The assault team slowed their advance as they reached the end of one of the roads, realising they were only a single field away from the perimeter line, and moved up to the hedgerow to peer through the dense roots – just in time to see some of the slower-moving infantry disappearing over the hedge at the far side of the field, apparently running for their lives. They headed down the lane, running parallel to the hedge, weapons ready in case they encountered anyone – but the infantry were long gone.
Aswon dived through a gap in the hedge to examine one of the foxholes, finding a ration pack, bivvy cover and a few random bits of equipment which he snagged and quickly shoved into his pack in the space previously occupied by the demolition charges.
"They bugged out fast," he remarked.
"Bush radio, I guess." Hunter grinned. "When the ones to the south got gassed, the ones next to 'em probably saw 'em twitching and doing the cockroach dance. So they probably bugged out, and that spread up the line. Downside of having everyone in sight of everyone else – you get to see when everyone else is abandoning their post!"
"I guess so. We'd better move on then – and take advantage of it."
"Absolutely. I estimate that there will be some kind of airborne response soon. When it is noticed the unit has gone off the air."
"I'm not sure, Marius. The officer in charge died – at least we think so. And the two underlings were confused by Tads – so they're not going to call in. And the command vehicles were flipped over anyway, and most of the people there were close enough to the artillery to see the gas explosions – they're probably still running. I don't think anyone will have called this in."
"Just listening in – you might not want to bank on that. I can see blue flashing lights at the edge of town – I think the Police have met some of the running soldiers. I can't see what they're doing or anything, but they're in contact."
"Well, it's going to be confusing, and difficult for the civilian police to get through to military command – but I agree, we should keep moving."
"What do you think they'll send?" Kai asked.
"Jets would get here soonest – by a long way. But there's also going to be resistance to sending out attack fighters to look at something on a policeman's say-so. They're almost certainly going to try contacting the unit first for a while, before they realise something is definitely up.
"Well, we really should get out of here before that happens then." Kai took a deep breath and then set off at a jog again, the rest of the team falling in alongside him.
"I am monitoring the police channels." Marius announced, fiddling with his wrist-com, which was connected to his rigger deck by a slender fibre-optic cable. "They are reporting a toxic spill to the south-east of town, but their efforts are entirely focussed on evacuating the civilians at this time. They have interviewed several soldiers and determined that this is not a hoax, and are mobilising all emergency services to help move the public to the north and west." He spoke slowly, stringing out the words between breaths as they ran, making sure he didn't wind himself.
"Police channels unencrypted, I take it?" Aswon got a nod from Marius. "Well, the longer they take to get organised, the better for us." They were approaching the base of the scree slope, and the thousand metre climb loomed over them, appearing to rise up at an impossible angle before them. Marius slid to a halt suddenly, his face distorting as his eyebrows knitted together.
"We have an issue. They have just raised a serious alarm – there is no response to calls at all to the airport. No security staff there are responding, and neither is the air-traffic control tower, or any of the emergency services. The voices on the radio are in a near panic now, trying multiple contacts. No response by radio, telephone or matrix access. Now they are escalating the matter to the national level, calling in a major catastrophe at the airport."
"Ahh frak. That's going to go up the chain of command really quickly – international airports always have contingency plans for things like terrorist threats, and this is probably close enough that it's going to be in a playbook somewhere. We need to move. Quickly." Aswon started to head up the slope, moving quickly up the scree. Under his clothes the gecko tattoo glowed on the astral as the powers imbued into it gave him secure purchase on the loose soil and rocks. Once he was ahead of the group, he pulled out a length of climbing rope from the side pocket of his bag and threw it backwards down the group, letting everyone grab a hold as they started to climb.
"Climb quickly, as quick as you can." Tads called down to them. "The blight is spreading over the valley floor. Around the artillery… well, I don't want to look there. It's black, and twisted – but that's spreading south, expanding outwards. I don't know what the stuff is, but it's horrible…" They could hear the distress in her voice as she watched astral space buck and twist under the assault, and even Hunter refrained from a sarcastic comment.
Down in the valley, the gas cloud continued to spread and disperse upon the wind, being driven further south and expanding to reach across the valley floor. The potent chemicals, derived from a pre-crash defoliant once called 'Agent Orange' had been carefully examined and tested in a hidden government laboratory and 'enhanced' for the war against the Kurds. 2,4-DiChloroPhenoyAcetic Acid was mixed with 2,4,5-TriChloroPhenoxyAcetic acid, into a base of Dioxin laced with Dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate. The resulting mixture was a horrific combination of nerve agent more potent than Sarin mixed with a defoliant that stripped the landscape of plant life, leeching down into the roots and killing trees, grasses, bushes and crops alike with equal effectiveness. The dioxin leeched into the soil and was absorbed into the skin, accumulating in any fatty tissues or remaining organic matter, quickly reaching levels that would cause health issues in those living, and defects in any future generations. It was designed to be deployed at height from the exploding shells, radar fused to burst open above the Kurdish farms and forests, striking at both the people and the land.
Nobody had ever expected to see nearly five hundred shells detonate in close proximity, sending a cloud of partially combusted agents out in an uncontrolled spill. No doubt some scientist in the Turkish military had raised their concerns, but equally, it was no doubt that they had been silenced – one way or another. Now the Turkish people would pay for their hubris, as the land to the south of the artillery was leeched of life. Mammals were first sent into respiratory distress from the exposure to the Tabun nerve agent, preventing them from fleeing – then killed as the agent went to work, leaving them curled up on the floor in strange positions as their muscles twitched and spasmed. Around them plants shrivelled and died, insects were overwhelmed by the chemical agents, and even the microscopic bacteria present in the soil were mutated and died out.
The airport became a mass grave, hundreds of passengers laying in the concourses and arrival halls, as the gas cloud washed over them. No plane had been landing or taking off, but several were lined up at the jetways, becoming tombs to the embarked passengers, metal cylinders of death. Ground crew across the airport fell at their posts, and the buildings became eerie tombs, full of the dead, while around them automated screens continued to play adverts, advise of security rules and advertise local services in a ghoulish display.
Fields and farms were devastated, the ground already barren-looking from the cold winter becoming truly so, as the enzymes and bacteria in the soil were twisted by the chemical agents. The drivers of the odd car or agricultural vehicle died at the controls, sending most of the vehicles crashing off the road into ditches, engines revving and continuing to belch exhaust into the air until they eventually ran out of fuel.
Tads didn't understand the process, but she understood the effect as the blight spread out further and further, and she felt helpless and appalled as the astral realm grew darker and darker as more and more life was snuffed out, the gas cloud an invisible scythe of death reaping without mercy. She swallowed, feeling sick, and averted her eyes, concentrating on looking down the slope to the team. Deliberately focussing on them, she stayed ready with a levitate spell, in case any of them slipped, and willed them to move faster, so that she and they could get away from this place.
"I'm worried about those tanks, you know. Their weapons will have some serious range, and could pick us off this hill easily!"
"I wouldn't worry about them, Hunter. For one, they'd have to know what had gone on, and to look for us, and to look for us here." Aswon checked the rest of the team strung out behind him, and continued to climb, pitching his voice over one shoulder towards the ork and anyone else that was listening. "Second, they have to spot us past the spirit concealment, and that's not going to be easy. And if they try to spot us with electronic systems or gun-sights, that will be even harder. And third – who's to say that the tanks are chemically sealed? They might all have been gassed by now."
"All modern tanks are generally equipped for NBC conflicts." Marius managed to gasp out.
"Sure, yeah – on paper. But this isn't exactly a first tier army is it?" Aswon's voice by contrast seemed to be barely affected by the climb. "The tanks might originally have been gas sealed, but if they haven't kept up maintenance, then who knows if it works? And did you see any of the infantry or artillery troops with a gas mask? Or any kind of chemical warfare suit? And if they didn't have one, would the tankers? No, I think we don't need to worry about the tanks. I'm more worried about something like a helicopter gunship strafing us with cannon and rockets…"
They continued to labour up the hill under Tads' watchful gaze, and by the top of the climb, Marius and Kai were coated in sweat and gasping for breath, while Aswon, Hunter and Shimazu were all glowing and breathing hard. Marius headed into the tilt-wing and gratefully sank into the pilot seat and jacked in, leaving behind the aches and pains of his meat body for the precision machinery of his artificial one. The others grabbed the cammo netting that had made up their hide and started to roll it up, when Aswon paused, his head tilting to one side.
"Jet engines, from the west – faint, but getting louder." They dropped to the ground and looked over the edge of the ridge and across the valley, their eyes spotting the black dot on the horizon that grew larger and larger, turning into a jet fighter that streaked in at low level just south of the town, and then banked sharply as it over-flew the artillery position, turning south in a tight bank towards the airport. The plane wobbled slightly, then flipped over onto its starboard side and slipped sideways, losing altitude quickly and then slamming into the ground at over six hundred knots, leaving a fiery trail of destruction through the fields and sending burning debris cartwheeling onwards for nearly half a kilometre.
"What the frak was that about?" Aswon mused.
"Conscript army… conscript airforce? Guess someone wasn't wearing their oxygen mask and got a lung full of gas. But that's definitely going to raise the alarm!" Hunter responded.
They watched for a moment as the jet wreckage continued to burn, but there was no sign of movement anywhere nearby, the gas cloud having already done its work. They resumed their work, bundling up the cammo netting and thermal blankets, and headed back to the narrow passage that led inside the dome of rock, and the tilt-wing.
"How are we getting out of here?" Aswon looked around the troop bay as they got ready for departure. "I mean flying – obviously. But are you going to have to remove the whole dome over us Tads? That's going to take a while and leave us exposed, isn't it?"
"It would. It depends on just how fancy Marius is feeling."
"Fancy? What do you mean?" They could hear the suspicion in his voice, even when it was reproduced over the speakers via his rigger jack.
"Well, what I was thinking was opening up a gap. Like a letterbox. Big enough to fit through, if Marius is up to some careful flying. And that way it's only a small amount of earth to shape, and to fill in behind us."
"But that will leave a huge artificial void behind us – that's going to look really out of place."
"Only if someone comes up here. And didn't Tads cover the top in rocks and chasms and stuff anyway? I mean sure, if some geologist comes up here and starts poking around it's going to be obvious this isn't a natural formation – but I can't see that happening in the near future. Especially not with what's going on down there." Hunter snorted. "Other than that, maybe some mountain goats will find it, but they're not going to tell on us."
"Hmm. I see your point. And by then the magical signature will have long faded, and it's not like we've left any forensic evidence around. Of course, the question is – just how fancy can you fly this, Marius?"
"After some of the landings we have pulled off – I feel confident that as long as the gap you create gives me space for the aircraft and half a metre clearance on all sides, we can manage. More would be better, of course…"
"Coming right up…" Tads manipulated the prisms and concentrated, the wall of their impromptu hanger melting away as the mana shaped the rocks under her command. A hole appeared in the eastern side of the space, twenty-seven metres long and seven metres high. Barely any daylight leaked in through the hole, the sun already setting far to the west, but the low-light sensors marked the edge of the hole clearly, and the radar and other sensors painted the outline and projected his course though it. Marius fed in power to the engines and they lifted off, holding in a perfect hover. With a deft twitch, the tilt-wing slid out of the gap like it was on rails, perfectly threading the needle and sliding out into the open space beyond the wall. Tads quickly flicked the viewpoint around and cast her spell again, closing the gap down and disguising the effects as best as she could as the tilt-wing slowly started to pick up speed, heading away to the east.
"I've got the co-ordinates of the rebel camp, by the way. Feeding that through to you now, Marius." Hunter shunted the data over, marking up the map with a number of possible routes to take through the mountains. "It's about a hundred kilometres, and well outside the zone that was being targeted by the artillery. Way off to the side of prevailing winds as well, so should be safe – at least from what's gone on today."
Marius checked the sensor footage of the mountain behind them, and when he could not see any sign of their hiding place or the gap he'd flown through, he fully rotated the engines and they shot forward, opening the distance between them and the valley of death.
Kai pulled out his commlink and hunted around for the number, then called Yez, wanting to advise him of their imminent arrival and give him a warning about what was going on.
"Mr. Yez? This is Kai. We're on our way to you now, we're about twenty minutes flight away. The situation should be resolved, but there are some other factors to advise you on."
"Well, at least you stopped them shelling us. What other factors?"
"Well, it got a bit messy. Very messy actually. If you have anyone near the front lines there, you should pull them back immediately. Stay well clear of the area."
"What do you mean? How messy? And how far back? What is going on?"
"Err. Look, we'll chat more once we get to you. But ermm…" Kai gave an impish little grin, then made a series of crackling and swooshing noises. "Err… breaking… up. In a tunnel. Speak….soon." He hit the disconnect button, then sat back in his seat, before he called forward to Marius. "We are only about twenty minutes away, right?"
"Yes we are." A map appeared on the displays in the back, the best that Hunter had been able to find for the area. "There is a large regional road, the D950, running through the area. Just to one side is a river or stream, identified as the Tuzla. The co-ordinates are just to the south of that watercourse, in this wooded area. There is a small village about half a kilometre away, but it is so small it either is not named or not important enough to appear on this map. Hopefully I can set us down in a clearing or on the edge of the trees though."
"Good, good. Ok, we'll explain to Yez what's gone on, and drop off all the medical supplies, and see what's going on, then make a call as to what to do from there, ok?" He saw nods from the rest of the team, then settled back to wait out the rest of the short flight.
They heard the pitch of the engines change and felt the craft swinging around from side to side as Marius manoeuvred near the landing site, and checked out the feed from the cameras, looking down into the darkness. The low-light enhancement helped a little, but mostly revealed a dark swathe of trees set against a dark landscape, glowing an eerie green with precious little detail. Marius was lining up on a small clearing, barely wide enough for their rotors but with plenty of room forward and backwards. As they landed the trees around them swayed and bent, bare branches vibrating in the airflow from the fast-moving rotors, despite the spirit's best efforts to conceal their presence.
"Can we stop the spirit please, Tads? I'd like these people to be able to see us ok." Tads nodded and called the spirit to her, thanking it for its service to them, and the aircraft shimmered into vision to anyone nearby as it flared for landing. As they dropped down further, the sensors could 'see' under the canopy of the trees, and started to pick out life-signs, appearing from underneath cammo netting and bushes, rock hides and shelters. They clutched a variety of weapons, ranging from sharp sticks and knives through to assault rifles and shotguns, along with a few machine guns that looked ancient. Here and there a tube that looked suspiciously like an old-fashioned rocket-propelled grenade launcher stuck out and aimed their way.
"The natives don't look friendly." Hunter remarked.
"Probably scared shitless at us decloaking on final approach with no warning." Aswon responded. "I mean, between Marius flying like a pro, the stealth built into the bird anyway, and the concealment of the spirit, we were probably as good as invisible and silent to them. Then we just…appear."
"I have a new individual on sensors, walking out of the trees. The hostiles near him appear to be shouldering weapons, though." Marius noted. He focussed a camera on the approaching man, zooming in and relaying the feed back to the troop bay.
"Ahh – that's Mr. Yez. Or it looks like him. Probably telling the men to stand down. Yeah look, the ones near him are relaxing and letting their weapons down onto their slings, or stuff like that. That's got to be him."
The tilt-wing touched down gently, and Marius chopped the power as soon as they were settled on the landing gear, watching the trees sway back upright and checking the clearance between his rotor edges and the vegetation – fortunately there was more than enough room. Kai waved for the others to wait, then slid open the door on the side of the tilt wing, waiting there for a moment silhouetted by the internal light and called out in English.
"Is Mr. Yez here? We have bought medical supplies and information for him!" Once he'd shouted his introduction, he jumped down to the ground and started to head over towards the treeline, making sure his hands stayed clear of the holstered taser on his right hip, but walking with quiet confidence. He could see people moving in the darkness, and was aware that a number of weapons were still aimed his way, but schooled his body to ignore them. A shape materialised out of the darkness, wearing mis-matched army fatigues and with a pistol holstered on his right hip too. "Ahh, Mr. Yez. Good to meet you."
"Stand down. This is the special forces team I told you about. They stopped the shelling…eventually." Yez called out loudly, his voice ranging up and down the clearing and through the trees. He spoke rapidly in Kurdish, but Hunter could hear him clearly through the sensors on the tilt-wing, and provided a translation to the team, making sure he emphasised the last word. In the back, Shimazu unclipped his safety harness and squirmed out of it, his mouth tightly closed and his face gathered together into a frown. He put one hand on the hilt of his sword, checking that the scabbard was hanging correctly and not fouled, then moved towards the open door without a word.
Mr. Yez continued to walk forwards, until he stood in front of Kai, barely an arms-length away.
"You were in a tunnel?" He said in strongly-accented English, his mouth contorted into a snarl. One hand shot up quickly, the hand clenched together tightly into a fist and he struck quickly, the punch landing square on Kai's nose, catching him entirely by surprise and sending him staggering back a pace or two. The punch stung, and Kai's eyes watered furiously as he blinked to try and regain his focus. A hand rose up automatically to gently probe at his face – it didn't seem broken, though he might get a bit of a black eye from it.
Shimazu picked up the pace, still walking but crossing the distance between them quickly. He swapped to Mandarin, then called out loudly.
"Don't unload the medical supplies yet! Let him know, that he has a choice. He can choose which hand he loses, and he gets the supplies – or we just leave." Kai blinked as he heard the ultimatum – as much from the tone of voice as from the content. Shimazu sounded angry – really angry, something that they'd not really seen before from the implacable bodyguard. Normally if there was anyone on the team that kept his emotions tightly under control, it was the inscrutable Japanese man.
"My friend here is very upset. He wants me to say to you that you need to choose – either to receive the medical supplies that we bought, but to choose a hand to lose. Or that we just turn around and leave. I would much rather not have this escalate to that. I don't want that to happen – I want us to be able to negotiate in good faith. Is that something we can do?" Kai gently probed at his nose, checking for a nosebleed, but also watching Yez carefully, concentrating on his body language and the tone of his own delivery to try and make his approach sound like the sensible, sane decision.
"You should not lie. You said you were in a tunnel – but you were flying. Do you think this is a game? You say my people are in danger – that we should pull back. But then you give no details and you lie to us. This is not a game. We are at war." Anger seethed in his voice, and he folded his arms defiantly in front of him, staring at Kai with unblinking eyes. " You are outsiders, and not sworn to us. But do not lie to us."
"Ahh, ok – I can see why you'd be annoyed. I was joking… maybe in poor taste. But look, we do have news. The artillery is defeated, but many of the shells exploded, and there was gas everywhere. It's spreading to the south, and if you have anyone near the border, you should pull them back, to make sure they're safe. And we do have medical supplies for you – lots of supplies to help your people. All loaded in the back of our aircraft. And they're yours if you want them."
"Of course we want them. People are dying."
"Which hand do you want to lose then." Shimazu stepped around the side of Kai, one hand resting on his sword and the other on his belt. "You've chosen the medical supplies, and the deal was quite clear. So pick. Which. Hand."
"Shimazu, go easy. It's ok."
"No, it's not. He's an ingrate. You told a stupid white lie, which didn't hurt anyone, but he decided to answer with violence. We did what he could not. We destroyed that threat to his country and his people. We risked our lives to assault their army, and we destroyed the opposition. He's a bag of shit, and he needs to be dealt with." Shimazu didn't bother with Mandarin this time, staying with English, clearly not caring what Yez thought of him.
"Shimazu – look, go steady, man. If we have a problem with him, we can always tell Aden that we can't work with this guy if we have anything in the future. But there's no need to fight him. We don't need to do anything hasty, not here and now."
Shimazu looked back over his shoulder towards the tilt-wing, seeing that Aswon had just jumped down out of the open doorway while he was speaking. His Purdey was in his arms, not aiming their way, but ready – it would take only a simple movement, a swing of the hips and shoulder for it to be bought to bear and facing their way to provide support. Behind him the large bulk of Hunter swung into view, his arms flexing as he heaved the massive Panther cannon clear of the door frame. Like Aswon, he wasn't aiming their way – but it would take no more than a split second to do so, and unlike Aswon, his smartlink would let him fire from the hip with deadly accuracy if needed.
"I don't want to do the equivalent of telling his mum or a teacher on him. I want him to learn a lesson." Shimazu's voice sounded clearly across the clearing, scarcely needing his throat-mike to convey his message to the rest of the team.
In the cockpit, Marius stared out of the window in amazement as Shimazu seemed to go off the rails with their contact, and his right hand rose, palm meeting his forehead at the bone-headed attitude Shimazu seemed to be showing. He over-rode the comms for a moment, making sure he wasn't transmitting and quietly muttered to himself.
"Maybe I should just take off and leave them all here…"
Out in the clearing, Kai raised his hands placatingly – but this time towards Shimazu.
"Look, can you just give us a moment, Shimazu?"
"Get your point over to him. Or I'll get my point over to him." Kai's eyes dropped automatically to the hand resting on the sword hilt, and he held his breath. When the bodyguard didn't move, he turned and gently touched Yez on the shoulder, trying to guide him away from Shimazu.
"Look, I'm sorry. We've been involved in combat, and a chase, and seen some fairly nasty things today. Everyone is a bit tense, ok? And I'm not trying to make fun of you, or your situation. We really don't mean any disrespect. But my team-member here is very angry. Very angry. I don't know why, and I need to find out. But if we devolve into an argument, he's going to cut you in half. Wait – wait." He raised his hands, speaking quickly, all levity gone from him. "I don't mean that as a threat – but he's faster than you can possibly imagine. It may be that your men in the trees would shoot us all dead in retaliation. But you'd still be dead before they realised what was going on. PLEASE. I want to avoid that…"
Kai paused for a second, trying to get through to Yez that his life hung in the balance.
"Look, I think he's just really offended because you punched me. And I deserved it, ok – I accept that. But I don't think he does. So, if you're open to it, let me slap you across the face – to restore my honour. He should back down then, and that will be the end of it. And we can stop this getting any more out of hand than it already is."
"No." Yez's voice was cold. His eyes flickered to Shimazu and gave him a contemptuous look, then he returned his gaze back to Kai. "We told you about the attack days ago. You were supposed to stop them. You were supposed to save us. Instead, our people got shelled. Farms wiped out. Women and children dead. Forests destroyed. You were supposed to stop that. Instead you come here with your lies and jokes, acting like nothing has happened." Kai wilted as he heard the stubborn defiance in the Kurd's voice, wondering just how and why this conversation had turned into a slow-motion train wreck.
"Alright – look. I said we'd destroy the artillery, and we have. I said we'd bring medical supplies, and we have. We'll offload them and leave them for you, but we'll leave. There's no reason for this to escalate any further." He glanced back at the tilt-wing, and then continued. "Team, drop the back ramp and start offloading the supplies. All the medical supplies and equipment, we're leaving them for Yez and his forces." He pitched his voice carefully, making sure they understood it was an order, not a question.
"Roger that, Kai. I tell you what though, Tads – I'm thinking you shouldn't be wasting your mana on these people anyway." He slung the Purdey over his shoulder and climbed back into the tilt-wing, squeezing past Hunter and his massive cannon, then heading for the back ramp to start the off-loading process."
"Healing our allies is not a waste of mana. At least, it's not in my opinion."
"I'm not sure these people ARE our allies. They're certainly not acting like it. They're not even acting as if they're grateful. I think I'm with Shimazu on this one, at least right now."
"I'm going to go and unload the supplies, and then we'll leave. Goodbye Mr. Yez." Kai stepped backwards twice, keeping eye contact with the Kurd, before turning and walking swiftly towards the rear of the tilt-wing and the descending ramp. He stumbled through as he heard Shimazu's voice behind him, the bodyguard having moved closer to Yez as he'd turned and left.
"So – which hand. What is it going to be?"
Yez raised a hand to his own radio and spoke in Kurdish over it, voice flat and uninflected.
"He just called out to his troops, warning them this was about to kick off. At least I think that's what he said." Aswon broadcast, as he quickly dropped the crate of medical supplies and grabbed at his rifle again. "I mean, I could be wrong, my Kurdish is… well, rusty. But I'm pretty sure that was right."
"Which hand? Are you joking or stupid?" Yez almost shouted, placing both hands on his hips and staring at Shimazu defiantly. The team heard a few metallic clatters from the tree-line as various weapons were re-cocked, and they steeled themselves for action. Tads ensured she was close to the door but out of sight, using the tilt-wing for protection against any incoming fire, while Hunter just moved into the centre of the doorway, confident that his armour would take a good few hits while he got his own fire off if it did drop into the pan. Aswon had a round loaded into his rifle and his eyes hunted for targets in the trees – he didn't worry about Yez at all – not with Shimazu in arms' reach, but he was determined that anyone holding any heavy weapons would be the first to go down when this bubbled into a firefight. Kai just stood with his mouth slightly open watching as the train-wreck slid towards the petrol station, apparently not quite disastrous enough yet…
"Which hand." Shimazu leaned forward slightly, his muscles tensing and adrenaline flowing through his body. He was already convinced that this was going to end in bloodshed and his reactions were heightened, watching every twitch and movement that Yez made with intense concentration. "Which hand are you going to sacrifice – or do we have to make it clear to your boss that you're too stupid and ignorant to deal with. That we have to remind your boss that we're more valuable to him than you are. You don't bite the hand that brings you gifts. Especially when those gifts are things that will save your people's lives. You don't get to look down on us. Assault us. Belittle us. So I ask you again, for the last time. Which hand. Or are you actually a coward, unwilling to pay the price personally?" The last was delivered with cold contempt, spitting the words out at him.
Yez snarled, fury erupting on his face as the carefully aimed barb landed in his psyche. His hand snatched at the pistol in the holster on his right hip, drawing it with practiced ease and raising it up to point directly at Shimazu, aiming at the spot directly between his eyes.
Time slowed. Whether magical or cyber-enhanced, everyone's reactions kicked into high gear, and the world turned to treacle as Yez started to move. Yez moved smoothly, his actions practiced and well-drilled. No doubt he'd learnt his skills in a very hard and brutal school, the Darwinian process that weeded out the weak in a brutal winnowing of combat that meant those that survived learnt and improved their skills as they fought for their lives. His draw was quick – for a human. But it couldn't compete with the magically-granted speed of a physical adept, especially not one whose focus was upon the frantic clash of arms in melee.
The sword was drawn and flashed through the air with blinding speed – moving so quickly it was barely visible in the murky evening light. The razor-sharp sword, driven by the muscles and enhanced strength of its wielder slashed down in an arc, and sparks flew up into the sky as metal met metal. The exquisitely crafted ancient blade, fortified by Tads' magical rituals met the mass produced steel of the heavy pistol, carving through it as if were butter. An image of the blade was burned into Yez's vision, the water-marked blade glinting in the medieval flashing of the sparks flying as the sword sliced through the pistol a few millimetres in front of his finger, even as it started to squeeze the trigger. The entire front section of the pistol was cut off cleanly, leaving a small stub in his hands while the slide, barrel and receiver spun off into the night. Before his brain could even being to process what was going on, the sword was whipped backwards, the point neatly locating the top of the scabbard and a 'schzing' sounding around the clearing as it slid home.
Yez stood, his arm extended with the savaged remains of his pistol held in a shaking hand, starting at Shimazu who stood in front of him, looking for all the world as if he hadn't moved. The action had been so fast, so brutally sudden that his brain refused to accept what had just happened. But, the remains of the pistol in his hand demanded that he accept that it HAD happened.
"I offer you this one mercy. I won't offer another one." Shimazu's voice was almost a whisper. He stared at Yez for a moment, then spat at his boots, a gobbet of phlegm landing on the muddy and battered combat boots. He paused for a heartbeat, looking at Yez eye to eye, challenging him to say or do anything, then turned on his heel and stalked towards the tilt wing, leaving Yez standing alone in the clearing, arm still outstretched holding the ruined pistol in his hand.
"Stand down. Now." Yez had raised his other hand to the radio and sent a short and sharp message to his troops, his eyes still staring at the right hand and the remains of his weapon. "Stand DOWN."
Aswon snorted in approval, then slung his rifle again, and resumed the offloading, shoving Hunter as he went past.
"Come on, you. They're not going to kick off now. I think Shimazu's put the fear of God into him. So quit posing with your big gun and give us a hand." Hunter grumbled but let the cannon fall onto the sling and started to heave crates out of the back of the tilt-wing, uncaring as to anything that got crushed or broken. Two minutes later they'd off-loaded everything, and they sealed the ramp and side door, while Marius restarted the engines, then lifted them off into the sky, the spirit wrapping its protective embrace around them once more. Marius plotted a course in a gentle arc back to the ranch – it lay almost due east of them, but taking a direct course would also take them uncomfortably close to Mount Arrarat, and that was supposed to be where Aden made his lair – and Marius wanted none of that. Heading a few degrees north now would see them missing the mountain by a good fifty kilometres, and was well worth the extra few minutes and litres of fuel in his book. He didn't bother telling anyone or asking if that was ok – after all, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. The only one that might realise was Hunter, and he was pretty sure he would agree with him anyway.
After a few minutes of sullen silence in the back, Aswon keyed up his comms.
"Shimazu – are you ok?" He didn't ask anything else, keeping the question short and entirely focussed on his concern for his team-mate, not on his actions.
"We go everywhere, we help people. Wherever we go, we fix things. We do things. We bring things for people to make their lives better, or we solve their problems. We take care of things for people. And do they express their gratitude? No. Well, I've had enough. I'm tired for being taken for granted." It felt like a cork coming out of the bottle, as the tirade spilled out. Whatever Shimazu was feeling had been eating away at him for some time it seemed, and his voice was laced with emotion.
Tads, Kai and Aswon thought back to the various missions they'd carried out, or jobs to be done, and as they thought back, they could remember various people being grateful to them, offering them rewards or payment, favours or blessings – but clearly Shimazu didn't feel that this was enough. Each of them wondered for a moment if they should remind Shimazu about some of the things they'd received or had said to them, but as the bodyguard continued to rant, they each individually decided that now was not the time. Clearly he needed to get this off his chest, and it was probably better to let him finish, and quietly just nod and be supportive than to get into an argument with him. Especially here and now, when it was all still fresh. Maybe after a good nights' sleep, around the breakfast table at the ranch would be a better place to have that discussion…
"That's very true, Shimazu." Aswon hesitated for a moment. "But next time someone punches Kai in the nose, maybe just slide in front and say something like 'you can try that again with me if you want' instead of asking which hand to cut off. I'm not saying you're wrong – but there was an entire camp full of angry Kurds there, armed with all kinds of crap. We'd have dealt with it, but it wouldn't have been a fun time, I'm sure."
"I think he was mostly pissed about the four days, not the being in the tunnel thing. I don't think he understood what we'd been doing in that time."
"Maybe. He shouldn't have been such a judgemental fether though. Anyway – he's dealt with. Shimazu – do you want a cup of tea?" Aswon saw the head nodding, and unstrapped from his seat and headed to the tiny little area behind the cockpit, grabbing one of the plastic mugs from the container attached to the hull and pouring some water in, then dropping in the heating element to boil it up while he dug out some teabags.
"I think it was a horrible miscommunication. I mean, we couldn't have done it earlier – the artillery didn't arrive until today. Unless he expected us to have worked out where it was coming from, and struck at their base before they even left? But how could we have done that?" Tads asked in a plaintive voice.
"I think he was out of his gourd, personally – and Shimazu was right to push back. Maybe not to the point of wanting to cut off bits of him, but there's no way we could have planned and executed an operation in that short of a time, especially if we were trying to strike at their base. He's mental if he thinks that was viable. Here's your tea, Shimazu…" Aswon passed over the steaming cup and settled back into his seat, watching as the bodyguard sipped at the hot and sweet liquid appreciatively.
"Tads – your memory altering spell. Could it fix that, if we went back?"
"No Kai – it doesn't work like that. And especially not when there were so many witnesses to what went on, and physical things like his broken gun to challenge the memory that we'd implant. It would break, and worse, he'd know that he'd been tampered with. If he wasn't an enemy before, he would be then."
"We need to talk to Aden, and let him know that we can't work with his minions if they're going to act like that. They've got to at least show us some respect, or it's not going to work." Aswon finished doing up his harness, cinching it down tightly and securing himself in place. "That's if we're going to do any more with him at all, that is."
The rest of the flight was quiet, each of the team lost in their own thoughts. They arrived back at the ranch a little after eight in the evening, coming in for a nice smooth landing on the raised helipad, lit up with the infra-red spotlights that gave Marius perfect vision even in the inky blackness of the February evening.
As they were landing, Kai suddenly looked over at Tads.
"Quick question. I've heard of a spell called 'slay'. The impression I got was that you can make that spell target something specific. Like a slay-ork, or a slay-tiger. Is that right?"
"Yes, you can design it to affect any living type of thing. A slay-human spell won't do anything to an ork, a troll, elf or dwarf. And you can make it even more specific – a 'slay-Bob Smith' spell is even easier to cast and focus, but it would only affect that one named target. Cast it on his friend Fred, and it won't work at all."
"So, it would be possible to design a spell, for instance 'slay certain big scaly mother-frakker', and -"
"No. Don't go there." Aswon interrupted. "Remember, that big scaly things that look like lizards with delusions of grandeur have a habit of rifling through your head and pulling at your thoughts and memories. And they don't find stuff like that amusing."
"And also no, for several reasons. First of all, a slay spell is a little like a mana-bolt. It's a spell used in combat, and as an Elk shaman, that's not something I like or am good at. Elk is a protector, not an aggressor. I'm just intrinsically not as good at that type of magic, ok? And second – a spell like that, can still be resisted. Those with strong wills can shrug off the effects – a little like some people manage to be affected by my stun-spell less than others. And against any spellcasters, these types of spells are far less effective anyway. And certain creatures are… well, they're very strong-willed, and very good casters, and just naturally resistant. So no. I've become more powerful over the last year than I ever dreamt was possible. But compared to some creatures – I'm like an infant, still. So I'm with Aswon on this one."
The engines shut down as Marius finished the landing cycle, and he started to run through his checklist, making sure the systems were powered down correctly and everything was in order. Hunter moved over to the side of the pad and grabbed the fuelling hose, topping up the tanks and replacing the AvGas used that day from the massive tank they had buried by the side of the helipad, while the rest of the team grabbed their gear and climbed down from the troop bay.
"I'm going to my Lodge for a bit to meditate. Today has been somewhat stressful." Tads announced, then headed off to the garage and the trailer, climbing into her sacred circle to settle down and commune with her totem, trying to work out how she was going to justify what they'd done today and how she was going to make amends for the ravaged landscape they'd left behind.
"I think I'm going to go for a walk as well. Just clear my mind." Aswon announced. Rifle slung over his shoulder and spear in hand, the lanky tribesman wandered off into the darkness, heading towards the hills behind the ranch to lose himself in the quiet landscape.
"That sounds like a good idea." Shimazu nodded to Kai, then grabbed his winter poncho and struck out in a different direction, wandering off into the darkness, leaving Kai standing on the helipad alone.
"Right. Well, I fancy a hot drink and something to eat, so I'm going inside." He announced, to nobody in particular. He headed back into the ranch, letting everyone know they were back. By the time Hunter and Marius got inside, there was hot food and drink waiting for them. Marius settled on the sofa in the living area with Marius Junior and Nadia, catching up with his family first, while Kai sat at the kitchen table sharing idle chit-chat with the Rusudan and his family. Hunter sat at one end, uploading the carefully edited footage and information about the Turkish artillery and chemical weapons to Shadowland, sharing the information about the blighted area and nature of the gas to anyone who wanted to know – though keeping their involvement out of the report.
After a while chatting around the table, Kai excused himself and headed outside, wandering down the dusty trail at the back of the ranch and towards the hills, wondering where Shimazu had gotten to. He figured he should probably have a chat with him – and at least thank him for being there, standing up for him, even if it wasn't quite what Kai had had in mind. The night was cold, with a strong wind blowing from the north that made the air chill and crisp, and Kai shivered as he looked around the dark landscape. To his right, there was a faint glow on the horizon, the lights of Shirvan to the south, and behind him a fainter glow from the few scattered lights of Hajibabul – but to the north and east there was nothing, an inky blackness of the hill climbing up until it met the star-studded night sky. After fifteen minutes of wandering about, getting steadily colder, he realised the futility of his actions, and turned to head back to the ranch. There would always be tomorrow…
Tads was in the kitchen in the morning when Kai came downstairs, uncharacteristically early for him. She was sat at the kitchen table surrounded by jars, slowly filling them up with oats, peanuts, lentils and other seeds and pulses – all simple food stuffs that she could conjure easily but that would last for a while and give the family a good supply of basics. It was slow going though, and Kai stood and watched with a smile on his face as the food just…'appeared' out of her fingertips and cascaded into the jars, taking a moment to marvel at the changes wrought to the world with the return of magic, even when it was used for such an activity.
His thoughts darkened as he pondered on what would happen if the mages of the world all spent their time conjuring food and clean water, distributing it to those in need – and what that would do to the bottom line of the agri-corps and megacorporations of the sixth world, and how they'd react to such a threat to their existence, and he let out a sigh, as he contemplated the maturity of the meta-human races and how they treated each other. Tads looked up at him and gave him a smile, then broke off from her casting to make him a cup of tea and slid over some oat-cakes and a jar of honey, breaking him out of his dark thoughts, at least for the moment.
The rest of the household rose and joined them for breakfast, cramming around the table and sharing food and conversation. Rusudan and the family remarked that the weather still seemed very cold, and that they hoped it would break soon – now that it was March, they would normally have been starting to do maintenance after the winter on the grounds of the ranch, trying to get ready for the holiday season which was fast approaching.
The family finished their breakfasts and headed off to their various tasks around the ranch, cleaning and maintaining the property, looking after the animals or preparing for the walk into town to fetch supplies, leaving the team to spread out around the table and plan what they were going to do.
"So – am I right in saying we've run out of jobs at the moment? There's nothing outstanding?"
"Well, we are due to return to the mountain and see Aden in eighteen days. Not that I think that is a good idea, but it does not seem to stop you…" Marius senior still had his son in his arms, gently stroking his face with a finger while the baby slept, his face scrunched up and wrinkled as he dreamt.
"So, nothing until then?" Kai looked around the table and saw shrugs.
"We have the job for Saito – the one that will take us to Baikonur. But that is after we see Aden." Shimazu reminded him. "I'm not sure exactly what the timescales are on that, we're waiting for him to get back to us. If we're looking for something to do though, we could always head back towards Tashkent and sort out that amusement park?"
"Oh, I like that idea," Tads burbled happily, sitting upright and giving Shimazu a huge smile.
"NO!" the rest of the team chorused, almost in unison.
"Who is going to pay for the fuel to get there?" Marius demanded. "And what profit is there for us? Why would we do this if it does not reward us?"
"Sometimes fixing things is its own reward, Marius."
The pilot was about to respond when Aswon rolled his arm over, revealing the flashing commlink on his wrist. He checked the caller and then looked up at the rest of the team.
"Germaine?" He looked at Kai who nodded to him, and he hit the accept button, then put her on speaker. "Good morning, Germaine. Just so you know, I'm with the rest of the team, and you're on speaker."
"GOOD MORNING, ASWON" Germaine boomed, making the small speaker on the commlink reverberate and distort as it tried to reproduce her exuberance. He adjusted the volume setting, lowering the inbound call to something it could manage without disruption. "I'm wondering if you're available? I have a little job, fairly easy – but something I think you could handle nicely."
"Oh? Well, that sounds good. We're actually just plotting out work for the next month or two. We do have something in just over two weeks that we can't move at all, but otherwise we probably have some time."
"Oh, this will barely be an afternoon's work. As I said, very easy, if you have the right mix of skills and equipment – that's what made me think of you. Anyway – wave me at Marius. He'll want to hear this." Aswon obligingly moved his arm around to point the small display at Marius, and Germaine almost exploded with glee as she saw the baby, letting out a stream of coos and burbles at him. Once she'd spent a good thirty seconds reassuring him that he was in fact the cutest baby, she managed to restrain herself and addressed Marius senior.
"So, there's a team travelling by land, in a small vehicle. They're in the north-eastern part of Iran at the moment, and looking to cross into Turkmenistan." Thankfully the small camera pickup didn't capture the look of annoyance that flashed across Marius' face, or the sighs that rippled around the rest of the team as she mentioned Iran. "They've run into some problems with that though, the crossing is a little tough for them, and they're stuck on the south side of the border, and they need a hand crossing over. I thought that you and your airplane could help, maybe carry them over – between you and your Shaman friend."
"And what is it that you are not telling us about the border?" Marius asked suspiciously.
"Well, the border is quite hot at the moment. Much more so than normal. From what I understand, Espirit are pushing south with their exploration and drilling, and have edged their security forces south as a consequence, bringing them quite near the border – and that has in turn encouraged Iran to step up their patrols and surveillance in response.
Aswon carefully removed the wrist com and laid it on the surface of the table, still facing Marius and then pushed back his chair and headed to the trid unit in the living room, turning it on and muting the volume. Surfing through the channels until he found some regional news, he slowly brought up the volume a touch, and started hunting through the news reports and shows for any mention of the situation in Turkmenistan or the surrounding areas.
"It would be possible, Germaine – though very much dependent on the size of the vehicle. In theory we would be able to bring them aboard if their vehicle is small enough and ferry them over the border and drop them inside Turkmenistan, away from Espirit territory. But it very much depends on the size of the vehicle. And of course, what they are offering."
"Oh, well, they're indicated they can play twenty five for some help over the border – and that should more than happily cover your fuel costs and time. But I don't have the details on the vehicle – let me go and get back to them and find that out, and I'll call you back. Ta-ta for now!" With that she was gone.
"Before we start this discussion, I am deeply unhappy about the breaking of the 'No Iran' rule."
"I can't say I'm particularly happy about it either, Marius. At least you won't get stoned to death just for 'being' if you get caught! But didn't we have a possible job over that way anyway? With that lady from Maersk?"
"Johanna? No, that was a good while back. She had a job for us, but the timing was not compatible with some of the other work we were looking at. We ended up hunting down the Eagle and taking it to Paris instead, then moving on to the Bears up in Poland instead." Marius adjusted the baby in his arm, moving Junior slightly to the side so he could grab his cup of coffee and take a quick drink. "I am thinking that if we take this job we are going to be very reliant on the use of the electronic deception and jamming, and your spirits to protect us Tads. If the border has become as hot as it seems, then this could be a tough crossing."
"Well, spirits are no problem. Not at the moment anyway."
"We also need to confirm the size. If the vehicle fits into the cargo bay, then I think it should be possible."
"And twenty-five thousand is not bad for a quick border hop." Aswon turned off the trid and wandered over, reclaiming his comm-link. "Can't see anything on the news relating to that stuff. But if we're just flying over there, picking them up and hopping the border, then coming home, then it really is a short job and that's a pretty good offer."
"I'm with Marius on this one – I would much rather not go back to Iran. But if we did agree to this job, can we actually help them by just running the border with them? On the ground that is?"
"I'm not sure – I don't know if we should even suggest that. I mean, can you imagine Marius being happy with someone else driving his truck across a border? And what happens if we get shot at – do we end up being responsible for any damage taken while we're helping them? That seems like a bad idea to me…"
His commlink rang again, and he answered, once more putting Germaine on the speaker.
"I've been in touch with them, and have details of their vehicle. I'm sending through some details now." Aswon saw an icon appear showing a download in progress, which he forwarded onto Hunter as soon as it was complete. Hunter, in turn, fired up his deck to display the image on the larger roll-out screen. Around the table the entire team recoiled in horror as the image appeared, showing a vehicle that redefined the word 'ugly'. It looked like a four-by-four had had an illicit encounter with a Playmobil truck, and the resulting bastard offspring had been painted by someone colourblind. A single bench seat at the front would fit two, three at a push, with an open load bed to the rear, wheels located close to each corner and reasonable ground clearance betrayed the origin as an off-road capable vehicle, but the whole thing looked to have been manufactured out of the tackiest plastic imaginable, and it looked more like a child's toy than a serious motor vehicle.
Marius managed to look past the offensive design and checked out the statistics listed though, and shook his head.
"That will not fit into the cargo bay. Too wide, definitely. And too high as well I think, to clear the top of the ramp. The only way we could carry that is slung under the fuselage."
"Well, if we did that, I can still get a spirit to conceal it?"
"There are a number of factors here. It will destroy our own signature, having a vehicle hanging underneath us and swinging around on the end of a sling. It is not a vehicle coated in radar absorbent materials, unlike our own hull, so it will stand out clearly on sensors far more than we would. And more importantly, we do not have a hook installed for carrying such a weight under the vehicle."
"I guess you caught most of that, Germaine? Unfortunately it sounds like we won't be able to help with this one – we're not equipped for external cargo, and it's too big to store internally. Sorry." Aswon apologised and gave a shrug. "Hang on a moment, though," he asked, as Tads suddenly waved at him.
"We got a lift over the border, a while back. A long time back now, actually. A team had a bigger VTOL than ours, and it did have a hook. Who was it that sorted that out? Maybe we can see if they're available?"
"That was a contact of Saito, I believe." Nobody doubted Marius when he said that, knowing full well that his photographic memory no doubt recalled the incident in stunning clarity.
"I could try to call him and see?" Shimazu offered.
"Germaine – let us make some calls, we may be able to broker something for you. Let us investigate and get back to you – we'll try to be quick and let you know as soon as possible."
"Thank you Aswon, I'll wait for your call." Germaine hung up and Aswon looked around with a resigned look upon his face.
"I'd managed to convince her we couldn't help, and then you buggers come up with new ways to keep us involved! What are you trying to do to us?" He looked over at Kai and pointed a finger at him accusingly. "This is your fault – you're a bad influence on people. Making them volunteer for stuff!"
"What have I done?" Kai protested, a smile broadening on his face. "Not my fault, not my fault at all…"