Part 17: Session 015: Traffic

Session 015: Traffic

Day 26, 1900



We arrived back in the rebel camp after the long walk south to find Tanya Tormens eagerly awaiting us. The energy level of the rebels was high-I could feel the anticipation in the air. Something big was coming down the pipe.

"You return!" she said. "I was thinking perhaps you had been killed, or found our cause... not to your liking."

"Mr. Josa has his mail," I said, careful to omit the part where I delivered it stacked with correspondence from her sworn enemy. "And you have my money, I hope?"

Tanya nodded to her aide-de-camp, who stepped forward and thrust a roll of bills at me.

"There is more to be done," she said as I put the money away. "The revolution is growing stronger, but we still have need of you and your men."

"Slow down," I said. "First..."



"All right, that's a start," I said. "You say you have people already inside the protected zone? Who else is connected to your movement?"

She eyed me with a bit of that old suspicion but did cough up one name.

"Miguel Vega."

"Who's that?"



Interesting. The rebels were a bit more organized than I'd given them credit for. There were more immediate concerns at hand, however.

"Well then, about that work you needed doing..."



"We have to head back up to Sagrada anyway, should be easy," I said. "I accept."

"Gracias," said Tanya. "Go talk to Servulo when you're ready to go, but do be quick."



With my team in tow, I searched through the camp and found Servulo milling around outside the sleeping tents. He was a younger fellow with a nervous look; I figured this was his first time sneaking into the lions' den.

"Are you the mercenarios who will be taking me to Sagrada?" he asked as we approached.

"You're in good hands," I said. "We pass across the border all the time. This will be a cake walk."

"If you say so, señor."

I looked past him into the tent. "You taking anything with you?"

He shook his head. "A pistola is all. We have a safehouse in Sagrada where I will outfit."

"Fair enough. Let's get going. The sun is setting and it'd be best to get as far as we can under cover of darkness."

Day 26, 1925



Our five pairs of boots crunched softly on the unimproved road as we made our way to the border of the government-controlled area. I breathed in some warm night air and looked back to see Pip with a hand on iamsmike's shoulder.

"You gotta guide me, pal," said Pip. "Eyes ain't what they usedta be."

"I'll think of it as a team-building exercise," said iamsmike. "It reminds me of the time my company went to play paintball. I won, and by a fairly large margin. Then we did that thing where you fall backwards and let someone catch you. Fencer from IT had to catch the fat lady who answers the phones for the second floor, and he slipped a disk."

"Wait, shh!" hissed ZeeToo. "I just heard something."

I looked over at him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, whispering "Yeah, it was Spanish. Somebody's close by."



"All right," I said, "we're going to bypass this part of the road. Let's move quick!"

Giving up some stealth for speed, we hastily swung out from the road and went low into the underbrush. Unfortunately, we'd already been spotted by the time ZeeToo had heard the talking.



"Contact!" called ZeeToo from point.

"Pip, stay with Servulo!" I ordered. "iamsmike, on me. We're moving up to ZeeToo's position and making a firing line. Engage any movement!"



I ran up on line with ZeeToo, who was already drawing a bead on an approaching bandit.



His M14 reported once, and I saw a silhouette slump back into the grass.

There is a range penalty to chance-to-hit when firing at night without night-vision or flashlights, but ZeeToo's excellent Shooting skill negates this penalty nicely.



Looking down the sights of my Uzi, I spotted two other bandits approaching. I dropped one and wounded the other with a short burst.



ZeeToo finished the wounded bandit off as iamsmike reached the line.



"Hah, what took you so long, Lumbergh?" said ZeeToo while iamsmike raised his M1A.

"Had a pre-meeting," iamsmike replied, not missing a beat. "Pip needed some help finding Servulo's shoulder. But now I'm ready to cross some Ts and dot some Is!"



Two more bad guys emerged from the darkness. As if to punctuate what he'd said, iamsmike put one down easily. His action-hero banter still needed some work, however.



The last bandit faltered in his charge to consider just how thoroughly he was fucked. iamsmike dropped into the prone to get a more stable shooting position. For a moment, nothing happened.



"You want him, or should I?" asked ZeeToo with a smile.

"No reason we can't both put our signatures on this paycheck," said iamsmike. They fired in unison, putting the bandit down hard.

"All right, keep it together," I said as iamsmike got back up. "Those rifles aren't exactly the quietest things in the world and we need to keep moving anyway."

All the bandits had were Obrez Mosins and Makarovs. They never stood a chance.



The rest of the trip was uneventful. Since he was with me, the border guards figured Servulo for just another mercenary I'd picked up. The biggest inconveniece was listening to Pip constantly remind us how dark it was.

Day 29, 1112



"We part ways here," said Servulo at the Sagrada city limits. "Gracias, mercenarios. You are truly friends of the revolution. Until next time!"

He strode off to his safehouse, and I decided to check in with Carmona since we were in town anyway.



Carmona was happy to report that the GAZ was back in working order, and at no charge to us. He tossed me the keys and wished me well, reminding me that he was always getting new stock in.

With my wheels back, the first order of business was to drive to Artrigo and report to Caderas that Terteira had slipped through my fingers. I had little doubt he'd be displeased.


As we progress through the main government/rebel missions, we aren't the only ones who get access to nicer weapons. Notice that the guard in this screenshot has an AKM.

I was right.