The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Traitorous High Lord

"No, they're not," Lash agreed as Fiadh joined them. "The Qos Viran last verified Topinov's identity five years ago in conjunction with the VOC. So Demaskieros assumed his identity sometime between the last verification and when I was last at council."

"If the VOC still existed, they could've easily given us a report on Topinov's movements," Vulcrum indicated. "It was one of their primary tasks."

That reminded Lash of something Absinthe had said during their retrieval of Anna van Tallert.

"Maybe they did and Demaskieros had them eliminated to stay hidden," he grimly noted. "We just need to find, then hack the VOC hard database!"

Vulcrum slowly nodded as he considered Lash's suggestion.

"Not easy but do-able," he said. "All three Viseith divisions were notoriously protective of the intelligence they gathered. Almost as much as the Qos Viran is. I have worked on locating an access point for years to no avail. But once we have it, the hack should be relatively straightforward."

"I might have a solution for finding an access point. But I'll need to set a couple things up first," Lash indicated.

"If I could ask you to do that, young master, I would be very thankful," Vulcrum said. "In the meantime, it's my understanding Night Mistress Sofia is looking to be shorn from Giovanni."

He looked at the hooded High Lord.

"Considering he's admitted to being a part of a plot to destroy the Conclave, NachtFeuer should have no problem granting her the shearing."

Vulcrum looked back at Lash and Fiadh.

"I've recorded the confession. I'll transmit immediately, if you could advise your sister lilith, Mistress Fiadh."

"I can do that, Master Vulcrum," Fiadh said with a nod. "She'll be happy about the news. She is very anxious to get out of Giovanni's reach!"

"Thank you, Night Mistress" Vulcrum said, bowing his head respectfully. "Now, how are your energy levels, mistress? Can you manage another twenty minutes? I'd like to squeeze Giovanni for as much as we can get before Narvaez arrives in the next half hour."

"I can manage that," Fiadh said with a confident smile. "But how do you intend on questioning Narvaez? I'll have exhausted my cloud by then."

"Ah!" Vulcrum looked at Lash. "An excellent question. Is there another of your adjuncts or Embraced willing to fill in for our invaluable Mistress Fiadh while she recovers, young master?"

Lash looked at a thoughtful Fiadh then slowly nodded.

"I believe so," he said, looking back at Vulcrum. "Meredith should be able to use Fiadh's technique to great effect."

"Meredith would be perfect," Fiadh agreed. "I'll bring her down now so I can show her how it works during this last session." And she lifted her hand to her earpiece.

"And I'll start my project to find the access point," Lash indicated, reaching to take the hand Fiadh held out to him and gave it a squeeze as she talked to Meredith. "Keep me advised, Vulcrum."

"I will, young master," the lean spymaster said with a bow of his head.

With a final nod, Lash stepped out of the cell. After thanking the operators that now stood guard for their recent efforts, he turned and strode smartly towards the elevator. As quick as the ride up to the command center was, Lash managed to catch Meredith walking towards the elevator with the intention of going down to the brig as the door opened to let him out.

"Lash!" she exclaimed with a happy smile, picking up her pace to meet him only a few steps out of the elevator.

"Ah! My Lady Protector!" Lash said with a smile of his own. Then he was gathering her into a warm embrace, her arms wrapping snuggly around his body as she fitted herself to him.

"Mmm, I like when you wear that perfume," he murmured as he found his nose nuzzling her throat, Meredith sighing with pleasure at the sensual touch.

"Here," the blonde English lilith replied throatily as she pulled him back into the elevator. Closing the door and hitting the stop button, she turned to him and yanked her loose uniform blouse out of her pants and pulled it open. And in doing so, revealed plenty of creamy skin for his eyes to devour.

"Come and get a better sample!"

It was several minutes later that found Lash standing at the war table in the war room. In front of him hung two holographic images: the image of Topinov from five years ago, and the one from three years ago.

"Hunter, does the hard database still have input streams from VOK and VCG?" he asked as a tap of his finger on the interface brought up the same dossier Vulcrum had summoned on his tablet down in the brig.

"Affirmative, Lord Commander," the AI indicated.

"Any one-way firewalls blocking a backflow in either?"

"The VGC input stream is protected by a backflow firewall. However, the VOC stream is not."

Lash sucked in a quick breath then let it go. It had occurred to him while he was down in the cells that, if the VOC had been hit as hard as Tanis indicated it was, somebody might've left the lights one after it was all said and done. Mostly because those responsible for securing the databases and intelligence stores VOC no doubt had, were dead. And, unlike Vulcrum's operators, the Hand assassins that obliterated the VOC operatives weren't trained to gather intel and lockdown a target location before leaving. So they wouldn't have seen any access points still active.

Now, all they had to do was see if Absinthe's idea to hack the database was actually possible.

"Narcist. Are you available to come to the war room?"