Fengri

The Road to Mt. Dakun, Rebellion-Held Aviye

Amri

Amri hid amidst the trees, biting her lip as the rebel truck approached. In the middle of the road, Sergeant Lorn waved them down, Captain Zai sitting beside the road on a stump. Trading clothes with Captain Zai, she'd learned that she didn't feel comfortable in a uniform at all. Zai was leaner than her for one, so the blouse tended to hug her chest in ways that reminded her she had lived quite a soft life. The disguise was necessary, however, for the plan to succeed, as was having everyone else in Nightraven Squad hiding around the road on both sides.

Over two hours ago, Sergeant Lorn had radioed in.

Captain Zai and the entire squad had worked through what sort of tale to spin. Had command responded to them as normal, Captain Zai would have taken over the call, reporting as usual and laying out the situation, and there would have been no need for the current deception.

Instead, almost as soon as Sergeant Lorn reported that she wished to report a defector, she'd been skipped up the chain to one Major Qirees. From there she'd spun the tale perfectly, describing the battle where they found Dr. Jeng as desperate, with so many injured that the Captain had sent her north with the defector while she looked after the squad. Major Qirees asked her about the 38th squad, and she told her that they'd been found dead, from aircraft fire and bombs by the look of it. She'd barely managed to repair the truck enough to come as far as she had, but now the engine was broken and she wouldn't have the radio for long.

When the Major asked to speak to Dr. Jeng, the Captain had Amri there to listen in, partially to test whether or not her powers worked with someone over long distances. Zai had replied in an imitation of Amri that she found a bit insulting. There was no way she got that nasal when she was describing her interest in Ascendant studies. After a moment of distraction, Amri focused on trying to parse the Major's understanding, and to her surprise discovered that there was some sense she was getting even across the radio, even if it felt like a trickle compared to the flows of information she felt from being near someone.

It made her wonder if her gift was really working because of other people or relied more on understanding her own perception of what others were communicating... if it was the former, she had no idea how that could be possible, but if it was the latter, then maybe her abilities were simply an expansion of the human trait of being able to read social and somatic cues, which had great implications for all sorts of fields outside of Ascendant Studies. Perhaps she could expand her work into neurology or other medical fields...

Zai waved her hand in front of Amri's face when she realized the Doctor was distracted, pointing at the radio.

The moment of truth came when Major Qirees asked, "Dr. Jeng, I need to you to tell me what you know that's so important, before I can send a squad to retrieve you and the Sergeant, that is. Can you do that for me?"

That had been unexpected. For the Major to risk Amri telling the secret she knew over the radio meant one of two things: Either he didn't know what Amri knew, or he wasn't concerned about the risk of Amri saying what she knew. Use of radio was strictly monitored at Headquarters, that meant a radio operator listening to everything the Major said... which also meant Northern Army Command had co-opted someone in the radio room.

Slowly, clearly, Captain Zai said that she had secrets about the Ascendants that could change the war, trying to be just vague enough to seem like "Dr. Jeng" was holding back to preserve her own value to the Rebellion.

For Amri, the feeling of someone understanding was a fickle thing, easily colored by experience, imagination, and emotion. For the last few days, she'd had enough experience with reading soldiers to tell her that when Captain Zai told the Major the secret, there wasn't a hint of surprise coming in from the Major's response, despite the man's shift in tone to make it seem so. What she felt was greed, anticipation, and a sense of knowing, but muted, like hearing someone snickering through a wall.

The Major asked to be returned to Sergeant Lorn. "I'll lead a squad to retrieve you personally, Sergeant. Stay where you are, somewhere near the road. We should be there by evening."

After the radio call, Amri gave Zai the grim news.

"I'm afraid that what you believe is indeed true."

Zai sighed and stood, giving everyone a determined look. "Nightravens... do as we discussed. This time, we're the hunters."

Now, everyone waited with bated breath as the truck slowed to a stop, the beams of its headlights staring down Sergeant Lorn as from it stepped a short man and eight soldiers.

In the bright light, the dirtiness of Sergeant Lorn's uniform and Captain Zai's disguise was very apparent, as were the bullet holes the squad had installed in the truck they stole from the 38th, using one belt of ammunition for the machine gun the villagers had given Zai. They'd been very careful to make sure Rabbit, the tires, and supplies were removed before firing, replacing the tires but keeping the supplies stashed in the wreck of an old armored transport. Rabbit was currently impersonating a wreck sitting against that same armored transport.

"Is that you, Major Qirees?" Lorn asked, approaching the man who occupied the middle of the formation.

"Indeed, Sergeant," he returned her salute. "Is that Dr. Jeng?" Major Qirees was short, a little broad-shouldered, and in a pristine uniform. Even his boots and pistol holster were polished.

"Yes sir. She's been entirely cooperative."

Amri watched as Zai limped her way forward, making the wound in her leg seem far worse than it was, a show of vulnerability meant to help the Major drop his guard. It was working, she felt, as the man's mind went from a sort of rapid and jagged caution to a far more defined version of what she'd felt over the radio.

"Get her into the truck," he ordered, and two of his soldiers moved to help "Dr. Jeng."

"You don't want to hear what she has to say?" Lorn asked as the men started lifting Zai under the arms. "I really do think what she has to tell us will help end the war."

"Oh, I'll talk to her when we get back... as far as ending the war though... that's already coming."

Sergeant Lorn's eyebrow rose. "What do you m-"

The Major pulled his pistol from the holster and shot her, striking her in the chest. He followed up with two more shots, a smirk on his face.

To Amri, the scene unfolded in the slowness of an overwhelming shock, watching Sergeant Lorn go from standing to crumpling onto the ground, each shot that hit her adding a new bloom of red to her uniform.

"Fengri!" Zai called out, dropping her body and surging down, pulling the soldiers under her arms into a fall before she rose up, kicking one in the face and grabbing his rifle.

From around Amri, the Nightravens surged out of their concealment, converging on the truck with weapons drawn.

One of the Major's soldiers, quicker than the rest, started firing, only to be gunned down instantly. The rest, realizing they'd been ambushed, reacted in a mix of bravery and terror. Three threw down their weapons but the two closest to the Major took aim, only to be dropped by the Nightravens. The two that had been with Captain Zai quickly realized their situation, remaining on the ground as Ezyr and Qal arrived to take aim at them.

The Major fired his pistol into the charging soldiers, emptying his clip and scoring a hit on Eisaf's leg and Xan's arm. Before he could reload, Sergeant Ruu decked him in the stomach with the butt of her rifle, following up with a knee-strike that put him on his back before she bayoneted him in the hand, keeping him from reaching for his own knife.

One by one, the Nightravens started calling out "Clear!" from their various positions. Zai ran past them to get to Sergeant Lorn, holding her shaking hand as she knelt beside her friend, checking her wound and applying pressure to the one on her chest with her other hand.

"Hold on, Fengri. Hold on." She turned, shouting, "Medic! Quynh get over here now!" Quynh was already on her way, Amri close behind.

The Major let out a loud, groaning cry and was immediately silenced with a strike to the face.

Quynh started to dress the Sergeant's wounds, but the look on her face and what Amri felt in her mind told Amri that Sergeant Lorn didn't have long.

"Captain..." the Sergeant rasped. "Did we..."

"Yes," Zai said, crying. "Yes, we got him."

"Good..." she coughed, blood bursting from her mouth and down her cheek. "Tell the Major... tell Fang... I'm sorry... she's the last one."

"You tell her yourself," Zai cried. "You're going to live. That's an order, Sergeant Lorn... Fengri..."

Fengri laughed, tears falling from her eyes. "Sorry, Captain... It's been an honor... tell everyone... I'll see them in my next life..."

Amri stood silently next to Zai, and cried.