Book 2 Chapter 1: Beware the Ides of March

Tristan

March 21, 1787, Realm Time, New Castle near Blansko, Bohemian Protectorate

Shakespeare was Tristan's favorite writer. His pieces existed on the Realm as well, but they had different authors, and maybe because of that, the bard hadn't reached the fame he had on Earth. For sure, the man knew his business. The war scenes were top-notch, the soldiers spoke like soldiers, and the duels were perfect. Flashy, to charm the public, but also realistic.

One of his favorites was Julius Caesar. As a true monarchist, he held Brutus and the assassins in contempt; however, he admired their resourcefulness. Using pens to kill? That was a John Wick-worthy move. Pens could be mightier than the sword, if they were used as knives. Which he knew because of his new phone, a smart one. He had to admit the Outworlders had excellent entertainment.

It was the day of the spring equinox, and he was rereading the play, a glass of brandy in front of him and a cigar in hand, when his phone rang. Tristan put the phone on speaker so he wouldn't have to put the book down.

"Hi, Sam."

"We have a problem."

"We? I have no problem," Tristan said, taking a puff. "You have a problem."

"I went to the base today, but I was refused entry. I was told the base is in lockdown."

"So what? Maybe they're doing pest control. They must've realized you're a fucking cockroach stealing other people's work."

"I'm sorry, OK? How was I supposed to know you were hunting the same people?"

"Your woman is literally the guild's boss. We told her."

"Look, I apologize. I was in a hurry and forgot to check. Please, Tristan, this is serious. Joseph is at the base, along with other royalty and stuff from the Confederation of the Rhine. They chose our headquarters as the safest place to negotiate the treaty."

"I don't see the problem. A lockdown is a good safety measure."

"I was supposed to be the mediator. This is not normal."

Tristan sighed. "If you put it this way... And what do you want me to do?"

"Take Aldric, open a tunnel from the cave into the base, and investigate discreetly. You have Stealth, don't you?"

"This is not how the Chaos Company works. From what I see, there are two options. They don't trust you anymore, or the base has been taken over. If it's option two, I will have to go all in. There will be no time to retreat, wait for help, or engage in all that stupid shit you call protocol. We move with all personnel from the start and expect to be paid accordingly. A thousand ducats per day, plus the money I lost on the bounty you stole from me."

"Deal."

That was easy... I should have asked more...

Throwing the book on the table, Tristan opened the French windows wide and bellowed: "Get ready! We move in five!"

"Fuuuuck," Sandra wailed from the bed.

"Sorry!" Tristan rushed to apologize. She had visited for the weekend, and because their time together was seldom and short, the nights were about being intimate, and she was sleeping late.

"I'll need fuel," she said.

"You can rest; I'll take Cloudy this time."

"Uh-huh," she mumbled under her breath, turning face down and pulling a pillow over her head.

Four minutes later, the band was gathered in the courtyard for a short briefing. Some of their members—Jan, Isolde, Cedric, and Emilios—were on their own missions. Nevertheless, they also had new blood. Their newest member, Cloud Carpenter, a former meteorologist, started chanting. It was a humid day, with plenty of clouds. A few descended toward the mage calling upon them, and the ship began to form. From below, it looked like an ugly square cloud; from inside, it was a barge, but the important thing was that it could fly, carrying them all.

Since they were all going and it was not a mission he could take Good Boy on, Tristan opened the stable, letting the horse free. Good Boy snorted with a pitch rise on the end, like a question.

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"Your mission is to guard the castle," he said seriously, to convince the steed to stay behind. Truth was that between Good Boy and Sandra, the horse had vastly more advanced combat capabilities.

"It's ready," Cloudy said.

"Go ahead, I'll be with you in a moment," Tristan said, offering Good Boy a treat and scratching the mount between his ears.

Once Tristan arrived inside the flying barge, Pops activated his powers, propelling the ship up and then East, using directional wind vortices.

"I'm glad I recruited you," Tristan said, noticing how fast the cloud ship moved. Sandra's chopper was twice as fast, but for short trips, the barge was more than adequate.

"On Earth, stealing people from other teams is called poaching," Dorian said.

"No one stole me; I left the Magic Squad by myself," the woman said, with a bit of preciousness. "My talents were insufficiently appreciated."

"How much are we paid this time?" Max asked.

"A thousand ducats to divide between us."

"How much is that?" Cloud Carpenter asked.

"Half a mil," Max said.

The woman let out a slow whistle. "I knew I made the right choice with you, guys."

"By the way, it looks like the Emperor has been taken hostage," Tristan said. "The base is in lockdown."

"Maybe they just closed the base as a safety measure," Aldric said.

"We'll see. First, we investigate," Tristan said, "then we kill everyone who stands in our way."

"Why do you always assume we'll have to kill people?" Dorian asked. "Maybe there's a misunderstanding."

"How many misunderstandings have we met since we founded the company?" Tristan raised his eyebrows.

"Zero," Max answered as Dorian puckered, crossing his arms.

"You're talking too loud..." Eliza sighed, opening her eyes for a second, then returning to her dozing. The cloud benches were soft like a mattress of feathers.

"You drink too much," Tristan said, because like almost every night, they had a party, and Eliza had won the drinking contest.

She gave him a thumbs up, then the middle finger, then again the thumbs up, before her arm fell over her head and she began snoring.

Twelve minutes later, the mage shook Eliza by the shoulder. "We're approaching the base," Cloud Carpenter said.

"They have drones in the air," Max said. "I'm feeling bits of precious metal flying around."

"Camouflage was engaged long ago. Slowing down and keeping the distance. Closer and they will detect us. And… We're stationary," the Cloud Carpenter said. "We look like a drifting cumulus. I can maintain the position for about an hour."

"Great," Tristan said, taking his binoculars. His enhanced vision worked even better if paired with Outworlder's gadgets.

There was no sign of extra security on the roads; however, the tunnel access to the headquarters was obstructed by what looked like a giant cork. A blast door tough enough to resist a nuclear explosion. Now Tristan knew what those were, and he was in awe of both the explosion and the armor strong enough to endure it.

In front of it were a couple of tanks and a dozen armed guards, including the couple he had confronted once before, the Smiths. Various turrets were moving their weapons up, down, and to the sides, scanning for threats. In the adjacent parking lot, Sam was walking back and forth in front of his 4x4. Tristan called him.

"We're here."

"Great. How long before you breach?"

"Aldric?" Tristan looked at the dwarf.

"I'm detecting both the concrete tunnels and the caves. It will take approximately four hours to get in."

"You've heard the man," Tristan said. "Are you waiting there, or do you want to join us?"

"I'll wait, just in case they change their mind and let me in," Sam said.

"Whatever. We're paid the same. Will keep in touch," Tristan said, shutting off his phone. "Cloudy, get us to— err…"

"On the East side of the mountain, deep in the valley. I'll show you," Max said, opening his phone and displaying a man.

The cloud ship drifted downward at a low speed to keep up the appearances. The woman dismissed it as soon as they touched ground, and for the last few feet, it felt like they were floating. While the group took positions around the small cave entrance, Pops did his magic, casting lightness and a few more spells on him, starting to fly around at low altitude—barely sixty feet above the ground—to detect any possible hostiles.

There was very little snow, as the southern orientation of the valley had melted most of it, but the air was cold, adding to the overall gloomy vibe. Max and Aldric went into the cave and returned ten minutes later.

"Good news and bad news," Aldric reported.

"Let me hear it. I'll decide if it's good or bad," Tristan said.

"I can open a passage faster, leading to a secondary tunnel. The bad news is that there are cameras."

"Any security device uses metals," Max said. "I can disable them in no time, but..."

"But not fast enough? They'll see us coming?" Tristan said.

"No, I can disable them in no time, but that will be a tellsign somebody's breaking in," Max acknowledged.

"I'd rather not engage in a fight before knowing exactly what we are up against," Tristan said. "Can you dig around those things?"

"Not within a reasonable time interval. However, there's an easier access. I could work down. It means we'll start from the research facility and will have to climb."

"Go for it."

The next two and a half hours passed slowly. Pops was still flying, guarding the perimeter; his Mana reserves were immense. Eliza was napping on a fallen log, so Tristan was the only one Claudia—Cloudy's real name—could talk to. She eagerly shared information about types of clouds Tristan couldn't care less about. All that while surrounded by morose gray hills, a bleak sunset, and a muddy stream. March was not yet strong enough to chase away the winter.

We need another base for winter, somewhere nice… Maybe California… Nah, there's nothing there yet. Definitely Italy or Southern France.

Finally, Max and Aldric returned.

"I opened a breach in a closet," the dwarf said.

"There was only one camera outside, and I managed to block it from turning, so it looks the other way. When you exit the closet, take a right, and the security room is at the end of the tunnel. If you take out the guards fast enough, there will be no alarm."

"By take out, you mean knock them out, right?" Dorian asked. "We don't want to kill innocent people for no reason."

"Why don't you let me worry about that?" Tristan said.

"I'll go with him to keep him in check," Eliza said. "Killing indiscriminately is out of the question."

"Lead the way," Tristan said, waving his hand.