Chapter 23

Red Sands Desert, Contested Border Zone.

Expeditionary camp.

"You know, I didn't honestly think it'd go this smoothly."

Allya stopped, and looked at Pyn, raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

The elf shrugged.

"Buying the land, working with Elkaryos, arriving here...Everything, really. You always hear those stories about dungeon towns falling into chaos or anarchy, with everyone tearing each other apart over ownership and the money."

Allya shrugged.

"Might still happen. But I've read a bit on those...rather less than stellar examples. They were usually due to lack of leadership, and some very shaky legal foundations to begin with. We have a WMC title, the backing of the adventurers guild, and one of the most powerful merchants in the country. Our position is rock solid. No one is going to challenge us directly. Not yet at least." She winced. "I'll admit I had some doubt at the beginning as well. But hey, sometimes you have to think big. Besides, you need to take risks to get resul-"

She jumped in surprise as her cape suddenly heated up, and a shield flashed around her.

*****

"Hit ineffective. Enemy has a ward of shielding. Load shield piercing ammo."

Firatite bit off a 'No, you fucking think?' as he reloaded his crossbow. He could see that quite clearly. Damn their fucking intelligence! Could they have at least tried to check for enchanted gear?!? It's not like they weren't, oh, their primary targets or anything.

A single glance to the secondary target made him nod. At least that one seemed down. He finished reloading his crossbow, shouldered it, and-

He had a split second to realize that the guard accompanying the targets had grabbed his trident like a javelin, and was in a throwing position. He released his second bolt a split second before he felt a rush of air, like an object missing him by a few centimeters. He looked to his side, and cursed aloud as his spotter slumped, the trident embedded in her breastplate. She looked like she was still breathing, but she was clearly out of it. Then his eyes widened slightly as the trident rose from her body, and began making it's way back to the guard.

His eyes narrowed as he saw the primary target grab the first one, and dash for cover. He could try for a third shot, but...his orders were clear. This was supposed to be a quick in and out assassination, not a prolonged fight. He holstered his crossbow, grabbed his spotter, and jumped off the mesa, activating both of their invisibility cloaks as he ran, quickly followed by the second team.

*****

"PYN!" Yelled Allya as she dashed to her friend's side. She felt an impact, and nearly stumbled, but she picked up her sprint in an instant.

She got to Pyn's limp form just in time for her cape of shielding to intercept the second shot aimed for the elf, her shield failing and shattering in the process as the runes consumed themselves, but having done it's job as the bolt ricocheted off of the energy bubble. Allya cursed, and following her old counter-ambush instincts, simply threw the elf over her shoulders, and ran for cover.

She stumbled and almost fell as she reached a large boulder, and unceremoniously dumped her friend behind it, before sliding down by her side. She'd managed to get a good read on the direction of the attack, thanks to her shield, and the bolt now planted in Pyn's side.

She looked at the elf's wound, and her eyes widened slightly as she saw the clear liquid dripping out from it.

Poison.

She immediately grabbed the crossbow bolt, and tore it free, before opening one of her pouches, and extracting a vial. She didn't even pay attention to Valker as he slid down next to her, and she plunged the tip of the bolt in the large vial - more akin to a beaker really.

The liquid inside bubbled and smoked, and then a series of letters appeared on the beaker surface, and she sighed in relief. The beaker was a poison identifier, used by assassins, healers and alchemists the world over, and it allowed for the quick identification of poisons as well as cures. Fortunately, it had recognized the poison...and it wasn't a fast action neurotoxin. She searched through one of her pouches, quickly pulled out the appropriate antidote, before opening Pyn's mouth, and practically shoving the vial down her throat. She emptied about two third of it, before splashing the remainder on the wound, and reaching for her first aid kit pouch.

Someone touched her shoulder.

The only reason the security team officer survived was because Valker's reflexes were fast enough to grab her arm before she could drive 15 centimeters of serrated steel through the poor soldier's forehead.

Allya froze for a second panting, staring at the officer in surprise, before her tunnel vision slowly faded away, and she realized that people were shouting, and soldiers were rushing into overwatch position around her, kneeling and pointing crossbows and bows in every direction. She took a deep breath...and winced, moving her hand to her hurting side. She then brought her hand up, puzzled for a second.

Those bloodstains hadn't been there a second before, she was sure of it.

Then she looked down, and she saw the bolt protuding from her chest.

And at long last, her adrenaline rush faded, and she fell forward, her vision blacking out.

*****

"What the hell is going on out there?" Asked Alexandra as she looked at the screen in worry.

Emilia shrugged.

"I don't know! They just...started running in all directions all of a sudden."

"And mustering their forces."

"And that, yes."

Alexandra slowly shook her head. Whatever had just happened outside, it had really kicked the hornet's nest. There were people running in all directions, with the normally relaxed patrols of what she assumed to be some form of police now having closed ranks, and probably telling the rushing adventurers to wait in their tents for everything to blow over. The big ship with the ballistas had also briefly hovered nearby, and disgorged nearly an entire platoon of infantry, who had then proceeded to coalesce with some of the local forces before rushing to the outer mesas. The dwarf she had seen on the stage during the noble announcement was also running around, shouting orders and organizing adventurers. And while she wasn't necessarily an expert at reading body language, it wouldn't take a genius to deduce that the dwarf was really pissed off.

"Well, there isn't really much that we can do. I'll deploy a golem outside if they want to talk, but as long as it doesn't blow over into the dungeon, I don't really see how we could influence things...Still, we better keep an eye on it.

Emilia nodded, and Alexandra took another look at the screen, before shaking her head, and walking back to the workshop, quickly followed by the vampire girl. They'd rushed in as soon as she had received the alert about 'highly unusual activity in the adventurer encampment'. But right now, they couldn't really do much but speculate...and it looked like it was going to be a while before things settled down. They might as well make use of their time instead of just sitting there and worrying about it. Plus, she wanted to get the prototype for the second floor theme out of the way so she could truly dig into her new stuff properly.

Still, better safe than sorry, and she started creating a few more golems in reserve in the forge area. Just in case. You never knew what could wrong, and in any case she would need them to replace losses at some point or another.

*****

"Lady Aubétoile? Can you hear me?"

Allya groaned, and moved her hand to cover her eyes, and protect them from the light.

She opened her eyes slightly, and saw the blurry, relieved face of...she couldn't remember his name, but he was a healer. The head healer of the infirmary Elkaryos had contacted to come with them in fact. He'd told her his name during her visit to the wounded, but she couldn't for the life of her remember what it was...

Then, the healer's face disappeared as he was unceremoniously pushed aside by a much more familiar one.

"Pyn...?" She croaked, her throat dry.

The elf's eyes were...red. Puffy. Had she cried? Why would she be crying?

Allya barely had a second to think, before, the elf darted down and hugged her.

"ALLYA! You're okay!"

Allya blinked, and weakly hugged her friend back, before looking around as her vision cleared up. There was Valker, of course, but he was accompanied by Éclair, whose scowl was even more profound than usual. There was also Calder, Starvak, and the security chief of the expedition, whose name she couldn't quite remember either. There was also a man in black and gold robes covered in runes, and faintly pulsating with energy.

"What...what happened?" She managed to force out.

"Someone tried to assassinate you milady." Answered the security chief. Anders! That was his name. Anders Stevnor. Tough bastard, a mountaineer from the Far Reach if she remembered well. The 'I killed an entire platoon of Republican soldiers in my time' type of mountaineer. With his viking style beard, braided auburn hair, scars and tough face he certainly looked the part anyway. "And very nearly succeeded." He nodded towards sergeant Valker. "If the sergeant there hadn't seen how you treated your knight, and you hadn't so thoroughly labeled your antidotes, you'd be dead right now."

Allya winced, and opened her mouth, before closing it as the head healer handed her a bottle of water with a straw sticking out. She gratefully accepted, and took a sip of the water as Pyn let go of her, but continue to hover by the side of her bed.

"So." She spoke after re-hydrating her throat. "I don't...remember much." She frowned. She remembered a few flashes. Pyn, falling to the ground...her shield breaking....and ripping the crossbow bolt out and shoving it in the poison identifier. Then, looking down at her own chest...and the bolt planted there. She firmly suppressed the reflex to touch her side to check. "What happened? After, I mean..."

Anders nodded.

"After you passed out? Sergeant Valker administered the antidote, before him and lieutenant Estar got you to the healers as fast as they could. The alarm was sounded, and I sent for guildmaster Starvak. Captain Calder joined us shortly afterwards, alongside as many marines as he could spare to help, before the Alberta took up a guard position for fire support if needed. We took stock of the situation, and decided to hold a meeting there after the healers assured us the poison had been stopped in time, and they could get you back to consciousness quickly."

Allya nodded.

"I...see." Then, she frowned. "Wait, where's Myskaros?" She couldn't see the expedition director anywhere.

Anders looked to Starvak, who nodded.

"Come with us ma'am."

A few minutes later, Allya stared at body on the medical bed, leaning on Pyn to stay up.

The expedition director looked...tranquil. Almost peaceful. If you discounted his injuries.

"One bolt through the chest to get the poison in, another in the head to assure the kill." Simply said Anders, and Allya nodded.

There was no need to tell him that she had used that same tactic several times before. Highly effective, and simple. Of course, you had to be able to count on getting several shots off before having to pull back.

"Why hasn't he been resurrected?"

The question was purely pro forma of course. It was obvious that the assassins must have used something, otherwise the others would have brought the dark elf back.

The man in the black and gold robes stepped forward.

"The attackers used a soul sealing enchantment in their crossbow bolts milady. It wasn't a permanent one, but by the time it dispersed...it was too late."

Allya looked at him, and he bowed.

"I am Elervir Towerborn, necromancer, animancer, and enchanter, milady. I came here for the last two of my professions, to study the golems and the artifacts of this dungeon." His face, partially obscured by his hood, twinged in undeniable sadness. "Unfortunately, I was needed in the first one. We solicited the dungeon's help, but even she could not bring him back." He slowly shook his head. "I doubt anyone in the camp would have either. And we tried." He sighed. "At least there were no other fatalities."

Allya nodded.

"How many casualties did we take?" She asked, automatically falling back on her knight-valiant instincts and training.

Anders straightened his shoulders, his subconscious responding to the tone of a commanding officer.

"Besides you and lady Pyn? 3, milady. Two of Myskaros' guards were hit trying to heal him, and another took a crossbow bolt when returning fire. The poison was stopped in time, but much later than it was for you, so they won't be up for a week, at least." He slowly shook his head. "We inspected the bolts milady. All of them had a soul sealing enchantment on. Whoever these people were, they meant business."

Allya nodded. At least she had managed to get to Pyn in time. The second bolt would have probably hit her head and killed her if the cape of shielding hadn't been in the way.

"How many enemies?"

"We don't have a solid number milady, but...all the military witnesses affirm they saw them operate in pairs. They were hard to see, but it appears that they assigned a pair to you, another to lady Pyn, and two pairs to Myskaros. We are trying to figure out why they concentrated their efforts on him in particular."

Allya frowned.

"I can answer that one easily enough. Because he was the one taking precautions. Me and Pyn just strolled around with a single body guard. He had an entire fire team following him around, including a marksmen. FUCK!" If she was sitting at a table she would have probably slammed her fist into it. She took a deep breath. "Alright. Everyone, in the administration tent. Anders."

"Yes milady?"

"Double the guard for today. Then work out a rotation for an increased, and sustained alert level. I want a fireteam to accompany me and Pyn at all time, under whichever one of our personal guards is on duty. I also need security around the administration tent, if there's one concentration of high priority targets, it's there." She winced. "There and the guild hall. I assume you'll handle guild security guildmaster?" She asked, looking directly at Starvak.

The dwarf nodded.

"Indeed. Although it has been a long time since it was mobilized, the Darthar guild hall has a security contingent, which I took the liberty to replicate here, just in case..."

"Hopefully they won't attack the guild hall. But hopefully won't cut it." She looked at Pyn. "I need you to make me a list of the most essential pieces of infrastructure, we might have to deploy guards to protect them."

"Right." Answered the elf, firmly nodding.

Allya looked at Anders, meeting the security chief's gaze.

"As for you captain, find who those bastards are. I don't care how many asses you have to kick or whose toes you have to step on. And if any idiots start messing around the mesas with ranged weapons, you and your men have my benediction to shoot first and ask questions later. In fact, make an announcement: ANYONE not part of the security forces that tries to take a sniper position on the mesas will be fired upon."

Anders nodded, and slammed his fist against his heart, which Allya returned.

"It shall be done milady!"

*****

"So?"

Neptunite shook his head as he sat down on a rock, facing his superiors.

"The nobles survived. Both of them. The baroness looked pretty dinged up, but that's about it. We got the expedition director however."

Diamond slowly nodded, and Saphire and Ruby watched him in silence.

To say that he was unhappy was one hell of an understatement. They had deployed 4 pairs of snipers/spotters -yet another series of terms they had to take from the damned Tarkians-, which culminated to 8 of 13 of his men. If you took Onyx out of the equation, since he couldn't shoot to save his life, that was 8 out of 12, counting himself. He had invested 2/3rd of his own forces for this attack, and had to use members of Saphire's team for spotters. And even then they'd only succeeded in killing 1 of their 3 targets...and taken 3 casualties in the process. None of them fatal. At least not yet. Whoever they had chosen to guard the expedition director must have been some of their best, because the marksmen accompanying him had scored a headshot on his second shot. Jade, their healer, wasn't sure if Jasper was going to make it. And Lazulite, Firatite's spotter wasn't much better off, although at least she wasn't in danger of dying anymore. The only light wounded was Ludlamite, who'd taken a grazing hit from the responding guard forces while pulling back.

"Alright. It could have gone better. What about their security measures?"

"Hard to tell. I mean, I know where they're sending guards, but I don't know where the good ones are. They doubled all guard posts and patrols, but I think it's more of a knee-jerk reaction than a long term plan. There's a fire team accompanying the nobles now, and they all carry crossbows on top of their regular gear. They've also started posting snipers in guard posts on the mesas. Some of them have muskets too."

Diamond frowned.

"What about the dungeon?"

"No changes there. They still have the same handful of coppers guarding the entrance. But they're building a small fence with a post, for taxes I assume. The guild hall on the other hand, is now guarded around the clock. Ranks varies, some steel, some copper, and a few electrums from time to time."

The sergeant slowly nodded.

"Good."

He let out a bark of laughter as his subordinates looked at him weirdly.

"I have no intention of attacking the guild hall. Having them waste their forces on defending it rather than, say, the aqueduct, or the dungeon entrance, is perfect for us."

His subordinates nodded.

"So, are we going forward with attacking the aqueduct?" Asked Ruby.

Diamond had to stifle a sigh. Ruby had made quite clear her opinion that they should just take the core and be done with it. Diamond....was of a different opinion. He'd realized during his initial briefing that the 'core stealing' part of their mission wasn't the Colonel's idea. And that the Colonel would very much like that this part stay a theoretical contingency rather than a reality. And Diamond could understand why. He'd never dealt with the United Dungeon Council before, but he'd heard the stories....and he didn't want to have to change his identity, and spend the next decade or so in hiding.

He firmly quashed the small voice in the back of his head that kept whispering there was a much, much simpler solution on the side of his employers if they ever did steal the core.

In any case, he'd try everything before resorting to take the core. Within reason of course, as the core would require some serious firepower to get. They had been issued some specialized equipment to take care of her advisor, but only fools underestimated dungeons, especially when they fought for their freedom.

"Yes, we are going forward with the sabotage of the aqueduct." He stressed the word as he looked into Ruby's eyes, and waited for the corporal to nod. The last thing he needed was for her to make it into a full scale battle instead of discreetly setting some charges and destroying the structure. "Excellent! Now, then, Saphire, I need you and your men to concentrate on their infrastructure. I don't think we'll get another shot at their leadership, not without loosing too many of our own in the process." He smiled at Neptunite. "Sorry, it means getting back into the lion's den."

The soldier waved it away with a smile. The sergeant was pretty sure that contrary to what he had implied, the experience wouldn't be all that unpleasant for the private. The job of a certain category of spies was primarily social. It was incredible how much info you could gather by buying drinks and making friends with people, rather than sneaking around into tents and stealing documents. It was much less risky too.

"And Ruby..." He suppressed a sigh. His unit would obey him no matter what, but sometimes he still had to behave like a politician and throw his subordinates a bone so they wouldn't drag their feet. "I need you to draw a plan to attack the dungeon and take the core. Have one of Saphire's people get you the guild's briefing package for the dungeon, you'll need it." He stopped for a second. If he was going to ask her, he might as well make it useful, just in case. "Assume we'd have taken some casualties, but will retain Onyx."

"Yes, sir!"

"Dismissed."

His men saluted him, and then dispersed, going back to their units and preparing as ordered.

He looked at the horizon, and the glow he could see from the lights of the expeditionary camp. They were far enough away that even the lookout posts on top of the mesas couldn't spot them, but they'd still deployed some chameleon tarp overhead, to avoid a patrolling airship stumbling upon them.

He looked at the glow, and he went through the different scenarios in his head. What he came up with...wasn't good. Granted, assassinations were always risky, but 3 casualties, and only 1 target down? That was worrying. More so when he accounted for the fact that they were definitely not expecting an attack. Now...

Hopefully a stealth sabotage mission would go much better, especially if they didn't engage the enemy's forces directly. But he was a firm believer in the extradimensionals' Murphy's law. In warfare, black ops, spying or -Gods save them all- politics, what can go wrong will go wrong. The side that won was the just the one that screwed up less than the other.

He just wasn't sure which side was the one that would screw up anymore.