PSYC Ward: Explorer

World 5, Part C: Children of Temuchin

The nice thing about Mongolia's steppes and the Gobi Desert were the many places to hide, without hiding. It's not like there weren't caves to dig into in the mountains, but the vastness of the steppes themselves and the small size of her group meant it was very hard to pinpoint their location, like finding a needle in a haystack. What's more, as soon as it was found they would simply pack up and move somewhere else. By the time the army got there, they were long gone. This didn't include the fact that they were semi-nomadic anyway, moving their camp as needed. And the best part was on the open steppes, if they could see you, you could see them. All of this together is what turned the Children of Temuchin from a small rebellion of two dozen people into the terror of Mongolia. The only time they'd leave the camp is when they went on missions.

She surveyed the land around her. Cold, chilly. Tuffets of snow lying around in the brown fields with the occasional dying shrub. She suddenly felt the hand of her friend, Harghasun, upon her shoulder.

"Astral? We're ready for you." He said.

She gave a nod and turned around, feeling the long, furred cloak she was using to keep herself warm in the cold billow behind her. She tossed her cigarette away and followed him back to the camp, brushing her hand through her hair. She saw the large central Yurt that had been built for her in the dead center of the camp, with the motto of the Children written on it it bloody red:

Өршөөл үгүй бол харуусал үгүй

No Mercy, No Regrets.

She went around the central campfire and past several other of the yurts, before finding fifteen men. Ten of them wore the bands of the People's Liberation Army. Five of them wore the dogtags of the American military. These had been put on them to identify them quickly for Astral - they were otherwise unremarkable in their dress. They were all on their knees, tied to a post and looking terrified. Good. Two other members of the Children stood at either side, each armed with an AK-47 in case anything stupid happened.

"Spies?"

She asked.

"One of them is." Harghasun answered. "We captured the rest as we found him returning to his seniors to report. They just so happened to be in a skirmish with the Americans when we got there. We cleaned up the mess they left."

"As always." Astral grumbled.

"By the way. There were two others with them. Kids. Said they wanted to help, and were unarmed." He reported.

Great. Kids.

"I'll deal with them when I'm done here." She said

She looked over the men and saw Shek, the traitor. She walked up to him and looked him, straight in the eyes.

"Hey there. What did I tell you, huh?"

She spoke to him in Mandarin - a language she knew fluently, in addition to English, French, Russian and of course, Mongolian. He gave a gulp. Astral could see the beads of sweat on his face. He was struggling against his bindings, but Astral knew it would be useless. She looked him dead on in his brown eyes.

"You...you said...traitors...traitors are worse than trash." He recalled.

"I did. Do you know why I think that?"

He shook his head. Astral squatted down next him and glared straight into his eyes.

"Do you know how many of us there are left?"

"...u-us?" He asked.

"Mongolians. Not even pure blooded, just...general Mongolians."

He did his best to shrug with his arms tied as they were.