Not a single soul stirred. Pixie closed her eye and took one long breath.
They're ready. They 'ave to be.
"Okay," She said, softly. "Let's wrap this meal up an' head out. Don' wanna keep those gangsters waitin' too long." Her speech done, Pixie picked up a plate and sat down at the end of the table near Amy. Looking over her shoulder, she locked eyes with Aesop and nodded. He didn't have to say it. She knew he was coming. He wouldn't miss this opportunity for the world.
Don' make me regret this, Aesop...
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They had taken three crawlers: Pixie, Aesop, Brock and Warren in the first, Bennie, Whiskey, Ruffles and Amy in the second and Cameron, Carlos and Tallahassee in the last. It would be a long trip across the desolate ashlands. Not a single landmark or settlement lay between them and their destination.
Yuteni really was a diamond in the rough, and a rather weathered gem at that.
Pixie rested her palm on the top of the steering wheel and cradled her cheek lazily with her other. With all the windows open, it was damn hard to hear anything but the violent wind surrounding them. The first few hours of the trip had been made in silence. No doubt everyone had a few things on their minds. Under normal circumstances they would all be excited, but the prospect of killing children tended to sour such things.
Pixie could feel it radiating off of him. The anticipation. The fear.
The anger.
Several hours into the trip, Pixie finally turned her head to address the elephant in the room, "Aesop," She said firmly over the roar of the winds, "Talk ta' me."
Meanwhile, in Bennie's crawler, very little had been said since their departure. Sure, Ruffles had made a few quips, but no real conversation had been held for longer than a minute. All of them were dwelling on one thing or another. Their anxiety was palpable.
Not bothering to turn around to face the others, Bennie began speaking, his eyes remaining on the road ahead, "I've killed kids before," His grip tightened around the steering wheel. "When I was no older than you, Amy. At that point we were already in bad with Wilkes-Vines. My older sister, Katherine, she was murdered in cold blood by Payton's top lieutenant. Ricky was his name, leader of Wilkes-Vines' old guard. Anyway, I was besides myself as you can imagine, but my father? He was fuckin' livid. So you know what he does? He comes to me and says, 'Sometimes people do terrible things, Bennie. Those people need to be paid in kind.'"
Bennie shook his head, pausing for a moment before continuing, "I broke into the man's home in the middle of the night dressed in all black. Balaclava and everything. I find his family: a wife and three kids. I could tell you everything about them, you know? Age, sex, names, even what they fuckin' looked like. I've never forgotten." He sighed. "So, I rounded them up. They cried, protested and begged for their lives. I made it quick. When Ricky got home? Well, I don't reckon that was all too quick."
Drumming his fingers along the top of the wheel for a moment, he finally looked over his shoulder. He wore a solemn frown, "Never forget their faces. It'll be what separates you from monsters like Austin."
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"You won't have to worry about me. If I was only going to be a burden, I'd have made a point of dying 3 days ago. I'm getting your people out of this city Cranston, no matter what."
Cranston nodded, "Good."
"... Once we have all forces committed to our position, we'll signal you on the back up channel, and then you leave via the south gate without hesitation. Understood?"
"Aye, Captain!" Sprout jeered.
It was finally time to get out of that stank-ass hole in the ground.
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Peering through the binoculars, Sprout could still see some of the scorch marks from their battle at the south gate earlier that week. The three Maidens and their damsel were held up on the third floor of an old, crumbling apartment complex, waiting for Cranston's signal. Handing the binoculars to Lilith, Sprout looked to her, "A lot more'a them posted there now. Reckon it's like this at all the gates. Think their diversion'll actually thin these numbers? 'Cause, I ain't likin' 'ar odds."
As the two 'veterans' spoke, Elizabeth looked to Maria, "So, you're really becoming a bandit after all of this?" She giggled. "I don't really see why people think it's so romantic. It's more just... dirty."
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"Enough with the melodrama already, so you got clipped, so what? We all know you'd be going too if you weren't under strict orders to rest up, so relax, we got this."
Under normal circumstances, Tsubaki would have been offended. Seen it as a breach of her authority. Instead, she simply furrowed her brow and nodded.
He was right.
"If we hadn't given chase to the Maidens, the outcome may very well have been different."
Ortega kept his eyes glued to the documents before him, "Thank you, but that isn't necessary, Harel. You had your orders and we had ours. As simple as that. Now," He looked to the room and noted that the last few members of his squad were now present. "Let's get this started."
It was basic stuff. Logistics, mostly. Where they had men stationed, how many reinforcements were available, secure and clear routes in the city, public concerns regarding the length of shutdown; all of this was covered in detail in the briefing. Considering their enemy's partnership, the execution of Sandrignham's squad and the capture of the young noble had been rolled together into the same directive. Additionally, orders from Lord Basilio himself required they try to apprehend any of the Maidens
alive.
That made things tricky.
Though they were under Ortega's command for now, Samsara's primary objective did not change: bring Maribel back, alive. The only notable change was that Mila was assigned to their squad in Tsubaki's absence.
Grabbing some coffee in the back of the room with Asad, Tsubaki looked at Mila on the opposite end of the room, "I hear she's a good soldier. Look after the girl, okay?" Tsubaki smirked, though she hid it from her subordinate. "I know that's something you're good at."
Approaching Bryan and Jun from behind, Mila crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, "So, how tough are these kids, anyway? Hear they gave y'all quite the beating."
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"No one's ever written me a poem before."
Severa giggled, "Well, I can be your
first then!" Snuggling up closer, she unfolded the page and gave the priest one last, longing glance before clearing her throat. "Okay...
'I can touch and see you,
I know that you are real,
I can taste and smell you,
I know you too, can feel,
Your heart beats fast,
In tandem with my own,
Two souls of a kind,
Oh, how close we have grown,
Underneath this facade,
Exists a man I can love,
The little poor priest,
Is but a loose-fitting glove,
I pledge to you now,
I will do what I must,
I will guide your heart thusly,
For that, I need your trust,
Open your heart to me, O' Father,
Don't leave me alone,
If you open yourself to me,
I'll build you a throne'
After several moments of silence, she bowed her head a sighed, "I'm hopeless!" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Father. I wish I were better. I have the passion, but not the talent."
