Raid the Empire (ATN Zack Blaze, Hauntologist. Open to more)

[Rhelin]

raid the empire - not yet claimed.
The corone armed forces have besieged concordia, cutting the freedom fighters off from many essential supplies. It is high time the oppressors felt the sting of the rebellion. Take a dozen fighters from the underwood watch (or gather your own crew) and perform a raid on an empire encampment, stealing whatever food, weapons, or medical supplies you can. Be as secretive as possible, and bring the spoils to a ranking officer of the watch before concluding your thread.

Rewards: Score x 10 gp (each) plus a small share of the spoils, pending judge discretion. A high score may lead to a ranking position on the watch if desired.
Requirements: Minimum 2 participants

ooc: This thread is for the Underwood mission, Raid the Empire. It's open to a couple more players if anyone's interested in jumping in. Cheers!

IC

The hot afternoon had given way to a thankfully more forgiving evening, while the sun dipped lazily into a hazy dusk, painting streaked clouds that arched across the horizon in a deep rose-red hue.

Rhelin had left the Watch barracks after spending much of the day tracking down rumors. Donned in the colors of the Underwood Watch, he made his way up the worn stone stairway of the Watch headquarters. It was an impressive building by most standards, simple in design, yet the doric style columns and towering stone edifice exuded a sense of timeless power. This was the seat of justice, supposedly incorruptible, where the seed of doubt could never take root.

Rhelin examined the wanted posters that tattered the west wall, some of them hand-drawn faces of the accused, but most mere scant descriptions and vague aliases, with lists of their crimes that more often than not consisted of a parahraph long tyrade of the most hanous sort.

However, it wasn't the obvious crimes that brought him there this evening, it was the more subtle intrigues. The whispers from the inner workings of a growing war machine. What was more amazing was just how often the rumors of it proved true.

Two days prior word came down through the vine that the upper-echelon was in need of a few willing volunteers. The reason was truly unknown, but thw whos, whats, whens, and wheres was reaily supplied by the imaginations of those that milled the rumors. The Watch was looking for volunteers for some unknown reason, that much was true and it had taken all day just to figure that out. Everything else that was said could be left to chance as far as accuracy goes.

Yet Rhelin tried his hardest not to allow the nay-sayers and weavers of conspiracy to deter him from d oing what he thought was right. He was instea gripped by a sense of self-sacrifice that had been begrudgingly instilled in him through training, an ethos that he still wrestled with, even at that moment. With that in mind, Rhelin waited by the arched reinforced doors, saluting officers as they came and went.

He didn't know who he was waiting for, in the sense that he had never met him before. He only knew a name, one that had been given to him by his chain of command, and a location to meet him and whoever else was to be on this endeavour.

Captain Brightwell was his name, and Rhelin milled it about in his head as if just the name would tell him more. The who, what, when, and where that still reaming unanswered.

[Zack Blaze]

When Zack had returned to Underwood after slaying the beast known as Makai, (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?22201-Hunting-Makai...%28Open-to-All%29) he was greeted with a heroes welcome. Bards, at least temporarily, sung praises of the youth’s ability to stand up to a foe much more skilled and powerful than him only for Zack to still come out relatively unscathed and victorious. For a few days, the street fighter enjoyed coasting off of the cheers of other people, until the next hero to save Underwood came around and everybody had forgotten about the last danger.

Zack did not expect the fame to last too long, but it was quite entertaining to the youth while it did. Underwood would constantly come across problems, just like every other city in Corone. However, as soon as everyone had turned their backs to hold their breaths at the result of a new threat, the teen took off into the Concordia forest. He had places to go and people to meet. With a war going on all throughout the continent, there was a profit to be made, and anything that furthered the goals of Zack Blaze was at least looking in to.

He had found his first task through the rumor mill. Apparently, there was a captain within the Rangers that was seeking volunteers to go behind enemy lines and execute a kind of sabotage plan. Zack knew that suck a task typically translated into a suicide mission, but so did going fist-to-fist with an ogre equipped with nothing more than his fists. The boy managed to loosen some tongues through the use of some coins, and soon found out where the captain of this particular core was going to be meeting. After the youth prepared thoroughly enough, he set out for the place of meeting.

The place appeared to be in constant high alert status. Members of the Corone Rangers were constantly going back and forth, issuing out orders, using code words, and trying to keep themselves ready for any surprise attack the Empire might just implement. Zack smirked as he thought about how close the Rangers were in proximity to Ixian Castle, and wondered why the knights of said castle did not throw their lot in one way or the other. Perhaps that was one side’s ace in the hole?

When the youth noticed somebody who seemed a bit uncomfortable in this environment, someone who did not seem to be sweating the same as everyone else, or in such a rush, he approached. The youth tossed an invisible bag of coins up and down in the air, as if the imaginary object were real. The heat from the sun could be felt even through the trees; stinging Zack's skin and making the boy wished that he had dressed cooler for the situation.

"From the looks of things, you're seeking Captain Brightwell as well," Zack said, using his free hand to extend an introduction to Rhelin, "Zack Blaze, The Five-Minute Hero of Underwood, at your service. From what I can tell, the Rangers don't seem to be fooling around anymore. Things are going to heat up soon, and this mission might mean an end to the war. I hope you're ready for what may be in store for us." The youth continued to stand there with his hand awkwardly extended, hoping the dark brunette man would shake it.

[Jennifer Oakley]

War had come to Concordia, and Jennifer could ignore it no longer. Through the dense thickets of bracken and rose vine, she traipsed and fluttered like a butterfly, landing on fallen branch and rocky outcrop like an advancing blood hound in pursuit of it's prey. It had been the first clash of blades in her region of Underwood for nearly a century, and she had been chosen by the village elder to lead a party of warriors and archers through the tree line to aid in the repelling force of the latest Empire encampment.

"They are scars on the land," Jennifer shouted, rousing her blood lust and keeping her companions on their toes. "Mires on the poultice of nature's boon!" She slapped the edge of the rock she was resting on, legs tucked and form bestial.

Though she would not and could not strike another with hands or blades of her own devising, she would be the beacon behind which the people of Concordia rallied, and the strength that aided them in driving out the corruption that threatened to subjunctive their lands. She took a deep breath and caught wind of man made fibre and smoke, and pointed East, to where the watch would pass as was foreseen in the dream ceremony.

Smoke and pipes had passed readily in the elder's hut the previous night, and through the misty allure of the knot weed poultices, Jennifer had witnessed what was to come. The party of humans, strange conjurer's of flame and fire and men of war would pass by on the north road when the sun was radiant. She leapt from the rock and continued her advance, the two Taliesin* archers followed her, and her friend, Lamar continued to crash through the undergrowth, his great stone maul dragging behind his immense bulk.

"Emerge!" She roared, and from a bolt of light that shot from her chest, Anima appeared, fully formed and in a ready run towards the road. He drew his blade ready, the link between them already filling his fae mind with all it needed to know.

Through the rose vine they continued, and as they broke out onto the verge of the road, they waited for the raiding party to pass, breath heavy and stooped low in the undergrowth. Jennifer smiled, cutting her tongue across her teeth as she thought of the trials to come. Nobody would touch her home, not whilst she had life in her body and whilst the spirits of the lands themselves were bound to her soul.

"Let them come," she muttered, and her companions patted her on the shoulder and clashes arrow to bow in a war chant of agreement. "Let them see the true nature of these lands..." she peered down the road and fell silent.


*: Wild Walker, a novice hunter.

[Rhelin]

"If only we all were fortunate enough to be a living hero, rather than a dead one, even for five minutes," Rhelin said, putting on his most courteous face, taking Zack's hand in a firm grasp.

"It's a pleasure to meet another answering the call, and I hope we're both ready for whatever may come, for Underwood's sake," even though Rhelin was foreign-born, not being of Underwood stock, he felt that this was as much home as any other place could be.

Rhelin's curiosity was peaked, and he wondered how Zack had heard of the mission, no doubt the same way he had. Information flowed like water through the streets of the town, and just like water, everyone had a taste. Before Rhelin could ask the relevant questions however, a fellow soldier approached the two men.

He was an average height Elf, standing to Rhelin's chest, but one could easily spot the mixture of Human in him. He was broad shouldered and seemed more than capable of handling his own in combat, this assumption gained more ground once one noticed the Captain's insignia adorning his uniform.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he engaged both Zack and Rhelin in a strong handshake," I'm Captain Brightwell, and if I'm not mistaken, you two are my volunteers."

Before one could rightfully answer, Captain Brightwell looked about, his demeanor becoming noticeably cautious and his voice hushed to barely above a whisper.

"Come with me, around the side. We have a lot of business to discuss. We're expecting more, but you two will do for now."

With that, he led them back down the stairs, around the side of the great building. Once they were out of sight, Brightwell turned about on his heels, placing his hands on both the men's shoulders, halting them.

"For now on you answer to me, and only to me...for the duration of this assignment," the Captain appraised both of their answers.

"Yes sir," Rhelin bowed dutifully.

"Don't do that...we're not your normal outfit," The Elf scolded, and led them further down the narrow alleyway. The three of them stopped at a reinforced door tucked away into an arched stone stoop.

He knocked on the heavy door once, and one was returned. This was followed by two more, which was replied with two from within. Finally, the trade off ended in three knocks. The door cracked open, and a skeptical soldier stood behind it, eyeing the three suspiciously.

Without a word to either Zack or Rhelin, he took the Captain's hand, and they both went out of their way to hide the handshake exchanged between them. Brightwell leaned in for a whispered word, and they were in.

Despite all of the secretive gestures, what awaited the men wasn't that impressive. A dim, short hallway led to a similar door, where the process was repeated with yet another guard. After all that, they found themselves in a small room somewhere below the Headquarters building. The windowless room was lit only by a few candlesticks, and a dusty wrought iron chandelier above a small planning table in the center of the room.

Captain Brightwell leaned over the table, his almond eyes lit up proudly in the candle light. "I apologize for the precautions, but this place isn't like what you'll find in the other offices. This is mine, it may not be much, but this department is for, shall I say...special assignments."

[blackdog1]

Milo knew that he was running late for the meeting with Captain Brightwell. His wood-mans garb and weapons, coupled with his quiet and secretive manner raised the suspicions of the young watchman at the gates of Underwood. He could not blame the Watch for detaining him, blending into the crowd was the easy part for Milo, the hard part was acting comfortable within the confines of the city, Milo was not and never would be at ease here.

The left-over heat of the day conspired with Milos hurried pace to soak him with sweat by the time he reached the Watch headquarters in the center of town. He was not the only one effected by the summer heat and dust of the city, people from all over Concordia crammed into Underwood gave the small city the stench that made him avoid such places.

Watchman both young and old along with Rangers and other supporters of the rebellion constantly moved in and out of the impressive headquarters building. Milo thought about the large numbers of young people for a moment. They were in the prime of their lives, risking everything to join the Watch or the other rebellion forces. They had the most to gain and the most to lose in this war. They were the reason that Milo was here today to join in on a dangerous and important mission against the Empire.

Milo watched and waited for a few moments to see if he could catch a glimpse of Captain Brightwell or anyone else loitering about like he was. Resigned to the fact that he was very late for his meeting, Milo approached the Watch headquarters and entered the large main doors open to the heat.

The older, one eyed watchman at the lobby desk listened to Milo's story as if he had heard it a hundred times before. When Milo was finished the one eyed watchman dispatched a young boy into the bowels of the massive building to deliver a message to some Lieutenant unknown to Milo.

After a few silent and awkward moments, a young and confident looking Lieutenant appeared in the lobby. Without breaking his rigid stride, or speaking a word, he motioned for Milo to follow him out the front door.

Great, he thought, I have not even started and I'm already getting the boot.

Maintaining his ingrained military bearing, the young Lieutenant entered the heat and noise of the city and briskly strode around the side of the building and brought them to a small stout door that appeared to lead to a lower level of the headquarters. Quickly and efficiently, the Lieutenant knocked a code on the door and gained entrance to a short hallway that lead to yet another door where the code was repeated and once again they were allowed entrance. All of this was done without a single word being spoken. Milo was beginning to like these quiet people.

As the second door opened, three sets of eyes turned toward Milo. The one that Milo assumed to be Captain Brightwell took charge and spoke, " Come in and fasten the door behind you," he said as he began unrolling a map on the table before him, " we were just about to get started."

[Zack Blaze]

Zack watched with curiousity and silence as Captain Brightwell took the youths and escorted them to his domain. The teen had done his best to try and catch a glimpse of the secret handshake, maybe hear the secret password, but both endeavors fell short of sucess. The street fighter simply had to take solace in the fact that he had remembered the pattern of knocking. Though, such a trivial thing in a plethora of coded messages was like trying to chop down all the trees in Concordia with a toothpick.

The room that their captain had brought the duo to was no place for a man of Brightwell's standing. The soldier should have been in more lavish accomadations, surrounded by silks and other luxuries. Zack bit his lip and began to weigh the pros and cons of keeping ones quarters in such a secluded and protected area. On one hand, it was rather difficult for anybody to get close to the warrior, and thus reduce the risk of assassination. On the other hand, such tendencies bordered on the edge of paranoia, which usually meant that somebody was going to be killed regardless. His attention was brought back to his employer as he began to speak to the young team once more.

"By 'Special Assignments'," Zack elaborated for the leader of men, "you mean your secret missions, right? This is why you posted that message up, because you want to lose as little of your own men as possible during the mission. If I had to take a guess, you probably got some intelligence on both of us." Zack felt quite impolite not knowing his ally's name, but Rhelin had not revealed such details to even Captain Brightwell as of yet, so maybe he was just being protective about his identity.

"You found that we're the candidates with backgrounds that can easily be lost in paperwork. Nobody will miss us if the assignment goes awry, nobody to weep for us if we're gone." The words of the youth did not seem to phase the veteran soldier as he kept his stern demeanor, but Zack's periphrial vision caught just the slightest bit of distraught in the elf. Just past the soldiers head of hair, his two pointy ears twitched just the faintest bit, causing the teen to smile.

"Don't worry about it," Zack said, waving his hands as if discovering the revelation was no big accomplishment, "It's a sound tactic, and it helps me with an idea I have."

Brightwell quirked an eyebrow at Zack, finding his deductive skills something of an enigma. The smell of sweat mildewing in the room (due to a few sleepless knights as well as a bit of nervousness from Brightwell) began to seep into the nostrils of the boy, who quickly started to fan away the stench. All the things the Rangers were capable of doing, and they could not affor a hole in the wall of this room for air to escape? Typical military mentality.

"Thing is, you shouldn't keep such secrets from him," Zack turned his gaze back to Rhelin with a smile, as if they were long acquainted friends, "Now, if he still wants a part of this, knowing that we are not going to get any reinforcements from the Rangers should things go wrong, its his choice. His true choice."

((Sorry about the delay, was waiting on blackdog, and I also apologize if I took the Brightwell character somewhere you did not want him to go. Let me know if it needs to be edited.))

[blackdog1]

Young Zack's comments about the expendability of the people gathered there were answered with a lingering silence as everyone shuffled about, waiting for Brightwell to get on with his briefing or reply to the youths naive question.

It was all true. Everyone here knew what they were getting into, it was war time and some people took more risks than others. Every soldier in every army knew that there was always a chance that you would not be coming home, for this group those odds just happened to be greater than normal.

Captain Brightwell chose the course imposed on him by his rank, and resumed unrolling his map. It was large enough to cover most of the table that he used as his desk and required many of the items there, candle sticks, mugs and books included, to hold down the sides and corners. The detail of the area to the North and West of Underwood was an impressive collection of intimate knowledge of the area, it's roads, trails and landmarks laid out in perfect relation to one another. Losing your way with this map would be nearly impossible.

After looking up to insure that he had the attention of the three men, Brightwell got right down to business in an impersonal military manner. Without bothering to orient the men as to where they were on the map he jabbed a finger into the the upper right hand corner and began to relay information in a clear and confident voice.

"Here is where you need to be," he paused and made eye contact with each of the men, "it used to be the village of Hurley before the inhabitants were run off by Empire forces. Currently it is the largest and most southerly of the Empires supply depots with wagon trains constantly bringing in goods from the North."

Again Brightwell paused to look at the men to be sure that they were paying attention to this basic information before moving on to the mission itself.

"The other key point of this operation is here," once again his finger landed firmly on the map. It was to the left of the depot where a straight road intersected with the river. " This logging road is currently inactive and of little interest to the Empire, but for us it is a straight and uninterrupted route to the river. You will see the importance of this in a moment."

Milo was sure that the others were beginning to come up with as many questions as he was with Brightwells plan. It wasn't that he did not like a good plan, but it had to be flexible for anything to work correctly on the ground. Over thinking and over planning ahead of time could prove to be dangerous later when things did not work out just right.

Brightwell had taken into account the difficulties of moving large amounts of materials a long distance through enemy territory. "At this point on the river, I will be waiting to take the supplies from you," His face cracked with a grin as he added, "and with a surprise for any Empire troops that follow and a few barges to ship their goods down river."

The implied aid of other forces was welcome, but again raised Milos doubts and concerns about planning too much.

Without anyone else having to chance to interrupt, Brightwells briefing rolled forward, "The details of how you pull off the heist of our needed supplies are entirely up to you gentlemen," this point was met with subtle nods of approval by everyone, "you only need to keep to the schedule that I will lay out." Most of the head nodding stopped as soon as it began.

It was easy to see how a Military, even one built around the Rangers, could get itself bogged down with too many people trying to do too many things at once.

Fortunately for all involved, the schedule was flexible. The barges would be at the river for two days before the next full moon and two days after. This was the only help they would get from the Rangers if they chose to take it. And it allowed the raiders about two weeks time to move, gather information and execute plans of their own.

Brightwell went on to talk about "operational security" and other concerns of a military man, but Milo was already lost in his own thoughts. Planning how he could make this all happen and still come out in one piece.

[Zack Blaze]

Brightwell's plan seemed simple enough, yet young Zack continued to put on the farce that most of the ideas were over his head. It was a lesson learned quickly in his child years; the dumber you act in front of everyone, the more likely they are to inadvertently let something slip. His eyes shifted around, trying to gauge the three man party of the tent, his head swirling with a plethora of questions.

Would the Empire learn of their assault? Would they not have the river covered, seeing as it was such a liability? Was the legal age for enlisting really 'Be able to sign your name' as it appeared to be? If Brightwell was going to be waiting at the river, why would he not come with them on this assignment? Every single thing about this job set uneasy with Zack. The teen bit the corner of his lip as Brightwell finished the briefing, looking at the trio for any questions they might have had.

Everyone's heads turned towards Zack, who had pretty much laid the risks out there before everyone earlier. The youth shrugged his shoulders with a sigh. It seemed like he would have to do everything. Were these guys so inept that they could not even ask their own questions? Was this mission going to rely solely on the street fighters wits and abilities to pass? "Fine," Zack spoke with a slight chuckle to his tone, "I'll bite."

"Why am I not surprised?" Brightwell asked with a sigh, half-expecting to be called out in front of his interim soldiers once more, "What is it, Blaze?"

"The men. Surely, you did not expect the three of us to infiltrate the enemy by our lonesome and take down an entire regiment from the Empire? Sorry if I sound a little skeptical here, but nobody here strikes me as a Godhand Striker, or a Teric Barton. No offense to you guys," Zack quickly referred to Milo and the rather silent Rhelin, "I just don't think the three of us would fair so well in a fight against well-armed guards."

"I've made contingencies," Brightwell spoke once more, bringing all eyes back to him, "When you arrive at Hurley, you will find a handful of soldiers dedicated to our cause. They are more than prepared to die for this mission. I am sure they will aid you immensely."

"The," Zack raised a finger up, as if he caught onto something Brightwell had said and refused to let it go, "Can't they do this mission? Why hire a bunch of people off the street?"

"Well..." Brightwell trailed off a bit, his eyes shifting down, "One or two of them may be incarcerated and awaiting Imperial interrogation. The others can't free them without exposing themselves as spies as well. Furthermore, they find themselves holding higher ranks than normal foot soldiers, and to break from their roles could put the entire Ranger army in a precarious position."

Zack nodded, though secretly he was harboring more of distaste for his 'Captain' than ever. Brightwell tried to use deception to get the warriors on board, and when that did not work, finally revealed his hand. Satisfied with the knowledge he had, Zack stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. He made his way to the outside of the camp, where he would await the other members of his party to discuss tactics.

"Why in the Thaynes name is the Empire easier to slip into than an Akashima Geisha?!" Zack yelled to the heavens above.