Free The Clan by D. Rus

A knot of cussing bodies rolled into the cellar and fell apart, revealing a battered Camo, his hands twisted behind his back. At least we'd got one.
    Rubbing his hands, Dan glanced at Frag who nodded. Dan walked over to the prisoner and crouched trying to look him in the face. The man wore a mask that only revealed his thin pressed lips. He raised his head, studying everyone, before giving us all a smile. A very nasty smile.
    He jerked his head down, hitting the fragile artifact gem on his neck with his chin, and shouted something I didn't quite get. Then he smiled again. The artifact began glowing, brighter and brighter, droning as it changed color across the entire spectrum.
    "Fire in the hole!" Dan yelled, jumping aside and taking cover behind some debris.
    Some of the men dropped to the ground, covering their heads and trying to flatten themselves against the floor. The fighters holding the prisoner just cringed, turning their heads away from a blow that couldn't be blocked.
    A flash of lightning crackled like a powerful transformer targeting the prisoner's body. A star of five voltaic arcs connected his forehead and limbs, imprinting itself into my retina. With a bang, a granite tombstone collapsed onto the floor.
    "Shit!" the General spat, unmoving.
    He looked over his fighters getting back to their feet and turned to Dan. "Please. It's time to forget those real-life reaction times. I understand that this motherfucker beeped like an impact grenade, but we're immortal now, right? Anyway. Soldiers! The castle has been taken and purged, the portals are blocked. Whoever wants to squeeze us out of here has got a real job on his hands. Restore order in your units, make a list of prisoners and inventorize our takings. Preliminary debriefing at ten hundred tomorrow. Dan, get me everything I need to know about this mysterious third party."
    The General was still busy barking orders but my inner greedy pig was already deaf to the world, dancing a jig with abandon. His hour of triumph was near —the sharing out of booty!

Chapter Five
     
    A n excerpt from the Veterans clan treasurer's memo:
     
    The final loot inventory leaves us with the following picture:
    One Bastion-class castle: 3,400,000.00 gold
    One Colossus-class Dome Shield artifact: 1,600,000.00 gold
    Stationary mana accumulators, 41 (all empty, 24 beyond repair): 1,700,000.00 gold
    The Castle treasury: empty. A hidden strongbox discovered in the Commandant's office containing 220,000 gold.
    Warehouses and clan depots containing:
    Miscellaneous ingredients (pertaining to alchemy, weapon making, forging, etc.): 122,311 pieces, of which Rare: 1,311, Epic: 14, totaling 423,000 gold
    Workshop finished articles: 1,488, of which Rare: 36, totaling 172,000 gold.
    Elixirs: 14,670, of which Rare: 212, Epic: 2, totaling 155,000 gold
    Miscellaneous ordnance (arrows, crossbow bolts, throwing knives, hatchets, shurikens, etc.): 153,300 pcs totaling 19,000 gold
    Miscellaneous (crafting tools and fortification equipment, etc.): 611,000 gold
    The items dropped by slain enemy soldiers traditionally become property of the combatants. As such, they are not reflected in the inventory, excepting the eight items dropped by the Сamos and turned over to the security department.
    Grand total of loot: 8,300,000 gold
    Raid expenditures: 155,000 gold, plus:
    Payment to mercenaries, 70,000
    Payment to Drow, 200,000
    Payment to Max, 1,240,000
     
    Mr. Simonov's resolution: I deem it reasonable to undervalue the loot by fifteen percent and raise the price of the unverifiable consumables by twenty percent. That would allow us to diminish our payment to Max to the sum of 1,030,000.00.
     
    Security department resolution: I'm in accordance. One million gold is well enough for a newb. Signed: Dan.
     
    General Frag's resolution: I object. If it ever surfaces, we'll never clear our name. Max's contribution has virtually tripled the loot. Without his exercise in lightning assault, the best we'd have