The Grey Chronicles Part Two: Under Siege.

Chapter 32: Clean House.

Perimeter of Titanus outpost, surface of Stonehaara One, August of 8096 AL.

The first rays of sunshine were cast over the walls as a Nephilim guard fell from his guardhouse. A twenty-foot concrete wall surrounded four buildings; the center of the outpost was taken up by a large satellite dish, a building stood in each corner. Stonehaaryn recon units had staked out the base the night before; each corner faced one of the cardinal directions, in the west were the Nephilim barracks. The eastern corner held the generator, the southern housed the command center and barracks for the Stonehaaryns that controlled the dreadnoughts. Finally, in the northern corner was the mess hall. At each corner there was a guard tower situated at the top of the wall, with at least one Nephilim inside. The Stonehaaryn reconnaissance unit had memorized the guards' schedules, their numbers, and their movements. And now, they were given the order to attack.

"All units, move into position," Seth called over the radio. He sat in the back of the command truck beside Salem, staring at the computer monitor that showed the helmet cameras of their forces. A topographical map was visible in the corner of the screen, showing a blue dot where their soldiers' FOF tags were located. "Keep it silent; not a sound until my order."

Salem watched, fascinated. The Stonehaaryns had been given command of this mission, Seth was eager to show the Machinae warlord what his soldiers were capable of. So far, Salem was pleasantly surprised; their recon units were incredible, not that he would tell Seth that.

"Not bad," Salem smiled, watching the screen. A squadron approached from every corner, cloaked by the last shreds of darkness as the sun began to rise. A team of snipers took out the Nephilim in the guard towers simultaneously; nine silent gunshots, nine bodies dropped.

The squad leaders were the first to reach the walls, each soldier fiddled with their gloves for a moment before scaling the wall. Their gloves stuck to the concrete, Salem assumed it was some kind of nanotechnology; nanites on the palm of the gloves allowed for greater traction, making it possible for the soldiers to climb the wall "barehanded."

They stopped at the battlements, waiting for confirmation from the snipers that the coast was clear. The outpost was nestled into the bottom of a canyon, with several hundred yards of underbrush between each wall and the rocky cliffs. The sniper teams set up shop at the tops of the cliffs on either side, silently killing the guards on the walls from six hundred yards above.

With confirmation that the walls were empty, the Stonehaaryn troops climbed onto the walls at each corner and froze, waiting again for the snipers to check their paths. Their movements were precise, their kills unnoticed. Each squadron moved along the wall, stopping halfway between their respective corners and taking cover against the battlements. The operators unfolded tripods and attached what appeared to be a large blue cylinder with a trio of round electrical nodes on the end; Salem recognized the machines as plasma turrets when the operators attached the trigger mechanism to the rear end. They hurried, quickly preparing for the upcoming attack as the sun rose behind them.

"Coven, move in," Seth ordered. His daughter led a force of three other Witches, who climbed the wall and immediately dropped to the other side into the camp. They stalked along the walls, stopping at the front gates in the southeast. The sun finally rose over the horizon, shedding darkness from them with its golden rays. Salem wondered how four Witches would handle the entire camp, though he knew their capabilities well enough; he was prone to use overwhelming numbers whenever possible, just to minimize the chance of failure.

"All units, commence the attack," Seth called, "I repeat, commence the attack. Go loud, go loud."

A pair of Nephilim walked out of their barracks, turning towards the mess hall. They had gone about ten meters before one of them was thrown across the courtyard, slamming into the satellite dish with a pained howl. His companion watched, shocked by his friend's sudden flight. He was still pondering how it was possible when he was thrown into the wall of the barracks, his neck snapped by a head-first collision with the steel wall. The wall rang like a bell, and the Nephilim streamed out of the barracks to find the source of the noise. They walked directly into blaster fire; the plasma turrets turned on them, hissing loudly and spitting blue streaks of light at their targets. The molten plasma burned through flesh, bone, and the armor that protected it. When the Nephilim stopped coming through the door, the turrets aimed at the sides of the barracks and fired through the walls. White-hot bolts of plasma tore through the building, ripping everything inside to shreds in a flash of light.