novelraw Chapter 141 – Critical Mistake
Chapter 141 – Critical Mistake
Chapter 141 – Critical Mistake
“Boss, I just scored a sweet account with some PMC. Yeah, I guess they are outfitting a whole division or something based on the ammunition orders. Its all our flagship stuff to. Both types of A1 and Mk 262 along with a ton of ordinance.” – Account manager at Winchester Ammunition
Kurt absolutely hated the anxious feeling he had been having through the weekend since meeting the changeling. It had only been slightly alleviated by his enchanting binge on Sunday, but his proverbial fur was ruffled. So being in the Order space was almost relaxing, given he could disassociate for a little while and focus on other things.
The other thing in question happened to be Alexi who was having Jade recount what had happened to her in the rift. He did ask Kurt a few questions but was less than pleased with the lackluster information provided. Kurt just didn’t know what happened and wasn’t exactly focused on it in the moment. Now that moment was lost and they were having to pick up the pieces.
After the intense interview, Alexi sat quietly for a while before responding. “Our situations are both similar and quite different.”
“How’s that?” Kurt was still curious about the baron and how he knew his boss.
“The ignorance is reversed.” Alexi replied with a slight laugh of exasperation. “You see, when I became a saint, it was completely by accident. My God knows exactly how the process works and what it does, while I did not. In my ignorant service, he saw fit to bestow upon me the power of a saint.”
He then pointed at Kurt and Jade, his finger flicking between them. “You two had it backward by the sounds of it. Kurt didn’t know what was happening and you, Jade, took advantage of it. You are fortunate that you have his favor and he didn’t refute your attempt to channel his divinity.”
Jade had been paying rapt attention, all the while keeping a hand on her lap, just touching the stick that her switchblade had turned into. “I am very fortunate indeed.”
“No, I don’t think you understand.” Alexi’s tone had a hard edge as he explained what he meant. “If he wants to, he can withdraw the energy you have access to. If that happens, you will be unmade at a fundamental level. That includes your soul. No eternal rest, no afterlife, just gone.”
“That’s not a…”
“He can also choose to eternally punish you. Since you will persist as long as he does, he can make things very unpleasant for you. Never ending pain and torment is a very real possibility if he wishes.” Alexi cut her off. “That is what you are risking in this. That’s before we even get into the other sacrifices you have made.”
“What other sacrifices?” Kurt was curious since Jade had been rather tight lipped about the situation and was uncomfortable to say the least when he had asked.
“Well for starters, she isn’t alive anymore. While she has a physical ‘body’ it’s mostly a collection of energy given a form that is shaped by her will. It has some benefits, like she won’t need food or water, but it comes with downsides like she will never bear children. She will never again be able to make another werewolf via a bite since that is spread by blood which she doesn’t really have.
“She will be spiritually connected to all your followers and while it grants power, it is her weakness. She is the bridge between you and them. The more devout there are, the more your divinity grows and the more she can channel. But, if that pool of power is too small, it will take longer for her to reform if this vessel is destroyed and her abilities will be greatly reduced.”
Alexi quickly rattled off a bunch of information that Kurt struggled to truly comprehend. Jade on the other hand, looked thoroughly chastised and embarrassed now that it was out in the open.
Kurt got the feeling that she was sorry but also… happy? No, that wasn’t right. It was close but not so much happy as halfway between that and proud. “So, what are the next steps?” He figured he could deal with it later, hoping it would be easier after they settle into the new paradigm.
“For now, Jade is going to come with me.” Alexi said and immediately added to his statement after seeing the snarl on her face. “I am going to tutor her about her abilities, and we are going to work on how to do things safely and not just following her instincts blindly. That is how she would waste what little power you have built up and none of us want that. I will also share how she can build your power base, and consequently hers by proxy.”
“So believers that I am ‘the’ werewolf?” Kurt asked. “Wait, is that how Jay has some divinity?”
Alexi shook his head. “No, what Jade and I share is belief in a being. Jay has something very different. A daemon is a representation of a law. As in the laws of nature or of the universe or even physics if you want to be so basic. His domain is balance, as long as balance exists in some form that humans can comprehend, he will too.
“Think the balance of day versus night, life and death, cause and effect.” Alexi elaborated. “While he doesn’t exactly claim all those as his domain, they are good enough examples.” Seeing Kurt at least understood that, he returned hit attention to Jade.
After a brief debate, and some last minute stalling from Jade, she went with Alexi through a portal Jay had opened. She had been very concerned about ‘his security’ and it took Kurt promising to take her squad on missions to finally get her to leave. Of course, that was after she tried to work in a deal to only go for a couple hours a day, which Jay promptly refused to open portals for leaving her SOL.
“Well, since Alexi says you are clear, you can return to work.” Jay grumbled. He hadn’t been present for the discussion but did get a quick update from his old friend before seeing him off. “Well, as much work as we have right now, I am directing small rifts to Landa’s team for the time being, but I think you need to go to the training hall.”
Kurt began walking out the door, following after Jay with Penny joining them outside the meeting room. “Is this the new group?”
“Yup, fresh batch of agents and a new support squad. I like how your little pack or whatever you call it is operating so I am assigning them one as a test bed to verify if the system works.” Jay explained while they walked along the halls to the training range. “Giving them an experienced squad will help teach them too, hopefully reducing mistakes.”
“And that frees up more space for you to expand the regular support squads.” Kurt suspected that was what Jay was doing. He had all the signs of building his power base by reallocating assets.
The demon nodded. “Indeed, though that will be a little while from now. I want to fully commit to this structure before bringing in more people from the Order or outside.”
That sounded like a great idea to Kurt, and he got the low down on what the other teams were doing. Ra’s team was currently doing a little scouting in South America and taking Anna along on some of the missions since Bont was a great asset in the mountains. Jay also admitted that he was loathe to recall him after the Jade debacle but was getting over his hesitation.
Justin and his band of former mercenaries were actually cross training some of the other support squads and helping set up something like rifle platoons. They had contracted a lot of gear and equipment through Renee and were teaching the Order people how to better use medium machine guns and anti-armor weapons. Speaking of Renee…
“Kurt!” Called a familiar voice and they turned around to see the gargoyle walking his way. Her strange gait eating the distance between them quickly. Trailing behind her was Kristi and Val who looked up as she called out. All three of them were sipping on to-go drinks from the same place. Kurt recognized the logo as one of the restaurants in the entertainment district of the Order.
“Hey, Renee. Didn’t expect to see you here.” He said after she reached him. “What brings you by?”
The tall gargoyle settled down into her regular crouched posture and ruffled her wings before settling them back in place. “I had just gone out for lunch and ran into those two.” She hiked her thumb over her shoulder toward his girlfriends. “I figured I would stop by and see how you were doing and drop off that ammo you ordered.”
Kurt was taken aback but they started walking again after the girls came to say hi and inform him they got lunch for him before going to talk to Penny. “That was fast. We only told you about it on what, Thursday?”
Renee, bobbed her head in the affirmative. “Yes, but I have been stocking most of it lately. I figured you would need it sooner than later. It also helps that I have an actual supply chain now with some manufacturers. I set up real supply lines since Jay has been ordering so much of it.”
Kurt looked to Jay who shrugged. “Beats ordering through out normal supply lines and the end cost is the same so finance doesn’t care.” He excused himself after that when his phone began to ring. He answered it with an eye roll. “Jay here. Yes, boss. Ok, on my way.” He hung up and looked to Kurt. “Casitor has a bug up his ass about loosing a rift core so I gotta talk him off the ledge. I’ll catch up to you in a bit, feel free to make introductions with the new people.”
“Well in that case I have a few more things that I want to source.” Kurt said to Renee and listed off a whole laundry list of things he needed. Renee took down the list and promised to let him know when it all came in. She also said it would only be a few days, which was faster than normal for her regular ‘supplier’.
She followed him to the training range and they had a friendly chat as they walked. At one point, something suddenly occurred to Kurt. “Hey, who is running the store while you are here?”
“Hmm? Oh, nobody. We close at lunch which is kinda a hassle because it means there is a line when we get back or some people just don’t want to wait around.” She answered like it was obvious.
“Couldn’t Heinrich help?”
“He could, but he doesn’t really know anything about the guns, ammo and equipment. He can do point of sale, but he isn’t comfortable with it and I end up doing everything anyway.” She gave him a curious look. “Why do you ask?”
Kurt shrugged. “Just figured that you would hire some help by now. If you have the demand, it would take some of the workload off your shoulders.”
Renee hummed in the back of her throat, producing a high-pitched rumbling sound as she thought. “I would like to, but I don’t know anyone and again there is a certain lack of knowledge for a lot of people. I had some orc ask where the ramrod goes on the shotgun he was looking at.” Renee smirked. “It’s those kinds of people I have to deal with most of the time. I wouldn’t mind some help, but I don’t know where to look.”
“Maybe I could find a little help for you.” Kurt said then chucked as he realized the pun he had just made. “I know a guy who is always looking for something different and if you pay well, he will be all in.”
They pushed through the doors to the training range then and stopped just inside the large open area used as a staging point. Renee then summoned cases upon cases of ammunition from her ring, depositing it on the floor in neat piles before moving on to pull out the explosive ordinance. Along with the fragmentation grenades, she also produced some flash bangs and CS grenades for them to try out in a rift.
She took her leave shortly after with Penny following her, saying that she wanted to go over the invoice so she could get it to accounting. Kurt looked around to see a handful of people standing around in the seating area. He figured they could wait a bit longer and ate the lunch the girls had gotten him while he filled them in on what happened with Jade.
Kurt noticed that the people in the seating area were beginning to stare at him and the girls as he ate. The looks had started as curious but quickly turned into something much less friendly. They seemed to be talking amongst each other and the conversation was getting louder by the moment.
Eventually it got to the point where one of the people came striding over in a very aggressive manner with the rest trailing behind. “Hey, you.” Shouted a stout and very hairy man that looked like an over muscled dwarf with hair that would put broom bristles to shame.
“Yeah?” Kurt asked after swallowing the last bite of his burger and turning to face the newcomers.
“This area is reserved. So, get out.” He said in a very clipped tone, fists balling up at his waist. “This isn’t your lunchroom.”
Kurt was completely befuddled. “Umm, yeah, I came to drop off some gear…”
The man scoffed and got right in Kurts personal space. “And you decided to stuff your face and waste our time? What the fuck is your problem? Do your fucking job, delivery boy.” He then swatted Kurt across the face with the back of his hand, turning his head from the force.
There wasn’t a second’s hesitation as Kurt went from zero to homicidal in an instant, beating both the girls to the punch. He recovered from the blow and grabbed the man’s wrist only to find it like holding a steel cable. Still, he squeezed as he shifted, letting his clothing tear off him in the process as he hadn’t finished his new rings yet.
He watched the expression on the half-dwarf’s face change from righteous indignation to abject horror as Kurt held onto his hand through his shift. His ring instantly identifying the dwarven part of the insolent little man. He didn’t limit himself and stop at his shorter height, instead growing to his full twelve feet, dragging the struggling man up with him.
“Oh, you fucked up now.” Kurt growled after forcing his face and throat to shift to allow speech. He then wrapped the long, clawed fingers of his right hand around the shockingly dense man’s shoulder. After winding back and then rapidly rotating his hips and shoulders, Kurt threw him.
Kurt put everything he had into that throw. And it was a good throw. In a comical fashion, fit for looney Tunes, the half-dwarf screamed as he was sent down range with significant velocity. The rest of his compatriots watched in open mouth shocked as their companion cleared the two-hundred yard mark before smashing into the ground and rolling to a stop like a ragdoll.
“Who’s next?” Kurt snarled, hunching to loom over the rest of the people that had come behind the man.
Nearly all of them took a collective step back, their eyes flickering from Kurt to what he assumed were the girls behind him. A couple looked like they wanted to bolt and part of Kurt really wanted to see who was faster in a race, him or the prey.
“Don’t fucking move.” Hissed a very pale elf in the back who looked like he was about to shit himself but held his ground. “Don’t run from a pursuit predator.” He was wise enough to get that right.
“B-b-but Hans…” Said what had to be the prettiest orc woman he had ever seen.
The snap pop of a portal opening preceded a short scream. “AAAAAhhhh- OOOOOFFFFF.” The dwarf appeared a few yards away from a portal hovering several feet above the ground and was unceremoniously dropped flat on his very battered face.
“Hans got what he deserved.” Jay said as Kurt heard the doors bang shut behind him.
He turned to look at Jay as he entered but immediately turned back around in time to grab someone by the face and begin to squeeze as their long tail thrashed behind him. This time a half naga tried to attack him while he looked away. Clawed hands desperately scraped at Kurt’s wrists as he began to squeeze, muffling the screams as he applied pressure.
“Kurt, please don’t kill all of my new team on their second day.” Jay asked in a very polite and not at all sarcastic voice, showing a rare deference to him.
Huffing, Kurt dropped the naga, perhaps adding a little flick of the wrist so the landing was harder than necessary. “Fine, but this is their only pass. I am getting sick of my fellow agents thinking they can get in my face without consequences.”
“Done deal.” Jay immediately said.
“Kurt, hon, why don’t you take a step back and we let Jay deal.” Val said and he felt her fingers running through the fur on his leg. “You too Kristi.”
“I could end all of them.” The dragoness grumbled.
“And if Jade had been here, I am sure they would all be dead for the offense. Now let’s go cool down.” She tugged Kurt’s fur and he followed, taking a few steps backward. He made sure to hold eye contact with the orc and vampire until they both looked away. Dominance asserted, he turned to follow Val to the other side of the staging area.
*****
“Do you have any idea how lucky you are?” Jay yelled at the two men sitting on the ground while an Order medical team hovered over them.
“Sir, I_” Began the naga.
“That was a rhetorical question, you dumbass.” Jay shook his head. “Hans, you have broken bones from him just throwing you. A dwarf, one of the most resilient races, has broken bones. Let that sink in. If I hadn’t intervened, he likely could have slaughtered all of you and that would be by himself, not including what the rest of his team can do.”
Jay was pacing back and forth, nearly pulling at his hair in frustration. “What the hell possessed you to start a fight with a stranger? A stranger in Order space no less.”
“He offended us…” Hans hissed out as one of the medical team touched his shoulder with a glowing finger.
There was a flash of movement as Jay got right in his face, grabbing him by the bristle-like hair and yanking his head around. “Offended you by what? Existing? Let me be very clear about this, Hans, if you don’t change your perspective on things, you won’t be an agent in a week. Our agents do not assault innocent people. Our agents act with decorum and integrity. MY agents, especially, are held to excruciating standards of personal conduct and if you break it again I will boot you off world faster than you can say ‘help’. Understand?”
“Yes sir.” Hans apologized and hung his head.
“That man is the same person who has been making all the enchanted armor and other gear that you will be getting. He is the reason that you won’t have to fight blind, or fight deaf or even take a chest wound from anything less than a fifty cal.” Jay scolded both him and the half naga.
“Understood.” Whimpered the naga man as a medic applied a salve to his scalp where Kurt’s claws had pierced the skin.
“Good.” Said the orc woman. “When the med team is done, then you can go beg forgiveness for being utter fuckwads.” She turned and stomped away, joined by the pale elf a moment later as they returned to the seating area.
*****
Kurt had taken a half hour break to cool down after the incident with the dwarf who he had learned was called Hans. He had shifted back almost instantly after they had walked away to the far side of the wide-open area. After changing into a new set of clothes and regretting not wearing the test ring he had made, he sat on a bench and mean-mugged the new agents as Jay tore them a new one.
It was actually fascinating to watch him switch between languages several times because English didn’t have the right word for the insult he needed. After chewing them out he came over to Kurt and the girls.
“They have been thoroughly chastised, and I know two of them are fit to apologize.” Jay said.
Standing, Kurt stalked over to the other team where they were sitting on a bench. He came to a stop right in front of them with Val and Kristi flanking him on either side. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited.
“I am sorry for being an absolute asshole.” The little naga said bowing his head.
The dwarf followed suit. “Aye, I am sorry. I was full of myself and have embarrassed not only myself but my team in the process.”
Kurt’s nostrils flared a moment before he nodded. “I accept your apology but if you ever do that again, I will make sure you end up in a full body cast and heal the slow way.”
He then turned, walked over to one of the tables and deposited the stacks of equipment. The orc woman tried to come over to him with the elf, but he gave them a harsh look. “No, we are not doing introductions today. I am still angry and not in the mood to deal with this bullshit.” He held up his hand. “We can try to make introductions another time.”
With that, Kurt and the girls walked out of the training range and stopped just long enough to tell Jay they were done for the day and headed home. Their manager readily accepted and even opened a portal for them which put them out right in front of Penny’s office.
They crossed through the portal to their home, all three of them ready to be done with the day just in time for a familiar tone to ping from all their phones. Collectively, they groaned before beginning to summon their gear and get dressed before Penny got there to give them the brief.