A Story of Cinders: From the Ashes

Chapter 21: Bad Company

"Clean up this bloody mess!" The Saint ordered the maid. Staring at Gray Wolf's silhouette turn the corner, toward the front of the mansion. He burst into laughter, startling the maid squeezing beside him and into the interrogation room. "Get it?" He said, nearly cackling. "Bloody? MESS?!" The maid, Miranda, gave a shaky smile.

           

"Yes sir, a bloody mess." Her voice quivered just a little.

           "Ooh," he said, wiping an imaginary tear from his eye with one finger. Nox stood behind the Saint, silent as ever. Almost like a shadow in the actual sense of the word. "Nox?" the Saint said, turning all seriousness back into his voice. He walked briskly back to his office, not even bothering to see if Nox was following. He figured Nox would be anyway. Unfortunately and fortunately at times. "We need another plan. Something to keep our men away while Karlov's 'goon squad' is in my fucking city." The Saint said the word 'goon' with a look like he had just bit into something disgusting. Nox, behind him, only grunted. He knew the Saint was talking to himself. They walked in semi-silence, the Saint working plan after plan through his head. The Saint abruptly stopped, a startled Nox took a half step before stopping himself from bumping into the Saint.

"What is it?" he said, irritated.

"I may have a wee plan. Maybe. Depends on your definition of wee."

"Then tell me. I'd have to think about what's going on in that head of yours." They arrived at the doors to the Saint's office. Red was gone. He turned to face Nox.

         "We need firepower. More than I have here in the city, if we're going after Karlov. I'm thinking, we send our little 'Fellowship of the Saint' out to get some guns. Maybe Old World body armor, too. The place I'm thinking about has that in abundance. And some much needed artillery. We're gonna need that for these tanks..." Nox looked thoughtful. Well, about as thoughtful as a face covered half in perpetual darkness at all times could look like.

"Yes. You're right. I doubt this place would last a couple hours against Karlov and his fanatics. Where is this armory or weapons deposit?"

       "Aye, there's the rub. " The Saint pushed his mahogany doors open to his office, keyed in a couple commands on his desk, and leaned on the corner. "The weapons deposit is not too far away. A day's ride in a truck. Technically, it's in Barlow territory, but they owe me a bit. And besides, that's not the problem."

         "Oh?" Nox paused, not saying what he was about to say. He looked at the monitor. There was a map, with a massive red circle around one area. Then he stiffened visibly. "Christ... Do you want what we have to be dead before we even begin?"

          "It's this or nothing." The Saint said with all seriousness. He tapped a button on the desk and a holographic map formed a few inches above his desk. It was a topographical view of Pinnacle and several miles of the desert surrounding. The Saint tapped more controls and the image zoomed out and to the east of the city. "The reason why this will be a grand plan is because no one has been able to get to it. Let alone get into it. Lord knows many men Barlow's thrown at this place..." As he spoke, the hologram slowed and settled several hundred miles to the east of Pinnacle. It zoomed in on the holographic view of the city of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Nox stepped up beside the Saint, observing the hologram. "The depository was unreachable even with a full platoon full of shock troopers."

        "Those were with old school tactics. No, I didn't think they would have made it. But this," he poked his finger at the small building which was the Armory, "this will be different. This will be gold. And I'll bet anything that our little squad can do it."