Legends of Amacia Attack on Tartarus

The Disposal Pens

Hannibal stepped through the portal first into what appeared to be a deserted corner of the disposal pens of Kartoom devoid of any guards. He quickly moved away from the portal as Nemesis, Enoch, and Andrew charged through the portal with their weapons ready. The four of them made a perimeter, scanning for any threats on what appeared to be an avenue between the cages. When Nemesis decided the area was secure, he waved to the portal and the rest of the team came through. Ana, Horace stepped through first, followed by the teams led by Nathanael, Nemesis, Harry, Xavier and Amelia, Enoch, and Andrew. The teams led by Magnus, Hunter, and Corso stayed with Marvin in the portal chamber.

Hannibal scanned the area like an eagle, taking in the infernal sight as the teams poured through the portal. They slowly spread out, enlarging their perimeter. Hannibal’s anger and horror rose at what he saw. The disposal pens were in fact fields of colossal steel cages that stretched for miles with large seventy-foot wide avenues separating the lines of cages. The individual cages spanned one hundred foot square with forty-foot walls of jagged spiked bars that opened to the sky. Six-inch razor-sharp spikes grew from the two-inch thick bars of the cage, making it resemble a hellish metal bramble hedge. At the top, the spiked bars curved inwards and appeared to be crowned with several lines of a strange form of razor wire in four-foot coils.

Inside these cages, Hannibal saw numerous chain stakes and X-crosses with dead, rotting victims still chained to them. As he scanned the cages around him, he saw dozens of victims impaled and tied to the spiked wall bars, some with the spikes protruding from their faces creating grotesque grimaces. Twenty-foot pikes four inches in diameter standing upright lay scattered throughout the cages with the chain stakes and X-crosses, all with victims impaled six and seven feet up the pikes. Other victims lay in piles, scattered around like so much dung, some of them missing pieces and looking as if something had feasted upon them. The victims covered all ages and sexes, and were in differing states of decomposition. They ranged from the freshly dead to bloating corpses to desiccated skeletal remains that were rapidly crumbling into dust in the harsh brutal atmosphere of Tartarus.

As Hannibal scanned the area, he saw thousands of cages laying in rows stretching in all directions into the distance, nearly all of which had rotting corpses associated with them. Under a sullen, hellish red sky, the hot dry air stank of decaying death mixed with a noxious sulfurous stench combined with methane, burning ozone, ammonia, and hot anti-freeze. The stench caused the eyes to water. The ground in the area of the cages consisted of a thin layer of sand covering black basaltic bedrock. Some of the sand had blown into six-foot tall dunes inside the cages, but it didn’t provide enough height to provide a means of escape for the doomed. The enormous dunes of Tartarus loomed all around the disposal pens; monstrous thirty story waves of sand lapping at the stony outcropping the pens had been built on.

Hannibal moved towards the nearest cage fifty feet away, seeing a dozen victims impaled on the bars side-by-side. They seemed to be fresh kills for blood continued to drip from the bodies. The sight of the victims incensed Hannibal. Enoch saw him walking towards the victims and joined him. Stopping a few feet from them, Hannibal sighed grimly, tears welling up in his eyes inside Grimm’s Mask. “This is a vile desecration of human life,” he said with growing anger.

“It is,” Enoch agreed with great disgust, “This is as bad as what we saw in Hell’s Kitchen in the Black Fortress. It wounds me that we can’t save these poor souls, but maybe we can save the others.”

“We will do it,” Hannibal growled viciously. “We will save them and make an end of this place, even if it means my end.” As he spoke, he heard a gasp from one of the victims impaled on the bars. Hannibal felt an icy chill race down his spine and quickly scanned the victims with Grimm’s Mask, finding one just barely alive. “Oh, god no,” he cried in horror, rushing to a man hanging there naked with a dozen of the bar spikes protruding from his torso, arms, and legs. The man’s head lay lashed to the wall with two spikes carving deep gashes in each side of his head. One eye had been gouged out, and part of the flesh from his right cheek and jaw had been ripped away, leaving only bloody bone.

Enoch grimaced at the man, who was at the verge of death. “There’s nothing we can do, little brother,” he said grimly. “All we can do is pray the Almighty makes his passing easy.”

Hannibal opened the visor on Grimm’s Mask to look the man in the eye. With tears streaming, he said softly, “Is there anything I can do, friend?”

The man’s eyelid fluttered before cracking open. Bloody tears ran down his mauled face. When he realized he wasn’t alone, he choked out in a raspy voice, “Ki...ki...kill...me.”

When Nemesis saw Hannibal and Enoch standing before the dying man, he walked over with a grim expression. Hearing the man’s plea, Nemesis leaned close, whispering in his ear, “Die well, my friend, and be at peace. You shall be avenged.” With a prick of his machine finger on the man’s neck, Nemesis ended the man’s agony with a potent but painless poison.

When the man realized what was happening, he cracked a grateful but gruesome smile as he breathed his last.

Hannibal turned a questioning eye to Nemesis. “What did you do?” he asked bluntly, his anger building.

“You know the man was beyond any help,” Nemesis stated grimly. “Death was his only release, so I obliged him with a touch of venom from the Stygian frogs. It provides a quick and painless passing for those like this poor soul. The venom causes a cascade failure of the nervous system in less than twenty seconds upon introduction to the skin, less time if it’s introduced intravenously as I did for this poor soul. Trust me; he was dead before he knew it.”

“You surprise me with your compassion, Nemesis,” Hannibal admitted, “Thank you for ending his suffering so humanely.”

“It’s what I do,” Nemesis stated bluntly, “Now I shall avenge him and all these poor souls who lie dead around us. Let’s make the Cadre pay for their evil. I can see you are more than ready to do that. How’s your rage right now?”

“Rising, but not out of control yet,” Hannibal answered; his anger evident in his tone. “I’m not going to let this atrocity stand. Their souls cry out for justice and vengeance. Let’s give them peace by making an end of this infernal place.”

“I’m with you on that,” Nemesis growled. “It’s why we’re here. As soon as the team finishes coming through, we’ll be ready.” He then looked, seeing the portal snapping shut. “Seems our team has finished coming through,” he announced.

“Good,” Hannibal answered soberly, composing himself. “Let’s get to work.” He, Nemesis, and Enoch walked back to the team as they gathered around. “Everyone, listen up,” Hannibal called out. “Horace, tell everyone where we are.”

“These are the disposal pens where those who are not fit to be used in the experiments or in the cloning soup are brought to die,” Horace announced icily. “The area isn’t guarded because those who are brought here never survive. It’s no point in guarding the dead. Many times, the unusable fodder is be brought here and summarily executed, as you can see in and on the cages around us. Sometimes they are left to die of exposure...often impaled and chained like those poor souls you see tied to the bars, stakes, and crosses; left to die slowly in great agony. Often, the beasts of Tartarus will come here to feed off those left here. Even though it’s a terrible way to perish, those that are brought here are lucky compared to what is done to the others.”

“How do they decide who is not good fodder?” Hannibal asked as his team fanned out to look at the decaying bodies in the cages.

“They have a test to see about genetic purity,” Horace replied. “If there are any aberrations or mutations in the person’s genetic material, they are discarded. Aberrations can lead to unintended consequences when they go to doing their manipulations. It can cause difficulties in their experiments they don’t want to face.”

“So they don’t patrol this sector then?” Andrew asked.

Horace shook his head saying, “No. They don’t. They have guards at the entrance to this sector with video surveillance just outside the wall, but don’t patrol it. There isn’t any need.”

“This is a dismal place,” Enoch spat with great distaste. “I hate it. The sooner we do this and get out of here the better.”

Hannibal nodded, saying, “Agreed. The evil here is as bad as or worse than it was in Acheron, most likely because of how active it is. Everyone knows what to do, so let’s do it. Horace, which way?”

Horace pointed down the avenue between the cages, saying, “This way. This sector’s perimeter is roughly half a league this way. Keep your eyes open. The guards do not patrol here but as I said, some of the beasts tend to come into this area to feed on the discarded fodder. I’m sure you saw some of the corpses have been fed upon.”

“That I did,” Hannibal agreed, closing the visor on Grimm’s Mask. “Lead the way, Horace.”

They set off in the direction Horace pointed. Hannibal and Horace were in front with Ana, Enoch, Nemesis, and Nathanael. The rest of the team followed close behind them. They passed by cell after cell with hundreds of rotting corpses hung on the bars or piled on the ground. Some had the appearance of being partially eaten. The stench of death was exceptionally strong as was a peculiar odor that resembled hot antifreeze mixed with sulfur and ammonia. It did not set well with anyone, especially Hannibal, who remained ever attuned to his surroundings. However, Grimm’s Mask helped to dull the noxious odor for Hannibal. Off in some of the distant cages, the team noticed giant vultures, pterodactyls, and pteronadons circling with some of them picking at the human carrion.

As they moved on, Horace said plainly, “This sector of the pens sit on a flat-topped mountain just to the east of the main part of the slave pens where the good fodder is kept. It also overlooks the city as well. When we approach the perimeter, you will get a good look at the city of Kartoom and the Citadel of the Cadre.” As they moved on past the cages with hundreds of victims in it, they began to hear a hum that was more of a moaning wail combined with the deep grinding of machinery.

Twenty minutes after their arrival in the pens, the ground, which was perfectly flat, began to rise dramatically. The path and cages were in steps as it rose almost forty feet vertically over nearly a hundred and sixty feet. Once they reached the top of the rise, the teams stopped and gawked in stupefaction, all of them except for Nemesis and Horace. “Behold the cursed city of the Cadre, Kartoom,” Horace stated grimly.

“Holy God!” Harry breathed as they looked on. “It’s beyond enormous! It makes Acheron look like a small town.”

“Gods! This place is much bigger than I remember,” Ana stated grimly.

The teams stood on a two thousand foot ridge that overlooked the city. The city sprawled before them in all directions for as far as the eye could see. Massive factories buildings with giant smoke stacks that belched toxic smoke lay before them. Everything looked like it was one single building with stacks and towers protruding out of the top of it. The main part of the structure was five hundred feet in height with the towers and stacks rising to heights varying anywhere from eight hundred to fifteen hundred feet. The city of towers seemed to be one giant structure that spread in every direction.

From their perch on the ridge, they saw the disposal pens stretching from their position to the edge of the structure almost a mile away. The pens stretched in both directions along the perimeter of the city for two miles while reaching five miles into the desert going away from the city wall. The cage complex encompassed the entire ridge it was built on.

Two miles to the north there appeared to be a mammoth assembly area and airfield where they saw a massive amount of activity. Tens of thousands of Xenians, Zarukar, and battle droids were heading out of the city to the north, marching in formation. War machines of all makes lumbered forth, and what appeared to be flying war machines were buzzing around as the troops and material moved slowly north to assembly area’s northern fringe where colossal heavy-lift transports awaited them at the airfield. The ground trembled as they marched in perfect unison.

Hannibal used Grimm’s Mask to zoom in on the transports nearly four miles away. A disapproving growl rumbled from him as he saw the troops and war machines boarding the transports, which were ten times the size of the largest heavy air transports on the surface. Hannibal noted the odd football-like shape of the ship with its six landing gear legs folded out from the lower sides of the machine. The ship had three distinct loading areas: one for droids, one for the war machines, and one for the Zarukar and Xenian hordes. Hannibal saw the troops and war machines marching aboard the transports in company strengths. Every couple of minutes, one of the heavy transports lifted off with a deep buzzing rumble and a strange black haze coming from the engines, heading for the Pass of Tartarus and Elar. Only then did Hannibal realize the noise they heard before cresting the ridge was that of the army loading and taking off in the heavy transports. Continuing to scan the area, Hannibal noticed the strange smaller aircraft patrolling the towers of Kartoom above its dome. However, he not only saw the flying machines patrolling it, but werack-mounted Rakshasar floating menacingly around the city, some of which were red. Then everyone saw the Citadel of the Cadre.

“By the Elder Gods!” Xavier breathed in utter dismay as they saw it. The citadel was an exact copy of the one in Acheron except that it was three times its size and volume. The citadel stood in the center of the city of towers. It gleamed in the dull reddish light of Tartarus, rising nearly five thousand feet at the highest point. Its base resembled a cyclopean pyramid that dwarfed the meager works of man on the surface with a single side three miles in length. The Great Pyramid of Egypt was nothing more than a small model compared to it. It rose from the top of the great dome of the city fifteen hundred feet, tapering inwards as a pyramid until it connected with the proper portion of the tower, which soared another three thousand feet. The proper portion of the tower was a half mile on the side and circular, made of black basaltic rock with crystals embedded in it as it rose. At the top of the pinnacle, it was capped with a giant crystal pyramid that rose another eight hundred feet. Around it laid a network of curved spires that made it resemble a strange satellite dish. There were thirty of these slender curved spires coming out of the tower just below the pyramid, spreading out laterally from the pyramid approximately fifteen hundred feet and rising three hundred feet from the base. Each leg was capped with a giant crystal and they, along with the crystal pyramid, glowed softly like a beacon, pulsing softly as if it were looking over the land. It seemed that the citadel was there first and the city was built around it. Far beyond the citadel in the distance, a strange cloud of smoke and ash billowed, a mirage in the distance. It attracted Hannibal’s attention.

“Exactly how big is did you say this place was, Horace?” Harry asked, completely stunned by the obscene size of Kartoom.

“What you see here is but a small portion of what’s really here.” Horace stated. “The city covers sixteen hundred square leagues on the surface. It is roughly forty leagues square. But what you see here isn’t everything. The city and the manufacturing facilities go a league underground with the mines below that stretching another league down. The core is far deeper than that, sitting nearly three and a half leagues down. The Gate is on that level, along with the prisons for the Spiders and the Azhidakar.”

Amelia shook her head, saying, “Much has changed since I was here three hundred cycles ago. Only once did I see Kartoom from the outside: the day Cameron and I stole away. I remember that.” She pointed to the citadel and shivered, saying, “That is where the evil that never dies lives.”

Hannibal wasn’t paying much attention to them because the cloud of smoke and ash had captivated him. He was watching it like someone approaching the gallows looks at the scaffold: with terrible dread and fear. He thought he saw glimpses of things in the ash cloud: something incredibly big, fast, and red. “Horace, what is that cloud on the far side of the city?” Hannibal asked, pointing to the cloud.

Horace saw it and declared, “That’s the chasm of Kartoom where the Azhidakar are imprisoned. The core resides near the bottom of that infernal crack. The Cadre built the city over the chasm in that area. It lies about ten leagues from the citadel.”

Hannibal never looked at him, but eyed the cloud with suspicion through Grimm’s Mask. It boiled and churned and every once couple of minutes, he saw something red moving in the cloud. However, he couldn’t lock on to it with the Mask. The ash clouds were interfering with the Mask’s scanning ability.

Nathanael and Ana noticed that he was preoccupied by the cloud and felt the dread on him. “What is it?” Ana asked, tugging at Hannibal’s elbow.

“There’s something really big moving in that cloud,” Hannibal stated grimly. “And it’s no machine. It’s a living creature. I’m sure of it, and it’s really pissed.”

No more than he had spoken, a distant roar pierced the din of Kartoom, echoing across the leagues of city like the cry of an angry god. Seconds later, everyone saw what had caused Hannibal’s dread. A colossal Azhidakar rose out of the cloud of ash and smoke with its giant wings spread, flapping them as it gained altitude. The malevolent draken rose over the cloud and roared in triumph as it looked around, so happy to be free of its prison. It was bigger than Aeolus was by almost a third, with a wingspan of two hundred feet and a hundred forty feet from snout to tail. It had a long neck almost twenty feet in length seven feet thick with a giant head capable of snapping up a bison. Its head spanned almost ten feet wide and eighteen feet long with double rows of razor sharp teeth that were ten inches in length. The beast’s body was seventy feet long with a thirty-two foot tail. The wings were attached to its front limbs like a giant bat, and its rear legs had claws big enough to carry away a full-grown mastodon. It circled the ash cloud as everyone gasped at the beast. They, however, couldn’t see most of its features because of the extreme distance it was from them. All they saw was the blurry red form of a draken. However, Hannibal’s face steeled like flint as he saw the beast with Grimm’s Mask enhancing his remote viewing ability. He alone saw it up close, just as he saw the Rakshasar that evening at the watchtower of Ezra Karac after they destroyed Acheron. His vision just seemed to zoom in on the beast, giving him a close up look at it. For a moment as it circled the ash cloud, the beast looked right at Hannibal as he looked back with Grimm’s Mask. Each was aware of the other. It roared again and headed southeastward towards the Fornax.

“Oh, no; we’re too late!” Horace cried in desperation. “The Emperor has let him loose! The Azhidakar is loose! Do you know what this means?”

Horace’s panicked declaration snapped Hannibal out of his shock at seeing the Azhidakar. “Calm yourself, Horace,” he ordered sternly, looking at Horace through Grimm’s Mask. “We aren’t done quite yet so don’t fink out on us. Yes, the Emperor may have let the draken out, but I’m not so sure.”

“What do you mean?” Nemesis asked. “The Emperor himself is the only one who can release the Azhidakar. Their cage is escape-proof. Horace can attest to this.”

“That’s right,” Horace insisted. “Only the Emperor has the key to the main cell door. He has to personally come and open it. It won’t open any other way.”

“Is that so?” Hannibal asked, intrigued. “If that’s the case, then either the Emperor is here or something has gone serious wrong. Maybe his escape-proof cage isn’t as escape-proof as he thought.”

“But the beast is loose,” Horace insisted with great fear. “It’ll destroy us if it sees us.”

“Are you so sure?” Hannibal asked. “Something strange is happening here. When I first saw him come out of the cloud, Grimm’s Mask allowed me to get a close look at the monster. He’s definitely the draken I dreamed of. But let’s get to the point. While I was looking at him, he turned and looked right at me. He knew I was here, but he’s not coming this direction. Look there; he’s flying to the southeast towards the Black Fortress. This draken has no interest in us, not at the moment.” Hannibal pointed to the Azhidakar racing southeastward being pursued by the Rakshasar and a number of fighter aircraft. Whenever an aircraft would impede the draken’s progress, it would destroy the craft with his flame breath. “Look how the Dark Riders and the aircraft are pursuing it,” Hannibal declared. “That draken is not out on parole. He’s escaped and going after the one who imprisoned him. I know it. I can feel his rage from here.”

After a few moments of watching the Azhidakar wipe out his pursuers, Nemesis stated, “You know, I think you’re right. Something has definitely gone wrong here, and it may be beneficial to our cause. I think we should take advantage of this crisis while we can.”

“My thinking exactly,” Hannibal agreed. “This could be just the thing to get us in. How close is the perimeter, Horace?”

Horace pointed down the mountain to where the pens butted up to the wall of the complex, saying, “Down there. But how do we get in without being seen? There is a security eye at the bulkhead door.”

“Where exactly is the eye,” Hannibal asked bluntly.

“Above the main door at a level of twenty cubits,” Horace stated. “It’s roughly the size of my fist and is almost impossible to see.”

Hannibal used Grimm’s Mask to scan the area at the wall, quickly finding the door and the security eye. “I see it,” he stated. “Do you see it, Nemesis?”

“Yes,” Nemesis agreed. “But the shield is still in place. We cannot knock out the eye without taking down the shield first.”

“Agreed,” Hannibal stated. “Horace, what’s the range on the eye?”

“Forty cubits,” Horace stated, “It sees anything within that range.”

“Right,” Hannibal said with a grunt. “Okay, enough talk. Let’s do this and quit this place before we are spotted. Remember, do it with as much stealth as possible. Stealth is going to be important here. Now let’s get down there before the machines or the Rakshasar spot us.” Hannibal took up the lead, heading down the mountain to the entrance to the complex.

About ten minutes later, they reached the doors, being careful to stay outside of the security eye’s perimeter of forty cubits. It resembled bulkhead doors on a ship, being fifteen feet high by twenty feet wide. There was no way to see inside for the doors were solid metal that resembled titanium. An odd hum emanated from the wall and door. Hannibal scanned the area closely with Grimm’s Mask, seeing the pulsing energy shield through the Mask’s visual capabilities. In the Mask, the shield was a blue hazy light with bright streamers running through it, flowing much like an aurora. Beyond the shield lay the wall and door constructed of an incredibly strong, dense metal Hannibal had never seen before. Its lattice provided for great durability and strength under the harshest of conditions. However, Grimm’s Mask easily penetrated both the shield and the wall with its scans, allowing Hannibal to see through the ten-foot thick metal wall in the x-ray and gamma spectrums. Inside the wall, Hannibal noticed a large chamber with two creatures standing guard.

“Nemesis,” Hannibal called out. “Can you see through the shield and wall like I can?”

“You can see inside?” Nemesis asked, surprised by the news.

“Yes,” Hannibal stated. “The Mask is allowing me to see through in the x-ray and gamma spectrums. It seems the shield is not meant to hide things, but to protect the structure itself from attack.”

“That’s the primary function of the shield,” Horace said, “The Cadre wasn’t worried about anyone seeing what they were doing, only keeping out the god-worms and the sandstorms. I strongly suggest you not physically touch that shield for it will vaporize something of our size.”

“Point well put,” Hannibal agreed. “The Mask is allowing me to see the voltage running through the shield. It’s phenomenal. How about it, Nemesis; can you see inside?”

“I can, but only in the x-ray and gamma like you,” Nemesis answered, scanning the wall and shield closely. “Can you see the two Zarukar guards?”

“Yeah,” Hannibal stated, “I do. They look extremely bored and appear to be arguing about something.”

“I see it too,” Nemesis rumbled. “What they’re arguing about I cannot tell, but I imagine it’s something trivial. Zarukars often argue over the littlest of things.”

“So how do we get in without being spotted,” Xavier asked. “That eye over the door really puts a crimp in my day.”

“Good question,” Hannibal stated, turning his attention to the security eye. “Hmmm, interesting.”

“What do you see, uncle?” Andrew asked.

“The eye is designed to raise an alarm if anything breeches the perimeter,” Hannibal stated, “However, the eye doesn’t appear to be functioning properly. The circuitry is showing signs of repeated overloads. Even now, the power is fluctuating wildly. Horace, what’s the shield frequency?”

“Two hundred fifty-three million terahertz controlling roughly half a trillion volts,” Horace stated, “Though I can’t see how knowing the shield frequency will allow you take it down.”

“Watch and learn,” Hannibal stated, holding the scepter in both hands. “Time to earn your keep, my friend,” he said to the scepter. The scepter’s crystal head started glowing brightly, the runes on the scepter’s staff lighting up as Hannibal spoke to it. Grimm’s Mask suddenly glowed as if interacting with the Scepter. “Lord, make my aim true and open the way for us,” Hannibal prayed fervently, suddenly lifting and throwing the Scepter like a spear with a shout, aiming for the security eye. The Scepter sailed fast and true as if shot from a gun. It penetrated the shield within two seconds of being thrown, knocking out it and the security eye with a thunderous electrical explosion. Sparks rained down on the team, forcing them to dive for cover. The invisible shield became a rainbow of colors as it collapsed in the area of the door. The Scepter sat imbedded in the security eye fifteen feet above the top of the door, the eye sizzling and arcing.

“By the Elder gods,” Horace breathed as everyone got back up. “It worked. You shorted out the shield and took out the eye in one shot. How’d you do that, Hannibal?”

“The Scepter generated a counter frequency to that of the shield,” Hannibal stated, getting to his feet. “The moment the two electrical frequencies made contact, they nullified each other, rather violently I’d say, much like matter and anti-matter do. But I didn’t realize it was going to blow with that much force. Is everyone okay?”

“Everyone’s okay,” Harry called out gruffly, “Just warn us next time you do something like that so we can take cover.” The rest of the teams agreed with Harry.

“You got it, bud,” Hannibal answered, “Now, how do I get my Scepter back? I don’t think I’m capable of jumping that high. Does anyone have any rope?”

“I’ll get it,” Nemesis stated, walking boldly towards the wall. He stopped twenty feet from the door and lifted his machine arm, shooting a wire with a small grapple out of the top of his machine hand. It sailed to the Scepter, wrapping around it several times. With a jerk and a grunt, Nemesis pulled the Scepter free, retracting the wire as the Scepter fell into his machine hand. “Doesn’t look like the Scepter took any damage at all,” he commented, handing the Scepter to Hannibal as he and teams approached.

“Whoa, you’re right,” Hannibal admitted, seeing the Scepter unharmed by the shorting out of the shield. “This thing is resilient. It’s far tougher than it looks.”

“That it is,” Nemesis agreed, looking towards the unshielded wall. “But it seems our fireworks show has attracted some attention. The guards aren’t arguing any more. It appears they’re checking the equipment.”

“In that case, let’s see if we can’t con them into opening up for us,” Hannibal said in a menacing tone.