*000000*

At some point during the night, Emily mumbled about it being too hot — which is probably true. There are a lot of organisms in the bunker producing body heat — and pulled off her shirt and pants. Then went right back to sleep on top of me, dressed in only her panties. I… found it rather difficult to focus on my work after that. The fact I can't actually see her, only feel where she's touching against me, doesn't help much either.

Shortly after the sun rises, I give up and start poking Emily awake with a tentacle. She rolls over and sits up. "Morning Alexei…" she mumbles. Then gasps. "Oh! You made the walls glow! So pretty!"

I offer no answer since Face is off on an errand at the moment. Instead, I nudge her with a tentacle again.

She squeaks in surprise and grabs the tentacle. "Hey, your tentacles are glowing too!"

They are? I check my Essence. Yes, apparently my shard has decided that glowing patterns over my body and tentacles are a good idea. Hmm… It seems to take any broad updates I make to my swarm and applying them to me too. Immunity to Emily's aura, carapace, now bio-luminescence. Apparently legs and eyes are a step too far though. Stupid shard.

Oh well. I wriggle my tentacle in a way that conveys… absolutely nothing. There is no tentacle equivalent of sign language for conveying complex information, or if there is, I am as unaware of it as I am regular sign language.

Emily giggles at the movement though. "I have no idea what that means. Where's Face?" She's certainly been a lot more cheerful over the past few days.

Visiting the Watson Enclave. I wiggle a tentacle in a waving motion that might imply distance. Maybe.

"… Not here?"

Eh, close enough. Since she's still holding the one tentacle, I bring up another and prod at the pile of clothes, bringing it to her attention.

"Oh! Did…" Emily pauses and lets go of the tentacle. I distinctly feel her butt wiggle around as she shifts around. "I think I remember it was really hot during the night."

I wave my tentacle up and down in agreement. Easy enough. I expected her to dive for the clothes, but she just sits there, fidgeting. I bring my tentacle close and poke at where I think her face is, finding a soft cheek. It's unusually warm, and I can feel her pulse through her skin. I think she's blushing.

"Um… I… noticed yesterday… Face was…" A nervous sound escapes her throat. "Um… hard… down there… when you were… you know… after I fell. You liked… feeling me. Right?"

Dear Ziz, between the bath scene from a few days ago, checking her body over for injuries yesterday, and then her spending the night atop me, half of that practically naked? I'd wanted to hold off on doing anything with her till I had a proper humanoid body that I — and she — was happy with. But here we are. She's as good as nude, and I… find myself reconsidering my desire to wait. Who knows when I get a body I'm happy with, or if we will even be alive in a week.

I run my tentacle down her face, brushing against her cheek and lips.

"Eeep! Umm… Alexei…?"

My tentacle slips down her neck to her shoulder. Her skin is soft and smooth, faintly damp with salty sweat. I can't get much feel for Essence through intact skin, but some of the tentacles have a rather well-developed sense of taste, especially the smaller, more… flexible ones. She shivers as I wrap it around her chest, the tip rubbing against her undeveloped breasts gently. Just a few seconds, then I give her a light squeeze and pull my tentacle back to in front of her, and pulse the light at its tip.

Emily is silent for long enough I begin to be concerned that I'd made a mistake. "That… felt nice… Umm… I… I liked it… But just… just touch! It's too… embarrassing if you… look too… So no minions, okay?"

Heat is radiating off her face, and I imagine she's got a nuclear level blush saying that out loud. I was about to wake up the Face clone to provide speech and sight, but what the cute, nearly naked girl wants, she gets. I wiggle an affirmative with my tentacle, and loop it around her lissom body once more. Two more join in with feather light touches along her cheeks and neck, trailing down to rub her back, then around the front. Feeling her skin, tasting her. I can hear her breath hitch when I once again tease one of her small nipples.

"Mnnn…" she moans, twitching in my grip. She doesn't try to escape or voice any complaints though, so I continue. A tentacle tip rubs against her lips, which part at the gentle pressure, allowing me to slip inside. Not far, I'm not trying to silence her like Reflect. No deeper than a human tongue could reach, in an approximation of a deep kiss. Emily is inexperienced, of course, her tongue uncertainly probing the tentacle intruding into her small mouth. I'd expected her to have a bit of morning mouth, but death aura means no oral bacteria. Her saliva has a faintly sweet taste underlying it, and I have to force myself to keep the kiss light. I want to taste all of her.

Other tentacles are slowly making their way down her chest, rubbing, squeezing, and tasting every inch of her tender skin. She's breathing hard now, cute high pitched moans and squeaks escaping from around my intrusion in her mouth. All too soon, my tentacles cross her soft belly and encounter the cloth of her panties.

Despite how much I want to pull them to the side, I instead refocus a couple of tentacles much lower. Her moans turn to giggles and she spasms and twitches as I rub against her feet. Apparently they are ticklish. Feet aren't usually my thing, but hers are so tender and sensitive that I can't resist teasing her by wiggling my tentacles between her toes for a while, before moving up, around her thin ankles and slim legs, up to her thighs.

I lavish her thighs with attention, tentacles crawling slowly up her thighs with slight touches, only gaining minuscule amounts of ground before retreating and starting over. Emily's legs flex and shift, rubbing her thighs together and trying to push the tentacles up higher. Her body heat is climbing through the roof, and whenever I pull out of her mouth, she's practically panting in between moans.

At last, a single tentacle presses against her pantie-clad crotch, finding the fabric soaked through with her fluids. I rub and press against it to the background of her increasingly loud vocalization. Slowly, I push her panties aside and press my tentacle directly against her soft squishy pussy.

Emily squeezes her legs together and between moans, gasps out. "No… not… inside… not yet… too… scary… please…"

She's not ready to go all the way? I can live with that, though I would dearly love to taste and feel her muscles squeezing all around. Instead, I rub the length of it between her lower lips, just barely allowing it to touch at the nub of her clit. The moment I do, Emily cries out and convulses so hard I have to loosen my grip in fear she'll hurt herself. A wave of warm, slightly sour liquid washes over the tentacle. She gasps for breath and goes limp in my hold, then releases a stream of — this time salty and slightly bitter — liquid that runs down her legs and my tentacles, to make a puddle under her that trickles down my side.

I still my tentacles, and ease her to a different spot on my body before withdrawing the most dirtied ones, leaving only a few wrapped around her arm and torso, in as close to a hug as I can manage. Eventually, Emily's breath slows down and returns to normal. "Mmmm… Alexei." She finally says, her voice soft and weak. I give her a light squeeze in response. "Mmm…" I wait for a bit, but apparently she's not feeling up to speaking and just cuddles into my grip, saying nothing more.

Despite lacking the organs to actually achieve an orgasm myself, going through the motions seems to have had the same effect, as the usual post-nut clarity sinks in. Oh Ziz above, I hope I made the right choice here… No, no, she enjoyed it, she's happily cuddling now rather than crying or running away…

I give her another light squeeze, and Emily returns it with a cute sigh. I'm… going to assume everything is good. Yes. Everything is fine. Definitely.

Where the hell did these urges even come from? As the Overmind, I have no reproductive organs and no hormones to cause horniness. I know because I can easily examine my own Essence! Is it a psychosomatic remnant of being human? Is my shard — broken as it is — managing to emulate the nonexistent hormones in my thought process? Perhaps feedback of some sorts from the organisms? That is the most likely, but the only ones that have a sex are the male Face clones… Maybe the Hatchery still counts as female, seeing as I sourced it mostly from a queen ant, and it continues to produce eggs.

Theoretically, the Simurgh could have done something after I drank the vial, but I cannot see what reason she would have to make me keep such human desires.

The question is not critical and can wait; the day is passing, there is much to do, and the Mutalisks wings have long dried out.

Flying is amazing. The Mutalisk's wings produce a rather loud droning buzz as they beat at the air. Less than ideal for stealthy flight, but they can glide when I need to be silent. Overall, I'm happy with their performance, despite being unable to truly test out their maximum flight speed without risking exposure. Their manoeuvrability though… Forward, backward, hell they can strafe or fly backwards, turn practically on a dime, even flip and fly upside down.

The feeling of freedom it grants is… exquisite. I'd love to take a flight over the water, or just flit past the dome and push for the ocean! It's with great restraint that I force myself to bring them back to the hive. It would be just downright stupid to attract attention this close to the opening move.

Besides, as much fun as flying manoeuvres with the Mutalisks is, there are things I need to get done today, and I have already let too much time escape me. I regret none of it. Unless Emily is upset, in which case I regret everything.

Once again, Face stands before the Watson Enclave. The guards differ from last night, but they recognise his shrouded form.

"Face! We heard you'd come by last night." Greets one guard. The two are bulky, muscled men, brothers I would guess. "Names Marcus, this is Tyler." He introduced himself and his companion.

"I did. Is Hewson awake? I need to speak with him."

"Tyler, go check and let the boss know Face is here to see him." Marcus instructs the other guard, who nods and hurries off at a brisk walk. He then turns back to Face and pulls a small flat bottle out of his pocket. "Would you care for a drink while we wait? Found some poor cunt's secret stash while foraging yesterday."

Huh. Alcohol… I have no idea how that would affect my control over Face, or any other organism. "Perhaps after, I should speak with Hewson before indulging. Better yet, save it for a victory drink when the raiders are dead!" That'll give me time to find a bottle myself and do some tests in privacy.

"Fair enough." He puts the bottle away. "So them bastards gonna get what for, huh?"

My response is cut short when Tyler returns with Hewson. "Face, welcome to the Watson Enclave. We're still rebuilding, but shall we talk in my office?" Hewson greets me. I nod my assent, and bid farewell to Marcus and Tyler before following him into the building.

The inside looks like crap. Damaged walls, bullet holes in more than a few of them. Discolored spots where something — probably blood — was washed from the surface. More than a few spots seem scorched or outright melted.

His office is a meeting room that overlooks the front of the building, the once wall to wall windows covered by plywood boards. Four slits carved through the wood let in sunlight. They also provide excellent firing arcs on anyone trying to force an entrance into the building. By the thin beams of sunlight filtering in through bullet holes around the slits and the freshly cleaned floor, they had seen some use during the battle.

Hewson sits down on a large reclining sofa that must have been dragged here from elsewhere. "Have a seat Face. Heard you came by last night, some sort of emergency?"

I grab an offered seat from the eclectic mix of such before answering. "Yes. Mrs. Marshal didn't fill you in?"

"No. Claimed just because the city's gone to hell doesn't mean she's going to break patient confidentiality if it wasn't something I needed to know." He chuckles. "I didn't argue with her, though I wonder why a Bio-tinker would need her services."

"She asked the same question. Abzu is a creation and modification focused tinker, not healing and recovery focused. You wouldn't ask an engineer to fix your engine."

"I see. Well then I hope whoever was injured is well."

"She is, and thank you. Not to rush things, but I expect a rather busy day, and busier night ahead. Abzu is making final preparations to move against those Independent Canberra raiders."

His ears perk up at the tidbit of information about Emily, but that's fine. She'll want to interact with these people once I have a solution for her aura, them being vaguely aware of her existence will help in the long run. Probably. "It is good to hear that Abzu will deal with those bastards soon. They've been a curse that has made any attempts to rebuild or organise…. Difficult. How can we help? They killed or injured most of our fighters, but there's a few that would volunteer to help in an assault, I am sure."

"We should have the forces on our own." I deny the need for volunteers, only to recall what I've heard all my life about the camaraderie of those that serve next to each other on the front lines. Perhaps a few humans fighting alongside would not be a bad idea, even if I don't need them. "But I would not stand in the way of those who wish to fight for their city alongside us. Hmm… if any of your people want to volunteer, have them ready to depart at sunset, I'll come by to pick them up."

"Still a good bit of time… I will spread the word. Anything else?"

"Yes actually. If you have any communications with the other Enclaves that you trust, let them know the situation in the city will change tonight. There's nothing to fear, and as long as they take no hostile action, no harm will come to them."

Hewson strokes his moustache in thought. "What sort of change? It would be better if I could warn them with a bit of detail."

"Right. Share it with discretion, but here's what's going to happen."

There is only one thing left to finish before I am ready for nightfall. I dig into my Overmind body and continue the arduous process of identifying and isolating all the Essence that allows me to extract other Essence from organic creatures. It's a tangled and complex, and I've been working at it on and off for a few days now. Parts are interwoven with others that I simply can't keep attached. This requires diving into the faded Essences and trying to compile something functional and lightweight that doesn't require the resultant organism to be entirely sapient in its own right.

The sun is high in the sky when Emily finally untangles herself from the tentacles and dresses herself. "I'm going to explore Alexei!"

Is there anything to keep her away from? I pause my work for a minute to consider. Hatchery? No, should be immune by now… Dangerous experiments? None under way. Ah, there is the storage room where I stashed the few firearms my Ratlings looted. She should probably stay away from those till I teach her how to handle them. Oh, and the collapsed sections of the bunker might be unstable. Surface… is mostly safe at the moment, but better she stays here or the house rather than wandering the streets. Normally, the danger of infection from a scratch would be of concern, but Emily should be fine as no bacteria is going to survive long enough to infect her. Huh, I wonder what's up with her gut flora then. Does her power 'whitelist' those bacteria, or is inside her body entirely safe? Infection could be a theoretical risk if it's the second.

Note to self: see about creating a micro-organism that can act as a symbiotic immune-booster or immune-replacement. In the meantime, I add antibiotics to the list of things the Ratlings should search for while digging through the ruins. Even if Emily never has need of them, others might.

A Ratling scurries in and nudges Emily with a hiss. She turns down to look at it. "Hmm? You're going to come too? Okay. Is Face gonna be back soon? Not being able to talk together sucks!"

I wiggle a tentacle in a way that in no way conveys the meaning of "soon". Face is in fact on its way back from the Watson Enclave.

Now back to the Essence Gatherer organism.

Of the twenty-one surviving Mutalisks, five return to the hatchery and begin spinning webbing into small, adhesive pouches. As each pouch is finished, a Ratling retrieves an unhatched Larvae egg from the hatchery and places it within. A special egg goes to each Mutalisk. It contains the Essence I spent most of the day isolating and weaving into an organism. A mobile Essence gatherer. If all goes well, they will give me a range of wider Essences to utilise. I am tempted — and spend a fair bit of time considering the option — to copy my Overmind Essence into eggs too, and send those out as a fail-safe. The risk of that fail-safe turning fail-deadly if anything goes wrong, such as the resultant organisms being fully fledged independent Overminds is way past acceptable though.

"Hmm? Alexei, what are they doing?" Emily asks. She finished her exploration of the bunker chambers some time ago. Apparently empty concrete rooms and military style barracks overgrown by creep are boring, even if the creep glows. She's instead busied herself with drawing on a Larvae, and chattering about a television drama focused on the school lives of a team of wards. Considering I'm pretty sure wards are part of the PRT, and therefore part of the American system for parahuman management… looks like even the approaching societal collapse can't keep the United States from pushing for a cultural supremacy.

"Insurance. I'm moving on the raiders tonight. If anyone at all is paying any attention to the inside of the quarantine zone, that has to be noticed. I don't know what forces they will array against us when that happens. It could be anything from sending in the military to cleanup the quarantine zone, or declaring such cleanup an extension of the Endbringer protocols and bringing in international help… They might even play it safe and nuke us from… well not orbit, the Simurgh doesn't allow extra-atmospheric flight, but the point stands."

"Oh…" Emily presses herself against me, and mumbles into my side. "That's when the war starts?"

"Yeah. I'm counting on having a couple days of aggressive expansion while they figure out their response, but… if luck is against us, I could be cleaning up raiders all night, and fighting the Australian army or capes by sunrise. That's why just before the attack begins, these five will be exfiltrating…" at her confused expression I rephrase. "That is, leaving the dome. Under the cover of darkness and with their camouflage, they should be able to avoid being spotted. If sensors or radar notice them… hopefully everything that happens right after will keep quarantine enforcement distracted long enough for at least one to disappear. An expansion nest elsewhere will give us a bit of leverage. At the very least, they might be reluctant to just kill everything with overwhelming firepower until they've dealt with any hidden expansions." Or they will just have Contessa path to exterminating us. There's no reason to bring that up, and… My plan for dealing with Path to Victory is to pray to Ziz that Contessa doesn't get involved. Which is a shitty plan, but I have nothing better.

"Where are they going?"

"One is going to contact a potential ally, two are flying to the densest Amazonian jungle, one to the Sahara and one is heading south to Antarctica. One of the Amazon set will begin an expansion, the rest will look for a location suitably lacking in human oversight with a surplus of animals, failing that they will burrow deep and remain in hibernation." If my control range reaches across oceans. The Zerg Overmind was interstellar, but I don't know if the same applies to me too. If I feel like I am losing contact with the Mutalisks, their last acts before diving into the ocean will be to tear apart the eggs. I'm not sharing the planet with rival swarms. "If I'd planned better, I would have made more aquatic-capable organisms like the Zerglings and gone for a deep ocean colony. Perhaps a follow up flight, if the opportunity arises."

Marcus waits impatiently for the sun to touch the horizon. Two others are with him, Benjamin and Sienna. Others had wanted to come. There was a lot of anger and hatred built up in the Enclave. Hewson only allowed three. The Enclave couldn't afford to lose any more people, and the three of them were the most likely to make it back. Something about their presence probably being symbolic anyway.

Marcus had been in the military for a time, before he decided it wasn't for him and got out as fast as he could. Benjamin… Marcus doesn't know him well, but by the tattoos and scars, it's a good bet he was an enforcer with one of the big gangs. Before those gangs fell apart when their capes died or fled. Sienna just liked to fight. Woman had been in the city for a martial arts tournament of some sorts and failed to make it out before the quarantine.

All three knew their way around a gun — and in Sienna's case, knew how to break a gunman's arm in a dozen different ways — and Hewson had loaded them up. The Doctor's laser rifles would only have about twenty shots each at night, but Abzu had seen fit to leave their enclave with most of the raiders' regular weapons, even if they were just small arms. Each of them has two pistols and as much ammo as they could find pockets for.

Just before sunset, Face comes walking down the street and raises an arm in greeting. Something about the motion seems odd, but Marcus shrugs it off.

"Marcus." Face greets him. "Tyler joining us too?"

"Naw mate, we drew straws, he pulled the short one so has to stay back." Marcus answers. Tyler had to make sure at least one of them lived long enough for their mother to have the grand kids she always wanted. Marcus instead gets to go out with a bunch of bio-tinkered monsters and make sure her death is avenged by her own.

Face nods, an exaggerated motion, likely to make sure it's visible through the layers of obscuring fabric draped over his form. "And you two would be…?"

"Sienna."

"Benjamin…"

"Pleasure to meet you both then. We'll be heading to the bridge, where we will join up with the primary force. Here, smear this on your clothes." Face hands each of them a small jar filled with a clear jelly.

Marcus pops it open, and completely disregarding his training, gives it a deep whiff. "Eugh. The hell is this?" he coughs out.

Face chuckles quietly. "Pheromones. Don't worry, the… pungency will fade pretty fast, but Abzu's organisms will sense it for days. Just a precaution to prevent any friendly fire. You will be the only humans on our side of the engagement after all."

If they're the only humans on this side of the engagement… then what the hell is Face? Marcus decides not to ask. There's only so many reasons someone going by Face takes such effort to hide himself. Sienna opens her mouth, likely to ask the very question, but Marcus catches her eye and shakes his head. They're better off not knowing he figures, and as long as the raiders die… He'd fight side by side with the Lucifer himself, and thank him for the honour after all was said and done.

He shudders, but goes about smearing the clear gunk over himself, a few handfuls liberally applied even under his clothes to his skin. If it's acting as uniform to recognise friend from foe, he's not going to skimp out. He saw what those monsters did to the raiders last time.

I lurk in the shadows of what my map says used to be the National Library. Two humans dressed in the raiders' typical gear are sitting by the window, playing cards. Every once in a while one gazes out in the bridge's direction, then speaks into a radio reporting the all clear.

I, Marcus, Benjamin, and Sienna are waiting with the rest of the assault force close to the bridge. "Abzu tells me there is a lookout observing the bridge. They report back to base by radio roughly every ten minutes."

"How fast can Abzu's creatures cover the distance from the bridge to Capital Hill?" Asks Marcus.

"Zerglings… Should be able to do it in under five minutes. Roaches will take longer. I'd estimate around ten to fifteen."

"They can move that fast for long enough to cover the distance? It's nearly two kilometers!" Benjamin says, joining the conversation.

"What about the Mutalisks?" Marcus asks.

"Oh, those are fast, half a minute at regular flight speed, but we only have a handful of those."

I leap from the shadows the moment the radio is silent, scythes raised in preparation. The other Zergling rips into its target, his blood spraying across the wall and floor at the same moment as I do. Neither of the humans reacts with more than a gurgle as blood and broken bones fill their lungs.

I glide overhead on silent wings, watching for any sign we have been spotted. Lights from Capital Hill continue to sweep the surrounding land in regular patterns, more focused on watching the fenced in slums on one side of the building, rather than looking for an invading force.

I charge across the bridge, other Zerglings by my side, a living wave of carapace, claws, and flesh. Ten minutes to get to the raiders' headquarters before they notice their lookout is not reporting in. Perhaps a few minutes more while they check for technical issues. How long until they rouse their defences and prepare for an attack?

I lumber onto the bridge. It's damaged and cracked, but even with its battle decayed state, they built it to hold the weight of hundreds of vehicles. Zerglings leap around me, their wings granting them speed my armoured bulk cannot match.

I sit holding on atop a Roach, the three human volunteers each on a nearby Roach as well. "First wave of Zergling has reached the raiders' base. It's fairly well lit up, and I don't think we'll be able to get closer without being spotted."

"Wait, don't start until at least the window before they check in with their lookout is closed. That will get us and these Roaches closer to the action before it starts." Marcus says.

"That's the plan." I agree. "Are you all ready?"

I crouch behind rubble as the spotlights of the raider's base become more erratic, sweeping out further into the darkness. Time's up, they are aware something is wrong now. My swarm leaps from cover, and charges the wall. For a long few moments, there is no response beyond the spotlights sweeping over our bodies. Then come distant shouts, and sporadic gunfire peppers us from the windows. Small arms, the bullets that hit just flatten on impact or deflect into the night.

I swoop down on no longer silent wings. The loud drone of my flight draws the attention of the two humans manning the spotlight. Both scream, but while one hides, the other brings his pistol around in my direction. I don't give him time to aim, my abdomen already curved forward under me. A stream of rapidly congealing webbing splashes against him, making movement near impossible. My wings instantly reverse direction, and before the man knows what's going on, he's a dozen meters in the air. Hovering in the air high over the battlefield, I use my legs to reel the struggling raider up to me. Defenceless and bound, it would be easy to just bit his head off, but I need prisoners.

James screams while the world spins around him wildly as he is dragged through the air. His pistol is still in his hand but glued awkwardly to his chest, and who knows how high up he is. Even if he killed the thing, the fall would end him! Suddenly there's a harsh tug, and something grips his sides. He's turned around to look into the face of a monster, its dark coloration making it difficult to see in the dark, even this close. It's got his body held in its legs, and he shrieks like a girl as memories of Aleph horror movies swim through his mind. Why do all the alien monsters find humans such great incubators for their young!? "Oh god please no!"

I leap to the side, wings fluttering furiously for range and speed to avoid the orb of raging flames that comes arching from the raider's base. It impacts near to where I had been and explodes into an inferno. The heat melts my wings, and the flames scorch my carapace as I cannot cover enough distance. I screech into the brightly lit night, my cry of pain joining the other Zerglings caught in the blast.

I watch through Face's eyes as a blast of flames incinerates a group of Zerglings. "I've seen that cape before." I say, speaking to the three humans. "Any information you know about him?"

Marcus and Sienna both shrug. They are more focused on the scene before them, and covering as much ground as fast as possible. Fire and smoke rise from a couple of spots where the capes fireballs exploded. A few injured Zerglings struggle on the ground, where a shot from the handful of larger weapons scored a hit. A couple are even dead.

"Howitzer, he's an out of town mercenary villain. Worked for him on a job not too long before the Endbringer." Benjamin says. "Throws fireballs. Pretty good range, shit accuracy. Gets better as long as neither he nor his target move."

"So… basically a one man artillery piece? Not bad." Then we are running across the field. Another fireball arches overhead, likely aimed at one of the Roaches, but overshoots and splashes against a building behind it instead. Artillery is a useful power, but won't have a good showing against a force as mobile as mine, especially when unprepared.

A bullet wings past my ear, and I hit the ground, frantically looking for cover.

"Raiders, second-floor window, fourth to the right!" Benjamin shouts. Marcus doesn't bother with a verbal response, simply drops to his knee and hefts the laser rifle. For a moment, a beam of brilliant white light connects the muzzle to the pointed out window. When I blink to spots out of my eyes, molten concrete drips down from the hole that used to be an office.

Entering the building is easy. Zerglings are swarming up the walls, breaking through windows, smashing doors. Only the main entrance is holding, reinforced glass and steel keeping the armed raiders inside safe. Reinforced glass and steel do not help against a burst of light from the three humans' rifles, and then we are inside along with a handful of Zerglings that were nearby. Two raiders are taking cover behind a security desk, and a few more are spread around the room. I duck for cover and start taking potshots against a raider on a balcony overlooking the entrance hall.

Benjamin fires his laser rifle at the security desk, only for an orange transparent wall of hexagons to appear and absorb the blast. "Tinkertech forcefield!" I hear him shout. I suppose it shouldn't be unexpected that the place has Tinkertech. What's surprising is that it still works.

Sienna charges the security desk herself, dropping to the floor and sliding up against it just in time to avoid a blast of shotgun pellets that chip away at the wall instead. Then she's up and over the desk, her leg impacting the first of the raiders with the wet crack of broken bones. The other turns his shotgun at her, but she's already moving, hand pushing the muzzle to the side before her fist bends him over double.

I lead a flight of four other Mutalisks. A full third of those that remain, their lighter and weaker carapace more susceptible to even the lowly handguns most defenders wield. We strafe and dance in the air, doing our best to avoid the incoming fire from the cluster of humans ahead. I easily avoid a fireball that flies in our direction, the attack only confirms that our primary target is here. Then we are over them, and I see him, black leather, metal spikes, red mohawk. I've seen him once before in the first days of my presence in Canberra. Now I have his name. Howitzer. He will make a great addition to my swarm.

I walk through the halls of what once used to be the seat of power in Australia. That it still stood at all after the Simurgh is a testament to its architects, even if I feel their artistic talent was lacking. Now it's been twice the site of a battle, the second a much more personal one. Here and there streaks of blood show where raider and Zergling met.

The battle is still not entirely over. The pop of pistols echo through the building at odd intervals, but the defenders have no chance. Few of them carry weapons with sufficient stopping power to put down a Zergling. "Atrium up ahead." I say. "Five heavily armed and armoured individuals, along with a VIP they seem to be heavily invested in defending."

"Leader of these bastards?" Marcus asks.

"Probably. They've been killing or chase off the odd Zergling groups that came across them. Abzu's been monitoring them, but will need to throw a lot of Zerglings at their guns to take them out."

"Or we could do it." Says Sienna. She pats the laser rifle in her hands. "I've still got a few bars of charge."

"Even better, if it's their leader, I have a personal issue with him." Marcus says.

That is one reason I led the volunteers in this direction. They came along to help the fight, and most of what we've seen so far has been the fleeing or the dying. We left a good number of prisoners in our wake, as Marcus insisted the Enclaves would appreciate the chance to hold judgement over them. I saw no reason to argue, my Mutalisks have already cocooned and stashed away more than enough prisoners for experimentation. "I'm in. Benjamin?"

"Five huh… Sounds fun. Let's do this."

I let Marcus take the lead. He claims to be ex-military, and he seems to know what he's doing so far. Only Benjamin moves similarly, though much less refined. I fill Marcus in on what we're facing. Three rifles and two chainsaws, wielded by men that were likely military themselves. On his count, Sienna kicks open the door, and we charge into the room, the humans' laser rifles firing toward the armed group that were just halfway across the atrium.

To their credit, they waste no time being surprised and return fire as soon as they can bring their weapon to bear. We dive for cover, myself only a second after the other three, and yet even as I hit the ground behind a large flower pot — big enough there's an entire tree growing in it — I feel the sting of hot searing pain through my leg and gut.

Two of the rifleman fell to our initial fire, but one remains, now covering along with the presumed leader behind the statue at the centre of the atrium. The guards with chainsaws were decently effective against melee Zerglings, but now they can only cower and hope to not eat lead or lasers.

"I know things are confusing in these troubled times when our city is forsaken by the rest of the world! That's why it falls to me as the most senior government official to guide you all through the darkness! Are we not all Canberrans? We must stand together against those who would destroy us! Are we not all Humans? We must stand together against beasts that would consume us!" a voice calls across the atrium.

"Only through trust in authority can we avoid anarchy and collapse! It is my duty as Prime Minister to hold that authority, and yours as valued members of society to uphold and trust in that authority!" The raider leader continues.

The hell is he doing, holding a speech in the middle of a firefight? To my surprise, Marcus, Sienna, and a moment later Benjamin all stand up, weapons lowered. "We follow your orders Prime Minister!" Marcus says.

"Good. Come with us. The Independent Nation of Canberra is under siege by monsters. We have need of every weapon available, and those lasers even more so." The leader and his surviving guards step out of cover, and are quickly joined by my human… ex-allies? Traitors? No, not after the vitriol I've seen them carry against the raiders. A Master type parahuman is the most likely reason for their change in allegiance.

"What of the last one?" the leader asks.

"I tagged him twice, Mr. Prime Minster, sir. He's either wounded or dying." Replies his guard.

"Then he's useless. Raise your arms and defend me with your lives! Trust in the authority of my position to bring peace and prosperity to your future, and the future of your children!"

Face is wounded, but certainly not dying. He'll be back on his feet in a few hours of healing. I'd try taking a shot at the Master, but I saw how fast his guards were. Now he's got Marcus, Sienna, and Benjamin in his service as well. Unfortunate, I had hoped the humans could have a personal win by ending the leader themselves. The possibility of the leader being a parahuman was high, but I wasn't expecting a Master, at least not one that could take control that fast, mid firefight even. I gather a swarm of Zerglings to make their way here and end this.

Suddenly, I am interrupted by a series of bright flashes. I peek over the edge of my cover and see… Benjamin standing with his laser rifle covering Marcus and Sienna warily, the Prime Minister and his escorts charred corpses on the ground. Benjamin spits at the corpse. "Never gave a shit about authority. Why the hell would I start now?"