The scavver settlement Emeko takes us to is hidden deep in the mountains, and it’s nothing like the base where we planned our attack. Built around rocks and in caves that dot the mountain face, it doesn’t feel like a military camp.
It feels like a home.
In the morning light, I watch from the back of the ATV as people come in and out of rows of stilted life pods. Others are tending small patches of crops spread across terraces. I catch sight of livestock pens made from old flyer parts and even shops and stalls built into the mountainside, like the syndicate outpost in the cave. Kids hide under the homes and dart around servo bikes to wave at Emeko and smile at Iska running alongside us. It feels familiar. Like the sprawl far behind us but much less desperate. Like the settlement on Tundar but less rigid. Less cold.
Emeko drives us straight to a cave tucked off to the side. There, a group of people are just finishing breakfast. The scavver council, Emeko tells us. They insist we sit and eat, despite the panic and urgency pushing at me to do something about my missing friends. But I scarf down the barbecued meat and eat my fill of rice and potatoes. I need the energy; fumes and fury will only carry me so far.
Once the food has been cleared, Emeko finally begins to break down the events from the night before. TerraCo and the commandos were prepared for our attacks at every station. Someone definitely leaked information. Despite the mole, four of the corpo substations were totally destroyed. Three others, partially. Dozens of scavvers and syndicates were killed or taken. When the landslide triggered, some of the base camps were evacuated in time.
Two others in the direct path of the landslide had no chance.
My heart nearly stops at the number of scavver and syndicate lives that have been lost. The base camp where we organized everything was completely wiped out, buried underneath debris.
The entire time Emeko is talking, the guilt and rage and fire in my stomach take hold, growing with each of her words. I didn’t think about the syndicates who died two years ago in Dekkard’s coup, but now my heart aches for the lives lost in the last few days. I might’ve helped the TerraCo corpos become the monsters on this world, but I won’t let them swallow it completely.
“TerraCo has to be stopped.” Emeko’s final words echo the thoughts in my head.
One of the younger council members speaks. “We have already lost so many lives.” Her expression is sad, thoughtful. “TerraCo may rule over a portion of Maraas, but we are free from their influence out here. Why should we continue to devote our resources and people to a fight we cannot possibly win?”
“Oh, so we’ll just let them murder and kidnap us instead? Blow up mountains until there’s nothing left in this jungle but mud and bones? How can you not see that the landslide was a direct attack?” Emeko’s eyes flash with her words, but the council doesn’t look convinced.
“If you do nothing, the storms will continue to grow,” Kiran says. “They’ll never stop. And life, even out here, will become impossible.”
Another, older member waves a hand. “We are used to the rain, child. We were born to this world and know the dangers it poses.”
“You don’t understand.” I pick up Kiran’s argument. “It won’t be just a little more rainfall. The hellstorm will become permanent and unending. That’s TerraCo’s endgame. To destroy all the human life on this planet. To create a storm that never stops. I know you’ll be risking more of your people, but it’s a risk we have to take to put an end to this.”
Kiran nods. “You’re not the only ones at stake. The syndicates and the hundreds of people living in the sprawl will be wiped out as well. This isn’t just a fight for you. It’s a fight for everyone on this planet.”
The council members are silent as they regard us. Finally, Emeko sighs.
“It doesn’t matter what you decide,” she says, her voice soft but not weak. “We aren’t asking for permission. Either you help us with supplies and more troops, or you don’t. We’re going after them no matter what. I won’t let this planet get destroyed by bloody corpos. You chose me to help lead this movement. This is what I’m choosing.”
The younger council member slowly smiles.
“A strong choice, Emeko Hasan. What is your plan?”
“Oh…” Emeko draws out the word. “Did you want more than just anger and conviction? Is that not plan enough?”
Eyebrows rise and heads shake, but the small whisper of an idea has formed in my head.
“Do we have any idea where they might’ve taken Sena and Lyria and the others?” I ask Kiran, but Emeko answers.
“Mirko said before that Weiland has holding cells under her tower on Verem.”
“Where is Mirko?” Kiran asks suddenly, his brow furrowed.
Emeko shakes her head. “He was moved to another camp before the attack on the substations but he’s unaccounted for now. He’s either gone or taken.”
“No.” I sigh as the puzzle clicks into place, frustrated I didn’t see it sooner. “No, he wasn’t taken. He’s the mole.”
“What?” Emeko goes back to looking like she wants to pummel me.
“He used to work for TerraCo. He told Sena that he and her grandparents defected years ago.”
The older council member practically growls. “Mirko has been an integral part of this community for half a lifetime. He wouldn’t betray us for his old loyalties like that.”
“He would if he had something to gain from Weiland. He was sick.” I look to Kiran, his eyes telling me he’s come to the same conclusion. “His pulse was erratic. His breathing was slightly labored. He told Sena he was ill. What if it wasn’t about betrayal for him but rather offering information in exchange for some sort of medical treatment that he can’t get out here? Something he needed to save himself.”
The council members are silent again as they consider the implications.
“He lied about the holding cells,” I continue, looking to Emeko. “I was in Weiland’s tower. The only things underneath it are the train station and the ship hangar.”
She crosses her arms. “How can you be sure?”
My mind rushes through the last few days, going back to that first meeting, getting a feel for the building and the people. Listening to what Weiland said and what she didn’t have to say. Sena and I trekking across the rest of the run-down city. All the intel weaving together in my head.
“She made sure that the tower was tall enough to be seen anywhere in Verem,” I think out loud. “So everyone could see her triumphs and wealth and grandeur. She wouldn’t spoil that by keeping prisoners in it.”
Then I remember the door in the Vega compound. The door leading to the interrogation rooms in the basement; the door that I didn’t want to go through no matter that it was sealed shut. And the antiseptic smell seeping through the building. The scent of sterilization. Of labs and white coats. Of Nova.
“She’s keeping them in the old Vega headquarters,” I say. Kiran’s eyebrows shoot up. “Down below. The syndicate tunnels underneath the city are still there, too; TerraCo didn’t get rid of them or block them off. One of the tunnels in the ship hangar leads straight to that level in the Vega compound.”
“I bet she converted all those rooms into cells,” Kiran says.
“To prove her dominance over the syndicates who used to live there,” I finish, locking eyes with him.
“So, if they’re there, what’s our plan?” Emeko is looking expectantly at Kiran and me.
I keep staring at Kiran, his own eyes searching mine. He’s the strategist, I’m the infiltrator, but suddenly my whisper of an idea falls into place. He is right about me. That I go above and beyond what Nova programmed in my genes. That it can be a good thing. My idea is a long shot, but if anyone can make it work, the two of us can. I still may not understand all his secrets, but I trust that he’ll see this through. That he’s got my back. Kiran’s lips tug into a smile, and I know he’s come to the same conclusion I have.
“The train,” we say in unison.
Unlike the other abandoned mines, deep under rocks and caves, the exocarbon one at the end of the sprawl is exposed, cutting into the cliffside like an angry scar, marring the earth.
Half the mountain has been carved out, the lush green stripped away to nothing but earth and mud, the orange-brown terraces a stark contrast to the untamed jungle beyond. Despite the heavy rainfall, a handful of sprawl workers still toil in the mines, some using machines, others handheld tools. There aren’t many of them and they’re mostly on the lowest levels. I spot only a few TerraCo employees around, safe from the rain in tiny container pods. The lack of proper tools and oversight is proof that TerraCo doesn’t care about the profitability of this mine. Even the security is lax with commandos only around the rail depot.
The mag rail depot itself is next to a small plateau that overlooks the layers of dug-out earth. The farthest reaches of the sprawl sit underneath the tracks, mostly abandoned by the look of things and total lack of movement. I don’t want to think about where all the people went. If they moved closer to Verem and the syndicate outpost. Or if they were edged out by either the corpos or the ever-increasing storm cycles.
Our raiding party is hidden in the jungle beyond the tracks, a small group of scavver troops along with Emeko, Kiran, Iska, and me, tucked in tight among the trees as the afternoon sun begins to sink in the sky. Iska shakes raindrops off her fur, flinging more mud onto me, but I don’t mind. Despite showering at the scavver settlement, I’m completely drenched and muddy already. The corpo-created rainfall hasn’t stopped since last night, and it isn’t going to stop anytime soon, so I’ve just accepted the downpour and the mud caking me like a second skin. Helps keep us camouflaged in the jungle anyway.
The crew around me may be modest, but what we lack in numbers we make up for in sleeper mines and flash bombs. The scavver council members may have had their doubts about our plan, but they certainly didn’t send us empty-handed. I’ve even got a nice-sized arken blade strapped to my thigh.
“I don’t see the train anywhere.” Emeko taps her boot impatiently in a puddle.
“The train hasn’t been on a regular schedule for a while,” I say. “We’re probably going to have to call it and convince them to send it here.”
“In this weather? The storm’s getting worse by the hour. Pretty soon these raindrops are going to feel like bullets. You really think they’ll send the mag train out in this for a few scraps of exocarbon?”
“Don’t worry,” Kiran replies. “Remy will convince them.”
Even after our agreement in the cave, I’m still surprised by his blatant show of confidence in me without a directive to go along with it. I keep waiting for him to give me orders, but he hasn’t. At least in this case, his confidence is merited. This is what I was made to do, what I trained for most of my life. I will get the mag train here. Because there’s no other option.
Ignoring the skeptical look on Emeko’s face, I tell her: “Just get us in there undetected and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about me and my part. I’ve been sneaking into this place since I was a kid. I know a way straight to the comms tower that won’t get us noticed.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You snuck into a mine as a child?” Not that I should throw stones. I was trained to do a lot worse things when I was young.
Emeko shrugs. “I liked to break into places I wasn’t allowed to go. Rules are for chumps. Plus, the Vegas who used to work security had really good lunches delivered from the outpost.”
I glance at Kiran, whose eyes slide over to me as we walk. “Risking life and limb for a bit of food. Such a great choice for a leader,” I mumble.
“I heard that,” Emeko snaps from ahead on the trail, just loud enough for us to hear over the storm. “Trust me. You’d do the same if you’d tasted the lamb jerky from Ish. Bloody delicious.”
Kiran raises his eyebrows pointedly at me. We’ve been on Ish many times, in worse scrapes than this. Blew up an entire block of abandoned corpo buildings there once. Memories of our missions run through my head, and I smile at his knowing look. Like Emeko, I guess I also excel at breaking rules.
“You ready or what?” The scavver leader is staring at me, waiting impatiently at yet another tunnel entrance. I shake off the thoughts and wave at her to lead the way. She might not be my biggest fan, but at least we’re both in good company. And she’s not wrong. The lamb jerky that Ish exports is worth stealing.
Without another word, we head into the tunnel. The group sticks close and moves fast as Emeko leads us into the belly of what’s left of the mountain.
While I trust she knows the way, my hearing is on high alert, searching for heartbeats and footsteps beyond the thundering rainfall outside. I rely on my other senses, too, sniffing for the stench of body odor or the tang of blood underneath the heavy earthen smell of the mine. Iska stays ahead of me, trailing just behind the scavver leader. Between the two of us and Kiran, no one should be able to get the drop on our little raiding party. Emeko’s path leads us true, and we make it up to the level where the comms tower is without running into a soul.
The platform is partially covered to keep the communication equipment out of the storm. Crates and empty mineral canisters litter the area, like the corpos packed in a hurry and left behind the less expensive gear.
Thankfully, their carelessness is our gain; there are only a few commandos working this level. Two patrolling the terrace beyond the overhang. Three scattered near the short tower where the comms are. One inside working the control panel.
Kiran nods to Emeko, points to a few of the scavvers, and indicates where to flank the commandos. The group of them fans out, keeping low behind the crates. As they take out the commandos, I follow Kiran, heading straight for the tower where the comms operator is.
As Kiran and I slink in through the open door, the woman at the controls looks up, her eyes wide. I’ve got my arken blade pointed directly at her head.
“We’ll take it from here,” I say with a smirk. Before she can protest, Kiran removes her ear comms and hauls her outside to be tied up with the others. Emeko points to a life pod that’s been converted to a holding cell tucked against the far side of the platform. The fact that there’s a holding cell in the mine speaks volumes about TerraCo’s true intentions. While the scavvers disarm the commandos and drag them away, I start activating the comms, running through the various corpo protocols that Nova drilled into us.
“Mountain base to tower, mountain base to tower.” I keep my voice low, bland, unrecognizable. “Do you copy?”
Static sounds momentarily before an answer comes over. “Copy, mountain base. What do you need?”
Kiran and Emeko both stand in the doorway, watching me. I ignore them and focus on the voice on the other end of the radio.
“We need the train out here, stat. We just hit a big exo deposit and want to get it back to HQ before the storm opens up.”
“Negative, mountain base. The train is grounded per exec orders due to weather. It’s too late to send it out now. You’ll have to wait for the next retrieval run after the storm.”
“We can’t wait,” I say, letting cocky impatience seep into my voice just as the meaning of his words sink into my head. I was wondering before what Weiland was transporting on the train. Here’s my answer. And it’s not people or supplies; she’s salvaging what equipment she can from this place before the storm becomes permanent. “This cycle’s going to be a lot longer than the last and I can’t guarantee that the residents of the sprawl won’t take a chisel to this hunk of exo. So, unground that train, soldier. Unless you want to be the one to report to the execs a total loss of millions of chits worth of exo because you were too afraid to send the train out in a little rain.”
There’s silence and static for a full minute. Emeko’s already looking pissed, but then the voice comes back.
“Are you sure about the exo?”
I hit the button so hard my thumb goes numb. “We’ve got an extractor freeing a chunk of it as big as a servo truck. This haul alone would make us all chit-rich enough to buy a moon somewhere.”
Another beat passes. And then:
“All right, base. I’m sending the train, but you better not be exaggerating.”
“Copy, tower. We’ll pack it and be ready when you get here.”
The transmission cuts off. I grin at Kiran and Emeko.
“See?” he drawls to her. “Told you she’d get it.”
Emeko’s shaking her head at me, but a smile is growing on her face.
“Weiland’s not going to know what hit her.”