Chapter 36

‘Anything detected, ‘ I asked Szymon telepathically as the team approached the Orc military base on Blensop.

‘No, Mage John, ‘ came the reply.

“Begin your scan, Tirus,” I ordered.

“Identical,” he chuckled after a few minutes. “If I didn’t know how the Orcs work I’d have been checking my gear for a memory glitch. Slight differences with land layout, but all the major bits are the same including the bunker and the minefield.”

‘Proceed with caution, Szymon. It’s all pretty much the same, ‘ I sent out.

‘You got it.‘

“Rest of you, form up and let’s get past the bunker.”

“Wonder how Heimdor’s doing,” Kyra mused as we slipped past a bunker full of what appeared to be sleeping Orcs.

“Guarding the Seers on Vultoq as we hopefully make the Orcs think that’s where we’re at.”

“Yes, we’d like to come up with something here that will quickly get at these Orbs on all worlds and don’t really want them chasing us about here.”

“That’s why we’re setting you up here. We believe they have a few spares, plus one running here for you to scan.”

“Seems a little odd having our main base in the middle of theirs.”

“Well, that dead space between buildings that they just walled off the original doorway to looks to still be here, but we won’t know for sure until we get under the fence.”

Eventually we reached the spot in the camp where the fence was, only to find that the gap we’d originally used was not there, or rather, had been filled in.

‘Szymon, Katja, see if you can find another way through, ‘ I sent out getting a non-verbal acknowledgement.

‘Got one, ‘ Katja sent back eventually. ‘Looks like a crack formed by ice expansion in the rock.‘

“Ice?” Kyra asked.

“You may have noticed it gets cold here at night. Any water in cracks in the rocks can form ice and expand to split the rocks,” I explained.

“Oh yes, freeze-thaw,” she nodded.

“Won’t be a tunnel, but the area around it will have sunk enough to let us under.”

It was a pretty large dip under the fence, enough for the wolves to scramble under, though not Tirus or the Mazdani. Leaving Kate to look after them, the rest of us headed into the shadows, following in the wake of an Orc patrol. Half an hour later I was able to do my phasing trick and began clearing the area in the dead space to build a portal, enabling Kyra to lead the rest of the team through to begin turning it into a safe-haven for study. They were swiftly followed by Kate, Tirus and the Mazdani.

“Big space,” Tirus stated as he looked around.

“Not compared to the storage buildings or the barracks,” I replied. “It’s just where four buildings meet leaving a sort of storage area in-between them and getting forgotten. The original doorway is now hidden by storage racks and later today we’ll use our powers to disguise it further.”

At this point Arch arrived with several Mazdani, including Tu’tar, who were toting soundproofing boards for lining the walls as the rest of us used our powers to get rid of the dust and dirt as well as set up lighting for those who needed it. He was accompanied by Seer Lagertha who set about placing various symbols on a framework to give us a hidden portal in order to easily access the base and the rest of the planet if necessary.

Soon enough she had it open and we started pulling things like beds for the permanent staff through as well as hanging privacy screens.

“Home from home,” I finally chuckled to Arch.

“Yes, so long as they don’t accidentally discover us.”

“Difficult to see how, unless one falls in from the roof,” I chuckled.

“Never underestimate the abilities of humans ... or Orcs to confound what you believe in, in an act of idiocy,” he grinned.

“True.”

“But, yes, it’s unlikely they’ll know we’re here unless we do something really stupid. Plus the Seers intend to have them chasing shadows on Vultoq.”

“Whilst we look for the Orbs here,” I nodded.

“And study what gear we can, though most of that is stored on the Loegrian side base thanks to Kyra,” he replied with a laugh.

“Ye Gods, there was mountains of the stuff,” I chuckled in reply.

“Yes, apparently they all just ported out and stuck transfer wards on anything they could see. Killed a good few Orcs who tried to stop them too.”

“I suspect most of the Orcs were in or around the ground defence base, rather than patrolling the warehouses.”

“Most likely. The few reports I got were confusing, too much individuality and not enough facts as Mage Thomas used to lecture us on occasionally.”

“Yep, but he got us to do it right though,” I chuckled.

“Yes, and it did make it easier to find stuff by cross-referencing it when we needed it later, rather than trying to figure out who was there and did what.”

“Róisín learned a lot from him.”

“Yes, Tara thinks she’s the indispensable one, not me,” he replied with a massive grin as I burst out laughing as well.

“So, it is to be Vultoq next,” Karkol stated to the full Council of Archimandrites ... well, all save two who were in hiding and minus the three already assassinated.

“Yes. They scanned the entire planet before we could prevent them, as well as killing all sixteen Psiontials and the two greater Psiontials,” Bittern admitted in his current role of planetary defences co-ordinator.

“We did find where they scanned from, a vast underground cavern under the city of Lindras,” Brnnt added.

“Interesting that we found out where this time,” Karkol mused.

“It was their attempt to breach our updated security measures surrounding the Senior Adept’s headquarters that enabled the Psiontials to locate them, hence the death of the Psiontials,” Bittern replied.

“Ah...”

“I have requested the Guild of Biotechnicians to produce a far more powerful Psiontial. One that may survive such a reaction and guide our forces to the target. I have also had these caverns and several others on our worlds strewn with anti-personnel devices, in case they attempt to do this elsewhere,” Bittern announced.

“Most wise,” Karkol nodded to Bittern, thus allying his and Brnnt’s support to the beleaguered Archimandrite in the face of a more ... moderate rival ... for given values of moderate.

“What of the other worlds?” Chusok, Bittern’s rival, asked.

“They will naturally keep a higher level of security, though this enemy have so far only attacked one world at a time,” Bittern replied in tones barely above a sneer.

“That we know of.”

“Indeed,” Karkol replied. “Do you have any suggestions, Archimandrite Chusok?”

“First they stopped us on Nansack, then Craachan, both worlds being next to each other. Logically they should then have gone for Blensop or perhaps Kriq as the next in the chain.”

“Both are colonies, not conquests,” Bittern replied dismissively. “They appear to have only gone after our conquests.”

“Nevertheless...” Chusok began.

“I’m sure we will be on highest alert. If this new enemy turns from its standard practices and attacks two worlds, we will notice and take appropriate measures. Won’t we, Archimandrite Bittern?” Brnnt added in a calm voice.

“Naturally. But, so far as we know, they haven’t and Vultoq was the planet scanned,” Bittern replied, looking smug at the support he was getting.

“I bow to your wisdom,” Chusok stated into the silence, knowing when to cut his losses.

“You will begin your investigations on Vultoq,” Karkol commanded Crnnch at a meeting later that day.

“At once, revered Archimandrite.”

“Be on your guard. This enemy have become far more aggressive against those who detect them and seek out their secrets,” Brnnt stated.

“I will, revered Archimandrite.”

“Pay attention to any reports you may receive from Blensop or Kriq as well. They may have expanded their theatre of operations and be seeking to lull us into a false sense of security,” Brnnt added before dismissing the Seeker.

“At your command,” Crnnch replied, saluted and then left the room as they commanded.

“Chusok is commendably astute in realising the potential threat we may be under,” Karkol stated into the silence after Crnnch had left the room.

“Yes, a shame he will have to die,” Brnnt nodded.

“Yes, a shame. Bittern will not permit him to survive his ascendency.”

“A more powerful Psiontal is, I believe, a mistake,” Brnnt scowled.

“Considering how untrustworthy we had their base personalities made in the design stage, yes, I agree,” Karkol nodded. “Already their abilities have exceeded our power to control rigidly.”

“It will be interesting to see whether or not this enemy will react.”

“Indeed, brother, indeed.”

“It appears as if the Orcs have taken the bait,” Roxanne announced at the first full morning meeting after the return of all from our breaks.

“Yes, Mage Roxanne. They have gone to, and remain on, high alert since our initial incursion,” Jemima replied for the Seers.

“Keep them busy as we discussed, also keep an eye out for reactions and the probable return of a Seeker.”

“We will, Roxanne. We certainly expect something after we killed off the Psiontials.”

“Aye, that will have given them pause for thought. Arch, security on Blensop?”

“Nominal, it’s not a fortress, but it’s unlikely they’ll discover us there unless we do something stupid,” he replied after a moment’s thought.

“Good, we’re there to study the pressure points on their civilisation and come up with a plan to cause them to bring it down themselves via insurrection or civil war. Also it is the site by which I want a reliable means of detecting these Orbs researched.”

“We are gathering more data on them in our attempts to strip down the one we have on a daily basis,” Vilton spoke up. “Mage Brianna’s people are being most helpful here in their knowledge of the hidden aspects of quantum.”

“Aye, well, we’re on the lookout for others, though it appears they guard even the spares they have with numbers and enhanced security. Does appear we got lucky getting the one we did.”

“Yes, Roxanne.”

“Alice, Heimdor, Naimh, John, prepare your teams for overt operations on Vultoq. We are to target key installations and cause maximum disruption to their activities there. Please be careful, there’s a good risk that we’ll take casualties and they’ll finally start to get some accurate data on us and our abilities. However, it’s the Council’s opinion that the gloves need to come off slightly as we see how they cope with terrorist tactics.”