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It was almost time.

Commander Vulga and I sat on the rocky hill overlooking the fort, waiting for the rest of the Banshees to get into position.

I had found a large rock just a quick skip away from where the commander was laying, spooning with “Her Lover”.

I assure you that it was not a man of course but a heavily modified repeater rifle. With a long barrel that was propped up by a floating bipod. A twist of gears and oil that allowed her to swivel and move the rifle any which way she wanted. Though she did have it made for a left handed shooter because of this. It allowed her to twist the rifle on it’s side, pull the lever out away from her body while ejecting the hot round into the dirt before twisting it back and still being on target for another shot, never having to point the barrel anywhere else except for the target.

I held up my binoculars and looked over the compound and observed the other Banshees giving the ready wave.

“Looks like they are all ready, shall we introduce ourselves?” Vulga asked smugly as she observed the fort's inhabitants .

“Yes but remember, we need him alive.” I said plainly, not taking my eyes off the binoculars.

“Are you trying to give me orders Natalya?”

I responded quickly.

“No commander, just reminding you of your own orders.”

I didn't hear much from her for a bit after that.

I saw the last girl give her signal and I had the pleasure of giving the order.

“Send it.”

Commander Vulga began to fire, picking off guards in a rhythmically methodical manner. Then came the scream that echoed through the hills as the female warriors let out a high screech and began to assault the walls.

This was our signature as a Banshee, a highly trained military force consisting of only women. We were small, only 150 trained since the program was new, put together by Roland, father of Seth Bogannon. We were designed to be quick and ruthless. Trained in the tactics used by the Americans during their revolutionary war.

It was quick and brutal, just how Vulga wanted it. The Banshees were inside the compound and had surrounded the target in no time at all.

Vulga sat up from her rifle, kneeling on her long duster coat she had laid down on to protect her orange and black uniform.

I stayed seated, resting up against the rocks to hide myself from the blistering desert heat. Vulga, however, seemed unfazed by the weather and sat up on her knees and put her tricorn hat back on over top of her wavy blonde hair.

Vulga didn't really look like a warrior but she did play the part well. She had to be something special being the first recruit into the Banshee program. Everyone in the force looked up to her as she was dangerous in more ways than you could even imagine, her accuracy with this new weapon was just one example.

I didn't look any better. I was about the same except for jet black hair, straight but tied back in a bun to keep it off my forehead.

Most military tactics of the day was still line formations, meeting your foe face to face in the field. The silly Americans still fighting like this during their civil war that has been raging for about a year now.

But here we were, a group of 25 in the middle of the Mexico desert hunting for some poor chap who pissed off the wrong politician.

Vulga and I packed up our spot and made our way down to the compound. It was a bit of hike only due to the rocky terrain. Making sure you didn't slip and take a hard tumble down to the unforgiving dirt below.

Vulga and I didn't talk at all while we made our way there. She was rather quiet most of the time but could get loud quick when she needed too.

As we reached the fort we found the gate open and a slightly thick olive skinned girl with intricate braids running down the back of her own duster and orange and black uniform holding a dark skinned man around the throat with her arm, barking at him in her native tongue.

“Hold him tight Haiwee.” Vulga called out.

Haiwee, a Comanche native girl, she was small but determined. Never spoke a lot of English but understood most of it. Haiwee held the man tight as Vulga

Gripped the man's hair and roughly pulled his head back getting a good look at the man's face.

“What is your name?” Vulga asked the man as he just scowled up at her.

“Fuck you.” The man said in a harsh Spanish accent.

Vulga got closer, wrenching the man's head back again.

“No thanks you're really not my type.” She said in a snarky tone.

“I shall ask you again nicely, the next time won't be so civil.”

The man said nothing but spat a thick wad of spit into the Commander's face. It wasn't long before Haiwee couldn't hold the man any longer as Vulga practically ripped him out of the native Americans arms and began to punch the man in the face and his upper throat over and over.

He laid on the ground for and while groaning. The only signs of life were his long drawn out groans and the slight kicking up of dust that escaped through his lips as his aching lungs struggled to keep him supplied with oxygen.

It was a long haul back to the open plains, having to traverse the rocky hills before getting out inti the open space where the war balloon was to meet us and take us back to Metus. Our small island just off the west coast of the California territory. Most refer to it as the “Western Tortuga”.

I was toward the front of the small column of Banshees just behind Commander Vulga we and her speckled Mustang stallion. I wasn't mad that I had to walk really but I could hear the other girls complaining with each step.

I was soon met with a bit of a surprise as Aiya, one of the girls i went through training with bounded up next to me and smiled warmly.

“Hey!” She said excitedly in as hushed tone.

I just smiled and gave her a slight nod.

“So how did it go on the hill with the Commander?” Still trying to keep her voice down since Vulga was only a few yards from us.

“It went fine I suppose. Nothing happened of any significance.”

Aiya looked ecstatic, trying to hide her giddy laugh.

“You are so lucky you get to be so close to her all the time.”

I shrugged a bit as Aiya fained disgust.

“How can you not see how great it is. Being the right hand girl that the first and possibly the best Banshee ever. She is so smart and one hell of a shot with that repeater of hers. I don't think we could of taken that fort without her.”

I smiled, not wanting to talk to much and run the risk of drying my mouth out.

“I don't think we could of either, Aiya”

She smiled and kept her head looking right ahead, kind of ogling the commander on her horse.

It wasn't too much further before we reached the clearing and there already waiting for us was the large balloon with an eerie black haul, the Koraku or “The Blackened”. It was a massive Galleon war balloon. It was a common sight for anyone to see a dirigible but not one of this size. It seemed it was outfitted with enough guns to level a city with one broadside. That's not even mentioning the large growler on the front of the ship. A massive two headed gatling gun that fired a white hot phosphorus round. A recipe perfected by one of the sin house leaders back in Metus, our home.

As we approached the ship they lowered down a large platform that we all piled on and we're promptly hoisted up the side of the ship. We all watched as the thick net that covered the hull slowly past us before reaching the upper deck.

The deck hands gave one last yank before we were level with the deck. Vulga wasted no time and rode her horse off the platform and onto the ship.

The captain and commander Michael Shydon. He was a well built fellow, a bit rough in the face with a few noticeable scars that were somewhat well hidden behind his thick short beard.

“Welcome aboard Commander Vulga.”

He said in an uninterested tone as she barely looked over at him as she passed by and slipped out of the saddle and handed her horse over to a few of the deck hands who took it down to the lower decks for food and water after pulling the beaten body of our mark from the back of the horse.

“Jesus Christ, Bell!” Michael said angrily.

“The orders were to bring him back alive.”

Vulga turned around with a scowl.

“You know you are not allowed to call me that anymore and he is alive.”

“Barely.” Michael added as a doctor was called to inspect the man.

“I heard nothing about how alive he needed to be or not be. All my girls were supposed to do was to bring him back here to you flyboys alive.”

She removed her hat and shook the dust from her long blonde hair.

“And last time I checked he was still kicking.”

“Again, barely.” The doctor added before taking him below deck for further inspection.

“You may want to take this more seriously. Your lucky your program has even been given a chance.” Michael tried to warn Vulga but she wasn't having any of it, blowing him off as she went below deck as well to her quarters leaving the rest of us to do what we wanted.

Michael went off to see to the final preparations before they took off as I headed toward the front of the ship. I rested my arms on the railing and looked out over the long and unforgiving Mexico dessert.

I did however jump with a start as I realised I wasn't on the banister alone. Now the presence wasn't that point of my fear but what it turned out to actually be.

There next to me stood a man, or what was left of him. He was about medium height with short dark hair, at least on half of his head. The other half was gone but replaced with a brass casting of his skull. His eyes were haunting as one was held back inside the brass casting in a hard glass ball. His bottom jaw was strapped to his head like a flight helmet with snaps on either side of his face that the leather strap connected too along with spring on the left side of his mouth, I assumed they were to help him keep his mouth closed when it wasn't in use. His smile was haunting as the lips were still there but seemed to almost be welded into the metal of the skull casting.

“Did I scare ya?” He asked trying to sound concerned but his body language screamed that he enjoyed my sudden discomfort.

“Yeah a little.”

“My apologize then miss. I was just here to ask you to go below deck. When this thing gets goin’ it's gonna have a nasty crosswind that’ll suck ya right off deck and..” He whistled simulating with his hands and then ended it with a hard clap that made me jump again even though I knew it was coming.

“Boy you sure are bouncy.” He jested.

“Might you need help finding your cabin?”

I shook my head.

“No I can find it on my own, thank you. “

He ran his hand through his hair anxiously.

“My apologize again Miss, I forgot my manners.”

“Indeed you did.”

He looked down passively.

“I really didn't mean anything by it Miss.”

He cleared his throat and adjusted his vest with a quick and hard thwap as the dust cloud plumed off the leather garment.

“Names Nigel but most call me Creature, for reasons I am sure you can see.”

I nodded

“Thank you the warning then Nigel or..”

I looked at him, puzzled and he chuckled.

“Either is fine Miss, which ever you prefer.”

I didn't say anything and we both sat silently for a bit on the deck.

“So what happened to you?” I asked, knowing it was a bit insensitive but the embarrassment of asking such a question was better than sitting their in the awkward silence after such small talk.

“Well I am a Dancer.” Creature began with a modest inflection on his words.

“What do you mean?”

“I am a master of nothing but an expert in everything that goes on around this ship. Anything the crew needs, I bring them, no matter what.”

“So an errand boy.”

“An errand boy who dodges bullets for a living. One like myself must dance across the deck hoping to not catch a bullet in your head. Nasty stuff that phosphorus is too, burn half your face off before you realise you had been hit.”

Creature said as he modeled his own wounds to me and tapped on the brass casting of the skull.

“I have been at this for years. Had many captains to serve with but now I atm proud to serve Captian Shydon”

“Not a very good one it seems.” I said looking him over with a smile.

“Oh quite the opposite little one. A dancer's life is very short.”

I nodded and headed below deck, leaving Creature behind to attend to his duties and found my cabin through all the twists and turns of the labyrinth like tight corridors. I slipped inside and fell face first onto the cot. I was more than tired as I turned over and began to undress. Not fully but enough to be comfortable.

I was excited to have my own room. The Koraku was big enough to house everyone plus some in single rooms. It was a large ship it didn't need a lot of people to pilot the massive galleon.

I held on to the side of the cot as I heard the massive engines starting up, spewing steam and growling thunderously around the cabin. Then a sudden jolt before we were off.

It didn't take long for the balloons to get filled with enough hot air with engines working as hard as they were. The engines were cut and it became eerily quiet. The only sounds were the creaking of the wood as the ship swayed slightly in the wind of the open sky.

It was like a cradle now for me as I layed back and closed my eyes. Maybe a day or so we would be back in Metus for debrief and hopefully a small leave of absence to unwind.

I was awoken suddenly to a loud boom. I thought the engines were starting up again but I heard it again and again.

I quickly got up and got dressed as fast as I could and headed up to the deck.

I looked around as crew members were scrambling around as black smoke was filling the air. Suddenly a loud thud, something landed next to me. I glanced over and saw Creature.

“Oi, what are ya doin up here love?”

He asked with the biggest grin I had ever seen on anyone and he was pulling it off with barely a mouth at all.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Ah, the damn rebels seem to have an issue and want their garbage back!” Creature said with a hearty laugh.

“Not to worry though little one, we will keep you safe.”

Then Creature let out a howl, even arching his back like a contortionist and bellowed into the sky like a crazed beast before running across the deck in excited fashion. Twisting and pulling at the ropes as he slipped and slid to the front of the ship to the growler.

Not a moment later did commander Vulga come running up from the lower decks with a scowl and marched to the upper deck where Michael was, observing the situation. I followed behind.

“What the fuck is going on?”

She asked angrily before a volley of cannon fire ripped from the side of the Koraku. Vulga and I turned toward the noise and saw two small war balloons off to our right.

“Seems the rebels want our guest.” Michael said, sounding unfazed.

“What do the rebels want with our mexican?” Vulga asked.

“Not sure but if you would like to talk about this at a better time, it would be much appreciated.”

“Whatever, what do you need me to do then?” Vulga asked

“I need your team up here with their gear. I need focused fire on those ships. If we can make the crew's life on those junkers hell, they may turn tail.”

She nodded and headed back down the stairs, calling to me as she hit the deck.

I followed quickly and stepped close to her.

“Get the girls, we have to defend the ship. Form a firing line off the side and…”

She was interrupted as Creature yelled from his post.

“Incoming!”

That was the last thing I heard for a while as the ship was hit hard. Splintered wood sailed through the air, pelting everyone on the deck. Vulga and I fell back from the blast.

I had to get up but my ears were ringing. I couldn't hear as a few men came to our aid and tried to ask if we were ok. Their voices were muffled but I made out barely what they were saying and I nodded.

Vulga got up quicker than I and began to bark out orders to the girls who had already made their way to the deck.

All the Banshees had their rifles in hand and slammed themselves into the side of the ship and used the wooden rail as a stand to keep their sights steady.

I got up finally and hobbled over to the side of the ship to join my sisters as Vulga shoved her rifle in my hand.

“Don't fucking Miss.” Vulga ordered as I turned the rifle to the rebel ships.

Men began to run down the rifle line hooking our waists with a leather belt and heavy rope to the side of the ship.

“One good volley from the rifles then I want a hard turn to starboard and turn the growler on them.” Michael bellowed out from the helm as Vulga gave her own orders.

“Banshees aim!” Vulga screamed as she walked down the line.

“Fire!”

The line let loose of a heavy volley of musket and rifle shots. I let loose of every shot that was loaded into the repeater, firing it like Vulga did so I didn't get and hot shell to the cheek.

Suddenly Vulga jumped in front of me and forced me to wrap my arms and around her.

“Don't let go.” She said before we were all jerked back hard against our harness as the air brake was pulled and the large ship listed toward it's starboard side.

I sat stunned, unable to move as ship turned and seemed to disappear from below us. We were floating practically for a brief moment before the ship righted itself, now facing the enemy ships.

That's when the growler started up. The massive two headed gatling gun firing the phosphorus rounds, spitting fire and death.

The heavy bullets ripped into the rebels hulls, setting the first a blaze in an instant. Men began to hop over the sides choosing to fall to their watery deaths hundreds of feet below rather than burn on their wasted ship.

It's name rang true as it growled like a beast from the depths of Hell as the operator cranked the lever on the side, maneuvering the weapon with his shoulders as he pivoted it around its large metal base.

As the first ship fell the other turned hard and attempted to run but we were on them.

“Don't let them get away.” Michael ordered as he forced the chadburn forward to muster more speed

“No survivors!” Vulga chanted maniacally.

Michael stood firm as he scanned the horizon for any more surprises.

“Scythe!” Yelled Creature who was in the observation post above the deck.

We all saw the massive blade being maneuvered from the door that opened from behind the fleeing rebel ship.

“They wanted us to chase them. They were never interested in saving your mark.”

The rebel ship let loose the blade. It was shaped like a boomerang designed specifically to cut through the heavy chains of a ship to separate it from its balloon, sending it plummeting toward the surface.

All we could do is watch as the blase sailed toward the chains, cutting through some but catching most of the balloon.

The balloon was designed with special pockets and flaps inside to help prevent major leaks by allowing it to all most self repair. Sadly the design would not save us.

It tore through the fabric and the ship listed hard to its front. We were going down.

We all grabbed what we could and braced for impact. The crew holding onto us as we were strapped to the side of the ship.

When we hit the water it jolted us all forward as cables and wood broke apart, sending both men and women into the sea.

I held onto the Vulga tightly, praying our harness would hold.

Our bodies were shot back as the ship forced itself back from the sea, landing and rocking hard in the ocean.

As we went back Vulga head hit mine and my world went dark.

I stirred awake. My world was fuzzy instead of black. I tried to blink and rub my foggy eyes but my hand shot back away from my eye as a sharp pain run through my skull. It was swollen shut.

I pulled my hand back to my good and saw blood coating my palm, my eye was bleeding too, or at least my forehead was. I couldn't be sure.

I looked around and saw the mass of bodies being piled up in the center of the ship. A mass of crew and the distinct orange and black uniforms of my fellow banshees.

I winced and shuffled back against the side of the ship and stared over the pile. Their twisted bodies, tortured faces. The last expression of pure fear burnt into their unchanging expressions. All stiff… All dead.

I began to cry and mourn for my lost sisters in arms.

There was some good news that I was happy to see, Vulga was ok, being attended to by the surgeon for her deep gash in the back of her head from when hers hit mine.

Even Haiwee was alive, she was slower than usual but still kept help the ships crew gather the dead.

It was not bitter sweet, nothing about war was sweet. Yes my friends were alive but so many were gone now. Out of our 25 we may have five left by my last count, we were dropping like flies.

Creature made his way to me after seeing me crying and flopped down lazily next to me.

“No need to cry little one. You are safe now and we will be back home very soon.”

Creature tried to console me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and held me close.

“Here, the surgeon is busy.” He said pulling me to his chest gently pressing my forehead there tightly and held me. I could feel his shirt getting wetter from the blood soaking into his white shirt.

The rocking of the ship in the water was relaxing and even soothing. I soon fell asleep in Creatures arms.

I awoke to the sounds of bustling above me. I sat up in my bunk all cleaned up and stitched. My head was incredibly sore.

I wasn't sure how long I was out but I felt a lot better.

I made my way to the upper deck with the little pack of my belongings and looked up through the winding streets of a familiar city, Metus.

This was not my first home but it is my current and shall be the place I die. Nothing can compare to what you will find here as it seems the whole world converges on this one place.

It was a booming island that prospered on sin. An interesting concept that was also brought up by the same senator who formed the Banshees.

Metus was not as tame as it once was, it really isn't that tame now either. It was contested heavily as it was an essential trading post in the middle of Pacific that the Chinese, Australian, Indonesian, and now American among many other countries wanted to control.

Luckily a small group of elders got together to form their own government. The trading that went through this place helped fund this new government which a lot of unsavory types donated too as well. This caused some problems.

During the early years of the new Metus government the streets ran rampant with pirates, nationals of other countries trying to claim territory while others smuggled their hallucinogenic herbs and plants into onto the island which brought violence and corruption. Not too mention the working and sex slave industry.

What would one expect from a city inhabited and funded by pirates?

I have to hand it to the Senators of the early council for not caving under the pressure.

We stood in the office at attention. Captain Shydon all the way on our left, the Commander in the center and me on the right.

I was so nervous standing in front of the Senator as he sat there with his hands folded up in front of his face, peering over his knuckles at us.

“Sir…” Michael started but was quickly interrupted

“I don't want to hear whatever it is you have to say.” The senator took a deep breath which he let out loudly through his nose.

“I would thank you for a job well done but the complete and udder arrogance of the entire thing is making it difficult to dole out even the slightest of compliments.”

“We brought him back alive didn't we?” The commander added.

“Did you?” The senator asked sarcastically.

“You practically beat him to the edge of his life and then you..” He said pointing toward the Captain.

“You were supposed to be the best captain this part of the Pacific but it seems you can just be ambushed by two ragtag confederate dirigibles. Please explain to me how the hell your crows nest missed two very loud and clunky crafts of an ocean?”

Michael opened his mouth to speak but couldn't get anything out before the Senator kept going.

“As for you “Commander” your carelessness with my Banshees is getting to a tipping point. I send you out to obtain one person of interest and you come back with more than half your outfit killed in action?”

“That wasn't my fault. Most of my girls were killed in the air ambush. We are a ground force and we're not equipped deal with such a threat. It's the captains fault.” Bellona said slyly.

I knew she was trying to pass off as much blame ass she could but in most cases she was right. We did our part, quite well actually.

“Senator Bogganon if I may speak..”

The senator just glared at me. I swallowed hard and continued.

“This was not all wrong. The Banshees were able to secure the target with minimal losses while Captain Shydon and his crew brought us across the ocean and back home like he was instructed. Yes we ran into a few obstacles but if you ask me it doesn't make any sense on why the confederates were even out this far west. Something doesn't seem to fit here.”

I quieted down real quick. I felt awful for speaking out in front of so many superiors but then again speaking my mind about almost dying made me feel better.

The senator sat at his chair, wringing his hands together anxiously.

“I will have to agree, getting ambushed isn't your fault.” He said sternly.

“Though it would be so concerning if the Commander here could hold temper.” He said with death stare.

“Severe head trauma coupled with changing altitudes could of popped the veins in his head and he would be completely useless. My anger is not unwarranted but an thank you is surely deserved for all of you and your crew. Only because the job was done but barely.”

He waved us out as he let out a deep sigh and turned to face the window behind him.

We all filed out and the captain quickly shuffled away leave the commander and I standing there in the busy capital building.

“I don't have a temper.” Bellona said under her breath before pulling out a personally rolled cigarette and lit it.

I said nothing as we began to walk outside.

It was an overcast day. A soft breeze wafting up from the harbor as we stood outside the capitol building.

It wasn't long though before a small child approached us and offered us a pamphlet.

“Madams Lord Federa wishes to speak with you two within the hour.”

I took the page and looked it over.

“Glad he is so considerate with others schedules.” Bellona said again between drags.

“Sorry miss but he said it was urgent.” The boy said quickly.

“Can't he see I'm busy?” She said taking another puff.

I nodded.

“You can tell Lord Federa we will be there, I will make sure of it.”

~~~

She just kept repeating herself.

“It's hot.”

Over and over as we tracked up the beach after landing on the small island off of Polynesia.

Commander Vulga just continued to complain about the heat while I minded the equipment with the other three Banshees that came with us.

Captain Shydon and a small gathering of his men were bringing up their supplies as well for the journey.

We were on a treasure hunt, hired by the Federa to acquire a certain artifact for one of his clients. Our payment was whatever we else we found. It was high risk high reward but something about the whole thing seemed a bit off.

I never personally heard anything about the Polynesian people and never heard anything about the wealth. It didn't seem like it would be worth it to me but I was to just follow orders and shut up.

Captain Shydon and Commander Vulga were in the middle of the column of 30 with rifles and buskwackers at the front to cut down the vegetation and to ward off any locals who may still be on the island.

Even as we tracked through the jungle brush I did have to agree with the commander, it was hot. Sticky and thick air that warmed your lungs in a way that almost felt like you weren't getting any air.

Luckily or unluckily there wasn't much tree coverage so there was a decent breeze that would kick up every so often but that just meant the unforgiving mid day sun had us it it's crosshairs.

The Commander had already stripped her wool coat off and handed it off to the eager Aiya. Aiya was always a little to excited for my tastes, she seemed to put the commander in too high of standing, treating her almost like a God at times. There isn't anything wrong with that and being loyal to your uniform is great but there is a line and she was teetering on being crazy. But she took the Commander's coat and held it like a religious garment.

I however didn't that mine the same. I had fashioned mine to my pack since our bags weren't really big enough to hold the coats.

There was a bit of humor in the journey already as it seemed the few Banshees were better equipped in the footwear department. The other soldiers and sailors only had shoes that up past their ankles with wool trousers to cover the rest of their legs, leaving them vulnerable to debris to get inside a lot easier than our shin high boots did.

Our destination wasn't entirely known though we did know it was a temple that was abandoned long ago. It wouldn't be too hard really to find on such a big small island of maybe 20 in each direction, it would just take time. And unfortunately for us we had too much of it thus why we were all stuck roasting in this heat.

I jumped a little when I heard a loud howling coming from the trees ahead of us. As soon as the echoes started to bounce back against my ears I could easily recognize who it was.

The maniac himself, Creature, had scouted ahead and possibly found something. My mood went from tense to excited as the column pushed a little harder to catch up with him.

Sadly luck was not on our side, at least not as much as we would hoped.

We reached the source of the howling, finding Creature in the tree waving us over. He quickly descended with acrobatic grace and landed with a thud.

“What did you see?” The captain asked quickly.

“Ruins. Looks like we are on the right track. Bad news is probably a day out still.”

Michael grumbled as he looked around the clearing we had entered and then back toward the direction of the ruins. Then turned his head to the sky and grumbled again.

“Not sure we are going to find a better place than this to camp out if we keep pushing forward. We will stop here for the night and resume in the morning.”

He motioned to his men as they quickly scrambled to unpack their sacks and begin building the makeshift camp. The commander, Aiya, Haiwee, Laura, and I began to set up our own tents and provisions.

We only had two tents. Aiya and Laura would share one while the other tent was for the Commander and I. Haiwee being from Indian decent proffered to be with nature and to sleep under the stars.

It was maybe a good half hour before we had our tents up, at least for the Banshees, the other men were busy clearing grass and other plants away to make bits of supplies while clearing a spot to even starting erecting their tents.

I won't lie it felt kind of good to be done first even though we didn't have ands much work. Being a girl amongst men considered rugged and strong and still being able to hold my own felt good. Plus it seemed like they held a bit of contempt or envy of our lax duties around the camp as the Banshees were enjoying the heat now after ditching our packs and dreadfully warm coats in our temporary homes.

“Good evening Madams, if it would please you I did see another clearing a short was to the west, a river from the looks of it. You could rest there and cool off after roasting all day.”

Bellona didn't need much convincing as she was retieing her boots and fashioning her wool coat as a smaller pack and tied the sleeves around her waist.

Aiya and Laura elected to stay behind for now and just rest in the camp while Haiwee was trying to pull the men from putting up their tents to go hunt for food. She was always eager to hunt and loved the chase. It made her an excellent soldier and the best tracker in the Banshee outfit.

I was soon ready and we began to walk toward the river before we were stopped by one of the other sailors.

“Aye, where you three goin?” He asked.

“None of your business.” Bellona said firmly.

“Aye it is if Creature here is going with ya. Why does he get a show if the rest of us don’t?” The sailor continued.

“Because I trust him more than the rest of you.” The captain said firmly as he motioned us to hurry off.

“And if I hear you question a Commander's word one more time I will cut your tongue from your skull.”

“Just because you're jealous that your first mate gets to see your old whore naked and not you doesn't mean ya gotta take it out on us.”

We kept moving away, not wanting to witness the fate of the sailor. Maybe if he shuts up like he is told and just say the heat got to him he might be allowed to live.

I wouldn't be concerned about Michael though. He was gruff and sometimes harsh but always fair. To receive punishment from him was always warranted. Saying he ran things with an iron fist was an understatement. Maybe if the fist was covered in boiling hot tar would be more fitting.

I would be more concerned about the Commander. She can be a little less fair and very harsh when it came to discipline. The fact that she said nothing was more terrifying than any threat. You could normally expect some venomous retort but this time she was silent.

It was only a short walk, luckily shorter than I thought before we reach the river. The water was mostly clear and one could see the soft smooth rocks that lined the river bed leading up to the shallow shore before it turned back into thick jungle underbrush.

Bellona and I began to set our things out and disrobe. I was a little more apprehensive of Creature at first while Bellona peeled everything off without a second thought.

“It is alright Miss. No need to worry about me and my gaze. As it is a pleasure and honor to be able to see you like this I love another. I will only silently admire from afar. If you should need anything, I will be up this tree keeping watch.”

Creature scampered up a tall tree and began to sling his thing between the branches that were strong enough to hold him, laying in his new burlap hammock.

By the time I turned around from watch creature ascend the tree, Bellona was already naked and waist deep in the water. It didn't seem like the river went that deep. It was maybe 12 ft at the center. I stayed closer to the shore, laying out under the water while sitting on the smooth rock bed. I didn't want to take my chances of getting sucked into any hidden currents or find some unsightly fish lurking below. Here I could see if anything was coming up to bite me.

Even though I was nervous about the wildlife it didn't seem to be much of an issue for long as I leaned my head back, my ears dipping below the surface and my hearing was muffled. It was calming as I closed my eyes, shielding them from the sun, soaking in the cool water.

The water even helped my head a little to stop some of the soreness from when Bellona inadvertently head butted me a week before. Even though it did seem like it was only yesterday that we were being berated by the Senator and then forced back into another special mission by Lord Federa.

Federa was a sin house leader. Long story short the island of Metus was lawless so the corrupt government made crime into a business by selling licenses to certain people who could commit any crime within certain districts. Federa was probably the most dangerous out of them all.

Lord Federa was an immigrant as most of were who took advantage of the Sin House Act to its fullest extent. Their is nothing he won't do if the price is right and will go to any means to satisfy his clients.

Like now for instance he sent a government task force to a remote island to fetch some idol or artifact for who knows who that does who knows what. But he is always fair case in point we get to split and keep everything else that we find.

I won't lie, I would love to get rich quick off this little adventure and go back to America, set up in some quiet Yankee state and start a little business, maybe even find a man to settle down with. But knowing our all knowing commander she will “suggest” we all donate it to fill the Banshees dwindling funds. The Banshees were not a for life force but they never told us when our time would be up either.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped with a start and turned again to see Creature standing there. I quickly pulled my arm over my chest to cover myself.

“Madam, we must go.”

I looked around for Bell.

“Where is the Commander?” I asked.

“She has already returned to the camp. But we must leave now, it's not safe.”

Creature gave me a sharp glare and I could see in his eye that he was more than serious.

Something wasn't right.