Hybridization

"We just let them rent a portion of the Order space. As long as the fees are paid up and some basic rules are followed, a company can do whatever they want when designing a building." – Penny explaining how non-Order entities do business within the pocket realm.

Nine. The goliath was wearing at least nine pieces of enchanted jewelry, assuming each of the six rings on his fingers was enchanted along with the necklace and wristbands being enchanted. Kurt couldn't see any others but didn't rule out the possibility of there being more. Who knows, maybe the giant has some special piercings?

With the mystery of enchanted items being put on pause, Kurt looked at where they were going. It would help if he knew more about the different sections of the Order, but he assumed they were going to the office park, judging by the signs. They had only been walking for a few minutes, so they hadn't been able to go too far.

He could hear the chatter on his earpiece from the trailing security teams and how Penny was directing them. Kurt was also mildly surprised that To' Gal'tra hadn't tried to have those little bits of tech removed but also wasn't sure how much he was aware of them or how far he was willing to push things.

They soon crossed the length of the hallway they had been walking down, getting a lot of curious looks along the way, and arrived at what seemed to be a city square with several office buildings around a central park area. The hallway actually turned into a sky walk several stories over the park area that crossed the empty space in a hub and spoke pattern. They turned right almost as soon as they cleared the tunnel like hallway and began walking toward a glass fronted office tower.

Kurt was able to see that the lower-level entrance below them was the same design as the one they were walking toward but that was about all he could make out from that distance. As for the second floor one, there weren't any company signs or logo's to be seen, and the reflective glass prevented him from seeing much past the double entry doors.

They walked through the first and second set of doors which opened automatically as they approached. When they passed the second set, they found themselves in a rather opulent lobby with a three-story atrium that was made of glass and light shaded granite. Everywhere Kurt looked, he saw gold and silver trim accenting the surfaces in a near constant display of wealth. There was even a marble fountain in the middle of the lobby that burbled along merrily.

"Where are we?" Kurt wondered aloud as the group came to a stop near what looked like a giant set of elevator doors, and he looked around.

"The guild headquarters building in the Order Stabilitas." Answered To' Gal'tra, surprising Kurt by providing any response after the complete silence of the trip over.

"Huh. Neat." Kurt commented idly before returning his attention to the elevator that had just arrived at their floor.

"Neat? That's all you can say is 'neat'?" Questioned the goliath as he turned to look at Kurt. "You stand in the halls of the greatest organization in all the realms and that is all you say."

Not missing the opportunity, Kurt decided to needle the man. "I mean, I have been in some pretty impressive buildings before. This one is alright as far as lobbies are concerned."

"Oh, what was your most impressive building?" Val asked, piling on after sensing what Kurt was up to.

"Hard to say. Top three would probably be the Smithsonian aerospace museum, the Amway facility in west Michigan and probably one of the casinos in Vegas."

"You have been to Vegas?" Kristi asked next.

"Yeah, horrible disgusting place to anyone with a sense of smell. I tell you, it-"

"Just shut up!" The goliath said in his rumbling tone. "Don't compare the enchanters guild headquarters buildings to gambling halls and museums!" He somehow yelled without making his voice any louder, just changing the pitch and tone to make it more piercing.

Kurt just stared back at him. "I'm not, those buildings are way more impressive." That seemed to upset the hulking man who began turning a strange red-purple color before one of his cohorts coughed.

"Ahem, boss. The elevator is here." Said the orc.

To' Gal'tra glared at Kurt and pointed to the open elevator door. "Get in."

Stepping inside, Kurt saw that the oversized doors were indicative of the interior. The space looked more like a dressed-up freight elevator with nearly fifteen feet to a side and ten-foot ceilings. After everyone else was in, To' Gal'tra pressed an equally oversized button and the began descending.

"Going down, eh?" Kurt wondered aloud. "I figured we would be going up, but if your bosses like their offices down on basement level two, who am I to judge." He was leaving little trails while talking aloud and was listening to his earpiece as the directions were relayed to the rest of the security teams.

"Their offices are at the upper floors, as befitting their station." One of the guards on Val's left suddenly said and got a harsh glare from the goliath in return.

"Then why are we going down here?" Kurt wondered as the elevator came to a stop and the door opened. "Ah. That's why."

The room revealed to them was more prison turned workshop than it was office building. In a wide-open area were dozens of worktables divided by clear plexiglass into little high walled cubicles. There weren't any doors on the cubes, but Kurt saw that the occupants were all wearing a matching set of leg irons that weren't connected to the floor by anything he could see. Before he had a chance to get a better look, they were suddenly led to the left and down a hallway making Kurt tear his eyes off the scene before him.

"You guys use forced labor? Are they criminals or something?" Kurt asked after they had walked a fair distance down the hallway. He was once again warning the teams that there might me non-combatants in the way when they struck. Along the way down the hall, they passed dozens of unmarked doors, all of which remained closed but gave off the scent of disinfectant and industrial cleaners.

"No, they are the ones who declined our more than generous offer." A new voice said from the middle of the hall. "Something that they are regretting every day, I'm sure."

Kurt poked his head around the massive form of To' Gal'tra to see what looked like a member of the fey race. The man stood a head taller than Kurt, but it was hard to tell given the shimmering nature of his iridescent skin and silver hair that wafted like he was underwater. The loose, robe-like garments the man wore were of a deep blue that seemed to have a slight sheen of their own, making them look like silk of some sort.

The fey made a gesture to the open door to his left. "Right this way." And then he walked in, turning his back on everyone in the hall.

With a shrug, Kurt and the girls followed after into the mostly barren room with only a table that had two chairs on opposite sides. The fey was sitting in one of those chairs leaving the other for him. He also noticed that the only other person to enter the room was the goliath who had escorted them there.

The goliath went to stand behind the fey while Kristi and Val went to stand on the far side of the room, keeping an eye on the door and the other occupants. That move got raised eyebrows from the fey and raised lower-forehead-skin from the hairless goliath. There was a moment of hesitation as To' Gal'tra tried to decide if he should mirror the motion but lost the chance as the fey began to talk.

"Take a seat and we will begin." He said. "I am Ythiel Vel-Sona, and I lead the guild production operations as they are in the Order." He then looked expectantly at Kurt but after several seconds of silence, he once more spoke in an irritated voice. "What is your name?"

"Kurt" He answered shortly after adjusting himself in his chair. He was also stalling for time as the small ear bud was currently filled with the reports from team leaders as they maneuvered.

Ythiel huffed in annoyance at the short and distracted answer he got to his question. "Do you know why you are here?"

Kurt thought for a moment, trying to decide how much he could get away with in terms of annoying the shiny man. "Because I wanted to come and see what you had to offer?" He said with a grin. "Why else would I be here?"

"Because we summoned you, of course." Ythiel hissed through teeth clenched in annoyance before once more adopting his imperious tone. "We have decid-"

"Oh, if I didn't want to come here, there isn't anything you could do to get me here." Kurt cut the man off. "Like seriously, I was curious. You don't actually have the authority to summon me or even compel me to do anything."

"Nothing we could do?" Ythiel seemed both baffled and angered by the interruption. "We have the authority to do as we please to any enchanter we want. I think that there are many things To' Gal'tra could do to force you and bring you here."

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"Yeah, nah." Kurt said and gave the now clearly angry man a once over. "Probably not."

That frank assessment and subsequent dismissal stunned both of the men. It took them several seconds to come to terms with what Kurt just claimed. Eventually Ythiel seemed to come back to his senses and placed a stack of papers on the table with a little too much force, causing a few to bend and crease between others.

"You are going to sign this contract, or else."

Kurt literally couldn't help himself. "Or else what?" He said with feigned ignorance and curiosity.

Once more the fey was taken aback. "What do you mean or else what?"

"Dude, like what if I refuse to sign it?" Kurt rolled his eyes while Val suppressed a laugh. The small snort drew the attention of To' Gal'tra making him glare at her and Kristi.

"If you don't sign it, we will kill you." Ythiel said flatly with what was probably supposed to be a cocky smile that showed his very golden teeth. He then poked the stack of paper with his very long finger. "Now you don't have any choice but to si-"

"Well, that's stupid." Kurt cut him off, having waited for him to start speaking just to do that, and then elaborated when the fey looked at him with complete confusion. "If I don't sign it, you don't get what you want. If you kill me, you don't get what you want even more, since you wouldn't have access to anything I would make to replicate on your own."

"Seriously, you didn't think that one through." Kristi said while Val was now turning red and biting her cheek.

"You will shut the fuck up!" The goliath roared and took a step around the table and raised his hand to slap Kristi. His look of surprise when his hand passed right through her and he stumbled was almost, but not quite, comical.

What was comical was how the real Kristi appeared a few feet to his left. "My turn." She growled and threw a lighting fast jab that caught the still stumbling To' Gal'tra in the side of the head, right in front of the ear. There was a flash of light before everyone heard the crunch of bone as the giant was thrown into the concrete wall at high velocity. Then they felt the floor shake as the enormous being slumped to the ground after coming to a rest in the corner.

"Gurards!" Ythiel shrieked as he stood and began backing away. He had grabbed something in the sleeve of his robe when he suddenly tripped over the fallen To' Gal'tra. His head bounced off the stone floor, making a sound like a steel ball bearing falling on concrete. The whole encounter was over before Kurt could even leap over the table to seize the fey.

"Oof. Bet that hurt." Kurt said as he approached the now stunned man. "Val, his charms please." He winced as she kicked the fallen fey in the groin hard enough to partly lift him off the ground. "I meant his enchanted items."

"I know." Val said while watching the man now curling up into a ball and groaning. "I just wanted to get one in before the Order takes him."

"Youuuu. Cannnn-aaaah." Ythiel groaned.

Kurt knelt down and grabbed the man by his flowing hair, yanking his head around as Val began stripping all the items off him. "We already did. Didn't you notice none of your guards came to help?" An eye lid peaked open, letting some green tinted tears flow down his cheek. "That's because when we sat down, the Order was already inside and seizing the entire building. Those guards you have out there are likely dead or at the very least paralyzed into unconsciousness."

A moment later, after getting creative with a seatbelt cutter, Val had stripped everything off him, leaving the fey in just a strange type of undergarment that looked like he was wrapped in gauze. Kristi had done the same to To' Gal'tra though she was a lot less gentle going by the sound of breaking fingers Kurt heard.

With both the people in the room restrained, Kurt went to the closed door and knocked three times, getting a single knock in return. He opened the door then to see the carnage that the hallway had become.

There was blood and spent brass everywhere and several of the Order security members were patting down bodies before stacking them along the walls. He saw a few who were placing the strange stasis devices on the still living guild guards but not any being cuffed.

Seeing a familiar face, Kurt waved them over. "Jade, we got two here."

"Moving." Responded the werewolf. "My team, on me." She called and the other four members of her team dropped what they were doing and ran over. The body they had been carrying was now lying sideways across the hall but that was beside the point.

They all pushed back into the room and Val glanced back up to him. "I secured the document."

"Good, le-" Kurt stopped when he heard a familiar voice in his ear.

"Numbers, we got an issue. Move back to the work room where you got off the elevator" Penny said as gunfire and yelling came echoing down the hall and over the earpiece.

"Let's move." Kurt said then summoned his rifle and fatigues from his ring, the girls copying his actions donning their equipment as well. Nobody seemed to notice the brief flashes of nudity as they dismissed one set of clothes for another or if they did notice, they didn't comment.

When they reached the end of the hall, they found the doors to be already propped open and a couple Order soldiers were holding it down, rifles pointed out into the strange open area. Beyond the doorway, spread across the line of workstations, there were a dozen more Order soldiers and they were all firing in one direction.

Kurt was wondering what they were all looking at when he heard a guttural roar just as he saw a several hundred pound work bench smash into the wall. The soldiers just in front of it had barely dove out of the way as it nearly crushed them. They scrambled back to their feet and bolted for an alcove directly across from them where Penny was standing with several others.

When they reached the door and peeked around the edge of the frame, Kurt saw what had so firmly captured everyone's attention. While the sight of two very tall and very brown ogres made him pause, he heard an excited voice coming from behind him.

"Oh, fuck yes!" Kristi crowed before dismissing her machine gun into her ring. "This is going to be fun." She patted Kurt on the shoulder and slid by him, copping a feel of his butt along the way. "Let me show you how we did this back in Libermount."

*****

It turned out that the way the people, or at least the dragon newts of Libermount, handled ogres was significantly more hands on than Kurt was expecting. He and Val couldn't really do much other than try to reorganize the soldiers to take down the second ogre. They began moving to cross the open area, using the still standing work areas as cover, and couldn't help but watch events unfold.

Each of the ogres was twelve feet tall, every inch of them covered in thick brown skin, confirming they were one of the more common races. Both of them carried a club made from a tree, the bark of which was still attached under bands of iron. A slab of a metal shield, that was easily blocking the small arms fire from the soldiers, was the only other arms they had. Their clothing was a sort of long tunic that appeared to be made of leather from some giant beast, judging by the lack of seams.

He looked over to see that Kristi had sprinted at a rather impressive speed directly at the left most of the two. She had her scales out and her tail trailed behind her, moving in counter point to her steps. She didn't seem to be slowing at all, only accelerating across the hundred yards that separated them.

The left ogre saw Kristi approach and began to bring its shield around while raising its club to deliver a counterattack. She didn't seem to care and leapt, springing forward at an impressive speed and summoning a barrier between her and the shield a moment before she impacted it.

There was a sound like someone slamming a sheet metal door as Kristi hit the top center of the shield. That sound was quickly followed by a crunching as the top edge of the shield was driven into the face of the ogre and it reeled back, roaring in pain.

Kristi recovered in a moment, stepping under the flailing arms of the ogre and once more leaping upward, tackling the giant around its waist, driving it back. The force of the hit lifted the ogre off its feet and launched them both toward the massive double doors that it was guarding. They missed…by a lot.

They both smashed through the right-side door and the cinder block wall supporting it, ogre first in this case. The falling brick and rising dust blocked off the sight beyond that point but from the guttural screams of pain, it didn't sound like the ogre was having a good time.

Meanwhile, the other ogre had lifted it shield to block its face from the gunfire of the soldiers while it watched the spectacle unfold. It seemed to hesitate a moment, clearly wanting to go after its companion but also finish the fight it was in. After a couple seconds of having its ankles peppered with a variety of small arms fire, it decided to help its friend.

Stepping from an alcove in the far wall was another figure. "No! Fight here!" Screamed a tall human looking man who waved his hand at the ogre. The gesture seemed to halt the creature in its tracks and its facial features went slack for a moment.

Then, as if in a daze, the ogre raised its shield once more and pivoted to face the soldiers who had all recovered enough to take cover and begin to fire. With its shield once more held up, it began to advance down the wide aisle, shoving worktables aside with its shield.

The human seemed to decide that being behind the target of massed small arms fire wasn't a good idea and he quickly turned to retreat back into his hidey hole when his head disappeared. The body completed the half step before toppling over to the ground, still kicking from the sudden severance of nerves.

Kurt wished he had been the one to drop the handler, as he had just positioned himself to take a shot, but it turned out that just bad luck had done the man in. One of the rounds fired at the ogre had skipped off the ground and then up into his head. With a muttered curse, he began to work his way up the other aisle to flank the remaining ogre and work his way toward Kristi.

The ogre either noticed Kurt or noticed its handler died because it began to turn, stopping and staring at Kurt. Its eyes locked on him and Val as they ran toward the back of the room.

"Fuck." Kurt swore and fired a burst at the giant to see if he could make it go back into cover. The hastily fired rounds impacted a little low, hitting it in the upper chest rather than the neck. He knew that his 5.56 caliber rifle had no chance of penetrating an ogre skull so was aiming for softer, more vascular areas.

Still, the pain must have been enough to make the ogre bring its shield around as it pivoted the metal monstrosity to face him and Val before taking a step forward. It kicked out with its foot, trying to fling one of the giant benches toward them but failing as it got stuck on another bench right next to it.

The strange, interrupted kicking motion made it stumble, and its shield arm came down, making it crouch slightly to offset the balance. It stayed there a moment as Kurt and Val split to try and get another angle on it while staying out of the line of fire.

Then there was a vary familiar noise that Kurt's mind zeroed in on. It was the muted boom that came from large bore, low velocity projectiles usually in the 40-millimeter variety. A sound that wasn't so much a bang as a 'bloop'. He ducked just in time as he heard a much louder boom that was indicative of that 40 mil something arriving at its destination.

The ogre roared in pain as its now very blackened and mangled knee gave out and it was forced to kneel and lean against its shield for support. A moment later there were three more such explosions as the remaining grenadier's launcher their payloads at the now exposed side of the creature.

One after another the grenades detonated, each one carving a massive chunk from the hulking figure. The first hit it in the upper back, the second hit it in the ribs under its still raised shield arm. Both of those sent sprays of blood and bone back in a cone-shaped spray of viscera. But it was lucky number three, the last one fired that hit it in the back of the head, the explosion removing a portion of skull and spine as the ogre slid forward, dead.

Val came rushing over to Kurt. "We have to find Kristi. And we need a bunch of those grenade launchers." She helped him back to his feet.

"Yeah, Kristi first, Renee next. Got it." Kurt said, shaking his head to try and clear his still ringing ears as they both followed the sounds of screaming ogre through the hole in the wall.