Communication Is Of The Essence
Himperyia state's rural zone, Lyclan Cartel reunion. Deep in the night of the 5th day of the month's second week.
This was atop a large hill. It wasn't too tall, but it had a sharply flat surface at the top that made it easy to build a few things amidst the trees and hide from view. Although not from the recently flying warplanes and the high altitude choppers. A bunch of people wearing all kinds of hot weather, simple clothing made half a circle before a young man sitting in a sun chair and a small rectangular table in front.
“How have you been?” The young man sighed. He was white, slender, with smooth, jet-black hair, and predatory eyes of the same. He remained sitting, while those before him, more than a dozen, looked at him patiently, although some seemed worried.
“If you have anything to say first, before I speak, do it frankly. Make it short and brief,” he said.
“Rafas, we just barely started bringing some crops from those fucking new programs after all these years. Now we can’t. Those who were willing before now make me want to look for them.” - “Rafas, we just can’t keep… going like this. We either move or we have to… deliver ourselves. What am I gonna do with my little boy?”
More and more complaints sounded, soft and brief, but very personal, most of them. After they had their talk, the young man, ‘Rafas’, looked decisively at them, staring with his predatory eyes while placing his hands together. They waited for him to say something, to give an order.
These men, and some women, all of which used to be brainless killers doing all sorts of unspeakable things just because they could, undergoing dangers to the north and east from other OCs and the government. In less than 30 years, they suddenly became people that even civilians could depend on. This didn’t mean they were ‘good’ OCs, but at least those the population would prefer to fall into the hands of one if worse comes to worst.
“Each of you have learned to command 1,000 of the people I have sent with you, and some more coming your way every now and then. All of you know what to do for a better life, even in these circumstances. I won’t say much, only… what do you want?”
“…” Nobody responded. They weren’t sure how. They didn’t know what to truly expect. All they could think of was to wait for Rafas to give a dictum. They trusted him.
“You have learnt how to cultivate, even though we… I couldn’t give you enough time to see to that. And of those many, you only have a few hundred who can fight, which you don’t force. All of these things, I taught you because I didn’t want everyone to go in the same way every other hopeless idiot goes in the organized crime. I just… didn’t think it would come in my time, much less this soon.” The young man spoke with some pauses, his chest was heavy.
“How has the front been? Are we still being pushed from every side?” He asked after rubbing his forehead, feeling an even more significant weight press down on the back of his head.
“Yes, the shores are full of marinos. All our source of income from there, most of everything, gone. As for the north and east, they started closing in since a few hours ago. They took all of Guerramar Cartel’s territory in less than a fucking quarter of a day!”
“We’ve shown enough resistance, and we hid our people within civilization well… The civilians also help us a little, even if just by remaining silent…” Rafas paused, making everyone even more pressingly silent to hear his decision. He looked at them with his chin a little low, “Use the contact and tell the… president Luis Heartez we wish a peaceful negotiation.”
Everyone remained silent, but a budding of uncertainty spread. The young man saw this clearly, waiting for it to show before adding, “But only with our conditions. We must be treated especially. Have our own ‘backyard’ and able to meet our families, which are innocent, every week at least thrice. We… will also accept a probable conscription, as long as the payment goes to them, and they are protected, too. That’s all.”
“…” The crowd became tense. They felt a little glad, but they couldn’t help feeling awful for themselves, too. Even though this made it for those they cared about, whom their leader right here encouraged them to look for a person they’d want to procreate, as his words indicated. They were also selling themselves as… what? Mercenaries? Contractors, if they feel as fancy as those politicians who think ‘don’t tell - don’t matter’?
“Are you okay with that or not?” Rafas echoed once he heard the silence continue. They nodded, but one of them questioned, “What are we gonna do if it isn’t accepted? The others are joining elsewhere and might cause trouble. They should have already captured villages and farms.”
“I know that, but we aren’t going with them, and anyone who fled our territory to do so out of fear should have made that clear already.” The young man stood up. “They are going to one sole point, while we are here, where even Ly soldiers know the public doesn’t vehemently hate us since a decade ago, or so… We have a chance.”
“What if…they make it?” Someone asked again. Rafas looked left and right at the crowd before him before shaking his head. “You really think we ever faced the army? We only saw trucks, controlled turrets, and our intelligence being stolen like a taco at a beach by a bored seagull.”
“No, we have no idea what they are capable of!” Rafas held his head and semi shouted, looking exasperated, if a bit. “You yourself said it, and you all know it. They are moving towards a single place in Jaewim, but do you think that’s good? I was contacted by Commander Don, Ratón Poder, General Monte, y el pinche Casito(and that bastard Casito) in the 3rd.”
“Then why didn’t you tell us!? We could have chosen something! Those Guerramar might’ve even let us pass with them! Even if we had to give some of our weapons and vehicles-” A person felt indignant, so she shouted. Rafas looked at her with coldly narrowed eyes, “And our families, too? Don’t we know how much they like women and children alike? Weapons is one thing, but they’d demand comfort, too.”
“…” Silence prevailed yet again. Rafas took a sudden sharp breath in and went after exhaling, “Do you think Luis Heartez, the coward, would make use of the army of Lýmoca, that even though it’s weak in the world, has the ability to rail us down?”
They kept their mouths shut and shook their heads. Rafas nodded in return.
“And you think joining everyone in Jaewim will be worth the sacrifice? You may think you can go back to ‘how it was before’, but your conscience will eat you away before you could have reached there. And… do you really think Lýmoca doesn’t have enough numbers to take us all at the same time?”
“On the contrary, they are worried cleaning the entire country, and they showed that weird thingy everywhere in Proteros’s skies. They are only worried about cleaning us all. But even then… with everyone packed together. Sure, that would make them stronger, united… but— wouldn’t that leave everyone so close together in one sole point?”
“But do you think Luis Heartez would have wanted that? Even Edgar Plomo, that idiot who lets so many of your people practically come back because of our reputation alone, giving us ample resources to keep going— wouldn’t be so passive. But he doesn’t have the guts to do this either. It’s that monster the president hired, everything changed since he…”
“…!” The crowd finally understood, and when the truth was given to them, or unfolded from the confines of their minds, they felt its whole weight.
Suddenly, young man Rafas felt the weight fall a little from his shoulders, but he didn’t feel contented. He took it back on his body. “Now, as I said… contact them… This is our chance, but it is also our one and only. You know what to do… and prepare all of your families, just in case.”
The meeting came to an end. The young man turned around and weakly returned to his chair. He seldom shows this image of his. He was of a weak-looking body build, but he was healthy, and he never had bodyguards, though he would be better with some. This was the leader of one of the 2 strongest and most influential organized crime groups in Lýmoca.
***
In the morning. Proteros. Fox’s suite.
With the morning hue on her back, and the noises of the TV from the living room, Nala squatted on the bed. Eyes closed, she felt the tremendous pressure from wordless sensations. Her legs were folded, of course, but also widely spread like a crab.
With her back bent, that fabulous, most exquisite and unbreakable back slightly leaning forward, her hands grabbed Fox’s as he lied below her. Nala slowly lifted her eyelids, trembling as her expression changed, like a person about to sneeze.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Instead, she felt her entire body shudder, no longer belonging to her. Nala didn’t feel it, but her mouth, nose, and eyes arched and twitched as Fox’s blurry image made the sound and brutal scent floating between each other return to her senses. She was helpless atop him, letting him do just whatever he wanted, like usual.
… An hour and a little more later. Fox lied on the bed, this time no longer moving like an inhumane sex machine. Nala rested her head on his collarbone and chin. Her hair was wet, but it smelled so good. She also enjoyed his scent, resting the tip of her nose on his light brown skin, letting her see how her hand caressing his abdomen contrasted with her goldish-pale white skin.
“Um, almost forgot, we must leave. Why aren’t we flying in the early morning? It’s almost noon… Ah~, not complaining, Foxie.” Nala softly murmured. Her words were vibrations coursing this body, first the top before the bottom as he lied as her pillow.
“We are having the private one first. Then, we- well, I’ll meet with the ANS press conference with Luis… He might be eaten alive, so pick a few hostages and trace a route to grab them all. But beware of their hoog.” Fox said, enjoying her hand on him.
“Okay,” Nala nodded meekly, but her voice was as usual, indifferent and cold. They weren’t joking, although it would be probably best if it didn’t come to that. “You take care of the president. The others will make time to let you escape. Sigh, let’s hope something like that won’t spark any conflict.”
“Mhm,” Fox let the scent of her wet hair run into his nostrils. It was simply great. Nala closed her eyes. Her eyelids twitched with such sensations behind her head. She opened them while feeling soothing still, “We both train the same art. How come you are always the only one getting tired in the end?”
“My fault, I was born this way… I think… kinda.” Fox stimmed his head a little to the left and right before feeling like grabbing the skin of her nape. Nala’s eyebrows twitched, but she only grew a pink hue at the tip of her nose. “Ouchie…”
“Come on, we need to get up. I wanted to bring you, and I didn’t have to ask to do it… not directly, at last.” Fox said, slightly sitting up. He tried bragging to his woman, but she grinned and went, “Oh, right. I’m your trophy with legs… But, do you mind waiting a bit? I can’t move with ease in case something happens.”
She looked up at him, enjoying the sight of his neck and under chin, “Or else, I would only be your trophy, no legs.”
Fox stupidly smirked. He lied back down, letting her accommodate her head and upper torso on him better, treating him like a comfy body pillow. She leaned on her left side and brought his hands to her breasts before closing her eyes. Her fingertips traced the veins and bones on them. His left hand was smoother, with his right hand much worse off in aspect. But she softly traced them for the umpteenth time, exhaling softly as she freely let herself go on him.
“Aaah…” A careless, sweet sigh reverberated on Fox's stomach.
… 25 minutes later. Fox arrived with Nala, taking a big helicopter to fly to the heart of ANS. Luis sat before them, finding the quietness despite the 3 sets of rotors and the 6 auxiliary ones. There were special forces with Green Bloods and only 2 Red Bloods beside Fox and Nala.
More importantly than that, the President was accompanied by the Raging Blood.
“We’ll arrive in 8 hours. Buckle up,” a voice sounded from their headsets. Fox and Nala were fine, although Luis seemed a bit irritated. Fox didn’t need to ask to know what he was thinking. 8 hours at such a super speed, to go from the capital to the heart of ANS, that was something.
Fox jolted a little at this time. He rummaged below his clothes and took his WID out. It had been upgraded by Miros and the District. It was no longer the same as before, but it also didn’t look like Luis’s. His was of a bloody, transparent ethereal touch.
“What is it?” Luis slightly called out. The channel was for their booth only, which was one of four, not counting the pilot cabin. Fox did something to the WID, spoke into it without comms on, and then activated them to look at Luis.
“It’s the Lyclan Cartel,” Fox’s words startled Luis, he wondered what happened. Fox didn’t keep the suspense longer than a second, “Their leader, Carlos Medena, aka Rafas, has proposed a… qualitative set of conditions for a negotiation table.”
“What? Really!?” Luis was astounded. Even Nala looked at Fox, although her expression changed as much as a tree did from one day to another through natural growth.
“General will take care of that,” Fox mentioned. Luis smirked ruefully, “Now you speak for me?”
Fox smiled hard from the left corner of his mouth, “This wasn’t that important. I expected it anyway. I convinced the General to slow their advances down towards them. Guerramar was rushed, and screening is happening all around the country as we speak. Of course, it’s mostly because they aren’t in a living hell that they don’t all have delusions of grandeur.”
“Thank you,” Luis fell a little silent before reacting. He added, “I guess it isn’t easy to think simple things will work as needed sometimes.”
“I also doubted it, President. I have more experience dealing with SAs or the less organized crime world.” Fox confessed without being a confession. He looked at Luis expressionless before the latter shook his head, feeling unbelievable. “At least let me know in another time!”
“If I did, it might have been different. I also don’t want to talk about Jaewim. Everything is ready, and if the President really dares to back down, I’ll be disappointed!” Fox feigned not hearing well, shouting as Luis frowned a bit in return.
“Yes, but-” Luis wanted to say something, but Fox interrupted, “When the battle for the Centralized Parliament happened, many refugees inside it were raped and raped to death by criminal scum and paramilitaries. They also stole war equipment from some military camps and stole them— if it wasn’t for all camps uniting to take them down, they would’ve learned how to use them.”
“…” Luis was speechless. There were so many things he couldn’t understand of these processes, even when Butler began mentoring him. It could only be a little every day because of his busy schedules, but it was a start. Yet, he was worse than a 19-year-old little genius.
“I also learned from this experience, President.” Fox added, making Luis look at him again. Nala lifted her right eyebrow at Fox, who went on, “I had some people who were supposed to be professionals accidentally delay the shipment of supplies for 2 days. The other supplies couldn’t slow down just because of it due to the contingencies I made for such situations.”
“Still, it made me realize I have to plan for everything. Like right now, I am trying for several routes… Even though we can’t confirm ANS’s hoogs, we are ready for anything.” Fox paused for a moment. “But we were lucky Guerramar didn’t put up a fight. Else, a few or, I don’t know, hundred or thousand soldiers might have gotten splashed in some wilderness land. Empty and dry at this time of the year.”
“…” Luis felt prickled at his heart, and brain; for his smarts. While it was evident he held genuine concern for all Lys, what about those he sent to their deaths for a cause? His face fell, and he looked afflicted, but he was still the Lýmocan president, even if not as beloved as such. “I thank you for-”
“There’s no need-” Fox interrupted Luis, who wanted to have the final say, but Nala interrupted Fox, who interrupted Luis and wanted to have the final few words himself. She said to him, placing her hands on his forearm, “Stop fighting. Keep that raging inside for now, and braze it for others. I want to see it displayed before those leafless folk.”
“…” Fox sat up obediently like an admonished dog. Luis was baffled without realizing. Nala then gave Luis a brief glance, as if showing: ‘did you see that? Hmph’, before staring at the thick metal doors closed tight to the sides.
‘Beaten by a young man… saved by a young woman. What kind of president still am I? Tsk— hehe.’ Luis thought, smiling a bit before relaxing. He felt like it was fine. After all…
Beep, beep. “CSS, President Luis Heartez, I have an incoming call. May you respond?” The same voice from before echoed, startling them. Only another country could require this much authorization level. Fox looked at Luis, who noticed his glance and nodded. Fox stood up and walked to a communication device at the center where the emergency handles and pillar were.
Grabbing a radio from a technological panel with closed compartments after his right thumb was read, Fox pressed the aloud button with his thumb being scanned again. A voice with a slightly differed accent sounded, “This is the Aggregated Nation States’ air force department. Who am I speaking to? President Luis?”
“CSS Fox, speak.” Fox spoke curtly. There was a moment of silence, perhaps because his voice was being read by the IWS programs, something any SA knows to avoid doing even if they were to die or get caught. The voice spoke again after 12 seconds, “Chief Secretary-”
“Get to the point,” Fox barked at a low volume, making the personnel and those on the other side awkwardly silent, before the personnel, including Luis, smirked.
Nala grinned a little with her arms crossed, staring at the incoming afternoon on the right, small slit-like windows at the top of the metal doors.
“Gulp, ahh. The helicopter you are flying meets our conditions. Please take the route designated to your location, it has been cleared, and the environment has been revised. Slower your speed a couple of tens per hour, thank you.” The voice sounded again, and Fox listened with calm but didn’t bother replying.
He pressed a button to open a compartment, showing the cabin with an angle behind the pilot and co-pilots’ seats. A co-pilot checked a panel on his lap before looking back and giving a thumbs up, “CSS, those words are true. We will arrive in 6 hours with our current speed. And from 6:30 to 7 hours after slowing down because of the winds ahead.”
Fox nodded and closed the technological panel’s compartment. He sighed a little into the radio and agreed, “We’ll take the route. Make more space in case there’s a bird or sudden burst. We want to have this cleared as soon as possible. One thing, you forgot ‘Heartez’ before. Thank you.”
Fox hung the communication. He activated his headset’s channel to the cabin and the rest of the helicopter before speaking; loud. “Speed up 50 k’s per hour. Why not surprise our neighbor with a friendly, sooner visit?”
“Hua!” - “Lyee~!” The special forces cried out, followed by the SAs, who nodded in approval. Fox returned to his seat, while a smiling Luis looked at him like greedy eyes would to a shiny ball made of gold.
“I see you can get all patriotic now, eh?” Luis called out loud, not caring about the things from before. Fox smiled. Then, he darted his eyes a little to the sides before replying, “Don’t make me fight again.”
“Hahahahaha!” Luis cracked up, opening his mouth wide, throwing his head back, and all. Fox inadvertently smiled, looking at the side and avoiding Nala’s side, who gave him eyes that melt him. ‘So, does this feel like having a father? Ayayayay…’
Seeing his smile, Nala narrowed her eyes, feeling… actually very sweet inside her chest.
…