Aiden raced towards Caine — only for the latter to toss the downed Legionnaire towards him. The improvised projectile caught him off balance. Caine’s next blow struck him on the head, knocking him out.
It had been mere minutes since Caine’s all-out assault on the tower had begun. He was three floors from his goal. All he needed to do was to lay eyes on what he wanted, and it would be his. He knew this was an especially risky endeavour, but he relished the challenge.
He was sweating now. Not because of fear, but because it had gotten hotter. Much hotter.
Two Centurions had emerged from the elevator, staring daggers at him.
“You have some guts to pull off something like this.” Avery’s voice was dripping with menace. Tobi was the picture of rage. His features were twisted with animalistic anger.
“It’s too bad you won’t live much longer.”
“You need some better security,” Caine replied. “It’s been a cake walk so far. And now, I’ll have you both go away.”
He stretched his hands. A portal opened and sped towards them, swallowing everything in its way.
The two easily evaded Caine’s attack, racing towards him. A follow up was dodged just as well.
“So that’s how you turned our soldiers into birds.” Avery observed, “Allow me to thank you.”
Cupping his hands to his mouth, Avery exhaled.
Flame King’s Grand Banquet!
His industria erupted as it hit the air, turning into a giant fireball that grew larger the further it moved from Avery. It would have consumed the entire floor had Avery not limited the spread to keep the damage minimal. The attack stopped, filling the room with smoke. Avery peered through the smog, looking for a sign that his quarry had been reduced to ash.
Caine erupted from the smog behind Avery. A knife in his hand. He sliced through the air, towards the Centurion’s neck. It would never reach its mark. Tobi seized Caine’s hand, knocking the knife away. Avery, now aware of the threat, quickly put distance between himself and the struggle behind him.
Tobi smirked at Caine, exposing his fangs. Caine froze for a second. A second too long.
The heavy blow gouged flesh and broke bone, sending Caine skidding all the way across the corridor. Caine looked up at Tobi, barely managing to catch sight of his wold shroud, formed of his industria. It was in the midst of dispelling, but it had amplified the impact of the blow, crushing his now regenerating arm. He licked his lips. Then Caine noticed the new entrant in the room.
He wasn’t meant to be in the Tower, yet he must have been summoned quickly. A man who inspired fear all over the world, Commander Bryan Starlite.
“Do you understand what you’ve just done?” He asked. “The Archion Tower was more than a building. It was a symbol of strength. Audacious in design, braggadocious in conception, it stands as a representation of WestScarlet’s unyielding might. To attack it is tantamount to a declaration of war.”
“If you think this is impressive — wait till you see what else I’ve pulled,” Caine replied.
“What’s your goal here? What did you think you could achieve?” The commander asked, “Other than die a humiliating death.”
“I thought I could get some light reading done.” Caine replied, “But the lure of showing just how easily I could mess up your day was too good to resist. ‘None of you are safe, anywhere. The Legion cannot protect you’. That’s the message this little jaunt will relay to your citizens.”
“What book, in particular, were you interested in? Perhaps we could ship it to your prison cell.”
“Nice try.” Caine wagged a finger. “I’m more interested in why you aren’t attacking me yet. But then I realised you were probably setting up a spell to keep me here.”
“That esoterica of yours makes you very slippery indeed.” The commander said. “You also keep refusing to make eye contact with either Avery or I. It would be pointless to have a struggle when we could converse at leisure.”
“This is as far as I can go. Today.” His arm shot out. Industria spewed out of it, forcing a hole in space. “Next time, I’ll burn this whole building to ash.”
“Avery, toast him.” Starlite pointed.
Flame King’s Charring Stream!
Avery sent a silken stream of flame towards Caine. He smirked under his mask. And then he was gone, swallowed by his portal. The fire did not reach him.
Outside the tower, tens of Legionnaires lay dead. Two floors had been wrecked, one of them belonging to the Sabres. Three Sabres had been defeated and would need medical attention. It was not a defeat, it was a humiliation.
“Commander…” Avery trailed off as the man glared at him.
“Avery. Tobi. We need to have a meeting as soon as possible.” He simply said. “I’ll deal with the press corps and work on getting out a statement later today.”
“Yes, sir,” Avery replied. Tobi had already moved to examine Aiden, Bart and Lionel. It was then he started to wonder about the others.
* * *
Now.
“So we weren’t the only ones to get our asses kicked,” Tyrone said.
“Don’t joke about this. ” Avery said. “It’s a message. ‘You aren’t safe. The Legion cannot protect you’. Written in the blood of our fallen soldiers.”
“Or it was a distraction.“ Lionel replied, “They launch a huge attack, someone’s bound to notice. So they launch two.“
“Agreed. They’re planning something big. Besides the PR value of both attacks…” Avery said. “The shape of this is becoming clear. Until we drive Caine away from WestScarlet or defeat him…this isn’t over. Far from it.“
Chapter 14 - Dispatch
The mood in the Archion Tower was one of crisis by the time Avery returned with his team. The media had quickly picked up on the attack — the pile of bodies didn’t help — and the Legion had become subject to a barrage of commentary. Starlite had fielded calls from more than a few civilian leaders, as well as his civilian counterpart. Suffice to say, no one was pleased with the situation.
Avery and Tobi had been summoned to his office for a meeting. The duo had been the only ones to clash with Caine. Therefore, they were the most suited for the mission.
Starlite stood, gazing out if his window. One of the highest floors of the tower, he could watch over the city from here. On his walls were various certificates and qualifications, newspaper clippings of both his failures and his triumphs. A photo of his family. Pictures of the latest Sabres, Sentinels and Centurions. He was not one who neglected his role, and it showed.
“So, Masquerade has risen.”
It was not a question, it was a simple statement of fact.
“My team defeated two of them.” Avery added, “The incident has been dubbed the Four Cities Massacre. Though we successfully prevented one of them from being destroyed.”
“One out of four is a failing grade Avery,” Starlite said, “This group is dangerous. We’ve managed to suppress the report for two weeks while we look into it, but…it’s going to be a bloodbath out there.”
“So what you’re saying is that we need to have Masquerade rounded up by the time this gets out,” Tobi said. “I’m not sure that’s a realistic request.”
“You’re not a Centurion simply because you can punch hard Tobi,” The Commander said, his voice had an edge to it now. “We must nip this in the bud. Avery? You have an idea right. “Yes, sir.” Avery said, “I had my team look into similar attack patterns as Kwere before they left. Eva completed and turned in the reports today.”
He handed the dossier his subordinate had prepared to the commander, who flipped through it without haste. The information in there was a long shot and put together reports of attacks reported to be by men with beast-like characteristics. Those happened everywhere. People were always seeing things that weren’t there and writing up stories of werewolves and yetis. However, along with the Four Cities, the city of Draekeor had experienced a similar number of attacks, if not more, by Eva’s re
ckoning. They had been dismissed as hoaxes, and the city had shut down the investigations immediately all times. The proximity of the Four Cities to Draekeor had not gone unnoticed by Eva, who added in a note that it was worth an extended look at.
“But Draekeor wasn’t hit,” Starlite handed the folder to Tobi so he could catch up, “Why do you think that is?”
“Two possibilities. Draekeor will be hit later.” Avery mused, “But that makes little sense, the best time to strike was with the attacks on the Four Cities, while our attention was here.”
“And yet Caine came here. He did not supervise the attack, nor did he launch a simultaneous one on Draekeor,” Starlite said.
“Unless they needed something that they didn’t have before.”
All three of them were struck with the same idea at once
“Our attention.”
“When Deidre was attacked, they tried to slip a mask on her. Tyrone too. Yet they killed the weaker Legion members.” Avery said as he began to form a hypothesis, “The attacks were meant to draw an investigation. We would move to crush Masquerade in Draekeor, but we would be masked and turned into meat puppets.”
“There’s another option.” Tobi had finished reading the dossier now, “Whoever this Caine is, they want the public humiliation of the Legion. And they’ve likely already infiltrated Draekeor. It’s going to be something big.”
“Both of these are worst-case scenarios,” Starlite said. He went over his choices in his head. They had no other leads. They had been caught flat-footed twice. A media evisceration was coming. He needed a win. And fast.
“I’ve decided. Both of your teams are going to Draekeor.”
“With all due respect sir, haven’t we just established that’s exactly what they want?”
“I’m following a little principle known as ‘be careful what you wish for.’ If Masquerade wants to play, we’ll play. Just not on their terms.”
“But these are rookies.” Avery said, “They couldn’t defeat Masquerade in Gunne.”
“From what I heard, they did defeat Masquerade, even without any intel on their abilities.” The Commander replied. “It was Masquerade who adapted to them. They even had a plan to take them out again. I like people who think on their feet, and I think they’d be well adapted to taking them one once more.”
“But—”
“Tyrone is the boy Tom saved, am I right? I remember that. I remember his interviews with you, and the notes you made. There is no such thing as a rookie Sabre. That, you should know very well.”
“Yes sir,” Avery replied, “Sorry for speaking out of turn.”
“Not a problem.” Starlite said, “Now, let’s work on this problem, shall we?”
The two Centurions listened intently as the Commander detailed his plan, working with him to refine it as the night went in.
“We must not like Caine get away with this. The stain on our reputation will be heavy, but the people’s desire for justice will be sated.” Starlite said.
Avery and Tobi nodded. They were in agreement.
* * *
“An infiltration mission?” Lionel exclaimed, “That’s pretty sneaky.”
“More like desperate,” Bart groused.
Floors below Starlite’s office, the Centurions had summoned their respective teams. It was now time to fill them in on their newest mission. Avery let his gaze linger on Tyrone. The latter had suffered severe battle injuries in his fights, yet he was still raring to jump into action. He would make a note of that self-destructive tendency for later.
Tyrone sat now with Eva and Lionel. Aiden, Deidre and Bart sat on the opposite chairs.
“Here’s what we know about Beast Masks so far,” Avery passed out folders. “You likely already know a cleaned up summary of this information.
“The beast masks are made of a special material that absorbs and grants Industria, and an animal-based esoterica to the wearer. The material is sort of like Tobi’s Wolf Totem, which he combines with his own power. Did I get that right?” Eva said.
“That’s correct, though I’m not sure that last part was public knowledge just yet, but you’ve pretty much got it,” Tobi replied. His hand played with the wolf totem he wore on his neck, a relic from an older experiment he had been allowed to keep.
“Anyway, these samples we’ve gotten from the aftermath of the Four Cities Massacre have been experimented with to an enormous degree. Alfred and Quinn had their masks merged with them. There was an outer conduit, but the bulk of the mask material had merged with their bones and their muscles.”
“They aren’t fully human anymore, putting it simply. The animal and the beast have merged together more completely than before,” Tobi said. “They are dangerous, and we have reason to believe this is just the tip of the iceberg.”
“They’re strong enough to damage Eva’s industria shields, smash through Deidre’s glass, and shatter Tyrone’s bones,” Avery said. “If any of you want to back out now — you can make your objections, and we’ll think about next steps.”
“I think I speak for everyone when I say there’s not a chance we’re going to back off,” Tyrone said. “We owe a debt to the people we failed. Our mission wasn’t over from the start.”
Avery met his eyes, and he understood. It wasn’t merely a matter of wounded pride, they wanted justice.
“Don’t forget us.” Lionel too wore a similar, but slightly different expression. Avery could read him too. Revenge was first and foremost on his mind, “Caine came in here and made a mess of the place. We just want to return the favour.”
The others nodded their assent to the shared sentiment, each bearing their own reason for wanting to take down the masked organisation.
Satisfied they had impressed upon both teams the dangers they faced, the two Centurions delved into the nature of the mission. They would work in their designated teams, but for different purposes. Tyrone, Lionel and Eva would go undercover in Draekeor. They would ferret out the beast masks from the perspective of the man on the street. Avery, Tobi, Aiden, Deidre and Bart would work with Draekeor’s mayor, running a parallel investigation. They would also be working to discover the alleged mole. Both teams would compare results, in the hopes that comparing the same situation from different angles would lead to a faster resolution.
“The only problem is that we need a cover.” Eva said, “I presume Aslog has a veritable trove of cover identities we could slip into.”
“No worries on that front.” Tyrone said, “If it’s Draekeor we’re going to, I can handle our cover.”
Chapter 15 - Draekeor
Draekeor Case.
Day 1.
Draekeor.
If Aslog was the capital city of WestScarlet, Draekeor was its cultural capital. It had everything, the best nightclubs, the latest fashion trends, the most outré cast of characters often turned the cities nightlife into something that was not one thing, nor was it another. To the party animals, the dark beckoned onto them like a sultry mistress, filling them with overwhelming passion. To those not entirely as inundated with the concept, Draekeor offered food to tease the tongue, sights to please the eyes, and space to stretch the muscle.
The city had undergone a reconstruction effort spearheaded by its current Mayor; Avel Dukari. To hear people tell it, the man had bombastic ideas for a city that rivalled Aslog, though it would forever be stymied by lack of funding. His pet projects revamped the water system, rearranged the city streets and renovated the Town Hall, bridging the central library, and a host of other administrative functions into one place.
Avel wore many hats, and today, he had adopted the hat of the magnanimous host. At Draekeor’s Shunt Port, he stood with his aides, Paul and Louise, they had helped in his radical reshaping of Draekeor, and were regarded as his right and left hands by the media.
Industria gathered, and the Sabers were shunted in one by one from Aslog, all five of them. Tobi, Avery, Aiden, Deidre and Bart alighted from the ports.
“Welcom
e Legion,” Avel said, throwing his arms around like showman, “To the delightful Draekeor.”
“Thank you, Avel,” Avery said, shaking his hand. “I’m quite certain you’ve been briefed about the unfortunate incidents we’re here to investigate. Your chief of staff, Mr Matthe-”
“Ah yes, Matthew did brief me about everything. You’re double-checking our handling of this case.” Avel said, “We’ve prepared the facilities you require. Matthew and our trustworthy records keeper Edward will be helping you out.”
Edward and Matthew took this opportunity to make their entrances, shaking hands with the Sabres and their Centurion. The former wore a look of barely concealed contempt on the face, the latter a pasted on smile. Aiden and Deidre exchanged a knowing look between them. They were going to be difficult.
“Thank you.” Tobi said, “You’ve been very cooperative.”
“I’d rather avoid any disaster like the Four Cities — if it’s all the same to you.” Avel said, “Draekeor is such a nice place, we’ve never had anything like what you’re alleging — aside from the slight drug problem.”
“Drugs? What drugs?” Avery said.
“Performance enhancers on the streets,” Avel said. “Nothing too mind bending or psychedelic. Certainly not a rash of animal-human hybrids.”
“You’d be surprised at what could be possible,” Avery said.“You never know, the masks that people wear often hide their true faces. ”
“How insightful.” Avel smiled. “I’m sure you’ll get to the bottom of this quickly.”
As they left the Shunt Port, Avery was sure he felt something tugging at the edges of his consciousness. Some idea that was just on the tip of his tongue, but one that he could not voice. Draekeor looked the part, Avel looked the part, everything was on the up and up, yet he could not shake the feeling that behind everyone was a puppet master pulling everyone’s strings. Including his.
* * *
It had been many years ago, in Aslog. Tyrone had just moved into a new house with his parents and brother. It had been a friendly, quiet neighbourhood where people could talk to each other over fences, or show up at homes unsolicited with an ice-breaking pack of food to make friends. Aslog had been like that, it was still like that in some sense, but less so than before. Tyrone knocked at the house of the Roses. A pack of puffs in his hand. Another boy, around his age, had opened the door.
Masked Page 8
