Reaching the tip of the perimeter by way of the left side ledge, Becker and Iku were confronted with a few thick, bck bark, leafless trees. Below, rge pits were carved out of the ground days ago, the stakes slowly drowning in the pooling mud.

  To the surprise of the two, the naked savage was nailed to one of the trees and continued to breath, giving no signs of agony. The blood from his wounds washed off with the rain. This would not st, as his extremities were going fccid.

  Iku tied a rope around him while Becker pulled out the nails with the help of a vise grip. Once freed, they lowered him carefully, tying the rope into a dragline, and hauled him over to the first yurt the two cleared. Becker cleaned his hands, covered them in tex gloves, and took out alcohol wipes to clean the wounds before applying a canister of of medical foam. Once finished he took out a medical sharp, filled it with a dose of serum, and injected it on the savage's arm. Wrapping the wounds in bandages, he waited for him to pick up his breathing. Leaving the mace nearby, Becker tapped him on the shoulder and nodded Iku to cover him up with one of the cloths wrapped in storage.

  Returning back down to the mound, the two made it to the middle yurt. The corpses that were inside were left out the A-framed tent stripped of their weapons and garments.

  Iku: We're coming in.

  As both entered, Iku made his way to one of the cots near Sta, still comforting Ajka. He rubbed his eyes and told Sta to give him a moment.

  Becker paused just as he was entering when he noticed the blond woman's hand almost reach for a crude rifle the group collected, now dressed in knee-high boots, trousers cut in the style of short-shorts, and a white tunic cut into a shirt that went below the waist. The bangs on her forehead made her appearance deadly serious, only cooling off when she realized the group was not in danger. She could pass for a beach-side Californian from long ago.

  Becker: So, Sae, how any immediate wounds you need attending.

  Sae: *Mm-nhh* I think the short one need more attention.

  While Sae was sitting down inspecting a pile of clothing and equipment taken from the dead, two women were on the yurt to the left dressing themselves, while the auburn-red haired woman did her best to tend to the brown haired short women on one of the cots.

  Taking out his medical kit again, he went to work on her, quickly assessing that his help was limited to pain relief, disinfection, and stopping any wounds from reopening. For good measure, he made her drink a vile of "begambili," the all-purpose teal colored medicine fabricated on this section of the archipego with a taste of citric mint.

  When he finished cleaning off his hands, Sae handed over a pair of clothing over to the auburn-haired woman and she went over to the other yurt to change.

  Becker took a nearby stool and observed her work.

  Sae: I'm not sure what you did was a good idea.

  Becker: Better he have a chance to escape on his own. If he can manage.

  The blond lowered her voice above a whisper.

  Sae: Poor girl - being dragged from the Jave'hedi to this! Now she can never go home.

  She nodded in the direction of Ajka.

  Becker: *Hmph* It must be a comedic anecdote compared to the southern frontier of the Empire...the Daxa.

  He too lowered his voice just enough.

  Sae: How's so?

  Becker: Even Outsiders like myself heard enough about its heyday to fancy a kip and a bender over there. Others would have fast swoon over every bird, damn the rest of the Daxa. How many have scorched that pce and not finished depoputing it is a testament in of itself. I figured someone in your trade would have picked up on the girl's speech and mannerisms.

  Sae: I was forced against my will.

  Becker: I meant about YOU being a freebooter.

  Sae: I was forced into it as well...but I was good at it. Don't know what it was all for, but I can't compin.

  She got closer to him with interest flushed across her face.

  Sae: And how do you know THAT?

  Becker: That scrap of modernism you were reaching for is a "nail shooter" from the Merchant Cities. I've only seen the dross of gunmen sport them thinking they are death-dealers for having a weapon that shoots strait, only to realize it functions like an Intervention and not just look like its small brother. Not that any of you would know what that is. If that thing was your first pick, you must know its worth, stands to reason.

  Sae: *Ahh*...Are you a hexer?

  Becker: Bloody hell! It's called perception, love. Also the fact you took it upon yourself to inspect the gear says as much.

  Sae: I could be inept.

  Becker: That's why you have them on separate piles, now don't you?

  Sae: Well...I do my best.

  Despite the honeyed tone, Becker mustered a begrudging reciprocation.

  Checking his pocket watch again, Becker quickly tapped his free fingers on the sub-machine gun as if typing fast. At st, the other women rejoined the group. He waited for them to settle in close before he spoke and waived the other three over as well.

  Becker: Now listen - it won't be easy to leave but we can't stay here either. Those about to take the st ships are heading over to the Desert. Iku, Sta, and myself are joining with a former client of mine heading towards the Mayku Isnds.

  Sae: The Desert! No, can't do THAT again! I don't know what about the rest of you.

  Auburn-haired woman: Can't you take the rest of us with you?

  While they talked Becker took a moment to repce the mostly empty pair of magazines with another one.

  Becker: That depends if you don't mind sailing with hakas on board.

  Sae: It can't be that bad than being cramped with strangers, right?

  The other women looked at Sae in disapproval. The scruffy bck-haired woman shook her head so hard her strands whipped widely like shes and her eyes closed hard enough as if trying to squeeze them out.

  Sae: *Ehh* I can't say I would feel safe either, but if you say you know them, that will do.

  He nodded in acknowledgement.

  Ajka: Outsider, w...we were discussing and...I want to join Sta and Master Iku.

  Becker: I won't say no, but it will still be borious living. Just slightly less so.

  Iku: I'll do my best for the both of them. Sta's all she has now, anyway...and I guess myself.

  Becker: If you insist. Now then, Eimur...did I pronounce it correctly?

  The auburn haired woman shook her head in acknowledgement.

  Becker: Help Torva get changed. I'm sure she can limp with a spear, but she'll still need help keeping up with us. She's in your care from now on. I'll show you where the others went as soon as we make it to the drains. Sae, I'll leave it you to arm and equip them. Iku - you do the same for yours. We leave at the end of the hour. I'll come for you at that time.

  While they got themselves ready, he pilfered the storage tent for potentially useful material. As he still had time, he went over as many corpses left unmolested for one final haul - a total of fifty-eight peshwa and, much to his surprise, four slightly burnt gumios.

  The fog continued to blow along with the pricking rain that stuck to the skin like thick sap.

  Sae, Eimur, and Sta were more equipped than the other women, kitted out with knives and projectile weaponry. Torva only wore a round breastpte, while the others were in some combination thereof. Even Iku took with him a cuirass.

  By the time the group made it back to the drainage opening, the other sves were gone. The nearby ground turned into a wet flow, and despite all wearing boots, the ground suck their feet back into the mire. Sae had made it first to the entrance, and using Becker's rope to make a line with the remaining bars not cut, hauled the others forward with Becker remaining until st.

  The mineral composition on the walls was such that they sparkled with enough light to not get lost. Otherwise, the old sewers were made of brick akin to a medieval catacomb, wide enough for six people to go from edge to edge. Moving ahead Becker and Sae took point, by now the MP5SD switched to three-burst shot. At each turn or intersection the arrows Becker previously marked with high-grade chalk had yet to rub off.

  At st, they reached a section where the tunnel gave way onto a rotunda with three other adjacent tunnels. Here the light mimicked a dull sunlight. Above them bars crisscrossed with piping for a roof.

  Becker: Alright, this is where we part ways.

  Brown-haired woman: Please accept our thanks.

  She did a slight bow, and the others followed suit, save for the one walking with the spear.

  Sae: Hey now, you'll be all right...

  Despite the awkward delivery, it gave in to the woman's affection.

  Becker: Straight ahead, turn where the arrow is. You'll see an even bigger arrow with rays around it to indicate you are there. Enter the door and there will be someone waiting behind bars. You tell the man that I sent you and that the pn is still on.

  They said their st good-byes, and as they headed down, Becker waited until they were far off before the rest made their way backwards.

  Back near the entrance the remaining group returned to a service dder leading to the level with piping running along the roof. Heading eastward, they made their way towards one more dder. Pushing the entrance out, Becker and Sae entered a storage room. Once the others joined, Sae opened the door and Becker moved out on point.

  To his right were three more single-floor buildings with no activity inside. Ahead, the three-tier zigurrat and the wooden side gates. On the courtyard, covered carts were ready with the same dragon-headed bipeds as from the other day - "bare-bare." On the left wall of the courtyard the corpses of the former occupants were stretched and stacked, their blood washed to the middle drain.

  *CRACK*

  From the entrance of a stone ramp that reached up to the second level of the zigurrat a few warriors rushed out with the bright "X" on their chest armor. Following them the mass of families and their pitiful luggage - most definitely less than what they would have liked to bring. Men, women, children - they moved with increasingly exhausting anxiety, but determined to get it over with nonetheless. Moving his way through with some difficulty came Taribar.

  Becker: Sta, Ajka, stay with the families. Iku, you cover us.

  *Right!*

  Becker: When we reach our objective, Sae, you'll act as my eyes on the back, understood? Take this.

  He handed her a pair of goggles that would not look out of pce from an aviator. With the press of a button on top one could magnify the sight, despite what the bck lenses would suggest. Sae immediately secured them on her head.

  Sae: *Hmm* Anything else, oh master-of-war?

  Becker: Yes, don't stop until we reach the pza ptform. And keep the muzzles down!

  At st, Taribar organized his men and went to inform Becker

  Taribar: So far no arms yet. I think we have the advantage of...

  *BOOM* *BOOM* *BANG*

  Smoke rose in the direction of the second gate. All peered over to see what it was. At st, the rain came down proper.

  Becker: They're too early!

  Taribar: Who is?

  Becker: I rigged the walkway in case they went to get their men on the wall.

  Taribar: You think they suspected?

  Becker: They do now!

  Wasting no time, the carts were manned and everyone got ready to leg it fast.

  Three. Two. One.

  The gate opened, Becker, Sae, and Iku took point along with a small patrol, followed by the carts. Taribar and his men went next. Lastly went Sta, Ajka, the families, and a rear guard. A total of twenty-seven active fighters and about fifty civilians.

  Heading east on the same street Becker expected for them to be jumped at. A few bongs rang faintly, and some yelling were noted coming from the fortified intersection he and Taribar were working close by a few days ago.

  The low level streets sank under the accumuting rainwater. Soon they would prove a difficult terrain from which to traverse. Edging the column on, Becker remained to make sure the carts passed through. Struggling with the accumuting silt, the carts at st moved up and on to higher level. Becker raced on back to the front with the pza in sight.

  Sae was warning the contingent not to move forward.

  Becker: Friendlies or not?

  Sae pced the goggles on her eyes to make the assessment. While she pressed the button the shadows slowly approach. Iku, meanwhile, twisted a pair of bracelets underneath the cuff of his coat and around his boots.

  Sae: They don't have the mark!

  Switching to single-shot and flicking the scope back on, Becker took aim for the closest shadow.

  A few crossbow bolts whistled by, missing the first three of the column and bouncing off the raised shields of those immediately behind.

  Becker: Pick your target and fire!

  What appeared to take minutes must have sted seconds. Closing the distance, Becker dropped two shadows down. Instinctively, Sae got on her knee and picked off the farthest, pulling the bolt back and forth in time before another shadow moved out of sight. Becker moved towards the left of the street wounding a few others in the legs while Sae gunned down one more standing on the ptform.

  Moving to the right of the street, Iku sprinted fast towards the st remaining group. Abruptly stopping, Iku sliced the thighs of one of the city guards. Another moved in bashing his sword down only for a round yellow shield of light materialized and bounced the sword away. Pushing the arm away, Iku sank the bde underneath the guard's armpit, pulling it out as quickly as it went in.

  In short order, the enemy was left to bleed onto the streets.

  Quickly racing over to the pza, the first guard detachment cached up with the three and headed to the other end of the stone ptform save for three of their own, for as soon as the carts reached they unloaded the cargo of the first one. rushing over one of the side ramparts, they frantically twisted and assembled the pieces together With a detachable rod to crank it into fixture, a rge pipe was hastily screwed between three smaller pipes. At st, a support rod was pced underneath the entrance of the pipe. Underneath this was a wheeled ptform with locks on the corners to keep it steady. The trajectory mechanism could be cranked with fixed ranges rather than one more conventional.

  When he first id eyes on this thing yesterday, Becker could barely stomach the sight of this poor excuse of a medium mortar.

  Just as soon as the mortar was raised to level four, one of the crew finished bringing a few round metal munitions, loading one down the main pipe. Sae kept an eye forward onto the street overlooking the primary objective - a three building complex surrounded by a high wall with broken gss on top. Iku kept an eye over the others coming from the rear.

  Putting on his earplugs, Becker made one st check in the southwest direction, towards the cluster of interconnected buildings he worked nearby a few days ago. From his binocurs, he saw three squares on top of the cluster, as if it were a crown on a hill. With his foot, he directed the crew to bring the piece almost close to the edge of the southwest corner. When the crew wheeled it over, they locked it in pce.

  *FLASH*

  The storm swirled the clouds above as if being sucked into a vortex.

  Taking out a detonator from a side pouch, Becker unlocked the safety and immediately pressed it.

  *FIRE!*

  When the crank was pulled, the mortar shot its projectile with enough kick that the lead crewman was almost thrown out. Meanwhile, faint explosions popped off down south of the city with the smoke being swept away by the storm.

  Whizzing up, the projectile disappeared in the air. From the binocurs Becker saw the top of the buildings come live with torches and movement. The exposed shadows grabbed weapons and rushed downward, until, in a burst of white light those figures fshed into nothing, the crown shattering into pulverized rock.

  *ANOTHER!*

  The crew readied another shot, cranking the lever back into the firing position.

  Becker: [Twenty seconds...]

  He signals the crew to nudge the mortar a shade to the right.

  Perfect timing could not be guaranteed but they must be ready to blow an entry for Taribar and company.

  Sae: They're rushing out! I think they are readying something on the windows!

  At st the shell was rolled into the pipe.

  *FIRE!*

  A loud bang and a whiz ter, the shell exploded on the side of the complex. Whatever was cooking off as a result pushed more smoke up in the sky.

  Taribar at st assembled the men in a shield wall three lines deep with a few behind as fast support. Sae shifted position and opened fire on the enemy still assembling ahead.

  Once more the shell went down and hit the bottom.

  *FIRE!*

  At the pull of the crank, the shell flew and went down, and when it hit, a thick fireball rose over the horizon. No doubt anyone still in the killzone would be crushed under the rubble with their skins blistering and falling apart. If they plotted a response they were no longer in a position.

  Going to the middle of the east edge of the stage, Becker indicated to the crew where to move the mortar once more.

  Becker: Raise to level five!

  *FLASH*

  The storm threatened to wipe out what little visibility was left.

  From afar, humanoid shapes ran in loose formation, weapons at the ready. Just in time, the mortar was loaded.

  *FIRE!*

  The enemy ahead on the street were flung away like burning rag dolls or ruptured from within by the shockwave. Nearby building facades pulverized into ruin.

  Becker: Inform Taribar and the others to head into the street!

  Iku immediately moved downward to pass the message.

  Becker: How many shells?

  Crew leader: Six more.

  Becker: Load again!

  While Iku informed Taribar, Sae kept up the slow fire against anyone not seriously wounded. When she finished, she moved on to popping at the windows of the complex.

  *FIRE!*

  Two of the buildings' front sides burst along with a section of the wall. While Sae dealt with the remaining window, Taribar's men headed off cautiously. Becker headed over to the northeast corner, and gncing further ahead at a cupo with his binocurs, he looked a little ways to the left. There a ft structure extended from the cupo towards another bck building with an attached structure with fins on top and a rge metallic mill-like wheel on the side.

  Indicating the crew where to drag the piece one more time, Becker counted off the seconds they took to pce it, lock and load it.

  *FIRE!*

  Becker's stomach churned as the shell made its way towards its target. Soon enough, the cupo was damaged and set on fire. Observing from the binocurs, he saw a mob rush out of the bck building, cries of bloodlust and rage roaring along with the storm. Sure enough, the enemy garrison was on the verge of being squeezed. Down on the street, Taribar's men made a dash towards the opening on the wall.

  Becker: As soon as we spend the st rounds ready yourselves to fight or die!

  On the southern horizon, a few fiery mushroom clouds rose and right afterward the roar of the mayhem bellowed along with the wind.