by R N Skye
“Rescue Ava,” Leslie jumped to her feet and turned to Louisa. “Louisa is she okay, what happened?”
Louisa held her hand patting it calmingly, “Sit down Leslie, Ava is fine. A lot has transpired while you were away. You need to rest you’ve had a trying day.”
“Like I was saying,” Ari continued. “I met up with Shane just before it all occurred the day before the war started. A lot has happened in a rather short time. I’ll let you visit with Gerard and Louisa and they can fill in the blanks. Shane and I have a meeting this afternoon with the Luion Department of War so we need to leave.
Leslie sat and shook her head, “So all that light and those miraculous things I saw in the dungeons were due to artifacts you created?”
Shane nodded, “more or less.”
“Amazing… simply amazing,” muttered Leslie. “Ava said that if anyone could do it, it would be you. I was skeptical but she was very confident in your abilities. So you made some of your own artifacts to find and save me - Simply amazing.”
“It’s a little more complex than that but essentially yes, we used magic to find, rescue, and heal you,” Shane summarized.
“Heal?” queried Leslie and Louisa at the same time.
“You had been infected with a very dangerous type of magic that is used by a group of people called Allyant’s. They are enemies of the Elios and Luion from millennia ago and it looks like they may also be behind the war; having some sort of control over the King of Infin.”
“Is she going to be okay,” asked Louisa with concern looking for signs of injury?
“She will be fine,” interjected Ari as he pulled out his time piece. “I’m sorry but we need to go, there’s a war on and Shane and I have already missed several meetings with the Prime Minister and we can’t afford to have Shew giving a briefing without us. Shane do you have a portal to the PM’s office?”
Thinking of the teleport glyph that his father had shown him and knowing that Ari was up to some minor glyph mastery, Shane drew a glyph in front of Ari and one in front of himself glowing in the air at eye level with Louisa and Leslie looking on in wonder. “You remember the large green tile square to the left of the entry door to the meeting room?” asked Shane.
“Yes,” replied Ari as he studied the glowing image in front of him.
“Good, picture yourself standing on it and let me know when you have the image in your mind.”
“Just a second,” Ari said. Then without warning he stepped to Leslie’s side and kissed her soundly on the mouth then stepped back to the glyph. “I’m glad you are back and well I missed you.” Turning to Shane he nodded, “Ok, I’m ready.” With a grin Shane activated the glyphs and the two men and the glyphs winked out of sight.
Louisa stared for a moment then looked at her sister and said, “Well, that’s new.”
Chapter III
Roger and Shew stood just inside the doorway peering into the hallway that led to the large meeting room where the prime minister and his staff waited for the beginning of the defense planning and status meeting. Roger jumped at the instant appearance of Shane and Ari. “I’m glad you finally got here,” exclaimed Roger as he glanced back into the room, “The Luion Staff were getting restless and beginning to doubt that you would show up.”
“We just had to get Leslie somewhere she would be safe and able to rest,” responded Shane. Turning to Shew he asked, “Did you and the kid get the financials all taken care of?”
Shew nodded. “I’m not sure why you are putting your trust in the little…” Shew paused as he filtered out his favorite expletives, “…scamp. It won’t surprise me one bit if he robs the place while he’s guarding it.” With a scowl he changed topics. “I’ll give you the details on the banking after we finish with the meeting.”
The four entered into the room. It was large and rectangular with a high ceiling with no windows but had several wall size maps hanging from the walls. Taking the first available chairs along the more empty side of the large lengthy conference table they sat down and looked around the room. Shane was impressed by the serious demeanor and the formality of those in attendance, particularly those conveyed by the military; consisting of two apparently highly decorated officers seated at the table and their staff of uniformed aides seated along the far wall.
Seeing that everyone was in attendance an aide closed the door and one of the officers stood.
“Gentlemen,” he greeted, “now that we are here we should get started. For the benefit of those of whom I have not had the privilege to have been introduced, I am Admiral Cyrado - for what it’s worth I am the Luion Secretary of War. Under the direction of the Prime Minister I will be conducting this meeting this afternoon.
The Prime Minister will not be in attendance this afternoon but Secretary Jacques is here as his liaison and will report to him at the conclusion of this meeting. Before we start I ask that each of you take a moment to stand and introduce yourselves as it appears that we have a few new faces.”
Gesturing with a nod to his left he indicated that the uniformed man sitting next to him should begin.
A tall, well-built, bald man, that appeared to be in his late fifties but also projecting an impression that he was quite solid in both mind and body stood in a crisp military fashion and glanced about the group seated at the large conference table. “I am General Jon D’Mere of the Army Command. I oversee all land operations of the Army.” With a nod he retook his seat.
Next to him a white haired man in civilian attire stood and introduced himself as Monsieur Golan the minister of Law and Order. “I oversee that all conduct of war is done as prescribed by the laws of Luion and that no illegal warfare takes place. All battle plans are reviewed by my department…”
Shew leaned over and whispered to Ari, “If we have to fill out paperwork before every battle this war is not going to be quick, and we’re not going to be on the winning side.”
The next three to stand were secretaries of various ministers that related to commerce, magetech, and finance, explaining that their presence was to provide any assistance necessary from their respective ministries. Ari leaned into Shew, “Get with them after this meeting and tell them we need money to pay the mage tech staff and funding for our intelligence work.” Shew smiled and Ari nodded at the unspoken question. “Everything you can.” Shew nodded back knowingly.
Next the Prime Ministers Secretary, Jacques stood and introduced himself saying nothing more than that he would personally see to it that all messages for the prime minister would be received and that he had been asked to assist in any way possible.
Shane stood next, “My name is Shane Chason,” he hated introducing himself, he held no titles he considered important and any that he could give himself seemed to be frivolous and boastful. “I am a mage and the author of most of the mage tech that you are receiving to defend Luion from the Infin invasion. I suppose at the moment I represent the glyph mages in Yllyan,” He nodded and sat feeling uncomfortable at being the youngest in the room.
Shew stood, “my name is Shew, former head of intelligence of Infin during Allion the second’s rule; retired. I’m here to increase, improve, and provide military intelligence for the Luion war effort. If I tell you something then it’s true. I’ll only tell you once. If you doubt me or question me I’ll let you sit on your doubt and die; I don’t mess around with politics. You pay me for action and results, not for my good manners. I will work with the armed forces in structuring their military intelligence. I will be in the field and other areas unknown and only those that need to speak to me will know how to get hold of me. At these meetings I will be offering some high level briefings from time to time. Other than that you will work through Monsieur Oiseau or his secretary for your intelligence needs.”
As Shew took his seat Shane looked around the room at the mix of expressions regarding the old spy’s introduction. The looks ranged from a grinning Roger and Ari to an appalled astonishment on the Law and Order Ministers face to the approving
nods from Admiral Cyrado and General D’Mere.
Ari stood next, “Gentleman, my name is Ruari Desmond; some of you may know my brother Gerard who sits on the commerce advisory committee of the finance premier. I am the former head of the Infin CSS.” After a few mumbles and gasps from a few that were around the table he continued, “I was ordered killed by the King of Infin at the beginning of the war and like many of you fled to my home country of Luion. I along with Shew will be over seeing intelligence I also will be working with Monsieur’s Oiseau and Chason on defense against magical attacks and military grade artifacts from the south. There is obviously more but the less said outside of compartmentalized planning the better.” Ari retook his seat.
Next it was Roger’s turn. “I am Roger Oiseau, recently appointed director of unconventional warfare and intelligence. I will be overseeing the intelligence gained through both traditional and nontraditional methods. My department will also be your source for new artifacts of magetech design such as the medical kits and comm devices that have already been distributed to the Army and the Navy. Since I will be in the field a lot of the time I will introduce you to my secretary.” Reaching up he touched his ear and said, “Lieutenant Arvada please come in.” A serious looking but attractive young lieutenant entered the conference room; her red hair tucked smartly beneath her beret combined with her crisp class ‘A’ uniform conveyed proficiency and professionalism. Shane stood and pulled a chair in from against the wall and placed next to Roger. With her valise at her side, she stopped abruptly next to her superior.
Instead of taking a seat the Lieutenant placed her valise on the table in front of her chair and withdrew a stack of bound softback booklets and began passing them around the room. “Gentlemen, My name is Lieutenant Arvada. I will be your liaison to Monsieur Oiseau and the Luion Department of Intelligence. These booklets are a brief guideline to understanding the magetech that has thus far been distributed, and is also under development, as well as the procurement procedures for requesting training, resupply and the protocols for storing and dispersing the artifacts that you will be receiving. At the present they are for military personnel only.”
At the beginning of a protest from some of the civilians in the room Roger held up his hand for silence. “Please carry on, Lieutenant.”
Continuing the Lieutenant concluded her introduction by saying,” They have been designed for military use only; the security risks by having them fall into the wrong hands are something that we are not prepared to mitigate at this time. If you have any concerns with the guidelines contained in these documents you may submit them to Monsieur Oiseau through me. I will remind you that the information in these booklets are to be considered highly confidential and are not to be shown to anyone outside of this room.”
Turning to the finance and magetech secretaries of whom she had not issued the booklets. “Monsieur’s I apologize for excluding you from this information at this time. I will be meeting with you separately with your superiors to brief you based on your need to know. Please understand this is not because of a lack of trust. The trust that we have for your offices is incomparable; you were excluded only because you are civilians and it would put you in danger to give you this information as you are not afforded the same training and security that being a member of the armed forces provides at this time.”
After Lieutenant Arvada at down; tucking her valise under the table near her feet, Admiral Cyrado stood and cleared his throat.
“We will begin with a report from the Department of the Navy then we will hear from the Department of the Army followed be Minister Golan. We will then hear from Monsieur’s, Shew, Chason, and Desmond, followed by a brief questions and answers session.
“Since I represent the Navy in this conflict I will begin the Navy’s portion of this meeting.
Gathering up a sheaf of papers the admiral launched into his brief. “At the moment our navy consists of basic harbor patrol craft. The gulf of Luion has been our sole concern for over the last five hundred years. The general mission being search and rescue of stranded vessels, or the pursuit of pirates. Not counting various support vessels used in towing and logistics, we have a total of eighteen rescue craft, fourteen troop ships, and a dozen fast fighter boarding vessels; that are used for taking pirates ships or other possible hostiles. Needless to say Luion has a small navy. We have never had to defend against much and because we have been allies with Infin for generations we have never prepared for war against them. Our forces number five thousand marines and twenty thousand sailors – on land and afloat.
Currently we have withdrawn all vessels to the harbor and the fighters are patrolling a one hundred and fifty mile perimeter along the southern coasts of Luion and the Lu Y Onton harbor.
We have not seen any sign of the Infin Navy at this time but we have intercepted hundreds of refugees fleeing north and seeking refuge in Luion; these refugees have reported that there is a navy of over five hundred ships consisting of naval and captured merchant craft gathering at the Jehhet Harbor. The horror stories that we have heard are both strange and frightening. While we haven’t seen any Infin Navy vessels those escaping refugees that we have questioned are claiming that the armies of King Allion are not acting like normal soldiers. They fight until incapacitated or dead and they are emotionless and don’t speak.” The Admiral stopped for a moment and seemed to struggle with his composure. “It is like nothing we have seen before. We cannot put a name to it. The enemy soldiers of Infin are like mindless mannequins of amazing speed and strength.”
An hour later after the Navy finished reporting the Army followed suit. Reporting the successful deployment of forces along the borders at each crossing that the Infin was likely to use and that there were combinations of lookouts and patrols from as far west as Colline Verte to the border south of Lu Y Onton.
“The deployment of the ‘glyphcoms’ has made the reporting of information near instantaneous so the Army is reasonably confident that we will be well informed in advance if they have to move forces. In conclusion,” General D’Mere finished. “Our Army is just as unprepared as is our Navy. We have been friends with the south for generations and the thought of going to war with Infin has not even been considered. With the exception of the criminal element we have merely been a force for service in times of emergency and have maintained border security and to a large part infrastructure maintenance. We have conscripted as many as can be spared from the citizenry and those that are able from the refugees to increase our forces. A third of our forces we have assigned to the task of providing habitat for the refugees.
Finally we have a surge of cities along the border that have declared their secession from Infin and have raised the Luion Standard which now puts them all in harm’s way as traitors of Infin. Most of the women and children as you are aware have been relocated to Coholo by the mages of Yllyan. The men that have stayed behind are asking to stay and fight for their homes and lands in defiance to the ‘Mad King’.” The General nodded to Shane, “Monsieur Chason, I know that you have erected a barrier that will not allow any of the Infin magic to move into Luion, how far south does it cover, and will it protect those cities that have defected to Luion?” Leaning over he handed a list to Shane. “These are the cities that have defected.”
Shane studied the list and handed it to Ari to read. “General, I’m afraid that the only city that is behind the protection barrier is Colline Verte. I would suggest that you continue evacuations of the others.”
Ari cleared his throat,” I’m afraid that I will have to concur with Shane, General. If those people stay, then the invading army will likely destroy their property and enslave them. If they are gone the Infin Army will likely only use the empty cities for temporary residence. The blessing being that the harvests are complete for the season and winter is coming on so the invaders will need the shelter and there are no crops to burn. I also suggest that they evacuate as much of their winter stores as possible”
Taking back his l
ist from Ari General D’Mere nodded, “I agree, I will have my men continue to coordinate with the mages from Yllyan to remove all civilians that are in danger and let them know that they can return as soon as the conflict is finished.”
After the General had finished Monsieur Golan stood and in an arrogant manner glanced at the group to make sure that he had everyone’s attention. “Gentlemen, Lieutenant,” he added condescendingly to Roger’s assistant. “I expect to have detailed plans of all actions prior to the execution of any of your operations. The law must be followed and procedures must be observed.
Additionally I have numerous concerns regarding the secession of several of the border cities and the legality of Luion assuming rule of them. I must forbid any occupation of those lands until we can inform the Kingdom of Infin of our intent. We must allow them to formally accept these secessions; just because the people have asked for asylum in Luion and have requested to be citizens of Luion doesn’t mean that we can automatically accept lands under claim of Infin as part of our republic without due process. This means that until diplomatic relations can be reestablished that I must forbid any Luion incursions into any of the border cities unless these cities actively threaten our currently established borders.
General, Admiral,” Golan turned to the two military leaders, “I expect your adjutants to report to my sub minister as soon as possible so that protocols can be followed in this manner.” Turning to Shane, Shew, Roger and Ari, “As for this ‘Artifact’ espionage and ‘intelligence gathering’ – so called - you are to cease all of your use of this magetech until it has been identified and approved as legal. I have significant doubts in the methods that have been reported to have been used so far and I expect you and your associates to comply immediately; my office will waiting for your appointee to liaise with my office as soon as possible. Feel free to provide that information when you give your portion of this briefing.”
