The Trojans dragged ho a horse that carried death inside it. The Chaos Blades drove away a transport that would lead death straight to them.
The difference, admittedly, was that this one wouldn't be opening any gates in the night. It would just keep pulsing a signal until the collector arrived.
"Signal's been steady for a while. The hornet found its nest."
Vito and Max watched the tracker from inside a military tent.
"I'll get my fighters together. I'm leading this assault myself."
Max took a pull of whiskey straight from the bottle, biting the stopper out first. He drank like he was swallowing Chaos Blades blood.
"Jackie, Carlo, and I will go ahead and scout. Does the camp have reconnaissance drones?"
Vito stood and stretched. He'd been staying close to the equipnt in case the Chaos Blades had any signal-blocking hardware. As it turned out, the Chaos Blades weren't as professional as he'd imagined. When it ca down to it, the Night Wraiths were just criminals who'd been driven out of their clans and banded together into sothing that looked like an organization.
Even with so combat veterans in the mix, it hadn't raised the Night Wraiths' operational level much. Anyone with real ability didn't spend their days eating sand in the Badlands.
"We kept the military recon drone, the Dragonfly, out of the last raid. High-altitude precision surveillance. But the dedicated power cells didn't make it out with us. Backup power only. Use it carefully."
Max was putting everything he had left on the table.
"That's serious hardware. Can I get soone who knows how to run it?"
Vito had expected maybe a couple of civilian drones. A military-grade unit was well beyond that. The Serpents had more to them than showed.
"Cala is your expert. Have Carlo bring her along."
"Then we move now. Long nights breed problems, old man. This window isn't going to stay open."
"I won't drop the ball. You send the signal and I bring everyone in."
The group headed for the signal location. The Badlands ran cold at night, wind carrying grit through the dark, useful cover for moving without being seen.
Near the target, Vito pulled the Magician behind a high ridge and looked out.
"I figured the Chaos Blades were sleeping in tents out here. Turns out they're doing fine. They've got a whole town."
He kept looking.
"Carlo, by Western film standards, you Serpents are the ones who look like bandits."
Carlo helped Cala carry her equipnt down from the vehicle and answered without much attention to the joke.
"I don't watch Westerns. Never have. Only heard of them."
Jackie went to help with the gear. Cala's wounds weren't fully healed. Her color wasn't good.
"Vito watches a lot of old films. So of them I've never even heard of."
Once everything was set up, Cala put on the equipnt and brought the Dragonfly up.
"Vito, connect your personal interface to the portable signal station and you'll share the feed."
She adjusted the drone's flight attitude and gave him the word.
Vito plugged in. The Dragonfly climbed until it was part of the night sky.
He started working the precision lens, bringing the Chaos Blades camp into focus.
It was an abandoned small town. Not large, but complete. Fuel station, a diner, a bar, and a compact power generator. The Night Wraiths had clearly set up properly.
Jackie and Carlo stayed back without the feed, weapons out, watching the approaches.
"This place has been dead for years. How does the grid still have power?"
"There are fuel vehicles parked nearby. The generator's been modified. They're running it on Ethanol-2."
Cala flew steady. She watched the camp alongside Vito and marked targets at his direction.
"That row of charging stations in the middle of town, that's where the robots dock.
Let see. Fuel station, two mobile turret vehicles next to it. Mark those. They need to go first in any engagent.
Over there, that's Max's transport. Can you scan the people around it?"
Vito had noticed soone standing near the transport, surrounded by a group of Night Wraiths. Dressed differently from the rest. Clearly not a regular.
"I can, but target-confirm mode drains power fast. We need to move."
Cala adjusted the equipnt. The precise image resolved. Vito ran it against the NCPD database.
Angela Ace. Alias: Angel Eye.
Night Wraiths mber.
Suspected kidnapping, smuggling, unlicensed cyberware trafficking, murder, corporate representative abduction and extortion, human trafficking, robbery of public officials.
"Busy schedule."
Vito scanned the person standing next to Angel Eye as well. Unexpected result.
Brian Simpson.
Night Wraiths mber.
Suspected controlled stimulant distribution, fraud, kidnapping.
"There might be an old acquaintance of yours in the camp. Brian Simpson. Could be who you're looking for."
Vito sent Carlo the photo and kept scanning.
"Six Hornet drones. Four fixed turrets, mark those.
Now let find their center of operations. Why is Angel Eye standing around next to a rig that size in the cold wind?"
Because the camp was an entire town, Vito couldn't easily determine where the Chaos Blades kept their data. He settled in to watch where Angel Eye went.
"Vito. Twenty minutes of power left. We need three minutes to bring the Dragonfly down safely."
Cala's voice had a strain in it. Running the drone from a portable signal station was taking a real toll and she was pushing through it.
"One more minute. The defensive layout is mapped. I just need to see where Angel Eye sleeps."
The Chaos Blades, at least, weren't masochists. Once Angel Eye finished her victory speech, everyone dispersed back indoors. Angel Eye and Simpson walked to what had once been the town's police station.
"Even a wreck like this had a police station. The speed at which NCPD has collapsed is genuinely sothing."
Vito had Cala bring the Dragonfly down and disconnected.
When the feed cut, he noticed Cala's face properly for the first ti. White as chalk.
"Running that thing does that to you?"
Cala carefully brought the drone to rest and pulled off the equipnt before answering.
"The Dragonfly has a defect. Operating it through a portable signal station damages the user's nervous system. It requires a dedicated signal vehicle to run safely. Militech discontinued the unit years ago. But a lot of Dragonflies are still in use."
"Why?"
"Because people are cheaper than new equipnt."
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