Ekron

Crepuscular Lullaby - 7

"This is a MA-2152 rifle," said Maria, "it is to our knowledge, the only automatic fire weapon in the city. We reassembled it from parts left behind around Wurttemberg."

It was a machine gun designed to be fired from the hip, with handles like those of a chainsaw. It used a hundred shot magazines, they had two of them. Attached to the right side of its thick barrel, it had a gear in the barrel's base and another in its tip. Those gears guided a chain with large blades that resembled a car transmission chain, but it was designed to cut through an armor. The chain was moved by an electric motor connected to the gear at the barrel's base. She handed it to Vlad, and he hung it by its strap around his shoulder.

"You'll need a poncho."

"What?"

"To hide the rifle. Is a long way to the palace."

Then she put some sort of cloak on him, made of wool, dark green with strange white decorative patterns, covering him from neck to knees, it was heavy.

"It has a metallic mesh layer for additional protection."

She put a round metallic brooch on the poncho near his neck and adjusted the position of a little disc on it.

"There it is, double. This will cast a double hologram of your image if you press it. Now, this is a smoke grenade; you will need it for the holograms," and handed Vlad a small canister.

Trimurti, all covered in black fabric except for his eyes, unfolded a blueprint on the table and explained to Vlad, "If you approach the palace from the Necropolis, you'll be able to shoot the guards at the entrance before they see you. Then you'll have seconds to throw the grenade into this hall and press the holographic generator. It must be that hall and that specific wall, because concrete there is thin and behind the wall there's soft terrain, not rock, so the goats will pass through the wall and possibly bury themselves a dozen feet into a wall of earth. Then you will have to disable them as much as you can, as fast as you can. From there, there is a hundred yards corridor to the throne room, that is where your sister most probably is."

"Is that all the security she has?"

"Trust me, the goats alone can overcome any threat she can have in this planet if faced directly. The guards are there mostly for ceremonial purposes."

"Getting rid of the goats will be the hardest part," added Maria, "it would be like trying to kill a truck. Taking the witches by surprise will mostly depend on timing; you must get there just before midnight, because if they had already started the ritual, is improbable that they interrupt it. Sephia certainly would sacrifice herself for Carmina, have that in mind, and don't hesitate."

"Thank you."

"No, thank you."