Mistrunner 3 - Chapter 7 - Reconnaissance (Patreon)

I’ve given a lot of thought to the question of my own identity. After Mobile, I latched onto Mira and just went along with whatever she wanted. But when we were apart, I was forced to chart my own course. I’m still not certain as to the shape my life might take, but I do know I’m not content to ride someone else’s coattails.

Patrick Ward

I knelt in the ditch, staring through the binoculars as I watched the Dingyt satellite compound. Strictly speaking, I didn’t need the visual aid – Observation was plenty powerful to see what needed to be seen – but I didn’t want to give away too many of my abilities. Already, my so-called allies had seen too much for my comfort, and I didn’t want to give them any more ammunition for their inevitable betrayal.

Beside me sat Avery, the diminutive girl with the streaked hair. She couldn’t stop fidgeting, as if she was unused to sitting still for longer than a couple of minutes. Or perhaps I had a skewed perspective; after all, we’d been sitting there for the better part of the day, so it was possible that she was simply reacting as anyone would have. Still, it showed a lack of professionalism.

To the rear was a supremely uncomfortable and corpulent Paulo. I didn’t need to look to know that he was drenched in sweat. The smell of his body odor gave that detail away, and I couldn’t help but wonder if his stench would alert the gnomes, even from almost a mile away. I was self-aware enough to recognize that his discomfort was probably as much due to my treatment of him as because of the overbearing heat.

“I’ve got everything I need,” he said, his voice soft. “I don’t know why we needed to stay here this long.”

Every so often over the past few hours, he’d said much the same thing. It seemed that he was content to take his readings of the Mist shield and leave. Predictable, given that his life wasn’t the one on the line. He was willing to exert the minimal effort needed to do his part of the job. Everything else was someone else’s problem.

Sheer idiocy. It was no wonder he hadn’t taken advantage of his opportunities and enhanced his physique. He was lazy and stupid.

Or maybe my assessment was too harsh. For all I knew, he was decent enough at his job. My perspective was just skewed by my own power. Not everyone had been through what I’d endured, and I’d long since discovered that the vast majority of the population hadn’t even bothered to gain any levels. Even amongst mercenaries like Isaac and his group, only the frontline fighters would’ve done enough to raise their potential by any appreciable degree. In fact, I would have been surprised if any of them possessed classes at all.

That was one thing I’d been more than a little shocked to discover after Nova City’s fall. Many people had no idea that classes were even a thing. They just gained their skills and progressed them, never killing anything. As such, their stats were woefully underdeveloped.

Sure, some people – especially in the circles I traveled within – knew. But the general population? They were woefully ignorant. In that way, the residents of Nova City had been lucky. Because of the constant tribal conflict, enough Operators had progressed to the point of gaining classes that it had become common knowledge. But the city had always been isolated, and other settlements had managed to keep that kind of information from the general population.

And I understood why, as well. Information was power, and even if I now recognized that the world wasn’t quite as dreary a place as Nova City suggested, I wasn’t so blind that I couldn’t see the benefit of keeping the population from becoming too powerful. After all, there was a very real risk of some madman with a decent tier gaining enough power that the authorities – whoever they were – would be completely incapable of containing him. I only had to remember the damage I’d left in my wake, and the possibility grew even more plausible.

I lowered my binoculars and said, “I think I’ve got what I need. What about you, Avery?”

I could practically feel Paulo bristle at my refusal to acknowledge him, but he didn’t say anything. He knew better. The Backlash he’d experienced when he’d tried to probe my Mistwall had frightened him to the point where he couldn’t look me in the eye, much less verbalize any disagreement with my choices.

“I was done ages ago,” she huffed. “This is all pointless. I could get in and out of this place in my sleep.”

“Maybe. But you’ll only get one chance to be wrong,” I stated.

“These guys, though? The Dingyts are harmless without their machines,” she stated. “They’re like little kids.”

I just shook my head. She had no idea that the gnomes were almost assuredly equipped with classes, which meant that, regardless of their diminutive size, they had the inflated attributes that came with advanced levels. While the people of Earth might be largely ignorant, I couldn’t imagine the aliens would be.

Glancing at the girl, I gave her some advice that had been drilled into me by my uncle and the Amigos. “Never underestimate your enemy,” I said. “In this world, appearances can be deceptive. Those little gnomes are probably twice as strong as you. You have no clue what kinds of cybernetics they have available. Nor do you know what racial advantages they might have. For all you know, their muscles are denser and far more powerful than humans’. I’m surprised Askar hasn’t taught you that much, at least.”

“He’s taught me plenty,” she once again huffed, the tone making her sound like a petulant child. Or a wounded animal, perhaps. That could have been her youthful face and petite frame, though. Either way, she seemed a lot younger than she probably was. “I’m the best scout and infiltrator on this side of the world.”

“Maybe,” I acknowledged.  I hadn’t seen her in action, so I couldn’t rightfully gainsay the claim. However, I suspected that it was little more than misguided bluster. “But you can always be better. Smarter. In fact, you need to be if you’re going to make it out alive.”

I could tell that my statement had fallen on deaf ears. It was possible that she wouldn’t listen to me unless I’d proved my superiority. I had no idea. I wasn’t particularly invested in any of it, though, and I certainly had no interest in mentoring her. If she wanted to be an idiot, I wouldn’t worry myself with curing her stupidity.

“Whatever,” she said, her hands finding the grip of one of the pistols at her waist. She had a habit of fiddling with them when she was nervous. “So, can we go?”

I nodded, and I heard Paulo sigh in relief and mutter, “Finally.”

Clearly, he didn’t think I’d heard, and I didn’t give any indication otherwise. The more they underestimated my abilities, the better.

With that, the three of us retreated, climbing out of the ditch in the opposite direction of the Dingyt facility. As we moved, the air shimmered under the effect of the portable holographic display Paulo carried. A useful bit of tech, that. Even if it was nothing compared to Stealthor Camouflage, it was still convenient for those who didn’t have the benefit of those abilities.

Once we were out of visual range, Paulo deactivated the display, and we continued along for another mile until we reached the vehicle they’d disguised beneath an earth-toned net. In the desert, it was sufficient to conceal the truck from anything but close scrutiny – which was unlikely, given our location.

After mounting up – I took the back seat while they sat up front – the three of us sped off toward the Leviathan. It took almost thirty minutes of cross-country driving, but eventually, we reached our destination. There, the team had set up a temporary camp beside my ship. It was composed of sturdy tents, but it at least had the benefit of a decent Mist shield.

Not that I cared about their defenses overmuch. Patrick and I had stayed in the Leviathan, which was virtually unassailable by anything but the most potent weaponry.

The truck pulled to a stop beside a few other similar vehicles, and we hopped out. Isaac and the others looked up from where they’d been sitting around a fire and enjoying some sort of stew. Patrick was with them, clearly having ingratiated himself to the others in a way I could never hope to match. He might not be as powerful as I was, but he definitely had other talents.

They were laughing at something when we approached, and Isaac asked, “So? You see what you needed to say?”

Before I could answer, Avery sat down and groaned, “We saw more than enough. We should’ve been back ages ago.”

“Oh?” asked Isaac.

Taking a seat next to Patrick – he’d reserved a camp chair for me – I said, “Your people are too impatient. They’re sloppy, and it’s going to get them killed.”

Avery rolled her eyes. “You’re totally exaggerating. Those little –”

“So, you saw the concealed snipers?” I asked. I knew she hadn’t. “What about the drone clusters? The combat bots? Or the patrols? Not the ones on top of the wall. I’m talking about the scouts that came within a quarter of a mile of our little nest?”

“What is that in kilometers?” asked Huascar. “I can never remember the formula for converting miles to a more civilized form of measurement.”

“A little less than half,” I said. “About forty percent.”

“Oh. Good to know.”

“I saw the snipers,” Avery announced. “And…and I’m sure I would’ve seen the others once I got close.”

“Sure, sure. But by then, it would’ve been too late,” I stated. “You’ve got plenty of ability. You just don’t pay attention.”

“It would’ve been fine,” she muttered.

“Anyway,” Isaac said, moving the conversation along. “Are we ready to start the plan?”

I shrugged. “I can’t speak for anyone else, but I could get in without raising the alarm,” I said. “But you won’t tell me what we’re after, so that doesn’t really help us out.”

“For our protection,” he stated. “If you knew the whole plan, what’s to stop you from doing it all yourself?”

“Oh, please,” Rex blurted. “She ain’t that good. The girl’s got skills, I’ll admit that much. But a few skills ain’t enough to –”

“You have no idea who she is, do you?” said Askar. He looked at me, then added, “Oh, I looked into you. I’m not as isolated as you might think, and you’re quite famous. It only took a couple of inquiries with my people to find out who you are, Mirabelle Braddock.”

My fingers twitched. It would only take me a couple of seconds to mark them all with Multi-Shot. It was best used with my sniper rifle, but I could still employ the ability using Ferdinand II. Or the BMAP, come to that – though that strategy would probably kill us all. I embraced the ability, charging it as I said, “Tread lightly, invader.”

He held up his hands, saying, “I wouldn’t dream of angering someone like you.”

“What the hell’s goin’ on?” demanded Rex. “She ain’t –”

“You ever hear of Nova City?” asked Askar.

“’Course I have,” he said. “Bunch of looneys who lived on platforms in the sky. At least until some crazy person blew it all up.”

Askar nodded in my direction, and my heart jumped into my throat. “She doesn’t seem all that crazy to me,” Askar said.

It took Rex – and the others – a moment to catch up, but when he did, his jaw dropped. “Y’mean to say that this little girl blew up a whole damn city?” he grunted.

“Something like that,” Askar said. “What’s more, she’s the daughter of someone I’m sure you’ve heard of. The Wraith.”

The temperature felt like it’d dropped a dozen degrees, and inwardly, I groaned. The last thing I wanted was for my history to come out. It had happened before, and each time it had, the information had invariably changed everything. Most of the time, it was easier just to cut ties after that.

I said, “He was my uncle.”

“So, it is you,” Askar said, his grin putting his elongated incisors on display. The others couldn’t see them, I was certain. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so comfortable around him. Likely, he had some sort of ability that he used to mask his true nature. Sure, they knew he was an alien, but they probably thought he was just a human variant from another world.

“Is this going to be a problem?” asked Patrick. “Because we can take our ship and fuck off easily enough. Or better yet, I’m sure Mira could kill every one of you, then hijack your whole plan.”

“Patrick…”

“No, Mira. These people have already violated our privacy,” he said. “They asked us for help, and yet they don’t trust us? Come on. We don’t need them.”

“It’s fine, Patrick,” I said, putting a hand on his forearm. With that touch, he could probably tell that I was charging an ability, though he had no way of knowing which one. “They just did a little research. I’d have done the same thing if I was as weak as they are.”

It was a pointed reminder that, if it came down to a fight, I had no questions about who would come out on top. They weren’t weak – at least not in terms of the rest of the world – but I’d already established that I was far enough ahead of them that the only way they could finish me off was if they took me by surprise.

And that wasn’t going to happen.

The only one who worried me was Askar. He was an alien, so he probably knew more than I did about the system. He might even possess skills unique to his people. And as such, he was a bit of an unknown. Still, he didn’t feel terribly powerful, so I was willing to bet on my own strength.

Suddenly, Askar laughed, and the sudden change very nearly prompted me to jerk Ferdinand II free of his holster and let loose with my charged ability. However, I caught myself just in time to hear him say, “But we’re all friends here, aren’t we? There’s no need for all this hostility.”

“I can think of a few reasons for a little –”

I cut Patrick off with a gentle squeeze of my hand. His forearm flexed beneath my grip, and I sent him a message via our Secure Connection. “It’s fine. We just do the job, get the stuff you need, and get out. This might be a good thing, all considered.”

“Yeah? How?”

“It might keep them from turning on us,” I responded. “A little fear goes a long way.”

And my reputation definitely warranted a bit of that.

“Or it might just make them more careful,” he pointed out. “Which will, you know, make countering the betrayal that much more difficult. But whatever. If you think we’re good, I’ll trust your judgment.”

“We can leave if you want.”

“No. You’re not worried, so I’m not either. Yet.”

The conversation played out at the speed of thought, which meant that only a second had passed since I’d cut Patrick’s statement off. Before any of the others could interject, I said, “It’s fine. Like Askar said, we’re all buddies here. We’re on the same side. But I’ll point out that, given my experience, you might want to listen to me when I say that, without my input, your little plan would’ve been doomed to fail before it even got started. These gnomes are smart, and their defenses are extensive. Even at that satellite facility. The main compound is probably impregnable.”

“Which is why we’re hitting them in transit.”

“Right. But to do that, you need something inside this other facility,” I stated. “Tell me what, and I’ll get it for you. No muss, no fuss. We move on to the next phase, and nobody has to get killed by tiny aliens.”

“No. But you go in with Avery,” Askar said.

“But I’m not –”

Askar interrupted Avery with a mere glare. She clamped her mouth shut as he went on, asking me, “Is that sufficient? Surely, with you along for the ride, she’ll be fine. Maybe she’ll even learn something.”

I felt Avery’s glare, but I said, “Fine. But I’m not babysitting. If she can’t keep up, I’ll leave her behind.”

Or use her as a distraction.

“That…that is acceptable,” said Askar. The others all agreed, and just like that, I’d inserted myself into the first part of the plan.

I pushed myself to my feet and said, “Give me twenty minutes, and we’ll head back. By the time we arrive, it’ll be fully dark.”

Avery rolled her eyes.  “I could do it in the middle of the day,” she muttered.

I ignored her, then asked Patrick to accompany me back to the Leviathan. Once we were inside, I shook my head and said, “She’s so young.”

Patrick laughed, and I raised my eyebrow, which cut him off before he got out more than a chuckle. Coughing, he said, “Wait, you were serious? She’s probably the same age as you. Maybe even a little older.”

“Doesn’t act like it,” I said, already stripping out of my clothes. For the mission, I intended to wear only my infiltration suit. Once, I might’ve shied away from going out in public in the skintight outfit, but I was far more concerned with keeping a slimmer profile than adhering to some misguided sense of modesty. After I’d discarded my over-clothes, I rewrapped the gun belt around my waist and holstered Ferdinand II at my waist before putting my nano-bladed sword on my back. A few minutes later, I’d checked all my other weapons, ensuring that everything was loaded and ready for battle.

I didn’t intend to fight, but things didn’t always go according to plan. So, it was better to be ready and not need it than to need my full arsenal and find that I wasn’t prepared.

With that, I took a few more minutes to center myself before giving Patrick a kiss and telling him that I’d be careful. As if there was any other option. Finally, I stepped out of the Leviathanand summoned my Cutter.

I hadn’t intended to reveal the existence of the hoverbike, but I refused to ride that truck back to the compound. It was too loud, and because of its bulk, it was difficult to hide. No – using the hoverbike was a strategic decision, and it was in no way motivated by my vanity. Still, it was nice to see Avery’s jaw drop at the sight of the sleek, black-and-gold bike.

I mounted and looked back at her, saying, “Hop on.”