Rodriguez looked up at the building in front of them. The Rochester-Fallon had been a major hotel, the destination of the richest tourists. The hotel thus offered a wide variety of amenities for the traveler who wanted to stay in but still do things, ranging from gyms on every floor to a kitchen with incredible food to olympic-sized pools; it even offered bodyguards who would be most appreciated during August's Biker Rally. The rally was not for the faint of heart, even when it had changed from being a biker's get-together almost 65 years ago to when motorcycles were replaced by the hoverbike, but the rally was still the meeting point of rebels, revelers, and those just seeking an escape from normal day-to-day life.

The hotel's guests were usually the richest of rebels, those who thought they defined rebellion even as they embraced their high-rolling lifestyle high on the back of the hog.

Today, the hotel was a but a shadow of its former glory, abandoned by humans but embraced by demons. The hotel made an ideal beachhead for their forces as it not only provided a great view of Fort Solace but was easily fortified. Better yet, each floor had its own power generator and there were solar cells throughout that helped power the building. The building was also within the blue zone; this meant that the demons not only had access to the raw mana they fed on but also technology. The gyms were ignored and the kitchens were permanently closed, but those pools were still fun.

As Rodriguez looked at the tower before him, it was hard to miss the demons flying around it. He watched a few soar around the higher floors in large, lazy circles around the building. They all ended up near the roof, which had been established as an aerie a few weeks after the cataclysm. When the portals to other worlds let in the demons, they had gone straight to the higher skyscrapers and the lower depths: Those below could prey at their leisure upon the runaways, prostitutes, and criminals while those above could ensure that no one could come to rescue anyone. Eventually, the city not occupied by the armed base was cleared of all human life, either by choice or otherwise. Now only demons lived in the city, with no sign of even the rats or pigeons.

He scanned the rest of the building. He was expecting a hive of activity, but only one floor beyond the aerie showed any signs of activity. The fiftieth floor was awash in signs of power use, from lights to security to maintenance protocols, but no other floor showed any signs of civilized life.

This caused a chill to go down the spine of Rodriguez. The use of electronics demonstrated an intelligence that he was not used to associating with demons; while the demons that he had encountered so far may have shown a certain taste for causing as much terror as possible, they had not shown much in the way of actual intelligence. The terror they had caused just helped make their hunting and feeding easier; it was hard to see it as part of an ongoing strategy. That they possessed some cunning was noted by a lot of the scavenger squads, but none had noted any real intelligence.

This changed all of that.

This meant that they were hiding their intelligence and, worse, that there was an intelligence guiding the demon invasion. Neither made him particularly happy. He would need to talk to Walker about the mythology of demon intelligence. He was pretty sure he wouldn't like what he would learn. However, that did make for an easy target. He and the squad with him needed to reconnoiter the area and make notes for Lieutenant Sawyer later. He put down the binocs and turned to face his squad. He signaled to move out and started walking towards the skyscraper in front of him. The three men followed him.

* * * * *

Once inside, it was obvious that the Rochester-Fallon had not fared well during the cataclysm, a fact that Walker was beginning to appreciate. The lobby had been ransacked, with tiles and carpet shredded and destroyed and the desk itself was smashed. The elevators were out, with doors broken down and cables hanging down the shafts. This forced them to use the stairs, which were a ramshackle mess, with handrails barely hanging onto the walls and trash filling the stairwells. He was not looking forward to the fifty-story climb. Walker sighed.

Rodriguez smiled as he recognized that sigh. “Cheer up, kid; we only need to go up to the fiftieth floor or so.” Walker glared at the sergeant behind his back but Rodriguez smiled knowing he was doing it. He had been a private himself, after all.

Douglas looked around the lobby. “I want to be on record as hating this idea.”

Samuels smirked at him. "So noted. And, yeah, we should have hooked up the lieutenant. But here we are.”

Rodriguez checked his ammunition. “I would have if we had an idea where to look. I have the dachshund waiting for her when she shows up. Meanwhile, we may as well as poke around the building while we have some time to waste, especially if what 'Morganna' said was true.” He tweaked the sights on his rifle. “Besides, I have a feeling we'll need that intel when the lieutenant hears about the uptick in activity.” He aimed at an object. “And no; we aren't checking out other locations. If there's an uptick in activity this building is part of that somehow.”

Douglas squinted at the area. “Fine. Just keep close then.” He bent his head to one side. “I really don't like the flow in this building.”

Samuels checked his rifle. “All the demon traffic messing things up?”

Douglas looked at him. “Yeah, as well as the rifts that keep forming and dissipating in the area. I can feel each one, and it makes my skin crawl. The sooner we're out of here the better.”

Walker synched up his tablet with his eyepiece. “Okay, Sergeant; I'm ready. We should have a backup video feed.”

“Good. Douglas, let us know if anything pops up on your scans.”

“Roger, sergeant.”

“Then let's get going, gentlemen; we have a climb ahead of us.”

The group headed up the stairs. It may have been a boring climb, but the group stayed tense. They knew this was the heart of enemy territory and they had no idea what defenses the tower still had active or which demons they would encounter. No one said a word, even breathing seemed to be put on hold.

They encountered a few minor demons, but they seemed to be drawn to the group more out of curiosity than as part of any patrol. Before firing the first time Douglas motioned for the other to hold a moment; he barely whispered a word and made a quick motion, then nodded. Rodriguez shrugged, then fired. His rifle flared and the target exploded into goo, but there was no report. Douglas smiled as everyone else's eyebrows raised in supply; Rodriguez gave him a thumbs up. The minor spell helped them to quietly sneak up the stairwell. “I also have an invisibility spell, but it's very short-term.”

Rodriguez nodded. “So it's good in an emergency but not standard use. Got it.”

Fortunately, there were no cameras in the stairwell or they would have had to scrub the mission. It was still touch-and-go, and the going was slow thanks to the demons looking them over. They eventually reached the forty-ninth floor.

Rodriguez motioned for everyone to be quiet and then opened up a compartment in his cybernetic arm. He pulled out a small drone, just larger than a fly, and then tossed it. It took flight and then disappeared up the remaining flights of stairs. Rodriguez concentrated on the long, torturous minutes required for the drone to cover the distance. His eyes flew open and he motioned to Douglas: “Can you teleport us out of here? Something huge is coming.”

“Sure.” Douglas circled the group and his hand opened quickly. Douglas nodded and grabbed everyone; a blue flash surrounded them and then faded. A mere handful of seconds later a huge serpentine form slithered past their former location.

Well outside the building, within sight of Fort Solace, a blue flash happened, leaving behind the four men.

Samuels immediately went to his knees and then lurched forward, emptying his stomach on the ground in front of him. Walker immediately radioed in their position and status, hoping to react faster than the defenses of the base. Douglas took a moment to relax.

Rodriguez nodded to Douglas. “Thanks for the rescue. One more second and we would have been lunch of the biggest snake either of us has ever seen. That thing was bigger than a tank and I only caught a blur of it.”

Douglas returned the nod. “No problem then.”

Rodriguez appraised their position and then turned to Walker. “Tell the base to have a flivver ready to go for us at the west entrance. We need to track down Lieutenant Sawyer and go back up.” He looked at Douglas. “There was something red and fresh and I don't think it was painted. It looks like they're about to do something and do it soon, and we're the best group to do something about it.”

Samuels smiled. You have no idea how wrong you are, sergeant.