The Frontier: Part 4 - Los Diablos go to war

Welcome back to The Frontier! To make up for it's absence, there will be two chapters that I put out - one about the Sunbreaker vs Anibus and Orion battle, and one about Toliks, the Kell of Los Diablos. This chapter is the latter, and a long one as well. Enjoy! Dawn broke over the BDZ. A large structure, made from equal parts wood and metal, rusted quietly under the rising sun, reflecting the warm rays off of its metal exterior. On the outside it was all calm, all beauty - but on the inside, Los Diablos were buzzing with the excitement of slaughter. A pike roared into view with lightning engines crackling, and spun to park directly underneath a set of metal gates, which were made with the armor of destroyed Fallen walkers and overlapping large rainforest tree trunks. The Vandal dismounted and croaked a command word to the gate. A Vandal with a wire rifle relayed a message through a servitor, and opened it. The creaking gates opened to a den full of activity. Dregs forged blades and guns with anvils and hammers, occasionally having scraps of food and sips of Ether to sate themselves. More dregs tested equipment, repaired it, and upgraded it with material they had found from other sources - old guardian weapons, weapons from the Archon’s Claws, and old golden age tech. In side rooms, Vandals and dregs siphoned Ether from large spherical servitors into tanks and containers for later consumption. They sometimes took sips when they thought nobody was looking, and occasionally were caught by a supervising captain, who either sent them sprawling with a cuff to the head or docked them with their shock blades. A vandal scrambled up from her meal to greet the scout. “Peksis!” she chattered. “What news do you bring?” The large vandal grunted. “More of that meddling priest.” The female hissed. “Good or bad?” she asked inquisitively. The scout gave no sign of emotion behind his impassive features. “We shall see.” The female vandal grimaced in a way that could have resembled a smile. “Good, then. We shall soon go to war. I am not stupid, I have noticed the increase in orders for Ether and equipment. Toliks intends to attack the priest.” The scout gave the same cryptic answer as before. “We shall see.”, he accepted a greasy morsel of monkey meat and bone with a muffled “Thanks”, and strode towards the Kell’s throne room with determination. The throne and room was humble, unlike those of many other Kells. It was sparsely decorated with furs, and made of wood and metal, much like the room itself - A combination of new and old. In the corner of the room, a figure worked arduously in the dark in the glow of a forge, hammering away at a long piece of metal that resembled a staff. The Kell adjusted his mask, and tempered the hunk of metal in a bucket made of the skull of a great worm, from the moon. He admired the staff, crude as it was, and prepared to stick the blade in the forge again, when he heard the sound of his doors opening and closing. The Kell of Los Diablos turned to address the scout. “Ah, Peksis.” Said the Kell. “My loyal scout.” Unlike many other Kells, Toliks, The Red Butcher, was not a gruff and snarling beast, despite his barbaric name. He was well spoken, intelligent, and even charismatic. He knew many of his followers by name and and spoke to them as individuals, instead of his minions. For this, his crew and pack loved him as their Kell, and were willing to die for him out of loyalty, instead of fear. For his enemies, this made him all the more terrifying. “Just a moment, Peksis.” Said Toliks good-naturedly. He put his work-in-progress staff in the forge to heat up and strode over to his throne with heavy, clanking steps in his greaves. The Kell of Los Diablos sat down heavily in his throne, and faced Peksis. “What news do you bring me, my friend?” He said softly. “You can come over here, you know.” The vandal approached the throne, and sank down on one knee. Toliks casually brushed off the formality. “There is no need for that, my friend. Come, sit down.” He reached behind him and set down a chunk of an enormous ribcage, also from the Great Worms that used to haunt the bowels of the Moon. Peksis sat down, and stared into the eyes of his Kell. “Now, tell me what you have brought me.” Said Toliks. “The Mad Priest’s forces have weakened.” Peksis growled softly. “One of his barons hides in a hole in the hills in fear of a lone Dead Soldier.” the Kell slammed his fist on the arm of his throne excitedly. “Finally! We can defeat his Claws and rip the Ketch from their greedy claws! Good work, Peksis. The first step will be shattering the pillars of his command. Where is this Baron you speak of?” Peksis forgot to hide his happiness and said “The Baron hides in the ruins of the dead city. He is one of the Priest’s most valued commanders.” Toliks stepped down from his throne. “Good. We shall seek him out, and take him prisoner. Prepare the Hell Hounds. I will rally the House.” Peksis nodded, and a nervous edge took his voice. “All of them?” Toliks shook his head, and his mouth curled in a toothy smirk. “No. Just the strongest.” The scout walked away anxiously, as the Kell went back to the forge. He flattened the staff at both ends into a tapered blade and thrust it into the bucket. He roared triumphantly, and slammed the Arc battery onto the hilt of it, made some final adjustments. He calmed. “I'm coming for you, Priest.” He growled softly. ––––——––––————––——––————–––––– Karas, Baron of Celsor, keeper of the Claws’, cowered in a concrete building, surveying the ruined city with a sharp eye. He beckoned his second in command to his side. “Any signs of movement out there?” he hissed. The vandal gave a salute and shook her head. “No, the lookouts are reporting the usual things. Animals scaling the buildings, nesting, and flying around. The occasional Skiff breaking orbit. That kind of stuff.” Karas clicked his mandibles. “Good.” The Vandal gulped nervously, knowing the Baron’s reputation for a bad, and sometimes lethal temper. “What exactly… are we looking for?” Karas gave his second in command a deadly stare, and said slowly “Surely, you know that there is a Dead Soldier hunting me. Once he comes here, I will crush his little machine and slide my shock blade between his ribs.” The vandal stepped back. Not only was the Baron dangerous and murderous, but he seemed to be losing his grip on reality as well. A dangerous combination indeed. “Very well. Carry on.” Said Karas, sharpening his shock blade. “I will wait here.” The vandal nodded quickly, and moved over to the other side of the building quickly. She went back to her comms, and contacted her lookouts. “Hey, I think I see-” the lookout was suddenly cut off, and over the comms she heard a muffled screech, and a wet *crunch*. She ran back to Karas’ side. “Sir, something is wrong with the snipers! One of them is-” a bolt from a wire rifle silenced her, bursting her helmet and skull like a ripe tomato, and making Ether shoot out. The Baron ducked as another bolt pinged off of his armor, and went inside the top floor of the buildings. In the distance, he could see a large figure loping across the roof of a structure. He shuddered and rushed down the steps of the building. One of his soldiers fired back at the attackers, and gave a short bark of happiness. Karas heard something crawling on the outside, and then saw something reach in through the window and grab the soldier by the neck, yanking him out. Karas tried to shoot it with his shrapnel launcher, but he was powerless to stop the beast from snatching his fellow Eliksni. A dreg in the colors of The House of Devils hissed at him and lashed out with its two shock knives. Karas kicked it in the stomach and obliterated its head with a blast from his launcher. “Retreat!” He roared hoarsely. “Fall back!” He joined with a group of dregs and vandals that were desperately trying to fight off the attackers, and rallied them. “We can fight our way to the den!” Said the Baron. “Let us go!” They all cheered, and gathered around him. Together, they stabbed, shot, and killed almost half a dozen Devils, and had made it to the ground floor of the building. A shadow fell over them, and without warning the same beast from earlier shrieked at them. A dreg was torn into and killed, and thrown with enough force to stagger a vandal. The monster made short work of Karas’ soldiers with only its teeth, claws, and rapid speed. Karas managed to stab it with his shock blade and injure it, but a wire rifle bolt blasted him in the chest and pushed him back. He whimpered as he realized the slavering beast that was holding him down was a fellow Eliksni. He managed a scream of terror, and it all went dark. Wow! What a chapter. I'm considering splitting this in two, since this is so long, but considering the long absence of The Frontier, it seems right that the chapter would be extra long. Did you enjoy this kind of change of pace for The Frontier? Be sure to let me know in the comments below! Cyao!