Don Kuat

The last car of the convoy explodes when my rockets hit it, barbecuing all the beast women trapped inside with a single stroke. Conscious of the ever approaching blimp high up in the sky, I turn to the headless corpse of the Red Rose who had challenged me, her bulwark having dematerialized after its deployment earring went pop alongside the pilot's cranium. I quick check of the corpse reveals the only thing of interest being a leather satchel which I swiftly scoop up with an armored gauntlet.

The thought of searching the corpses of the other Valkyries crosses my mind, but by now pillars of thick black smoke are rising into the air from the wrecked convoy. Anyone interested in investigating the disappearance of a Valk search team would home in on this location in no time at all. Satisfying myself one more time that all targets had been eliminated, I immediately take off at the maximum speed my Skirmisher would normally allow.

I don't bother employing my operative abilities to escape. With the massive lead I have over any pursuers, my Skirmisher should be fast enough to make a clean getaway. In no time at all, I had entered the warren of abandoned buildings that make up most of the concrete desert. Rocketing up into the air, I fly through the broken window of a high rise building and land in the middle of what used to be a cubicle farm, the thrust of my jets sending yellowed papers scattering everywhere.

Dismissing the machine, I peek out of the broken window, keeping a beady eye on the surroundings. The building makes a good hiding place. Nondescript enough to escape notice but also tall enough to provide an acceptable vantage spot. I would be able to spot any Valkyries that might show up sniffing around.

Of course I am completely blind to anyone or anything that might have taken residence inside this building alongside me. But that's not really an issue. I can handle any raider or wild animal that stumbles across this hiding place.

Damn, wasn't I criticizing the Valks I had ambushed just now for this exact same attitude? Carelessness born from overconfidence? Shows just how easy it is to fall into the same mistakes. I'm probably the biggest fish in the local pond right now, but that means nothing if multiple packs of piranhas can be sent by way at any moment.

Resolving to decamp to a more secure location as soon as possible, my hand flicks out and catches one of the yellowed sheets of paper that almost drifted straight into my face. The fading print blares out a triumphant but incomprehensible message.

"VICTO-"

That's all I can make out. Turning the page over, I see a picture of a well endowed woman in lingerie beckoning me. There's a blurb right below the photo.

"GENTLEMEN CALL M ... - HORNY HOUSEWI ... - XOXO - ...878....90..."

Some stupid tabloid. Shrugging, I toss the ancient piece of paper away, watching it disintegrate into small flakes with the wind. Horny Housewife is going to have to wait a whole lot longer for a prospective caller. Which side of the dirac sea did she end up in, I wonder? Putting the rag out of my mind, I turn to the Red Rose's satchel that had been secured as spoils of battle.

Tugging the satchel open, I dig through its contents, pulling out a small glass monocle. A portable scanner used to detect divine energy. The Cathedral never provided us volunteers with this piece of kit since officially we were instructed to use our bulwark's sensors to do the job. Unofficially of course, this whole mission is more destroy than search, making the monocle redundant to me. But if the Leader did not want her search parties to cause a big fracas, issuing the monocles made sense. Must be a big change in gears for the Red Roses. That lot had always been used making plenty of noise and throwing their weight around.

Putting the monocle to one side, I continue rifling through the satchel. The only thing left inside is a well thumbed, neatly folded set of documents. Its not the Rose's mission docket, that would have been too much to ask for. But its the next best thing.

The first document of the set is a map showing a number of sectors highlighted with a ballpoint pen. No explanatory notes had been provided, but common sense is all I need to work out what's going on. The map most likely shows the search route this team had been assigned to. The village the search team had come from was circled neatly by the Red Rose. So this bunch were doing a circuit around a series of small settlements before I interrupted them. The map marks travel routes as the crow flies rather than following the existing roads. Meaning the team must have used their bulwarks to move about more easily, only renting vehicles whenever they needed to bring any prospective candidates back to base.

Matches up with the activity I saw at the Valk camp during the time I had been scouting the area. Outward bound search teams always flew using their bulwarks. Makes for quicker travel. The Valks had to be working on a very tight schedule. The large area they had to search probably was not helping matters earlier.

The next document was a short, incredibly general description of the search team's target, put down to paper in neat handwritten script. A reminder the Red Rose made to herself then. I don't know why she bothered though. The description is stupidly unhelpful. Blah, blah teenage beast folk female, unusually high divine affinity. That's it. No birth marks, no unique identifying traits. If this is the sum of the knowledge the Roses have of the Saint, they were truly flying blind and not merely playing dumb.

The last document is typed on a sheet thick, expensive sheet of paper bearing the Citadel's coat of arms. As I run through the document's contents, I can't help but crack a smile.

"To the person who reads this letter, the Red Rose in front of you is on the official business of the Leader. Her life is in danger and for any assistance that you render, you shall receive two (2) coins made out of pure gold. If she requires transport back to the Citadel or her unit, you shall be rewarded with an additional ten (10) bars of gold for your kindness. Present this letter with written confirmation from the Red Rose to the liaison office at the Citadel to claim this reward.

In the name of the Divines."

My fingers trace the inside of the pouch and sure enough, I find a loose seam right at its base. Pulling at the seam, a piece of leather peels away, revealing a small hidden compartment. Flipping the pouch over causes two gold coins to fall out into my waiting palm. Each coin is stamped with the profile of one of the divines, I can't remember which in particular. I play with the coins idly, feeling their weight in my hand. I can't tell from a cursory glance like this of course, but the coins certainly do appear to be forged from real gold.

And that's the important point. The gold coins and accompanying letter were something known among pilots as danger zone insurance. Valkyries may be powerful, but there were plenty of things that could wreck their shit out there. A Valkyrie that had been shot down would need help. And the best way to get that help would be to just pay for it. No matter which dimension you go to, some things always stay the same.

Like gold glittering for example.

Not all pilots got the privilege to be covered by danger zone insurance of course. Regular Valkyries were usually not even up for consideration, never mind Auxila. Only the actually important or valuable pilots received danger zone insurance. I suppose a Red Rose would fit the bill, being the 'dreaded hand of the Leader' as they're so fond of calling themselves. But if the dearly departed Red Rose was insured, where was the danger zone she was going to be sent into?

Visiting beast folk villages can't be considered high risk of Valks. A beast person can't even scratch an Auxila like me once I have my bulwark deployed. Were the Roses meant to be eventually sent to a far more high risk area to continue their search? Where is this mystery location? I frown and scrutinize the map again. I don't see anything unusual but the answer comes to me all of a sudden.

The only thing that can trouble a Valkyrie is another Valkyrie.

And there's only one place near here which actually has bulwark patrols. Bulwark patrols not affiliated with the Citadel. Rais Land. It makes sense. Rais Land is under the control of the Coalition, but there were plenty of people there just scratching out a living. A healthy bribe would easily buy a desperate Valkyrie some much needed help.

But Rais Land is huge. Its less a country and more a loosely linked network of towns ruled by the local strongman, or strong woman, however you want to refer to her. The Valks also can't be terribly confident of their chances in Rais Land if they're searching the surrounding areas as well for the Saint, trying to luck out on a roll of the dice. Its a thin lead, but with the Leader's blimp arriving soon, I'll have confirmation one way or the other. The real challenge would be figuring out which sector of Rais Land to focus my efforts in if it really comes down to proceeding with the hunt there.

Either way, my work here is just beginning.