With the main digger in operation the entire extraction process was completely mechanized. Although thought shatteringly loud, the massive and ancient machine was progressing through compacted earth faster than perhaps ten thousand shovels in unison.

One of the bandit guards strolls over to the group of three other gathered personnel at the far perimeter, lever action rifle strung from carrying straps as she yawns out a bored introduction beneath the shade of her wide brimmed hat. “Hey guys.”

“Hey.” The reply comes fast, the transmissible tiredness easily passing itself onto the faces of the others.

Two members of the Geyser Gang and one from the Bermuda Group, the trio were unmistakable in their stances and attire. Michell Oca was a towering force among them; the southlander nearing six foot four inches in height with a personality to match. The strong arm of Geyser, his partner in crime Jullian Mantiago was short, stout, and creepily quiet. A good listener, however, and as many have found one to recollect many things.

Isha Nora, the 2nd in Command of the Bermuda Gang, lived up to her reputation. A rare midlander with a voracious and violent streak to her, speaks up first to the newcomer through her facial coverings along with an open hand of invitation. “Kara!”

“Sup.” The woman nods on approach. “How’s it going guys?”

Michell laughs as he answers for Isha, the heavy rifle on his back adjusted as he speaks with his deep voice. “Terrible.”

“Noise making you sick?” Kara asks.

A grunt and sigh of agreement from the three, Isha closing her eyes as she tries to maintain her sanity against the grinding and processing of rock. “Hope they turn that thing off at night cause I don’t want to sleep with that thing churning away.”

“I doubt that. You people from Geyser are getting impatient; you’re gonna be running that all day and night.” Kara pauses as she pulls from her pocket a package of single use cigarettes. “You guys want some?”

Jullian speaks up quietly. “Please.”

“Me too.” Michell motions for one.

“I’m fine.” Isha rejects.

Contraband distributed, the small cylinders are activated. Airtight tips snapped off, chemicals reacting to air as the planted material within is automatically ignited.

“What’s Chase serving?” Isha asks as she watches the three indulge within the drug. “Back in the canteen, I mean.”

Kara takes a moment to answer, filtered smoke absorbed in lungs before exhaling. “He was cooking up some soup last I checked.”

“Protein stew?” Isha asks.

“I don’t know but he’s got like five gallons of stuff boiling away in the back of the truck. Looks good though, compared to what we’ve been eating for the past few.” Kara chuckles as she scans the rim of the mining pit above them. “Still no word on the convoy? It’s been almost three days.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Probably ambushed by some bounty hunters.” Isha soberly theorizes. “This entire Plateau is a sniper nest. We need to get whatever we’re here to get and get out.”

“I know Mari and most of the guards we assigned to that though, I know she’s a crack shot and has a good eye.” Michell counters. “Seen her take out a dude at a mile. No way anyone can out shoot her.”

“Well doesn’t matter against whatever the bounty hunters have brought here.” Isha sighs as she watches the trio take a collective drag from their cigarettes, the corruption of smoke already reaching her nostrils. “You know that stuff kills you right? Buncha doctors did a study, says it gives you cancer. And even the priests say it destroys the soul.”

“So?” Michell scoffs.

“By the Five you are all idiots.” The woman turns over to the massive excavator, shutting her eyes as she tries to eliminate the noise from her mind.

A silence as cylinders are burnt down to butts, carelessly tossed onto the world beneath their feet.

“By the way do we even know what we’re looking for?” Kara motions suddenly to the second in command of the Bermuda Gang. “Like, we’re all for the ‘treasure’ but nobody’s told any of us what it actually is.”

Isha pauses at the words, formulating an answer from secrecy. “You know I asked the same question to Marver and you know what he said?”

The mention of the leader silences minds, an awaited answer spoken. “You know how they say that one of the bullets of the GOD GUN fell here?”

A religious trivia barely remembered, ears open as the woman continues. “Well, according to Marver, it wasn’t actually an accident. It was purposefully aimed here because they say an entire…”

Words trailing off into a distant mind, pale brown eyes turn towards the singular road leading out towards the carved plateau.

A figure approaching, a foreign implication in their gait.

Long white robes hiding within an angular form, the four guards at watch staring at the woman.

Michell speaks up, confusion evident in her voice. “Who the hell is that?”

“Is that Naro?” Kara squints her eyes as she shoulders her rifle, hands cycling a lethal round into the chamber with a metallic snap.

“If it is, you don’t want to shoot her.” Jillian whispers.

“By the name of Arsa, if it is her you probably do.” Michell jokes as he speaks the name of the forbidden one.

“A bounty hunter?” Isha attempts to match descriptions as she herself places a hand onto the handgun on her hip. “But she’s alone… and no guns.”

“Ah screw it.” Kara aims directly at the woman, taking a deep breath as sightlines clear. “I got a bad feeling about this anywa… ”

The mind isn’t able to comprehend the swiftness of death.

The trio of souls watches as the thin form of Kara is crushed instantly into a tiny sphere of gore, armored clothing and weaponry brutally integrated with flesh and bone. Isha inhales in utter shock, eyes wide as the distant form seemingly apparates right in front of her. “GODS ABO…”

Eyes a roaring blue hue, augmentation burning as gravity itself warps around an angular body. Distorted reality contorts by order of a centered mind, a lance of power surging as a lethally thin blade of power severs bodies in half.

Blood spilled upon a world of dust, corpses bleeding out life as they crumple to the earth in puddles. A priority target spotted by the Collective Auditor at the edge of her vision, the creature swiftly turning towards the unmanned heavy vehicle.

Gang members; workers and guards, stop. Eyes turning towards the sound of commotion, souls in shock as they all see her. Bodies at her feet, the roar of machinery silencing the barely living screams of the mortally wounded.

One soul panics, a wave setting the entire encampment into chaos.