At Rio Verde the army stopped and fortified the hills around the city. It was obvious why Rio Verde was chosen to make a stand. First, the number and severity of demon attacks were increasing, and it was obvious that if the attacks continued while the army was on the move, it would be at a distinct disadvantage and be disorganized and unprotected if a major offensive came. Second, Rio Verde was a major crossroads, and five major highways converged on the area. Third, the area used to be farmland, though it was overgrown now, but as a result was still largely flat, with areas of slight elevation that could see kilometers around. And fourth, though the city used to have 200,000 people in it, it was now totally abandoned, with many of its structures burned out from when Diablo went south and walked close to the city a decade and a half ago, and the standing structures were almost all abandoned and decaying, save for a few hundred inhabited by squatters and nomads, so they wouldn't have to worry about protecting a civilian population. So, the word was given to dig in, and Chuck took out his entrenching tool and with the rest of his comrades began filling countless sandbags with dirt, while other soldiers set up lines of M18 Claymore mines. Most of the infantry was concentrated in the northwest, while the IBIS walkers were southeast of them, as the topography of the area made it likely that most attacks would come from the north or northwest. One IBIS walker, however, was in front of the main mass of infantry, and looked out on a small hill in the northwest. After preparations of the area was finished, there was nothing left to do but wait.
Chuck Horner was in a heavy tank south of Khantayskoye Lake, sitting at the gunner position. Jonathan Jones was driving, Nathan Der Wales was the commander, and Kade was loader. The tank rumbled as it was driving, and Sergeant Der Wales was looking through a periscope.
"Halt!" said Sergeant Der Wales, and the tank stopped. "Positive two degrees off axis. Prophet spotted. Do you see him, Chuck?"
Chuck checked his viewfinder. Through its magnified glass, he saw a man in the distance, clad only in robes.
"I see him," said Chuck.
"Let him have it!" said Sergeant Der Wales.
Chuck put the dot of the viewfinder on the man, and first fired the main tank shell. The tank gave a great boom, but missed the Prophet slightly, though it struck a tree near him dead on. A section of the large tree exploded into smithereens, which doubtlessly would have at least injured any normal man standing that close to such an explosion, but as the tree toppled over Chuck was worried and infuriated to see that the man was unharmed.
"Reload, high explosive," said Chuck, and Kade began the reload process.
Chuck began firing at the man with the coaxial machine gun, but the man ducked behind trees. It was hard to tell at this distance, but he swore that one or two bullets hit the man, but he must have been mistaken because the man was unhurt. He fired a second tank round, but that time the man was behind a tree, and again was unharmed. Next, the man raised his arms and pointed at the tank, and great bolts of electricity began shooting from his hands.
Chuck and the rest of the crew were insulated from the electrical blast, such as they weren't instantly electrocuted, but the tank engine shut off and the interior lights went off as well, to be replaced by the soft red glow of emergency lights.
"Get the hatch, Chuck," said Sergeant Der Wales. "This tank's a sitting duck now."
Chuck nervously went for the metal hatch, hoping he wouldn't be touching it if the Prophet shot more electricity at the tank.
"Yes, good plan," said Chuck. "Let's get out of the tank and surrender. Our feeling of helplessness is our best friend."
"What are you talking about?" said Jonathan Jones from the driver's seat. "We'll get out of the tank and fight to the death or escape, not surrender. When we die, we will die with our arms unbound!"
Chuck was about to say something, but jerked his hand away from the hatch as electricity began to shoot through the tank again. This time it was a much more prolonged zap. He began to smell burning plastic, and knew that the insulators protecting the crew from electric shots were burning or melting.
"It's going to cook off the tank rounds," said Kade, and Chuck watched in horror as electricity played over the tank rounds, and was helpless as one exploded, triggering the rest of the rounds to explode and killing them all.