Refraction | Part 2 | Multiverse
7) The Ninja Gets a Gig Out West Part Deuce
The Ninja arrived without incident, although apparently, just in the nick of time. Collosalia was on the eve of being attacked, a careful lightening ambush that had taken months for the invaders to design. The Citadel had been infiltrated, and clandestine control of information had kept the King largely ignorant to the extent of the danger that faced his land. The King had gone east to seek military assistance, as The Realm did not maintain much in the way of a standing army, as few were mad enough to attack the Land of the Giants. The enormous city in which they lived was a fortress secured by location and design. A metropolis constructed on a towering spire of stone, a sheer wall built above the cliffs below. Save for ancient tunnels, secret to the outside world, the singular approach was across the mile long Ponja dol Jagganata. The inner lands and hinter lands of the Giants were like wise protected by geographic protections, mountains to the North and East, and ocean to the South and West.
Oh, and fighting a giant is both difficult and extremely dangerous. Small arms are almost useless against them, they don’t injure easily, and they heal rather quickly. Infighting with the blade is insanity as they as also tend toward the rage of the Berserker. Still, they did not maintain a massive internal military presence, as it was not necessarily their wont to go to war. To be large and hardy does not necessarily make it in one’s nature to be a bully. The Giants were known the world over for their contributions to art, music and architecture. They were also some of the greatest brewers of and consumers of beer, in the world.
There was of course a small but elite Royal Guard comprised of only one hundred souls, and a regular army of ten thousand bodies. A good part of the Royal Guard was attached to the Royal Caravan, and the Royal Caravan was still on the High Road through the pass, not expected to reach the Ponja until the following evening.
The Ninja had briefed himself as well as he could on the journey west across the sea then overland by train to Collasalia. He was not entirely convinced that the King was taking the situation as seriously as he needed to. His Royal Highness seemed to be under the impression that the land he protected was under pressure from a limited, rogue force, and that select assassinations of it’s leadership would cause it to crumble. But the group that was attacking his Realm was driven by a more generalized source than a personality. They were driven by a zealotry that would make them fight to the last, and kill without mercy.
It made little difference to the Ninja, as he tended toward the same sort of thinking.
The woman who had come to collect the Ninja from the rail station introduced herself as the Lady Casai Mosiva, Advisor to the King, and Master Craftsperson of Tecknologickal Paraphernalia. She apologized for her unexpected appearance, but her husband was still in the company of the Royal Caravan. She then turned and began making her way off the platform. The Ninja decided that one Mosiva was as good as another, and as he was not a man who feared much, followed the giantess. She moved quickly, sweeping her large head from side to side as though scanning for danger. The Ninja took this as a signal, decided he was now on defense mode, and allowed more of his energy to divert itself toward the collection of information of his surroundings. The immense woman walked and wove her way through the crowd with a greater grace than the Ninja would have expected.
Their large size made one think them ponderous until he saw them move, thought the Ninja, an important thing to bear in mind. Their deceptive speed is more dangerous than their obvious power.
The Ninja and Lady Mosiva made their way through the cavernous station, filled with the bustle and energy of people who know that something bad is on the horizon. The steady streams of people tended to back up into choke points around areas like customs and the stairs which led to the city’s monorail system. Somehow they seemed to avoid these slow eddies and slip past security with no fuss at all. The moved past the baggage claim as the Ninja had only his gunny, and began walking down the long tunnel toward the passenger terminal and the exit to the street.
There are a number of ways to die in an explosion. You can be blown into smithereens, fall victim to the so called “bubble effect” (the shock wave passing through your body causes your cells to burst like wee little soap bubbles, hence the name), die from sudden nerve trauma, catch shrapnel, be burned to death, or simply collapse from shock. As the Ninja and his guide neared the exit of the station these things suddenly happened to a large group of people close by. Close enough by to knock the Ninja and Lady Mosiva to the ground. He scrambled quickly to his feet, flexed and moved himself searching for injury or pain, found that there was none. The woman had been between himself and the blast, and her bulk had shielded him from the brunt of it. He then turned his attention to the Lady, who lay unmoving on the marble floor of the passenger gallery. A trickle of blood ran from her ear. He went to her side, knelt, and spoke gently to her.
“Black sedan…fire lane…help us…” She whispered, then passed into unconsciousness.
The crowd had begun to react to the explosion, confused yelling and terrified screaming slowly taking the place of tinnitus in the Ninja’s ears. Uniformed officers began jogging up and pointing their fingers this way and that, talking on walkie-talkies, and generally coming to grips with the nightmare of rubble and bodies. There was a peculiar quiet moment when everything seemed to freeze, dust and smoke caught in the Jacob’s Ladders of sunlight pouring down from the great windows on the western wall. The moment gave way and the officers seemed to collect themselves as a unit and began working their way into it all, focusing, saving lives.
The Ninja ignored the growing frenzy around him. He continued kneeling next to Lady Casai Mosiva, opened his gunny, and pulled out his swords. He eased them under the formidable bulk of the giantess’ body, tying them flat against her back along the spine, and again behind her outsized head, where the handles crossed cradling and supporting her neck. Then her grabbed her by the arms and began pulling her outside into the sunlight. People from a variety of emergency services were moving past him to get to the horrible scene, the shocked and wounded stumbled about looking around themselves as though they had lost something. Which was probably true, for the most part. Explosions do that.
As soon as the Ninja managed to get the great woman out the door, he was joined by two men in business-type suits of the kind Dalton the recruiter had been wearing.
“I told you we should have gone with her!” Snapped one at the other.
“Let’s just get them to the bloody citadel!” Retorted the other, while helping the Ninja to hoist her into the back seat of the sleek, black sedan that sat idling in the fire lane. The Ninja climbed into the back seat with the Retorter, while the Snapper, still snapping and cursing, jumped behind the wheel and maneuvered the vehicle away and into traffic.
The Ninja turned his head and looked back at the incredible architecture of the Royal Central Station just in time to see the second, larger explosion. The one that collapsed the great gallery in on itself. He turned back to face the now trembling giant who sat in the jump seat across from him, glanced at the comatose Royal Advisor who lay on the rear bench-seat.
No, thought the Ninja, the King was not ready for this at all.
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