Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4)

by E. I. McAllistair

  The blows to Dan’s sensibilities continued to savagely assault him. He would have expected to have picked up such information along the way already, especially considering he had people such as Anaar and Phavian in his life. If they did not understand such basic rules, perhaps they were not as good as he thought. He took everything he learned and stored it so he could check in with them later about their knowledge.

  According to what he already knew, the job was a typical infiltration and recovery job. It appeared to be more high stakes than he was used to, which was likely the need for a team. The rush on the operation came from a change in the schedule to move the artifact in question. He had never done an infiltration mission before, which concerned him since he was not known to be stealthy. What confused him the most was how heavily guarded the facility was, even though it seemed to be a museum.

  “Why all of us goin’ if it is just a museum. Can’t we just buy a ticket and take it while ain’t nobody lookin’?”

  The look on Jess’ face was utterly incredulous, while Macy’s seemed as if she had just watched a baby stumble and fall. “This isn’t a museum! Actually, it is, but not one open to the public. This is also supposed to be something that holds keys to deeper mechanics surrounding attunements. Whoever gets their hands on this is going to hold a lot of power.”

  “Alright. Still seem like a lot of us. Can’t you just… teleport in, get it, and teleport out?”

  “Do you know how difficult it is to properly aim in buildings when you can’t see it?! It is practically impossible.”

  Dan thought to himself that Anaar could do it, but decided not to rattle the cage further. “Oh shit! I forgot my sword! You think you can bring me back right quick to get it?”

  Macy eyes Dan suspiciously. “Sword? What kind of sword? For what?”

  “It’s a uchigatana. It’s my weapon.”

  “You are not serious are you? Who takes a sword into a literal gunfight? Also, did you want a flashing sign to announce yourself as well?”

  Lester clears his throat loudly. “Leave the kid alone. Sounds kinda badass even though it’s impractical and pretty dumb in our line of work. Plus, Chu uses knives way more than she shoots. What is the difference?”

  Jess takes over the conversation before Macy can respond. “No one ever sees Chu coming. She is long gone before they are on the floor good. She could use a fucking umbrella and it would still be fine. Dan, I don’t think you have that going for you.”

  Dan sulks, thinking he had been allowed its use in other missions, but decided not to press the issue. He did have his own gun, but he was not confident in its use in a pinch. In little less than an hour, Jess began her transport of everyone to their mission location. Dan had never realized how much more convenient portals were, or how good Anaar was at using them. He decided to learn more about them from Anaar once he was back on campus.

  The pictures from the mission briefing did not do the structure before them justice. Dan had presumed it was a museum based of the aesthetic of the structure, but with a closer look at the building and also the personnel guarding it, there was no question it held far more. They had barely all arrived when Chu cloaked herself, dashing away from the group.

  “Where Chu goin’?”

  “It’s Spectre. When we are active, codenames only. Comms are about to go hot, and we never know how quickly interception could happen. She is our scout. She can get in and begin cross referencing our intel for accuracy.”

  “So we just gonna wait?”

  “I’ll find a good vantage point and get what info I can on a wider scale. You three will begin your advance on the building, keeping stealth the utmost priority.”

  Macy and Lester give a quick nod, leading Dan to follow suit. Jess disappears, which triggers Macy to move out. As Dan crept low to the ground, he found it strange to be bringing up the rear. He knew the protector of the group was supposed to take point, but as it had always been his role, he could not shake the intense sensation of wrongness that permeated every fiber of his being. Almost simultaneously, reports arrived from both Chu and Jess indicating everything was according to plan, and they were clear to breach.

  Their entry was much smoother than Dan expected, Macy seeming to have some level of technical skill suited to infiltration. They followed a strict path laid out beforehand, which should have offered the least resistance. Even with a carefully formulated plan, Dan could not believe they were simply walking into a heavily guarded building with no opposition.

  “Where all the guards at?”

  “Spectre has already cleared most of them along the way.”

  “She so little though. How she moving them bodies?”

  “She doesn’t have to. She is a master at getting people to follow her.”

  They continued their exploration, Dan wondering if their experience was really such an enormous advantage. Everything he had done up to that point truly did feel amateurish. He knew careful planning could make or break a mission, but he now questioned even more why so many of them were on the mission if it was that simple.

  Dan had seen cameras as they traversed the corridors and rooms, but he kept his alarm to himself since no one else seemed to be concerned. He had learned to be most mindful of them, avoiding them at all costs, yet here they were strolling right past. Macy signaled them to stop as based on the intel, they had reached the room where the artifact was being held.

  After a peaceful start to the mission, the trio were none too pleased to find the sea of bodies guarding the artifact. The number of people on guard far exceeded any of their information, leaving them at a loss. Lester touched his ear, speaking quietly as he surveyed the room.

  “Shadowshot we have a problem. I count eighteen obstacles in our way. How should we proceed?”

  “Fuck! Eighteen?! We weren’t prepared for this, but it is imperative this mission is a success. Can you neutralize them?”

  “They are evenly spaced, but a few blasts-”

  “There can be absolutely no collateral damage! That was the biggest stipulation of the contract! If there is even so much as a scorch mark we are fucked!”

  “What do you want us to do then?! We can’t even shoot the fuckers!”

  “Oh, well, apparently bullet holes are acceptable. Don’t ask why.”

  Lester grins as he rises from his crouched position. “Why the fuck didn’t you say that in the first place then?”

  With only a smirk in her direction, Macy and Lester both take off, bullets beginning to rain on opponents. They had taken out seven people before the security had a chance to properly react. This left Dan scrambling to keep up, fumbling his gun from his hip as he sought a target. Dan had just caught back up to them when Lester split from Macy, bolting to a woman and rendering her unconscious in an instant. There was something that hit Dan’s nose, giving him a familiar sensation that he could not exactly place. For reasons he could not describe, he fashioned a mask from some of his clothing and tied it around his nose and mouth. Macy looked at him with confusion, but did not ask.

  The gunfight continued, Macy and Lester striking targets with amazing accuracy. Dan noted none were direct kill shots, and tried to keep up by adding his own gunfire to the equation. After three wild shots that did not come close to hitting their marks, Macy looked down at him, annoyance evident on her face.

  “I thought you knew how to use a gun?!”

  “I do! This a lot of pressure man! Sometimes it be hard for dudes to perform when it-”

  “Forget I asked! Just… sit back and try not to get hit!”

  From time to time Macy would throw up a barrier to block a particularly vicious hail of bullets, but Dan knew it was more for his benefit than hers. From what he understood, while she was not bulletproof, standard lower caliber bullets barely broke her skin. This allowed her to be much more aggressive than Lester, who was maintaining his cover. It seemed the enemy had noticed this, because the moment he thought he was in the clear and came up to shoot, everyone lock
ed on and shot at him.

  Time seemed to stop for both Macy and Lester. Macy knew that she was too far for her barrier to reach him, and Lester realized that in his fervor to get back into the action, he had left himself too exposed, and even if he were missed by some, most of the shots would hit him. The best he could hope for was to land his shots, and live through the incident long enough to finish the mission so he could get patched up. He had been seriously injured more times than he could count, which was why they paid such exorbitant sums to keep their world class Medic on staff.

  “Outburst!”

  Despite knowing it was futile, the farthest Macy could get her shield was not even halfway to Lester. He already knew what was coming, and had braced himself for the pain. The little solace he took from the situation was that he had thinned the group down to nine with his efforts. He knew Jess would be furious with him for being careless, and was embarrassed for the poor example he was setting for a kid trying to get into the business. His teeth clenched, he made sure he had a grip on his powers so they would not inadvertently discharge from the shock, and prepared to take shots, but they never came, there was only darkness.

  He had always been known as the protector, and at that very moment, he had never felt a greater desire to fulfill his role. The speed at which his paper moved and bound was many times faster than he had ever managed. Racing past Macy’s shield, Dan’s paper intercepted bullets on the way, and wrapped Lester in a loose cocoon that prevented all other attacks on him from landing.

  Lester felt himself be yanked from his position, but due to being incased in paper, all he could perceive was an assault of darkness. By the time light returned to his world, he found himself safely next to Macy where he could be protected, and the paper that had been his savior rushing back to Dan after fulfilling its mission. Macy could not believe the speed in which everything had occurred, as it took only a mere fifteen seconds for Lester to be saved, repositioned to her defense zone, and Dan to dash out onto the frontline.

  A barrier of paper blocked the incoming bullets now that he was considered the highest threat. The paper from Lester’s shield had barely made it back to him before it was split, and sent out on a new mission. Of the nine remaining opponents, three were blindsided by a creeping tendril that pulled them to the ground, anchoring itself to the floor with one end, and constricting their target with the other. This removed the need for Dan to worry about attacks from all sides as he advanced.

  With all his targets now ahead of him, he could truly focus on taking them down. His latest training with Anaar had begun pushing the limit of how much paper he could control with precision. Since his revelation that bound paper became one massive entity, he had little problems controlling his constructs. He thought it might be unwise to try it in a real situation so soon, but he felt he was in control of the situation enough that it was an acceptable risk since he had allies at his back.

  Individual sheets burst into smaller pieces, only to reform as giant mosquitos. Ever since his encounter during his Melee, mosquitos had been nothing but terror for him. It was recommended that he conquer his fear by claiming their power for his own. The paper insects swarmed their opponents, but Dan had made a potentially fatal miscalculation. The power of these constructs was extremely low, but their numbers easily made up the difference. Because his enemies had no exposed skin, the attacks of the insects were useless. If he had not been jumping back to try a new tactic, he might have killed by the bullets from his own teammates.

  Though it was strained, he could see both Macy and Lester aiming at him. After they both fired, their arms began to shake, their eyes reddening as tears began to stream from them. From what Dan could tell, they were being forced against their will to attack him. Since he did not know the source, he disabled them both with paper bindings, anchoring them to the ground so they could not move. His defense did not allow the others to land any attacks while he was dealing with his own team, but when he turned his attentions back to them, he noticed the barely visible masklike objects on all their faces except one.

  Dan’s eyes grew wide as his brain processed the pieces. He had been around Anaar so long he had instinctually covered his face when he smelled the odd but familiar scent. He now knew it was pheromones used to control people that he had encountered. His own mask afforded him enough protection from its effects, but his teammates had been breathing the spores for at least five minutes. He remembered Ana once telling him about people who exerted their control directly through intent given to the pheromones, but this tended to have a weaker effect and required more time to take hold. That was the only explanation for his team turning against him.

  Left on his own, Dan reinforced his paper underarmor, cracking his neck as he prepared for war. He did not want to take the chance the squirming people he had already bound could break free due to some ability of theirs, so the paper prisons turned into iron maidens, enough to severely injure, but not kill. He did all this as he was rushing forward toward his first target. His arm came up, a paper katana forming in his hand along the way. He never grew to like the weight of the constructed sword, but it served its purpose in a pinch.

  His earlier attack with the mosquitos showed him the path to finding their weaknesses. Creating two paper golems, they began to smash the remaining enemies in their path, their overwhelming strength proving to not only be a shock, but far too much for average humans to bear. The man controlling his team panicked when he noticed Dan had swiftly turned the tide. His attempt to run was thwarted by one of the golems lashing out with one arm, catching him before he could go. Dan heard a message come through on his headset, but he was too busy to take heed at the time. Once he had finished everyone, he fumbled with the headset in an attempt to respond.

  “Umm, I didn’t get dat… Over?”

  Jess’ voice came through in a frenzy. “Get the fuck out of there now! This whole thing seems like it stunk from the beginning. This is way too much to not have been a setup!”

  “We gots a… situation.”

  “What does that shit even mean?! Just move your ass!”

  Dan walks back over to Lester and Macy, releasing them from their bindings as they seemed to have already regained their senses. “Outside and Palli… yeah, get took in by a pheromone user.”

  “Who the fuck-”

  Lester had recovered enough to answer for himself. “Not a moment I’m proud of. What about the artifact?”

  “Fuck it! Your safety comes first!”

  “Well, we are close by where it was supposed to be held. Can you pick us up?”

  “Yes, let me just pop in and get you while I hold a position for our escape! Get a fucking move on! I don’t care how you get out, as long as it is in one piece and you don’t break anything!”

  The communication abruptly cuts out, leaving Lester with a sour expression. He stands up, rotating his arms around a few times and rubbing his shoulder.

  “Damn kid. Nice moves. What the fuck is in that paper? I couldn’t break free of it.”

  Dan grins smugly. “My friend is probably like a billion times stronger than you, so he been training me to get my paper stronger so people like you can’t just break loose.”

  Lester wanted to respond, but Macy reminded them of the situation. As they searched for an exit, Jess gave them information in real time about the encroaching security teams. Though they would have rather her teleport them out, they realized her guidance was necessary if they wanted to finish their mission with minimal losses. With their exits choked, Dan posed an idea.

  “Can we go out the roof?”

  “Palisade probably can, but we’d break our fucking necks from that height.”

  “I think I can do somethin’. Let’s go there.”

  The team happened to be nearby the roof access stairs, and according to Jess who had been drawing their attention, it was free of opposition. They reached the roof and found they could not see Jess from their position. They were however spotted quickly, and the ass
ault on the rooftop began. Macy immediately covered them in a barrier, which gave Dan time to work. Before they knew it, he had woven a giant bird that consumed most of his paper.

  He said a silent prayer and instructed everyone to climb aboard. Though he had some trouble initially getting the bird to take flight, once it was airborne and he came to terms with the weight, he was able to soar away at a moderate speed, which was sufficient since Macy could provide protection. Dan had no idea he would become drained so quickly, but what he did was enough to get them clear of attack, allowing for Jess to converge on their position.

  Jess looked at the large avian construct with admiration. “That is definitely something you don’t see every day. Nice work back there.”

  Dan rubs the back of his neck and blushes. “I jest didn’t wanna be no dead weight ya know? Sorry we ain’t get what we came for though…”

  Just then Chu uncloaks herself and reveals the artifact they had come to steal. Dan jumped in shock as the small woman appeared seemingly from thin air.

  “I almost shit maself! Where you come from?!”

  Macy laughs as Lester smirks knowingly. “She was riding the leg of the bird.”

  Dan’s face reddens with annoyance. “Dat’s why the damn thang seem so heavy?!”

  Chu’s eyes narrowed to slits of death, with everyone else quickly getting clear. Once Jess and Chu confirmed no one was nearby, Jess began the process of taking everyone back to the base. With celebratory beers, they all toasted their success, as Lester gushed and regaled everyone with slightly embellished tales of Dan’s exploits. When things had died down, Jess called for everyone’s attention.