Chapter 77: Diplomacy
Down in the mine-turned-community, it looked like we were getting close to some kind of main hub. The shacks were closer together, here, and larger. There were actual windows in some of the buildings, here. Glass and everything. We were getting to where the more important members of the community were. Which meant there was a chance we’d be able to find someone who would try and talk.
Berzerker looked around the side of the building, and ducks back quickly as a hail of gunfire and a jet of flame shoot past. That last was a flamethrower spell, not a physical weapon. Just as deadly, though. Maybe more, depending on what kind of mojo the caster was willing to throw around.
And then, a voice calls out, deep and full of power. “Stop. Both you, and the invaders. Stop. We will speak with them.”
That got a lot of angry words from the orks. They weren’t shouting, so I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but the intent was clear. I peeked out from behind the building, and saw that there was a clearing, with a low wall made of cinderblocks and sandbags at the far end, with a gap large enough for two men to walk through side by side. This was always intended as a final defensive line. Smart setup.
There were twenty orks behind the wall. Sixteen looked to be armored up like the other ‘grunts’. Three had battle rifles, like the one we’d seen before. And there was another spear in the mix, which meant another shaman. The spell would have been his work, then.
Trying to take that position nonlethally would be a bitch and a half. Four on twenty was long odds, even if I thought we were the better shots and more capable crew. But then something happened that changed the calculus decidedly against us.
The figure that appeared from the largest building, the one that had obvious shamanic markings on it, was clearly not an ork. Human, by the looks of her, from one of the tribes. She was tall, and powerful-looking. Not in the bruiser sort of way, but more like someone who just knew that they could take on any individual in the room. But the way she spoke made it clear she was more than a mere human. And her eyes were focused on me.
“Who are you that trespasses on this refuge? This is a place of safety for those that the human filth have forsaken.”
Right, definitely not human. Not a dragon, either, thankfully. A dragon wouldn’t be caught in a place like this, and wouldn’t hide behind metahumans like she was. She was more than metahuman, less than dragon. Something still vulnerable, perhaps.
Iceblade’s modified Negotiation roll: 13d6 = 5 Hits, 2 Miss
Three-Feathers’s modified Negotiation roll: 10d6 = 0 Hits, 3 Miss (5 Net Hits)
I took a breath, and stepped out, into the open. Guns leveled at me, but didn’t fire, yet. I still had my blade in hand, but it was lowered. Still ready, but not actively threatening. “Who we are isn’t really important right now,” I said, evenly, as I started walking towards the wall. “It is why we’re here that is important, and what we’ve done since we got here.”
I kept my eyes on the ‘human’ woman in the group. “We’re shadowmen, though I’m sure you’ve guessed as much already. We were contacted for a job. Supposedly, the property rights to this mine had been sorted out, and the new owners wanted the people squatting in the mine either pushed out or signed up to work. Not exactly righteous work, but everyone has to eat.”
The orks grumbled at that, and the woman looked less than pleased, but I continued. “However, we knew something was up. Things didn’t add up. From the information we could find, the Headbreakers postured as a gang, but they didn’t act like a gang. And wanting to start up a coal mine didn’t seem like a good investment for one of the corporations. Unless there was more than coal in the mine, or the mine was secondary to the real goal.”
“Then why attack us, if you knew the job did not have the right information?”
“Because you don’t get to just turn down jobs because something doesn’t feel right. That’s how you don’t get jobs anymore. So, we had to go in. But that’s also why we went nonlethal. Your people are all still alive, which is better than what would happen if another team came through here. We didn’t finish people off, or go house to house clearing out any noncombatants. Just stun rounds against people with weapons. We didn’t even break out the grenades, or the armor-piercing ammo. And we left the machine guns and assault cannons up top.”
The woman that was more than just a woman growled softly. “So, we should just thank you? Feel gratitude because you didn’t attack us as badly as you could have?”
“Of course not. I would be pissed in your situation. But there’s a difference between being pissed and being stupid. Which is why you’re talking, now, instead of just trying to kill us. So, let’s talk. You clearly aren’t some run of the mill gang. And whoever hired us clearly wants you dead, unless you’re sitting on an orichalcum deposit here?”
That got a snort from the orks, despite their anger at our attacking like this. After all, no one would just be sitting on orichalcum. The stuff was stupidly expensive, to the point where a kilogram could buy a fleet of fully kitted out ‘thunderbirds’, vectored-thrust VSTOL aircraft used by smugglers to transport goods across half of North America. You could literally buy half of Puyallup for that kind of money, and have change left over.
The woman nodded slowly. Then, she rose up in the air. Not jumping, or using a levitation spell. Just floating, maybe flying. I didn’t need to pop over to the Astral to figure out what she was, now. That was a spirit ability. But for a spirit to look like so convincingly like a person, and there not be bugs all over the place? That meant she was a free spirit, most likely. Possibly a former ally spirit?
“There is no great hoard of mineral wealth, here. Just good people wanting to keep apart from the wicked humans who make all things worse. So much death and destruction has come from humans being as they are. That is why I chose to help these people, and aid them in creating a community.”
She paused, clearly considering how much she should say, before continuing, “But communities need funding. Even if they can support themselves through growing food and other practices, you need money for equipment and weapons to keep others from taking what you have. Especially humans, who are jealous, spiteful creatures.
“Perhaps that is where I made my mistake. I used my powers to help these people, a little at a time. Never too much at once, understand. I started after my short-sighted summoner was swept up in the folly of war, and slain as they became human monsters to avenge themselves upon other human monsters. This mine was abandoned, then. I made it my home.
“When the first ‘metahumans’ appeared, I saw my worst fears about humans come true. The slightest difference was enough for them to turn on their own kind, and make them other. I offered shelter to the orks, and worked with them to use the wealth I had created to purchase what was needed to make life livable and fulfilling here. It was not much at a time, gems and gold, worth a few tens of thousands of the nucred that people use to trade in goods, and I could only make them once a month. Over the years, the community also pitched in with their own methods of getting money, so there was less urgent need for what I made. But perhaps those methods served to draw the wrong sort of attention, in the end.”
I nodded slowly. Yes, a free spirit passing out some gems now and then would not break the economy. Especially if they were smart enough to pay things out gradually, instead of all at once. Assuming that the people doing the exchanges were even halfway competent, then it could have remained under the radar for quite some time. Spread it out between different fences, and you’re pretty much golden.
Except that was only if you do it once, or only keep things going for a short while. There were only so many fences, even in a place like Seattle, and even fewer that were trustworthy. If this spirit had been creating wealth for the better part of sixty years? Well, at that point it becomes less a matter of ‘if’ someone puts things together, and more a matter of ‘when’.
Which brought in a new potential reason for this mess. Using shadowmen to clear out the defenders, and then sending in a mage to try and bind the free spirit? You get to kill metahumans and secure regular funding, all in one attack. Really, it was a racist nutjob’s wet dream.
I sighed, and said, “You’ve done your best to protect these people, and I respect that. But this place is exposed, now. If I’m right about my suspicions, it is likely you’ll find a battle up above, as well as the remains of our running battle. Perhaps the shaman might take a look?”
The spirit looked to the shaman, who just nodded, and slumped against the wall. Going out of body. I looked back at the spirit, and asked, “I will not ask your Name, for I know enough to know that would be exceedingly rude. However, is there something I might call you without giving offense?”
The spirit looked slightly mollified by my attitude, and said, “You can call me Three-Feathers, for that is the name my first summoner used after he bound me, though it is not my Name, as you rightly guessed. I am surprised, however, that you did not seek to try and gain that power over me.”
I shook my head. “My tradition is one that summons spirits to possess vessels. Often one’s own body. However, conjuration, as a whole, is not terribly well-used in my tradition, as it focuses on enhancing one’s own prowess with spells, steel, and training. Calling a spirit to take my own body over is a foolish move, and finding a vessel that would be strong enough to be worth the effort, but still being within my budget is harder than one might think. Simpler and cheaper to gather foci, and enhance myself, instead.”
The shaman gasps as they return to their body. He looks to the spirit, and says, “There’s been a battle topside. Four vehicles burning, sixteen people, dead or dying. Saw two more in one of the three vans outside the entrance. Several drones roaming around. They look heavily armed.”
I just shrugged. “Like I said, we left the really good toys topside. Partly because we wanted to make this nonlethal, if we could. And partly because when you suspect someone’s lining your back up for a knife, it is wise to make sure someone’s covering for you.”
Three-Feathers sighed. “If someone went to this length, then they are not going to simply stop, are they?”
“Not bloody likely,” I nodded. “However, that doesn’t mean you’re out of options. I know someone, a troll mage, who acts as neutral ground for the gangs in Puyallup. Goes by the name Crusher. You have posed as a gang, up until now, but working with the other gangs, you might be able to make this refuge into a true sanctuary, maybe even join up with other like-minded groups. You can’t pass unnoticed, anymore, but you could gather allies, and make this refuge a stronghold. Though, you really ought to beef up the exterior defenses, in that case.”