War and MG Chap 15

“Yeah, just… keeping hanging there. Or something,” Emrald said as she watched the two helicopters settle down in a clearing not too far away. She could make out several people disembarking, but couldn’t tell who they were. One detail not lost on her was that they were most certainly armed.

 

“Well, I think I can manage that. But, what about them? You don’t seem very happy to see them.”

 

“Like I said, something doesn’t feel right about this…”

 

Five people departed from each helicopter, then after some kind of short discussion they began to fan out. Two of the ten were heading almost straight towards Emrald and Casey.

 

“Look, I am going to hide myself, but I’ll be close by. Don’t worry.” Emrald looked up at the dangling man, wishing there was something she could do to free him so they could escape.

 

“Okay, got it. It’s not nice to leave me hanging like this, you know.” Casey yelled down with a hint of laughter in his voice.

 

Emrald rolled her eyes and sighed. She wanted to rebuke him for not taking this seriously, but there was no time. Scuttling off behind a large tree, she laid down on her belly and peeked around the tree, watching the two people approach. If necessary she could conceal herself from their mind, provided there weren’t too many loitering around at once. Two she could handle, three maybe, but four or more would certainly be pushing her capabilities.

 

Closer now, Emrald was able to make out more of their details. They were wearing combat fatigues, and their weapons were kept at the ready, but facing towards the ground. The closer of the pair appeared to be a Jin’ko, and the further was some kind of horned woman with a swishing tail, though too small to be a minotaur. Emrald silently cursed; she could likely simply avoid the cow-woman’s notice by keeping low and away, but the tiger-woman’s eyesight would make her efforts futile. And, if anything physical broke out, she had no hope of outrunning or overpowering the powerful cat.

 

Biting her lip, she focused intently, willing herself to vanish from the tiger’s perceptions. To the outside observer it’d appear as if she was doing little more than staring, but most of a kitsune’s magic was silent and invisible, except for those times they wished to show off.

 

As they crept closer and closer, Emrald began to hear the crunch of frost under their feet. It was then she realized that if one looked closely, one could tell someone had been walking around underneath Casey.

 

A few dozen paces out, the Jin’ko suddenly took notice of Casey hanging in the trees. For his part he’d been absolutely silent, but something of an obvious outlier in the canopy.

 

“You, up there! I am assuming you are from the aircraft that crashed nearby?” The tiger-woman bellowed. To Emrald’s relief her weapon remained pointed at the ground; perhaps they were here simply to check out on things after all.

 

“Yeah… I’m kinda stuck up here though.”

 

Raising her arm into the air and waving, the tiger beckoned her compatriot over. Waiting for the cow-woman to come over, she turned her attentions towards the ground. Emrald clenched her jaw, redoubling her efforts on the Jin’ko, attempting to break her interest in the footprints.

 

Whether it truly worked or not she didn’t know, but when the cow-woman reached Casey, the two of them began to look up towards Casey, walking about in a lazy pattern. Emrald let her jaw relax, happy that their own footprints would obscure those she had made.

 

With the cow-woman close now, Emrald figured she was some sort of holstaurus, judging by how far out her chest seemed to extend. Fortunately they weren’t known for their keen senses, so she was able to simply lay low, pressing herself and her tails down to the ground to escape notice from that one.

 

“Has anyone else been here?” said the Jin’ko.

 

“…No, just me. I’m getting kind of cold and I’m kind of in pain. Do you folks think you can get me down?”

 

The tall, powerfully built cat-woman nodded to the cow, then looked back up. “Can you get yourself out of the harness?”

 

“Yeah, probably…”

 

Rolling her shoulders and neck, she handed off her weapon and positioned herself directly under Casey. Emrald looked on in surprise – she knew their particular species was strong, but catching someone from that height? She wanted to burst out from hiding and tell them no, but her gut feeling was that they weren’t here for rescue. How she wished she could apologize to Casey for letting this happen.

 

“Okay then, get out of that harness. I’ll catch you.”

 

“Uh… are you sure? This is pretty high.”

 

A cocksure grin spread across the tiger’s face. “Don’t you worry. Your ass might hit the ground, but nothing will break. Probably.”

 

“Probably…”

 

Casey was beginning to share in Emrald’s bad feeling about these people. No matter how strong someone was, trying to catch a falling man from this height was going to get someone hurt. What would happen if he decided to be disagreeable?

 

“Ah, that doesn’t seem very safe… can’t you get someone else to help you catch or something?”

 

“I’m all you got. Either cut yourself free or you’re gonna be up there for quite a while.”

 

Casey groaned. If he spent another 10 minutes up here, let alone an hour, he’d probably go crazy. Not only that, but every time the wind blew it chilled him to the bone and set him swinging.

 

“Fine… get ready…”

 

Getting the straps undone from his position was somewhat difficult and slow, but finally the last one was ready to come loose and then he’d drop down.

 

“Here I come,” he said, unbuckling the last one and gulping at the same time. As it snapped free, he entered free-fall. The Jin’ko was quick, and re-positioned herself to catch him. Her knees, back, and elbows slightly bent, she bore the brunt of the impact of his fall, dropping to a knee to bleed momentum and holding her arms tight but not locked as they pivoted to the ground. True to her word, Casey wound up hitting the ground, though the impact was more like falling a scant few feet rather than sixty.

 

Emrald smiled broadly, partly from relief and partly because that woman had actually managed to do it alone. The holstaurus was smirking as well, though she gave Emrald a brief scare when her eyes swept over the concealed fox. Thankfully her tails were tucked behind the tree trunk, and she had kept her ears folded down. When the cow-woman’s eyes did not linger, Emrald looked upwards and sighed as relief flooded her again.

 

Cracking the knuckles in her paws, the Jin’ko flashed Casey a fang-filled smile. “Told ya, though I’ll admit you’re heavier than ya look. That a ‘man’ thing?”

 

Sitting up on the ground, he shrugged. “I guess men tend to be heavier than women.”

 

“I see… I wonder what else about ya is different,” she said, eyeing him up and down with her paws on her hips.

 

Worry coursed through his mind momentarily, but then she shrugged and walked over towards the holstaurus. As Casey stood up, the Jin’ko took her firearm back from her companion, who had remained entirely silent throughout.

 

“Anyways, you don’t seem too fighty, so I’ll give you a choice. You can come along with us peaceably, or we can use force.”

 

“Than- wait, what?” Casey reeled at the Jin’ko’s words. Come along peaceably? Was he under arrest or something?

 

The knot in Emrald’s gut grew several times its previous size at the tiger’s words, and for once she regretted being correct about something. Were they after him in particular? The men? Everyone that had been aboard? She desperately wished to do something, anything, but there was no possible way for her and Casey to escape from ten soldiers. So far they didn’t appear to be aggressive, but it could be a ploy to get their captives to lower their guard.

 

There was too much she didn’t know, and too few options to buy time. Now, she also realized that there weren’t any unit patches or names on the uniforms. They weren’t standard military, that’s for sure. Special forces, maybe? But then who had deployed them before their plane had burst into flames?

 

Countless thoughts raced through Emrald’s mind, but in the end she was forced to stick to her ‘wait and see’ plan.

 

“Yes, that’s right,” the Jin’ko said, her demeanor still relatively amiable. “I’d much rather not use force, and I think you have an idea of my strength. I can assure you that you will not be harmed while in our custody if you cooperate.”

 

“What… what’s this about?”

 

“I’m not at liberty to say. Now, will you come along?”

 

The tiger’s pleasant attitude was rapidly becoming flat, and if he kept hesitating things would probably escalate. Casey wanted to look towards where he knew Emrald to be hiding, but didn’t want to give her away. Instead he nodded his head, and stepped forward.

 

“Excellent. I’m glad you’re reasonable. Now then, head towards the helicopters with your arms raised, please.”

 

Nodding, he did as he was told and began walking forward. The two soldiers pulled up behind him in escort.

 

Emrald was cursing and swearing internally all the while, angry with herself for not having any real combat capabilities. Other questions began to surface in her thoughts, such as if they had captured anyone else, or if Casey was the first. If she made herself known now, in order to stay close to him, would they wind up shooting her? There were the other soldiers that had fanned out as well – even if she was to try and find those of her own unit, she’d likely run into members of this unknown force instead.

 

Emrald felt utterly powerless as she watched this unfold. The logical thing to do would be to remain hidden until they departed, then report all she had seen once she was back somewhere. But, when it came to Casey, logic seemed to fail her.

 

Once Casey and the other two soldiers reached the helicopter, they seemed to talk briefly to someone inside, and then he hopped inside and sat down. The helicopter remained silent, along with its companion. Neither of them appeared to be going anywhere soon.

 

“Good,” Emrald whispered to herself. It would seem they were here for more than just him. That meant she had time.

 

Licking her lips and glancing around, she tried to remember if the other soldiers that had fanned out were alone. If so, she might be able to acquire some information on what exactly was going on. Only one way to find out, she decided, raising from her hiding spot and looking around.

 

--

 

Forcibly coiled on top of herself and bound with silk to prevent escape, Serlov glared silently at the spider across from her within the helicopter’s confines.

 

The arachnee closed one eye, focusing the open eye on the lamia. “Don’t give me that look, Colonel Serlov. If you had been agreeable we wouldn’t need to resort to these measures.”

 

Tugging on the silken strands running from the bound lamia to her hands, she caused the binding that held her arms behind her back to pull even more taut, squeezing her shoulders together painfully. Serlov winced, but did her best to not let any pain show.

 

“Be thankful we were under strict orders to avoid shooting you, and those with you. Two of my women are going to be enjoying stays in a hospital, thanks to you.” Another tug on the strands pulled Serlov’s arms together even further, underlining the venom in the arachnee’s voice.

 

Twisting her pained grimace into a smug grin, Serlov savored her minor victory – at least she had not gone down quietly or easily.

 

As one of the last to leave the stricken aircraft, she had barely managed to escape in time. It also meant she had traveled the furthest east, and thus was amongst the first to be found by this mysterious force. She knew it was far, far too soon for a search and rescue, though her plan was open confrontation rather than hiding away.

 

“Come quietly and we can assure you that you will not be harmed,” a large oni said as she approached Serlov.

 

Serlov simply hummed to herself, remaining still. The oni seemed to take that as an indicator of submission – a mistake she would not soon forget.

 

Raising a portion of her snake-body just above the ground to avoid raising any suspicion, Serlov struck out once the other woman was close enough. Her solid, muscular tail impacted with tremendous force across the oni’s chest. She flew several feet through the air before landing heavily on the ground, rolling and clutching at her chest as she groaned. That one wasn’t getting up anytime soon.

 

Her partner, a manticore, seemed to be stunned briefly by the sudden show of force. Her hesitation wound up costing her, as Serlov darted forward faster than one would expect from a snake. She attempted to take to the air, but only rose a few feet into the air.

 

Serlov again hooked her tail through the air like a scythe, catching the manticore just above the knee. The impact up-ended her, crashing her down into the ground head-first. Collapsing into a heap, she remained entirely motionless. Though it was a foe, Serlov was compelled to verify the manticore was still alive – a spill like that could break one’s neck.

 

Her fingers resting lightly on her neck, she verified that there was still a pulse and she was still breathing. Good enough, she thought.

 

Casting a wary glance around before escaping the area, the sound of a snapping twig froze her in place. Trying to locate the source of the noise, another snap rose up, this time closer and on the other side of her. Backing up slowly, she kept herself partially coiled in order to quickly strike at anything should the need arise.

 

More twigs snapped around her, occurring at intervals and locations that shouldn’t be possible from any one person. Leaves rustled above her, but not from any wind. There was nothing she could feel, taste, or sense in the air.

 

“Fighting from the shadows is hardly fair, don’t you think?” Serlov said, attempting to goad her foe into revealing themselves. All she got was silence. “No,” she whispered to herself, “I wouldn’t have that luck would I?”

 

A burst of footsteps to her right drew her attention, and too late did she realize it was merely a diversion as they disappeared as quickly as they had made themselves known.

 

“Hmph,” the lamia pouted, looking down at the furry paw that held a long, sharp claw against her jugular. She then felt a weight on her back that rapidly increased until the entire woman had appeared, near as she could tell.

 

“Well, you got me. What now?”

 

“Nya-ow we go back, and get those two some help,” the woman on her back declared.

 

“Do you really talk like that?” Serlov said, her face contorting in disgust at the lilting, cat-like tone.

 

The weight on her back shifted about, and then she felt legs swing down along either side of her, almost as if she was being ridden like a horse. From the sensations on her scales, she realized whoever had gotten the best of her was nude, and had furry legs and feetpaws as well. While some species could render themselves invisible, it would not extend to any clothing they wore.

 

“Nyahaha, well, you nya-ow…some of us can’t help it.”

 

The furry digits beside her throat then all popped out claws, and the woman controlling them alternated which one pressed against her throat. Serlov couldn’t tell if the cat riding her was crazy or simply wanted to see her blood flow.

 

“You’re very bold to be going about in this weather without clothing.”

 

“Nya ha! I hear that often… but it’s worth it with people like you around~ So ma-nya lose their cool and freak out. That’s nyat fun at all. Anya-ways, let’s get going.” To add insult to her words, the cat kicked at Serlov’s body like one would when riding a steed. She fumed, but with the claws at her throat she had no option.

 

Making her way towards the helicopter, the cat remained quiet, though her claws seemed to randomly dig in more firmly than usual at times. Finally they caught sight of another person, and she could feel the cat wave her other arm atop her.

 

“Hey~ over here,” she shouted. The other soldier ran over to them, seemingly unphased by the appearance of a nude cat riding a lamia. “There’s two down back thatta way, they nya-eed a medic.” Nodding and running back to where they came from, the other trooper soon disappeared, leaving the cat and lamia alone together again.

 

“Hey~”

 

“What is it, cat?” Serlov practically growled.

 

“You seem upset~”

 

No, Serlov thought shaking her head. She would not be toyed with like this. The cat riding her continued to laugh, but otherwise said little once she figured out the lamia would not play her game. Soon they researched the clearing where the helicopters were, along with the arachnee.

 

While the spider was binding Serlov, the cat leaned forward and licked the back of her, then whispered to her. “Nya haha~ you’re kinda cute~ I think the nya-xt time we meet, I’ll have to eat you up~”

 

Then she vanished as quickly as she had arrived – Serlov never did see who had gotten the better of her. Apparently the spider had overheard her words, grimacing slightly as she put the finishing touches on the silken chains.

 

 

 

And now here she was, bound in custody with an unknown foe. Initially four helicopters had landed nearby, but two departed shortly after she was captured. A few of the other men, Yvonne, and even Reia had been taken as well, arriving slowly one after another. They’d looked to Serlov for something; an answer, but all she was able to give them was a nod.

 

So far they’d remained unharmed, but who knows for how long.

 

A radio crackled to life; a message from the other team. “We’ve detained another male – a Casey Smith, along with a female wolf-girl named Viole.”

 

Serlov closed her eyes and thought. Casey and Emrald had both jumped nearly the same time, so they should have been relatively close together. Either the two had yet to link up, or Emrald managed to hide herself. The crafty fox was unlikely to be taken if she knew what was going on, Serlov thought. Provided she avoided doing anything stupid.

 

Opening her eyes, she stared defiantly at the arachnee. Not one to back down, the spider returned the lamia’s gaze with equal intensity. She had to be the leader of this expedition, Serlov thought. Or, at the very least, the one leading this platoon.

 

Nothing was spoken between the two for quite some time; the silence was only broken periodically by the radio as the other team reported people captured or subdued. Eventually, according to Serlov’s mental checklist, only one person remained - Emrald. There was also a report of a soldier who had failed to check in on time. It didn’t take much to put the two together.

 

Serlov allowed herself a little grin, then snorted through her nose.

 

“Say,” she began, “I don’t even know your name. Or anyone else’s. It seems no one here refers to each other by name or rank, not even on the radio. Isn’t it proper respect to at least give your name to a senior officer?”

 

The spider considered her words for a moment, though the scowl shaping her features never faded. “While I would like to, we have been prohibited from revealing anything about ourselves.”

 

Interesting. It would seem these troops were mercenaries rather than any official military unit. Though technically illegal, merc units had gained popularity as most of the state militaries had been deployed through the portal. Serlov relaxed some, deciding that she should save her energy for when it mattered. Glowering at this Arachnee wasn’t getting her anywhere.

 

 

 

The traces of dawn were arriving, and Emrald had yet to be captured. The arachnee was becoming nervous and impatient, much to Serlov’s enjoyment. Eventually she could wait no longer, and called for everyone to regroup and dust off.

 

Sailing over the tree tops, Serlov wondered where the kitsune had managed to hide herself. Then she wondered if she’d be able to mount some kind of rescue considering she would have no idea where Casey and the others were being taken. At least Serlov knew they were heading west, though she couldn’t hazard a guess at their speed or exact time in the air.

 

Eventually they landed in a large clearing and were shuffled off the helicopters and grouped together. Serlov took note of everyone, letting a sigh when everyone appeared to be unharmed. At least the group that had rounded them up kept to their vow of not harming though, though it begged the question of why they resorted to such drastic measures to bring down the aircraft they were aboard.

 

Spotting Casey, Serlov slithered over to him. “Did Emrald escape?” she hissed out in a whisper, attempting to avoid bringing attention to herself.

 

“I don’t know. How I got caught is… kind of a long story, but I’m pretty sure they never found her. She wasn’t hurt in the crash or anything, I know that mu…”

 

Casey was cut short as one of the guards approached and yelled at him to be quiet. He nodded, then threw a nod towards the colonel. Reia and Tomas came near as well, though they remained silent as the guard was still nearby. At the very least, their presence provided Casey some comfort that everyone was alive and well, and maybe things would remain that way.

 

After some time passed, a series of trucks arrived, along with a few more soldiers. Unfortunately, Serlov and her unit were blindfolded and cuffed before being herded aboard the vehicles. The remainder of the journey was quiet, but lengthy. Being blindfolded and stuffed into cargo trucks made for an unpleasant trip, to the point where most of them were thankful when they arrived at their destination. Though she had no basis to think as such, Serlov wondered if forcing them to endure discomfort and then rewarding them with a reprieve from it was some sort of psychological conditioning.

 

Someone tugged at her cuffs, leading her away from the others, or at least she figured that’s what was going on. They had initially disembarked on grass, but now she was moving across concrete or asphalt – her belly scales weren’t able to distinguish between the surfaces. She was brought along a considerable distance, turned this way and that, and even made to backtrack. Whoever was leading her had obviously wished to disorient her as much as possible.

 

In time, she felt herself be lead into a structure of some sort; the sun’s light no longer warmed her skin or scales, and the surface upon which she slithered had become smoother. Then she heard a series of doors opening, and she was lead through each one. Then she was brought into an elevator, and to her surprise it went up rather than down. At least that meant she was likely in some kind of ‘normal’ building, rather than a military bunker.

 

The chime of the elevator went off, and she was lead out and down another smooth hallway. The person’s shoes in front of her clicked sharply on the surface, leading her to believe it may be marble or stone in an undecorated hallway. She was lead through another door, and then finally, she was halted seemingly in the middle of a room.

 

“You may take it off her now,” a familiar voice said.

 

A hand reached up to remove the blindfold, causing Serlov to squint momentarily as her eyes adjusted to the sudden influx of light. The blurred image came into focus after a second, and she blinked several times to make sure it wasn’t some kind of illusion. There, seated in a large mahogany chair behind a similar deep, rich desk was a familiar face to go with the voice.

 

“You? What are you doing here?”

 

“Ho? Is that all you have to say?” Came the elder kitsune’s reply.

 

“What is the meaning of this?” Serlov demanded, bringing herself up to full height. The kitsune scoffed at the display, waving her hand dismissingly.

 

“Please. Save the intimidation for people who would be bothered by such things.”

 

“I would not expect you, of all people, to attempt this. Especially after what you said to me earlier – what do you hope to gain from this?”

 

The kitsune sighed, sagging into her kimono slightly. “I suppose you’ve a right to be hostile considering the circumstances.”

 

She fiddled with a fan in her hand, folding it and drawing it out to its full shape repeatedly, before she folded it one final time and pointed it at the lamia. “I assure you I had meant to simply force your aircraft to make an emergency landing. The fuel line was supposed to be cut, forcing you from the skies in a somewhat controlled manner. Instead, from the reports I’ve read, you had something of a fiery escape.”

 

Serlov’s upper lip twitched. She fought to keep her face passive and neutral. Displaying emotion here would not aid her one bit. “I suppose. But that does not answer the question. What do you want?”

 

The kitsune smirked. “Amelia, please come in.”

 

Serlov narrowed her eyes. That name wasn’t familiar to her in the slightest. At the back of the room a side door opening, and in strode a woman. Serlov’s eyes went wide.

 

“You… but, how? You’re supposed to be extinct!”

 

“Oh, darling. What a cruel thing to say,” the woman said, her pointed tail darting back and forth behind her.