Chapter 81 – Pre-brief.

It would certainly have made an impression, flying over Caylinhold in the battleship, blasting away any defences, and then dropping into the city. But even ignoring the fact that it was nowhere near complete, nor probably even on Odinsphere’s priority list of projects to complete now that it was running at full power, Odinsphere had been right. It wasn’t Crystal’s style at all, nor the kind of impression that she wanted to leave. Having been friends with her for years in their previous age, Millie did have a good idea of what her tastes were like. Flying in on Ashling or Light would be more like it, but again, it wasn’t an option at the moment. Not because Light was away with Velvet, doing whatever it was that she did as whatever it was that she actually was, as Ashling was still with Myne, who was with them. Rather, they had all decided on the stealthy option. They needed to work out who their true enemy was, so that Catlin’s transition back to power was as smooth as possible.

Of course, there was always the possibility that Catlin could have an agenda all of her own, and perhaps she did, but she seemed to be a victim in all of this. More importantly, Clocky seemed to trust her, and Crystal and Rachael both trusted his judge of character. So did Odinsphere, or at least it appeared that way, and the floating city had more to lose than they did given Millie’s presence in it. Agreements had been made, alliances forged, and right now, they were all working together. Well, those still remaining. While Saylin, Abigail, Vorsce and Petunia were still in the floating city, they wouldn’t be participating in this mission, as they had said, and were preparing to leave the following morning.

When she put her mind to it, and wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time, Petunia’s ability to get things and get things done was fairly impressive. Following on from the initial discussion, she hadn’t wasted any time at all, deferring the trek to the battleship to later, and discussing with Odinsphere on what they’d agreed on. Petunia had known exactly what she wanted for the team, getting details on the variations of one of the skimmers in hanger six, and coming away with a more hardy looking and slightly larger version from hanger five. Though apparently on the inside it was in fact leaps beyond the one she had used as a reference point, three models newer. Once she had bonded with the arkchildren that Odinsphere had brought up for her, a modified maintenance spider, and a large and rather mean looking lioness, a perfect fit given what she was, she had then headed over to the hanger with Vorsce and brought it back over. With not much to pack, it hadn’t taken Saylin and the rest long at all to get ready to leave. All that was left was to make sure they all got plenty of rest, and work out how they were going to deal with Saylin’s adverse reactions to vehicles. Crystal assumed that they’d probably do that in-flight.

Which of course meant that Petunia had plenty of time available to her to follow up on the battleship visit. As uneasy as she still was around the former noble, Crystal couldn’t really think of a reason not to do as she’d been asked. She’d brought it up after all. Odinsphere hadn’t given them an updated map of the area, but with more of Odinsphere’s systems running, it hadn’t taken Crystal and Spectre long to find the proper route down to the construction bay. It was even more impressive on the second visit, but in the end they didn’t hang around for long. Petunia admitted that if she started exploring it properly, she’d end up wanting to spend weeks if not more examining it, and she was well aware that Saylin and Abigail wouldn’t be waiting that long. The only reason she wasn’t as absorbed in the technicalities of Odinsphere itself was both it’s sheer size and that it had hadn’t allowed her to do so. Something about not being a channeller she’d grumbled. To which Vorsce had chuckled, saying that she’d outgrown automobiles. Petunia had just blushed at that.

Which left eight of them to infiltrate the city, a sizeable number. Too many in fact for an initial incursion. So, they were going to split into two teams. One to do some reconnaissance in Caylinhold, the other to wait on standby nearby till needed or they’d learnt what they needed to know. It was too great a risk to have Catlin return just yet, so that meant that Tsugua would be leading the incursion team. Communication between the two teams of course was vital, but that was out of the hands of the channellers. In part because Tsugua’s equipment had been destroyed in the blast, not that Catlin couldn’t make a replacement, but more importantly because they couldn’t use the network that they had in place in Caylinhold. There was nothing stopping one of the other channellers from listening in on any signals that passed through it, and once they got beyond a certain range they’d have to use it.

Not that there wasn’t already an alternative solution in place. It was obvious to Crystal as soon as it was mentioned, and sure enough the conversation went straight to that conclusion as well. There would need to be arkchildren on both teams. Of which they currently had three.

“--Four actually, if Carmen is willing to accept one.--”

Carmen looked a little surprised. She’d been sitting off to one side, fading into the background as they’d sat in the common area discussing their plans. Attentive, but not contributing.

“You’re being rather generous with the technology,” Carmen replied after at some thought, looking uncomfortable with the attention on her. “Not that I am going to refuse. I can see the benefits.”

“--It would indeed be beneficial for us both.--”

“While that does give us more options, my preference would be for Clocky and Fairweather to go with Tsugua,” Catlin said, bringing the conversation back to its current topic. “From what I understand of your team, you two have the most experience in this line of work. That would give us one arkchild with Tsugua, and three is probably the best number to pass through the city without too much suspicion. Even disguised as our guards.”

Crystal wasn’t going to argue with that. If anyone had suggested that her and Rachael split, she’d have outright refused.

Rachael chucked, leaned over and gave her a kiss on the horn, causing Crystal to melt into a puddle of happiness beside her.

‘You’re in public you know,’ Spectre rolled his eyes at her. Crystal gave her cat-fox arkchild a cheeky grin. She was allowed to be overjoyed that Rachael felt the same way. Their bond meant that certain things were instantly known to the other. Exactly what still wasn’t clear, but from what she’d observed thus far since Velvet’s return, the stronger the emotion, the more clear it was. One amongst who knew how many changes from having channelled that much mana. They’d find out in time about the rest.

“I’m happy enough with that arrangement,” Clocky stated, looking at Fairweather, who nodded.

“You’ll probably want to double check, and let me know if I’ve missed any hidden details, but I am confident that I can get the uniforms to match what your people were using,” Rachael spoke up, her hand absently running along Crystal’s arm.

“Your talent there is somewhat scary,” Catlin confirmed, nodding. Crystal did wonder, if things had been different, would Rachael have gotten into the fashion industry. Ignoring what she could create or modify with her magic, she’d always displayed a taste for nice clothes. Crystal was beginning to suspect that much of what she’d seen Rachael wear was more than just bought clothes modified to her size. Perhaps when things settled down a bit, Rachael might end up dressing up again. She’d like that. She’d also like to do the same herself as well. Rachael chuckled, seeming to have picked up on what Crystal was thinking about, Crystal batting her eye lashes and giving her an innocent smile.

“So, the other channellers of Caylinhold,” Rachael queried, looking back at the channellers. “They’re going to be the biggest obstacle to Tsugua, Clocky and Fairweather remaining unnoticed? I’m guessing that you may have told the others about them already, but given that we were still recovering we’ve probably missed quite a lot of information. What can you tell us about them? And why so many?”

“We’ve always tried to keep the knowledge about them under wraps, but given what’s occurred I doubt that we’ll keep it that way after I reclaim the city.” Catlin sighed, rubbing her face with her hands as if she was tired. “Why so many, when we like to have sole control? Multiple reasons. Life can be difficult for a new channeller, especially in some areas of the world where they end up in slavery to a more established one, or to someone else with wealth and power. Just like in any area of life, if you don’t get the opportunities, you won’t grow, and in that regard a weak channeller will remain that way. While only the three of us have remained in the spotlight, and with the bulk of the influence, the other three have been provided with opportunities and training to grow in their power, and cooperate with us in running the city. They have remained by choice, not because we have forced them to do so. I’d suspected that one day they would leave us, to stake their own claim.”

“The other factor is that the city needs us all to keep it running properly. We don’t have the same level of infrastructure as Brightswater for example, in particular the luxury of a hydro dam. A small amount is produced by solar panels and wind turbines, but the rest is produced by us channellers, and nature of the city means that it requires a lot. It wasn’t so much at first, but as the city has grown, so has its needs. While some of us are skilled enough to channel the mana even while asleep, not everyone is. We’ve all taken turns at being the central power source, even Tsugua, though of late both of us have been doing the night shifts as we sleep. Hence another reason why the other three aren’t seen as much. We’ve all been busy doing our roles. The citizens are more than aware that there are other channellers present, they just don’t know any additional details on them. An open secret as such.”

“So the fact that there is only four channellers remaining there is going to be rather noticeable then? Especially with the absence of the more powerful two?” Crystal asked. Not that the answer wasn’t obvious from what had been said.

“At the least. If they want to keep things running as before they’re going to be rather busy. Especially since none of the others have mastered the passive sleeping trick. Hence why they are idiots. It’ll probably annoy those dissidents who envy our control and positions of power, but they don’t realise exactly how much work has gone into and still goes into the city. Even the other channellers themselves.”

“That also means that Brightswater is a rather valuable city...” Carmen mused.

“There’s going to be a blood bath over succession once people realise that Bowser is truly gone, if no one else manages to take control of it first. The hydro dam is priceless by itself, and irrespective of whatever else he did, he has left the city in a functioning state. That is part of our power after all.” Catlin gave a sad grin, folding her arms across her chest. “Instead of trying to kill us and take over, they should have just gone for Brightswater instead.”

“You didn’t think about trying to claim it?” asked Clocky.

Catlin shook her head. “Caylinhold is my city. And of course, till you showed up, all we had was rumours and speculation. No facts. For all we knew, Bowser still could have been alive, and it was all some kind of strange ruse. Especially throwing the movement of Odinsphere into the mix.”

“Anyway, I’ve wandered. The rest of the channellers. Some context. I’ve been at the helm of Caylinhold for around twenty years. It wasn’t in the best state when I took it over, a shell of what it is now. Of course, some of the residents would argue otherwise, quite happy with their lot in life and satisfied with what little they had, but there is a significant difference on what can be achieved with functioning technology. The people from before the shattering must have had such an easy life, with what they had access to. The previous channeller of Caylinhold died over a century ago, with no one around at the time powerful enough to replace him, who also wanted the somewhat isolated city. Details of exactly how he met his end, and why there was no one else around to take over are sketchy, but I suspect that there were those unhappy with how he governed the city and decided to remove him.”

“I assume that your rise to power wasn’t without issue?”

“It was a bit messy, yes. A story for another time. But we showed them what was possible, proved our worth and power, and eventually they accepted us.”

“Took some time and effort till everyone was seeing things the same way though,” Tsugua commented, with a bit of a grimace.

Catlin stretched, rolling her shoulders, before she settled back against the couch again. “At first there was just the two of us. Myself and Tsugua. We’ve been working together before we even came to Caylinhold. Evrik joined us a decade ago, off one of the trade ships that runs the Circle Sea circuit. He claims to have come from one of the city states that borders the Perdita Ocean, but doesn’t talk much about it. He came at the time when we realised that we were nearing our limit, so we took him in, trained him, and made him part of our team. He was a good fit, and works well with the people.”

“Seymor is a citizen of Caylinhold, born and bred. While his power had manifested before Evrik had arrived, he had taken pains to hide it, preferring to stay in obscurity. We stumbled upon him about a year later, and convinced him to join us. He has required a lot of training, and largely keeps to himself outside of the necessary interactions. Matt is a flirt. He joined us four years ago, after getting stranded here. Whether he managed to miss the departure because he was otherwise occupied, or if the captain decided to leave without him is still up for debate. He is talented, with an ego to boot, but that has mellowed somewhat over the years. Finally is Merce. She was a slave to another Channeller, and we acquired her as part of a trade deal. She has her freedom, but she is also the youngest amongst us, and I doubt that she would survive by herself yet. She has been with us for two years.”

“You might look at all of them and say, the answer is obvious, but it isn’t. All of them could have potential reasons for being the mastermind or influence behind what happened, and again it could also be none of them. Most of the dissatisfaction that we knew about has come from those outside our group, those in the city with wealth or influence who aren’t always happy with the decisions that we make, even if they know the reasons why they are made.”

Rachael nodded. “Fair enough. Gives us something to think about though.”

“And your guards?” Clocky asked. “After all, whatever explosives they used were planted among them.”

“We trusted them. As to now, that depends on what we learn. Not all of those wearing the uniform were guards. Some were militia, who only get called upon when needed, dressed up to play a part, a show of force. A fruitless endeavour it turned out, even ignoring the betrayal. It could well be that all of the actual guards were innocent.”

“What’s to stop someone dressing up as one of your guards and infiltrating your sanctuary?”

Tsugua gave a dry laugh. “That’s been a point of contention for a while. There was never a worry about that in the beginning. It allowed for the guards to retain some of their anonymity from the population, especially during the times when things got a bit heated, and meant that we could mingle with them when needed. Once that stage had passed, it kinda just stayed, as it had its uses. We do have checks in place, as each set is numbered and registered, the lists secure, and in certain areas the helmets have to be removed and left behind. But that doesn’t mean that the system hasn’t been abused. After this, it certainly will be changing.”

Catlin nodded. “We’ve had rather heated discussions on that, and I have finally conceded.”

“And if they’ve already made the change?” Rachel asked, the hint of worry in her voice.

Tsugua shrugged. “We feign forgetfulness. Or make a rapid change to the plans. Unless the queen of death wants to accompany us?” Tsugua looked at Myne.

“My stance hasn’t changed. I doubt you’d feel comfortable with me there anyway.” Myne gave a wicked grin, Tsugua flinching and looking away.

“Touched?” Fairweather asked.

“A delicate balance. We’ve never officially said anything on them, given that Tsugua also benefited from that pulse. Though it took quite some time before he actually told me about that.” Tsugua feigned innocence as Catlin looked at him. “But we’ve always been wary, and that feeling is reflected by the people as well. How could you not be, if your neighbour suddenly has power that you don’t, even if it appears minor in nature. Magic is just that after all.”

“There have been messes,” Tsugua added, “and a number joined the guard for their anonymity. But irrespective of reason, we don’t tolerate the murder of our citizens.”

“Do we know anything more on the pulse that occurred when Velvet was brought back?” Catlin queried.

“--No. It has made changes. Significant changes. But we are still analysing exactly what they entail, and there are some irritating complications in it all as well. Including that all of those effected that we have data on don’t seem to be aware of the changes either.--”

“Time will tell I guess,” Catlin mused thoughtfully. “We will have more pressing concerns however. It won’t have gone without notice or side effect with Caylinhold this close to the epicentre.”

“That’s an understatement.”

mogust

Decided to post an extra chapter, since the commission of Ueana has been completed :) (and this one is also a slightly shorter one, at just over 3k words). Quite a bit of background in it, but it gives some context for the following chapters.

So yeah, Ueana's artwork has been completed (yay! happy dance), and will be used for the volume 2 cover (which is also live now, replacing the Crystal/Rachael volume one one that I have had up ^^). Very happy with it. Haime22 has done an awesome job. The full version features more of Callisto, but I have cropped it to 85% so that Ueana is more prominent for the purposes of the cover. Also note that Callisto is twice Ueana's height at the shoulder, so he is larger than shown. I went with that size as it works for the cover. It also features a few alterations to her costume that will be explained in arc 6. Anyways, here is the cover version of it:

As always thanks for reading. Comments are welcome, including on the art :) It means a lot when people do so ^^

The next chapter (82 - On Edge) will posted at the usual time (Sunday night/Monday morning(ish), depending on what timezone you are in).