Missiles & Magic

The aircrafts were finally en route.
Unmanned ones scouted ahead.
The sensors worked better than expected, picking up places of magical interest.
He jotted them into a map to come back to later.
They slipped across the final border.
Last air traffic control to avoid.
The whole damn city glowed with ultimate magical signature. Which confirmed they had the right place... and meant they will have to get much closer to pinpoint the target.
"Call the drones back, take us low and slow, prepare for final..."
The lattermost word remained unsaid as the drones and then the plane suddenly disintegrated.

Arne sneaked up to the cage with the animal and put down his sleeping bag.
He didn’t feel any different as he was falling asleep.
And then... he was lost.
Series of images flying through his mind...
Shooting a girl on a cliff...
Shooting a man in a car...
“You cannot trust anyone...”
“You cannot trust MORIA...”
“MORIA...”
Dark, dark, dark cave... walking backwards...
Bright, bright, bright light and all those colors; tents, tents set up, magical animals everywhere, he should report this market to MORIA, MORIA, now follow the colors to the cave...
Who am I?
He got lost.

Money could buy everything, if you knew where to look.
White, gray and black sources abounded.
But why waste, when you have a different option?
One of the things that didn't have time to change (thanks to bureaucracy) was that military bases were protected only by non-magical military means.
From a handful of carefully obtained (and economically resold) prisoners they found out which of the bases had what they needed.
Drones, a large enough transport aircraft and other odds and ends.
The intruders tore through the camp and were gone before anyone outside suspected mischief.
The equipment couldn't be traced.

She couldn't believe it.
After all the time... they were still there. Still alive...
...and right now very much in harm's way.
She needed to act immediately.
"Are you sure your information is correct?" he asked.
"As sure as one can be," she shrugged.
"I'd rather you tell me the truth, Zaria."
She closed her eyes for a moment.
"It's my family, master. If we go through with the plan..."
To her surprise, he smiled.
He could afford to be magnanimous. It was no skin of his nose, after all.
"I'll tell the sheikh we need to revise the plan."

The ship with its cargo was supposed to leave the next day. Their job was done.
But the creature unlocked part of my memories. What would happen if I slept close to it again?
“We might use this opportunity to snatch a ride to Copenhagen, the next stop,” said Arne. “To make sure everything is alright.”
His car was here... Risa’s farther away.
It didn’t make sense.
What is his agenda?
Is he going to meet some of his contacts?
“If you think so, partner...” agreed Risa reluctantly
The closer to Prague the better. Just get him to Swan somehow.

The plan was getting too complicated, and Mawhub cursed his choice of body, as another splitting headache hit him.
"Keep it simple, sheikh," he gritted. "No conspiracy, just plain old siege."
Simple? Like the shebang with the statue simple? his doppleganger asked.
"One airplane. Maybe two. Under the radar. One team on the ground..."
"How do you propose to pinpoint the location?"
"Magical defences are rarely invisible to those who know how to look."
Sure, you see them from a mile off... oh, wait. Are you sure you don't want my input?
"What about our guests... do they know anything?"

It was as if the Tasmanian tiger’s magical attack unlocked something... memories.
He was lost and couldn’t go back. He was lucky to escape with his life, killing the flaming demon. Now, there was a light... and a green valley opened. He stepped out of the cave...
A wave of pure magic washed over him, picked him up and everything went back... and then... he was both dead and not-dead.
He could go back now, just didn’t remember anything at all.
Now he at least remembered the fight with the demon.
His memories might be coming back.
That is... concerning.

Working for various employers dealing with magical objects and creatures means you are not often surprised. Because you have seen... things.
They took turns in driving and got to the port in time.
That was a pleasant surprise... the last one.
They couldn’t find a parking spot.
They made a mistake in the appropriate paperwork that was supposed to go with the magically cloaked cage. Had to fill it again. Twice.
The ferry was late.
“Things going smoothly? That will happen when pigs dance,” sighed Arne.
“Isn’t it supposed to be ‘when pigs fly’?”
“I have seen them doing THAT.”

There was a commotion in one of the outbuildings.
Zaria picked up her pace.
"What is this?" she asked when she came upon the new fence.
"A sty," a voice explained behind her.
She turned with a jerk.
"But..." she trailed off, as she realized religion and tradition are no longer taken into account here.
"It's just one more move in the war choreography," the sheikh explained. "When dancing with the devil, you better use all the steps you know."
She looked at the animals, happily rutting and rolling in the mud.
"Isn't the use of biological weapons too... mundane?"

Back then, when he woke in that cave... he felt like he woke up for the first time in his life.
There was burning light somewhere in front of him. He cannot go there. Darkness behind him.
He tripped on something... a body.
That’s me.
I am... am I dead?
I don’t feel... dead.
The way back is kept by dead...
He can go through now.
But who am I?

Since that day, he took almost any job. Losing his memory at the end of every week... it came back the next week.
Trying to find himself.
Maybe he will.