They pressed on through the day, trying to race through the pass. In theory, bandits should avoid the pass as there was less room for them to maneuver in. On the other hand, it was also far harder for prey to escape. It’s not like they were a very large group either. They kept their eyes out.

When twilight fell, they found a reasonably defensible little campsite. The guards looked unhappy- it was defensible-ish, but there was no real way to screen them from rifle fire from up the mountainsides. ’Te agreed with them, but since they didn’t have a better suggestion, it would have to do. Fortunately the night passed peacefully.

Morning came, and ’Te resumed the usual patterns of the road- dishing out food, and quizzing people on what they saw and what they understood. ‘’Te insisted on the Guards remaining in their armor and with their full ballistic load out equipped. The bandits might have bows, but the Collective had rifles and depressingly effective combat doctrine. Best to be prepared. Because ’Te knew damn well those “bandits” were more than just suspect.

“I guess I just don’t understand what Jerri gets out of all this? I get that she hates us, but does she really hate us enough to screw over her family and city?” Xiachoram asked.

’Te nodded thoughtfully at that. “You said you ran around with some of the younger generation at the Grand- Any Nomeki’s in attendance?”

“Sort of. A couple of Vergits, which is a sort of distaff branch Nomeki.”

“Describe them briefly.”

Xiachoram thought it over and shrugged. “Cruel morons.”

“A little less briefly.”

“They have no idea how to make money, no comprehension of what it’s worth to people, but they know that they can use it to make people do things. And they like to use it to humiliate or hurt people. They are so useless, their family put them on an allowance and publicly announced that the family wouldn’t honor any debts they racked up.” Xiachoram flicked his fingers, like he was trying to shake off boogers.

“They borrowed five grand off of me, each. They then used the money for two things- expensive wine and cheap whores. They drank the wine, then smashed the bottles on the floor. Then they made the whores dance. I suspect you know how the rest of this story goes.”

’Te nodded. “Sounds like you found the best of the Vergits.”

Xiachoram winced.

“I’m afraid it’s not just the distaff branches, the whole family tree is warped. Mentally poisoned. They don’t have the Clan’s internal controls or moral teachings, so they naturally devolve into depravity. And yes, I am quite aware of the irony of me saying other people are morally depraved.”

“Expert-” Xiachoii started to speak but was waived down by Xiatokte.

“The point is, while I despise Jerri, because she keeps trying to kill me and mine, she is smart. Very smart, very ruthless, and very clear sighted. She focused all that brainpower on making her bank as rich and powerful as possible. And she succeeded. She also completely neglected her family. The results were predictable. None of them, not even her own children, are worth a fart. They are all, all, petty, monstrous, poisonous things. You know what our long term fall back plan for dealing with the Nomeki’s is?” He grinned.

“We just wait. The next generation will ruin them.”

The campsite went quiet at that.

“Since the next generation will bring about the destruction of the bank, she might as well burn it down herself, and take us with her.” Xiachoii murmured.

“Right. Because this can’t be her fault. There needs to be a villain. Someone that made her a shitty mom and her kids a litter of spiders. Some shadowy, wealthy family, secretly controlling the world through money and sinister education.” Xiatokte shook his head. “Not the first time someone levied that charge against the Clan. Not the thousandth time. This year.”

There was a noise, a sort of wet thwap. Then a crack, like a stone breaking. Red stain spread across Xiachoram’s white robes. The sound of thunder rumbled from the mountainside.

“Cover! Cover!”

Everyone dived for what cover they could find, but the fire was coming from above. The necrotic coachman was torn apart with rifle fire. The corpse dropped, the metal cap wired to the coach falling away from its head. The guard’s armor could stand up to a few rounds, but not many. And the anti-ballistic armor only covered their torso and head.

By seemingly universal agreement, those who could still move got under the Landau. Bullets plinked off the side of the bargelike vehicle- a temporary refuge.

Xiachoii had pressure on Xiachoram’s chest wound. She held his wadded up robe against the hole. She reached under him to try to shift him around, and her hand came out bloody. She shook her head, but did her best to keep him stable. Not like she could help with the fight.

“Expert can you deploy the bio weapon?”

“It’s inside the Landau. Door won’t open without a coachman. How is the triangulation going?”

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“We can roughly spot where they are from. The problem is that we can’t get a weapon on them before they can cut us down.”

Xiatokte thought very, very fast indeed. “Give me a rifle.”

“Expert?”

“I’ll draw fire. Best I can do is two seconds, maybe two and a half, so you need to get those snipers suppressed in that time.”

The chief guard took a long look at Xiatokte, and slowly nodded. “Eternal as gold.”

“Glory to the Xia.” ’Te nodded back. He took the rifle, removed the magazine and worked the action to clear the chamber. Then he reloaded it, put the round into battery, and crouched, ready to run when the guards were ready.

The guards, for their part, were fixing grenades to the ends of their rifles and loading the special ammunition to propel it. They snapped the ampules that would accelerate their perception and reflexes, at the cost of great pain later. The drugs were inhaled, then the breath was held. Then released with violent coughs.

“Call the target.” ’Te’s voice was steady.

“North-northwest, elevation forty degrees.” ’Te shot the guard a hard look.

“Fuck it, let’s do it the hard way. On GO. Three. Two. One. GO!”

’Te exploded out from under the Landau. His rifle rose up and around, trying to find the snipers. He didn’t see a damn thing. Time slowed. The snipers saw him. He could feel their time blend with his. Feel their perception clash with his. He followed the feeling, aimed and shot. Then again. Then again. The snipers started firing back, rounds whipping to the ground around him as ’Te moved just enough to make them miss. He could feel the connections fraying, then solidifying. He hadn’t hit anyone, but he was making them keep their head down. He shot again.

Then the Guards were half out from under the landau. They could see the smoke plumes. The crack of their heavy rounds. Grenades launched up, up, then fell. Then burst. ’Te could feel some of the connections weaken or sever. One of the guards bolted for the hobbled cheves and started hauling over their shields. More grenades were launched. ’Te could see movement up on the mountain now, the snipers were moving to better cover. They had to be a hundred yards away or more!

Xiachoii hauled the bleeding Xiachoram out from under the Landau, keeping the bulk between her and the mountain.

“Wuh. Whuy wemovin?” Xiachoram slurred. The light was pretty dim in his eyes. Xiachoii figured she had maybe a minute.

“Congratulations, ’Ram, you win.”

“I win?”

Xiachoii hauled him up and over enough so that he could flop half into the box where the coachman sat. She then shoved him along the floor, pushing the coachman’s remains ahead of Xiachoram.

“You win. You get to be the one who is the most valuable to the Expert and the Clan.”

“Haha. I knew I would. I knew it would be worth it.” The violent movement was dimming the light from his eyes faster than she hoped. She hopped into the box and crawled over him.

“Yes, all those horrible things you said, and did, and promised. All worth it. Because now you can really help the Expert when he needs you the most.” She picked up the metal cap that had connected the Coachman to the landau. Then she jammed it onto Xiachoram’s head. There was a whine, like screws going into metal, and a meaty chunk. The coachman rose and sat on the bench. Ready for his orders.

“Expert! You can deploy the bio weapon!”

’Te had dived back under the coach. He had a pounding headache, and for some reason he was ravenous. Xiachoii wasn’t dumb, so… He whistled the code to open the door to the Landau, then yelled “The Dreadful Mrs. Crump is to deploy. Mission: Extermination. Target: Everyone more than twenty meters from the operator but less than a kilometer from the operator.”

There was a great deal more gunfire after that, and screams. Then blessed silence.

The results of the battle this time were far less one sided. The anti-ballistic quality of the armor worn by First Class Xia Guards was excellent, but only up to a point. The armor was concentrated on the chest. The back had less protection, and the limbs had none. In short, there were three wounded and two dead, leaving only one fully combat effective guard.

The wounded weren’t in too bad shape, in that they would likely keep their lives and limbs, but it would be some time before they could rejoin the fight. Which meant they would have to either be carried in slings behind their cheves, or they could be moved into the Landau. ’Te tapped his lip, considering his options.

“All non-combatants, to me, please.”

They assembled in front of him. He counted two CDO’s, one Valet, one Retainer by the name of Rochelle and one Xiachoii.

“Where is Xiachoram?”

Xiachoii simply pointed silently to the coachman, no longer leaking from it’s chest wound, it’s once fine robes stained with mud and blood.

“It was his final wish, Expert. He was so proud to be of service to you.”

’Te was starving, and Xiachoii was looking mighty tasty. She had no hope of fooling him about what happened. But then, she would have no way to know that. And to be fair, she was covering for both of them.

“We will light incense to his memory upon our return. In the meantime, CDO’s and Rochelle, you will be on cheves for the next few days. Phendrick, you will be looking after the wounded in the front compartment. Xiachoii, you are with me in the main compartment.” He clapped his hands. “Get to it. Rochelle, stay behind. Oh, Xiachoii?”

“Yes Expert?” She demurely waited, her eyes fixed on the center of Xiatoktok’s chest.

“The coachman is inappropriately dressed. Certainly no Clansman of ours could be displayed in so disgraceful a fashion. Remove the robes. Cover it with something recovered from the bandits.”

“Yes, Expert.”

“Now, Rochelle. Remember how I said that being in my retinue wasn’t what you thought it was?”

“Yes?” She sounded nervous.

“Relax, it’s nothing painful or embarrassing. I just need you to look at this.” ’Te held up a cut glass gem on the end of a string. It caught the light brilliantly, the facets scattering a joyful glory of bright dots. “Please just focus on the pendant as I explain some of the duties of a retainer.”

His voice fell into a soothing cadence, confident, warm, relaxing after the terror of the attack. “You are probably feeling all kinds of things right now. That’s fine. That’s normal. Just keep your eyes on the pendant. Look at those lights flicker and spin. You don’t need to look at any dot in particular, just keep your eyes focused on the pendant. That’s good. All those feeling you are carrying are getting lighter and lighter, the longer you look at the pendant…”

It was a quick, light hypnosis. ’Te didn’t know how to properly “feed” the Xia in him. His textbooks had been damnably vague. But he knew that the more Rochelle focused on him and devoted all her time and attention to him, the faster he would feel full. He was careful to make the hypnosis relaxing, comfortable, and reassuring. He wanted her to remember his hypnosis as something she wanted. It wasn’t much, but it was what he could do. And he had told no lies. After six months of conditioning, she would be quite incapable of even conceiving of quitting. Every scrap of her attention, of her time, would belong to him.