Lucia sat behind her desk with her head slumped down onto it. She’d called me while I was still scrounging around the OuroSec library. “Mind helping us out with something?”
”…?” I slid into the chair across from her and likewise slumped onto the table.
”Heh.” She lifted her head up and propped it on her chin. “Just a bit tired, Aylin. No need to worry.”
”…” Tiredness had a way of stacking. It was always just a bit right up until she crashed. That wasn’t what she called me here to discuss, though.
“We’ve used Moller Ironworks for most of our raw resources for over a century. They get free mining equipment, and we get high-quality resources.” Lucia sighed deeply, shaking her head. “One of the previous execs stupidly broke off the deal my grandfather made with Moller after I ‘died’.”
”Oh.”
”Yeah… they did all sorts of damage to Cernobog. We’re only a large corp in name now. As things are, we might not even stand against a small one. Doesn’t help that the Golden Dipper Society is stalling our deal.” She ran a hand through her hair, pulling at it slightly. “Winning the duel against Tzon Enterprise gave us some small stability, at least.”
“…” I could see why she was so stressed recently. Having to clean up a bunch of belligerent idiots couldn’t be easy. And, as far as I knew, she still hadn’t promoted people to fill the positions yet.
”They’ve graciously agreed to ignore the breach of contract for a heavy shipment of tools and gear.” She pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me. It was covered in what might as well be chicken scratch. It was a bunch of stuff I had no clue about. “I need you to protect it. I’m worried Tzon might try something after their recent failures. The Tenok will join you. We can’t afford a loss right now.”
“…!” I’d have to bring my A game then. No accidents. It’d been a while since I last been on an escort job like this.
”Here.” She handed me a dataslate with Bastion’s map on it. “The shipment will leave our main factory in Wrighton, travel across the city, and then down into Crypt below Aegis.”
”Crypt?” I’d heard of that a few times in passing. There were a bunch of bounties there from Lotus, though I’d never looked into it.
”Do you not know what that is?” Lucia looked surprised, though swiftly shook her head. “Guess that makes sense… It's a series of underground passages and tunnels. It’s—well, you’ll see. If you’re going to be attacked, it’ll be down there. Throne doesn’t pay attention to anything in Crypt.”
Ah, a lawless zone then. Right underneath the city though? Surely they still paid some attention. What if some group set up a dirty bomb or massive ritual down there? No, what were the chances something like that would happen? A massive ritual would definetely get noticed by the various mages around the city, anyway.
“Got it.”
”Good.” Lucia refused the datapad when I tried to hand it back. “That’s yours now. Corporate contact, and all of that stuff. Should already be set up with permissions.”
Nice… I wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost with this thing’s map, at least. I formed a white satchel out of Ebonshroud and tossed the data pad in. “Thanks.”
”No, thank you.” Lucia turned back to her terminal—“Oh! And Torvald wanted to talk to you about pay and all of that. Should be down in his office, if you want to go give him a visit.”
“Yep.” Might as well get that taken care of now. I headed out of her office to speak with the dwarf treasurer.
— — —
A day later, I arrived outside of Cernobog Industries's main factory in Wrighton. This place—it reeked. I didn’t want to wear masks as Moon, though I made an exception and formed a rebreather out of white Ebonshroud. The smog in this part of the city was just something else. Almost every factory in Bastion was segregated right here into Wrighton.
There were so many factories and workshops here that even the temperature was higher than elsewhere in the city. Then, of course, there was the giant landmark of Teotl Reforged’s massive volcano on the far eastern side of the district. That probably didn’t help the heat levels either.
I was in the front most APC of the convoy. If there was fighting, it would probably be an ambush, yep? I wanted to be in the thick of it. It’d be lame to be at the back and then have to run all the way to the front to get engaged in the fight. Though an ambush would probably hit from both sides.
The APC’s passed through several security checkpoints and into the loading area of the factory. There were already several semi trucks and a few other cargo vans loaded and waiting for us. There was a certain tension in the air that was undeniable. It seemed everyone here knew the weight that this shipment had.
Workers scattered around the loading yard watched us with clear hesitancy in their eyes. I had a feeling it wasn’t everyday Cernobog sent APCs to help transport goods. A few Tenok got out of vans and replaced the drivers of the semi trucks. It seemed Lucia didn’t want to leave any chances of an internal traitor.
I likewise got out and inspected the vehicles. They’d have to bring some rocket launchers or something to slow us down. Should be fine? Hmm… I moved back to my APC and asked the driver, “Formation?”
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“One-two-one-two-one, ma’am. APCs evenly split between the semis.” He shifted in his seat. “Is there an issue?”
If I was at the front, the weakest part of the formation would be at the back. “Change. One. Four. Two.”
“Um—you sure, ma’am?” The driver looked back toward me, pausing just short of calling it in. “It’ll take longer for reinforcements to come up from the back of the convoy.”
“Sure.” The front wasn’t the issue. They did have the right kind of idea, but that was only true assuming I wouldn’t be here. I was worth at least an APC.
The back would have to hold out longe enough for me to finish at the front, and then come back to help them. They were better off with higher numbers. Thankfully, I didn’t have to deal with much more resistance. Lucia put me in charge. While the Tenok may not trust me yet, they certainly trusted her decisions.
While the formation shifted, the other cargo vans split out from the heavy convoy and headed out into the streets ahead of us. It was likely some kind of diversion tactic. We must’ve been moving some seriously valuable cargo to need all of this security.
Then again, Lucia did say we couldn’t afford a loss. Cernobog was in dire straits at the moment. From what I’d picked up, we hadn’t had to downsize or anything like that. It was a near thing though. A loss now could be potentially devastating, especially if it ruined our contract with our raw resource supplier.
I settled back into the leading APC. The Tenok around me looked a little stressed. They were all armed to the teeth, ready to deal with whatever cropped up. There was no need for the nerves though. It’d be a long drive before we left the city for Crypt. We knew they weren’t going to risk an attack out in the city—
Oh—wait… they could though, couldn’t they? What if Tzon hired out a bunch of Anarchs to mess us up? Hmm… surely Lucia already thought of that, yep? She must have her reasons for believing the attack would only come once we entered Crypt. I’d trust her. Besides, if we were attacked on the streets, it’d get the attention of Wardens and Throne.
The APC kicked into gear and pulled out onto the street as the first of the convoy. Gunners near the front swiveled around terminals, and eyed our surroundings for any hint that something might go wrong. Not that it’d matter. I knew from experience how easily an Anarch could get in, cause chaos, and get out. We’d likely be hit before the turret could turn.
My attention shifted to a man at the front. He had a certain grizzled veteran vibe to him like he’d seen far too many battles. “Moving. This is it, lads. Make sure yer locked and loaded. I’ll buy a pint for all of ye after this, eh?”
Chatter broke out through the squad of Tenok. One of them, a bulky man covered in heavy equipment, called out in a cheerful voice. “Right, Sarge. After you spend the night with that lady in-“
The man kicked out, and hit his subordinate hard in the knee. The sergeant had on an exoskeleton, boasting his strength quite a bit. It was no wonder the guy flinched back. “We’re in polite company now, Breach.”
”Right…” The guy glanced at me. He adjusted his helmet and casually started to check his gear. The man had a bunch of explosives strapped to him alongside an LMG.
“‘S fine.” I was part of Serhymn’s military for a long time. They were a bawdy bunch, especially as things turned grimmer and grimmer. I doubted anything these guys said would make me uncomfortable. “Pint. For me?”
”Aye!” The sergeant chuckled, and some of his tension faded away. “Come join us at the bar after this is over, ma’am. I’ll buy ye several.”
[Nighteye looks you over. Can you even handle alchohol?]
Probably. It’s been a while since I had any, though. And my body had, admittedly, gone through quite a few changes since then. It should be fine? I doubted I’d get drunk off of just one drink. Most drugs didn’t affect me anyway, so I doubted a little alcohol could.
Silence settled on the group. A medic near the front coughed lightly. “Think we’ll actually get in a fight, Sarge?”
”What—you scared, Stitch?” Sarge shrugged his shoulders. “Lady Lucia put it at ninety percent. What do ye think, Warden?”
I shrugged and idly pulled out a tendril of Ebonshroud. It wrapped around my arm and flowed up into a harp. ”Not till. Crypt.”
”Aye. That's what the others speculated too.” The sergeant nodded a few times. “We’ll be fine lads. We got a Warden on our side, not to mention two other squads and three APCs.”
Stitch settled down slightly, though his expression was still tight. “If you say so.”
Breach clapped Stitch on the shoulder, chuckling to himself. “Time to get your feet wet again, my man. Think about how all the women will swoon over your battle tales.”
Stitch carefully extracted himself from the other man. “I was more worried about having to patch you useless lot up.”
“Speaking of.” A fourth spoke up. Her face was hidden behind a thin mask, and she had a slightly shifty look. “Won’t the APCs be a liability down in Crpyt? There ain’t exactly a lot of wiggle room.”
A round of agreement came from the other Tenok crammed into the vehicle. Sarge raised his handle, calming the chatter. ”The higher-ups made the call to caravan up. Block all approaches with the bulk of the APCs and ensure the cargo remains secured. Then either wait for reinforcements, which are ready to come at any sign of trouble, or fight our way through. It’ll be Moon’s call.”
That last sentence… he said it with a certain distaste to it. Probably wasn’t fond of the idea that I was in charge with barely any combat experience. At least, from his perspective. Plenty of soldiers reacted the same to me in the past. Just like back then, I’d prove myself with steel and blood. Assuming we were attacked, anyway.
“I got a bad feeling about this.” The woman shifted uncertainly and tugged at her ballistic armor. “My drones won’t be much help down here.”
Sarge’s face shifted into an amused expression. “Then focus on hacks, Jinx. It’s fine to have just one mission without yer drones.”
“Says you…” She rubbed at the face mask. Definitely the squad’s Cipher then if they were talking about hacks. “My cute babies thirst for combat even more than I do.”
“Ye need a psychiatrist, lass. One that isn’t Stitch.” Sarge nodded his head to me, shifting the tide of conversation in the APC away. “What ye got there?”
“Harp.” I plucked on the strings and infused them with Echoing Reinforcement. The sound took on a vibrato, changing the tune of the sound. It seemed it had effects outside of just boosting magic.
A few more plucks, and a warm song from back home strung out. Kite-Bound Valiance was an ancient honor song for warriors headed into battle, and used to calm my troops. Echoing Reinforcement seemed to have some kind of effect on the tune and the people around me relaxed slightly.
I was supposed to sing alongside it, but I couldn’t exactly do that. Not in my current state. They’d just have to settle with an instrumental version of the ancient song.
While playing, my mind drifted. Would Echoing Reinforcement affect Ether Strings too? It was supposed to make magical effects stronger, yep? Would it boost the effects of magic cast by Ether Strings? I’d have to test it. And I had those new Skills I’d likewise need to test. Ugh—so much to do, so little time.
The good news was that there’d be an opportunity to play around with some of my new Skills coming up. Darkest Night was out. That Skill practically screamed Nyx. I was curious about how good Radiance would be, though.
I settled back into the chair, lightly strumming on the harp as we drove through the districts of Bastion. Battle awaited us, and my blood singed with hunger.
