Legends of Amacia Attack on Tartarus

“Yes, sir,” Nemesis stated, seeing the fatigue on Hannibal, “You sensed something as we were about to leave. What was it?”

Hannibal managed to calm himself down as Elias helped him to his feet and led him to the console. “It was the Queen,” Hannibal replied grimly, fatigue evident in his tone as he slung the Scepter. “She must have sensed my intention to kill her and wipe out her nest. The moment she sensed this, she attacked me telepathically while sending the swarm attack we barely escaped. She knows we’re coming, so I suspect she’ll be lying in wait for us. Fortunately, I was able to shield where we’re going to plant the bomb from her. However, that means she’ll have the nest on full alert. We’re going to have to move much quicker than we did just now.”

“I should say so,” Nemesis agreed. “I’ll go put these things away and then find Xavier, Andrew, and Kahn. Don’t do anything before I get back.”

“I don’t plan to,” Hannibal stated wearily, “That bitch damned near paralyzed my mind with that attack of hers. Between her attack and the firewall attack I used, I’m going to need a few minutes to regroup. Those elemental attacks always drain me when I use them on the scale I just did.”

“Good,” Nemesis stated, “Magnus, Enoch; I’d suggest you rearm your plasma chain guns. You used up most of your ammo providing cover fire for us in the courtyard.”

“I’m heading to the armory to do just that,” Enoch stated waving to Magnus, “Come on, Magnus. Let’s top off our chain guns. After what we just saw, I’m sure we’re going to need it when we go to plant that bomb in the Mausoleum.”

“I’m right behind you, Master Enoch,” Magnus stated as he followed Enoch out of the portal chamber.

“I’ll be back shortly,” Nemesis declared, “I’d suggest you and Elias recon the Mausoleum while we’re gone so we’ll know what we’re getting into.”

“Good call,” Hannibal replied as Nemesis walked away at a brisk clip with the spider head and leg in hand. “Ugh, I’m getting too old for this.”

Elias patted him on the shoulder, saying, “Seems like you’re doing a pretty good job to me.”

“Thanks,” Hannibal returned as his second wind came to him. “Let me see the remote.” Elias handed him the remote and Hannibal put it in his ear. He immediately set the portal hologram to pushing inside the mountain to where the mausoleum sat. It had no problem reaching to the mausoleum in the bottom of the shaft. Nidhoggr was long gone, consumed by the spiders. The web, which had stopped a thousand feet or so above the mausoleum when they first went in to get Leila, now extended all the way to the bottom of the shaft. The platform was covered in silk and the spider webs were now attached to it and the mausoleum. Moreover, he saw the entire shaft swarming with spiders as if it were a disturbed hornet’s nest.

Hannibal looked at it with a terrible feeling deep in his gut. “This is where we have to set the explosives,” he announced as he tried to penetrate the mausoleum with the portal, but couldn’t. The machinery of the mausoleum shielded it from the portal, even though the spiders had broken the door open during Hannibal’s last visit where he retrieved Leila. “Damn,” he growled, “I can’t get the portal into the Mausoleum. It must be blocking the signal.”

“Why is that?” Elias asked, “I was able to lock in on you inside the Mausoleum the last time. Why is it not working this time?”

“That’s because we’re working against the machine,” Hannibal stated as he tried everything he could think of to get the portal to make contact inside the Mausoleum, “The last time, I was inside the Mausoleum and had to use the Scepter to boost our signals so you could lock in on us. Without the extra signal boost, the portal can’t open inside the Mausoleum. Because of that, we’re going to have to do this the hard way and open just outside it. I don’t like it any more than you do. It’s just the hand we’ve been dealt.”

“Oh, I get it now,” Elias replied, “But that puts you at greater hazard of the spiders.”

“I know that. That’s why we’re setting a perimeter around the portal and door to the Mausoleum,” Hannibal declared as he pulled the hologram back, extending its view out to a thousand feet off the platform. His face fell when he noticed the water was absolutely still and worse yet, another egg sack was hanging in the web right over the mausoleum about five hundred feet above it. Worker spiders swarmed over the nearly two hundred-foot diameter egg sack while numerous soldiers lurked nearby in the web guarding it. “Dear God!” he breathed. “Look at that!”

As Hannibal spoke, Nemesis returned with Xavier, Kahn, and Andrew. They approached and gawked at the egg sack in the hologram. “Whoa, that wasn’t there before,” Andrew said with dismay. “What’s that new egg sack doing there? It’s bigger than the other one, and the nest is in a complete uproar.”

“That it is,” Xavier agreed, “This is going to complicate things.”

“No shit,” Kahn replied. “What are we going to do about it?”

“We stick to the plan,” Hannibal stated, handing the portal remote back to Elias, who promptly put it in his ear. “We plant the explosives in the Mausoleum and get out as quickly as possible. We’re going to have to be quick. As you can see here, the place crawls with arachnids and I suspect the queen is lurking in the darkness somewhere waiting for us. She is definitely awake. I felt her when we vacated the great hall, and when the spiders swarmed us. She knows we’re coming to kill her.”

“So let’s kill her then,” Kahn insisted.

“Not yet, my barbarian friend,” Hannibal replied. “We’re waiting for Enoch and Magnus to get back from the armory. They went to recharge their chain guns. I’m betting we’re going to need them after what happened in the courtyard, and from what I see here.”

“I’d say that’s a safe assumption,” Nemesis stated, kneeling down and checking the bomb in the duffel as it lay by the end of the control panel. “I think we really pissed them off this time. By the way, how much time do you want on the timers? I was thinking no more than three minutes.”

“Three minutes is more than enough time for us to get clear,” Hannibal stated, “That is if everything goes without a hitch. But you know how things tend to fuck up at the last minute.”

Nemesis chuckled deeply as he closed the bag and stood. “That I do,” he admitted, “Things always tend to go south on us at the last and worst possible moment. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen this time. The spiders are far more dangerous than the most advanced Xenian in the Emperor’s army, and are far more treacherous.”

“You don’t have to tell me that,” Hannibal agreed, “By the way, do you know where Selina, Ana, Kida, and Leila took Ezra?”

“They took Ezra’s remains to the morgue,” Nemesis stated. “Leila wanted to clean him up and find out exactly how he died. Everything they need to do that is in the morgue.”

“Ahh,” Hannibal answered. “I suspected she might want to do that. Do you know if they’re coming back here?”

“Ana said she’d be right up after they got Ezra on the autopsy table,” Nemesis reported. “Kida and Selina said they were going to stay to help Leila. Selina also said something about getting either Dr. Drew or Dr. Bishop to assist in looking at Ezra since they are our resident doctors.”

“I see,” Hannibal replied. “That’ll be all right.” As he spoke, Enoch, Magnus, and Ana walked into the portal chamber. He immediately noticed Ana carrying a menacing multi-round grenade launcher with a large ammo drum attached to it. Seeing them return, Hannibal called out, “Are those chain guns fully charged and ready for action?”

“We’re ready to mow down anything that comes near us,” Enoch stated, holding the chain gun by its handles, pointing it away from everyone. “After what we saw in the courtyard, we broke out the heavy, armor-piercing explosive-tipped ordinance. We should not have any trouble penetrating those thick hides with this ammunition.”

“Quite right,” Magnus stated, “Should the spiders try that swarm attack again, they won’t get far. Between the two of us, we’re carrying 2,000 rounds, and Ana here is packing a twenty-round plasma grenade launcher. They don’t seem to take to grenades very well.”

“I noticed that,” Hannibal stated with a wry grin, seeing Ana with a pack on her back. “Are you carrying extra grenade drums in that pack, Ana?”

“Yes,” Ana replied, pointing the grenade launcher at the floor away from everyone. “After that fiasco in the courtyard and seeing how well Nemesis’ grenades worked against them, Enoch thought it wise for us to have a good supply of fragmentation grenades. I hope I won’t need to use it. But it’s better to have it and not need it and to need it and not have it.”

“Indeed,” Hannibal agreed. “But as you can see in the hologram here, the entire nest is in an uproar with our little skirmish in the courtyard. The Queen is aware of our hostile intentions and is just waiting for us to make our move.”

“So what are we waiting for,” Kahn asked.

“At this point, nothing,” Hannibal stated, “Everyone is here and ready for action.”

“So what’s the plan, Uncle,” Andrew asked.

“We go through, plant the bomb with the timer activated, and leave as quickly as possible,” Hannibal explained, “When we go through, I want an active perimeter set and defended around the portal and Mausoleum entrance while Nemesis and I plant and arm the bomb. You’re to kill anything moving that’s not part of our team. Moreover, guard your minds as well. The Queen will attack you telepathically to distract you so her drones can overwhelm you. I’ll do what I can to keep her focused on me so you guys can do what needs to be done. If we remain focused and alert, we may pull this off; any questions?”

“No, sir,” Andrew replied, readying his plasma rifle.

“Just waiting on you, milord,” Magnus replied.

“Let’s get this done,” Enoch stated.

“In that case, let’s do it,” Hannibal stated, “One last thing; everyone be very careful. We don’t know exactly where the queen is. She’s far bigger and much more dangerous than the drones so watch it. Moreover, she’s highly intelligent, hungry, and really pissed off. Don’t drop your guard for even a moment. If she does make a move against us, I’ll do what I can to distract her long enough for the bomb to be set. Elias, open the portal in front of the door of the mausoleum, back about six feet. Watch for any movement from the water or above us.”

“Right,” Elias replied, engaging the portal apparatus.

Nemesis stood next to Hannibal holding the duffel by its straps. “You ready for this?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Hannibal answered menacingly, taking the scepter in hand. “I hate these things. Let’s eradicate this infestation.” Elias opened the portal where Hannibal wanted and he immediately rushed through with Nemesis, Xavier, Kahn, Andrew, Ana, Magnus, and Enoch. They immediately set up the perimeter.

The portal’s sudden appearance attracted the attention of not just the drones in the web, but of the ancient evil awakened by Hannibal’s last visit. Hannibal rushed forward and immediately pushed on the door that was slightly ajar, but not open wide enough for a person to get through it. The spiders came from all directions, descending through the web as Hannibal pushed on the door saying, “Help me, guys!” Nemesis, Kahn, and Andrew leaned on the door and it groaned loudly as it opened. Enoch and Magnus opened fire with Xavier and Ana, shooting the spiders as they moved down through the web with the speed of a cheetah. Pieces of spiders started falling from the web as the drones continued to advance.

“Not good,” Enoch shouted over the noise of his chain gun. “For every one we knock down, three take their place. We need to finish this now!”

A loud splash mixed with a hissing alien roar echoed from the darkness. The hideous ancient evil of the queen Hannibal felt in the great hall just a few minutes before overwhelmed him as they entered the mausoleum. A hissing roar issued from the water as they rushed into the Mausoleum. Hannibal collapsed with a shriek upon entering, dropping the scepter and his hands going to his head. Kahn caught him as Nemesis rushed to the center of the tomb, depositing the bombs where Leila’s sarcophagus had sat. “What’s wrong?” Kahn asked with some concern.

Hannibal gritted his teeth and pushed Kahn away, crying, “She’s coming. The Queen knows we’re here to kill her. Go help the others defend the perimeter! Quickly now; she’s coming!” Kahn and Andrew rushed back out to the perimeter and engaged the incoming spiders with Hannibal following them out, picking up and slinging the scepter while Nemesis set the timers.

“Quickly!” Hannibal shouted as his head throbbed painfully from the queen’s telepathic attack. “She’s coming!” He got on the perimeter, instinctively looking towards the lake where Nidhoggr had attacked from in their last visit. The telepathic assault on Hannibal’s mind drove his berserker rage into overdrive. He set himself deliberately, readying the Draken Gauntlets. No more than he had gotten into position, the queen rose from the water with an explosion of water and a monstrous roar. Everyone gawked at the queen’s enormity. Her body was the size of Aeolus and her legs reached out almost seventy feet. Her head was at least ten feet across with slavering fangs four feet long that dripped caustic venom. Six-inch razor-sharp teeth lined her maw just behind her fangs. She was rushing toward them with lightning speed as the soldiers and drones descended from the web on draglines like paratroopers. The monstrous queen was red, black, and orange with long hairs covering her body like a tarantula. However, she wasn’t shaped like a tarantula, but a colossal black widow spider with an enormous abdomen. Bursting out of the water two hundred fifty feet from the Mausoleum, she rushed forward, leaping at the team as dozens of guard and drone spiders attacked from the web. Enoch and Magnus didn’t have time to counter the queen’s attack for they were busy holding back the drone swarm with Andrew and Kahn.

“Get her, Ana; grenade the bitch!” Hannibal shouted, opening fire with the Draken Gauntlets on the queen as she jumped, firing repeatedly. Ana turned her grenade launcher on the Queen, emptying it. The combination of the heavy plasma rounds from the Draken Gauntlets and the barrage of grenades from Ana’s launcher hit true, with several exploding in the queen’s face, knocking her back a hundred feet. Her distress cry rang out through the web, bringing every spider to her assistance.

Nemesis rushed out of the Mausoleum, morphed his machine arm into a heavy plasma blaster, and opened fire on the spiders swarming around them. “We need to get out of here now!” he roared over the din of battle to those holding the perimeter. “In three minutes, this whole mountain is going to vanish! Everyone fall back through the portal, NOW!”

Xavier, Ana, Kahn, and Andrew immediately fell back through the portal as Enoch, Magnus, Nemesis, and Hannibal held the line. “Time to go, little brother,” Enoch shouted to Hannibal as he continued blasting the anything that came near him.

“Right!” Hannibal answered, “Fall back! I’ll cover you!”

Enoch and Magnus took up positions at the portal, mowing down the spiders as they started swarming the platform. Their chain guns were beginning to overheat from the continuous fire. The queen suddenly charged again with a swarm of spider attacking from the water, most of them actually running over the water, forcing Enoch, Magnus, and Nemesis to concentrate their fire at ground level. “Hannibal, we need to get out of here now!” Nemesis shouted urgently. “The bomb is going off in less than two minutes!”

Seeing the queen and her swarm rushing the Mausoleum, Hannibal’s berserker rage pegged over into the lethal range, triggering his elemental power again. “Oh, no you don’t!” he roared at the queen. An ice-blue aura swirled around Hannibal as he pulled the scepter from his back in a sweeping motion. The scepter seemed to drink in the aura, making it glow brilliant blue. Half a second after the aura vanished, Hannibal swung the scepter like a sword horizontally towards the advancing horde. An ice-blue wave of energy flashed out from the strike, freezing everything it touched: the lake, the Queen, and the spider swarm running on the lake in place. Some of the smaller drones froze solid and crumbled. The queen shrieked as she found herself immobilized in a gigantic block of ice that seemed to rise out of the lake itself. Hannibal groaned as his rage melted with his strength...the elemental attack having drained him.

“Hannibal!” Nemesis shouted in concern as Hannibal dropped to his knees. He rushed to Hannibal as the spiders not frozen attacked viciously once they saw their queen immobilized.

Picking up Hannibal, he darted towards the portal as Enoch and Magnus covered him. Xavier, Kahn, and Ana came back through to back them up. The queen abruptly broke out of her icy prison with a roar and let a hail of hairs fly from her back and abdomen, aiming them at Nemesis and Hannibal as they fled. A few steps from the portal, several hairs hit Nemesis in the back, making him stumble with a cry of pain, throwing Hannibal clear. A spider then jumped from the top of the Mausoleum, having snuck up on the team in the chaos of the battle. It landed on Nemesis as he rolled over and skewered him with its stingers in the shoulder and belly. A roar of pain rattled from Nemesis as he blasted the spider at point blank range with his plasma blaster arm while kicking it off him. Enoch and Magnus subsequently shredded the spider with their chain guns. “Get out of here!” Nemesis roared in blazing pain, feeling the paralysis taking over his body. “The bombs are about to explode! Leave me!”

“No way,” Hannibal balked, rising to his feet having gotten a second wind thanks to his berserker rage. “No one is going to be left behind!” He dropped the scepter, seeing the queen about to come on the platform. A red aura swirled around him as his elemental power spiked into the lethal range with his rage and adrenaline. His eyes turned flaming red as he cocked the Draken Gauntlets, which seemed to draw in the aura. “Not today, bitch,” he growled, circling his hands as if to concentrate the energy he felt building in him. In a flash, he punched forward in a double punch aimed at the Queen’s hideously ugly face, firing both Gauntlets simultaneously. The two plasma charges quickly merged into a blazing fireball twenty feet in diameter that smashed into the queen’s face. It knocked her on her back, breaking off her fangs while burning her eyes out and blasting pieces of her head, thorax, and legs into the air. A shriek of blinding pain suddenly hit Hannibal...brutal telepathic retaliation from the queen. He grabbed his head and dropped to his knees with a cry of excruciating pain, incapacitated as the drones spiders swarmed forward after being driven back temporarily by Hannibal’s powerful elemental-laced attack with the Draken Gauntlets.

Enoch started to abandon his position when Andrew darted through the portal into danger, declaring, “I’ll get Hannibal. You keep us covered with Magnus!” He grabbed Hannibal and the scepter, dragging him through the portal as Enoch and Magnus continued to lay down cover fire. Xavier, Ana, and Kahn used the chaos of Hannibal’s last elemental attack to come through the portal, grab Nemesis, and pull him through it as the spiders started attacking the portal ring, vaporizing the moment they touched it. Magnus and Enoch quickly retreated through the portal, laying down cover fire as they backed through.

“Close it now, Elias! For heaven’s sake, close it!” Enoch shouted, as he and Magnus fired on a spider as it started through the portal, holding it back just long enough for the portal to close, cutting it in half. Between Enoch and Magnus with their plasma chain guns, they finished it off, rendering it into a gooey mess on the portal platform. “Shit, that was way too close,” Enoch panted heavily as he ceased fire. “They almost had us.”

“That they did,” Magnus agreed, standing over Nemesis with a concerned look. “We got sloppy again, and this time both Hannibal and Nemesis paid for it.”

“We underestimated the queen and her capabilities,” Hannibal stated, his face slowly relaxing now that he was away from the queen as Andrew cradled him. “Andrew, sit me down by Nemesis.”

“Sure, Uncle,” Andrew said, gently sitting Hannibal down next to Nemesis as he lay on his back.

Everyone immediately noticed the broken off stingers still stuck in Nemesis’ torso as Ana hovered over the cyborg bear with a very concerned look. “You have two stingers stuck in you, Nemesis,” she reported. “I need to remove them.”

“Do it,” Nemesis groaned, “Do it now before the toxin starts affecting my vital systems. Goddamn, this hurts like hell. Even though I’m going numb, I feel like my insides are on fire!”

“Right; this is going to hurt, Nemesis. It can’t be helped,” Ana stated, using her cyborg arm and hand to pull out the stingers, throwing them down after removing them. Nemesis roared in pain as Ana removed the stingers, but didn’t move because of the paralysis that had spread to most of his body.

“Andrew, go get Josephine, Emma, Dr. Bishop, or Dr. Drew,” Enoch ordered, “Tell them Nemesis has been wounded by the spiders. We need to draw the toxin out immediately.”

“Right,” Andrew stated, rushing away on a mission.

“Ugh,” Nemesis growled, panting as Ana removed the last stinger, “Thank you, Ana. Now, if you’d be so kind, remove the hairs stuck in my back. There’s at least seven of them that hit me when the Queen broke free of the ice.”

“Help me, Xavier,” Ana ordered as she started to roll Nemesis on his side.

“Sure,” Xavier replied, helping Ana roll Nemesis on his side. Upon seeing the foot-long, eighth-inch thick hairs, he grimaced, saying, “That bitch got you good, didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Nemesis stated, “And they’re laced with toxins similar to the stingers, though it’s not as potent. I can tell.”

Ana pulled the hairs out of Nemesis’ back one at a time with her cybernetic hand. “Curious,” Ana murmured, examining the hairs as she pulled them out. “They’re covered with a mild neural toxin. No one should touch them without adequate protection.”

“That’s what I figured,” Nemesis moaned, feeling the paralysis reaching his neck as Ana finished removing the hairs. She rolled him on his back again and saw the stinger wounds oozing blood and toxin. A frown crossed her lips.

Even through the painful haze of the telepathic thrashing of the queen, Hannibal saw the stinger wounds oozing along with Nemesis’ face twisted in pain. Reaching out and touching Nemesis on his machine arm, he asked, “How’re you doing there, my friend?”

“Not too well at the moment,” Nemesis growled gutturally. “I’m paralyzed from the neck down. I can’t move at all, and I can feel the paralysis starting to creep up my neck. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to speak. The soldier got me good. I should have been more careful and alert.”

“Can you use that machine arm of yours to draw the poison out of him?” Hannibal asked, looking to Ana. “I remember you did that for me after I got hit.”

Ana nodded, saying, “I was about to try it. We have to draw out the poison before it starts affecting his vital systems.” She stuck two of her cybernetic fingers into the shoulder wound and began to draw the poison out of that wound. Nemesis closed his eyes and growled in pain.

Magnus shed the chain gun and its pack, kneeling down beside Nemesis on the opposite side of Ana. “Let me help,” he said, sticking two of his machine fingers into the other stinger wound in Nemesis’ belly. “How much suction are you using?”

“Twenty bars,” Ana stated, “Be careful you don’t rupture any blood vessels. Also, check to see if any of the stinger is still in the wound. Pieces of it may still be in there. I’ve already sucked several slivers of the stinger out of this one.”

“Right,” Magnus stated, probing the belly wound with his fingers, drawing out the poison using his cybernetics. “Don’t worry, Nemesis; you’re going to be okay. We’ve got this.”

“That’s right. Hold on, buddy,” Hannibal told him while in tremendous pain of his own. “Help is here.”

Meanwhile, back at the mausoleum, the queen managed to right herself and turned around several times until she got her bearings. Even though Hannibal’s elemental-laced plasma rounds had burned her eyes out, she could still hear and feel her surroundings through her web. Once she got her bearings, she rushed the Mausoleum, killing any soldier or drone that got between her and the structure in a fit of blind, incandescent rage. Her prey had not only escaped yet again, but they managed to serious wound her, burning and blinding her. She ripped her minions to pieces as she tried to get into the Mausoleum to stop the bombs.

The carite bomb’s timer ticked inexorably down to zero. When it reached zero, in less than a second the molecular explosive detonated in a brilliant coronal flash. The mausoleum vanished in a millisecond: vaporized. The queen and her drones vanished in a twinkling of an eye as the explosion atomized everything it touched. The explosion raced up the shaft at half the speed of light, reaching into every nook and cranny of the mountain. The entire butte the watchtower of Ezra Karac stood on trembled violently as the explosion undermined the mountain. As soon as the explosion spewed out of the top, the mountain crumbled and vanished in a catastrophic explosion that pounded it to dust and gravel. A colossal mushroom cloud rose over the Dune Sea, covering three-square leagues. The shockwave from the explosion spread out over the Dune Sea in all directions, blowing the sand into gigantic dunes eight to nine hundred feet in height in concentric circles around the former butte. Pieces of rock rained down for a hundred miles in every direction. The nest of Triaskus Xenocerius spiders, including the queen, was eradicated from the face of the Earth: vaporized. The only evidence that they ever existed was the pieces of spider that lay in the lab, the half a spider that lay cut to pieces in the portal chamber, and a few small pieces of the spiders out outside the butte that were shredded and thrown clear of the heat blast by the concussion blast.

At the moment of the explosion, the queen’s telepathic attack on Hannibal ceased and he slumped to the floor next to Nemesis with an exhausted sigh. Enoch shed his chain gun and pack, coming to Hannibal’s assistance, pulling him up to a sitting position asking, “Are you okay, little brother?”

Hannibal rubbed the side of his head as it ached, saying with great relief, “It’s over. The queen is gone as is the rest of that infernal brood. We don’t have to worry about them anymore.” Andrew returned with Josephine, Emma, and Arabella as Hannibal sat on the floor next to Nemesis with Enoch kneeling by Hannibal steadying him. They saw Ana and Magnus draining the venom out of Nemesis.

Josephine’s face fell upon seeing Nemesis’ condition. “Oh, no,” she cried, rushing to his side and kneeling down, immediately scanning him with her cybernetic eye. “They got you good, didn’t they?”

“Yeah,” Nemesis growled in full paralysis from the neck down. “We underestimated the queen and I got careless. I’ve never seen the spiders move so fast or with such intelligence. The ones in Kartoom never moved with such speed or aggressiveness.”

“That’s because they were cloned spiders,” Josephine replied, taking Nemesis’ machine hand with her machine hand. “These spiders were wild, un-cloned Triaskus spiders. They’re far more dangerous than what the Emperor had locked away in Kartoom.”

“How can you tell?” Andrew asked.

“The cloning process tends to degrade the genetic material, making the potency of the venom less dangerous,” Josephine stated, “When I scanned Nemesis, I saw the stinger venom was not from a cloned spider, but a wild one. Moreover, I’ve encountered un-cloned spiders before in the 1st Age. What’s left of that spider on the platform over there is a royal guard of the queen herself, which is why Nemesis is paralyzed. The royal guards have the most potent stinger venom of all the drones. If it had actually bitten Nemesis, it would have been fatal. Seems Fate favored you in your encounter with the guard that attacked you, Nemesis. It only got you with his stingers. Had it gotten its fangs into you, it would have ripped you apart.”

“I didn’t let it get that chance,” Nemesis rumbled in agonizing pain. “I fired a full plasma charge into its head and thorax before it could bite me.” A deep rumbling groan escaped his lips as the paralysis did nothing to stem his pain.

“Are you in pain?” Arabella asked, hovering beside Magnus.

“Yes,” Nemesis answered, “I may be paralyzed and numb from the neck down, but my insides are on fire, especially around the stingers got me.”

“Do you have anything you can give him, Jo?” Hannibal asked.

“Yes,” Josephine answered, reaching over with her other machine arm and touching Nemesis on the fleshy part of his neck with her machine finger. Everyone heard a hiss and Nemesis’s face visibly relaxed. “There you are, my friend,” she said softly. “Is that better?”

“Yes,” Nemesis stated groggily. “But I’m getting sleepy now.”

“It’s okay,” Josephine stated, “I gave you not just a painkiller, but a sedative and an antivenin booster to help your body fend off the toxin. Your body should start producing the antivenin to the stinger venom shortly.”

“Good,” Nemesis murmured, falling dead asleep moments later.

“Sleep, my friend,” Josephine said softly with the love of a lover. “We’re all going to take good care of you.”

“Is he going to be okay?” Xavier asked.

“Yeah,” Josephine stated, “I’m glad you came for me. He needed the booster shot I gave him to stop the venom from interfering with his vital systems. Now, his body will build an immunity to the venom, just as Hannibal has, plus it will give him all the raw material he needs to generate adequate volumes of antivenin to counter it. Even though he’s been seriously wounded by the spider, he’ll come out much stronger from it and will be able to take an even heavier hit next time.”

“I see,” Xavier replied. “I’m glad someone knows something about these fell creatures. We never had such monsters in Cimmeria.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” Hannibal agreed, “If you did, we wouldn’t be having this conversation and the Spiders would most likely have taken over Cimmeria.”

“True,” Josephine stated, “The spiders spread like a cancer, wiping out all life in their sphere of influence. That’s why they constantly spread. They constantly expand their territory in order to survive.”

“Then why didn’t they spread from the Watchtower?” Enoch asked.

“The only thing that keeps them from spreading is an alpha predator that’s more powerful and dangerous than they are,” Josephine reported, “...much like Nidhoggr was in the lake. I remember Hannibal saying when they got to the Leila’s Mausoleum, the web was nowhere near the water.”

“True,” Hannibal stated, “They didn’t come anywhere near the lake or Mausoleum until after Ana killed Nidhoggr. And just now when we planted the bomb, the web was all over it. Nidhoggr wasn’t there to act as a barrier to them.”

“Exactly,” Josephine stated, watching both Ana and Magnus as they continued drawing the venom out of Nemesis’ wounds. “Only something more powerful and savage than they are keeps them in check.”

“Then why didn’t they leave the butte,” Andrew asked. “Nidhoggr’s domain was the underground lake inside the temple. It had no sway outside of the lake. They could easily have left and spread into the Dune Sea.”

“Not if there are any alpha predators in the Dune Sea,” Hannibal replied. “Besides, the only water I know of in the Dune Sea was inside the mountain. The closest water for them would be in the Avernian Mountains to the east. That’s a very long way from Ezra’s Tower.”

“True,” Enoch agreed, “At least thirty leagues as I last recall; I doubt even these infernal spiders could cross such a distance without water.”

“I don’t think it’s the lack of water that confined the spiders in Ezra’s tower,” Magnus stated, “I seem to remember the Dune Sea has almost as large a population of god-worms as Tartarus does. I’m betting the god-worms are why the spiders didn’t swarm out of the mountain.”

“Ah-ha,” Hannibal chimed wearily, feeling something warm and sticky starting to drip from his nose. “There’s your alpha predator. The god-worms must be as dangerous as Nidhoggr in order to have kept the queen and her brood from leaving.” He touched his nose with his hand and saw blood. At the same time, Arabella saw blood dripping from his eyes and ears.

“You’re bleeding, Hannibal,” Arabella declared with concern, quickly checking him over as a doctor. “You’re bleeding from the eyes, nose, and ears. Jo, I think you should scan Hannibal right now. Something is causing him to bleed out like this.”

“Of course,” Josephine stated, turning to Hannibal and scanning him with her cybernetic eye. A frown crossed her face with what she saw. “Oh, dear,” she said with a worried tone, “I’m seeing major swelling of the brain here. That’s why he’s bleeding out. How are you feeling, Hannibal?”

“Not very good at the moment,” Hannibal admitted, “The queen attacked me telepathically until the bomb went off. It felt like my skull was splitting. Right now, I have a borderline migraine. Did she do physical damage like the Emperor did with his psychic attacks on me and Selina?”

“Definitely,” Josephine stated, quickly moving away from Nemesis and kneeling down in front of Hannibal. “She’s given you a bad case of encephalitis. I can clearly see it, though your unique genetic structure seems to be fighting it. Still, we need to get that swelling down and you need to get to the Healer right now.”

“Do you have something that can take down the swelling?” Arabella asked.

“I do,” Josephine stated, reaching over and touching Hannibal on the neck with two machine fingers, injecting the necessary meds. Her fingers hissed and Hannibal flinched, becoming immediately groggy.

“What did you give me?” Hannibal murmured sleepily. “I feel really strange now, and a bit disconnected from reality.”

“I gave you a high-powered anti-inflammatory and vaccine to take care of the encephalitis,” Josephine answered, “I also gave you a compatible high-powered painkiller and sedative to get you to sleep. You’re feeling the painkillers and sedatives kicking in now. You should be going out right...about...now.” Hannibal’s eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped forward into Josephine’s arms. She picked him up and stood, looking down at Nemesis with Ana and Magnus continuing their treatment of him. “Once you guys finish clearing out the stinger toxins, bring Nemesis to the Healer right away,” she ordered, “I’ll be there to treat him. He’s going to need some extra attention because of the damage he took. I should be able to repair the damage to his cybernetics while the Healer takes care of his organic parts.”

“Right,” Ana stated, “Just get Hannibal to the Healer. The queen singled him out for attack. She didn’t bother attacking the rest of us. She saw Hannibal as the primary threat. That’s why she attacked him so viciously, especially after he froze her ass with an elemental attack I’ve never seen before.”

“True,” Magnus agreed, “He somehow utilized the scepter in the attack. It’s as if the water of the lake itself suddenly rose against the queen and her swarm, freezing them in place, and freezing some of them solid. I’ve never seen an ice attack like that on such a broad scale.”

“I’ll bet you didn’t,” Josephine replied, “Anyway, bring Nemesis once you finish drawing the toxin out and stabilize him.”

“Okay,” Ana stated, “We’re about done now. Give us another three to five minutes and we’ll bring him. I hope Hannibal is okay. I could feel his pain telepathically and the fury the queen was unleashing against him. It’s a wonder he survived at all. That was meant to be a killing attack.”

“He’s going to be all right,” Josephine said, looking down into Hannibal’s unconscious face. “My scans are showing the meds are starting to take effect now. We just need to be sure he doesn’t have any complications from this attack. I’d better go.”

“We’ll be along presently,” Enoch stated, “Get Hannibal to the Healer.” Josephine nodded and whisked Hannibal away to the Healer. “I didn’t realize how bad Hannibal was being hit by the queen,” Enoch admitted, “But it does explain why he collapsed when he did.”

“The queen was trying to physically explode his brain,” Ana stated, “I could feel it. Yet he steadfastly resisted right to the end. He has such phenomenal strength of body and will. I doubt I could have resisted such an attack. Ahh, I’m done,” Ana stated, pulling her machine fingers out of Nemesis’ shoulder wound. “How about you, Magnus; are you finished yet?”

“Yeah,” Magnus stated, removing his machine fingers from Nemesis’ belly wound. “I cleaned out every speck of venom I could find. It’s a good thing there wasn’t any more because my reservoirs are full.”

“Me too,” Ana stated, “Let me do a quick stabilization heal on him before we move him.” Magnus nodded and shifted back as Ana laid both hands on Nemesis...one on each wound. She sighed, murmuring an ancient chant of healing, activating her healing power. A strong green aura swirled around both her and Nemesis for a few moments, and then faded as she ceased her chant. A deep, fatigued sigh escaped her lips as she slumped.

Arabella quickly grabbed Ana to stabilize her. “Are you okay, Ana?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Ana stated, “Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll be fine. When I use the chant in conjunction with my healing ability, it drains me more than if I just activate the gift.”

“Then why do it?” Elias asked, having watched everything from a discreet distance, not wanting to get in the way.

“The chant is an ancient song that amplifies my healing ability,” Ana stated, “It’s old as the Karac line itself and allows me to heal deeper and with more power than I would otherwise. It allows me to tap my deep reserves to heal. The price for using it though is it drains my strength rather dramatically. That’s why I didn’t use it during our raid into Kartoom. I couldn’t endanger the team by using it and incapacitating myself. However, in this situation, I felt I could use it on Nemesis because we’re not in immediate mortal danger. I have time to recharge from it.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Elias stated.

“Me neither,” Andrew concurred. “It’s like you’ve got a super healing button.”

“You could call it that,” Ana stated. “But as I said, I must be careful how I use that super healing button. Using it too much or for too long can cause me great medical distress.”

“Then only use it when absolutely necessary,” Enoch stated, squatting down and patting Ana on the shoulder. “Your life is as valuable as those you save. Remember that, little sister.”

Ana touched Enoch’s hand as it rested on her shoulder. “Thank you for the vote of support, Enoch,” she said softly, touched by his care. “It helps.”

“We learn something new every day,” Arabella stated. “But don’t you guys think we should get Nemesis to the Healer now? He still needs medical treatment by someone who is far more skilled in cyborg medicine than I am. I can see those wounds are still oozing a bit.”

“You are so right,” Enoch stated, “Andrew, Xavier...go get one of the heavy-duty gurneys from the infirmary. Nemesis is very well built, and on the heavy side. We need something that will hold him up.”

“Yes, dad,” Andrew replied, rushing away with Xavier, who nodded with a grunt.

“While you guys are doing that, I’m going to do something with what’s left of that spider,” Enoch stated, rising to his feet.

“You’d better have some gloves while handling that thing,” Ana stated, “Its venom is splattered all over it.”

Enoch pulled a pair of gauntlets out of his belt and held them up. “I’m good for that,” he stated with a smile.

“Enoch, you may want to see this,” Elias stated as he took up position behind the portal control panel with the hologram centered on the location of Ezra’s tower. “In fact, all of you might want to see this. I can’t believe what I’m seeing here. It’s unbelievable.” He expanded the hologram so everyone could see it clearly.

“Fate be merciful,” Magnus breathed in awe at what the hologram showed.

“Holy Ancient of Days,” Enoch declared in utter astonishment at the image. “It’s gone. The entire butte is gone!”

“Wow,” Arabella whispered in stunned amazement as they all saw a crater a league across and a quarter of a league deep with lava oozing up into its base. The sand of the Dune Sea had been blown into nine hundred foot dunes in concentric rings around the crater and then vitrified into glass out for another half a league. Enormous chunks of the butte and Ezra’s Tower lay scattered out five leagues, having crashed into the sand, carving out large craters of their own. Some of those craters ranged up to a thousand feet across and eighty feet deep. “There are no words,” Arabella said softly, “And sixty pounds of that carite stuff did this? I thought nukes were bad.”

“Nuclear weapons are far worse than this,” Magnus stated, rising from beside Nemesis and making his way to Arabella’s side. “They contaminate everything they don’t destroy. That’s why carite is the Emperor’s explosive of choice. It has nuclear-level blast capability without all the messy radiation. Technically, we could go there right now and not be injured by any radiation. Still, carite is not a substance that should be taken lightly. As you can see, it has the power to do tremendous damage.”

“That it does,” Enoch agreed, “Let’s just pray we can keep the Emperor confined here so he can’t use his carite bombs on the world above. That would be a calamity as bad as or worse than the Kragonar itself. I’ve seen enough, Elias. Shut it off.” As he spoke, Xavier and Andrew returned with the heavy-duty gurney he’d requested. “Besides, we can always go back and look at it later,” Enoch stated. “As for now, we need to get Nemesis to the Healer so Josephine can fix him up.”

“Right,” Elias stated, shutting the portal down and placing the remote earpiece back in the control panel. In moments, they all gathered around Nemesis and put him on the gurney with some difficulty.

“Wow,” Xavier panted, “I had no idea Nemesis was that heavy. He’s as heavy as a full-grown saber cat.”

“It’s our cybernetics that makes us heavy,” Magnus stated, taking up position to push the gurney. “Come on, guys; let’s get him to the Healer.” They agreed and wheeled Nemesis out of the portal chamber, leaving Enoch to clean up the pieces of the spider.

Enoch sighed solemnly as he looked at the remains of the spider while donning his gauntlets. An unsettling thought slipped into his mind that soured his mood tremendously: was this the only nest of Triaskus spiders, or are there more hidden in the remote darkened corners of Amacia? Much of Amacia lay unexplored or under the Emperor’s control. They had no way of knowing for sure there weren’t other nests, or worse yet, the Emperor having finally found a way to control them as he controlled the Zarukars, Xenians, Murians, and many other fell creatures of his domain. The thought tormented Enoch, galvanizing his resolve to study the Triaskus Spiders, find their weakness, and ultimately purge the entire planet of them personally. He now understood from experience how dangerous the Triaskus Spiders were, particularly when a queen directed them. Furthermore, he now realized how Hannibal could come to hate them so vehemently.

Staring down at the remains of the spider, Enoch hissed, “There’s no place on this planet for you, monster. I’m going to see to it. Humanity is not going to become a meal for your vile species...not ever again if I have anything to say about it.” He then started the cleanup, not realizing the full ramifications of their actions over the previous four days. Neither Enoch nor Hannibal understood what they’d unleashed in their war with the Emperor. However, vastly ancient cosmic powers of both Light and Darkness did grasp the significance of the events, seeing the next great battle in the War Eternal setting in array...a battle that would determine the fate of humanity and of life and light throughout the endless expanses and dimensions of the multiverse.

****

On the surface in the Empty Quarter of the Saudi desert just southeast of the Al Hadidah meteor craters, Surtur rode shotgun in an armored Land Rover with his bodyguard Clarence at the wheel. They had the vehicle loaded down with supplies and weapons. Sensing a telepathic surge as the Triaskus Spider Queen met her end in Amacia, Surtur abruptly looked southwestward out of the passenger window of the Land Rover. “Hmmm, something’s happened in Amacia,” he rumbled ominously. “I must hurry or I’ll not be in position.”

“What’s up, boss,” Clarence asked cautiously. “You look worried.”

“Nothing you need worry about,” Surtur stated darkly, “Just keep driving. We must reach the Nameless City before the alignment, or we’ll lose our chance.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Clarence answered, seeing Surtur’s worried, dark expression. He knew not to press Surtur when he was in such a mood. “How much farther is it?”

“Just keep driving,” Surtur snapped viciously. “I’ll tell you when we need to change direction.”

“Okay, boss,” Clarence murmured with a shrug, “Just asking.”

“You play a very dangerous game challenging us directly like this, Beowulf,” Surtur mumbled under his breath, looking out the Rover’s window into the wastes as the sun set over the dunes. “The Dark Powers will not let this challenge stand, and neither will I.” A sinister smile crept across his lips as he added, “You’re proving to be far more resilient than I expected. This is good. I haven’t had a challenge of this caliber since you bested me at the Battle of Drakonia. Let’s see if you’re as good a player as you were then. This is going to be fun. Let the games begin.”