“Why are you even coming along?”
Alin gazed at the clear skies.
The weather was perfect.
Only marred by the pops and booms in the distance and the plumes of dark smoke.
As long as it was all happening at the walls and not inside he’d take it despite the acrid sting and rancid stench that had him grimacing.
“You’re sense of smell is a lot better too.” Kat finally broke the silent treatment she had started a little under an hour ago.
She hadn’t appreciated his attempt to convince her not to volunteer for his plan. “And I’m coming along because you’re terrible at convincing people. I’ll do a much better job at convincing Steph not to volunteer.”
“No offense—”
“Which always precedes one.”
“You have to admit that is a little hypocritical coming from you.”
“Not at all. Mine and Steph’s positions aren’t the same at all. I’m a ranger. He isn’t. We’re together. You and him aren’t.”
“You sure about that? What if we’re secret lovers?”
She reached up to flick him on the nose. “Steph and you? No chance. Now if it was Victor…”
“Ha ha,” he said flatly. “He’s another one that I’ll have to talk to.”
“We,” she poked him in the ribs. “We will have to talk to.”
“I shouldn’t have to convince any of you,” he muttered.
Stupid friends.
He hadn’t said anything to them outside of Kat about his plan.
Someone had leaked it.
Kat had sworn it wasn’t her and she had been telling the truth.
It had to have been someone in ranger command.
He sighed.
They had no reason to keep the identity of the main architect of the plan a secret.
An oversight.
That was on him.
Should’ve explicitly stated it.
“It matters,” Kat said. “Your Quest. Many of us have been itching for something real, you know. A thing that we aren’t just going to play support in. Something big, level multiple times in one go big. Like Manila or the slavers. We want to contribute just as much as the old hands did.”
“They have regrets. Like, all of them do. And they’re the ones that survived to tell us those stories so that we won’t go and copy them. Slow leveling is safe leveling. The people that got a ton of levels? They’re the lucky few that didn’t get killed.”
“Well, you’re going.”
“Because I have to. I’m the only one that can enter D.C. and find the target.”
“You don’t have a class. It’s even more dangerous for you. I’m not staying here while you go off for a few years at a minimum and I don’t know that you’ll be able to come back,” Kat said. “Living in a world that you aren’t in isn’t something I’m interested in. I want it all or nothing. Either you’re here with me or I’m not here at all. Besides I’m in the perfect level range for the guidelines that you wrote. So, don’t you dare try to pull any dirty tricks to keep me off the Quest.”
“You’ve made your thoughts on the matter clear. I respect you, so I won’t pull any bullshit. Not that ranger command would entertain that sort of nepotism.”
He wondered if she knew that he had floated a lure out to Captain Mouthy about just that.
Who promptly grabbed it and cursed him out for a good 2 minutes with a string of expletives without repeating any words.
They entered Steph’s apartment complex.
Weights and sand pits filled the inner courtyard.
Fitting for the gladiators that occupied most of the units.
The complex was close to two of the GCA’s largest arenas.
One was an old baseball stadium, while the other used to be home to a hockey team. The icy kind, not the grassy kind.
Alin remembered that as a child he had found it really weird that an ice team had been based in Southern California, which was as far away from frozen lands as he could imagine.
Then he got older and less stupid, realizing that there were machines that froze water and kept them ice cold.
It was quiet.
The need for fighters on the walls meant that practically all of the stronger gladiators had stopped competing for fun in order to volunteer their time.
Steph had been no exception.
Indeed, he had been spending a lot of time training with the rangers in his free time.
The doorbell rang an obnoxious tune.
“Hey! It’s my favorite lovebirds!” Steph greeted them with a tight hug.
“Oh, c’mon!” Kat choked. “You’re sweaty and gross.”
“As opposed to sweaty and fragrant.” Steph laughed.
Alin gagged.
“Sorry, bros. Doing some light cardio before I head over to ranger HQ. Uh… you okay, Boy?” Steph let them go.
Alin staggered away from the doorway for some fresh air.
“It’s nothing.” Kat waved a dismissive hand. “Our adventures have led to some changes for him. Better sense of smell for one.”
“Oh, really!” Steph’s eyes lit up. “That sounds ace! What about strength? Reflexes?”
“I can bench press a clean thousand now,” Alin said.
“Damn, bro! That is ace!” Steph waved them in. “Come in, come in. You’ve been here before, but it’s cleaner now since I don’t spend much time in here. Just to sleep and shower really. So, about this strength gain?”
“For reps.
Steph’s eyes widened. “I heard a bit about you guys going worldwide, but everyone’s been super secret about it. So, you got better from… whatever it was you did?”
“Trust me, no one knew anything really. Even ranger command only knew a little. Just enough to give the okay for us to be gone for so long,” Kat said.
“Ah… let me guess, it’s got something to do with this Quest they’re asking volunteers for. And it’s the same reason you guys dropped by.”
“Don’t volunteer,” Alin said flatly.
“Yeah,” Kat echoed.
“Uh… why not?” Steph said. “It sounds important and all the guys are planning to apply.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s not exactly convincing. Just living is dangerous.” Steph shrugged. “I had to kill a monster that suddenly dropped into the middle of a parking lot down at the ale works. Thank Superhero Jesus that I had my sober pills ready! You guys have been gone awhile, but that sort of thing has been happening a lot more in the last few months.”
“We’ve heard.” Alin struggled with finding the words.
He couldn’t divulge too much because he had been ordered to silence.
Technically, he could’ve disobeyed, but that meant no more rangers.
As in, command would punish him and they knew that the worst thing they could do was put him on the shelf indefinitely.
And he wouldn’t go crying to his aunt or dad about it like a little baby.
The thought was actually alluring.
Without ranger support he’d have to use others for the mercenary ruse more so than his dad was already working on.
It was a hard thing to say, but he’d rather people he didn’t really know that well face the dangers over childhood friends and his girlfriend.
Then again… was he counting chickens before eggs?
There was no guarantee that command would select Kat and his friends.
He started going through his mental catalogue, trying to figure out the odds when a finger snap jolted him back into reality.
Kat looked up at him with a slight frown.
“Sorry, I was thinking of… stuff.”
“I was just saying that Steph’s contributions here are more important then what he might hypothetically do on a hypothetical Quest,” Kat said.
“Actually, I’m not using my full potential shooting stuff from the walls,” Steph said. “Not to be humble, but I’m one of the best one on one fighters for our level range.”
“In an arena. Fighting gladiator-style fights.”
“Ah, Boy, you might be correct, but I’ve been meditating a lot about that. Manifesting, you know?” Steph said. “Anyways, what’s a crowd?”
“People watching you fight.”
“Well, I imagine that there will be eyes watching in any sort of fight, rules or not. I mean, my opponents have eyes, right? Even monsters can be technically said to watch me fight like a crowd does?”
“What if I dangle this?” Alin mimed waving an imaginary steak in front of Steph’s face.
“I… I don’t know? What exactly are you dangling?” Steph said.
“Training with the best fighters of many different styles across the world.” He wasn’t sure, having come up with the idea that very moment, but maybe he could nepotism his way to his dad pulling some strings. “Martial arts from all over Asia, India, Africa, Europe, South America, uh…”
“Yeah, that just about covers the world.” Steph stared at him with a blank expression.
“There are gladiators in Rome. In the Colosseum. That’s, like, the original gladiators.”
“Meh… don’t get me wrong, that’d be cool, but that’s sort of what I already know. I’d be more interested in the rest,” Steph said.
“Let me talk to my dad—”
“I’m not finished. I was about to say I’d be more interested in the rest if I wasn’t locked in on this super secret Quest.” Steph grinned. “Sorry, guys. I talked to a few future see-ers and each one said that this isn’t something I want to miss. Plus, you coming here to try to tell me not to volunteer sorta clinches it. It’s like that thing where you tell the kid not to touch the hot pot?” he chuckled. “I definitely have to now. So, do you want some sparkling water? I’ve got all the flavors. I need to finish up here, but I’d love to help you guys with a better attack plan for our friends.”
“Huh?” Kat frowned.
“The ones you’re going to try to influence like you did me, except not fail miserably,” Steph said.
“Um… we weren’t going to talk to anyone else,” Kat said.
“Ouch,” Steph said flatly.
“You’re the only one that isn’t technically a ranger, but is adjacent enough and fits the profile that you’d get an invite.”
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
The plan was to draw from the rangers first, followed by those that fit said profile.
Alin went to Steph because his dad had said his friend was likely to be included.
“If it helps, he tried to talk me out of it too,” Kat said.
“That’s downright favoritism right there. Can’t believe you put me second, Boy,” Steph said. “I think that hurts most of all.”
“This isn’t going to be a joke. It’s going to be the most dangerous thing ever.”
“I’ve always believed that those sorts of situations need the funny most of all,” Steph said.
----------------------------------------
“This is bullshit!” Hayden punctuated her point with the classic hammer fist to the desk.
The air around her crackled with a whiff of ozone as tiny arcs of electricity traveled up her arm, singeing her sleeve.
Her eyes glowed, radiating the same arcs across her face.
The emotion was genuine.
She didn’t even notice the scorch mark she left on his desk as she pulled back.
Cal remained silent.
“I’m 85%.”
“84.73%, but that’s not the issue.”
“Whatever. It should be good enough.”
“Not the issue. You’re too recognizable. Suiteonemiades had a lot of opportunity and plenty of time to familiarize himself with the feel of your power. Your face was obscured, but facial recognition almost doesn’t matter with him. And that’s not counting your infamy with the rest of them.”
“So? You can just mind trick them.”
“Sure, but that won’t stick the moment they recognize your armor.”
“Which I wouldn’t wear anyways since I’d be going incognito.”
“Your power.”
“There’s a few electricity generators roaming around or in their army.”
“Not to your scale. Trust me. You can be as good as you are at controlling and concealing your output, but there are any number of detection methods at their disposal that will make it almost impossible to avoid getting noticed. Especially, in D.C.” Cal pretended to give it careful consideration before continuing. “You’re more vulnerable without your armor. You can’t fight near a demigod’s level without it, which isn’t part of the plan, but the possibility can’t be discounted.”
“I’m not going to walk in there wearing street clothes. We have plenty of plausible alternatives I can use to mostly replicate the protection it provides.”
“That’s true, but it’ll strain credibility. A mercenary band on the rise wouldn’t have its members kitted out in top tier gear. A few pieces here and there, sure, but not a full loadout. That’ll draw attention and raise questions.”
She ground her teeth.
The gears turned in her head.
Not that they needed to all that much.
The rational side of her had already known the truth of everything that he had said.
“Why Galen?”
It was the emotional side that struggled.
He empathized.
The worry she felt was exactly like his in regards to his son.
“He volunteered. He has the right skill set. And his cover story will stand up to scrutiny because it’ll be essentially true with just a few alterations and omissions.”
Again, Hayden knew all this on a rational level.
“You’ve read the plan. We’re going to be ready to pull the plug the instant it looks like they’re going to be found out. This isn’t an all or nothing.” He respected her too much to attempt to soothe her concerns as if she was a child.
“Just bomb them.”
He raised a brow, asking for elaboration.
“I don’t mean it like that. Announce it. Give the civilians time to leave. And then bomb the city. Glass it. Rod from God it in case the ritual site’s hidden underground. Anyone that stays… well… sucks for them, but we gave them the chance.”
“I think you understand that it’s not a clean, simple situation. Would you like to explain why?”
“No. I’m not really in the mood for the student teacher thing.”
“Fine. I’ll explain it then because putting it into words and really being mindful of what we are capable of doing makes it more difficult to hide or play ignorant about the consequences.”
“Don’t patronize me. I understand all that.” Hayden crackled.
He let the silence sink in, guiding her to come to the conclusions she already knew were the correct ones.
She set her jaw and glared.
He understood that she needed some slack.
Her recovery from the fight with Suiteonemiades over a year ago had been slow and difficult. She still wasn’t at 100%. Losing Jayde wasn’t something that time could fix.
Those kinds of deaths left a hole that might shrink, but never seal completely.
“I’m sorry, but you need to hear it. What are the probable chain of events after we make such an announcement?” He let a moment breathe. “Nothing. Nothing will happen. The Americans— the non-fighters, the innocents, children and such won’t go anywhere. They lack the capability to leave for another city or town on their own. The government and the combined armed forces control every aspect of that. Sure, they could risk it, but you know how dangerous it is to travel long distances without an armed escort. Where would they go? New York’s large enough and they could disperse to any of the smaller cities and towns the farther they get from D.C., but then those places would soon run into resource issues because the bulk of their supply stockpiles are funneled into D.C. and New York.”
“Yeah, I know.” Hayden frowned. “They take it from them so they can trickle it back, forcing them to work hard for barely enough to survive. Which makes the people in the smaller settlements want to move to the 2 main ones if they want more. Which makes them easier to control since once they move, they can’t leave. You don’t have to explain.”
“I don’t, but I will. Like I said. It’s good to hear it spoken out loud. Now, hypothetically, let’s say the innocent Americans actually take our warning seriously. What are our projections for government and military response?”
“You’re going to tell me.”
“Unless you want to say.”
“No.”
He shrugged. “Two ways. They let them leave without escort, which means monster death on the roads for most. Or they don’t, which leads to violence. Now, we know the demigod’s rituals, at least the ones in places like Tokyo, used violent death to convert into power.”
Hayden let out a breath through her nose like an angry bull. “Yeah, yeah! I get it!” she snapped. “That’ll just make it stronger or he’ll use it for something else. Something probably worse than the one keeping you from entering their territories.” She spun on her heel and stalked to the door.
“Galen volunteered. If you can convince him to do otherwise then I’ll find someone else to lead this mission. You can tell him it won’t change anything. I won’t look at him differently and it won’t affect his place with us.”
Hayden nodded curtly and didn’t slam the door.
Though that might have had something to do with the line waiting outside his office.
She was professional and didn’t want to look like some kind of petulant brat.
Cal was a busy man.
He had to squeeze meetings within a window of a few hours during the day because the rest of his time belonged to dealing with World Events and wars of varying sizes across the planet.
The day’s slots were strictly for those members of his team unhappy with their lack of inclusion in this, perhaps, the most important Quest of their lives… to date… he sighed.
It was always like that.
The next Quest carried so much for them on an individual level and for the greater group on a collective level.
A group that could and often did encompass the entire planet, even if the vast majority of the people had no idea their fates were being decided by a handful of people fighting and dying in the dark, literal and metaphorical.
He could’ve shined a brighter light on it.
Give the people the same information he had access too.
But, they wouldn’t have believed him anyways.
They’d listen to their leaders before they would to a random brown-skinned man hijacking their TV’s and magic orbs, mirrors and whatever else they used to consume the media their governments shoveled down their throats. If they even had old-style media.
It wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous as it used to be.
There was the Omninet, but, to no surprise, not all polities on the planet were okay with information they couldn’t control reaching their people.
Raids to confiscate the devices he distributed for free were a weekly occurrence in many places.
The joke was on those governments.
He was never going to run out and it was easy to slip devices to people.
He did it himself when he flew to and from world events. Eron included them with the rest of his supply drops. Or Rayna’s Rangers used drones to deliver them from their skyships as they did their patrol routes.
Kelci came in next with her heavy tread that seemed to shake any room she walked into.
The hybrid had healed better than most from her short fight with the demigod.
The essence and genes of a hippopotamus spliced into her made for a robust physical nature that resisted damage very well and healed quickly on its own. Though not nearly on the same level as the healing factor possessed by feral-types.
Revenge for Howard and the ones that didn’t emerge on the other side of the demigod fight was on her mind.
“You want in on the Quest?”
“Yessir.”
His answer was no, but bluntness wasn’t what she needed in the moment. It had a good chance of negatively impacting her mental state moving forward and she was needed for other missions.
“Why should I change my mind?”
She detailed a brisk set of reasons with clear and concise language.
Rational over emotional.
He mirrored her energy, explaining why she wasn’t going to be included.
It came down to one issue she couldn’t argue against.
She was a hybrid.
The old American government knew her, had a file on her.
Sure, he could alter their thoughts. Make them forget or place a compulsion that made them fail to register her hybrid nature or any number of mind tricks. The problem with those methods was that the gain wasn’t worth the effort nor the dubious ethics. It was a line he wasn’t willing to cross just so that she could be included in a very dangerous mission.
Kelci left disappointed, but not angry or depressed.
She understood and accepted, which meant she wouldn’t dwell on it and could focus on the missions she would be a part of.
Salamander stomped in after Kelci, turning sideways to get his metal wings through the doorway.
“Honor. I request inclusion. For Primal. For Kynnro. For the Vigilant.”
The Threnosh had been on Earth for a few months.
Part of the next batch of retirees.
Their gaunt face looked like death.
Skin hung loose and wrinkled.
Even with the gray skintone they looked devoid of color. No luster. Filled with splotches.
How much time do you have left, old friend? And you want to head into another potential death zone? You’ve been fighting in them your entire life. Isn’t it time to allow yourself to do something else?
“Negative, Salamander. You just got here. This Quest isn’t taking it easy.”
“I have no interest in ‘taking it easy’.”
“Denied. Not for any other reason than the fact that you are Threnosh. The Quest, by design and necessity, will rely on subterfuge and misdirection. Your presence, any other presence that isn’t Earthian human from this region will be inimical to that.”
“Acknowledged.” Salamander nodded stiffly.
“Don’t make me order you to relax. It sort of goes against the concept and purpose of you coming here.”
“I am still capable.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t leave you out of it when the time comes to give Suiteonemiades our answer.” He sighed. “Dismissed.”
The Threnosh saluted and stomped out of the office.
Dayana sauntered in.
“No.”
“You didn’t even let me say anything.”
“I know you’ve been listening, so you already know the general gist of the reasons I’m going to give you.”
“Wow. I don’t even rate the verbal interaction thing? Like I’m not even Earthian?”
“Hmmm… no… but so you can’t complain… you’re still not at a 100%. Like Hayden, the Americans have a file and there’s a non-zero chance that random people on the streets of the places the Quest will take you will recognize you from the slaver games since the old slaver kingdom citizens that weren’t happy with a dragon-president moved to said places.”
“May I give a counter point?”
“Sure.”
“My Skills synergize well with this ‘mist spektors’— dumb spelling by the way— cover.”
“Not my idea to call them that.”
“Sure, sure. Regardless, I believe I can fake it and pretend to be one of these mist or smoke guys. As for being recognized? Easy. I just need a mask. I’ve already put in an order with your guy’s mask shop in Manila for a cool, vertigo-inducing one with like, these swirling spiral lines.”
“That does sound cool and I’m sure you’ll get plenty of use out of it on all your other missions. Just not this one.”
“C’mon,” she prodded. “C’mon,” she poked. “C’mon?” she whined.
“Last reason… your level is too high. And we don’t have the items required to conceal that from potential detection and appraisal.”
“Ms. Teacher?”
“She already made me items for Boy. She won’t make any more unless she needs something from me in return and she doesn’t at the moment, nor does she expect to. Not while she’s focusing on her new school location.”
“She could be more helpful, you know? I mean, you let her move to Manila.”
“What we’re already getting from her are things we mutually agreed upon.”
“Then you need to work on your bargaining.”
“I’ll take that into advisement.”
“So…”
“No.”
“Then, how bout you let me infiltrate?”
“I’ve already got infiltrators in place. You’re availability for other missions is more valuable. We don’t want you tied up on this Quest or a deep cover role that might last for years.”
“I didn’t want to go here, but I will.”
He already knew what she was going to say.
“I want to be close to Boy, so I can protect him.”
“I appreciate the sentiment and I feel the same way… but… he’s an adult and he’s adulting.” He sighed. “I’d rather set up a secret island fortress or moon base and lock everyone I care about away from threats, but that’s just not realistic. One, none of you would agree to that.”
“I dunno. I might,” she lied with a smile.
“You’d be bored out of your mind in a few weeks.
“Guilty,” she shrugged.
“Secondly, turtling up just leads to said threats growing stronger or multiplying.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know the theory. Whatever the case, if that’s allowed to happen then eventually there will be no safe places anywhere on this world. Maybe even the moon. Hmmm?” she mused. “Have you considered Mars?”
“That is a long, time consuming journey and too dangerous for all but a handful of people. Maybe when the Bountiful Decade or the world events ends. Regardless, I think the Threnosh world or Fomrinay would be better. They aren’t Terminus and they don’t have Bountiful Decade. Just regular encounter challenges and spawn zones. The Sacramento folks are finding it significantly more peaceful than here.”
“I know. You haven’t been shy about encouraging emigration.”
“It makes more sense for some people. Regardless, the answer is still no. Distractions and trying to play to my sentimentality have failed.”
Dayana’s eyes narrowed. “Figured. You want me to tell everyone else waiting that they aren’t getting a shot? Cause it’s obvious that you’ve already locked up the team or at least most of it and it doesn’t include me and them outside your office.”
“No. Everyone deserves the chance to argue their case.”