Vito had learned a lot from that tour of the camp.
The operation was short on water, power, and heavy firepower. Clearly a temporary site. They'd moved recently. Food variety was almost nonexistent, mostly protein blocks that kept you breathing and not much else. Several people were still carrying fresh wounds. A few others were arguing about fuel. The children had retreated into their tents and nobody was letting them run around outside.
The whole camp was wound tight. The Chaos Blades raid had done that.
So Vito could take his ti, work the problem alone, and find the Chaos Blades' base without Max's help. Max didn't have that option. He had an entire clan eating through supplies every day, and without a secure camp and steady logistics, the Serpents were going to fall apart before 2077.
Max knew perfectly well that Vito's tour of the camp was an assessnt. He couldn't stop it. A group of demoralized Nomads couldn't pretend to be a victorious army. All he could do was wait and see how much Vito actually picked up. Find out whether this rc was as capable as the rumors said.
"All right, Max. Let's talk about what we can do together. Your camp is being bled out by the Chaos Blades. I can help with that."
"Oh? How do you figure? You might not know how we Nomads operate. We—"
Vito cut him off.
"You were hit recently. Lost a lot of material. But that's recoverable. Find the Night Wraiths' camp and it all cos back. Give what you have on the Chaos Blades. Help find their base. We take the whole operation down at once."
Max cut back.
"It's not that simple. I'll be straight with you. The Chaos Blades have corporate backing. Combat robots, serious ones. Our people were already outgunned in the last engagent.
The Serpents aren't cowards. We wouldn't have left our ho if we'd had any other choice.
And the Chaos Blades move like we do. Find their camp and they'll relocate fast. Taking the whole operation down in one hit isn't easy."
Vito worked it over. The corporate backing behind the Chaos Blades was almost certainly Biotechnica. Their support was probably financial. The robots wouldn't be top-tier hardware, most likely Kang Tao or Militech civilian security models with combat chips dropped in.
"Their robots. Kang Tao or Militech?"
"Kang Tao Civic 3s. But they've probably been chipped for combat. Those things are running well above spec."
Vito had an idea.
"If the robots are neutralized, can your people take the camp?"
Max ran the numbers in his head. Then:
"No."
"Glad you're being straight with . But Max, that is genuinely killing my motivation here."
Jackie didn't follow.
"Why? Didn't you say the robots were the reason you got outgunned?"
Carlo explained.
"Because the Chaos Blades hit our camp in a raid. We lost most of our heavy weapons. Nobody has much worth using right now.
I can reach out to the Aldecaldos, get them to bring a weapons shipnt. They're friendly with us. But it takes ti. And lately anything moving that has the Serpents' na on it gets hit. Those Chaos Blades freaks hunt us through the Badlands like wolves."
Vito quietly killed every cara in the vicinity. The sudden blackout had Carlo's hand on his gun in an instant.
"Isn't it obvious? You've got a mole. And whoever it is knows enough to hurt you."
Carlo's hand didn't move.
Max had already suspected it. He knew what Vito was worried about, the mole listening to their plans right now. He signaled Carlo to put the gun away.
"I've felt it. Soone inside the Serpents. I just don't know who."
Carlo looked like he'd been hit. He knew every person in this camp. He couldn't picture any of them selling out their own people to the Night Wraiths.
"Then we find them and drag them out."
"No. There's no ti for a spy hunt. Max. Let's work together. I have a plan."
Vito offered his hand.
After everything that had just passed between them, Max knew Vito wasn't a half-rate rc. He took the hand.
"Tell the plan. I'll consider it."
...
Vito laid out the first step.
"We start by getting heavy weapons from the Aldecaldos. I have a small stock at my shop, all custom, not cheap, and I can give you a discount if you want them. But that's a side note.
Jackie and Carlo go to the Aldecaldos now, work out a weapons and ammunition shipnt, and bring it back. Just the two of them. Don't tell anyone else. Have the Aldecaldos handle the transport. Max covers the cost, but it has to move fast. Go, load up, back the sa day."
Vito looked to Max when he finished. Max gave Carlo a nod.
"Go."
Once the two of them were out the door, Vito continued.
"If Carlo is the mole, Jackie puts a round in him."
Max nodded, but it was clear he still believed in the kid.
"I raised that boy. He wouldn't sell out the Serpents."
Vito nodded.
"Good. Step two. You have so old ammunition in the camp. I can build an EMP device from it. I go in with the EMP, detonate it in the middle of the Chaos Blades' robots, then signal your people to push in."
"Why not use a drone to drop the device first, then go in together? Safer that way."
"You already know a corporation is working with the Chaos Blades. I need to find their data, the evidence of that arrangent. An EMP would wipe it. I can't risk that."
Max's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So that's the commission you're running. Fine. But your team takes its own risks. If the EMP misfires or doesn't go off, I'm not sending my people to die for it."
Vito smiled.
"You're not wrong. But Max, you have a real gift for saying things in the least encouraging way possible."
Max's mouth moved just slightly.
"One more thing. How do you plan to find the Chaos Blades' camp in the first place?"
"You know what a giant hornet is?"
"I know what it is. Haven't seen one. Nothing's survived out here for years."
Vito laid it out.
"Back east, giant hornets are serious. They nest in hidden spots and co out to hurt people, sa as the Chaos Blades. People worked out a thod. They used the hornets' attraction to at as bait, lured out scouts, marked them, and let them fly ho full. The nest exposes itself. The hornets get wiped out."
Max sat with that for a mont.
"Good. Not bad at all. The Serpents will work with you on this. It's a little early to say for certain, but to avoid any disputes later, we should agree on how to divide the spoils now."
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