Date: Saturday 28/8/2060, Location: 40.02419, 48.95808

The team assembled at the end of the week, grabbing a pot of coffee and relaxing on the second-hand sofa and armchairs to the side of the hanger. Kai looked around at them, then pointed at Marius.

"Ok, let's have a quick work around – where are we at?"

"The craft is fuelled and checked, ready to go. We've worked on the cargo area, and have built a number of frames and cargo points. There's a rack to hold the two motorbikes nearest the crew seats with room over the top of those for several gun cases, the drones are stacked just next to that, and the ATV sits nearest the back ramp. With the ATV in, the access is very cramped to the side – slow for most of us, and a real squeeze for Hunter and Shimazu."

"With all of that lot in, we have about twenty percent cargo space left, and we've not got the IWS multidrone in – but as that's unarmed and unarmoured, it's not taking anything away from our combat power. It might be something to take though if we have cargo to move… But I would suggest that we optimise the loadout based on the mission we think we will have, and accept that sometimes we need more cargo space and less combat capability or transport and mobility." Marius shrugged. "Best we can do. However, we have an ID from Milo that matches the vehicle type, so if we need to go legit, we can. It should be pretty decent too." Kai nodded his head in approval, then leant back, addressing the team.

"Sounds good. The warding all went well, and everyone seems to have finished their tasks, so now we're all caught up on the transport, I've got a couple of job opportunities that have come in this morning – and I think Aswon has one too?" The tribesman nodded at Kai. "Ok, well, here's what I have…

"First of all, Johanna from Maersk has sent me a quick message. She has a job for us over the other side of the Caspian Sea, from the sounds of it having a little run around the south-eastern area where Esprit are based. Initial bid was a hundred and fifty grand, with a possible bonus depending on how much damage we can do. Sounds something like what we did against Dekita, but obviously Esprit are a lot more dangerous."

"The second contact was from Patrick, who wants a delivery taken care of. Pickup from somewhere in Bulgaria, with a drop off in Eastern Turkey. He was offering fifty thousand."

"The third one was our friend the Brigadier – apparently up in Samara. He's got some kind of magical problem he thinks we can help with. Now, he was straight with me, saying he's got no money for us from his budget. But he did say that we're sure we'd welcome the chance to help out and visit, and said the last time we came, we particularly liked the last room in the guided tour. I'm guessing he was not wanting to be too blunt over potentially insecure communication channels."

Marius and Hunter shared a look, both smiling. As the others turned to them. Hunter tapped on his keypad and his screen changed to show a picture taken from his eye-camera. The rough finished curved walls of the armoury were festooned with guns and cages stuffed full of ammo, explosives and other weapons.

"That's the last place we went on the base. I think he's hinting that we can get paid in equipment – presumably he can have it written off as used or lost from the battalions there some way. Good chance to get some decent ammo, for starters."

"Ok Hunter, good to know. What was your job, Aswon?"

"Well, I don't have much in the way of details, but this has come from Spook – my friend in Hong Kong who works in the same market as Milo. She is after a small combat op in Tehran, and she's offering a hundred kay base for the mission. Beyond that, I don't have anything else."

"Do you think we can combine the jobs? Do they lead onto one another?" Marius asked. They pulled out the big roll-out screen, and flattened it over the rough stack of plastic crates they used as a coffee table. Aswon plotted the jobs in a table with the locations, then pushed the data over to Hunter who mapped them and plotted out the known locations and probably operational ranges, overlaying a series of fuel range circles onto the maps.

"Well, if we go to visit the Brigadier, I think we can work on the fuel being free – as I understand it, that's a big part of our expenses?" Tads looked at Marius, who nodded in agreement with her. "And we know where we are likely to be based at least. But I also want to say that I don't like the idea of going to Tehran. Just looking at that place gave me the creeps."

"The job for Maersk – if we're going up against Esprit, we might end up in a job requiring some wetwork or mass destruction. If we're going up against their armour, we don't really have the heavy weapons for that – but on the other hand Johanna knew what kind of gear we had, so if it was that kind of mission by design, I don't think she'd have offered it to us." Aswon mused for a moment. "It might still get very messy, but it's probably doable. And if she does need us to take on armour, it may be that she has equipment for us. If that's the case, it's doable, but may involve things like oil spills and some unavoidable pollution if things go wrong. Something to bear in mind."

"The job for Maersk is actually my least favoured so far – it's clearly a combat mission, not moving gear or helping people. Tehran – well, Iran... I think we all know. But I also don't think they'll be expecting us to come back. And we're a lot sneakier now than we were!"

"I agree – we ARE much better equipped now than a couple of months ago, but let us not take this lightly." Aswon pulled his lips back in what might be a smile, showing off the huge implanted lion fangs. "They are a nation state, with international borders protected against what they see as a host of hostile nations. We should not take those for granted, no matter how good Marius is at flying or how strong is the spirit that Tads can barter with."

"If we're going over that way…. Isn't there a theme park over that side of the sea, that we wanted to investigate?" There was a sharp chorus of negative comments and denials aimed at Tads from the rest of the team. Clearly, they were not as interested as she was in resolving that particular situation.

"Isn't Tehran mostly abandoned by civilisation, though – the government aren't really active there, are they? It's more SINless, criminals, undesirables and some weird and wacky stuff?"

"Yes – but that's what would worry me." Aswon frowned. "They abandoned the city and relocated their government after Aden attacked and destroyed half the city in retaliation for their 'fatwah' declared against metahumans and paracritters. I think he took exception to being told he was a Godless abomination. And you know what they say about annoying Dragons."

"No?" Said Kai. He'd undoubtedly had heard many things, including the infamous quote in the shadow world of 'Never deal with a dragon'. But he was curious to know what pearl of tribal wisdom had been passed down through the ages by a society of shamanic huntsmen.

"Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons, for you are small and crunchy, and taste good with ketchup!" Aswon smiled at him, but Kai felt a little disappointed, and let it show. That only added to the chuckle of humour the rest shared. "On a more serious note though – looking at the figures that Hunter has just come up with, if we did the job for Patrick, the fuel costs would eat up something like 90% of the profits! I don't think we can justify that…"

"We definitely need some more details on some of these jobs to evaluate what's worth doing, and what's going to end up costing us money." Marius studied the map a little more, then sighed, clearly frustrated by the lack of information. "Otherwise we can't really work out any firm plans."

"Well, we need to think carefully about working for the Brigadier. He's mad as a box of frogs, you know."

"What do you mean, Kai?" Aswon responded, "I think he's a solid and dependable guy, and as long as we don't mess him about we can rely on his word and for him to be straight with us."

"Well, he's better at manipulating and persuading people, leading troops and giving inspiring speeches than me, so quite clearly dangerous and mad. But let me get back to Patrick now and see if we can get some more details. Aswon – can you check with Spook for more details from her?"

"Just before you do – I have a question." The team turned towards Tads, waiting for her to continue. "We're assuming it seems that we're going to fly to all of these jobs. If we went by truck, could we do all of them, and would the reduced cost of fuel be worth more than the increased risk from a longer journey overland?" Marius pulled a face, making it clear what he thought of the concept of not flying, but Hunter started to look at ranges and fuel costs, drawing lines on the map and working out the difference between the two modes of transport for each of the jobs.

"If we are doing the job in Tehran, that's definitely by air. Far too much risk with the mountains, the state of the city and the situation in Iran to be travelling by ground if we don't have to. If we travel across to Maersk, I think that's an air job, too. Otherwise we have to arrange a ferry across the Caspian Sea and that would cost us and take time, and transiting the desert would take far too long by truck, I think."

"I suppose the last time we crossed, we had our transport sorted out for us by Johanna. I hadn't considered the cost of a ferry crossing." Tads shrugged at Marius, who nodded at her then continued.

"We could drive up to the Brigadier, and we know the route was not that bad. I would imagine it would be a local job anyway, so having the truck wouldn't be too bad."

"Though last time we saw him, we'd just taken over the helicopter – he probably assumes that we still have it, and that might factor into his thinking…" While Tads and Marius chatted, Hunter continued to work out fuel costs and refuelling stops, working out alternatives for each of the missions. Kai and Aswon walked in opposite directions and talked or texted with their contacts, trying to get more details of the jobs without actually committing to completing them.

"Ok, the Bulgaria job – the pickup is from the eastern side of the country, drop off in the eastern part of Turkey. No specific time frame mentioned. I quizzed him on cost, and he grudgingly accepted that if he paid fifty kay, a good chunk of that would go on fuel. So he might go higher for a fast and smooth delivery." Kai twirled the phone in his hand as he returned to the couch and sat down again, relaying the fresh information from Patrick. "I think we could get him up to a hundred thousand for a good job."

"One hundred is good – pays for my fuel, and still leaves us a profit." A few smiles were shared as Marius used the possessive, clearly he had assumed ownership of the tilt-wing fully now, and the question of selling it to fund something else was well off the table. "A question for you, Tads. We have used a spirit to propel the truck before. If we did the same thing with the tilt-wing, would it increase our range at all?" Tads considered his question, but it was Aswon who answered:

"Nothing I'm afraid. A spirit can aid your movement as a person, and can improve your speed – but it can do nothing for the complex chemical reactions of burning fuel. You can go faster, but not further. That's just the way of it, and I don't know why. Perhaps Shimazu's professor might know of someone who can explain the magical theory, but be prepared to lose a few days of your life." Marius shook his head.

"No, I think I'll pass on that. But with a spirit aiding our movement – if that's possible, Tads?" She nodded "Then the eight hundred kilometre journey to Tehran and back is very easily achievable in a short time. And the speed will help us evade contact."

"When I spoke to Spook, she said that there is a very tight time constraint on this one – the convoy will be heading through the area in three days from now, and we have a tight time window to attack them. So that needs to be a priority if we're taking the job. She only told me this much about the job because we're friends – normally she wouldn't reveal operational data like that until we'd firmly committed to a job. Just bad business."

"If we try and do the job from Bulgaria to Turkey, rather than coming back here, are we going to cross straight into Iran and then head for the city?"

"Nein. I'd much rather come in over the water, go up into the mountains and then drop down to the city. Far stealthier. If we come from the west, we're going over high plateaus with really good sight lines – great for border patrols and radar coverage, lousy for smugglers. We should go and see if Rasheed is still in the area." A few of the others looked confused for a moment, and Marius sighed. "Rasheed and his wife Nasrin, their friend Javad. Big camo nets strung up between the peaks. Used to work in a ski lodge? Remember?" He saw the others nod as he jogged their memory, and wondered how they all coped in life sometimes. He seemed to recall their interactions quite clearly!

"Anyway, if they have been successful, and have fuel – we can top off the tanks there and that gives us a great place to stage from. Once we've done the job there, we can head up to the base at Samara, and then if we want to swing down south to deal with the Maersk job."

"I'm not so sure. I just get a feeling that both the task for the Brigadier and Johanna will involve extended operations. I'm just not sure we have time to do both, so we need to decide who we would want to let down, or not work for. Especially the Maersk job, that might involve laying in ambush for tankers, or staking out a route, patrolling the desert or anything like that. When we used to pick up a merc contract like that, we knew to make sure we carried extra kit as we'd likely be in the field for some time."

"I think if we move decisively, the job for Patrick could be done in a day. I would like to take this one on – he's a good guy and likely a good source to cultivate for the future. Securing an arms dealer as an ally will serve us well in the future. The job in Tehran could also be performed in a day based on the distance stipulated."

"Whoa there, Marius! Sure, we can get there and back in a day, but it might take us several days to stake out the location or wait for the courier – we just don't know. Just bear in mind that Spook has only given me the bare bones so far, and we're working on a limited set of information."

"You're both right, so let's take it steady. We'll let both the Brigadier and Johana know that we're not in the right area to help them, though we might be able to get there in a week or so, if that's doable." Kai looked at around and saw nods of agreement.

"That's how we operated with Johanna before as well – so that might help us a little there. She was willing to wait to get a job done, so might do so again. Right – it sounds like we're generally looking at getting the shipment done for Patrick first, then heading over to do the job for Spook – if that's the case, then I can call Spook and get some more details?" Kai nodded, and Aswon called her up. After the normal pleasantries with her, he enquired about the mission and told her she was on speaker.

"Well Aswon. Am I to take it that you are willing to assist me in this mission, then?"

"Almost certainly, Spook. We've got a query over some of the details, and the price, of course. This is Kai, our team negotiator."

"Hello there Spook, and thank you Aswon. Yes, I have a few questions. Can you tell me, in rough terms what we're up against here? I assure you that Aswon has impressed upon us already that you have shown great trust in revealing some details of the task before we agree to do it, and you have our utmost assurances that this won't go any further."

"Hrumph. Well, ok, we shall see. I have information that a team has penetrated some of the government buildings and have liberated a substantial amount of data. They're working their way out of the city, and will be in Tehran in three days to effect the transfer to a buyer. We're looking at a mid-level team of smugglers, not primarily a combat team. They're not going to be pushovers, but neither are we talking a Fire-Watch team. So as long as you get the drop on them, you should be fine. Get the data, get away from the scene and we can make arrangements to get it to me."

"Do you want the other team dead, or disabled?" There was a pause while Spook considered this, the silence stretching out over several seconds.

"I do not *wish* them dead, but if it happens, I will not be upset. The data is the primary consideration."

"Sometimes that does make it easier to tie up loose ends. But ok – you're not fussed either way. I think we may want to negotiate up on the price a touch as well. But for the moment, I think we're good to go on the job."

"Very good. I will update the dossier and send it over to Aswon. Good luck." Kai hit the disconnect button and slid the phone back towards Aswon. They spent a few minutes working on the routing and fuel stops, with Hunter and Aswon both expressing some doubts over the timescales for chaining the missions together so tightly. While they did that, Kai looked at the mission plan and flight durations, then appeared to reach a decision.

"Ok, we'll contact the Brigadier and tell him that we're likely to take at least seven to ten days to reach him and assist. Similar message to Johanna, but more like fourteen to twenty-one days. Let's see how time critical they are, and at least they know we're engaged with some tasks as well."

"Are you sure you want to just send a text message to the Brigadier? You don't want to call him?"

"No, Aswon – he's a canny negotiator, and I don't want to give him any advantage!"

They sent their messages, then started assembling their gear and loading the tilt wing ready to depart, choosing how many drones to take with them. Kai contacted Patrick to inform him they were planning on departing soon – before lunchtime at the latest, and to check how much cargo they were transporting in total. Patrick gave them the dimensions and weight – it appeared to be long cargo boxes – they guessed it would be military-style plastic crates, suitable for carrying weapons as well as miscellaneous equipment. Based on that, they worked out how much personal equipment could still fit in the back, and what to leave behind. He also proposed a new deal to Patrick – they would do the job for the base pay he'd already offered, but Patrick would arrange to fill up their tanks somewhere in Bulgaria. Patrick thought about this for a minute, then agreed – presumably he knew of somewhere he could get them fuelled cheaply, and that saved both of them hassle and expense."

Marius got on the phone to his Mafia buddies in Sochi – they'd established they couldn't make it all the way to Bulgaria on a single tank, and didn't have a better place to refuel along the way. Expecting to have to make excuses for why he couldn't go out drinking with them, he was somewhat surprised with how the conversation went, as were the rest of the troops. With him using his internal commlink, he just appeared to be sitting in silence – but the rest of the team were used to that now.

"Hey everyone – Alex and his buddies are in need of some cheap guns and ammo. Says they'll help us with the fuel, if we can help them with the guns. Hunter – don't we have a big pile of cheap shit that we've picked up along the way? How do we all feel about using those up?"

"Sure, we've got a stack of those KH-23 shotguns and a pile of Marakov pistols. We've been giving them away as bribes to people – I don't think any of us would want to use 'em!"

As they loaded up the guns and ammunition, Tads was distracted by a call to her number from an unlisted contact in Russia. She accepted the incoming message, and felt her gorge rise as an extremely graphic picture was displayed – a soldier that had been ripped open by some kind of creature, his body covered in vicious rents. Attached to the picture was a message – only two words.

'Please Hurry.'

"Guys – look at this. I think this is from the Doctor up in the base hospital. I'm going to send a message back, saying that we'll be there as soon as possible. But look – they clearly need our help!"

Their answer was cut off as Kai's phone buzzed, and he checked it as he received a message – this time from Johanna. It advised him to check back in ten days, or before they travelled to her to check the job posting was still open. Hunter made a note in their system to ensure they didn't forget.

Working on the basis of travelling from Turkey and the ammo drop-off straight on to Tehran, they packed the aerial and ground drones and both motorbikes, but left the ATV behind – it took up a significant amount of floor space and limited their packing options. Each of the scramblers was big enough to take a pillion rider, so they could move four people around if needed, and it was unlikely that Marius was going to leave the tilt wing anyway.

Tads checked with the number from Russia – assuming it was the doctor, she sent back asking for more details to see if she could get there faster. She got a message in response that said 'I will check to see what I can tell you'. The image from the picture kept coming to her mind, distracting her from her packing. What if by delaying, more people died? What if that included some of the troops who had come to her services? She felt frustrated and a little helpless – she really wanted to head straight up there, but she didn't think she was going to get much agreement from the rest of the team. Morally it might be the right thing to do, but that didn't pay the bills and she was aware that the Brigadier was the only one that hadn't offered them money in exchange for the job.

To distract herself, she waited until Aswon moved his next pile of gear, then followed along.

"Do you think we should start using the fake transponder idea of yours in Bulgaria?"

"We could – but why Bulgaria? I mean I have no objection, but I'm just curious?"

"Well, we've not really done anything in Eastern Europe before. It's going to be the first time working that far west since we teamed up. It might be a good place to lay a false trail?"

"That's not a bad idea actually. And it might be a good place to start the issues as any."

"I'm still not entirely sure how this is supposed to work though?"

"Well, it sort of relies on building up a history of failure. We actually fly a legitimate couple of cargo runs – and as we're getting near airports or official notice, we start to have our transponder cut out or misbehave. We get challenged, and then we tell them we're rebooting it – or let them hear us thump the control panel over an open channel and then it starts working. We're hoping that word would get round, or maybe a note attached to the aircraft transponder on their systems that we have an unreliable transponder."

"Ok… I mean that doesn't sound impossible. But what does it get us?"

"Well, if we're flying undercover somewhere and we DO get picked up, they instantly want to know who we are and why we don't have a transponder. So instead of trying to run away, we bluff – we turn on the transponder and apologise, telling them it's old and unreliable. They run a check, and they see a long history of this craft having a transponder that gives all kinds of trouble. Hopefully they fall for it and think we're just bad at maintenance, maybe issue a fine and let us go on our way."

"Ahh, I see. Well, I guess that depends on how well we can bluff over the radio. I hope Kai is getting some kind of story prepared for when it happens…."

"Me too!"

In the cockpit Marius and Hunter were laying in the route to take. They'd discussed flying a legitimate course and registering with the appropriate authorities – but that involved a lot of paperwork and leaving an electronic footprint of their journey behind. Instead they were going to trust to the stealth systems on the bird, and try to keep their craft from building up a profile for as long as possible.

"Marius! How long will you be away?" Nadia appeared next to the cockpit window, looking up at him.

"Well, only a day, maybe two – then back here to rest overnight."

"Ahh, ok. That's fine then."

"Do you want to come with us?"

"No – it's fine. I'll see you in a few days. Bring me something nice back." With that she headed over to the other side of the hanger, picked up the empty mugs from the table and wandered off to the house. Hunter and Marius exchanged a look and both shrugged. Who knew the ways of women?

Kai meanwhile had been in touch with Rasheed and sent him a bunch of cash in advance to ensure he had fuel available. The last thing they wanted was to land in the mountains outside Tehran and find themselves without enough fuel to get away. Rasheed assured him that he could make the arrangements.

Nadia returned from the house, and found Tads, beckoning her to follow. She led the shaman outside, and towards the helipad area.

"I need your help, before you all go off. Can you dig me a hole?"

"A hole? I take it you mean like when we laid the pipeline? With magic?"

"Yes, with magic. A spade would take too long!" Nadia smiled, then pointed at a few stakes in the ground. "I need this hole here. Four metres wide and deep. Six metres long. Ninety-six cubic metres. If you can make the edges as neat as possible, that will help. And the earth can just go over there." She gestured out to the side of the pad, towards more of the barren arid land leading towards the irrigated fields.

"What on earth do you need a hole that big for?"

"Does it matter really? Well, it isn't a secret – it's for a tank. Nice big strong tank. Can you do, before you leave? Otherwise it will hold up my plans."

Tads sighed, and gathered her strength, then channelled mana through her outstretched arms. Sheets of dust whipped up from the surface, and then like a wave crashing upon a beach there was a surge of earth that sloshed up and over the land, looking like some freakish nightmare mudslide – until it reached the cleared area and just reverted back to rock and dry, parched earth. It took her a few minutes, but when the dust settled there was a huge gouge of earth missing, forming a fairly precise box almost big enough to put the truck in.

"Excellent. Thank you, Tads. Good luck on your journey." Nadia turned away, and was already on the phone to someone. Tads could hear the rapid fire Azerbaijani but not make out the words as Nadia headed back to the house without a backwards glance. She saw Aswon waving from the tilt-wing which was slowly taxing out of the hanger, and strode over towards it, climbing into the side door and the cramped passenger compartment and buckled in as they got ready to launch. She saw Shimazu and Aswon both point at the hole and raise an eyebrow, but all she could do was shrug to them over the howling of the engines. By the time she'd gotten her comms set in her ear and connected up, she'd started to think about the Russian soldier spread out over the operating room table again...

The take-off was smooth, and soon they were heading north west towards Sochi. Flying through the Caucus Mountains, Marius easily slipped across the border into Russia, then raced across the hills and valleys towards the Olympic park. They landed as before, and saw the same old man waiting to fuel their craft. He must have been feeling bold as this time he spared a few glances at people's knees – but he filled the tank quickly and efficiently, just like before.

Taking advantage of the quiet, Aswon called Spook back. As the call connected, he saw her on the video display chasing an egg-roll around her plate with a pair of chopsticks.

"You can use a fork, you know?"

"Barbarian. What's up?"

"Well, we're already out on our first little task, and even if we run into a delay or two, we should be good for time. So, if you haven't already filled the job, we'll take it."

"Good, it's still free. I was hoping you could take care of things for me. I'll send over the dossier in a bit."

"Ok. I'll leave you to chase your dinner around the plate." She smiled sweetly at him, and then stabbed the food with her paired chopsticks, impaling it and then raising it to her mouth while she stared at him before disconnecting the call.

Marius and Hunter got out to meet with Alex and Vladimyr, who were waiting by the side of the pad leaning against their car, smoking unfiltered cigarettes. They raised a hand in salute as they saw Marius, then Alex got on the phone to someone and exchanged a few words, before ambling over to meet them. There were the usual hugs and greetings between them.

"So Marius – you are off to do some work, yes?"

"That's right, Alex – as you can see, we've got a new craft, but it's still in need of some upgrades. Got to earn some Nuyen."

"And you still have Nadia with you? She is a pretty girl, very good for you!"

"Yes, but she's not here. She's back at our base, keeping an eye on things."

"Very good, very good. So – have you been able to find anything for us?"

"Yes, we've got a bunch of stuff I hope you'll like. Come, let's grab the gear and head over to your car to have a look."

They grabbed the bags and boxes, and heaved them over towards the sedan, the sound of ominous metallic clinking echoing around the deserted complex. As they reached the car, a large Volkswagon panel van emerged from behind a building and headed their way. Neither Alex nor Vladimyr seemed concerned, so Marius and Hunter carried on laying out the guns and ammo on the boot of the car. The van pulled up and the side doors opened, and half a dozen thugs emerged, heading over to join them.

Alex waved them over to the boot, and a good natured shoving contest started, as each of them made a grab for what they considered the 'best' guns – the AK-97s went first, followed by the shotguns, then the pistols bringing up the tail. Pockets were filled with ammo until trousers were in danger of sliding down, and they headed back towards the van, examining their new hardware.

"So Marius – how much do I owe you for these?"

"Nothing Alex. You helped us with the fuel, and I'm sorry we can't go drinking. So let me give you these as a gift, as one friend to another." Alex and Vlad beamed, pulling Marius in for a tight hug.

"We will not forget this, my friend. We have…business….to take care of. These will help a lot. Here... take this. This is the number you need to call to use the pad. He'll come and help you, day or night, anytime. Just call. And if there are problems, you let me know." Alex had raised his voice, making sure it carried to the older man refuelling the tanks. They saw his shoulders drop in resignation, but he kept his head down and didn't disagree with Alex, who nodded in satisfaction.

"I would love to stay and talk, but as I said – things to do. Until next time, Marius."

They watched the two locals get in their car and swing around, then head off closely trailed by the VW van.

"Someone is going to get their afternoon all kinds of fucked up, I think." Aswon's voice came over the comm clearly, and several of the team nodded. "I think we ought to be going, make sure we're not caught up in any of this." The team climbed back aboard, made sure the old man was clear of the pad, and fired up the engines, lifting off and heading out towards the Black Sea and Bulgaria. Once they were over the water, Marius dropped down to a height of about a hundred metres – low enough to have dropped off a lot of the sensor networks, but high enough to clear any fishing trawlers or shipping that might suddenly appear.

In the back, Tads familiarised herself with the viewing prism, looking ahead and out to the side of the craft, then made sure that Shimazu, Kai and Aswon all had a go, too. Getting the prisms to sit right on Aswon's head proved to be impossible – the huge mane of hair was too much for the strapping, and he had to hold them onto the front of his face with one hand and use the dial with the other – not that it really mattered of course, as the system was purely a visual detection system for everyone but Tads.

Once they'd gained some familiarity with the optical sensors, Tads also worked through each of the team, asking a spirit to appear by each one.

"My recent insights into magic have revealed some new skills to me, a new path that Elk showed me. I've been taught how to call and bargain with a spirit of the air or land, and ask it to help us. But, rather than only being able to call on the spirit of the place we are at one time, I can now call on different places... look, how it works doesn't really matter. The short version is, that now at dawn I can summon a host of spirits, and assign each of you a guardian, a personal spirit to look after you until dusk. They won't be the most powerful things – but they should certainly help. I'll need to resummon them at dusk of course, just like normal – so again that will take a few minutes. But you should be able to ask your spirit to perform tasks for you, and if they're reasonable, they should comply. I just wanted to let you know, in case you saw something."

Marius and Hunter both tensed up a little and looked around the cab, a little uncomfortable with the concept that a magical being was spying on them all the time. Even in the bathroom… still, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks – probably. They tuned back into a conversation that Tads was trying to have in the back, where she was asking why they had the prism switching unit installed, rather than having one set of goggles or viewing lenses for each of the optical receivers that had been installed over the hull of the tilt-wing. She seemed to be convinced that this would add flexibility to them, allowing multiple people to look out at once.

"Well, technically there's no reason why you can't connect them up one to one. But the fibre cables are delicate, so you'd have to armour each one. And that means that if someone moves from one side of the craft to another, you have to take off the goggles and find the right other set to put those on – you'll probably spend a lot more time untangling the cables as well." Aswon suggested.

"You know what the cammo netting was like on the truck. No matter how carefully we folded it or packed it away, it always seemed to get tangled up and caught on itself, and be a pain in the ass to use. I'd have thought having a dozen sets of goggles or optics – as well as being expensive – would also always manage to get themselves tied up in knots."

The tilt-wing flew on, a hundred metres above the choppy surface of the Black Sea, heading for the town of Burgas on the coast of Bulgaria. Marius bought them in north of the town, and they flew low over a long beach that stretched for miles in either direction, disturbing a few tourists and local dog walkers with the inexplicable noise in the clear air before crossing into the agricultural land beyond. The spirit that Tads had asked to conceal their presence clouded the view that people had, and even though they were flying through clear air, they passed unseen and almost unheard over them – just the dogs setting up a furious barking cascade as they felt a disturbance their senses couldn't explain. The stealth surface of the craft and the advanced electronics systems in addition once again did their jobs, and the border forces didn't even have a hint of their passing.

They flew inland for a few kilometres, then started to arc around to the south, Hunter warily watching the screen and the pulsing radar probes from Burgas Airport control. The system didn't seem to be that high tech, but sheer proximity gave it a certain level of danger – the last thing he wanted was for some air traffic controller to get nervous about sensor ghosts or large flocks of birds that seemed to be flying a steady course. Nobody challenged them over the radio though, and they swiftly headed down towards the co-ordinates given, shedding both speed and height as they closed on Lake Atanasovsko.

They landed at what looked to be a marina of sorts – though there were no boats visible near the slipway. As they came in to land, they could see massive holding tanks or reservoirs to the south of their position that were coloured in bright shades of red or pink, more in the distance that were a lustrous green. They looked like a huge palette of water colours laid out, but were in colours unnatural enough to appear slightly menacing.

Two people were waiting for them as they flared and came in for final approach though, leaning against a large shed or hut. Both were human, dressed in jeans and tattered hoodies, while one had a cap pulled down tight over his head. Tads asked the spirit to stop concealing them as they came in to land, watching as they both jumped as the large aircraft seemed to phase into existence in the sky around them. Once the craft was safely down on the ground they both moved over dragging a large flexible hose and started to hunt around for the flap covering the fuelling nozzle. The one with the hat yelled something that sounded abusive to the other, staring at him and gesticulating rudely.

With angry retorts, the hatless guy grudgingly pulled out his cigarette from the corner of his mouth, grinding it out under his heel and kicking dirt over it, then swiftly attaching the hose to the inlet port. The other nodded and started up the pumps with a remote control. They could hear the sounds of machinery in the shed, which presumably held the fuel pumps, and a moment later they saw the hose twitch and then start to shake and vibrate as the av-gas was pumped through it.

In the background, past the hut they saw a jet coming in to land at the airport a few kilometres distant, landing on the single runway there. The airport looked to be a regional affair, not big enough to handle proper international flights and most likely fed by the flag carrier from a couple of hub airports. That probably explained the low quality radar, which suited the team just fine.

The fuelling went quickly – very quickly, the pumps clearly being top notch equipment that replaced the thousand litres of fuel in just over eighty seconds. It barely seemed like they'd started when the two guys were deftly unscrewing and capping off the fuel systems, sealing up the hatches and then giving the bird a thumbs up after checking the area left and right.

Marius didn't hang about – no more interested in staying less than three kilometres from an airport and their ATC tower than Hunter was, and headed west over the lake, keeping low and trying to remain in the ground clutter. Besides, it wasn't worth getting any altitude – their destination it seemed was less than fifteen kilometres from their current position. They cleared the lake in a few minutes, arcing slightly south of due west, and approaching what looked like a huge oil refinery or chemical processing plant.

The site was huge, stretching at least four kilometres north to south, and perhaps three across, laid out in a rough grid pattern by a series of wide but rough looking roads. Each grid rectangle held a hodge-podge of massive tanks, chemical stores, buildings with thirty metre high chimneys covered in soot and filth that blended the once highly-visible red and white alternating stripes into a uniform dusty grey. The area was criss-crossed with power lines, small local stuff forming a maze under and around the 400,000 volt national lines. Marius kicked up a little higher, balancing the risk of being spotted against drifting too close to the huge grey pylons.

They could see settlements to the north and south, spreading out from crossroads and highways, but they stopped abruptly at an arbitrary point. Clearly in the past someone had decreed that no building was to take place within a certain distance of the facility, so instead the towns had spread wide, like a set of enveloping arms, questing around the edge of the exclusion zone as the pressure for new housing spurred their growth. Why anyone would want to live so close to a potential chemical disaster was lost on them…

"Co-ordinates are to the north of the facility. Come to heading three-four-zero, range one point five three." Hunter called out, "Looks like there's a small bit of the facility that sticks out into the fields, separate from the main grid. Yeah, looks like an out of the way place with clear access and lines of sight, good place for a hand over."

They closed on the location, and as they did they could see rubble and massive piles of debris, and more pools of brightly coloured water shining in the afternoon sun.

"Oh yuk… oh, oh that's horrible. Ok folks, that area is horrible in astral space, badly warped and polluted. If it's any indication of the physical world, be careful of what you touch, and don't get anything on you. And wash your hands before touching your face or eating anything."

"I think she might be spot on. I can see what looks like the ruins of at least two buildings, and some really old and rusty tanks, and what looks like chemical slurry tanks, along with piles of slag and spoil. Looks like a dumping ground." Hunter shunted the feed from the forward sensor pod to the screens in the back, letting the rest of the team see the arid wasteland ahead of them.

Two large spherical containment vessels stood on their own, rusty and pitted from age, with arid land stretching out around them, and an overhead pipeline that was broken and smashed lay nearby, heading back to the main facility. Large piles of chalky white earth were bulldozed up into piles on three sides, while a huge empty tank lay to the west, looking like a swimming pool that had been pumped dry. Smaller pools lay around, these full of vile green and evil looking slop that did not look welcoming.

Marius bought the craft around in a gentle bank and then settled in for a graceful landing. As the engines rotated the massive rotors to a vertical configuration, they blew up a small storm of debris – certainly not the white-out conditions they'd experienced back at the quarry, but still beyond the ability of the spirit concealing them to prevent.

A truck appeared suddenly from where it had been waiting, concealed under the corner of the pipeline leading to the rest of the facility. It trundled towards them, the driver presumably heading towards the inexplicable dust storm. Tads had assured them that the spirit was powerful enough to prevent most people from spotting them.

"Aswon, take over astral overwatch, please. I'm putting my shielding up on the craft and being ready to deal with astral threats." Tads handed the goggles over, then pushed herself across the boundary into the astral, wrapping protective mana around the vehicle and trying not to gag as the pollution and despair pressed in upon her, making her feel like a thousand tiny insects were crawling over her skin."

"I see what you mean Tads – that looks awful. Spirits only know what kind of effect that must have on the things living around here." He paused for a moment. "Shimazu – I just want to make it clear, there's nothing for you here, ok? No more leeches!"

"Hey!"

With a bump they touched down, and started to unbuckle, Aswon staying on the optical system and cycling through the feeds to look for danger, while the rest of them grabbed weapons and equipment. The truck driver was still heading towards the invisible source of the dust storm, slowly descending down the broken rubble on one side of the tank. Clearly they was expecting someone to turn up, and in a craft they might not be able to see. That made them their contact – and as dodgy as all hell.

"Ok pop the hatch, let's go meet our friend." As he left the craft and stepped beyond the spirit's protective aura, he saw the man in the truck slow and come to a stop, then climb down from his cab and saunter over to them.

"Hello, my name is Peter. There is a problem." He gave no sign of alarm, and appeared calm – unlike the team who had gone to high alert as his words were relayed in to them. Marius ran through a full sensor sweep, while Hunter bought up the targeting matrix on his smart-link system, laying the crosshairs directly over the bridge of the man's nose. Aswon tightened his grip on the spear with one hand, while the other held the viewing system to his face, ready to pull it away at a moment's notice. Shimazu was poised by the back of the tilt wing, one hand on the sword and the other steadying himself as he squatted like a sprinter in the blocks, his powerful legs coiled underneath him. Tads shuddered as she pulled in the toxic and vile tasting mana, shaping the chaotic and foul energy to her will.

"Oh? My name is Kai. What seems to be the problem?"

"Sadly there are issues with the export permits. Very unfortunate. Alas, I will need two thousand Nuyen, to resolve the issue."

"Cheeky fucker!" Hunter breathed over the comms, relaxing his stance slightly. Shimazu unconsciously echoed him, reading the man's body language and not seeing any indications for physical violence.

"Kai – do you want me to make him think you've just given him the money?" Tads asked. "I should be able to do it, as long as his mental defences aren't too strong."

"Yeah, that's just rude. Two grand? He must be mad…" Aswon seemed offended by the sheer gall of the request.

"Oh, a permit problem. Ahh, well, yes, I can see that could be an issue. Strange though, Patrick did assure me that all of the permits were sorted, and didn't mention this at all. Well, I presume that there would be a cash discount, of course."

"Alas no. It is already discounted for cash you see. Two thousand."

"Well, that's most irregular. I'd better call Patrick I suppose and let him know about the problem. Maybe he can fix it at his end. He pulled out his phone and started to hit the scroll button, slowly and deliberately whilst fixing the man with an unwavering stare. "I do hope he's not having dinner. Or spending a romantic afternoon with a friend. It would be such a shame to upset him with such a small matter." As Kai watched, a few beads of perspiration formed at Peter's hairline.

The negotiation didn't take long after that – Kai agreeing to three hundred and fifty, only after apparently finding Patrick's number and hitting the dial button before Peter caved. Once the negotiations were done and three hundred and fifty Nuyen had been grudgingly counted out and handed over, Peter pulled the truck around and backed up carefully towards the tilt wing, being guided back by the team. Tads ensured the concealment stayed up, mental apologising to the spirit for forcing it to stay in such a horrific location.

The boxes proved to be standard military packing crates as they had suspected, olive green plastic boxes with a pattern of ribbing and bracing vac-formed into the exterior. Each was about two metres long, and perhaps half a metre wide and deep, secured with sturdy hinged along the entire back seam and locking hasps along the front. Instead of padlocks or mag-locks though, each crate was sealed shut with half a dozen individually numbered security ties, spread out along the length.

Hunter, Shimazu and Aswon moved to unload the cargo – and enjoyed watching Peter shrink away from them as they easily moved the heavy crates from the back of his truck into the tilt-wing. They didn't know what upset him more – the height of Aswon and bulk of Shimazu and Hunter, or the way they kept fading out of view and disappearing into thin air as they crossed the boundary of the spirits power – but either way it made a physical task much more enjoyable.

"Ok guys – you know I don't like the magical mumbo jumbo stuff, but even I have to admit that Tads is right. This place is horrible. Which makes me think more than ever – do you wonder where Patrick got those horrible mana warping and polluting special ammunition rounds that we took up to Samara? Because my money is on this place at the moment. So when you get back in, wipe your feet!" As they listened to Marius, they sobered slightly, and tried to make sure they weren't stepping into anything too disgusting.

Cross-loading only took a few minutes, and they sent Peter on his way, sealing the back ramp and then securing down the cargo with some netting and ratchet straps, then reporting to Marius that the load was secure. He got them back in the air quickly, rising up well clear of the power lines and chimneys, and started to bank away, heading further inland to keep them away from the airport and between the two towns, following the line of straggly looking fields.

As they left the area of the facility, Tads felt the manasphere clear, the hazing and distortion slowly receding until it felt 'normal' again. She moved over to the boxes, and waited patiently while Hunter methodically ran the bug scanner over every single crate, from one end to the other. None of the alarms twitched or showed an anomalous reading, and he seemed satisfied with his checks.

She touched him gently on the shoulder and asked,

"Do you want to know what's inside them?" He thought for a moment, then shrugged, nodding his head at her. She let her hand drift up towards his neck, laying two of her fingers on his bare skin. It wasn't strictly necessary, but it helped her focus and direct the mana as she cast a spell. The droning of the engines faded out from her mind as she concentrated, expanding the perceptions of Hunter's mind by using her catalogue spell to quantify the contents of the boxes.

As Hunter did his best to concentrate on guns and weapons systems, suddenly the devices located in the boxes sprang into his mind, and he started to make a list, logging to his computer-enhanced memory as he spoke.

"A roll of det-cord. A box of mechanical timers. A box of electronic timers. A box of radio detonators. Three crates of Type 7 commercial blasting explosives. A crate of two thousand chemical explosive rounds. Two boxes of anti-personnel claymore mines. A box of one hundred and forty-four white phosphorous grenades. Four tube launched M79B1 light anti-armour unguided rockets…." It sounded like a shopping list for a decent guerrilla uprising which was unsurprising given their destination.

The tilt-wing slowly curved around until they were heading east again, crossing back over the shore south of Burgas and heading east over the Black Sea, carrying enough war material for the Kurdish separatists to carry the fight to their Turkish oppressors for a good few months in their hold.

Marius kept them at one hundred metres above the waves and opened up the throttles. The sooner they got this lot handed over, the better…