Chapter 1: Blaze of Glory
As the alarm went off in the small office of section 42's drone navigator, he awoke with a sudden jolt. It had been nearly five weeks since the last incident and so it was fair to say it had caught him a little off guard.
He wiped the dribble from his chin.
The portal was, unfortunately, on the outskirts of the district. The E.T.A. was approximately two-hundred and forty-three seconds, give or take. The nav system had calculated a direct route. He read the details on screen: level 2, upper district. "That demands a riskier approach," he thought to himself.
Although the penalty for lost lives always affected the overall score, in some districts, the points deductions were more severe than others. It had to be offset by the sanctions for any damage to the drone itself of course. The calculations were complex, but Martin was intimately familiar with the intricacies of company policy and prided himself on his pecuniary acumen.
The terminal flashed the name of the accepting faction: Salamanders 41-43. Some of the tenseness he felt released. The drone would just have to keep things contained, till they arrived. No doubt it would take a little longer for the human forces to deploy.
He downed the last dregs of cold coffee and concentrated on the multiple screens in front of him. He knew one thing for certain: he was getting that bonus.
*
The red light condensed into a bright, almost white light; distant screams were heard from below, drowned out by the sirens. The occupants of section 42's upper district ran into their homes and personal transport vehicles quickly descended from the skies into the smoggy streets below.
As the portal finally ruptured, winged creatures the size of dogs flooded out. Their bodies were covered in grey scales and their leathery wings filled the sky. They swarmed from above, belching small flames and smashing through windows. No doubt they were scavengers. Soon gun shots were heard, as the residents tried to keep their homes safe. Those with abilities of the offensive variety used them to fight off the creatures. Those without were not so lucky.
One of the apartments sitting empty had been targeted and was quickly becoming the epicentre of a large conflagration. The sprinkler system, having no magical aspect, was struggling to dowse even the smallest of flames.
Mrs Tubbs ran from her apartment carrying a ginger cat under her arm. It clawed and bit at her dressing gown, twisting and jerking as it tried to free itself. As it hissed, one of the scaly creatures came towards them. The cat stopped struggling, its eyes growing large. Mrs Tubbs quickly used her transformation ability, turning her to face into that of a large feline and hissed. It was that of a domestic cat, so was far from intimidating, but at that moment there was a chink of breaking glass, and the beast fell, brains weeping from its skull. The window of their apartment building revealed a single large hole and behind it a black flying vehicle.
The gun drone had arrived and was firing off high calibre spirit-dipped rounds.
It tore through the flesh of the beasts, their bodies having little resistance. Such weapons were not technically required for scavenger beasts, but it certainly sped up the process. Each time shots were fired, a new target was quickly found.
One of them crashed against the exterior of the drone, landing with a thud. Only a small dent was made to the upper panel, but its claws grasped the lip of the casing, somewhat reducing its manoeuvrability. It began to spin in response, gradually building speed, then suddenly stopped: the momentum of the creature brought it in front of the barrel. Bang! The remote pilot had quickly fired a round, piercing the creature's neck, and viscous black blood pumped out in thick streams. The creature's grasp suddenly loosened, and it fell, descending into the slums below. The drone lined up its next target, firing off another burst of rounds.
But at that moment, the portal started widening further, shifting to its next and final phase. A larger beast, at least three times the size of the others appeared, flapping its gnarled brown wings. As it roared, the air shook and the force pushed back the drone, if only a little. Still, this should be the highest level of beast they would see: a prey tier. Such a name seemed silly and inaccurate under the circumstances, but ultimately, the powerful hunters chose the names. The bullets had been designed with these creatures in mind, and if he could kill one or two, the navigator would receive a handsome bonus.
The beast's maw opened wide, and orange flame poured from the beast. Its spectral orange flames licked the drone's reinforced alloy casing, which suddenly glowed white with heat. It fired back in response, and though the beast stopped its attack, the wounds it took in retaliation were not too severe. The drone attempted to target its vital areas, repeatedly aiming for the creature's head, but it bolted forwards or dove down, nimbly avoiding the range of the drone's sight.
There was no time to chase, as two more beasts, not quite as big as the first, but certainly of the same class, fell from the portal. The whirring of rounds being fired followed shortly after, but then suddenly a loud shearing noise could be heard. The claws of the beast who had nimbly escaped had grabbed the body of the drone from behind, tearing into it, like a tin opener piercing through a thin sheet of metal.
As the beast's two companions rampaged in opposite directions, the drone was flung away, crashing violently into a roof top. The visuals blanked for a second before returning. As they did, the pilot put full power into the motors, but alas, the machine was crippled. The creature appeared to finish the job, opening its mouth wide and preparing a blast of flames… but before it could, fire could be seen enveloping it from behind.
The creature wailed in pain as its wings were set a flame. Moments later, three bodies landed from above, one with flames flowing from his hands. The city's Salamander division had finally arrived.
*
Back in a civil servant's office, the drone pilot cheered. His craft has just been saved, and in spectacular fashion. Sure, it was pretty banged up, but the fact it could likely still be repaired had to mean something. Besides, maybe he would get lucky and the fatality count would be low.
He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a box of cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, enjoying a front row seat to the power of one of his favourite factions. Sure, these weren't prominent members, not even a blip on the national scale hunters, but they were still the closest thing they had to local rock stars.
He put his feet up, while the monitor recorded. Though the drone was unable to move from its spot, he was able to rotate the camera slightly, moving it just enough to get a better view of the action.
*
Captain Pyre landed softly on the rooftop, his two lieutenants following shortly after. He was a lithe man with a short black beard and bald head. He wore the iconic flame-retardant orange jumpsuit of his clan, a sort of rubbery spirit-armour with a silver chest plate with two red gemstones at the centre. On the back, there was an emblem of a salamander in a white triangle, the symbol of their clan.
The flames from his palms roared over the beast, singeing its wings and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. It turned quickly, lashing out with its claws in response. The captain's reflexes were more than sufficient, enhanced by his spirit armour, and he punched the beast in the chest. It winced in pain, surprised by the power of this smaller being. He slashed again, this time catching the captain's shoulder, causing a gash in his orange jumpsuit and shallow wound beneath.
Flames swallowed the beast in response, a torrent of essence being summoned, belying the captain's elevated rank within the squad. When the embers finally died down, the creature moved the charred, scaly arms that had been protecting its face with some difficulty. They looked deformed, and it would certainly struggle to claw him again, but it was far from dead.
"Damn fire beasts…" he thought to himself. "That should've killed it."
The shared affinity of their aspects meant that they were particularly resilient to one another's attacks. He would usually take out the prey quite quickly, moving from one to the next, while ensuring to leave some to his lieutenants, but this might take longer than usual. On the plus side, their spirit armour relied heavily on the fire affinity, so their cores would not go to waste.
He sighed, reluctantly pulling out a small blade from his belt. He'd come across similar scenarios in the past, where his fire aspect was less effective, like fighting ice beasts or those with a protective shell. He activated his spirit essence, channelling it through the beast dagger till it shone white, then lunged forward, driving it through the beast's chest till the tang cracked its ribcage.
He saw the look in its eyes change at that moment: the fight was gone and instead of lashing out in a final frenzy, it dropped to the floor and let out a long final cry. Behind him, his lieutenants were making short work of the smaller beasts, their flaming corpses falling through the sky like a downpour of barbecued beast.
Pyre looked off in the distance—a little distracted perhaps, but he was brought back to by the screech of one of the remaining prey. It had spotted its dead companion and made a sort of war cry in response. Shortly after, both prey were closing in on the Captain from opposite directions. He squatted down, as if tyred, but as they drew in closer a small smile appeared on his face.
"Not yet…" he muttered to himself, counting in his head.
"Now!" he cried. His voice was deep and carried through the sirens.
The seven remaining squad members jumped from the helicopters above and surrounded the two large beasts from all sides. They set up a barrier of flames around them, trapping them, and forcing them closer to the captain. The lieutenants, hearing the signal, were making their way over now too. As the beasts closed in, Captain Pyre crouched into a tight ball, condensing his spirit essence, holding till the moment he was about to be struck, then exploded outwards.
*
A screen full of flames was the last thing the camera drone picked up before being incinerated. Looks like it was destroyed after all. Unsure of how much longer he would be employed by the company, he stuck a memory stick in the terminal and downloaded the final footage it had recorded. It was rare to get such close footage of the Salamanders using their abilities, with their tendency to destroy everything close. Maybe it was worth something?