Don Kuat

The sun beats down remorselessly as I shift about restlessly in the shade of my hiding spot. The cracked highway before me leads onward into the distance, where one of those podunk beast people villages are located. When the VTOL craft chartered by the Cathedral had dropped me off along with the first wave of volunteers, I had made my way to the nearest point of interest, the big Valkyrie camp that had been set up in the middle of the concrete desert. The camp did not appear on any of the maps I knew of, meaning it was the base of the original search party tasked with locating the Saint.

Thanks to Sarkar's machinations, I had arrived at the concrete desert way before Cathedral Knights. The original plan was for me to use this extra time to gather leads regarding the Saint on my own, giving me a head start before the Knights can secure her. Unfortunately, Sarkar and Wu had underestimated the difficulty of the task.

The concrete desert is big. Really big. I had planned on monitoring the search parties sent out by the Valkyrie camp, hoping that they would provide me with a rough patrol area that I could focus my attention on. That hope was dashed as I watched the search parties shuttle in and out of the camp. Not only had the Valkyries already acquired a fair number of beast girl candidates which were being housed deep within the little fortress built among the derelict skyscrapers, the search parties were still being sent out in all the four cardinal directions. The Valkyries weren't actually devoting their search to any particular place. They were as clueless as I was about the Saint's actual location.

Licking my lips and taking a drink from the aluminium canteen, my mind drifts back to the late night vigils I had spent around the Valkyrie camp. It was dangerous work and I had very nearly been discovered by the Red Roses that had been stationed there. I had plenty of serum on hand and briefly considered just wading in and shooting the place up, but caution had ultimately prevailed. Blowing my load on the camp now did not guarantee wasting the Saint. The potential Saint candidates being kept there would still be around for some time yet anyway.

Better to stick with the plan for now and hit the search parties. I did not know if Sarkar had planned this part of the operation as well, but the way the Cathedral outfitted the volunteers had been a clever means of encouraging conflict between us and the beast folk. Before we were dropped off by the VTOL, each volunteer was issued rations for the mission. But there was a deception at play as well.

We volunteers were told that the VTOL would come back to the rendezvous point to resupply us. Unfortunately, it had already been planned before hand that the VTOL would miss one or two of these meeting dates. I knew which dates the VTOL wouldn't be showing up since Wu told me beforehand, but none of the other volunteers had a clue. The supplies we had been issued were just enough to last us for the official allocated number of days.

And once the VTOL didn't show, the volunteers would have to get creative or starve. There was the expectation that the volunteers would focus on the 'searching' part of the mission, rather than the hunt for the false Saint. Certain incentives were needed to get the volunteers to take both parts, or rather the real part, of the mission seriously.

And since we all had been told that the false Saint would come in the form of a beast woman, it doesn't take a genius to work out the easiest way to scrounge up some food and do one's divinely mandated duty at the same time. And with all the volunteers hitting the beast folk, my own activities would be obscured in the noise, preventing the Knights from tracking me. Oh, Kuat Senior would know for a fact that I'm in the region, but what he can't fight what he can't see.

And with some luck, the volunteers would get desperate enough to raid the Valkyrie camp, making my job that much easier. So there was no point in rushing things, as impatient as I may feel.

I bring the old com unit to my mouth, the contraption resembling a small black brick. As volunteers we were allowed to bring our own kit. In fact we were required to do so. The Cathedral would not be supplying us with bulwarks. We were issued with modern com devices to stay in contact with the Cathedral, but for this particular call, I would be absolutely stupid to rely on kit that was almost certainly bugged and actively monitored.

"Wu. Don here." I say into the antique in my hand, smoothly switching to earth Hindi, "I've been hitting the Leader's search parties whenever possible. No clues on the whereabouts of the Saint yet."

I put the com unit down, not bothering to wait for a response. Wu would not be waiting all day in front of the radio set in the safe house. That meant no real time communication. The other issue was that this while this old tech could encrypt messages automatically, the encryption process required my words to be recorded into the mission beforehand. So I would take my time crafting out my message before hitting the encrypt key and firing it back to the Citadel.

The com unit's on board encryption was in principle fairly impressive. It relied on a code key installed in the unit and the theory was that the message's recipient needed a matching code key to unscramble the incoming nonsense. The sheer number of possible variations in a code key meant that the encryption was supposed to be unbreakable.

Too bad this tech was badly obsolete and any modern code breaker could easily brute force its way through the encryption. It was still good enough to foil any casual eaves droppers or militia investigators, but the Yellow Roses were almost certain to be able to crack the message wide open. Regular Valkyries trained in information warfare would probably be able to do it as well. That was the reason I used earth language. Cracking the code meant nothing if you did not understand what is being said.

"I wanted to get into Rais Land," I continue into the com unit, "But there are bulwark patrols sweeping the border. I've decided to hit up the smaller settlements while waiting for a better chance."

A small, growing cloud of dust pops up over the horizon and I squint my eyes, catching a glimpse of a convoy of cars heading in my direction. With a jolt of excitement, I summon my bulwark and as the machine materializes around me, immediately bring my helmet's optics into play.

Three cars. Older models, most likely rented from the beast folk village down the highway. And multiple young beast women seated in each of the cars, accompanied by a Valkyrie. No. From the uniforms, its two Valkyries and one Red Rose Eliminator. A search party returning with another batch of candidates. The Valks have decided to keep an eye on the beast folk instead of properly escorting their convoy. Probably think the worst they'll face are bandits and the like. Careless, but understandable.

As the convoy approaches, I lash out with an armored foot into a nearby petrified tree, sending it slamming into the ground and blocking the highway. The cars brake hard as the Valkyries leap out from the vehicles, summoning their machines before they take a tumble in the dirt. This show off force would be enough to scare off the most determined of bandits. Three Valkyries is a force no gang can match.

But too bad for them this is no bandit raid.

I boldly step forward, revealing my Skirmisher to the Red Rose and her flunkies. Standard issue machines for all three of them. Graceful curved armor coupled with long shining swords. Built to close quickly with Fallen and carve them apart. Light armor allows the Valks freedom of movement while deflecting blows. The Red Rose challenges me, confident in her superiority.

"Stand down Auxila and explain yourself." the lead machine barks authoritatively. My blood churns and a familiar heat rises.

Auto aim.

My arm snaps up and a single shot from the pistol rings out. A second later, the Red Rose's helmet explodes in a shower of gore. The headless bulwark staggers about before flopping pathetically on its back. Instead of charging me, the other two Valkyries stand there stunned at the sudden death of their leader. Amateurs. Or maybe just inexperienced. It doesn't really make a difference anyway. But just as I'm about to engage, a small dot in the sky catches my attention. Moves too slowly to be a bulwark, but its also obviously not a bird. A mental command later and my Skirmisher's optics pull up a magnified image.

The Leader's blimp.

Damn, the Knights must have really hustled. They're here much earlier than I expected. As I curse this development, my senses scream a warning and I propel myself backward, barely avoiding a furious slash from one of the remaining Valkyries. And here I was criticizing them for being careless. My guns draw level at their targets as I bite my lip. With the Knights incoming, I can't afford to waste time here.

And with that, the thunder of my guns echoes throughout the concrete desert.