Jungle Drums IC
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Jungle Drums IC
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I shrugged: “I expect a flying banana, so about 20 people should be no problem. Give me a minute and I can organize a second lift.”
The action was over and all that was left was boring detail. So I shot Puck a request, ignored his bitching and got myself back on my feet to walk towards the indicated spot.
“Come on, this jungle sucks anyway.” -
Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Escape, Jungles, AztlanAlyce nods at Shrike. “Thank you. That ought to take care of my injured soldiers and some escorts. Rhea and I will take the rest to the rendezvous point and link up with my trucks there. I appreciate the help that you are offering.”
She turns to Al and grins. “Thank you, Al. Not to worry, I will not try to foist anything on you beyond what you have just described, and I was not looking at taking any of my soldiers with us. Just you and me on this one.”
Sian looks around and nods. “Thank you, Shrike. I hope to repay your kindness some day.” She turns to Al and Alyce. “It has been a pleasure to work with you, Al. You are an amazing man and I hope that you never lose sight of what is important to you. Alyce, it was also a pleasure to work with you again. I hope that you are available for my next expedition. I will keep in touch.”
Finished, the vampire shoulders a pack she has borrowed and turns to follow Shrike, leading her remaining prisoners.
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I shrugged: “No kindness – but we all need all the allies we can get – and I’m not particularly good at making those.
By the way: Have I ever told you that I’ve been here before? Three millenia or so. I’m murky on the details, but I remember fighting in a blood sport arena and burning down a pyramid full of blood mages. Good times. Maybe we get a chance to repeat that particularly experience together when we visit Azlan.” -
Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Escape, Jungles, AztlanSian chuckles. “Burning down temples filled with blood mages. I love it and can truly picture that in my mind. I have been in this area before as well, although it was much more recent. I was leading an expedition to some ruins in pursuit of some relics I thought my Master would like. It was a good time, but I do not recall burning any blood mages, which would have made it an even better time. Where else have you been? Perhaps we were in the same place at the same time.”
Rhea sorts out those who will accompany Shrike and Sian from those who will be going with her and Alyce. Soon the two groups are walking off in their respective directions.
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With the Vor headed off one way and the forlorn bunch of primitive kaern-dwellers milling about near Alyce, Al looked around to see which way Milo was going. Alyce had said no soldiers, but that didn’t really include the troll merc. But she’d also said ‘just you and me,’ though that could hardly be accurate since they were shepherding a bunch of refugees from a past age….either way, he wasn’t letting the big guy go without a proper greeting….
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Escape, Jungles, AztlanMilo is hard to miss and Al spies him standing off to one side with three other Vory soldiers. He lifts a hand as Al starts to walk over and says someting to his companions before leaving them to meet Al. His huge face is split with a large grin as he holds out a massive hand. “Al! I had hoped to have the time to see you before you went off with your other friends.” His eyes scan the camp, noting the direction that Shrike and the others had gone off in. “You are going to miss them……………or maybe you are not leaving with them?”
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“Nah. Simple feller like ol’ Al got no place with the never-die squad. Stickin’ around ta git the lost-in-time crew sorted. You headed out with the Russkies?”
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Escape, Jungles, AztlanMilo looks around as if to make sure that no one else is listening then whispers his reply. “Nah. Rhea tagged the four of us to remain with Alyce. We are supposed to stand off to the side until it is too late to join the others. She asked for volunteers but that was useless, as everyone, even the injured, raised his or her hand. It came down to a random draw and the four of us won.”
Unfortunately, a Troll’s whisper is just slightly louder than a normal person yelling and Milo and Al hear a loud screech from where Alyce is standing with the group of natives. A message over the net follows. >>Rhea! Rhea, you bitch! I thought that you were supposed to take everyone.<<
The reply from Rhea came quickly. >>Sorry, sis, did I forget someone? It was all a bit chaotic for a few minutes back there Oh well, I guess you will have to take them with you, unless you want to turn them loose on their own in this terrible, horrible, jungle?<<
Some very colorful language from Alyce followed that message, but it concluded with a quiet thank you from Alyce. Some laughter over the net from Rhea ended the back and forth.
Milo looks down at Al and shrugs his shoulders. “Oh well. I guess the cat is out of the bag now.”
He laughs and motions for the other three soldiers to come over to be introduced to Al. There is one woman and two men, all with Vory ink on their forearms and hands. They all move with a certain grace and confidence associated with people used to combat. All are armed with shotguns and deadly assault rifles, while Milo is armed with a large assault cannon and a shotgun that looks like it could fire shells the size of small heads.
335/66
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I just shrugged: “Hard to tell – I don’t know myself when exactly that was. Four or three thousand years ago? Ancient history, really. We better look out to the future now, because that’s where things are going to happen…”
I disregarded the little drama of the whip girl’s selfsacrificing criminals and instead made sure, the transport heli actually had a clear landing spot available.
As soon as I was on board, I went for a few emergency rations. Only then did I answer Puck’s call:
<<You know, you could at least say thank you that I divert crucial resources to evacuate you and a menagery of mercenaries.>>
<<Shut your face, Puck. I just made you a bunch of contacts in debt to you and our boss. Better see to it that you spend their lives wisely. And get me a flight ready for Europe. I’m going on vacation until you or someone else gets a fix on that Dream fella.>>
I interrupted the stream before Puck was able to object or comment on not being a fragging secretary.
Swalloing the last piece of the 5000 kcal ration, I laid back and took a three hour power nap, so I’d be fit for the next two days… -
Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Escape, Jungles, AztlanAlyce organizes the people in her group and heads off into the jungle. She has the location of three ruined cities that are within a few days walk from their current location and heads off to the closest one, careful to avoid the area controlled by the spirit. Small drones give some degree of security as they buzz to the front, rear, and flanks. Milo’s small security team blends into the jungle, taking advantage of their armor’s capabilities. Alyce walks with Al for as long as he wants to stay near the front, comfortable with his presence.
Sian nods to Shrike and boards the helicopter, sending a progress report in as soon as she is seated. >>Master, I am aboard an SK helicopter, heading for a city where I can catch a plane back to Europe. I am attaching a list of items I will need my Valoi to bring to me and will provide a further update when I know the city I will be arriving in in Europe. I will try for Paris, but I may be limited in my choice. I would like to take some time off to visit Marseilles for a bit. Send instructions if you need me to do something else.<<
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“Well, damn my eyes if things don’t have a way o’ comin’ back full circle,” Al said, looking around at the jungle surrounding them. Of course, just because it was jungle didn’t mean it bore much resemblance, to the experienced eye, to the rainforests of Southeast Asia. It was his first time in Latin America (if you didn’t count the Caribbean, or, for that matter, Texas), but he didn’t have to recognize all of the flora and fauna around him to know it was completely different from what he was used to in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam.
“I had reckoned on scoutin’ ahead. But seein’ as how yer security complement’s suddenly a whole lot bigger’n I’d been countin’ on, reckon the best role fer ol’ Al is close-in protection fer the expedition’s principal.” Al said with a sly chuckle.
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Alyce & Sian
Friday April 9, 2077; Escape, Jungles, AztlanMilo nods and laughs. “Well, they may be few in number, but they are some of the best the expedition has. They know their way around the jungle, speak the local language, and are well trained in fighting, if necessary. I think that they will serve us well. Now, go ahead and see to that protecting of the expedition’s principal. She probably needs it more that she will admit.”
The massive Troll laughs as he turns and walks into the jungle, effectively disappearing as his armor reacts to the vegetation around him.
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Sian
Friday April 30, 2077; Small Cafe, Marseilles, FranceThe sun is sinking over the Mediterranean as Sian steps off the Metro and walks the short distance to a small cafe overlooking the Marseilles harbor. She scans the faces of the people sitting outside the small cafe, searching for one in particular. Her face lights up as a man stands and looks at her. Sian crosses the distance between the two of them almost as if by teleportation and throws her arms about the man, who returns her embrace, eliciting some claps and comments from the handful of people in the area.
Blushing a bit, Sian places her pack at her feet and takes the seat the man offers and orders a coffee from the waiter who materializes at her elbow. Looking at the man near her, she smiles. “Nice spot to meet, Mark. You remembered.”
Mark nods, his eyes not leaving the woman’s face. “I am pretty sure that I will never forget anything of those days. I made the trip over here as soon as I got your message. I thought this would be the prefect place to meet you again. Have you been well?”
Sian’s mind flashes through the adventures of the past weeks, from meeting new companions in Yellowstone to making the leap to Aztlan to returning home and reporting to her Master. The reunion of Master and servant had gone somewhat better than Sian had anticipated. The Great Dragon had listened to her report, seemingly unperturbed by the failure to stop Dream from escaping. As he had put it, this sort of person would surface at some point and they would find him. He seemed very interested with the few trinkets Sian had brought back from the underground city. The reunion with her Valoi had gone well, too.
All together, it had taken two long weeks to get through all of the briefings and meetings. She even had to make an appearance for her Master at a conference, but afterwards, she had asked for some time off to look into something personal and Schwartzkopf had agreed. She had jetted to Marseilles, sending Mark a message on the way. “Let’s say things have been interesting. My life is never really boring and this was no exception.”
The man nods. “I caught the trivid of your appearance at that conference. I thought that you did a very good job. My life has been pretty much the same old thing. You know, pick up freight and deliver it then repeat going the other way.” He pauses to run a finger along Sian’s cheek. “I thought of you every day, of course.”
Sian closes her eyes at Mark’s touch and sighs. “I have some time to be with you. Is that offer to travel on your ship still open?”
Mark sits upright and grasps Sian’s hands in his. “Of course. Nothing could make me happier. When can you leave?”
Sian grips Mark’s hands tightly and smiles back at him after nodding to the pack at her feet. “I am ready now, although I suspect that I will need to get some appropriate clothing. When does the ship leave port?”
Mark releases one of Sian’s hands as he stands, pulling her to her feet. He slips a credstick into the reader at the table and pays for the drinks. Stooping, he picks up Sian’s pack. “We have three days in port to load the cargo, then it is off to Greece and Cyprus. That should give us plenty of time to get some shopping done. We can start that tomorrow, but tonight is for getting reacquainted.” He pulls Sian close and kisses her before leading her down the hill to the port and his ship.
Alyce
Sunday April 11, 2077; Jungles, AztlanThe slog through the jungle has been much less interesting than the trip out to the lost city and Alyce could not be happier at that. She has been working on language skills, trying to reduce the instances of misunderstanding to a minimum. The former captives seem to speak some sort of derivative of the local language, but there are enough differences to make it hard to be understood and she is forced to go the old fashioned route of sighing, which frequently leads to humorous errors.
To Alyce, the best part of the trek is that Al is close. She tries hard to avoid getting sentimental, but she does draw some comparisons to their time in the Cambodian jungle.
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