thoroughly on guard within their own fortress, but do not do them the favor of underestimating them,” Johvad said. The two groups of two, after pulling their shielded black masks over their head, shook hands by clasping the base of the thumbs, as was the custom of their group, who were often called Guardians, though any official title was rarely used within their organization.
Outside on the streets of Kelgar, thirty men of a forty-man assault team had entered the city in an unassuming and inconspicuous manner. Each one within the city was carrying minimal equipment. They were simply to blend in with the citizens of the city until the appointed time to rendezvous with the rest of the team, who would be bringing additional equipment and weaponry in from the north of the city, close to the Faalcomana base. As the thirty men, Motaham being among them, remained undercover within the city, the remaining ten, accompanied by Sivtal, made their way around to the north of the city with the bomb and equipment in tow. They were following along a tributary of the Ducog River, which ran through the wilderness on the outskirts of Kelgar, straight through it to Lake Arino.
Faltensee and Kadel were working their way through the lower level of the South Tower. They were moving toward the power control room in the basement of the North Tower, which also housed the docking bay, munitions storage, and most of the soldiers’ quarters. They were using schematics of the City Center buildings from before the Faalcomana invasion. Though the Faalcomana had modified the buildings over the years, they trusted that the original floor plan would still prove useful. The Faalcomana kept the fortress dimly lit, as they became acclimated to such an environment during their arduous space journey. This dim setting was providing cover, or at least a sense of it, for the men as they moved about, but it also added to their discomfort.
They both crouched with their backs to the wall, with one on each side of the corridor they were in. They began to hear two Faalcomana talking, their voices emanating from an intersecting hallway. Faltensee waved Kadel to cross over to his side of the corridor, which Kadel promptly did. The two, with Faltensee leading the way, made their way up to the nearest doorway. Faltensee looked into the room to ensure it was empty, after which they both took cover in it.
The room was completely dark, except for what little light it gained from the hallway it was connected to. The two had no idea how big it might be or what it might be used for, but it seemed empty, and that was good enough. They both posted up near the door, and Faltensee began to peek out into the corridor they had just fled. The intersecting hallway from where they had heard the voice was about fifteen feet ahead of the doorway they had taken cover in. Faltensee watched and listened intently as the voices and footsteps grew louder. With his hand on his bo, he remained focused on the intersection of the hallways ahead of him, watching as the massive figures of the Faalcomana became visible in the intersection, but just as quickly leaving his line of sight as they continued down the hallway they were in. Faltensee inhaled deeply through his nose and enjoyed an extended blink of his eyes, then prepared to move ahead.
Johvad and Zaeleth had managed to make their way to a stairwell, which they were using to reach the fifth floor. There, they would cross the skywalk to the East Building and use an elevator, or the shaft of an elevator, to reach the rooftop. The stairwell, like every other area of the fortress they had thus far encountered, had a minimal amount of light. Staying low and moving slowly, they cautiously made their way up the stairwell. Because of what the South Tower was utilized for, it was ordinarily not very populated.
They reached the fifth floor and were only around the corner from the skywalk to the East Tower. Thus far their mission had been very uneventful, which was exactly what they were hoping for. A single encounter could eliminate the only advantage they had on the Faalcomana. They carefully made their way out of the stairwell and rounded the corner. Tucked next to the wall, they were now facing the skywalk, with the majority of the walls and ceiling of the skywalk made of thick glass, it presented a stark contrast to the dim tower.
The two approached the skywalk and nearly positioned themselves on all fours before beginning to move across. They peered out of the skywalk and down onto the city in front of them. In this part of the city, especially at this time of day, they didn’t expect to see a throng of Faalcomana soldiers loading into ground transports and leaving the premises of the City Center.
“Aren’t we supposed to be taking some of those?” Zaeleth asked sarcastically about the transports. It was an unexpected sight for both men.
“That was the idea. This should just make taking whatever vehicles they’ve left behind that much easier,” Johvad responded, as he nearly instantly saw an advantage.
“Yeah, as long as there are some left behind. That’s a lot of soldiers leaving down there.” It was disturbing to see such a multitude of enemy troops assembled and departing as they were. There were so many soldiers that they were certain off-duty reinforcements had been called in. Ultimately, it was fine as they were leaving the City Center grounds, but it was perplexing all the same.
“What is it that they’re doing that they need so many?”
“There’s no way they could be one step ahead of us, is there?” Johvad was deeply troubled by the idea.
“Let’s hope not. Send a message out to everyone. We need to keep an eye on this.” Zaeleth bowed his head and quickly began to do just so.
Down on the streets of Kelgar, most of the assault team had already taken notice of the convoy as it drove eastward out of the city. Moreover, several members of the Guardians roaming the city had noticed as well and began to investigate. As they all received the message from Zaeleth, it did little but reaffirm what they were already doing.
Having crossed the skywalk, Zaeleth and Johvad were on the fifth floor of the East Tower. The set of three elevators were down the hall at the intersecting hallway, and in the sight of the two men. Quietly moving towards the elevators, they heard the chime the elevators make as they travel their course, passing or potentially stopping at a floor, the latter obviously being the worst-case scenario for them at the moment. It was the right elevator. Johvad intently watched its display while Zaeleth’s eyes grew so large they nearly filled their respective openings in his mask. As Zaeleth began to move to find a place to hide, Johvad grabbed his arm and pointed to the elevator, hoping he would also see the display saying that the elevator had reached the sixth floor. By the time Zaeleth noticed, the elevator had in fact reached the seventh. Relieved, but nearly overwhelmed with adrenaline, they continued moving toward the elevators.
Faltensee and Kadel were traveling through an underground service passage that connected all four of the towers. They had to make use of their night vision goggles in order to navigate the passage. They could see no opposition outside of the cobwebs. The passages appeared as though they had not been used since the invasion. Puddles had formed from small leaks and random items were scattered on the floor. It was a straight shot from the South to the North Tower, and they did not waste a lot of time traveling it.
Arriving at the entrance to the basement of the North Tower, they removed their night vision goggles and continued onward. The base of this tower was virtually identical to the South’s. The power control room was a few short turns away. Still vigilant, the two continued heading toward their objective. There was no sign of danger as they made the last turn and finished moving up to the entrance of the control room. Entering the room with great caution and still no opposition, they found themselves in control of the life of the four towers. Faltensee and Kadel let out a sigh of relief. “I hope everything goes as smoothly for the others,” Kadel said, referring namely to Johvad and Zaeleth.
Now at the elevators, Johvad and Zaeleth had to choose one and force their way into the shaft, as actually riding one would be far too bold and dangerous. Neither of the men even thought of taking the right, which had just given them a good scare, realizing the cab was above them blockin
g their way. “Let’s go left,” Zaeleth suggested.
“Middle it is,” Johvad said to toy with Zaeleth, who was smiling behind his mask. They both positioned themselves by the middle elevator. Johvad removed a piece of equipment from his belt and began to wedge it into the doors of the elevator while Zaeleth stood guard. Johvad made a few forceful motions and the doors opened up. Johvad quickly pulled out a light to illuminate the dark vertical passage. There was a variety of cabling and guide rails on the interior of the shaft. Though the distance to any one of the rails or the cable was only a few feet, it appeared quite perilous with such a long way down.
The doors attempted to close up, however they immediately conceded to Johvad’s push. “Do you want to go first,” he asked Zaeleth. Zaeleth quickly looked back and appraised the scene.
“No, I’m good,” he responded with no hesitation.
Now the display for the middle elevator lit up, and the two could hear its car begin to rumble down below them. “We have to move,” Johvad said hastily.
“Lead the way…that’s what you do,” Zaeleth responded. Johvad