We need to speak Onis now. Right now.

The devastation was enormous. The picture kept cutting back and forth from the heaving seas of demonic insects and troop carriers rushing to the border. Mages setting up warded enchantment sites. Curse delivery systems, golem launchers, necromancers with their articulated wagons of weaponized dead. All rumbling for Jeon.

<>

Truth did. There were plenty of board books and what looked like books to teach kids to read. It was a good place to start. Lots of pictures. Truth moved like a blur through the room, the System absorbing everything in seconds.

<>

Truth ran. The System hadn’t got it quite right. The one room schoolhouse handled the educational needs of the entire village. Truth tore into all the books he could lay hands on, tossing aside the books about math or science or politics, focusing on the language books. It took a bit longer- a few minutes instead of a few seconds.

<>

Truth zipped back to the police station. Nobody had moved. Three cigarettes had already gone out, their ashes sprinkled over desks and laps.

“The brave mages of the First Battalion have contained the tide at Fragrant Bamboo Village, and as you know, the Army is pressing forward in a string of decisive victories against the insect tide. Thanks to your brave protectors in the Army, the public can sleep safely.” The steely eyed young man spoke firmly to the watching audience. “To explain the scope of the danger, we have a very special guest, Mr. Wan Shui Tan, Spokesman for the Deputy Assistant Minister for Internal Mobilization.”

“Wish I could say it was good to be here, Mr. Bai.” The spokesman looked half dead, and was contemplating finishing the job.

“We all understand. What is the latest word from the border?”

“Jeon swears they are not responsible for either the Hell portals or for the slithering war-crimes masquerading as beast-crafted weapons systems. In flagrant, blatant, violation of the Treaty of Vesnat, incidentally, as well as multiple bio-arms proliferation treaties Jeon is a signatory to.”

“So no change?”

“I didn’t say that. The Communications Corp have been running spellbreaker and counter jamming programs at the border. By complete coincidence,” Both the spokesman and the news broadcaster were too well trained to share a look. “Those spells accidentally crossed the border into Jeon. Revealing a frankly massive troop buildup.”

“I thought Jeon’s army was small?” The newscaster asked.

“Compared to ours? Tiny. But what they lack in mages, they make up in beastcrafted horrors, golems and talisman devices. And it seems that they have been planning this wretched treachery for some time.”

“Could you explain that for us please?”

“Simple enough- they have built at least one, and quite possibly several, forward operating bases in Onis territory. The discovered base is absolutely filthy with some of the most vile summons we have ever seen. And while the Army hasn’t yet launched an assault on it, our surveillance indicates a frankly insane amount of fixed defenses. They intend to make any assault on this base as costly as possible.”

“I assume a siege is planned?”

“Yes, but there are problems with that. First is that the base is directly on the border with Jeon. Straddling it, in fact. The second is that the presence of numerous high level mages makes starving them out impractical in a timeframe of less than a year, even if they didn’t have supplies on base. And we can be reasonably certain they have ample supplies on base. Third- the intermittent influence of Cosmic Energy Saturation Events is likely to intensify over the coming year, possibly two years.”

Is that what they are calling it? Truth wondered.

“All of which would impact our ability to maintain a siege. Still, Jeon cannot possibly expect this gross affront to national sovereignty to pass.” The newscaster sounded properly outraged.

“Of course not. Which is where we get to the fourth problem. No one has yet confirmed the identity of the forces inside the bunker. Jeon disavows them entirely.”

“Oh, then that’s easy. We can just go in and assist our southern neighbors with a rebellion they are too incapable to suppress.” The presenter subtly flexed his fingers.

“Exactly the stance of the President, the Premier, and the Army Chiefs. The only questions are how much is this assault going to cost us, and who exactly is inside.” The spokesman tapped the table.

“If it’s not Jeon, who else could it be? And regardless of who it is, why should we care?”

“Because the other sizable military force in Jeon, other than the Government, is Starbrite.”

The screen flashed a picture of Great White Mountain. Truth didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He wanted to lure in outside forces. It seemed that he didn’t need to bother.

“That would be tricky, certainly, but ultimately it’s just one company. How did the base get discovered, if I may ask?”

“Due to the anti-surveillance efforts of the base itself. They were running heavy counter-espionage sweeps through the forest at the base of the mountain, and triggered some of the hidden detection arrays we deployed to find infiltrators and saboteurs. We sent golems, they destroyed or tried to defeat the golem’s surveillance, it escalated rapidly, and not eight hours later- the outbreak of Hell portals and the vermin swarm. It might have been a coincidence, if it wasn’t for the nightmare things that they are using to control the mountainside.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The presenter put up blurry pictures of the multi-eyed amoeba things that Truth had run into by the cave mouth.

“Describing them as Hellspawn is an insult to Demons.” The presenter frowned.

“That would be in keeping with Starbrite.”

Truth turned away. His cheek twitched. Could something go according to plan, yet not at all according to plan? The sheer increase in military grade surveillance was going to make sneaky infiltration even more impossible than it was before. So… fuck it really. He nodded decisively.

Time to make things even worse.

“Oh shit, Thrush!”

One rushed communication ritual later, Truth was back on the road. He wasn’t interested in going back to the same town- nothing useful there, and it was now a mite too hot for comfort. Instead, he opted to swing north and east, around the opposite side of the mountain. It seemed both fitting and unfair that the scenery on the Onis side of the border was just as boring and bleak as the Jeon side. It seems that neither mountains nor trees cared about the all important line on the map.

He snagged a lift on a bus. Literally on it- he made himself a nice spot to lie down on the luggage roof rack. It wasn’t too comfortable, but it wasn’t too bad. The roads were being surveilled by both spell beasts and flying talismans, but the drain was very manageable. Closer to the front lines, things would get more intense.

He waited until he started seeing the first roadblocks. Nowhere near as intense as the ones in Jeon, but there was ample surveillance and what looked to Truth’s eye like a junior secret policeman watching the scry feed remotely. He took it as a sign and hopped off the bus.

“Did you smell that guy?”

“My nose is crying. Do they not have showers in the mountains?” The conscripts were quietly chattering. Their corporal ignored the noise, probably wishing he had someone he could yak with too. Truth hadn't noticed much traffic on this road.

“Got that nasty farmer stank. Never learned to wipe his ass.”

Hmm. Posted from a city way out to the boonies? Well he was from Harban and got posted to a remote customs station for his national service. So not that weird, probably.

“And not a single pretty girl on the bus. At all. This posting sucks.”

“You still think you can pick up chicks at a checkpoint? Seriously, what the Hell is wrong with you?”

“It could happen. Our eyes meet, she falls for the handsome man in uniform-”

“Bro. Buddy. Soon To Be Disowned Brother From Another Mother. No.”

“Not like we can take matters in hand with an intel weenie breathing down our neck.” The corporal did look over at that, and the conscript had the good sense to wince and nod apologetically.

Truth jogged over to the field office- a glorified cargo container dropped off on the side of the road. The door was locked, of course. Some thoughtful soldier had, however, “field repaired” the lock so that you could pop it open if you pressed Qalith and Xereph at the same time. As a fully qualified maintenance tech, Truth was outraged. As a former conscript and a lifelong jank appreciator, he could only applaud.

Trying to find the one person with the keys, especially when you were way out in the boonies, sucked. This was better.

He walked in. There was, indeed, a secret policeman watching the soldiers and the checkpoint, hearing their conversation with crystal clear audio pickup to go with the recording talismans. Truth was amused to spot the presence of a remarkable amount of pornography and hand lotion, and even more amused to note that the secret policeman had apparently missed the tiny talisman built into the wall that was recording him.

Truth shook his head regretfully. That wasn’t officer material. A real high flier would be making “friends” with locals, simultaneously cultivating possible informers and patsies, as needed. When said locals were not being requisitioned for another purpose.

No convenient map showing where all the checkpoints were, nor hidden internal security bases. Shame. Codebook that might have that info? It didn’t take long to search the place. No luck. The policeman had gotten his trousers down and was reaching for the lotion when the communication altar chimed. The officer swore, tried to yank his pants up, and managed to zip something tender in with his fly.

The officer’s shriek would have really cheered up the conscripts. Alas, only Truth and the cop’s supervisors got to enjoy it. The altar started chiming with increasing urgency. The officer tried to hop and hobble over, collapsing in pain part way. In a fit of heroic, desperate bravery, he yanked the zipper back down again. The shriek was every bit as heartfelt the second time. The quiet, sobbing whimpers were truly moving. So moving that the supervisors turned up the volume and speed of the alert yet again.

Eventually, the officer crawled over and activated his end. “Station Seven-Four-Two, Present.”

“Station Seven-Four-Two, report! Are you under attack? Do you require assistance?” The voice on the other end crackled with tension.

“NO, no, sorry, I was in the bathroom. Blue, Blue, Pollard Fifty Savage.” Truth nodded. Clearly a code to show there wasn’t a hostile in the room.

“What? Are you dying of constipation? You know you are expected to answer the call within three rings. A man with even the faintest dream of promotion would do well to get it down to one ring!”

“I apologize. I was negligent. In the future I will install a chemical toilet in the trailer, to ensure this does not happen again.” The agent rolled his eyes.

“Naive! In the present state of emergency, you cannot take such half-hearted measures. I will instruct your corporal to provide you with a sleeping bag. Ensure you are never more than three steps from the altar, so that you can respond to any emergency!”

“Commander, my exercise needs? To say nothing of the other officers on site?”

“Are you questioning my arrangements, Constable?”

“Never, Captain!”

“Good. Now then, the reason for my call.” The constable straightened up. “You have not contributed for Major Tsu’s birthday present. This is a crucial opportunity to stand out. When are you going to send the money?”

“I… I was waiting for payday. I have already sent most of this month’s salary back to my family-”

“NAIVE! Who will protect your family when the world collapses? You? No! Only the Army can do that, and that means keeping Major Tsu happy, and yourself in his eyes. Do you think your tiny filial piety will move him?”

“I was wrong!”

“You were. I’m sending everything down in two days. Get a loan if you have to! I want the red packet in Nilfu and on his desk first thing when he comes to work. You understand me, Constable?”

“Sir! Yes, Sir! At once, Sir.”

“Good. I will be inspecting your post at some point this coming week, and I expect to see nothing but excellence.” The call cut out. The officer collapsed onto the deck.

Truth smiled warmly. He had always hated Internal Security. The nasty bastards had a way of disappearing whole families. He remembered Nilfu from his road atlas. Just up the highway from here, almost due north of the Great White Mountain. Wouldn’t it be terrible if something were to happen there?

Truth cracked his knuckles. Yeah, that would just be the worst. He smiled, set his pack again, and started jogging.