Waterstrider

Canvas Town, Tseludia Station, Pantheonic Territory, Fifthmonth, 1634 PTS

The two messages had similar contents, though it was clear that the Celans were being far more careful in how they addressed us. Such attitudes made sense to me. After all, we already had an agreement with the Hadal Clan, but the Heirs had little certainty that we would act as they wished us to.

I also got the feeling that the Hadal Clan’s leadership had a better understanding of my nature than the Celans did.

The Hadal Clan’s letter had called in the first of the actions we had promised to perform for them. The target was a factory they believed might be involved in mech construction, deep within the Heirs’ territory. The information was very accurate when describing the exterior and surrounding area of the factory, but quickly became sparse in terms of information regarding the interior. Rachel chuckled as I inspected it.

“Don’t you get the feeling that they gave this to us because they didn’t know how to deal with it?”

“I had the same impression,” I replied dryly, before turning to read the other message.

In contrast to the Hadal Clan’s clear orders, the Heirs, on the other hand, had simply offered to pay us to attack local gangs, with no clear reference to the war or any sort of ongoing conflict. In addition, the tone of the letter was polite, and portrayed our roles as equal parties. It was clear that they were very interested in acquiring our cooperation. I was actually quite impressed with their understanding of the situation to go about it in this way. I had made my position far less clear to the Celans than I had to the Hadal Clan.

Perhaps their information acquisition was even greater than I had heard, I thought.

Still, their request was easier than the Hadal Clan’s. We had already cleared out all of the ‘easy targets’ among the surrounding gangs, so I knew that we would need to be more careful this time, but if I or another spirit refiner moved personally, I was confident we would achieve success.

All in all, I felt that this was a near-perfect start to our war plans. All we needed to do was to continue to be useful. So long as we did not anger both sides sufficiently that they would collude to keep us uninvolved, I felt we would almost certainly be able to maximize our gains from the war.

I turned to Rachel.

“We should probably get started before we miss any opportunities, what do you think?”

“How admirable of you,” she applauded.

I gave her a blank look.

“Call in Jihan and Orion,” I ordered.

Rachel simply smirked as she leaned back in her chair, her body shifting slightly as her appearance turned into that of a Seiyal.

“By your will, Sect Leader.”

Her tone was slightly sarcastic, but I wisely decided to let it pass.

As we waited for them to arrive, the two of us continued to watch the progression of the battle. This first skirmish had most certainly been a victory for the Celans, but they had also paid the highest cost. Due to Karie Hadal’s swift thinking, a number of the martial artists, including Sulno had managed to escape the trap. All of their high level combatants had escaped largely unscathed, while the Celans had paid the price of several severely damaged enforcers. Such a cost was much greater than the cost of weaker martial artists.

Still, we watched as the Celans crossed several stacks over into Canvas Town proper, and began setting up a defensive installation. There was little practical use of such a structure in Tseludia, as the extreme number of bridges and stairways left the geography without any useful bottlenecks.

However, so long as this camp remained, the Celans would have a severe morale advantage. Its mere existence was a huge blow to the Hadal Clan’s face, an insult to their competence. They would probably do everything within their power to destroy it, leaving the initiative in the hands of the Heirs.

“Impressive plan,” said Rachel. “I wonder how the Hadal Matriarch will respond.”

“It depends on whether or not she has a way of dealing with pseudoplasmic barriers,” I replied.

One of the large orange shields had quickly been set up around the soon-to-be base, guarding it from all intrusion.

As we pondered on the implications of this development, the hatch to my office slid open, and Jihan stepped in.

“Sect Leader, Vice-Sect Leader,” he said, nodding at the both of us. “There was something you needed from me?”

I nodded, waving my hand towards Rachel.

“Pull up the factory,” I said.

The holographic map on my desk suddenly shifted, turning into a depiction of a building embedded into a series of factories and processing plants alongside one street. One of the factories had an icon indicating it, and Jihan leaned forward to get a better look.

“This looks like… Little Celah?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Similar task to what you did last time, though far better defended. The Hadal Clan wants us to shut the factory down. We might steal some resources while we’re there.”

“I see,” replied Jihan. “Any idea what to expect?”

Rachel shrugged.

“I’ll be keeping watch and assisting, but we have no idea what it looks like inside. If it’s better defended than we expect, you’ll have to just quickly plant explosives and then leave.”

“Sounds simple enough,” he said.

“Should be, but be careful,” I noted.

Jihan nodded, accepting the point, but his brow furrowed slightly.

“Is this all we know?” he asked.

Rachel laughed at his words, and glanced at me. Mirth was clearly evident in her eyes, but I didn’t think this was all that funny.

“You’re right, it’s a terrible idea to do this without knowledge, isn’t it?” she said. “But we’re going to have you do it anyway, because this is a matter of face. We have to uphold a deal we made, or our sterling reputation is damaged.” She couldn’t help but chuckle again. “You Seiyal have such a funny culture.”

Jihan nodded in response, ignoring the implied insult. The logic made perfect sense to him. Personally, I didn’t quite get the humor. Face and reputation were simply important factors for negotiation, and we could only discard them if we were truly desperate.

“I’ll talk to my squad,” said Jihan. “We can handle this later tonight.”

I noted that he seemed more reserved than usual, but I couldn’t blame him, given the lacking information about the mission I was sending him on.

“Sounds good,” I replied. “Rachel will update you if we’re able to find anything else.”

He nodded again, and then filed out of the room. The moment the hatch opened, Orion walked around him to enter. He glanced at the leaving Jihan, and then sat down next to Rachel in the seat the other man had just vacated. As he sat, he looked at me with a predatory smile, one perfectly at home on the face of a natural born criminal such as himself.

“We’re involving ourselves in the conflict?” he asked, skipping any prelude.

“Something like that,” confirmed Rachel. “We find this a perfect opportunity to expand our territory.”

“Oh?” asked Orion, raising an eyebrow.

“We intend to take down the rest of the gangs in this part of Canvas Town, and absorb their territories and properties into our foundation,” I explained.

Orion’s smile grew.

“I’m honored to accomplish this in the Sect’s name,” he said.

“I’ll be participating myself as well, of course,” I said.

Hearing this, Orion had a slightly awkward look on his face, clearly having expected the merits of leading the force himself. I chuckled a bit at his expression.

“Did you plan to deal with Lao Feng yourself?” I asked.

He smiled with a look of chagrin. Lao Feng was one of only three spirit refiners on the station outside of the Hadal Clan, a very small group that solely comprised him, myself and Jihan. Of course, it was publicly believed that Rachel was the fourth member of this group. While he was not a direct member of the Hadal Clan, it was well known that he could be considered halfway to a vassal of theirs, his force having to make concessions to the large clan in order to survive. My Redwater Sect could be considered to be in a similar position, but due to our nature as a sect, we held a different standing, and with Jihan and Rachel’s assistance, were far more powerful.

In a way, he reminded me of Hidoro. He was what Hidoro might have become if he had survived for long enough and had sufficient fortune, a hedonistic gang lord sustaining his own little empire under the Hadal Clan’s stifling umbrella. Lao Feng’s territory was far greater, however, comprising four entire stacks. Of course, our was currently a total of three and a half, after having absorbed the territory of the gangs we had previously conquered, the only other force in the district to hold a comparable amount of territory. The Feng Gang was the strongest of the gangs of Canvas Town, held up solely by the pillar that was its leader’s personal strength. It was not without reason that he was often called the strongest flickering practitioner on the station. He was far beyond the capabilities of a core formation practitioner, regardless of how talented Orion was.

“I suppose not,” he replied. “What’s the plan?”

“We’ll be splitting into two forces,” I explained. “Mine will take care of Lao Feng, while you will deal with the lesser forces. If you bring Ran with you, the two of you should be able to handle anyone short of spirit refiner, I wager.”

Hearing this, Orion’s smile returned. He seemed more excited than I had anticipated, and I couldn’t help but wonder whether he planned to embezzle a significant amount of our gains. I made a mental note to have Rachel keep an eye on him while he was out.

“When do you wish for us to move out, Sect Leader?” he asked, clearly highly anticipating the engagement.

Perhaps he simply wished to have a real fight again. I knew I did. I shrugged.

“As soon as possible, but make sure all of the men are ready and prepared.”

“I will make sure that they are,” he said.

I gave him a sharp nod, and he quickly left the room to begin the preparations. I leaned back in my chair, finally relaxing. It had already been a long day, and I knew that it would feel even longer by the time we returned from this mission.

Hadal Clan Vassal Gangs: [The largest problem with the expansion of the Hadal Clan is its very nature as a clan. There are simply too few bloodline members, and the ratio of supported external members to branch members, to main bloodline needs to be kept in check or there will be risks of the clan collapsing. For this reason, the Matriarch, upon arriving in Tseludia, chose to allow local gangs to control their own territory within the domain under the Hadal Clan’s control, to keep out alien forces and keep it in order for the Clan’s benefit. So long as these gangs do not work with the Clan’s enemies, and pay a ‘leasing fee’ to the Clan, they are allowed to act unhindered. Of course, if they anger a corporation or the Pantheonic Government, they will receive no aid from their master.]