The Dark Edge Chronicles - Clan War

Chapter 33: Unsheathing the Sword

Lash let his eyes scan the wall of screens as he stepped through the command center entrance and strode towards the war room, Naryan in his shadow.

"Hunter, where's the nearest Qos Viran facility to Budapest equipped with stealth-capable battlefield tactical drones?" he asked, coming to a halt on top of the overview.

"Southern Slovakia, just outside Bratislava," was the AI's reply.

"Immediately deploy enough to give me maximum coverage around Budapest and the entrance into Varos," he then commanded. "Acknowledge."

"Acknowledged, Lord Commander. Drones are spinning up. Deploying within five minutes, battlefield coverage in forty five minutes from my mark. Mark."

Lash nodded then tapped his earpiece.

"Ell, are you reading me?"

"Five by five, handsome," Ellie purred into his ear. "What do you need?"

"Don't forget to scan the liliths with ultrasound as you decant them to make sure they don't have sleeper vials hidden in their brains," Lash said and heard Ellie hiss in dismay.

"Ash me, I completely forgot about that. We had five of them decanted already and were working to revive them. I'll initiate the ultrasound scanning immediately, my Lash,"

"Good. And be careful, sweetheart. We don't know what Romanescu had planned for these liliths that he was keeping separated from the others."

"I will, Lash," Ellie replied, her voice warm. "Gotta go, though. Super busy! I love you!"

"Stay safe." And Lash disconnected that call to move to the next. "Vulcrum, are you reading me?"

"Yes, young master. And, in anticipation of your question, I have begun Romanescu's interrogation with Mistress Meredith assisting me. As expected, his blood is filthy with nanites, as is the blood of his compatriots. But, unconscious and under Mistress Meredith's skill with Compulsion, he is slowly but surely peeling back the layers on not only his organization, but his connection to Narvaez and Giovanni," the spymaster reported.

"Anything on Demaskieros?"

"Not yet, master. But we'll continue to dig. However, the impending decryption of the VOC database may make Romanescu's cooperation redundant. I expect word of the crack momentarily."

Vulcrum paused there then:

"Speak its name and it appears. The decrypt is here, Ingamon. I'm sending Narcist to you there, in the command room, with the crack so you can review it at your leisure while I continue Romanescu's questioning."

"I look forward to seeing what the VOC has to say about our friend Demaskieros," Lash said. "Lash out."

"You sound like you're getting ready for war," Naryan observed in a low voice beside him.

Lash nodded in confirmation. After flailing about the last week or so in their efforts to find answers, his patience had finally run out. It was time to make enemies bleed.

He was about to tell Naryan to get her Force Recon to ready themselves for battle when he caught an alarming image on one of the satellite feeds.

"Hunter, transfer monitor two to the main screen," he directed and felt his expression tighten.

It was a ground assault against a perimeter force that was well dug-in. A good thing; even as the top-down view steadied, several mobile artillery pieces open fired on the perimeter, hammering several sections hard.

Just out front of those artillery pieces were several companies of foot soldiers, looking as though they were poised to attack. Or had pulled from an attack to let the artillery do some work.