Deadman

I offered to help with the interrogations, but the Khan turned me away. Conducting them himself with only the occasional help of one of his honor guard or Fen, his most heavily tattooed wife. I spent the time sharpening my sword, and waiting. There were screams, some loud and others muffled, and after around an hour for each of his captives, the Khan would come out of a cell, give information to Luther, the guard he’d placed in charge of the investigation, and he would go out and round up more people for more cells.

By the end of it there were twenty four people in the cells, and at that point the Khan allowed me to partake, along with a few more men that he had absolved of any potential involvement due to them being on patrol, or otherwise engaged during the activities that had been revealed. By the end of it, we had a clear picture of how everything had happened. It had flowed from Elise, using the Khan and Sara’s authority to filter oil, parts, and even weapons out of Fette. It had been going on for months, coinciding close enough to my job change and meetings with Leah to make my teeth itch, though I had no real evidence of Remnant involvement.

While the majority of those who’d acted on Elise’s behalf were simply idiots that followed orders unquestioningly, there were several older guards, and mechanics that had acted in direct betrayal of the Khan, and a few younger ones who had simply done so for the promise of women, trade, and patriot points. The true betrayers the Khan interrogated himself, those that had taken bribes were mostly killed mercifully, and those who’d had no idea what they’d done were simply demoted, beaten, and sent on their way, though the Khan made a point to have them watched.

Elise and the true betrayers revealed that Jantai was in fact alive, and though they held out during their torture for a long time, eventually they revealed that she was based directly to the East. They had killed a tribe of Kaijin in a remote area, and posed as them to keep outsiders away, all while sending the tribute to the Khan that he expected from them, which gave them cover to meet their contacts in Fette and smuggle goods out of it. This was all given in bits and pieces and broken up by screams and compiled by me.

I laid everything out I had put together to the Khan, his wives, and a few of his Noyan, what he called his trusted generals. The Khan had patches of dried blood on his hands, arms and face, but his expression was as calm as a still pool. Sara was at the table with us as well, shaken, but clearly invited in order to let her know that nothing was held against her, and to show the Noyan that she had his full faith. The other wives looked concerned, but determined. From what I understood based on my discussion with Carmilla, they had no experience with the Khan’s first three wives aside from half baked stories and rumors. Only Carmilla had even met them, and she had seemingly been too new to have learned much about them. Glancing between her and the Khan it occurred to me that I had little idea of the Khan’s age. He seemed younger than her, but I had difficulty reading him.

When I was done talking, Carmilla was the first to speak. “We have jailed all of those we believe were involved. We know the location of the Kaijin camp that the widows are based in, and that they aren’t expected to deliver tribute for another week.”

Fen nodded. “The camp they are based in is actually in the southeastern portion of the territory, near the water. The direction the buses traveled must have been a misdirection.”

One of the younger wives, Daphne, spoke up. “Aren’t all of the widows women? Isn’t it odd that several of our men were working for them?”

Carmilla nodded. “The male traitors were mostly bought off, the women seemed to do it more out of loyalty, either to a direct superior, or their gender, though there were plenty of bribes in their cases as well. None of the men are directly in the Widows.”

One of the Khan’s Noyan leaned forward. “Should we muster forces to strike, my Khan?”

The Khan shook his head. “No. We cannot discount the possibility of a trap. Jangtai and her Widows have been clever. Underestimating them would be foolish. We need a small, targeted force to go in first, ensure any traps can be circumvented, and then send us a signal to move in.” The Khan stood. “I will lead my personal fleet as the main force, send for Atlan to give me a small force of her Rens. Donovan, you and them shall act as the targeted force.”

I grimaced. “Send me in alone. Be safer for me than the Rens coming with me. We aren’t on the best terms.”

He shook his head. “I will not underestimate this foe, and will not have our assault come down to a single point of failure. You will work with them.”

His tone told me that further argument wouldn’t be heard. I wasn’t eager to work with the Rens again after what I’d done to them. They seemed to have blended with the Horde almost completely, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t hold animosity toward me for the hand I had in things. Though if they were working for Atlan without issue, I suppose anything was possible.

The Khan stood. “I must rest. Tell me when my forces are mustered.”

“The prisoners?” asked Carmilla.

“Once Jantai is crushed, and her head on a stake, I will have each of them quartered one after the other in the center of the city. Elise shall be last, having heard the suffering of all her fellows leading up to her own.”

Carmilla nodded, and wrote it down as if she was taking notes in a meeting rather than taking down a method of execution. With that, the Khan and his wives departed and I was guided to a small tent room similar to the ones I’d stayed in at Fette in the past. I sat and collected my thoughts for a few moments, before going back to the comforting routine of taking apart my guns, and inventorying my gear. There’d been little change to the condition of anything, but it was a habit, and one that I was certain had helped to keep me alive and sane over my years in the wastes.

As I finished counting the number of 9mm bullets I had, and ensuring my extra magazines were loaded, I heard movement outside my door. I calmly placed my hand on the grip of my pistol and waited. A face peered through the tent flap, and I had to stop myself from lifting my pistol and firing, though I did freeze the person for a moment.

I saw Deux’s eyes widen as he realized he was stuck in place and I dismissed my ability, allowing him to step the rest of the way into the tent. He was smiling in a way that hid the natural sharpness of his teeth, a trick he’d picked up to work better as an undertaker. He was wearing his black robes this time, a heavy revolver on his hip alongside a combat knife.

“What was that?” he asked, flexing his grip to make sure he could still move.

“It’s a Marshall ability called ‘Freeze’. Let’s me hold people in place.”

He nodded. “I definitely prefer it to the time you shot me.”

I sighed. “I’m not sure I do.”

“Honestly, it would probably save you a lot of trouble in the long run. Shame, with your aim you’ll probably hit my shoulder again.”

“You’d find my aim has gotten better.” I put my pistol down and turned completely to face him. “Howdid you get back here?”

“Told them I was a friend of yours. Between that and the fact they recognized me, it didn’t take much convincing.”

I shook my head. They’d just revealed a massive security threat and Deux still managed to convince them to let him through. If he’d been human he probably would’ve been ruling the entirety of the wastes by now. “Why are you here?”

“Got the order from Pott’s to come straight back to you and tell you to go directly to the Cut. Connecting with whatever Deadmen are there is their biggest priority and they want you on your way as quickly as possible, especially with the sweetener of what the Remnants are offering.”

“I’m in the middle of something at the moment. I’ve got to see it through before I can do anything else, or I’ll lose all credibility with the Khan, and that’s not good for anyone.”

Deux scratched his chin. “Would backup help?”