The team paused, checking her over – with Kai and Shimazu quickly pulling out their medkits to run the diagnostics on the wounds.
"No sign of parasites or infections. Wounds look like clean punctures – similar to a mosquito bite. A pair of proboscis I'd imagine, probably with some kind of anti-coagulant, to allow them to feed on their prey." Kai announced.
"No sign of damage to your aura either, and no astral infection or effects that I can see," Shimazu gave her a thorough examination in astral space, especially around the wound, looking for any signs of issues. "I'm guessing the only bit of 'vampire' that applies is the fact that they have a pair of bites, so it looks like tooth marks. Unless there were two of them?"
"No, just the one. It landed on my arm really gently… it didn't feel like an attack, not until I actually saw it going into my body…"
"Sounds like it's just a feeding mechanism then. But I'd guess the locals have named them and it stuck, based on myths and legends, and how they act. Are you good to go?"
"Yes, I'm fine – feel ok. But those things are clearly dual-natured, so they're going to home in on any magic we do in there. Any spells I have up that aren't masked, are going to attract them like a beacon I think, so that's also going to cut back on the spirits and any additional spells I can throw. If we have to, I can – but it's probably going to draw a response."
"Guess we have to do this the old-fashioned way then. Right – let's roll folks. We've got some missing gatherers, and time is ticking. Aswon, up front please, then Hunter, myself, Shimazu and Tads. Marius, you're on standby and air-support. Let's move out!"
"Hey – Ruby, how do your people avoid getting bitten?" Tads called out.
"They stay away from them!" At first Tads thought she was being sarcastic and pithy – but it sunk in that she was being entirely factual, based on her facial expressions and the set of her body. "There's a narrow window of time for gathering the pupae before they hatch, and you're dealing with a swarm of them…"
"Right. Well, I can try to control them at a pack level, and drive them away – assuming the magic works on them fine. Or I can put a couple of the static-fields up on people. Maybe Aswon and Hunter? Should act as a good deterrent, I hope."
"Be aware, I have been scanning the jungle. There is a mix of double and triple canopy out there, with extensive ground cover. I can punch the drone through there to offer support, but it is likely to take damage. Likewise, I can fly in for a rescue, and blow through the canopy, though there is a good chance of taking engine damage due to FOD. I will hold outside, until you call for backup – bear that in mind."
"Maybe you should come instead, Marius – I doubt those tiny little probes on the butterflies are going to cope with your skin!" Hunter quipped. There was nothing in response, but they could all imagine the look of irritation on the pilot's face.
They walked across the surface of the sports pitch, approaching the jungle, and Tads cast her spell, covering the bodies of Aswon and Hunter in a coruscating field of energy that hovered over their skin with a centimetre clearance. The first two spells she cast onto the sustaining foci she'd bound to her for just this eventuality, using their magical properties to hold or fuel the spell, and freeing her mind for other things. That turned out to be casting the spell twice more, once for Kai and once for herself…
As they approached the edge of the jungle, a stiff breeze blew towards them from the south, making them pause for a moment and turn to look – and then frown as they saw the approaching wall of rain marching on their position. The gust front passed over them, making the jungle sway and lurch a little as it absorbed the front, and they quickly headed inside, getting under cover just before the squall arrived. Filtered by the dense vegetation above them the heavy rainfall was broken up and dispersed, turning into a fine mist that seemed to hang in the air, dialling the humidity up another notch and making it even less comfortable.
"Marius – check, check, got you on side channel B"
"Received, Hunter. Will keep an open link. Slave your GPS locator to the sub-freq and I will monitor from here."
"Roger." Hunter gave a mental twitch, slaving his cybernetic GPS received to his commlink, broadcasting his position to Marius on a frequent basis over the encrypted link. It was possible someone might be able to pick up the compressed bursts of transmissions every fifteen seconds, if their comms gear was agile enough – but if someone with that tech was out there in the jungle waiting for them, then they were all kinds of screwed anyway. At least this way, Hunter could just send an alert signal, and Marius and by extension his drone would know exactly where they were.
Entering the jungle was an experience, like it always was, the changing of one world to another. Visibility dropped with an abruptness that was frightening to those that had never been in the true jungle before, while their senses were battered with a riot of colours, smells and sounds that reinforced that the environment here was different. Flowers blossomed, their sweet scents vying to attract insects to pollinate them – or to fall into their embrace as a source of food, while a thousand different types of insects crawled and burrowed through the rich leaf mould on the floor, or scuttled along plant stems and trees, while larger creatures flittered through the landscape, preying on the insects and avoiding the next predator up the chain.
As the team entered, Aswon's senses tingled, feeling the eyes of many creatures turn on him, examining him as he entered their domain. But for all that he felt their regard, could tell that he was being observed, he felt no specific danger. Years spent as a hunter, and more spent as a mercenary had honed his senses, and he felt that everything here was watchful and wary, aware that he was the apex predator – at least for the moment. They observed him to stay out of his way, to avoid his sight and movements, making sure that he was not hunting them. Carefully he followed the miniscule trail, beaten down by some kind of game – probably some kind of boar or wild pig, moving through the jungle in search of food. He felt the rest of the team coming along behind him, watching the flanks and rear, and let his senses extend out to the front, examining the way ahead.
It was hot, humid and uncomfortable, the temperature chasing after the humidity percentage, and they all sweated uncomfortably as they struggled through the jungle in their combat gear. Despite them all being fit, most to the state where they could have competed at a national level in some kind of event, there was no getting away from the oppressive conditions and the misery they created.
Pushing through the brush, Aswon raised a clenched fist, holding their movement for a moment – letting the snake he'd just spotted slither away into the undergrowth on the other side of the trail. For a moment it stopped, the forked tongue flicking out from side to side, tasting the air and sampling the changes borne on the wind by their coming – before deciding that despite its strong venom and ability to swallow creatures larger than itself – perhaps Aswon was a little too large to do so, and it might be better seeking a prey more reasonable in size. When it was clear, Aswon moved on, carefully checking the area in case there were more.
Deeper into the jungle they went – pausing after perhaps five hundred metres to examine a footprint that Aswon had spotted in a wider area of the trail. It looked like a sandal or flip-flop, or perhaps a trainer that had been worn down to an almost smooth finish. Around the area they spotted a few more, all of a similar nature, reassuring them that they seemed to be on the right track.
"Aswon – hold!" He froze in place as Tads called forward, balanced perfectly mid-step. He held position as if playing some kind of children's game, only his eyes moving around to check for danger. To other people, he might have looked comical standing on one leg, his other raised and about to step forward, but by now the team had all experience the weird kind of creatures that sometimes lurked partly buried in the floor, or had seen enough tripwires and explosives to trust a command to stop as more than just a pointed suggestion.
"What do you see?"
"The tree ahead of you, just beyond spear reach. It shimmered. I think it's rotten, or dead – but it's infested with something. I've seen something like it before. Millions of ants, ready to come swarming out when they feel vibrations near them. Their bite burns like fire, driving you mad while they swarm you."
"I can't see our gatherers having come past here, then."
"No – but there was a smaller trail back ten metres or so – perhaps they went down there."
"Ok, back up – let's try down there." As Aswon watched the tree carefully, he realised that Tads was right… parts of the tree did shimmer slightly, and he realised he wasn't looking at bark on the tree, but a solid coating of insects, occasionally moving slightly in response to some unseen command. Hundreds of thousands of the mottled brown ants lay on the surface of the tree, inter-twined and ready to spring on some passing creature, injecting it with the potent formic acid they were armed with.
They backed up and took the alternate trail they had previously spotted and discounted, and were rewarded sixty or seventy metres later with a few footprints from their quarry, confirming they were on the right route. Pressing on, they continued to advance, balancing their speed against the obstacles and risks of moving through the jungle. They'd only come two kilometres from the landing zone, but it had taken them the better part of an hour to reach this point.
"I have a visual on bodies – and butterflies" Aswon crouched, partly to reduce his own visibility, but also to let the rest of the team see over him to the tiny clearing ahead. Several bodies were slumped around on the floor, and from their clothing they appeared to be locals and a good fit for the team they were looking for. Several of the bodies had butterflies settled on them, over the arms, face and exposed legs, their wings gently flapping as they fed on the apparently unconscious bodies. "I see only seven bodies through… and a metric frak-ton of butterflies up in the trees. They've definitely noticed us!" Aswon's voice rose in urgency as with a rippling wave hundreds, possibly thousands of butterflies took to the wing and started to drift down towards the team.
"There's someone in the trees as well – far side of the clearing, wearing a green outfit. Hard to see through the trees, but it looks like he's trying to drag someone off!" Kai craned around the people ahead of him and gestured with his arm, drawing a sightline and trying to focus on the horribly-obscured person, so he could determine who or what it was. "Human, elf or small orc I'd say, average size – full body uniform."
"What are we doing – those butterflies are heading straight for us!" Aswon warned the team, and he pressed through the brush to the side of the trail, not worrying about leaving signs of his passing now, but moving away from the team to give him room to fight if needed. He saw Hunter mirror his movement, pushing out to the right of the path, preparing his rifle – though he wasn't sure if shooting the butterflies was a winning proposition.
"Whoever or whatever it is – it definitely looks like they're dragging something – or someone away. Tads – can you take them down?"
"Tricky, hard to see. Coming past…" She squeezed past Kai and Shimazu, and took a few rapid steps forward, ignoring everything else as she tried to get in front of Aswon and Hunter, at least by a step. Drawing mana in from the lush, verdant forest around her was easy – unusually easy – and she focussed it into a ball of power, exploding outwards centred on the barely-spotted target. She didn't know how tough he was going to be mentally, so she threw all of her power into it, relying on the rest of the team to keep her safe if she over-exerted herself.
There was a thump as the body collapsed to the ground ahead of them, then a brief pause, before a series of smaller thumps sounded in a staccato burst as a score of creatures that had also been in the burst area of her stun-ball were also driven unconscious and plummeted from the trees to the ground. As she released the massive burst of power, a sinuous wave of butterflies adjusted direction, homing in on her, splitting the flock into three streams now – one each heading towards the shaman, Hunter and Aswon.
"They're homing in on the magic!" she called out. The first of the creatures fluttered down to reach Aswon, intercepting the static field and suddenly bursting into smoke as the delicate wings caught fire while tiny zaps of electricity arced across their body. It didn't seem to dissuade the follow on creatures, and more approached, suffering the same fate. A laugh from the other side of the path rang out as Hunter watched the creatures immolate themselves on the protective aura that surrounded him, and he started to forge forwards, leaving a trail of tiny smoking corpses behind him. "No… no, no NOOOO!" Tads sobbed as she felt the ripples of their death, life after life being snubbed out in an instant. It didn't carry the same dark tones as a murder, but she could see the creatures moving in, just wanting to feed. Drawn to the mana as a moth was drawn to a flame, with the same grisly results. She shuddered, and with a flick of her hand she dropped the spells, dispersing the protective fields and releasing the mana holding them back in place.
"What are you doing?" Hunter started to swat at the creatures as they landed on his armour, batting them away with a gloved hand.
"I won't murder them. They can't help it – they're just trying to feed. We'll kill them all!"
"That was kinda the point!" Hunter shook his head, and then stopped, carefully sniffing the air. Cyber-systems and his chem-library sprang into life as something triggered an automatic warning, and then he shouted out suddenly. "GAS GAS GAS!" He dropped down to a crouch, bounding sideways under the fluttering collection of butterflies, while also switching over to his internal air tank.
On the other side of the path, Aswon heard the warning and took a deep breath – feeling his senses go slightly mushy as he encountered some of whatever it was that Hunter was warning them about. He broke into a sprint, bodily rushing through the butterflies and sending them swirling in his wake, crashing through the undergrowth with no regard, trying to get away from whatever it was that was being released.
"It's some kind of fentanyl derivative! Likely to knock you out – unless you're one of the 15% of people allergic to it, then it'll just kill you!" Hunter broadcast the warning to the team while he continued to duck and dive, putting distance between himself and the butterfly swarm. "It's definitely coming from them – they don't produce much each, but it builds up when there's a lot of them. Must knock out their prey so they can feed on them!"
"Makes sense. And also probably makes them look more like vampires too, with people just collapsing after a bite or two…" Kai noted, backing up a little. "How are we going to get to those people, though!?
"I got this." Aswon raised his spear high in one hand, activating it and deliberately not masking the magical aura that emanated from it. All around him the butterflies adjusted their flight path, curving around in the air to home in on the source of mana. He bounded back towards the path, 'collecting' the stream that had been heading towards Tads and were now just spreading out to encircle the last three members of the group, before heading over to peel off the ones left behind by Hunter's evasion. "As long as I can stay ahead of the gas, and them – I should be good." He jumped over a rotting log, waving the spear back and forth and then swinging it towards the condensing swarm, making sure even the butterflies at the back of the rough globe could still detect its presence, then set off in an orbit around the team, leading the butterflies through the forest like a demented pied piper. "Go!"
The rest of them moved forward, checking over the bodies on the ground. Each of the locals had been stung or bitten many times, and looked pale and wan, no doubt having fed the creatures a significant amount of blood. They were all alive, though – for now, though if they'd remained inside the area, gassed by the concentration of butterflies above and around them, no doubt they'd have not recovered from the effects of the invisible agent in the air. Then it would have been just a matter of time.
"You need to see this!" Shimazu called, waving the team forward. He'd pushed out of the small clearing, following the small trail opposite the side they'd entered, trying to find the enemy in the green that Tads had taken down. As the others caught up, they could see not only was he in a military uniform, but he was covered from head to foot in a strange plasticised uniform with a clear faceplate.
"Poor bastard! Wearing a noddy suit in this." Hunter murmured, bending down closer to examine the man.
"A what? What's a noddy?"
"Nuclear, Chemical and Biological hazard suit – NBC gear. Designed to protect you from environmental threats. The material is impregnated with chemicals and materials designed to block hostile agents. They're also some of the most miserable things to wear ever invented – and that's at the best of times. Here it'd be a living hell." He reached down and found the mechanism hidden under a sealing fold of material and opened up the hood, pulling it forward and down to reveal the wearer's face. His racial type was fairly obvious, as were the markings on the lightweight vest worn underneath. "Hello, Mr. Imperial Japanese Marines… you're a bit far from home, aren't you?" Hunter gestured to the printing on the gym-wear. "Looks like we got ourselves some local heat. Ain't that interesting."
"Looks like he was dragging one of the locals away." Kai gestured to the other body on the trail. He'd been cuffed with some lightweight binders, and a short length of vine had been looped around the cuffs to create a drag handle. "Taking him away for interrogation?"
"Probably."
"This is a lovely conversation, but if you could hurry things along, I am being chased by like a million very pretty butterflies!"
"Ok, we need to get all of our guys out of here, which means carrying or dragging them. And that's going to be slow. And what are we going to do about our marine friend here? If he gets back and reports in, he'll blow the whole thing wide open."
"We probably need to warn Ruby. And get the troops away. But I'm not sure what we can do about his reporting in – unless we kill him. I'm guessing he'll be missed sooner or later, so we need to do it cleanly for when he's found, or that's going to be suspicious too…"
"Aswon, if you can loop back around the clearing, let me know when you're as far away as you're willing to risk. I can try a mind probe to find out what he knows – and see if I can change his mind a little. But it means using magic, and that's going to draw the butterflies right back if we're not careful!"
"Ok, set it up. Let us know when Aswon."
They got a double click back, Aswon saving his breath for movement through the dense undergrowth, trying to match his speed as exactly as he could to the flock of butterflies that had condensed into a shimmering cloud behind him, two thousand eyes blinking in a rapid strobing pattern as their brightly coloured and patterned wings beat furiously to keep up with their prey.
"Marius, mate, don't know what you caught of the chit chat there, but Ruby's location is blown. Some kind of IJN marine out here in a noddy suit, was dragging one of them away. The fact that's he's masked up tells me he knows something about the bloody gas these things shit out, so he's maybe involved some way. But they probably wanna think about evaccing. We're gonna try to get the bodies of her team back, but it's gonna be slow going."
"Roger that, Hunter. I will inform Ruby now, so I will be out of the aircraft – but I have my deck with me, so I can remote launch. Standby."
"Ok, far away as I can be!" Aswon called, slightly out of breath now as he continued to battle through the dense foliage, leading the butterflies around. Tads nodded, then concentrated, pulling mana and shaping it in her mind, reaching down to spread her fingers over the temple of the man laying before her. She riffled through his thoughts, trying to find out as much information as she could – but as quickly as she could as well, not wanting to risk having the wildlife pick up on her probing and return to her. Once she felt she had the essentials gathered, she dropped the spell, took a deep breath, and then gathered more mana to her, casting a different spell to warp and cloud his mind. Neurons shook and quivered as mana was shunted through them, reshaping their bonds and rewriting his memories, changing his perception of the past and his memories of events.
"Ok, clear…" She broke away from the man, dropping the spell and staggering back a little from the rushed effort of her casting. "He's a recon marine, some kind of special forces battalion, or scout group. He's very proud of his membership, worked very hard to get there. Some kind of great honour to make it through the program. But he's not alone out here, he's got a buddy, somewhere only a few kilometres away. They had intel there was a Huk cell on the island, and were out scouting, split up to cover more area. They meet up each night to report back in, at Nangalao… there's an old school there, that's where they're basing out of, on the north side of the island."
"Got it." Hunter stabbed at his pad, checking the map carefully. "That's about four kilometres away, north-east."
"They don't know where the cell is, or any more details about it – they had an informant, someone named Bulachi. I've got a mental picture of him, looks like a native, some kind of fisherman maybe. The marine didn't think much of him though, a useful tool, but scum. Feelings of disgust for selling out his countrymen, but the next thoughts…" Tads retched and shook a little, reliving the memories plucked from the other man's brain. "They tortured them for information, made them reveal what they'd heard. Threatened their wife, children, friends… and then they hated him even more for being weak."
"Nice. Well, it's no surprise really. The Japanese have been occupying the islands for quite a few years now, and they've never been known for being kind and loving souls while doing it. What's he going to remember though, to tell his friends?" Aswon tried to redirect Tads, stopping her from dwelling on the images she'd seen.
"He started to feel woozy, and checked his suit, realised that he'd torn it some way. That he thinks he got gassed by the butterflies – but the way he fell stopped them getting at the rip. Then he passed out, until they flew on… but he never found Ruby's team, and he's got no sign of them, or indication of the cell's presence."
"Nice… simple, easy to explain. Let's find a rock or something natural and make a tear in his suit then, and leave him laid out on the path." Hunter started to cast around until he could find a piece of sharp rock from a small outcropping, and then worked on the suit, sawing at it until he'd made a breech. "Ok, let's get these folks out of here and back to the base. Shimazu – going to need your help. I wanna find two long poles, and lash 'em together, to make a stretcher kind of affair, make two of those. But we won't put them on longways, we'll flop 'em over sideways. I reckon between the two of us we can manage a couple of 'em each, and just drag em out of here. Won't be pretty or quick, but that leaves the rest of the team to watch our flanks and to cover up the trail…"
"Alright then…" Shimazu worked his way off the trail a few metres and found a long but slender tree, and with a flash of the blade sliced it off cleanly, then worked down the length of the trunk, lopping off the branches. Tads moved in behind him with a handful of mud and mulch from the forest floor and smeared it over the stump, hiding the fresh cut and making it blend into the background.
"I'm going to lead the butterflies away, then stop powering the spear. That should fit with the memory you've implanted in the marine." Aswon called out. "I'll be back in a few minutes, want to make sure they're well clear…"
They worked as quickly as they could, but it still took fifteen minutes to cobble together the two litters and start to tie on the unconscious bodies, fashion some drag harnesses and get ready to head out, even with Aswon's help when he returned a few minutes after his call. By now all of them were dripping with sweat, tired and grumpy, and were looking forward to getting out of the jungle and back to the air-conditioned interior of the Broadsword.
Back in the landing area, Marius stood back and watched the scene. He'd informed Ruby of their findings, confirming the details sent over by Hunter, their position and the details that Tads had extracted from the Japanese Marine's mind – and she'd burst into action. Striding into the building, Marius was reminded of several military commanders he'd worked with in his short career – people who were used to others following their orders, and acted with a dynamic level of decisiveness. They'd not seen much from Emerald, as she'd remained in her rocking chair throughout their meeting, but her men had clearly been loyal and dedicated to her. Here it was no different. Shouted commands turned the building into a hive of activity – work on the silk stopped at once, and people started to gather possessions together, dismantle equipment, stack up supplies and ready weapons.
"Marius… our position here is compromised. I wish to ask for your service. We must evacuate this area, and take refuge elsewhere. For that we need transport. Is there sufficient credit remaining to organise this?"
"I am not sure – I think so. But I do not have the lift for your whole cell. Or the room."
"Could you make two trips? I must save the people – they're the most important. But if we have to leave all our equipment, then I'm not sure I can keep them safe and well…"
"That depends on how far we are going, of course. And I need to get Kai's approval on this." Marius didn't feel any such thing – but it made a useful excuse to slow things down a little while he considered the options.
"Just over to the main island to the west – there's enough population there that we can blend in much easier, go to ground, work out what we need to do next. More resources, too." Marius nodded, then headed back to the aircraft to grab a tablet and cross-loaded the maps onto it, returning to find Ruby organising the supplies into piles, splitting things up in order of importance and value.
"Here. These are the best maps we have of the area. Show me." He gestured with the tablet, and watched as she panned over from their current location to the larger island to the west, the one the team had crossed over on the way in from Elune's Bay. While their current location was only about fifteen kilometres across, the larger landmass stretched out over four hundred kilometres, though it was never more than about forty kilometres wide. Ruby, however, was zooming in the map on the northern part of the island, almost level with their current position.
"Somewhere here… near San Fernando. I have contacts there. In fact… I can't show you on this map, it's too blurry. But there's a farmstead near the coast, isolated from the main road, well concealed. There – that's where I want to be taken. It's a good landing spot, some open spaces surrounded by jungle and dense vegetation. Plenty of cover." Marius checked the map, then zoomed out a little and measured the distance.
"That is only thirty kilometres. Probably no more than a few minutes flying time. Ja – that is possible. I can even load more heavily for a journey that short. As long as your people do not mind standing in the cargo area, we can pack more of them in, and more gear. Wait one moment." Marius stepped back and held his hand up to his ear, mostly to signal to Ruby that he was doing something, and not just staring blankly into space. "Kai – Ruby has asked for evacuation from their base to the larger island to the west, and to use the money on the credstick already given to you to pay for the costs involved. I am loading the first group now and will ferry them over, then return to collect more – and to pick you up."
"Ok, sounds good…" Kai's breath was somewhat ragged, as they continued working on their rescue of the team in the jungle. Marius turned back to Ruby and lowered his hand. "It is agreed. I will lower the ramp, and allow your men to start loading supplies now. Anything they can pack into containers would be helpful."
Shouted orders redirected the workers, and soon a line of people stretched from the building to the Broadsword, passing supplies over from hand to hand, stacking at first, and then just piling up loose material into heaps in the cargo area of the aircraft. It would be crazy if they ran into an enemy during the trip, but there was no way they could secure the cargo properly in less than a few hours, and Ruby seemed intent on getting out of here much sooner than that. If it came to a fight, Marius was quite prepared to open the ramp and then stand the aircraft on it's tail and just shake all the loose gear out rather than having it bounce around in the cargo area and causing damage – but he didn't need to let Ruby know that… it would no doubt cause an argument, and she seemed to have plenty on her mind already.
Fifteen minutes later, they had the first shipment packed, including half of the new guns, a good chunk of the equipment, and a large quantity of food and other supplies. About twenty of the crew under her command piled into the passenger area, crowding into the space and standing between the seats, grabbing hold of the harnesses to steady themselves, rather than strapping in. Marius flinched a little, wondering what would happen to them if he did have to go evasive, and then trying to put the thought out of his mind. Slow and steady, and masking his signature – that was probably the way to go…
A few minutes later, they were in the air and heading out to sea, picking up speed gently and carefully, skimming across the waves while Marius kept his sensors sweeping the area ahead of them. He wove gently between contacts, keeping well clear of the odd fishing boat or tramp steamer, hoping that the spirit was still concealing him from sight and sound. It seemed to be working, as nobody gave any sign of his passing though, and four minutes later, they crossed over onto land and he headed for the location indicated by Ruby, climbing up to remain above the height of the forest as the land rose up from the beach towards the spine of the island. He spotted the landing zone easily enough – right where Ruby had said it would be, there was a roughly circular clear area, over fifty metres in diameter, forming an eye in the jungle that covered the slopes. He headed down, quickly dropping the Broadsword into the space and scanning the rough farmhouse that was partially embedded into the jungle on the eastern side. A farmer came out holding a large implement of some kind – maybe a hoe or a hayfork, but he stayed well back, not making any threatening moves.
As soon as they were down, Marius popped the back ramp and the side doors, watching as the Huk group boiled out of the passenger area and started to unload the supplies. They worked quickly and efficiently, with a minimum of talking or wasted movement, and he wondered how many times they'd had to do this in the past. One of them had headed over to the farmer and there was a fairly intense-looking conversation going on – but no immediate sign of hostility or violence, and the farmer disappeared back into his ramshackle hut after a minute.
Fifteen more minutes passed, until one of the men appeared at the front of the aircraft, giving him a double thumbs up gesture. Checking the internal cameras, Marius could see no more men or supplies inside, and he closed the doors, then started to slowly spool up the engines. The Huk took his meaning and scattered away from the aircraft, heading over to the piles of supplies and holding them down as best they could while he lifted the aircraft up into the air, turning it sharply and retracing his course back to the initial landing zone.
By the time he was back, Ruby had finished managing the evacuation, and had people piling up material inside the building, apparently with the intent of setting fire to it. As he set down, he powered the engines right back and popped the rear ramp, and the remaining fifteen people started to load up. It was going to take longer this time with fewer of them, and just as many supplies to pack, but they didn't seem upset by this and set to work.
"Hunter, I am back and we are loading the second group. What is your location?"
"About five hundred metres out. Closing as fast as we can."
"Roger."
The rest of the team emerged from the jungle as the last of the supplies were being loaded, but the material was quickly dropped and abandoned as the rest of Ruby's people ran over to recover the wounded, pairs of them moving to gently lift a body off the litter and carry them onto the Broadsword, much to the rescue team's relief. No longer encumbered by the weight, Hunter and Shimazu could shed their harnesses and work out the pain from their shoulders, while the rest of the team did the best they could to get rid of the drag marks and signs of their passing.
Another five minutes and they were almost good to go – Aswon had spotted what Ruby was up to and had persuaded her not to set fire to the building, at least not yet, pointing out that it was likely to draw more attention than they wanted. She, in turn, had wanted to know what they were going to do with the place – as she didn't want the Japanese investigating and discovering anything from there.
"I can deal with the building." Tads looked weary after the hike through the jungle, but sounded confident, and retained enough energy to stare down Ruby when she raised an eyebrow at the shaman. "Get everyone out of the building, and I'll show you." When Ruby confirmed that everyone was out, Tads started to move the earth under the foundations of the building, reshaping them into voids that pulled the walls outwards, sending it crumbling to the ground in a controlled demolition. The cloud of rising dust and debris was contained by the persistent rain, not even rising far above the treeline, and quickly settling as it was battered by the sheets of water cascading from the low clouds above.
"Ok, let's get everyone on board." Kai shouted and waved to everyone, ignoring Ruby and the look of amazement on her face. She'd doubted the team's ability to get it done, and she could think about that for a moment before he spoke with her again. Tads walked past him with a smug little satisfied smile on her face, and he gave her a wink, before moving off to check on everything else.
Another minute later, they started to rise up into the air, Marius lifting them carefully and turning more gently, aware that he had eight unconscious bodies laid out on the floor, wedged between the passengers' legs on this trip. As they lifted clear, Tads focussed on the ground below them, looking down through the fibre-optic camera system and reached out with her spell again, crumpling and deforming the sports field, turning it over and over, dragging down the burnt and melted patches of tarmac deep underground to disguise that they had ever been there, then gently smoothing away her signature.
"Good to go Marius, all clear." Now at last she slumped back in her seat, taking a deep swig from her canteen and giving Aswon a nod. "Best I could do, and I think I've hidden any traces of us being there. At least until someone comes in to do a full forensic check, and that's going to take a while."
They felt the Broadsword pick up speed and settled in for the short journey, adjusting their gear and checking weapons were still ok after their efforts, and were somewhat surprised when they felt the aircraft slow and start to circle the landing area, not having realised just how short the journey would actually be. Marius was somewhat surprised as well as he came in to land in the same place, and found no sign of the supplies or equipment, the Huk having moved all of the first wave well under cover while he'd been away. One of them stood to the side of the area, holding out a t-shirt as a makeshift wind-sock, showing a gentle two to three knot southerly wind. He smiled to himself at the sincere look on the man's face – he no doubt was genuinely trying to help, though the day Marius needed that kind of assistance was the day he needed to stop flying.
Once settled on the ground, the Huk emerged from the treeline, jogging over to the aircraft and helping to unload their wounded comrades and the rest of the equipment. The unconscious forms were taken over towards the farmhouse, but the supplies all disappeared into the forest, split up into two distinct directions. Presumably the group was splitting up a little, reducing their footprint and size, and making it harder to detect them – not that it was much of concern to Marius. Not as long as there was no fallout from their little mission, anyway.
Kai grabbed Ruby and took her to one side, going over everything they'd learned from the marine one more time, making sure that she had all the details he could remember, and was coached along by the others over the radio when he missed anything they felt was important.
"I am grateful to you and your team. You have saved my men, and all of us from the Japanese. I owe you a debt."
"No, that's fine. We're glad to help out. But what now?"
"Can you still take the silk? Find us a buyer? I know we won't get as many guns now with paying for the evacuation. But now we cannot contact the other smugglers – too dangerous. We need to find an alternative way to sell."
"Yes, of course." He paused for a moment as Ruby pulled out a small toy radio, and said a few words. Moments later a string of the Huk emerged from the treeline, bringing the containers of silk back out from their hiding places, ferrying it back towards the cargo area. "Can't you use your other contacts?"
"What contacts? We work in small cells. I have one person I know above me, and one to the side. We keep everything small, in case we are captured or compromised. The Japanese give us no quarter."
"Oh. Right… ok. Sure – we can find a buyer for the silk then. One of my team had already set something up, a buyer in Hong Kong probably. We can run the stuff up there and try to get you the best price we can."
"Thank you. I will give you a comm-code to contact me. Let me know when you are heading back, and I will arrange a place to meet. We will be here no longer than a day, before we head elsewhere on the island. We just need to arrange some local transport."
"No problem, Ruby. Ok – we need to get out of here – we don't want to attract any attention to you here either, so the sooner we get away, the better. We'll try to set up this deal quickly, and then I'll contact you and let you know what's going on."
"Farewell then, for now."
Kai headed back into the aircraft, the door closing smoothly behind him and the aircraft already lifting into the air as he made his way to his seat. Aswon was on the comm already to Spook, having heard the conversation, and gave him a thumbs up as he strapped in, while Marius turned to the north and started to head out to sea, heading northwards and back towards Hong Kong.