“Did the interrogation of those ‘journalists’ tell us anything?” Kaz asked, grumpy for having been roused from her bunk at “fuck off o’clock”.

  “Think they’d tell me?” Reynolds asked as he rubbed his hands together to warm them up in the cockpit of his Perth as it began to come online. The support generators rumbled loudly as they kicked into overdrive to bring all the systems fully online.

  “I’d hope so if it mattered to this suicide mission we’re deploying on,” Kaz shot back, doing her own pre-launch check in her Perth. She could see her breath in the air of her cockpit as she ran through the check list.

  “You know they can monitor our comm logs, right?” the Captain asked and Kaz just barked back a laugh.

  “If they had anything to say about my attitude, they’d have said it already.”

  “Fair enough, but maybe try to keep it to a minimum on the public comms later. Our people are already shaky enough going into this. I don’t want to hurt their morale.”

  Kaz thought about that for a long minute as her cockpit glowed with the light of a dozen screens coming to life and running their startup sequences. She could see the soldiers of Fangbreaker Platoon milling about in the yard before them. Dozens of people raced about with the urgency of people trying to escape the cold of the midnight air. Some had extra layers, others had coffee, and the smart ones had already managed to stash themselves away in one of the HOGs which no doubt had the heaters going full blast.

  “Yeah...” she grumbled, “...it’s still a suicide mission but they’re brave as hell for going along with this madness. Gotta give them that.” The six Mackay scout mechs under Lieutenant Jordan stomped across the yard in a slow progression, their guns shaking as they walked. They hadn’t engaged their stabilization systems yet, typical when precision movement was required (she figured they didn’t want to step on any soldiers). It looked like the Steel Cap had got a new HOG, or at least repaired the old one after they’d ran it into that building, as the assholes were piling into it. Nearby Sgt. Horbach’s boys were loading into their own HOG and Kaz could see Zora packing cases into the support truck that had a few of the light infantry soldiers crammed in as well.

  It felt strange to finally be moving out, tracking down the fang in East Malithovia. Bogdan the Butcher, that beast of a vampire that Yevhen seemed to know quite well, had been coming into conflict with both sides of this war and destroying anything that got too close. This mission would be as much a test of the unit and her “asset” as it would be to free up the corridor in East Malithovia that Arcadia was using to get covert supplies in. The brass hoped removing the Bogdan-shaped thorn from the side of East Malithovia would improve relations and maybe have them crack down on the Mithrian shipments that were moving through their territory as well. To Kaz’s mind that was a lot of “ifs” and “maybes” for a mission that was possibly going to cost her life.

  “We about ready?” Kaz grumbled to Reynolds over the comm once her Perth’s startup sequence had finished and she’d run through her checklist twice and checked to make sure her suit was ready to rumble.

  “Just about. You wake up sleeping beauty yet?” he asked back, to which Kaz gave a sour expression.

  Inevitably, Yevhen cut in, “I never sleep. Not really. Just kind of disassociate. Much like what I did after giving it to your mom last night.” They had given him a comm channel that could communicate to Kaz and Reynolds for operational matters, over Reynolds’ strenuous protestations.

  “My mom’s dead asshole.” Reynolds growled, more at the reminder that Yevhen was here than at the wisecrack itself.

  “Oh I know. Love to crack open a cold one. I was just dying to get in between those thighs.”

  “Kaz, keep your pet on a leash.”

  “A leash! That’s what I forgot. I’ll bring that and a riding crop to the next session with your-”

  “Clam it Yevhen. We arranged a playdate with your friend Bogdan so keep your mouth shut and your mind in the game.” Kaz barked and she could feel his smug satisfaction for getting under her skin through their bond.

  “Alright mom, I’ll be good. If I am, can we get some ice cream after?” he said just to her but she didn’t respond. One of the external cameras picked him up on her Perth’s blocky right shoulder.

  “Horbach and Jorden just signaled. We’re moving out. Keep him away from me and in check Kaz. He is YOUR responsibility. We live or die by your control over that monster.”

  Kaz felt sick to her stomach but managed to offer up a stiff affirmative reply. As her mech moved off the scaffolding that served as its resting place, it walked as stiffly as an old man with partial paralysis and with all the grace of a drunk toddler. The point of a Perth though wasn’t grace - just pure destruction. They weren’t about to dodge anything, so they had armor thick as a battleship and key areas had reactive armor slapped on top of even that. It was a pilot’s dream to score one of these and she’d been lucky enough to be assigned one. However its stiff gait and slow progress, even when set to “traverse mode” which loosened it up a bit, meant the two Perths would be setting the pace for the group.

  Their little procession moved as fast as it could, the HOGs up front and the support vehicle trailing them. Jordan sent out a Mackay or two out on the flanks for operational security but otherwise stuck to the formations. A handful of drones were buzzing about, deployed from the HOGs to keep an eye on things and they could launch more if needed.

  Zora’s support vehicle was loaded down with spare ammunition and communications gear. They were riding in what amounted to an offroad van strapped down so heavily with extra gear it was a wonder the shocks could keep its chassis from dragging on the ground.

  Their little column rolled along secured routes for the better part of the night and hunkered down at a forward operating base that morning near the border with East Malithovia. While most slept, some last minute repairs and adjustments were made to the mechs before the unit was set to cross into East Malithovian territory in a few hours. Kaz had strange dreams that night of journalists with white flags, the arrested civilians cooking her goulash, of Yevhen’s cruel smile, and of her own body moving with the paralytic lurching of her Perth. She was never one to assign meaning to her dreams but it was clear she was still processing some stuff from the last few patrols. Still, at noon when she woke up she swallowed her black coffee almost without tasting it and thought about what her dreams could have meant. “Nothing good” she decided before setting out on the last leg of the journey towards the border with East Malithovia.

  Their formation crossed into East Malithovia in late the mid afternoon, going overland before rejoining a road a dozen kilometers beyond the border. The scouts moved ahead and the infantry kept an easy pace with the slow-moving Perths behind them. The logistics vehicle took up the rear behind the Perths but stayed within their protective envelope. It’d take most of the daylight hours for the scouts to reach the last known location of Bogdan the Butcher, so they’d decided to move out before Yevhen was able to emerge from his coffin. They’d strapped it to the top of one of the HOGs, a fine mahogany coffin with brass fittings and white lace that command had somehow scared up for Yevhen. It made them look like the world’s strangest, most violent funeral procession - the HOGs up front going slow down the road as the Perths stomped along awkwardly behind them.

  “This has got to be the weirdest thing those people have ever seen,” Lieutenant Kory commented as they drove past what had to be a farmer and his kids pulling a donkey along the side of the road. They made the sign of the cross as the troop slowly rolled past and Kaz couldn’t blame them.

  “Stay alert. We’re strange and conspicuous so that probably means everyone in a 25 km radius probably has heard we’re coming. We’re probably the talk of the town,” Reynolds replied from his Perth. He was probably worried about roadside attacks from IEDs and hostiles dressed as civilians, which had been the norm in this region. While the East Malithovian government was officially neutral, organized nationalist resistance movements had hit convoys from both Mithris and Arcadia.

  “Not much we can do about that,” Kaz replied and shrugged, though she knew others couldn’t see her over the unit’s voice comm channel.

  “Yeah... they’re rather superstitious in this part of the country.” Zora cut in apologetically.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “Are they going to be a problem?” Reynolds asked.

  “No... they keep to themselves.” she explained, “Plus they have some bad blood with the Mithrians. Something about a border raid a long time ago.”

  “No shortage of people who have bad blood with them...” Kaz replied, never missing an opportunity to point out the failings of the Mithrians.

  “Yeah but these folk also don’t like Arcadians too much either. Come to think of it... they don’t like most people. Any ‘outsider’ is kind of... not welcome. They just dislike Mithrians more than others.” Zora offered and that gave Kaz a reason to smile. Some things changed with national borders, but other things didn’t; the locals not liking “outsiders” was just one of those universal constants. “They’ve got some, like, ‘homegrown nationalists’? Not sure that’s the right word but they’re kind of... informal militias? Insurgents? I don’t know how to classify them.” Zora continued.

  “So it went deeper than a simple dislike of outsiders. It was violent opposition. The willingness to fight for one’s homeland.” Kaz thought to herself.

  “Can’t really blame them for taking up arms. Both us and the pigs are trouncing through their backyard in armored transports and mechs to fight our little war. Even if the Mithrians are the aggressors, I’m sure we haven’t won any brownie points with them.” Kaz replied out loud.

  “Eyes front. We can debate politics later.” Reynolds cut in. He’d let them go longer than Kaz had expected, honestly. Still, she wished he’d let them talk a bit more. The trip was a whole lot of dull tedium on the outside while she had to remain keyed up in case of an incident.

  “Sure thing, Cap.” she bit off her reply, though he didn’t really deserve it.

  They rolled along in silence for another 10 minutes before anyone spoke again. The dull trudge through the overcast and rainy landscape was mind-numbing and it was all anyone could do to stay focused. Like a lot of military life it was “hurry up and wait”, more time en route than actually at their destination. Kaz found herself thinking that it was probably dark enough to let Yevhen out, but that wasn’t a proposition she wanted to test out.

  “We’ve got a roadblock ahead,” Jordan from the scout squad announced. “Looks like locals, but we can’t be sure. About 20 km ahead of you.” It was a surprise to everyone when the man’s flat voice came over the comms.

  “Alright. Hold position, Jordan. Lieutenant Kory, I want you to move HOG one and see what the deal is. Keep the Steel Cap squad in reserve, ready to go. Be careful, I don’t like this,” Reynolds commanded with a warning tone as the group came to a stop. They had a few drones buzzing around but they were more useful for close range surveillance than long range recon. Still, their pilots in the HOGs pushed them out to a farther radius to provide better situational awareness.

  Kaz pulled a window up on one of her auxiliary cockpit displays to follow the action. The HOG assigned to approach sped up until it reached what looked like a checkpoint ahead. There were some red and white concrete barriers and a few low walls made of sandbags. They had some lightly armored military vehicles with heavy machine guns on top parked nearby and a dozen soldiers in what she assumed to be East Malithovian uniforms. Kaz had never actually seen a Malithovian soldier but their uniforms were the pale blue she saw in pictures and looked like what she’d pictured in her mind.

  “Do you need me to help? I can speak a little Malithovian.” Zora asked on the command channel but Reynolds turned her down,

  “Negative. Stay back with us. Sgt. Horbach is a translator and he’s been doing this for years. I hear he’s got a good relationship with some of the locals. This is the kind of work the infantry train for.”

  “If he doesn’t want her, I could help...” came Yevhen’s amused voice in Kaz’s mind from his coffin. It sounded like a threat more than an offer. She shuddered, she could only imagine the carnage he could inflict here.

  “No. Stay in your damn coffin until it’s full night. I don’t want you burning away in the daylight or something.”

  “Very well, my master...”

  She turned her attention back to the guards. They said something in Malithovian, which she didn’t understand but from the tone of it, she assumed it was something like “halt” or “stop”. One of the Arcadian soldiers from the HOG, Sgt. Horbach stepped out with hands raised and replied in Malithovian, seemingly explaining to the checkpoint guards. He was a square-jawed man in his mid 40s with a mop of black hair and a matching beard that was flirting with the regulations in its length. The guards didn’t seem particularly relaxed by whatever Horbach had told them and Kaz grimaced. If this was going to turn hot, Kaz knew that her unit could easily take them out, but the wider consequences would be disastrous.

  “Cap, did we get permission to go into Malithovia?” she asked hesitantly on a private channel.

  “Of course, Kaz. We’re here with their government’s blessing.” Reynolds was clearly focused on the feed as well and was only half paying attention to her question. Kaz’s mind flashed to the discussion with Zora about the Malithovian nationalist militias. “They need some level of plausible deniability, which is why we didn’t go through the border crossing, but we’re here at their invitation.”

  “You sure these guys got the memo?” Kaz asked back wryly, but there was no time for a response as suddenly things went from bad to worse. The Malithovian guards drew their rifles and pointed them aggressively at Horbach, who raised his hands defensively.

  “Are they high or something? They can clearly see we’re packing Perths even from this distance!” she thought to herself, waking up the mech’s firing computer and getting a lock.

  There was lots of yelling in a foreign language and then shots began to ring out. Only when the HOG opened up with its remotely controlled .50 caliber machine gun did the Malithovian guards stop shooting. Horbach had managed to get back to the cover of the HOG but he was pinned against the rear of the vehicle and looked like he’d been injured.

  “What the hell happened?!” Reynolds asked over the unit comms. “Move the drones in for support!”

  The reply was bone chilling. “They’re not Malithovia, sir! They’re fucking Mithrian!” Horbach yelled over the comms.

  “How do you know?” Kaz asked as she pushed her Perth into action, not waiting for Reynolds to give the signal.

  “They didn’t know the confirmation code we were given, they’re using Mithris made MZ32 rifles, and their accents were terrible! If they’re not from Belomorsk I’ll eat my boots!” Horbach said as shots rang out again as the Mithris soldiers fired from behind cover.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to help, my master…?”

  Kaz practically growled a response to Yevhen. “Stay. In. Your. Damn. Coffin!”

  “Can you take them, Lieutenant Kory?” Reynolds asked as his Perth joined the other in striding forwards. It would be like hitting an ant with a sledgehammer if the Perths got involved but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t. The Steel Cap HOG was already running at full speed towards the engagement and Kaz’s mind flashed back to it barreling through the side of a house. Drones buzzed down from the sky, racing in to provide support.

  “No need,” came Jordan’s stoic reply over the comms as a tight burst of the 30mm autocannons of a Mackay cut sideways across the enemy’s position and devastated the faux Malithovians. Bodies went flying and the barricades had been shot up like they were made of papier-maché. How Jordan and his squad had managed to sneak up on an enemy position in 10 meter tall Mackays, she would never know.

  “Appreciate the support Jordan. We’re moving to secure the location.” Kory replied in a terse tone.

  A tiny part of Kaz was a bit jealous that Jordan’s squad got to kill those Mithrian pigs. On some level she knew it was wrong to hate someone so much you were jealous that you didn’t get to kill them. That was beyond toxic but she forced herself to shove that deep down, that was something she’d have to unpack later. Or... if she had it her way, never.

  The cleanup operation only took a few minutes. With the support of crossfire from the Mackays and the drones providing intel the infantry had made short work of the remaining “guards”. All suspicions were confirmed when she saw they’d simply donned the pale blue Malithovian uniforms over their own normal underlayers.

  “What the hell were they thinking? They had to know they couldn’t have stopped us,” Kaz asked from her cockpit as the infantry was going through the checkpoint.

  “I don’t know that they were here to stop us,” Reynolds replied, “Maybe slow us down? Or maybe they didn’t know we were here at the invitation of the local government.” She didn’t like the uncertainty and she knew Reynolds liked it even less.

  “Could just be confusion from up top. The right hand not knowing what the left is doing.” Jordan offered on the comm channel.

  Dealing with the checkpoint cost the unit time and no doubt would leave signs of their presence. It took a solid hour to get everything settled again and Horbach was patched up. They had to double time it, something the Perths were not great at. The big, stiff, mechs lurched and shook as they moved faster than their normal leisurely walk but Kaz and Reynolds were able to get a bit more speed out of them. The roads made it easier for the unit to travel, though the Perths could crush anything but the largest obstacles or boulders with their titanic steps.

  However, the easy going was eventually curtailed as their course turned them off the road and they had to traverse the low rolling hills of the prairies. Those hills were probably once filled with life but after the war destroyed the sky there was little left that could grow there with the few bits of sun that poked through at times. Only scraggly scrubs, some strange ferns, and ivy grew out here - new life that had adapted itself to the environment since the last big war. Kaz thought to herself that humans were just like that - they too had adapted to the cold, dark, cruel world mankind had made for itself. Hopefully, one day we’ll be punished for it.

  I heard a red raven tap-tap-tapping at my golden door.

  Only when it opened, it was not a raven red.

  I found that what I had let in had laid me dead.

  Now all the world’s ablaze and if I’d listen to the sage,

  I’d have ignored that tap-tap-tapping evermore.

  -The Red Gospel

  Chapter 49, Verse 110-114