The Deadman

I respect your choices. I do agree with what you want. Still, I can’t  just let the world experience the hell we know because of our family.

Kato checked the control unit of the drone swarm. His mind’s a mess. A lot is going on and yet he’s still functioning. As if he’d be ashamed if he’d go back to that state he was in. To Kato it felt like a flash of life. He only knew that he was in a hospital, not knowing he was doing something ridiculous.

Kato touched his neck. I guess something broke. Guess, I’m still afraid.  I feel sorry, but its just how it is, Kat. If I can't convince you normally, then I'd just break it.

“Convoy’s here.”

“How is the package?”

“Korium package is escorted. Acquiring signatures. Detecting Hellrunners armors. Marking them. Switching up. Preparing for anti-drone swarm “

The convoy, made up of several armored vehicles and heavily armed guards, was making its way through a desert landscape. Suddenly, the sky above was filled with a swarm of small drones, each equipped with a variety of weapons. The guards, taken by surprise, scrambled to defend themselves as the drones descended upon them.

Operating the drones remotely from a safe distance, expertly coordinated the attack. The drones targeted the convoy's weak points, disabling the vehicles one by one. The guards, outmatched and outgunned, were quickly overwhelmed.

As the last of the convoy's defenses fell, the mercenary flew the drones in for the kill. The guards, realizing they were outmatched, surrendered. Satisfied with a job well done, he remotely piloted the drones back to his base. The convoy, along with its valuable cargo, now belonged to the team.

“That’s done,” Kato reported.

He hurried to the mobile base and found itself flying. Kato knows that the tech she has is superior and so he’s fighting her kids in a way it would choke her tech. Her tech’s based on the world they lived in before. Kato suspected she worked on intelligence and mission control before she became a proper worker in some low-risk job. It would make sense. How she was able to improve and innovate. Not saying the people here are not well-educated, but in the other world, there’s no time to learn so they have machines to hammer the info in. Like VR’s machines dilating sense of time, make the workers familiar with the skills they need and the information they get to work better. One thing he learned about her troops was they were following familiar tactics. Kato was born as a soldier, and a merc for years. He could identify them properly now and with how they act. He could counter their tactics, make sure no traces were found so he could do what he needed to do.

He didn’t need any men. What he had was a swarm of drones to take care of matters of attack. He was going to keep her soldiers alive, so most of the time it’s non-lethal engagements. There are times where they get injured, but not to the point it would affect their life. Even if he did, he wasn’t much of a bleeding heart. Nothing’s perfect and in a way he was using the resources taken from their supply chain to fund his disruption.

***

Strato looks at the ‘x’ on the strat-map.  The operator next to him looked at the marks.

“So this was the magus you hired, Boss?”

“Could say that.”

“Fifty deployments. All non-lethal. We’ve been checking the tech he’s using. It’s piercing through every defense the Hellrunners have. Power armor malfunction, system locks, and even anti-drone swarm techs ain’t providing them any advantage.”

“I had him contacted with a nano-forge. 3D-printed every gear he wanted. All korium’s going into the deposit and so far he’s earning us millions of dollars every hit.”

“He and Val’s been operating.”

“Val gets sleep while he barely does.”

“Shit,” the operator whistled. “He must have one hell of a grudge against the Lady, Sir.”

“Not quite. It doesn’t matter if she wins to him. All he cares about is trying to stop her. ‘Trying’ doesn’t mean he wants to succeed.”

“Well, it’s pissing them off badly. I heard they’re looking for the armor he’s wearing.”

He gave the data pad containing the requests from the top.

“They want to know about the tech and the deployable armor he’s wearing.”

“We’ll ignore it.”

“That wise, Sir?”

“It is. If we can recruit him he’d be our best wraith.”

“And why don't we?”

“Because it’s best if he’s Freelancing.”

“I don’t get the logic, Sir.”

Strato adjusted his arm. “He’s neutral. He’s also a magus so he’s naturally inclined to address both sides. And you can see he has the skill set to care for the problems we have.”

“Still, can’t we convince him, Sir?”

“Negative. I doubt he’d be. He’s a Merc, son. And types like him never like collars. We tried to put a collar on him and he’d bite our throats. And, I don’t know if he lasts long enough.”

“What do you mean, Sir?”

“There’s a lot going on in the world, son. And in a way we are making use of his actions to gather resources from the enemy and gain some intel on what they are doing. World’s gotten madder these days, siding with a fool who’d try to open the gates, tempted by what she offers. We can’t stop greed. But we sure can bother them and get something from them.”

“Hit them where it hurts.”

“Exactly. And without leaving any bodies and corpses. They’d be vigilant, annoyed, and wary but they’d still have no jurisdiction to come over and fight us.”

“So this is why the boys aren’t being sent to ambush them. Would like to fight, Sir.”

“I need your boys armed and ready. Although we are doing well with this. I doubt we can stop them.”

“Even with this, Sir?”

“Even with this.”

“This is Val to Command. We are tracking down a massive carrier approaching the island. Drone swarm has neutralized the personnel. Requesting fast-mules to carry them out, over”

“This is Strato to Val, copy that. What’s the next plan, Val?”

“He’s going to a meeting, Sir.”

“Meeting?”

“Simone the Magus.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am, Sir.”

“Okay, you get some fast-rest, Val.”

“Magus, Sir?”

The operator said.

“One of the few beasts cooperating with us.”

“Where are they going to meet, Sir?”

Strato pointed at the crossroad of the world.

“Istanbul?”

***

Kato waited in an open area that was covered. The coordinate setup was a beacon. It didn’t take long for a fast-mover to appear, disengaging its cloak and landing on the open where Kato’s standing. The hatch opened. Simone the Magus got out, eyes scanning the area before walking with his hand extended.

“Didn’t hear a lot from you. Though you stopped.”

Simone took out a cigar from his pocket. He offered one to Kato. He took one and lit it up with his finger. The two took a long drag of their cigar before gesturing for their transport to secure the area.

“So I’ve heard you're pissing someone off.”

“I’ve decided that betting my chances isn’t going to work out after all.”

Simone puts down the briefcase. Kato picked it up.

"What's the situation?" Kato asked, his hand resting on his hilt.

"She still succeeded in obtaining a large quantity of korium," Simone replies, his face serious. "She's managed to rebuild a machine that she believes will open the gates of Hell. If our intel is correct."

“She’s barely hiding it?”

“I guess with a lot of allies. It made her bold. And in a way it’s hard not to try and believe in what she can do. Lot of politicians, lawyers and negotiators have made a deal with a lot of corpsecs who are interested in the deal she’s offering.

“And what deal is that?”

“Briefcase.”

Kato links up with the briefcase and then accepts the link. He took a projector from inside and activated it.

“She’s planning to set up a system of gates. A tunnel within the solar system, from planet to planet, creating a gateway that will shorten the time of arrival. From seven months to just an hour of flight. And the korium she’s gathering is supposedly what will power these gates.”

Kato’s face tightens. “Looks like she’s planning to supercharge the gates with the gates of hell.”

“It’s absurd, but with how much magic there is in Hell. I’d say she’d have a good chance of making it happen. Even if she fails, she’d hold enough energy to take advantage. I say, it’s really impressive how she goes with this. Even if one fails, she could use the other to progress.”

Kato blinked. “So let me get this straight. I hit a lot of convoys and carriers, but she still has enough?”

“That’s right. From the start she has a lot of supply. Not all of them are on their island and look here.”

It was a cargo submarine, an underwater vessel designed specifically for the transportation of goods and freight. Large in size and has a cylindrical or elongated shape. The exterior of the cargo submarine seems to be made of a durable steel and corrosion-resistant materials that can withstand the pressures of the deep ocean.

Equipped with powerful engines and propulsion systems that allow it to navigate through the depths of the ocean. The cargo submarine features a cargo hold, which is a large compartment located at the center of the submarine that is used to store and transport the korium undetected. Typically sealed and pressurized to protect the cargo from the water pressure outside and equipped with certain failsafe to make it safe to transport the material.

“How many units can it carry?

“54,000 TEU.”

“That’s a lot of containers.”

“If they manage to empty it out. They’d be able to hold a lot of supplies. From what I heard they have five cargo submarines.”

“I don’t recall them having an assembly line.”

“There might be two or three somewhere in the pacific ocean. We obviously can’t reach it since the depth can only be reached by specialized technology Lady Silva has made throughout the years. A combination of magi-science, she calls.

“How does she do it?”

“I believe she ‘fools’ the magic to bypass the usual problem when there’s a lot of tech around. I believe that she’s using a type of silicon-based materials to do this. Solidified silicon.”

Simone took a final drag of his cigar. “I’m surprised you’d go after her.”

“I heard that a lot of people think we’re close.”

“We do. It’s hard not to after the show she made with Leona.”

“Did Leona spread it?”

“Maybe. She’s the type to scream something and then watch it unfold. But I guess she isn’t. Considering you haven’t been contacted for the past few months and now you’re doing this.”

Kato’s face tightens. "How much time do we have?"

"Not much. She's planning on activating the machine in less than a month or two. We need to stop her before it's too late. But it seems as always she had already planned ahead."

Kato nods, his expression determined. "I'll take care of it."

Simone handed him a small device. "This is a tracker. It will lead you to her location. I'll be in contact with you through this device."

“Isn’t she on her island?”

“That would be too obvious. Device will detect the energy the machine will make. Once the device activates. Just follow the scent and we can stop her.”

“We can’t find her?”

“If we could. We would be heading to her now. But it’s not so simple. She’s rightfully paranoid considering her first try failed. All we could know, this is all just bait while she does what she does.

Kato takes the device and nods. "I'll take care of it when it comes."

“I hope so,” Simone stood up and watched the skies before disappearing with his transport. Without Simone around, Kato took off his glove and found the obsidian sword mark on his left hand slowly forming.

“It ain’t long. God, I hope you don’t get too mad about this, Kat.”

Then again it is more likely she'd kill him for this.

---