18 Vulcan

Mahuta marched back into Leksa's camp not fifteen minutes after he had left.

"Is this a joke?" Mahuta asked Leksa.

Leksa waved her people off. She and Indra remained across from Lily and Mahuta. Leksa let out an uncharacteristic display as she began to laugh.

"This is not funny. I would threaten war, but I promised my tribe I wouldn't fight senseless wars." Mahuta spoke with a deep frown.

"She likes you!" Leksa laughed, "Lily, tell him what you told me."

"I say I wish to go with Big Man," Lily spoke, and Leksa burst with laughter, and Indra snickered.

"See! Are we enemies?" Leksa asked.

"We are not," Mahuta replied.

"Then allow Lily to accompany you. Think of her like an...What is the English word for a person of a friendly clan staying with you?" Leksa asked.

"Does this person speak for you?" Mahuta asked.

"Lily? Oh no, she's crazy as hell. But you can house her, and managing her will be cultivating my goodwill." Said Leksa.

"So you want this crazy bitch to become my Ward?" Mahuta didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Ward? Such a simple word with heavy meaning. Yes. Lily is one of my oldest friends, and you are her second. Can you imagine how lonely life like that is? When I became Commander, she had no one. She has no one. She is impulsive and crazed. But I love her, and she is weak right now. If someone calls for a solo gunplei. She will fight because she is crazed, and she will die." Leksa sniffled and whipped her eyes.

Mahuta sighed. But he said nothing as Leksa had more to say.

"When you said that you didn't care what happens to the other clan of sky people, I was glad. I was glad because the bitch couldn't stop talking about the fun she had with you, and I can finally send her somewhere where people don't want to kill her. That's why she's with me, she can't go back to Azgeda, and I can't leave her alone with Trikru."

"Okay, fine. Shut up." Says Mahuta. He then looks at Lily, "You do what I say when I say. You do not pick fights with my people. If you have urges, you find me. You fuck up, I'll gut you."

"Me know you will." said Lily, "But me still healin' from the last time. Promise I behave. Catch you later, Leksa."

And that's how Lilly Kom Azgeda became the Ward of Chief Tanemahuta.

---------------------------------

"Big Man..." Lilly whispered. "You feel, don't you? Two, 100 meters to the right. Three, almost 120 meters dead ahead."

"Little Girl, I know. " Mahuta then whistles like a little bird.

Lily frowned when she heard the subtle metal clicks from behind her. She felt that firearms weren't the weapon of a real warrior, that it diluted men and allowed them to neglect physical combat training.

"E rua nga tangata kei te taha matau. Iwa tekau ma waru mita." He shouted, "E toru nga taane kei mua, he maui iti. kotahi rau e waru mita."

Tribesmen fanned out and took aim.

"Ariki, Kua rite matou!" Camilla shouted.

"Ahi!" Raven growled.

"You heard her!" Mahuta roared, and the sound of gunfire filled the woods. Lily and Mahuta extended their sense and locked on to the men watching them. One by one, their life forces went out like snuff flames of a small candle.

"Big Man, you must teach language. Me teach you Trikru. Deal?" Asked Lily.

Mira giggled at Lily.

"Deal," said Mahuta. "And next time. Keep your mouth shut. We speak Moari the same reason you speak English on the battlefield."

"Enemies no speak it." Lily chimed.

"That's right," Mahuta replied with a smile.

Lily has a pretty voice, and her broken English had an odd allure to it. Without trying to kill each other, he slowly starting to appreciate the native beauty.

Mahuta waved his hands, and a few tribesmen went to collect the bodies. It was no mistake that he ran into the Mountain Men. The idiots were using the same jamming frequency to communicate. So instead of breaking in and eavesdropping, Mahuta used the static as a locator.

The static becomes high pitch when he gets close to communicating Mountain Men, and it also gets higher when they're going in the right direction to find the source. All Mahuta had to do was keep his sense open, and he would find them before they found him.

"Keep your eyes open. If you don't have an insulation wrap on your rifle, no more shouting. We want to be silent and be at their front door before they notice us." Said Mahuta.

"If there isn't going to be a fight, why the new bombs we made?" Raven asked.

Mahuta said nothing and just smiled at her. A moment later, as the tribe progressed, the few runners returned with the bodies of Mountain Men.

"Big Man. We no go to Mountain Man land. They make burning clouds." Said Lily.

"Burning Clouds? You mean the acid fog?" Mira asked.

"Yes! Me think... Mountain Men get scared and send yellow clouds. Yellow clouds kill many of Lily's people." She explained.

"Mahuta, this can be bad." Said Raven.

"All we need is cover. Conveniently, I'm leading us along with cave entrances." Mahuta replied, " When the Mountain Men came, they collaborated with the beastly men in the caves. They loaded people up in carts. So I'm assuming there is another entrance to the bunker beside the front door."

"Beast Men?" Lily asked, " You mean reapers? Men who eat other men."

"Cannibals?!" Raven exclaimed.

"Yeah, we're going to kill them all." Said Mahuta. "Just follow my lead and trust that I have a plan."

As Mahuta said, he leads his people to Mount Weather, clipping every person he sensed. When nothing but space remained between the Ngata Tribe and Mount Weather, he found the nearest cave entrance.

"We will all go in. But only a team will follow me. When it i's clear, I'll click the radios three times in three-second intervals. There will be no communication on the radios. We talk; they know we're here.

"Torches..." Mahuta called out, and torches were lit in the matter of moment, illuminating the dark mines.

Mahuta then leads his team of twenty-five, Mira, and Lily into the darkness.

"Love, do you know where we're going?" Mira asked.

" Mount Wheather is west, so we'll head west. Just keep your eyes peeled for these reapers." Mahuta replied.

Mahuta pushed in, and he felt people with strong physical force at the edge of his senses. Mahuta signaled for his shooter and turned down a right-hand tunnel to an open area where carts filled with human corpses were staggard. Further in, big beastly men congregated around a fire like troglodytes, eating raw flesh cut from the long pig being roasted over the fire.

The mere smell of burning flesh made many of the Ngata tribesmen gag as the smoke filled the tunnels.

"Aim..." Mahuta spoke, and the Reapers were alerted to the presence of Mahuta and his team.

"Fire..." Mahuta commanded, and his tribesman opened fire and mowed down the Reapers like overgrown grass. Their large bodies hit the rocky cave floor with great thuds.

"Hold!" Mahuta shouted, and the fire died down. " Push through!"

"Yes, Chief!" The team echoed as they made their way through tunnels stepping over the corpse of cannibals and the bones of the prey. Mahuta snuffed the cooking fire as he passed.

Sometime later, Camilla called out, "Another dead end, Chief."

Camilla spoke the same line for the fifth time.

"Let's take it back 100 meters and try the last tunnel," Mahuta spoke as he looks out the tunnel down to the water below. To his left was the man-made waterfall that flowed from the dam.

The tribe backtracks and takes the last tunnel. About 25 meters in, the tribe hits a steel door with a faded hazard symbol.

"You sure this leads to Mount Weather?" Mira asked.

"I'm positive. What we need to do now is send a team topside to introduce them to our newest toy. Meanwhile, the rest of us will stay here and wait for them to open this door." Mahuta explained as his fingers were moving like he was mentally counting them.

Mahuta's hands suddenly froze, and he looked at Lily. "Little girl..." he said as she perked up. "You said the Mountain Men bring the acid fog. Have you ever seen them move in the fog?"

"Yes. Mountain Men have strong magic. Never burn." she replied.

"Mira, get the tribe up here and send the quartermaster up to me," she said.

It took a while for the tribe to arrive. And even longer for the quartermaster to get from the back of the tribe to the front.

"Cheif." The Quartermaster greeted Mahuta.

"Gerlt, the chemical suits that we have. They've been used as insulation in the homes back at Little Creek. How many do we have with us?"

The Quartermaster, Geralt, squinted as he pulled out a notebook. "Twelve. We left them in the gear carriage just in case someone needed an extra layer."

Mahuta put on a toothy grin. "When the team goes top side. They will wear the chemical suits and the masks that we pulled from the last Mountain Men. It should protect them against the fog. If what Lily said is true. The moment they see us set the weapon up, they will launch the fog."

"Then I'll go," said Raven.

"You sure?" Mira asked.

"The brace slows me down, but I can manage just fine. " Raven growled.

"Big Man! Your woman be strong. I go wit' her." said Lily.

Mahuta nodded. Raven then selected her team. After they were geared up and properly protected. They ventured out of the caves with a horse-led carriage. If the acid fog came, the horses would die. So Raven sat on the carriage and drove it hard to the Mountain Men's front door.

In the caves, guards were posted at the cave entrance, and every intersecting shaft connected with tribes' position. Mahuta kept his senses firmly on the door and beyond. Mira sat next to him and asked, "Aren't you worried about her?"

Mahuta nodded. "But I trust her more. I believe in what she can do." he then looked at Mira, "Everything will be fine."

"So why do you think they will open this door?" she asked.

"Deduction. You said the skin of the mountain men burned. Probably from radiation. That would explain their protective suits and masks. But, once the front door is sealed in a bunker, it can't be opened unless you're ready to leave. At the point, whatever radiation is in the world will enter the bunker."

Mira frowned as she followed along. "Then how do they leave to fuck with us?"

"That's what led me here. When they tried to take us, they used the mines. Now for a bunker the size of Mount Weather, the main entry point down here would be absurd. But a small door, with the rest of the bunker sealed off, can act as an entry and exit point. They'll just have to decontaminate the area and personnel." Mahuta explained.

"But there can be more doors," said Camilla, who immediately covered her mouth.

"It's fine." said Mahuta, "You're right about the multiple doors. It's a strong possibility. But with the front being hammered and its assailants on an even playing field now that they're protected against the fog, they'll look for an advantage."

"We entered the closest shaft to Mount Weather," Mira muttered.

"Yupp. And finally, the cannibals. The mountain men control the cannibals. I don't know how, but they do. The probability of this being the door they use to gain an advantage is overwhelming when all the facts are added up."

Camilla and Mira looked terrified. "Those beasts that took bullets to the body like love taps are controlled by these...inferior humans?" Camilla asked.

"Yupp," Mahuta replied. He then looked to the ceiling of the cave with a smile. "Get ready," he added.

Mahuta walked to the heavy steel door, stretching his sense as far as he could go. He didn't want to risk a bombardment as the door was designed to withstand nuclear blasts. As long as he could get a solid number of targets, he could quickly act for the doors shut.

"How does he do that?" Camilla whispered to Mira.

Mira smiled, "Mahuta teaches us of the Gods that were worshiped by his people before we fled to space. So tell me, do you believe in the Gods that he teaches us about?"

Camilla looked anxious as she didn't know whether to speak the truth or not.

"Be honest," Mira added.

"I believe in him. We all believe him. But if the gods existed, We wouldn't have needed to flee this world." said Camilla

"Well, my husband believes in the gods, and they give the power that protects us all. Think about that." Said Mira. "Get in line. It's almost time."

"Oh, you can feel it too?" she joked.

"Aaah, I'm getting there. Me and this child of ours." Mira then went off to get behind the first lines, out of the line of fire.

The acid fog had just rolled on the surface, and the mountain men and Ngata were in a firefight. But as the fight went on, Raven had pulled the trigger on their newest weapon.

The radios came on, and Raven shouted, "Vulcan 1 away. Vulcan 2 away. Brace!"

The Ngata topside took cover, and the Ngata in the mines braced for a possible cave-in. Mahuta stood straight up, and his mana gushed forth as strong roots appeared to line the mine's walls and ceiling all the way to the exit.

Vulcan 1 hit first, in the nanoseconds of contact, a small case within the makeshift warhead cracked. The contents spilled into the Hydrazine-packed bomb.

The earth rattled, the bomb sounded across the lands, and a plumb cloud could be seen for hundreds of miles. The field around the bunker door was scorched and turned to glass.