Infiltrating the Dark Palace

[Cash]

((closed.))

“Infiltrate Valsath d’ Isto, learn about their secret technology, and give said secrets back to Step, easy enough. I’ve done this kind of mission countless times before. I just wish they had given me some info on my partner in this mission, this Canen Darkflight guy. Oh well, guess I’ll know him when I see him.”

Casha sat clenching the sides of her seat in the little two-person cargo airship that was transporting her to Alerar. As the noisy, rickety old piece of flying machinery flew over the city of Ettermire to its destination just outside the gates Valshath d’ Isto Casha couldn’t help but feel amazed. Since the air ship was flying under the think smog of the city, the female agent of Step was able to get a good view of the drow nations biggest masterpiece, which of course was the capital city itself.

The city itself reminded Casha of an old sci-fi cartoon she used to like to watch back on Najin when she was a child. The cities streets were narrow, winding and numerous. From the birds eye view the spy was getting from the airship the streets below actually reminded her of the threads in a spider web. Of course each street was flanked on two (and in some cases three) sides by all sorts of black, mechanical buildings that ranged large towering skyscrapers to small one-story buildings. The most impressive thing however were the giant furnaces that glowed brightly with fire lighting up even the dark smog covered streets.

A few moments later the Casha clutched her ears in pain from the pressure as the rickety old airship began to slowly descend at a 90-degree angle onto the landing pad just outside the large, black steel gates of Valshath d’ Isto. The drow nation had apparently mastered the art of created steam powered airships that could take off and land at a 90-degree angle, hover in mid air, and change directions on a dime but they hadn’t mastered the art of pressurizing any part of those machines including the cockpit. Luckily the landing was quick so Casha didn’t have to deal the pain in her ears for long.

Almost as soon as they landed a drow guard armed in heavy plate armor and carrying a dangerous looking halberd. There was a brief exchange in words between the guard and the drow pilot sitting next to Casha in the strange language she had heard spoken once before when she had been ‘recruited’ by Step. Of course try as she might Casha was completely unable to understand even a single word of what had been spoken in the brief exchange though she did see the guard point to her once or twice.

When the conversation was done and the guard had left Casha turned to the pilot and asked politely “Well what did he say?”

“He asked us what we were doing here and all that nonsense. I simply told him that we were delivering a supply of coal to help power the furnaces that run this place. I also told him we were having a bit of mechanical trouble with the door to the cargo bay so there would be a slight delay.”

“I noticed that the guard pointed to me a couple times. What was that all about?”

“Oh that; don’t worry about it. Humans are rarely seen in this nation so he simply wanted to know what you were doing her. I told him you were my assistant.”

With that, there was no more that needed to be spoken. All that needed to happen now was wait for Mr. Darkflight to show up. Then the plan could begin.

[Falcon Darkflight]

When they were on official Step service in Radasanth, Corone or abroad making politically rude gestures at other nations, the two contrasting men were Step's latest initiate Canen Darkflight and his senior Buren August of the rapid-deployment and infiltration force.

But here in Ettermire, aghast the alien landscape and unfamiliar language and society of the Drow, the two men were not superior and sub-ordinate. They were equal in ability, rank and purpose, and had come to carry out what was to be their most important Step assignment to date in very close syncronisation. Canen and Buran had spent the morning discussing their assignment in great detail in the suburbs of the city, inside a safehouse run and owned by another Step contact who had dealings and links within the dark palace of Valshath d' Isto. Or at least as far as importing coal from Haida was concerned.

Canen had been quiet and attentive during their breifing, noting every small detail of the operation and inscribing it in fiery letters into the back of his mind. Step specifically speciallised in undertaking covert missions in potential foreign hotspots for trouble. It was in no way interested in helping solve the problems of other countries as such, it only seemed to deal with matters that would in some way effect the day to day business of Corone's great nation.

Now, he was just quiet. His rugged face was drawn beneath the cropped, middle parted black bangs that curtained his face, and his emerald eyes were downturned to the coal scuffed floor of the wooden crate within freighter airship Myria, a giant, steam powered beast of a transport that could carry a massive tonnage of cargo to any given destination within Alerar. The legendary and powerful furnaces of the dark palace required constant and consistant supplies of coal from Haida to function properly and this airship could provide the means to deliver such quotas in a single journey.

There was a loud bang as the airship touched down onto a purpose built landing pad, and the sound of the whipping, cold wind outside of the cargo bay hangar door as the unloading authorities began to carry out the crates one by one, using a horse drawn cart and various lifting contraptions to secure the precious cargo aboard their vehicles. The huge iron gates of the palace swung open, and Canen grimaced as he felt his crate plummet onto the wooden bed of a cart with a thud.

Not exactly the most comfortable means of infiltrating a place... he complained, rubbing the top of his head in the limited space available inside the confines of his container. He could hear the various barking of drow orders and the wheels of the cart churn the gravel trap road beneath him.

So, once i'm inside this place, i've got to meet this 'Casha' agent. But first, I need to get near the furnaces...

[Cash]

“Attention agent Casha, come in, this is Step over,” came a static filled voice over the radio of the ship.

“This is agent Casha over,” responded the red headed spy.

“There has been a change of plans. You are to meet agent Canen on the inside, near one of the many furnaces, over.” And with those last words from Step head quarters the radio went silent again.

“Well I guess there is no time to lose,” said the airship pilot after a (very) brief moment of silence before ushering Casha into the mostly empty cargo bay of the ship.

The two figures walked over to one of about a dozen or so large crates marked “coal” in large blocky letters. Quickly the pilot opened the crate to reveal that the large oak box was in fact empty. With a quick nod the lithe female spy got end, scrunching up so that the crate could be closed once more this. Muttering only a quick good luck the air ship pilot closed the crate once more.

The pilot quickly loaded several crates including Casha’s onto a large steel cart like device before opening the large door in the cargo bay that led to the outside and lowering the loading ramp. The dark haired drow then pushed the cart out into the open where the palace guards confronted him once again.

There was a brief exchange of words between the guards and the pilot, all of which was in drow. A few moments later another guard came through gates and grabbed hold of the cart. This was because nobody outside of the royal family, those that had special permission from the royal family, or those with proper military authorization was allowed inside the palace. From here on out, Casha would be on her own until she met up with Canen.

****

Several moments later, inside the crate Casha could hear the sounds of machines moving and smell coal burning. Closely she listened, pressing her ear against the side of the crate until she could no longer hear the heavily armored footsteps of the guard that had brought the load in.

Once the footsteps were out of hearing the young spy slowly opened the top of the crate, making only a small crack at first to see if there was anybody in the room. Once she was positive that there was nobody in the area, at least for the moment she opened the crate and got out. She was now inside Valshath d’ Isto. Now all she had to do was wait for Canen Darkflight and the mission could officially begin.

[Falcon Darkflight]

Before coming to Valsoth d'Isto, Ettermire, Canen had done what he always did. He'd read about the region. Whenever possible, he'd read about what other soldiers had said about a nation or people. This time, he had read the memoirs of an engineer closely linked with the development of Valsoth's intriguing yet highly secretive workshop, and also the notes taken from intelligence gathered by Buren. They were two views of the same structure in the same region. Yet, despite being able to at least obtain some material on the building, the institution even, he was infiltrating, it was not enough. That was the very purpose of his mission, to fill in the blanks, write the new chapters and deliver them in a parchment booklet to his superiors at Step with a clean shaven grin and smelling of roses.

Thanks to the experimental motorized travel and various training he had received in his induction period, infiltration was no longer the purgatory it had once been. However, the places he had to go, and the missions he had to undertake were still staggeringly tough. After half an hour of waiting inside the dull, dry wood of a coal crate, Canen had noticed even the ranks of insects that had got trapped in there with him had dwindled to nothing, thinning out as the fumes from the furnace room seeped through the crate.

He leaned forward to put his eye to one of the ventilation holes of the crate. The searing heat knifed through his cropped black hair and pushed hard against his face, making it hard to observe his surroundings, of which the only thing he could see was the flickering bright yellow and orange of a blast furnace mouth. Relieving his face momentarily from the high temperatures, Canen looked down at the small compass that was bracketed to the lining of his coat.

"South west, ten degrees." He muttered to himself. According to Buren's information, he was exactly where he needed to be, thanks to the pre empted markings on the crate that had directed the guards to unload in a specific area. In this case, furnace number four.

In his head, he counted mission time to the minutes.

"Twenty one minutes. Nine minutes to rendezvous. Assuming I don't die from asphyxiation." He repeated, quickly calculating again to make sure. Step were very precise. If Casha was what everyone was saying, she would be there in exactly nine minutes.

He would only make his move when he was sure Casha was on top of him. She would knock twice lightly on the crate, and he would mirror that back. Then, the real fun would begin.

[Cash]

Casha couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so tense during a mission. The black onyx walls gave the place an eerie feeling especially with the various parts of machinery connected to and going through it as though the walls and machines and become melded together. The ceiling was low in along the hallway that lead to all the furnace rooms, a fact that was further enhanced by the large steaming pipes that snaked across it leading the furnace room and god knows where else. The air was thick with steam and soot making it hard to breath and a bit harder to see. It was also hot, very hot, to the point that it actually made Casha uncomfortable and caused her to sweat a bit just from walking around.

Luckily for the spy she hadn’t encountered any guards yet though she had barely been out of her crate for a few minutes. Still she figured with the atmosphere and the fact that this part of the castle was likely deep underground (according to the schematics Step had shown her during the mission briefing) so the guards didn’t patrol the area unless they had good reason to, something the red headed spy hoped they wouldn’t be given until well after the mission was over. Of course it may have been the fact that walking around in such a place wearing heavy armor was likely an experience no guard wanted to put themselves through unless absolutely necessary.

“Now what room was it that Canen was supposed to arrive in? Oh yeah, it was number 4,” though the spy as she walked down circular hallway.

Casha stayed close to the outer wall, where the doors to the various furnace rooms were. Because of all the smog in the air it was a bit hard to see the thinly engraved numbers on the iron doors. The fact that most of the doors were covered in soot didn’t exactly help things either. Such was the reason she stayed close to the wall, because it made it much easier to see the numbers on the doors.

She was supposed to have been dropped off in door # 5, yet there must have been a miscommunication somewhere along the lines of the people setting the mission up because she had been dropped off in door # 15. Finally after several minutes, and about a hundred yards (if not more) later the young spy came to the large iron door marked Furnace #4.

“Thank god, I was scared I’d passed it,” whispered Casha out loud to the empty hallway.

Casha opened the door slowly, cringing at the loud groaning noise it made as it opened. A large rush of thick black smoked that burned her eyes and her lungs immediately greeted her, causing her to cough hard and blink rapidly. With the initial rush of smoke gone the female spy peered through the doorway into the furnace room. Like all the furnace rooms, #4 was empty save for a crate, the furnace and a few piles of coal.

As discussed, Casha walked over the crate and knocked on its top. If things went according to plan then Canen would respond back from inside the crate with a knock of his own.

[Falcon Darkflight]

Even though he was expecting it, the knock startled Canen into awareness. The fumes from the furnace were proving to be a formidable adversary, and even though his blood was composed mainly of what the humans would consider to be toxins, he still needed to breathe real Oxygen. The gaping mouth of the furnace had been devouring the air for use in its chemical reactions and this had made it difficult for Canen to remain conscious in the confines of the poorly ventilated crate.

Feeling drowsy from the starvation of clean air, Canen responded with a light knock to signal that he was indeed in the crate and in perfect working order.

No time to complain. We have to get on with this...Alerar will have a shit-fit if they find us here... He reminded himself as he prodded the loose wooden panel above him up and over, his blurry eyes vision returning to a somewhat stable form. It was true enough. The political whiplash that being found here would incite was an unthinkable outcome. Corone would deny all involvement in the mission, and Canen and Casha would find themselves in the kind of public spotlight they really didn't want to be in: the hangmans noose, or whatever favoured method of execution the Alerarian government preferred, tried as insurgents and humiliated.

Not the makings of a fun day.

As he pried his cramped body from the box, his shining emerald eyes caught their first glimpse of his partner. A red headed agent with slim build, Casha was quite an eyeful, Canen admitted. Still, this was no senior prom. They had a mission to complete, and the only concern in Canen's mind was that they were currently still in a place likely to attract attention, from either the furnace engineers or the few guards that were said to disdainfully patrol the corridors.

"Good to meet you. Let's roll out of here."

Canen gestured two silent fingers from his eyes to the entrance, signalling for Casha to keep watch on the door as metallic noises clanged from within the confines of the small, dark and choked corridors. When he was certain the area was clear, the Nocturn dashed silently to the door, opening it enough to peer through the crack for possible guests. There were none. He proceeded through the door, and pressed his back into a rivet in the corridor wall as he scanned the ceiling for a particular ventilation shaft.

"One of these leads up a floor, to the heart of the circularatory system of the fortress. From there, we'll have to make our own way. You first."

[Cash]

Casha didn’t say much instead she simply nodded and smiled at Canen’s greeting. There was no real time to chat. Casha wasn’t new to the spy business, she knew that time was of the essence. The less time they spent on completing the mission the less likely they were to get caught and getting caught was the last thing she wanted. The thought of what kind of horrible execution might be used on a strange, primitive planet like Althanas was enough to make her shudder.

The female spy followed her companion closely. Though the female agent of Step treaded carefully not wanted to make too much noise with her footsteps, even despite the fact that she had already figured out that down in the furnace rooms the threat of being caught was minimal at best. Still when it came to espionage it was always best to air on the side of caution.

The next part of the mission was what got tricky. When the two got outside the boiler room, Canen pointed to a ventilation shaft. The words that came out of his mouth were predictable especially given whom they worked for and the job they were doing. Still the young spy said nothing and instead merely nodded.

Slowly so as to make as little noise a possible she took the cover off the ventilation shaft. The lithe spy quickly jumped up and hoisted herself up into it with a slight grunt. Had it not been so low it was doubtful she would have been able to get herself in with out some help from her partner.

The shaft was small and Casha had to lay down military style to fit in and crawl with her feet and forearms. There was just barely an inch or two of wiggle room on either side, not enough to turn all the way around but enough to flip around on her back to get a view of what was behind or above her if need be.

“Its small but you should be able to fit,” said Casha to Canen as the female spy crawled forward several feet in order to allow her partner enough room to get in.

[Falcon Darkflight]

With a strong flex of his powerful but slim arms, Canen jumped up and latched his grip onto the metal rim of the shaft, pulling his body up through the discreet but adequately spaced ventilation pipe with little trouble. The amount of available light suddenly halved as he quickly and quietly replaced the slitted grating of the funnel back into place, carefully ensuring it would not clatter back to the ground and possibly alert soldiers to their presence, before crouching into position behind Casha. The cold metal stung his hands and at first he was a little confused by this. The furnace rooms were supposed to be the hottest part of the fortress, and surely this would reflect in the temperature of the surrounding terrain?

Just as he lamented over this small yet pointless fact, Canen realised why the steel interior was so cold. A chilly draft slapped him in the face as Casha moved forwards, freeing up a little room in the pipe and allowing a little refined cool air to flow through the shaft and down to the corridors below. Just ahead of the female agent, he could make out a timid frosty light that tinted the steel of the confined pipe a marine blue. The further they crawled, they found, the cooler it became.

At the end of the shaft, the steel split and forked into three directions. Two broke off into smaller, probably uninhabitable pipelines that stretched, seemingly, for miles on end in opposing directions east and west. Their innards were scored with sheets of permafrost that appeared to be maintained by a sort of generator. Even though this particular piece of equipment was not visible, the whirring and clanking of primative machinery above the two agents and the various 'spouts' spewing forth a glacial vapour from the smaller shafts making its existence probable, Canen knew that such a contraption was likely heavily guarded.

"I suggest we take the route upwards." He pointed out the shaft leading vertically where the two smaller pipes broke off, and where a solid steel wall prevented them from advancing further. "These smaller pipes must provide vital cool air for the fortress. We should take note of this: if we ever need to get hostile, smoke 'em out of the furnaces by smashing the air conditioning. My bet is that it will quickly get hot in those corridors, but more than that the fear of the impending heat will be enough to drive the guards away from their posts. Then, we can make a clean run through the cargo bay. If all goes well..."

Canen paused. "...from here, we can only go up into the heart of the ventilation system. I'm willing to bet money and limbs that the control room is one of the most heavily protected, seeing as it seems to have such vital implications on the rest of the palace. We had better be careful. Do you want to climb first, seeing as you're in front?"

As he waited on Casha's response, he took another look down the smaller icy shafts to his left and right, and stared hard into the glistening air lines.

Technology I've only ever seen once before...similar to Castigar technology.

[Vorin]

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