Captain Devers’ command headed out of the South Gate of Flagstaff, passing sedately along the vastly improved I-17. The fields passed by as the sun slowly trickled through the trees to his left. He appraised all of the vehicles in the column, continually pleased with the upgrades that Karl had provided with the substantial city fund that the previous Mayor had hoarded.

To start, all of the M1A1 tanks in his command received customized ammo upgrades for the 120mm cannons consisting of improved APFSDS rounds with a denser core and more efficient propellant, as well as a new High Explosive Plasma round. The previous round was rather impressive in its ability to cause a significant area of damage, as well as penetrating armor. All of the vehicles received a Mana Conversion Engine that provided more overall horsepower, service range, and could recharge from empty to full in eight hours from just the ambient mana in the air. Armor skirts were replaced with lighter, yet more penetration resistant panels. The coax and mounted machine guns were replaced with plasma based crew served weapons.

The Bradleys kept the 25mm Bushmasters and opted for specialized ammo with improved penetration characteristics. They replaced their stock of standard AT missiles with Armor Penetrating Hypersonic Kinetic Energy missiles. His Bradley gunners had taken to referring to the missiles as “AFKEY” missiles when firing them in training. These missiles no longer used the TOW system to guide them, which required the targeting and guidance computers be replaced to something that could handle the proper calculations.

All of his HEMTT’s were modified to carry mana battery charging stations. His scout platoons opted to keep their weapons and upgrade the magazines and optics with the exception of the designated marksmen who opted for purchasing some high tech rail rifles. The Mk.19’s were reloaded with a variety of fragmenting or plasma explosive grenades, and tires were upgraded to a puncture resistant compound that managed to deflect standard .50 caliber rounds.

The pair of Artillery pieces also received interesting upgrades in the form of mana fused artillery rounds. The rounds had superior penetrating power and would have been handy when fighting that massive Stoneback Crab. They also received the ever popular plasma explosive rounds as well as some programmable air burst fragmenting rounds.

Of course, he knew the effectiveness of all the ammo and equipment upgrades because they of course tested the new hardware on one of their tanks. Which is why he was now commanding from the prize of his deal with Karl. It was his tank they tested all the ordnance on, with the promise that it would be replaced with something better. ‘Better’ happened to be a slightly larger than normal alien designed tank that was all harsh angles carved in exotic alien alloys that were far tougher and resistant than anything he had ever been up against. All of the crew compartments were refitted by the System to accommodate human physiology.

The tank came equipped with an autoloader that fed what appeared to be tungsten slugs to a pair of hypersonic rail cannons. Captain Devers smiled as he mused over the memory of the munitions demonstration. He fired the pair of rail cannons at the same time and the top of a hill simply disappeared. Of course the downside of that is the weapons' rather long reload time. It’s about 17 seconds for a full reload of both weapons at the same time, however, they can be fired in sequence and reloaded one at a time for an average 4.5 rounds per minute, slightly slower than a regular M1 crew reload. The only noise the tank made was the sound of the tracks crunching across the pavement. The mana engines were incredibly quiet and only let off a soft hum.

Captain Devers looked back along the column and saw his daughter riding shotgun with the Scout Platoon Sergeant. He was happy she had chosen to head to Phoenix with him. He thought that it would be hard to convince her to go, it surprisingly wasn’t.

“So, I’m sure you want to stay with your friends, but I was hoping you would join us back to Phoenix.” John Devers asked his oldest daughter, Samantha.

“Okay.” She said and tore another piece of meat from her plate and stuffed it in her mouth. They were having dinner together as they had nearly every night since he had come to Flagstaff with his company, and he really expected her to say no.

“Really, that easy?” He had a detailed logical explanation as to why she should join him and was a little disappointed he didn’t get the chance to present his argument to her.

“Yeah. Dad, I’ve been through alot. I’ve been fighting since Karl rescued me. I- I was one of only three people that survived that hell, excluding Junipher, of course.”

“Yeah. I’m glad he came along.” He said and gently grasped her hand. She looked off blankly for a second then looked back at him and smiled.

“I’ve gotten stronger, I can take care of myself now, but I still haven’t been able to get ahold of Sandra, Billy, or Mom. I want to know what happened to them, and I told my new friends I intended to return when the opportunity arose. Well, it just so happens the opportunity is here.”

“Well, I’m glad you have your priorities set.” He laughed with her. “Alright, I’ll let you say goodbye to your friends, we’ll prepare to head out at about 0500 tomorrow.”

“Alright, Daddy. I’ll meet you guys then.”

They continued their meal and enjoyed each other's company. Samantha regaled him with stories of her battles and how her magic worked. Her battle against the gnolls and the behemoths caused him no small amount of anxiety. The idea of his daughter being the focus of an enemy attack, and to put herself in that danger willingly was nauseating to the protective father. Many of her stories centered around the so-called ‘Warlord of Winslow’.There was the story of Karl making contact with the alien administrator after he nearly killed himself with a weapon that shouldn’t have been available yet. Or when he made love to his strange plant woman and how her voice had an effect on anyone too close. She talked about the beauty of the Valkyr and how scared she was when they encountered the Daemon for the first time. Captain Devers wasn’t sure how he felt about a race of people that looked like demons from religion and mythology. He considered them lucky to have been met by Karl, the oddly violent yet accepting man. When they finished eating she excused herself to say goodbye to her friends and he returned to ready his men for the following morning's road march.

He shook himself from his reverie as his lead elements broke past the farm fields and the platoons increased speed. The road march speed was set at an easy 40kph. He didn’t want to come charging down the I-17 so fast they weren’t able to properly react to any threats. Sergeant Grants HUMVEE pulled up alongside his tank and Samantha popped her head up through the turret hatch.

“Hey!” She yelled over to him.

He smiled back at her, “What’s up?”

“I’m going to stay in the HUMVEE, is that OK with you? They said they would kick me out if you didn’t authorize it. Not that I think they could.” She smirked at the trio of men inside the vehicle.

He hesitated for a moment looking at her left arm where it ended short of her elbow. She saw where he looked and scrunched up her face in annoyance. Before he could speak he felt a thump on his temple and looked around confused, then looked back at his daughter who was smiling mischievously, “Told you before, I don’t need a left hand.”

“Fine, just be careful. I don’t want to lose you so soon after finding you.” He relented.

“Sergeant Grant will take good care of me, he doesn’t want to be the one to tell you he lost your daughter after all.” She quipped then slithered triumphantly back into the passenger seat.

A moment later Sergeant Grant’s voice chirped in his ear, “Don’t worry, Sir. I honestly think she’s the most dangerous person in this column short of your new toy and Lt. Portnoy’s mana shells.”

“You’re probably right about that. Regardless, range ahead of us about 10km and keep us informed. Don’t engage any threats if you don’t have to.”

“Roger, moving out.” The HUMVEE accelerated away and another joined it, while another pair pulled away to the left. The teams would split their coverage along both the North and South bound lanes of the I-17. The reason for this was that between Flagstaff and Phoenix sat a string of rocky hills that weren’t quite large enough to be considered mountains. The I-17 split between the hill tops in each direction and a significant threat could be lying in wait on one side but not the other. So, if he could avoid the fight, he would. If not, at least he would get advanced intel on said threats so he could determine how to engage them.

Just past Munds Park they came to the point where Flagstaff’s improved highway surface gave way to the standard pre-system asphalt paving. They also came across a highway full of wrecked, burnt, and bloody cars. When the System remade the prior highway it broke down the vehicles that had previously clogged it. Here the City’s influence didn’t reach so the vehicles remained where their owners had abandoned them in a mad dash to avoid a violent and bloody death. From the boiled and dried blood caked across the cement it was clear that most had failed at that task.

Both scout teams reported that the roads were clear of threats up to the first major split in the highway. That split would separate the scout teams by about a quarter mile with nothing but rock formations on either side. He noted how the terrain was changing as they drove. Draws and cuts in the terrain were now often flowing rapidly with deep water. It was like the underground aquifers had been punctured and were now overflowing onto the surface. He noted more than once as they crossed bridges built over the previously dry washes the movement of large creatures just under the surface of the churning waters and ordered his people to keep an eye on the potential hazards.

Karl had directed the man he had sent south to send any significant reports to Captain Devers too, and so far he’d received two such reports. The he had started referring to as ‘The Scout’ indicated everything was clear until Camp Verde, at which point he had spotted survivors near the river that wormed its way through the mountainous landscape there. He also indicated there were some large bear-like creatures prowling the woods. Other than that he had nothing to report. Considering the source he decided to ‘trust but verify’ as his column rolled down the highway pressing cars and trucks out of the way with a pair of mine plow tanks in the lead.

They were soon roughly 10 kilometers from the turnoff from the I-17 to get on the 260, the crossroads where the former city of Camp Verde sat when the scout teams called a halt to their advance.

“Sir, we got a problem.” Sergeant Grant’s voice crackled over the radio.

“What kind of problem, Sergeant?” The Captain asked, worry creasing his face.

“We got a Troll problem. A big troll problem. If you pull around the highway to the northwest you should get eyes on them, they’re not hard to miss.”

“1st Platoon! Let’s peek over the ridge to our right, scouts got something big in our way.” Captain Devers listened as the 1st platoon leader moved his people into the indicated position, ‘Driver, follow them and get us in position.”

His driver acknowledged his commands and the alien tank lurched into motion to pull up the rise. Captain Devers sucked in a breath as they crested the ridge of the hill they had spread out on. What he saw was a thing from a children’s fairy tale times ten. Standing over the highway intersection were two very tall, very angry trolls playing kick ball with the trucks and cars that remained strewn about the highways. They each dragged a large tree behind them and were covered in grey mottled skin that oozed green pus from various blemishes. Their faces were wreathed in large green beards that looked to be made of dirty roots. Their lips were stained red and what appeared to be bits of human body parts were trapped in the rooty beards. Yellowed eyes scanned the woods for more fleshy snacks and Captain Devers silently cursed.

“Grant, is there a way around?” Captain Devers asked, not particularly interested in fighting two of these nightmares.

“We could shoot up the Verde River towards Cottonwood, but that takes us a long way from Phoenix. And there’s no guarantee we won't run into something worse.”

“Alright, dismount your marksmen, Lieutenant Portnoy, position your artillery to get a clean shot on this grid square,” He added, going to the command wide channel, “Second and Third Platoon, move up here and here. Ander’s, pick the best positions for your missiles to fire from.”

“What about our infantry, Sir?” the newly promoted Sergeant Brown asked.

“Get your AT missiles ready, but hang back, this isn’t an infantry sized threat.”

“Roger, we’ll take up rear coverage.”

The tank platoons moved to either side of his position and Lieutenant Portnoy indicated he was ready to rain hell on the two lumbering monsters. He checked the command net to confirm the positioning of his units and waited for the pair of marksmen to climb up the mountains to either side of his command. The trolls continued meandering about the intersection, oblivious to the firepower that was trained on them.

When everyone indicated they were in position he gave his final instructions, “Alright men, we knew it was going way too easy. When the artillery lands, I want all fire on my designated target. When we confirm the primary target is down we’ll annihilate that second big asshole. Any questions?” He waited a moment for anyone needing clarification, but none came, “ Portnoy. Light em’ up.”

The only response he heard over the radio was a gleeful chuckle then the sound of the two artillery guns echoed across the ravine.The trolls looked around in confusion at the rolling report of the big guns. A sharp whistle passed overhead and the Trolls looked up as one attempting to track the offending noise. They apparently never heard artillery before because they made no effort to move as the pair of mana infused shells struck the highway directly between the two monsters.

Chaos exploded between the trolls in a violent wave of blue energy. A pair of craters replaced the broken and fractured highway and what cars and trucks remained became projectiles and the shockwave from the explosions were felt in the tanks that had hunkered down on the edge of the mountains. The trolls collapsed and roared in pain and anger. Captain Devers was shocked to realize that the explosions hadn’t managed to vaporize the trolls. “Target left, FIRE!” He gave the command to his gunner and the rest of the company. The intended target was slowly rising from the ground and the damage to its legs was apparent. It’s massive legs were burned and bubbling, the grey flesh was now red and bloody.

The tank cannons slewed on target and the report of fire thundered across the valley below. Captain Devers' own tank hummed as the first rail cannon fired with a loud snap of energy. “ON THE WAY!” His gunner reported at the same time, the tank rocked in place and the gunner adjusted his next shot. “ON THE WAY!” He called out again and the opposite barrel hummed and snapped with energy and launched another round into the targeted troll. The round punched through the troll's shoulder as it was standing up and it fell backwards onto the remains of the highway. He was about to call the target when the troll sat back up and to his horror the hole his gunner had put in the monster's shoulder began to close back up before his eyes.

He took a moment to closely observe the damage done to the giant troll. He noticed that the flesh around its legs was still burnt and red, whereas the kinetic rounds were punching holes in its body that were quickly healing. Of course, it’s a fucking TROLL. “All units cease fire! Second Platoon, index HEP and fire for effect.” He ordered through the company net. His units stopped firing and watched the trolls start eyeing the hills where the barrage of fire had assaulted them. They roared and waved their tree trunk clubs in the direction of the hills, not sure what to do against such a distant attack.

Several moments later, Second Platoon, having swapped rounds to the High Explosive Plasma, fired on the troll they had knocked down who was now just sitting up and swinging its sickly yellow eyes around in fear. The rounds smashed into the troll’s chest and exploded in searing hot green plasma flames. The troll roared in pain and began swinging its arms and kicking its legs in fury. His friend however was now alert and ready to retaliate. It reached down and grabbed the burnt out husk of a semi-truck and chucked it in the general direction of Second Platoon. The platoon leader backed his tank up as the truck struck the ground where he had been positioned, then the turret spun to the side and prevented the wreckage from tumbling into the guntube and scoring what they would have referred to as a ‘firepower’ kill.

Captain Devers was pleased to see the flesh melting from the one hit by the HEP rounds, “All units, switch to plasma or incendiaries and fire at will. Portnoy, tell me you have some incendiary shells ready!?”

“Rounds will be in the air in… 10 seconds.” The Artillery Lieutenant responded crisply.

The rounds whistled overhead as the HUMVEE Samantha was in engaged the second troll with their Mk.19 Grenade Launcher. The troll spun on their position and quickly moved laterally against their position and snatched a tree as a trail of explosions chased it. It used it’s free hand to strip the tree of its branches and paused long enough to chuck the now branch stripped tree like a spear at the HUMVEE.

Captain Devers’ eyes bulged as he watched the impromptu spear streak at the HUMVEE in what seemed like slow motion. “SAM!” He roared as the tree smashed into the vehicle and wrecked the front end, it flipped up in the air and the Captain forced himself to stay in his hatch and command his company. “HIT THAT FUCKER WITH EVERYTHING WE’VE GOT!” He roared into the command net. The artillery rounds finally splashed into the valley below, setting both trolls on fire completely. Tank and Bradley rounds pummeled the two trolls into smoking ash.

He was about to order his driver to pull up to the wreckage of the HUMVEE his daughter had been in when the ground started to shake violently. Across the valley the rocks and boulders began shaking free from sides of the distant hills and a form slowly took shape. He stared in anger as a troll clad in stone with glowing red eyes rose from the earth and looked at the fires spreading below. At the same time he caught sight of the wrecked HUMVEE wreathed in pink energy and floating several feet off the ground, beneath it his daughter with her arms held in front of her, mentally guiding the vehicle back on its wheels. His relief at her safety was short lived as he gargantuan rock troll released an earth shaking roar of rage.