Owing to getting the drek shot out of me in several recent jobs, I went under the knife to get dermal plating. The things are visible under the skin so I guess we're doing this all the way now. No looking back; this is my life.
After showing our asses on the last job, I was keen to lay low for a while. Spark and I had to convalesce after surgery (she got dermal plates too).
Blitz was trying to trade the glove he got of that mage on our last job, guy named Schroeder. A Troll fixer he knows of offered to help him, perhaps to acquire it perhaps to help him retool it so it was attuned to him and NOT traceable by the old owner any more. Blitz was also trying to find a way to get a SUV in the deal, since he wanted a functional vehicle. The Troll offered him a job too, something about helping some other Trolls who got chased out of their warren. What the fuck chases a Troll out of its home?! Bugs, he told Blitz. Yikes, some bugs! We take the gig. Healing goes well and we were finally ready to hit the streets again.
It was time for some legwork. We had the name of the contact and where his warren is. Their crew is called The Little Guys. Cheeky.
We headed over to the address, a place on the edge of the city where they started to build infrastructure like a subway stop, but it seemed they abandoned it. There were big, man-made 'hills' and piles of debris and materials like scrap metal that sat between buildings. The place smelled like a cafeteria - cooking and smoke. A big Troll sat on an economy car like was a couch. "Who goes there?" he asked, as if he was under a bridge in a children's story. He tapped a metal staff against the pavement. Blitz introduced himself and us. "Thought you'd be bigger," the Troll bellowed. Blitz motioned to me: "That's him." The Troll replied: "Thought you'd be bigger too. And you have a wee one too," he said of Spark, the Elf. He goes by Ben, with Leon and Elias by his side.
They showed us footage on a tablet of meter-long beetles with large jaws chasing Trolls! Their movements seemed not quite corporeal. Then their mandibles shot out flames! Another clip showed a nest. How many were there? "It's hard to say," Ben said. "Those seem to come and go. Maybe a dozen? Two dozen? They also seem to be of the same mind. It's hard to explain."
The warren was a couple stories below ground. Ben drew me a crude map of the tunnels, rooms and the bug nest.
We did some research that showed that the beetles - Insect Spirits likely - could be harmed by mundane weapons but magic worked far better. So we grabbed some mission-specific gear. Spark wanted explosives. We all got flame-retardant clothing.
A couple days later we returned, to find plenty more Trolls milling about. Ben gave us a pep talk and then we headed in.
I led the team down the subway stairs to where passengers would get tickets and go through turnstiles. The Trolls had ripped out those same turnstiles and decorated with wild street art mosaics of all kinds of found items. Blitz was trailing me and Spark was covering our six. The plan was to protect our magic user, as he was the one would likely do the most damage to the spirits.
Up ahead I saw and heard a burst of flame. Paused; no movement. Then scuttling. SmartLink rangefinder said targets - three of them - about one meter tall each were advancing on us. I fired off probing shot at the smallest and it went down dead. Blitz went astral and saw the others coming, spurting flame. They were scary fast. Blitz blasted another with magic energy, and it too went down for good. Spark fired a shot too, at the last one as it jumped at us. It hit Spark then hit the ground injured.
I broke into a jog as we fled toward the nest. There were mounds of dirt that I wasn't prepared for, which lengthened our route. We saw a downward stairwell covered in a crust of wispy material, though it wasn't spider's web. Man, I don't know much about bugs, I realized. We could hear them skittering about down below. I rushed down the stairs and quickly headed for the door we were seeking. It smelled like earth, where the Trolls were digging. But right above me in the beetles' wisps was one of them, and it sprayed us with the flame attack we'd prepared for. The fire-retardant gear helped soak up some of the damage though I could feel the effects seep through to my armor. The other two team members seemed to dodge it. Spark peppered it with gunfire and it fell from the ceiling. Spark rushed past me and through the door, taking point. It looked like inside the Trolls were making some kind of aquifer. We had to get across, and the place where we were headed was flanked by a group of smaller beetles. Spark headed at them, spraying bullets to chase them off. Blitz moved quickly to the door, taking the lead.
We arrived in a Troll dwelling, with big stuff all around. Blitz was practically face-to-mandible with a much bigger beetle with many legs and prominent insect features as it sat in a multi-tiered nest made of mud. The nest had a geometric pattern quality to it. The bug rose up, a prominent ridge on its head. It's times like these that I'm glad I can't see in Astral Space. The thing was the size of a step van and that's enough for me to know.
It raced at Blitz, with flames starting to manifest. Spark unloaded another spray of gunfire. I checked around for any other beetles hiding, and found none. I pushed against the door we came through, in order to keep any other beetles from getting in.
The queen raked Spark with her mouth as the Elf back pedaled and grabbed her with her mandibles, crushing her in her grip.
Blitz yelled "This is the source!" and motioned to a gaping black hole of nothingness beyond the nest. He hurled magical energy at it. "Keep her off me!"
Spark slipped from the queen's grasp, clearing me for a shot. I dropped to a knee, bracing my back heel against the door to keep it jammed shut. I swung my rifle up and poured all me focus into the shot. With the queen's 'crown' in my scope I fired, tearing a layer away to expose an interior with an orange glow.
It washed flames over Spark and Blitz but they seemed to weather the attack. Blitz then unleashed another spell, pouring so much effort into it he wobbled, nose bleeding and spent.
A howling noise and air rushed toward the darkness. The queen stood up tall, fire licking, then she froze in place. As the noise stopped, I could hear the sound of a distant stampede coming at us from beyond the door.
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