Book 3, Chapter 79 - Technological Fighting Force (1/2)

Raven made his dark promise as twenty men rushed into the lab with weapons ready. They arrayed themselves before their leader in a semi-circle, then pulled the trigger on twenty high-grade rifles.

The lab became a backdrop for a dazzling display of broken glass and sparks as bullets tore the place apart.

Concentrated rifle fire obliterated everything in the enclosed space. The best fighters in the wasteland wouldn’t be able to protect themselves from what was tantamount to a wall of hot lead. Most of the unfortunate souls in the room were hardly fighters, either, but scientists who didn’t know how to defend themselves. Shooting fish in a barrel would be more difficult.

Cloudhawk was fast enough to grab Hellflower, and the two huddled behind the thick examination table he’d tipped onto its side. As the hail of gunfire pummeled it the metal bent and warped, but did not give.

Cloudhawk scowled. “All this fuckin’ noise!”

Quiet!

He snapped his fingers and a formless, invisible cocoon of energy spread out to fill half the laboratory. The assassins looked around as they struggled to understand the sudden, inexplicable circumstance.

Their weapons were firing – they could tell by the kick-back and muzzle flare – but there was no sound at all. The bullets ricocheted through the room but they heard nothing. It was like someone just shut off the volume.

It wasn’t a power from any relic. This time the mute field came from him and him alone. It was an unsung phenomenon, for never in recorded history had any demonhunter been able to use a relic’s power without the tool itself. Summoning a mute field wasn’t an earth-shattering accomplishment, but it did stop the attackers from being able to communicate. A flaw that maybe he could exploit.

Sure enough, as they continued to fire that flaw revealed itself.

Cloudhawk reached over the gurney and flung eight metal spikes toward the door. They slipped through the air fast as any bullet, faster than anyone could believe, and each one found a target.

Was this guy omniscient?! He didn’t even need to aim!

He wasn’t, of course. He had to aim, but not necessarily with the help of his eyes. Moments after the spikes ended eight of the gunmen, a streak of gold swept by that opened the throats of several more.

Oddball’s dagger-like wings ripped through soft flesh without effort. It came at Cloudhawk’s beck and call as he reached out to form a connection. After engorging itself on eboncrys the small bird was overflowing with energy and flew almost faster than the eye could follow. At that speed, skin was separated like wet paper.

It stopped for just the blink of an eye and beat its tiny wings. Glittering, golden feathers fanned out in a deadly semi-circle!

Hellflower craned her neck over the table to see what was happening. Twenty assassins were now rapidly cooling corpses, in just a matter of seconds. Eight were on the ground with metal spikes in vital areas, and eight more were bled dry from holes in their throats. The rest had been killed by feathers.

So fast! How quickly the tables had turned!

Raven stood before the doorway like an iron tower, unmoved. Ten more giant men stood behind him, just as grim and quiet. Their average height was over two meters and even then they were still slightly shorter than Raven.

A red light flickered in the man’s dark eyes. “Kill them.”

But of course, there was no sound. Still the large men seemed to get the message.

They came closing in like hulking shadows, outfitted differently from the others. They wore something on their head like motorcycle helmets, and everything from their vests to their gloves to their boots were all made of metal. It made them look almost mechanical, a technical fighting force comparable if very different from the artistry of elite elysian warriors. The armor these men wore was simple in appearance, but exceptional in function.

They moved in lock-step, almost mechanical. A host of heaven guns were raised their way.

They were not normal guns, either. Rocket launchers!

Cloudhawk narrowed his eyes, tracking the trajectory of their gunfire. Wrapping an arm around Hellflower’s waist he crouched low, then exploded into the air. He leaped safely from behind the gurney to another bit of cover.

Hellflower was not idly flung around. She drew her pistols and tightened her grip.

These were high-grade weapons dug up from ruins of the ancient world. They were unique in that their projectiles weren’t propelled by gunpowder, but electromagnetic coils. The magnetic current sped up the bullets to incredible speed before releasing them, which in turn made them far more destructive.

She fired off a volley with incredible speed!

The rockets spat from the tech unit’s weapons where struck in midair. Sparks, explosions, shrapnel – the lab was a battlefield but still remained silent as the grave. The armor-clad behemoths stumbled from the blasts.

Hellflower followed up with two quick shots at Raven. They struck, but didn’t seem to puncture flesh. However he was thrown back against a nearby wall. In the space of a few seconds the assassins had lost their advantage, and now found themselves in a difficult position.

Years of wandering the wastes had made Hellflower strong. She was formidable years ago when Cloudhawk met her in Blackwater, and she was only more terrifying now. In addition, her new guns could blow holes in three inch steel plating. There was no reason why Raven could have survived. With him dead the others weren’t any concern.

But he wasn’t dead.

Raven’s cloak of thin, metallic feathers had deflected her bullets. The dramatic clothing had to be made from elysian tungsten – much sturdier than normal armor. The cloth material itself was some kind of mesh composite that offered extra protection against piercing blows. The combination made him effectively bulletproof, even against Hellflower’s high-velocity shots. Raven probably wore more armor underneath.

Metal feathers chimed while Raven got back to his feet. There was something about the guy that made Cloudhawk very uncomfortable – like there was something about him that was not normal.

No more waiting around, the Warden was a man of action. Phase, become invisible, move in close, attack.

The lab was still encased in a shell of soundlessness. With that and his invisible, formless body Cloudhawk was impossible to detect as he moved toward the tech soldiers. He shoved his exorcist rod into them, releasing his mental power through it as the phase field dropped. The explosion of force ripped through the soldier and sent him careening wildly through the air like a rag doll.

Two quick swipes from the staff followed, two more armored attackers went flying!