Built Different [Cyborg Superhero ProgFant]

There was a degree of patience required for archery that I hadn't really considered before. Now that I was aware, I wasn't a fan of it. Certainly not for me.

Ren had been posed atop the Meteor for several minutes, bow drawn and eyes narrowed. Her strength impressed me, but the magic of her bow probably helped with keeping it taut for so long. Three lookouts in the watchtower ahead were the cause of the delay. I cursed the fact that we had this mission to complete during the day rather than night - but being exhausted and possibly injured right before the Arena wasn't acceptable. We were already cutting things close to the edge.

The rest of us would either be spotted approaching the watchtower or just didn't have the range to get rid of the problem. So it was just waiting for the right-

With the buzz of magical energy, the elf released her magical arrow. My lense zoomed in on the watchtower again, and I watched as the length of her projectile pierced through the necks of all three in a row. Each stumbled, shocked for a brief second, before collapsing out of view. Other than the brief glimmer of her shot, it was a near undetectable attack.

[Impressive. That will allow us to approach the walls with the Meteor.]

After a brief amount of griping, we had determined that the tracks wouldn't be detectable if we moved slow enough - providing we cleared one of the watchtowers. Assuming the mutants didn't have a way to contact the one we had just emptied, our vehicle's cloaking would allow us to waltz up to the walls of their town.

Maybe Kingston hadn't given us a lot of information in the briefing as he knew we'd baulk at the proposed directive. Mashing our way through abandoned structures and small mutants outposts was one thing, but the size of this group was unlike anything we'd seen previously. Doing this in broad daylight was even more beyond the pale.

I rubbed at the back of my head, missing my hood out here in the sunlight. The black spec-ops suits just absorbed the constant sunlight.

"You'd have thought they would have invented better cooling by now," Belle complained, trying to waft fresh air on her covered face as she entered the back of the Meteor.

The rest of us piled in, and Clara monitored our visual signature as we slowly emerged from the rock formation and approached the large town. Even knowing we had the cloaking—and it was unlikely the mutants had the tech to see through it—I felt very exposed as the Meteor crawled along through the open terrain.

[Once we are at the wall, we'll deploy smoke and disembark. Clara will give us the all-clear, and Roxy will break open a hole and then we'll establish our footing.]

If it weren't for our own efforts, it would be easy to assume that Kingston's orders meant we were slaughtering our way through every mutant man, woman, and child until none remained. Even if they were opposed to Goldarch and planned our downfall, genocide just felt too… villainous for us. Something that brought up a sour, long lost memory in the back of my brain.

Clara had put pressure on some sources and come up with some out of date, but useful information. The mutants were known as the Gnollistic Gnaw, and ever since their last raid on the city, they had started creating an army. The reports on it had been bought out and buried, which was a question mark for another day. Weaponry and armor that suggested they were being supplied or funded by an outside source. Machines with siege capabilities.

So, after a brief team meeting, we decided that crippling their military capabilities should be enough. It was still a vague line of who should live or die, but I trusted everyone in the Natural Disasters to do the right thing. The only ones to judge us were ourselves… and any outside watchers.

Outfits be damned. It wouldn't take anyone with half a brain more than five minutes to guess who we were after seeing our abilities in action. We couldn't really hold back either.

But as the Meteor shuffled up to the wall, most of my fears washed away. I flexed my new fingers, slightly more used to them. This was a trial of fire, but I had survived the inferno a few times before.

Roxy put her hand on my leg, reading my thought process. "Take it easy. If you need us to do the heavy lifting at any point, say the word."

I nodded. As much as it was like me to push myself as close to the line of my mortality as possible, we had to play this sensibly.

//Clara: Recon reporting.
//Clara: Two streets over is a military outpost.
//Clara: Main camp is further north.
//Clara: Siege north east.
//Gunquake: Understood.

[We have some walking to do. Targets will be armored and equipped with firearms and more modern weaponry than expected from mutants. Stick together as a team and cover each other.]

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

The group gave me their acknowledgement. We'd already gone over this before, but it bore repeating. While a couple of them could probably take half the city on their own, as a controlled group, we were an unstoppable force.

//Clara: Smoke ready.
//Clara: On your signal, Gunquake.

I took one last long breath, rattling the filter of my re-breather. Then it was time. I gave her the signal.

The hatch at the back of the vehicle lowered as a large plume of gray cloud burst around every side of us. Roxy led the way, and we followed her out. Three seconds later and there was a mighty crash as she punched through the makeshift walls. Metal sheets and bent struts clattered into the street beyond as the smoke snaked along inside the opening.

Thus, the violence began.

As we stepped into the Gnaw's territory, we were met by the shocked faces of those wondering why part of their defenses had just exploded. As expected from their name, most of them appeared to be some form of twisted, bipedal dog-people. Their snouts were longer and full of sharp teeth, more akin to alligators. Fur was patchy and manged, with their heavily tanned skin tattooed where it wasn't blistered or diseased.

Before the first of the half a dozen present could gather their thoughts and draw a weapon or flee, Roy was there. In barely two seconds, he delivered a blow to each, knocking them out.

We powered past, taking Clara's directions to the first outpost. The streets between the houses here were pretty quiet, but it wouldn't take long before the whole town was up in arms against us.

Surprisingly, their housing seemed to be made of brickwork. At least, underneath. Covered with a thick layer of some manner of plaster - possibly to keep them cooler inside. Empty windows and fur covered doorways, alongside both sides of the street. The smell of waste and decay was strong here, made worse by the afternoon sun.

In passing one of these doorways, one of these Gnaws burst out from the thin curtain at me. Wielding a spear with a barbed end. They probably would have struck me if I was slightly closer - but they misjudged. As they stumbled in front of me, I grabbed their extended arm with my right and twisted it. The shoulder joint cracked and split as I lifted a leg to kick them away.

Their body folded up against the other side of the street after rolling a few times, while I awkwardly still held their arm. Maybe this was how Roxy felt when first getting to grips with her super strength.

I dropped the torn limb, as that wasn't the only mutant seeking to test their chances against the invaders. Figures stepped out of the houses along this whole street, armed with sharped blades and worse.

[Looks like things won't be as surgical as hoped.]

"Maintain formation and move as one," Roxy confirmed. She created a ball of lava in her hand before allowing it to cool rapidly.

With a grunt, she pitched it toward the gathering group behind us. Before it struck one of the unlucky mutants, a magical arrow struck it, bursting it apart. Pebbles and dust clattered around the group propelled by a gust of wind, causing the Gnaws to cover their eyes or turn their heads. With a shield on him, Roy sped in and dropped them all with a flurry of punches and kicks.

I raised my fist at one of the few at our position. Barrel popped up, and I fired a Foam shot, striking the Gnaw in the arm and sending them back - pinning them to the wall as the foam expanded and solidified. As the spent shell ejected from the side of my arm, I loaded and fired a Nerve shot into their face.

It felt rather natural. Of course, I had already been using my thoughts to operate my old gun-arm. My left arm still occasionally tensed as if ready to reload a new magazine, but that was fine.

A mutant glowing green tripped over some loose stones on road and fell onto their face, biting through their tongue. Roxy stepped up and stomped down on their head, pulping gnatty fur and brains across the street.

Those exiting the houses ahead of us paused in place at this sight, wavering.

"Get the Hundred Fangs," one snarled at another.

"No, I'll get them," a different Gnaw offered, already backing away.

In a squabbling mass of arguing and panic, they lost their nerve and retreated away from us - aside from the first one who had spoken. He licked his foam-flecked lips, seeing he was alone. Nevertheless, he flourished his rough scimitar-like sword and readied himself.

My grapple struck him in the chest before he could react, and as I planted my feet, he was dragged toward me. An arrow struck his weapon arm, and the blade clattered to the floor. Once in range, Roxy grabbed him by the neck and raised him into the air.

"What weaponry do you have here and who funds it?" she asked.

"You'll not get the information from me, assassins," the mutant hissed.

"Then you'd best stay out of our way if you want to live." The super turned and threw the Gnaw over the houses so that he'd land on a roof the next street over. "Too many of these assholes are quick to step up."

We had made friends with mutants and those opposed to Goldarch before, so we had entered this mission knowing that we might try to humanize them. Not every group was a violent and irredeemable gang of monsters. There was a spectrum, and as heroes, we had to operate under the assumption not all were the worst. Aggressive nature wasn't enough of an identifier.

I was also trying to ignore the unsubstantiated rumor that the group proliferated via a necromantic rite from animals they reared, rather than by normal means.

Several of the mutants appeared at the edge of their single-story rooftops to attack us from above as we continued, but were stopped before they had the chance, either by Belle or Ren.

Just as we reached the junction at the end of the street, a hideous wail rumbled through the air. A continuous siren that blared a warning throughout the maze of houses, stuttering slightly as a high-pitched voice gnashed out some orders.

"Red alert. Sector Ten. Fresh meat to be claimed by anyone who is able!"

"Their speech is surprisingly developed," Roxy murmured.

Belle looked around at the side streets adjacent to this crossroads, flexing her fingers. "Makes sense if the Gov have had their finger on the scale. Can't wait to see what other bullshit we'll have to deal with."

We wouldn't have to wait long.

I raised my finger to point down the northern street, as a dark group of figures gradually crowded together. A darkened tide swelling toward us, full of snarling maws. A true test of our teamwork and my new arm.

[Let's go see what they are made of.]