#itos-loret

Prologue

With a thunderclap the glittering building above them topples into another but luckily rests, arrows of material swinging down from the heavens into the street below, crushing a nearby evac train and causing it to explode in red like a fruit drink, lives cut short in an instant.

An anthro corvid and cat, Maren and her wife Loret, dash through the burning metropolis. Feather and fur hid and ran through twisted metal. They just need to get to one of the evacs.

“Holy shit! How far are we!?” Maren slams the broken multitool into a building door, its various mechanisms whining at the barbaric use.

“Uh- I believe two kilometers!? Though, a beast seems to be that direction” Loret peers through the floating looking-glass as she manipulates a map with her hands, a small scroll containing the screen. The beast surely there, considering the mass destruction and buildings toppling, although their flesh was not visible on this plane the chaos was.

“Alright, we’ll go through the buildings, any trains still active?” Maren breaks open the door, bringing up a flashlight to reveal the hastily abandoned jewelry store. “...Want a ring?”

Loret filed in after Maren, looking around with an amused smile. “Maren, dear, you’ve already gotten me five since the Flickering Beasts arrived on-planet.”

“Another wouldn’t hurt! You can show the kiddos when they arrive after this hell’s frozen!”

“Fine.” Loret laughed at her wife’s grim antics, maybe this mini-apocalypse wasn’t too bad with Maren.

#

The fighter rockets through the buildings as Styli tunes the multi-planar radar system desperately hoping to get a reading from one of the radar towers nearby, the half-satyr half-harpy pilot’s first actual deployment just had to be a complete disaster. Over the last five hours seven city-sectors were devastated, an entire pack of Flickering Beasts had found their way into Ring’s Landing and downtown was already eviscerated. Most of them were giant-sized though, so radar pings were relatively common… the issue was hitting the godsforsaken beasts.

- Planar disruption located at sector J9K2. Size: giant - 

They found one

Escaping to the top of the city, Styli gazes out at the burning surroundings. Familiar streets and buildings wrecked, countless kith and kin gone. The evac shuttles were just barely hanging on, evac trains going offline one after another.

- Evac train I-3, its here! Requesting cove!—

- Does anyone have a visual on any secure routes!? We’re stuck on the east edge of downtown with half a tank of energy left for our train. -

- This is a message requesting immediate assistance at Farnan’s Bank, we’ve got twelve survivors holed up with us in the vault and!—

- Has anyone seen a blue and orange personal shuttle!? Please my partners are in there! -

- I don’t know where to go I don’t know where to go I don’t knowwheretogoIdon’tknowwhereto–-

- Where the fuck are they!? My radio malfunctioned and I’m flying through these streets blin—

- Do we have any reinforcements!? Commander Erane, please tell me there’s more fucking people coming. -

- Argent-9, I’m attempting to route additional squadrons but- the situation is fucked- I can’t I can’t. How many do we have evacuated!? -

It was a mistake to keep long range communications on… but Styli feels like they have to, flying over the inferno of a home they need to hear its last words… maybe it could be saved, if they could just kill those fucking beasts.

Finally finding the trail of the beast, Styli dives down and opens fire on the imperceivable monster. Lead and plasma sink into the invisible horror and briefly show the vivid skin of the beast at the impact points, a shrieking cry echoing from it. The Flickering Beast takes down another building as it seemingly turns on the jet, yet Styli already pulled up and prepared for another attack.

#

Monoma’ch jumps off the roof, spinning the meteor hammer and chanting incantations. The end of the weapon glimmers to life and fire as they bring the meteor around them then into an elbow shot. True to its name the meteor hammer slammed down upon the Flickering Beast’s head below, Monoma’ch’s interplanar eye piercing its veils and seeing the beast for what it is in another plane. With a crack the rope goes taut, the Flickering Beast’s cranium careening down into the alley below. Monoma’ch pulls back the meteor then kicks it down again into the monster’s skull, shattering it into a normally unseeable mush.

They land on another roof, feeling it destabilize so quickly running to the next.

“One down! For your second true outing, five beasts slain isn’t that bad Mono, the air corps have only gotten seven so far. Say, why don’t we beat them out in this competition?” Their tail, Ach, flicked, scanning the surroundings for more prey.

“Ach, please don’t make this a damn game. Real people are dying–” Mono caught sight of another beast, barreling towards the evac ships “Shit!”

Ach swings around to look at the scene, letting out a hiss. “Ough, that’s going to be a fucking mess.”

Monoma’ch launched towards the horror, chasing after it like the rope of their meteor followed it.

Eventually overtaking the massacrer, Monoma’ch spins the meteor hammer around its neck, arm, and finally elbow. The meteor rebounding around and punching the beast in the side on Monoma’ch’s behalf, the beast turning like a bull to the left.

“Civvies heading to the shuttles from that way Mon! Ready to give them a good fucking show!?” Ach flicked again, helping to stabilize Monoma mid-air.

#

Loret hears the beast heading to them first, having gotten a small hoverbike she and Maren had lurched down towards the evac shuttles. “Maren, beast on its way here!”

“Oh shit! Turn turn turn! Maren grabs Loret’s waist, holding on as her beloved swings into an alleyway.

A crack resounds through the streets as a small figure whips the invisible creature just before they enter the alley, its terrible chaos turning away from the couple. Loret spins around back onto a road, weaving the bike through ruins as the two look up towards the lithe being above. It hops from roof to roof, seemingly felling the beast after a few more swings.

“Who the fuck is that!?” Loret turns back to the street, focusing on the rapidly approaching shuttles.

“Maybe that Monothingy!? The one on the news last week?”

“Hopefully, that person’s a fucking beast with that meteor!-” Loret nearly spins out trying to avoid a fallen sign. “Gods, Maren, we may need to go back on foot.”

“Alright, let’s hurry though, the beasts are getting awfully close to the shuttles.”

#

Styli pants, having pulled five strafes their ammo was running low, they need to kill it on this one.

- Sector R4 is gone! I repeat it’s all just fucking gone! -

The plane spun around, Styli feeling its movement like a limb. They refocused the guns’ targeting on the beast’s last location and pulled the trigger. Every lead and plasma projectile spun towards the horror with the cries of the entire city. No. An entire planet, Styli channels the grief from watching their planet crumble into the package, desperately hoping to buy time for reinforcements to help bring back the situation.

- More evac shuttles have landed! They’re in sector A2, please direct civilians there and guard them! Avoid T3 and Y6 as there are Flickering Beasts located there! -

The bullets hit their mark, tearing the imperceptible creature’s hide and causing it to apparently crash onto the floor, the revealed spots from the impacts not hiding again. As Styli pulled up they sighed, it was dead.

- Did Centaur-5 just kill a beast on their own!? Bloody good job Centaur-5! -

Looking upon the city, Styli realizes just how much was gone, and there were still thirteen beasts in the city according to the radars... they needed to save their home.

- I… I’m calling a retreat, we can’t manage this, we’ve lost all the helicopters I sent; ground troops are in shambles; and the beasts are getting closer to the evacs… All units and evacs retreat, please- I- I can’t. -

What?... No no nonono

#

Monoma’ch wraps the meteor hammer around the beast's neck and tugs, they couldn’t suffocate the creature but star could…

Crack

Snap the neck.

Mono looks around, spotting the corvin and felin couple running to the evacs, they were alright… good.

As Mono pulls back the rope Ach stares down at the creature, sneering. “Pitiful thing, I mean really they only have the fact that they’re not visible on regular planes going for them.”

- Monoma’ch, this is a direct order from Commander Erane and the planetary governance council. Retreat. I repeat. Retreat. -

The voice echoes through both their heads, causing body and tail alike to wince a bit.

“Buzzkills.” Ach sighs and begins to scan for a route out. “Let’s get going Mon, no use disobeying.”

“...” Mono turns and begins hopping from building to building, taking a look around at the city they just failed.

#

The shuttles are meters away, Maren hears the frantic directions of the crew as they appear to be all leaving. Plasma and lead shot up into the sky at an unknown threat behind a row of buildings.

“Why are they leaving so soon!? Wasn’t there two hours left on the evac schedule!?” Loret tugs on her wife’s arm, speeding up to catch the evacs.

“Is the situation that bad?”

“Must be–”

With a thunderclap an invisible creature falls upon the evacs. Metal, bone, and flesh melding together under an unseeable horror as at least  hundreds of sparks of life go out. Blood sprays out in an unnatural pattern, being courted around the body of the beast as it squeezed out the liquid of life from the evacs.

Maren looks on at the scene, pupils as small as the stars in the sky as she puts a hand on her mouth.

“Love, we need to go, we need to go.” Loret shakingly grabs her wife and begins to scramble to some sort of shelter, anything as the air raid sirens begin to sing a song of atomic fire.

#

Styli flies over the city, comms screaming. Their hands felt frigid, looking over their home as it is condemned to evisceration.

- What the fuck!? Why is there a nuclear warning!? -

- Commander Erane! Commander Erane!! Please tell us what’s going on! -

- Gods, please, does anyone know where the warhead is going!? -

- We’re in the subway, I’ve got thirty civilians with me, please does anyone know what to do!? Please we have elderly and children! -

- I-, gods. Where is the commander!? Uh- everyone try to get as far from the center of the city as possible, just run! -

Faint sobs echo from the radio. The commander’s.

Styli contributes their voice to the chaos, the small green rectangle confirming outward broadcasting. “Fuck… no no no nononono. What the fuck!?”

They see a distant yellow stream over the horizon line, death incarnate. Pulling on the stick and willing the plane to move they begin to veer away from the center of Ring’s Landing. Looking down at the ruined shops and apartments, occasionally seeing the small shapes of people running for their lives.