Dawn of the Epoch

Chapter LXVII - Vigilante

The quartet rented a car and drove to Genoa. Their first priority was the yzorak production facility. They needed to find it and sabotage it. Then they would deal with Ghaelvord and Malacoda. They hoped that with the production facility stymied that the world’s military forces would prevail over Ghaelvord’s volitionless legions.

To find their target, they would need the lay of the land. They drove south on the Milan-Serravalle highway. As they passed through one of the mountain tunnels, Tiyana began speaking.

“Alright boys, this is it, ground zero. According to the maps, the mountain we are passing through leads to a ridge overlooking downtown Genoa. If we get out after the second tunnel, then we can climb the ridge and look out at the city. We can camp in the woods up there if we need to.”

“It is a good plan.” Hongo said.

“I don’t know what we would do without you.” Hunter said to Tiyana.

As they passed the second tunnel, they disembarked. The climb up the steep slopes turned out to be more difficult than they had expected. Compared to their Himalayan adventure, however, it was a cakewalk. They crested the ridge and wandered through the trees until they found a clearing. True to Tiyana’s navigation, they found a panoramic vantage point for the city. They saw the motionless ships sitting in the yards. They saw the city lit up, but no traffic. People stayed indoors. A curfew was in effect. Ghouls patrolled the streets. The town was frozen in an unnerving silence. Hongo set up two Opticon telescopes with expensive fine-tuned, lead-glass lenses. The scopes brought out the colors of their targets in stunningly clear quality. He and Tiyana used them to survey the city. They had scant idea of what to look for. Prisons, schools, mental facilities, industrial complexes… anywhere that you could store many people and much equipment. That is what they sought.

After some time, Hongo began watching a contingent of yzorak march down the center of the street. One walked in front while four followed behind. They looked from side to side as they walked. The leader periodically lifted his fingers to his ear as if he was talking into a headset. All of a sudden, Hongo saw one of the ghouls in the back crumple to the ground. The others noticed and turned around. Bright flames ricocheted off of the armor of the ghouls and knocked them backwards. They were being hit by gunfire from the rear. The leader motioned. Two ghouls split off and went left; the other two ghouls went right. They found cover behind vehicles that had been abandoned in the middle of the road.

“Tiyana. Did you hear those shots? Look here.” Hongo said.

Tiyana brought her scope around and tried to center it on the action. She saw gunshots beat against the cars. The ghouls popped up and looked around from time to time, but they never fired a shot. It looked like they did not quite know where they were being attacked from. Then she saw the leader drop. A bullet had struck him from the other side. The contingent was surrounded. The shooters could be practically anywhere. The multiple-storied buildings had innumerable windows overlooking the street. After a few minutes, only two ghouls were left. All of a sudden, a ghoul lifted his arm and electric blue rays sprung from his wrist. A chunk of nearby building was vaporized.

“Uh oh. I think they found whoever was shooting them.” Tiyana said ominously.

“Yes, I think so.” Hongo agreed.

Hongo turned to Hunter and Virgil who were talking off to the side as they fiddled with the tents, “Guys, hey guys, we have action.”

Hunter responded flippantly “Hongo, you’re losing your accent, we’ll have you talking like a regular Yankee one day.”

“Just come look.” Hongo was not in the mood for jest.

Hunter looked and saw two of the yzorak firing on a nearby building. The continued barrage of particle ray fire took a toll on the structure. It quickly decayed into shambles. As they continued the attack, one of them fell to the ground. Hunter thought he had been hit from behind. Then, the other ghoul turned and apparently saw their attacker. He raised his vambrace and looked as if he would fire. Instead, he lifted his fingers to his ear and his mouth moved. Then the two final ghouls took cover. Hunter did not like what he saw. He knew why the ghoul had not returned fire. He had called for reinforcements.