Chương 34: 33-Oops

There he was, just when Jenna predicted. He makes a stop at the inn each time he completes a whole perimeter sweep. He always takes two beers during each stop. He has already drunk six this morning. He will be somewhat drunk, she had said. Jesus, were these guys supposed to be professional soldiers? Bob watched as the stern-looking, athletic man swaggered down the street. He was bringing up the rear of the three-man team. Avoid engaging with the point member; she is the scout, Jenna had explained to them.

Bob had spotted her—a tall, wiry woman, trying very hard to look like some kind of tourist, seeing the sights. There was a third member, a shorter soldier, but he was nowhere to be seen. Jenna had explained that they came out of the headquarters in trios, but one of them soon disappeared—a stealth type, hiding in the shadows while he follows the other team members. An Ace up their sleeve, thought Bob. His Truth Reveals itself pulsed slightly, revealing a shadow that moved unnaturally along the wall.

Okay, that's all of them, Bob thought, relieved.

"I have spotted them all," he announced through the Blood Link.

"The scout and the rogue are two hundred feet north. Our thirsty friend has been left behind and is heading for the inn. I do not think we are going to get a much better opportunity." They knew nothing about these guys and their powers, and they needed good intel if they intended to pull this stunt. They had discussed several ways of doing this. Facing the three at once was madness—that was the kind of encounter the enemy was trained for.

But if they could take out one of them first and use him as bait for the other two, the situation would be different: one Loser would be free to support the other two. Bob's thoughts took him back to the strategy meeting this morning:"If these guys are built as perfect counters to each of us, giving them different dance partners is the perfect solution," Jenna explained.

"We must assume they also have Switch Rings—the original Hunters did," Bob pointed out.

"The original Switch Rings exchanged your position with that of the teammate nearest to your intended target," answered Jenna.

"If we face him together at the same time, no Switch is possible—no one would be nearer to Bob than him."

"And how do we approach him without the point-woman detecting us?" asked Billy.

"I took some risks this morning trying to find out how her radar worked," answered Jenna. She had slowly expanded her Spirit, gently brushing the woman's aura, until she could gauge how far it extended. The woman had briskly stopped once, as if feeling something. Then she had resumed walking. That was close.

"She is based on Wu Na, I think. She emits that same aura that made my powers go wonky, but she has finer control over it. She emits a ping once per minute, designed to interact with my powers and signal my location."

"There is only one of us who can pull this off without being caught," she said. And so, here he was, tracking an assassin specially trained to take down a Skillmaster. He was the only possible target out of the three, and Bob was the only Loser with the needed powers to make this ambush work. Sometimes life sucks. Aaron squinted as the morning sun got into his eyes. They had been patrolling the city nonstop for the past two weeks.

The Colonel was sure an infiltration attempt was imminent, and was working their asses off. Aaron could feel Natalia doing her weird echolocation thingie, trying to get a lock on the Primordial aura. Blasco was nowhere to be seen, as usual. He would be a pretty shitty rogue, otherwise.

"Keep your head in the game, Blasco," Aaron admonished him via telepathy. He was good at what he did, but he tended to get distracted. Aaron looked sweaty, tired, and overworked—he had made an art of looking like that. It was part of the job. Next stop in four minutes, he calmly thought. Tactics were never about the how or the why. They were about the when. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He reached his destination at the precise time.

Then, something gently nudged his right foot. It was a small metal ball with a rune engraved on it. What the hell?

"Could I have my ball back, please, sir?" The kid was no more than eight years old, and cute as hell.

"Where are your parents, kid?"

"They are inside the inn, Mom said I could play outside for five minutes," the boy said, looking at the ground.

"No. She did not. We are in the middle of an emergency."

"Are you going to tell on me?" the boy said, looking at Aaron as if he were an executioner.

"It is not as if I could get lost. The ball has that dumb rune on it. My mother is dumb, too." Aaron relaxed. That explained everything.

"I am not going to tell on you, but you are heading back to the inn and your parents. I will be going there in five minutes. I am requisitioning this ball and will not give it back until I see you with them." The boy ran away, almost on the verge of tears.

"Wow, Bob, that was incredible. You were Oscar-worthy," Jenna said inside his head as Bob ducked into the shadows and assumed his true form.

"I trained the High School drama team. I picked up a few things." Billy suddenly joined the mind conversation: "That was Alarel's ball, wasn't it? And what you did counts as a hit."

"Indeed, it was," Bob confirmed. Alarel's Wisdom (Palooga 4): Throw the ball marked with Alarel's name. If it hits an enemy, it will reveal all information that could be obtained with Gaze of the Eternal Warrior. Requires Gaze of the Eternal Warrior 4. Bob projected his status screen through the blood link so his companions could read the information the perk provided. Gaze of the Eternal Warrior (Truthfinding 4): The Achillean can tune his powers to one enemy at a time.

He gets great bonuses to defense against all of his targets' abilities, except those based on one randomly-chosen Skill or Competency. One out of four combat patterns detected. The Achillean can repeat the process every 30 seconds, using a new Skill each time. Two out of four combat patterns detected. The Achillean has a mystic ranged attack that erodes defenses. Three out of four combat patterns detected. The Achillean is constantly in communication with his teammates and can teleport to them.

Four out of four combat patterns detected. Weakness Detected: The Achillean's powers are less effective when he is not facing the Skillmaster.

"What do you think about the last pattern, Jenna?" Bob asked.

"It is not very descriptive. Could it be the Switch Ring?"

"All the Fed troops we have met relied on mass-produced magical items. If the same minds designed these Hunters, it stands to reason they copied that idea. It fits too much into their style," answered Jenna.

"I think we are going to have to risk it. The Achillean is going to enter the inn in two minutes. We have to make a decision now."

"Nat, four-minute break, I am doing the beer thing," Aaron radiated through the mind-link.

"Roger," Nat acknowledged.

"Going in," Aaron answered as he crossed into the inn. Just his luck. They must be renovating. They had taken all the furniture out. It was dark too. The only source of light was a small glass orb resting on a table that had seen better times. Everything was dusty and dirty, and none of the regular crew were around—only two guys and one girl, standing in the middle of the room. Were they the brat's family? Aaron thought, playing with the metal ball in his hand. Suddenly, it vanished in a flash of blue light.

"It belongs to me," Bob explained.

"It is back inside my mind." Aaron turned around. The door he had gone through was no longer there.

"It is surprisingly easy to anchor a Celestial Gate to a real door. We are miles away from the inn," Bob explained.

"You are the Losers. I take it this is your ambush. Finally," Aaron stated calmly. He always felt calm before combat.

"Yep. Finally. This fight was over before it had a chance to start," Jenna answered.

"The only way you can take us down is by attacking us with your team. That is not going to happen. Please surrender. I will take what I need from your mind and plant a hypnotic suggestion to keep you asleep. You'll wake up unharmed in a day."

"Just out of curiosity," Aaron asked.

"How do you intend to kidnap me without my teammates knowing it?"

"You always spend four minutes at the inn each time you go for a beer. In four minutes, we can extract the knowledge we need from your mind and get the rest of your team, one by one. You are outnumbered and outclassed. Please, cooperate," Jenna told him seriously.

"You have no way out," she added.

"We use a predictable pattern of mistakes to lure you into attacking us. I play the drunkard. Blasco commits a mistake now and then. Nat scans worse than she could …feign weakness when strong—the usual Sun Tzu shit."

"I guess those arcane-looking thingies on the table are some means of blocking telepathic contact."

"Yes, Bob made them," Jenna answered.

"In case you are wondering, they do not affect the Blood Link. We can talk among ourselves, but you can't ask for aid."

"Not bad," Aaron conceded, "but Nat has instructions to react to an attack if I do not answer any of her mental check-ins. And she checks every thirty seconds."

"Okay, you are the smartest boy in class," Jenna conceded.

"Your team knows that we abducted you. We will need a new plan, but it does not change your current situation: Switch Rings will not work with all of the Losers present—there's no way one of your allies can swap places with you." Aaron smiled.

"I do not even know what a Switch Ring is. They gave us something different instead. Something better."

"Damn it, Bob—dimensional wall, right— " Jenna had no time to finish her sentence. Call to Arms: (Leadership 5) Teleport to the location of any of the members of your Squad. Five-minute cooldown. The Entropist and the Interloper appeared in the room in a flash of light.

"Oops," said Jenna.