Chapter 218: It’s Aliens

Viv had hoped the camp would be deserted since the patrol must have been most of the remaining guards. Unfortunately, she had underestimated the Sheem’s basic human needs.

 

“I’m an idiot,” she whispered to herself.

 

Of course most of their troops would still be out but it had been a day and they had chased after Viv’s convoy with little supply. Now, an entire squad was back, drinking water and resting. She surveyed the scene from behind a rock, other members of the convoy by her side. The camp arrayed before them was well ordered, but it wasn’t fortified. Hell, it wasn’t even hidden. Those people sure were confident. She also couldn’t understand how they could ignore the massive, half-blown up arch floating in the air above them with a background hiss like fingernails on a stone, its ever present noise grating on her nerves. She would go insane staying here for days, yet they didn’t seem to feel anything.

 

The space was ripped and kept open by the damn arch, though she would have to get closer to understand how. They really, really needed in.

 

Her side still had the element of surprise. She hoped Captain Sin would make it count.

 

“Ahem.”

 

She turned to Sin who was now pretty close. He was trying to get her attention.

 

“Lady Jaratalassi. The prisoners are over there,” he whispered, pointing away.

 

Viv took another quick, risky gander. They did have cages on the far end, rudimentary ones seemingly made on the fly from green wood and tent supports. She could see the bulky form of other aliens cooped up in there. She pulled back and seethed in annoyance. The Sheem were treating coil-gun equipped people like they were animals. She hoped to fuck the aliens weren’t the vengeful kind.

 

“What did you have in mind?” she asked Captain Shin.

 

“Could you please go around with Scout Tolek and free them once we start a commotion? I’m afraid the Sheem might decide to execute them if we are not careful.”

 

He gave her pistol a thoughtful look.

 

“If you agree, of course.”

 

“That will be fine. We’ll make sure nothing happens to them. I still have my gauntlets.”

 

“Then go around with Tolek. We will give you a moment to get in position, but no more. They will grow suspicious if the patrol doesn’t return.”

 

“On my way.”

 

She gave Tolek a nod as she moved from behind the boulder. The scout crawled away, and Viv followed, somewhat annoyed that her nice dress was always sweaty and now it was going to be dusty as well. The crawl along the edge of the camp was a slow and fastidious process not least because she had to take extra care not to be heard — lots of loose rocks around, but her patience and imitating Tolek helped. The cages were really close now. Viv counted three more aliens, but also a human woman tied much more tightly than the others. One of the visitors was clearly struggling, their chest rising quickly under the heavy suit. Another one had managed to grab their hand which Viv assumed was a universal show of support. Shit, if one of the aliens died here… really bad precedent. She had to move fast.

 

The first sign that something was going on was the wind rising. Viv wouldn’t have even noticed were it not for the abundance of wind mages in these parts. The sentries reacted immediately. There were four near the cage.

 

Tolek stood and drew at the same time. His arrow caught the first sentry on the neck. He went down without a cry.

 

Viv stood as well. She aimed at the nearest wild-eyed soldier. She felt amazingly calm, using a gun again. It was still such a zen and familiar activity, even years later.

 

The trigger snapped under her finger. The coil gun emitted a beep of dismay.

 

“You mother FUCKER!”

 

The sentry was slightly more surprised than she was so it was an easy gauntlet push. The powerful telekinetic spell rammed the unfortunate Sheem in the gut at close range, propelling him into a distant tent from whence he didn’t rise. Viv turned to the third sentry, who was reaching for a cage, and sent him rolling on the ground dozens of paces away. The fourth sentry was almost upon her, panicked yet determined. Tolek was holding a bloody arm by now. He was out of the fight.

 

The gauntlets were out of mana, but the Sheem didn’t know that. She extended her left arm and roared.

 

“Stabbity stabby!”

 

Out of desperation, the last soldier ducked under her fake spell, then grabbed her wrist, pushing it up with two hands. That left him wide open.

 

So she stabbed him.

 

The blow, powered by her strength and skill, hit the man clean in the heart through the ribcage.

 

“I did warn you,” she told the falling figure.

 

Fuck, stabbing a human soldier doing their job still felt ass to her. It was just so… personal. She had nothing against the guy, it was just him or her, or rather, him or the aliens. Blood had sprayed her dress and hand. It was already sticky.

 

“Fuck…”

 

No time for qualms. She approached the first cage, using the elemental knife to simply cut through the shitty lock. Honestly, it was so badly made that anyone with high strength would have demolished it by using the stat’s temporary overload. The first alien she freed stood up with shaky knees. They were obviously in quite a bit of pain from staying in the secluded space. Viv made sure to cut the distressed one out immediately after. She slowly pulled them out of the cage while their companion silently panicked before laying them down on the ground, then it was the turn of the third one to be saved. Both of those who were doing better gathered around the faltering one. She saved the human woman last. That one was clearly a local.

 

Viv had another look around while she cut through several layers of rope. Tolek had bandaged his wound, and he was now keeping a lookout.

 

“Finally!” the captive woman hissed.

 

She was also a scout of sorts from her burnished skin and sensible uniform with actual pants, though her tied long hair hinted at noble origins. Something tickled at the back of her memory. Someone had mentioned a disappeared person back in Ravinport.

 

“Are you Lady Mar’s granddaughter?” Viv asked.

 

“Yes, but it matters not. There will be time to talk after the Sheem are defeated! For Ravinport! For honor! Raaaaagh!”

 

The tall woman — as tall as Viv really, but stockier, then proceeded to grab the spear of one of the fallen before charging headlong into the distant skirmish. Viv could see that Captain Sin was tearing through the last of the resistance, but it didn’t stop the unknown lady from slamming her weapon in the chest of a Sheem defender, both of them toppling into a nearby tent. That tent turned out to be the one protecting the horses, and the panicked beasts escaped with terrified neighs, The battle somehow grew even more furious and chaotic.

 

“Wow.”

 

Viv managed to detach her eyes from the furious melee just as the scout girl and Captain Sin ended up fighting back to back when the first alien she’d met rushed to the wounded one. There was some sort of quiet exchange, then he started drawing in the dirt. Viv had to bring some sand to help him because he was shaking.

 

Elder. Clothes. Torn. Need carriage inside.

 

Viv drew as fast as she could, which made the aliens mesmerized by her speed from the way their dark eyes widened behind the opaque shielding of their helmets.

 

Does he need the air inside?

 

Air. Safety from.

 

There was some discussion among them while they picked a word.

 

Very small insects.

 

“Ah, they’re afraid of diseases. Of course.”

 

Viv hummed to herself. The battle was almost over. Honestly she was surprised it had taken so long. She invited the aliens to follow her while Scout Tolek hovered on the side, hesitant to intervene. She directed them towards a side tent inside of which she could see the dark reflection of something metal and bulky. The aliens somehow accepted her help when she picked up the wounded one. She couldn’t see damage in the suit but maybe it was very tiny, and that was why they were still alive. She dropped them as gently as she could before pulling the tent away from what looked like a mix between a moon lander and an APC, though it was really quite large.

 

Just like their guns, the vehicle was bulky and ugly, more functional than anything else. The suits of the other three aliens were as functional and drab as the one of the first, with the distressed ‘elder’ having marginally more decorations. The aliens seemed to hesitate until the first one turned to them and, though Viv couldn’t hear, they must have been convincing, because they opened a lateral airlock and went in. Only the first alien remained behind.

 

Now. Weapon. Broken. Give back?

 

With a lass huff of annoyance, Viv went to retrieve the broken pistol. She’d fired it once. Once, gods dammit. She was being actively trolled. The gods were trying to keep her away from guns, for sure.

 

The alien remained quiet for a moment. She thought they might have been thoughtful, but she realized they must have been talking with their allies when they bent down to write more.

 

Elder. Better. Says. Use beacon. Return. Seal gate.

 

Will it work?

 

Another pause. Viv appreciated that she wasn’t being ignored. The aliens were really trying to work with her.

 

Gate. Meant. Shorter trip. Not. Other. Planet. Call back. Revise.

 

“So it was an accident.”

 

Carriage. Clothes. Precautions if stranded. Tether to home. Active. Return. Seal gate. Goodbye.

 

They stood back up. Viv nodded, then wondered if the gesture carried. The alien nodded back so maybe it did. Hesitating, she wrote one more time.

 

Sorry you received hostility. Have a safe trip back.

 

The answer was faster this time.

 

We. All. Thank you. Go new place. Some friends. Some foes. Same. Everywhere. Debt. Payment. Impossible. Farewell.

 

“And farewell to you too.”

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She waved him off towards the airlock. He was gone soon, and she was left wondering if they would keep their stat gains and language package back in their home. It filled her with curiosity, and also with a bit of envy. Nyil was her home now, but it would have been nice to have a choice in the matter.

 

With a rumble, the APC started to move. Captain Sin joined her a moment later with a mighty frown on his face.

 

“What is that monstrosity of metal? What have you done?”

 

“Just gave them a chance to go home.”

 

“This was not your decision to make!”

 

She held back her anger. He didn’t know what he was talking about. His only concern was Ravinport and its interests, and she should not be holding it against him.

 

“And yet I made it. It’s done.”

 

A strange pulse came not from, but through the portal. Viv’s vision distorted, one seeing the gate as a flat surface held in the air by space shenanigans, the other perceiving a well of great depth, and from that well, a rope emerged that tied the vehicle to some destination very, very far away. Soon, it was the turn of the vehicle itself to grow hazy, then it thinned as if pulled through a needle, and after one last pulse, it was gone.

 

Thankfully, nothing exploded this time. The stone that made the gate dropped, suddenly abandoned to gravity. The gash in the fabric of space eased up until it was more of a gentle crease than the teeth-grinding scar it had been before. They were gone, hopefully forever.

 

Viv let out a sigh of relief she didn’t know she’d been holding.

 

“Sai Jaratalassi!” a serious female voice said nearby.

 

Viv turned to the grim scout, her tanned face uncomfortably close.

 

“Hmm, yes?”

 

“My name is Mar the Younger and I owe you my freedom.”

 

“I believe this honor goes to Captain Sin.”

 

“He informed me that it was your plan that led to my rescue, now if you two would stop trying to give each other credit, I can finally express my gratitude?”

 

“You are most welcome,” Viv said, slightly taken aback.

 

“Good. Now that that is out of the way, we should escape this death trap. I noticed several runners leaving the camp during the battle. It is only a matter of time before the rest of those murderers come back.”

 

There was something brittle about her expression, something that told Viv there might have been more people with her but too few cages. As the guards gathered towards Captain Sin, Viv realized they were two short of the previous total, and the survivors had gashes in their armor. Some of them were still bleeding.

 

“You two gather the horses. The rest of you, load supplies onto that cart over there. Water first, food if you can find it. Go!”

 

Viv rushed ahead as well. She grabbed a couple of barrels of water with ease, then rushed into a separate tent to find bandages and flesh mending potions which she nabbed — they were going to need those. The looting of the camp was so fast and thorough that the entire team left with two full carriages. Viv was among the last to hop on the cart. The decision had apparently been made to leave the bodies of the slain behind. This place was so far from the deadlands that revenants seldom rose, and when they did, they didn’t wander off, apparently. It was a strange custom to her. Leaving so many bodies out in the open like this back in Harrak would have been a terminally stupid decision.

 

Viv cast one last look at the camp as they moved out. If it were her, she would have set it on fire but maybe there was a virtue in leaving one’s enemies a way out. The convoy rode west as quickly as they could through the land that belonged to the elemental. It was now marginally less difficult than the demented landscape it had been half an hour before. Viv frowned when she felt the shadow of danger caress her spine with the promise of blood. Something was wrong. Someone was coming. So soon? She frowned.

 

Without a word, Jim the Screecher mage took to the skies, and Viv knew what it meant. She wasn’t as sensitive to gray mana as he was, but if he forfeited any sort of stealth by moving air around like this, it meant they had mages incoming.

 

Viv turned her head. It was just one, a red-robed man whose face was hidden behind the avian mask favored by the Sheem. Jim rose in the air to meet him even as the convoy careened onward as fast as the guards dared to go. A hum spread throughout the land, like someone giving a question consideration. Unfortunately, the hum silenced Viv’s warning.

 

There was still one coil gun present on Nyil, of course. The one they’d tried to use on her at the border guard post.

 

“He’s going to shoot you!” Viv warned.

 

The two mages exchanged notes, their shields blurring under each other’s song. Only Viv had noticed the sinister muzzle emerging from the red-clad mage’s sleeve. What a cheap fucker.