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The farther he got from her, the stronger the pull got and the tighter the knot in his stomach felt.
Dagor had to remind himself that what he was doing was important. They were about to confront the Doomers, rescue the hostages, and bring justice to those who had caused so much harm.
Kalugal
Kalugal signaled for the convoy to come to a stop five miles away from the rendezvous point with the Doomers. It was time to deploy the spy drones, which were an essential part of their reconnaissance strategy. He couldn't help but marvel at the technology that Turner's contractor had procured for them on such short notice.
These drones were unlike those he had seen the clan use before. They were smaller than the palm of his hand, designed to look like some kind of a bird, and their operation was impressively stealthy.
"Look at this." He put one on his palm. "Have you seen anything so advanced?"
The question was directed at Bhathian, but Dagor responded with a chuckle. "I guess Kian didn't tell you about our drones. You wouldn't detect one even if it was perched on your shoulder. They are the size of a mosquito."
Kian had mentioned something about the gods' technology, but since he'd also said that it was impossible to take it apart and reverse engineer it, Kalugal had lost interest.
"Good for you." He smiled at the god. "Did you bring anything with you on board?"
Dagor shook his head. "We didn't bring any of our equipment, and I've been lamenting that decision since the whole mess with the cartel started. Our disruptor would have disabled their weapons and communicators, which would have given us a clear advantage." He glanced at the Guardians standing around them. "We have enough power to easily win this battle and free the hostages, but it would have been less messy with better tools."
"Indeed." Kalugal cast him a smile. "Next time you join the clan on a cruise, bring everything you have. Trouble always follows wherever they go."
The god tilted his head. "They? Aren't you part of the clan?"
"Yes and no. I like to think of our community as a coalition. Annani's descendants are the clan, while my people and I are not connected to each other by familial ties. My men and I came together as a group that sought similar goals, which was freedom from the oppression of the Brotherhood and a peaceful life away from wars and conflicts." Kalugal let out an exaggerated sigh. "And yet here we are, fighting alongside the clan to correct wrongs and do good."
Bhathian cleared his throat. "The history lesson can wait. We need to release the drones."
"Absolutely." Kalugal took the remote from the Guardian. "Let's see how these things work."
As the drones took to the sky, their engines emitted a low hum that was barely discernible. With the natural sounds of the surrounding forest, even the keen hearing of immortals would struggle to detect them.
Kalugal watched the drones ascend and then switched to the display on the remote, which provided a bird's-eye view of the area.
"Now we wait," he murmured, his eyes fixed on the monitor displaying the drone footage. "They will each do just one flyby. Less chance of them being noticed."
Peering at the screen from behind Kalugal's shoulder, Yamanu let out a breath. "I hope they didn't have time to set up traps on all the accessible paths. Our advantage is that they don't know which direction we are coming from. "
Kalugal turned to look at the Guardian. "We are not in a rush, and we can progress slowly to make sure there are no makeshift traps on the way."
Yamanu let out a breath. "It's very easy to set up detonations along the way, and even with our keen eyesight, we might not see the wires strewn across the road in time."
When the drones reached the meeting point, Kalugal whistled. "Well, that's something I didn't expect."
It was impossible to tell the Doomers from the cartel thugs, but together, there were at least a hundred fighters there. But the most alarming part was not the number of adversaries but the weaponry they possessed. Among the standard firearms, Kalugal spotted two jeeps with armor-piercing machine guns mounted in the back.
"They have at least a hundred fighters," he muttered. "And armor-piercing weapons. They probably have RPGs as well."
Yamanu, who had been watching over Kalugal's shoulder, let out a breath. "This changes things."
Kalugal nodded, his gaze still fixed on the screen. "We need to adjust our tactics and approach in stealth, taking them by surprise."
"We need to ditch the vehicles and approach on foot," Bhathian said.
Dalhu nodded. "As we discussed, they will have sentries posted about two miles out in all directions. Four teams are the standard, but since they only have twelve immortals, there might be fewer. In any case, the sentry teams will probably have one immortal and one or two humans each."
Evidently, Dalhu remembered the standard procedures better than Kalugal, but then it wasn't surprising. The guy had left the Brotherhood five years ago, while it had been many decades since Kalugal had escaped his father's stronghold.
"We need to do the same," Bhathian said. "We need to dispatch four teams to take out the sentries first so we can make it the rest of the way without being spotted. We get within hearing distance, you use your megaphone, and it's all over."
