Grimm's Bane
Isaac watched the sun setting from his tent made into an office, grumbling at the world. The start of the company was as expected. People had heard the news and swarmed, flocking to this place. Then most left, having better things to do then construction work with some grim hunting only for loose coin.
That's just the way Grimm's Bane was, they had picked up twenty people over the month, ten of them from the senior class of Signal. Eighteen of them were working the power plant, iron mine and the foundry. Shifting the crews as needed when something massive had to be moved or built. Fortunately for them, Ironwood had made more then good on the industrial printers. One worked if a bit prickly and the other needed minor parts and repair. Took them less then a week to tweak and fix the two.
One was making supports for the mine the other making mobile AA guns, to Isaac they were a marvel, an entire vehicle could be made within a week, and they just had to assemble it, like a 3D puzzle. After a month he sent it over to help with the smelter then redirected it to the dam. The founders as Isaac called them, the students from Signal had pooled their moneys scratching together a whopping 21,540,000.00 Lien.
That was depleting with all the building going on to the tune of over one million a week. Some hunting stemmed the hemorrhaging but at this rate the company would be bankrupted soon unless they went full time. The six vehicles they had made so far could do it, but the lack of personal stymied any advancement. Some of the students at the middle grades wanting to help and had challenged their courses, two had made it. So far, now only the remaining senior students stood a possibility of passing.
With the training so far, a four man crew could run that tank, two to each for the AA and two more to for the ammo trucks, four medics were not needed, just demanded, not to mention there equipment. Isaac sighed letting go the pen and watched it roll off the table onto the grass floor were he just stared at it.
They simply didn't have enough people. Cut back on the smelter and enforce the power plant? Once the water started turning those generators they would have enough to power the town and the mine. Filling two more slots in that dam they could power the smelter and a host of other factories.
They needed to get away from dust, in mass that shit got expensive. Sure five hundred lien would get enough fuel dust to push a truck all the way to Vale, power a home for months, but could only power an AA for twenty hours, just using the guns. A tank ate electric dust like a sugar hungry toddler.
The gunpowder was easy enough to make, lots of livestock around, what little came from the mines tailing pile was making iron ammo in a micro forge, still, only three large rounds and seven AA rounds a day was not much. Food surprisingly was the big kicker, three of these people had family's and needed enough wages to house cloth and feed themselves. The land he had was almost fallow, Isaac half smiled remembering that's why it was so cheep.
Getting booted out of school in the middle of summer was a nasty kick in the crotch. Too late to plant there own, and too soon to get anything but stored goods from the town. Increasing the population by almost thirty was also putting a strain on goods and services.
More equipment was being called in. Material for construction, and building.
Staring at the pen he made a best guess. "We've got about two months at the rate were going." He knew what was needed, a weekend hunt. The others were still going to school, but they had the weekend off. It took twenty minuets to find out what was going on, most of the kids were not going to make it due to there parents getting all scared there darlings were going to be offed before they graduated. Isaac assumed they wanted them killed by grim after they graduated and moved out. He would have to make concessions he knew, a written if nothing else guarantee there children would not partake of a hunt, just work around the site in preparation for when they did graduate.
Head bolting up he had the answer. "Were morons!" He yelled at the world. "I'm a complete moron!" Then he left the tent.
He grabbed someone working on assembling an AA truck. "Stop that and get me three cameras I can put on a small plane for ground filming. Configured so one is pointing forward, two to the side, hanging under the belly." Then he took off at a run. He found the maker for the mine packed it up for transport hooked it to a vehicle and drove off leaving the half assembled support.
Once back at base he loaded an assembly program for an air craft then reduced it down to one tenth the size. The thing wouldn't work on something that refined so he went for one to five. A small bullhead. A one seat, no cargo with camera array. With enough fuel to do a ten hour survey. He had the lab, which was one person now, three on the weekend's rig up the grim sight as they started to call it for the camera's. Three days and the printers were done the aircraft was ready for assemblage. The printer was returned to the mine the other for the AA trucks. He and four others put the scout aircraft together. One more day for testing and a sleepless night getting the bugs out.
Six weeks after Grims Bane became a corporation the first scout ship launched into the sky. There one pilot had been told to keep as best they could away from nevermore's. The scout was up less then two hours before finding a pod of grim. The auto counter was still new and counted anywhere from two hundred to two thousand. Two pods, and within one were larger grim, when the pilot returned they pored over the gathered recordings. Estimated what would be needed to take the pod out. Made sure no other pods were around and readied themselves for a hunt. Thirteen went out in five AA's, and two ammo trucks.
Parking in a clearing they set up. That took most of the day. Isaac wanted at least three places they could retreat to if things went south. Then sent some fast runners to invite the grim to them.
There spotter aircraft was hovering two miles behind and to the side of the main force almost at max attitude. There job was simple, keep an eye on the grim and send data back to the ground. They programmed everyone's scrolls into the computer and waited. When the teams caught the grims attention and brought them within gun range the two scouts split to the side while the AA copped the trees down, and then the grim.
The pod of grim came in full force, the echoing gunfire from large caliber weapons drawing more grim to them. They recorded the entire fire fight. Even nailing two nevermore's. The larger grim turned out to be apes. Disappointing, but still worth bounty.
It was near nightfall when the grim stopped. They had the scout land, gave him the recorded data with instructions to head back to camp. Copy the record then refuel take a quick nap then head for the Vale hunters board, hopefully arriving at opening hours and then get a count and be paid by sometime next week. If he was too tired, switch out, as it would be a four hour flight just to Vale. They cleaned up as best they could being in a hurry and broke camp heading home. Isaacs discipline kicked in when they arrived. The guns were cleaned and reassembled, reloaded and made ready incase any trailing grim fallowed them home. Then with the watcher on duty they all turned in.
They did this three times in the coming week. The scout would find them and they would try and wipe them out, racking up a combined kill count of over ten thousand.
Grimm's Bane for the first time was in the black, every one was paid and supplied for the next four weeks. Which turned out to be just two weeks. Medical supply's were needed along with a printer that could assemble finer components. More people started showing up as Grimms Banes accomplishment's made the news.
When they had enough people, Bane started doing outings, they would leapfrog from one pod to another, taking out five in a three day period. Now ammo was a problem, they need that foundry online as well as the mine. First and foremost they needed people. Isaac turned to Atlas, through Ironwood they found people who not only disliked the country but were willing to do something about it. Ironwood wanted them gone.
This troubled Isaac it seemed he was more taking on a burden from another. After traveling up to Atlas and talking with one of the more vocal groups he found most did like there country, just wanted it to be better then it was. Isaac explained to this group what he was up to and they gladly showed him some people who did want to leave, almost all were faunas. Which shouldn't have surprised him, but it did.
Poor, unskilled, some with mental issues that rendered them incompetent for a work environment.
Having talked and worked with Ironwood so much it seemed the man was a reflection of Atlas, it turned out, sadly, he was simply the idealized Atlas. For just a meager 65,000 lien he transferred with family's nearly fifty new workers to Mavideniz. He had told them what to expect, tents and hard work with a promise that things would get better or Grimm's Bane would go out of business.
These family's were made co owners in the dust and iron mine, became founders with the steel smelters. A few started a business in goods, two started farming, growing to a dozen family's once they had farm equipment, arriving early the next year.
Others helped with the dam and the foundry which started getting a structure around it. With their wages they bought timber and turned their tents into simple housing. Streets were dug, temp power lines strung, then tunnels were started for the power lines, water lines, and sewage, and with the slow snails pace that construction is, it would take the town a year to accomplish. A buss system started as the mine opened up for workers, people, most of them faunas started slowly trickling in.
A counsel meeting for the town was called and Grims Baine was told to be there.
Quite a few wanted to know how far Grims Bane was going to go? How big was the town going to get? Was it growing into a city? They appreciated the electric power helping them conserve on dust, and the protection they gave, but it was obvious to any if left unchecked there little fishing town was going to become at the least a small city. For that they needed infrastructure, strong roads, waste swage systems, municipality's and taxes to pay for it all. In the end it was adults dealing with mostly children or you could say barely adults with big dreams.
Grimm's Bane hunted grim, that's how they earned their keep, and the rest of the industry's were support for the grim hunting. For every one hunter they're seemed to be, or needed to be almost ten to fifteen people. Isaac found he could carry this only so far before things started to get murky and confused. Law officer's and courts were needed or a independent attitude of self policing and responsibility.
He didn't know which way to go so he gathered the Bane and talked it out. In the end there would be Mavideniz West and East Mavideniz. They took a chunk of land they had depleted of grim and did a planed town for it. The total cost would be staggering, but if they built a section at a time on a needed bases it could work.
One could buy the property, pay the new city to be for it. Those funds would start the infrastructure for them, and then pay to have a home built on it. Sectioning large plots of three acres allowed for septic tanks, roads, and deep wells. Now they needed a bank.
Isaac fling up his hands, overloaded and cranky. He left to kill some grim out of spite. Then went working in the lab to figger out more about these grim. "Let the bearcats have it, just don't betray the people for short sighted gain." He warned before all but vanishing into the lab.
It was easy for him to catch the smaller grim just a bit harder for the larger ones. Soon they were dissecting and experimenting with them, finding out what effected them. Quickly having a few breakthroughs. The biggest was a filtering system. It seemed when the grim died they turned into vapor, they didn't, not completely. An aquarium like enclosure showed there was something left, a filter system after a week of experimenting was successful.
There filter was just a few sizes larger then a water molecule using the same principals as machines that could mine argon out of the air. This device could sift particulates of grim out of the air. For every one hundred they killed a pint sized container of oily dark matter could be harvested.
An eye dropper showed the true face of grim. Just a few drops and a tinny grim would grow out of it, within a week that thing was a regular sized Beowolve. They started growing them, then killing them over and over in all the ways they could think of, even stuffing dust into them. Learning that a group of one hundred grim would create a pool that would make ninety of them or one huge one, several slightly smaller and so on, or eighty. Each time the amount was reduced by the number ten.
It was cold numbers. Isaac understood why grim repopulate so quickly. To completely kill a hundred grim you needed to kill them over five hundred and fifty times. Now they had to find a way to locate and kill off these raindrop sized pools.
Petrol worked, as did any fuel like liquid, even strong alcohol. They just came apart like a Styrofoam cup dipped in gas. It was almost too funny, thinking that's why Qrow was still alive, he was toxic to grim.
Isaac needed fuel, something cheep to operate the tanks electric generators, and aircraft, even diesel and aviation gas had worked like magic on grim. That made it twice as urgent to refine. It had taken three months of near non stop construction to reach the point there were at now. The refinery's for extracting fuel from plants was slow in the making. The mines were taking off well enough.
Chromium, nickel and iron was coming out in the needed quantities for the manufacture of steal and aluminum, even some precious metals were found mixed in small amounts. The rocks from the tailing piles were used for roads, masonry, and cement.
The dust mine was thin but produced enough in the right sizes for personal weapons, which was exactly what Grimm's Bane needed and the co owners were looking for more deposits. A small crew put in a five year bid to make two walls, starting with weapon platforms for the towns, it would be enough to make the workers a living with their families and profit for the owners without bankrupting the towns.
Once the towers were made next would be a twenty foot earth filled wall wide enough to drive on, after that phase another taller wall with weapons for ground and air. The third phase would be underground defenses. As the blueprints for the final wall were made someone wanted a school. An internet was created with all the learning programs one could afford and much cheaper then building a school and manning it. It would be up to the parents to see to their children's education.
The printers were freed up and Isaac started building tanks with one and armored personal carriers, AA carriers, a Mobile Command and control center which put a big dent in the funds when all the electronics and surveillance devices came in, Another small aircraft and two drones to scout with.
The foundry supplemented the printers by shaping the steel for the tanks, making the heaver frames faster then the printers could, three were completed by the months end, and part of an assault airship was started. Isaac used an assault troop transport design he remembered.
By the end of the forth frantic month Grimm's Bane received their first contract offer.
News was spreading fast, Grimm's Bane toped the largest bounty's in Remnants recorded history. They had received a lot of requests to clear out grim, yet no one had offered to pay them for it, so they had stuck to the pods of grim around them, an ever growing sphere, some wanting to help the towns were given the option to do so, renting the equipment. Paying for the ammo, fuel, and repairs on there own dime. Isaac was rather cold about it. "We can't save everyone, not now, when were stable yes. But right now if you do this it's on your own." They countered by signing up the towns to offer there resources in a payment plan. With just the food alone given by the towns Grims Bane reduced cash flow by a massive amount.
Teams were sent out in the zones they cleared. Scouting the land above and below, looking for pools that the grim could emerge from. Gathering data on everything they could get. Another month went by. Then it happened.
An actual paying request came from a town east of Ménage.
Isaac's team gathered in their meeting hall. The contract showed promise, but the customer was a question. This was from a woman called Sienna Khan. She was offering to pay for transport, supplies and payment for removing one possibly three pods that had grown uncomfortably close to her community.
The man, or faunas stood quietly, with a hood coving most of his face. He spoke softly explaining what Miss Khan wanted. His posture as if he was almost praying, awaiting there answer. "Wow, a White Fang contract." Isaac snickered. "So, here is how I see it. We can say no and set ourselves up as political asshats saying we don't like your policies, we won't work for you. Guaranteeing we never end the grim. Work for them, declaring ourselves working with them, or take there moneys and tell everyone to fuck off we work for the highest bidder when it comes to removing grim. Establishing ourselves as a contract grim extermination union made up of hunters."
The Voices Were Many
"We have been getting a lot of come help us for free or low pay missions."
"Moving this much equipment takes some serous cash, just the boat to transport what we have is almost two million. Driving down is somewhat cheaper, but not by much. But to top it off we get the grim bounty driving down and back."
"If we drive we can claim bounty's on what we kill as we go, but we won't be able to make side trips, the customer would be expecting us by a due date."
"But we can target them for the trip home gauging the risk after the contract, remember if we except this, even if the description is half true, it will be the largest pod we have ever engaged and there may be two other pods we have to contend with, people could die."
So it went until most ideas had been voiced.
"Ok." Began Isaac. "Lets do this. A small contingent, two light tanks four AA's one medic, one command and control, three ammo carriers one heavy earth mover, a backhoe and two avgas drones plus support for camping. We travel down there with about forty people, that way we can stomp any minor encounter and once arrived we scout, take photos to figger out what we need. If this is doable, then give a time frame for the arrival of the main group, we set up as needed in a location of our own choosing then draw them in and bang, about one or two days fighting with clean up about a full week, and were done. Remember it is possible there will be more then three pods were dealing with, were going to go through a lot of ammo, so plan for eight times the normally needed amount."
"Equipment, at least four mortars with two fully loaded truck's. Two missile launchers with eight reloads. Three howitzers with enough to fire none stop for two days. Small arms and ammo for a group ten times our size. We have to go into this with overkill, because in the end it will ether be enough or your not going to be alive."
"What about thumper?"
"That things running?" Isaac blinking surprised at the voice.
"That monster is why we don't have twenty more tanks, but yes, it fly's. You need to get out of the lab." Isaac frowned with a that'll be the day harrumph.
"You do know about SCP 008? It's why we built so many light auto targeting guns. That SCP is small, quiet, and deadly." Isaac leaned back whistling past his teeth getting back on track. "If we had puff we would just need the two and poof dead grim."
"Puff is going to need at least two more months Isaac,, just making the fuel for the missiles is time consuming. To date we have only two aerosol missiles."
Isaac laughed. "I sometimes still can't believe we've done so much in so little time. That reminds me, if were taking thumper we need at least ten fuel trucks for it and another twenty for the vehicles and tanks."
"We got it all. Fuel and Ammo for days."
"Ok, I leave the logistics to those better then I. Let's make an advanced party, head on down and scope things out, see how the White Fang live. If we get into any reverse racism we leave, unless Ms Khan takes care if it."
"Got your standard contract. Feel free to change the numbers."
"If its so bad even the White Fang cant handle it, this will be a hard one, so ya I will change the numbers as needed."
Isaac looked at the massager. "Tell Ms Khan to expect us two days after your arrival. Eight if you're traveling by air."
"I will relay your massage to "Miss Khan", safe roads." He bowed and left.
"Is it me or is there something oily about that priest?"
"You just hate smooth talkers."
"Tell you what, send thumper down, to arrive about half a day after we do. Fill it with equipment and reloads. I don't want her to know it can carry tanks. That thing landing on site should loosen her coin purse."
"Or tightening it up thinking were not fighting hard enough."
"Customers do like a good show."
So ended Grims Banes first major contract meeting.
Arrival
Sienna Khan watched the convoy, not quite sure what she was looking at. Grimm's Bane had arrived almost to the hour they said they would. But. She looked at it all. Two heavy tracked vehicles that left almost six inch depressions in the ground, with what she knew as tower defense cannons. A long semi truck with thickly armored glass and the trailer it towed swayed slowly as if under great weight. Two smaller vehicles towing a flat bed loaded down. Another semi with earth moving equipment, add four armored trucks with a four point gun on it's back. Three liquid containers and another two trucks. A young boy. One she knew from the news jumped out from one of the armored trucks and approached her as if he knew her.
"You must be Isaac. I've read a lot about you." He nodded briefly in greeting. "Lets get to it." He pulled out a map handing her a pen. "Mark were each pod is, and mark where you've lost people."
She stiffened watching him. He shrugged. "You won't be calling us if you weren't loosing your people. I'm guessing you have an assassin grim softening you up before the attack. One of the reasons why were responding so fast."
After she marked the map he nodded thanks and headed for a group of humans taking a tarp from a flatbread. He talked to them a bit before heading to the back of the line of vehicles. Sienna studied the humans, they were dressed like the boy, in a loose fitting dull green cameo, each with that same mark, which seemed to be on ever piece of equipment. They moved quickly, without hesitation. She felt a bit of a chill. Forty people, all hunters, here at her request. As she watched a small plane took shape about twelve feet long with wide wings, a small engine just under the tail.
Once satisfied they put on helmets with mikes. With a hand held controller hooked to something on the truck the plane rose to an angle on a launch rail. Then with a snap of compressed air it took flight. The engine turning on just moments after launch. The two had pulled down a dark mask covering the front of their helmets, talking quickly into the mikes. She heard a young voice. "Miss Khan!" Fallowing it she found Isaac waving her to come over.
She walked hearing her escort fallowing. She was edgy about humans, one of the delays before contacting this group was it has so many humans, yet they seemed to be run by, or taking orders from a faunas boy not even ten years old who had challenged, and passed all the schooling required, becoming the youngest hunter in recorded history. After that he had all but destroyed the school system in patch. Even now those self rightist humans were bowing to the laws they had ignored.
Isaac was talking into a phone attached to the trailers backend. The back door opened. It was a thick door Sienna noted, like a vault door. "Armored." She whispered as Isaac walked up the steps. She fallowed. "Sorry not enough room for eight more." Isaac told her, then the door closed. Trapping her inside. It was a brief moment until she saw the screens, electronics, and people who sat around what seemed consol after consol displays, some flicking to life. A quick count showed over twenty chairs and ten people in here, two faunas she noted.
"Give us main screen. What we got so far?" Isaac asked no one in particular. Two large monitors flickered to life one showing a moving scene the other a static black with white dots moving across it. "Sam? You online?" Sienna frowned at the odd name. "Ya, we got SCP 008's on site. Looks like about four so far." He nodded and turned to Sienna Khan.
"008 is an assassin grim, ugly thing, a ball like eye and eight rope like arms with arrow tipped spikes at the end. They float and are less then a foot tall when scrunched up." He pointed to the black screen. "Those white dots are 008. Someone combine screens, lets see where they are." A third screen came on showing the outer edges of White Fang encampment. Ya, you should stay away from those trees and bushes for the next few days if you don't want to loose any more people." He told her.
Looking closely Sienna stated the obvious. "If you can detect them, kill them. That's what I'm paying you for." The people around her murmured a few glancing at her annoyed. "Not how this works." Isaac countered. "What I see so far, from what I'm told is your being set up, an attack is coming, and you want us to tell the grim we know about it by taking out there scouts and assassins? What would you do if that happened? Think of them as guided, or intelligent if you will."
"I don't like games, speak clearly." She demanded.
"With our arrival, and suddenly there spotted and killed. Who ever is guiding them would know the game was up and send in the entire army, bringing the whole thing down on you. Just keep your people away from them while we set up, we will update you as they move, once we found them all. Then when were ready to attack the main group we kill every 008 at the same time."
"Isaac." One of the CC called out. "Main pod in sight, count so far is over two thousand normal, five hundred Behemoth or Giant class, about fifty Titan or colossus. One leviathan." She turned on an empty screen the shape of the grim and a number next to it.
"Nice start, about twenty million another fifty for bounty on that lot." Isaac told Sienna. The screen showed a large blob about a mile across. Then they saw the second one. Isaac whistled between his teeth. It was twice the size of the first. "Sorry but fifty million for the whole thing, and that's a discount, the rest will be made up in bounty."
When the third pod was found and counted they were looking at an astounding eleven thousand normal, almost six thousand of giant class, one thousand or more of Titan or border line colossus class, nearly a thousand flyers in pod two, and eighteen leviathans total. Scattered, smaller pods around the main pods upped the grand total past twenty three thousand normal, nearly ten thousand giants to colossus.
"For that whole lot, 100 million lien, nothing less, half now half when they're all dead." He told Sienna. The uproar from the staff stunned the red cat. They were asking if Isaac was out of his mind. They didn't want to take the contract.
Isaac whistled between his teeth shutting them up. "OK, were going to do this. Twenty million for the first, if the second one comes, which it will fifty million. One million for each small pod. We have good ground, we can place ourselves," He touched the screen showing a large map around the White Fang encampment. Here, where the second and third pod has a long distance, with rough ground and trees to travel through. We will be drawing them away from the White Fang and giving us some time, but and you all have seen it before the pods will come, and that third one has a lot of large grim. Behemoths, titan, colossus, and leviathan in it, it will move slowly, that will be our edge. One hundred million lien for all the pods and surrounding grim. We set up now, six days we attack, and for once make a difference."
Then he turned to Sienna crossing his arms. "Well that is, if the customer agrees to the contract."
"More then a steep price." She told him. "The White Fang runs on donations, the amount will drain almost all our funds."
"Ok, Half now. Monthly payments until it's paid in full. I know what it's like to be on the edge. But you should know. At that price it would be cheaper to just move your base." He added. He watched the red cat shake her head before saying.
"All right I will authorize half payment. We will work out a monthly payment based on our donation's, averaged out over a year."
"Fair enough, if you don't mind me asking, why won't you move?" Sienna looked down on him and gave a wicked smile. "This is the best location for our needs." Isaac could only nod leading her to the exit.
"You all know what to do, find us a spot over here to make a stand. We will need to be able to advance then retreat. Plain for the small pod first. Make em come at us, all at the same time, I think the second will wait for the third pod to merge with them, so keep that in mind." He opened the vault like door to leave, Khan fallowing. Finding agitated guards waiting for her.
Outside he called the main camp. "Hay. Zed. Yep we have the contract, bring everything even our puffs, get it on a launcher, this is major." He heard Zed laughing.
"We were already on the road, soon as you opened that door to go in we knew and were moving, everything is packed up, all but a finger crew to protect the towns. See you in four." Then he hung up Isaac stared at the scroll shaking his head. That's when he heard Thumper coming up. "Good timing." He told the wind.
Three hundred feet behind the medical trucks, it came down quickly from the sky. Sienna Khan had seen the business end of Atlas military air ships, but nothing like this. It was long and thin, wide enough to crush a whole house, holding a lot of hard points on it's belly, side and when it landed top. Small steeply angled windows with armaments facing forward told her it was made to attack, come straight at a foe. She could see six engines all but attached to the body wrapped in thick armor on the one side, they rotated as any bullhead would allowing for maneuverability. About a story and a half tall, the belly glowed green with gravity dust, a number of stubby feet came out as it landed, dust and dirt were kicked up by the powerful jets over a large area. Siennas hair was kicked around despite the distance by the jet wash. Isaac jerked a thumb at it. "Thumper." Like it explained it all.
She took Isaac into her camp, to the main building. It stuck Isaac that Miss Khan didn't seem to mind the interruptions she received and seemed more like a mother interacting with them. "High Leader!" The owner of that voice called out. Isaac eyed the man walking swiftly toward her, he had two others with him. All wearing masks. One was as large as he would become, the other slightly smaller the one in front dressed as would a hunter, all in black with red highlights the ones in back dressed in what could be called casual White Fang, all wore masks.
When he came to a stop Sienna put up her hand, a gesture to quiet him down. "Adam. This is Isaac. Commander of Grim's Bane. Isaac this is Adam Torres commander of the Vale section of the White Fang. Grims Bane have offered to help clear out the northern grim." He looked at Isaac as if forming an opinion, for a moment, before speaking. "I saw the news, you shattered a powerful syndicate of humans bent on persecuting the faunas. Keeping us ignorant."
Isaac made a noncommittal shrug. "Not me, really. The students, hunters in the making spent about a million lien to legally take them down, I was the focal point."
He shook his head smiling. "Still, the youngest hunter in history, passing years of human schooling in days." He took a step forward the passion in his voice was almost infectious. "Join us, help the White Fang, you have potential unlike any I've seen in years."
Isaac held up his hand shaking his head. "Grim first, once these creatures are taken care of. We'll see. Grims Bane are all licensed hunters we have humans and faunas working together for a common goal, a common enemy, we hunt grim."
He seemed to loose his smile even his shoulders sagged a bit. Taking a breath he straightened up then faced Sienna. "High Leader, I want to explore an opportunity in the Vale region."
"I know you've traveled far Adam and I do want to hear your proposal, but this must take precedence. I would, for now, have you tell our patrols to stay at least." She looked at Isaac.
"We found assassin grim can reach out about twenty feet from ambush, so fifty should be good without alerting them that you know about there existence." He responded crisply.
Sienna khan stepped forward explaining. "This needs to be done quietly, by the time that's done I should be ready to hear you." She told him. Adam bowed slightly. "As you wish, High Leader." Then he turned and headed to the north of the camp.
Isaac sighed as they walked toward a large wooden building with White Fang emblazons draped on it's front. "I disappointed him."
Sienna smiled. "He is quite passionate, believing strongly he is making a difference. To be honest, so am I. You however, command what appears to be a powerful army. You seem confident these thousands of grim can be eradicated. I thought at first it was youthful pride, but what little I've seen, your well spoken, to the point, resourceful, have the best you can gather by your side, and your people by the actions I'm seeing. They all will fallow you, even if they think they may die doing so."
As the doors were opened for Sienna Isaac lost himself in thought. How many would die? All, none? He knew the capabilities of the weapons he had made how a Hyper SHSBOT round could pierce twelve feet of pressed steal. He knew thumper could fly through a flock of nevermore's without damage. The flesh was the problem, people could just panic under the right circumstance. He had done it himself once and it nearly took his life.
They entered a hall into a smaller room. It was quite opulent he noted and regretted offering such a low price. He did have to smile, understanding her a bit more, she was trapped, by the golden crown, the power and wealth her position gave, honeyed words was all she knew. He laid the contract out on the table, sitting down with out being asked to or after her. It was time for business.
He gave some instructions and warnings on what the weapons they used would do, describing the damage they would cause to the land. Letting her make perpetrations for it at her end. Isaac found she did have issues with humans running around camp. Most here had nowhere else to go or were persecuted by humans some had been mutilated, some wanted revenge, others, a small amount to be true, wanted peace, but the massage was clear, keep the humans away from the compound.
She could pay one point five million a month or one million depending on donations. It seemed fair, he didn't want them to start pushing for monies from the faunas who donated their meager lien. The rest was transferred to Grims Bane's main account in Vale. The contract would be sent to the lawyers and record keepers.
With the bureaucracy taken care of Isaac left. Finding Adam waiting in the hall. "Your up Commander." He left the door open as he passed, not seeing Adam smile, liking those words.
Once outside he called C.&C. getting a blip update. He studied where they would make camp, found his easy-go an almost golf cart like thing, to scout ahead then set up the medical, artillery, secondary defenses. The mortars. The AA guns. The mines. The pattern for the tanks, light and heavy. Gave orders for the concealed placement of the light assassin killing guns. At a command from C&C they would activate. Set up the mess tent and all the details for an army of almost two hundred people to stay a few days. Most would sleep where ever they could but a tent was made with beds next to the medical tent incase it was needed.
They tore down woods, shaped the ground to channel the grim, created artificial hills for the tanks and dug trenches placing iron sleeves with roofs to protect troops from energy grim. The tanks did some maneuvers to get a feel of the land, weapons, and ammo were laid out and overstocked for the first part of the mission. By the fifth day they had a large killing field laid out. The mines flanked them and were buried as close as they dared to the grim pod's. All were marked by C&C.
The arrival of the main force stunned the White Fang camp.
Early O-dark, before the dawn Isaac received a call from C&C the main force was a mile away, wiping his face he headed for the eazy-go. A small golf cart like vehicle who's only service was to scoot someone along quickly over distances. He called Miss Khan as he traveled. They had been keeping her informed how far and long it would be before they arrived. Now he had to get to her before the camp went on brown alert and someone stupid fired on the column, which would automatically fire back. Tension was high enough as it was with just thirty or so humans being near, now about another hundred odd were arriving with only sixty faunas in weapons of war.
Sienna slept in the same building they signed the contract in so picking her up was a simple task. The squeaking of metal, and grinding tread could be heard from nearly twelve light tanks, engine noise from fifty or so flatbeds carrying equipment and six heavy tanks. The vehicles lights reflecting off the clouds overhead. Growing tensions caused by the approach would be from excited to intense.
They stopped by the gate, a kind of blockade where the White Fang would charge any who wanted to drive farther east or south. Isaac almost laughed seeing the guard pull out a donation basket. The driver of the first tank was laughing, rocking his tank as if he may sprint forward. Sienna waved the toil keeper back telling him to open the gate.
The column drove by at about ten miles an hour passing that tollgate for fifteen minuets. Isaac waving at the hunters as they passed. Then fallowed the last one to camp keeping somewhat behind the dust storm. "Sorry about that." Isaac apologized for the first driver. "I'll reprimand him, by docking his pay." Sienna shook her head. "No, that driver was a faunas. Just were do you put them?"
"Were Grimm's Bane Miss Kahn, we hunt grim, skill is what gets anyone in the position they want. You just have to be the best available." Sienna looked down at this child and found adult eyes staring back at her. He's annoyed. She thought.
Two hours past dawn they were set up as well as could be, some last minute changes in the tanks line up, four AA's near them and the rocket trucks far behind that. The mortar crews were behind a artificial hill between the rocket trucks with energy deflectors anchored into the soft earth by long rods of iron, rammed in with a jackhammer. The forward AA's, flanking them. Then rear guard AA's were scattered in threes around the main perimeter. They set out more assassin hunters. Final checks of equipment and electronics were made, two drones launched with three on standby, the medic and mess tent were seen to. Artificial hills had been created around the medical tents, with a straight shot away from the fighting if it came to it. With nothing else to do they took a small breakfast then primed there equipment, taking slow aim at there assigned sections of the map, waiting.
While they ate Sienna had close to a thousand questions about this equipment. Which Isaac answered in somewhat more detail then she wanted. All too soon they were on the ready line, did the final checks before the attack.
"This would have been better at night, but ya can't have everything." Isaac laminated. He had offered to have Sienna khan in the C&C just to keep her out of the mess that was about to happen but she insisted on being outside, witnessing first hand. They had climbed up into a makeshift crows nest. A vertical tower much like a tall tower for a power line. They were well over sixty feet in the air. Isaacs computer was the last electronic device to be set up. A physical cable running down the tower then into C&C. As it booted and he eyed the forest that held more grim then he had ever seen in one place and gave the command. "We are go, activate counter for SCP 008, missile trucks." He seemed to count to five. "Fire." The guns placed around her and the camp were making popcorn sounds as the assassin grim were dealt with.
Sienna watched shocked at the noise entering her helmet. With it on she couldn't hear her fingers snap, these missiles made an almost screaming sound as they left the tubs, ripping out chunks of dirt with there exhaust. Ten to a row ten rows deep. The noise went on for almost a minuet. "Artillery, weapons free, fire when ready." Said Isaac with no emotion Sienna could detect.
Sienna felt the concussion wave from those guns that were almost two hundred feet to the side of her. Flaming donuts blasted out of the barrels turning into white smoke rings. She had been amused when a water truck had sprayed the soil around the camp, to keep dust down she was told. Now she knew they would be almost blind with dirt if they hadn't. The missile trucks had backed up over the torn up earth, there tubs lowing like a dump truck. Another truck backed into and met it then started reloading missile after missile.
"Impact in 3,2,1!" A excited vice filled her ears. Isaac was looking forward with binoculars. As she strained her eyes she could see flashes miles away. The starting of plumes of smoke and fire rising. It was five seconds before she heard the muffled by distance explosions. He had told her they were using thermal weapons. To kill a grim completely, you needed fire. It didn't look like a wide area was hit but the computer plate in front of her showed a scattering of impacts like a shotgun blast, all burning. The grim within were scattering in all directions. Then the artery hit. A white wave of compressed air bubbled above the tree tops sending parts of trees and dirt skyward, and where the missiles were a faint sound you could clearly hear the blast as something with almost fifty pounds of explosives detonated. The large guns kept firing, this would be a constant barrage she had been told. They would be directed by there command and control, that heavily armored trailer which sat as a wall between them and the grimm.
C&C gave a tactical update. "The grim have reoriented, there coming." Isaac zoomed out on his data plate, watching the grim as a collection of varied sized white dots covering the miles to reach them, all the time being shelled by howitzers, and now the large tanks, when they came within two miles the smaller tanks started firing along with the mortar crews. Sienna felt as if a lot of hands were slapping and pushing on her body. The ground shook, the tanks rocked, a concussion of air radiating around them with each shell shot, and the grim mindlessly ran toward them.
"Second pod: Flyers are coming in." C&C reported. AA platforms rotated, aimed and fired quick short bursts the pad showed after a few seconds nevermore's blinking out of existence at over four miles away. Sienna half smiled, she had intended to cheat them. Grimms Bane were asking far too much, but now she wondered if that was smart, Adam had suggested it, his hate for humans blatant. Yet not knowing how large the pods were, accusing them of falsifying the data. She knew that was no longer true. The nevermore's were only in the second pod, for quick reaction to a threat Isaac had said. He kept saying the grim were guided, they could coordinate, use tactics like a faunas or human would. Now she believed it. The third pod was moving trying to join with the second while it slowly moved down to them. She stiffened not likening the idea that her camp had been targeted for extermination by the grim, assassins had come, killing and watching them, the grim had gathered in the largest mass she had ever seen shy of a no-go zone, without Grimm's Bane willing to take the contract they would all be scattered to the wind.
Then she more felt then heard the rumbled of thousands of grim running towards them. They had entered what Isaac called the killing fields. A cleared out area over a mile wide and long. Heavy machineguns in the trenches opened up, streaks of light flickering forward. The tanks fired main and secondarys, almost straight into them blowing grim fifty or a hundred feet into the air. There smaller weapons firing continually.
The forest burned in an out of control blaze, smoke billowing up for miles. The missile trucks flickered to a green color. "Fire at second pod, don't let em think." Isaac said. Sienna looked up, that was almost ten miles away. They had that range? She watched the trucks bed shift to an angle, to the main body and rise up preparing to fire, the angle was different then before, it had been almost ten degrees, now it was about thirty, long rang she concluded. The rockets screamed, flying off the trucks back like a nightmare, moving so fast they were just a flicker and gone in a trail of smoke.
A red blip appeared in the first pod. "Colossus class grim, energy caster." C&C barked out. "HT, 1 and 3.. Commander, you have the ball." Isaac said then ignored the screen. Looking to the left.
The scene before her looked like something out of an old war flick. Explosion's randomly appeared, dirt rising dozens, some hundreds of feet into the air, bodies of larger grim flue to the side and the smaller grim just vanished. The heavy guns made a wall of death while the infantry cut the faster grim down by the hundreds.
Two of the tanks stopped firing, slowly turning there guns, and seemed to wait scant heartbeats before firing as one. Two seconds passed and Sienna saw the large grims head snap back, then it fell smoking as it died. She swallowed slowly, if the distance was right it had just come within two miles, it never reached the point were it could use it's weapon. The nevermore's to there left she noted were slowly reaching them, just the shear numbers of them, they simply could not be shot down fast enough with what they had.
"Thumper. Weapons free, you have the ball, do not stray into pod two or three." Isaac voice said into her com unit. Rows and rows of tracer rounds shot high over her head lancing into the nevermore's. She turned to see it, fallowing the lines of tracer rounds, it was a dot in the sky, so high in the air and slashing through the nevermore's like butter. Then the thumps, A larger gun on the crafts sided was picking off the larger grim. She shook her head realizing everything here was made to kill grim at ranges greater then a mile. Only the infantry had short ranged weapons which seemed to hit just as hard as the larger ones.
It made her wonder why had this kind of fighting not been done before? Hunters had always traveled alone or in small groups as far back as she could remember. She recalled reading some of the reports, how Isaac said he had ideas on how to kill these grim that his professors would, could not understand. Khan looked out at the battlefield, saw the drifting black smoke of grim, the fires burning, consuming the forest. How a new fire was spreading, keeping the second wave of grim from waiting for the third so it could combine into a herd of thousands to overrun them. The fire they left hampered the third pod, making them go around the raging forest fire. The larger grim that could endure the fire's became targets to the longer ranged guns. She could see the second pod shifting more towards them, those scout drone's, small and high above them kept everyone up to date on the battlefield and they had three more to cover if they lost one. The heaver third pod would be left behind to fight on its own. The question remained, with what they had, would it be enough.
"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Isaac yelled into the mike. Breaking Sienna out of retrospection. "All heavies reload lights odd then even reload. Smoke em if ya got em, snack em if ya can. Artillery keep pounding em take half off. Rockets give two rounds into pod two, C&C will give you targets warn us before you fire."
The dust started to clear in the killing fields, nothing but smoking holes remained. Sienna smiled knowing the first pod of grim were gone, part of the second was damaged and on there way here, the air threat was almost gone Thumpers guns still sounding at a distance as it did a wide swing to the east. Some of the more excitable nevermore's trying to chase it down. The command screen before her showed the new targets the rockets were to hit, just inside the far northern end of pod two. Sienna could understand the reasoning, it would cut pod two off from pod three with a forest fire. Brute force tactics she admitted, but effective.
Trucks moved forward in a quick line doing a U turn then backing up to the tanks. A crane like rig stretched out from the truck. A magnetic grapple moved a shell over the tank lowering it into a hole. This repeated until full she assumed. Then the crew gathered up the large spent casings around the tanks before driving away. Ten minutes and the bulky tanks were reloaded. Halve of the lights then the other half. In under fifteen minutes. The rockets fired twice waiting for instructions as they again reloaded.
Isaac, Sienna Khan noted was smoking, it looked odd to her seeing a child with a smoke in his mouth, muttering into a mike. The AA configuration shifted along with one of the howitzers. That was dragged to the front by something that looked like an over sized treaded pallet jack you could sit in. The massive gun was lowered to an almost ninety degree angel, it still towered above the light tanks in front of it. "Point blank." Sienna murmured. She knew it would fire on any large grim, the sizes that were coming could reach them at over a mile with there energy weapons. She took a breath with the stunning realization. This was the part where the C&C had been against the mission. "C&C move the steel forward." Isaac commanded.
The infantry she noted were outside, not protected by any real armor. What they had was more to block or deflect the energy up and away. She glanced at the sun surprised to find it past mid day. Had they really been fighting for hours? It seemed like they had just started, she could see from her perch some working others resting or eating getting ready for the next wave. A fuel truck drove by, refueling anything with an engine, a strange rotten smell came from that liquid.
The two huge guns kept firing, they were now an expected noise, more felt then heard. That large aircraft they called thumper landed and took on fuel and ammo some distance away. Sienna decided to see how her people were doing, as she climbed down she heard Isaac say. "Things will heat up in about ten minuets. I'm thinking it may be best to evacuate the base and head to the sea, or if you've hard shelters get in there."
Jumping to the ground. She told him. "See you in ten." Then took Isaacs easy go and headed for the White Fang base.