Quoted By:
“Could you…”
“Nope. I mean…sorry. But nope. Look at it, Seraph. It looks dead now, but I REALLY don’t want to roll the dice on this one. We’re packed in here like sardines. Maybe if you absolutely think the…”
“That’s fine. Pull your team out of there when you’re ready.”
“Loud and clear. Withdrawing in five.”
After spending a few more minutes scavenging through the burnt hallway, Carter’s team emerges from the house’s front entrance. Two of their squad-mates greet them with sprayers filled to the brim with soapy neutralization solution.
The other pair retrieves a recoilless rifle from the IFV.
It was unclear if the bound figure that Carter found was hostile – or if was even alive - but the prospect of being ambushed from behind in a couple hours was one that nobody relished. It was a needless risk given the resources you had available.
The loader rams a shell into the breach. The gunner yells a black-blast warning. On Carter’s signal, the launcher team sends a fat round streaking into a second-story window. While the explosive impact of the shell is modest, the incendiary payload is anything but: rotting wood ignites as chunks of burning phosphorus splatter against the walls. Smoke billows from the remaining windows. The front of the house begins to collapse inwards.
Mapping the precise location of the bound figure onto the external structure of the building was difficult, but you get a rough idea as the burning progress. The smoke darkens as flames consumes the last few rooms of the second story, and you swear that you can almost see something squirming in the ruins.
You aren’t the only one. Popov’s gunner traverses his turret to lock onto a figure in the flames, only for it to rear up and collapse back into the burning ruins moment later.
The structure burns unnaturally quickly. In only fifteen minutes, the entire house is reduced to smoldering ashes. The growths – previously tumescent – lose their turgidity and recede back into the earth. More importantly, your communications device begins to pick up a carrier wave coming from the heart of the settlement. Still weak to make out a coherent transmission, but it was a welcome improvement over the horrific interference you had been dealing with for the past hour or so.
That was the good news. The bad news was that your impromptu bonfire may have attracted unwanted attention. A familiar sigil flares and knowledge enters into your mind. Knowledge that – while your esteemed patron may be able to hide your presence from prying eyes – this protection may not extend to a towering column of smoke visible for miles around.
[𒄊𒀕𒀫 remains unaware of your presence, but he may soon realize that something is amiss in his domain]
