Chapter 50: Chapter Fifty: Calm Before the Storm
Before they leave, Ying gives them her number so they can contact her later. Siran gives Ying a calling card with the number 6 on it, and Siran then realizes they haven't given one to Ruby, so Ruby got the card with the number 7. The crew leaves without her and heads back to Balphor. Once again trying to avoid Hunters, the crew makes it back to Vivi's house in Seeira. When they get there, plenty of people in Seeira were discussing the attack a few weeks before. They all knew the Hunters were there, but they all also debated whether or not Predator was sent from The Ly'Lum. However, on the news, The Ly'Lum denied any involvement with Predator. The Ly'Lum soldiers themselves didn't know anything about Predator, since it was a secret weapon from The Mages directly. At the same time, no one knew that. Most of the people in Seeira had also began avoiding The Six Guns whenever they walked by. Some people had seen the fight with Predator, and they didn't want to be too close to The Six Guns after that. As The Six Guns get their bikes they were given by Don, they felt as if someone dangerous were watching them. As they leave on their bikes, Siran turns his head and sees three men dressed in all black suits with a plain white tie. They watched the crew drive away, but didn't say a word. The crew makes it to Pilloa, just outside of Vega when suddenly the sounds of several vehicles could be heard. There were four armored vehicles, and out of each of them eight men in all black suits with white ties stepped out.
"Got a moment?" The man in the front asks Siran. It was the same man Siran had seen watching them as they drove away from Seeira.
"We've been tailed" Siran says as he reaches for his gun.
"Hang on!" The man shouts, "I'm not here to get violent!". The man put his hands in the air to reveal he had no weapons or visible charms. "My name is Blake. Blake Russel".
"You're Hunters, aren't you?" Siran asks.
"Yes" Blake says. "We're The Yin Hunters. But we're not a group of senseless mercenaries, like what you're probably used to".
"What are you here to talk about?" Siran asks, his hand still hovering over his gun".
"Well" Blake says, "the fight between The Ly'Lum and the rest of the world has gotten out of hand. Seeira is a good example of that. No matter how much money we could get from your head, it'll be worth nothing if we don't stop the world from falling into such a crisis".
"Are you asking us to help you fight The Ly'Lum?" Zia asks.
"That's accurate, but no" Blake says. "I'm asking you to let us join YOU in fighting The Ly'Lum".
"Come again?" Siran asks.
"Look" Blake says, "we were never your enemy".
"So far" Siran interrupts.
"Yes, so far" Blake says, "and we never planned on attacking you. Like I said, we're not as senseless as most other Hunters. We know about who you are and we know you didn't simply let that thing just attack Seeira. We're on your side here. We believe you're the good guys, and we're willing to go out of our way to help you. What do you say?".
"I say kill them" Ruby says.
"No, we do need the help" Siran replies. "You've got yourselves a deal. However, if you guys make any false moves, you'll have to answer to me".
"Those conditions are simple enough" Blake says. "Are you guys trying to get into Vega by any chance?".
"Uh... yeah" Tanya says, "how'd you know about Vega?".
"We go here frequently" Blake says. "Need any help?".
"No, we can get in just fine" Tanya replies.
The crew enters Vega, this time paired with 32 other people. As they move throughout Vega, many people had their eyes on them. The crew enters Shark City, and make their way to Don's hideout. Before they made it to the hideout, Don met with them on the street.
"You're back" Don says, "Who are all the extra idiots?".
"Hunters" Siran says.
"Like... the ones that are hunting you?" Don asks.
"We're going to have to skip the small talk" Siran says, "this is important. We need your help".
"The answer is no" Don says.
"The job is taking down The Ly'Lum for good" Siran says.
Don freezes for a moment and thinks. "That's pretty sudden" he says. "Last time you were here, you were telling the world who you are and looking for support, but now you want our support?".
"Sounds about right" Siran says.
"Look, Siran" Don says, "I hate you almost as much as I hate your name. However, you've managed to pique my interest. If there's one thing in the world that I hate more than you it'd be The Ly'Lum".
"Do we have a deal?" Siran asks.
"I'll need some time to think about it" Don says. "You might want to stick around Vega for a few days anyways. It's become a shit show topside, on the surface".
"You don't have to tell me that" Siran says, "we've seen it up close".
The crew spent a few days in Vega. The Yin Hunters and The Six Guns split up. The crew didn't feel comfortable staying so close to Hunters. After a few days, Don approaches the crew and says "Most of my men are in favor of supporting you. So I guess until this war is over, we'll be joining forces".
"Thanks Donny" Tanya says.
"On one condition" Don says. "This will end our partnership between us and The Six Guns. We'll no longer have to work with you after this".
"That's perfectly fine with me" Siran says.
"Then we have a deal" Don says as they shake hands. Don was happy to finally find a way to get rid of The Six Guns, and The Six Guns were happy to have any support they could get in an attempt to end this war.
"I have a proposition for you" Blake says as he appears alone without any of his men. "Let me join The Six Guns as an official member".
"There are no official members" Siran says, "people just kinda join".
"Well, we do have calling cards" Rose says, "so that makes it seem pretty official".
"Why do you want to join?" Siran asks.
"Like I said before" Blake says, "we believe you're the good guys. We never thought that you were the evil ones here. That and I've always kinda been a fan. Besides, once this is over, I'm planning on giving away my leader position in the Hunters group and turning over a new leaf. I want a normal life again. Not a life of chasing heads for scratch".
"I'll give you a chance" Siran says as he hands the last calling card to Blake, with the number 8 on it. "However, we still don't know you well enough to trust you. One foul move and you'll go down".
"You don't have to worry about that" Blake says, "I need my second chance at life more than I need the money from your head".
"And the rest of your crew?" Siran asks.
"They like holding onto the title of Hunters" Blake says, "but they're good people. Trust me".
Alex laughs and says "He's reminding me of Siran already".
Suddenly, Mikoto's phone starts ringing and Mikoto takes a few steps away to answer the call. After a while of speaking, there was a sense of suspense in the air. "That was Lieutenant Nakamura" Mikoto says, "Japan has agreed to help in Omnia and we're still waiting on word from China".
"Suddenly it feels like the tides have shifted in our favor" Holly says. "Do you think we're ready to attack The Mages yet?".
"We'll need a plan" Siran says.
"I'll make you an offer" Don says, "since I'm just so eager to get rid of The Ly'Lum... You said you're getting the assistance of a military force, right? Then how about the Wolf Pack launch the first attack to scramble the troops. Once they get too cocky about fighting a bunch of thugs, we bring in the calvary. Japan's troops come in and kick them down to the ground, then you take it from there".
"I like that" Siran says, "once you do that, as long as you keep their troops occupied and cut off reinforcement routes to the capital, we'll have a straight shot at The Mages. Once we do that, we can focus on taking The Mages down without interference from their troops. But then we have to think of a way to get rid of all that endo from Naris's body".
"How soon shall we move out?" Holly asks.
"I don't know yet" Siran says.
"Leave that part up to us" Don says. "We'll get everything we need in position, and I'll let you know before we attack. In the meantime, get your girlfriend from Japan to bring her ass down here and get ready for a fight".
"Wait" Zia says, "down here as in... Vega?".
"No, that's not what I-" Don begins to says.
"That's it!" Siran interrupts. "If we can manage to sneak the Japanese forces into Vega, then they'll easily be able to infiltrate by land! Now the question is, how do we do it?".
"It'll be impossible to sneak that many people into Vega at once" Don says. "However, you maybe able to sneak them in little by little. It'll take a while, but it'll also give us time to prepare".
"Then we'll do it" Siran says.
The Six Guns start organizing their attack as Wolf Pack starts preparations. Don moves armored vehicles and weapons across the country, disguised as engineers and sanitation workers moving boxes of supplies and trash around. While that happens, The Six Guns had gotten ahold of Haru Nakamura and told them their plan. Haru didn't think it'd work as well as they had planned, but they tried it anyways. Moving in large groups of soldiers into Vega, bit by bit so no one would notice a battalion of soldiers moving into enemy territory. All the while, the crew was still waiting for an answer from China, but they never gave their answer. Troops from JSDF (Japan Self Defense Force) and SAT operatives moved into Vega. Soon, Vega became very crowded. The air became tense as everyone knew that soon, war would break out. It took three months to prepare and was now April 30th, 2192. All around the world, people were growing restless.
"I'm going to Omnia" Ying says to Zhang Wei. They were at their police station in China. "I'm going to help The Six Guns in the fight against The Ly'Lum".
"You're just a police officer!" Zhang demands. "If you get involved, it'll likely bring China into this war too!".
Ying holds up her calling card and says "That wasn't a request, that was a statement. I'm going to help my friends. They helped us a lot here in China, the least we could do it help them".
"It's too risky!" Zhang says.
"Some risks need to be taken, not avoided" Ying says as she walks out of the police station.
"The Ly'Lum are growing restless" some people in Seeira are discussing, "I think they're preparing for a large scale attack".
"This wouldn't be a problem if not for The Six Guns" another man says.
"But they're the ones fighting back!" A woman says, "they're doing what we can not do! Can you really hold that against them?".
"Guess this war will decide that" a man says.
"Most of our troops have deployed in Omnia, I heard" a man in Japan says. "Do you think this war will end soon?".
"With all that's going on right now? I wouldn't doubt it" another man says. "They have Japan's support, The Six Guns, not to mention their leader Siran. He's the guy who took down Naris!".
"Yeah" a woman says, "if The Ly'Lum can fight back against those guys and win, then we might as well just give up on life. If they can't beat The Ly'Lum, no one can".
"We have preparations complete" Markwood says in the Mages conference room. All of the Mages eyes have grown slightly darker than before again. They've taken in even more of Naris's endo. "We'll start to push north, toward Seeira until we successfully corner Siran. It's about time we get rid of the key player in this game. It's about time we finish this and clear the board of all its pieces".
Garreth begins coughing violently, and when he removes his hand from over his mouth, a puddle of blood sat in his hand. "This endo is tearing apart our physical bodies" Garreth says. "We need to finish this soon".
"Our primary target is Siran" Agatha says, "he's been around for too long and knows too much magic. He's been a pain in our sides for over a century and a half. No longer shall we have this insult to the name of Naris".
"We're ready to start this fight" Don says to Siran. They were still in Vega, waiting for their time to strike. "My men have taken several locations near military bases. At my word, war will break out all over the nation. Do you think you're prepared for this?".
"I'm as ready as I'll ever be" Siran says.
"Before we begin" Alex asks, "what's your Plan B this time?".
"If it becomes impossible for you guys to fight" Siran says, "then run. I won't allow them to kill any of you, and I don't want any arguing over heroics. You stay alive and I'll make sure they don't reach you. Even if they get through me, you need to distance yourself from them. If I fall, you'll need time to launch an attack of your own when the time is right".
"If you die" Zia says, "I'm dying with you".
"And let them wipe the Mahina bloodline from the Earth?" Siran asks. "Don't give them what they want".
"I'll do what I want" Zia says, "and I don't care what you say".
"After all" Ying says as she approaches the crew, "The Six Guns don't have to take orders from anyone".
"Ying!" Rose cheers as she hugs her. "When did you get here!?".
"I found my way in, thanks to these people who called themselves Wolf Pack, whatever that is" Ying says. "Once they found out that I'm one of The Six Guns, they led me down here".
"We're glad you're here" Siran says.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world" Ying says. "I didn't get a chance to properly thank you guys for helping before".
"Siran" Don says, "are you ready?".
"Yeah, I'm ready" Siran replies.
Don picks up his phone and presses a quick dial button. When someone on the other side picks up, Don says "It's hunting time".
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