Ch 20: Plans in the Moonlight

The wasteland stretched out before them, a vast expanse of silver and black under the moon's watchful gaze. Kael drove his crawler at a steady pace, its rugged engine purring low as it glided over the uneven terrain. Mira followed close behind on her bike, its single headlight carving a path through the darkness. The duo had traveled in relative silence for hours, the only sounds being the hum of their vehicles and the occasional howl of distant creatures.

Finally, Kael's voice broke the quiet over the crackling of their short-range communicators.

"So, tell me what plan you have."

Mira, riding behind, raised an eyebrow at the abrupt question. "Didn't I tell you yesterday?"

Kael sighed, adjusting a dial on his console. "That was a dream, not a plan. I'm talking about the one for the hounds."

"Oh, that," Mira said with mock nonchalance, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"You do have one, right?" Kael pressed, his tone sharper now.

"Of course, I do," she replied with a touch of indignation. "It's the only leverage I have for convincing you to stick around. Why would I bluff about it?"

Kael let out a short laugh, dry and humorless. "You know, like the time you faked sympathy for that slave when we first met?"

Mira frowned. "What?"

"A Consortium agent," Kael continued, his voice laced with skepticism, "showing sympathy for something inherently useless to them? That was way too obvious."

Mira was quiet for a moment, processing his words. Then, she sighed. "Alright, you caught me. Yes, I was testing you."

Kael smirked, though Mira couldn't see it from her position. "Thought so. And? Did I pass?"

Mira hesitated before answering. "You didn't fail, but you didn't exactly impress me either. You left her behind, which was expected. But I needed to know if you were capable of making hard choices without hesitation."

Kael shook his head slightly, his eyes scanning the horizon. "You Consortium types... always obsessed with tests and evaluations. Life's not a story, Mira."

"No, it's not," she agreed, her tone surprisingly earnest. "But knowing who you can trust—who's capable under pressure—is the difference between survival and death. You'd know that better than anyone."

Kael didn't respond immediately, letting her words hang in the air. He hated how much sense she made sometimes.

"Fine," he said after a pause. "So, what's your grand strategy for dealing with the hounds?"

Mira chuckled softly, her voice crackling over the comms. "Impatient, aren't you?"

"More like cautious," Kael corrected. "If you're planning on pulling me into something reckless, I need to know now."

Mira sighed theatrically. "Alright, alright. Here's the gist. The hounds don't just come in blind—they'll investigate, gather intel, and hit when they're confident they can overpower their target. They rely on precision and overwhelming force. But…"

"But what?" Kael prompted.

"They're not invincible," Mira continued. "Their strength is also their weakness. They work like a machine—every part has a role, and if one part fails, the whole thing can collapse. My plan is simple: disrupt their coordination. Misdirection, sabotage, divide and conquer. We make them chase phantoms, burn resources, and turn on each other."

Kael considered this, his fingers tapping lightly on the steering wheel. "Not bad… in theory. But the execution?"

"That's where you come in," Mira replied. "Your knack for traps and gadgets is exactly what we need. You create the chaos; I'll handle the timing and intel."

Kael snorted. "So, I'm your bait, is that it?"

"No," Mira said firmly. "You're the trap. Big difference."

Kael smirked again, leaning back in his seat. "Flattering. But you're assuming I'm on board with this."

"You will be," Mira said confidently.

"Oh? And what makes you so sure?"

"Because," she said, her voice softening slightly, "you're not stupid. You know as well as I do that you can't handle the hounds alone. And if you don't deal with them, they'll keep coming. It's only a matter of time before they catch up to you."

Kael's smirk faded, replaced by a thoughtful frown. She wasn't wrong, and that irritated him more than he cared to admit.

"Fine," he said after a long pause. "I'll hear you out. But don't think for a second I'm putting my life in your hands. You screw up, and we're done. Got it?"

"Crystal clear," Mira replied, a hint of amusement in her voice.

The conversation lapsed into silence again, the sound of their vehicles filling the void. Above them, the stars twinkled in the vast night sky, indifferent to the struggles of the two travelers below.

As they rode on, Kael found himself glancing at the rearview mirror, where Mira's bike was a steady presence in the darkness. For the first time in a long while, he felt something he couldn't quite place. Not trust—he wasn't naive enough for that. But perhaps… the faintest spark of something close to it.