The Withered Land, THE EMPIRE FALLS: HELL'S AVATAR

HELL'S AVATAR -- PART TWENTY

They could smell the scent of rusted steel and cold stone sweeping across the top of the hot sands on the dunes. They were still half a kilometer away from the southern entrance to the necropolis, hidden behind the serpentine backbone of a dune-shelf that descended from a craggy mesa marking the end of a valley. There wasn't much to see. The dying glare from the planet's twin suns cast a complex carpet of strange, interlocking shadows across the desolate acreage of ruins and several groups of scurrying rodents emerged from their hiding places to begin the night's hunt for food.

Lying on his stomach up the sand dune incline, Platoon Leader Geslan Tu'um lowered his digital scanning-binoculars and licked his dry lips. Something was wrong here. He was suspicious at the complete lack of human activity among the fallen columns and crumbling walls of the aged fortress-city. Places like this, even though they were mostly devoid of resources, were still frequently populated by small bands of desert nomads, thieves, and derelicts who sought shelter from the desert's cold nights as they traveled beyond the walls of the nearby cities. This felt staged. This place was, he felt, trying too hard to look like it was completely abandoned. And that meant that someone was still here, hiding among the ruins. And people who hid had secrets. Geslan Tu'um and his Ket'Horreau cavalry unit were determined to discover what those secrets were.

Rifle Commander Chenna Hool and Troop Captain Devere Axlan had spread the unit out across the dark, shadow-side of the three story-tall undulating sand cliff, hiding their Leeshiwunnem mounts from any prying eyes at Shi'draih-Hakaba. So as to not compromise their position to any of the fortess-city's defenders, they used an electronic baffle-screen to mask the sounds the beasts might make. A trio of Gunnery Corporals were positioned three man-lengths apart each, sighting through their starlight-optics rifle scopes across the wadi-basin at the weathered and dissolute defensive architecture past the fallen monuments lining the southern borders of the necropolis. Additionally, the men took the moment of strategic surveillance to partially rest and recuperate from their wild and lengthy ride from distant Bur'heddam.

The men didn't like it here. They retained far too many unpleasant memories of service under the iron yoke of the cruel Ashen Brood, even though the political union between Bur'heddam and the martial forces of Shi'draih-Hakaba had been broken in a brief and bloody civil uprising over eight heliars ago.

Geslan Tu'um saw a brief flash of movement... something large and hulking, and yet still man-like, had moved from behind a collapsed archway.

"We're not alone," he said in a rasping whisper to his Rifle Commander and Troop Captain.

"Good," Chenna Hool said. "Glad to know we didn't ride all this way for nothing."

The Platoon Leader harrumphed disapprovingly at his subordinate's response. "Don't be in such a hurry to have someone try to kill you. I, personally, wouldn't much mind not encountering any enemies."

Chenna Hool bowed his head, acknowledging his impatience was unwise. "Sorry, sir. Must have been the heat talking."

"Don't let it trouble you," Geslan muttered.

"Sir! A localized spectrathermal bioscan sweep indicates there are nine organic lifeforms within the target perimeter," Devere Axlan announced. "The readings are odd, though, identifying the individuals as within the lower end of the range for humans, but outside the range for human-based mutation. We don't really have a database catalog listing that matches what the bioscan is reading."

"Well, THAT doesn't sound promising...," Chenna Hool remarked. "Think the Ashen Brood have hired Offworld sentries?"

"No, that wouldn't make much sense," Geslan said, lowering his binoculars. "The Brood don't want to advertise their presence. Offworlders would stand out too much, even to infrequent or occasional passers-by. I think it more likely the Brood may be sharing their domain with other players, probably non-affiliated, willingly or unwillingly I couldn't say."