Naryan fought the impulse to sigh as she glanced down at her chrono. Three hours going on forever since they had touched down and discovered the Lord Commander had vanished. Well, not vanished, exactly; snuck away through some means only known to him to make his way to the command center where he had holed up during the first time waiting for the various world conclaves to do their thing.
Whatever had captured Lash's attention on the other side of the command center door was doing a good job of it. Unfortunately somebody needed to remind him that they had an arch traitor to interrogate, and a battle plan to disseminate to the Silver Legion troops.
From where she was sitting in the visitors' lounge just outside of the command center's main entrance, she looked over at House Lash's master spook, the vampire known as Vulcrum. During her growing up years on the estate, she had seen the lean fellow a number of times. But always from a distance, and usually in Lash's father's company. So the vampire was as good as a stranger to her. But she'd bet good money he knew everything there was to know about her!
In looking over at him in curiosity, Naryan saw he was head to head with Narcist, the two of them working on finally cracking the data vault scanned out of a White Flame commander by none other than the psylord Mordecai. Which made sense; since meeting her, Narcist was definitely the team's intel gatherer.
Beside, beyond, and all around them, of course, were liliths. The night queens, in fact, were taking up most of the rest of the lounge. And that was just the various liliths that were either Embraced by House Lash, or adjuncts, all anxious to reconnect with the big vampire. She didn't even want to consider the ones outside from the queens they had rescued from the slave ring. Those had packed the corridor on the way in, all anxious to meet with her old friend.
The final pair of available seats were occupied by an anxious Iris van Tallert, former head of House Van Tallert. And Colonel Kassidy, the Silver Legion commander in charge of the 1500 or so legionnaires here providing nominal protection for the twenty or so liliths not directly associated with Ingamon Lash.
Without warning the door to the command center slid silently to the side. And, with a laugh, the Ventru lilith Mara gave Lash a forearm shove as they both stepped through.
"That's not true!" she declared, her face almost glowing with happiness, excitement, and satisfaction.
"No?" Lash returned with a broad smile of his own. And, for the briefest of moments, Naryan felt herself being transported all the way back to when the three of them were teenagers together, laughing and enjoying each other's company just like what Lash and Mara were now doing. Despite her impatience and frustration, and a twinge of jealousy, those memories put a smile on her face.
Spotting the full lounge out of the corner of his eye, Lash immediately sobered and turned towards them, forcing Mara to do the same. Only she snuck in a hand squeeze and a playful tousle of his hair before she did so, instantly telling Naryan, and every lilith in the room, what the two had been doing for the last three hours. And while Mara was as much an old friend as Lash was, she felt another pang of jealousy at discovering their recent intimacy.
"Ah, my friends," Lash said, taking a parade rest stance with his hands clasped behind him. "Thank you for your patience. As the situation has unfolded, certain things have moved into a priority status. The highest of those is Anna van Tallert's interrogation. I will now take a few minutes to discuss options with my interrogation team and with those with a vested interest. Vulcrum, Iris van Tallert, Narcist, Mistress Faidh, Captain Naryan, and Colonel Kassidy, please join myself and Mistress Mara in the war room."
As the named individuals stood and moved forward, Lash turned his attention to the remaining lounge occupants.
"My apologies, but for those of you remaining that have additional business or concerns to bring to my attention, I will respectfully ask for a little more patience. After the arch traitor is dealt with, I will be able to meet with any or all of you to address your concerns then. Thank you." And, without waiting for any of the liliths to react, he turned and stepped back into the command center, the doors silently closing behind him.
The small group was silent as they moved down the short corridor leading into the bullpen and the war room. That is, until Mara dropped back to step beside Naryan.
"It's so good to see you again, Narya," the willowy beauty leaned over to whisper before capturing her hand. "I didn't think I'd see any of you alive after leaving the Lash estate."
Naryan was almost surprised when she pulled Mara to a stop before giving her a hug, the Force Recon officer unaware that her own feelings were so close to the surface. But she also would've been the first to admit that it felt good to give such an old friend a hug after all this time. And a little guilt for the jealousy.
"Ell's here too, somewhere," she whispered back and Mara leaned away, a look of surprise on her beautiful face.
Which, to Naryan's shame, elicited yet another pang of jealousy. Mara had always been pretty, but when they were teenagers, she was as pretty in her own opinion. Now, however, being perfected in a lilith sort of way put her childhood friend on a whole different level of attractiveness. One that would have no trouble keeping Lash's attention focused squarely on Mara.
"Where?" Mara whispered, hopeful curiosity supplanting the surprise. "I'd love to see her and give her a hug, too!"
"I'm not entirely sure, actually ..." Naryan began to reply before the door to the war room was opening and the two of them had to hurry to catch up with the rest of the group. They were just in time to hear:
"Hopefully you won't get your doors rushed next time they open, my wolf," Fiadh noted, stepping close to give his hand a squeeze and brush her hip against his. "The remaining liliths have discovered you're an alpha prime. With only one holdout, they want you to resolve their seasonals."
"We can't afford that," Naryan deftly pointed out as she passed the two to take a place at the war table. "Even if every one of them uses the cloud to make it happen, it'll be a couple weeks before they release our boy here to do his thing against the Nocturnum. And that's two weeks the traitors will have to prepare for our assault."
"Why do you think I've ensconced myself back into the command center, Narya?" Lash said, his expression resolute. "My honor and sense of duty both demand that I respond to every request a lilith makes of my time and resources. Not to mention the protocols and the laws. But if I'm not there to receive them, then my honor and duty aren't impugned."
"You walk a fine line, young master," Vulcrum pointed out, stepping to the map table and bringing it online with a quick, practiced dance of his long fingers. "But one I'd rather you walk now so we can properly prepare for what will likely be a direct assault on the strongest fortification in all of vampiredom."
A wave over the interface and a holographic image of a massive castle that looked more like a gothic cathedral appeared over the table.
"The Nocturnum," the House Lash spymaster named the image. "I took the liberty of uploading everything I had on the government's final line of defense into the Qos Viran database. Which I discovered, thanks to your generously provided access codes, young master, already held a great deal of information on the greatest fortress in all vampiredom."
Lash's expression was grim as he took a spot directly across from Vulcrum, flanked on one side by Mara and the other by Fiadh.
"It was supposed to be in case we needed to defend it against a Brotherhood attack," the Lord Commander revealed. "A desperation rampart that was the final hope of the council to keep itself intact in case something like the Armageddon Project, which was aimed at stock Humanity, was ever targeted at them."
"If we're to make a direct assault against the Nocturnum, we'll need as much information as we can get our hands on, my lord," Kassidy pointed out. "And likely more than the 1500 legionnaires we currently have garrisoning Hunters' Fjord."
"Of that, there's little doubt," Lash agreed. "I can probably muster maybe 100 Qos Viran from various locations across the globe. Beyond the regiment I asked for, how many more can we take from House Lash without compromising our defenses, Vulcrum?"
The older vampire plugged a data vault into an available slot. A dance of fingertips then several screens appeared to begin rolling with assets and numbers.
"The regiment you asked Lord Darktower to have ready is on the tarmac and ready to travel to Hunters' Fjord to begin training with Kassidy's Silver Legion," the lean spymaster indicated. "I'm assuming we'll be using Qos Viran resources for this operation."
At Lash's nod, he went on.
"Beyond that regiment would be a question best answered by the master of our defenses, Lord Darktower. He has repositioned the northern command to strengthen the estate's perimeter, and the eastern to buttress our defenses around our heartland holdings. Which, to this point, have been the focus of the Hand and 'loyalist' nestari attacks against us."
Vulcrum pointed at the screen.
"With the remaining commands positioned, and the reserves and affiliated House levies in place to protect our allies, he wanted me to tell you he can muster enough additional regiments to send you a full brigade of hardened House Lash troops without compromising our defensive strategy."
The older vampire leaned forward, his hands on the war table.
"Until you order him to muster those regiments, however, Darktower felt it best to initially field the combined arms First Dragons' Own Regiment, with veterans from engagements in North and Central Africa, South East Asia, Western Europe, and Central South America. The First Dragons' Own will bring a full armored company, two infantry companies, a support and comms company, and a company of Night Wizard engineers to the battle. He's also sending a squadron of Night Wolves, assuming you have planes to fly."
Lash smiled, pleased with the spymaster's report. He would totally have Darktower send a brigade, if he had the space and equipment for them. And he might still, if their lightning strike against the Nocturnum becomes protracted. But if he was to be restricted to the First Dragon's Own, he was more than happy. There was no finer fighting force amongst his House's nestari.
"I have planes," he said. "Amongst other things like heavy transports and gunships."
Vulcrum nodded, the expression on his face telling that he fully expected Lash's answer.
"In terms of intel, my lord, Colonel Kassidy, our spy satellites are monitoring Budapest as well as a number of other cities that are known Hand transport hubs and we are seeing some unusual traffic. Based on that, my people have determined the Hand will have a significant presence in Hungary at the time of our assault, armed with the tools of their trade, along with White Flame sundog rounds. My embedded assets, on last report, say the Nocturnum has been reinforced by levies of nehvest from 'loyalist' Houses complying with the purge order.
"So we need to knock down the walls, cut our way through soldiers that may, or may not know they're fighting in the name of a traitor, hammer our way into the Nocturnum's Council Sanctum, avoid getting scratched with a car'deith, and take out the traitor," Naryan said, her tone grim but her expression thoughtful. "All without getting everybody killed."
"That sums it up nicely," Lash said, looking at her before letting his eyes sweep over everybody else at the war table. "And I have some ideas about how to proceed. Before we do that, however, we need to address the arch traitor sitting in one of our cells. Presumably getting softened up at this very moment by Vulcrum's best and brightest."
At Vulcrum's confirming nod, Lash pressed on.
"She needs to be immediately questioned. And in a way that will get answers out of a vampire that's had her body reinforced with nanites."
"No!" Iris van Tallert exclaimed, her face twisting in horror. "I was hoping that was just a rumor."
"No rumor, madam," Vulcrum said, handing her a small vial filled with a dark liquid that moved of its own accord. "This was drawn from her bloodstream."
Taking it with her expression now parts horror and sorrow, Iris looked at the vial with eyes brimming with tears as Vulcrum went on.
"While she didn't say why she was infested, or whether it was by request or forced upon her, your daughter said her new allies liked to know where she was. Those nanites might be part of that plan."
Vulcrum looked over at a thoughtful Lash even as Iris continued to stare at the vial, barely managing not to sob in emotional pain. And found the Lord Commander of the Qos Viran carefully watching the former mistress of House Van Tallert. That was enough to nearly put a smile of satisfaction on the older vampire's face.
And that was because he could see Lash suspected something wasn't right with Iris as well as her daughter. Which, considering the circumstances, was completely logical and understandable. The whole thing smacked of a corrupted House bereft of true leadership, vulnerable to the predations and manipulation of a hidden, but powerful enemy. Somebody saw that House in turmoil and moved in to take advantage of it. And in doing so, created an arch traitor in the disaffected Anna.
How many doors had Anna opened for their enemies? How many Ventru were now dead because of her betrayal? How many of her own sworn liegemen?? While Anna wasn't at the heart of Ventru's current problem, she certainly had had a hand in it. And he would do his best to help Lash discover exactly what her part in the whole affair was!
"We were able to determine the nanites weren't generating a signal of their own, young master," Vulcrum indicated, Lash looking over at him as he spoke. "So, at least, they're not a part of whatever tracking paradigm Anna's allies had in place."
"Small miracles," Naryan noted. "The last thing we need is a White Flame assault on Hunters' Fjord in an attempt to retrieve Anna."
Lash pulled his eyes off his spymaster to consider Naryan as he pondered her words. He had already made the connection between the presence of the nanites and the rogue human faction's involvement. But to use the nanites to actually track her? Then again, why not? They had used a tracer-activated shard of metal to follow Truk around Europe for nearly a week!
"Make sure Lord Darktower and yourself work into your battle plan the fact we'll likely have White Flames reinforcing the Hand in the defense of the Nocturnum, Colonel Kassidy," he directed. Already taking notes, the Silver Legion officer nodded.
"Factoring that in now, my lord," she added as she looked up from her notebook. "Darktower and I will make sure our people are ready."
"Outstanding," Lash said before letting his eyes once again scan over the remaining faces around the table before looking first at Fiadh, who returned his gaze steadily, her face resolved and her eyes filled with support and love for him. Then at Mara, who also returned his gaze with a powerful one of her own, filled with emotion and strength.
"Only two of you that stand with us here today are not Ventru," he began, returning his gaze to the others around the table. "And as such stand to be branded traitors to the Council by fighting with us against our enemies. Are you ready for that, Colonel?" Lash finished by asking, looking directly at Kassidy. Who quickly nodded her head.
"The Silver Legion exists to protect the Queens' Conclave, my Lord Commander," the legionnaire officer said. "And the traitor on the council has instructed the Hand to strike at several of our liliths, destroying their estates and slaughtering their m'tada. We will not rest until that traitor is brought to justice. Or their blood lies cooling on the ground to pay for the lives they've stolen from us!"
As the others around the table nodded and murmured their agreement, Lash then looked down at Fiadh. And found the Irish lilith already looking up at him.
"And you, Fiadh O'Broin, vampire queen and Mistress of the Night. Are you ready?"
Fiadh's smile was beatific.
"For you, my wolf? Always, and to the end!" Then she was turning to address everybody else.
"This traitor has slain our Blood Guard. Destroyed our estates and assets. Has cruelly hunted us through human cities and across the countryside. For what? To destroy the very balance of power in our hardfought land! They want control over who lives, who dies, and how our race will move forward into the future. A gift they do not deserve, and have not earned. And I will do everything in my power to stop them. That is my vow as a queen of the Night!"
Lash nodded in satisfaction.
"Then, my friends, our course is set. We will assault the Nocturnum and bring the traitor to heel!" He smiled tightly. "But first, we need Anna to point us in the right direction!" The big vampire turned and began walking back to the door into the war room.
"There is an elevator in the bullpen that leads directly to our small, but effective brig. Those who wish to be present during the questioning, if you follow me, we'll go straight there!"