REALITĀTĒ

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Chapter 1

He lay in the underbrush, senses not too keen.  That feeling of - what had that seventy-something year old guy with the mannerisms of a drill sergeant, who was actually a drill sergeant, called it?  Transporting?  Yeah, transporting, that was it.  Transporting still left his nerves feeling all tingly, even days after the fact.  Or it was psychosomatic.  Or his arms were just numb from being pinned between his chest and his rifle.  Yeah, he had a rifle.  It was a device as rudimentary as it was ancient, possibly a musket, with a shank on the end that technically made it a bayonet.  The gunpowder had to be ignited with a fuse lit from a match.  Very rudimentary.  It had to be, to work on this godforsaken planet.  Some sort of curse or crap “impeded the proper function of post-industrial revolution technology,” as Marion Allison, the aforementioned drill sergeant, so eloquently stated.  Marion also dyed his hair black, to pretend to be young, but he fooled no one with his old face all shriveled like a craisin and his lack of political correctness.

The young man in the brush sighed himself out of his listless reverie.  He needed to maintain awareness of his surroundings, not just of himself.  He wiped the sweat off his brow, slid the butt of the rifle-musket-bayonet out from under his ribs, and slid the chamber open.  Then he shut it.  Then he opened it.

He was still listless, restless, and bored.  He glanced to his left and saw about twenty feet up the roadside the glint of a coin flipping through the air, going up and falling down.  He heard the rustle of a page turning in a book being read about thirty feet above him.

The crew was bored.

He took out his logbook and a ballpoint point to scribble on the first page.

Aiden Talmid

September 17

3038 AF

Now 1100 hours of Day 5.  At 748 a mule passed, one traveler, trashy dude, no contact.  At 1033 I saw a blue bird, no contact.  No royal activity.  Having dirt for lunch in 100, can’t freaking wait.

Aiden Talmid sighed again and wiped his brow again.  The temperature was warm presently, not summer hot, but not autumn cold, so his coat was cooking him.  He longed to get up and stretch, but it would undo his precariously prepared hiding place.

The coin was glinting an awful long time.  Then he realized it wasn’t the coin, but a mirror – the signal, and Aiden’s inner voice shut the hell up.  He gave the tree to his right a thump, then he trained his rifle up the road and set his eye behind the rear sight.

He heard the squeaking of wagon wheels, heard the clops of the horses, and saw the horses pulling a tall carriage before sighting the eight-pointed king’s crown emblazoned on its doors.

That meant it was a Morcian carriage.

That meant it carried soldiers of thedude, present dictator of Morcia… and the entire planet, but his main base was in Morcia.  The capital city of Orlan, specifically, just outside of the forests in which Aiden and his merry band of idiots were camped.  In Orlan was thedude’s castle and also thedude’s dungeons, and in those dungeons was a man the mission objectives called Private Lego.

That was a code name of course.  The man’s real name was Killian Talmid.  They were saving Killian Talmid.

No doubt his squadmates had sighted the carriage by now.  When the carriage was forty feet away Aiden clicked the rifle’s safety off and aimed at the third rider’s head.  At twenty feet he held his breath.  At fifteen feet he lit the fuse.

Cracks from gunpowder exploding at various points around him sent birds flying out of the trees and the horses went wild.  Aiden’s target slipped out of view so he turned to the rider’s horse instead.  His gunpowder ignited, the bullet fired, the rider fell with his horse, and he didn’t see what happened next because the carriage exploded in a burst of expanding orange flames.  The heat hit Aiden’s face before his eyes had time to tear.

When the ash stopped falling and the injured horses stopped neighing, Aiden looked up at the... remains of the carriage.  Splintered wood was scattered across and along the path, along with armor and weapons from the aforementioned thedude’s soldiers, now very smashed.  And a man stepped out from behind a tree, a thing held in each arm.  A rocket propelled grenade launcher in his right, and a bundle of cloth in the crook of his left elbow.  A vest with many buckles, light chainmail, and a brown hooded cloak adorned his figure.  Visible on his belt was a black pistol of modern times, and Aiden groaned.

The man wasn’t part of their squad.

And he’d just blown up their way into thedude’s castle.

Aiden scrambled to his feet, and around him so did his squad.  Twenty feet up the roadside the coin tosser, a blond haired man in a bomber jacket named Luke Mercury, was on his feet as well, except at the sight of the man he’d exchanged his slow firing bayonet for a Nexus Force-spec revolver.

They’d been told modern weapons didn’t work, but this guy had an RPG and a pistol on him, and Aiden agreed with his blond teammate’s choice.  Judging by the fresh carnage, they worked well enough, and a revolver helped even the odds.  Keeping his eyes on the man, who hadn’t made another move, Aiden reloaded his rifle.  The rest of his squad were slowly making themselves visible from their various hiding spots: various points around the road, atop the branches in the trees, all around the rocketeer man.

And the man knew it.  He kept his RPG pointed nonthreateningly at the ground, not that it mattered since it wasn’t loaded anymore, and his other hand cradling his cargo as he looked around at the Nexus Forcers around him.  He made eye contact with some of the men and women.  For a moment his met Aiden’s, and he looked about to speak

Then the bundle of cloth began to cry.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Aiden muttered, and he called out.  “You’re with child?!”

The man laughed.  “That means something different around these parts!”

“We know,” a woman’s voice behind Aiden retorted.  It belonged to Mara Mercury, who had come down from her tree.  She placed herself next to Aiden and whispered, “What do we do with this guy?”

“Enemy of my enemy is my friend?” Aiden responded.

“Let’s be friends!” Mara shouted at the man.

“Hard to say yes when you’ve got guns pointed at my back, and my front, and everywhere else!” the man snapped.

“Right.”  Aiden lowered his bayonet and the rest of the squad copied with their bayonets or other Nexus Force weapons, pistols, rifles, submachine guns.  One woman dressed in combat fatigues with her dark blond hair tied back in a ponytail even carried a sword.  Some people just couldn’t get stop using the retro gear, even though guns were better at smashing Maelstrom, and people, so long as there was ammo.

Aiden and Mara together, Luke from the side, and the swordswoman from behind all approached the man, except the swordswoman kept walking past him and motioned for Aiden to follow.  He shook his head.  She pointed harder.  Aiden set his jaw and sidestepped away.

He and the woman joined at a distance down the road from the gathering of Nexus Forcers, a man holding a baby, and dead knights.  They walked a few yards and stopped when they were discreet.  The woman turned to Aiden.  They were close in height.  She barely edged over him now, since she was wearing boots, and for a few moments they just shared each other’s gaze.

“That explosion scared the bricks out of me,” the woman admitted.

“Yeah.” Aiden related.  “Me too.  Wasn’t expecting it at all”

“I thought we were dead,” she groaned, and she sheathed her sword.

Aiden sighed.  “Yeah… it wasn’t that bad-“

He had to stop talking when she slung her arms over his shoulders and pulled themselves into a kiss.  Her bangs brushed the debris from his forehead, and he let the bayonet drop to wipe the dirt from her face, then grip her firmly back.

She leaned back and whispered, “I thought you were dead.”

“I love you too, Bridget.” Aiden told her.

Chapter 2

The man’s name was James Walters, and he had no qualms turning his back to the Nexus Force to attend to the needs of the child he held.  He laid out a blanket, set the child on it, and gave it a milk bottle, seemingly ignoring the Nexus Forcers while watching the young human.

He knew they were Nexus Force from the little colorful accents on their clothes, blue for Sentinels, green for Venture, and so on; their weapons, adorned with little Nexus Force badges; their speech and mannerisms; but also since he’d seen them land on the planet, five days ago.  Well, more like materialize.  He knew what transporter tech was, but was just surprised to see it in action here.  It was crude.  It was effective.  That made it smart.  He liked smart.

They were also idiots.

Monitoring their communications was easy.  They didn’t use radios.  They just talked loud.

They were a group of Nexus Force conscripts here to save a Knight of the Old Speech.  That made them allies.

The only question was for how long?

“Sorry about that carriage.” James apologized to the blond guy approaching him from behind.

He came to a stop, and James could practically hear the guy’s brows furrowing.  “You’ve been listening?” he asked after a few seconds.

“No rasch, buddy.” James said.  “You don’t need me to answer that for you.  Use your brain.”

He sensed the guy nod.  “Suppose anyone else knows what we’re up to?”

“I don’t suppose.  I know.  And thedude doesn’t know you’re planning to take Sir Talmid.” James told him.  “I’d help you, if I thought you had a chance.  The name’s James, by the way.”

“Luke Mercury,” the blond responded.  “Unless you already know that.”

“You’re catching on.” James acknowledged.

“So why’d you blow up the carriage?” Luke asked.

“They were getting close to home.” James stated.  Or at least, that’s what they were supposed to think.  “Now, the explosion was large enough to be noticed by other dudites.  You won’t want to be here when they show up.  These guys had swords,” he gestured behind his back at the smashed bodies, “but the guys on their way will have guns.”  He considered.  “And sorcery.”

He turned around to face Luke.  “I can take you to my safehouse- what the harch are you doing?!”

Luke turned so they both faced the road, where the rest of the Nexus Forcers were picking up smashed parts and throwing them into a bag.  “What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

“I need those body parts for the scene!” James groaned.

“We need them to interrogate them.” Luke countered.

James whirled on him.  “And how are you going to do that?  There’s not enough Imagination here to rebuild them.”

Luke pointed at the sky.  “We have a spaceship in orbit,” the blond said, “we’ll rebuild them there and see what we can learn.”

“I hope they’re cloaked.” James warned.  “If the Barney Bots and Red Mythrans spot them, your ship is going kaboom.”

As they watched, two of the Nexus Forcers set the bag of pieces on the ground and the rest began taking positions around it.  From down the road, two of the conscripts, a dark haired man and a blonde woman, approached, and Luke took a step forward but James grabbed his arm.

“Are you all going?” James asked.

“Yeah, our work here’s done for now.” Luke said. "We were going to use that carriage, but it's kinda useless now."

“I think we can help each other if we work together.” James insisted.  “Some of you should stay with me.  I’ve got intel I think you’d find important.”

Luke turned to him.  “Why not come with us, then?”

James picked up the child.  “Are you a married man, Luke Mercury?”

Luke smiled.  “Engaged.”

“Wives,” James whispered.  “This kid’s getting home tonight, and we need days to come up with a good plan.”

“I’ll see who else is willing to stay,” Luke nodded, and he walked backwards towards the others.  “We’re lucky to meet you, James.”

“James Walters.”

He watched as Luke conferred with the dark haired man, his blonde companion, and a woman with dark red hair and sunglasses.  Then the four of them left the group surrounding the parts bag and returned to James.  As they approached, the men and women they left behind were suddenly enveloped in a bright blue glow and a whistling sound filled the air.  It increased in pitch, while decreasing in volume, as the Nexus Forcers and their bag of smashed people began to fade away.  In no less than five seconds, they were gone without a trace.

Transporters spooked James.  He preferred portals.

“This is my sister, Mara Mercury.” Luke introduced the remaining Nexus Forcers.  “Bridget Marcotte.”  The blond woman made a peace sign.  “And Aiden Talmid.”

"Wait...like Killian?" James had made eye contact, or at least tried to with Mara, with each person as Luke introduced them, but at the dark haired man James grew exuberant.  “You’re a Talmid?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” Aiden said, regarding James. "What do you know about Killian?"

James pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes in thought as he scrutinized the man.  From the pictures he’d seen… yes.  There were resembling features between this man and the infamous Sir Talmid, leader of the Knights of the Olde Speech, presently imprisoned in thedude’s castle.  It made sense now why these Nexus Forcers were so resolute on rescuing the knight.

“Backup at last!” James shouted, and he picked up the child and spun around into the forest.  “Let’s get out of here.”

...

"...And how would you describe me?"

"That's tough to say. Everyone's complex, but you're.. sort of... complex complex. And that's not good for you. You're determined, that's for sure, but you need to ease up. Let things go."

"I can't."

"If there's two words I never want to hear from you, it's 'I can't'."

"Some things you're stuck with forever."

"Yeah. Like me and you."

"That's why I love you."

Chapter 3

The wind picked up while James led the Nexus Forcers to his safe house.  All the way there, dried and dead brown leaves shimmied down through the air to join their felled brethren to crackle and crinkle underfoot as the five travelers, not including the infant, tramped through the forest.

As much as he strived for competence, Aiden long realized that tracking their course of travel was hopeless.  James made countless left turns, right turns, U-turns, and J-turns.  At one point he made them walk backwards while reciting Fibonacci.  But James knew more about the situation on Militiregnum than any of them, and that made him a valuable accomplice.

He suspected James saw value in their presence, as well.  His RPG slung on his back and his child asleep in a Baby Bjorn on his chest, James led the procession.  Luke and Mara stuck close, followed by Bridget, and Aiden took the rear with a pistol.  They were all armed with appropriate weapons now that they knew they worked.  He wondered how Marion would react to that intel once the squad briefed him.  He was probably giving them grief over letting Aiden and others stay downstairs.  It was a miracle they hadn’t been beamed up yet.

“What took you astronauts so long to come down anyway?” James shot them at one point.  He was referring to the Nexus Force’s blockade around Militiregnum that kept thedude’s influence from leaving Militiregnum, or so they had thought until events earlier that year…

Conversation was a double edged sword here.  It served to exchange information while distracting them at the same time.

“Marion Allison.” Mara muttered, and Luke took a deep breath.

“General Allison,” he began, “is the embouchure in charge of the blockade, and the blockade is one of the Nexus Force’s dirty secrets.  Militiregnum is, too.  This planet aint on the maps.  So you can imagine, getting here while staying on the right side of the law has taken awhile.  Make it ten years.”

James stopped, turned clockwise fifteen degrees, and then kept walking.  Rock walls began to rise on either side that looked a bit tight at spots, but James just slipped through them.  “You poor people,” he empathized.  “Bureaucracy stinks, doesn’t it?  You’d benefit from a Janra.”

“What’s a Janra?” Luke asked.

“A magical device great for bypassing bureaucrats and doing whatever the hell you want, but with great power comes great responsibility.  It creates a link between dimensions.”

Luke glanced over his shoulder, around Mara, and around Bridget, to see if Aiden caught that bit.  The dark haired man was already walking at a faster pace.  “Say that again?” he asked James.  “Did you say dimensions?”

“Dimensions,” James explained, “are pockets of reality floating in a purgatory known as Unverse-“

Aiden felt a tap on his shoulder and his head, with his attention, did a 180 to make eye contact with Bridget.

“A Janra creates a link between dimensions,” she repeated James’ words.

“…if it’s a Janra you wanted to know about, you should have said that, instead of ‘dimensions’.” James chastised, and Aiden turned back to their guide.

“We’re familiar with Unverse,” he told him.  “We’ve… traversed it.”

Now James turned around.  “Ever heard of a Chanora?” he asked, a funny look on his face.

Aiden shook his head.

“Then you haven’t traversed anything.”

“Actually,” Luke spoke up, “we’ve gone to three Maelstrom Dimensions.“

“Pssh,” James waved his hand dismissively.

“Excuse me,” Bridget cut in, “but there’s no need to downplay what these three have been through.  You don’t know everything about us.”

“I can’t say I do, to the latter.” James agreed.  “To the former, just ignore it.  I’m an idiot sometimes.  But I can say you’re grossly inexperienced and greatly uninformed of the situation here, and downright unprepared for your rescue mission.  But I’m trying to help you, and I don’t care if you trust me, but you can just follow my lead and that’ll be great.  And we’re here.”

The rocky crevasse suddenly opened into a small clearing, so small that the treetops and their web of crisscrossed branches still completely covered it.  At its center was an old stone structure, its surfaces covered in fallen leaves, vines, and moss; a natural camouflage against distant viewers.  Rocky heights popped up at various spots, and a slow, clear stream wound through the terrain.  For some reason neither the sun was visible in the sky nor the shadows cast by it on the ground.

“Where is this place?” Aiden asked.  James continued towards the structure, but the Nexus Forcers stopped to admire the sights, and get their bearings.

“My sense of direction and I parted ways half an hour ago.” Bridget said.

“We’re a mile east and twelve hundred feet north from our landing position.” Mara reported, pocketing her compass.

“Nice.” Aiden said.  “You counted that?”

Mara nodded.  “If one piece of tech had to prove Marion right, it was the GPSes.  They’re still useless.”  Her hand came back holding a small gray device.  She pressed its power button, to no effect.  They had been like that since they landed.  They were quick to attribute the so-called ‘technology curse’ for the death of that, and their other electronics, but now they wondered if the transporter had killed them.

“You’re not useless, though.” Aiden told her.

“Aw, thanks pretty boy.” Mara turned to flash Aiden a wide grin, when a red dot appeared on her temple.

Chapter 4

A door burst open into the outpost’s antechamber, before the main chamber, and James stepped in.  It was a stone room with walls and floors as unfinished as the outpost’s exterior design, or so it was meant to appear.  Everything looked in order, James observed; the traps were in place, the hiding places were still hidden, and a woman had a sniper pointed out the western arrowslit.  James could infer where it was pointed.

“I’d like it if you don’t shoot those people.” he said, and Rebecca turned to face him.

“You brought them here?”  She said it like a question, but the real question was unstated.  It was an implicit why?  James answered with a shrug, and Rebecca removed the rifle from the window, stood up, and brushed the dust off her knees.  “You’re a korchring idiot.”

“Hey, they’re on our side at least.” James said.

“At least?” Rebecca repeated.

“They’re Nexus Force, not that that means much.” James admitted.  “I made contact when they started shooting at that carriage, the one we were tracking.  Oh, and they have this guy who’s related to Sir Talmid, like a son or nephew or something.”

Rebecca folded her arms.  “Interesting.  Why is the Nexus Force stepping in now?”

“They seem like a splinter group.” James said.  “I don’t fully know their motive yet, though.”

“And you still brought them here.” Rebecca chastised, and James held up a hand.

“They want to rescue Killian, I know that at least.” James said.

“Don’t we all,” Rebecca muttered.  “That doesn’t mean their goal is consistent with the resistance’s.”

“I know,” James nodded.  “They want Killian out of Orlan.  We want thedude out of Orlan.”

“There’s a lot in between the two.” Rebecca said.

“Aye.  And, that’s not the end of it.” James reminded.

“So, how much can they help us with that?”

“We’ll have to ask them,” James said.

“Let me remind you, you’re supposed to find these things out before bringing them here.”

“Like they even know where here is.”

“I wouldn’t put it beyond anyone.” Rebecca warned, “certainly not an offshoot of the Nexus Force.  Look at the Rogues, for instance.  They’re as lucky as they’re stupid.”  She picked up the rifle and headed for the door, and James followed his wife.  He let her lead.  It was better to let her do the talking concerning the info they were about to share with the Nexus Forcers.

They needed an army.

.--

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  It’s not your fault what happened.  It’s not your fault at all.”

“So?  Fault makes no difference if you’re upset or not.  Saying ‘I’m sorry,’ it means someone cares about you.”

“That’s good to know.”

"It means I care."

Chapter 5

They sat around a firepit, the six of them; Aiden, Luke, Mara, Bridget, James, and Rebecca; seven counting the infant, cradled in Rebecca’s left arm.  Dinner was served inside the kitchen/dining room/dinette of the Walters’ compound.  Warming in a wok suspended over the glowing embers was a mix of vegetables homegrown by the Walters, and some game also hunted by the Walters, to be prepared by Rebecca, the stewardess of the compound.  Those who were religious said grace, and those who weren’t waited in silent respect to their hosts.  In the interim they thought of their families, friends, and other things close to their hearts.

Aiden thought about Sir Talmid, of course.  Killian was, in more ways than one, his lifelong hero.  Killian was his inspiration for joining the Nexus Force.  But the man had defied his parents to join the Nexus Force.  In a way, Aiden had too, but it was post defacto…

Eleven years passed since Aiden saw Killian last.  His uncle hadn’t looked good.  Now, Aiden could only imagine.

A lot could change in eleven years.

A lot had changed.

They ate a few minutes, then James wiped dessert off his mouth and spoke.  “The situation requires a plan, and as adults, we’re going to make that plan.”

“The situation being,” Aiden noted, “rescuing Sir Killian Talmid.”

James nodded.  “We have to look at this like making a deal, playing chess, and playing cards.  Think of it like this, if we want to get Killian from thedude, we have to give something to thedude in return.”

“So, like a trade?” Mara said.

Rebecca rolled her eyes.  “Yes, like a trade.  It’s a safe, nonviolent alternative to going in guns blazing.  Rescuing Sir Talmid, as great as it’d be for Morcia, isn’t so great for us if we’re dead.  Sorry, Aiden,” she turned to him.

“Don’t be,” Aiden fixed her with a nod.  “You’re right.”

Mara made a face.  “Are you seriously talking about trading with thedude?  I don’t think he can comprehend such concepts of ‘safe’ and ‘nonviolent,’ with all we’ve heard about him.”

“You said you wanted an army.” Luke reminded.

“Which implies guns blazing.” Bridget added.

“Back on track, guys.” James urged.  “Let’s move on to the chess part.  We could use an army, and yes, that does mean shooting guns.  Or at least, threatening to shoot them.”  He stood up and went to a drawer in the room’s corner.  He opened it to take our an item and returned to the firepit with a map.  The others learned over to see where he pointed to, a point between the towns of Somna and Leer.  “There’s a cloning facility right here, belonging to thedude.  It’s the last one in existence.”

There were a number of responses to that.  Mara and Bridget chuckled.  Aiden snorted.  “Of course there’s another one,” Luke muttered.  Rebecca rolled her eyes again, but she proceeded to say:

“It’s truly the last one.  Thedude only had two others, which have since been destroyed.  The first one was in Orlan and it was destroyed seven years ago; we have to reason to believe Sir Talmid destroyed it, actually.  The second was in another dimension, on a planet called Macabross, and it was destroyed by allies of the Nexus Force from another dimension.”

Aiden raised his eyebrows and stared a silent question at James and Rebecca.  “That’s classified Nexus Force intel,” he said of the info on Macabross.  There was no way the Walters should have known it, but he couldn’t blame them, considering Aiden and co. hadn’t come across it totally legally either.  Luke and Mara were still hackers, that hadn’t changed in eleven years.

“Let’s just say,” James said, “if your Nexus Force knew it, the C.O.D knew it.  That’s our organization, mine and Rebecca’s.  But we didn’t just know your Nexus Force.  Any Nexus Force - any government you name, the Federation, FROST, Minotaur Space Imperium, America, yadda yadda yadda - it aint classified, as far as C.O.D was concerned; it never was.  The only things truly classified here are what Becca and I don’t tell you.”

“But we’re allies here,” Rebecca reminded, “so we’re not going to keep much.”

“Hopefully this makes it easier to talk.” James said.

Eventually their guests nodded.

“So… under threat of destroying thedude’s last cloning facility, you think he’ll give us Killian.” Aiden surmised.

“That’s one possibility.” James said.  “Show of hands.  Who thinks it’ll work?”

No one raised their hands.

“Yeah, me neither,” James confessed, “which is why we’re planning.”

“Then instead of threatening to destroy it, we could just destroy it.” Mara said.  “We can use our ship.”

“Not so fast.” Rebecca interjected.  “Your ship is currently a secret to thedude.  You’d best keep it that way.  Once thedude knows it’s there, he’ll know what to look for.  He’s got Barney Fighters and Red Mythrans-“

“We know.” Aiden said.

“And then you don’t have a ship.” James said.  “So, that takes us back to an army.”

Luke’s chair scraped back loudly as he rose, arms folded, eyes aimed at James.  “You’ve had this planned out all along, haven’t you?” he accused, and he glared a second at Rebecca, as well.

Catching on, the others slowly got up as well.  “Do you think we’re idiots?” Mara demanded.

“No,” James told her, “and no,” he told Luke, “we haven’t had this planned out.  Not in a group discussion, not even between me and Rebecca.  It’s all ideas, mine, hers, yours; the idea here is to peer review them.  You people plan, right?”

“They’re Nexus Force,” Rebecca muttered, “of course they don’t.”

“That’s a rude thing to say.” Bridget said.

“We improvise.” Aiden retorted.

“That’s what we’re doing here,” Rebecca stated.

“So if you don’t have a better idea,” James said, “sit back down.”

The two parties glared at each other a bit more, before Aiden obliged first, as he was cool headed, followed by Bridget who was also calm for at this time her outgoing demeanor was well overshadowed by Mara’s.  Eventually the Mercurys followed suit.

“Alright.” James began, resuming conversation.  “To recap, we’ve ruled out just threatening the cloning facility - which we need a name for, by the way - and we’ve ruled out orbital bombardment, for now.  We still want to destroy the cloning facility to gain leverage against thedude.”

“Let’s take a moment to find a name.” Aiden suggested.

“Sure.” James agreed.

“’Bazooka’.” Mara said.

“Too explosive.” Rebecca objected.  “Even if we’re blowing it up, we don’t want to make it obvious.”

“’Mine turtle’.” Luke said.

“Again,” Rebecca facepalmed, “that implies explosives.”

“’Nuke’.” Mara said.  “All In favor?”

Luke raised a hand, so did James, but Rebecca slapped his down.

“Guys, Rebecca’s right.” Aiden said.  “Think of something neutral.  Like construction.”

Mara: “Rocks.”

Luke: “Bricks.”

James: “Concrete.”

Bridget: “Bamboo.”

Aiden: “Wood.“

“Enough.” Rebecca interjected.  “We’re wasting too much time.  I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 20, the closest guess gets their name chosen.”

Mara: “0.”

Luke: “20.”

James: “7.”

Bridget: “12.”

Aiden: “3.”

Rebecca: “15,” and she pointed at Bridget.  “Bamboo it is.  So what’s the best way to destroy Bamboo?”

“Bombs.” Mara said.

“Guns.” Luke said.

“I mean like infiltration?  All-out assault?” Rebecca waved her free arm impatiently.  “Ideas, people?”

“Infiltration puts less of us at risk,” Aiden said, “and if we showed up with a Nexus Force army, thedude would wonder where it came from, which leads back to our ship.”

“We can disguise an army as one of the local resistance groups.” James said.

“No, I’m with Aiden,” Rebecca said, “we don’t need an army.”

“What’s the security like down here?” Aiden asked.

“In general, incompetent.” Rebecca said.  “Specifically around Bamboo, a platoon of Elite Rogues and two Red Mythrans.  Elite Rogues aren’t so much less incompetent, they’re just better shots and more brutal.  Their commanders have to be smart, though.  Bamboo’s is charged by a Commander Pavel Sancho.”

James reached around to a terminal behind him and the monitor lit up with a picture of a smooth-skinned, bearded fellow with dark gray hair, a tall face, a thin nose, and thin eyes.  “Pavel Sancho, thirty-one years old, served in His Ungrammerness’s Army for the last twelve years, and born in Aquila.”

“A local boy.” Luke quipped.

“Thedude’s been recruiting local boys.  And girls.” James muttered.  “The locals are smarter than Faction War vets.  Sorry, Nexus Forcers, but being kids in a war and all, you didn’t get the education.”

“You saying we don’t got creds?” Luke’s jaw dropped.  “That’s low.”

“You’re comparing us - experienced soldiers, strategists, special operatives – with, ah, medieval peasants.” Aiden said.

“There’s universities down here.” James said.  “Sancho here graduated at the top of his class in Aquilone military strategy.”

Luke clenched and unclenched his fists.  “Show us Bamboo,” he said.

James brought up an exterior image of a concrete building with a paved road leading out of the frame.  A parking lot was visible, containing ten horsedrawn carriages and some cars.  Surrounding the building were trees indicating its location in the Morcian forest between Somna and Leer.

“I took this picture a week ago,” James said.  He then showed some interior layout schematics, which he obviously didn’t take with a camera.  “These ones I hacked.  Now, the building receives power from a geothermal reactor protected by a Covarient Maelstrom shield; standard Paradox tech.  The Maelstrom is of course volatile, but we don’t want that stuff floating around if we can help it.  The shield is stabilized by a block of ‘Alberts,’ Imagination reactors connected to the planet’s Imagination mining grid.  There’s a lot of energy running through the Alberts so blowing them up will yield an amplified explosion.  They’re installed at key points around Bamboo so all we need to do is detonate a few Alberts to bring down the whole building.”

Aiden nodded.  “Sounds like a plan; like one you’ve had or thought about for a while, eh?”

James shrugged.  “Taking out the cloning facility- I mean Bamboo, has been on my bucket list for a while.  Except now, we can use it to rescue Killian, which makes it even better.”

“We’re going to need to do more, I think,” Bridget spoke up, “since the eventual trade deal is supposed to be, as Rebecca said, nonviolent.  I don’t think the threat of more violence will work in our favor.  Maybe for the leverage part, we could salvage some of the cloning tech, and offer that too in exchange for Killian?”

James snapped his fingers.  “Actually, young lady, I’ve already got that covered.  I’ve got something better, actually.  Here, in this compound, Rebecca and I have an actual clone of thedude.”

“You’re kidding.” Aiden said.

James shook his head.  “Problem is, it aint worth anything to him so long as Bamboo stands, since he can just clone a replacement.  But if we take it out…”

Luke nodded earnestly.  “Yeah, we know economics; supply and demand; we’re not dumb.”

“Where is the clone?” Bridget asked the important question.

James glanced at his wife.

Their eyes fell on Rebecca first, and then on the child cradled in her arms.

“Yeah,” James said, and that all but confirmed it.  “That’s the clone.”

Chapter 6

Through supplementary discussion the team found shared the sentiment that acting sooner rather than later was preferred. After a brief meteorological survey the Mercuries reported a moonless sky, ideal for a stealth op while James's intel on Bamboo remained fresh. With the Walters' entire arsenal at their disposal, Aiden took the task of selecting light weaponry. Landing party assault rifles wouldn't do in a tight situation. He rifled through drawers and chests collecting little pistols, tasers, lockpicks and the like.

Footsteps crossed the armoury threshold. "We're close to 500 since our last report," Bridget apprised. Whilst getting the feel for a handgun Aiden turned and faced her new outfit, matte black and tight, soundless. Appropriate.

He waved his open hand and made a face dismissively. "It's not like Marion can see it. It'd be too long to get back to the drop zone to transmit it."

Bridget gave him a concerned stare. "It's not something we should make a habit of skipping."

"Good point. A'ight." From where he'd set it down on a chest, Aiden picked up a white with blue buttons tape recorder and pressed record. "10:23 PM, local time, Aiden and Bridget present, all movements accounted for. About to embark on a mission of sabotage a target... a cloning facility eight miles north-west from our current location... coordinates Lat 1279.29, Long 1667.45. Signing off." He clicked the blue stop and smiled at Bridget. She nodded back with notable coolness.

He faced her head on. "You don't look enthusiastic," he observed.

Bridget offered a small smile. "That's because I'm not."

"Talk to me," he said.

"This is all so spontaneous and I don't feel we're in control," she confided.

Aiden nodded. "James and Rebecca."

Bridget nodded back.

"They're giving us an opportunity I don't want to miss," Aiden said, "and I get what you mean, but in a way we're also, for once, in charge of ourselves. No Marion Allison driving our movements."

"You've been so calculated until now," Bridget interposed. "And patient. What changed?"

Truthfully, Aiden hadn't an answer in the moment. "I don't know," he expressed. "Maybe because we're finally down here. After all this time..." He seemed calm, to himself. He seemed to be thinking rationally, reasonably. "Am I calm?" he asked.

"You sound so," she told him. She sidled up and picked the handgun from him, while speaking she inspected it. "And I'll follow you on this plan, I don't doubt our ability to pull it off, it's just that your decision is... surprising. That's all."

Aiden took a breath of the air around them and glanced sidelong at his companion. "Is that all?" he repeated.

She stared back, betraying the hint of a more genuine, perhaps flirtatious smile. "Until we return from this mission."

"I look forward to that, then."

"I appreciate your appreciating that."

"That being..."

"That you should know."

"Stop it, the two of you," Luke Mercury cut in, standing in the doorway.

Aiden let his hands drop from Bridget's arms which had wound up around his shoulders, and she kept them there they both turned their attention to Luke's interruption.

"You interface with Crateris all the time," Bridget challenged.

"In its time and place, neither of which would be now, were she not on the ship," Luke sniffed. He had also changed into a stealthy attire. "James is ready to go. He's with Mara outside. We have transportation."

"Transportation?" Aiden repeated.

"The latest in traveling innovation."

Upon exiting the compound, the vehicle in question was seen to be a horsedrawn carriage with a village man and village woman at the reins, or at least that is what their appearances meant to convey. His farmer's coveralls topped in a feather cap, James Walters looked quite blue collar. Mara had Sunday breeches and a white button down, finished with a navy vest. The perfect disguise.

"It's an hour's travel to Bamboo." James said. "You're all set, it looks like," he took in their stealth suits. Aiden, Luke, and Bridget had finished their infiltration attire with belts for the various small tools and munitions harnessed tight to their bodies.

"We need an operation name," Mara said.

"Operation Bamboo." Luke said.

"Too obvious." Mara snorted.

Too easy. Aiden got in the carriage, after Luke and Bridget, and they were off.