[Brackets] by David Sloan

seen everything that had come to Kaah Mukul in the past two years. He hefted the gun in his hand, testing the feel of it. It was nice .
    “Consider these a mere taste of what we can offer,” the voice said when everyone had a gun in hand. “If any of you would like to give them a try, the Ahtzon are at your disposal.”
    No one moved immediately, and the General knew why. Conspiracy was one thing, but shooting an incapacitated officer would not be forgiven easily by the Ahtzon. If caught, the punishment for the shooter would be very heavy, including death and, much worse, a fine.
    “Feel free to come up to the pool directly,” the voice said again, almost tauntingly. A decisive clank of full battle armor, and the Scarmada general was on his feet, striding to the pool, holding the gun aloft. He stepped up to a helpless Ahtzon officer, smiled meanly beneath his full red beard, and pulled the trigger. The gun recoiled with a hefty blast, and the captured officer dissolved into a vapor of red. The cavern echoed with sudden talking and whooping, even some applause as half of the other tribal leaders jumped to their feet to take aim at the remaining officers. But the General sat immobilized. When the Scarmada leader had fired, a blinding flash of light had emanated from the pool, momentarily washing out the entire scene. The General had seen that light before when the Scarmada safe-house went up in flames. It couldn’t just be another graphics glitch; that would be too coincidental. Was the Scarmada already in on this weapons deal? Was their well-guarded safe-house really the armory for this… The General realized that he didn’t even know the name of this organization. But everything lined up. That’s why the Ahtzon had moved in on the safe-house; that’s why the Scarmada General wasn’t afraid to let the Ahtzon officer see him. He now had the fire power to kill with impunity, and the Ahtzon knew it. The General gripped his weapon and began looking through the smoke for the Scarmada leader. He had to take the red-bearded leader down before he got any more powerful.
    The voice spoke again ove r the babble . “We will give you a week to consider our offer. If you wish to officially join our alliance and take advantage of our full package of resources, we will ask you to participate in a modest demonstration of our potential. It will be our introduction to the world of Kaah Mukul. You will be contacted soon with more details. Thank you, from all of us at Maascab.”
    The table receded under the water, replaced with a new holographic image: a rotating knife pointed down at an angle with the name Maascab written in block letters. Already the tribal leaders were descending the tiered seating, talking to each other or into their headsets, gesturing to the hologram and the blood-stained remains of Ahtzon uniforms. Studblood looked around the big room for the tall Scarmada leader and glimpsed him at the very back where Tula had opened a door and was silently nodding to the departing men. He held back a moment to whisper commands over the comm link.
    “Hey, hey, all Tsepesian Warriors converge at the rear of the café now. Major haul coming up. Scarmada’s General at the front, and we’ve got every other major player coming out behind him.”
    “We’re here, we have the area surrounded. Which door are you coming out of?”
    “There should be one to the…to the south. You should see a bunch of tribal generals coming out now.” The General fell in at the very end of the line, taking his time and hoping that no one noticed. His men reported back; they couldn’t see anyone . The General checked his own GPS, but it wasn’t working inside.
    “Hold on, I’m coming to you,” he said as he looked out the door. He held the new gun close, expecting that the other tribal leaders had also recognized the ambush opportunity. But what met his eyes was completely surprising. He wasn’t coming up from underground at all. In fact, he