Chapter 79: ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

The engines of snowmobiles roared with life amidst the frozen and decaying ruins of a world that now only lived on in memory.

These were not the modified, high performance snow mobiles used by Elysium’s peltasts. They weren’t given extended fuel tanks, engine performance upgrades, or enhanced mufflers to conceal their location.

Nor were they painted white or in snow camouflage patterns. They were loud, obnoxious, and brightly painted for sport. Only now the blue, green, red, and yellow stripes served as intimidation rather than individual identification.

When one saw these machines rolling through the snow dunes of the new world, they knew that violence was sure to follow.

However, it was the dead of night, and the temperature had dropped to its lowest level. Few had the means to survive under such conditions. As one needed arctic rated clothing.

The raiders didn’t plan to be out for long. It is why they pushed their engines to the limit as they sped through the snow without regard to being noticed.

The captain led the pack as they pressed forward through the route Marcus and his gang had taken earlier in the day. The first hour of their hunt had been fruitless. But finally, as they passed through the ruins of an old neighborhood that lie between the foundry and one of the tributary settlements they found it….

The scene was gruesome…. Body parts lay scattered and buried beneath a fresh layer of frost, snow, and ice. The snow was uneven, a crater formed from an explosive blast. Which was confirmed by the raiders as they saw shrapnel, glass, and debris scattered in the midst.

However…. There were no signs of bullet casings laying scattered about, causing one of the men to speak up as he approached their captain.

“Boss, this looks like Marcus and his men either drove straight into an IED, or were the victims of a gas leak that detonated right beneath their trail.”

It was almost impossible to tell which was true…. The snow acted as a natural cleaner, hiding any signs of violence or disaster that may have occurred.

However, the notion that this was sheer bad luck was killed instantly as a panicked voice cried out in the distance.

“Holy fuck! Fucking savages! Boss! You’re going to want to take a look at this!”

The captain rushed over with his rifle in hand to where the voice had cried out from, he expected form of hostile contact.

However, when he arrived, he stood speechless.

Marcus’ head was mounted to a large ice spike buried in front of a ruined section of wall. Behind it were the words “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” painted with his blood.

One of the men performed a religious gesture, while another gagged at the sight of the sheer brutality.

The captain felt chills down his spine as his second in command dared himself to speak.

“Boss, I don’t recognize some of those characters, what does it mean?”

The boss finally managed to close his mouth that was agape, muttering beneath his breath before outright shouting in panic.

“We need to go…. Now!”

The captain could barely keep his nerves together as he and his men rushed back to their snowmobiles and drove off back to the foundry to report what they had just witnessed to Aidan.

All the while they hadn’t the slightest idea that the entire scene had been witnessed by a drone in the sky, loitering in the storm and watching their every move.

Zach returned the drone to his hands and flipped up his FPV goggles before stashing the device back in his pack.

He looked over at his peltasts and nodded.

“They have taken the bait… More will come… And their fates will be the same. For now, let’s head back to Elysium and resupply.”

Nobody voiced their discontent with Zach’s orders. They quickly followed him back to their own snowmobiles and covertly extracted through the night.

—

The captain arrived back at the foundry and immediately forced his way to Aidan’s quarters. Which had been made out of Brooke’s former office. The man pounded his hand on the door frantically and frequently until it finally opened.

Aidan stared sternly at the man, he was about to raise his voice when the Captain whispered beneath his breath.

“Boss man… We’ve got serious problems… This can’t wait until morning.”

Aidan quickly realized that something worse than he could have ever imagined happened to Marcus and his crew. He quickly looked back at his room and towards the slaves , shouting at them as he did so.

“All of you, out now… Go warm yourselves in the foundry. Come back in an hour, and not a second alter.”

The women wrapped themselves in whatever clothes they could find before scurrying out the door like a bunch of frightened rats.

Only after they were all gone did Aidan invite the captain inside, he cracked open a bottle of beer he had hidden in his private stash and handed it to the man. Before opening one himself.

“Alright, drink that, it’ll calm your nerves, and tell me exactly what you saw.”

The man didn’t sip slowly, he chugged the entire bottle in one go, wiping the suds from his mouth before bluntly and blatantly saying what he saw.

“Marcus is dead.. And his men? There’s nothing left of them to report on. I saw him, sir… I saw what they did to him… They mounted his head on an ice spike, and painted something on the wall, something I had never seen before.”

Aidan spat on the ground and shook his head, cursing beneath his breath.

“Fucking savages… What kind of sadistic crap is that? Wait… you said they painted something on the wall with his blood, what was it? A message?”

The captain froze before seeing that there was a pen and paper sitting blank on the captain’s desk. He quickly went over and wrote the words that had seared themselves into his brain before handing the message off to Aidan.

Aidan looked at it for a few seconds in silence. His eyes widening in disbelief. His voice settled into a grim whisper beneath his breath.

“Molon Labe… It’s Greek for come take it… It’s a defiant challenge to our might. They are daring us to come and take what they have….”

The captain repeated the words beneath his breath, “Molon Labe…. Wait.. they? Who are they, sir?”

Aidan tore up the paper and tossed the scraps away. His eyes glaring not at the Captain, but into distant space.

“Whomever had the balls to mount Marcus’s head on a fucking spike!”

For the first time since the long winter began, Aidan felt fear take hold of his heart…

He realized in that moment they were no longer the hunters but the hunted.

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