monsters.  I felt full of energy, more so than the day before, when I had corralled those boars.  It was as if ¡°My Land¡± was angry and feeding me more power.  Flying on my belly, I tilted my head to look up.  I was about to do something really dumb and if I lived through this, I was going to have to avoid Star for at least a month.  I had to wonder if I would have enough energy to safely land.


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


    Jennifer stood numbly as she stared up into the night sky.  Vince had been exhausted from working all day and then most of the night too.  He had barely gotten two hours of sleep when the alarm had sounded.  It had been extremely difficult to awaken him, taking almost five full minutes of furious shaking and loud yelling.   He had still been so groggy that even as he had stumbled out the front door of his home, she didn¡¯t think that he had even been aware of her own partially clothed state.


    But suddenly, as the cold night air had hit him; he had looked up and roared.  Not only had he roared; it was as if the land, air and even the water in the moat, outside of the Stronghold¡¯s walls, had all roared with him.  And then an enraged wind had swept in; lifting him up swiftly into the night sky.  After a moment Jen shivered, waking up to the fact that she still had to see to the safety of her own children, though she knew that the other women would have already gotten everyone below ground, especially their new eleven year old addition.


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


    Even ten feet underground, Nina heard the roar echo through the open passageways and she instantly knew that her new Dad was going out to kick some serious ass.


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


    Seven of the first wave of krakens were either unwounded or only slightly wounded.  Sky Krakens have excellent eye sight and for a time measured in seconds they can be very fast if they want to be.   The winged creatures that had hurt them were only a little ways away and for some reason tumbling out of control.  Those seven squids charged for the bird monkeys with their tentacles outstretched.


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


    Five of the flyers saw the krakens coming for them and went into steep dives.  The only reason that they had been slightly out of control, for those few seconds, was because they had been trying to maintain their altitude so that they might attack again.  Seeing a mass of hooked tentacles reaching for them changed their minds about staying in the vicinity.


    Metal Grinder, Storm Cloud and Spring Breeze hadn¡¯t seen, in sufficient time to evade, the krakens reaching for them.


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


    At a scary fast velocity, I was climbing into the sky but I chose to embrace my anger as a defense against my fear of heights. I knew the natural air cannon ability that the krakens possessed, out ranged my own flame strike.  I figured the only thing that I could do offensively was to charge in and launch flame strikes even while I was out of range, following them in, until they could reach my foes.  But those huge hooked tentacles of the squids had me more worried than their air cannons.  The cannons might stun me; those hooks could rip me apart in microseconds.


    I heard gunfire and just as I had feared the flyers couldn¡¯t handle the heavy recoil of their rifles while flying, or least while flying at such extreme altitudes. What I hadn¡¯t expected, was for the Sky Krakens to rush towards the flyers while they were still recovering.  I had been a little timid during my flight upwards; I mean if man was meant to fly, it should be first class with a pretty stewardess serving him drinks and not riding a tornado!


    I instantly cranked up my ascent to full bore; I shot towards the krakens at a velocity that terrified me.  Belatedly, I started launching flame strikes because I was certainly in range now.


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


    Metal Grinder had seen his death coming for him.  He hoped that his wife and daughter wouldn¡¯t grieve too much.  At the very last fraction of a second there was a roar of wind, accompanied by streams of fire coming from below.  The wind sounded furious.  The krakens paused and Grinder took the opportunity to bank down and to his right.  He passed a flaming and roaring thing on the way.


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


    Oh crud I¡¯m going to hit.  I felt like I was Willie E. Coyote, in a Warner Brothers Cartoon, and I had just run off a cliff.  I should be holding a sign that reads ¡°Yipe!¡±  I can just imagine the guys and gals at the DDS Service chortling away in their cubicles.  ¡°Did you hear how Vince finally killed himself?¡±


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t, what happened?¡±


    ¡°He ran into a Sky Kraken while he was going over a hundred miles per hour when he was¡­...¡±


    Damn it, I didn¡¯t even have time to finish imagining my after death scene.  I was shooting flame strikes like my live depended on it which it did.  I hit something that was crispy, then gooey and crispy and then ashy and suddenly I was out into free air, trying to hack out the warm ash ball that was in my throat.


    I wiped soot of my goggles trying to see.  There seemed to be two large falling and burning objects and then pieces of a third one.  My mouth tasted terrible, but my magical gas tank was still over a third full.  I started looking for more krakens.  They had dashed off, breaking to the south and to the north around me but for some reason they had all slowed down again.  To the north was the Armory, so I chased after that bunch.  There were two that I could get to, before I had to start worrying about my energy levels.  But being a novice flyer, I only succeeded in getting one of them.  I decided to call it quits and I began lowering myself to ground, which was much scarier than going up, since I had to pay so much attention to how freaking high I was.


    I aimed for the moat outside of the Northern Wall; I figured if I messed up, perhaps the water would cushion my fall.  I deliberately forgot the frozen layer of ice on it.  Miraculously, I made a trouble free descent and I even managed to set down on the wall walk on top of the Northern Wall.


    I came down on one knee, trying to achieve a dramatic pose. To paraphrase that Great Hero Buzz Lightyear, if you¡¯re falling, do it with style.


    I lifted my head before standing up.  Darn it, nobody was even nearby to score my landing.  I think the judges should have given me at least a nine.  I rose to my feet.  I still had some magic left so I used a trickle of it, to clean off all of the ash and soot on my clothes and body.  I gathered the yucky stuff into a ball and tossed it over the wall.


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


    Lieutenant Murphy possessing both True Sight and Telescopic Vision; was one of the few people who had been able to watch the battle.  She had seen the flyers rise into the sky and followed their progress.  A few minutes after their departure, she had heard that great frightening roar; she knew instinctively and immediately that the Boss was pissed.  She didn¡¯t know why he was mad but she guessed that he was probably angry about not being able to do anything about the krakens that were high over head.


    She had jogged along the wall¡¯s walkway throughout the short battle, in order to stay as close to the action as possible, so that she might have the best view.  Lady Murphy had been concentrating on the flyers and when the krakens had counterattacked; she had gasped, fearing that many of her new friends were going to be killed and eaten before her very eyes.


    Then had come this blazing thing, arriving on the scene and it had deliberately rammed and then went straight through one of the Sky Krakens while toasting the krakens on either side of it.


    The other krakens had scattered, after dropping their bombs mostly outside the Stronghold¡¯s walls.  The humanoid shape had paused for just a moment and then it had gone after those squids that had fled to the North.


    Captain Mesquida had been walking beside her.  He hadn¡¯t been able to see much, but nobody could have missed those flames.  ¡°I know of only thing that can throw fire like that,¡± he said.


    Now focusing on that man sized figure, she saw it chase after and slay another squid, then it start to descend.  She ran along the wall, in an attempt to reach that person¡¯s possible landing spot.


    Candace was still far from him but she could see perfectly thanks to her gifts.  He came down in a perfect landing falling to one knee.  Then her King had slowly stood up, magically cleaning himself of the residue from his battle.  He paused there slowly turning about, obviously looking for anymore dangers to his Kingdom and his people.


    Candace Murphy and her mother were both fans of the Backstreet Boys.  Though the lyrics of one of her favorite songs didn¡¯t exactly fit her King at that exact moment in time, three of the words were perfect in her opinion, those being ¡°Larger than Life.¡±


    # # # # # # # # #


    Explanations for some of things that I put in this chapter, you can ignore this bit if you want.  I probably would; it¡¯s boring stuff.


    Bomb dropping Sky Krakens, my formula:  I give the krakens a thirty percent chance of getting within three hundred feet of their target.  Then for those that fall that close, I set up a target grid and use the RNG to tell me which squares the successful bombs fall in.  The last step is a definition of the targets in that particular square and I use the RNG to see if they hit anything.  I researched WWII bombing accuracy and I watched videos of cars being dropped by helicopters and planes to come up with my system.  I don¡¯t think my system is the best, but I couldn¡¯t come up with anything else.  If anyone has any insights on how I can improve it, I would greatly appreciate it.  WWII planes dropping their bombs from around 20,000 feet normally put thirty percent of them within a thousand feet of their target.  And even though the Sky Krakens have excellent eyesight, I don¡¯t envision bomb dropping as being a natural ability for them, they just would have no reason to develop that skill.  I mean why squash your prey and make it uneatable?   I had the squids drop cars and trucks because I thought that they would be easier for the krakens to grip instead of rocks/boulders and there must be a lot of them lying around.  I think that the maximum ¡°long term¡± payload of a kraken should be around six thousand pounds but for very brief intervals they can pick up a maximum of eighteen thousand.


    The maximum altitude of the Sky Krakens is not limited by their lifting gas but by the fact that at any higher than ten or twelve thousand feet, there isn¡¯t enough air for them to breathe.  Nor are they comfortable with low air pressure since they evolved from deep sea dwelling creatures and they still do frequently return to the depths when they can.


    You might think that it was very convenient that the equipment store had those dozer tracks in stock.  What can I say, the RNG gives and the RNG takes things away too.  I have no way of knowing what kind of parts are typically stocked in a local equipment store.  The one time a friend of mine needed new tracks for his small very old dozer he got them from a discount place in Chicago, which is over three hundred miles away.  My friend paid for his cheapness.  When we tried to put them on, we found out that he had ordered the wrong kind of tracks.  He was then forced to pay to ship them back.  He lost money rather than saved some.


    Rate of climb for Flyers:  I could not find any information on the internet about the rate of climb for birds only their top speeds and maximum altitudes.  I have personally seen an eagle climb to what I estimated was three thousand feet in three to five minutes.  Having no other recourse, I started looking at the rate of climb for early WWI biplanes which can attain speeds not too different from a flyer, which isn¡¯t that fast.  But all flyers can obtain Air Magic which is a racial trait and thanks to swearing oaths to Vince they all have their magical abilities.  So that helps boost their performance stats.


    So based on my own observations of eagles on a cool day and my minimal research about biplanes; without the aid of magic, unburdened flyers can climb to:  three thousand feet at a rate of 14 feet per second, the next three thousand feet at a rate of 8.5 feet per second, and after that their rate of climb reduces to 6 feet per second, until they reach their maximum altitude of ten to fifteen thousand feet depending on the weather and their individual capabilities.


    Because they were overburdened by twenty pounds, I am giving them a twenty-six percent performance penalty.  That might be too much or too little, I have no idea, thank the RNG.  I know from my research on birds that they should be able to do it, I just don¡¯t how much it will hurt them.


    But they do have Air Magic which they can use to help themselves and one another by causing updrafts.  Updrafts of several meters per second are common but the flyers aren¡¯t that magically powerful yet, however there are eight of them.  I thought that having their magic add thirteen feet per second, before weight penalty, would be appropriate.   The RNG wanted to give them sixteen but I overruled it.


    Article about vertical momentum, this is regards to Vince¡¯s climb rate.  http://stormtrack.org/community/threads/vertical-momentum-how-fast-does-supercell-air-go-up.578/</a>


    Larger Than Life


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEb2CecR11I</a>

 Chapter 26: New Friends

    I am now including the Character List at the end of the chapter instead of the beginning and it is hidden within a spoiler, I hope.


    If you spot any flaws in this chapter please point them out, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 26: New Friends


    While I don¡¯t like using my Telepathic Ability, yesterday when I was holding Nina, it had been absolutely impossible for me to block out her nightmares and painful memories.  The poor kid had, had it rough!  She never knew her father and her mother had been killed two years ago in an auto accident, which left her then to be raised by her maternal grandmother, who had been a very strict old lady from what I could gather.  Though stern, the old girl had died giving her granddaughter a chance to flee from the monsters that invaded their home.  I think that Nina was on her own for at least three months, before Lady Knight Night found her.


    The utterly exhausted little girl had entered one extremely bad nightmare while I had been holding her.  Without meaning to, I had joined with her thoughts and it was something that I was categorically not prepared for, either intellectually or emotionally.  It was like I was in a tiny rowboat in the middle of the ocean during a perfect storm, it totally sucked and it¡¯s something that I never want to experience again.   Not knowing what else to do and since I honestly cared for the orphaned waif, I clumsily attempted to sooth her both mentally and verbally.  I don¡¯t remember exactly what I did or said or maybe I don¡¯t want to.  I know there was, or I think there was, a flash of an orange screen during all of that and then unexpectedly, she began to relax and sleep more peacefully.


    When I bent down to lay her on a bed within my home; it proved amazingly difficult for me to pry her skinny little arms from about my neck, so that I could stand back up.   She woke up briefly while I was tucking her in and said, ¡°Goodnight Daddy, I love you.¡±  Maybe someone else would have said something different and even though I am disagreeable foul-mouthed hermit, I replied, ¡°Goodnight Pumpkin and I love you too.¡±   I just know that those clowns at the DDS service are snickering in their cubicles.  One of these days I¡¯ll get their address and order a ton of pizzas and Chinese food delivered to them, which they will then be forced to pay for and it won¡¯t be the good stuff either.  It will be pizzas made with dough cut with sawdust, fake cheese and covered with expired toppings.  As for the Chinese food, I¡¯ve heard unbelievable horror stories about how the absolutely worst places use questionable meat, to produce such delicacies as General Tso¡¯s Rat or Sweet and Sour Cat.  One day I swear, I will have my revenge!


    After my cool and completely unobserved landing on the Northern Wall, I had begun walking for home; sadly Star had pinged in while I was doing that.  I say ¡°ping,¡± because that¡¯s the sound that arriving teleporters all seem to make and when they depart it¡¯s more of a ¡°bloop¡± noise.   Star immediately began to berate me and she kept it up until we reached my very door, thankfully it was all in her native language.  At least I think she was criticizing me, because her speech had included a lot of nasty sounding; hissing, spitting, and clicking noises, which sort of reminded me of broken steam engine.  I might have to finally have a word with her, because her attitude is starting to get on my nerves and I think that I¡¯m under enough pressure as it is.  The way she treats me was kind of funny at first but now it¡¯s getting old.  Star is the leader of her people and if I¡¯m not comfortable in her presence, then that just can¡¯t be a good thing.


    Upon my arrival at home; Nina flung open the door, ran to me and jumped into my arms.  ¡°Did you kill the monsters, Dad?¡±


    I yawned, ¡°The flyers shot some and I got four of them, between us, we scared them off.  I got a feeling that they won¡¯t be back very soon but we¡¯ll start thinking of ways to fight them differently, now that they are flying so high.  I hope you weren¡¯t scared Princess.¡±


    She vigorously shook her head.  ¡°Nope, I knew that you were going to destroy them.¡±  She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a fierce hug.


    ¡°Nina, for tonight only, you¡¯re sharing a room with two other young ladies but tomorrow I¡¯ll be fixing that.  I think it¡¯s time for this household to move underground like everyone else.  That will give us all some more space and be safer too.  Though, it might be a little uncomfortable until we can put in wooden floors but it shouldn¡¯t be too bad.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, so long as I¡¯m with you.¡±


    I gave her squeeze and said ¡°And that¡¯s how I feel too, but you need to get back to bed now, you¡¯ve got a lot of sleep to catch up on, however if you have another nightmare, you come downstairs and get me, okay?  I won¡¯t mind a bit.¡±


    She nodded her head and I gave her a kiss on the cheek, before setting her back down on her feet, at the base of the stairs.  I would have carried her up but there were too many females up there and I didn¡¯t want to violate anyone¡¯s privacy.


    I yawned again and stumbled into my own room, Morpheus was calling out to me.


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


    Faith gave Vincent a good twenty minutes to fall asleep and then slipped into his room.  It was Jen¡¯s night but after that attack, her children had been pretty nervous, so Faith had quickly volunteered to finish Jen¡¯s shift, before anyone else thought to grab the opportunity.  Nina had already been partially let in on the secret, she was told just enough so that if she did see or hear something a little peculiar she wouldn¡¯t be too surprised or upset.  The ladies had explained how her new dad slept very deeply and it was necessary for someone to be nearby to wake him up, in case of an emergency.  And that it was sort of a family secret that Nina shouldn¡¯t talk about because it might embarrass her new father.


    The ladies then had a slight problem because the little girl had promptly and eagerly volunteered to take over the duty.  But they told her that it wouldn¡¯t look right if a child took on that task and the rest of the community found out about it.   Nina hadn¡¯t looked happy but she had understood.


    The Minister of Justice, Lady Knight Faith Harper, climbed into bed with His Majesty, King Vincent Standish, snuggled up to him, wriggled to get comfortable, wrapped her arms about the Hermit, let out a sigh and then fell quickly to sleep.


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


    It was just after dawn and Sir Boris Khan was outside and drinking a mug of tea.  He was just taking a sip when he heard the first scream; he looked up and was shocked to see, several white furry centipede-like creatures firing crossbows at his people from the top of the encircling wall.  Boris dropped his mug and un-slung his rifle, before he could shoulder it, three of the fire teams that were on duty on and keeping watch from the second floor of the factory, opened fire on the strange creatures.


    More furry centipedes were climbing on and over the wall, there was no time for an Appraisal, there was only time to fight.  More shooters on both sides were quickly joining the fray.  He saw that two of his people had crossbow bolts in them but they looked to be alive for now, one of them was even still in the fight.


    Another round of bolts fell on the soldiers that were currently trapped out in the open courtyard.  Two more fell and they looked to be much more seriously wounded than the first two.


    The crossbows looked to be wickedly powerful things but they had nowhere near the rate of fire of the Guardsmen¡¯s rifles.  He heard muffled ¡°whump¡± noises, the kind of sound that the Holman projectors generated when they launched shells.  The battle raged for just a few minutes more before the centipedes began to withdraw.


    Healers rushed towards the most seriously wounded.  Sir Khan saw that many of the bizarre sentient creatures which had fallen within the compound were still alive, if barely so.  Boris; quickly Appraised one of them before it could expire.


    Name: Blood Drinker


    Class: Scout/Assassin


    Species: Swift Runner


    A Swift Runner is a multi-legged omnivorous sentient being which has fur that changes color with the seasons; white for winter, brown for fall, and blue for spring and summer.   The rear two thirds of their bodies have eight equally-spaced legs which in an adult keeps that segment of their body/trunk approximately 35 centimeters off the ground.  The front segment has one lower pair of dual purpose limbs and one upper pair of arms.


    On their backs is a large muscle/tendon arrangement that when contracted lifts up the front segment of a Swift Runner and supports it for the majority of its working day.  A crude description of a Swift Runner would label it as a fur covered centaur-like centipede but that is a very rough and inaccurate depiction.


    When only using its lower segment, to propel itself, a typical Swift Runner can indefinitely maintain speeds of nineteen kilometers per hour and sprint up to forty-five.  If lowering its front section it can maintain speeds of twenty-five and sprint up to fifty-four kph.


    They have six eyes.  Four eyes are on the front segment, two below the center line and two above.  There are two more eyes on their rear segment to prevent surprises.  Their maximum adult length is three meters and maximum weight is 142 kilograms.


    Boris grumbled to himself, he hated how the DDS was metric.  He was old school and he was always forced to convert things to miles, feet, inches and pounds before he could get a true feel for things.  It took him a moment to do the math in his head, and he didn¡¯t like it at all, when he figured out how a sprinting Swift Runner could keep up or even exceed the speed of the Stronghold¡¯s armored vehicles.


    All of the surviving Swift Runners were severely wounded and possessed blue screens.  Since no one currently at the Armory could speak their language and after a quick consultation with Captain Long, it was decided to just let the centipedes bleed out and die.  As for Boris¡¯s troops, it was expected that two of them should be okay before evening but the other two would need to go home and spend the next two to four days recovering.  One of his soldiers, a craft-maker, had been a hair¡¯s breadth away from joining Quentin Lee in the cemetery.


    Lieutenant Khan inspected the arms and armor of the Swift Runners; he found them all to be made of good steel.  They carried a wide variety of weapons; such as swords, knives, shields, lances, axes, and crossbows.  The last item had been impressively crafted and it had at least two hundred pounds of pull.


    Sir Boris muttered a curse; he preferred to fight dumb monsters over smart aliens.  He now would have to figure out a way to increase his forces¡¯ readiness levels which would be hard to do since the casualties almost made up a full fire team.  Perhaps Captain Long had some people that could assist?


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


    Lieutenant Night drove out through the new gate.  She thought it was kind of a cool, as the humans would say, how the entire gate lifted up and out of the way.   Their first task that morning was to retrieve the 590 so it could be put back into service.  They now had the needed replacement parts with them and while they might be able to fix the loader/backhoe on site; just in case that proved to be impossible and it was found that they needed to bring the tractor back home for repairs, the Sherman tank was now towing a large flatbed trailer that was more than big enough for the job.


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


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker was one of those outside and providing security for the humans who were working on the 590.


    Sticks, was an expert in the manufacture of pole-arms.  She was also highly proficient at using them, which was something that would have gotten her killed if her former masters had ever learned of her adroitness.  She still made weapons but she had yearned to be a warrior her entire life.  Sticks had subsequently been the first of her people to join the Hermit¡¯s Guard.


    When her abilities were awakened by her new King, two of the gifts that she had received were slightly better vision and significantly better hearing.  So even over the sounds of the vehicles and the voices of the humans, she heard what she thought was someone calling out to her in the Sabok language.  She immediately brought this to her sergeant¡¯s attention, who then sent her along with a Private, to cautiously investigate.  The Hellcat rotated its turret so as to give both of them covering fire if it was needed.


    She called out loudly, in the tongue of her former oppressors.  ¡°I am Sticks Spearmaker, Corporal in the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  Is there someone who wishes to speak to me?


    In the distance she saw a greenish gray form step away from some trees, it waved its arms.  ¡°I am Cookie Oven.  All of our warriors are dead.  I would have peaceful converse with you.¡±


    Sticks did an Appraisal and saw that the strange male craft-maker possessed a green screen.  She had been hoping for orange but no adult craft-makers had one of those, living under the Warriors of Sabok had forced all of them to make too many compromises on their honor, not even Lady Star had an orange screen.  ¡°You may approach Cookie Oven but know this, the soldiers that I stand with, have already defeated many Warriors of Sabok and other monsters.  Be deceitful with us at your peril.¡±


    Cookie did approach and while the tractor was being repaired, he had a long conversation with Corporal Sticks and Lady Knight Night.


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


    ¡°Daaad?¡±


    ¡°Yes Pumpkin,¡± something weird was going on with my magic; especially my Earth Magic and I think I was on the verge of figuring it out.  But now I had someone keeping me company.  Though she was a sweet child and far too skinny, she was also distracting me from my work.


    ¡°Dad, I want to do Earth Magic and enchant stuff, just like you do; can you teach me?¡±


    I opened my eyes and looked at the skinny little malnourished form sitting on my lap.  I sighed.  ¡°Baby, your gifts don¡¯t lie in those directions.¡±  She started to frown at me.  ¡°Now, don¡¯t look sad.  You are already the best Teleporter in the Stronghold and you¡¯re the best at Body Augmentation Magic too.  But Enchantment and Earth Magic aren¡¯t among your abilities, if they were I would teach you in a heartbeat.¡±


    Her eyes got tear filled.  ¡°But I want to make stuff like you do.¡±


    ¡°Princess, there is one ability which you possess that hasn¡¯t been awakened yet and that is Alchemy.  I might have that ability too but I¡¯ve been far too busy doing other things to do anything with it as of yet, even though there is one thing that I really want investigate, that being the lifting gas of the Sky Krakens.¡±  I used my own Telekinesis ability to bring down, from the shelves, two of the bottles that Ron had given to me and a large coffee table book.  ¡°Many years ago, I saw an old movie called ¡®Master of the World,¡¯ in the movie they had this huge airship.  After I learned about the kraken gas, I thought that maybe one day that we might build airships like that.¡±  I opened the large book and started thumbing through its pages.   It was filled with all kinds of pictures of both old and modern airships.  Nina seemed to find it interesting.


    ¡°In this new world, I think that steam powered airplanes are impractical, if not completely impossible, and while jet engines might be possible, it is my believe that it will take a lot of magic to make one work for even a short flight, so they won¡¯t be good for long range travel either.  Thus we are back to airships.  I know that Ron, in his free time, has been working with the kraken gas.  How would you like to work on it too?  Since you¡¯re my daughter, it would be kind of like that I would be contributing to the project too.¡±


    Her eyes got big.  ¡°This is important?¡±


    ¡°Very important, it will let us fight the Sky Krakens when they are beyond the reach of our guns and help us to do other things as well.¡±  I touched her cheek gently, she hadn¡¯t sworn an oath to me but she was my daughter for gosh sakes.  I carefully brought forth her only un-awakened talent.


    Soon I had her set up with her own work table.  On the table were the two bottles of lifting gas, some balloons, a child¡¯s primer on physics, a chemistry book, the airship book, some little bottles and a balance scale.  I told her to just play with that stuff for now, so that she got comfortable with it and later on I would introduce her to Ron.


    I went back to working on my magic.  When I had fought those krakens, my energy had recovered far faster than ever before.  It had felt like I was the focal point of a mass of power that was just blasting into me.  That thought led me to think about mirrored solar arrays and how they collect sunlight and project in onto a central point to generate heat.  The mental picture of a circular array of mirrors, in turn, got me thinking about the almost circular shape of the Stronghold.  Its true octagon form led me to think about other geometric shapes such as pentagons which directed my thoughts towards pentagrams.  However pentagrams have star shaped points, so I started thinking about all those enchanted Earth Stones that are separate parts or points within the Stronghold¡¯s walls and moat.   Those stones that I had so carefully worked on; so, I reached out to them and the shape that they delineated; when I connected all the dots, for the shape that I was sitting within; there was a Holy Crap moment.  The feeling of energy pouring me into was back and it felt even stronger than before. As best as I could figure out, the Stronghold and those Earth Stones were acting like a magical energy array.   It seemed that this fortress had the capability to collect ambient magical power and give it to the person that it was keyed to, so long as that person was within its walls.  I didn¡¯t have perfect control of it and it had taken awhile to tap into but I immediately decided to try and take advantage of all that energy, now while I was hooked into it.


    Last night or early this morning I had told Nina that I was going to make new underground living quarters for us, it was time to give it a go.  In less than an hour; I built a four thousand square foot living area and a four thousand square foot workshop, I finally had a true cave.  Now at least, the other hermits won¡¯t make fun of me anymore. Doors, ventilation shafts, and plumbing lines would have to be installed or connected later but everything else was pretty much done.  I created a wide ramp leading down from my former Hermit¡¯s cave/garage to my new dungeon workshop.  The new underground residential portion, I had already tied into the basement¡¯s preexisting tunnel to the Stronghold¡¯s machine shop.   I would get Mack or one of his people to help me out with the finishing touches.


    When I surfaced back in my garage, I found the women already waiting for me.  Jennifer spoke, ¡°Are you done Vincent?¡±


    ¡°It still needs water, sewage lines, ventilation shafts, doors, a few more firestones and wooden floors.¡±  How had they known what I was doing?


    Jen simply nodded her head.  ¡°Okay we¡¯ll finish it up.  We¡¯ve got rugs so we can get by without wooden floors for now.  But it will be nice having ten feet of earth and rock between us and any dangers that might come calling.  You have to go with Grace now; they need you at the shop.¡±  Grace walked up, took my hand and started pulling me down the slope to my newly constructed Hermit¡¯s lair.  I was little disconcerted at the abruptness of it all, so I held out my free hand and looked to Nina for rescue.  She giggled, took my hand and followed me down the ramp.


    Taking the subterranean route, we got to the shop, where I introduced Nina to Ron, so those two could start talking about kraken gas and begin making plans for world conquest.


    The shop was much larger now, with the majority of it underground; it probably qualified as a baby factory what with over eighty full time workers and maybe double that in part time help.


    Glen and Sean were anxiously waiting for me.  Glen began speaking.  ¡°Hey Boss, the conversion of the Oshkosh truck is going smoothly and we might have it done in another thirty-six hours.  It won¡¯t have any armor upgrades but even so it¡¯s still pretty tough.  Subsequent trucks that are the exact same model should go even faster now that we know what we are doing.


    We are not quite ready to start making our own cannons, since we still need to learn more from the M119 that we got from Captain Long so that we can finalize our own design for a 90mm gun.  But after talking with Tornado and Sir Storm Wind, we¡¯ve decided to make a custom run of fifty caliber rifles just for the flyers.  It will be breech opening, like a single shot shotgun, and made out of titanium with a ceramic liner.  We¡¯ll also trim off as much weight as we can by shortening its barrel and possibly removing the shoulder stock as well.  All in all, we hope to give them a rifle that weighs less than twenty pounds, which will be a lot better that those thirty five to thirty six pound beasts they carried up last night.  The rifles¡¯ light weight will hurt with recoil but after what nearly happened last night, the flyers¡¯ new tactic will be to fire and to immediately dive away.


    However to make those rifles, quickly enough, we¡¯ll need your help with enchanting shop fixtures, cooling the titanium, softening the metal, and molding the ceramic liners.  Hope you got the time?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure that their idea was a particularly good one, but I wasn¡¯t going disagree with them, on the other hand we did need more practice when it came to machining titanium and working with the snails¡¯ ceramic materials.  So I readily agreed to the project.


    It was just then that I heard that the convoy had returned with the 590.


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


    Lady Night was back on the road after dropping off her sixty-four craft-maker passengers.  She had turned them over to Lady Star.  According to what Cookie had told her, they had arrived on Earth about eleven days ago, since then; Night Stalkers, squirrels and leaping lizards had decimated their numbers, killing the Sabok Warriors first.


    She was a little bit worried since she had lost a lot of time dealing with the new refugees, but it had given her the opportunity to pick up another trailer which the 590 was presently towing.


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


    Guardian Evonne Sting was desperate, she was now the leader of her tribe¡¯s much reduced band of survivors.  The Tribe of Evening Song had been betrayed, with Lady Song and the rest of the noble caste being murdered.   As for the commoners like Guardian Sting, out of almost two hundred of them, only thirteen remained alive.  But even though poisoned and surprised, the Tribe of Song had still fought back and killed one of the Marsh Tribe¡¯s people for each one, that they had slayed.  Sadly, thanks to Lady Song¡¯s own kindness, the Marsh Tribe was larger.  So in the end, after everyone else had fallen, Evonne had no other recourse but to run with her tiny band.


    They had been on this world for almost sixty day and night cycles; and the Song people had been starting to get a grip on the bizarre and dangerous situation they had found themselves in.  That is until fourteen cycles ago, when they stumbled upon another tribe from their very own world.  Lady Song, seeing people of a similar form had reached out to help them, despite the Marsh Tribe¡¯s horrible reputation and the fact that not one of them possessed an orange placard.  Worse yet, Lady Song in her generosity had ignored the unmistakable truth that many of them had blue placards.  Under the care and guidance of the Song Tribe, the Marsh Tribe did not have to pay nearly as much for their lessons in survival as the Song Tribe had been so painfully forced to do.  The result being that there were many more Marsh survivors than there were Song people who had to learn the hard way.


    The Marsh blues had kept themselves separated for the most part and it must have been them, who poisoned the food.  After the Tribe of Song had fallen ill, the blues had used insane rhetoric to warp the minds of their weak minded green brethren, blaming their plight on Lady Song and the Tribe of Evening Song.  They had spouted nonsense, like the gods would forgive them and send them home, if they killed the Song people.  It seemed as if the green simpletons of the Marsh Tribe, all flashed to blue in a single instant, it was then that the slaughter began.  As Evonne recalled again that terrible night, she fervently wished once more, for those superstitious, violent, Marsh Tribe idiots to rot in the freezing depths for all eternity!


    Guardian Sting had seen many strange sights on this new world and she knew about the metal moving machines but her Lady, seeing people so unlike her own, had decided not to contact the possessors of those armored moving boxes.  Evonne now had no choice, with only three Guardians left and two of the group¡¯s husbands carrying babies; they desperately needed a safe haven. Perhaps the Lady or even Lord of those strange folk would accept their oaths, she could only hope.


    Seeing the vehicles approach, she lifted her front segment and began waving the large red flag that her husband Aron had made for her.


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


    Jeffrey Vargas riding in the lead vehicle, nearly shot his 20mm rifle at the new monster that had suddenly arisen from the snow, a little over a hundred feet from the road.  Luckily the sight of the flag made him hesitate.


    He first triggered a short sequence on the air horn, signaling for a stop and that he had spotted a possible sentient nonhuman being, after which he did an Appraisal.


    Name: Evonne Sting


    Class: Guardian


    Species: Swift Runner


    A Swift Runner is a multi-legged omnivorous sentient being which has fur that changes color with the seasons; white for winter, brown for fall, and blue for spring and summer.   The rear two thirds of their bodies have eight equally-spaced legs which in an adult, keeps that segment of their body/trunk approximately 35 centimeters off the ground.  The front segment has one lower pair of dual purpose limbs and one upper pair of arms.


    On their backs is a large muscle/tendon arrangement that when contracted lifts up the front segment of a Swift Runner and supports it for the majority of its working day.  A crude description of a Swift Runner would label it as a fur covered centaur-like centipede but that is a very rough and inaccurate depiction.


    When only using its lower segment, to propel itself, a typical Swift Runner can indefinitely maintain speeds of nineteen kilometers per hour and sprint up to forty-five.  If lowering its front section it can maintain speeds of twenty-five and sprint up to fifty-four kph.


    They have six eyes.  Four eyes are on the front segment, two below the center line and two above.  There are two more eyes on their rear segments to prevent surprises.  Their maximum adult length is three meters and maximum weight is 142 kilograms.


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


    For the next forty minutes Lady Night Storm who possessed the translation gift/skill talked with Guardian Evonne Sting.  Reluctantly, Night decided that she must return once more to the Stronghold, thus putting her further behind schedule.  She hoped that Lieutenant Khan and his people were okay and that they could weather the extreme delay.


    Her King¡¯s standing orders were to make overtures of friendship towards all people of goodwill, most especially those from alien worlds.  He had an absolute horror of starting or failing to prevent a war between sentient beings.  Lady Storm was most concerned about the now insane tribe of Swift Runners that had attacked Guardian Sting¡¯s former tribe and virtually destroyed it.  She wanted to get a warning to Boris but the convoy wasn¡¯t quite half way there yet and Swift Runners were so large that only thirteen of them half filled the C500¡¯s trailer.  So once again they were on their way back to the Stronghold.


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


    It took us two hours to make that first lightweight fifty caliber rifle.  Prior to this, Sean had made other half inch rifles but they were out of steel and possessed bolt actions.  So we had to make some new fixtures and design/copy some different parts.  Sometimes I have to wonder how many international patents we¡¯re violating.  George might also like the new fifties for his fire teams since they¡¯re so much lighter, if not quite so capable as their bolt action bigger brothers.


    Glen and Sean didn¡¯t keep me constantly busy on their rifle project, I was also helping Scott Blaine, Ring Armorer and Hammer Smith with their new body armor endeavor because they also needed some enchanted fixtures and cutting tools.


    Nina was Ron¡¯s shadow but occasionally she would wave at me and shout ¡°Hi, Dad,¡± with a happy grin on her face.  She seemed to be quite enamored with that word.  I still couldn¡¯t understand how she seemed to be so sane after everything that she had been through.  Her nightmares, before I entered them, had been truly horrifying.  The only thing that I had been able to do, at the time, was clumsily wrap her inner psyche with my own mind and briefly shield her, from all the pain that her emotions and memories were causing her.  It had been some seriously yucky and distressing stuff too.


    Right now, I was doing my best to not think about all of the children on this world and possibly other worlds as well that were living in terrible conditions or had already died in horrible ways, because of the change in physical laws and the emergence of monsters.  In that lay madness and there was only so much that I could do.


    Jen came running into the shop, to get me.  It seems that we had a new sentient species, waiting to meet with me, in the old Council Room.


    To say that I was surprised upon my first sight of them would be putting it mildly.  They were well armed and armored furry white centipedes that arched the front quarters off their bodies off the ground.  Surprisingly, their mouths and teeth looked quite human like, except for being larger.  Lady Night gave me a quick briefing and made to leave so as to make another attempt for the Armory, but I stopped her and ordered her to first grab a meal, it being over four hours since breakfast.


    I approached the Swift Runners who all bowed to me.


    Hello, I am the Hermit King Vincent Standish.  Welcome to the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  I hope that we can treat one another respectfully and cordially.  You must have many questions.  I have sent for Sir Storm Wind who is the leader of the Flyer Clan living here.  He has the translation ability the same as Lady Night Storm and I.  He will work with you and he in turn can call on the aid of Lady Jennifer Boone my spokesperson, Sir Stephen Monet my castellan and Lady Star Astrologer who is my advisor.  You and your people must be tired and hungry; all will be done as quickly as possible to get you settled.   After a few days, once you¡¯ve had time to see things here and ask questions, we will talk some more.  I give you warning that I am by nature a rude and foul-mouthed person.  Before I go back to work, I need to mention my six rules; Lady Knight Harper, my Minister of Justice, probably has a few more but none of them apply to me because I¡¯m a tyrant and a prick.


    For some reason my last statement prompted a reaction from the Swift Runners.  I mentally shrugged my shoulders and continued.  They could always leave.


    Rule one: Treat others with respect until they mess up.


    Rule two: Don¡¯t use violence against other sentient beings unless in defense of your life, personal property, or another¡¯s life or personal property.  It is permissible to use violence to punish someone when any of those things that I mentioned previously have already happened but you should see one of my Peace Keepers first and let them handle things, because if you foul up, it can be mean big trouble for you.


    Rule three: Act honorably, for example; if you¡¯re married and swore to be faithful then don¡¯t cheat on your spouse.  That rule also means that we watch each other¡¯s asses.  All children are to be cherished, that doesn¡¯t mean that they have a license to misbehave and be disrespectful little grubs.


    Rule four: Don¡¯t fucking steal!


    Rule five: Don¡¯t lie.  I know people tell so called ¡®harmless or social lies¡¯ all of the time and I can tolerate those but lying nowadays is kraken crap, when even a small one can get someone killed.   I especially hate lies that are deliberately harmful to others, like giving false testimony.  Many of us have the True Sight skill and we know when someone is lying to us.


    Rule six: You will obey my rules and commands.  You will also obey those people that I have put into positions of authority.


    I see that Sir Wind is here now; he¡¯ll take over for me.  Rest and eat as much as you like, I hope that you can enjoy the same foods that we eat.


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


    To say that Evonne Sting was shocked would be a gross understatement.  The Lord here, Vincent Standish, had referred to himself as a tyrant and a, she couldn¡¯t even mentally think that word; it was simply uncivilized for a male to speak so.  In all of her hundreds of solar cycles she had never heard of a noble refer to themselves as such, even if many of them really were ¡°tyrants.¡±  She wasn¡¯t sure if she liked a lord who was so plain spoken and foul-mouthed, it was already bad enough that he was a male.


    They were first brought to a large cafeteria where they were given a wide variety of quite tasty foodstuffs.  There was a fish dish on the buffet tables but before she could try any or give some to her children, Sir Wind stopped her and explained where that particular meat had came from and why children were forbidden to eat it.  She herself relished eating such a delicacy and from such a formidable foe, her children were justifiably disappointed but she could understand and appreciate the Hermit King¡¯s logic, in not allowing any young ones to eat the Sky Kraken flesh.


    She and her surviving tribe members; were then shown to a warm underground set of rooms.  Large furs and thick tanned hides covered the floor and there were tables too.  There were no chairs but Swift Runners didn¡¯t need and couldn¡¯t use them.  The magical lights were explained to her tiny tribe.  There were also two bathing/toilet rooms but while barely adequate they were uncomfortably small.  Sir Wind promised that he would come back, once they rested, and see that their current rooms or different rooms were modified to better suit her people and their needs.  Two older children were given the job of waiting outside the Swift Runner rooms and would serve as messengers to find a translator for them, if it proved necessary.


    Guardian Sting was reasonably happy with how smoothly things had gone so far, and she was only sorry that her tribe had not earlier made contact with the King of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    The convoy ran into a pack of leaping lizards and family of Stone Giants, neither encounter posed a serious threat to them and only caused minor delays.


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


    Boris was worried, it was two in the afternoon and still the convoy had not arrived as of yet.  It was at that point that someone triggered an air horn and someone else shouted out.  ¡°WE GOT BIG BIRDS INCOMING!¡±


    Boris ran back towards the factory doorway, slung his rifle and reached behind to pull his shotgun from the scabbard that was strapped to his back.   While they didn¡¯t have enough shotguns to equip every Guardsmen, at least half of the soldiers with his fire teams, were lucky enough to possess one.


    The birds were circling overhead and one of them even had the effrontery to land on the three-story Armory building across the street from the old factory.  Boris did an Appraisal on it.


    Pithecophaga jefferyi Giganteas; Giant All-Eating Eagle, maximum height is 410 centimeters, maximum weight can be as much as 32 kilograms.  A single eagle can kill prey up to four times its own body weight.  Eagles mate for life and the female of the species will normally lay four eggs in a single season, with the young staying with their parents until they find their own mates.  Multiple hatchings can and do stay with the family group.  Such families typically vary from two to eighteen members, with only the youngest four not out and actively searching for prey. Giant Eagles will seek prey alone or as cooperative group.  Normally they will hunt with at least one other.


    Seeing the Appraisal, Sir Khan switched back to his rifle and shot the eagle across the street. Shortly after that the convoy arrived and the other eagles scattered on seeing such large formidable creatures.


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


    Seeing the corpse of a Swift Runner at Captain Long¡¯s Compound, Lieutenant Storm got into a lengthy conversation with the other Officers about her own meeting with the Tribe of Evening Song.  The humans were rather blas¨¦ when they learned about ¡°good¡± Swift Runners.  They figured that if it was possible for there to be good and bad humans, then the same thing should hold true for other species as well.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    The passengers for the trip back to the Stronghold had already been selected.  They quickly climbed aboard the C500¡¯s trailer and their few belongings were loaded into the lone armored utility trailer.  The convoy started its journey back for home, stopping briefly at the equipment store.  This time they had the 590 with them and in the store they easily located a set of pallet forks, which they then connected to the tractor¡¯s front bucket.  Using the forks, they swiftly and efficiently loaded the convoy¡¯s two flatbed trailers, with pallets of parts and materials.   In less than a half an hour they were back on the road.


    The convoy had three encounters on the way home.  First they were attacked by another pack of leaping lizards, the creatures would be terrible threats to someone out in the open but for the convoy; they were almost a waste of ammunition.


    They next saw a large group of blue screen Swift Runners, which they decided not to engage since the Swift Runners did not attack them.  But three miles down the road, this changed when the Swift Runners ambushed the convoy, they fired crossbow bolts at truck windows and the two partially exposed tank commanders.  Luckily the bolts missed and the Sergeants were able to withdraw safely inside their armored vehicles but immediately after this, the Swift Runners ran and leaped on to the vehicles of the convoy.  Using swords and axes, they tried their best to break inside the armored boxes, so as to get at the crews and passengers.  They were defeated when the vehicles positioned themselves, such that they could shoot at the Swift Runners that were climbing on top of the other vehicles, within the convoy.  Five centipedes fell before the others broke off and ran away.


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


    We had two of the new lightweight fifties done.  Tornado and Metal Grinder had been practicing with the first one, when we heard the steam whistle alarm go off.   A messenger came running into the shop, shouting that a small number of Sky Krakens were returning.  Damn it, I would have bet money that those assholes wouldn¡¯t be back for weeks.


    I jogged home, grabbed my leathers and then ran as swiftly as possible towards the center of the Stronghold.  What I was going to attempt should work better at the Stronghold¡¯s geometric focal point.  I arrived huffing and puffing, I really needed to get more exercise.  I looked to the sky; I could see eight krakens approaching.  I tried reaching for the Earth Stones that surrounded me, as I had done earlier that day.  I failed miserably; I guess it wasn¡¯t something that I could instantly tap into.  Nor did I feel the same rage that I had felt the night before.  Looking up, I saw two flyers rising into the sky, damn it!  They were going to be far too late.  So, why did those idiots have to go and do that?


    Aw fuck it!  I called the wind, straining myself because I needed to get up there as fast as I could.   Giving myself a magical hernia I rose into the air.  By the time I got up to altitude, the krakens had dropped their bombs and were already two kilometers away.   Deciding that pursuing them would be a bad idea, I focused on landing on the Eastern Wall.  Of course this time there were plenty of people about to see my dismal performance and while I nailed my landing last night, it must have been beginner¡¯s luck, because on this occasion, in the best tradition of Willie E. Coyote, I did a screaming face plant onto the wall walk.  I just have to get me a parachute.  At least I didn¡¯t break anything, bruise yes, break no.  That overabundance of energy that I had the previous night had served me in good stead, but without it, the same task or mission became much more perilous.


    Groaning, I stood up and then glared at all of those who were gathered round.  ¡°None of you saw that, do you understand me?¡±


    I got a number of vigorous nods from those grinning bastards, as I slowly limped away.


    That evening, I attended another Council session in our underground meeting room.  We had Lieutenant Kellie Cross from the Army and Guardian Evonne Sting, both observing by invitation.


    Lieutenant Night Storm opened the meeting by telling us all about the convoy¡¯s experiences that day.


    She then translated for Guardian Sting as that woman told us about her tribe and her experiences on Earth since arriving two months ago.  She culminated her tale, by telling us how the Song Tribe had been betrayed and attacked by another tribe that her group had been trying to help.


    Glen gave us a status report in regards to the new rifles.  Sean now had eight done and production was increasing, with a target of fifty weapons to be manufactured.


    Luckily no car bombs had hit anything today but once again, another greenhouse had been a near miss.  It was my turn to talk.  ¡°Isabella has rightfully brought to our attention the peril posed by small monsters but we can¡¯t ignore the threat of the larger ones either.  I would classify the Sky Krakens, the mechanical arachnids and the Devolved Stone Giants as being a set of unique threats to this Stronghold and our lives.  Who knows what other enormous monsters are already out there or will be coming to this world since we now have confirmation, thanks to the Swift Runners and the newest craft-maker refugees, that the ¡®Inter-Reality Barriers¡¯ which failed before the three hundred hour mark are still down and may in fact never reestablish themselves.  We¡¯ve certainly gotten no messages from the DDS indicating that those barriers have been restored.


    I am concerned about those other threats that we will be facing.  Lieutenant Cross, I would like you to send a message to Captain Long with tomorrow¡¯s convoy.  While she has given us two howitzers, your company still has four more.  What I am proposing is a way to utilize them for our mutual defense.  I would like for those four guns to be positioned on the Stronghold¡¯s walls and crewed by your people.  However, ammunition will be supplied and controlled by the Hermit¡¯s Guard, while the cannons are within this fortress.


    We have an abundance of low powered farming tractors.  Each howitzer will have a tractor assigned to it, so your cannons can be towed along the wall walk, to where they¡¯re most needed.  I know that your company was originally a Transportation Unit and that you will have to train with your howitzers, but we will also see that you are provided with sufficient powder and shells for that purpose.


    George, do you any problems with my proposal?¡±


    ¡°No your Majesty, I think it¡¯s a good one. We can preposition the howitzers at equally spaced locations on the walls, in order to meet any threat that comes our way.¡±


    ¡°Good, Glen I want you to expedite the creation of our own tanks.  We need that steel that Fred told us about, to make our new drawbridge.  And I don¡¯t feel comfortable sending our forces so far from home without more armored support, armed with better and more accurate cannons.  For that matter, I don¡¯t like leaving this compound so little in the way of armored fighting vehicles.¡±


    ¡°Boss, I can do that but don¡¯t forget those dump trucks that Chester told us about.  We can armor and convert one of those things in fairly short order nowadays.¡±


    ¡°Good point, after we get Captain Long¡¯s group transferred, we¡¯ll go after those trucks.  Do you have any ideas about the new tanks?¡±


    ¡°Actually yes, but they won¡¯t exactly be tanks because we¡¯re fighting a different kind of foe.  After a lot of talk between Captain Mesquida, his officers and our own experienced tankers, we¡¯ve decided to revisit a concept from pre World War II and make an armored Land Cruiser.  Now, we¡¯re still stuck with the basic foot print of a vehicle that is twelve feet wide by twenty-six feet long, because it has been well learned over the years that, that is the maximum size you can make an armored tracked vehicle that is sufficiently maneuverable for most combat situations.  We¡¯d like to make the cruisers bigger but they would be too clumsy, especially within cities or forests.


    However we do have to make them taller.  This is primarily to allow their main guns the ability to elevate enough so that they can engage aerial targets, such as Sky Krakens or extremely tall foes like the mechanical spiders.


    The top of our land cruiser¡¯s hull will be 81 inches off the ground and there will be 19 inches of ground clearance beneath it.  Its turret will rise another 63 inches beyond that for a total of 144 inches or twelve feet; that is not including the 20mm rifles mounted just outside the turret¡¯s three hatches.  The turret will be 12 feet wide by 16 feet long and it will overhang the cruiser¡¯s tracks. Vision blocks will be made of extremely thick transparent aluminum and have armored steel shutters.  Track width will be 28 inches.  The land cruiser will have angular sides much like the M1 Abrams tank.  With our current facilities it is much easier for us to construct the land cruiser¡¯s exterior out of panels mounted on a frame rather than cast any part of it, like was done years ago for the Sherman¡¯s turret.


    Its primary armament will be a 90mm main gun.  But there will be additional weapons systems to fight other foes, something that has gone out of fashion on most modern tanks.  On the sides of our turret will be two air-powered 50mm Holman projectors, located in ball mounts.  There will be a third one collocated with the main gun and a fourth one in the hull that the co-driver/engineer can fire.  We are still debating if we are going to install a 20mm rifle that can be fired from within the land cruiser.  Holman projectors are very light and if necessary they can easily be withdrawn into the land cruiser and an armored plug inserted to fill the hole that is left behind, that way a cruiser can slim down to twelve feet in width, in case those short protruding projector barrels look like they might cause a problem.


    The main gun will have almost the same range of movement as a towed artillery piece, that being minus 10 to plus 75 degrees.  The projectors in the ball mounts can pivot to the left and right up to 25 degrees, the same for elevation and down to minus fifteen degrees.


    Sean has performed numerous tests in attempting to get a fully automatic or semi-automatic weapon to work in our new world.  All of his attempts have ended in failure even if he¡¯s using compressed air to drive a weapon¡¯s action, which doesn¡¯t make any sense at all.  I have watched tests being done, at a far slower rate than I can personally work a manual action, and they¡¯ve all resulted in cartridge jams by the second or third shot.  Frequently there is also a significant loss of projectile striking power as well.  This problem exists for both our black powder and air powdered weapons.  Sean even made a crossbow with an air powered loading mechanism; it failed to operate properly as well.  Call it quantum mechanics, magic or the will of the gods but something in our altered universe has it in for automatic weapons and will not allow them to function properly.  What¡¯s more, there is some preliminary evidence that if we ever do build steam turbines or use the smaller ones that we are still salvaging from the snails¡¯ arachnids that they might also not work properly or as efficiently as they should.  We¡¯re still not so sure of that, as of yet and what with all our other jobs, we¡¯re long ways for doing any definitive and irrefutable testing on that subject.


    As a result of Sean¡¯s tests, the proposed Holman projectors will have a top mounted two round magazine, similar to the old 40mm Bofors gun but it will be worked manually, with two charging handles located on either side of the Holman¡¯s barrel or pipe.


    On another topic, I have some good news, Grace has gotten her steam powered shrapnel shells figured out and we are about to start production of them.  This will make all of our weapons larger than 50mm, much more effective against masses of less well-armored creatures such as the King Mandrills.


    Getting back to the design for the land cruiser, since we have no idea from which direction an enemy might attack, it will have equal armor covering the majority of its exterior.  The old M60 tank had ten inches of steel armor protecting its vitals.  Ours will have ten inches of armor as well but it will be made of layers of compressed stone, steel, ballistic gelatin, compressed stone again, another layer of steel, gelatin and then finally an inner layer of titanium.  We¡¯ve already shot test sections with the Sherman¡¯s cannon and our armor has performed well but we still need to do a few more tests to make certain.


    By making the armor in layers and using other lighter materials, we¡¯ve kept the theoretical weight of the land cruiser down to between fifty and fifty-five tons which is about the same weight as an M60 tank.


    It will be powered by two 330 hp steam engines which we are extremely close to putting into production.  Right now we have three of them in test stands and we¡¯re doing our best to break them.  The turret will be powered by its own 50 to 125 hp engine, which will rotate the turret and power the air compressor that supplies the Holman projectors.  That engine will be located in an external armored bustle on the turret¡¯s rear.


    There will also be way to vent steam directly onto the land cruiser¡¯s exterior, so as to parboil anything that might be on it.  The problem there of course, is that each cruiser only carries a limited amount of water.


    A cruiser¡¯s crew will consist of from five to seven members.  A commander, gunner, loader, driver, co-driver/engineer and two others manning the side Holman projectors, those last two are not absolutely necessary and might crowd the turret too much but we¡¯re hoping that the land cruiser¡¯s extra height will make a seven person crew a practical and functional option.  As in older tanks, there will also be an escape hatch in the floor of the hull.


    We have three full sets of parts for the land cruiser¡¯s undercarriage, though only one set of shoes in the desired 28 inch width.  But those parts give us the examples that we need to manufacture more of the same.  And thanks to Lieutenant Night Storm we have two new knowledgeable employees to help us with our armored vehicles.  Vince, if you can give us some help, I think that we might have a production prototype ready in as little as two weeks.¡±


    ¡°Outstanding Glen, because I want to send an expedition for that bridge steel in thirty days, and if you can do it, I would like four of those land cruisers ready at that time and also two new armored dump trucks like the T800 but with the bigger engines.  That way our older armored vehicles can stay behind and protect the Stronghold.¡±


    Glen looked slightly shocked by my expectations.


    ¡°Glen, I will give you as much help as I can.  I feel strongly that we need to get that bridge done before summer.


    Mack, we are now facing giants up to eleven meters tall.  That means we will have to modify this fortress to a greater degree than we had originally planned for.   Come late springtime or early summer folks, I want this Kingdom ready to kick ass and chew bubblegum; and I don¡¯t like bubblegum.  I let us slack off for a few months and I¡¯m regretting it now.¡±   Groans and words of protest greeted my words.   ¡°I know we kept working but none of us, most especially myself; were busting our asses to our full potential.   If we¡¯re going to survive this coming summer, that is going to have to change for the next couple of months.  Come next winter, if we¡¯re still alive, we can take a four day break then.¡±


    More sounds of protest came my way.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Originally I was going to name the land cruiser the M100 Lee, after Quentin Lee.  Then I had a suggestion to name it the chicken, which I really liked but it¡¯s not badass.  So I¡¯m looking for suggestions and if I figure out how, I will run a poll at the start of the next chapter.


    Master of the World


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_World_(1961_film)</a>


    Eagle


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_eagle#Diet</a>


    It¡¯s time to switch back to Swamp Boy for a couple of chapters.


    Version three of the Defective Hermit Character List, now packed with even more flaws!


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.


    Population of Embassy: 100


    Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound): 798


    People with assigned jobs: 629


    Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Unassigned: 169


    Partial Character List, Version 3:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Name: Nina Rivera Standish


    Title: Princess


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Alchemy Level: 1


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (276):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate and teleport.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Private Dominic Jackson, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (75):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building


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


    The Shop Crew (93):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


    David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight


    Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight


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


    Motor Pool (24):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


    Star Astrologer (green screen) is the Chief of the Craft-Makers, known as the Wise One.  Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (90):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (18):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (13):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


    Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (29):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors (630)


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants  SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


    Howard King, at Stronghold

 Chapter 27: Chief Dawn Rain

    The ¡°let¡¯s name the land cruiser poll,¡± I hope this works.


    If you spot any flaws, please leave a comment, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 27: Chief Dawn Rain


    It was strange waking up in my new dungeon bedroom and I was sure that I would never like sleeping underground but for now it would have to do; at least my slumber hadn¡¯t been disturbed.  I got up and put on my robe.  I walked out of my room, brushing aside the blue tarp that was acting as my bedroom door.  On my way to the upstairs bathroom, I took a slight detour to check on Nina.  I found her still sleeping, and seeing her covers all askew, I took a moment to tuck her blankets back up under her chin, the poor thing deserved all the rest that she could get.  I then resumed my trek, seeking my morning shower and shave.


    Yesterday had been another long day.  After the Council meeting, I had spent hours working on the American Embassy Compound within my Kingdom.  The whole idea of me being a king and having a US Embassy in my tiny kingdom is such a weird concept for me that I keep on expecting to wake up in a loony bin with an insane doctor screaming at me ¡°April Fools.¡±  One more night and I should have the American dungeon complete.  It might be a little small for over six hundred people but I am unwilling to grant them anymore than five acres, within my Stronghold.


    I still had clothes in my old bedroom, after dressing I found Steve, Jen, Star, and Isabella sitting at the kitchen table.


    Jen began talking, ¡°Vincent, there are some other matters that we started discussing after you left the meeting last night, things that we feel we should bring to your attention.¡±  She nodded to Isabella who took over.


    ¡°One problem that I¡¯m having is our artificial light sources.   We only have your enchanted incandescent bulbs and the people who possess Light Magic, like Star here.  Incandescent bulbs don¡¯t make for the best grow lights and our Light Mages only generate light when they are present, their spells as of yet have no persistence.  I think that we should have some underground growing rooms but I can understand why that might not be feasible at the present time.  However, my main difficulty right now, is keeping our wooly lambs ear plants healthy; you know the ones that we keep in our bathrooms, as a replacement for toilet paper.  It is pain to swap them out with plants growing in our green houses every two or three days.   I was hoping that you might have a solution.¡±


    ¡°The only potential answer that I can think of is Star.¡±   Who immediately stopped sipping her tea and stared at me when I said those words.  ¡°With enough painful instruction from me, she and Blender might both just become Enchanters.  Since Star has Light Magic she might be able to make true magical lights for us that can produce something akin to sunlight.  I¡¯ve given her and Blender some instruction but we¡¯ve all been so busy lately that we¡¯ve been letting it slide.   Don¡¯t expect quick results though, they missed being Enchanters by a tiny margin and it will take a lot of time to warp, pound, torture and mold them so that they can even have a low level of talent in that magical ability.¡±


    Isabella grimaced.  ¡°Well I guess a slight hope is better than nothing, thank you Vincent.¡±


    ¡°Star, you and Blender will see me three times a week for lessons starting tomorrow afternoon, okay?¡±


    She tried to hide her grimace but she said, ¡°certainly my King.  I would like to speak about another subject, and the primary reason that we are all gathered here this morning, it too has to deal with education.  We think it is time for this Stronghold to have a school and a child care center.  Presently we have 152 children under the age of fifteen and 38 more between fifteen and eighteen.  This world has a great wealth of written knowledge, so it¡¯s imperative that all children learn to read, write and speak; not only English but a variety of languages both those native to Earth and to other worlds as well, since so very few have been gifted with the Communication Skill by the DDS.  Mathematics, history, science, magic and host of other subjects, including many practical skills should also be taught.  It is the general feeling of the Council that children under fifteen, many of whom have labored as hard as many adults here, should now be full-time students with only an hour or two of chores every day.  For those between fifteen and eighteen, many of them already have jobs vital for our community; the Council feels that efforts should be made to reduce their workloads so that they will be able to spend equal time at school.  Once we are able to reduce the general workload on everyone, perhaps this fall, I think that we should also offer classes to those over eighteen.¡±


    I can only blame low blood sugar, for my following actions, since I hadn¡¯t eaten yet, but¡­. ¡°I agree, I think we need a school as well.  I¡¯ve felt badly about making the kids work so hard, it was beginning to remind me too much of something like from Earth¡¯s own Dark and Medieval Ages.  When we have the opportunity we¡¯ll construct a dedicated building and dungeon for the school.  Steve, if you¡¯ll get with Mack and have him reserve an octagonal shaped piece of land, for our future school site, with each side being 225 feet in the exact center of the Stronghold, I would appreciate it.  What we build there can be both a school and a final place to retreat to, for our entire community, if a disaster should befall us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it Boss.¡±


    I continued.  ¡°Currently we should have more than enough space underground to hold classes.¡±  I got nods of agreement from those gathered in the kitchen.  ¡°As for a name for the school, there were a series of whimsical magical books written several years ago.   As a consequence of the popularity of those novels, I worry that someone might start calling our new school ¡°Hermitswart.¡±  Star looked confused, so Jen leaned over to whisper an explanation into her ear, while Isabella and Steve looked as if they didn¡¯t know if they should laugh or frown.  ¡°I propose that we call it the ¡®Stronghold School of Magic and Other Stuff.¡¯  I know the last word isn¡¯t very dignified but it¡¯s accurate since our school will be teaching so many different things.¡±


    There were some slight frowns, especially from Star but the fools fell for my master plan.  I could only hope that my mental shields would hold until it was too late for the Evil Queen-pin and her minions to change things.  Once they left, I ate my breakfast and then went downstairs to my mad wizard¡¯s laboratory.  One of these days, I have to figure out how I can enchant a broom or two, so as to keep my workshop clean without any manual labor on my part.


    When I was safe in my cave and I was sure that I was alone, I began to cackle evilly.  ¡°Muahahaha, muahahaha, Stronghold School of Magic and Other Stuff, indeed!  Those Fools!  Muahahaha, muahahaha, and it just happens to be in the exact magical focal point of the Stronghold.  Muahahaha, muahahaha, when Star realizes what I have done she might just commit hara-kiri in shame, for actually its secret true name will be,¡± I paused my self-congratulatory monologue to glance around and make sure that I was still alone.  I then whispered because it never hurts being extra cautious, ¡°Stupidfucker¡¯s School of Magic and Other Stuff, with the acronym S.S.O.M.A.O.S.  Furthermore, I will always pronounce that acronym as ¡°Samoas,¡± and encourage others to follow my example.  The last step of my diabolical plan will be my Royal Proclamation of an Official School Cookie; I just hope Steve or Isabella can find enough coconut.¡± I ceased talking in whispers and I let my voice return to a normal conversational tone of voice.  ¡°Samoas shall become a beacon of hope for the new world!¡±  I once more, began cackling but this time even louder, ¡°Muahahaha, Muahahaha, MUAHAHAHA, MUAHAHAHA.¡±


    Suddenly I heard.  ¡°Dad, why are you laughing like that?  You are seriously, creeping me out!¡±


    I snapped my mouth shut and I slowly turned around.  Oops, I guess Nina woke up.


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


    Boris was dining on poultry that morning, yesterday evening some Terror Birds had stupidly attacked and this morning a pack of leaping lizards, had done the same thing.  The lizards had easily made it over the walls but they had been quickly dealt with and no one had been injured.  Sir Khan was still undecided if he wanted to be the first to dine upon their flesh or not because they certainly didn¡¯t look very appetizing.  He wondered if they would make a decent jerky, the monkey stuff certainly wasn¡¯t very palatable.


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


    The convoy for the Armory had already left and Lady Knight Candace Murphy was walking to the firing range when she came upon Sergeant Richard Jacobs with his pronounced Southern drawl, lecturing some new volunteers for the Hermit¡¯s Guard.


    ¡°Our brilliant battle tested commander is Sir George Mesquida.  In only a few short months he has turned a mismatched group of old veterans, alien warriors and complete neophytes into a crack unit.  Our five chief weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, a fanatical devotion to the King and our bright red uniforms.¡±


    Corporal Fish Diver spoke up, ¡°We don¡¯t have any uniforms yet.  Are they really going to be red?  That¡¯s a stupid color!


    ¡°But Sergeant what about our guns, aren¡¯t they really important?¡± asked Corporal Sticks Spearmaker.


    Deciding to tease the very attractive Sergeant, Corporal Tammy Harding added her two cents.  ¡°And our tanks, don¡¯t forget our tanks, we really need them too.¡±


    Since all the other experienced Guardsmen that were present, were speaking up, Private Dominic Jackson decided that he too should also say something since he didn¡¯t want to look like a newb in front of the new recruits.  ¡°Don¡¯t forget our magic Sarge, since that also makes us pretty badass.¡±


    Sergeant Jacobs, ¡°Harrumphed¡± then, ¡°Quiet, you educated philistines!  Okay, I will rephrase my last statement because of your trivial and meaningless comments.  Let me see where was I?  Blah, blah, blah, No one fears the Spanish Inquisition, oh yes now I remember.  Amongst our diverse weapons are fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, firearms, armored vehicles, magic, a fanatical devotion to the King and our fancy dress bright red uniforms, even though they aren¡¯t worn in combat, they do intimidate our enemies nonetheless.¡±


    Lieutenant Murphy abruptly turned around and quickly walked away, before she exploded with laughter.  Sergeant Jacobs was definitely a handsome man, yet despite his well-groomed dignified appearance as well as his lethality and efficiency on the battlefield, he was also a dyed in the wool prankster, who frequently used the most outlandish training methods and yet somehow, consistently did an outstanding job of turning people into soldiers.


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


    Lady Knight Night was still trying to hide her nervous twitching.   The Swift Runners hadn¡¯t been too bad but what the convoy had run into first thing this morning had seriously freaked her out.


    Arthropoda Arachnida Araneae Mygalomorphae Theraphosidae Nix Giganteas, Giant Snow Tarantula, is a solitary carnivorous predator.  Its central body can be as large as one meter wide and 3.3 meters long.  An adult typically weighs between 2000 and 2255 kilograms; its legs can be up to 3.3 meters in length.  This tarantula is light gray/white in the winter; and dark gray/brown during the warmer months.


    She saw, she Appraised,  and she opened fire, while calling out for everyone else to shoot it as well.  It was terrible waste of ammunition but she didn¡¯t care.  After it was blasted to pieces she sent out two of her people who possessed Fire Magic to incinerate its corpse, she was simply going to take no chances with such a horror.  She prayed that the thing hadn¡¯t been a breeding female because she couldn¡¯t stand the thought of more of those monsters running about.  Suddenly she began to wonder if that horrible insect was capable of spinning webs, what if one of her children was ever caught in one!


    Twelve miles down the road they had another encounter but this time it was almost a peaceful scene, four huge armored mammoths were dining on some brush not far from the road.  The two craftmakers aboard the T800 almost went into spasms upon seeing the animals; they began begging Lieutenant Night Storm for the convoy to make a brief stop, so that they could check on the enormous creatures that were from the same home world as they.


    Reluctantly she gave in to their pleas and issued an order for all vehicles to stop.  As soon as the rear ramp touched the ground, Privates Waxy Candlemaker and Feather Fletcher recklessly ran down it and towards the huge animals.  Lady Night muttered a flyer curse under her breath and ordered those who had stayed behind to shoot if the giant elephants looked to be a danger to those two slightly reptilian idiots.


    When they were about one hundred feet away, the two Privates slowed their approach and began calling out to the huge creatures.  Night could see that at least two of the four mammoths had some kind of tattered leather harness hanging from their bodies.  All four of the giant elephants began to slowly lumber towards the approaching craftmakers.  Once they got near enough, the mammoths used their trunks to gently touch the two women.  Who in turned stroked the trunks and made soothing sounds.  After a few moments the deranged craftmakers removed the ragged straps that still remained on two of the massive beasts.


    Just as the Lady Knight was losing patience, the Privates broke away from the immense creatures and returned to the T800.


    Waxy spoke.  ¡°Thank you Lieutenant for allowing us to check on the mammoths, they are from our home world, though they were owned by another tribe.  They are well trained and we have instructed them to remain in this general area.  Might it be possible on our way home that we stop again, so that we might tell them to follow us?  Feather and I both understand that the convoy will quickly outpace those mammoths but if we can get them heading in the right direction, it might barely be possible for us to rescue the four of them at a later time.¡±


    Lady Night closed her eyes because of the exasperated feelings she had and was forced to suppress.  ¡°If we have the time, we will stop but if they do succeed in making it to the Stronghold it will be our King¡¯s decision if they are allowed inside.  Their sheer size makes them dangerous and they must eat enormous amounts of food.¡±


    Privates Fletcher and Candlemaker understood her concerns but this was something from home and the craftmaker people had an almost symbiotic relationship with such animals that only a few true horsemen could understand.


    A few miles down the road they had an encounter, with rats the size of dogs.  A few rifle shots scared them off, but the Lady Knight wished that the monsters would have stayed put, so that she could have wiped them all from existence.


    Later on, a small group of blue screen swift runners attacked the convoy, but the sharpshooters were now familiar with such foes and none escaped or seriously delayed the convoy.  So only two and a half hours after leaving the Stronghold they arrived at the Armory.  Passengers were loaded as well as a one more cannon; after less than an hour delay they were heading back towards home.  The convoy briefly stopped at the farm equipment store to pick up some things.


    They had numerous running battles on their way back to the Stronghold, with such creatures as Stone Giants, Gorgonspids, and saber toothed giant dogs but nothing new or that seriously slowed the armored vehicles down.  They did locate the elephants again and the two craftmakers instructed the beasts to follow the convoy but it was rather doubtful if the creatures would make it to the Stronghold alive.  It was already a miracle that such immense herbivores had lived this long, what with predatory monsters being literally around every corner.


    Sadly though the convoy had made good time that day when compared to other trips, it was decided that there was still insufficient time to make another round trip before dark.  After a brief discussion with the Hermit King it was decided that a group would go out and attempt to meet up with incoming elephants and escort them back to the Stronghold.  It was well that they did, because on their return journey with the mammoths they had to fight and kill a family of Stone Giants which surely would have slain the prehistoric elephants and they also stumbled upon seven more craftmaker refugees.  Lady Night was happy for them, but she wondered why they weren¡¯t finding any of her own people.


    The mammoths could not travel very fast over long distances so it was just after dusk by the time they made it back to the Stronghold.  The group of craftmakers who had been waiting at the gate treated the huge animals like babies because they were so happy to see them.


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


    It was around two in the morning of the following day and Boris was looking at the three-story Armory building across the street from the old factory.  He had seen a winged shape land upon the roof there.  He was mildly surprised because he didn¡¯t think that eagles flew at night or at least not those new giant eagles.  Bored, he decided to Appraise it.


    Name: Dawn Rain


    Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth


    Title: The Unhappy Survivor


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


    Dawn Rain was doing the unthinkable, on this horrible new world that she and her clan members had arrived on less than ten days ago, she was flying at night.  The Clan Chief had seen too many people die and now she was seeking her death because earlier the preceding morning she had been bitten by one of her friends who in turn, had been driven mad by the bite of one of those horrible giant bat-like creatures.  Several hours ago she felt the beginning of a fever and then began to exhibit other symptoms.


    She asked her second to slay her before it was too late but Morning Mist had refused.  Dawn sighed; it really had been too much to ask of her cousin, who was so terribly young for the responsibilities now thrust upon her.  Rain conveniently forgot her own young age.  The older clan members had spent their blood and lives in an effort to save those that were younger they.  Rain who was barely an adult was now the Clan Leader on this world, or at least she was, she thought sardonically, until she sickened and died or became one of those monsters.  She wondered how things were back on the Clan¡¯s home world of ¡°Air¡± things had gotten bad there as well but certainly not as horrific as this place.  She prayed that the majority of the Soaring Dawn Clan was still alive and safe in their forest homes.


    Dawn Rain had taken to the night skies in an effort to seek her own death, so as to protect her clan mates, and to wreak some vengeance on those Night Stalkers that had ended so many of her clan members¡¯ lives.


    After hours of flight and battle, she had seen some lights in the distance.  Tired, sick, wounded and with a brain confused by fever she landed upon a structure that was slightly taller than the place where all the lights were coming from.


    Eyes filled with tears because of her clan¡¯s probable fate, she looked at the strange compound dazzled by all of the light shining from that place.


    Strangely she started to hear words in her own tongue.  They were horribly mangled and the accent was terrible but she was sure that she heard, ¡°FLYER, FRIEND, HELP,¡± repeated over and over.  The madness that she feared must be coming on even quicker than she had expected or perhaps her delirium was due to blood loss, she thought.


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


    Boris muttered a curse.  The orange screen flyer wasn¡¯t reacting at all and simply kept staring at the factory compound.  For the past twenty minutes he and a few others, using megaphones fashioned out of paper and cardboard, had simultaneously tried shouting out, the few words of the flyer language that they knew.


    Boris did not like it at all how the female up on that roof seemed to be drunkenly swaying and he suspected that he knew the reason why, what with it flying at night and all.   He quickly assembled a team comprised of some of his own soldiers and two of Captain Long¡¯s that knew how to access the Armory¡¯s roof.  The Lieutenant could only pray that Dawn Rain did not fall or fly off before they reached her.


    All of the soldiers were now awake within the compound and they were prepared to give protective covering fire, for the group attempting to make contact with strange flyer.  The team making the attempt were all softly chanting ¡°friend¡± in the flyer language.  Boris had decided for everyone to be quite overt in their effort to make contact.  He thought that any attempt to sneak up on Dawn Rain would end badly, so he wanted her to know right from the very start that they were coming.


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


    Dawn looked down at the strange wingless flyers, who were coming towards the structure that she was on.  Some of them reminded her of those strange folk that her clan had met three days ago, and who had been so helpful even though they were equally imperiled by the dangers of this world.  What was the word they used to call themselves?  She shook her head; she had forgotten; she was forgetting so much, tears fell from her eyes, would she forget herself and her family?  Dawn Rain let her head hang down, it took too much effort to hold it up and she was so very tired.  It wasn¡¯t raining or snowing, so why was her body so wet, she asked herself?  And she felt so cold too and yet hot at the same time.


    She looked up startled from her confused introspective state; moving shapes were on the roof with her.  Where did they come?  They said friend?  Looking down at the ground, Dawn Rain didn¡¯t know if she should launch herself into the air or let herself fall to the ground.  She felt so tired and let her eyes close, fall it was.


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


    It was a good thing that Boris¡¯s reflexes were magically enhanced, because he was forced to rush towards the flyer as she started to fall off the roof.  At the very last second, he barely got a grip on the collar of the flyer¡¯s crude torn leather coat. Dawn Rain was unconscious and he called the healer over, who was with his tiny contact team.


    They took her downstairs, out of wind and worked on her for the next half an hour, those with fire magic warmed the small room that they were in.  Once they had her in better shape if still not conscious, they gently carried her across the street to the factory compound.


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


    As I woke up that morning, I realized that once more it was time to enchant the bullets.  Wasn¡¯t there a television commercial like that, years ago, something about ¡°time to make the coffee¡± or could it have been about bagels?  Lady Knight Night had used up copious quantities of enchanted 20mm bullets yesterday during her battles to and from the Armory, which is okay especially since no one was injured or killed.  But IRODs and those bullets are just so boring to make and I¡¯ve made so many of them that I should be able to enchant them in my sleep by now.


    After breakfast I decided to try something different.  I picked up a 20mm bullet and instead of starting to engrave it, I merely focused my complete attention on it, I then pictured a completed enchanted version of the same thing that I made hundreds if not thousands of times during the past few months.  Then using the mental picture I held in my head and my Earth Magic, I attempted to magically form those runes into the pristine projectile.   My first attempt wasn¡¯t so hot and it actually took me far longer than physically engraving it would have, but it gave me hope and I was so bored with making them the old way that I persisted.  Almost an hour later, I had my first real success, an hour after that instead of enchanting a bullet every five minutes or so, I was doing one every ninety seconds.  Furthermore, I was certain that with practice that I would become faster.  As I continued to enchant bullets, I actually began to outstrip my energy reserves.  So I took a break to tie myself into the Stronghold¡¯s magical energy array.  After I did that I shaved another ten seconds off my time.


    I had successfully turned myself into a kind of magical printing press, whereby with things that I was extremely familiar with, I could magically impress complete enchantments into them and what with hooking myself into the energy provided by the Stronghold, I could even fully charge said items too.  I wonder if I should keep this new technique a secret.  I should be able to use the same method with firestones, earth-stones and light bulbs but I¡¯m not so sure that it will work so successfully with anything else.  Well, it will never hurt to try and who knows, I might just get better enough, where I can magically impress or print enchantments into complicated items in the future.


    Two hours later, when I stopped enchanting bullets, I was doing one in slightly less than a minute.  Nina wasn¡¯t here to witness my triumph, she was busy attending classes.  I was looking forward to her returning home, so she could tell me what the first day of Stupidfucker¡¯s School of Magic was like.  Star is going to want to kill me.


    Hmmm, Sean and Glen had sent me over some parts from an SKS rifle to enchant; I thought they had given up on automatic weapons?


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


    The convoy made excellent time that morning with only having to fight two quick battles.  Lieutenant Night dismounted from the T800 to see Sir Khan waiting for her with a strange expression on his face.


    ¡°Lady Night, before first light we rescued the Chief of the Soaring Dawn Clan, currently we have our healers working on her because she was injured and badly infected with the Night Stalker virus.  If you¡¯ll follow me, I think the face of one of her own kind and someone who can truly speak her own language will greatly help with her mental state.  I¡¯m not even sure if she knows that we are healing her.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way Boris,¡± Lady Night hurriedly spoke, she was so anxious to see a new flyer that she actually pushed Boris who was her superior, to make him go faster.


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


    Dawn Rain was lying on her stomach on a makeshift sleeping pallet made of blankets and rugs.  Surrounding her were some of those same beings with the greenish gray skin that her people had joined up with just a few days ago.  They didn¡¯t know many words of the flyer language and they spoke them horribly but it gave her some hope that they knew any at all.  Though, she was slightly worried that she might have already descended into madness and be dreaming all of this, because of the disease.  Physically, she was feeling better and they had even given her some thin broth to drink.


    It was almost two hours after dawn, as far as she could tell when she heard some strange noises coming from outside.  Several minutes later a flyer, armed the same as those strange people, walked into her room.


    What followed was a long discussion where the Second Chief of the Long Flight Clan gave a brief summary of her experiences on this strange world and Chief Dawn Rain told of her own, finally begging the Second Chief to rescue her people.  But there was a major problem.  Dawn had no idea where her people were, seeing as how she had flown away while half crazed with fever, they could be anywhere from a short walk, to several hours flying time away.


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


    Lady Night had been translating for Boris the entire time so that he too knew what was going on, she now turned to him.  ¡°Lieutenant Khan, I can fly back to the Stronghold and gather a large group of flyers, so that we can begin searching from the air for the Soaring Dawn Clan members.¡±


    ¡°Lady Knight, you have no idea where the rest of the Soaring Dawn Clan is and you know our King¡¯s orders about flying without a ground presence nearby.  Admittedly this is an emergency situation but you and I both know that there are many aerial predators that you and any other flyers will probably have to fight if you¡¯re engaged in a prolonged search.  We¡¯ve had sights of things that we¡¯ve been unable to identify and more worrisome still, are those seemingly large high flyers that we momentarily glimpse, yet seem to vanish right in front of our eyes, before we can even get a good look at them.


    You¡¯ve told me that there are many children to rescue which means we¡¯ll have to send an armed convoy to transport them.  The problem is that we only have enough vehicles and soldiers for one such convoy which is already tasked with rescuing these people here as our King formally agreed to do.  I¡¯m about to seriously piss off some people but by making this decision, I can give our boss some options and he in turn can blame me if anything goes wrong or if Captain Long and her people get too upset.  You and your new friend are going back to the Stronghold to brief Vince.  Instead of a trailer full of refugees who are desperate to get to the safety, the C500 will be towing another Oshkosh semi-truck home.  Your other flyers and their attendants will be staying here for the night, we¡¯ll cram as many civilians as we can into the T800 and I¡¯ll be sending the last two cannons and some of 105 shells back with you on the flatbed trailers.


    That way the shop will have another truck that they can convert and Vince will have those cannons, which will give the Stronghold some serious firepower if he does decide to send most of his armored vehicles on a mission to rescue the Soaring Dawn Clan.  Now you get things moving outside, while I go ruin the day for Captain Long and for those people that thought they were going to the Stronghold today.¡±


    Captain Long was indeed not pleased, because initially it had been thought that the convoy would be able to make two round trips everyday but because of having to battle their way through every time, things weren¡¯t going as smoothly as they had expected.  But while she was furious, she understood the strategic necessity of Lieutenant Khan¡¯s actions, however that didn¡¯t stop her from verbally ripping a piece off of his hide and she did put him on notice that she expected to be compensated in some fashion because of the delay in transferring her people.


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


    I was called to the firing range in order to see a little demonstration that Sean and Glen were putting on.


    ¡°Hey Vince, how are you doing today?¡±


    ¡°Just fine Glen,¡± I pointed at something that Sean was working one, ¡°is that a little Gatling gun?¡±


    He grinned at me.  ¡°Nope, but it is a human powered machine gun, like a Gatling gun.  You see, Sean and I have been talking about odd things like quantum mechanics, magic and intent.  During all of our tests we¡¯ve proven that automatic projectile feed mechanisms will absolutely not work even if they¡¯re air powered and being operated at extremely slow speeds.  So Sean started to wonder about a fast human powered cartridge feed mechanism.  That over there, is his attempt to answer that question.  It¡¯s a two barrel machine gun, based on the Gardner gun which was designed after the Gatling gun.  Sean used a lot of SKS parts to build it since we¡¯ve got so many of them just lying around, so his gun is 7.62 x 39 caliber and it even uses SKS magazines.   If it works, it will have a rate of fire somewhere between three and four hundred rounds per minute.  I know we don¡¯t have as much gunpowder as you would like especially what with the way we are constantly using the stuff but still if this does work it might come in handy for some situations.¡±


    I walked up to Sean who was still getting the gun ready, ¡°hi Sean.¡±


    ¡°Hello Boss, well what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I stopped thinking years ago, tell me what you got.¡±


    ¡°Well my books don¡¯t show the full design for a Gardner gun and I couldn¡¯t remember everything from the only time that I saw one, so I took a few liberties.  For example, each barrel has its own magazine instead of sharing one and they attach on the bottom instead of on the top.  If money still had any value I¡¯d be willing to bet a bundle that this thing will work, especially since I used an extremely simple design and a lot of parts off of two SKS rifles, the only question is how well will it work.¡±


    I was bad, the answer to Sean¡¯s question, was that his Murphy gun which was what Glen and I officially dubbed it, worked perfectly.  I wasted an hour with those two while we played with that that thing.  We went through twelve, thirty round magazines.  Sean being a brilliant guy had made the gun extremely easy to operate and disassemble too for cleaning purposes; you could change barrels on it, in seconds.


    At one point, Glen brought out a pneumatic torque wrench, a ratchet extension and a roll of duct tape.  Sean took off the handle from the gun¡¯s crank shaft and then using the extension (and lots of tape) they fastened the wrench to the shaft.   They hooked up an air hose from the rifle range¡¯s gun cleaning station.  And at very low speed, low air pressure and very low torque setting they tried to power Murphy gun through a couple of loading and firing cycles.  Up until this time the gun had been performing flawlessly.  It jammed on us after firing a single bullet and subsequently it did the exact same thing, ten more times after that.  Once we removed the torque wrench and reattached the handle, the gun worked perfectly once more.  It was now an established fact, our new Universe hated automatic weapons and wasn¡¯t about to let us have them.


    Then George showed up, wondering what all the racket was about, he spoiled our fun and interrupted our intellectual discussion.  We explained and he purloined the last two magazines so that he could more accurately judge the weapon ¡°he said,¡± which was bullshit!  He just wanted to play with the new toy, which wasn¡¯t what Glen, Sean and I had been doing at all.


    Glen spoke after George got finished ¡°testing¡± and inspecting the Murphy Gun.  ¡°Well Captain what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I want fifty of them but we don¡¯t have enough powder to keep that many adequately supplied with ammunition especially since we are going to be adding more cannons to our arsenal.¡±


    ¡°But you do want some, right?  And if you do, what caliber do you want them in?¡± prompted Sean, sounding a little disappointed with George¡¯s response.


    ¡°All things considered, for now I think that 7.62 x 39 is just about perfect.  As I understand it, you used parts from two SKS rifles to make this thing, rifles which are essentially useless to us right now and we have a shitload of 7.62 x 39 cartridge cases lying around too.  If we went to a larger caliber it would take resources away from other things to make them, consume more black powder, and be heavier as well.  So the gun you have right here, is darn near ideal for us when you consider maximizing what materials we do have on hand and conserving our other resources.  I think that in a swarm attack situation like when the King Mandrills got inside the Stronghold, that this gun makes for a fine last ditch weapon for whatever our riflemen, Holman Projectors, cannons, IRODs and Grace¡¯s new steam shells don¡¯t succeed in stopping.  As for how many that you should build, I would like four more as quickly as you can make them but don¡¯t prioritize them over any of your other weapon projects those have more strategic value right now because either they give us a capability that we don¡¯t have like the 90mm howitzers you¡¯re building or they use less black powder.  But Sean, I do think you did a fantastic job in designing this thing and in making use of something that was almost worthless to us, meaning those SKS rifles.¡±


    I jumped in following George¡¯s reference to the shop¡¯s cannon project, ¡°speaking of the 90mm, how is that coming along and for that matter when will the new truck be road worthy?¡±


    Glen looked strangely crestfallen.  ¡°I was hoping to surprise you.  We got the Oshkosh 1070 running and I¡¯ve got a team improving the armor on it now but if you could stop by a little later and help us with its transparent aluminum armored windows I¡¯d appreciate it.¡±


    ¡°Just give a yell, when you need me.  It would be great if Lady Night can use that tomorrow to haul back two more 1070s on one of those huge trailers they¡¯ve got at the Armory.  We might finally be getting someplace in fulfilling our need for more armored vehicles.¡±


    ¡°As George wanted, we¡¯ve mounted one of our 105 howitzers in the Priest and we¡¯re working on reconfiguring the armor on that vehicle. It is a little slower with a 200 hp engine instead of a 330 but it can still do about twenty mph, when we have the time we¡¯ll put a second 200 hp engine into it.


    One of George¡¯s new recruits is a former M1 tanker and we¡¯ve been talking to him about armor.  The new general consensus is that ten inches of armor is not enough, if we¡¯re going to be fighting other foes with kinetic weapons like the snails.  Because of your orders to get the land cruisers built as quickly as possible, we tested a sample of the armor that we intended to put on it, late yesterday.  We fired a sabot round made out of tool steel from a 105mm howitzer, and the ten inch armor didn¡¯t do nearly as well as we would have liked.  As a result of that test and a discussion we shop guys had with the military folks,¡± Glen nodded at George who nodded back, ¡°we made a new eighteen inch test sample of armor which more closely followed the way the snails used their blocks of ballistic gelatin.  We tested it late this morning and at close range it completely stopped the 105mm projectile.  There are a few other slight changes that we intend to make and the armor on our land cruiser will be sloped which should help improve things still further.   But all of us did agree that portions of our new land cruiser¡¯s armor will be eighteen inches instead of ten and there will be two feet of armor around the ammunition storage locker with blow out panels on the turret¡¯s roof.


    Clyde¡¯s working on drawing up a redesign now, he¡¯s good at that kind of thing, when it¡¯s complete in a day or two; we¡¯ll start building the first land cruiser.  We just have to come up with a proper name for it.  Right now we are calling it the LC100, which stands for Land Cruiser model 100.  The reason we chose 100 was because we don¡¯t know of any military force using that number for any modern armored vehicle.


    That big Caterpillar 988 Loader that we got from the gravel pit should be completely done by late tomorrow or perhaps the following day because of the armor that we still have to add to it.  It is now powered by two 200 hp steam engines.


    Now, as for the building those 90mm cannons, we are going to need more of your help, Vince.  Sean here,¡± he nodded at Sean, ¡°has four different versions and six different shells that he wants to test before we start producing them for the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  And we¡¯re going to need you, if we¡¯re going to do those tests anytime soon.¡±


    Man it¡¯s a good thing that I figured out how to enchant some things faster because it looks like that I¡¯m going to be getting even busier now.  ¡°No problem Glen, generally speaking the shop always has first priority with me, just yell when you need my help.¡±


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


    Lieutenant Night felt terrible about leaving twenty-six humans who were supposed to be going to the Stronghold today back at Captain Long¡¯s compound but there were little flyer babies out there with far less in the way of defenses than the Armory group possessed.  And those scared tiny children might die, if they are not already dead, if rescue doesn¡¯t come for them soon.


    The convoy had a brief inconsequential encounter with some gorgonospids, however it was at the midway point that something really interesting happened a group of humans waved them down but this group of survivors didn¡¯t look like the normal ragged refugees that they usually saw, this new group looked fit and competent.  But their eyes did get very big when they saw who was in charge of the convoy and heard the bird lady speak; Night Storm mentally chuckled when she began talking with them.


    ¡°Hello I am Knight Lieutenant Night Storm of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge, I and others of my clan were torn from our world and flung to this one.  We were lucky enough to be found by the Hermit King Vincent Standish and we¡¯ve since sworn binding oaths to him.  I must say that you look much better than any other group of humans that I have seen lately, setting aside those living within our Stronghold.  Can we help you with something?  Would you like to go to our Stronghold?¡±  Many of the group of seventeen that she was speaking to had orange screens and all the rest had green, so she felt safe in making that offer.


    ¡°My name is Edith Barajas.  You mean even though you have tanks that you¡¯re not with the Government?  Have you been hiding away this entire time in your STRONGHOLD while so many people throughout this area have been being killed and eaten?!!¡±


    Night Storm winced, ¡°My King and his Council have agonized over their inability to send out rescue parties so as to search for survivors.  We have had to fight daily to stay alive and keep secure the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  We have all been working unceasingly in an effort to build up the means so that we could begin sending out rescue expeditions.   But there has been one calamity and one foe after another which has delayed our attempts.  Lady Barajas, we have fought Giants, enormous Sky Krakens and huge mechanical spiders besides a whole host of smaller and still very deadly enemies like Giant Bullet Ants and King Mandrills.  We have done our best but what with never ending combat and constant work, we only seem to take very small steps in building up our military might every day.  If you would like you may ride with us but you would have to ride in the armored utility trailer that the T800 is towing.¡±  She pointed to it.  ¡°Since, the truck is completely full with some other survivors that we are transporting.¡±


    Slightly mollified by the explanation, Edith Barajas accepted the Lady Knight¡¯s offer, slightly amazed that she was dealing with a knight and may later one meet a Hermit King, whatever that is.  She and her group climbed inside the small armored trailer.


    After picking up three more tattered human refugees and engaging in a quick battle with a modest sized group of gray Sabok Warriors, the convoy made it safely back home


    The humans from the Armory were taken to the Embassy Compound.  While the Barajas group and the other three survivors were shown to some underground guest quarters.  It was lucky for the Barajas group that they had sleeping bags with them, since the Stronghold was running short of comfortable bedding, though they did have an abundance of monster hides.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.---------------------


    Edith had been tempted to rip these strange people a new one at first but then she saw the carcasses of those mechanical spiders and began changing her mind, however her brain got whipsawed when she saw the huge fortress that was the Stronghold and she got angry all over again.  But once more she calmed down when she saw how everyone there was working so hard.  It became quite evident that the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge wasn¡¯t a place of peace and contentment; it was castle under siege which might fall at any minute if a powerful enough foe comes along.  However even with that realization, Edith Barajas began thinking that this place might just be humanity¡¯s last best hope for a future that is until she saw a pair of Swift Runners in line at the cafeteria and promptly fainted dead away.


    After she awoke, they were shown to an underground housing area.  Edith for the first time in many months felt safe and that she might be able to relax.  She rolled out her sleeping bag, laid down on top and went to sleep, someone else could be in charge for a few hours, she was sick of it!


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


    George, Star, Sir Storm Wind and I met with Knight Night and Chief Rain who was still very weak despite being healed.  Lady Night told us all about the plight of the Soaring Dawn Clan and of those few craftmakers that had joined forces with them. But there was a problem, Dawn Rain had no idea where her clan was because she was unable to recall her journey to the Armory, but she did think that she had come from the East.


    ¡°Lady Star you are the best Telepath within this Stronghold and you have, let us say, frequent accurate hunches about things.  If Chief Rain will consent, perhaps you can sit down with her and Lady Knight Night to determine an area in which we can began searching for her Clan.  I have some very accurate USGS maps back at my home, Jen should know where they are, they might help you with locating Chief Rain¡¯s Clan.


    George I¡¯m going to get with Glen and see what equipment we can get ready tonight.  We should be able to complete the 1070 truck and by using a lot of magic, we can armor up a trailer for it, though it probably won¡¯t have the same ramp system that the C500¡¯s trailer has.  So you should be able to count on having two armored semi-trucks with trailers, as well as the Sherman, the Priest with its new 105 gun, the T800, the 590 if you want it and either the Hellcat or the Scorpion because one of those two vehicles with two crews is going to be dropped off at the Armory to protect them since there will now be a delay in transferring them here.  Needless to say you will be in charge of the rescue convoy.


    Sir Wind, I think eight of your people should go on the expedition and I want four for the Armory to further bolster their forces.  I know that there are already three there but I want a full flight of four for that old factory.


    We are not ready for this, we decided not to send out rescue parties until we were but in this case Chief Rain almost literally knocked on our very door asking for help.  I expect this rescue expedition to have to fight hard, perhaps against new and terrible enemies, and to find more people in need of rescue, we will not turn them away.  You might be driving through areas that formally had much higher population densities than this locale and as such you may very well encounter a great number of survivors.  That being the case, depending on where the Soaring Dawn Clan is, it might take you days to reach them, which might mean that you Captain, will have to send off the flyers assigned to the convoy, to protect the Soaring Dawn Clan until such time that you can reach them but only do that as a last resort.  Because there are other things in the sky and they worry me greatly.


    Sir Wind you will be staying here to help protect the Stronghold, by sending off so much of our military might, we will be greatly weakened and we will need you here, to make sure that our rescue expedition has a place to come home to.


    Now we all have to get to work.  I need to meet with Glen and Clyde to get our armored vehicles ready.  George, I want you to leave for the Armory at false dawn.¡±  I stood up and people started moving after giving me assurances that they heard and that they we¡¯re going to obey my orders.


    While I hadn¡¯t quite lied, I had been selective in what I said.  Maybe I did have the makings of a King or worse yet a politician.  The primary reason that I was sending an expedition was because there were flyers to rescue.  The Long Flight Clan has added enormously to the security and military strength of this Stronghold.  Besides the major battles in which the flyers have given us a decisive edge or an easy victory, I¡¯ve lost count of the minor daily skirmishes that we¡¯ve had to fight where the flyers have destroyed our foes without even expending any of our precious black powder which is in perennially short supply or at least it always seems that way.


    I estimated that the flyers improved the chances of our long term survival somewhere between twenty and forty percent.  So as a strategic necessity it was imperative that I keep the flyers that are here happy, that I recruit more flyers whenever I can and if possible I make sure that no one else recruits any.  If it had been human or craftmaker children so far from this Stronghold, I probably would not have sent off a rescue force for at least one or two weeks, if I ever did; because the risk was too great for too little reward, but since we were talking about flyers that changed the whole equation.


    I felt all coldly logical and regal for a moment then I gave my butt a good scratch and I got over it.  Suddenly, I had a hankering for some pork rinds and a beer.  And thanks to Isabella we had both.


    On a personal level I was really happy that sending off George to rescue those kids was something that had to be done.  But in the future, when there are more children in jeporady, the argument can be used, that if we did it for the Soaring Dawn Clan, then why can¡¯t we do it for these other youngsters as well which isn¡¯t a bad thing at all in my humble opinion. I think I¡¯ll have two beers.


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


    Sir Wind and Lady Storm left the meeting greatly relieved; they didn¡¯t know what they would have done if their King had refused to help the desperate flyer clan.  Sir Wind was only sorry that he wasn¡¯t going along but he suddenly realized what with the Captain being gone that he was going to be the only other officer in the entire Stronghold and thus jointly responsible for keeping it safe.  He suddenly felt sick to his stomach.


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


    I met with Glen, Clyde and Sean, I told them the bad news and we discussed what we could do.  The bastards stole some of my pork rinds while we talked. We had numerous forty foot steel cargo containers and a half a dozen chassis that would fit them, just sitting in our storage lot.  We decided to take one of them and armor the crap out of it.  The Murphy gun was going to be installed in the old machine gun pulpit on the Priest; that vehicle still retained four firing slits for 20mm rifles but those weapons would normally be racked so as to provide room to operate the new cannon.


    It was quickly determined that we needed to bring in Blender and all of the other alchemists because we would need a lot of black powder and quickly.


    Blender¡¯s arrival caused us to scrap many of our plans, there was simply no way that he and his people could produce as much powder as we thought the convoy needed.  Each 105mm shell required over four pounds of powder for a full charge of propellant.  Our new 90mm cannons would use shells that needed less than half that amount according to Sean, which was another good thing in their favor, too bad we didn¡¯t have any of them built yet.


    The Priest already had an air compressor on board; we only needed to hook a second stage up to it, so it could power two Holman projectors we planned on installing.  The 1070¡¯s new armored trailer would get a steam engine and a compressor for the eight Holman projectors we planned on mounting on it.  Grace and her crew had turned out a great many of her new shells for me enchant; thankfully I could use my new method when engraving them.


    It was a busy night and I collapsed onto my bed when the rescue convoy left.  Star by examining Rain¡¯s memories and maybe with the help of one of her hunches, thinks that she has an approximate location for the Soaring Dawn Clan, she believes that they¡¯re roughly thirty miles due east of the Armory.


    George had in his convoy the Priest, the Sherman, the Hellcat, the Scorpion, the 590, the T800, the C500 and the Oshkosh 1070 which was towing a forty foot long armored trailer.  The Scorpion, as well as an armored tractor which they were towing on a flatbed trailer would be left at Captain Long¡¯s compound, along with some additional weaponry.   While at that compound they would pick up the C500¡¯s trailer which was left there yesterday.


    But while we were sending them off with our very best, sadly we had to assume the worst and that we might lose them all.  That being the case our new land cruiser project became even more important for the safety of this Stronghold.  I only wish that I could afford to go with the convoy.  But with all of our armored vehicles gone, I was now the big gun for the Stronghold.  Without my new ability to tie into the Stronghold¡¯s energy collector and act as a magical printing press, I would never have succeeded in getting as much done as I did last night.  But once I wake up, I will have to immediately get back to work to make up for our reduced forces as well as diligently practice at hooking myself into the energy collector array so as to shorten the time required to achieve that goal in the future.  I got to come up with a better name for that thing, I thought as I drifted off to sleep, I mulled over Octagonal Magical Energy Collector,  Stronghold Magical Energy Collector, Stronghold Magical Energy Array, or how about Stronghold Energy Array that makes a nice acron¡­¡­, ¡°zzzZZZ, SNRKX, ZZZZzzz.¡±


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


    On the way to the Armory the large convoy only had a single minor encounter and that was with a desperate pair of humans who they picked up.


    Corporal Fall Roar was in charge of the flight that was staying at the Armory.  He could understand Captain Long¡¯s anger over the delay in transferring her people to the Stronghold since she had already paid for that right with the transfer of two of her cannons.  So he was determined to keep them all safe until they were brought to the Stronghold.  He was happy to see the additional weaponry that the convoy had dropped off at the compound: two Holman projectors with the new steam shells, ten bolt action fifty caliber rifles with enchanted bullets, five more enchanted 105mm rounds, an armored tractor to tow their 105mm cannon and most importantly the Scorpion tank with two crews so it could always be ready for combat.


    Such reinforcements along with the delivery of flour and other foodstuffs did much to mollify the angry U.S. Army Captain.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    I swear to you, I wrote the line ¡°Lady Night was happy for them, but she wondered why they weren¡¯t finding any of her own people.¡±  And then two paragraphs later the RNG rolls up Chief Dawn Rain, I didn¡¯t plan that at all.


    Fantasia, Sorcerer¡¯s Apprentice


    http://video.disney.com/watch/sorcerer-s-apprentice-fantasia-4ea9ebc01a74ea59a5867853</a>


    The Spanish Inquisition


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf_Y4MbUCLY</a>


    Snow Spider


    http://orig14.deviantart.net/fab1/f/2011/313/b/7/snow_spider_by_akeiron-d4fn91i.jpg</a>


    Time to Make the Donuts


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2AGc70Eq9k</a>


    Gardner Machine Gun


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPnIIM4Il9U</a>


    Version four of the Defective Hermit Character List; is a work in progress.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.


    Population of Embassy: 100


    Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound): 803


    People with assigned jobs: 628


    Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Those under fifteen (152), except for the very young, are now being encouraged to attend classes and apprenticeship courses. Those fifteen and over (38); have part time jobs and also take classes.  Those eighteen on up have to work full time, twelve hours a day is quite common.


    Unassigned: 15


    Partial Character List, Version 4:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Name: Nina Rivera Standish


    Title: Princess


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Alchemy Level: 1


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (276):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally he serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat. He is a world class sneak and throat slitter.  Additionally he is an unconventional yet effective drill instructor.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. No magical abilities other than the True Sight Skill but he has a very nice selection of physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate, teleport, and use telekinesis.  He also has several physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Tornado Challenger, green screen, flyer, male, he is a daredevil when only his own life is on the line.


    Corporal Fish Diver, green screen, flyer female, Tornado Challenger¡¯s fianc¨¦e, she is extremely accurate when dive bombing her foes.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Corporal Tammy Harding, green screen, former Army soldier, former INS Agent


    Corporal Fall Roar, green screen flyer


    Private Dominic Jackson, green screen, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Waxy Candlemaker, green screen, female


    Private Feather Fletcher, green screen, female


    Private Strings Bowyer, green screen, male


    Private Stinky Tanner, green screen, male


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (75):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building along with his wife, Wendy.


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at the County Building.  She is a Green Screen with two children, Brittany is 8 and Peter is 5.  Her husband is deceased.


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


    The Shop Crew (93):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


    David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight


    Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight


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


    Motor Pool (24):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner and she has two children, Elizabeth is seven and Stephen is four years old.


    Name: Star Astrologer


    Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight


    Class: Wise One


    Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People


    Title: The Wise One


    Title: The Dignified One


    Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (90):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (18):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (13):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


    Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (29):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Flyer Population within Stronghold:


    Long Flight Clan


    Storm Wind OS, wife is Dawn Song OS, boy child Mountain Breeze


    Night Storm OS (Black and Brown Wings), husband is Metal Grinder OS, daughter is Smokey Night OS


    Tornado Challenger GS, fianc¨¦e is Fish Diver GS (her sister is Autumn Blaze GS and nephew is Star Bright OS)


    Dawn Wind


    Spring Breeze


    Corporal Fall Roar


    Winter Wind


    Cloudy Day


    Storm Cloud


    Total Members: 62


    Children: 32


    Soaring Dawn Clan


    Name: Dawn Rain


    Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth


    Title: The Unhappy Survivor


    Morning Mist, Second Chief, orange screen


    Total Members: 24


    Children: 12


    Craftmaker Population within Stronghold:


    1st Group: 46 Adults, no children


    2nd Group: 47 Adults, 17 Children


    3rd Group: 7 Adults


    4th Group: 12 Adults, 5 Children


    Swift Runner Population within Stronghold: (13)


    Tribe of Evening Song


    Lady Song, deceased


    Evonne Sting, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Aron


    Husband 2: Ralph


    Daughter Zuma: 14


    Son:  Foggy 8


    Elva Slayer, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Long


    Husband 2: Del


    Daughter: Yun 9


    Danni Blocker, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1: Ned


    Husband 2: Vear


    Daughter: Su 7


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors (630)


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants  SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


    Howard King


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


    Miscellaneous


    Dwight Cobb, GS, 21 members in his group.


    Ervin, Ohio


    Name: Sylvia Warren


    Title: Mayor of Ervin

 Chapter 28: The Rescue Expedition

    Seeing as how no name received over thirty percent of the vote, which I guess is pretty unrealistic considering that I gave you nine choices; I¡¯ve decided to do a final poll using the top three names from the previous one, my apologies to the winner of the first poll.


    If you see any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 28: The Rescue Expedition


    At one time Nancy Connor had been a CPA and the owner of her own accounting firm, now she was the foremost shit-shoveler in her ex-husband¡¯s Kingdom.  She had been a good girl growing up, if a little bit too spoiled, prideful and arrogant.  When she had married Vince she had thought of him as being a little bit beneath her but he had been so accommodating of her whims and desires that when he asked her to marry him, she had readily said yes.  Nancy had inherited her business from her mother but with her passing, many of the regular clients had departed, causing revenues to plummet while at the same time her husband¡¯s career had skyrocketed.


    Jealousy, stupidity, flattery and physical lust had led her to make the biggest mistake of her life which she had only compounded by bringing in her own daughters as her accomplices, so that she would always have a ready source of alibis.  Nancy often thought of what life would have been like if she hadn¡¯t fallen for Steve Griffith¡¯s good looks and hard body.  She was sure that even if Vince hadn¡¯t have won that lottery he still would have figured out some way to come out on top in this new world.  She let out a groan as she smelled a particular smelly pile of shit.  ¡°I could have been a queen right now,¡± she thought.  Now with her blue screen, personal reputation, and almost permanent body odor, a gift from her job, there wasn¡¯t a man in the entire Kingdom that would associate with her and her only social contacts were her two daughters who barely tolerated her.  Angry at herself, she rammed the shovel a little too forcefully into that particular large pile of smelly crap, it must have had an almost liquid core because it splashed back at her, splattering her face and clothes; some of it even went into her open mouth.


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


    George was sorry to leave Captain Long in the lurch but he saw the political and strategic necessity of attempting to rescue the survivors of the Soaring Dawn Clan; and it wasn¡¯t like they were leaving her and her people defenseless what with the Holman projectors and enchanted ammunition that the convoy had just delivered, Captain Long and her company probably had a lot more firepower than Vince had when he first started out.


    The rescue force stopped at the Great Miami River before leaving town.  Those soldiers in the convoy who possessed Water Magic, summoned clean water from the river and filled the boilers and water reservoirs of the vehicles in the convoy.  Those without Water Magic, watched in amazement as the water snaked through air, without the benefits of a hoses or pumps.


    After passing over the river they drove by a shopping mall that looked to be a burned out shell.  Two miles further down the road and on the other side of Interstate Highway 75, they were passing by a Walmart and a Home Depot Store that shared the same large parking lot.  Suddenly, Sergeant Vargas saw small group of people burst out of one the doors of the giant home store; they began frantically waving and screaming at the Hermit¡¯s Guard Expeditionary Force.  Hitting his air horn, Jeff Vargas signaled the convoy to stop.


    George seeing the frantic people so desperately running his way; looked for threats and then ordered the Hellcat¡¯s driver to drive towards them, so that they didn¡¯t need to run as far.  After a brief discussion with the crying and now happy bunch of refugees, Captain Mesquida found out that there were a total of thirty-three survivors hiding in the two stores.  The new group of survivors readily boarded the 1070¡¯s trailer and were taken back to the Armory compound while the rest of the convoy waited in that parking lot for the return of that huge truck which happened less than twenty minutes later.


    Sir Mesquida was a little sick to his stomach because he had suddenly realized that he might have really fucked up.  The Hermit¡¯s Guard had first come to the National Guard Armory located in the City of Bradley, Ohio almost a week ago, while they had been busy, still they had never once taken the time to make even a quick cursory sweep of the city, looking for other local survivors.  He and Vince had just assumed that everyone who was still alive in the immediate area; must already be gathered at the Armory and Captain Long had certainly done nothing to indicate otherwise.  George began to worry about what other secrets the City of Bradley had as well the Town of Verdant, Ohio which was the closet city to the Stronghold and had been bypassed by the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  Feeling even more depressed, Sir Mesquida vowed that as soon as other matters were dealt with that he would pressure Vince and the Council into allowing him to send forces into Verdant so that those still alive there might be helped.


    Three miles down the road they encountered another bunch of humans but the new lot was different, they were an organized yet disreputable looking crew whose demeanor conveyed outright hostility.  George immediately noticed that none of them possessed an orange screen and that three of them were actually blues.


    Sir Mesquida through Appraisal; already knew some of their names but he figured a polite introduction was the proper way to handle things.  ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Captain George Mesquida of the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge; who might you folks be?¡±  George had dismounted from the Hellcat but he wasn¡¯t too nervous not with the Priest and its new Murphy gun right behind him.


    One of the men, who possessed a green screen, stepped forward.  ¡°I¡¯m Dwight Cobb.  I never fucking heard of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Who the blazes are you, and how come you got working vehicles?¡±  He asked snarling.


    George mentally sighed.  ¡°As I said I am Captain Mesquida.  The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge was built using magic after it came into this world, so that¡¯s why you never heard of it before.  The reason why we have working vehicles is because our leader is a man of vision who stocked all kinds of old machine tools and even steam engines to power them with, for when our old technology stopped working.¡±


    ¡°You got any more of those fancy armored trucks that you can give us?¡±  Dwight asked, while a blue screen man who was just behind him began juggling baseball sized balls of fire.


    ¡°Nope, we don¡¯t have any extra vehicles right now but maybe this fall or next year we might.  However, I can¡¯t see us just giving them away because each one takes a lot of skilled labor to produce.  If you don¡¯t need urgent help, then we have to get going but I¡¯ve got a couple of magic lights that I can give you.   They¡¯ll even reveal most invisible things that might try sneaking up on you.¡±


    Dwight seemed pleased with the lights but generally unhappy with the entire conversation.  The last George saw of him, he had a sour expression on his face, like he was watching a golden goose slip away.


    Driving down the road they came to a farm that was besieged by a large angry herd of what Appraisal labeled as Long Haired Cape buffalo.  People waved frantically from the windows of a half-ruined farmhouse to attract the expedition¡¯s attention.  So it begins thought George.  They rescued the people after first slaying some of the buffalos and chasing off the rest.  After a short talk the new group all happily climbed aboard the C500¡¯s trailer.  The soldiers meanwhile; had quickly and crudely butchered four of the dead animals, throwing the meat onto the flatbed trailer towed by the 590.  The cold weather would easily preserve the bovine flesh.


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


    Eighteen year old, Bill Adams was trudging wearily westward on US Highway 36.  He was angry which was nothing new for him, he had been angry most of his life, but today he was enraged, those idiots back there didn¡¯t realize what he was offering them.  He was well on his way to being a god and they wouldn¡¯t even give him a few of their children despite all that he offered them.  All they had to do; was worship him and provide him with food and a few diversions and they would have been blessed with his glory and protection.  He swore that he would return to that little fly speck of a town and have his revenge upon them, once he achieved divinity.  He was furious that he had only been able to burn a quarter of their downtown area before they figured out how to fight him, well one day he would be back to finish the job!  What¡¯s that noise coming towards him?  He scurried north about fifty yards off the road and hid.


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


    Sergeant Vargas was in the lead vehicle, with his torso sticking out of the commander¡¯s hatch of the Sherman tank.  He was carefully scanning his surroundings, using his Telescopic Vision combined with his True Sight Skill, after being surprised by the Stone Giants he never wanted to be in a situation like that again.  He turned his head to the left and instead of small boulder like last time; he saw a huge fireball coming towards him.  ¡°Why me,¡± he thought as he attempted to fall down into the turret.  He didn¡¯t even bother trying to close the hatch behind him, as he knew that he didn¡¯t have the time for such an action.


    Jeff¡¯s helmet was just below the lip of the hatchway when he felt a blast of heat.  The fireball should have lasted for several seconds but the enchantments that the Hermit King had worked into the tank quickly diverted and even fed some of that energy into the vehicle¡¯s firestones.   Jeff¡¯s eyebrows did crisp up and he felt like he had just received an instant case of sunburn but other than that, he was okay.  He yelled out a command to the Sherman¡¯s driver, ¡°Drive forward and steer for ten 10 o¡¯clock, we¡¯re under attack!¡±


    She did as ordered while muttering under her breath, ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot; you idiot!  Of course I know that we¡¯re under attack!¡±


    Jeff turned the turret to the left.


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


    Private Strings Bowyer was the left side Holman operator for the Priest, which was following right behind the Sherman.   He saw a human figure suddenly stand up and launch a fireball at the tank.  Strings yelled out ¡°Enemy Attack!¡± as he fired an IROD shell at the magic user.


    He aimed as best as he could but while he was a natural shot, his weapon was a new model 50mm Holman Projector that he was not quite as well practiced with as he would have liked, especially when firing an IROD shell which requires an almost a direct hit in order to be effective.  As Strings had expected his shot missed, but using his magical enhanced strength he had already and easily used the charging lever to load another round into the projector, however this time the projectile was a new ¡°Coup de Grace¡± steam shell, which didn¡¯t require a direct hit.


    The steam round blew up within a few feet of the wizard that was attacking them, giving him injuries that would have certainly led to his death but all of those large and enchanted bullets coming from C500¡¯s trailer blew apart the man even before he could finish falling down.


    A very brief but careful search was made of the few remaining body parts, by Lady Knight Night.  She grumbled a curse, now they had something else to worry about, insane human wizards.


    The convoy continued down the road.  When suddenly, Jeffrey Vargas saw a terrible sight with his telescopic vision, an immense winged creature feasting on what looked like a very large American buffalo, never having seen such a monster before he quickly cast Appraisal on it.


    Azhdarchidae Quetzalcoatlus


    Dissimulatio, Unseen Feathered Serpent of Death, despite its name this creature is actually more of a winged lizard rather than a serpent.  Quetzalcoatlus is a supreme aerial combatant.  It will dive on its prey with blinding speed, capturing its meal with its enormous mouth before its victim can even realize that it is there.  But it is also able to pursue and attack quarry on the ground, since a Quetzalcoatlus can gallop as quickly as most horses.  These enormous flying predators also have the shocking ability to alter their skin coloration as well as shuffle and twist what feathers they do have, so that light reflected from their bodies causes them to blend into their surroundings.   Quetzalcoatlus typically soars at well over 3500 meters while searching for prey.  Although normally a solitary hunter, it can hunt cooperatively with its family group.  There is much debate whether or not these creatures are sentient or not because of the sheer cunning that they display when selecting and attacking their prey.   Most scientists think that they are on the cusp of sentience.  The largest observed specimen was fifteen meters long and had a wing span of sixteen meters; it weighed 531 kilograms.


    Jeff nearly shot the monster with the 20mm rifle located by the commander¡¯s hatch.  The weapon had been charred by the earlier fireball attack but with the replacement off its magazine and the ammo which had cooked off, it seemed to be good to go.  What caused the Sergeant to hesitate was the fact that Appraisal said that the creature might be sentient?


    He certainly wanted to shoot the terrifying monster that he beheld but he instead sent his tank¡¯s co-driver to confer with Lady Night and Captain Mesquida, their decision was to leave the creature alone for now and continue on their way but the flyers with the convoy had all been horrified when they realized that they had been sharing the sky with such a monstrous predator without even knowing.


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


    The convoy had driven through two small towns when Captain Mesquida had the Hellcat swap positions with the Sherman.  He wanted to be at the front of the convoy instead of the rear when they entered the City of Ervin.


    Taking US 36 they passed over the Mad River and began driving into town.  Many of the buildings were wrecked and some of them were smoking, implying that they had only been recently set ablaze.


    George felt very exposed, as they crossed a set of train tracks and approached the downtown area.  Certain side streets off of 36 had been barricaded with buses and semi-truck trailers.  As they approached Main Street a woman walked out of one of the few buildings still standing at the intersection, George Appraised her.


    Name: Sylvia Warren


    Title: Mayor of Ervin


    She waved them down and began speaking.  ¡°We¡¯ve got snipers with Kentucky rifles; they¡¯ve all got a bead on you right now; so if you try anything you¡¯ll be dead before you can even blink.  Now, who are you and what the hell are you doing here with those pretty white and blue flags flying so proudly from your vehicles, because they sure as hell aren¡¯t an American Flag or any other flag that I¡¯ve ever seen!¡±


    ¡°Hello, I am Captain Mesquida of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  The Kingdom that I am a citizen of was founded because of the recent and still on-going apocalyptic events.  The Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge was created out of necessity because with its establishment our King was granted certain bonuses in terms of magical abilities and skills.  We have needed those bonuses in order to stay alive.


    Even though we possess these armored vehicles, even for us it is daily battle to survive.  As you may not know, not all of the things that are coming from other worlds are monsters.   A few species are in fact sentient beings that are in just as much trouble as we are, if not more so, since they¡¯ve been ripped from their own worlds and stranded on ours.  If you look at our flag, you can see representations of the three peoples currently making up our Kingdom; those being human, craftmaker and flyer.  The flyers as you might assume are winged beings, fully capable of flight.  We had a sick and injured one arrive at the home of our only ally.  That flyer, Chief Dawn Rain, told us of a small group of flyers, mainly comprised of children who are in desperate need of aid.  Though we didn¡¯t and still don¡¯t feel ready for such a long expedition, this is indeed a rescue convoy in response to Chief Rain¡¯s plea for help.


    We don¡¯t mean you any harm and we have things to trade and even give you.  We just want to continue peacefully on our way.  By the way, I see that some of your town looks and smells like it was recently burned.  Several miles outside of Ervin we were ambushed by a lone Fire Wizard, we were forced to kill him.¡±


    The Mayor said a string of expletives then, ¡°If you did kill that miserable Fire Sorcerer that burned part of this town and killed some of my people, I¡¯m obliged but a just a little.  It looks to me like you got all kinds of stuff that you could have been using to help other people instead of hiding inside your Kingdom.  I¡¯ll take what you have to offer and we won¡¯t hinder you none.  But we don¡¯t want you staying in the area and there¡¯s nothing for you to loot here.  Every stick, stone, piece of metal and bit of food is ours by right; we¡¯ve paid for it in blood.¡±


    ¡°I hear Ma¡¯am and we¡¯ll obey your words, we don¡¯t want any trouble.¡±


    George gave her a box full of magic lights and one of the buffalos that had been butchered earlier.  That seemed to only slightly mollify the woman; who though while her words were much more refined and her manner more controlled; she actually seemed to be more hostile than the man that they had met earlier, Dwight Cobb.  George had been surprised by their journey so far; he had expected to pick up many more refugees and have more frequent hostile monster encounters.  It seemed as if the cards were falling his way for once in terms of combat but he was gravely worried about the apparent lack of survivors.


    They passed through the center of town and per Star¡¯s directions, she and Chief Rain were riding in the T800, the convoy turned southeast onto Route 29.


    During the next six miles they fought a tiny battle with a small pack of gorgonospids and encountered twelve more refugees.  George didn¡¯t pick that group up. They were all blues who were all guilty of a whole host of crimes but according to their screens, all their offenses had stopped just shy of physical violence.  Feeling generous, he gave them four lights and some meat before the convoy continued on its way.


    Another three miles down the road and they had defeated a pack of leaping lizards and picked up twenty-seven additional refugees in a tiny little village that at old highway speeds you could miss, if you blinked.


    They were getting close to where Star said the Soaring Dawn Clan should be.


    They picked up six more refugees before driving into the small town of Wrenchburg.  Chief Rain was sure that she has seen the area before and she was insisting that she should now take to the skies so that she could find her clan.


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


    The lookouts had warned the Village of Wrenchburg about the approaching vehicles.  The steam engine in the machine shop had been shut down and everyone was out of sight and with all their weapons at the ready.


    Florian Forester used to be the owner and chief bartender for what she liked to call the best bar in Wrenchburg, now she was the Town Boss since the death of the mayor and the city council. Out of nearly sixteen hundred survivors there were only 264 left and she was damned if she was going to lose any more people or let anyone steal anything from her town.


    When an armed convoy of strange looking vehicles showed up, flying a weird flag, she knew that things weren¡¯t on the up and up, despite the fact that the man sticking his head out of the lead tank had an orange screen.  Her husband was the best man that Florian knew and if he wasn¡¯t an orange screen then in her opinion, the whole system was out of whack and she wasn¡¯t about to trust it.  She used her Appraisal skill on that strange flag and on the vehicles that sported it.


    This is the national flag for the independent Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge which is a very small but growing kingdom to the west.  The flag has depictions of the three species making up that kingdom; human, flyer and craftmaker.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M4 Sherman Grizzly Medium Tank, originally it was a Sherman Grizzly I Cruiser which was the Canadian variant of the American M4A1 Sherman medium tank.


    It has 75 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and it is 5.8 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3 meters tall and weighs 30,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 330 horsepower steam engine; gives this vehicle a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 75mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles also built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    The original gyroscopic stabilizer for the main gun is no longer operational.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M18 Hellcat Light Tank, it began life as an American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    It has 25 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and a roof has been added to its original turret.  This tank is 5.3 meters long (without its main gun), 2.9 meters wide, 2.6 meters tall and weighs 18,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, started off as an American M7 Motor Gun Carriage but it has since been heavily modified.


    It has 50 millimeters of enchanted steel armor; a roof and heightened full side walls have been added to it.  This vehicle is 6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide, 3.2 meters tall and weighs 26,450 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this vehicle a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.


    Primary weapon is one M119, 105mm howitzer which is the US designation for the British L119 105mm lightweight gun.  Secondary weapons are two Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors and one twin-barrel 7.62 x 39 Murphy gun.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge T800 Armored Personnel Carrier, originally a 2011 Kenworth T800 Dump Truck, it has since been heavily modified.


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APC is 7.6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 13,600 kilograms.


    It has four wheeled axles and the rear two, are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eleven bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge C500 Armored Personnel Transporter, started off as a Kenworth C500 and a 27 foot long steel dump trailer, it has since been heavily modified.


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APT is 14.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 21,319 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear two on the truck/tractor are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 39 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are seventeen bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M1070 Armored Personnel Transporter; began life as an Oshkosh M1070 and a 40 foot long steel shipping container with attendant chassis; it has since been heavily modified.


    It has 160 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APT is 18.7 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 4 meters tall and weighs 32,119 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear three on the truck/tractor are powered.


    Two 200 horsepower steam engines, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eight Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors.  Secondary Weapons are five bolt-action 20mm rifles, also manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 590 Armored Backhoe/Loader; originally a Case 590 backhoe/loader and has since been heavily modified.


    It has 40 millimeters of enchanted steel armor.  It is 7.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and it weighs 10,800 kilograms.


    It has four wheels and all are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this tractor a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    What Florian read filled her with envy and fury, her little town had been doing the best that it could what with the government abandoning them and failing to give them proper notice that the Warning Message was real.  With inadequate weapons they had fought back against looters and swarms of monsters, losing too many people in the process.  Slowly they had built the means to produce additional weapons and black powder.  Additionally, they had gained some magical abilities and skills, without which they would be dead right now.  Their most recent achievement had been the construction of a steam engine which was now revolutionizing the town¡¯s small metal shop.  But here and now, were a new group of interlopers that possessed what Florian and others in the tiny town could only dream of having.  She was positive that the armed force that she saw now was the product of some rich guy from their former world who had simply crowned himself as ¡°King.¡±  Probably someone like she saw once on television; who as a hobby, was into collecting all kinds of old military equipment.  And now that bastard had sent part of his army here to loot her tiny town.  ¡°WELL THE HELL WITH THIS KIND OF BULLSHIT!¡±  Florian said to herself.


    The town had well learned the lesson to strike first and strike hard.  The last time they didn¡¯t follow that rule the town¡¯s population dropped from 665 to its present number when a large group of bicycle riding raiders decided to help themselves to what the town offered.  There was only a little over a hundred and fifty of the scum but too many of them had possessed powerful magic and they struck hard and fast, while some green screen stooges of theirs distracted the town guard.


    This time things would be different, they were almost ready to spring their ambush; using black powder, flaming cooking oil and magic when somehow this new bunch of raiders got spooked and took off.


    The damn thing was that they drove straight to the village grain elevator and there was still tons of grain remaining, there that could feed the town for years to come.  Florian cursed herself for being a fool; that must have been what they were after all along.  That would explain those big semi-trucks they had brought with them, they needed them to haul the town¡¯s grain away!  Well she wasn¡¯t about to let those filthy maggots get away with it!


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


    The convoy drove into the center of town where they parked at the intersection of Routes 29 and 4.  George was about to dismount when suddenly he heard Lady Star¡¯s voice in his head.  ¡°I give warning; I sense a great number of angry humans surrounding us.  They seem to be formidable and I¡¯m almost certain that they mean to do us harm.¡±


    George ordered the Hellcat¡¯s driver to get moving, while he used the tank destroyer¡¯s air horn to signal the rest of the convoy to do the same.  The wrong place to stop is in the middle of an ambush, especially on a road surrounded by all manner of buildings.


    The Captain rotated his tank¡¯s turret to the rear.  He witnessed a few fireballs and heard some gunshots but thanks to their armored vehicles everyone seemed to make it out intact, even the 590.


    They had driven just over a quarter of a mile down the road when Sir Mesquida again heard Lady Star¡¯s voice in his head.  ¡°They¡¯re in the there, they¡¯re in there,¡± and she sent him a mental picture of the grain elevator that was now on his right.


    He ordered his driver to pull into the large parking lot that circled the enormous grain bins.  The other vehicles followed suit and using the air horn he ordered them into a defensive formation.  Captain Mesquida marveled at how Lady Star had suddenly started being able to send thoughts, words and pictures to people.  If other people gifted with Telepathy could also learn the same thing then that might very well solve his battlefield communication problems.


    George didn¡¯t know how they did it but somehow the refugee flyers and craftmakers were hiding in the top of one of those giant bins.  He sent Chief Rain and Star to gather up those marooned aliens so that he could get the hell away from here before he was forced into a fight that he didn¡¯t want.


    He decided to have a word with his soldiers.  He had an idea, it was risky but he didn¡¯t want to kill anyone in this town if he could help it, since it might very well come back to haunt him and the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge one day.


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


    Liam Edwards, Mathias Forester, Reuben Moerkens, Giorgio Segura, and Alex Csorba led their squads towards the enemy.  They didn¡¯t have much hope of defeating them but they would count chasing them away as a win.  In the future they now knew that they would have to do a better shop of protecting that precious grain even though the site was very exposed and not as well situated for defense as some other parts of the town were. Perhaps they could fence the place in with some of the empty railway cars?


    Their foes might have cannons but so did the Town of Wrenchburg.   Four cannons based on Civil war era six pound artillery pieces.  The only problem was that it was taking time to get them into position since they were basically direct fire weapons and they didn¡¯t have the ability to arc their shots over intervening buildings.


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


    Star couldn¡¯t believe how long it was taking to get everyone out of the grain silo.  The problem was that she couldn¡¯t let the members of the Soaring Dawn Clan glide down because she was certain that there were enemy riflemen out there and even a muzzle loading rifle could be deadly.  The refugee craftmakers had used wooden pallets, ropes and wire that they had found nearby, to construct and hang a floor in the top of one of the grain bins and the only safe way down now, was the narrow metal stairway that wrapped around the enormous silo.


    George had the turret on his tanks, sweeping menacingly back and forth in order to dissuade attackers but Star wasn¡¯t sure how much longer that would continue to keep their foes scared off.  Whoever they were, they knew how to hide their thoughts from her, but their ragged emotions and general locations were leaking through loud and clear, she felt that an attack could come at any time.


    They were just getting the last craftmaker into the 1070¡¯s trailer when it started.


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


    Mathias Forester had come to the Village of Wrenchburg, just over fifteen years ago, as a newly licensed dentist.  He had taken the job in a small town after his long time sweetheart and fianc¨¦e had ended their relationship, crushing his spirit.  It was Florian the daughter of the owner of the only pub in town who had healed his broken heart and since that time had been his loudest cheerleader and staunchest defender.  He wasn¡¯t so sure if they should be attacking these strange folks but his trust in his wife was absolute.


    They had two cannons in position, as well as two trebuchets loaded with large gallon jugs filled with cooking oil which had been taken from an abandoned railway car.  They were targeting the two tanks, while their six pound cannon balls probably wouldn¡¯t hurt them that should at least distract their enemies and allow some of their other more deadly attacks to get through.  A whistle was blown and they opened fire on the grain thieves.


    The artillery pieces fired and nearly hit the Hellcat.  But they had a stroke of fantastic good fortune when one of the loads of flaming oil, landed smack dab on top of the Sherman tank.  The damn tank commander must have had the reflexes of a rattlesnake though and be lucky to boot, because he tucked down inside and even managed to close the hatch, before the oil struck that vehicle.  It was then that the enemy returned fire and the Village of Wrenchburg found that the assholes had a machine gun!


    Firing the six pound cannons had revealed their concealed positions; aimed shots were now impacting around the artillery pieces.  Luckily their foes were missing the crews, instead striking near the wheels of the town¡¯s two six pounders but where those strange projectiles hit, chunks of ground and other things would vaporize, burn and melt in explosions of heat.


    Suddenly the bloodless battle got very bloody indeed for Mathias when a young man who was serving on his gun crew foolishly moved from his position to a location forward of the artillery piece, where he attempted to fire his flintlock rifle.  The young idiot scarcely more than a boy really, exploded apart in a burst of heat.


    Those with magical abilities were attempting to help but the range was too great for them to reach their foes.


    The cannons had been disabled because of destroyed wheels and the trebuchets took several minutes to draw back down and reload, they were only now ready to fire.


    Abruptly the enemy raiders started to withdraw from the grain elevator and began heading south on Route 29 away from the town.  The Wrenchburg Militia had succeeded in driving off the grain thieves!


    A few more loads of flaming oil were launched at their foes but they both missed.  Mathias was glad to see them depart but sad that it had cost so much.  He looked at the pieces of what was once a fine young man and prayed that the strangers never returned.


    They rushed to the grain elevator to see how much wheat had been stolen.  What they found there surprised them.


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


    George was not pleased, it was not in his nature to hold back when someone shot at him especially when the enemy was using cannons but Wrenchburg was not part of the Kingdom and the local populace did have a right to object to any intruders.  If he had fought back seriously and if significant military forces with the United States government miraculously did appear one day, those forces might have had a bone to pick with the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge if they found that the Hermit¡¯s Guard, had wiped a US town off the face of the Earth.


    The route that they were now taking back to the Armory would add another ten miles to the trip but there was no way that he wanted to travel back through that village!  Those people were nuts!


    They had a minor and extremely brief encounter with an insane giant chipmunk.  Then three more miles down the road, they came upon another giant feathered serpent, which was trying to get at some people that were hiding in a dense thicket of woods.  Two 20mm enchanted rounds took care of that huge monster and the convoy rescued ten more survivors.


    The expedition traveled another five miles when they came upon a broken school bus that was being repeatedly rammed by some more of those weird Cape buffalos.   Inside the bus were six screaming people, some rifle fire gained them some more recruits.  Finally after taking a circuitous route the expedition was back on 29, on the other side of Wrenchburg and heading northwest towards Ervin.


    They had an odd encounter several miles still outside of Ervin, a lone craftmaker half way out of her head, just stumbling along the side of the road.  When Star collected her, all the strange female could do was weep.


    They had stopped to pick up ten more refugees with the town of Ervin just in sight, when Sergeant Vargas saw something moving just above the trees at the horizon¡¯s edge.  He put his binoculars on the objects and blanched, quickly he triggered a special sequence with the tank¡¯s air horn.  Some monsters were so frightful that they had been assigned their own unique codes, such as the Sky Krakens, Bullet Ants, King Mandrills and Giant Mechanical Spiders.


    Lieutenant Storm took flight along with a wing mate to get a better view of the approaching monsters.  Those on the ground kept watch so as to warn the two flyers if any Quetzalcoatlus approached.  Once Lady Night reached sufficient altitude to have a clear an unobstructed view she used her Appraisal skill on the eight dark gray beasts that were approaching.


    Arachnid Annihilator Class Mobile Unit, Mark XVIII


    While it is dark gray in color it has the same basic size and shape as the Arachnid Dominator Class, that being a central cylindrical body that is forty-five meters in length with a diameter of fifteen meters. The body¡¯s armored shell is made up of eleven layers, those being in order from outside to inside: 74mm of ceramic, 74mm of titanium, 74mm of ballistic gelatin, 74mm of ceramic, 74mm of titanium, 74mm of gelatin, 74mm of ceramic, 74mm of titanium, 74mm of gelatin, 74mm of ceramic, and 74mm of titanium; with the total armor thickness being 814mm.  The ballistic gelatin is made out of a material with long chain molecules.


    The Mark XVIII¡¯s six legs are hydraulically activated and powered.  The computer control and stabilization system for the Mark XVIII and its legs; is no longer operational.  Movement is now under manual control.  The legs have a designed range of extension from 6.1 to 35.1 meters.


    Power was supplied by two 26,080 hp steam turbines and associated MHD generators.  The MHD generators are no longer functional.  Steam was previously supplied by two Series 95 thorium reactors, which are also no longer functional.  Steam is now being supplied to the two smaller maintenance/emergency turbines through alternate and less efficient magical means; as a result total power has been greatly reduced.


    Primary weapons were three Pulsar Series 198 mm coilguns; those weapons and the lasers are no longer operational.  The six secondary 74mm coilguns have been converted into flash steam cannons.


    Defensive electromagnetic shields are no longer operational. Flight capabilities are no longer operational.  Observed maximum walking speed has been less than five kilometers per hour.


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


    Large hungry eyes watched as the strange birds took flight.  The creature watching was immense and this was hers and her family¡¯s new territory.  The beast was quite happy with this new place there was plenty of easy game and gentle winds.   Of course there were those pesky giant flying fish but those could be avoided.  The birds were sticking quite close to the ground but the Quetzalcoatlus was feeling quite peckish, on the other hand she and her kind were always hungry.  She went into a steep dive.  Trying to decide if she should only go for one with her beak or if she should try and snatch the second one with her talons.


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


    Sergeant Vergas was anxiously scanning the skies as Lieutenant Knight took flight, she wasn¡¯t going that high but those feathered serpents had really spooked him and he was sick of being surprised.  He saw a funny patch of the late afternoon sky, focusing on it with his vision, he saw the outline of a shape that almost made him load his pants and it wasn¡¯t even flying at him.  He tried to scream Quetzalcoatlus but it was a new word for Jeffrey and he was very flustered, so what came out of his mouth was ¡°QUETSAL-COME-AT-US!¡±  Simultaneously he triggered the air horn on the Sherman tank.  Jeff then brought up his personal rifle and began shooting at the creature that was streaking like a rocket towards the two formerly oblivious flyers.


    Through a minor miracle and superior marksmanship, Jeff¡¯s second shot actually hit the monster; the 30-06 bullet caused great pain to the Quetzalcoatlus but it did not deliver a fatal wound.  However it was enough to cause the creature to veer off in its dive and head towards the east and upward.  Meanwhile Lady Night and her wing mate had been in their own dives for the ground and the safety of the armored vehicles.


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


    Night Storm landed and she was immediately surrounded by her fellow flyers; who were all frantic because of the monster that they had saw diving down upon her.  The thing had been immense and fast too.  Knight Night on the other hadn¡¯t even dare to turn around to look at what was coming her way, when she realized what was going on,  her only thought was to dive towards the ground and safety before whatever came, ate her!  She was not pleased, because now she knew of a monster that she feared even more than giant tarantulas.


    Forcing her heart to calm down, she approached Captain Mesquida, who was glad to see her safe, and made her report to him about what she saw.  After which, ¡°what are we going to do now Captain?  How are we going to fight such mechanical monsters?  Those that are coming this way, sound much tougher than the bright shiny ones that we fought before.¡±


    ¡°Listen closely Lieutenant, this is an important military tactic that I¡¯m about to teach you.  We are going to run away!  Point one; we¡¯ve rescued the Soaring Dawn Clan and the refugee craftmakers.  Point two; we have no further reason to stay in this area.  Point three; I don¡¯t think any of our weapons can penetrate over 800 millimeters of armor, even with multiple hits after our own recent tests for the new LC100.   And finally point four; we are faster than they are.  We¡¯ve got about an hour before dusk; let¡¯s get as far away from those things as we can by then.  Hopefully those Annihilators will stop moving when it gets dark, just like the Dominators did.


    ¡°But Captain, what about the humans in Ervin?¡±


    Captain Mesquida looked startled and then began to curse.  He ordered everyone to mount up, and the convoy resumed their journey into the nearby city.


    After their arrival in town the convoy was again waved to a stop by Mayor Warren.  ¡°Hello Captain, did you find what you were looking for?¡±


    ¡°Yes we did Mayor but we had problems in Wrenchburg.  The people there attacked us twice without provocation, so you should keep that in mind if you ever have to deal with those folks.  But we both got a bigger problem possibly coming this way.¡±


    Mayor Warren¡¯s slightly friendly face now turned into a mask of rage.  ¡°What the fuck did you lead back to my town Captain?!!  I knew you were bad news the minute you and your damn tanks showed up!¡±


    ¡°Oh shut up!  We didn¡¯t lead a damn thing back to your town.  And if you¡¯ve survived this long you must have the True Sight skill, so you know that I¡¯m speaking the truth.  Do you want to hear what I have to say or should I just drive off?¡±


    The Mayor grumbled under her breath and then snarled, ¡°Keep talking!¡±


    ¡°A while back my kingdom was attacked by giant mechanical spiders, Appraisal called them Dominators.  They looked big and intimidating but they were soft targets against our weapons since a major component of their armor was aluminum.  As for how big they are, think like the giant walking machines from War of the Worlds if you¡¯re ever read that novel or seen one of the movies based on it.  Coming into your town we saw something with same basic size and shape of a Dominator except these were gray and Appraisal labeled them as Annihilators.  The problem is that Appraisal also told us that their armor is over thirty-two inches thick and it¡¯s made out of eleven layers of ceramic, titanium and ballistic gelatin.  I know for a fact that even the biggest gun we have in this convoy can¡¯t puncture that kind of armor with a single shot and I¡¯m not sure if even ten rounds into the exact same spot on one of those mechanical monstrosities could do the job either.  If you want a kind of comparison to modern military equipment, the Dominators my people defeated before are kind of like armored cars, thin skinned but some of them pack serious firepower; now the Annihilators seem to be like most modern main battle tanks and are built to be unstoppable.¡±


    Mayor Warren¡¯s was now looking at Captain Mesquida with a horrified expression on her face, because she had no idea how her people were going to survive the kind of threat that he was talking about even after everything that she and her friends had already been through.  The Captain kept talking.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Now a little good news, there are eight of them but they¡¯re in excess of eleven miles from here.  Figure about two miles east, then ten miles due north if you can picture it.  And they seem to be heading due south and not towards this town but that may change.  Those arachnids are also extremely slow, and according to Appraisal their top speed is about three miles per hour but our own experiences indicate that they normally travel at closer to two miles per hour and the ones we ran into before didn¡¯t travel at night, though this new bunch might be different.  You see, before coming to our world, those huge contraptions were actually able to fly and might have even been space worthy.  When they did walk, it was all computer controlled.  Now they have to do everything manually, they can¡¯t fly and they also have a lot less power to make their giant machines move.  Additionally; their weapons, which are jury-rigged steam cannons, are probably inferior to the 105mm howitzer that we have with us.  However, the aliens that control those machines seem to have a talent for Fire Magic.  Our King was horribly burned by one them, luckily he¡¯s a Healer.  Believe it or not, the creatures driving those things, look like giant snails with tentacles, their tentacles are poisonous by the way.


    So while they are out there, they might not even be coming our way but I thought that you should know what was going on.¡±


    Mayor Warren looked up at the man who commanded a combat force that she could only dream of having.  Her eyes bright with unshed tears, fearing the loss of even more people that she had come to love, she said softly.  ¡°Captain what should we do?¡±


    ¡°Mayor, I¡¯m not in charge here but if I was and knowing everything that I know about my new home, our current world, the known monsters in it and those we expect might be coming.  I would have your folks move to the Stronghold.  Currently we are setting up an American Embassy for a US Army Company and some people, who have been residing at the National Guard Armory in Bradley.  They¡¯re all moving to the Stronghold.  Our King made a deal with them and granted them five acres for an embassy compound.  You might be able to join up with them or move in with us, we¡¯ve got a lot more room.  If you join up with the Americans, man does that sound funny when I¡¯m saying that, you¡¯ll have to pay the bill to transport your people and belongings.  If you become citizens of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge, you can still keep your US citizenship by the way, then we will transport you and a reasonable amount of personal belongings for free.  If you have stockpiles of things like bedding, shotguns, fabric, ammunition, science books and other useful stuff, then we get thirty-five percent of whatever we are transporting.  Those materials are then used for the common good of everyone in the Stronghold.  You might think that thirty-five percent sounds like a steep price to pay but a convoy like this has to literally fight its way to wherever it¡¯s going.


    As for today, we are almost packed full but I think that we¡¯ve got room for another thirty people or so.  We could post a look out, if the spiders start walking this way, then whoever you select could leave with us, while the rest of you hunker down and hide.   Back at home we¡¯re building some new, well I guess you could call them tanks but we call them land cruisers.  We should have a few done in three weeks or so; with those, we could come back and maybe fight off those snails.  But that¡¯s only if those spiders come here and decide to stay.


    If they don¡¯t come here, and I was you, I would still move to the Stronghold because it¡¯s the safest place that I know about and I seriously doubt if anybody, anywhere has something better.  You could send a small first batch of people with us and in about ten days we would be back to start moving the rest of you.  We can¡¯t start any earlier than that because we already made an agreement with the Armory folks to move them.


    As I said a few minutes ago, you must have True Sight, so you know that I haven¡¯t told you a single lie since I¡¯ve started talking to you.  If you can give me your word that no one will shoot, I¡¯m going to post a lookout on the top of that water tower over there.  Now my lookouts are from another world and they¡¯ve got wings so don¡¯t go freaking out on me.¡±


    ¡°Wait; let me talk to my people first.  I¡¯ll only be a few minutes.¡±  Mayor Warren ran off with her head spinning.


    Fifteen minutes later, she was back.  ¡°You can post your lookouts Captain.  None of my people will harm them.¡±


    She watched wide eyed as the ramp of the T800 descended and four winged humanoids got out and took flight to the nearby water tower.


    ¡°Mayor Warren it¡¯s going to get dark in less than half an hour.  I need to either get moving or circle my wagons and this place where were parked right now purely sucks for giving my soldiers clear fields of fire.¡±


    ¡°Captain if you can please stay the night?  I need to talk to my people.  The county fairgrounds, is only a half a mile from here and it should be ideal for you.¡±


    ¡°Alright if you can climb up here, you can show us the way.¡±   Captain Mesquida said, while reaching down from the Hellcat and offering Mayor Warren his hand.


    # # # # # # # # # # #


    Quetzalcoatlus, what with the RNG never rolling one of them, I felt sure that the first encounter would lead to some dead flyers, but I guess not.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatlus</a>


    Partial Equipment and Vehicle Glossary:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M4 Sherman Grizzly Medium Tank, originally it was a Sherman Grizzly I Cruiser which was the Canadian variant of the American M4A1 Sherman medium tank.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_I_cruiser</a>


    It has 75 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and it is 5.8 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3 meters tall and weighs 30,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 330 horsepower steam engine; gives this vehicle a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 75mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles also built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    The original gyroscopic stabilizer for the main gun is no longer operational.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M18 Hellcat Light Tank, it began life as an American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Hellcat</a>


    It has 25 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and a roof has been added to its original turret.  This tank is 5.3 meters long (without its main gun), 2.9 meters wide, 2.6 meters tall and weighs 18,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge FV101 Scorpion Light Tank, it began life as a British FV101 Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV101_Scorpion</a>


    It has 12.7 millimeters of enchanted aluminum armor.  This tank is 5.3 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, 2.1 meters tall and weighs 17,800 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 79 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, started off as an American M7 Motor Gun Carriage but it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest</a>


    It has 50 millimeters of enchanted steel armor, a roof and heightened full side walls have been added to it.  This vehicle is 6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide, 3.2 meters tall and weighs 26,450 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this vehicle a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.


    Primary weapon is one M119, 105mm howitzer which is the US designation for the British L119 105mm lightweight gun.  Secondary weapons are two Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors and one twin-barrel 7.62 x 39 Murphy gun.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge T800 Armored Personnel Carrier, originally a 2011 Kenworth T800 Dump Truck, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/t800/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APC is 7.6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 13,600 kilograms.


    It has four wheeled axles and the rear two, are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eleven bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge C500 Armored Personnel Transporter, started off as a Kenworth C500 and a 27 foot long steel dump trailer, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/c500/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and have steel shutters.  This APT is 14.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 21,319 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear two on the truck/tractor are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 39 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are seventeen bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M1070 Armored Personnel Transporter; started off as an Oshkosh M1070 and a 40 foot long steel shipping container with attendant chassis; it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter</a>


    It has 160 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APT is 18.7 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 4 meters tall and weighs 32,119 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear three on the truck/tractor are powered.


    Two 200 horsepower steam engines, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eight Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors.  Secondary Weapons are five bolt-action 20mm rifles, also manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 590 Armored Backhoe/Loader; originally a Case 590 backhoe/loader and has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.casece.com/en_us/Equipment/Loader-Backhoes/Pages/590-SuperN.aspx</a>


    It has 40 millimeters of enchanted steel armor.  It is 7.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and it weighs 10,800 kilograms.


    It has four wheels and all are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this tractor a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Partial Character List:


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Version five of the Defective Hermit Character List; is a work in progress.


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.  (Which will probably be never, especially since it continues to grow.)


    Population of Embassy: 100


    Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound): 803


    People with assigned jobs: 628


    Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Those under fifteen (152), except for the very young, are now being encouraged to attend classes and apprenticeship courses. Those fifteen and over (38); have part time jobs and also take classes.  Those eighteen on up have to work full time, twelve hours a day is quite common.


    Unassigned: 15


    Partial Character List, Version 5:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Name: Nina Rivera Standish


    Title: Princess


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Alchemy Level: 1


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (276):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally he serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat. He is a world class sneak and throat slitter.  Additionally he is an unconventional yet effective drill instructor.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. No magical abilities other than the True Sight Skill but he has a very nice selection of physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate, teleport, and use telekinesis.  He also has several physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Tornado Challenger, green screen, flyer, male, he is a daredevil when only his own life is on the line.


    Corporal Fish Diver, green screen, flyer female, Tornado Challenger¡¯s fianc¨¦e, she is extremely accurate when dive bombing her foes.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Corporal Tammy Harding, green screen, former Army soldier, former INS Agent


    Corporal Fall Roar, green screen flyer


    Private Dominic Jackson, green screen, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Waxy Candlemaker, green screen, female


    Private Feather Fletcher, green screen, female


    Private Strings Bowyer, green screen, male


    Private Stinky Tanner, green screen, male


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (75):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building along with his wife, Wendy.


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at the County Building.  She is a Green Screen with two children, Brittany is 8 and Peter is 5.  Her husband is deceased.


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


    The Shop Crew (93):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


    David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight


    Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight


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


    Motor Pool (24):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner and she has two children, Elizabeth is seven and Stephen is four years old.


    Name: Star Astrologer


    Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight


    Class: Wise One


    Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People


    Title: The Wise One


    Title: The Dignified One


    Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (90):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (18):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (13):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


    Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (29):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Flyer Population within Stronghold:


    Long Flight Clan


    Storm Wind OS, wife is Dawn Song OS, boy child Mountain Breeze


    Night Storm OS (Black and Brown Wings), husband is Metal Grinder OS, daughter is Smokey Night OS


    Tornado Challenger GS, fianc¨¦e is Fish Diver GS (her sister is Autumn Blaze GS and nephew is Star Bright OS)


    Dawn Wind


    Spring Breeze


    Corporal Fall Roar


    Winter Wind


    Cloudy Day


    Storm Cloud


    Total Members: 62


    Children: 32


    Soaring Dawn Clan


    Name: Dawn Rain


    Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth


    Title: The Unhappy Survivor


    Morning Mist, Second Chief, orange screen


    Total Members: 24


    Children: 12


    Craftmaker Population within Stronghold:


    1st Group: 46 Adults, no children


    2nd Group: 47 Adults, 17 Children


    3rd Group: 7 Adults


    4th Group: 12 Adults, 5 Children


    Swift Runner Population within Stronghold: (13)


    Tribe of Evening Song


    Lady Song, deceased


    Evonne Sting, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Aron


    Husband 2: Ralph


    Daughter Zuma: 14


    Son:  Foggy 8


    Elva Slayer, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Long


    Husband 2: Del


    Daughter: Yun 9


    Danni Blocker, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1: Ned


    Husband 2: Vear


    Daughter: Su 7


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors (630)


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


    Howard King


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


    Miscellaneous


    Dwight Cobb, GS, 21 members in his group.


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


    Ervin, Ohio


    Name: Sylvia Warren


    Title: Mayor of Ervin


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


    Wrenchburg, Ohio


    Florian Forester, 38, gs, Bartender, Town Boss


    Mathias Forester, 38, gs, Dentist


    Susanne Forester 14, gs


    Mathias Forester, 12, gs


    Nadine Forester, 9, gs


    Liam Edwards, 33, gs, concrete and masonry


    Kai Edwards, 31, gs, real estate


    Jasmine Edwards, 6, os


    Lauren Edwards, 8, os


    Reuben Moerkens 50, gs


    Marian Moerkens, 48, gs


    Giorgio Segura, 39, gs, restaurant owner and cook


    Nadelina Segura, 37, gs, cook and hostess


    Cara Segura, 14, gs


    Helene Segura, 12, os


    Viola Segura, 9, os


    Alex Csorba, 41


    Margo Csorba, 40, Dental Hygenist, gs


    Judit Csorba, 20, college student, gs


    Petra Csorba, 17, gs


    Kevin Csorba, 14, os

 Chapter 29: Two Very Boring Days

    My apologies for the extreme delay in posting this chapter, it was difficult to write and some other things kept interfering.


    A couple of weeks back The Defective Hermit received a review that I found to be mean-spirited.   The spoiler below contains further details, if you¡¯re interested.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    After chapter 28 there was a review posted for The Defective Hermit that I found to be quite insulting.  There will almost always be someone who will find fault with your work even if you are perfect and I am FAR FROM PERFECT.  But the general tone of that review and the language that the reviewer used I thought was offensive.  What has been worse in my opinion; is that nine people (at last count) have given that review a ¡°thumbs up.¡±  I know that most of my regular readers probably don¡¯t look at those reviews but if any of you can scan for the one that uses ¡°CUCK¡± in its title and give it a down check, I would sincerely appreciate it.  I know that it would help with my mental outlook, thanks.


    If you spot any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 29: Two Very Boring Days


    After the convoy left, I collapsed on my bed and slept almost until noon because of my long night.  While I needed to enchant items and help out in the factory there were two other matters that interested me and I was BORED with doing the same old thing day after day.  The one task that I really wanted to get a start on was extending the borders of my tiny kingdom.  Simply because I was so much more powerful when I was on my own land, which is obviously a good thing.  Sadly with most of our military forces away, it was far too dangerous for me and whoever went with me, to leave the Stronghold at the present time.


    The next item to attract my interest was to look into my worries concerning Teleportation.  In college when I was into role playing games; I always thought of Teleportation as being a ¡°cheat.¡±   Thieves, assassins, raiders and monsters would teleport in, past all of my expensive and elaborate defenses, do their dirty work and then depart.  I had hated teleporting foes.  Now I lived in a world with Teleporters in it and it would be stupid for me to assume that only my friends and allies would have that ability.  When I played some games in the past, I would weave a net of wires throughout my vaults and other important rooms to prevent people from just magically popping in, I¡¯m not sure if it ever worked but none of those rooms were ever plundered.   But doing something like that in real life would be a pain in ass if not impossible; especially since the most important things that I have to protect in the Stronghold are the lives of the people that live within it.


    My Land Ownership ability which seems to be a related to my Earth Magic, tells me when anything is happening on my land.  Someone walks across it, I know it; someone takes a dump on it, I know; someone drives across it, etcetera, etcetera; or rather I should say that I can know, because there is just too much information for me to handle and since I¡¯m not that skilled yet and I might never be, it all becomes background chatter or like the sound of the wind, rain or surf.  Is it really possible to distinguish the sound of one falling rain drop out of the total noise generated by a rain storm?


    There is an exception though, when people use Earth Magic or Teleport while within my Kingdom, then it¡¯s like someone¡¯s ringing a lunchtime counter bell, which can be pretty annoying and distracting at times.  But it¡¯s usually okay because my Ownership ability somehow recognizes that it is someone that is sworn to me that is ringing that particular bell.  It¡¯s like the family dog suddenly perking up at a strange noise within your home but then immediately realizing that it is one of his ¡°family¡± causing that noise, so your ¡°dog¡± settles back down and goes back to sleep.


    But what about outsiders, can I use my Land Magic or Ownership Ability to somehow deny them the ability to Teleport onto or off my lands or maybe use my magic in concert with some enchantment to at least deny them the ability to Teleport within the Stronghold or just parts of the Stronghold?


    I got out some scratch paper and began doodling on it.  I always seemed to do my best, creative and ¡°out-of-the-box¡± thinking when I doodled.  I didn¡¯t expect to come up with a solution today but at least I had begun thinking about the problem.  I would give myself an hour or two to contemplate the matter then I would get back to my regular BORING work.


    Sometime soon I also needed to introduce my grandchildren to their new Aunt Nina.  I¡¯ve only seen them in passing over the last few months and a long visit would certainly be nice.  I wonder how much weight they¡¯ve put on.


    I¡¯ve also been putting off speaking with my son-in-law James Lopez; he has some family matters he wants to discuss.  Although in my own defense, it¡¯s not like I have that much, if any free time.  Since the first Warning came, months ago, it seems like the only time that I am not working is when I¡¯m sleeping.


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


    After lunch, Guardian Evonne Sting was taking another walk along with her family about the Stronghold.  She was still trying to adapt to her new environs, it was just so very different from home and radically different from how she and her tribe had been living since coming to this benighted world.


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge was a busy and vibrant place, yes the people lived in it, under threat of death from the monsters that roamed outside its walls, but still the lesser nobility and the commoners within this mighty fortress, also had hope and confidence in their strange ¡°King.¡±


    According to her translator, Sir Storm Wind, they all firmly believed that they had an excellent chance of survival so long as everyone did their part and continued to work hard.  Certainly from what Evonne could tell, no one seemed to work harder than their Monarch, Vincent Standish.


    Walking along one underground boulevard she could see that some new brightly painted murals had been added to the walls just since yesterday and she had just heard through Sir Wind that there was going to be music in the cafeteria after the day¡¯s main evening meal, she was looking forward to that.  Evonne was startled to see that her children were exchanging greetings with various ¡°alien¡¯ people as they passed by.  Her young ones were certainly picking up at least some of the words spoken in the Stronghold much more quickly than she or her husbands were.


    It had only been a couple of days, but the constant fear that her babes had been exhibiting, since coming to this horrible world, had radically diminished.


    While the people here, looked so very different from her own and slightly repulsive with the way that they only stood on two legs, she knew intellectually and in her hearts, that after seeing her children smiling once more, that she and the rest of the Guardians had no real choice but to join with the people of Hermit¡¯s Forge and swear oaths to its King.


    But it made her fur stand on end to see how careless he was with his own safety.  She was a Guardian and her primary responsibility before anyone else in her tribe had been to Lady Song.  It still shamed her that she hadn¡¯t been there when her mistress met her end but at the time Evonne and the other two surviving Guardians had been relieved of duty so that they could get some much needed sleep.


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


    Boris Khan was worried, since the departure of the rescue convoy; the day was going far too smoothly.  It was late afternoon and the only strange encounter had been when a family of large dog-sized jackalopes had hopped by.  His past experiences with his new world, made him confident that this relatively peaceful time, was just the calm before the storm.


    A lookout shouted out, ¡°Lieutenant, I can see three humans approaching, they¡¯re armed with crossbows.¡±


    Sir Khan called out orders to his soldiers.  ¡°If they¡¯re hostile, terminate them but if they¡¯re not, be ready to give them covering fire.¡±


    He leaned out a second story window to get a better look at who was coming; he could see three men.  They were cautiously moving from one bit of cover to another.  The men were less than a hundred yards away and easily within his Appraisal range.


    Adam Bitar


    Mikail Usamov


    Albert Osborne


    Relieved to see one orange with the small group, Boris gave orders to let the men inside.  He went to greet the newcomers along with Captain Long.


    All three men were staring wide-eyed at the ¡°Real Aliens¡± that were working alongside humans.  Lieutenant Khan let Captain Long handle the introductions.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Captain Barbara Long with the US Army.  Who might you gentlemen be?¡±


    The man that Appraisal identified as Albert Osborne snorted.  ¡°You mean you don¡¯t know who we are; after the Army came, stole our electrical generator, the steam engine that we almost had working, half of our black powder and the most skilled of our people.  Doesn¡¯t the US Army keep track of who they LEAVE TO DIE?!!¡±


    Captain Long looked stunned by Osborne¡¯s reply, so Sir Boris decided to step into the now more than uncomfortable breach.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Lieutenant Boris Khan.  I¡¯m an Officer with the Hermit¡¯s Guard which is the military force for the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  My country was founded after everything went to hell.  Our King got some major magical bonuses for creating his own nation which is the primary and possibly the sole reason that he did so.  He¡¯s a pretty good guy, he¡¯s rescued a bunch of people and we¡¯ve been struggling to build up our forces and our tiny country so that we can rescue some more.  We haven¡¯t done any real searching for survivors as of yet but when we do come upon people, so long as they¡¯re basically good folks, we always offer them a home with us, so long as they can obey our rules which are all pretty much common sense type stuff.


    We¡¯ve made a deal with Captain Long here,¡± Boris nodded his head towards the female Army Officer, ¡°to transfer her people to our Stronghold in exchange for some of the Army¡¯s military equipment that we need.  We¡¯d be happy to take you along with us, as soon as our vehicles get back from the mission that they are currently on.  Are there only three of you?¡±


    Over the grumblings of the other two newcomers, the man who possessed the orange screen responded; ¡°I am Adam Bitar.  I worked for a steel distributor that has a facility approximately eight miles south of here.  Because of local zoning regulations, there are also several other small heavy industrial businesses gathered in that same area.  About seven days into the countdown; my boss, other business owners and the majority of their employees all got together and started making plans for the long term survival of themselves and their families, just in case all those things that the Warning Messages were saying came true.


    We gathered supplies, started making other things while we still had power, and began converting the large warehouse and factory that I worked in, into a kind of fort.


    Originally, there were over three hundred of us and we thought that we were pretty well prepared for what was to come, until the power grid failed.  We had an old generator that still worked and we were making a steam engine which we planned on hooking up to an air compressor, so that when electricity did stop working we could still use our air tools.


    However right at the end things went sour for us.  What with I-75 running right by our makeshift fort, it was probably easy for those military convoys that were driving by, in their old trucks, to see that we still had working electrical lights, which is what probably what screwed us.  I don¡¯t know if the people who showed up were really US Army, Air Force, National Guard, or somebody just pretending to be them because they looked kind of shaggy for real soldiers and they were wearing a mixture of uniforms too.


    Anyways, a dozen or more, old green Army trucks showed up one day and they began talking with the business owners, engineers and the most skilled of those people amongst us.   Now a lot of the stuff that we had, I guess was the property of those folks that they were talking to and before the rest of us could even begin to guess what was about to happen, the soldiers with that convoy began taking those items while the people that they had been talking to and their families began climbing into the backs of those Army trucks, which mightily screwed the rest of us; what with them taking both the electrical generator and the steam engine.  That happened only about fifteen hours before all regular automotive engines stopped working and after that we were never able to get our act back together and get ready in time for when things really did go all to hell.


    There were originally 208 of us after the Army left but what with the monster attacks, there are only ninety-six of us still alive.  There were ninety-nine of us but three of us got killed on the way here.  Six of us, started out yesterday because we saw lights shining from this area for the past few nights, but with only our crossbows and what little magic we have, we¡¯ve had to do a lot running and hiding in order for us to make it here alive.   Three of us, including our only Healer, gave their lives so that we could arrive here safely.  Back at our fort, we¡¯re out of food and we¡¯re starving.  We¡¯ve got a lot of children, many of them orphans now, the Army might have shafted us but I¡¯m not too proud to beg so long as our kids get fed.¡±


    Captain Long looked like she desperately wanted to speak and deny their allegations but she kept quiet, probably figuring that this was the wrong time.


    Lieutenant Khan replied, ¡°It¡¯s dangerous but we might be able to help you folks out.  I know there is an enclosed utility trailer across the street.  We¡¯ve got a lot of extra food because we just brought a large shipment here from my Kingdom.  We also have a steam powered light tank.¡±  The three men looked surprised and excited at that bit of news.  ¡°Now, don¡¯t go getting your hopes up.  I said a light tank; it only has relatively thin aluminum armor.  We normally travel in convoys consisting of at least three armored vehicles because it¡¯s too dangerous to do anything else.  I can¡¯t leave here because of prior agreements with Captain Long but I¡¯m willing to ask my people if they will haul a load of food and arms to your fort so that you can hold out until my Captain and our convoy returns which should be in a day or two.


    However, there¡¯s a problem you can¡¯t go, that tank is only built for a crew of three, we might be able to squeeze in a fourth person but it will be extremely tight and the trailer it will be towing won¡¯t be armored at all.  You should already know how many monsters there are out there, that can literally shred a thin-skinned trailer like that.¡±


    ¡°Lieutenant, we¡¯ll take your offer but I at least have to go.  We had to abandon our Healer in an old house about two miles from here; she was badly wounded and told us to leave her behind.  Reluctantly we had to do so; with your tank, we just might be able to reach her in time to save her or at the very least comfort her during her final moments.  Just knowing that we¡¯re bringing food to her grandchildren will mean so much to her.  I have to try; she¡¯s done so much for us.¡±


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


    An hour later with the help of many hands, the Scorpion tank commanded by Sergeant Latisha Steele drove out of the factory parking lot, pulling a large utility trailer.  It was loaded with food, black powder and some weapons which Lieutenant Khan had asked his soldiers to temporarily give up.  Said firearms included four shotguns, two bolt action 30-06 rifles, and two of the new lightweight fifty caliber single shot rifles.


    Two of the newcomers were riding inside the trailer, while Adam Bitar rode inside the tank and gave directions.


    When they came to the house where they had left the Healer, Lin Chang, they found a pack of eighteen dire wolves scurrying about the building and trying to force their way inside.  Canister shot and aimed fire, from the tank commander¡¯s 20mm rifle, killed half of the creatures and chased the others away.


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


    Lin was so very tired, what with hunger and using up her limited resources to heal others, she now didn¡¯t have the strength to heal herself.  She thought that her time had come when she heard the first gunshots.  Less than ten minutes later Private Stacy Nord who also possessed the Healing gift was lending her magical strength to the Grandmother.  Twenty minutes later, after being stabilized, Lin Chang was gently loaded into the utility trailer for the ride back to the warehouse fort.


    They arrived with no further problems but it took almost an hour before one of the warehouse¡¯s large garage type doors could be partially opened so that the Scorpion tank with its trailer; could drive inside.


    A sounder of giant wild hogs came by early that evening, Sergeant Steele having a love of barbecue shot three of the massive pigs.  She was relatively content with how her mission was going so far but she was definitely looking forward to getting one of the new land cruisers when they finally started rolling out of the Forge¡¯s factory.  She just wasn¡¯t very impressed with the Scorpion¡¯s armor, firepower and general roominess though she did like how fast it was.


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


    Captain Mesquida had left the Stronghold only yesterday and while I knew it was completely unreasonable, I had hoped that he and his forces would be able to accomplish their mission in one day.


    Today, I was helping out in the factory.  Sean had some 90mm prototype cannons that he needed my assistance with building and Grace also needed my help with fabricating a prototype steam generator.  Glen had a new production line building the 330 hp steam engines but our latest recruit Rufus, is convinced that by using the designs for our four cylinder 200 hp steam engines as a template that he can make some eight cylinder 400 hp steam engines which would be even better for our new land cruisers than the 330s but Rufus will certainly need time to develop and test said engines.  I think I will give him two days; I am SUCH A NICE, EASY GOING GUY.


    A giant bear tried breaking into the crude barbican fort we have on the other side of the moat.  According to what I was told at dinner, the bear had to be over eight meters tall when standing on its hind legs but a 20mm bullet put paid to him and got us a lot of meat and a useful fur too.


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


    Boris was muttering some curses as two wounded flyers were carried into the old factory.  Some huge birds that Appraisal labeled as ¡°Blood Falcons¡± had attacked the pair of flyers after he sent them aloft to act as airborne lookouts.  He had been hoping for them to maybe see some sign of Sergeant Steele and the Scorpion tank.


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


    Even though they had only had to deal with a pair of giant chipmunks, Latisha Steele was now feeling outnumbered and ill equipped for her current assignment, the huge rodents had been pursuing eleven craftmakers and before she could step in, three of them had been killed before reaching safety.


    She well knew that there were many formidable monsters now in the world, yet she only had a puny tank and very few weapons to keep over one hundred people safe.  She prayed for the convoy and Captain Mesquida to return as soon as possible.


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


    It had been an awful night for the people in the armored vehicles.  Before the convoy¡¯s departure from the Stronghold, hammocks and air mattresses had been made or located but even with three tiers of hammocks strung inside the trucks, everyone had spent a terribly cramped and unpleasant night, however it had been far better that sleeping on a cold steel floor or outside.


    Mayor Warren returned early the following morning.  After an hour long discussion with Captain Mesquida, it was agreed that six of her people would join the convoy so as to evaluate things at the Hermit¡¯s Stronghold.  The time of their return though was uncertain, Captain Mesquida estimated that it would be at least two weeks and the price of their round trip ticket was set at; one hundred pump action shotguns, a dozen micrometers and a large box filled with assorted pressure gauges.


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


    After leaving Ervin, Sergeant Vargas¡¯s tank was once more in the lead, the town was about seven miles behind the convoy and the highway that they were on, was passing through an area with dense evergreen trees on either side.  Suddenly and almost silently, eighteen large silvery shapes swiftly arose from behind those trees.


    Once they were high enough for their belly turrets to fire down upon the convoy; a deafening loud, mournful, wailing horn sounded from those huge aluminum arachnids.


    There were four Dominators to the west of the Sherman, three on the northern side of the road and one on the southern side; those monstrous machines immediately began moving so as to block the westward route of the returning expeditionary force.


    To the east of the Hellcat, which was at the tail end of the convoy, there were three mechanical spiders and they too moved in so as to block any attempt to retreat.  That left eleven more Dominators on the northern and southern flanks of the convoy; six of those targeted the three tracked vehicles of the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  Those half a dozen mechanized monsters, each fired twin 74mm belly cannons at the M4 Sherman, M7 Priest and M18 Hellcat.


    The spider to the north of the Sherman landed a solid blow on the old tank¡¯s steel turret.  Fortunately, the snail¡¯s steam powered shell had less than half the striking power of the Sherman¡¯s original WWII era gun.  The M4¡¯s two inches of enchanted side armor easily defeated the 74mm projectile.


    The arachnids targeting the Priest and the Hellcat all missed to the relief of the Hermit¡¯s Guardsmen inside said vehicles.  Without the aid of their computers and advanced electronics, the snails were forced to aim their weapons manually; they even lacked useable optical sights.


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


    Captain Mesquida felt extremely small and vulnerable in the Hellcat. While the tank destroyer looked quite deadly and was reasonably fast, it actually possessed the thinnest armor of all the vehicles within the convoy.


    He shouted at the driver of the tank to ¡°Get us the hell out of here!  Take the Hellcat to the east!¡±  George then began issuing precise driving instructions to the frightened driver, interrupting them only to give orders to the tank¡¯s gunner, to fire on spider legs as the opportunity presented itself.   The tank¡¯s main gun was only capable of elevating up to a maximum of twenty degrees, far less than the sixty or more degree angle that was needed in the current situation, to fire upon the mechanical arachnids¡¯ central bodies.


    Sir Mesquida was still standing up in the commander¡¯s hatch, since the M18¡¯s only weapon that was able to aim at the huge silvery cylinders was the one mounted there.


    Corporal Brandy Zhang, who was driving the Hellcat, drove off onto the verge of the road and actually between the legs of one of the metal behemoths moving in from the south.  George seeing the chance for a point blank shot took the opportunity to put one round into the arachnid¡¯s right-side middle leg.  He almost launched a flame strike as well but he decided that his magic wasn¡¯t currently powerful enough to do any significant damage to the smashed aluminum, armoring the Dominator¡¯s leg, at least not while being used in a high speed pass.  The Captain¡¯s twenty millimeter enchanted bullet didn¡¯t blow of the leg but it did put a large hole into the six meter diameter limb, thus rendering it completely inoperable.  The mechanical monster had been moving its right front leg at the time and with only one functional right-side leg now in contact with the ground, it began to twist and fall.  Sadly for the Hellcat, the huge spider was falling in the same direction in which they were going.


    Captain Mesquida screamed at his driver to ¡°GO FASTER!!¡±   George looked behind him and prayed, as the Dominator crashed to earth, just missing his speeding tank by less than thirty feet.  It¡¯s possible that the Captain having a close up view of that event; might have wet himself.  Luckily with the judicious and careful application of Fire Magic he was able to dry his pants and save himself from any embarrassment.


    Breathing an immense sigh of relief, George ordered Corporal Zhang to turn around and liking how the mechanical monster had fallen over, the Captain proceeded to snipe at the legs of any of the huge spiders that he could see.


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


    Sergeant Vargas was not a happy man.  Something had tried to kill him, yet again, and the gunner of his tank had missed her shot at a spider leg.  The damn thing was HUGE, how could she miss that shot, he asked himself.  Luckily, though it takes multiple 20mm rounds to blast through the hull of a Dominator, the armor on their legs was far thinner and there was no intervening layer of ballistic gelatin; that weakness had been discovered by the salvage teams while dismantling the arachnids that had attacked the Stronghold.


    Jeff¡¯s first shot was not as successful as Captain Mesquida¡¯s but his target was leaking hydraulic fluid which was slowly weakening that particular arachnid leg.


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


    Lady Knight Night was in the T800 and because of crowded conditions within it; it was only possible for half of the 20mm rifles to immediately respond to the attack; however their foes were extraordinarily large and slow moving targets.  The soldiers were concentrating their fire on the hip joint of the Dominators¡¯ middle legs.  There had been many discussions about fighting the metal monsters and everyone had agreed that if a Dominator or even an Annihilator lost one of their middle legs that should render them virtually unable to move and perhaps even cause them to fall over.


    Lady Night was wondering if she should have the T800¡¯s rear ramp lowered so that her flight could sortie however she was worried that doing so would expose the APC¡¯s passengers to danger since the ramp was actually part of the vehicle¡¯s armor.


    She was also gravely concerned about the passengers in the armored utility trailer that the T800 was towing, since the trailer had far thinner armor than the converted dump truck.


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


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, who was commanding the Priest, wished that he was driving since to aim the howitzer, it was necessary to point the whole tracked vehicle at the intended target, but he wasn¡¯t and it was far too late to change things now.  And has been previously mentioned the spiders were very BIG targets.  The M7¡¯s first shot was an astonishing success and caused the arachnid that was hit to almost fold in half, before falling to the ground.  Elated, Derrick reconsidered his regrets about not driving the Priest.


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


    On board the Oshkosh APT, there was a similar problem as with the other armored trucks, only half of their weapons were able to fire because of the terribly crowded conditions within the vehicle.  But that particular armored transporter was equipped with fifty millimeter Holman projectors which were loaded with IROD shells that could reach out and touch anything up to one thousand feet away.


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


    To the snails it was like they had knocked over a hornet¡¯s nest, except these hornets had guns!  However, it was now the arachnid¡¯s turn.  What with the blows struck by the convoy only sixteen of the Dominators were still in the fight and five of those had taken damage but all of them let loose with their wailing horns once more and the fourteen spiders that had clear lines of fire on the humans, responded with twenty-eight steam powered projectiles.


    The Dominator to the front of the Sherman fired two shells into the tank but the projectiles were easily shrugged off by three inches of enchanted steel armor.  However the spider to the south of the tank almost put a round right through the thin armor on top of the Sherman¡¯s engine compartment, if the one inch of armor had not been enchanted, the relatively weak steam powered projectile would almost certainly have destroyed the M4¡¯s 330 hp engine.


    The two spiders firing upon the Priest completely missed their shots though one did come close enough to scare the M7¡¯s driver, sadly that driver did not possess Fire Magic, and thus he was unable to dry his pants.


    The trailer on the C500 was struck twice by the two Dominators shooting at it, putting sizeable dents and cracks in its outer layer of armor but the snail¡¯s projectiles, failed to puncture the APT¡¯s six inches of enchanted armor, though the noise and physical blow to the armored transporter caused many of its passengers to panic.


    Even though they weren¡¯t hit, the two man crew of the C590 loader/backhoe felt like ducks in a shooting gallery.   Though their tractor was more heavily armored than the Hellcat they felt extremely exposed in their ungainly vehicle, especially since they were towing a large flatbed trailer which limited their mobility.


    The Oshkosh APT was equally fortunate and no rounds struck it.


    The T800 was struck the same as its larger Kenworth C500 cousin and with the similar results, no serious damage but its passengers were panicking.


    Luck ran out though for the Hellcat.  It only had a half inch of enchanted armor on front of its driver¡¯s compartment and while that armor was radically sloped the snail¡¯s 74mm shell was also coming in at a downward angle, rendering the tank destroyer¡¯s armor unable to stop the incoming projectile.  It struck the front of the tank¡¯s hull piercing the steel armor and taking the head off of Private Hoops Cooper who was the Hellcat¡¯s co-driver.  Bits of metal and flesh splattered Corporal Brandy Zhang, who shuddered, barely suppressing her screams and the urge to vomit.   She kept the tank destroyer moving because she knew that if the M18 did cease being a difficult to hit target, that she and its entire crew were probably all dead.


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


    The Sherman now took its second shots at its foes.  Sergeant Vargas swore loudly when all three of the M4¡¯s weapons missed.  However, the Priest once again succeeded in proving the superiority of its gun crew by destroying another Dominator with a single enchanted round from its powerful 105mm howitzer.  While the C500 finished off the two Dominators that it had damaged earlier.  The Oshkosh APT only managed to destroy one spider with its next round of shots, because of terrified passengers that threw off the aim of the sharpshooters and Holman operators on the left side of the armored transporter, at exactly the wrong moment.


    The T800 APC succeeded in damaging two arachnids that were attacking it.  As for the Hellcat, the damage to the tank destroyer and the death of one of its crew had wrecked everyone¡¯s performance, the M18¡¯s gunner and Captain Mesquida both missed when they fired off the Hellcat¡¯s two weapons.


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


    The Sherman tank now had a new foe; however one of its old ones had switched to firing at the M7, since the Priest had proven itself to be so deadly a combatant.  The snails had miserable luck with their next round of shots or maybe the drivers in the Stronghold¡¯s convoy had learned better how not to be where the enemy was aiming, even within the limited confines of that section of road.  The T800 was again hit; the trailer it was towing was throwing off its ability to evade enemy fire, however once more its six inches of armor stopped the enemy shell. The Hellcat was almost hit but luck was with its crew for once.


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


    Sergeant Vargas was ready to chew bullets, climb out of the Sherman, and physically assault the spiders when once more his tank missed with all three of its weapons.  Not only was the M4¡¯s driver throwing off the aim of the enemy with his erratic driving style but he was also doing the same for his fellow crewmembers.


    The Priest missed with its big gun but one of its Holman IROD shells hit a Dominator, damaging it.  The sharpshooters inside the Kenworth APT finished off the spider damaged by the Priest and then went on to damage two more.


    The Oshkosh transporter defeated one of those damaged by the Kenworth and then its Holman operators and sharpshooters destroyed two additional Dominators.


    George was enraged over the loss of one of his people and carefully aimed when he fired his next shot.  He succeeded in severely damaging a middle leg of one of the mechanical monsters.


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


    Of the original eighteen Dominators, ten were now down, and four had varying degrees of damage, leaving the last four completely unharmed.  A weird screeching sound came from one of the aluminum arachnids; the sound was quickly echoed by all of those, still on their feet.  The monstrous spiders fired again but now they seemed more concerned in getting away rather than continuing on with their attack, so much so that all of their shots didn¡¯t even come close to hitting any of the vehicles in the convoy.


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


    The M4 missed once again with its main gun but Sergeant Vargas along with the Sherman¡¯s co-driver, for once each managed to damage a spider leg on the machine that Jeff had shot earlier, thus causing the mechanized monster to begin sinking to the ground.


    The Priest¡¯s gun crew was successful yet again and they destroyed another Dominator.  While the Holman operators in the Oshkosh APT caused a different arachnid to fall to earth.  The T800 defeated two of the retreating spiders; as for the Hellcat, they finally slew another one after their first victory at the start of the battle.


    There were only two Dominators left standing and they were the ones that were the furthest to the east of the Sherman tank.  Those machines had absolutely no interest in continuing the battle and were doing their best to escape at a blistering speed of three and a quarter miles per hour.


    The machine just south of US 36 came under the combined fire of the M4 tank and the Priest motor gun carriage.  The tank¡¯s co-driver managed to damage one leg.  As for the Priest, it landed one crippling blow with its left side Holman projector.


    Once more, those two tracked vehicles fired on the same machine since they needed to destroy it before they could safely pursue their last foe.  Sergeant Vargas and the tank¡¯s co-driver, both successfully hit a leg again causing the machine to begin falling to the ground.  As for the M7 gun carriage, for once its gun crew completely missed their target, perhaps because of overconfidence.


    Barely squeaking through a gap between two fallen Dominators, the Sherman and Priest began their pursuit of the last enemy vehicle.


    It took them a few minutes to get to a proper firing location and by that time the alien arachnid was over a thousand feet away, which was actually much worse for it.  Because what with the increased distance the gunner of the Sherman was easily able to aim at the spider¡¯s central body despite his cannon¡¯s limited elevation capability.  But once more despite having an easy and slow moving target, the M4¡¯s gunner missed. Sergeant Vargas at the point was raging internally, he didn¡¯t know if his gunner needed more training or if he needed a new gunner for his tank.  He was leaning towards a new gunner.  On the other hand those crewing the 105 howitzer aboard the Priest; shattered the escaping Dominator with an enchanted projectile.


    The battle had been furious; but it had also been extremely brief, perhaps lasting as long as only seven minutes until the eighteenth and final Dominator had been brought down.


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


    Captain Mesquida wanted to depart the area as quickly as possible.  He knew the convoy had been lucky and he was extremely worried about the possibility of facing Annihilators or even just better armed Dominators.  He directed Corporal Zhang to drive the Hellcat towards the center of the stalled convoy so that they could properly deal with Private Cooper¡¯s body and then resume their trek for home.  But what he saw when passing by one of the fallen mechanical monsters; caused George to completely change all of his plans.


    Worming her way out of a ragged gap in the hull of the fallen spider that the Hellcat was just passing was a skinny human female in tattered clothes.  There was no way, what with her general appearance, that Captain Mesquida even for a moment considered her to be part of the spider¡¯s crew, no his first thought upon seeing the girl was that she was either prisoner, slave or worse yet livestock.


    George used the tank destroyer¡¯s air horn to send two messages to all of the vehicles within the convoy; first was ¡°Prepare for Dismounted Action,¡± and the second called the T800 to his location.  He wished that he could dismount and see to the girl but it was his job to remain at his post.


    Star was in the T800 and while her abilities hadn¡¯t detected the ambush, possibly because the snails had initially been over one hundred and fifty yards away from the road, George was hoping that Lady Star¡¯s talents could perhaps tell him which mechanical spiders contained living prisoners or snails and which did not.


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


    Lady Knight Night was given command of the rescue operation and in this she was aided by Sergeant Jacobs.  Many of the soldiers had to stay with their vehicles so that they could man their weapons in case of another enemy attack, that left only twenty-seven of the Hermit¡¯s Guard, including Lieutenant Night Storm, and the 590 tractor to search for victims.


    Luckily, many of the newly rescued humans, craftmakers and flyers volunteered to help as well.  Lady Storm and Lady Star picked the healthiest of them to act as stretcher bearers.


    Starting at the far eastern end of the ambush, Star detected the minds of many humans within a shattered spider¡¯s hull but she did not sense any snails.


    It was already known from salvage work done on the original arachnids that had attacked the Stronghold, that the Dominators were divided into four decks.  The bottom and largest deck was for engineering, going up one level was the command deck where the snail¡¯s bridge was located.  The next level seemed to be a berthing deck, while the topmost and smallest deck was extremely spartan and appeared to be either a place where the lowest ranks were housed or more likely a prison.


    What with the fallen Dominator on its side, the prison deck was actually the easiest for the Hermit¡¯s Guard to access.  With the help of the 590 to pry things apart and an RMW (standing for Ron¡¯s magical wand) which was becoming a more common accessory for some of those gifted with Fire Magic, the soldiers cut their way through the spider¡¯s aluminum hull and into a location that Star recommended.


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


    Herbert Cupples was crammed into a small cell with his youngest daughter and two other people.  When the First Warning had come, he had called his closest relatives to the family farm and with what little time they had, they had fortified a hill on his property, building a small network of tunnels and eventually surrounding the hilltop with palisade made of earth and logs.  Two days ago he had been working with his daughter, converting her old pickup truck to steam power.  When suddenly his oldest grandson had come running down the hill to warn them about a swarm of mechanical spiders that he had seen approaching, in the distance.


    Everyone had retreated to the tunnels and all signs of living inhabitants were hidden but it hadn¡¯t worked.  The huge machines had surrounded the hill, while all the while sounding their awful horns.  After which, several of the monstrous machines had very carefully lowered themselves to Earth, and out had come the snail-like Reeze, all of whom sported blue screens and Appraisal labeled them as a species that practiced slavery.


    By using their cannons, Fire Magic and poisonous tentacles, the Reeze had forced their way into the Cupple family¡¯s refuge. His family had fought back but it was to no avail.   Herbert wasn¡¯t exactly sure how many of his kin were still alive but he knew that it was far less than half.  He had to stop himself from howling in anguish because amongst those that he knew were dead, were his wife, son and grandson.  For some damn reason the damn Reeze had decided to merely incapacitate him with their poison instead of killing him outright or turning him into a living torch as had happened to his son.


    The machine that Herbert was imprisoned in had been stopped for hours, with the Reeze only bringing to his cell a tiny bit of water.  Suddenly he could feel that the arachnid that he was captive in was moving again and then just as abruptly that horrifying horn sounded once more.


    Herb could feel and hear as the cannons almost directly above his head fired, it reminded him of his days as a Gunner¡¯s Mate in the Navy.  Strange vibrations were conducted through the hull and into his body.  It soon became obvious that the Reeze were fighting someone, and whoever they were engaging in battle was fighting back, hard!  He clutched his daughter Michelle to him and prayed that the end came for her painlessly.  After a few minutes everything started to tip, he kept a hold of Shelly wrapping his body protectively around her own.  They were falling!  The machine crashed down, Herbert could feel several bones in his body break and then he lost consciousness.


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


    Shelly Cupples could feel the protective arms that had held her ever so tightly begin to loosen.


    ¡°Dad, are you okay, Daddy?!!¡±  Her head was on his chest, so she could hear his heartbeat but it sounded so weak and he seemed to be barely breathing.  Gently she straightened out his limbs on the former wall and now new floor of their cell.


    She checked on her other two cell mates as well.  The man was dead and the woman was apparently injured, worse than her father.


    Not having anything else she could do because of a lack of resources she began gently talking to her unconscious father about happier times.


    Suddenly there were vibrations outside the hull; pounding and cracking noises, the Reeze were trying to get back in!


    There was a burst of condensed flame high up on the former ceiling but fortunately well to the side of her father.  She heard voices and they were speaking English!  She called out for help.  The smoke from the melting/burning aluminum began to make her cough.  A large portion of the aluminum hull fell away and fresh air rushed inside.  She stood up to look out and found herself staring at a short big breasted feathered female with wings on her back and a pump shotgun in her hands.  Weakly Shelly said ¡°hello¡± in a tentative voice.


    ¡°I am Lieutenant Storm of the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  We have come to rescue you.  Are there any more humans alive and are there any snails nearby?¡±


    (I wanted to put some kind of funny reaction on Michelle¡¯s part right here but I just couldn¡¯t think of anything good enough for the situation.)


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


    Lady Knight Night knowing that time was of the essence left a fire team and some volunteers behind at the first fallen spider, once they had ascertained that no snails or as the rescued woman called them, ¡°Reeze¡± were still alive or at least able to access the prison deck of that Dominator.  The volunteers equipped with the very same hammocks that they had used the previous night, started transporting the injured to one of the armored and heated transporters, where those skilled with Healing Magic were standing by to render aid.


    Night now took the bulk of her forces to the next fallen alien machine, where the first human girl had been sighted by Captain Mesquida.  That girl was currently staring around at everything in wide-eyed shock; she was wrapped in a blanket and being comforted by a female craftmaker.  Now, the human saw short angels approaching her and it took all of her willpower not to faint.


    Lady Knight Night gently asked, ¡°are there any more humans still inside?¡±


    The girl, not daring to speak, nodded her head for yes.


    ¡°Do you know if there are any snails still alive?¡±


    The girl shrugged her shoulders, for ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Sergeant Jacobs then led a fire team inside to investigate, hoping that Star was indeed correct in her judgment that no living snails were still inside.


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


    Later on, after having dealt with seven fallen spiders and starting ongoing rescue operations on three of the monstrous machines that had people imprisoned within, an exhausted Knight Night was approaching her eighth arachnid when Lady Star who was at her side spoke up.  ¡°I can sense evil, arrogant and squishy minds inside this next Dominator, but no humans.¡±


    Lieutenant Night immediately stopped, while searching the previous enemy vehicles; Star¡¯s senses, at least at close range, had proven to be hundred percent accurate.  The female craftmaker had even been able to detect unconscious and almost dead homo-sapiens.  Groups of volunteers were still moving rescued humans from the Dominators that had any, to the Guard¡¯s armored transporters.  Sadly, four of the mechanical monsters that they had inspected so far, had been so thoroughly mangled in the earlier battle that all of the captured humans inside were dead.  Lady Knight grieved for them but even if the convoy had known about the human prisoners, she didn¡¯t know what else they could have done but fight as hard as they could.


    Up until now, all of the snails that they had found were dead; however Lady Star did not detect any living humans inside this new arachnid.  So Lieutenant Night decided that for now a fire team would be assigned to keep watch on the fallen alien craft while she and the rest of her forces continued on with their search for human survivors.


    They checked four more machines with Star detecting nothing but the thirteenth Dominator yielded six human survivors.  At that point in time, the fire team that been assigned to the first fallen spider had completed rescuing the captives held there, and they now returned to rejoin Lieutenant Night¡¯s small ad hoc platoon.


    Her forces only had five more Dominators to go and Night was looking forward to getting back on the road and away from this place.  She dreaded the thought of a major monster attack happening while all of their forces were so dispersed and ill prepared.  Star checked the next two metal monsters and sensed nothing, but the following two mechanical spiders had fallen almost end to end to one another, with just a narrow gap between them and in those machines she sensed both living humans and living snails.


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


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs was not a happy man; he was taking point while going into the Dominator because he judged himself as being the only one there with right kind of experience but it still sucked in his opinion.  According to Lady Star there were at least seven snails within and the same number of humans.


    Rich was wishing that his own telepathic abilities were the equal of the female craftmaker¡¯s but they weren¡¯t.  He had received most of the physical enhancements when he swore his oath to the Boss, including all of the sensory boosts.  As for magical abilities, Sergeant Jacobs had gotten what seemed like a weak Telepathic talent, and a modest gift as an Animal Trainer, but his most significant ability seemed to be in Sound Magic.


    Using his True Sight skill, all of his enhanced senses and his Sound Magic ability to guide him and alert him to danger, Richard cautiously crept into the alien vehicle once a hole had been cut into its former roof, fervently wishing all the while that there was someone else that he could send in his place or that he at least had a few hand grenades to pave the way.


    It was known that the snails¡¯ shells were tough, so hard in fact that a normal rifle bullet would not always penetrate with a single shot.   However, when the creatures withdrew into their shells they posed significantly less of a threat.  That being the case, Rich had decided to use his shotgun which was loaded with buck and ball, with the plan that he would blast any soft squishy snail parts as he saw them, especially their poisonous tentacles.  In addition, he had slung on his back Lady Storm¡¯s personal single-shot fifty caliber rifle, which was loaded with a non-magical bullet, in case he came upon any living snails that had retreated into their shells.  The Sergeant was certain that the large powerful fifty caliber bullet would easily puncture the natural defenses of a Reeze.


    He cautiously walked by the cells holding the humans.  Soldiers following his steps would see to their rescue.   Coming to a large hole in the wall, the former floor, where a wide ramp was located he slowly stepped through the hole and onto the alien¡¯s Berthing Deck.  On the new deck, he didn¡¯t encounter anything but he did hear some noises coming from the Command Deck, the soft sound of slithering and a muffled clatter.  The Sergeant held up his hand signaling the four soldiers that were following him to stop.


    Rich certainly didn¡¯t want to get roasted as the Boss had succeeded in doing during the first snail encounter.  He was debating on what to do when he remembered some of Vince¡¯s words and cursed himself for being a fool.  There was no reason for him to advance any further.  He was certain that the only captives on board the Dominator were those that were behind him.  He decided to establish a defensive position somewhere on the current deck, such that the only way the snails could get to the prison deck and the rescue operation that was going on there would be by getting by him first.  And if his officers wanted the snails dead then they could always use artillery instead of putting any soldiers at risk.


    Putting action to his thoughts he retreated with the rest of his fire team to what he deemed was a good location and settled in to wait for the ongoing rescue to finish.  He sent back one soldier to inform the Lieutenant about what he was doing and why.


    It took slightly over an hour before he heard that things were almost complete and that he would soon be able to withdraw.  Sadly it was just a little too late, because he heard the sounds of slithering and sliding coming his way.


    Rich didn¡¯t use foam earplugs as many of the soldiers did while in combat, for he had instinctively learned to protect his hearing with his Sound Magic Ability.


    At the end of the corridor he first saw some tentacles come from around the corner.  The appendages were grasping some strange sort of gun.  Slowly the eyes of a Reeze mounted on stalks followed suit.  Rich had the fifty caliber rifle aimed right at the corner, and he had earlier changed the bullet inside it, back to a much more effective, magical round.


    At almost the exact same second as Sergeant Jacobs fired his rifle, the Reeze while barely exposing itself fired its own gun.  The snail¡¯s bullet ricocheted off the wall on Rich¡¯s left, while his own bullet, blasted a very large hole through his foe. Afterwards he could clearly hear the sounds of retreating snails.


    The Sergeant crept down the hall and to the fallen Reeze.  He looked at the strange alien gun.  It bore a distinct resemblance to a ¡°Super Soaker¡± rifle but it was made out of metal.  Appraisal labeled it as a fifteen millimeter flash steam rifle.  First, donning a pair of leather gloves, just in case there was any poison on the snail¡¯s gun, he then took the Reeze weapon as both a trophy and for intelligence gathering purposes.


    Upon his departure from the alien craft, Lady Knight ordered the Oshkosh APT to open fire on it with their Holman projectors so as to reduce it to a pile of scrap.


    Entry into the next enemy vehicle went almost exactly the same with Rich again leading the way.  Except this time while there were no snails on the Prison Deck, he could plainly hear numerous Reeze on the Berthing Deck.  Cautiously he crept towards the hole in the former floor which gave access to the crew¡¯s sleeping quarters.


    Hearing perhaps a dozen foes on the other side of the aluminum wall, the former floor, he sent back a messenger to Lieutenant Night Storm.


    Shortly after that, both Lady Night and Lady Storm carefully crept to his position.  Lieutenant Night whispered in the Sergeant¡¯s ear.


    ¡°I have several steam shells with me.  Lady Star by using her Telekinesis Ability will maneuver them through the arming ring on my harness and deliver them to our enemies, like those much vaunted hand grenades you¡¯ve been so vocally complaining about not having with you.¡±


    Rich nodded his head in acknowledgement.  He just prayed that Lady Star didn¡¯t drop one after it went through the arming ring, such a thing would not only be disastrous but probably fatal too.


    The first steam shell delivery went off without a hitch, with it being rammed into the shell of one snail, killing it and slightly wounding two others.  The next shell Star accidentally dropped just on the other side of the wall, adding only slightly to the injuries of the two already wounded alien Reeze.  That happened once more with Lady Star growing quite worried that she might drop one so early that it would blow up on the wrong side of the wall.


    She voiced her concerns to her fellow Knight but Night Storm seeing no other alternative in their current situation urged the craftmaker to try one more time.


    Star¡¯s fourth attempt was as successful as her first, killing a Reeze.  Using her telepathy, she could sense that all of the snails were now retreating to the Command Deck, which was good enough for Lady Night.  Rich then advanced onto the berthing deck so as to prevent the enemy from returning.


    That was the last encounter that he had with them.  An hour later he was withdrawn and Lieutenant Night Storm had the Oshkosh APT reduce the fallen arachnid into monstrous mangled mess, killing its snail-like crew.


    Further searching of the fallen alien vehicles yielded no more living beings except for the Dominator that they had left a guard on earlier, fifty millimeter IRODs put paid to that craft and the Reeze inside of it.


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


    Captain Mesquida was very worried about the overcrowded conditions within the convoy and with how late in the day it was getting; while the armored battle had been short, the rescue operation had taken several hours.  Now he had 67 more refugees to worry about, most of whom were wounded.  The APC and the APTs were packed like sardine tins.  He not only had people riding on the roofs of his vehicles but he also had some on the highly exposed flat bed trailer that the 590 was towing.


    He issued orders to all of his soldiers, that if they saw the slightest threat that they were to destroy it immediately and not ignore it as they had been doing on previous trips.


    A few hours later, it was with great relief that the convoy finally made it back to the Armory in Bradley.  They had three more encounters during their trip, and rescued an additional thirteen people.  Only the first encounter with a family of mega rhinos had been fraught with danger since the angry animals had surprised the convoy and the immense creatures had nearly made it to the tractor before being stopped.


    There was one other minor thing that happened; Captain Mesquida was forced to use the Hellcat¡¯s horn, in order to signal Lady Knight Night to cease firing on the spot where the corpse of giant snow tarantula lay, the flyer had her soldiers continuing to fire on the creature even after it had been killed and already reduced to fragments.


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


    Guardian Evonne Sting could feel her stomachs clenching as she walked the underground streets.   It was hard for her to exchange even the simplest of waves or head nods with the ¡°people¡± that she passed.  Unlike her children, she was finding the ¡°Inklush¡± language to be very confusing and now at this critical time what few words and gestures that she had learned had simply flown right out of her head.


    Walking from the residential area she took the underground street leading to the manufacturing district, passing that noisy locale she then took the very short side road going to the Hermit¡¯s Lair.  She was so tense that her hair was standing on end and her muscles felt like steel bars.  She could not believe that she didn¡¯t even pass a single guard on her way to meet the Hermit King.


    Walking into his workshop, she spoke in her own language knowing that because of his Translation Skill that he would understand her.


    ¡°King Standish, I greet you.¡± She bowed. ¡°I thank you for making me and the few other survivors of my tribe, welcome in your home.  I, my fellow Guardians, our husbands and our children; have come to appreciate what you have built here.  Sir Storm Wind has been an excellent guide and translator.  He has told us of your deeds, wisdom and kindness.  If you will have me, I will swear an oath to you, binding myself and my family to you for as long as you shall live.¡±


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


    I need to get a door bell or maybe a pet goose; I¡¯ve heard that they¡¯re almost as good as a watch dog for alerting people to unexpected guests.  I thought I was making progress with my theory for a Teleport Block, when Squiggly Wiggly shows up and poof I totally forget where my thoughts were taking me.  Scratching my head in frustration, I begin to speak.


    ¡°Greetings Guardian Evonne Sting and welcome to my workshop. I am glad that you and yours have come to feel welcome here.  It is not necessary for you to swear a lifetime oath to me or for that matter, swear any oath at all, since it is not a normal requirement for staying here within this Stronghold.  You and your tribe can just continue to live here so long as you agree to help out.  But if you really want to become one of my oath sworn people, I will not refuse you; just understand that it is not necessary.¡±


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


    Evonne was alarmed at first, since it sounded like the Hermit King was going to refuse her.  She suddenly realized that she was almost desperate to join with this new Kingdom and belong to something again like she had with Lady Song.  Guardian Sting was also looking forward to the magical abilities that she might receive by becoming a subject of King Vincent.  Guardians were always looking for ways to become stronger so that they could do their jobs even better and crush their foes.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    [color= orange]¡°Your Royal Majesty, I Guardian Evonne Sting do faithfully swear to serve you, for as long as you shall live, to protect you, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully live upon them, so long as they obey your laws and commands.¡± [/color]


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


    Reaching out, I touched her upper right arm and then rested my hand on her upper left shoulder.   ¡°I accept your oath and I dub thee Lady Knight Evonne Sting.  I recognize you as a Guardian and I ask for your aid in protecting my Kingdom and the people that peacefully live here, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Holy crap you just knighted a bug, are you crazy you old decrepit fool?  You better kill it quick, kill it now, don¡¯t let it scurry away to reproduce.  Eeeek, I think I¡¯m going to faint.  Thud!


    And you Lady Sting, you just swore your allegiance to a disgusting biped, who is only one brief evolutionary step away from eating worms, rotten fruit and throwing his bodily waste at his enemies.


    Oh woe is me, woe is me, the multi-verse is doomed I say, doo-oomed!  They told me that this was going to be an easy job.  Just something to do between deployments, they said.  I was told that I and the rest of my unit would have a jolly old time while advising the STUPID sentient beings of reasonable worth, on the planet Dirt.   Like idiots, we took the job, by the second day we were spiking our morning blarg with the most potent hallucinogenic pain killing drugs that we could beg, borrow, make, buy or steal.  I will tell you¡­¡­¡±


    Even though my new Lady Knight was not a humanoid I could tell by her wide eyes and open mouth, as well as the twitching of her facial muscles and limbs that she was becoming quite upset.  I better put a stop to this.


    ¡°Hey DDS Dude, shut up. You¡¯re scaring the lady.  Can you please stop with the whining and reveal her abilities.¡±


    Dude, DUDE!!!  You dare to call me a dude!  I will have you know that I am in my female phase this solar cycle and I will not be mistaken for a dude! I am going to come there and kick your ass so bad that it will swap places with your face.  But you are already so ugly that everyone will think of it as an improvement and thank me!


    ¡°Oh no,¡± I moaned.  This was going to be one of those days.


    Quick, someone help me, Gary has lost it again.  Grab her lower limbs Bomber, before she makes it to the rift.


    I¡¯m trying but she¡¯s wearing combat boots on all four of her feet and the #@$%! is kicking me.


    Get back everyone, I¡¯ve got a stapler and I¡¯m not afraid to use it! ¡°Cha-chunk-cha-chunk¡±


    Aargh, sheee shust shapled my lower slip.


    Use the stupefying stick on her!  We got no other choice.


    WHACK!  ROAR; I¡¯m going to tear off all your limbs and use them for chopsticks.  WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!  Why I can see rainbows and stars, aren¡¯t they so very pretty.  WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!  I can taste purple and hear persimmon, it¡¯s so lovely.  WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!  Hoist the sails, lower the anchor and find me a politician to use as bait.  I want to go fishing for sea dragons. WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! THUD!


    Finally she¡¯s down. She¡¯s going to want to kill us when she wakes up or worse yet, mate with us!


    Ah, Kevin, I think her Earth link has been open the entire time.


    WHAT!!!


    And it looks to be in speaker mode too, so they got text translations of what we said as well.


    @#$%@#$%!!!!


    Time passes with no further messages from the DDS and Lady Sting was looking increasingly distraught.  I began to make gentle shushing noises so as to calm her down and I poured her a large mug of hot tea from my own carafe, while crossing my fingers that the beverage didn¡¯t kill her.  As far as I know tea wasn¡¯t poisonous for swift runners but I¡¯m a Healer so I should be able to save her life if it is deadly for her kind, maybe.  Finally; after almost ten minutes, with Evonne still breathing and fiercely clutching the mug that I had handed her.


    DING


    Ahem, this was a test of the Ding-Ding System, just in case one of our exceptionally skilled advisors really had gone temporarily insane because of some bad blarg, lack of sleep and terrible working conditions.


    If one of our mentally unstable combat hardened veterans, I mean one of our highly educated advisors had gone completely bonkers, we suggest that you duck and seek cover.  It won¡¯t really help but it might make you feel good during your final moments. We now resume with our regular announcements.


    Lady Knight Evonne Sting, for swearing such a stupidly powerful oath and having it accepted by the Mad Hermit King Vincent Standish, you have been ennobled and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  Betray your oath and you may lose all of your new gifts.


    Access to the DDS Universal Translator


    Water Magic Level One


    Fire Magic Level One


    Body Augmentation Magic Level One


    Levitation Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Five:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by fifty percent.


    +21 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +43 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +29 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +19 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    +54 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    1.4x Telescopic Vision


    Hearing is 2.3 times as acute.


    2.1x Scent/Odor Detection


    Looking at my new knight I didn¡¯t know if she wanted to cry out in joy over her new awakened abilities or weep because of the way it went down.


    I began wondering if there were some way that I could distract her.  I momentarily considered giving her my Taurus revolver but I immediately discarded that idea, I had already given away a lot of my better firearms and considering all of the bad things that had happened to me lately, I needed a good last ditch weapon.  I would talk to Glen and Sean later and see if they could hook her up with something that suited her.


    ¡°Lady Knight Sting congratulations on your magical awakening.  I must say that the gifts and enhancements that you just received are quite impressive.  What with your new Translation Access you can now freely speak with people while you¡¯re learning the various languages spoken here.  May I suggest that you tell your family what has happened and then perhaps you should meet with Lieutenant Wind or Lieutenant Murphy?   They could probably give you some hints in regards to developing your new talents.¡±  In other words I want you out of here so I can get back to work.


    Suddenly her whole body seemed to communicate menace and firm resolve, she then said one word.  No!


    Oh, fudge!


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Equipment Glossary


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M4 Sherman Grizzly Medium Tank, originally it was a Sherman Grizzly I Cruiser which was the Canadian variant of the American M4A1 Sherman medium tank.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_I_cruiser</a>


    It has 75 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and it is 5.8 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3 meters tall and weighs 30,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 330 horsepower steam engine; gives this vehicle a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 75mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles also built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    The original gyroscopic stabilizer for the main gun is no longer operational.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M18 Hellcat Light Tank, it began life as an American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Hellcat</a>


    It has 25 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and a roof has been added to its original turret.  This tank is 5.3 meters long (without its main gun), 2.9 meters wide, 2.6 meters tall and weighs 18,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge FV101 Scorpion Light Tank, it began life as a British FV101 Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV101_Scorpion</a>


    It has 12.7 millimeters of enchanted aluminum armor.  This tank is 5.3 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, 2.1 meters tall and weighs 17,800 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 79 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, started off as an American M7 Motor Gun Carriage but it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest</a>


    It has 50 millimeters of enchanted steel armor, a roof and heightened full side walls have been added to it.  This vehicle is 6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide, 3.2 meters tall and weighs 26,450 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this vehicle a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.


    Primary weapon is one M119, 105mm howitzer which is the US designation for the British L119 105mm lightweight gun.  Secondary weapons are two Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors and one twin-barrel 7.62 x 39 Murphy gun.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge T800 Armored Personnel Carrier, originally a 2011 Kenworth T800 Dump Truck, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/t800/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APC is 7.6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 13,600 kilograms.


    It has four wheeled axles and the rear two, are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eleven bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge C500 Armored Personnel Transporter, started off as a Kenworth C500 and a 27 foot long steel dump trailer, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/c500/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and have steel shutters.  This APT is 14.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 21,319 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear two on the truck/tractor are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 39 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are seventeen bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M1070 Armored Personnel Transporter; started off as an Oshkosh M1070 and a 40 foot long steel shipping container with attendant chassis; it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter</a>


    It has 160 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APT is 18.7 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 4 meters tall and weighs 32,119 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear three on the truck/tractor are powered.


    Two 200 horsepower steam engines, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eight Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors.  Secondary Weapons are five bolt-action 20mm rifles, also manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 590 Armored Backhoe/Loader; originally a Case 590 backhoe/loader and has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.casece.com/en_us/Equipment/Loader-Backhoes/Pages/590-SuperN.aspx</a>


    It has 40 millimeters of enchanted steel armor.  It is 7.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and it weighs 10,800 kilograms.


    It has four wheels and all are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this tractor a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Armored Utility Trailer, outer dimensions 8.5¡¯ x 20¡¯, inside height is 6¡¯ 6¡±


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


    Common Personal Weapons for the Hermit¡¯s Guard


    30-06 bolt action rifle with eight round magazine


    12 gauge pump action shotgun


    20 gauge pump action shotgun


    Single shot titanium fifty caliber rifle


    .357 magnum revolver


    14¡± bayonet


    Partial Character List


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Version six of the Defective Hermit Character List; is a work in progress.


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.  (Which will probably be never, especially since it continues to grow.)


    Population of Embassy: 174


    Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound): 803


    People with assigned jobs: 628


    Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Those under fifteen (152), except for the very young, are now being encouraged to attend classes and apprenticeship courses. Those fifteen and over (38); have part time jobs and also take classes.  Those eighteen on up have to work full time, twelve hours a day is quite common.


    Unassigned: 15


    Partial Character List, Version 5:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Name: Nina Rivera Standish


    Title: Princess


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Alchemy Level: 1


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (276):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally he serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat. He is a world class sneak and throat slitter.  Additionally he is an unconventional yet effective drill instructor.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. No magical abilities other than the True Sight Skill but he has a very nice selection of physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate, teleport, and use telekinesis.  He also has several physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Tornado Challenger, green screen, flyer, male, he is a daredevil when only his own life is on the line.


    Sergeant Latisha Steele, orange screen, former Intelligence Analyst with the US Army.  Always desired to serve aboard a tank but it wasn¡¯t allowed at the time.


    Corporal Fish Diver, green screen, flyer female, Tornado Challenger¡¯s fianc¨¦e, she is extremely accurate when dive bombing her foes.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Corporal Tammy Harding, green screen, former Army soldier, former INS Agent


    Corporal Brandy Zhang, green screen, former US Marshall, normally serves as driver for Hellcat.


    Corporal Fall Roar, green screen flyer


    Private Dominic Jackson, green screen, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Waxy Candlemaker, green screen, female


    Private Feather Fletcher, green screen, female


    Private Strings Bowyer, green screen, male


    Private Stinky Tanner, green screen, male


    Private Net (Nettie) Fisher, green screen, female


    Private Stacy Nord, green screen, female


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


    Private Hoops Cooper, second member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall, died at the battle of US36, on March third, while fighting 18 Dominators.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (75):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building along with his wife, Wendy.


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at the County Building.  She is a Green Screen with two children, Brittany is 8 and Peter is 5.  Her husband is deceased.


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


    The Shop Crew (93):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


    David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight


    Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight


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


    Motor Pool (24):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner and she has two children, Elizabeth is seven and Stephen is four years old.


    Name: Star Astrologer


    Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight


    Class: Wise One


    Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People


    Title: The Wise One


    Title: The Dignified One


    Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (90):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (18):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (13):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


    Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (29):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Flyer Population within Stronghold:


    Long Flight Clan


    Storm Wind OS, wife is Dawn Song OS, boy child Mountain Breeze


    Night Storm OS (Black and Brown Wings), husband is Metal Grinder OS, daughter is Smokey Night OS


    Tornado Challenger GS, fianc¨¦e is Fish Diver GS (her sister is Autumn Blaze GS and nephew is Star Bright OS)


    Dawn Wind


    Spring Breeze


    Corporal Fall Roar


    Winter Wind


    Cloudy Day


    Storm Cloud


    Total Members: 62


    Children: 32


    Soaring Dawn Clan


    Name: Dawn Rain


    Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth


    Title: The Unhappy Survivor


    Morning Mist, Second Chief, orange screen


    Total Members: 24


    Children: 12


    Craftmaker Population within Stronghold:


    1st Group: 46 Adults, no children


    2nd Group: 47 Adults, 17 Children


    3rd Group: 7 Adults


    4th Group: 12 Adults, 5 Children


    Swift Runner Population within Stronghold: (13)


    Tribe of Evening Song


    Lady Song, deceased


    Evonne Sting, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Aron


    Husband 2: Ralph


    Daughter Zuma: 14


    Son:  Foggy 8


    Elva Slayer, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Long


    Husband 2: Del


    Daughter: Yun 9


    Danni Blocker, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1: Ned


    Husband 2: Vear


    Daughter: Su 7


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors (630)


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


    Howard King


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


    Ervin, Ohio


    Name: Sylvia Warren


    Title: Mayor of Ervin


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


    Wrenchburg, Ohio


    Florian Forester, 38, gs, Bartender, Town Boss


    Mathias Forester, 38, gs, Dentist


    Susanne Forester 14, gs


    Mathias Forester, 12, gs


    Nadine Forester, 9, gs


    Liam Edwards, 33, gs, concrete and masonry


    Kai Edwards, 31, gs, real estate


    Jasmine Edwards, 6, os


    Lauren Edwards, 8, os


    Reuben Moerkens 50, gs


    Marian Moerkens, 48, gs


    Giorgio Segura, 39, gs, restaurant owner and cook


    Nadelina Segura, 37, gs, cook and hostess


    Cara Segura, 14, gs


    Helene Segura, 12, os


    Viola Segura, 9, os


    Alex Csorba, 41


    Margo Csorba, 40, Dental Hygenist, gs


    Judit Csorba, 20, college student, gs


    Petra Csorba, 17, gs


    Kevin Csorba, 14, os


    Bradley Heavy Industrial Group (Originally 208 people, now 97 of which 52 are under eighteen)


    William Bujdo, 36 Green


    Violet Bujdo, 35 Orange


    Andrew Bujdo 13 Orange


    Adam Bitar, 35, Orange


    Nazeera Bitar, 33 Green


    Anisah Bitar, 11 Orange


    Mikail Usamov, 28, Green


    Albert Osborne, 27, Green


    Lin Chang, 62, Orange, Dental Hygenist, Healer, injured


    George Chang, 34, Green


    Denise Chang, 33, Green


    John Chang, 10, Orange


    Anna Chang, 8, Orange


    Ram Diaz, 26, Orange


    Edith Diaz, 27, Orange


    Justin Diaz, 3, Orange


    Howard Leach, 31, Green, killed on trip to the Armory


    Stephen Staton, 34, Orange, killed on trip to the Armory


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


    Miscellaneous


    Dwight Cobb, GS, 21 members in his group.


    Partial List of those, Rescued after the Dominator Battle of US 36


    Martin  Avis                                Alchemist Chemist


    Michelle ¡°Shelly¡± Cupples           Bulldozer Operator, daughter


    Herbert Cupples                          Retired Navy, father


    Reyna Cupples                            Watchmaker/repairer, Herb¡¯s sister


    Robert Barton                              Boilermaker


    Joyce Gause                                 Paleontologist

 Chapter 30: Just One More Boring Day

    If you see any mistakes please leave a comment, thank you.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 30: Just One More Boring Day


    Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    Boris was overjoyed to see the convoy coming down the road towards the Armory.  As he had expected and feared, there were people hanging all over the returning vehicles.  Taking into consideration what he was seeing, he estimated that Captain Mesquida must have picked up at least an additional 150 refugees on top of the survivors that he had originally gone off to rescue.


    Captain Long, who was standing next to him, suddenly drew in a sharp breath.  With the vehicles drawing closer it had just become apparent how badly battered many of them were.


    The Armory¡¯s utility tractor slowly opened up the compound¡¯s ¡°gate¡± and the vehicles began driving inside, to the cheers of both the people already in the Armory Compound and those riding in the convoy.


    Because of the narrow entrance and what with so many people riding precariously on top of the trucks, it took almost twenty minutes for all the large vehicles to finally pull to stop in the Armory¡¯s parking lot.  Sir Khan was alarmed to see how dented and even cracked the armor was on the modified trucks and dismayed to see an actual puncture in the M18 Hellcat.  But what caused his stomach to sink was when he realized that the bundle wrapped in a blue tarp, strapped to and riding on the M18, was in fact a body.


    He and Captain Long walked quickly over to the Hellcat; Sir George Mesquida was just climbing down from the old tank destroyer.  ¡°Welcome back Captain.  It looks like you had a rough time of it.  Who did we lose?¡±  Boris asked with a sad tone to his voice.


    ¡°Hello Boris, hello Captain Long.¡± Sir George said, sounding exhausted and depressed; he sighed before answering the Lieutenant¡¯s question.  ¡°Private Hoops Cooper was killed; we were ambushed by eighteen Dominators.¡±


    ¡°Oh, shit,¡± muttered Boris.


    Barely registering Lieutenant Khan¡¯s small verbal outburst, Captain Mesquida continued.  ¡°But luckily for us, this new bunch had converted their smaller coilguns into steam cannons instead of their bigger ones. On the other hand the shells fired from those big 148s travel so slowly that we might have fared better if they had been shooting at us with those things.  Anyways, a round hit us at exactly the wrong angle and the thin armor on top of the driver¡¯s compartment wasn¡¯t enough to stop it.¡±  Captain Mesquida shook his head sadly, and let out another sigh while gazing sadly at the blue bundle containing Cooper¡¯s corpse.  He then turned to look at Boris.  ¡°The trucks all took some damage too and I want to get their armor patched up tonight before we head back to the Stronghold in the morning.  When I do get back to home, I¡¯ll be having a talk with Glen and Clyde.  I no longer think that six inches of sand and steel armor are sufficient for our APCs and APTs; and the 90mm guns that they¡¯re supposed to be building right now, seem to be inadequate even before we mount the first one.


    Anything urgent that you need to tell me about before I tell you what else happened on the journey?¡±


    ¡°Yes, yesterday we were contacted by a fairly large group of survivors that have converted a warehouse into sort of a fort, just eight miles south of here.  They were out of both food and black powder.  I sent Sergeant Steele in the Scorpion to protect them until you returned.  She left towing a trailer loaded with supplies and a few weapons that I requisitioned from our soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, it never even occurred to me that there might be other groups of survivors living nearby.  If it wasn¡¯t getting so late, I would take the convoy and pick them all up right now.  As it is, I might just send the Sherman to keep watch on them until morning.  So far the M4¡¯s armor has proven indestructible to everything we¡¯ve run into to date.  But we¡¯ve got another and bigger problem.  Yesterday we saw eight spider-like machines that Appraisal labeled as Annihilators.  Those things have 814 millimeters of titanium, ceramic and ballistic gelatin armor.  Think of them as being like a modern army¡¯s main battle tanks and Dominators, in comparison, being similar to armored personnel carriers, though both mechanized arachnids are about the same size and armed basically the same.  We didn¡¯t have to fight them but they sure as hell, scared the shit out of me.


    After our battle with the Dominators we learned something about the snails, they¡¯re slavers!  We also learned that ¡®Reeze¡¯ is the actual name for their species or people.  We freed sixty seven humans that we found trapped within prison cells inside the Dominators that we defeated.  But during our battle against those monstrous machines, we probably killed four times as many innocents as we rescued.


    Now that I¡¯ve had a chance to breathe for a moment, I think that I am going to send Vargas and the Sherman to meet up with Latisha before we lose all of our daylight.  What are your thoughts, Boris?¡±


    ¡°You give me such wonderful fucking news then you ask me a question like that?¡±  Lieutenant Khan took a minute to furiously scratch his head as if he was trying to make his brain work better.  ¡°Ah, I guess, I agree with you, I don¡¯t like it but while the M4 might not make a big difference here, considering what we¡¯ve already got, it could be a life saver for Sergeant Steele.  But you should order Jeff to be back here by no later than an hour after dawn.  You will probably need the Sherman for the trip back to the Stronghold.


    I assume that before you depart for home that you¡¯ll gather together Sergeant Steele¡¯s survivors and bring them all back here, so that we only have one location to protect?¡±


    ¡°Let me sleep on that Boris.  Captain Long, I hate to impose upon your hospitality but I¡¯ve got nearly two hundred new refugees and we might have to leave a hundred or more with you, until we can get them safely transferred to the Stronghold.¡±


    Captain Long took a deep breath, which caused her bosom to swell enormously but both men were concerned about much more serious matters so they barely even noticed, she then spoke.  ¡°Of course Captain.  Most of the refugees are American citizens and even if they weren¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t turn them away.  We shouldn¡¯t be too badly overcrowded, though beds will be in short supply.¡±


    The three officers quickly gave orders to their subordinates; following which, they continued their conversation, telling each other what had happened during the intervening two days that they had been apart.


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


    Jeff didn¡¯t like being out alone in the M4 but if any vehicle in the Hermit¡¯s Guard should be assigned the task, the old Sherman tank was definitely the best that they currently had for the job.


    They were following a map to the warehouse/fort that Lieutenant Khan had given them.  Luckily they had no encounters on the way, and just as the sun was about to give up its last gasp they arrived at their destination.


    Sergeant Steele was certainly glad to see them.  It took nearly twenty minutes for the warehouse¡¯s door to be raised, so that the M4 could be brought inside.  The watching survivors, especially the traumatized children, who had been living there so long with no hope, were overawed by the old tank.


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


    The Former Town of Troy, Indiana


    High Lord Jaguar sat on his new reclining throne in the large brown brick building that his army had captured.  His new female slaves were busily cleaning the blood from the altar left there by the Coyote Priest¡¯s most recent sacrifice.  But, the High Lord wished that those stupid, soft women would cease with their crying and wailing, couldn¡¯t they see that he was trying to think here!  He was tempted to have them all sacrificed but he had so few slaves and they were fairly attractive even though they were pitifully weak.  With the doorway back to his home world now closed, it was even likely that he was going to have to mate and produce some heirs on them.  He cringed at the thought.  He didn¡¯t mind having intercourse with them, since he had already done that many times but the thought of mixing his noble blood lines with theirs turned his stomach.


    Curse it!  He had let his thoughts wander once again.  He still needed to come to grips with the disaster that had befallen his army since they marched through the rift, almost sixty days ago.


    After the rifts had appeared, the Emperor had listened to the portents by his priests and he had ordered armies to be sent through two of them in order to conquer to new lands for the Teeteelan Empire.  Lord Jaguar had led an army of 8,000 trained warriors through the rift that seemed the most stable and according to the Priests, the most promising.  A mere three days after his arrival on this accursed world, the rift had collapsed.  Now he was down to 1432 men and he was on his fourth body!  Of course he had none of the memories of his previous vessels.  Only the soul was transferred to the designated heir but it was still humiliating to be on his fourth incarnation after only twenty-days!


    And while magic might ultimately be more powerful on this new world there were many differences and it was taking time for his people to adapt; and as for the Gods here, they were ridiculous!  It was Priests¡¯ and his hope that by offering up sufficient sacrifices that they might be able to draw the Pantheon of Gods from their old world, to this one here.  But so far they had only been able to sacrifice a paltry few and not the tens of thousands or more likely hundreds of thousands that such a powerful undertaking would surely require.


    He was suddenly distracted yet again from his thoughts but this time by the entry of his senior spy, who quickly knelt by his feet.


    ¡°High Lord, this is the second night in a row that those moving metal boxes have not returned to their fortress as they normally do.  Those few of us, skilled in both Illusion and Mind Magic have gotten close enough to listen to the thoughts of some of those standing watch on that mighty citadel¡¯s walls.  While many of their warriors have been taught to shield their thoughts and thus protect themselves there are some who are careless or untrained.  Sadly we are still learning their barbaric tongue so that is also hindrance but I am fairly certain that those formidable metal boxes, will not return until late tomorrow afternoon at the earliest and possibly they won¡¯t return at all.¡±


    The High Lord suddenly sat up straight, with the footrest of his reclining throne folding in with a clunk.  He had lusted after that mighty fortress that lay almost 2500 rods to his east (a rod is 7.5 feet), the first time that he had laid eyes upon it.  However with his warriors still learning this new land¡¯s ways of magic and those moving metal boxes which reminded him far too much of dragons, he had decided to stay his hand.  But what with those boxes now gone and with his skilled Illusionists and that new magic called Teleportation, Jaguar saw an opportunity to secure a new home for his people and perhaps the beginnings of a new empire!


    He immediately started making plans.   First he needed to determine, how many warriors he had who were sufficiently skilled enough with Teleportation to move from just outside the fortress¡¯s moat to the top of its walls and also had enough Illusionist ability to conceal themselves while doing so?  To his disappointment, he arrived at an extremely small number but he did not let that dissuade him, for it might be just enough to pave a path for the rest of his Teleporters, who could then open up that mighty citadel¡¯s gates and let the entirety of his army inside.


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


    Steel Distributer in Bradley, Ohio


    Just before dawn the fort was attacked by a pack of ten Gorgonospidae Inostrancevia.  Adam Bitar, who was sort of the group¡¯s unofficial leader, explained things to the two Hermit¡¯s Guard Sergeants.  ¡°We¡¯ve been calling them Hell Dogs.  They¡¯re jaws and teeth are so powerful that they can actually puncture and rip apart sheet metal.  Since we¡¯ve run out of black powder, we¡¯ve been using some big crossbows we made to kill them.  Sometimes we wait until they¡¯ve torn an opening in the warehouse and then at close range we shoot through the hole that they¡¯ve made.  But we¡¯ve had folks get too close and those monsters can lunge quite a ways inside, with their heads and long necks.  We must have lost six or seven people to them. When we do kill one, they don¡¯t even leave their dead behind, they drag off the corpses probably to eat.¡±


    While Adam had been talking, the soldiers had been watching the monsters from the second story windows of the makeshift fort.  More than one of the Hermit¡¯s Guardsmen had a fifty caliber rifle in their hands and they were all loaded with enchanted bullets.  When Jeff judged the time was right he shouted out ¡°Fuego!¡±  The rifles roared and five of the pack fell.  Two of the living Hell Dogs panicked and ran off; while the remaining ones were quickly and easily killed once the soldiers reloaded their rifles.


    That morning, Sergeant Vargas stayed long enough at the fort, to help drag the monsters inside the building.  The Hermit¡¯s Guard had an official motto, waste not want not and Adam¡¯s group had been hungry for so long that they didn¡¯t want to leave anything to chance either.


    Latisha Steele wasn¡¯t very happy though at seeing all those dead monstrous dogs, she wasn¡¯t too fond of the taste of Gorgonospidae.


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


    Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    ¡°Boris, I¡¯ll be leaving you the Scorpion, the T800 and the Priest.  Ever since the shop guys swapped engines in the Priest, that thing has become a dog and I don¡¯t mean a greyhound.  Mind you, we were lucky to have it on our recent expedition but it was still too damn slow.  If I took it with me, we would never be able to get in the two round trips that I hope to make between here and home today.


    By leaving it here with you, you¡¯ll at least have a chance against any arachnids that might show up and you can use all three of your vehicles to transport people from the steel fort to this compound here.


    With a little luck, I or Lady Night should be back in five or six hours.  Take care, Boris.¡±


    ¡°You too, Captain.¡±


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard Detached Armored Unit, M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, T800 APC and FV101 Light Tank


    Sergeant Derrick Miter was in charge of the mechanized unit transporting the people from fort steel to Captain Long¡¯s compound.  On the run to the fort they had stumbled upon a herd of Bison, not wanting to waste any time they simply passed them by instead of slaughtering a few for meat.


    Derrick was hoping to be able to make one round trip every ninety minutes or so and it would take at least five such trips to transport all of the refugees while using the T800 alone.


    They were able to make three such shuttle runs during the next five hours, with only a minor encounter with some hairy Cape buffalo to mar the experience.  Sixty people had so far been transferred.  They had stopped for lunch at the Armory with the hope of seeing the return of Captain Mesquida and the convoy.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard Convoy En Route to the Stronghold


    As for the convoy they had an uneventful trip.  While they had encountered monsters that would have been deadly to most folks, their armored vehicles allowed them to either quickly deal with such threats or just simply ignore them.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    Lieutenant Candace Murphy was peddling her bicycle on top of the castle walls, she wished that she had the Boss¡¯s car but that still hadn¡¯t been repaired.  She often thought back to that wild ride in his car, with him driving and her shooting.


    She was visiting each of the sixteen log guardhouses that had been constructed on the wall walk.  The Lady Knight wanted to make sure that everyone was alert and prepared for action.  There was a guardhouse at each corner and one in the middle of each of the eight sections of wall.  After the attack by the King Mandrills, the Construction Group had clear cut everything within four hundred yards of the Stronghold.  From that activity, there had been an overabundance of logs produced.  Many of the hardwood logs had been used to construct pillboxes, with walls over eighteen inches thick, after which the Hermit King had enchanted them.


    Greeting the three soldiers inside the guard post at the corner between the southwestern wall and the western wall, Candace did her best to hide her fears because she was scared shitless, that the Captain would not return and she would then be the one stuck with the ultimate responsibility for keeping everyone safe.  Glancing through a window/port in the bunker which corresponded with a crenel in the parapet, she was startled to see slow furtive moving figures just stepping out of the forest and onto the huge snow covered field surrounding the Stronghold.  She focused her eyes on one of the figures.  While she blessed the fact that the woods had been cut back since the King Mandrills¡¯ attack, she couldn¡¯t help but wish that there would have been the time and people to cut the trees and brush back even further.


    Without turning her head, she calmly spoke to the Guardsmen standing next to her.  ¡°I see what looks like five medieval warriors walking out of the woods to our west.¡±  With her eyes on one man in the small approaching group she activated her Appraisal skill.


    Name: Crocodile


    Class: Warrior


    Class: Spy


    Title: Warrior of the Teeteelan People


    True Sight Level: Two


    Teleportation Level: Two


    Light & Darkness Magic Level: Five


    +5 Percent Increase in Strength.


    Lady Murphy blanched when she saw the warrior¡¯s abilities.  She recalled the times that the Boss had voiced his concerns about the possibility of encountering enemy Teleporters.  But what truly gave her pause was when the soldiers next to her, stated that they couldn¡¯t see any men at the forest¡¯s edge.  Quickly she focused her eyes on another person in the slow moving enemy skirmish line.


    Name: Wind Serpent


    Class: Warrior Priest


    Title: Eagle Priest


    True Sight Level: Three


    Telepathy Level: Five


    Light & Darkness Magic Level: Six


    Levitation Level: Two


    Teleportation Level: Two


    Quick Thinking Level: Four


    +52 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +41 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +18 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +5 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    +5 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    3x Telescopic Vision


    Hearing is 2.2 times as acute.


    1.4 x Scent/Odor Detection


    Candace might have doubts about her own leadership abilities but she was an extremely intelligent and observant person.  As a sniper it was frequently a matter of life of death for her to quickly understand the tactical situation, make the correct decision and shoot first.  Since the awakening of her Quick Thinking enhancement, she had only improved at doing all of those things.  Lady Murphy made an educated guess about why she could perceive the people that were coming and the soldiers with her could not.  Glancing into the forest to the rear of the five men, she thought that she could discern some movement back behind the snow covered tree branches however she couldn¡¯t be completely certain of the fact, though it might only be her imagination, she decided that it was better to be safe than sorry and she was out of time.


    Lieutenant Murphy turned to the soldiers next to her, she pointed first at a female soldier that stood to her left.  ¡°You run to the guard post to our north.¡±  She then pointed at a male Private who was on her right.  ¡°And you¡¯ll run to the post to our south.  You will both carry this message, ¡®there are blue screen Teleporters slowly advancing on the Stronghold from our west; they are apparently able to hide themselves from those who possess only low level True Sight.  It is my belief that those approaching are scouts for an enemy attack.  In three minutes, I am going to fire upon them.  Up until then do not sound an alarm but you will pass this same message to the next guard post on the wall and have them do the same.  Once I begin shooting, anyone with Sound Magic is to shout out a warning about enemy Teleporters attacking the Stronghold.  We must alert everyone to this specific threat and our air horns and steam whistles simply will not do the job.¡¯  Also tell the other soldiers not to forget to secure the doors to their bunkers.  Remember that Teleporters either have to already have been where they are Teleporting to or have their destination in sight.  If you both understood what I told you, get moving.¡±


    Instead of moving, all three soldiers in the guard post had confused and disbelieving looks on their faces.  The female soldier decided to risk asking a question.  ¡°But how are those with Sound Magic supposed to yell out a warning if they lock themselves inside their bunkers?


    Lieutenant Murphy had to stop herself from hitting her own head out of frustration.  ¡°Private, our wooden bunkers have windows and firing ports on all four sides.  Those with Sound Magic simply have to open a window, that faces the interior of the Stronghold, and then yell out of it.¡±


    The soldiers were still looking a trifle perplexed and maybe a tad worried too, like they were concerned that the Lady Knight might have gone a little off plumb.


    ¡°MOVE DAMN YOU!¡±  Candace roared.


    The soldiers moved.


    Candace turned to the remaining Guardsman.  ¡°Get the Holman projector ready and load it with steam shells.¡±  The Lieutenant blessed the fact that all of the Stronghold¡¯s Holman projectors had recently been upgraded to the new rapid firing 50mm model.  While they fired shells smaller in diameter than the old three inch projectors, in all other regards they were significantly superior.


    Looking out the window at the slow moving line of men, she was curious about the reason for their sluggish pace.


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


    The Tree Line, West of the Stronghold


    The High Lord watched his men advance towards the huge fortress only 160 rods away.  They¡¯re snail-like speed was nerve wracking but necessary, it required intense concentration for his warriors to remain invisible, the kind of mental focus that forced them to move slowly and deliberately.  If only his people had the ability to Teleport over longer distances, then the use of such magical concealment would not have been necessary, but sadly that was not the case.  Nor as of yet, could they safely make multiple fast Teleports, hopping to that fortress as a frog might do.  Teleporting left a person disoriented and slightly debilitated upon arrival; requiring at least a minute or more before they were ready to Teleport once more or work any other magic.  Additionally, Teleportation used up considerable energy, the best of his Teleporters could only use that ability up to three times in quick succession before having to rest, with it taking them at least half of a segment (author¡¯s note: one segment equals three hours) to fully recover their energy.


    So, for his men to slowly walk towards the fortress was the only way for his primary plan to succeed. Once those five secured a safe arrival point on the citadel¡¯s walls, the Telepath with their unit would then call for reinforcements.  With luck, it should only take him and his remaining sixty-six, Level Two Teleporters, a handful of heartbeats to dash across the open ground and to the fortress¡¯s moat.


    Once they had all transported themselves to the wall top, they would then fight their way to the citadel¡¯s gates and open them for the rest of his army.  By the time the metal boxes returned that evening, if they ever did return, Lord Jaguar hoped to be in firm control of the fortress.  He was well aware from information gleaned by his spies that his own army was several times larger than the number of warriors inside that mighty octagonal citadel.  The High Lord was definitely looking forward to acquiring many skilled slaves for himself and captives for the Priests¡¯ altars.


    Watching his slowly advancing men, he was shocked to see a bloody hole suddenly burst open in the back of the Eagle Priest, Wind Serpent, which coincided with a crack of thunder.  Every one of his warriors was stunned into inaction for just a heartbeat, but that was far too long, their motionless condition ended when the exact same fate befell the Warrior named Hummingbird.


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


    Western Wall, Bunker at the Southern Corner


    Candace was well pleased with her marksmanship and her beloved, Weatherby rifle.  Despite rumors, it was totally untrue that she shared her bed with the finely crafted firearm.


    While the range had only been two hundred yards she had succeeded in getting a second shot off and slaying another foe before the enemy realized what was happening, now her targets would be much more difficult to hit.  The Lady Knight could hear outside the pillbox as the amplified voices of those few on the wall who possessed Sound Magic shouted out the warning as she had ordered them to do.


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


    The Tree Line, West of the Stronghold


    The High Lord debated with himself for less than three heartbeats, over whether he should order a retreat or switch to his alternative plan.  Before he could consciously make a decision, he was already running out onto that snowy field towards those immense walls, with all of his skilled Teleporters following right behind him, the alternate plan was in effect!


    Of those remaining in the woods, 282 of them began to launch arrows towards the walls of the fortress.  While the range would normally be far too great even for such skilled archers as they, those 282 Teeteelans also possessed Wind magic, which they used to boost both the speed and accuracy of their wooden projectiles.  It was still a considerable distance and while they didn¡¯t expect to hit any of the defenders stationed on those walls, the archers hoped that their arrows would at least make them keep their heads down and who knows an arrow might get lucky or a foe be unlucky.


    Another almost two hundred warriors simply screamed towards the walls, those warriors possessed Sound Magic; and they had been experimenting with their magic since shortly after coming to this new land.  Purely by happenstance, they had stumbled upon a way to magically modify their ¡°screams,¡± such that the shrill sound generated, caused disorientation and even intense nausea in people.  While the distance was far for their level of ability, there were a lot of Teeteelan Warriors who were screaming together in unison.


    The Teeteelan Illusionists were also preparing to attack but it was taking them several heartbeats longer to get their act together, even though their new so called ¡°Light and Darkness¡± Magic was similar to their old Illusionist Magic from their home world.


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


    Western Wall, Bunker at the Southern Corner


    Candace had held off shooting for almost three minutes; during that time interval, two guard posts to the north and two to her south had been informed of the impending attack, and messengers were just arriving at the next in the series of bunkers atop the wall, when she did finally fire her first bullet.


    Lieutenant Murphy¡¯s first two rifle shots had somehow destroyed the enemy¡¯s ability to remain invisible.  The operators of the four Holman projectors on the western wall could now easily see the approaching warriors.  The two Privates, who had delivered the Lieutenant¡¯s message, were glad to see that she wasn¡¯t crazy but feared that they might be in trouble for hesitating and so openly doubting her sanity.


    Six more projectors mounted on the southwestern and the northwestern walls were forced to hold their fire for almost a half minute as they waited for their running foes to come into range.  The soldiers in those strong-points all witnessed as extremely accurate shooting, from a very powerful nonstandard rifle, blew large holes in the approaching enemy scouts, the Guardsmen all suspected that it was Lieutenant Murphy, who was the one who took down those suddenly visible and frantically running men.   Other riflemen began to fire their own weapons as well.


    A fifty millimeter steam or ¡°Grace¡± shrapnel shell had approximately half the lethal radius and half the wounding radius of a modern hand grenade or high explosive forty millimeter grenade.  In other words, against soft targets a steam shell would normally kill anything within in two and a half to three meters from its point of impact and would inflict wounds on anything within seven and a half to eight meters.


    In the bunkers on the western wall, four Holman operators were aiming their weapons at the new and larger group that had just dashed out of the small forest.  The medieval warriors were charging in sort of a loose ¡°V¡± formation with anywhere from six to twelve feet between them.  The Guardsmen had a great deal of practice with their projectors, since air was cheap, as were non-magical target shells.  In fact, practice times with the Holmans had assumed a game like atmosphere, with bragging rights and bets being made.


    Range markers had long since been implanted in the fields surrounding the Stronghold, to aid with aiming of all weaponry.  All four soldiers had just gotten off one shot apiece, which hadn¡¯t even landed yet when a ¡°shrill¡± noise almost literally knocked them off their feet.


    Luckily certain factors slightly mitigated the ¡°sound attack¡±.  First off, all of the Guardsmen routinely wore an ear plug inserted into just one of their ears, almost all the time while they were on duty.  That had been deemed the best compromise between protecting their hearing in case of a sudden attack and permitting them to hear normally.  But in combat situations or just prior to, a second foam ear plug was inserted into their other ear, so all of the soldiers had that going for them.  Then too, their helmets offered some slight additional protection, but it was the battlements and the wooden walls of the bunker that perhaps made the second biggest difference after the earplugs. So while the capabilities of the soldiers had perhaps been reduced, they were still in the game.


    Two of the western bunkers were lucky enough to have a person who possessed Sound Magic inside; and they immediately and instinctively stopped shouting out their warning about ¡°Enemy Teleporters¡± and switched to using their magical ability to silence the enemy¡¯s attack in their immediate surroundings.


    The other soldiers without that benefit; gritted their teeth against the debilitating sound waves, for they knew that they only had seconds to fire down upon their charging foes before those same people achieved the moat¡¯s edge and got within what the Guardsmen assumed to be their Teleport range to the wall.  That¡¯s when the Teeteelan¡¯s Masters of Light and Darkness Magic struck with beams of flickering light that further disorientated and even temporarily blinded the Guardsmen.


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


    The Field West of the Stronghold


    Lord Jaguar was running as swiftly as he could.  He heard the shouts of his men behind them, and then almost a wave of noise passed by overhead; it was the ¡°screams¡± of his Sound Magic practitioners.  He and his warriors were prepared for that though; the High Lord and the rest of the Teleporters had their ears stuffed with cloth and in some cases, beeswax so as to protect their hearing and sense of balance.  Then too, the magical screams could be directed and they were aimed at the top of those immense walls rather than ground level.


    Almost simultaneously with the beginning of those magical screams, Lord Jaguar heard four ¡°booming¡± noises.  Even with wax stuffed into his ears; he heard the unmistakable sound, of brief pain filled screams, coming from behind him.  One of those strange booms caused a small eruption of dirt and vapor, far off to his right.


    Reacting to those unexpected noises, he tried to speed up his pace even more.  More booms came and he heard more brief agonizing screams.  Suddenly, there was a boom right in front of him; if he had been a heartbeat faster it surely would have ended his current body¡¯s life.  Without deviating or slowing in the slightest, he ran through the flying snow, dirt and steam vapor.  Just as unexpectedly, there were three booms in quick succession, right behind him!  Circumstances had changed; if he had been barely a heartbeat slower he surely would have been seriously wounded or perhaps even slain.


    More booms came, until finally he was at the moat.  He stopped, took a deep breath and focused his eyes on a crenel at the top of that formidable wall in front of him, and with a ¡°bloop¡± he disappeared.


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


    Western Wall, Bunker at the Southern Corner


    Candace cursed, first it was those blasted screams and now a @#$%* LIGHT SHOW!  She ducked down below the window/port she had been shooting out of, rubbed her eyes and dug a pair of sunglasses out of her shirt pocket.  In conjunction with the enemy¡¯s infernal screams she could hear the Stronghold¡¯s steam whistle alarm being sounded.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    There were seven bunkers with lines of sight on the madly charging enemy.  The three central ones had been forced to fire their weapons blindly or almost so, because of the enemy¡¯s magical attacks and except for their very first shots the Guardsmen in those three mini-forts had hit none of their foes with their projectiles.


    The soldiers in the two guard posts at the northern end and the two at the southern; had to radically angle their weapons in order to aim at the running warriors, which caused both a corresponding loss in range and accuracy.  In some cases the soldiers had to actually lean out of the windows of their log bunkers, so as to better aim their rifles at the running warriors.  On the other hand those Guardsmen were not nearly so hampered by the enemy¡¯s light and sound attack.


    At the end of their mad charge, out of the sixty-seven warriors that had run across that huge field, fifteen had been killed and fifteen had been wounded with six of those being so severely injured that they were out of the fight.


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


    Southern Section of the Western Wall


    Crocodile, the first of the Teetelans to be spotted by Lieutenant Murphy, had miraculously made it to the walkway on top of the western wall.  He had been hiding behind the battlements with his ears covered because of the debilitating sounds being generated by his fellow countrymen.


    Suddenly both the sounds and the blinding flickering lights had stopped; without those painful and disorientating distractions, he was finally able to look around and take stock of his surroundings.


    With a loud ¡°ping¡± noise, High Lord Jaguar appeared in the crenel right behind him and to his left.


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


    Inside the Forge¡¯s Underground Factory


    I was enchanting some parts that Glen needed for our first Land Cruiser.  When I suddenly began hearing loud noises coming from outside and echoing down the passageways, but my mind was busy concentrating on the task at hand.  Someone came running inside, screaming about ¡°Enemy Teleporters,¡± it finally dawned on me that I had been feeling something wrong for several minutes now, a feeling which I had been completely ignoring because of my preoccupation with what I had been doing.


    Lady Knight Evonne Sting was with me.  Despite my wishes, I now had a swift runner bodyguard either with me or standing outside my personal quarters twenty-four hours a day.  She actually had wanted to assign two of her people to me at all times but I had put a stop to that nonsense, one was more than enough.  There were far too many other jobs that we needed trained fighters for.  I had made her a Lieutenant with Candace¡¯s and Storm¡¯s agreement, and I had enlisted the other two Guardians, as sergeants, I know that they still needed to learn English or rather the odd mixture of languages that were beginning to speak in the Stronghold.  But enlisting the three swift-runners as untrained recruits or even privates just felt wrong to me.


    Upon hearing the words ¡°Enemy Teleporters¡± I immediately dropped what I was doing and flung my mind into my conjectures and theories about how to establish a Teleport Block on the Stronghold.  I thought I was tantalizingly close to succeeding in that endeavor.  Using the Earth stones, I had put into and used to build the Stronghold¡¯s walls; I attempted to weave an enchantment or spell, I guess most would call it, but to my mind it was more like a simple computer program but instead of being run by a microprocessor it being loaded into the very fabric of the Stronghold¡¯s localized area.  ¡°If a Teleporter is oath sworn to Vincent Standish, then yes they can Teleport while within his Kingdom.  If a Teleporter is not sworn to Vincent Standish than they cannot Teleport while within his Kingdom.¡±  Before I finished setting it up, I could feel someone Teleport to the western wall.  Seconds after I finished my incantation, dozens more appeared.  Well Crap!  I guess I didn¡¯t have it figured out yet but I was sure that I was close, maybe.  Did I have a semicolon in the wrong place or did I maybe leave out a parenthesis?


    I scooped up my helmet, grabbed my rifle and took off running out the factory door, followed by my faithful caterpillar companion, Evonne-toe.  I wonder if the new armor that Scott Blaine and the craftmakers made for me is any good, I guess I¡¯m going to find out, on second thought maybe I should better hope that I don¡¯t find out, especially since I¡¯m not wearing all the pieces.  Walking around in chain mail leggings, greaves and bracers all day long; can get rather uncomfortable, even if they do have temperature control enchantments on them.


    As I ran and as my now refocused mind could more strongly sense the intruders, I could feel my anger build; because someone had dared to invade MY KINGDOM and ATTACK MY PEOPLE.  I needed to get out there and I needed to get out there NOW!  I gave a little Telekinetic boost to my movements as I raced down the passageway.  I might have grumbled a bit too. But I tried to rein in my language because there were a few children walking along the same underground streets I was taking.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    Lady Knight Evonne Sting was muttering a string of curses, Sir Storm Wind had warned her about their Monarch.  It seems that if there is ever trouble or danger then the blasted noble idiot, ALWAYS runs towards it.  Well at least she had gotten in a little practice with her new weapons; a 30-06 rifle, a bolt-action fifty caliber rifle and a twelve gauge pump shotgun.


    But there were a few odd things that made her more than a little curious and slightly worried.  The first anomaly, was that she was actually having to work moderately hard in keeping up with her new King, who appeared to be only touching the floor or sometimes the walls of the passageway every three or four meters.  Because of her curiosity she cast Appraisal on her Monarch.


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label: Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.  Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    She also heard a deep rumbling sound coming from him which when translated, read as VINCE SMASH!  VINCENT SMASH, HARD! .


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


    Western Wall, Bunker at the Southern Corner


    As soon as the sound and lights stopped, Lieutenant Murphy knew what that meant.  ¡°ON YOUR FEET SOLDIERS; THEY¡¯RE ON THE WALLS.  IT¡¯S TIME TO INTRODUCE THEM TO HELL!¡±  Candace had already prepared for this moment.  During the time while she had been slightly incapacitated, she had gently set down her cherished rifle and drawn her shotgun from its scabbard on her back.


    Her keen eyes saw movement outside the gun port on the northern side of the bunker.  One or two oddly dressed men, wearing what look liked brass or bronze breastplates, were approximately twenty-five to thirty yards away.  She dashed over, stuck her shotgun in the firing slot and fired her weapon twice, just as fast as she could pump the shotgun.


    Her first twelve gauge shell, of buck and ball, totally ruined Crocodile¡¯s lucky streak and even succeeded in putting a few pellets into High Lord Jaguar¡¯s left arm and shoulder.


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


    Southern Section of the Western Wall


    High Lord Jaguar proved once again why he was HIGH LORD JAGUAR!  He heard a boom and then saw Crocodile fall back in a rain of blood.  At the same time he felt two stinging sensations in his left arm and shoulder.  There was another boom but no pain came that second time.  Even though, it was only mere heartbeats after he had just Teleported, he swallowed his nausea and focused his mind.  He then blasted off a weak stream of fire at the log house where the booms had originated from.


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


    Western Wall, Bunker at the Southern Corner


    Candace jumped back, swearing because of the flames that had suddenly burst through the firing slot; she couldn¡¯t believe that she had missed her second target!  Her mother was never going to let her live this down, that is if she lived.  Whoever that asshole was out there, he had the reactions of scalded cat!  But her reactions weren¡¯t too shabby either.  She let go of her shotgun with her right hand, so that only her left was holding it.  The enchantments on the log pillbox as well as the Fire Stone that was integral to the structure; were mitigating the damage and sucking the heat from Teeteelan¡¯s powerful flame strike.


    A dozen feet away from the slot and where the flames and heat were almost nonexistent, the Lady Knight did a fast draw with her .357 revolver and fired six times through the firing port, at the flame wielding asshole and his brothers who were now appearing all around him.


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


    Southern Section of the Western Wall


    High Lord Jaguar was keeping a weak stream of fire on the log house and shouting orders to his warriors that were stepping down from the crenels as he had done just heartbeats ago.


    He was puzzled because the log building he was attacking still hadn¡¯t caught fire.  Being cautious, he was moving about as if he was fighting an enemy archer.  Glancing about he saw that there were over twenty of his warriors nearby.  It was time to start moving and to open the citadel¡¯s gate.  He had slaves to capture and blood to spill!  There was¡­¡­


    Three bullets struck High Lord Jaguar, all caused fatal wounds but the first one was right between his eyes so the next two were completely redundant.


    One other warrior was unlucky and killed by a pistol bullet that missed the High Lord.


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


    The Western Wall


    Once the flames had stopped, Candace and the soldiers rushed back to the firing slots with their shotguns.


    At the bunker located in the middle of the western wall, because of not having anyone inside with Candace¡¯s speed of thought or reaction time they were only just now responding to the invaders that had appeared between their location and the southern corner bunker.


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


    High Lord Jaguar had been a mental, magical and physical prodigy, too bad that there were no other Teeteelan warriors on the western wall with anywhere near the same abilities.  While Jaguar had cast a spell within heartbeats of Teleporting, the other Teeteelans would be lucky to do the same within a minute and most would need at least three.  Unluckily for them, within heartbeats of the death of Lord Jaguar, fast moving lead projectiles began flying into their bodies.  That sideways rain of lead did nothing to help those warriors regain their mental balance, in fact quite the opposite.


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


    Central Bunker on Western Wall


    Private Dominic Jackson, shouted out a warning to the soldiers nearby him who were aiming their firearms out the firing slits on the bunker.  ¡°REMEMBER TO BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR SHOTS.  YOU DON¡¯T WANT TO ACCIDENTALLY PUT ONE THROUGH A SLOT IN THE BUNKER TO THE SOUTH OF US AND KILL SOMEONE INSIDE.  BECAUSE THAT WOULD TRULY SUCK AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.¡±


    While the others had switched to their shotguns, Dominic truly loved his new Forge built 30-06.  Sean Murphy himself had taken the time to tweak it for him.  Dominic fired sixteen times before the enemy warriors even began to get their shit together and he didn¡¯t miss once.  His two companions in the bunker slayed seven foes between them and wounded five more.


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


    Western Wall, Bunker at the Southern Corner


    When the other bunker started shooting, Candace was certainly glad for the over eighteen inches of enchanted hardwood that made up her bunker¡¯s walls.  She too had issued a warning that the soldiers with her had to be careful with their shots.  When the bunkers were originally built, the locations of firing windows/slots/ports on the right side of every bunker were always different from the ports on the left side, in anticipation of exactly the kind of situation that they now found themselves in, though that had been done in expectation of fighting some kind of monster swarm and not sentient Teleporters.


    Candace fired the last three rounds from her shotgun.  She could see that the enemy was clearly disorganized and she wanted to take advantage of that while she could.  So instead of reloading, she put her hand through the port and for the first time ever, she used her magic offensively.  The Lady Knight possessed both Fire and Air Magic; the latter does a wonderful job of boosting the other.  Both were level three but when used in conjunction with one another, which is something that she had diligently trained to do, her magical flame strike though short lived, was fully the equal of, if not the superior to, a modern flamethrower.


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


    Southern Section of the Western Wall


    Any thoughts of the Teeteelan warriors continuing on with their attack, were swept from their minds when a prolong burst of flame hit them.  Some of the Teeteelans panicked and in their confused state they flung themselves off the wall, a few fell into the deep cold waters of the moat while others hit the hard frozen ground on the inside of the wall.


    Many of the warriors could generate similar flame strikes or perhaps even better, they just couldn¡¯t do it right now and with well over half of their number now down, including Lord Jaguar, once any of them felt focused enough to do any magic at all, instead of using it offensively, they instead Teleported back outside to the moat¡¯s edge.  Four of them made it.


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


    Northwestern, Western, and Southwestern Walls


    But soldiers, in the five guard posts that were not engaged in the fight, saw those who were retreating, and those Guardsmen were much more prepared now and mentally focused.  The ten Guardsmen who were shooting at those four warriors went half way through their first magazines before the last one fell.  Belatedly the enemy¡¯s sound and light show started up once again but it was far too late and it soon stopped once more.


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


    I was a little out of breath by the time I made it outside and to the center of the Stronghold.  I heard gunfire coming from the western wall and then I saw a large burst of flame there as well.


    I reached for and because of LOTS of practice; I succeeded in quickly connecting myself to the SEA (Stronghold Energy Array).  Following that, I once more tried to carefully weave a Teleport Block about the Stronghold.  I felt sure that I had it this time.


    Well CRUD, I could feel that more outsiders were Teleporting!  Not even a minute and already my enchantment/spell/program was proven a failure.  But what was happening had me confused.  Because there was only a very small number that were Teleporting and they were leaving the Stronghold?


    I needed to get to the top of that wall and see what was going on.  I called the wind to me and rose into the air.


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


    Evonne Sting saw her imbecilic King be swept up into the air by a miniature whirlwind.  He looked a little ridiculous with the way that he was riding on his belly but his mode of travel seemed to be effective.  BUT THE MORONIC MONARCH WAS GOING WITHOUT HER!  She lowered her front segment and raced for the stairway that led to the top of the western wall. While doing so, she made an oath to diligently practice her new Levitation Ability so that her King wouldn¡¯t be able to escape her again.


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


    Southern Section of the Western Wall


    I arrived on the western wall and saw the bodies of approximately fifty strange humans.  They had reddish brown skin tones and they were dressed like I envisaged bronze-age warriors might be.  I also saw the shattered remnants of many arrows, so I decided not to release the wind and instead I changed into a brutal downdraft that would hopefully direct any future arrows into the moat.


    I wanted prisoners both for information and for experimental subjects.  I needed some way to test any Teleport Block that I dreamed up, I guess it would help if I had that ability but sadly I didn¡¯t.


    But as for the prisoners, I didn¡¯t want the powerful ones, who might be more than trouble than they were worth to keep; I wanted the weak ones, who we could more easily control.


    I went towards the first one that I saw still breathing and used my Appraisal Skill on him.


    Name: Kite


    Class: Warrior


    Title: Warrior of the Teeteelan People


    Title: Warrior of the Jaguar Society


    Note: This guy is an asshole so he has not been given access to the DDS-assisted Appraisal System or the DDS Universal Translator.


    True Sight Level: Two


    Teleportation Level: Two


    Light & Darkness Magic Level: Five


    +11 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +8 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    My right eyebrow rose when I read that note, I wonder if it made me look like sort of a short pudgy Spock.  I focused on the words ¡°Teeteelan People¡± and activated or invoked Appraisal on them.


    The People of Teeteelan, The Nourishers of the Gods.  They are the people of the Teeteelan Empire, and they see it as their duty to nourish their gods with blood.  The Teeteelan Empire practices slavery and prefers to capture rather than kill their enemies.  Since a dead foe cannot be made a slave or sacrificed.  They are a people with a long history of magic and their powers have grown since coming to this world.


    Well isn¡¯t that truly wonderful news.  I next Appraised ¡°Jaguar Society.¡±


    Jaguar Society: a large organization of elite warriors.


    I bent down and touched Kite.  I put him into a deep coma-like sleep and roughly stabilized him.


    Lieutenant Murphy was now at my side.  I told her about my discoveries concerning our attackers, then.  ¡°Lieutenant, I need only a few of them alive.  I hope this doesn¡¯t shock you but I have no reason or urge to allow anyone to live that practices slavery or the ritual sacrifice of sentient beings, especially when they attempt to bring their shit here.  I¡¯ll be killing the ones that I don¡¯t want and I will totally understand if that¡¯s too much for you and if you want to reevaluate your relationship with me and this Kingdom.


    She looked back at me and met my eyes.  ¡°I don¡¯t like it your Majesty but I understand and I will continue to obey your commands.  Nor do I wish to change my status with you and the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  I hope that you don¡¯t hang me for this, but I must say that you are a cold mother fucker.¡±


    Sometimes the mind is a funny thing.  I was surrounded by all of these dead bodies, which thankfully included none of my people.  Yet with her words my thoughts instantly reflected back on an old song by Isaac Hayes.  It was entirely inappropriate and surely reflected on my own loss of character but I had to stop myself from doing a badass walk as I imagined John Shaft might do, but of course he would do it in far better surroundings that what I was currently in.


    There were thirteen Teeteelans still alive.  Of them seven were far too badly injured for me to waste our Healers¡¯ time on them since I had no plans to let them live anyways.  Three more had magical gifts that I thought were far too dangerous for us to chance keeping them around even for just a few days.  Using my magic, I stopped the hearts of all ten of them; I must say that I was astonished to see that my status was still orange after I performed those executions.  The DDS must be seriously fucked up, because before all this I had never been a proponent of the death penalty.  As for the additional two that I kept alive, I did the same thing for them that I did for Kite.  I hope Star returns soon because we need to question those assholes.


    As for all the corpses, I was going to dig a hole, through them in and incinerate them with Fire Magic.


    While I had been dealing with our foes that were still living, Lieutenant Murphy had ordered the Guardsmen to use four of our old three inch muzzle-loading mortars, to bombard the forest that the attack had originated from.  The old mortars had far more range than our Holmans yet used far less powder than the Army¡¯s 105mm howitzers.


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


    Stronghold


    According to George¡¯s old mechanical pocket watch it was about ten-thirty in the morning when the convoy arrived at the aluminum gate to the outer barbican.  Signal flags flying from the Stronghold¡¯s walls alerted him and the rest of the Guard in the convoy, that the Kingdom had been attacked by intelligent foes while they had been away and for them to be prepared for further attacks.  It took far longer than he liked for the aluminum gate to be raised.


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


    Kite¡¯s peaceful slumber ended when a fierce dragon woman entered his dreams.  The woman totally terrified him, threatening to eat his very soul.  Then she began asking questions.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    With the return of Captain Mesquida, we all felt great wave of relief but even more pressure was put upon us, once he told us his news.  Even with the risk, we needed to transfer people from Bradley to the Stronghold as quickly as possible.  But now we had to prepare the convoy and the Stronghold for new and greater threats.


    What Star had learned from our prisoners wasn¡¯t good and in fact as far as she could determine the news couldn¡¯t get much worse.  The Teeteelans had taken over a very small village just west of us.  We¡¯re almost certain that it¡¯s the town of Troy, Indiana.  There are well over a thousand of the murdering scum sucking slavers and most of them have magic too.  It seems that their Priests, acting in concert with their Healers and Telepaths have some way of awakening abilities.  Because of the language barrier, even in thoughts and dreams, she was forced to rely on what images she could pull up but those bastards are even worse than the Warriors of Sabok in her opinion.  While they keep slaves as well, the Teeteelans sacrifice people and also engage in ritual cannibalism.  She thinks that they have at least hundred human slaves and she guesses, because she was too horrified to look more closely at our prisoners¡¯ thoughts, that they¡¯ve sacrificed a similar number or greater since coming to our world.


    ¡°George, I know you want to go back to the Armory, but you¡¯re beat and so is Lady Night.  Since Lieutenant Murphy just dealt with our most recent attack.  I want Sir Storm Wind to take out the next convoy; he¡¯s the most rested of any of our officers.¡±


    He looked ready to put up a fight but then he let his shoulders slump.  ¡°Okay Vince, I got it.  I¡¯ll try and swap out some of the other people too.¡±


    ¡°Good; Glen and Steve are gathering up ear protectors, sunglasses and even welding goggles.  I¡¯ve got an idea on how I can magically modify the aluminum visors on our helmets but it will take time.  You probably already thought of this but you may want to see how many Sound Mages we¡¯ve got and if you can get one into each of the convoy¡¯s vehicles.¡±


    ¡°I did already think of that.  In fact, I have Candace already working on it and Steve is trying to find a few more Sound Mages for us that aren¡¯t actually in the Guard.


    Pretty much everyone in the Stronghold is a fighter, they have to be nowadays. But it¡¯s past time for them to get more organized and turn them into something like a town militia so that they can work more efficiently and effectively with the Guard.  Maybe Faith and your son-in-law can help with that.


    I¡¯ve also been thinking that we need to organize the magic users in the Hermit¡¯s Guard.  There are times when we might want to make up a fire team with people that all possess Fire Magic or other times like with a vehicle crew when having a mixture of abilities would be good.  For example; someone with Fire Magic to tend the engines, another person with Earth Magic for repairs, maybe someone else with Telepathy for communications and so on.¡±


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Makes sense to me George, but you¡¯re the expert except when you¡¯re tired.  Though you might not get too much rest here, I think those Teeteelan assholes will be back and I would surely like to kill enough of them, so that when we do assault that town it will be easier.  I do not like the fact that they¡¯re so close to us and it enrages me that we can¡¯t go there right now and put a stop to them and their practice of offering up human sacrifices.¡±


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


    Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    Captain Long watched as the Lieutenant Khan and his soldiers dealt with a flock of Terror Birds.  Before their arrival, her own soldiers could have dealt with the same threat, if they still had any black powder, but not nearly as effortlessly.  The Hermit¡¯s Guardsmen didn¡¯t look at the creatures as monsters but as big chickens that they could eat.


    In another hour or perhaps two, Captain Mesquida should hopefully return.  She was certainly looking forward to that.  There were some tensions between the three different groups of people now within her compound, nothing too bad but it was still getting rather uncomfortable and she was worried about fights breaking out.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard Convoy


    Lieutenant Storm Wind was feeling a little nervous, he had been sent on his first independent command since joining the Guard, even though he was technically slightly superior to his cousin, Lady Night Storm who had led and been on many such missions.


    His forces included the Sherman, the Hellcat, the C500, and two 1070s.  A second Oshkosh APT had been completed only last night and even with their Holman projectors the 1070s with their forty foot steel shipping containers, each held fifteen more people than the C500¡¯s armored trailer.


    The convoy almost immediately had an encounter with a pack of dire wolves but the animals soon ran off after a few of their number were shot.  But the next encounter astonished everyone.  A field to the south of the road was filled with many large rolling balls of what looked like water.  Perplexed by those balls and what he saw within them, Sir Wind activated Appraisal.


    Water Lion, they are similar to a Sea Lion and they can vary in size anywhere from 100 to 1000 kilograms.  The one major difference being, that while they are non-sentient somehow they¡¯ve acquired Water Magic, with most of them having the power if not the skill of a level four magic user.  Water Lions use their magic primarily for locomotion and to attack.  Although they are a silly looking predator while on land, rolling around in their great balls of water, they should not to be underrated.


    Initially the balls of water chased after the convoy but the Water Lions soon gave up and returned to whatever they had been doing.  While they had been cute looking, no one took them lightly.


    Huge angry bears next attacked the convoy.  But the bears were unusual in that they possessed natural armor made of tough overlapping plates and even a single rhino-like horn on their heads.  Fifty caliber and twenty millimeter enchanted bullets quickly put them down.


    Just before entering Bradley the convoy encountered another pack of Water Lions but this time they actually had to shoot half of them in order to dissuade the rest.


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


    Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    Barbara Long was happy to see the convoy return and absolutely overjoyed to see a third APT with them.  But descending from the C500¡¯s trailer was Sir Storm Wind and not Captain Mesquida or Lady Knight Night.


    ¡°Hello Captain Long; hello Boris, I bring you grave news.  The Stronghold was attacked and while we fought them off with no loss of life on our part, our new enemy is extremely frightening.  They are humans from another world and call themselves the People of Teeteelan.  They have prior knowledge of magic and they are all awakened to what magic is in this world.  Terrifyingly, they practice slavery, human sacrifice and ritual cannibalism.  A group of around seventy of their warriors attempted to attack the Stronghold by using Teleportation.  Thankfully their level in that ability was fairly low so they had to get close in order to use it to transport themselves to our walls.  Thanks to Lieutenant Murphy and our wooden bunkers, that attacking force was destroyed but prisoners were captured.  Lady Star entered their dreams to question them.  She found that there are at least a thousand more and that they¡¯ve taken over a small town less than four miles east of the Stronghold.


    Captain Long, we think that we have a fair chance of holding them off.  My King is even now working on what he calls a Teleport Block for the Stronghold, so that any enemies cannot use their ability to Teleport in and out.  But he insisted that I tell you the following.  He personally executed ten of the Teeteelan warriors that survived because he deems them to be dangerous to live and what with their accepted cultural practices, he also deems them to have no value to this world or the people that are just trying to peacefully survive on it.  He offers you this opportunity to cancel your agreement with him because of his actions.  And he warns you that he will probably be forced to do similar things in the future.¡±


    Barbara wanted to take the time to think about her decision or at least act like she needed the time to do so.  But with her True Sight she knew that what Sir Wind had just said was the exact truth as he understood it and what with the Reeze and now the Teeteelans she really had no choice but to continue with the move to the Stronghold; that is if she wanted to see any of her people live.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    Kite had just woken up and he found that all of his wounds had been healed.  There was also a terrible lizard woman shouting at him.  By her side was a rather short wide man and behind him was an enormous white furred insect holding a spear!  For some reason the fools had him still on top of the wall instead of in a proper dungeon cell.  Hiding his condescending smirk, he looked out over the parapet and focused his eyes on the ground, a few heartbeats later, he vanished.  Kite reappeared just on the other side of the moat and immediately started running.  The warrior promised himself that he would be back for his revenge and would sacrifice all three of those ¡­¡­.


    I looked towards Lieutenant Murphy who had just terminated our first test subject.  Well I still had two more that I could use for testing my Teleport Block.  Now what else could I try!  I began to review what I had been doing for the enchantment.  Maybe I would try working on the new visors for awhile before my next attempt, what I wanted to with the visors was fairly straight forward though still fairly complicated.


    We had random patrols now in the Stronghold and on guard against any enemy Teleporters suddenly appearing within but we should be fairly safe for at least a little while since the best of them are level two which means that they only have a maximum range of about three hundred feet.  And they can only do that two or maybe three times per hour, according to Star.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    The convoy returned prior to dusk with thankfully no unfortunate encounters along the way.  I finally got the Teleport Block working on my third attempt, but it is something that I will have to keep an eye on, because I don¡¯t think that it¡¯s entirely stable even with the SEA to support it.


    Because of the new threats George, Blender, Glen and Faith are anxious to recruit people for their groups/departments.  Faith is worried about mind controlled enemy infiltrators and she¡¯s been talking to Star about that.  I personally think that she¡¯s seen one too many episodes of Star Trek but who knows she might be right.  Perhaps an orange or green screen person could be controlled with no loss of status, who knows.


    George of course wants to make that Hermit¡¯s Guard even bigger, Blender desperately needs alchemists, and Glen needs workers for the factory.


    And unless I figure out a way to make a magical aluminum visor that can automatically switch from being transparent to reflective, then we¡¯ll have to go with a two visor system, maybe with the second coated with gold like they did for the astronauts.


    I know that some of the craftmakers are working on some ear/hearing protectors.  Because I don¡¯t have a clue on how I can help with that.


    Many Hours Later¡­..


    ¡°YAWN!¡± I nearly broke my jaw with that yawn.  I was up all night making visors and modifying helmets with the help of some of the guys and girls.  I only had twenty done so far but that was the best I could do for now, needed sleep.  I looked over at Captain Mesquida who was standing by my side, when did he show up?  I yawned in his face.


    ¡°George I had to go with a two visor system.  The primary visor can switch back and forth from being totally transparent to being semi-reflective only twenty times before it stops working and needs to be recharged by an Earth Mage.  It uses A LOT of energy.  So there is also an outer visor which can be dropped into place, if or when the primary visor fails and defaults to being totally transparent.  The second visor is coated with a thin layer of gold.  It seems to work pretty well; Star helped me to test it out.  You can give them out to whoever you want to, I¡¯m going to bed.


    I stumbled into my room and fell into my bed.  I dreamed that someone with some pretty big hooters wrapped their arms around me and held me while I slept.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    There is one thing that I¡¯ve never mentioned and I should have. Appraisal Screens, Translations, Messages and similar things do not totally block out someone¡¯s vision when they appear.  They are almost exactly like a ¡°heads up display¡± so if you focus on them, you are able to read them with ease and if you focus through them then you can still see what is going on with only minimal distraction.  Such ¡°screens of information¡± normally remain up until the recipient makes a very slight act of will or wish to dismiss them; it doesn¡¯t even have to be a conscious act.  To activate Appraisal someone or something must be within the user¡¯s line of sight and within their Appraisal Range, which can vary.  Then it requires mental focus and a conscious act of will to invoke this DDS assisted skill.  In a melee or an intense combat situation that is not something that is possible for someone to normally do, unless they train for it.


    Gorgonospidae Inostrancevia, my version is larger.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inostrancevia</a>


    Isaac Hayes ¨C Shaft


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiNwGHHHuMI</a>


    Sea Lion


    http://www.animalfactsencyclopedia.com/Sea-lion-facts.html</a>


    Spoiler concerning the battle with the Teeteelans.


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    As many or perhaps all of my readers know, I use a random number generator for encounters and to define the capabilities of new things or entities entering the Defective Universe.  For the Teeteelan People, I first used the RNG to create their stats so to speak, then using those stats I created a back-story for them.  They are VERY loosely based on the Aztecs.  I¡¯ve found it much easier and more believable if I steal things from our own planet¡¯s past when generating things for the Defective Universe.


    The battle with the Teeteelans kept surprising me.  At first I thought that the Stronghold was in serious trouble.  But while this new foe had, had magic longer it was not exactly the same kind of magic and it had not been all that powerful.  Most importantly Teleportation was a new magic for them and not all of them possessed that ability.  I then had to calculate how many level two Teleporters they had and how many of those possessed sufficiently high level Light and Darkness Magic, which was a very small number.


    Next step, did any Guardsman see them on the approach, which when looking at it, I think objectively, there was actually a fairly high probability of that happening since many people in the Stronghold have mid-level True Sight.


    Alright, so I figured the Teeteelans were toast.  But I like for my characters to play things smart or as smart as my brain can simulate things (chocolate helps).  The RNG insisted that Lord Jaguar would continue on with the attack.  But unless they had some long range fire support, at least half of their number would be dead before they even got near the walls.  I had been planning for the Hermit¡¯s Guard and others to start using light and sound to weaken their enemies, so why not have an enemy do it to them first.


    So then I was back to thinking that the Stronghold was screwed.  But Teleportation is not an easy ability to use and there are a few drawbacks.  Then too, thanks to the King Mandrills, the Stronghold had built all of those wooden pillboxes/bunkers/guard posts.  So the enemy warriors basically Teleported themselves into a ¡°kill box¡± and were too disorientated to respond quickly enough to that situation.  I think the ending was rather anticlimactic.  Candace absolutely could not have rolled a better ¡°kill shot¡± on High Lord Jaguar even if she had been using a crooked one hundred sided dice, though she did miss him once with her shotgun.  I was beginning to think that he was untouchable after all of those steam shells that almost hit him.


    However the introduction of the Teeteelans and the Annihilators is a turning point.  The Teeteelans or rather a foe like them and the Annihilators were both low order probabilities that I did not expect to see in the story for at least another couple of months if not longer.  I¡¯m not sure if Vince and the Stronghold are ready for such enemies.  But they¡¯ve been lucky and they¡¯ve now learned about them early while still suffering few casualties.


    Character List


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Version seven of the Defective Hermit Character List; is a work in progress.


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.  (Which will probably be never, especially since it continues to grow.)


    Population of Embassy: 354


    Unaffiliated: 17


    Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound and unaffiliated): 918


    People with assigned jobs: 628


    Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Those under fifteen (217), except for the very young, are now being encouraged to attend classes and apprenticeship courses. Those fifteen and over (38); have part time jobs and also take classes.  Those eighteen on up have to work full time, twelve hours a day is quite common.


    Unassigned: 73


    Partial Character List, Version 5:


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Name: Nina Rivera Standish


    Title: Princess


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Alchemy Level: 1


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Daughter Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (276):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally he serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat. He is a world class sneak and throat slitter.  Additionally he is an unconventional yet effective drill instructor.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. No magical abilities other than the True Sight Skill but he has a very nice selection of physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate, teleport, and use telekinesis.  He also has several physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Tornado Challenger, green screen, flyer, male, he is a daredevil when only his own life is on the line.


    Sergeant Latisha Steele, orange screen, former Intelligence Analyst with the US Army.  Always desired to serve aboard a tank but it wasn¡¯t allowed at the time.


    Corporal Fish Diver, green screen, flyer female, Tornado Challenger¡¯s fianc¨¦e, she is extremely accurate when dive bombing her foes.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Corporal Tammy Harding, green screen, former Army soldier, former INS Agent


    Corporal Brandy Zhang, green screen, former US Marshall, normally serves as driver for Hellcat.


    Corporal Fall Roar, green screen flyer


    Private Dominic Jackson, green screen, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Waxy Candlemaker, green screen, female


    Private Feather Fletcher, green screen, female


    Private Strings Bowyer, green screen, male


    Private Stinky Tanner, green screen, male


    Private Net (Nettie) Fisher, green screen, female


    Private Stacy Nord, green screen, female


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


    Private Hoops Cooper, second member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall, died at the battle of US36, on March third, while fighting 18 Dominators.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (75):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building along with his wife, Wendy.


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at the County Building.  She is a Green Screen with two children, Brittany is 8 and Peter is 5.  Her husband is deceased.


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


    The Shop Crew (93):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


    David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight


    Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight


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


    Motor Pool (24):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner and she has two children, Elizabeth is seven and Stephen is four years old.


    Name: Star Astrologer


    Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight


    Class: Wise One


    Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People


    Title: The Wise One


    Title: The Dignified One


    Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (90):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (18):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (13):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


    Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (29):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Flyer Population within Stronghold:


    Long Flight Clan


    Storm Wind OS, wife is Dawn Song OS, boy child Mountain Breeze


    Night Storm OS (Black and Brown Wings), husband is Metal Grinder OS, daughter is Smokey Night OS


    Tornado Challenger GS, fianc¨¦e is Fish Diver GS (her sister is Autumn Blaze GS and nephew is Star Bright OS)


    Dawn Wind


    Spring Breeze


    Corporal Fall Roar


    Winter Wind


    Cloudy Day


    Storm Cloud


    Total Members: 62


    Children: 32


    Soaring Dawn Clan


    Name: Dawn Rain


    Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth


    Title: The Unhappy Survivor


    Morning Mist, Second Chief, orange screen


    Total Members: 24


    Children: 12


    Craftmaker Population within Stronghold:


    1st Group: 46 Adults, no children


    2nd Group: 47 Adults, 17 Children


    3rd Group: 7 Adults (Chapter 27)


    4th Group: 26 Adults, 8 Children (Chapter 30)


    Swift Runner Population within Stronghold: (13)


    Tribe of Evening Song


    Lady Song, deceased


    Evonne Sting, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Aron


    Husband 2: Ralph


    Daughter Zuma: 14


    Son:  Foggy 8


    Elva Slayer, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Long


    Husband 2: Del, baby in his pouch


    Daughter: Yun 9


    Danni Blocker, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1: Ned,


    Husband 2: Vear, baby in his pouch


    Daughter: Su 7


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


    Within Stronghold, Unaffiliated but Contributing


    Barajas Group (17):


    Edith Barajas 42, clothing designer, OS


    Healing Level: 3


    Alchemy Level: 2


    Sydney 40, musician had owned a store selling musical instruments, GS


    Sound Magic Level: 3.5


    Water Magic Level: 2


    Shana 17, student newspaper, GS


    Air Magic Level: 3


    Sound Magic Level: 3


    Adam 20, college student computer programming, OS


    Fire Magic Level: 3.5


    Denise Strickland 34, mother, gs, meteorologist


    Water Magic Level: 2


    Gretchen Strickland 57, grandmother, os, retired machinist


    Earth Level: 3


    Scott Strickland 34, father, gs, sewage plant engineer


    Water Level: 3


    Jeffrey Strickland 10, son, os


    Landon Strickland 60, grandfather, gs, machinist


    Earth Level: 2


    Karen Strickland 7, daughter, os


    Anita Bodo 28, gs, accountant


    Earth Magic Level: 2


    Markos Bodo 27, os, grocery store manager


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 3.5


    Margo Bodo 4, os


    Asger Bruun 32, os, auto body painter


    Healer Level: 2


    Alchemy un-awakened


    Wife is deceased, from monster attack


    Storm Bruun 8, os


    Sameer Said 32, os, High School Athletic and History Teacher (soccer)


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 3


    Flora Kulikova 23, os, veterinary student


    Animal Trainer Level: 3.5


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors (630)


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


    Howard King


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


    Ervin, Ohio


    Name: Sylvia Warren


    Title: Mayor of Ervin


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


    Wrenchburg, Ohio


    Florian Forester, 38, gs, Bartender, Town Boss


    Mathias Forester, 38, gs, Dentist


    Susanne Forester 14, gs


    Mathias Forester, 12, gs


    Nadine Forester, 9, gs


    Liam Edwards, 33, gs, concrete and masonry


    Kai Edwards, 31, gs, real estate


    Jasmine Edwards, 6, os


    Lauren Edwards, 8, os


    Reuben Moerkens 50, gs


    Marian Moerkens, 48, gs


    Giorgio Segura, 39, gs, restaurant owner and cook


    Nadelina Segura, 37, gs, cook and hostess


    Cara Segura, 14, gs


    Helene Segura, 12, os


    Viola Segura, 9, os


    Alex Csorba, 41


    Margo Csorba, 40, Dental Hygenist, gs


    Judit Csorba, 20, college student, gs


    Petra Csorba, 17, gs


    Kevin Csorba, 14, os


    Bradley Heavy Industrial Group (Originally 208 people, now 97 of which 52 are under eighteen)


    William Bujdo, 36 Green


    Violet Bujdo, 35 Orange


    Andrew Bujdo 13 Orange


    Adam Bitar, 35, Orange


    Nazeera Bitar, 33 Green


    Anisah Bitar, 11 Orange


    Mikail Usamov, 28, Green


    Albert Osborne, 27, Green


    Lin Chang, 62, Orange, Dental Hygenist, Healer, injured


    George Chang, 34, Green


    Denise Chang, 33, Green


    John Chang, 10, Orange


    Anna Chang, 8, Orange


    Ram Diaz, 26, Orange


    Edith Diaz, 27, Orange


    Justin Diaz, 3, Orange


    Howard Leach, 31, Green, killed on trip to the Armory


    Stephen Staton, 34, Orange, killed on trip to the Armory


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


    Miscellaneous


    Dwight Cobb, GS, 21 members in his group.


    Partial List of those, Rescued at the Dominator Battle of US 36


    Martin  Avis                       Alchemist Chemist


    Michelle ¡°Shelly¡± Cupples         bulldozer operator, daughter


    Herbert Cupples                 Retired Navy, father


    Reyna Cupples                   Watchmaker/repairer, Herb¡¯s sister


    Robert Barton                    Boilermaker


    Joyce Gause                       Paleontologist


    Equipment Glossary


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M4 Sherman Grizzly Medium Tank, originally it was a Sherman Grizzly I Cruiser which was the Canadian variant of the American M4A1 Sherman medium tank.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_I_cruiser</a>


    It has 75 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and it is 5.8 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3 meters tall and weighs 30,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 330 horsepower steam engine; gives this vehicle a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 75mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles also built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    The original gyroscopic stabilizer for the main gun is no longer operational.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M18 Hellcat Light Tank, it began life as an American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Hellcat</a>


    It has 25 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and a roof has been added to its original turret.  This tank is 5.3 meters long (without its main gun), 2.9 meters wide, 2.6 meters tall and weighs 18,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge FV101 Scorpion Light Tank, it began life as a British FV101 Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV101_Scorpion</a>


    It has 12.7 millimeters of enchanted aluminum armor.  This tank is 5.3 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, 2.1 meters tall and weighs 17,800 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 79 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, started off as an American M7 Motor Gun Carriage but it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest</a>


    It has 50 millimeters of enchanted steel armor, a roof and heightened full side walls have been added to it.  This vehicle is 6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide, 3.2 meters tall and weighs 26,450 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this vehicle a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.


    Primary weapon is one M119, 105mm howitzer which is the US designation for the British L119 105mm lightweight gun.  Secondary weapons are two Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors and one twin-barrel 7.62 x 39 Murphy gun.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge T800 Armored Personnel Carrier, originally a 2011 Kenworth T800 Dump Truck, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/t800/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APC is 7.6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 13,600 kilograms.


    It has four wheeled axles and the rear two, are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eleven bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge C500 Armored Personnel Transporter, started off as a Kenworth C500 and a 27 foot long steel dump trailer, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/c500/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and have steel shutters.  This APT is 14.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 21,319 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear two on the truck/tractor are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 39 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are seventeen bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Quantity: 2


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M1070 Armored Personnel Transporter; started off as an Oshkosh M1070 and a 40 foot long steel shipping container with attendant chassis; it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter</a>


    It has 160 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APT is 18.7 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 4 meters tall and weighs 32,119 kilograms.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear three on the truck/tractor are powered.


    Two 200 horsepower steam engines, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eight Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors.  Secondary Weapons are five bolt-action 20mm rifles, also manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 590 Armored Backhoe/Loader; originally a Case 590 backhoe/loader and has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.casece.com/en_us/Equipment/Loader-Backhoes/Pages/590-SuperN.aspx</a>


    It has 40 millimeters of enchanted steel armor.  It is 7.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and it weighs 10,800 kilograms.


    It has four wheels and all are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this tractor a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Armored Utility Trailer, outer dimensions 8.5¡¯ x 20¡¯, inside height is 6¡¯ 6¡±


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


    Common Personal Weapons for the Hermit¡¯s Guard


    30-06 bolt action rifle with eight round magazine


    12 gauge pump action shotgun


    20 gauge pump action shotgun


    Single shot titanium fifty caliber rifle


    .357 magnum revolver


    14¡± bayonet


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


    Body Armor, Now just being slowly produced and issued.  Armor is magically strengthened (2x as strong) and temperature controlled as well as being resistant to heat/fire attacks.  For these enchantments to keep on working the various pieces must be periodically recharged by an Earth Mage and a Fire Mage.


    Titanium Mail Long Sleeve Shirt


    Titanium Mail Leggings


    Leather and Titanium Scale Brigandine


    http://www.steel-mastery.com/en/brigandine-armour/brigandines/brigandine-with-skirt</a>


    Titanium Greaves


    Titanium Bracers


    Titanium Coal Scuttle Style Helmet with Enchanted Visor


    Leather Gloves/Guantlets, Reinforced with Titanium Mail

 Chapter 31: Visitors

    If you spot any mistakes PLEASE point them out, so I can fix them.


    This is another long chapter, perhaps my longest to date.  I hope you enjoy it.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Chapter 31: Visitors


    Bradley, Ohio


    Blood Slayer; looked at the walls of the strange looking fortress.  His scouts had stumbled upon the place shortly after dawn and as soon as they had alerted him, he had followed them back, so as to see for himself, what they had discovered.  It was getting close to dusk now and after his long secretive vigil he now knew that there were craftmakers and many ¡°huumans¡± living within that peculiar castle.


    Since his tribe¡¯s arrival in this preposterous land, the craftmakers that they had owned, had either all been killed or had ran off.  Now there was no one to prepare the meals, fix their weapons and clean their clothes.  He and his brethren had thus been forced to take care of all those matters for themselves and though he hated to admit it, they had been a doing a terrible job of it.  Last night¡¯s meal had been so poorly prepared that his stomach was still in almost agony from it.  It was a situation not to be borne; his people were rulers and warriors, not menials!  For his tribe to survive, they needed new slaves and a safer place in which to live.  The things that came out at night were even too much for his Mighty Warriors of Sabok to face!  The fortress that he was looking at, offered a solution to both of those problems.


    There were indeed many huumans inside, but he already knew how weak the majority of them were, even with their ¡°smoke¡± weapons.  While he lusted after those noisy fire sticks, he had never been able to make work any of the ones that he had taken, from fallen foes.  However things had recently changed for the better for his tribe, because now most of his warriors possessed magic and with their new mighty powers, he was certain that they could easily defeat many times their number of pathetic ¡°huumans.¡±  The only downside with doing that was that the species didn¡¯t taste very good and they were a little stringy too.  He shrugged his shoulders, well if boiled long enough; he would eat just about anything.  At that moment his stomach clenched yet again and he released such a cloud of noxious gas that the warriors by side withdrew by several full body lengths, one of them even puked because of the foul odor.


    Chief Blood Slayer unsuccessfully pretended that he was not the one who had released that revolting stench and glanced towards the sun; it was less than two hand spans before dusk.  If he was going to attack that fortress, the time to do it was now before it got too late.


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


    The Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    It was an hour before dusk when Captain Long heard rapid loud thumping noises approaching, and accompanied by thunderous angry bellows.  Quickly turning her head to the east, she saw coming down one of the city¡¯s side streets, a herd of mammoths and riding on top of them, were scads of gray skinned lizard men.  Instinctively she used her Appraisal Skill on the flamboyantly dressed warrior, riding atop the leading mammoth.


    Name: Blood Slayer


    Class: Warrior of Sabok


    Title: Chief of the Mighty Warriors of Sabok


    Gray Scaled Warriors of Sabok, a humanoid reptilian hybrid, a product of some long ago mad wizard or scientist, named Sabok it is believed, who dreamed of creating a hardier version of homo-sapiens which could survive under the harshest of conditions.  Her/his/its mistake was in using two inferior species to make yet a third.  Now if that scientist/wizard would have used DNA from the Mollusca or the Chordata families then he/she/it might have been on to something and produced a truly amazing sentient life form.  The ¡°Warriors of Sabok¡± are extremely arrogant and look down upon any, not of their own species.  Slavery is a commonplace for them.  Do not fear human, if you are defeated by them for they find your flesh extremely disagreeable to their stomachs and you will have your revenge upon them by giving them many days of acute indigestion.


    She shook her head, ever since she had first met with the Hermit King, Appraisal had become much more informative and it had also become kind of a sardonic wise-ass as well.


    The Guardsmen had begun firing as soon as they had sighted the attacking group.  Barbara could see that wounded or dead lizard men were already beginning to fall from the backs of those charging prodigious prehistoric pachyderms.  Suddenly the warrior, she had identified as Blood Slayer, threw a ball of fire towards the old factory that sat in the center of the walled compound.  The blazing softball sized fireball, flew through the air but before it even reached the half way point, it abruptly lost steam and fell to earth with a ¡°plop,¡± where it blew up like a sparkly soap bubble.


    The mammoths looked like they were going to ram the stone walls, but at the last moment, they stopped just shy of the narrow ditch that surrounded the walled compound.  However, once the animals reached that point, the warriors riding their backs, used long crude looking ladders to cross over to the top of the compound¡¯s protective walls.  More of the rather pathetic fireballs were then thrown.  Two or three minutes after the attack had begun, the Holman projectors got into action.  After a brief but furious battle, which lasted only another few minutes, the gray scaled warriors started to break off their attack, it¡¯s possible that as many as thirty of them successfully made their escape, leaving well over twice that number dead or dying.


    Captain Long breathed out a large sigh of relief.  If the same attack had occurred before the arrival of the Hermit¡¯s Guard, she was certain that her forces would not have fared nearly as well.  As it was, no one within the compound had even been scratched.


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


    The Following Morning


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    Glen Stewart, Sean Murphy and Scott Blaine were up early, setting things up for the tests of the new 90mm howitzers which were already looking to be obsolete thanks to the latest news from Captain Mesquida.  Scott had been dragged out of his bed because of his Sound Magic Ability; Sean and Glen needed him to reduce the noise generated during the tests so as to disturb the least number of people.  Of course being the great guys that they were, they put him to other work as well.


    Glen was grumpy because of his own lack of sleep, so he began to release some of his built up petulance by giving voice to his misgivings about the new gun.  ¡°Sean just what the fuck are we going to do now, because I¡¯ll bet you dollars to donuts that our new Armadillo land cruisers will have to fight those @#$% Annihilators!  I think it will take at least ten of our enchanted 90mm penetrators, all striking exactly the same spot, to make it through thirty-two inches of armor, which is FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE, in a real combat situation!¡±


    ¡°Glen, while I admit that these nineties won¡¯t do us much good against those Reeze Annihilators, they will on the other hand be more than adequate against plenty of other foes and they use a lot less powder than a 105 too, besides that I doubt that even a 105mm howitzer would do any better at penetrating over 800 millimeters of armor.  Additionally, we¡¯ve already got all of those beautiful titanium 74mm coil-gun barrels and they are just about perfect for making our 90mm cannons.  Besides that, I don¡¯t think it will take ten enchanted 90mm sabot rounds to make it through the Reeze armor, I think that five or six will do the job, though they will have to hit almost the exact same spot which I am forced to admit, might be a tough thing to do.  But after hearing about those new mechanical monsters, I¡¯ve come up with a plan.  Hand me that wrench, please.¡±


    Glen gave Sean the eye while passing him the tool that he had requested.  He had gotten sort of familiar with some of Sean Murphy¡¯s plans.  In Sir Stewart¡¯s opinion, Sean was a frustrated mad scientist that never had an opportunity to show off his insane talents before.  While the Murphy gun had worked out, there were several other things that the gunsmith had tried that had only been a waste of time and resources, but sometimes Sean did come up with a winner.  ¡°Alright you mad Irishman, tell me what you¡¯ve dreamed up this time.¡±


    The gunsmith gave Glen a big grin.  ¡°Not too long ago, the Russians tried to make a TWIN-barrel self-propelled artillery piece.  Now what is interesting, with their concept, was that instead of putting the guns side by side, they stacked them vertically like an over and under shotgun.


    Although, they couldn¡¯t get their idea to work, probably because either the robotics for the autoloaders on the two big cannons was too complex or it might have been that there was simply just too much recoil generated, from firing two 152mm howitzers at the same time.  But for whatever the reason, their twin-gun artillery piece didn¡¯t go into production; however I still found the idea fascinating.  I think that what they dreamed up; might be the perfect solution for us.  You see we won¡¯t have any finicky autoloaders to worry about and we won¡¯t be trying to fire two cannons simultaneously, as they were trying to do.


    What if?  Using their idea, we put two different sized howitzers on each of our land cruisers and then let the guns crews decide which cannon to use depending on the threat that they are currently facing; just like how our soldiers are now being equipped with both a shotgun and a rifle.  When there is a big threat, like with an Annihilator, they use the big gun and when there is a smaller threat they use the 90mm.  I¡¯ve looked at the ergonomics aspect of all this and I think that there is enough room to put two cannons in the turret that you and the others have designed.  As for structural strength, we both know that you¡¯ve over-engineered the hull and the turret, by more than a little.¡±


    Upon hearing the idea, Glen actually liked it which he knew was a really bad sign; since the last such idea of Sean¡¯s that he had thought of as a good one, had forced Sir Glen Stewart to take a trip to the Stronghold¡¯s small hospital.  ¡°Okay, I can see where that just might possibly be useful and may even work.  However right now, we don¡¯t have the time to develop a large howitzer but if we did, what would you make and put on the new land cruisers?¡±


    Sean¡¯s grin grew even wider, which as a rule was a portent of dire things to come and impending mechanical disaster, normally preceded by the words ¡°Hey, watch this.¡±  The Stronghold¡¯s master gunsmith then answered Glen¡¯s question, ¡°a six inch naval gun.¡±


    ¡°ARE YOU NUTS?!!¡±


    It should have been impossible for Mister Murphy¡¯s smile to grow even wider, but it did.  Scott Blaine, who had been silently listening to the conversation, slowly shook his head.  He was beginning to wonder if his new boss, Sir Glen Stewart, would ever learn.


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


    Convoy to Bradley, Ohio


    Lieutenant Storm Wind was in command again.  Last night, it had been decided that the convoy was to take the risk and move out an hour before dawn, which in their horribly transmogrified world, was a very SCARY thing to do.  The reason for their early departure was in the hope that they would be able to make two round trips in a single day.  Storm only had two of the big armored personnel trailers in the convoy that morning.  The second 1070 was not towing a trailer, since the intention was for it to return with one of Captain Long¡¯s heavy duty M1000 trailers, loaded with another of the immense Oshkosh 1070 trucks.  That was so the Forge could begin work on converting said vehicle to steam power.


    Since it was still dark out, all of the vehicles were buttoned up tight because of the risk of Night Stalker attack, and it was well that they did.  Only a few scant miles from the Stronghold a huge swarm of giant rats boiled out of the blackness and over the vehicles.  It took prodigious use of Fire Magic, shotgun blasts and 50mm ¡°Last Grace¡± shells to chase the monsters off.  It was a disgusting and frightening battle and it only further served to drive home to the soldiers how lucky they were to have working armored vehicles.


    The convoy made it to the Armory, after only two more additional encounters, one being with a family of Devolved Stone Giants and the other with a large pack of leaping lizards; all in all a rather uneventful trip which boded well for things to come.


    The pick up at the Armory had gone as smoothly as Lieutenant Storm Wind could have wished for, however he was very glad to see the Stronghold upon his return.  For he and his soldiers had seen something on their trip home, that had them more than a little worried.  By the time he disembarked, Captain Mesquida was already waiting for him in the Stronghold¡¯s underground vehicle park.  After exchanging simple greetings with his commander, Sir Storm Wind gave his report.


    ¡°Sir George, it all went smoothly but half way on our trip home, we sighted four Dominators approximately two miles to our north.¡±


    The first word of the Captain¡¯s mouth was ¡°Mierda!¡±  Then he let out a big breath of air, exhaling noisily.  ¡°Lieutenant, I would like to hold you here, but I simply can¡¯t; we¡¯ve got prior agreements which we must live up to and I absolutely detest leaving Lieutenant Khan and his people out there like low hanging fruit, just waiting for some monster to come along and pick them.  Thanks to your actions we¡¯ve got one more truck that we can convert to steam.  The next time you go out, all three of the semi-trucks will be in APT mode.  I¡¯ll talk with the Boss this evening and see if he can give your vehicles a quick armor upgrade, perhaps he can add some compressed stone to them.  Glen might have some ideas too.  But for now what you have, is what you got.¡±


    ¡°Understood sir, my soldiers are getting lunch right now, after which we¡¯ll get the vehicles tanked up with water and then be on our way.  I do have some good news though, per your orders and Sir Steve¡¯s request, I¡¯ve prioritized transferring people that might be of the most use to us.  I found several semi-skilled and skilled shop workers, and a few former military people but Sir Boris pointed me towards a real find.  One of the people that you rescued, after your battle with the Reeze, is a retired University Professor of Chemistry.  Professor Avis is also a self-awakened Alchemist, though he is only at level one.¡±


    ¡°That is outstanding news Lieutenant.  Hopefully Professor Avis can speed up our gun powder production because the amount that the Alchemists are making now, is barely keeping up with our demands and almost half of the time they are actually falling behind despite how hard they are working.¡±


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


    The Hermit King


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    I woke up in the early afternoon.  There was something odd about my bed but I just couldn¡¯t figure out what it was but I had no time to dwell on that now.  After getting cleaned up and grabbing a bite, I met with George and he gave me the happy news about Lieutenant Wind seeing four Dominators.  He also brought up the topic of improving the armor on our trucks.


    After talking with him for several minutes, I set off searching for Glen.  I knew that he was supposed to test the 90mm howitzer prototypes today, so I just walked towards the sound of cannon fire, ¡°BOOM!¡±  Sometimes I¡¯m amazed at my sheer brilliance; maybe I had been an Indian Scout in another life.  On the other hand, even though my ancestors probably mated with most of the known (and perhaps unknown) races on this planet, to the best of my knowledge, I have no Native American blood mixed with mine.  But on the other, other hand my ancestors did not keep the best of records, and from what I could gather from talking to my grandparents and looking at the various official papers that did survive and that they did not successfully keep hidden from me, they seemed rather ashamed of the fact at how often the family progenitors were forced to move from country to country.  It¡¯s very likely that I come from a long line of either scoundrels or grumpy assholes and that once a country gets tired of us, we get kicked out.  Now that I¡¯m a king, that sort of thing can no longer happen, unless I get deposed of course.


    Lady Knight Evonne Sting closely followed behind me, as I used my keen senses, ¡°BOOM!¡± and animal like instincts, to finally track down the miscreants who were making that infernal racket.


    It had been planned that we would originally test the cannons outside the Stronghold, so we could assess their accuracy over longer ranges but what with the Teeteelan threat, we decided to do the tests within our fortress¡¯s walls.


    Because of various existing structures and of the course the Stronghold¡¯s own walls, the cannon test range was only about thirteen hundred feet long.  But it still allowed for Glen and Sean to test for penetration, accuracy and drop over those distances; as well as the robustness and reliability of the prototype 90mm howitzers.


    They had all four cannons rigged up to the same test stand which they could drag back or forward with a utility tractor that they had standing by.  ¡°Hey Glen, hello Sean, howdy Scott, how are things going?¡±


    ¡°Howdy Boss,¡± said Sean.


    Scott shyly nodded his head and he might have whispered hello back to me.  He simply wasn¡¯t much for talking; I don¡¯t know if it was prison that changed him or if he had always been like that.


    ¡°Hello Vince,¡± replied Glen.  He then continued to speak.  ¡°Two of the cannons aren¡¯t worth testing any further, the rifling we put them is just simply inferior in design to the other two.  But I¡¯m glad you showed up because we need your help.  Of the two cannons that we are continuing to test, besides a difference in their rifling, they also have slightly different breechblocks.  Using our Earth Magic we can sense that one of them seems slightly stronger than the other but it would be nice if you could verify things for us.¡±


    I walked over to the guns that he had pointed at and put my hands on the pair of howitzers.  After a few minutes, I grew confused because I wasn¡¯t sure what they were talking about.  Maybe the number four gun was slightly stronger than the number three but the difference was so slight that I could very well be imagining it.


    ¡°Guys, I really can¡¯t detect any notable difference and I thought that I was better at this stuff than you were.¡±


    After I spoke, Glen looked kind of embarrassed.  ¡°Well you see, we tried sensing them right at the moment that we fired them.¡±


    ¡°Are you nuts?!¡±  For some inexplicable reason both Sean and Scott laughed when I said that.  ¡°Isn¡¯t putting your hand, on a prototype cannon while you¡¯re testing it, an extremely dumb thing to do?¡±


    Glen looked even more red-faced.  ¡°Vince, we¡¯ve got to get these cannons right.  If they blow up inside one of our land cruisers, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be able to live with myself.  Besides that, we didn¡¯t put our whole hands on the things, only two fingers which barely touched and they just slid along the barrels, as the guns recoiled.  We have a special blast shield too.¡±  He pointed at funny looking wall thingy, made up out of sand bags, wood, and steel plate.


    I turned to look at Evonne who was looking back at me in horror.  She knew that I already thought that this was a stupid thing to do, but she had already learned that I was pretty stupid too, so this was something right up my alley.  I clapped my hands together and rubbed them.  ¡°Sounds like fun, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve been to the infirmary this week and they might be missing me.¡±  Evonne then said a strange word in her native language; it was a very harsh and sharp word that for some reason, the DDS translator didn¡¯t translate for me.  I wonder, if I should practice saying it?


    I was present for the firing of the next six projectiles.  After the sixth round, I was certain that the number four prototype was indeed handling the explosive shock better, which agreed with their own observations but it looked like number three¡¯s rifling pattern was superior to number four¡¯s.  The number three cannon was a hair more accurate, which might mean nothing at the ranges at which we were testing at, but it also did noticeably better when we checked for penetration.


    Glen and I then discussed adding armor to the trucks.  We mainly agreed that adding compressed stone to them would be a quick and effective thing to do, but he wanted to discuss things with some of the guys in the shop before coming up with final plan which we would then implement tonight once the convoy returned.  He was more than a little concerned about weight issues and he needed to check some numbers.


    I left the trio to continue on with their tests of both cannons and projectiles.  I had things that I needed to enchant.


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


    The Hermit¡¯s Guard Convoy, En Route to the Armory


    They were only eight miles from the Armory when the Sherman¡¯s air horn started sounding a unique pattern, ordering all of the crews to button up, tight.  A large colony of King Mandrills had been sighted and they were charging the convoy from the northeast.  Because of their ability to climb the Stronghold¡¯s walls they had been labeled as a monster to be destroyed on sight.


    While firing their guns, all of the armored vehicles drew to a stop in single file, with little or no distance between them, that simple formation enabled them to use almost all of their weapons freely, without the danger of shooting one another.  As per established doctrine, the Hellcat pointed its cannon to the rear, while the Sherman had its weapon aimed to the fore.


    After ten minutes of furious fighting, the pitifully few surviving King Mandrills ran off, leaving the road and the fields littered with their bodies.


    After resuming their trip and just two miles down the road; those in the convoy, spotted a small herd of sheep or perhaps it could be said that the sheep spotted the convoy because by the time anyone saw them, the sheep were already speedily trotting towards the armored vehicles, while simultaneously making loud bleating noises.


    Once the craftmakers, in the Lieutenant¡¯s APT, saw the animals they all turned en-masse on Sir Storm and began begging him to stop the convoy, so that they could attempt to capture and load the animals into the utility trailer towed by the 590.  Seeing how desperate they appeared to be, Storm Wind acquiesced to their pleas.  Once the convoy stopped, those with the Animal Trainer Ability went out to lure the animals in, which proved to be almost completely unnecessary since the Jacob Sheep eagerly came up to them and then climbed into the trailer, with scarcely any urging at all.


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


    The Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    Captain Long was relieved to see the convoy return for the second time that day.  During the time it had been gone, a family of Devolved Stone Giants had attacked the compound but once again the Hermit¡¯s Guard had easily dealt with the threat.  She warmly greeted Lieutenant Storm Wind.


    ¡°Hello Lieutenant, I¡¯m glad to see you back so promptly.  A short while ago we heard a lot of gunfire and explosions coming from the west, did your trip go smoothly?¡±


    He gave her a long look before replying.  ¡°Greetings Captain Long, I hate to think of what we just went through as being normal but I guess it is the new normal.  While on our journey to the Stronghold, we were attacked by Gorgonospids and leaping lizards, also about half way through our trek back home, we sighted four Dominators but we were not forced to fight them.¡±


    Upon hearing that last bit, Captain Long drew in a sharp breath.  Sir Storm Wind continued.  ¡°On our return trip to your compound, we were attacked by almost a thousand King Mandrills.  They are insane creatures that can climb even the walls of the Stronghold with ease.  Why they attacked us without provocation or any hope of victory, I can¡¯t even begin to guess.  Our battle with them is probably what you heard.  On a much more mundane subject, we filled up the utility trailer with some sheep that we stumbled upon.  So the passengers that we are transporting today will regretfully not be able to bring all of their personal possessions with them as planned.  We will attempt to pick up those things at a later time, perhaps even as soon as tomorrow.


    I confirmed with my Commander, that we will also attempt to make two trips on Saturday.  Since with this latest transfer, there will only be approximately one hundred and sixty people remaining here.   We will, as we did this morning, only be using two of the large trucks in APT mode for our first run.  At the time, we will pick up one hundred and thirty of your people.  The remaining Oshkosh truck will be used to tow back one of your Stryker armored vehicles loaded on one of the numerous heavy duty trailers that you have.  That armored vehicle will be converted to steam power as my King has promised to do.  On our second trip, we will only have one APT; our two Oshkosh trucks will be used to tow home, your second Stryker and another 1070 which will of course be loaded on separate trailers.


    After tomorrow, while we do expect to return here, no promises can be made for when.  So you should carefully select the things that you want to take with you and have them ready for your departure.  We will have numerous cargo trailers available for that last run and you should easily be able to stack other things on the two M1000 trailers that will be carrying your Strykers and the truck.¡±


    ¡°Understood Lieutenant, you do know that I am the Captain of a Transportation Company, don¡¯t you?  If there is one thing that I do know, it¡¯s how to pack and ship things.  Did anyone ever teach you the old English saying about not teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs?¡±  Captain Long half growled out, while looking sternly at the young Lieutenant.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard Convoy


    A little while later; a Hermit¡¯s Guard Lieutenant, who thought that sucking eggs was a disgusting activity to engage in and something that he would never encourage, let alone teach others to do; left the compound with one hundred and eighty passengers in his vehicles.  Before he got even a mile down the road, he had a marvelous idea.  Because he had gotten the impression that Captain Long was mildly vexed with him, he decided that upon her arrival at the Stronghold on Saturday, that in order to maintain good relations with her and the US Army, that he would gift her with twenty eggs, so that she would be able to do as much egg sucking as she pleased but hopefully while out of his sight.  He shuddered at the thought of her offering him an egg to suck.


    The convoy made it back home completely without incident but they did see two blue-screen Swift Runners and much more worryingly, more than a dozen Sky Krakens floating high overhead from west to east, when they were still about fifteen miles from the Stronghold.


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


    (Author¡¯s Note)


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>  Something is going to happen in this section that some of you might not like, others might not care about at all and still others will think that it¡¯s long past due.  One of Vince¡¯s primary driving passions is to keep children safe, so to those of you who get disgusted by his decision and subsequent actions remember that¡¯s why he does, what he does.


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    About three hours after the convoy left on its second run.  Blender, Nina and Grace came running into my workshop.  With barely any explanation at all, they dragged me off to the Alchemist Laboratory which looked really cool and honestly made me more than a little jealous.  I hadn¡¯t seen the facility since I had originally excavated the place; it sort of made my place look a little shabby.  Maybe I need to hire an interior decorator, I wonder if Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, is available?


    Well anyways, when I got there I found that they had Ron and two new recruits already waiting, one was a mad Professor and the other was an old fashioned boilermaker.  I immediately knew that Professor Martin Avis was a true scientist because his hair looked like Christopher Lloyd¡¯s from Back to the Future and he was wearing a scorched lab coat with a pocket protector, although his pocket protector was stuffed with licorice whips and some kind of jerky, not pens or pencils.


    They needed my help and some platinum to make some kind of machine that would draw off atmospheric nitrogen and make ammonia, from that, they would somehow make potassium nitrate or something just as good as, for making the gunpowder that we needed.


    Well I had a little platinum, not a hundredth of what I had in gold but I had a couple of pounds of it and of course my Rolex but there was no way they were getting that watch from me.  I had never really worn it for longer than a few minutes at a time, since I bought it after my lottery win.  It was just something that I admired like my sob, sniff, dearly departed Weatherby rifle.


    Blender, Grace and Martin worked me like a slave and every time I thought to complain or escape, Nina would look at me with big eyes and give me a hug.  I was kept busy making pressure vessels and firestones; when they were done with me, I got kidnapped by Glen.  The convoy had returned.


    Once Glen had me in our vehicle park, I turned on him.  ¡°Alright you slave driver, I imagine that you want to make vast quantities of compressed stone right?


    ¡°Nope, Clyde and I¡¯ve been talking; you see the armor we¡¯ve already put on our vehicles has already added a lot of weight to them.  Currently our armored personnel trailers only have about 10,000 pounds of useful payload capacity left, though we can overload if we have to, especially since there are no weigh stations anymore.¡±  Glen laughed sardonically.  ¡°Although I would gladly put up with them if this nightmare was all over with, heck I might even be willing to go back to prison,¡± he sighed.  ¡°Anyways, we¡¯re not exactly sure if compacting the almost six inches of sand that the trailers have into two inches of compressed stone will actually be an improvement or not.


    So we¡¯ve come up with an alternate solution which will keep the weight roughly the same as it is now but should give our people at least fifty percent better armor protection.  We¡¯re going to take out some of that sand we put in and move the inner and outer steels walls so that they¡¯re only about four inches apart instead of six.  Using the sand that is left, you¡¯ll compress it into a one inch sheet of stone against the inner walls, which will leave approximately a three inch void, which I¡¯ll then have my people stuff with the snails¡¯ ballistic gelatin.  It¡¯s a lot more work than I would like to do tonight but it¡¯s the only way that Clyde and I can see that will actually make our current APCs and APTs better.  Later on, when we get more of those heavy duty M1000 trailers, we ought to convert a few of them to armored personnel trailers, those things can safely haul up to seventy tons, which is almost twice as much as our tri-axle container chassis can do and which means we can put a shit load of armor on them, while still maintaining a relatively reasonable payload capacity.¡±


    Ugh!  I was kept busy for hours with helping to modify our armored vehicles.  I assisted with moving steel walls, removing sand, and making compressed stone.


    All three semi-trucks were getting an armor upgrade to.  Because we no longer had to worry about galvanic corrosion, the plan was for one inch of smashed aluminum to be applied over the vehicles¡¯ existing steel armor and then another have inch of steel was to be put on top of the aluminum.  They would have more armor than the Sherman tank!


    As for the Hellcat it got an inch of smashed aluminum and a half inch of compressed stone on those places where we could safely apply it.  We knew that the added weight would slow the old tank destroyer down, which we weren¡¯t too worried about, however I had some concerns regarding the tracked vehicle¡¯s suspension.  However, both Clyde and Glen seemed to be either untroubled by that potential problem or to already have a solution in mind.  Frankly I didn¡¯t want to ask, because I was afraid of being stuck with even more work.


    It was getting late and I was running out of time, I needed to leave but I told Glen that I would be back well before dawn to finish up what I needed to do.


    I was starving by the time I made it home, but tonight was the wake for Private Cooper.  Star, Steve and Jen had organized things; they had turned an underground warehouse that I had previously constructed, into something that looked like a lecture hall.  I ran home, gobbled down four tortillas stuffed with meat, onions and tomatoes; took a shower and then rushed to Hoops¡¯ remembrance service.


    The wake was supposed to go on for three or four hours thus giving everyone a chance to stop by.  I made it there about an hour after it formally started.  Hoops¡¯ body was of course in a sealed casket.  Steve had dug up an old ship¡¯s brass bell and hung it on the wall by the coffin.  There was also a little wooden stage next to it.  Whenever someone wanted to say anything about the deceased craftmaker, they would first ring the bell, so as to call for silence and to get everyone¡¯s attention.  Then they would ascend the tiny stage and speak.


    I was informed that George, Star, Chief Dawn Rain, and Lady Knight Night had already made short speeches.  I walked to the casket, rang the bell and climbed atop the small stage.


    ¡°My most sincere apologies for being late, but as you all know, there are never enough hours in the day to get all of the work done, that we need done.


    Private Hoops Cooper volunteered to be a Guardsman.  He wanted to protect his friends and for them to live their lives as a free people.  He died on a rescue mission and thanks to his efforts as well as all the hard work of the other Guardsmen that went along with him, twenty-three flyers, eighteen craftmakers, and 181 humans were saved.  That is not too shabby an epitaph; of course I would rather that he was still here with us, but still none too shabby.  I believe in an afterlife which might surprise some of you.  If he is ever judged or asked how he died, he can say that he died rescuing 222 people on his last mission and that he did his duty towards his friends and people long before that as well.  I am extremely saddened by the fact that he is no longer with us and I feel terribly guilty that I personally ordered the mission that cost him his life.  But Private Hoops Cooper is someone that this tiny nation should be proud of and the fact that he chose to be a part of it, humbles me.  We should always remember him and his actions, along with those of Private Quentin Lee.  Thank you for listening.¡±


    I stepped down as quickly as I could.  I hated being up there with everyone looking at me.  I¡¯m an asshole, not a preacher.


    While the craftmakers that knew him were all obviously sad and upset, from what I overheard they did appear to take great pride in his actions and to my eye they actually seemed shocked by this wake because when they had been the slaves of the Sabok, their dead had just been thrown out with the rubbish and they were beaten if they even dared to let their sorrow show, over a loved one¡¯s passing.


    Later on, I was talking to George in the back of the hall, and there were a few others gathered around us, most notably my son-in-law James Lopez and the delegation from Ervin.


    ¡°George, I can feel it in my gut, those Teeteelan ass-wipes are going to be back and soon.  We not only have to be ready for them, but we, meaning you, have to come up with a plan where we can go to their city and wipe them out with minimal casualties on our side, while also rescuing as many of their prisoners as we can, at the same time.¡±


    He took a minute to look at me like I was idiot.  Well I already knew that, I should get an ID card made saying ¡°Vincent Standish, Hermit King, Asshole and Idiot.¡±  I decided to further display my talents.  ¡°Captain, I know that I¡¯m asking a lot from you and I don¡¯t expect you to come up with a plan overnight or for us to be able to implement it next week.  But we have to take those fuckers out, so put on your thinking cap and talk to your people.¡±


    ¡°Boss, I can understand why you want to do it.  Hell, I want to, too!  But those assholes have magic and they can probably out ninja all or at least ninety-nine percent of us, so there is no way that we can attack them by surprise which is especially important when there are hostages to rescue and you also want to inflict disproportionate casualties on your foes.  I can see it taking us months, to build up the forces that we need to assault their home base.¡±


    ¡°Sir Mesquida, if I thought it was easy, I would ask for your plan tomorrow and for you to attack them next week!  I know that they are tough nut to crack, so think outside the box and build a better nutcracker.  Just consider my words as part of one of those bullshit motivational speeches; that you have to pay a ton of money to hear and that don¡¯t do squat for you.  But you are to come up with a solution anyways.¡±


    He glowered at me.  ¡°Yes your Majesty.¡±


    Ah, it¡¯s good to be an asshole, I mean King.


    Just then the ship¡¯s bell was rung and we all shut up.  It seemed to me that the bell was never silent for more than ten minutes at a time since I had arrived.  When it was rung, we would stop whatever conversations we were having and politely listen to whatever the new speaker had to say.  Normally a person would only talk for a couple of minutes and no one since I had arrived had spoken for much more than five.  A little flyer boy, climbed up onto the small stage and with tears in his eyes, he thanked Private Cooper for saving his life and the life of his mother.  He wasn¡¯t the first such child to make such a brief speech but sadly for far too many of them, they had no surviving close relatives to also be thankful for.


    Tomorrow Hoops¡¯ body would be buried in the cemetery next to Quentin Lee¡¯s.  Earth Mages with far more artistic talent than I possess are working on a small monument, depicting a smiling Hoops Cooper in front of a quarter scale model of the Hellcat.   Death really sucks and I wish I could outlaw it.


    ¡°Your Majesty?¡±


    I turned to look at my son-in-law, who had sort of snuck up on me.  Damn it, I had been successfully ducking him for awhile now.


    ¡°Yes. Sir Lopez?¡±


    ¡°Might I have a few minutes of your time, to speak with you in private?¡±


    Fuck no!  ¡°Of course you can.¡±


    We found a quiet corner and he began to speak.  ¡°Your Majesty, I am fully aware that my wife and her sister screwed up and that the conspiracy that they entered into with your ex-wife was morally and even perhaps legally wrong.  I am also aware that they financially owe you for the many things that either you gave them or their mother gave them, using your money.  Furthermore, I am fully cognizant of the fact, that we owe you our very lives.


    But your daughters are older and wiser now.  Their mother, your ex-wife, literally corrupted them at a young age, while they were still very impressionable and very easily led astray with a few gifts and beguiling words.  We live in perilous and terrifying times now, where Linda and Sandra are literally the final obstacles standing between your grandchildren and death, or perhaps even a fate more horrifying; what with taking in consideration the fact that we now live in a world filled with magic.


    What would have happened if those Teeteelans had succeeded in making their way into this fortress?  You, yourself said just a few minutes ago that you are sure that they will be back!  As one of your Knights, a Peacekeeper, husband of your daughter Linda and father of your granddaughter Angela; I am begging you to awaken your daughters¡¯ abilities and grant them the right to bear arms.  They are already several months behind everyone else in learning magic.  Please give them the power to protect your grandchildren.¡±


    Crud!  ¡°Okay,¡± well what else could I say?  He stood looking at me in disbelief after my simple one word response; his mouth was hanging open, like he had been expecting the need to present further arguments for his case.  He was right and I already knew that.  We¡¯re hanging on a knife¡¯s edge, here.  The Dominators and the Teeteelans have me spooked, and I¡¯m no longer quite as optimistic as I once was about our chances.


    Once James regained his composure the first thing that he said was, ¡°Can you awaken them tonight?¡±  I think he was worried that I would change my mind.


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll be here for another half an hour or so.  Just come on by my workshop, I¡¯ll be making visors all night long.¡±  Thanks to mass quantities of some really good foam earplugs which come two hundred to a small box and, despite what the directions say, can be reused.  And also with the addition of some earmuff style hearing protectors that the factory is now making, we currently have or will have at least barely adequate protection from another magical sound attack.


    However, except for our new two visor system, which works superbly, if I do say so myself; we have nothing even close to being as halfway as good for shielding our soldiers¡¯ eyes from another light attack.  So it was up to me to make the visors, lots of visors and as of yet, I still hadn¡¯t made nearly enough of the complicated things, where I could fall into magical printing press mode and just churn the things out.


    Even with the shop doing the work of physically making the visors, I¡¯m lucky to enchant one every half hour.  At least I don¡¯t have to enchant the gold ones, though they are using my gold to make them!


    I stayed for a while longer and listened to a few more people speak.  When I finally made it to my cave, followed by one of my alternate faithful caterpillar companions, Elva; I found James, Linda and Sandra already waiting for me.


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


    The Wake of Private Hoops Cooper


    In a back corner, far from Private Cooper¡¯s casket, a group of people were gathered, surprisingly the one that was addressing the others was Sir Macallister Smith, the Minister of Construction and Maintenance.  The women who were attentively listening were; Lady Knights Star Astrologer, Candace Murphy, Denise Murphy, Faith Harper and Squire Melissa Kilmer.  The men present were Sir Stephen Monet, Sir James Lopez and Sergeant Richard Jacobs.


    ¡°Lady Candace is the first one to have these concerns, she voiced them to the Stronghold¡¯s Castellan,¡± he nodded his head at Sir Stephen Monet, who nodded back, ¡°and then Sir Steve talked to me.  Then the rest of you were contacted.  We are all concerned about the possibility of our home falling not through an overt attack but from enemy infiltrators.¡±


    Sir Macallister had to pause in his speaking, because the bell by the casket had just been rung by their King, Vincent Standish.  They all listened politely as the Hermit King delivered an honest and heartfelt speech, they knew this for a fact, because they all possessed superior levels of True Sight.  Once their Monarch was finished, Sir James Lopez quickly spoke up.


    ¡°I must see the King about another important matter.  Sir Mack and Lady Faith already know my opinion and have my agreement concerning the matter that is now being discussed.  If you¡¯ll forgive me,¡± he then quickly strode off for the distant back corner that his father-in-law had apparently claimed.


    After exchanging confused looks with the others standing there, generated by James¡¯s abrupt departure, Mack resumed speaking.  ¡°Primarily we are worried about the following three areas.  First, Telepathy being used to control some innocent and thus use them as a weapon against us, or Telepathy being used to cloud our minds, such as in Star Wars, ¡®these are not the droids that you are looking for.¡¯¡±  He waved his hands dramatically and there were a few small laughs because of the old movie reference, although Lady Star looked slightly bewildered.


    ¡°The second concern; is Light and Darkness Magic being used to deceive our eyes, either by making someone invisible or by making an enemy appear to be someone that we know and trust.  The third possibility and this one might be a little out there, but magic, perhaps of the Healing variety, being used to actually change someone¡¯s physical appearance so that they look like one of our own people.


    Everyone gathered here has one or more of the following gifts: relatively high level True Sight, Telepathy, Light and Darkness Magic, or Healing.  We all agree that the Boss is overworked and that he has more than enough to worry about.  The same holds true for Captain Mesquida.  Personally I think that our Castellan,¡± Mack nodded his head again at Steve, ¡°is also overworked but he insisted on being here.  I possess all of the gifts that we are interested in except for Healing, although I¡¯ve got Sound Magic which the Teeteelans already have used against us.  I am fortunate enough to have excellent subordinates like Jean White and Fred Stone; so I¡¯m the one seemingly with most free time.  So with Lady Star¡¯s, Sir Steve¡¯s, Lady Candace¡¯s, Lady Denise¡¯s, Lady Faith¡¯s and finally Sir James¡¯s concurrence, even though he is not here right now, I will be coordinating our informal group until we go official.¡±


    The bell was rung once more, after which Lady Knight Faith Harper took over.  ¡°Vince has frequently used the metaphor that we are in a lifeboat situation; that we have no time to endlessly debate things; and that we have to plug the damn holes in our boat and immediately start bailing out the water, that viewpoint has proven accurate time and time again.  We don¡¯t have the time to get ourselves really organized; we already know that the Teeteelans are out there.  Sir James and I will be recruiting for the Peacekeepers and looking for people with the talents that we want but we must act now, perhaps even this very night.  We have to informally reach out to those we know who have the abilities that we¡¯re looking for.  We must tell them our concerns and establish our own watchers besides those on the Stronghold¡¯s walls.  Most importantly, we have to have at least one of our people by the Stronghold¡¯s gates to raise the alarm if infiltrators try and slip their way in.  Who knows, they might even try to invisibly climb onto our own vehicles when a convoy is returning one day.  If that gate ever falls into enemy hands, we¡¯ll be lucky to survive and I hate think about how many casualties we¡¯ll have, even if we do succeed in fighting them off.¡±


    Lady Star was the next to speak.  ¡°We all need to bolster our mental defenses as well; as the most skilled Telepath within this Kingdom, I offer my services for any training that you or any of our new recruits might need.¡±


    The group continued to talk for another hour, proposing possible recruits, strategies and tactics, only pausing for the ringing of that lonely ship¡¯s bell.


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


    Outside the Hermit¡¯s Workshop


    I barely suppressed a groan, it¡¯s not like my daughters will be the first blues that I¡¯ve awakened.  Nurse Practitioner Gloria Bennett was the first and Scott Blaine was the second.  Gloria is an exceptional Healer and she¡¯s saved many lives.  As for Scott, being awakened has dramatically increased his productivity.  Though the man is still despondent over the life that he accidentally took; I¡¯ve come to think that his only solace is his work.  It¡¯s also my belief that his feelings of guilt are the primary driving factor behind his obsession with making the new body armor for us; he¡¯s trying to save lives in order to make amends for the one that he prematurely ended.


    James, Linda, Sandra and I went into my workshop; Elva remained outside guarding the door.  My daughters didn¡¯t give me much time to get ready, heck they didn¡¯t give me any time at all.  Linda immediately knelt at my feet.


    ¡°Your Majesty, I Linda Lopez do faithfully swear to serve you, during these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    I lightly touched her right shoulder and then I rested my right hand on her left shoulder.  Her eyes started to tear up.  ¡°I accept your oath my daughter, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Linda Lopez, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you are now an oath sworn citizen of his domain and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  DO NOT BETRAY HIM AGAIN!  Betray your oath and you will lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight Level One


    Plant Magic Level One


    Telepathy Level One


    Levitation Level One


    Quick Thinking Level Two:  When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by twenty percent.


    +48 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +49 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +27 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    Hearing is 2.1 times as acute.


    2.3 x Scent/Odor Detection


    Hmmm, she didn¡¯t get the best combat magical abilities unless it¡¯s possible for her to become something like that comic book super villain ¡°Poison Ivy.¡±  But I guess she could use her Telepathy Ability offensively, although I don¡¯t think she has much of a gift for it.  On the other hand, she did get some nice physical enhancements.


    I helped her to her feet, which surprised her.  I then kissed her on her forehead and gave her a hug, while doing so I whispered into her ear.  ¡°Now, you be a good girl, from now on, and I do still love you.¡±  However, since I¡¯m an asshole, I¡¯m not like one of those parents who have unconditional and unlimited love for their children.  My love for both Linda and her sister is not anywhere near what it once was and speaking honestly if only to myself, I don¡¯t like either of them very much now and I really can¡¯t see that changing, but who knows.


    She clutched at me and started bawling.  ¡°Oh Daddy¡­..¡±


    It took her a while to get calmed down and my eyes were not wet and if they were, it was only because my workshop was so damn dusty.  It¡¯s not like I was having a flashback to when she was a sweet innocent little child.


    Once Linda stepped back, Sandra hurriedly rushed over and knelt down before me.  ¡°Your Majesty, I Sandra Schwartz do faithfully swear to serve you, during these perilous times, to defend your lands and to protect those sentient beings who peacefully reside upon them, so long as they obey your laws and orders.¡±


    Using my right hand, I gently tapped her right shoulder and then I placed my hand on her left shoulder.  Her eyes were even more tear-filled than her sister¡¯s and her lower lip was quivering. I had to wonder if I was being conned again but True Sight gave me no indication of that.  ¡°I accept your oath my daughter, may you serve long and honorably.¡±


    DING


    Sandra Schwartz, for swearing such a powerful oath and having it accepted by the Hermit King Vincent Standish, you are now an oath sworn citizen of his domain and granted the following skills and enhanced attributes to help you in fulfilling your duties.  DO NOT BETRAY HIM AGAIN!  Betray your oath and you will lose all of your new gifts.


    True Sight Level One


    Levitation Level One


    Sound Magic Level One


    Quick Thinking Level One: When things go to hell and ¡°quick thinking is required¡± your thoughts speed up by ten percent.


    +34 Percent Increase in Strength.


    +50 Percent Increase in Dexterity.


    +19 Percent Faster Reflexes.


    +15 Percent Increase in Stamina.


    +6 Percent Faster Healing Rate.


    2.5x Telescopic Vision


    1.3x Scent/Odor Detection


    As I did with Linda, I also helped Sandra to her feet and then hugged her.  Whispering into her ear, I said ¡°You and your sister have to be good girls now.  You have a new baby sister and your own babies too, so you have to set a good example for them.  I love you Pumpkin.¡±  She clutched me tightly and wailed even louder than her older sister.  I think she must have accidentally activated her new Sound Magic Ability.  My head and ears were HURTING by the time she finally let me go, good thing I¡¯m a Healer.


    Because of all that cacophony, we had gathered quite an audience both in my workshop and standing outside, bunch of snoops.  Nina was one of the spectators.


    After quickly fixing my aching head, I held out my arms to my little girl.  ¡°Nina, I would like to introduce you to your older sisters.¡±


    Okay it was nice, it was sweet and it got old really, really quick.  Faith, Grace, Isabella, Jen, and Jean, plus the ¡°J¡± ladies¡¯ children all rushed into my workshop.  They started talking which was fine but then they started repeating themselves, saying the same thing that they had said just a few minutes ago to one another but in a slightly different fashion.


    I held it together for almost an hour.  During that time I cast Appraisal on both Linda and Sandra.  Being an asshole and the lousy father that I am, I was happy to see that neither of them had acquired the title ¡°Princess¡± as Nina had done.  I deserve a medal for my patience and virtue; once I have the time, I¡¯m going to invent one and award it to myself, either that or get falling down drunk.  But for now, I needed to get to work.  I had visors to make, so I chased them all out and got to it.  Well maybe, I first gave all of my daughters hugs and kisses goodnight; and somehow I did the same for Jen¡¯s and Jean¡¯s kids too, but I was still pretty grumpy about it.


    I never got to sleep that night, four hours before dawn I went to the motor pool and checked to see how things were going with the upgrades for our armored vehicles.  Clyde was there and he informed me that Glen had used people with the Telekinesis Ability to stuff the ballistic gelatin into the various voids that I had created in the trailers¡¯ armor.  Once I got to work, it took me nearly two hours to patch things, smooth out some rough spots and re-enchant various areas.  I also crawled under the vehicles and enchanted various pieces of their running gear so as to strengthen them.  By the time I was done, Lieutenant Storm Wind was just arriving.


    So as to haul more people, the C500 would be using a longer trailer and leaving its usual one at home.  One of the two Oshkosh 1070 trucks would be bobtailing this morning, so that it could haul back a Stryker armored car.  As for the C500¡¯s regular trailer, the T800 and the Scorpion tank, their armor would probably be upgraded on Sunday.


    I wished Sir Storm Wind a safe trip, commended him for doing an excellent job and went off to seek my bed.


    Before falling asleep my thoughts turned once more to my oldest daughters.  I must be a mean old cuss, because I definitely had mixed feelings about what I had done last night.  I remember my little girls, the ones that I took fishing and to the amusement park.  Then I remember their older versions that stabbed me in the back.  I guess I feel that they got off far too lightly for the years of pain that they caused me but with the way the world currently is, I feel that I had no other choice but to do what I did, so I guess I¡¯ll just have to suck it up, learn to live with it and keep any whining to myself.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard Convoy


    Lieutenant Storm Wind was riding in an armored trailer that was being towed by one of the 1070 trucks.  He missed the T800 which was still at the Armory and he was eagerly looking forward to the introduction of the new land cruisers.  According to Glen, their turrets would have enough room inside them that one of his people would be able to fit in the back, where the cruiser¡¯s Holman operators would normally be, there was also going to be a split hatch above that location.  Said hatch had also been specifically designed to be wide enough to admit a flyer.  The double wide hatch should additionally make rearming and servicing the land cruiser much more efficient and easier too, however because of the hatch¡¯s sheer size it will take a little longer to open and close.


    Riding in the trailer, despite its powerful weaponry, made Storm Wind feel more like cargo, rather than the Convoy¡¯s Commander.  It galled him almost as badly as his inability to fly freely on this new and hazardous world.


    Sir Wind heard the Sherman¡¯s distinctive air horn, Sergeant Vargas was signaling that he had sighted some Devolved Stone Giants which were classed as a serious threat because of the boulders that they threw and because while they hadn¡¯t done it as of yet; they were able to dig traps, according to the DDS assisted Appraisal of them.


    It would be a serious blow to the Kingdom if they lost a vehicle now and except for the crawler crane, which traveled far too slowly unless put on a trailer and towed, they had no other means as of yet, to recover any disabled tanks and trucks, which was the main reason that Clyde and his people all worked so diligently in keeping every one of the Stronghold¡¯s vehicles in excellent running condition.


    The battle with the giants was fortunately short and swift, just as all such battles with them had been except for the very first one.  But Lieutenant Wind knew that one day that their luck would run out, so once more he turned his mind to figuring out a way to more efficiently recover any vehicle that was ever rendered immobile.


    Four more miles down the road and they were attacked by a huge swarming mass of UGLY unclothed humanoids with big heads, big fang like teeth and claws.  The humans in the trailer with him started blurting out things like ¡°HOLY SHIT, GOBLINS!¡±


    Lieutenant Wind invoked Appraisal.


    Devolved Goblin, this life form can barely be considered sentient.  A member of this species is typically no more than 1.5 meters tall and normally weighs less than 59 kilograms.  They are naturally partially immune to many diseases and toxins, which is both good and bad.  If they didn¡¯t have those resistances they would kill themselves from food poisoning because of what they eat.  It is bad because they are NOT killing themselves from food poisoning.  They are in essence a permanently enraged appetite and they will try and eat anything regardless of the danger that it puts them in.  Too bad that setting out poisoned rotten meat doesn¡¯t work on them; you will only feed them, thus allowing them to produce even more of their kind.


    Hundreds of the insane creatures were madly charging from the south and upon the convoy.  Steam shells and rifle fire was cutting them down in droves and when one of them fell the others would dive upon their fallen brethren, tearing them apart with tooth and claw, all the while stuffing their terrible fanged mouths with the blood red meat of their kin.  It was one of the most horrific sights that Sir Storm Wind could recall seeing on this horrible world.  Using the trailer¡¯s air horn, he ordered the convoy to stop.  He wanted every single one of those creatures dead, so that they would pose no threat to those less heavily protected than his armored forces.


    Despite the withering weapons fire, none of the horrible malformed creatures ever retreated or ran off; they were too attracted to the flesh from their fallen brothers and sisters.


    Twenty minutes later, after the Hermit¡¯s Guard was certain that all of the Goblins were at least fatally injured if not dead, the convoy resumed its journey for Bradley, Ohio.


    Upon arriving at the Armory, Lieutenant Wind learned that it had been attacked, just a few hours prior to dawn by a large pack of the Night Stalker cat hybrids.  No one was injured but it had been a frightening battle because of the sheer number of the monsters.


    While he talked with Captain Long, a Stryker armored car was loaded onto an M1000 trailer, and the 130 passengers scheduled for the morning trip, happily boarded the armored personnel transporters.  Once the armored fighting vehicle was on the M1000 trailer, the Stryker and its trailer were loaded with other items that Captain Long wanted transferred to the Stronghold.


    The return trip to the Stronghold went smoothly with only the sight of some very large carrion birds feasting on the Goblin corpses to disturb them.  While on the drive home, Sir Wind had an interesting conversation with a man who had been one of those rescued from the Bradley shopping center just east of I-75.  The man wore a stout blue coat which for some reason was labeled with the name ¡°Bob¡± on it.


    The reason Storm had even begun a conversation with the man, was because on the back of Bob¡¯s heavy jacket was the picture of a very large truck with a small crane on it.  Above the truck were the words ¡°Bishop¡¯s Towing and Recovery Services.¡±


    The conversation he had with the man was very interesting and Storm also thought of it as being quite fortuitous.  When it was over, he planned on taking ¡°Bob¡± to see Clyde and if it proved necessary, he would physically drag the man to the Minister of Transportation.


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


    The King¡¯s Royal Bedroom


    I woke up in my bed after having a slightly erotic dream.  The blankets were scattered all over and did my bedroom door just close?  I was still half asleep and my eyes wouldn¡¯t focus.  I stumbled into my new underground bathroom and took care of my important morning business or is that afternoon business?


    Maybe I should change my regular sleeping schedule once I get back to sleeping at night again.  I¡¯ve long heard that lots of very successful people believe in taking a nap after lunch, perhaps I should start doing the same.


    I ate and just as I was finishing my meal, I realized that I had missed Private Cooper¡¯s burial service.  Talk about a major guilt trip, while the big memorial had been last night, I had still wanted to attend his internment.  Nina came charging in.  She saw that I was done eating and grabbed my hand.  ¡°Come on Dad, we need you at the laboratory.¡±


    Oh my darling daughter, a budding mad Alchemist, I am so proud.  I hope Blender and Martin set a good example for her.  I let her pull me to my feet.  ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be in school young lady?¡±


    ¡°I got out early today, because Sir Blender and Professor Avis needed my help.  They say that my magical senses for chemical reactions are extraordinary.  But come on, we¡¯ve almost got the first machine working.¡±


    She dragged me along the passageways, like she was a Great Dane and I was just a toddler, I had to stop myself from chuckling.  An amused Lady Sting followed behind us; I wonder if I had a saddle made, if she would let me ride on her back?  Seeing as how her fur is mostly white right now, I could call her Silver and get myself a black mask.  On second thought that might be a bad question to ask.


    An hour after I arrived and began working with the Alchemist geeks, we had a breakthrough!  The Professor¡¯s machine was making ammonia!  I was then told that I could go now.  I think they¡¯ve forgotten who is King here, but I departed anyways after Nina gave me a kiss and a hug for my help.


    I still had bullets, IRODs and visors to make.  As I was walking to my workshop, a frantic looking soldier came running up to me with very big eyes.  ¡°Your Majesty, I¡¯m from the northern wall.  There is a, there is a¡­.¡±  I couldn¡¯t decide if the woman was stuttering or hiccupping but either way, I was afraid that she was going to pass out from a lack of oxygen.


    I tried speaking in a soothing voice.  ¡°Calm down Private and breathe slowly; there is a what, at the northern wall?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a sq¡­¡­,¡± she stopped herself for a moment, took a deep breath, and then continued.  ¡°There is an emissary from a new species there, she¡¯s an orange screen and she says that she means us no harm.  As to what she is, I don¡¯t think that you would believe me Your Majesty, so I think that you should see for yourself.


    At a light jog, I set off running through the passageways and towards the northern wall.  The Guardswoman informed me that another messenger had already been sent to get Captain Mesquida.


    Arriving at the wall, I once again cursed the fact that we didn¡¯t have any elevators yet.  I ran up the steps and by an act of will alone, I did not puke when I reached the top.  I wonder if I can make a steam or air powered treadmill because I definitely need to get some more exercise.  If I built the right setup, I could enchant and slowly work out at the same time.


    Hobbling, I made my way over to the wall¡¯s central bunker.  The Private opened the door for me and I stepped inside.  Then my mouth dropped open, peripherally I was aware that Sir Mesquida and Lady Star were also in the room, but they seemed to be as shocked as I was.


    The emissary stared back at me from her perch on the window sill.  She was wearing something like a crash helmet with goggles and some kind of vest or maybe tabard with lots of pockets on it.  I didn¡¯t believe my eyes, so I activated Appraisal.


    Name: Berry Blaze


    Class: Ambassador


    Class: Astronaut


    Class: Research Scientist


    Title: Matriarch of the Blaze Family


    Title: Emissary for the People of the Trees


    After quickly reading that information, I immediately focused on the words ¡°People of the Trees¡± and used Appraisal on the phrase.


    People of the Trees, a species of sentient dwarf flying squirrels with opposable thumbs.  Their bodies are from 14 to 20 centimeters long and their tails are anywhere from 10 to 14 centimeters in length.  They typically weigh from 150 to 220 grams.  On their home world, they are a people experienced in both modest magic and rather advanced technology.  They have visited the nearer planets in their solar system.


    My brain was still trying to process things; this was all far too much for me, like I had just stepped into Toon-town and if I had, where the fuck was Jessica Rabbit?  The Emissary then spoke, while her voice was a little bit high, it was still very pleasant to hear and it was easy to tell that she was speaking an actual language and not just making random noises.  An orange screen appeared before me.


    King Standish, I realize that my relatively small size and appearance has come as quite a shock to you.  But I have urgent business with you that we must begin discussing at once.


    Being a brilliant quick thinking man and experienced at interacting with four intelligent alien species, if I include the Sky Krakens, I carefully chose my next words.  ¡°HOLY SHIT, IT¡¯S A TALKING SQUIRREL!¡±


    The squirrel in question closed her eyes, perhaps in disgust, and slowly shook her head.  But while I might have made a slight faux pas, Captain Mesquida¡¯s response filled me with both glee and dread.  He squealed like prepubescent schoolgirl.  ¡°OOOH, she is Adorable.¡±  George singlehandedly set back human-squirrel relations by at least one hundred years and precipitated the Great Acorn War of 2016.  And that was on top of losing his man card for all time.  Is it wrong for me to be so happy?


    Oops, Star just kicked me; I guess I have to get my head back in the game.  I hope I can count on the soldiers within the bunker, telling the tale of what Captain Mesquida said, but only one of them is human and other two might not even care.  I wonder if I can get t-shirts made to commemorate this moment and his words.


    The squirrel lady obviously had access to the DDS translator.  ¡°Matriarch Blaze, welcome to the Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Our doors are always open to good people, no matter their species, so long as they mean us no harm.¡±


    I hope you do mean that King Standish, for you are my family¡¯s only hope.  Several solar rotations ago, my people discovered that our universe would be coming to an end.  Our greatest minds had discovered that the physical laws of our very reality were changing or being rewritten.  It was predicted that when this wave front of change, swept over our solar system that at best, our lives would end and at worse even matter and energy would simply cease to exist.  For that reason, all of our off world colonies and research bases were abandoned and we all went home to be with our families for the final end.  Much to our surprise, over 150 planetary cycles ago we received a Warning Message; perhaps you received the same kind of communication, seeing as how the Ding-Ding Advisors also seem to have access to your world but no matter.  We listened to that message and though we had little time, we prepared ourselves as best we could; using both our magic and technology while they still worked.


    But tragically because of our arrogance or perhaps carelessness, all too soon we found out that we had not prepared ourselves as well as we should have.  All too soon, our technology began to fail and our magic began to change.  We thought that the citadels that we had constructed, to protect our people, would be proof against the greatest of threats and would give use time to learn about our new and altered world.  However, within a mere forty day cycles we found out how wrong we were.  We strove to adapt, we worked harder and we frantically attempted to investigate what had changed, in terms of both the mundane and the magical in our universe.  During that time, hundreds of my friends and kin gave their lives protecting us from the monsters that came and it was all to prove for naught; for new and larger horrors crossed onto my world and they crushed our fortress without even realizing that it was there.  That calamity gave the smaller monsters access to our refuge and those smaller creatures were hungry.


    Out of four clans or families, numbering well over three thousand people, there were less than five hundred of us left at the end, when we made our final stand.  But at that final moment a Ding-Ding Advisor said that she was going to break the rules and force open up a rift for a few of us to escape through, to a new world.  She warned us that the new world would also be a dangerous place to live but that someone who she described as being insanely lucky had constructed a safe haven and that we would probably be able to seek refuge with him at least on a temporary basis.  Less than three hundred of us successfully made it through that rift and that was only three day cycles ago.  Sadly, the Advisor was unable to open the rift directly into your fortress or even close to it.  Because of the long trek and the dangers that we had to face, there are now only 148 of us left and most of those are children.  I beg you to please let us live here under your protection, at least temporarily, until we can stand on our own.


    For a second there, I wondered if my new Teleport Block had prevented a rift from being opened here, but the squirrels had arrived three days ago and I had only established the block two days ago, which reminded me that I think it¡¯s almost time for me to touch up that spell and give it a light polish.  But I was kind of pissed at Matriarch Blaze.  She had little kids waiting outside and instead of simply saying ¡°I¡¯ve got lots of babies in danger, can I please bring them here?¡±  She chose to give me a long winded speech.  Maybe that kind of attitude; is why they did so poorly when their world changed?


    ¡°If you have tiny children outside we have no time to waste.  We can talk further, once they are inside and safe.  Where are your people now and can they safely come here on their own or do we need to go and fetch them?¡±


    The Matriarch seemed slightly stunned by my rapid reply.  She blinked her comparatively large eyes at me, before answering.  She pointed to the north.  They are approximately three kilometers away and in that direction.  I was high up in a tree when I saw your fortress¡¯s wall.  With all the babies in our care, it would be well past dark before we could move them all here on our own.  So using what little new magic that we now have, we created some hollows within some trees and while the others hid, I went ahead to plead our cause.


    ¡°Captain Mesquida, we have children to rescue.  I know we don¡¯t have any real armored vehicles left here but gather together the best that you have.  I want to get moving within twenty minutes.¡±


    There were some attempts at dissuading me, from going on the rescue mission.  But I kind of silenced them with a glare.  Did they all forget that I am a GRUMPY Hermit King?


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


    Evonne Sting trembled as she followed her King back down the stairs.  For the first time since she had met him, he had seemed like one of the old nobility from her own world and she wasn¡¯t sure if she liked it.


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


    The Grumpy Hermit


    We were taking five of our seven converted SUVs on our trip.  All were lightly armored with an inch of smashed aluminum and two of them had turrets in back, each armed with a single 20mm rifle.  A person could simply stand up in the SUV¡¯s luggage area and have their torso extend into the transparent aluminum turret.  There were also firing slits on all of the vehicles.


    I was wearing my full set of armor and despite numerous objections; I was riding on top of the SUV that was in the center of the convoy.  With our tanks all gone, I was now the only big gun that we had and I needed to be able to respond to any threat, regardless of the direction it comes from.  Using my Earth Magic and some scrap aluminum, courtesy of the Reeze; I had made and attached to the vehicle¡¯s roof, a contrivance that looked a lot like a medical walker, so I would have something to hang on to and not fall off.


    However, despite my loud objections, all three of the Guardians, who obviously could not fit inside the SUVs, insisted on accompanying us anyways and they were now running alongside, the stupid idiots.


    If the squirrels were indeed less than two miles away they were sort of inside the safe zone that our frequent battles had established about the Stronghold.


    During the short drive, I was barely able to discern some large, very shiny shapes just on the edge of the horizon, and they seemed to be coming our way, which was good because we now had early warning of their arrival but it was also bad, because about the time they got to the Stronghold, if they maintained their typical slow pace, was also approximately when we expected the convoy to return.


    We left the vehicles on the road, when Matriarch Blaze thought we were getting close to her kin, and it took us over twenty minutes to get to the trees that her friends and family were hiding in.  We had brought some large wooden boxes that we had packed with a layer of furs, to transport our new guests in.  The adult Tree People insisted on personally moving all of their young to our boxes.  There looked to be at least four small children for each surviving adult squirrel.


    Looking down into one of those boxes and seeing all of those intelligent squirrel babies, caused me to almost feel sick with sadness, the tiny things all looked to be traumatized to the hundredth power.  I quickly pulled back, once I realized that having some giant ugly monkey peering down at them; probably wasn¡¯t the best thing for their mental health.


    The sight of those Dominators coming our way, had forced me to make a decision that I had been putting off.


    Our mission was a success and we were returning home, we turned onto County Road 272 and with only about a mile to go, I yelled down to the driver to ¡°Stop the Car,¡± from my perch atop the SUV.  Thankfully the Corporal did as I ordered.  I got down, and mentally shivered while I looked at that long expanse of very cold asphalt road before me.  Shrugging my shoulders, I sat my butt down on that freezing surface and began talking off my greaves and boots.  George, Evonne and her caterpillar cohorts, were not very pleased with my actions and they began loudly demanding to know, what I was doing.  Well they can kiss my frozen royal behind.  I had decided that despite this road being the official property of the County that I was going to attempt to stake my claim to it.  I didn¡¯t give my people any warning because I had feared that they would try and stop me or simply argue with me so long that precious time would be lost.


    It was my hope that since the County was almost certainly defunct by now, and even though in the scheme of things, that was only a relatively recent change in its status, that still somehow my Landowner Magic would work.  Roads and the right to freely travel upon them is a very big thing to me; far more important in my world view than any governmental building or monument, yet here I was about to try and lay claim to one.  I¡¯m a filthy land grabber, I am!


    ¡°Vince, what the hell are you doing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve got spiders coming our way and quite possibly filled with captured innocents.  All of our armored combat vehicles are gone and we can¡¯t be certain about when they will return.  We¡¯ll need every edge that we can scrape up, if we¡¯re going to take down those shell wearing assholes while at the same time, causing their rides minimum damage, because of the possibility of what their cargo might be.  So I need you to take the two SUV¡¯s loaded with our new guests back to the Stronghold, while I take a barefoot stroll.  Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯re within spitting distance of home and I should get there about twenty minutes after you do.¡±


    They all decided to start giving me some more back talk; maybe I might have growled at them.  Alright I did growl at them.  ¡°WE DON¡¯T HAVE TIME FOR THIS SHIT!  GET MOVING and Captain come up with a plan that gives us at least a chance of taking down those mechanized monsters without destroying their central bodies.¡±


    George glared back at me but he nodded his head and obeyed.


    Using my Wind and Fire Magic, I wrapped my feet in a cocoon of warmed air.  It wasn¡¯t perfect but it prevented my feet from being unbearably cold and sticking to the frozen road.  There was one SUV on either side of me and one to my rear, forming an outer layer of protection for me.  The three Guardians formed my inner guard and man did they seem pissed.  I had been ignoring more than one orange screen of text from Evonne.  I am a bad King.


    My Earth Magic had grown slightly and at a guess it seemed that I was now able to claim any land within about seventy-five feet of my location.  But there was some resistance as I started claiming the County Road.  I¡¯m not sure if that was because of my own preconceived notions concerning property rights or if there was something more to it, but I kept at it anyways, even though it took more than twice the energy that I had been expecting to use.


    We made it safely back home, taking over a half an hour to make the trip instead of the twenty minutes that I had predicted.  The delay being caused by that resistance I had to overcome.  Star was not happy with me, in fact I got frowns from just about everyone, but that¡¯s just TFB (too fucking bad).


    The squirrels had been taken to our infirmary but because of their small size I wanted them someplace much more isolated.  While we don¡¯t have many pets in the Stronghold, there are at least a few dogs and cats.  So I decided to loan the squirrels my old home at least for the time being; just the kitchen was being used nowadays and that was only occasionally.  I turned on all of my house¡¯s inside faucets, to a slow steady trickle and left them that way, so that the squirrels could use them for washing up and even relieving themselves.  Then, using a touch of magic I sealed the toilets seats shut.  I had this horrible vision where somehow one of their babies had succeeded in flushing themselves down a toilet; well it wasn¡¯t going to happen in my home.  I also magically glued down the strainer in the kitchen sink, thus blocking the old electric garbage disposal.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Isabella got on well with the Tree People and Steve assigned four older and very conscientious children to act as our new guests¡¯ aids and guides.  I would let the squirrels decompress for a few days and then we would talk.  Now I have to plan how to best use Captain Mesquida¡¯s reaction to the Tree People against him.  Besides t-shirts, maybe I should have some banners made?


    But before I got back to work, I had to pay the cemetery a visit.  It had been almost a week since I last stopped by to see Private Lee and of course I needed to say a few prayers by Private Hooper¡¯s grave.  Who knows, in a couple of hours I might be joining them.


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


    Convoy to the Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    Both 1070 semi-trucks were bobtailing for the final run of the day.  The plan was that they would each hook up to an M1000 trailer.  One of those heavy duty trailers would be loaded with the remaining Stryker, while the second trailer would carry another Oshkosh truck.  On their return journey to the Armory, they had four encounters.  Giant varieties of bears, chipmunks and squirrels all made a brief appearance but did not bother the convoy.  However just before entering Bradley another horde of goblins attacked the armored vehicles; they too were wiped out just as the earlier swarm had been.  And that battle had been just as frightening and disgusting for the Hermit¡¯s Guard as their first one with the horrible little humanoids.


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


    Armory in Bradley, Ohio


    It was with a great sigh of relief that Captain Long boarded the T800 truck.  There were still things of value to transfer, most especially several more Oshkosh trucks and their trailers but there was no longer any reason for her to remain at the Armory what with the all of her people now at the new embassy compound.  While she had lived in Bradley for almost all of her life, after the horrors she had endured during the last several months she didn¡¯t think that she would mind one bit if she never saw the place again.


    Just before leaving the city, the convoy stopped for an hour at a fabric store that had long been on the Kingdom¡¯s list of places to loot, although it wasn¡¯t exactly looting since they had the owner¡¯s permission.  The Hermit¡¯s Guard was transferring what they could, for thirty-five percent of the take.


    Lieutenant Wind was predicting that with no unusual encounters on their way home that they should arrive at the Stronghold a good hour or more before dusk.


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


    The Stronghold of Hermit¡¯s Forge


    I had only been talking with Privates Cooper and Lee for a few minutes when George came walking up.


    ¡°Hey Boss, I¡¯ve got a plan to fight the Arachnids but it¡¯s nothing special.  As you know, there are still a lot of Dominator carcasses lying out there, from our very first battle with the snails.  So I¡¯ve got teams of magic users, covering up those fallen machines with earth and snow.  There¡¯s no way that we can completely disguise them but I¡¯m hoping that we can break up their outlines and leave the new bunch guessing, at least until they get really close, that is if the approaching snails don¡¯t already know about the Dominators we¡¯ve already destroyed.


    But I¡¯m going to need your help Vince.  There¡¯s an excellent chance that the Reeze will see something that alarms them and since there are only five of them, they might very well change their course.  I want to establish a large bunker on the other side of 272.  So if they do veer away from the Stronghold, teams of sharpshooters in that bunker can snipe at their legs and hopefully bring them down.  I know how quickly you can build things and the snails are still over three hours away, so if you could lend us an hour or two of your time, I would appreciate it.¡±


    I was surprised that the three Guardians who had absolutely refused to leave my side with a known enemy approaching, didn¡¯t raise any objections before I spoke.  ¡°Certainly George, let¡¯s get to it.¡±


    It took us almost a half an hour to get out to the road, with a couple of utility tractors that I had loaded with Earth Stones and four Fire Stones.


    The first thing that I did was claim even more land.  I walked another hundred yards south on County Road 272, then into fields to the east and finally back north again.  I claimed land the entire time and when I was done, I had added a swath of land about 150 feet wide and almost half a mile long to my holdings.


    On the new eastern edge of my Kingdom and after first emplacing some Earth Stones, I started building the bunker or rather bunkers, since I had decided to build more than one.  The line of small forts wouldn¡¯t have any doors since good ones took time to make.  George¡¯s idea was that the bunkers would be staffed by those Guardsmen who possessed Teleportation Magic; we had thirty-six of them currently at the Stronghold.


    I built five of the tiny forts; all were approximately thirty feet long and twenty feet wide.  They had a partial story above ground and a basement.  From the outside, their roofs were only about six feet tall.  When I grew the bunkers I left some dirt, bushes and small trees on top of them, so that they would be harder to distinguish.  The small forts were approximately forty feet apart and connected to one another by a tunnel, each of them also had a Fire Stone so as to keep those stationed inside fairly comfortable, though with five bunkers one of the tractors had to retrieve another such stone from Stronghold.  The walls were all made of compressed stone and were about three feet thick.  I did everything by eye and no measurements were made.  George accompanied me as I worked, making frequent grunting noises and saying ¡°that looks good enough.¡±  It¡¯s barely possible, that what I did impressed my new bodyguards.


    I was magically slapping everything together, it should be strong enough but quality work requires either tools or for me to use up A LOT OF TIME while precisely controlling my magic.  That¡¯s why our factory is so very important for our continued survival.  I or someone else with Earth Magic can make a cutting bit more efficient by strengthening it and/or softening the material that it¡¯s cutting but unless we waste a lot of time, we can¡¯t be as precise as that cutting bit and even then we still probably won¡¯t do the job nearly as well.  Although, when we build our drawbridge, I¡¯ll almost certainly be forced to make the huge trunnion that it requires, which is going to be a major pain in the ass.  I wonder, is there someplace, where can I acquire a GIANT size pair of calipers?


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


    The Eastern Bunker Line


    George watched as his King, Vincent Standish, built in one hour what all of the Earth Mages within the Stronghold couldn¡¯t do in less than eight and that¡¯s only if they found some way to seamlessly work together.


    Two wildly different thoughts arose in Captain Mesquida¡¯s head.  One, he desperately wanted a smaller Earth Stone for his own use.  And two, he was beginning to have an inkling of a plan on how the Hermit¡¯s Guard could attack the Teeteelans.


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


    Guardians Evonne Sting, Elva Slayer and Danni Blocker had hard time focusing on their job and not watching their new Monarch as he MAGICALLY built a very stout row of little fortresses.  Any second thoughts they had about swearing allegiance to him had been swept totally away.


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


    Within a Dominator Prison Cell


    Cliff clutched his dying baby daughter in his arms.  He had lost his wife and other children; he simply refused to let his little girl go.  The monsters had captured his family, along with hundreds of others and in the process they had carelessly and callously killed over half of those with the poisoned nets that they used; then had come the terrible sorting process, where the snails had eliminated the smaller children and those older ones that were too severely injured.


    Cliff had been stunned and because of that he hadn¡¯t been able to act quickly enough to save his other children but once he could move, he had wrapped his own body about Sonnet¡¯s and despite how the snails had burned him and pulled at his arms with their tentacles, he had refused to surrender his tiny baby.  So giving up in frustration, the snails had simply thrown him in a cell with his little girl still wrapped protectively in his arms.  But despite his actions, the poison that his darling daughter had been exposed to was slowly killing her.  She could not eat or drink and her breathing was steadily growing worse.


    He started to sing softly to his little Sonnet; he hoped that during her final moments that she would hear his song and be comforted by it.  Tears fell from his eyes and onto her tiny beautiful face.


    Suddenly he felt some strange vibrations, there were screeching sounds and then the whole room became to tilt.  They were falling; he desperately put his body between the wall and his daughter.  He slammed into the wall and onto his badly burned back; he could feel some or perhaps all of his ribs break, and then the back of his skull struck the wall and he was knocked unconscious.


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


    The Eastern Bunker Line


    Newly commissioned Lieutenant Star Astrologer of the equally newly formed Stronghold Home Guard Militia had been put in command of the bunkers because she was not only the best Telepath in the Kingdom, she was also the best Teleporter too, next to Princess Nina that is.  Her subordinate was newly commissioned Home Guard Lieutenant Glen Stewart, because he was the third best Teleporter in the Kingdom and he had insisted, thrown a fit actually, at being let in on the action.  Because of the creation of the Militia, the Bunkers not only had the thirty-six Guardsmen who could teleport but also another dozen Home Guard Militia men and women.  All had their own personal weapons and twenty millimeter rifles, loaded with enchanted bullets.  The plan was for them to shoot the legs off of any spiders that they saw.


    The arachnids were now walking parallel to the road and just to the east of the bunkers.  Evidently, they had spotted the disguised mounds where their fellow Dominators had fallen and while they didn¡¯t seem to have recognized what they were, they had still decided to change their course and go around the large obstacles.


    Lady Star could feel waves of despair emanating from the huge alien machines.  She telepathically sent to all of her command.  ¡°Be careful with your shots, there are definitely prisoners aboard those spiders and don¡¯t fire until I give the word.  I want to take them all down nearly simultaneously.¡±  She next began assigning targets for all of her sharpshooters; exactly which spider to shoot at and which specific leg or legs to aim for.


    The five Dominators were walking in single file, and the length of their formation was much greater than the total length of the line of bunkers.  So the Lady Knight, with Glen¡¯s agreement, was forced to let two of the huge machines walk by, with the plan being that they would attempt to shoot the rear legs off of those two arachnids, once firing commenced.  She would give the order to shoot, when the third Dominator was smack dab in front of the middle bunker.


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


    The Convoy Returning to Hermit¡¯s Forge


    When he saw the monstrous aluminum arachnids about seven miles distant, Sergeant Vargas immediately stopped his tank and instead of using his air horn, he personally ran back and informed Lieutenant Wind about the foe.


    ¡°Sergeant Vargas, I¡¯ll be transferring to the trailer towed by the C500 since it has better armor.  We are going to split the convoy into two, with about a mile separating each segment.  To the rear we will have those trucks and trailers that are loaded with cargo.  They will have the T800 at their tail and the Scorpion at their fore, for protection.


    The more heavily armored vehicles will be in the leading section.  Your tank will take point as usual; the Priest will be next, followed by the C500 and finally the Hellcat.  We want only legs shots against those Dominators, there could be human captives aboard them and we don¡¯t want to be accidentally killing any innocents if we can possibly avoid it.


    Sergeant Jacobs, you already have experience boarding those alien machines, so start making your own plans, in anticipation of when we bring those monsters down to earth.¡±


    Further orders were issued to the other vehicle commanders and then following the Lieutenant¡¯s plan, the vehicles proceeded westward on US 36, towards home and their meeting with the mechanized monsters.


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


    Line of Eastern Bunkers


    Knight Lieutenant Star Astrologer, mentally and verbally shouted out ¡°FUEGO!¡± with relish and a fierce grin on her face.  ¡°To hell with being the quiet, polite, civilized advisor in the background,¡± she thought, ¡°I want to kill these murdering assholes!¡±


    When the shooting first started the Reeze didn¡¯t even realize, that they were under attack for a moment despite the strange vibrations caused in their alien machines by the powerful 20mm enchanted bullets.  Because of that delay, each sharpshooter was easily able to get off two well aimed shots before the slow moving and ponderous, mechanized spiders even began to react.


    The northern most bunker (bunker one) was engaging the two Dominators at the tail end of the alien column.  There were eight firing slots in that bunker facing the enemy.  The soldiers at the three gun ports on the northern side were to target the rearmost spider, while the sharpshooters firing from the slots that faced the east, were by dint of angling their weapons northward able to fire on the next arachnid in line.


    The sharpshooters shooting at the last mechanical monster perhaps had some of the most difficult shots to make, as a consequence to that they only succeeded in damaging one leg.  But their fellow soldiers on the eastern side of the bunker were far luckier and they succeeded in disabling two of the legs on the spider that they had been assigned to engage.  Those legs began to slowly collapse as hydraulic fluid spilled from them and the arachnid began to tilt to its right side.


    As for the third or middle Dominator it was targeted by the sharpshooters in three different bunkers and all of its right side legs were much more catastrophically disabled, with chunks of them being simply blown off.  If the situation hadn¡¯t been so dire, the cartoonish way that the spider crashed to earth would have been funny.  However Lieutenant Star, who found that she actually LIKED commanding in a battle, rather than advising behind the scenes, was disgusted that her bunker which had easiest shots of all; scored the fewest number of hits on the enemy.


    The southernmost bunker, like the northernmost, had to engage two spiders.  The sharpshooters in that tiny fortress disabled one leg on the leading alien machine and two legs on the one trailing it, that machine began to tilt to its right.


    The only two Dominators left standing stably on their feet began to finally react but they were too slow.  But sadly since they were at the extreme opposite ends of the alien line, they could only be fired upon by the sharpshooters that were stationed at only six firing ports.


    The northernmost arachnid finally had a leg disabled, while the southernmost spider had a second leg rendered non-functional, thus causing it to start sinking to its right.  The northern machine was now the only Dominator left standing upright and with one of its forelegs no longer working, it was reduced to a truly pitiful slow pace.  The battle had been a complete surprise for the Reeze and so swift that not even a single enemy steam cannon had been fired in reply.  It took two more, three gun salvos before the final spider was brought down.


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


    Sergeant Jacobs was once again leading a fire team into an alien spider machine and once more he didn¡¯t have any hand grenades, he was not a happy man.  He glanced through a window in a cell door and froze in shock.  Turning quickly he spoke to the Private behind him.  ¡°Fletcher, get the Lieutenant in here right now.  I don¡¯t care if his wings, makes for a tight fit, get him in here NOW!¡±


    The Private took her own peek into that same cell.  Her eyes grew wide and then she ran back towards where they had breached the hull, calling out for Lieutenant Storm Wind.


    # # # # # # # # # # # # # #


    Koalitsija-SV Prototype Twin-Barrel Howitzer


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvy-XAaYEHg</a>


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E54FxyVVMfk</a>


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf2WsmZJGgc</a>


    Jacob Sheep


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_sheep</a>


    Elvira, Mistress of the Dark


    https://www.elvira.com/</a>


    Nitrogen


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_nitrate</a>


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haber_process</a>


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostwald_process</a>


    Whipple Armor


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipple_shield</a>


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_armour</a>


    Goblin


    http://paizo.com/image/product/secondary/Pathfinder/Pathfinder_Goblin2_200.jpg</a>


    Flying Squirrels


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-FHzf4xnWw</a>


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkxNljd9IA8</a>


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_squirrel</a>


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_dwarf_flying_squirrel</a>


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSUXXzN26zg</a>


    Character List


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Version eight of the Defective Hermit Character List; is a work in progress.


    Some of the following information is quite detailed and at other times it¡¯s not, sorry. There are probably some errors too.  This Character List is a work in progress.  I am pulling together information from multiple files and having to decide what I want to reveal.  I will keep tacking it on to the end of most chapters until I feel like I¡¯ve got it right.  (Which will probably be never, especially since it continues to grow.)


    Population of Embassy: 599 (31 in transit)


    Unaffiliated: 17


    Total Population of Stronghold (not including embassy compound, unaffiliated and guests): 1148 (+43 in transit)


    People with assigned jobs: 631


    Note: Many people help out wherever they can, like Clyde also being a Healer.


    Those under fifteen (217), except for the very young, are now being encouraged to attend classes and apprenticeship courses. Those fifteen and over (38); have part time jobs and also take classes.  Those eighteen on up have to work full time, twelve hours a day is quite common.


    Unassigned: 300 (43 in transit)


    Guests: 148


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


    Name: Vincent Standish


    Primary Class and Title: Hermit King


    Class: Professional Hermit


    Title: Sovereign and Absolute Monarch of the Kingdom of Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit King


    Title: The Grumpy Hermit


    Warning Label:  Caution, This is an Insanely Strong Smelling Hermit; It is Extremely Dangerous When Enraged.   Please Keep Hands and Feet Away From Its Mouth at All Times.


    Name: Nina Rivera Standish


    Title: Princess


    Title: The Survivor


    Sex: Female


    Age: 11


    True Sight Level: Three


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 4


    Teleportation Level: 4


    Telekinesis Level: 4


    Alchemy Level: 1


    Hearing is 1.2 times as acute.


    1.2x Scent/Odor Detection


    Oldest Daughter, Linda (blue screen) married to Attorney James Lopez (orange screen), daughter Angela is six months old when she arrives at compound.


    Youngest Daughter (by two years) Sandra (blue screen) married to Jacob Schwartz (green screen, former sales manager for a new car dealership), their son Jonathan four months old when he arrives at compound.


    Ex-wife Nancy Connor (blue screen), her boyfriend Steve Griffith (blue screen) is gone and probably dead.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Guard (279):


    Name: George Mesquida


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Captain


    Title: Captain


    Title: Husband of Sheryl and Ruth Mesquida


    Name: Candace Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Daughter of Sean and Denise Murphy


    Name: Boris Khan


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Name: Storm Wind


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Husband of Dawn Song


    Title: Father of Mountain Breeze


    Note: Mountain Breeze is a very young boy.


    Name: Night Storm


    Primary Class and Title: Chief; Second Chief of the Terran Long Flight Clan


    Secondary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Soldier


    Class: Combat Officer


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Knight Lieutenant


    Title: Lieutenant


    Title: Wife of Metal Grinder


    Title: Mother of Smoky Night


    Note: Smoky Night is a very young girl.


    Lieutenant Evonne Sting, orange screen, swift runner Guardian


    Sergeant Elva Slayer, orange screen, swift runner Guardian


    Sergeant Danni Blocker, orange screen, swift runner Guardian


    Sergeant Richard Jacobs (green screen, Vietnam veteran, very attractive man) married to Martha (green screen), surviving with two great grandchildren.  Normally he serves aboard the T800 or Hellcat. He is a world class sneak and throat slitter.  Additionally he is an unconventional yet effective drill instructor.


    Sergeant Jeffrey Vargas (green screen, Vietnam veteran, commanded a M113 during war), now he typically commands the Sherman tank. No magical abilities other than the True Sight Skill but he has a very nice selection of physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Derrick Miter, former marine M60 tank driver in Vietnam, green screen, normally drives or commands the Priest. Note: He can levitate, teleport, and use telekinesis.  He also has several physical enhancements.


    Sergeant Tornado Challenger, green screen, flyer, male, he is a daredevil when only his own life is on the line.


    Sergeant Latisha Steele, orange screen, former Intelligence Analyst with the US Army.  Always desired to serve aboard a tank but it wasn¡¯t allowed at the time.


    Corporal Fish Diver, green screen, flyer female, Tornado Challenger¡¯s fianc¨¦e, she is extremely accurate when dive bombing her foes.


    Corporal Sticks Spearmaker, green screen, female craft-maker, though she is still making weapons she joined the Hermit¡¯s Guard because she feels that pole-arms aren¡¯t as important nowadays.


    Corporal Tammy Harding, green screen, former Army soldier, former INS Agent


    Corporal Brandy Zhang, green screen, former US Marshall, normally serves as driver for Hellcat.


    Corporal Fall Roar, green screen flyer


    Private Dominic Jackson, green screen, sharpshooter, had previously worked as a waiter in a high end restaurant.  Few skills but he has been gratified to find that he has the makings of a natural shot.


    Private Waxy Candlemaker, green screen, female


    Private Feather Fletcher, green screen, female


    Private Strings Bowyer, green screen, male


    Private Stinky Tanner, green screen, male


    Private Net (Nettie) Fisher, green screen, female


    Private Stacy Nord, green screen, female


    Private Quentin Lee, first member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall.  Died defending the Southern Wall from King Mandrills.


    Private Hoops Cooper, second member of the Hermit¡¯s Guard to fall, died at the battle of US36, on March third, while fighting 18 Dominators.


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


    Construction and Maintenance (75):


    Name: Macallister Smith


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Construction and Maintenance


    Fred Stone: Civil Engineer, picked up at County Building along with his wife, Wendy.


    Jean White: Civil Engineer, picked up at the County Building.  She is a Green Screen with two children, Brittany is 8 and Peter is 5.  Her husband is deceased.


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


    The Shop Crew (93):


    Name: Glen Stewart


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Manufacturing and Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, Mechanic and Machinist


    Name: Grace Lee


    Former Aircraft Mechanic and Machinist


    Note: Oath Sworn, Retired Naval Petty Office, Release Prisoner (technically guilty but extenuating circumstances should have found her innocent, Prosecutor was a jerk, the jury were idiots, and the guy started it.)  She now lives in the Hermit¡¯s home.


    Ronald Lewis is an expert welder and burgeoning Fire Mage (Ron¡¯s magic wand).   (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Andrew Thomas is a former appliance repair man.  (Green screen, released innocent prisoner.)


    Scott Blaine is an expert machinist as well as a tool and die maker.  (Blue screen, alcoholic, is guilty of vehicular homicide, served most of his sentence and is truly repentant.)


    Sean Murphy (green screen) is an expert gunsmith, husband of Lady Denise Murphy Minister of Health and father of Knight Lieutenant Candace Murphy.


    Rufus Stokes (green screen) former M48 tanker, mechanic and drag car racer.  Note: He knows how to link multiple engines together.


    Mindy Stokes (green screen) is his wife and pregnant.


    David Hu, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Linda Hu, mother, office manager, True Sight


    Nicolas Silva, father, mechanic, True Sight


    Reyna Cupples, green screen, Watchmaker/repairer


    Robert Barton, orange screen, Boilermaker


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


    Motor Pool (25):


    Name: Clyde Jenkins


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Minister of Transport


    Note: Farmer, collector of old tractors and former tank crewman.


    Chester Fletcher (green screen) Note: He used to own the gravel pit and associated equipment.


    Bob Wilkins, green screen, driver of large recovery vehicle


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


    Peacekeepers (5):


    Name: Faith Harper


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Justice


    Note: Former Judge


    Melissa Kilmer (age: 13), Orange Screen, Squire to Lady Faith.


    Sir James Lopez (orange screen and former attorney)


    Note: Son-in-law of the Hermit King.


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


    People Who Keep Things Running (6):


    Name: Jennifer Boon


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Hermit King Vincent Standish


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner and she has two children, Elizabeth is seven and Stephen is four years old.


    Name: Star Astrologer


    Primary Title and Class: Lady Knight


    Class: Wise One


    Title: Leader of the Free Craft-Maker People


    Title: The Wise One


    Title: The Dignified One


    Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


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


    Food Production (90):


    Name: Isabella Gomez


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Royal Botanist


    Title: Minister of Food Production


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner


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


    Logistics and Supply (18):


    Name: Stephen Monet


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Title: Castellan


    Title: Minister of Logistics and Supply


    Note: Released Innocent Prisoner, former owner of a trucking company.


    Name: Barbara Monet


    Note: Oath sworn to both the King and her husband (his secretary/clerk too).


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


    Health Department (13):


    Name: Denise Murphy


    Primary Class and Title: Knight


    Class: Healer


    Class: Soldier


    Title: Lady Knight


    Title: Minister of Health and Chief Healer


    Title: Wife of Sean Murphy


    Title: Mother of Candace Murphy


    Note: Nurse and an excellent shot.  She and her daughter are equally good with a rifle and better than Sean.


    Peggy Barnes; green screen, released innocent prisoner, nurse, possesses healing magic.


    Gloria Bennett; blue screen, released prisoner, nurse practitioner; Note: gambling and drug problems, possesses healing magic.


    Giovanna Silva, mother, dental hygenist, Healer, True Sight


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


    Black Powder Production and Alchemical Research (31):


    Blender Apothecary (green screen) is the Second Chief of the Craft-Makers. Note: Possible Enchanter if abused sufficiently enough by Vince.


    Professor Martin Avis (green screen) is a retired University Professor of Chemistry and now Alchemist, rescued after the battle with the Dominators on US 36.


    Nina Standish


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


    Flyer Population within Stronghold:


    Long Flight Clan


    Storm Wind OS, wife is Dawn Song OS, boy child Mountain Breeze


    Night Storm OS (Black and Brown Wings), husband is Metal Grinder OS, daughter is Smokey Night OS


    Tornado Challenger GS, fianc¨¦e is Fish Diver GS (her sister is Autumn Blaze GS and nephew is Star Bright OS)


    Dawn Wind


    Spring Breeze


    Corporal Fall Roar


    Winter Wind


    Cloudy Day


    Storm Cloud


    Total Members: 62


    Children: 32


    Soaring Dawn Clan


    Name: Dawn Rain


    Title: Chief of The Soaring Dawn Clan on Earth


    Title: The Unhappy Survivor


    Morning Mist, Second Chief, orange screen


    Total Members: 24


    Children: 12


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


    Craftmaker Population within Stronghold:


    1st Group: 46 Adults, no children


    2nd Group: 47 Adults, 17 Children


    3rd Group: 7 Adults (Chapter 27)


    4th Group: 26 Adults, 8 Children (Chapter 30)


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


    Swift Runner Population within Stronghold: (13)


    Tribe of Evening Song


    Lady Song, deceased


    Evonne Sting, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Aron


    Husband 2: Ralph


    Daughter Zuma: 14


    Son:  Foggy 8


    Elva Slayer, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1:  Long


    Husband 2: Del, baby in his pouch


    Daughter: Yun 9


    Danni Blocker, Class and Title: Guardian


    Husband 1: Ned,


    Husband 2: Vear, baby in his pouch


    Daughter: Su 7


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


    People of the Trees


    Four Families


    Matriarch of the Blaze Family


    Berry Blaze


    Oak Family


    Keen Family


    Hardhead Family


    People of the Trees, is a species of sentient dwarf flying squirrels with opposable thumbs.  Their bodies are from 14 to 20 centimeters long and their tales are anywhere from 10 to 14 centimeters in length.  They typically can weigh from 150 to 220 grams.  On their home world they are a people experienced in modest magic and are rather technologically advanced too, having visited the nearer planets in their solar system.


    Total Population: 148


    Adults by age fourteen: 33


    Blaze: 9, Oak: 8, Keen: 9, Hardhead: 7


    Children from zero to eight years old: 58


    Blaze: 14, Oak: 15, Keen: 14, Hardhead: 15


    Teenagers from eight to fourteen years old: 57


    Blaze: 14, Oak: 14, Keen: 14, Hardhead: 15


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


    Within Stronghold, Unaffiliated but Contributing


    Barajas Group (17):


    Edith Barajas 42, clothing designer, OS


    Healing Level: 3


    Alchemy Level: 2


    Sydney 40, musician had owned a store selling musical instruments, GS


    Sound Magic Level: 3.5


    Water Magic Level: 2


    Shana 17, student newspaper, GS


    Air Magic Level: 3


    Sound Magic Level: 3


    Adam 20, college student computer programming, OS


    Fire Magic Level: 3.5


    Denise Strickland 34, mother, gs, meteorologist


    Water Magic Level: 2


    Gretchen Strickland 57, grandmother, os, retired machinist


    Earth Level: 3


    Scott Strickland 34, father, gs, sewage plant engineer


    Water Level: 3


    Jeffrey Strickland 10, son, os


    Landon Strickland 60, grandfather, gs, machinist


    Earth Level: 2


    Karen Strickland 7, daughter, os


    Anita Bodo 28, gs, accountant


    Earth Magic Level: 2


    Markos Bodo 27, os, grocery store manager


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 3.5


    Margo Bodo 4, os


    Asger Bruun 32, os, auto body painter


    Healer Level: 2


    Alchemy un-awakened


    Wife is deceased, from monster attack


    Storm Bruun 8, os


    Sameer Said 32, os, High School Athletic and History Teacher (soccer)


    Body Augmentation Magic Level: 3


    Flora Kulikova 23, os, veterinary student


    Animal Trainer Level: 3.5


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


    Captain Barbara Long¡¯s Group of Survivors (630), now located at the US Embassy within the Stronghold.


    Lieutenant Jay Nichols


    Lieutenant Kellie Cross, at Stronghold


    Sergeant First Class SFC Patrick White


    Staff Sergeants SSG


    Lindsay Collier


    Bernard Ballard


    Corporal Julia Lewis


    Private Shelly Hines


    Howard King


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


    Ervin, Ohio


    Name: Sylvia Warren


    Title: Mayor of Ervin


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


    Wrenchburg, Ohio


    Florian Forester, 38, gs, Bartender, Town Boss


    Mathias Forester, 38, gs, Dentist


    Susanne Forester 14, gs


    Mathias Forester, 12, gs


    Nadine Forester, 9, gs


    Liam Edwards, 33, gs, concrete and masonry


    Kai Edwards, 31, gs, real estate


    Jasmine Edwards, 6, os


    Lauren Edwards, 8, os


    Reuben Moerkens 50, gs


    Marian Moerkens, 48, gs


    Giorgio Segura, 39, gs, restaurant owner and cook


    Nadelina Segura, 37, gs, cook and hostess


    Cara Segura, 14, gs


    Helene Segura, 12, os


    Viola Segura, 9, os


    Alex Csorba, 41


    Margo Csorba, 40, Dental Hygenist, gs


    Judit Csorba, 20, college student, gs


    Petra Csorba, 17, gs


    Kevin Csorba, 14, os


    Bradley Heavy Industrial Group (Originally 208 people, now 97 of which 52 are under eighteen)


    William Bujdo, 36 Green


    Violet Bujdo, 35 Orange


    Andrew Bujdo 13 Orange


    Adam Bitar, 35, Orange


    Nazeera Bitar, 33 Green


    Anisah Bitar, 11 Orange


    Mikail Usamov, 28, Green


    Albert Osborne, 27, Green


    Lin Chang, 62, Orange, Dental Hygenist, Healer, injured


    George Chang, 34, Green


    Denise Chang, 33, Green


    John Chang, 10, Orange


    Anna Chang, 8, Orange


    Ram Diaz, 26, Orange


    Edith Diaz, 27, Orange


    Justin Diaz, 3, Orange


    Howard Leach, 31, Green, killed on trip to the Armory


    Stephen Staton, 34, Orange, killed on trip to the Armory


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


    Miscellaneous


    Dwight Cobb, GS, 21 members in his group.


    Partial List of those, Rescued at the Dominator Battle of US 36


    Martin  Avis                               Alchemist Chemist


    Michelle ¡°Shelly¡± Cupples         bulldozer operator, daughter


    Herbert Cupples               Retired Navy, father


    Reyna Cupples                           Watchmaker/repairer, Herb¡¯s sister


    Robert Barton                            Boilermaker


    Joyce Gause                     Paleontologist


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


    Cliff and Sonnet


    Equipment Glossary


    <b>Spoiler</b> : <input type=''button'' value=''Show'' class=''spoilerButton''>


    Equipment Glossary Version: 5


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M4 Sherman Grizzly Medium Tank, originally it was a Sherman Grizzly I Cruiser which was the Canadian variant of the American M4A1 Sherman medium tank.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grizzly_I_cruiser</a>


    It has 75 millimeters of enchanted steel armor and it is 5.8 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3 meters tall and weighs 30,000 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 330 horsepower steam engine; gives this vehicle a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 75mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles also built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    The original gyroscopic stabilizer for the main gun is no longer operational.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M18 Hellcat Light Tank, it began life as an American M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Hellcat</a>


    It has 25 millimeters of enchanted steel armor, 25.4mm of enchanted smashed aluminum armor, and 12.7mm of enchanted compressed stone armor.   A roof has been added to its original turret.  This tank is 5.3 meters long (without its main gun), 2.9 meters wide, 2.6 meters tall and weighs 21,500 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 45 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge FV101 Scorpion Light Tank, it began life as a British FV101 Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle and has been heavily modified by Hermit¡¯s Forge.    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FV101_Scorpion</a>


    It has 12.7 millimeters of enchanted aluminum armor.  This tank is 5.3 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, 2.1 meters tall and weighs 17,800 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a top speed of 79 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one prototype 50mm breech loading cannon built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.  Secondary Weapons are two bolt-action 20mm rifles built by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M7 Priest Motor Gun Carriage, started off as an American M7 Motor Gun Carriage but it has since been heavily modified.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M7_Priest</a>


    It has 50 millimeters of enchanted steel armor, a roof and heightened full side walls have been added to it.  This vehicle is 6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide, 3.2 meters tall and weighs 26,450 kilograms.


    Tracked Vehicle


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this vehicle a top speed of 30 kilometers per hour.


    Primary weapon is one M119, 105mm howitzer which is the US designation for the British L119 105mm lightweight gun.  Secondary weapons are two Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors and one twin-barrel 7.62 x 39 Murphy gun.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge T800 Armored Personnel Carrier, originally a 2011 Kenworth T800 Dump Truck, it has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/t800/</a>


    It has 152 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel and sand. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This APC is 7.6 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 13,600 kilograms.


    It has four wheeled axles and the rear two, are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle a maximum speed of 56 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eleven bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge C500 Armored Semi Truck, started off as a Kenworth C500, it has since been converted to steam power and it now has over 90 millimeters of enchanted layered armor made of steel and smashed aluminum. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and have steel shutters. This truck is 8 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 23,819 kilograms. It is normally used as an Armored Personnel Transporter and equipped with a twenty-seven foot armored trailer.


    http://www.kenworth.com/trucks/c500/</a>


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 27¡¯ Armored Personnel Transport Trailer; began life as 27 foot steel dump end trailer.  It has 127 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel, compressed stone and ballistic gelatin. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and have steel shutters.  This trailer is 8.5 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and weighs 25,000 kilograms. When connected to the C500 Truck, the total unit length is 14.3 meters.


    The total unit has six wheeled axles, the rear two on the truck/tractor are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, give this vehicle, when in APT mode, a maximum speed of 39 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are seventeen bolt-action 20mm rifles, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Number of Combined 1070 APT Units: 2


    Hermit¡¯s Forge M1070 Armored Semi-Truck; began life as an Oshkosh M1070, it has since been converted to steam power and it now has over 90 millimeters of enchanted layered armor made of steel and smashed aluminum.  Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters. This truck is 9.7 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 3.9 meters tall and weighs 25,000 kilograms.  It is normally used as an Armored Personnel Transporter and equipped with a forty foot armored trailer.


    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oshkosh_M1070_heavy_equipment_transporter</a>


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 40¡¯ Armored Personnel Transport Trailer; began life as forty foot steel shipping container riding on a tri-axle chassis.  It has 127 millimeters of layered armored made of enchanted steel, compressed stone and ballistic gelatin. Windows are made of transparent aluminum and possess steel shutters.  This trailer is 12.3 meters long, 2.6 meters wide, 4 meters tall and weighs 32,119 kilograms. When connected to the 1070 Truck, the total unit length is 18.7 meters.


    The total unit has seven wheeled axles, the rear three on the truck/tractor are powered.


    Two 200 horsepower steam engines, give this vehicle, when in APT mode, a maximum speed of 41 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapons are eight Hermit¡¯s Forge 50mm Holman projectors.  Secondary Weapons are five bolt-action 20mm rifles, also manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Hermit¡¯s Forge 590 Armored Backhoe/Loader; originally a Case 590 backhoe/loader and has since been heavily modified.


    http://www.casece.com/en_us/Equipment/Loader-Backhoes/Pages/590-SuperN.aspx</a>


    It has 40 millimeters of enchanted steel armor.  It is 7.3 meters long, 2.4 meters wide, 3.5 meters tall and it weighs 10,800 kilograms.


    It has four wheels and all are powered.


    One 200 horsepower steam engine, gives this tractor a top speed of 42 kilometers per hour.


    Primary Weapon is one bolt-action 20mm rifle, manufactured by Hermit¡¯s Forge.


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


    Armored Utility Trailer, outer dimensions 8.5¡¯ x 20¡¯, inside height is 6¡¯ 6¡±


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


    Common Personal Weapons for the Hermit¡¯s Guard


    30-06 bolt action rifle with eight round magazine


    12 gauge pump action shotgun


    20 gauge pump action shotgun


    Single shot titanium fifty caliber rifle


    .357 magnum revolver


    14¡± bayonet


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    Body Armor, Now just being slowly produced and issued.  Armor is magically strengthened (2x as strong) and temperature controlled as well as being resistant to heat/fire attacks.  For these enchantments to keep on working the various pieces must be periodically recharged by an Earth Mage and a Fire Mage.


    Gambeson, Padded Underclothes


    Titanium Mail Long Sleeve Shirt


    Titanium Mail Leggings


    Leather and Titanium Scale Brigandine


    http://www.steel-mastery.com/en/brigandine-armour/brigandines/brigandine-with-skirt</a>


    Titanium Greaves


    Titanium Bracers


    Titanium Coal Scuttle Style Helmet with Enchanted Visor


    Leather Gloves/Guantlets, Reinforced with Titanium Mail


    Leather Combat Boots, Reinforced with Titanium (soles are especially strong so as to protect against spikes and caltrops)