She went back to trying to undo one of the buckles and the sight of her fumbling around was enough to make Lowen step in.

Having two free hands and nothing restricting his movement, Lowen quickly undid the buckles, then opened up the torso section. One look at her bare chest and he closed it right back. Even in the dim light, Yasuko could see he was blushing. She remembered a time when she would be blushing too under the circumstances.

He went around to see where the back support connected to the waist bar and said, "It's screwed in. Let me go get something."

He came back after a couple of minutes with some kind of tool to unscrew the back support. Realizing he needed to disconnect the arm piece before he could take off the torso piece, he did that. Once her arm was free, removing the torso piece was easy.

He was keeping it under control, but this seemed to fluster him more.

As amusing as it might have been to embarrass him further with some teasing comment, Yasuko kept quiet and let him finish his work. Once the leg braces were off, her body felt free for the first time since she was thrown off Heigangcheng. It still hurt all over and she was pretty sure it wouldn't take much to open up a few dozen fractures, but she would probably be fine.

Even without the braces, though, she found that she moved stiffly. It would take time to get back in form, time she didn't have.

Although pain and mobility were the main things she was thinking about, she also realized that having been in the brace so long, she didn't exactly smell the best.

Lowen brought her a packet of wipes and she cleaned herself off as best she could. Lowen was just standing there the whole time, but Yasuko didn't say anything until she was nearly finished.

It seemed to just dawn on him what he was doing.

Yasuko chuckled a little.

Somewhat hesitantly, he wiped down her arm. As he was doing it, he said, "You know, a young lady really shouldn't speak like that."

Yasuko rolled her eyes.

While Yasuko could put on the oversized bloomers Señora Villalobos gave her by herself, she needed Lowen to tie the drawstring or else they would end up around her ankles. Wouldn't that be something? To survive everything she'd been through only to break her neck on account of some baggy knickers.

Lowen also helped her get her dress on and buckle her belt. Her boots were now way too big for her, so she'd have to kick them off if they found themselves in a tight spot.

Lowen then demonstrated that he did indeed have a functioning sense of humor as he managed a wry grin and told her, "Consider it an officer's privilege."

Yasuko chuckled. There was a certain appeal to him being awkward and embarrassed like a schoolboy, but she was pretty sure she liked him better when he was able to crack wise like this.

However, it didn't take long for her to get serious again.

There was no dedicated mess tent, just a canopy to cover the serving trays. As they were getting set up, Yasuko added her extra ingredient to several of the dishes, mixing it in well so no one would notice until it was too late. Although she was prepared to kill each and every soldier in the camp if they stood in her way, she found herself pulling her punches and crafting a nonlethal poison that might make them wish they were dead, but it wouldn't kill them.

The conditioning of the Regulars required them to finish meals in less than ten minutes. That was good for them because the first ones to eat were out of the assembly area before the poison took effect. That would make it more difficult for them to raise the alarm in time to make much of a difference.

In theory, Yasuko and the Imperials would only have to go through a few dozen sentries at most. Not great odds but better than if they were up against the entire company.

Yasuko glanced at Lowen's watch. They were in the middle of serving the fourth platoon when the members of the first platoon would start getting sick. Some of them with weaker constitutions might already be scrambling for the latrine trench.

Once the last man was served, they quickly began packing up. They didn't want to be just standing around when word started to spread about everyone getting violently ill. It was a balancing act, though, getting away from the assembly area quickly but not loading up so fast that they would be expected to leave.

While they were loading up, a couple of guards approached the truck.

The guard laughed.

His stomach made an unpleasant gurgling sound. His face tensed up as his guts were launching a full-scale revolt.

He didn't know the half of it.

Just then, the second guard clapped his free hand over his mouth to keep from vomiting everywhere. Taking advantage of their vulnerability, Bantu and Nils attacked, seizing their rifles and taking them down. Robbed of the conscious effort to hold things back, the guards' bodies did their thing to purge themselves. It was an awful mess. Yasuko at least paid them the courtesy of titling their heads to the side with her foot so they wouldn't drown in their own puke.

Looking at the two downed guards, Lowen wondered aloud, "Do we go for it or lay low a while longer?"

Lowen nodded.

Ignoring the bridge bunnies' banter, Din asked Lowen, "You want me to keep the engine running, sir?"

They only had a mere five weapons they were able to salvage from their ship. Lowen and Wei took a pistol apiece, while the third pistol was given to Din. Skorsky kept the rifle to defend the truck and Goran took the shotgun. It'd be nice if everyone could have a weapon, but it wasn't going to happen.

As Bantu was inspecting the rifle he took off of one of the guards, Yasuko told him, "It's no good. Type 72s are locked to their registered operator."

Bantu handed the rifle to Kan and said, "You do something with it."

Goran rolled his eyes at the suggestion.

It amused Yasuko watching Lowen try to stay in charge of the situation when most of his men were probably more experienced than he was. Yasuko thought it was funny how a stripe on the sleeve or a bit of metal on the collar was supposed to make a leader. Lowen, was trying, sure, but he was clearly in over his head. The least she could do was to not add to his troubles.

With Bantu and Saladino taking the lead, they cleared a path to the relay tower. There were a few guards on the way wallowing on the ground in the throes of their poison-induced misery who were put down with a good buttstroke to the head.

When they got to the door to the tower, Lowen said, "Kan, get us in." He waved the others off. "Don't crowd him. Eyes out."

The door's lock was controlled by a card reader—low-tech by Celestial standards but more than enough for a remote and relatively low-priority facility like this one. Kan pried off the cover and started fiddling with the wires.

Lowen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Security is only going to get tighter after this. We have to risk it. Get us in there, Kan."

He worked quickly to get the door unlocked. The troops had yet to converge on their position. Anyone who wasn't sick from the poison must have still been trying to get a handle on the situation. So long as they remained disorganized, Yasuko and the Imperials had a much better chance of staying alive.

With the door open, Lowen waved the others on, telling them, "Move it, people! Get in there!"

Once again, Bantu and Saladino took point. There was no threat to meet them, though, just a winding staircase that went up some three hundred meters or so.

As they made their way up the stairs, it didn't take long for it to become exceedingly clear just how bad of an idea this was for her. There was a landing at each corner of the wall, one per story, roughly, she imagined. By about the thirtieth floor, Yasuko didn't think she could make another step, but she didn't want to say anything. However, without saying anything, Lowen took hold of her wrist, put her arm over his shoulder and started to lift her up.

She didn't want Lowen to be carrying her, but she didn't want to fall back down the stairs even more, so she tried wrapping her legs around his waist until he got a hold on them. He gave her a little bounce to readjust his grip, saying only, "There's no time, Yasuko."

Wei muttered something under his breath and they kept going. After about thirty more floors, though, Lowen seemed to be struggling.

When they got to the top, Lowen let Yasuko down. He was pretty well winded by that point and Yasuko was still a little unsteady on her feet.

Wei gave them a critical look and asked, "Are you two going to make it?"

Lowen was trying to bring his breathing under control as he said, "We'll be fine by the time Kan gets the door."

When the lock clicked, Lowen said, "Khan, get ready."

Yasuko couldn't really tell the difference between 'Khan' and 'Kan', but apparently the Imperials could, so it was Saladino who was up. Mordu tossed him the shotgun. He quickly checked and readied it before nodding to Bantu to open the door for him.

Unfortunately for Saladino, the guards were waiting for him and opened up full auto, riddling his body with bullets.

Lowen blindfired his pistol into the doorway. The pistol didn't shoot bullets but rather these little red blobs of light. Whatever it was, it didn't get through their armor.

They flipped some setting on their pistols and depressed the trigger about halfway. Even over the guards shooting bursts of suppressive fire, Yasuko could hear the pistols humming as an indicator light filled. Once the gauge was full, the pistol made this beeping sound.

Lowen shot first, getting one of the guards square in the chest. Wei hit another one in the face, but he took a couple shots to the arm and chest for his trouble. Bantu grabbed him and made sure he fell back into the wall instead of right into the guards' line of fire.

Wei just cursed in his pseudo-Celestial. Lowen repeated the question in their language, Yasuko supposed. Nils checked Wei quickly before replying. It didn't sound like it was critical. Just from where she was, Yasuko figured it missed his lung. He wouldn't be doing much complaining if he was lungshot, but as it was, he probably wouldn't be contributing much more to the fight.

Nils took Wei's pistol and fired off a shot in the doorway.

Between the two of them, they managed to hit the remaining guards with their next shots. Bantu went in to confirm the kills, sticking the bodies with his bayonet to be sure. Goran checked on Khan, then the shotgun, but it had taken a round or two, so he just tossed it back on the floor.

Lowen's attention turned to Wei. He knelt down and started checking his wounds.

What Yasuko didn't say was that they couldn't afford to spare an able-bodied man to evacuate Wei. Even so, the message got through loud and clear.

Lowen moved like he was about to do something when Nils said, "I'll stay with him, sir. You could use someone watching your back, right, sir?"

Lowen then told the others, "Let's get moving. We need to find the control room, get the signal out and evac before reinforcements get here."

With Bantu leading the way and Goran pulling up the rear, Yasuko followed Lowen and Kan inside. As they passed by the dead guards, Yasuko considered taking a rifle, but besides being locked out, she wouldn't be able to carry it well much less shoot worth a damn one-handed. However, while she was there, she picked out a medkit from a guard's gear and took it back to Nils.

Wei looked at the medkit, then back at Yasuko and said, "Don't think this changes anything between us."

She went back to catch up with the others, picking up a bayonet as she went. It wouldn't count for anything in a firefight, but if she was able to get in close, she wanted a little more than her bare hands. Hand. Dammit.

While she was there, Yasuko noticed a floor plan conveniently posted on the wall near the door. She gave it a quick once-over before going to catch up with the others.

There was another copy of the floor plan by the door to the stairwell and, sure enough, the floor plan for the next level was waiting on the other side when they got to the next level. Yasuko checked it and found the control room.

They headed that way and there was another lock for Kan to crack. This being the third time, he was able to get it done a fair bit faster.

When the lock disengaged, Lowen started to charge his pistol and told Bantu, "Wanna, I want you to go in loud. If there are guards, you hit the deck."

Bantu furrowed his brow a bit but nevertheless said, "Aye-aye, sir."

Yasuko didn't imagine any Regular would fall for a bluff like this. By her estimate, there was probably between four and eight other guards here in the control station. In the worst case, all of them would be waiting for them in the control room.

Kan looked to Lowen and said, "I think it goes without saying, sir, but be careful where you're shooting in there."

Bantu seemed to be thinking about what happened to Saladino as he took a few quick breaths to psyche himself up before going in. Because the door swung out instead of in, Goran took hold of the handle and held up his other hand to count down with his fingers, then swung it open. Bantu charged in, bellowing something indistinct. It may not have even been any words at all.

The control room wasn't very big. There were two operator stations and just barely enough room for two guards to lie in wait. Bantu didn't hesitate going after the one on his right, but that left him exposed to the one on his left. It may not have been the smartest move, but Yasuko threw herself at the guard before he could shoot Bantu. She managed to knock his rifle away, so instead of shooting Bantu, the round he squeezed off ended up blowing out the brains of one of the poor operators.

While the guard was distracted by the misfire, Yasuko dropped down on one knee so she could reach the gap in his armor near the groin. The idea was to cut the femoral artery, but it would take a bit of a lucky stick. She stabbed him with her bayonet and he cried out in pain. There was the small matter of the guard having more than enough time to shoot her even if she got the artery like she intended. He seemed to be having the same idea and Yasuko really didn't account for her loss of agility in her current condition. As the guard swung his rifle back at Yasuko, half of his face was turned into a smoking crater. It would seem Lowen's pistol finished charging while she was keeping the guard busy.

As the guard's body fell to the floor, Lowen seized Yasuko by the arm and yanked her to her feet.

Though Lowen was rather angry with her, she didn't meet it with anger of her own.

Lowen looked annoyed, but he didn't say anything more on the subject. He pointed his pistol at the remaining operator and said, "You. Hands up."

The operator quailed a little as he raised his hands.

When the operator didn't move, Yasuko repeated Lowen's instructions in Celestial. It would figure that the Celestials wouldn't let ordinary Infernals operate this kind of equipment. No, not Infernals. Paisanos. Damn those Celestials and their conditioning.

Once the operator was down on the floor, Kan leerily approached the dead one's station.

Seeing him approach the body so gingerly was annoying Yasuko for some reason, so she grabbed the body by the collar and pulled it out of its seat so it wouldn't be in the way. Kan still seemed squeamish around the blood and other bits splattered on the console, so Yasuko took her empty sleeve and started wiping it away. That may have only made it worse for him.

Though he was looking rather green around the gills, Kan was able to muster the wherewithal to trade barbs with her.

Kan examined the console and said, "It should be fine, sir."

Lowen looked a little embarrassed as he cleared his throat and said, "Yes, well, use those then."

While Kan was working on the equipment, Lowen glanced at Yasuko and asked her, "You're not hurt, are you?"

Yasuko laughed.

Lowen gave her a complicated look, a bit of that pity he was showing her before mixed with something like regret for having brought up the subject again, wittingly or not.

Lowen sighed.

Kan muttering to himself got Lowen's attention.

Yasuko crouched down by the operator and asked him "Where are the controls to the satellite dish?"

When the operator didn't answer, she pressed the point of her bayonet against his belly and snapped, "Talk! Or I start carvin'!"

The operator wailed piteously and blubbered, "No, please! The controls are up the tower! Take the stairs down the hall to access the roof, then go up the ladder to the gantry where the dish is located!"

She pressed the bayonet a little more and asked, "You sure about that?"

Lowen put a hand on her shoulder and said, "That's enough, Yasuko."

As Yasuko was standing back up, Lowen told Kan, "We need to chance it. Can you get up there?"

Kan pointed to the console and said, "I have it all programmed in. All you have to do is press this key when the dish is realigned, but how am I supposed to let you know? You left the other field radio with the truck."

Yasuko went over to the body of the guard Bantu killed and took his radio, basically a collar around his neck and the earpiece to go with it. She handed them to Kan and said, "Put this on. Position those two dots over your Adam's apple and press down on the when you wanna talk. Any bad guys on the channel will hear you too, so watch what you say."

While Kan was looking uncertainly at what he was given, Yasuko went to get the other guard's radio. Lowen's shot just barely missed taking out the earpiece. Good thing it hadn't because Yasuko didn't think she had time to go back down to the bodies down by the door.

Lowen fitted himself with the radio while Jan did the same. When Lowen saw that Kan had his earpiece in, he touched his throat and said, "Radio check, 1, 2, 3, over."

Kan was holding down the earpiece to listen while touching his throat to reply.

Then, without the radio, Lowen said, "Your callsign is Rapunzel and I'm Rumpelstiltskin."

Bantu clapped Kan on the back and said, "Let's go, Rapunzel."

Earlier Kan said that a time like this was when it was most important to joke around. Yasuko was pretty sure she understood what he was trying to say, but he was wrong. If Bantu hadn't been joking around with Kan, he might have been paying closer attention.

The moment Bantu stepped out the door, he was met with a hail of gunfire. The bullets chewed through the door and did quite the number on Bantu as well. Even though there was pretty much no chance of saving him and no way she was going to be able to move someone that big without a muscle suit, Yasuko still tried to go to him, but Lowen caught her and pulled her back.

Her senses came back to her, but rather than take cover behind him like Lowen probably intended, she crouched down by the door with her bayonet at the ready to stab anyone who tried getting in.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Lowen pressing down on the earpiece like he was trying to listen.

Yasuko looked around and saw the little black dome in the center of the ceiling.

At the risk of not having a shot ready when the guards outside decided to storm in, Lowen blew out the camera. He immediately started to charge his pistol again while listening in for further radio chatter.

While the two of them were switching out, Lowen noted, "They don't have to risk coming in here. They just need to keep us from leaving."

Lowen looked around and said, "Goran, use your bayonet and get the pins loose on the hinges to the door. I'm not going to be able to get a decent shot with it in the way and it obviously isn't good for stopping bullets."

Yasuko got out of Goran's way as he detached the bayonet from his rifle and set it aside. With a little effort, he was able to pry the pins loose and take the door off its hinges. He showed the small courtesy of making sure the door fell away from Bantu's body. This prompted a fresh burst of fire from the guards.

Lowen pressed himself against the wall and took a few slow breaths to prepare himself before popping out to take a shot.

For whatever it was worth, Yasuko told him, "My guess is there's at least two of 'em. Prolly no more' four."

Lowen nodded, then shot down the hallway before the guards started shooting again.

Once his pistol was charged again, he fired off another shot and got another burst in reply.

Yasuko looked around the control room for any ideas. She came up with something. It wasn't great, but it was better than nothing.

Yasuko nodded to one of the dead guards and said, "That armor should be able to take about three direct hits from those Type 72s before failing. If you'd use these bodies as a shield..."

Lowen hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mordu, I won't order you to do it, but will you be Kan's shield and get him to that substation?"

Goran looked similarly conflicted before muttering under his breath. He then looked up and told Lowen, "My ma'll kick your ass if I buy it, sir."

Lowen managed a weak smile and replied, "Then for the sake of my ass, don't buy it out there."

Goran handed his rifle to Kan.

He then went over and picked up the guard that Bantu killed.

As Goran positioned himself at the door, Lowen said, "I'll cover you."

Goran nodded, then told Kan, "When I get out in that hallway, you run your ass off."

Kan sighed.

Goran sprang into the hallway and Kan hurriedly got behind him. Rather than go for a charged shot that would kill the guards, Lowen opted to squeeze off weaker shots to keep them from popping out and taking shots at Goran and Kan. The guards tried blindfiring down the hall, but it wasn't very effective.

Yasuko risked taking a peek to see that they made it through.

Lowen grabbed her by the collar and pulled her back.

It felt distinctly like she was being treated like a child, which annoyed her, but there was nothing to be gained by arguing with him about it. If anything, the more you complain about being treated like a child, the more likely people are going to keep on doing it.

Lowen held up his pistol and said, "I'm out of shots and I don't have a spare power pack."

Lowen sighed. Yasuko realized she wasn't being particularly helpful. She started looking around the room for ideas again.

While she was examining the remaining guard's body, she said, "I think we can use this."

Yasuko, who thought she was resolved for just about anything, found herself hesitating.

She then started looking around some more, running her hand over the floor.

Recalling the floor plan, Yasuko replied, "Yeah, but they'd have a clear shot at us when we try to get into the stairwell an' we wouldn't be able to sneak around 'em because they've got someone on the cameras."

Lowen looked at the body of the dead guard and said, "We could try your human shield trick to rush them, but we'd almost certainly just get ourselves killed. Or we could try going the way Kan and Mordu did, then around to the stairwell." He kicked the body. "This fellow might be able to take enough hits for us to get through."

Lowen gave her a regretful look and said, "I'm sorry I got you into this, Yasuko."

Lowen's field radio crackled and Din's voice come on, garbled and nearly inaudible. He was speaking in their language, so Yasuko couldn't understand what he was saying. Even if she did know the language, so little of it managed to get through that she probably would've had trouble figuring it out anyway.

Lowen pulled out the field radio and it sounded like he was trying to get Din to repeat what he just said, only he didn't get a reply. Instead, after a few seconds, there was a muffled boom. Lowen tried hailing Din again, but by looking at his face, you could see that he expected the worst.

Yasuko could guess what was going on, but she decided to ask anyway.

Still looking a bit shaken, Lowen said, "That was Din. I didn't hear all of what he said, but I think he said they'd been made. I tried to get a confirmation from him, but I haven't heard back. And then there was that noise..."

Lowen stopped and pressed down on his earpiece, then told Yasuko, "That was Kan. He says the dish has been realigned." He went over to the console. "He said to push this button..."

He pushed the button and watched the readout on the display.

Setting aside that happy thought, Lowen got back on the radio with Kan. He was speaking in their language again, which was not only more convenient for them but probably meant no one listening in could follow along.

He struggled to pick up the body of the remaining guard. Yasuko got behind him and tried to help.

Lowen gave an exasperated sigh as he dragged the guard's body to the doorway, then said, "On three. One, two..."

Before he could say "three", there was a plinking sound and something landed by Bantu's body. Yasuko realized what it was too late.

There was an explosion, not a big blast of fire and shrapnel but light and noise and a concussion wave that knocked them flat. Yasuko may have hit her head when she fell on the floor. Her vision blurred and it was like her brain was scrambled. Troops swarmed into the control room, or as close to swarming as they could in such a small space.

Yasuko tried reaching for her bayonet, wherever she dropped it. She couldn't find it, so she just tried kicking anyone who came at her. Against a Regular in full armor, it didn't amount to much. The soldier roughly turned her over and tried to cuff her, only to have the unexpected surprise that there was only one wrist to cuff. The soldier cursed under his breath, then just settled for taking her empty sleeve and tying her arm behind her back before slinging her over his shoulder. She tried fighting him, but she was still disoriented from the stun grenade and he was pinning her legs down, so her kicks were even less effective.

The soldier quickly lost patience with her struggling. He picked her up off his shoulder and delivered a hard punch to the gut that knocked the wind out of her. She didn't brace herself first, still not being in full command of her faculties, which meant that she took the full force of the blow in about the worst way possible. It served the soldier's purpose of settling her down as she was carried off.

She and Lowen were taken to the elevator and brought to the ground level. Once they were outside the tower, the soldier carrying Yasuko dumped her onto the ground. Lowen was thrown down next to her. It looked like he took a mean hit to the face. Yasuko wasn't really paying attention at the time, but it might've been that he objected to her getting gut-punched and got put in line himself.

A couple soldiers got the two of them up on their knees. It was then that Yasuko got her first good look at the scene since they went into the tower. She could see the smoke rising from the wreckage of the truck and dozens of fresh troops securing the area. Several fliers were circling in the air. And standing right there in front of them was a fairly nondescript-looking man flanked by a squad of riflemen. He was some sort of official, but not the kind who liked to show off his rank. He clearly wasn't one of Sturla's assassins or he wouldn't have all these Regulars with him.

The official pulled out what looked like a plastic stick, went over to Yasuko and forced it into her mouth. He promptly pulled it back out, then pulled back his sleeve to look at the Little Companion on his wrist.

Yasuko didn't say anything.

"I suppose introductions are in order. I am Li Fong, inspector for the Renwang Commandery. You, young miss, I know better than to bother asking your name, but you, on the other hand, you are a military man, are you not? Are you not obligated to provide your captors with certain information?"

Lowen looked at the official, then said robotically, "Unterleutnant zur Raum Lowen Meyer, 14 June 697, 397-560-6684."

Around that time, Yasuko heard more soldiers coming up behind them. She turned to see them dragging along Kan and Goran.

He was asking the soldiers, one of whom replied, "Yes, sir."

Inspector Li turned and motioned for the soldiers to follow. While the Imperials were made to walk, Yasuko was just slung over the one soldier's shoulder like before. While it was true that she didn't want another gut punch, now there were too many soldiers to make any attempt to fight back worthwhile. She had said before that she'd rather die than be taken back to Sturla, but some ridiculously optimistic part of her thought it would be better to wait it out a bit more and look for an opportunity to do something a little more effective.

They were loaded into a transport flier that had set down right in the middle of the garrison's camp, having flattened most of their tents when it landed. To better secure Yasuko, they took some tie-down straps to immobilize her arm in lieu of cuffs. She was then strapped into a harness with a soldier on either side of her. She saw medics in the bay tending to Wei and Nils. Apparently, Nils tried fighting the troops when they were coming up the stairs and took a hit or two for his trouble. Next came five body bags for Bantu, Saladino, and the three from the truck.

The prisoners were kept apart from each other and surrounded by troops. Even if Yasuko wasn't trussed up like she was, she'd have a hard time getting out of her harness one-handed. Outnumbered more than ten-to-one by soldiers that seemed to be a cut above the average Regular, they really had no chance of pulling anything on this transport. Once they got deeper into enemy territory, things would only get worse.

She had to think of something. There weren't many places where you could launch into space, just the floating cities and flying fortresses. The Count of Baiyu would want to take credit for this catch, but a commandery-level inspector like Li would opt to bypass him and make for one of the frontier forts. They had maybe a few hours at best and if a ship was already prepped and waiting for them when they arrived, Li would waste no time sending them on their way to the Capital.

There had to be something she could do before then. If she gave up, Sturla would win. Yes, at this rate, he was probably going to win anyway, but if she didn't fight back every step of the way, she'd never forgive herself.

Without making too much of a show of it, she tried reaching for the ratchet on one of the straps binding her. As you would imagine, they didn't give her much room to move around. However, once she was able to loosen the ratchet on the first strap, the next one came easier and the third one easier still. Now she had enough slack to reach the release catch on her harness. Of course, just getting out of her harness wasn't going to help her much. Even with the element of surprise, she'd only have a few second at best. With both arms, a muscle suit and a decent weapon, she could maybe kill two or three of the soldiers before they got out of their harnesses and fight off another four or five at best, but she had none of those things going for her.

An idea came to her. It was incredibly stupid and there was a good chance it would've even do her any good, but it was something she had a realistic chance of pulling off. It was better than doing nothing, Maybe.

She hit the release catch and wriggled out of her harness, threw off the tie-down straps and darted to the aft of the transport. She went to the controls of the bay doors and hit the button. She wedged herself in the frame as red lights flashed and an alarm sounded. The bay doors slowly opened and the wind howled as the air was sucked out of the bay. Yasuko was thinking that this model of flier wasn't designed for paradrops, so it wouldn't be able to fly right with the bay doors open, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing. It wasn't like this was going to save them, but anything to trip up their captors would buy them time. Time to do what, Yasuko hadn't figured it out that far.

A couple of soldiers were directed to deal with the situation, but as they approached Yasuko, one of them lost his footing and went tumbling out the bay door. He managed to catch himself just before he fell out of the transport and the other one went to go help him, It was damn risky, but Yasuko kicked off her boots so she wouldn't stumble and got out from her safe spot to charge at the soldier who was helping the other. Even though she didn't have that much weight to throw at him, she was able to knock him over and send both of them out of the flier.

The bay doors started to close. Yasuko saw another soldier at the controls, but before she could try to stop him, she took a buttstroke to the face that knocked her for a loop. While she was unbalanced, her legs were kicked out from under her and she hit the deck hard. Not as hard as the kick to the gut that followed. Or the ones after it. She flashed back to one of the thrashings she got from Sturla. Only this time she wouldn't have Dr. Hadad to put her back together again.

She probably would've been killed if another soldier didn't pull the guy off her.

That seemed to be enough to keep the soldier from going for another round. The soldier who intervened stood over Yasuko and said, "You're not going to make any more trouble for us, now are you?"

Yasuko was hurting too much to say anything back. She wanted to tell him to go to Hell, but when she tried, her mouth just hung open.

The soldier got the tie-down straps and bound her up again. As he was tightening the ratchets, he said, "Looks like we were too easy on you before. Not going to make that mistake again."

He tightened the straps to the point where they were hurting quite a bit and also made a point to position the ratchets where it would be almost impossible for her to get to them.

He put her back in her seat and fastened the harness. He tightened that about as far as it would go too.

He backhanded her just to make sure she got the point. Yasuko was pretty sure he was grinning under that face mask, the bastard.

Before the soldier could return to his seat, the transport started rocking from turbulence. Then it sounded like explosions outside, shaking the transport even harder. They hadn't taken a direct hit, it didn't seem, but maybe something happened to the fliers escorting them. While Yasuko was wondering about that, the lights inside the bay went out and the drone of the engine went silent.

Yasuko could feel them start to lose altitude, but only for a second or two before they were shaken once again. This time it was so rough that the soldier who had yet to strap himself in wasn't able to stay standing. While he was recovering from that, Yasuko saw sparks spewing from the the seam where the bay doors connected to the fuselage. Only when the lower door fell open did Yasuko realize that they just cut the hydraulic cylinders that controlled the opening and closing of the door. Quick, smart. But who exactly were 'they'?

The moment the bay lay open, a swarm of sleek black-clad figures rushed in. Their near-silent weapons gave off only a brief flash of blue light and the target was left with a smoldering hole where the blast connected. They didn't miss a shot. The entire platoon of soldiers was dead in mere seconds, each with an expertly placed headshot. Not a single one of them even had the chance to get out of their harnesses, much less fire a shot back. Two secured the medics tending to Nils and Wei, two went on to the cockpit, and the remaining four went to the prisoners.

Yasuko watched the one further down the line on her side free Goran, but the one standing in front of her didn't make any move to let her loose. It took Lowen showing up and speaking to the man in black in the Imperials' language and even then, Lowen had to do it himself. Or maybe it was just that he wanted to do it himself.

He undid Yasuko's harness and said, "It's okay, Yasuko. We're going to be fine. They're from the fleet."

Lowen looked at her, concerned.

As Lowen tried to loosen the straps on her, the ratchet dug into one of her bruised if not broken ribs.

The man in black standing near them straightened up, like he was hearing something. Lowen asked him what it was, or at least that was what Yasuko guessed he said. The man in black gave a curt reply.

Another team of eight promptly boarded the transport. These were dressed in white and were not nearly as sleek-looking. They seemed to be medics of some kind.

Yasuko didn't have the heart to tell him that this one resolved a very small part of what worried her and for some reason, she got the feeling that she was in for a whole new set of worries to fill in the void. Nature abhors a vacuum and all that.