The landing was light as it could have been. The IR beacon the wolfspiders have set up didn't falter, and a few minutes after the launch, Leopold was already on the surface, crawling over to the pod's hatch and trying to open it.
Crappy Carthum Conglomerate equipment...
The pod valve managed to turn in the end and open with a silent hiss, as he could see the light of the stars outside. No clouds... that wasn't the most favourable condition for sneaking around the swamps, but one he had to work with for now.
He started taking out cargo containers from the pod and handing it to the kameiras. The wolfspiders were a special branch of kameiras trained into more stealthier aspects of combat. Stealth, quick repositioning, hunting, long range weaponry... There were no records of them in the official Ordo Magna logs, and they weren't trained by the Legio Auxilia. All of them of vherokior ancestry.
After passing the last cargo container from outside the pod, he squeezed himself through the small hatch, feeling a bit uneasy as he stepped out on solid ground. As solid as it may have been, his boots sank a few centimeters into the mud of the swamp. This was the first time he was in this region, and getting accustomed will probably take a few hours. The trees around were high but barren, with little or no leaves on their branches. At the ground, patches of mangrove, dirty swamp water and some muddy soil exchanged in the texture of the ground. The moons were shining bright enough to provide no need for auxiliary lighting, and Leopold wouldn't use any anyway. And, what made him feel uneasy the most...
It was silent.
So silent, with just a few birds howling in the distance. He tried to remember if Oris has any frog species at all, but shrugged. He knelt down, opening his briefcase and fetching a long blade and 12mm pulse rifle from it. He quickly tucked them both behind his back and waved to the kameiras to come closer and kneel as well.
Ok, ladies and gentlemen...I got your report about the current situation here. Since we had comms silence from you, I suppose there is an ECM scrambler somewhere close?
Most of the kameiras knelt down and nodded in silence, with one of them speaking up. It was Khata'ra, a young red headed vherokior in charge of the squad. She seemed pretty young for a kameira of her status, and Leopold remembered her as a prodigal student from the tiphareth's training gymnasium. She pushed herself a bit closer, taking a stick and drawing a map in the muddy ground with it as she explained.
Yes Sephirot, presumably at Lebora. We've been there for 2 days, gathering information. It seems that the House Dakani still has a firm grip, or if you'd prefer, influence on the city. Militia presence there is sizeable, and the population and the governor are supportive of the previous regime. There is also a squad of Carthat Dakani's elite guard, the Eagle Watch. We haven't seen much of them, but they seem to be hiding in the Lebora fortress. The name of their leader is Gaun Ycarr, callsign The Ghoul. He is a fierce veteran from the Vindictus-Dakani war. Under orders of Sephirot Fortuna Argos we faced him before when aiding Sephirot Lucius last year. So far, we have set up geodetic drones on the outskirts of the city and we have a full tactical map. The militia is to sizeable for us to engage, so we'll have to avoid th...
Leopold looked up at the same time Khata'ra stopped talking, hearing that sound again. He looked over in her right eye, left one being covered with a cybernetic implant, and nodded, waving an order to the rest of the kameiras to spread out and take cover. Someone was coming. He rolled over and hid behind a tree himself, looking at the clearing, now with just the abandoned pod in it.
The guest soon came. He recognized the symbol on the man's uniform. Leborese militia. Seems they somehow managed to notice the pod and were out to investigate. They obviously had patrols out in the swamp on a daily basis, Leopold thought, as the pod landed a few minutes ago and Lebora was at least 15km away.
The man had noticed the pod and walked over to it, inspecting it for a few seconds. He then let go of the rifle he was carrying and grabbed a comms datapad from his belt.
HQ, do you copy, this is private Yeerukam, over.
Some static could be heard from the device as audio feed came through.
Roger private Yeerukam, we copy, anything to report?
A swipe of something through the air could be heard, as Yeerukam felt something cold pressed again his neck, then a light stingy feel to it, followed by something warm. He opened his eyes wide as he saw a long blade being pulled slowly at the side of his neck, with almost no pressure against it, and he swallowed hard. He could hear breathing, and realized someone's behind him. Someone with a blade pressed against his neck.
Err... no, HQ... not...nothing here, just.. testing... having some radio problems, that's all...
Roger, private Yeerukam, your comms are good. HQ out.
Another swipe could be heard, this time followed by a sound of metal hitting something soft, slicing through it. After that, silence followed, interrupted only by a muffled thump of Yeerukam's half decapitated body against the muddy swamp floor.
Leopold sighed and put his blade back behind his back. The kameiras exited their hiding spots, all holding their rifles in hands. Khata'ra ran over closer, standing behind Leopold and looking at the corpse in front of him.
He turned around and looked at her with a light smile on his lips.
We better get going
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