A November Halo Story: Thieving from the Desert Part 6

Madinat Alnujum Alshiraeia wasn’t the largest airship port in the area, but it was a good size and, more importantly, was run by the government working with some of the local war tribes to keep peace there. The known rule of the small port was no one got stabbed or shot unless it was by the law, and for the most part, everyone agreed to the rule. The port was seen as the middle ground for all sides of any war to meet. Many nations used the small port to do back-room deals, along with the Shadow World, hiding in the under belly of the world. The shadows were long in the desert, allowing the more hidden part of the world to work in the darkness.

                Nova dropped into a deep shadow from the weary horse, petting the animal as she strolled over to some water for the beast. She never had a problem with horses; they seemed to love her naturally. Barak came up beside her, wanting to drink some of the water, pulling down his mask but stopped himself from doing so. He looked over his shoulder at the gasping light of the day, letting the endless stars come out.

                They had rode the horses hard. They didn’t stop for a few hours to give the horses a break. There was no need to ride them until they dropped.

                Nova petted the horse more, whispering sweet nothings to the animal before moving over to watch Barak’s horse drink his water.

                She tied her horse to the pole as Barak did the same thing, and they both stood on the edge of the port town studying the streets. She let her fingers dance on the hilt of her gun, not thinking about it. It was an old habit she had picked up years ago. She tipped her hat down a little while Barak sighed, shaking his head.

                “Kind of feels like we are walking into a pit of snakes,” he said.

                “Sure, in the hell does,” she said, hearing some planes dash overhead. She glanced skywards to see the markings of the British Empire on their tails. The Empire was here, but they weren’t alone. She glanced at the airport, seeing the black and red swastika of the Third Reich. The blueprints on her back were meant to be sold to them for their upcoming war in which everyone acted like it wasn’t going to happen.

                The Nazis lied to the world and the world accepted the lies.

                Nova had no plans of handing the blueprints over to the Nazis or the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Who were also in the port, but their ships weren’t around. Most of the time, the standing order for when there was more than one enemy airship at port was to keep everything in the air.

                She wasn’t sure why the British Empire airship wasn’t hanging out in the sky as they were strolling for the port. The Market Street was cleaning out with the sun, quickly resting for the night, allowing the darker things to roam freely. Nova walked on the street's edge with a few men eyeing her. It wasn’t common for a woman to be walking in the streets of this town with a gun on her hip and, more importantly, not covering her head, but the cowboy hat said it all.

                She wasn’t from around here.

                They both turned down the alleyway leading them to the port gates, hearing the boots of some men coming behind them. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing it was local men tracking them with a devilish grin.

                “Ah, hell,” Barak said, making her stop and nodding at the other end of the alley. A group of Nazi men were stepping out of the shadows while some people moved on the roofs above them. Nova saw their shadows, knowing they were ninjas moving to attack. The Germans and the Japs might not fight one another, she wasn’t sure of their friendly nature towards each other, but she knew they both wanted the blueprints.

                She was waiting for the Russians to show up to make the job more difficult.

                It was as if, right on cue, an airship shadow was cast over them. She saw the Red Army ship hanging there like a hammer about to come crashing down.

                “We got to get to the Red Coats,” Nova ordered.

                Barak nodded in agreement.

                “I’ll meet you there.” Barak spun on his heels, tossing smoke bombs behind them, while Nova dashed from where she was standing, dropping smoke bombs as well. The whole alleyway blasted into a thick black smoke with bullets starting to fly. Nova had her pistols free, barking at the fools trying to kill her. She shot at the blonde fools while Barak let loose the shotgun blast down the other way.

                The Germans started to fire back, but neither Nova nor Barak were still in the smoke. They were both racing for the port, searching for a haven in their ally’s ship. It would be a little bit of a gamble with the hopes the enemies’ airships didn’t start raining Hell down on everything, but she was betting on the fact everyone needed this little town.

                She sprinted with all the speed left in her weary body, trying to reach the gate as throwing stars started to nail against the building, barely missing her. She ducked and rolled away from a few of them, almost getting hit. She spun around as a jet pack trooper landed in front of her from the airship. He tried to grab her, but she rolled out of his hands and behind him just in time for a few of the stars to kiss his neck. The man grunted as his friends tried to grab Nova; no, they were trying to get the case on her back.

                She kneed, punched, and elbowed everyone around her, fighting hard and taking a few of them down. The men came rushing at her as the ninjas from above started to jump down with their blades slicing everyone in their path. Some troopers tried their best to fire back but were too focus on getting Nova to aim well. Troopers in the air started to rain down bullets without knowing who they were hitting or caring who they killed as long as they got the case on her back.

                Nova pulled free a grenade from a trooper’s belt, pulling the pen and hooking it in on one of the jet packs. She kicked the man forward into his friends without him knowing he was about to be nothing more than a fireball. She jumped out of the way, crashing into a house with no one in the room and ducking as the outside was washed with fire, blood, and screams.

                She wasted no time running out of the back of the house, winking at a little boy standing in the bedroom door. She kicked open the back door, and his mother took him away. The screams of horror from the street followed her, but she dashed back down the road and rushed for the gates.

                The air base was on full alert, with the watch towers spinning their searchlights in the streets looking for the cause of the chaos. Behind those lights were well-trained snipers with the order to kill anyone getting close to them. 

                She was starting to debate with herself about how much extra she was going to charge for this job.

                Nova stepped onto the main road before the gates, two lights washing over her. They had blinded her as she lifted her hands into the air. She hoped they had been order not to shoot from the British needing her alive, and so far, her hopes had proven to be true. She held up her hands, taking a step forward when a throwing knife was driven into the pole in front of her. One of the lights quickly raced up the street stopping on the lady in the devil masked from the camp.