The Six Guns - 42 Chapter Forty Two

The crew remained in their large hotel, planning their next move.

“So what idea did you have in mind?” Ruby asks, “I’m sure it must be grand… I’d be disappointed if it weren’t, seeing as how you’re the only ones giving us this much trouble”.

“You’re not thinking of taking the most reckless course of action again, are you?” Vivi asks. “Like diving straight back into the fray against The Mages even though we just narrowly escaped them? Trying to save Kyle Ross or whatever his name was again? Maybe go after the large stock of endo that they apparently have?”.

“Those sound like good ideas to me” Rose says.

“No…” Vivi says as she lightly hits Rose over the head, “that’s a terrible idea. We’re not prepared for that”.

“Quick question” Ruby asks, “if you didn’t know about the endo, then why did you attack Omnium Guild? Just to piss off Markwood?”.

“Close” Siran says, “we were aiming to piss off all of The Mages just to see how their response would be. The goal was to see what The Mages have up their sleeve and then retreat to create a plan on how to move against them later”.

“That’s…” Ruby says as she thinks to herself, “a really reckless way to go about it, but not bad actually. I think it only worked because most of The Mages are still scared of you though”.

“Of me?” Siran asks. “They know all about me, what’s to be afraid of?”.

“You mean…” Finn asks, ” other than the fact that you can summon lightning from the sky and cook people? I don’t know what’s scary about any of that”.

“Anyways” Siran says, “to be able to get an opportunity for an attack on The Mages again, we’d need support. They’ll be ready for us next time, no doubt. I was thinking, it’s clear that Markwood didn’t let the whole world know who I was for a reason. I’m thinking that the reason for that would be, that it could cause a large enough controversy about whether we’re the bad guys or not, making it harder to order people to fight against us. When soldiers are told to fight against a group of outlaws, it’s simply their job and needs to be done. If they were told to fight someone who’s known as both a hero and a war criminal, there’d probably be some restraint. We may even gain supporters from civilians and other militias. This way, it’d be easier for our side to organize a strike directly on The Mages without needing to further include The Ly’Lum soldiers who only wanted to be a soldier for the work and money. After that much is done, we can then work on the other things Vivi mentioned, like maybe helping Kyle Ross, if he needs the help”.

“I’ve gotta say” Ruby says, “I actually expected anything to come out of your mouth to be dumber than that… but that’s not actually a completely bad idea”.

“I realize that the plan is a double edged sword” Siran says, “in the fact that it can backfire and make the world hate us more. Whatever the case though, the world deserves to know what’s going on. Especially since this is about to become larger than a conflict between a military and some outlaws”.

“I don’t understand the intention behind your misguided compassion” Ruby says, “but okay. I guess that can work out”.

“And that’s where we’d need your help” Siran says.

“My help?” Ruby asks. “I thought I already said I’m not helping”.

“We’re not needing your help with the conflict” Siran says, “we just need your former authority. If we can use your former authority to broadcast a simple message to the world, then the news about my existence would spread significantly faster”.

“Once I do that” Ruby says, “my betrayal would instantly be known to The Mages. Then again, I don’t intend on going back to them anyways and they’ll likely replace me within a day. However, they have hackers and can interfere with any broadcast”.

“That’s where Holly would come into play” Siran says.

“Do what?” Holly asks, not paying attention to the conversation.

“Once the interference begins” Siran says, “Holly can prevent them from shutting us down. You can trust Holly, she’s the best”.

“I’m not the best” Holly says, “and I never claimed that I was”.

“You’ll do fine” Siran says.

“Do you even know how intricate code hacking is?” Holly asks.

“No” Siran says.

“Then don’t speak for other people so easily” Holly says.

“Come on, you can do it!” Siran says.

“Oh, of course I can do it” Holly says, “I never said I couldn’t”.

“Then what was the point of this argument!?” Finn asks.

“I just don’t want people speaking for me” Holly says.

“Then start paying attention so you can speak for yourself” Finn says.

“Do what?” Holly asks.

“Never mind” Finn says.

“Well, for this we’re going to need to return topside” Ruby says. “I doubt we could pull a stunt like this from… a place like this”.

“So you’ll do it?” Siran asks.

“All I gotta do is get a camera crew, right?” Ruby asks. “Then Holly patches us through every channel in the country?”.

“I don’t know about EVERY channel…” Siran says.

“Yeah, I can probably do that” Holly says.

“Every channel it is then” Siran says. “We’ve got to go get Demetri. He’s probably still at the bar”.

“I don’t have to wear a sack over my head again, do I?” Ruby asks.

“No, just stay with us” Siran says. “We can handle trouble”.

The crew picks up Demetri and leave Vega. After leaving, Holly says “We’ll need to find the nearest television station with a radio tower and everything”.

“Where is the nearest television station, Ruby?” Alex asks.

“Why would I know that?” Ruby asks.

“Because… you’re a Mage?” Alex responds.

“Just because I’m a Mage, doesn’t mean I just know this stuff” Ruby says. “And that’s former Mage, former Lieutenant Schulf. Besides, when you were promoted to an officer in the military, you didn’t just magically know more stuff, did you?”.

“Fair enough” Alex says.

“If I remember correctly” Finn says, “there should be a place like that in Tylon, where we met. Not too far from here either, so it should make for an easy trip”.

“It’s a start” Alex says, “let’s get going”.

“We’re going to be on TV” Mikoto says, unenthusiastically, “and I’m not even very excited about it. I always thought my first time on TV would be different”.

“We would only need me to show my face on TV” Siran says, “as well as tell the world my involvement with The Six Guns”.

“That’d be better” Satomi says, “because we don’t want this backfiring on us too”.

“It’s bound to backfire with that attitude” Finn says, “you need to think more positively”.

“No, they’re right” Siran says. “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst”.

After making it to Tylon, the team does find a television station. They convinced the staff to allow them to record privately, using Ruby’s authority to do so. The news of Ruby leaving The Mages Guild hasn’t spread yet, so the staff didn’t know about Ruby. The staff didn’t know the recording was for The Six Guns either, because she had the staff leave before bringing the crew inside the building. With this, Siran was able to record his message with ease. It strangely got easier when Holly didn’t have to stop any hackers from interfering. No one tried to stop the signal once they pushed the transmission onto every channel in the country. Within a day, Ruby’s spot in The Mages Guild was filled with another person. A Mage by the name of Autumn Tyrel. Within that same day, the nation was also thrown into chaos. Ruby was announced a traitor of the state and everyone had already seen the news about who Siran really is. To convince the world that he really is himself, Siran even used his shapeshifting spell while recording to show the world his true form. Within another day, the news had already began spreading to other nations. The world was now focused on The Six Guns and the return of a hero.

Although it was an unexpected result, The Mages Guild also received some backlash from this event. On the same day that Siran told the world who he is, the Guild also told the nation that Ruby is a traitor and is working with Siran. This stirred up a lot of civilians because it raised the possibility that The Six Guns were the good guys and some of the Mages knew that, causing at least one of them to defect to their side. Those arguments then evolved to people asking The Guild why they’re fighting The Six Guns to begin with, unaware that The Six Guns actually started this fight against The Ly’Lum and The Mages Guild. These actions also put the military in a restless state. Some soldiers didn’t want to fight a hero, some didn’t want to fight a criminal that powerful, some didn’t know what to do, and some didn’t care who they fought as long as they fought for their country.

On the third day, while receiving more backlash from the media and civilians, The Mages Guild decided to hold a conference.

“Why did you allow them to broadcast their message?” Agatha asks James.

“Like I said” James says, “I like the chaos. They wanted this fight, but I doubt it’ll work the way they planned”.

“So you have something in mind then?” Garreth asks.

“I always have something in mind” James replies. “We just have to wait for the right time. Meanwhile, the tests with our robotic hunter are coming along well. The cybernetic engineers did well to make a human-like frame, and the tests with the endo are showing more stable results. With this, we’ll have a better understanding on how much control we have over endo, and how much control it has over us”.

Meanwhile, in Seeira, the entire crew has gathered except for Tanya who is still with her daughter.

“So why were you so hesitant on revealing yourself to us” Alex asks, “but not hesitant on revealing yourself on camera to the whole world?”.

“It was because you guys are the ones I was afraid of hurting” Siran says. “Now that you’ve all already come to accept me, even while knowing that, then I’m no longer worried about who else knows about me”.

“Can we please stop with the touchy feely bullshit?” Alex asks.

“You asked” Siran says, “and I gave my answer”.

“So what do we do now?” Ruby asks.

“We wait” Siran says.

“Well, don’t wait too long” Vivi says as she walks back into the room with a cup of coffee. “Your idea has backfired in a positive way. It’s a backfire, because it means more work for us, but it’s positive because it’s a job request”.

“A job request?” Siran asks. “We’ve never had that before”.

“Well…” Vivi says, “you haven’t. Remember that some of us have jobs?”.

“What’s the request?” Siran asks.

“It’s a request from China” Vivi says, “although it’s more like a demand. Ever since your exposure to the world, the internet has been blowing up about it. Some people have even taken the liberty of making a forum to discuss and argue whether your existence is a good one. On that same forum, people have also started making requests, as if The Six Guns themselves directly manage the website”.

“How did you find the website?” Satomi asks.

“It popped up in my news feed on my tablet” Vivi answers. ” It’s apparently become a pretty big site. One of the top request is that China wishes to end their agreement with The Ly’Lum and no longer wish to be allied with them. For this to go smoothly, they’d want non other than The Six Guns to step in to help”.

“Step in to help how?” Alex asks.

“Dunno” Vivi says, “it’s not worded well, nor did their argument hold many valid points. The actual request says ‘We don’t need another country trying to pry into our business as a country. Disrespect like this should be punished. Who do they think they are, the old America? I wish The Six Guns would teach them a lesson!’ unquote. For some reason a lot of people agree with this issue, so while seeming a lot like simple complaining, it might be a bigger issue than the bloggers on this forum are letting out. I’m not sure if they’re just not allowed to talk about the issue in detail or if they’re just not very fluent with their words. I know they can speak English, so I’m sure that’s not the problem…”.

“Why would we need to help China?” Alex asks.

“Because” Vivi says, “if we go, we’ll likely gain supporters faster. If we refuse, we’ll likely lose supporters”.

“Then I guess we have a mission” Siran says.

“Looks like it” Vivi says, drinking from her cup.

“Wow, all the way to China” Ruby says, “how soon shall we leave?”.

“Are you coming with?” Siran asks.

“The closer to danger; the farther from harm” Ruby says.

“And we’re… danger in this context?” Siran asks.

“What else would you be?” Ruby asks.

“Anyways, we should get there quickly” Siran says, “so I say we leave tomorrow. I hope we have enough money left over for plane tickets”.

“Making guns ain’t cheap” Vivi says, “and because everyone these days wants protection, I have plenty of money”.

“Then we’re all set to leave tomorrow” Siran says.

Later that night, everyone began going to sleep early to prepare. Zia was up late and Siran had troubles finding sleep. Zia had went to sit right outside of the front door, and eventually Siran came to join her. Zia was staring at the night sky when Siran came outside to join her.

“You can’t sleep either?” Zia asks.

“Not really” Siran says, “but that’s nothing new, really. How about you?”.

“Just thinking about the future” Zia says. “Like how this is going to go, with the world knowing you’re back now”.

“Try not to worry too much” Siran says. “Oh yeah, before I forget”. Siran then pulls a necklace out of his sleeve and hands it to Zia. “I know it’s a little early, but happy birthday”.

Zia takes the necklace, with a confused look on her face. “How’d you know?” She asks.

“You mentioned it last year” Siran says, “that your birthday is December 31st. I know I’m a day early, but still…”.

“How’d you get the money for this?” Zia asks.

“I didn’t” Siran says, “I just kinda… stole it”.

Zia begins laughing, then Siran laughs with her. “Thanks” Zia says. There was a moment of silence after Zia put on the necklace. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Zia asks “It’s about to get a whole lot harder, isn’t it?”.

“You mean this war?” Siran asks.

“Yeah” Zia says, “with requests and stuff… I mean, we have a good start and everything. The world isn’t asking for your corpse immediately”.

“Yeah, I guess so” Siran says. “Definitely a better reaction than I expected. It should be a good sign, but I can’t help but to feel uneasy”.

“Well, whatever the case” Zia says, “we’ve just got to do what we’ve got to do”.

“That’s all we can do, really” Siran says. “But one thing’s for sure. I really do think everything is about to get a lot more complicated”.
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