FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 15: Deadly Infiltration

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

“We have made contact with the Crest of Death."

Surprise filled the rest of the occupants of the room as I delivered these news. This information had arrived earlier that morning and I wasn't sure if this was truly a good thing or not. While the arrival of a new Crest so soon would be good and set us to finally have good enough reasons to rush to Earth, the truth was… unfortunately different from how many would imagine this situation would occur.

“The Intelligence group recovered an encrypted message that uses some old Prism Cypher. The symbol and some of the words used on the paper would suggest that the sender is really the Crest in question," I added, drawing even more surprise from some but… an incredibly tense look from both Carmesi and Adela.

“But?" The Fire Crest pressed, unwilling to let the 'goodness' of the situation remain for too long when the truth was fairly more bitter than that.

“But we have reason to believe it's an ambush. And that is unfortunate for several reasons," I commented with a grim voice. “First, the fact they are using old cypher that has been cracked and worked around by the Empire to build theirs isn't a good thing. That would feel suddenly… stupid. And that doesn't explain how they knew where to send this except for some unused channels. Something they have done in numerous of those in a blind shot."

“So this Crest is… not stupid?" Grace commented, drawing an agreeing nod from Pulsar. “What does this mean? I don't think we understand."

“It means they are actually our enemies," Adela guessed successfully, feeling more confident of this when I spared her a nervous smile. “But that doesn't explain how it is possible that differently from Minos and Carmie, we didn't have any clues of who they are from the Imperial Registry."

“Nor do I recall ever hearing of a Crest of Death in our ranks," The Fox Prime added to this confusion. “And I'm quite sure that news would have been given just for the sake of propaganda. Even mentioning that we had the Guardian of Death itself in our army would have been more than enough to bolster all morale."

“That's because the Emperor doesn't see eye to eye with the Crest's methods and has taken steps to marginalize his efforts," I explained as I allowed Archie to bring up a couple holographic reports about the man himself, the one that could easily fit with the title of 'madlad' by all Earthly definitions. “I present you-"

“Sem Deth?!" Carmie exclaimed in a mix of shock and annoyance. “Y-You got to be kidding. There is- It's not possible."

“I don't think I ever heard of his name," Addie remarked with a frown, surprised like the others by the Fire Crest's response.

“Well, that's because he's mostly a black sheep," I answered with a slight hum. “If you look at the reports we have of him, he didn't embrace the whole 'kill on sight' rule that exists on enemies. He has a lot of issues from the Emperor himself just for that."

“And yet, he is still a firm believer of Chaos," Gracie noticed with a confused look. “I thought it was normal for Chaos to… be evil?"

“Not inherently," I replied carefully, being well aware of the sore feelings about the topic itself. “Most of the Empire commits Evil under the Emperor's vision of things, which in truth is the absolute form of chaos. Sem is… odd. And not in a funny manner."

“He was promoted as much as he was demoted during his career," Carmesi remembered. “But… why? Why would they still want to use him?"

“He is the kind of officer that gives off the appearance of someone that would rebel at the first chance. As much as he supports Chaos, he is also against some of the more severe aspects of the Army and would go rogue if given a better opportunity that fits more with his ideas," I answered with a calm voice. “He is… a follower, but he isn't blind to atrocities like many others are."

“And yet he gave his availability to this plan," Addie pointed out and I nodded.

“One thing that becomes clear about the more moderate elements of the Imperial Army when it comes to hunt us down even more fiercely than the others is that with us… beaten is that they feel like they would have higher chances of lessening the laws against Primes… but we know that's not gonna happen."

“And yet they still try," Pulsar muttered tiredly. “Like, I can see if it was some normal guy in command but-"

“The Emperor isn't normal and isn't just 'some guy'," The young queen finished for him. “So, we will just dodge this trap or-"

“We will counter it and make sure they don't try it ever again. Or at least, that's one of the plans I have in mind," I offered with a small smile. “If we're lucky, we might end up recovering some data that I believe would help us find a safer route to locating the last Crest away from Earth and… proceed with the big meeting."

“What kind of plan?" Carmesi asked, smelling big action being planned out for the occasion.

“Sadly, nothing that involves heavy fighting. At least, if things go as smoothly as I plan them to go," I admitted before letting Archie bring up more holograms, this time of the facility where we knew where the signal was in and what we expected to find there. “Another thing we found about the letter that was pretty damning about the truthfulness of the Crest is that the place brought up as his current location is a modestly-defended base owned by the Empire. Its size would allow a non-negligible land force to be stationed there and… yeah, a direct battle wouldn't end well for us."

“So, it's something more indirect?"

I nodded. “Right now we have a few spaceships that are small, fast and that have been converted to bombers. They will drop explosives on a few sections of the base, mostly those bits that would normally be important like the shield generators, parts of the perimeter's walls, and the watchtowers."

“And?" Pulsar pressed for a faster resolution to what was the main point of all of that.

“And I will take charge of a group of Narakhans to infiltrate the base and-"

“No."

I sighed. “Addie-"

“It's too risky. What are the chances of Minos being there too? Last time we took a big risk by trying pulling tricks at him and-"

“He will be even more vigilant since that defeat," Carmesi agreed with a nod. “You can't just go and… and what? What even is the main objective of that operation?"

“Two things," I curtly answered. “First, I want to know if they have located the next Crest. Since we recovered Grace, I doubt they will take it too easy about trying to find out the others and… if they have something on it, we need to know."

“What's the second objective?" Grace inquired with a concerned look.

“I want to know… if they are aware of Earth. I have to know from newer accounts if the Empire knows about Earth and what are the chances they have already done something about the planet."

“So you're just going to risk your life for information?"

“I'm not putting myself at risk for nothing. I had the chance to train with a few Narakhan warriors, and they will do well in this kind of mission."

“Why not bring someone else with you? Why not me?" The Fire Crest forced that entire matter and I groaned.

“That's why you're not going to stay idle," I pointed out with a sigh. “While it's true that you're not well-versed in stealth, I want you and Pulsar to join me in laying out a Plan B in case something crazy as everyone here thinks it's going to happen to my first plan. The general point is storming through some of the secondary entries the outpost has, eliminate the threats between you and us, and then get us all out through a temporary landing zone."

“I still have reservations with this plan," The Fox Prime lamented.

“You will possibly get some action. And a good reasons to bargain something with me since I want to bet nothing weird will happen when we go through that operation-"

“ If I allow you to go, and right now I refuse to let you go through that," Addie commented sternly, gaining a scowl for me.

“I thought that-"

“You thought wrong if I'm going to place you in trouble, in a situation that even you have to admit has a big chance of failing and setting you up for imprisonment, if not worse."

I wanted to argue against her good points since I had a strong belief that the Empire would want to torture me in giving out where Earth was, but … I could tell that was more of a bad idea than a good one.

“Addie-"

“How are you expecting me to just accept that?"

“Beyond the fact I'm supposed to be put at risk constantly by being your guard?" I asked back to her, making her narrow her eyes at me.

“I will have you know that your plan has me remaining on the back-"

“Because your survival is important. And not just for the faction's sake."

Her mouth opened… and then closed, clearly not expecting me to remind her that. “I'm still not going to let you go and handle this much danger all at once."

“I'll be fine," I pressed on tensely. “I'm quite sure we can land there safely, infiltrate their base and get out. If things get out of hand I have two brilliant strategists to help me out."

“Oh, thank you," Pulsar replied at the indirect compliment, while Carmie snorted.

“He is bribing us to his side with praises, you idiot," The Fire Crest revealed and Gracie giggled at that.

“But is it working?"

For amusing reasons, the Fox Prime didn't pay attention to the question, growing suddenly distracted as the Love Crest had her on the spot for that.

“...How sure are you that it's going to work?" The young queen finally asked, but I still held a smile to not ruin this opportunity.

“Chances are higher than the prison break. Last time there was a good reason we didn't know about that ruined our infiltration, which was the reason why we were entering inside. But we're not using any 'business card' this time, so they will not know that someone is there. They will have other things to worry about."

“Archie?" The Coyote Prime asked and the Nanozell Spirit nodded.

“The plan is more structured on known variables and it has no space for unknown elements that could alert the defenders of the infiltration. The dropship selected for the occasion will leave them at an adequate distance from the location of the outpost, and with the bombing of their detection system, they should safely reach the walls without being spotted from the distance."

…

Adela looked at me with a serious look and… just kept watching me. Finally, after what felt to be a solid minute of silence, she spoke up again.

“Only if you promise me that you will not take any major risk operations if you find problems in this one," She demanded and… I nodded.

“If things get too intense, I will-"

“Promise me."

There was just a degree of seriousness that actually frightened me. It was the first time Adela behaved this concerned, and I could tell that she would have taken some unflattering steps to stop me from making any other harsh decisions if things went south with this mission.

Despite that, I still decided to nod and sigh.

“I promise."

_ Ten hours later, the full plan of attack was prepared and soon it was time for the fireworks to go out. _

-----------d-d-d-d----------d-d-d-d------

“The plan will not work, Minos."

The Bull Prime ignored the comment coming from the bait. Especially when the bait himself was more of a nuisance than a helpful aide for their entire plan. Glancing at the smiling face of the particularly tall Lion Prime beside him, he could sense a degree of amusement and excitement as they both stared over the window that gave to the central courtyard.

Sem Deth was one of the most unruly men within the Imperial Army. Not even Minos knew why the Emperor still kept him around despite his renowned lack of respect for some of the principal rules of engagement, and he was quite certain that it hadn't to do with his attachment to his Crest. No, there were agreements that the fellow Crest didn't know about and… that irked him a fair bit.

Standing tall at almost his shoulders-length, Sem wore his own custom dark-gray armor and battle equipment. His cloak, albeit made of thin material, was best suited in hiding away the very scythe he had become infamous with. His preferred weapon, the one thing that truly made him stand out as the scariest thing a foe of the Empire could find themselves against. His dark brown fur was contrasted by his black hair and goatee, with his haunting yellow eyes being the last thing many of his victims would see at the end of each battle.

“It's General, Captain Deth. And I don't see how this would still hurt us anyway," He replied, holding only contempt for the unpleasant individual he was currently dealing with.

“It doesn't matter in the end what pretty title we all have. For multiple reasons, if I have to be honest," Sem hummed quietly, his smile unfazed by the comment. “But I believe you're missing something from the big picture. You forgot about the bite the new generation has shown you when they broke the Love Crest from her prison."

“Containment Chamber. She wasn't a prisoner," The Bull Prime argued unconsciously, only getting a lousy sigh out of the fellow Prime.

“Minos, please. We both know that the Emperor isn't watching us and behaving like an uptight buffoon will only diminish the true state of nature you really are. Earth, what a brilliant element you have."

“Compared to Death-"

“It's way better," Sem continued for him. “And do you want to know why?"

He didn't want to, but knowing how the entire situation wasn't really offering him much of a chance to refuse this unnecessary chatting, he decided to still listen and see what kind of depravity Death really was all about.

“Nothing."

…

What?

“I can tell from your face you're surprised. But that's the truth," The Lion Prime added. “Many expect a degree of greatness out of those elements of order, at least those that are representing the bits of existence that are frighteningly so mysterious and worrying in a normal situation. But Death, just like Life, means being an observer with tools that can help its guardian to see the truth behind the primordial process. Do you want to know what happens when someone dies Minos? Where their souls go?"

…

“No."

His grin became wolfish. “Good, I doubt that even one of your age and integrity would have withstood the immense trouble that is Death. And I probably wouldn't have even bothered telling you that."

A chuckle followed, but Minos wasn't amused. Far from it. Nonetheless he stared forward, enjoying the fact that his troops had created proper ranks and were ready to still give a strong display of their organization even in case of complete failure. It was so entertaining that… he almost didn't notice fourteen rapid-paced airships rushing above the base and dropping an explosive load all over the entire base's premises.

Shock filled his eyes and mind as he saw the entire outpost barraged by that outrageous amount of devastation, the sight and the sound filling the hearts and minds of those by the courtyard in pure dread as they scattered in a disordered state. It was shocking, just as the floor was beneath their feet and… Sem chuckled happily.

“Told you," He said without hesitation. “Once again you miscalculated about a single element, and now you find yourself in disarray."

The human. There was no need for the Death Crest to explain himself with that chirpy shot at him. He had indeed messed things up by being too stubborn on his strategy, all because he thought that such a tactic, which had worked twice against the royal banner, would have worked now that they needed to deliver a decisive victory for them to enjoy. But no, he had to ignore the one element that he hadn't taken into account. The human, the newest Grand Knight, was somewhat aware of what to use in military-related situations.

It was as impressive as aggravating as it proved that the rebellion had indeed hit a new growth, one that should have been cut short the first moment he could. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he tried to think of something that could have been done as retaliation but… the fellow Crest huffed.

“Whatever you are thinking right now, let go of it."

Minos opened his mouth, fury driven from within to force an answer to that cool response… but he paused at the Captain's stare. The seriousness was undeniable, and the tiredness felt more like a warning from experience than else. He calmed down a tiny bit, willing to listen to some extent of reason from the calmer officer.

“Right now your mind isn't in the best shape to calculate a proper plan of action. Allow your nerves to cool down, and then try to do that. But for now, just… think of the damage and think of the reparations cost. That is the priority."

…

He nodded. As much as he wanted to show his irritation at being told around by someone 'below' him due to rank, he still listened to that reasoning. He couldn't just show himself as too brash. This was going to be a second defeat to report, and he didn't need to show the Emperor that it was getting to him. That would be even worse than just reporting that defeat.

And as he took a moment to ponder over the situation, giving some quick orders through the terminal in the office to his officers that were currently busy with regrouping everyone in a proper set of lines, the Death Crest hummed as his gaze was aimed down to a device he was tinkering with. A pleased smile appeared on his face and he sighed.

“General, I know this might be sudden, but I wish to ask you… would you like to make a bet?"

Minos frowned at the sudden offer, but the next few words coming out of the Lion Prime had him even more confused. He listened but… he just couldn't understand.

_ How was Sem going to find the human if he was surely far away and flying the fastest possible from the planet? _

------------d-d-d-d------------d-d-d-d----------------d-d-d-d----

The moment we landed was also the moment where I felt as if we had just crossed a rather unflattering line. As if we had sprung a trap or something like that.

Communication with the main ship was still open since the Imperial system was disabled for at least a couple of hours. More than enough time to allow me to check for any troublesome development by the outpost from our eyes from above. Nothing unusual, except a lot of scrambling to avoid fire and more explosions killing even more of those few guys that perished during that bombing run. As I felt a little more reassured on this, I nodded at the masked Narakhans that had crouched down together with me to listen to my conversation with Archie. I turned at them and gave them a serious look.

“Okay, the plan is this. Get in, secure one of the terminals, download all the data in there, and get out. No assassinations, no loud noises. Understood?"

They all nodded, and soon the mission began. The first thing to do was to get through the environment we were currently wandering within. Moving through the swamp-like area we had been left in, we had to make sure to not get too muddy, or it was clear we were going to leave traces once inside the outpost. The approach of the set of buildings that we were walking to was free from any patrol or natural obstacles, giving us a general lack of threats from anything or anyone around. Right in that moment none of the aggressive animals there were giving us any trouble, so we used this window of opportunity to swiftly move up to the main building. The section of the gated wall we were entering had collapsed under the pressure of the bombing, and we noticed nobody keeping watch there. The only issue that we had to wait to see solved was the number of active surveillance cameras we had to swiftly deactivate before getting inside the headquarters.

Archie took care of this the best way possible within his arsenal of 'gifts', uploading a virus on the outpost's mainframe that aimed at stopping the recording protocol of the devices. Looking around for more trouble but finding one, there was no hesitation in entering inside the principal base and delving into the administrative section. In there we were going to find what we were searching for. Anything new or important to the Empire that had been registered to the main channels was now going to be ours and help us take the next steps more freely than before.

Everything was quiet… until two guards happened to remain vigilant by the area we were infiltrating. Clueless about the infiltration, they were just going through a shaky version of their usual guarding pattern. A wrong move, I observed silently as two Narakhans silently moved out from my group and used Chaos magic to silence the noises of their steps. It was something many Narakhans knew how to do since they were young, something that had been instructed deep within their traditions from even before the formation of the Empire as it was right now.

Stealth spells were considered the basis of the entrance test to the Imperial Army and… I was really confused how Carmie ended up entering there when she absolutely failed in Stealth-related missions. I caught her thrice in the last four days as she sneaked around the ship to get herself a midnight snack. And thrice she was forced in a panic-induced run back to her room when I asked Archie to frighten her with a copy of my fake coughing. It seemed to be rather effective in training her to be more careful as each attempt saw her more attentive and less calm during her nightly strolling.

The death of the guards was as quick as silent. It was instantaneous, with the daggers easily making their way to their throats and killing them on the spot. A little bit of blood was drawn, but it was going to take a while before it started to spread on the ground. And it was going to happen way after we were done with this entire situation. We finally managed to arrive at the Servers' Area, and I gave a look around to see which one was supposed to connect all the sensitive info stuff we were retrieving.

Once we did, it didn't take long to start downloading all the data there in a small empty device I had on myself. A painstaking wait ensued, one that saw all the Narakhans take on cautious positions all around the room and act in case someone else decided to pop in and say hi. Everyone looked nervous, and I could tell this by the way their tense bodies kept being rigid. They expected something, just like I was. I couldn't help but feel like something big was unfolding right now and I just couldn't imagine what.

Relief washed over all of us when the download process was completed and we were quick to start our rush back to the planned land zone. Things were in the clear… at first. Just as we managed to get out of the building by the same window, we all paused as the ground soon started to rumble underneath our feet and… then I heard him approach. Like nature itself driven by the purest form of rage, I saw the wall of the building behind us, the one we just vaulted over to be once more outdoors, crumble explosively as I saw a certain Bull Prime burst through in quite the ferocious human.

This moment felt… highly familiar. As if I had seen something like this in a game or- Gah!

Two big arms swiftly grasped at my head, lifting me up and forcing me to drop my sword. Struggling against the sudden grasp I was in, I learned that I just couldn't free myself from it with how fierce Minos' hold really was.

“Human," The big guy greeted in an irritated voice, making me snort.

“L-Lieutenant-Ghh!" He tightened his grasp as soon as I said that, but as he was distracted with my cheeky remark, I proceeded to throw the small USB-like device towards the Narakhans, the other members of the mission having taken a defensive posture as other soldiers rushed our general position. One of them took hold of the small thing, and held it tightly as they knew how important it was.

“G-GO!" I yelled, and, even though some spared me a reluctant stance, they all complied to the orders and… I was left alone. With Minos. And endless Imperial troops encircling our position and making my chances of getting out of this awkward situation really, really slim.

“So… nice weather?" I questioned with a nervous smile, still groaning in pain at the manhandling I was being subjected to.

Reminds me way too much of elementary school. Back when I had to handle with tall bullies that could lift kid me up in the air like this. Minus the head-crushing bit, that is.

“You destroyed priceless property of the Emperor-"

“It's more from the taxpayers and the people he steals money from than him as the main and legitimate contributor. Let's be honest about the econo-Okay, you are smart. I'm sorry!" The Bull Prime squished at my head some more, and for just a brief moment I worried that I was going to die Oberyn'd by him.

Fuck no, that sucks a lot.

“Despite the futility, you still struggle. Such a shame a valiant mind and soul ended up in such circumstances," Minos commented. “It doesn't matter. Right now, here you are going to pay for your crimes. You are finally-"

“Mine," A new voice called eagerly. “And I would suggest that our bet is respected, General. I wouldn't want to tell you what Death truly is all about."

Minos tensed, his entire frame went rigid as his head turned to address the approaching individual. A simple glance made me realize who I was looking at. The smile on his face just promised many questions aimed at me, some of which I was going to have trouble answering to.

“Hello, Mr. Human," He greeted with a devious smile on his face.

“Death," I curtly greeted back and he chuckled lightly.

“What a polite young man. I'm sure you have a lot to tell with how educated you sound and are. Both from this interaction and… the little lightshow that I'm sure you are behind," Sem hummed happily before turning back to the fellow Crest. “Now, General Minos-"

I was freed from his hold, but as soon as I landed on the ground, a pair of reinforced cuffs forced my hands behind my back.

“And now, let's… spare a pleasant discussion about what you just did and… what you are, Mr. Human."

“Actually, before you kindly take me in for a lovely chat by the fireside… how?"

“Oh, that's actually a thing I decided to do with my base- Right, this is my base, you see," Sem explained calmly. “I cut my pay to allow the construction of separate detection devices all around the outward perimeter of the headquarters. They are hidden well, impossible to see through normal scans."

That would explain a lot. Still, this didn't make me happy with how the situation developed. Sure, the info had been retrieved and definitely taken up to the fleet but… this wasn't going to be a fun day for me from the looks of it.

_ Well, now I wouldn't mind getting lectured by Addie than this… _

------------d-d-d-d-d-------------d-d-d-d-----------

AN

A battle is soon to come! Fire brawls against Earth. While… Death chit-chats with the Grand Knight. Will it be a fun Chit-Chat or a deadly fun one? More in the next episode of… I can't think of something right now. Will say something next AN.