Sigil of the Wolf - 21. Chapter 21

Karin City- Karin

The subway system was relatively untouched by the fighting. Experience had taught that, in an emergency, subway stations could be used as refugee shelters. The thick and heavily reinforced 'bunkers' were a throwback to the Apilon Rift War when Karin had been under siege by the Gorean. They were amongst the few things that had undergone numerous renovations under the Pirate Barons that had ruled the Commonwealth; they had recognized the need to protect their workers should Karin ever come under siege again.

It had been easy for Edward to get down into the subway network. The heavy police parker had gotten him waved past by the nervous Karin Guards, who were trying to keep their eyes peeled in the cold night, waiting for yet another Amsus assault.

Edward tried to remain focused as he came down through the small station and descended to the platform. Crowds of people had gathered there, huddled together in blankets and coats, looking up at the ceiling and waiting for it to be over, not knowing who was attacking or how. News of the Amsus raids hadn't filtered down there. As far as they knew, an entire Amsus armada was over their heads dropping troops.

He felt sorry for them. He felt as if he should tell them something, anything to give them hope. He was their Prince, right? Wasn't it his job? There were a few of them looking at him in the policeman's coat. He was probably the first official these people had seen aside from the Karin Guards at the doors.

He flashed a smile. "The fleet's in orbit," he said, trying to look reassuring, heading towards the emergency ladder that would take him down to the track.

"Highlord Taine's here?" An old woman asked, clutching at his arm.

He smiled at her and gently patted her shoulder. "The fleet will send them running," he reassured her, as others gathered to listen, "It's just a few Amsus left in the city they're mopping up... Just a little while longer, sit tight."

He was mobbed by questions, and he held up his hands to ward them back. "I need to get up the line and make sure others know," he said, beginning down the ladder. A quick glance at the map told him the direction he needed to head in to reach the spaceport.

A few of the citizens stood on the platform looking down at the young man as he started off down the tracks, Edward wondering if he'd done the right thing in giving them hope. They needed something to make them feel better. Was that really why he'd done it? Or was it more that he wanted it to be true himself? If they wanted to believe something, even a little hope was good, right?

He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets and set his jaw, walking quickly along in the darkness, the dim lights of the tunnel guiding his path towards the far distant shard of light that was the next station.

He had nine more after that till he arrived at the spaceport. Nine legs of the journey to decide what he was going to do when he got there.

* * *

"The Wolves report that they have engaged the Amsus Raiders and have them pinned down," Major Malone reported, pulling an errant strand of black hair out of her face as she rested her hands on her low-slung pistols, "There is still no word about the Prince."

"And the Senate?" Walker inquired, bracing his hands on the tactical board, staring over the distribution of assets. General Iver was standing impassively across from him. The old war veteran was simply forced to wait for some sliver of good news out of the whole mess.

"Elements of the Karin Guard report that the Senate bunker is secure and most of the Senators are accounted for," Malone reported. She glanced again at the General, a flicker of anger darting across his face. She quickly bent her head back to the reports.

Colonel Evans folded his arms. "There's been no sign of the Prince since the ambush, no body, nothing." His eyes sparkled angrily, "Which means he is probably still in the city somewhere hiding, or..."

"The Amsus have him," General Iver said, finally breaking his stony silence. "I want him found." He looked meaningfully across at Walker. "Don't think for one moment this grants you or the Senate a reprieve, I haven't lost yet..."

"You have, General," Walker smiled coldly, "it's only a matter of time, Prince or no Prince." He moved around the table. "End this now, here, and we can get back to..."

Colonel Evans stepped between them. "I'd like to remind the General that other options still exist, and that the Prince is probably still alive." He turned, looking back over his shoulder, giving Walker a chilling look, "And your Senate no longer has that luxury..."

* * *

Pachyeus-Ra, Grand Inquisitor, stretched out to his full nine feet in height, the effects of the Propylon jump washing away as the biomechanical creature stared about himself. He knew where he was, he knew her orders implicitly, and he was there to carry them out.

His feet clanked on the polished black marble flagstones of the Imperial Senate floor as he climbed towards the great doors. Heavy armour plates clanked and slid as he marched. He was death, born from it, recreated from his shattered carcass to carry out her will. And as the human guards stormed forward, throwing open the doors to the Senate chamber to see what was in their midst, he smiled beneath the dark armoured faceplate.

The hooked barbs extending from his gauntlets rang clear and true even above the spattering of gunfire that reverberated off of the energy barrier he cast up about himself. The desperate Karin Marines were screaming in English as they tried to hold him back.

He almost enjoyed his first battle, moving with the speed of his Polian heritage, his whole body a weapon as he tore through them. Casting aside limp and lifeless bodies, he cut a bloody swath towards his destination: the heavily reinforced doors to the Senatorial bunker.

* * *

"Sir," Malone reported, hand to her earphone, "Guards around the Senatorial bunker report a Polian is breaking down the reinforced doors..."

"The Polians?" Walker asked, turning back to the Major and reaching for the headset to hear for himself.

"Not the Polians, sir," Malone said, looking helpless, "A Polian. One."

The General turned his head a fraction to look directly at the Colonel standing beside him, the hawkish man smiling deeply as he looked back.

"What did you do?" Iver demanded quietly.

Evans shook his head and removed an earpiece from his ear. "I have been monitoring the Senate."

"It's through the doors..." Walker went rigid, his face ashen grey, "My god..."

* * *

Sephradon stood witnessing it all, wrapped in a white fur-trimmed robe standing upon a rooftop, a pair of Praetorian ensuring her safety, not that she was ever in any danger. Hominid-superior was more than capable of defending itself.

Her raiding parties were doing exactly as she expected them to, creating enough of a distraction to permit Pachyeus-Ra to complete his task. The destruction of the Senate was a step towards her vengeance, but it still felt hollow. This wasn't the same Empire; the treacherous bishops that had once turned on her when she had helped them secure power after the Immortal Emperor's transcendence were long dead.

She looked sardonically up at the Karin Wolf's-head banner flying above the Senate. All she had were the descendants of minor high Houses, the tattered remnants of Kardiac's grand army and VonGrippen's heir.

"Have they found Prince Edward?" she demanded icily.

"No Mistress," The Inquisitor behind her replied, "The task force sent into the Fortress failed to secure him before he was spirited away. There are reports that he is somewhere in the city."

Sephradon sneered. Typical of a VonGrippen, they had always been clever when it came to hiding. The old Warlord, faithful hound of the Emperor, had been especially fond of his hit and fade tactics. Yet a man of such intelligence had lacked the vision to see what she had offered him.

She closed her eyes, probing the city with her senses. She knew Edward, the shy teen that had hidden behind his grandfather. She remembered him vividly, the fear he had radiated whenever he had attended the Imperial social events. Awkward, trying to be a man. A little lamb amongst wolves...

She found that same fear.

The corner of her mouth turned up into a half smile as she latched onto it. "A shadow of a great man," she murmured, recognizing the timidity that Edward was burying beneath his determination.

In her mind's eye she studied him a moment, the object of her vengeance. A construct with a Polian memory shard overlaid upon it... a mere copy, flawed in its creation, as all artificial life was. It sickened her, all the years of waiting, and all she had was this.

There was something about the construct that caught her attention. The near perfection of the copy, the blood that flowed through the veins of the only blood relative of the Immortal Emperor... There was only one man capable of that level of perfection in duplication.

"Oh, Enarbrem," She said aloud, shaking her head, "Why would you create this?"

She turned to her Inquisitor. "He is in a subway tunnel heading towards the space port. Summon the second wave and recover him."

"Yes, mistress," the Inquisitor intoned, issuing orders.

Sephradon looked up into the night sky at the Imperial dropships falling to the city, pursing her lips. They would pose a problem to her plans. She couldn't permit that. She drew in upon herself and felt the icy cold about her. It took effort, and she strained to feel it, pulling the heat from the air and directing it away.

Laughing as she opened her eyes, she panted for air as the snow began to fall, the dark clouds rolling in over the plateau as the storm began to unleash its full fury. The sharp wind pulled at her robe as she clung onto the heavily armoured Praetorian beside her, reaching out to her Champion, recalling Pachyeus to her side.

* * *

Edward felt the shift in temperature as he passed beneath a ventilation grate that opened up on the city above.

It was snowing heavily, the white drifting lazily down around him as he stood for a moment looking upwards. His breath frosted as he breathed, shivering in the cold. It had been such a rapid change, the temperature plummeting to the point where it was now freezing the condensation on pipes.

He heard the first scream ahead of him, his head snapping around to look at the bright shaft of light that marked the next station. A sharp bark of gunfire, followed by more cries: the Amsus were in the subways.

He needed to get out. He dashed for the emergency ladder, slipping a little on the icy metal as he scrambled upwards to the grate, throwing his shoulder against it as he tried to lift it. He slipped again as he tried to put his full strength into shifting the stubborn grate.

The gunfire was increasing, and he didn't have long. He gritted his teeth and pushed again, the grate finally screeching on rusted hinges as he scrambled up and out into the snow-covered streets of the city.

The hail of gunfire exploded into a parked car to his right, the storefront window behind him shattering as display mannequins were riddled with holes. The young Prince dived for cover, slipping on the ice and ploughing into the foot-thick snow.

* * *

"Sir, the dropships have to abort landing," Major Malone was standing now, pointing to a couple of her men, trying to come up with other options for getting troops down to the city. "The crosswind across the plateau is too strong for them."

"A second wave of Amsus forces are gating in to the city," Evans called out, pushing Walker aside as he marked the tactical map in a new quadrant of the city, "They're appearing inside the subway system as well..."

"There are civilians down there!" Walker said desperately.

Iver ignored Walker; he knew they were there, continuing to scan the tactical map. "Move our current forces to here, here and here," he said with a gesture. "Order the Wolves into the subway tunnels and instruct them to protect the civilians." His eyes met Walker's. "They're my people as well."

"With the storm, we're losing air support," Evans pointed out.

"No we're not," Iver replied, lifting a headset.

* * *

Edward slid, trying to get a grip in the snow, rolling to sit up and stare at the Amsus troopers advancing on him. He'd lost his hat in the fall, and they had stopped shooting almost immediately upon recognizing who he was.

Edward breathed heavily; he wouldn't let them take him again!

He stood slowly, his hands upraised. There was nowhere for him to run, the ten troopers had him neatly surrounded, forming a semi-circle around him, closing in. He cast a look about him, trying to see a way out, and, knowing there wasn't one, he tightened inside. He was going to die.

The roaring din soared over the noise of the storm, the dark clouds billowing and rolling as a large silver shape slipped through them. The Imperial Osterburg Hunter-Killer hovered over the city like a deep, dark sentinel. Its pinpoint turrets open, it began to open fire.

Buffeted by the wind, the large ship was undeterred as it swung about, raining death upon the Amsus troops that permeated the city. Edward moved, sprinting as the Amsus troopers sought cover, a battery of pinpoint guns opening fire on them, tearing great chunks out of the city street, cars exploding as they were rent open by the shots.

Edward sprang around a corner, gasping for air as the street behind him vanished under the concentrated fire. Sections of the road collapsed into the subway tunnel as the Osterburg swung about again, bringing its powerful guns to bear on other concentrations of enemy forces.

A rocket shot up from an office tower, an Amsus trooper trying to return fire, the insufficient weapon exploding harmlessly off of the heavy armour plating of the warship. The Osterburg turned, its huge quad rail cannons opening up with a stream of fire that obliterated the skyscraper in an explosion of steel, glass and concrete.

* * *

Sephradon turned as the huge form of Ra marched onto the rooftop, his visored helm turning to observe the Imperial warship that was doing more harm than good, raining death onto the city of Karin. The Polian-Inquisitor clanked up to his mistress and settled back onto his haunches, the bloodied barbs of his gauntlets retracting back into their sheaths with a squeal of tortured metal.

Sephradon smiled. Rikard was so careless to leave such a valuable specimen lying in his lab. She'd taken great enjoyment in desecrating the corpse by initiating the Inquisitor procedure. Ra was, in her mind, the perfect specimen; she'd simply taken Rikard's experiment to the next level.

Her fingers brushed the cold, black armour plates, as she pointed to the Imperial warship. "Get rid of that!" she commanded.

Ra's helm slid around to look down at her, and back up at the warship, his finger stabbing the actuator on his chest, activating the Propylon recall. He vanished in a flare of light.

Sephradon returned to her observation, looking at both her silent Praetorian.

"Fetch the Prince," she commanded, slipping her hands back into the sleeves of her robe, knowing that the silent and invisible hunters were gone, off to stalk their prey.

* * *

Edward continued to run. It was now no longer about reaching the spaceport. There were Amsus appearing at random throughout the area. Most of them were taking up positions to open fire on the large warship, inviting it to return fire at them.

Edward knew that the safest place to be was as far from the warship as he could get. He ran, ducking behind cars and sprinting down side alleys as he moved. He was hoping to god that he ran into some kind of Imperial presence, but so far all he came across were bodies.

He rounded another corner, staring at the Imperial jeep sitting still running, its driver half buried in the snow, a dark red stain spreading out from him. The young Prince cast a look about him. The street appeared empty. The jeep was purring, its lights reflecting the large, fat snowflakes that were drifting down.

He ran for it, leaping over the fallen soldier, and clambering into the cold cab of the jeep. Slamming the door closed, he turned on the wipers and threw the vehicle into reverse, pulling it back as he craned his neck to look over his shoulder.

The jeep slid around as he threw it into gear and accelerated up the road, taking a second to stare. How the hell did he know how to drive? Driving was an archaic sport, yet he knew which pedal to press, what each of the controls did, and how to turn the wheel...

His thoughts were cut short as the jeep slammed into something hard and solid. The young Prince's head slammed into the steering wheel as the entire Jeep lurched and came to a shuddering stop, the shattered engine clicking as it cooled rapidly.

He blinked and opened his eyes as the window to his right shattered, a spiked hand reaching through to grab him by the front of the parka, pulling him through and into the street.

He staggered as he was dropped to his feet, blinking from the blood that was trailing from the cut in his forehead, trying to focus on the hulking, spiked shape of the twisted creature that lumbered towards him. It looked like a beetle, oily black endoskeleton plates covering its humanoid form, the face bedecked in eyes and mandibles, clicking as they opened and closed. It was a thing from a nightmare, and Edward drew back, swaying dizzily.

The creature drew its head back and emitted a low shriek followed by a pair of clicks, reaching forth again to take hold of him.

The hail of bullets screamed out of the dark night, yellow tracer rounds slamming into the creature and forcing it to stagger back. It dropped to a knee as the bullets kept coming, heavy machine gun rounds pounding into it and cracking the armour plates, tearing through flesh as the creature collapsed, its mandibles snapping open and shut as it died.

Edward turned, his legs giving out as he dropped to the ground, watching the Karin Wolf emerging from the shadows at the top of the street. The heavy shock trooper surveyed the rooftops around him as he advanced slowly, the machine gun barrel still smouldering as it cooled in the night air. His green night scopes clicked and whirred as they adjusted to the light levels.

The Wolf advanced, poking the remains of the creature with the barrel of the machine gun, turning back to the Prince.

"Your Highness..."

The second creature appeared from nowhere, shimmering into existence as it crashed into the soldier, one hand tearing the machine gun from the Wolf's grip and tossing it aside, the weapon clanging as it hit the street.

The Wolf rolled, dropping a knee and tossing the creature over his shoulder, using its own strength against it as the heavy shock trooper rose to his feet and took a ready stance. The creature scrabbled to its feet and rounded on its enemy, coiling to strike.

Edward stared as the creature lunged, the trooper casting it aside again as if it were a rag doll, the two combatants circling as the trooper drew a bayonet from its sheath. His night vision scopes adjusting again, he waited for the creature to strike.

The third time, the creature drove low, throwing its full weight into the blow, catching the Wolf squarely, driving him back against the shattered jeep, crashing together in a loud ring of metal. The Wolf drove his bayonet deeply into the creature as the creature in turn tore at the trooper's helm.

The two parted again, the creature cradling a deep wound as it hissed and clicked. The trooper rose and pulled off the useless night scopes that it had savagely raked.

The hard-eyed young man underneath considered his enemy again, the blade shifting to his other hand as he waited for the next strike. The creature shifted its weight, dropping to all fours as it moved with an Inquisitor's grace, serpentine in its motions, choosing exactly where it needed to strike.

Above them the Imperial warship shifted its pitch, its engines whining as it tried to gain altitude, an explosion rocking the vessel as one of its wings dipped. Crashing into rooftops, the ship curled around and dropped from the sky trailing smoke as it plummeted past the plateau and towards the surface of Karin.

The creature sprang, driving for the exposed trooper's face, the trooper in turn plunging the knife into the creature, the two crashing together and slipping to the ground in a final deadly embrace.

Edward coughed, his head swimming, trying to find the will to get to his feet. He felt sick; the blood had all but obscured one half of his vision. His grand plan for escape forgotten, he sat there in the cold snow.

"You need to get up," the warm voice said. The old man knelt beside him, in a simple black waistcoat and shirtsleeves that were completely inappropriate for the weather. "You can't let a couple of bruises keep you down."

Edward turned his head, his eyes welling up as he tried to focus through the fog and haze. "I can't, Granddad..." he said, realizing how small his voice sounded.

"You have to," The old man's voice was filled with concern, "You'll freeze to death if you just sit there."

Edward swallowed and shook his head. "I'm just... tired," he said, his eyes closing and opening, "Please?"

VonGrippen shook his head. "It isn't safe. Not here, you need to go a little further, just a little further I promise."

Edward fought to get to his feet, his legs shaky. "Which way?" he asked weakly.

The old man tucked his hands behind his back and bounced on the balls of his feet, inclining his head to the right, to a store with a light still on, the only light in the darkened row of buildings.

Edward took a shuddering step and another, reaching the door and collapsing as he found the pull chord. To his relief, the door opened. Hands pulled him inside.

* * *

Sephradon shivered, the cold touching her for the first time as her eyes drifted across the city. Ra was behind her, his task completed, guarding her silently.

She narrowed her eyes, scanning the darkness. "Recall the troops," she ordered, "We're done here..."