02-Introducing Jochquin

Jochquin had been mildly surprised to receive Janace’s call. He was currently halfway around the world from her. She had explained that she called him because she could not find contact data for Carl, Yori, or Brian, and hoped that He might have it.

Then she had told him of the Beast.

Jochquin was able to tell Janace of a town that he thought Carl and Yori had settled in, where they had set up house. Also that they had deliberately changed their contact data identities; so he had respected their privacy and not looked for them. Brian, Yori’s brother, had also hidden under a new identity, and so was unknown in location.

After the business of the call was completed, Janace and Jochquin had then spent a bit of time catching up on events and arranged to meet in two weeks time. This gave then each time to finish with current activities and travel to where they would meet.

Two days later, Jochquin was in the field; he was part of a platoon in hides surrounding a small town. They had tracked a local gang through the local militia. Individually, the gang members could and were dealt with. As a group… That was where the mercenaries, including Jochquin, came in. They were hired to supplement the militia.

Jochquin was currently a grenadier; this time out he carried an almost-sniper-quality battle rifle with a belt-fed 30mm grenade launcher on a bipod mount. With the video scope, he could aim either weapon to the far edge of its true ballistic range, so long as nothing got in the way of his field of vision. And the team recorded what was seen by each scope, so long as they were turned on.

From his position, Jochquin’s job was to disable any of the gang’s vehicles that traveled the road he guarded, and then disable any Mage’s or Talent’s as they appeared. Jochquin’s fire-team partner was a Sniper by training. On previous trips they had worked well together. Each of them spotting for the other. Jochquin did not know Gong’s true name, just as he did not tell them his own. But they did know that they could trust each other. As a team, just the two of them could take a convoy apart in fewer minuets than the convoy had vehicles. Jochquin would attack the materiel and Gong the personnel.

Gong had one other attribute, he was a low-level Talent; he could detect and generally sense, but that was the admitted extent of his abilities. Jochquin had worked with prior Talents, so Gong was just another guy so far a Jochquin was concerned. A few others in the platoon were a bit defensive toward Talents, so they usually stayed clear of Gong personally; professionally he was theirs, so they would stand up for him.

The other fire-team in their squad was a mortar crew. Usually Gong was their spotter; sometimes Jochquin was; either could and did spot for them in a fight. They all worked well together.

Today they watched the north-south road out of the little farm town they had been hired to help. Jochquin and Gong had built their covered hide below the irrigation canal bank that all but ringed the town, and looked across the grain field that sat on the east of the road. Their mortar crew was in a pit behind the irrigation canal on the west of the road. Both fire teams had additional hides and foxholes in scramble distance. Also they could see across the fields across the entire north of the town, from east horizon to west.

Gong nudged Jochquin awake from a nap. “They are coming.”

Jochquin rolled over from his side onto his belly, secured his helmet and took a drink from his tube by his mouth. The Combat Water helped him wake up. He turned his helmet’s electronics from Sleep to Combat mode and powered up his weapon. The helmet’s HUD in the mask lit up.

Gong spoke over the comm-circuit. “This is Team One. I sense two dozen men and women in four trucks. No magic as yet.”

Right now, all data and communications were relayed by fiber-line, instead of any kind of EM-Transmission.

The other teams guarding the other approaches to the town checked in. Off to Jochquin’s right by the stream and across the other food-fields was Team Two. They guarded a road out of town the exited from the northeast corner and turned immediately east-west. The other road out of the village was at the southwest corner, guarded by Team Three. To the south were more food fields. The west and northwest were currently stock fields. Teams Four, Five and Six waited in a house in the town, and replaced another team on rotation of every few hours. They also had a second mortar set up to fire.

Now with Gong’s call all the others came on.

“Which road, Gong?” The Leader called back.

“North Road,” Gong answered.

One of the spotters on the town called. “I see their dust. Out at the ranch beyond the town edge. They are turning in. Call it about two minuets.”

Everyone waited.

Gong rechecked the load on his large caliber rifle. A sabot round; like hitting the target with a nail at mach two. The nail had a HEAT nose, an armor penetrating copper jet on the point. He would be first to fire, stopping the convoy in the arranged kill box.

Jochquin could see the first truck now. They approached single file on the two lane road. From this position, they were at almost a thirty degree angle from straight on. Jochquin verified his scope and trigger were set for the grenade launcher. The weapon had one trigger that toggled flawlessly between two sets of clockwork, to fire either weapon, simultaneously toggling the output of the scope to match.

Gong tensed. “A magic scan just swept past. A wide focus one.”

They waited as the trucks came closer.

Someone from Team Three called. “What’s…? A Gate Locus. Middle of the Cow Field.”

The Leader responded. “Stay focused. Team Three watch the gate. The rest stay on plan. Gong, at your convenience.”

Jochquin peripherally noticed Gong to his right relax, and aim, a green dot appearing in the scope. His rifle sounded.

Jochquin saw the distortion of Gong’s shot travel through the air from his right to the front truck’s nose and make a small hole in the grill just beside the green dot’s center. A moment later the engine blew parts and sparks against the body from within and spit fluid and junk down to the road.

To either side were fenced fields that the locals had asked the merc’s refrain from damaging if possible. This meant keeping the trucks on the road, and not too messy. As it slowed down, the second truck in line bumped into the first, and pushed it along, with some evident care.

“Pit One, Fire.” The leader called.

A mortar shell shortly landed right in front of the trucks making a hole large enough to swallow the first truck. The resultant smoke and dust swallowed the second. The third truck slammed on its breaks as did the forth.

“What is that…Those?” This was the voice from Team Three again.

“Pit One, Fire for containment. Grenadiers, take your trucks. What do you have Three?” The Leader kept with the plan, before turning to the distraction.

Jochquin was already focusing on the third truck and put a grenade into both driver side wheel wells, from his oblique angle on it. This had the effect of rocking it onto its side before slamming back down on useless wheels.

Three continued. “They are big, bigger than men. Hairy. Count Four furry, Two more look like shiny muscle suits.”

“I see them.” This was the second in command. “Looks like the Gate is closing. What are they?”

Jochquin heard the conversation, but paid more attention to the third truck, as the occupants got themselves together, and out the far side. A second mortar shell landed behind the convoy, just out of Jochquin’s field of focus.

“I don’t think they are friendly. They are moving toward the Convoy.” The second continued.

“Reinforcements?” The leader asked.

“Look at that. They are fast, once they get going.” This was Three again.

Jochquin only saw movement from the left side of his view then it disappeared behind the trucks and smoke. He dialed back, widening his view, and cursed.

“Oh, Shit. Drop them! They are hostiles.” Jochquin adjusted his aim to the closest head and fired a grenade at the Monster in silver armor. The explosion hit its shields, and knocked the thing over.

“Come again? Who Fired?” The leader demanded.

“Joch fired. Those things are hostile to all sides. The silver ones have shields. The striped ones are Talents. Drop ‘e all fast.” Jochquin slid his selector to his rifle, and watched his scope adjust then lit up a black and red striped head with a green dot and fired as a second green dot joined his.

Gong fired moments after Jochquin.

Jochquin’s standard rifle bullet hit the Beast’s psi-shields, breaking them, moments ahead of Gong’s sabot. The middle half of the head vaporized and the body fell from sight.

“They are slaughtering the gang.” Three called again. From his position he could see the other side of the trucks from where Jochquin could.

“Team Three, fire for effect. Team Two, do you have a target?” The leader was still in control, though his plan had just gone in to the blender.

Gong answered. “Negative. No visibility.”

“Team Four, do you have a target?”

“Affirmative. Firing for effect. The silver ones do have shields, and morphic armor.”

“Five, Six. Break out the Zap Guns.” The leader was not going to screw around. They wanted the gang stopped, not slaughtered. The Beasts and Monsters were interlopers in his battle field.

Jochquin dialed his scope back and could see the gang survivors had all scurried around to this side of the convoy as the two silver armored Monsters swept thought the fallen on the other side. The three beasts that stood were actively looking round, still standing in the grain field on the far side of the road.

Gong spoke. “Pit One, Beam Rider, Fire.”

Jochquin noticed Gong’s green dot on one of the Beasts and put his own on the same one. Switching back to grenades, he fired two shots. The grenades hit just before the mortar, with desired the effect of breaking the Beast’s psi-shields. The mortar reduced the beast to ground meat.

Jochquin spoke into the radio. “Double hit them. The first breaks their concentration and drops their shields.”

Gong suddenly jerked back hard and rolled over clutching his head, then was still.

“Gong’s down.” Jochquin felt anger creep in for the first time in a long time.

He moved his aim, and pulled his trigger, feeling his weapon start bucking as he swept across the two remaining beasts. Three shots. Switch. Three shots. Back. Still standing. Need a heavier weapon.

Jochquin was about to switch positions and take up Gong’s rifle, when he saw an energy ball hit the beast. It staggered and was hit again. Jochquin pulled his trigger, putting two grenades into its torso and neck, then switched target to see this beast also sparking. Its head and shoulders spattered from hits from Jochquin’s right and left. It fell.

That left the two Monsters. They were working to roll truck three over onto its damaged side. Three gang members scrambled into the field below Jochquin’s view.

“Hit the fuel tank with a sabot.” Leader commanded.

Jochquin let go of his gun and started to shift position to take up Gong’s gun. The truck exploded before he got more than onto his elbows. Jochquin all but jumped back to his weapon. Evidently the other sniper in Team Five had his gun up. Jochquin scanned the area. He knew that the Monsters were still there; they were tougher than what had been done so far.

A cluster of green lines crossed in the smoke as the other squads markers showed where they were looking. Jochquin scanned the convoy, trying to remember how Monsters behaved. The first truck was in a crater, on fire. No survivors aboard, unknown off of it. Second truck was half in the bed of the first, flames licking at its front. Doors open, empty. The third truck was on its side, burning. Empty with at least three in the weeds. The forth truck was a wreck. Empty and unaccounted, to Jochquin. Four Beasts down, in the field on the far side of the trucks. Two armored Monsters, where?

“There’s one. Pit Two, Beam Rider.” This was someone from Team Four.

Jochquin could not see where half-a-dozen green lines converged, but the field beyond the trucks suddenly exploded.

Jochquin kept scanning for the last. On instinct he put the gun down and scanned without the scope. The trucks were most of two fields away, just short of a crossroads used by farm machinery. Looking the field over, Jochquin thought he saw movement. He called it in.

“Probable movement, in the tall plants coming right at Team Two.”

After a moment, a loud speaker from the town called out in the local language.

Jochquin resettled to his weapon, getting onto his knees to aim into the field in front of him. Six points of disturbance suddenly stood out; five men stood and ran to Jochquin’s right. The sixth stood up, dusty chrome reflecting light from a multitude of surfaces. For a moment Jochquin wished he could close in with a sword, but instead joined a controlled hail of fire that quickly overwhelmed the monsters shields and finally killed it.

As the squad helped the locals clean up. The gang was taken to the Elder’s and questioned. They knew nothing of the Beasts or Monsters. They did admit that they had been coming on a food raid, a smash-and-grab on the local store.

It took Jochquin a bit to remember, but he soon recognized that Gong had been what Janace called ‘burned.’ He would be back to normal with a few days of quiet.

The Monsters and Beasts were cleaned up and put into a mass grave. A second was prepared for the dead of the gang.

Jochquin found the leader watching as the trucks were pulled apart for salvage. The leader spoke first.

“You made the right call, Joch.”

“That is because I have dealt with them before, sir. I think these came looking for me.”

The leader waited.

“An old friend called me a couple of days back. One of those came after her. First a magic scan, then the gate. I expect more before long, though I can’t say just how long. I think it means it’s time to move on, before more do come. These things were not easy to make, last time. I doubt they will send more once I leave.”

The leader continued waiting, listening.

“I don’t want more people hurt. They already put Gong down for a couple of days, if I remember correctly. I don’t want what happened to him or those hapless gang idiots to happen to anybody else.”

The leader considered all this. “I hate to see you go. I can get you some pay for your time, but…”

Jochquin finished that sentence. “But it won’t be as much as if I had stayed. I am not running from this fight. I am running at that one.”

Jochquin sold the rifle and grenade launcher and left it behind. He didn’t want to lug a big rifle around anyway. The grenades were weak against the shields by themselves. He did have a spare scatter gun and got some flechette rounds for it, once he got to the city.

Janace had called and warned him. Neither of them knew for sure where to find Carl, Yori, or Brian. In the years since the group had split up, Jochquin had bumped into Carl once, and told Janace the name of the town where that had happened. Brian had completely disappeared.

He was a week’s travel from that town, and also from the nearby city he had agreed to meet Janace in. At least by any means that he could afford. It was just as well. Jochquin wanted to make a side trip, and pick a few things up.