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"Alright," Sprocket said as they left the refugee camp around Gearshire. "Niknak and Alpha squad will be your guide and protection respectively." She sighed. "Keep this clean and religion free. The crap that was spewed in my father's throne room is meaningless in these tunnels. Make this quick, I can do what I have to take back Forgeholm. Anything else, skip it, I can't have you wasting time chasing ghosts, got it?"
"I really don't have that choice," Callen said. "Your father has my friends and a bunch of innocent children captured. I won't let them die. If that means searching for 'ghosts,' you're just going to have to wait."
They reached the waiting commando squad. Niknak darted towards the closest tunnel and crouched on some rubble. He pulled a knife and began rolling it between his fingers.
"Sarge, where is the last member of alpha squad?" Sprocket asked a gremlin commando leader that looked like a four foot tall Austrian body builder with long pointed ears.
"Kusari is coming." Sarge adjusted his M16 with a grenade launcher on his shoulder. He let out a thick cloud of smoke from his cigar.
Sprocket nodded. "I guess I should formally introduce you all. These are not only the most skilled warriors among our people, they are also my most trusted." She pointed at the commando. "I think you know Sarge, he's alpha's commanding officer. Alpha's members are Tuco, alpha's sniper...Nikolai is alpha's medical support...and Kusari is alpha's stealth expert."
"Ok," Callen said as he looked at the strange cast of soldiers before him. All had similar armored uniforms with their own personal touches added to them. So he wouldn’t offend them, he swallowed his laughter as he realized they were all stereotypes from many of his favorite movies.
"Hole, Uno Marcado." The one Sprocket called 'Tuco' took off his sombrero and bowed. As he returned to attention, he adjusted the poncho he was wearing over his armored uniform. Underneath, he wore several gun belts and a few finely kept single action revolvers. Happily, he patted his Winchester rifle modified with a sniper scope.
"It is an honor, Marked One," Nikolai spoke with a fake Russian accent. Along with the medical equipment he carried in his large pack, he carried a Russian light machine gun and a few large plastic bottles of some clear liquid with the picture of a Russian czar glued on it.
"Sorry, I'm late," Kusari said as she approached. She pulled on a ninja hood on which covered some stitches on the back of her neck along with her cropped pink hair. Attached to her lighter version of Sprocket's armor, she carried a variety of archaic martial arts weapons, including a pair of swords and the contemporary addition of a silenced submachine gun.
"I wish I could be accompanying you all to Forgeholm, but I will take you all as far as Fort Tiremound. All roads towards Forgeholm start there." Sprocket admitted. "But, I wish you the best of luck."
The siblings looked at each other. Both had the same look on their faces. They were digesting the absurdity of what had just happened. The steps they took from potential sacrifice to savior was a lot to take in. The road ahead didn't seem much better and the fear on all of the gremlins’ faces only made everything worse.