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yrae2006-02-28 02:38 am
annarti.livejournal.com) wrote in yrae2006-02-28 02:38 am
kawa~ inspiration #72
Title~ Espionnage
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Still mine
Notes~ kawa~ 72. Finally found out what the tropics mission was all about =D 'may's and Nol's second mission, here's the briefing =3
~ ~ ~
Rau was sitting on the corner of his desk arguing with Kaen as Nimay entered the cluttered office. Or rather, Kaen was trying to argue and failing miserably, while Rau sat there and ignored him.
“We were just in Silrona a month ago with the Aeia-damned caravan bandits,” the blade archer was saying, “It can’t have escalated that much in a month so that we’re needed, can it?”
Rau looked up as the last group wandered into the room and took their habitual places by the wall. He swung himself from his desk and walked over to the map. “This one’s got nothing to do with caravans, or bandits, or anything we’re generally used to.” He stabbed his finger on Assiraz, the tropical capital of Kazin, and at least twice the distance from Ni-Yana as Silrona.
After waiting for the standard groans and complaints that emerged wherever they were going, he continued. “Apparently a couple of our spies have gotten themselves captured, so now they’re stuck in the Assiraz dungeons.”
“So,” Melraan deduced, “You and Nol are going to negotiate them out, then we take them back here.”
Beside her, Nimay could see Nol folding his arms and smiling wryly. He’d been present at the initial briefing with Majesty, so he knew what was going on.
“Oh no,” Rau said with the same wry grin, “We’re breaking them out.”
“What?”
“You have to be joking.”
“Since when was King Mithé the Passive into breaking into the tightest dungeons in Thyllaeth when he could negotiate them out?”
“Because we can’t,” Nol answered for them, “We’ve been trying to get them out for the last year and a half. We had four diplomats up there when we were in Silrona, two of whom came back, the other two are part of the small party we’re rescuing. How many was it, General? Four or five?”
“Five, including the diplomats,” Rau confirmed.
Melraan frowned. “So why didn’t we get them when we were up there last? Why make it a whole new mission barely a month after Silrona?”
“Because at that point we were still at the negotiation stage. The two diplomats came back not long before us, with the message that they’ll be released ‘when Kazin’s finished with them’.”
The men shuffled a bit on their feet.
“Fantastic,” Rumal muttered, thudding his head back against the wall. “So basically, when they’ve finished torturing them and getting every minute detail about Raykin’s inner workings out of them.”
“That’s about the gist of it,” Rau said, rubbing his hands together with mock enthusiasm. “Who’s ready?”
Nimay stared back at him with the same blanched horror as the other guys.
Melraan started counting on his fingers. “So, we’re supposed to go all the way to Assiraz, no romp in the daisy patch in itself, break into the tightest dungeons in the whole of Thyllaeth, somehow find these five spies and diplomats, get them out of the tightest dungeons in the whole of Thyllaeth, then take who will be escaped prisoners by this point, back through southern Kazin, all without getting us or them killed.”
Rau nodded, still with that plastered grin of mock enthusiasm on his face. “Pretty much.”
“That’s suicide,” Ulkar told him bluntly, “How much are we getting paid for this?”
“Two thousand,” Rau told them, carefully enunciating each syllable to give the full impact. The guys whistled their approval before the General opened his mouth again. “Per month.”
“Two thousand per month?”
“You’re sure that’s two thousand gold, right?”
Rau nodded again, his grin considerably more genuine this time. “Two thousand pure Raykinian gold pieces per month.”
Melraan whistled again. “That’s four thousand just to get to the border and back.”
“That’s assuming we get back to the border at all,” Emon muttered. He was still pale, and Nimay imagined he probably would be until they were back on Raykinian soil in five or six months time.
“It’s still suicide,” Gylepi agreed, “However many thousand we get for it, it’s still suicide.”
A few of the other guys murmured their agreement, and Rau held up a hand to quiet them. “That’s why we’re going to get a bit of extra training before we leave. The mission’s not for a month yet—we leave two days after Summer Solstice. In the meantime, we’re going to learn a bit of espionage.”
Nimay snorted. The Own playing spies? The Own being stealthy?
Ulkar raised a hand. “We don’t do stealth.”
“Well, we’re going to,” Rau said, addressing all fourteen of his subordinates. “As of dawn tomorrow—and I mean dawn this time, gentlemen—we will be doing stealth.”
Author~ Annarti
Disclaimer~ Still mine
Notes~ kawa~ 72. Finally found out what the tropics mission was all about =D 'may's and Nol's second mission, here's the briefing =3
Rau was sitting on the corner of his desk arguing with Kaen as Nimay entered the cluttered office. Or rather, Kaen was trying to argue and failing miserably, while Rau sat there and ignored him.
“We were just in Silrona a month ago with the Aeia-damned caravan bandits,” the blade archer was saying, “It can’t have escalated that much in a month so that we’re needed, can it?”
Rau looked up as the last group wandered into the room and took their habitual places by the wall. He swung himself from his desk and walked over to the map. “This one’s got nothing to do with caravans, or bandits, or anything we’re generally used to.” He stabbed his finger on Assiraz, the tropical capital of Kazin, and at least twice the distance from Ni-Yana as Silrona.
After waiting for the standard groans and complaints that emerged wherever they were going, he continued. “Apparently a couple of our spies have gotten themselves captured, so now they’re stuck in the Assiraz dungeons.”
“So,” Melraan deduced, “You and Nol are going to negotiate them out, then we take them back here.”
Beside her, Nimay could see Nol folding his arms and smiling wryly. He’d been present at the initial briefing with Majesty, so he knew what was going on.
“Oh no,” Rau said with the same wry grin, “We’re breaking them out.”
“What?”
“You have to be joking.”
“Since when was King Mithé the Passive into breaking into the tightest dungeons in Thyllaeth when he could negotiate them out?”
“Because we can’t,” Nol answered for them, “We’ve been trying to get them out for the last year and a half. We had four diplomats up there when we were in Silrona, two of whom came back, the other two are part of the small party we’re rescuing. How many was it, General? Four or five?”
“Five, including the diplomats,” Rau confirmed.
Melraan frowned. “So why didn’t we get them when we were up there last? Why make it a whole new mission barely a month after Silrona?”
“Because at that point we were still at the negotiation stage. The two diplomats came back not long before us, with the message that they’ll be released ‘when Kazin’s finished with them’.”
The men shuffled a bit on their feet.
“Fantastic,” Rumal muttered, thudding his head back against the wall. “So basically, when they’ve finished torturing them and getting every minute detail about Raykin’s inner workings out of them.”
“That’s about the gist of it,” Rau said, rubbing his hands together with mock enthusiasm. “Who’s ready?”
Nimay stared back at him with the same blanched horror as the other guys.
Melraan started counting on his fingers. “So, we’re supposed to go all the way to Assiraz, no romp in the daisy patch in itself, break into the tightest dungeons in the whole of Thyllaeth, somehow find these five spies and diplomats, get them out of the tightest dungeons in the whole of Thyllaeth, then take who will be escaped prisoners by this point, back through southern Kazin, all without getting us or them killed.”
Rau nodded, still with that plastered grin of mock enthusiasm on his face. “Pretty much.”
“That’s suicide,” Ulkar told him bluntly, “How much are we getting paid for this?”
“Two thousand,” Rau told them, carefully enunciating each syllable to give the full impact. The guys whistled their approval before the General opened his mouth again. “Per month.”
“Two thousand per month?”
“You’re sure that’s two thousand gold, right?”
Rau nodded again, his grin considerably more genuine this time. “Two thousand pure Raykinian gold pieces per month.”
Melraan whistled again. “That’s four thousand just to get to the border and back.”
“That’s assuming we get back to the border at all,” Emon muttered. He was still pale, and Nimay imagined he probably would be until they were back on Raykinian soil in five or six months time.
“It’s still suicide,” Gylepi agreed, “However many thousand we get for it, it’s still suicide.”
A few of the other guys murmured their agreement, and Rau held up a hand to quiet them. “That’s why we’re going to get a bit of extra training before we leave. The mission’s not for a month yet—we leave two days after Summer Solstice. In the meantime, we’re going to learn a bit of espionage.”
Nimay snorted. The Own playing spies? The Own being stealthy?
Ulkar raised a hand. “We don’t do stealth.”
“Well, we’re going to,” Rau said, addressing all fourteen of his subordinates. “As of dawn tomorrow—and I mean dawn this time, gentlemen—we will be doing stealth.”