Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 12

Chapter 111

The group finally made it down after what felt like an hour. The large room was made to be an underground transportation area for two different elevations; thus, carts, crates, rusted weapons, broken armor, and other objects littered the room.

The group of Iratus, Victoria, Aestus, Resonantia, and Ignis stare at the bottom tunnel. So far, the areas and towns have had the feel of being plucked and placed somewhere else. With roads stopping or this underground room that is supposed to connect underground roads instead of connecting to random tunnels.

The bottom tunnel was a very cold cave, and as they started to move down it, the coldness only increased. Despite their fur and clothes, everyone in the group was starting to shiver.

Resonantia, "Woh, is this the ice cave thing the diary spoke about?"

Iratus, "It...like it seems to be, but the location is far off. Also, this underground room isn't mentioned. I guess there is another entrance somewhere else."

Ignis, Excuse me, but the sheer cold is somewhat painful. I do not know if the two ebonies could survive here, but our travel time kind of kills our plan to kill them. This isn't even calculating the time it took to travel down here or how late the day was already getting. Might I suggest we split up? We need someone back at the tower as well."

Victoria, "Sounds pretty good. I'd prefer to pilfer the goods here. How about everyone else?"

Aestus, "Travel into the cold void!"

Iratus, "Wait, we only have one flashlight."

Victoria grabbed a torch from the wall and tried to light it.

Iratus, "I don't think those things survived...however long."

But the torch did light.

Iratus, "Strange. Alright, so I'm continuing down a little further."

Resonantia, "I'll help Victoria."

Ignis, "Darn, guess I'll go down as well, just in case, of course."

The group had split up, and Iratus traveled down the cold cave with his companions. The cave would continue diving deeper into the ground, and each descent brought more cold.

Ignis, "Clearly, this must be a g-good time to turn around."

Aestus playfully, "Your cold endurance is pitiful!"

Iratus, "There is no way this cave just continues. Just a little longer."

They traveled a little further down and came upon a hole in a wall. As the group moved through the hole, they found themselves in a tunnel, but it had strange-looking train tracks.

Ignis, "This is...God, it's cold. Look at the train tracks."

Aestus, "I think this tunnel is even colder; it actually hurts."

Iratus, "Yeah, we need to get back. This cold feels like it could kill us in an hour."

They went back into the cave and went back into the transportation room to regroup and discuss what they saw with the others.

Resonantia, "So, not the ice cavern in the diary?"

Iratus, "Maybe it exists somewhere down there. What have you two gotten up to?"

Vistoria pointed to a cart with a small mountain of loot in it. There were some rusted weapons and bits and pieces of different armor. Off to the side was a bag full of tools as well as several backpacks and other traveling gear. An empty barrel was thrown in, and the girls filled it with treasure and money. The girls also threw on bags belonging to scribes, which were filled with ink and parchment. The only other stuff was statues, sculptures, tapestries, and some other artwork, all made from insects like people—antfolk, if anyone had to guess.

Iratus, "Ok, but who is pulling the cart?"

---

Chapter 112

Everyone hauled or pushed the cart through the upper cave. They had to unload everything and reload it when they passed over the hole that once housed the black mass. Aestus was sent back to the tower to keep watch over it. The group would eat rations and take many breaks, to the point that it was late at night when they hauled their loot back to the tower.

When they entered the tower, Aestus met them and told them Clamor had returned, though he had already gone to bed. They got most of the loot inside before heading off to bed themselves.

In the morning, as everyone convened in the commons area, everyone enthusiastically greeted Clamor, the old rabbit man.

Irauts, "Clamor, my friend, where have you been?"

Clamor, "Did your mousey ears not hear me when I said I'd expand my search range? I found no traces of anyone traveling anywhere near here. I suspect the others died or traveled into a forbidden area."

Iratus, "Yeah, we found Heinrich, who was a metalhead. Also forbidden area?"

Clamor, "God judge Heinrich mercifully. Now, the forbidden area is an underground labyrinth in a strange tower. This tower isn't too far from the campsite, and the four of us lived in it for a while. I'd say let's poke into the forbidden area, but there is a complication. There is a faction that the people of Nexus Prime call the Invaders. They...are a complicated topic. From what I know, they are just treasure hunters, and the hideout is some sort of special location where super treasures are."

Victoria in some disbelief, "Super treasures? What qualifies as super treasures?"

Clamor, "No one I knew had an answer. We would have to ask an Invader or travel into the forbidden area and find them ourselves. And no, we are not talking to an invader, as they have only ever shot at anyone from Nexus Prime."

Iratus, "Do you think we could take these people on?"

Clamor, "Not in the slightest."

Resonantia, "But we have powerful firearms!"

Clamor, "I still don't think we have a chance. Maybe an ambush. All of this assumes we are doing this to rescue our friends, who may or may not be trapped or dead in the forbidden area. For the time that has passed, there is no way they are still alive. Then again, they did somehow manage to talk to the invaders long enough to come to an understanding, so maybe they are with them."

Victoria, "If you say to avoid these Invaders, then I don't see why we shouldn't. You are the elder here, uh, I mean for being in Nexus Prime."

Iratus, "Another thing, the ebonies are no longer in that mine cave place."

Clamor, "Then another cave they must have traveled too. I mean, it is just a guess, but I think these things sleep in caves or something. My friend told me about his ancient ancestors being something like these ebonies, or rather, the black mass they used to be. So, a deep, dark cave is where these things should possibly be."

Ignis, "Northward, there are probably over a hundred caves."

Iratus, "Then avoid going north; we shall."

Victoria, "Those were my hunting grounds too."

Iratus, "Well, now it is time to explore what's south, like the ocean!"

Aestus, "How about we see all of the treasure we have obtained?"

Everyone agreed and started to properly sort out the loot.

---

Chapter 113

The rusted weapons were set to the side, while the armor pieces were placed near the workbench. Hammers, chisels, wrenches, pickaxes, a compass, and a sextant were placed in the tools section.

Backpacks and Travel Gear: Sturdy backpacks, bedrolls, tents, ropes, grappling hooks, and torches—these items would be useful for your characters' journey, allowing them to carry provisions and set up camp along the way. The leather bags and primitive backpacks were distributed to everyone's arms. Some bedrolls, a tent, and a lot of rope were set near the traveling gear. The barrel was set to the side while the money was thrown into the pile of treasure that has been steadily becoming a large pile of goods. A dozen ink vials were examined, but after some use, it was determined that they were no longer any good. The parchments were stored in the gaming box. A few small antfolk statues were also added to the treasure pile, along with a few tapestries and artwork. A particular antfolk sculpture was something of a formless antfolk female that gave off the feeling of nudity, which the girls placed in Iratus's room.

Iratus, "Hey, why did you all put this thing in my room?"

Resonantia, "Well, I thought you'd want it."

Victoria, "It is quite the attractive female figure. Though if you don't like it, I'll take it."

Iratus was quiet for a moment before saying, "Uh, no. I'll...keep it."

Resonantia, "That's what we thought."

Iratus, "So, do we want to split any of the treasure up? We have quite the horde, and no one is using it."

Victoria, "I'll grab some, and I'll take the silver bracelet."

Aestus, "Hm. Not really. Nothing speaks to me right now."

Resonantia, "I'll take the pocket watch. Thank you."

Ignis, "I as well need no items at this moment. I believe leaving the money in this pile will be more beneficial."

Victoria, "Seems like a waste. Now, what will Iratus take?"

Iratus, "I'll take some money as well. It hasn't helped us yet, but if we continue like this, we are going to need a currency to properly make deals with each other. Clamor, I wouldn't mind if you wanted some items."

Clamor, "Normally I'd say no, but that brass-looking ring looks good."

He grabbed the ring from the pile.

Aestus, "If we are not going to search for the other two, what should we do?"

Clamor, "Live good and God-fearing lives. Until the Invaders are done with the hideout tower, we cannot search ourselves."

Iratus, "And if the Invaders have the others?"

Clamor, "Unless we are willing to take on serious danger, I assume we will be avoiding them for now."

---

Chapter 114

The day went on as normal, with everyone doing their own thing. Iratus took Clamor to the hot springs so that they could wash up.

Iratus carefully lowered himself into a fine and delightfully warm pool. In the background, he could hear Clamor speaking.

Clamor, "So this is what a hot spring is. Wow, this is amazing!"

The mouse boy felt his face and the lines that were wounds across his head. He looked into a water reflection and saw that his wounds were healing properly and that they shouldn't leave any disfigurement, though whether or not they will leave scars is still to be determined.

They finished up and headed home without incident. The rest of the day was spent mostly resting. When the next day arrived, Iratus was feeling restless and needed to explore.

He asked around, with only Clamor and Resonantia agreeing to explore with him. While Iratus took his normal loadout, now containing the tactical vest, he would also take the firearms on this journey.

Resonantia, "Where are we going today then?"

Iratus, "The coast is just down the river, and we have yet to ever go there."

Clamor, "You are very keen on the coast; like, how about crossing the river, exploring north around the train, and wasn't there a hospital around here somewhere?"

Iratus, "I'm telling you, civilization is on the coast. Hey, you've been here for years; can't you confirm this?"

Clamor, "I've rarely seen the coast, actually."

Iratus, "Ok, then how do people survive out here inland? The food and resources the coast has are great, and having access to the oceans has got to be worth more."

Clamor, "What, are we going to relocate to the coast?"

Iratus, "Possible. It really just depends."

Resonantia, "As someone who lived in a world of islands, the coast sucks."

Iratus, "Sucks what?"

Clamor, "Honestly, making a better road to the coast would work just as well. Send workers down to fish and haul the goods back to the tower, where we can start a massive agriculture industry."

Resonantia, "With six people?"

Clamor, "Six to start, but soon we will be an army of survivors. We'll also need to find a priest. We've got to have our spiritual food."

They moved into the open field, which led into a heavy tropical area unlike the mixed area before.

Clamor, "Oh ew, tropics."

Iratus, "What do you mean? It feels like home for me, though I actually never lived in the tropical areas, just the Savvanahs and far forests."

Resonantia, "Now I, on the other hand, can say this feels like home."

Clamor, "If this is a tropical area, then does that mean there are parasites that eat your heart in the water?"

Iratus, "Ah, right. The tropics are always troublesome. On second thought, there are too many diseases and insects; let's not live here."

Resonantia, "Also, a proper tropical area should have even more heat and humidity than where we currently live."

Clamor, "I am definitely down voting living here."

Iratus, "Same. Hey, wait, it sounded like you didn't even know this place was here. Didn't you explore down here?"

Clamor, "I didn't see any paths south, so I didn't go that way."

---

Chapter 115

The group traveled to the crashed long ship and gave it one final look before heading down even more. Without an ebony to get in the way, the group would venture deeper into the tropical forest and even find an actual road off to the side. It was well built and had very little wilderness damage. The road split to the south and to the east, with the east part of the road peering off into the distance. Clamor and Resonantia checked out the road as Iratus examined it.

Clamor, "Woh, look at this road."

Resonantia, "Feels solid."

Iratus, "It looks like my nation's roads overall."

Clamor, "Does that mean we can find some of your people's stuff around here?"

Iratus, "From what I have seen, maybe. We are just as likely to find a town of your people out here."

Clamor, "I know that; I mean, it would be positive if we found some of your stuff out here for once."

Iratus, "Definitely."

The group continued down the road southward and saw a stone wall up ahead. It appeared to be a small town that the road split off into. The front gates had long since been smashed, making it easy for the group to walk into the town.

Iratus, "Well, God be praised. It looks like this area is a whole thing...or something."

Clamor, "Oh no. I see treeskins."

What would have been a once vibrant town was now in ruins. The treeskins had severely devastated this place, with buildings crumbling and wooden structures lying splintered and torn, bearing the marks of the treeskins' rampage. Chunks of masonry and timber were scattered across the streets as well. There were clearly a number of natural scenes, such as trees that were a part of the town that had become twisted and contorted, even much more than normal treeskin trees. Some of the sturdy roads and streets had grave damage throughout. The aqueduct system looked intact anyway.

Unlike the stone city, this town had actively been bombarded by the treeskins, though no one had managed to see the heart of the stone city. A mass of treeskins lumbers with more vicious activity than the almost idle treeskins in the stone city. If anything is positive here, it would be that no large treeskin trees have grown here.

Iratus looked over what was left of the town, and by looking, everything came to a realization.

Iratus, "This place is a pretty good model of one of my people's towns."

Clamor, "See, this is what happens when you think positively."

Iratus, "I don't know if there were people here when...I guess this place appeared here, but let me tell you, seeing one of my towns in this state by these monsters is unnerving."

Clamor, "Sorry."

Resonantia, "Is it just me, or are these treeskins a bit more active than the ones at the stone city?"

Iratus, "Yeah...let's get to cover."

---

Chapter 116

In a half-broken house, the group bunkered down and observed the situation.

Clamor, "I think we need some backup."

Iratus, "But as a smaller group, we will make less noise."

Clamor, "We shall see."

Resonantia, "I think we need higher ground because I can't see much from here."

Iratus, "Sure, see any good places?"

Resonantia, "There are some tall buildings around, so let's get ready to go."

With a nod, everyone got into position and waited for an opening. With the treeskins moving on from the area, everyone moved as quietly as they could to a multi-story house. Clamor took the lead, so when they ran into a treeskin in the house, he immediately dived into it while Resonantia pulled her knife and quickly slit the monster's throat while Clamor held the creature against the wall.

With that over, everyone got to work looking out and trying to find loot locations. While it was still difficult as there were many tall structures around Iratus, the others still managed to see a few targets.

Resonantia, "I saw some sort of theater, which has made me curious. Then I also saw a street full of market stalls. Pretty good locations."

Clamor, "I saw the bathhouses, and Lord almighty, it was quite the look. I think your people really go nuts for baths."

Iratus, "Very much so. There is even a book series called Bathhouse Reviewers. It was one of the most popular book series of my time."

Resonantia, "Nice."

Clamor, "Oh, also, I saw a nice villa, and let me say your people know how to make some nice estates."

Iratus, "Uh, thank you. So I saw the forum in the center of the town as well as the church here. Then there was a basilica as well."

Clamor, "Which locations have the least treeskin activity?"

Resonantia, "Pff, I can't tell. Everything is covered in them."

Iratus, "Then perhaps We need to clear some of these things out?"

Clamor, "If it's combat, then we need some of the others help."

Resonantia, "We can lay a trap or ambush and slowly clear these things out."

Iratus, "Probably easier than the stone city. This town at least has plenty of defensive areas we can still exploit."

Then several gunshots rang out, and at first everyone looked at Iratus, but the gunshots clearly did not come from him.
 
---

Chapter 117

While not all treeskins moved to the sound, a lot did start to move over to the east gate. At the west gate was where Iratus's group was.

Clamor, "In all my years of travel, I don't think I've had so much activity from the people of Nexus Prime. Well, either that or these people are some of the Invaders."

Everyone did their best to look for the new people, but as they were looking, they heard treeskins break into their building.

Resonantia, "Wait, did they just break in?"

Clamor, "Looks like they are on high alert and have found us."

Iratus, "Or we just were not quite enough."

Getting down to the second story, Resonantia was able to fire three arrows through the room and even killed one treeskin. Iratus and Clamor held off the treeskins long enough to move upstairs. Clamor took the lead and became the wall to stop the treeskins, but they only crawled over their kind to move all around Clamor and threaten Iratus.

Resonantia was able to fire another volley of arrows, which took down another treeskin. Clamor backed away, dragging a treeskin that managed to hook into him. Resonantia took out her knife and tried to halt the treeskins advance while Iratus killed the treeskin on Clamor, who in turn rushed back into the frontline. Resonantia was able to not die because her breastplate blocked a lot of grabby hands. Clamor was able to get in a good swing in that greatly crippled one treeskin where he then switched to stabbing with his great sword. Iratus covered Resonantia's retreat while Clamor filled back in. The two dealt with the treeskins crawling in from the stairs while Clamor blocked as much as he could from the rushing treeskins.

Clamor would take more wounds as treeskins dug their hands into him, but by this time Iratus and Resonantia would have killed the rest of the remaining treeskins and were able to help Clamor. Once the treeskins were dead, Clamor started to take off his shirt to apply some makeshift bandages while yelling at the others to continue forward.

On the streets, the treeskins were active and hunting for prey, though with so many treeskins thrashing and scouring, they only came into conflict with each other. Iratus and Resonantia moved over to another building to search for these new people. The pair moved forward until they got to an open area littered with ruins.

They saw three individuals wearing strange armor, almost like the hyena's armor but more like full body armor. They had guns and metal clubs, with the guns similar to the advanced firearms Iratus was wielding right now but even more streamlined and having an even more advanced look about them. It was hard to tell what species they could be except for one, which had a clear outline of a wolf.

Iratus and Resonantia got behind cover to examine the situation. The three individuals used melee combat to defeat a number of treeskins, but when a massive treeskin came into view, they drew their firearms.

This large treeskin was very strange; it was like a taur creature or something similar, with the lower half being like a spider body with four legs. It had four arms, with two being long stabbing weapons and the other two being normal-like limbs. It had a long whiptail with some sort of stinger at the end of it. The face was even sharper than normal treeskins, to the point that it looked like it was a face plate, and unlike other treeskins, it has eyes burrowed into its head. Its form, like nearly all treeskins, was feminine, but unlike a normal treeskin with smooth bark, this one's skin was a mangled mess of twisted wood. It was like a number of trees wrapped around and fused together, and this creature was probably nine feet tall.

The monsterous treeskin signaled with its arm, and a dozen running treeskins came at the people from the side. The individuals retreated backward, firing at the advancing treeskins. The monstrous treeskin rapidly looked over to Iratus and Resonantia and pointed at them, which caused a number of treeskins to charge at their location.

---

Chapter 118

Iratus and Resonantia ran back, running into Clamor and pulling him with them.

Clamor, "What happened?"

Resonantia, "Armored figures fighting treeskins, a monster treeskins that was commanding them like a leader; we are running."

Clamor, "I've never heard of such a treeskin. Then again, they can evolve into a number of forms."

The group managed to get to the gate and left the town. They ran into the jungle and headed to the river, where they stopped to catch their breath. They could hear treeskins moving through the brush, and so the party headed up the river to get back home.

On the way home, Iratus explained everything that they saw.

Clamor, "That description fits what the Invaders wear. If they've expanded their presence, then we might have to travel north for our needs."

Resonantia, "And into ebony-infested lands."

Iratus, "Wait, do you think the Invaders survived the treeskins? If not, we could loot their corpses. Er, sorry if that sounded disrespectful to the dead."

Clamor, "Let's wait a day in case they are still alive."

Resonantia, "Maybe if we helped them, they would consider us friendly enough?"

Clamor, "I don't believe Invaders even have empathy. We avoid them, and that's that."

Once they arrived at their tower, they debriefed the others and went back to their normal activities. Iratus and a few others started to really get into carving wooden figures, though they never came out pretty. Iratus used some of the paper to write some numbers and stats for the wargame and bound them together to make a small book.

Soon the day came to an end, and before the party could head out for the new town, a storm rolled in. It was a horrendous storm that was so fierce that most people, including Iratus, had their animal instincts on high alert. Iratus himself felt annoyed that his body kept screaming danger because of the storm.

Once the storm was over, Iratus walked out to see branches ripped off of trees, and he even spotted one tree toppled over, ripped from the ground.

The group decided to wait one more day before exploring any locations.

The twenty-third day came, and as everyone finished their breakfast, Aestus grabbed everyone's attention. She was looking out a window, and a figure was standing in the trees.

When Iratus looked, it was a monster called gray mask. This one had a royal blue cloak with the signature grainy gray mask.

Clamor, "Well, this is bad. I guess they finally took notice."

Iratus, "Should we kill it?"

Ignis, "You can try."

The gray mask slowly retreated back into the trees until it was gone.

Ignis, "We should prepare for a small army to assault our tower."

Iratus, "On it."

---

Chapter 119

Clamor led the construction project to further fortify the tower. There had to be at least one person on the wood axe the whole time in order to clear more trees and remove cover for anyone near the tower. Wooden stakes, big and small, would be placed in the ground, though this was another project that would take a lot of time to finish. Debris and other flammables were set around certain points in the tower, and tripwires were placed in key locations, ready to be set up when and if an assault happened.

They spent the entire day on these projects, but they'll clearly need more time. The next day, they continued their work, though another storm came in that was almost just as bad. More work would eventually see the day come to an end rapidly, and when the twenty-fifth day came, everyone got ready to work again, but this time everyone was a bit too tired.

Victoria, "Are we sure an army of these gray masks are coming in force? I have not seen any on my hunts."

Ignis, "Most certainly, we will see them come in force. Any sufficiently large group of people will see these monsters come to disband them."

Iratus, "Despite all the work we have done, it still looks like we have only begun, and I am really tired today."

Aestus, "I vote for a soft day today."

Clamor, "Ah, such wasted youth."

Victoria, "Ack. I think I'll search for some food for us."

Iratus, "We never did see if any of those Invaders died. We could search there."

Resonantia, "I'll come too."

Clamor jokingly, "You'll need adult supervision, so I will also join."

Ignis unenthusiastically , "Sure, leave the hard labor to us."

Iratus, "I think we will be taking it easy for today. Just relax."

With that, the party headed out, with Iratus once again taking the firearms. They traveled south along the river and then went towards the paved road.

Clamor, "So what are we going to do about, uh, whatever the name of the town is?"

Iratus, "Last Mistake. Some signs reference this, and I think it is the name of the town."

Victoria, "Does the name or place seem familiar?"

Iratus, "I can't say I've ever heard of it."

At Last Mistake, the group circled around to inspect the area. They found a great number of bullet casings and dead treeskins, but no people corpses or twisted treeskin trees.

With nothing else to do, the group grabbed some fruits and headed back. They got close to the tower before they heard gunshots. Each person got down into cover and kept an ear out. There were a few more gunshots, but no bullets came to the party. They kept their senses out until Iratus risked a peek. In the distance, three figures wearing strange full-body armor and advanced-looking firearms were walking away. These were the people who belonged to the group known as the Invaders.

Iratus, "I don't think they saw us."

Resonantia, "Or don't care."

Victoria, "So that's an Invader. Why are they called Invaders again?"

Clamor, "I only know that they are treasure hunters. By the name of them, I suspect they either invade areas or are foreign to the Nexus Prime in a different way from everyone else."

Iratus walked up to where the Invaders were in combat, with the others following. In a clear area in the woodlands, dead gray masks lay around the area, or rather, their clothing and items, as their bodies were gone, but their cloaks were that deep royal blue color.

Iratus, "God, what are these things?"

Resonantia, "The other train folk called them figments of imagination, leftovers from a blackest day."

Victoria, "Forget that; they have items on them."

However, after checking a few bags, it appeared that these beings had already been looted. Victoria was only able to gather the various rough-type tools that were left.

Victoria, "I'm not surprised everything they had was taken."

---

Chapter 120

Iratus, "Hey, if the Invaders are fighting monsters, then maybe we are all on the same team?"

Clamor, "Or, monsters happen to be in their way as monsters hunt down people or inhabit once populated areas."

Iratus, "We've got treasure; maybe we could trade some of it."

Resonantia, "I feel as though we had a conversation like this."

 Clamor, "We talk about Invaders enough that we might have. Look, if you want to risk your life, have at it. I'd like to join you. But more of us being with you just means more of us will die."

Iratus, "Understandable. Let's follow these guys and see if we can't get into an advantageous position to talk."

Victoria, "I'm going to go back and inform the others what you are all doing so they don't get worried when you don't return right away."

Resonantia nodded her head and then said, "I'll take this risk with you."

Clamor, "Darn kids. I'd better come too. Worse comes to worse; they appear to want my bunny booty for some odd reason."

And so the party of Iratus, Resonantia, and Clamor steadily followed the Invader group, and though they stayed really far back, Clamor led the others towards the hideout tower building where he thought the Invaders would gather.

The group traveled past the campsite and continued east until a small tower structure came into view. It was only a small tower as the tower was broken, with half of the structure being debris around it, creating a half wall around the tower.

The tower structure was in a wide clearing, though a lack of maintenance has allowed nature to make a fair comeback. Clamor and Resonantia signaled to Iratus and started to walk around, and Iratus himself looked out to watch the Invaders. The group he followed met up with a group of two, and they appeared to be in discussion. After some time, they would pull out a lot of bags that appeared to be full of items.

Then an opening appeared. Two Invaders went east, carrying most of the bags, while another two went back inside the tower. Iratus moved from cover to cover to get closer to the one individual left standing out in front of the tower. Once Iratus got within good talking range, he waited to see what his allies were doing and saw them move into good cover, ready to cover Iratus's retreat, in theory. The invader's failure to pay attention and keep an eye out allowed all of this to happen, and now Iratus was ready to make contact.

Iratus, "Hello, excuse me?"

There was a pause for a moment before the Invader turned around and fired at Iratus when he was seen. Iratus covered his ears and dived into thick brush while the tree he was behind got partially blown away.

After there was silence, Iratus got back up and looked out again.

Invader 1, "A ghost is outside of the tower...no, I have this covered."

Iratus's ears twitched at the sound of that. He looked to the side to see his allies stealthily sneak behind the foe. Iratus placed the ear muffler on and stepped back out, rifle at the ready.

Iratus, "We can either talk or I can gun you down!"

Invader 1, "Have at it." As the person raised their gun.

Iratus fired his semi-automatic rifle at the invader, and some shots actually made contact. The Invader almost fell over, and a moan of pain could be heard, but then he stood back up.

Invader 1, "My turn."

The being raised their gun but stopped and turned around as Iratus's other two friends ran into the foe, tackling him to the ground.

Iratus removed the ear muffler and ran to help his allies. Resonantia held the gun down with her weight while Clamor had the person in a chokehold. Once Iratus ran up, he started to properly disarm the Invader until they removed all weapons from the person. They threw the being to the ground and waited for him to stand back up. He tapped his wrist and spoke.

Invader 1, "I stand corrected; get out here and start shooting." His voice was clearly male.

Resonantia, "Is he talking to the others? How?"

Iratus, "Hey, we just want to talk. If you don't want to, then we can peacefully walk away. You are disarmed because you shot at someone who did nothing to you."

Invader 1, "For the love of silver, shut up and die again, ghost."

Iratus, "Ghost, why do you call us that?"

Clamor, "If he contacted his allies, we need to start running."

Resonantia, "We have a hostage."

Clamor, "We have no reason to believe that they'd care. Let's go."

The party backed up until Iratus said,

Iratus, "Hold up, put your ear muffles on."

As the group deafened themselves, Resonantia spoke up.

Resonantia, "Why are we doing this?"

Invader 1, "Because he is a child of wrath. His kind are always angry."

Irauts grabbed the more advanced firearm.

Iratus, "You could have just said that you were not taking questions or told us to leave. I can't fathom your rudeness, and therefore,

Iratus shot the man's leg, which caused him to drop. The weapon felt the same as the ones he currently had, but it clearly had a bit more power as this time the armor was penetrated.

After that, everyone took off their muffs and ran as fast as they could. They headed to the dirt road first, and once they ran into the open road, they heard a voice from far away.

Invader 2, "Ghosts! Come back, please. I am willing to negotiate."

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EPISDOE 12: END

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Episode 12 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: Blonde Fur, White Gambeson (moderately damaged, leather patchwork), leather gloves, tactical vest, tailorcraft backpack
Weapons: Long Sword, Knife
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones, 20 fine silver coins,20 fine gold coins

Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, several leather items, a lot of animal bones, some animal hide, 3 glass jar, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, trowel, woodcutting axe, a lot of wooden spears,  a bunch of small wooden figures, wooden dice, some of sheets, metal scrap, lots of rusted metal, several small fish nets, short sword, box of unknown ammo, some medical supplies, semi-automatic rifle and ammo, a strange device (Gameboy-like device), lots of wooden planks and boards, wood glue, sandpaper, lots of rusted weapons, many armor pieces, compass, sextant, some bedrolls, a tent, lots of rope, a large barrel, some ink, 3 papyrus paper, 5 hide paper (parchments)

Treasure: 40 oval copper coins, 44 ancient metal coins, 40 fine silver coins, 44 fine gold coins, 23 fine copper coins, a tarnished silver brooch, a small ornamental figurine, a handful of sparkling glass beads, a small wooden trinket box, a collection of delicate, hand-painted porcelain charms, a few antfolk tapestries, some antfolk art, 

Home Base, Tower: Large Storage Area (many crates and clay pots), Basic Butchering Area (few tools, smoking rack), Basic Workshop Area (some tools, woodcarving tools), Kitchen Area (many tools, many cutlery items, pots&pans), Outside Makeshift Tannery, Underground Storage Area, Garden Area, Library, Armory, Infirmary room (surgery tools)

Books: 3x woodworking books, weathered leather-bound journal, war game booklet

Wounds: Left Leg bitten (partially healed), Face (multiple severe injuries, some healing)

Year 0, Day 25

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(Extra Stories)

Extra Story 1
The tower Iratus and the others lived in stood in a small, beautiful clearing in a forest, a location unknown compared to where it is now. The tower was new and beautiful, and a small group of armored wolves entered and started to make the place feel like home.

Days later
Regular patrols ran nearby, and in the command center on the fourth floor, a handful of wolves looked over a map of a large area. Blocks in different shapes that represented different things were scattered about the map.

Years later
A male fox in expensive robes stood across the table from a female wolf wearing a formal military outfit.

The Fox diplomat tried to reason with the wolf commander, only to be laughed at. Luckily, the conversation would end with both shaking hands and positive attitudes.

Years later
The wolf commander is no longer in her military uniform and is instead wearing some casual clothing. She was pregnant and looking over the tower. The fox diplomat came by in a carriage and nuzzled the wolf commander, and the two of them rode off into the horizon.

Decades later
Cracks lined the tower as it had some wear after years of service. A wounded patrol of wolffolk and foxfolk came into the tower as other service crews rushed in to help the critically injured.

Centuries later
Cannon fire rang out as the messengers departed from the tower, which now had a hole within it from a cannon shot. The wilderness around the tower had been scorched, and trees had been knocked down, with some embers dying on the now grassless ground.

A Century later
The tower was repaired and was now a tourist attraction as visitors walked around and took pictures. Most people around were wolves, but many other canid folk were also around. A coyotefolk posed for a picture as a foxfolk that looked nearly identical to him took the picture.

Years later
A protest had formed outside the tower, and a riot squad was deployed and stood in defense of the tower. The crowd was mostly non-wolffolk and carried signs like demilitarize now, police are the problem, and end wolf tyranny.

The protest turned violent as the protesters hurled projectiles at the riot police, who did their best to not get hurt and resist getting violent themselves.

Years later
The tower was broken and desecrated. A group of wolffolk ran up to the tower and quickly moved in. They were greeted by several armored civilians who welcomed them and led them upstairs, and where most folk here were also wolves, the leader here seemed to be a common dogfolk, though heavily scared to the point that without the grit and scars, she would have been quite the beautiful figure. One of the outsiders handed a message to the dogfolk woman, who read the message and then nodded to the messenger.

Years later
The tower was now only ruins; nothing but debris littered the area, and sirens could be heard from far away. An old wolffolk male walked up to the tower. He sighed as he looked at his phone and opened a picture of the tower on better days. Gunshots rang out in the distance, which made the wolffolk hurry on their way.

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Extra Story 2
(27 days ago) A computer screen is shown in complete darkness. The words Model 335-B #1, with the tower Iratus would come to inhabit, were in the center of a map, but the map didn't line up for the current area. Then the map changed to Model 335-B #2, and then it changed again to Model 335-B #3. This map lined up perfectly for the area Iratus and the others lived in. Then a message appeared: Model 335-B #3 has been accepted.

With some browsing, pictures of ten different people would appear on the screen. One of the pictures was of Iratus Lionheart.

Voice 1, "Ten? That's too abnormal. You'll be caught for sure."

Voice 2, "Even if they took this facility, what would they do with a direct connection to the black hole?"

Voice 1, "The engine here could be abused; imagine the others summoning countless groups to Nexus Prime."

Voice 2, "That doesn't sound like anything would change."

The computer brought up a picture of an actual Japanese castle sprawling out over a vast area. The castle was drained of color as if stained by black oil, and the same could be said for the old city around it.

Voice 2, "Everyone is fighting every problem at once, but I say start with one. Grow stability and grow strength."

Voice 1, "The real problem is that plans never work out, and I assume you know yours won't go the way you expect them to."

The picture of the ten individuals popped up again.

Voice 2, "I just need one of them to survive. I'll figure out the rest later."

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