Altepetl Eztlan

One week after the start of classes.

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“Times like this make me regret granting you a position of lessened field work a little less, Lieutenant Colonel.” 

The brigadier general stared out the window of her office with her back to Huemac. Rumors had it that she was somewhere north of one hundred though her demeanor would sometimes fool the uninitiated into guessing younger. Even if she wasn’t just shy of half a head shorter than Huemac she carried herself in such a way to make her presence even larger. When she looked over her shoulder at him with a steely blue gaze, he was familiar enough with beaked faces to recognize that she was holding back her version of a smile. 

“Though that road is still open to you should you ever choose to walk it again.”

Huemac’s smile stood as resolute as he did. “If I had remained on that road then I wouldn’t have raised a son who provided such opportunities for the empire without even realizing it, Ma’am.”

He at least did that.

That was indisputable. 

That didn’t haunt his every thought with ghosts of doubt.

That was one of the things keeping a smile on his face for as long as needed.

The large tonatecatl chuckled and finally turned to face the Lieutenant Colonel. “You asked me to get the biggest meeting together that I could as soon as I could. You told me it was a matter of the highest priority. And you delivered beyond expectations.”

“I can only imagine the security nightmare it took to get that many important people in the same room on such short notice.” Huemac mused. Truth be told he had expected that his request for ‘the highest ranks you can get’ to include at most one Dart House Chief, and their very own head of the Shadowguard, alongside some other big names. All Dart House Chiefs being present was almost more shocking than the Great Speaker’s own attendance. “How exactly did you pull that off?”

“All it took was me gambling over a century of connections and favors on promising that this one is going to have its own shelf full of history books.” She looked down at her desk, at the files laid out there that had held the rapt attention of some of the most powerful men and women in the empire. “And yet you’re still troubled.”

“I would be a poor father if I wasn’t somewhat concerned for my son.”

The Brigadier General plucked a dried berry from a glass bowl on her desk and flicked it over to her cassowary familiar who caught it in its beak. It sat opposite Huemac’s own jaguar and the two familiars silently studied one another in a curiosity that the two never seemed to tire of through all their meetings over the years. She then picked out a different small dry treat from another bowl and flicked it at Huemac’s jaguar.

The lizardman plucked it out of the air between two claws while still holding eye contact with the Brigadier General. “What are you trying to feed him.”

“It is my divine right as a great great grandmother to spoil the worthy with treats.” Her feathers puffed out. 

“Am I not worthy of treats, Ma’am?” Huemac relinquished the treat into the waiting, snapping jaws of a jaguar who had been very politely staring down the morsel betwixt his mage’s claws.

“Your treat is command over this most vital of operations that will double as a fast track for promotion.” She was too professional for a physical eyeroll. Even a verbal eyeroll was beneath her. The implied eyeroll still made its way in there.

He put on a smile. “It’s just in my nature to worry for those I look after.”

That’s what got him into all of this mess to begin with.

“That concern has seen you through numerous missions.” Her stern look wasn’t a scolding one. Huemac had seen that look only rarely, and mostly it was wielded against troublesome great great grandchildren or other officers who dared to get sloppy. This was instead a look of firm reassurance. “The Great Speaker believes that this concern will see you through yet another successful mission.” 

“Of course, Ma'am.” He affirmed. “It will color my judgement, not cloud it.”

She clicked her beak a few times. “I won't keep you any longer. The Emperor’s Third Eyes have been kind enough to allow me this brief meeting to congratulate you. And to remind you that your command of this operation involves seeking the assistance of your superiors as needed, not just me. You'll be coming for their jobs at this rate.”

“Not your job, Malinalli?” Huemac let a smirk slip through.

The Brigadier General snorted. “Worse, you'll get me promoted to even more paperwork.”

“I was told by someone I respect greatly that promotions are a treat for the worthy.”

“You’re dismissed, Lieutenant Colonel.”

The lizardman saluted, and the tonatecatl only barely made it through her return salute before her eyes betrayed begrudging amusement. Even without this most recent and most world-shaking discovery this was something he was only able to get away with thanks to a career that spoke louder and firmer than most generals could dream of. It remained a weapon he only employed very sparingly.

With the congratulatory debriefing over the lizardman exited into the hallway with Tepetl the jaguar following close behind. Both mage and familiar were greeted by the 3rd Eye still patiently waiting with his own familiar. Though the drow in question belonged to the same military branch as Huemac, his uniform bore the titular requisite gold colors and differing design reserved for those who guarded the Great Speaker himself.

Huemac guessed that he was about his own age, and had his icy white hair pulled back into a top knot. A rather unassuming man with an endoceras as long as his arm hovering next to him, Huemac knew by his rank that the unassuming nature was a deliberate bait for those foolish enough to fall for it.

“I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long.”

The drow shook his head. Ivyd was his attainment name and he had already been placed under Huemac’s command not even an hour ago. “Despite the alacrity of your reassignment to a new location, it will take some time to get properly set up. My fellow 3rd Eyes have plenty of things to work on that don't immediately require your attention.”

“But still enough that you’ll need to brief me on and sign off on today?” Huemac had been through this enough times in various roles to know the routine. The 3rd Eye let an impressed brow raise and nodded. “Lead the way.”

Shadowguard Headquarters had two very distinct sections. The upper levels of standard offices and meeting rooms that could have been mistaken for the headquarters of most other imperial military branches. To the uninitiated, those would seem disappointing in their mundanity. And then there were the lower levels. Those were what the public thought of when they imagined ‘Shadowguard Headquarters’ and all the secretive goings on that inspired libraries full of spy fiction. 

They weren’t wholly incorrect. 

And until they got to the main lobby, Headquarters was a marvel of navigability. The hallways were all straight lines and clearly labeled signs that Huemac followed the drow through and down into the main lobby. It was here that the symbolism and motifs were strongest. The walls were mostly black, save for trees carved into the walls that framed every doorway, and eyes matching every design found across all the citizen species. High above at the far wall sat three large golden eyes matching that of the Great Speaker’s unusual pupil design.

“‘We are the eyes watching from the shadows cast by the trees.’” Huemac recited to the drow. The pair entered into a sub-section of the lobby that bore an additional layer of security past what was already required to get anywhere near this building. “And we’re going deep into the forest, aren’t we?”

“Something unknown emerging from the dark deserves a proper response.” 

All banter remained equally vague until they entered a large, steam powered cargo elevator whose cage-like design really sold the idea of descending into the depths of the shadows. Huemac had never been down to these floors but already they reminded him of something right out of the spy novels his son so enjoyed.

“A team of my fellow 3rd Eyes are currently helping your team pack up and move here.” The drow said as the pair of mages and their familiars descended. “The first of them should be here in a few hours, then staggered arrivals to keep from drawing too much attention. Until then…”

The elevator gate opened. Dark walls and floors greeted them, absorbing much of the light given off by the sconces to make for an air of foreboding. A semicircular area bore only two other doors. One that opened to what must have been the most ominous set of stairs in the empire, and a large set of double doors that a fellow Shadowguard was already waiting by.

Had they really given Huemac an entire floor to himself? Even if there was more elsewhere it was becoming ever more evident how serious the empire had taken his presented revelations.

The copijcha woman stood at attention and saluted them as the pair approached. A major by the rank on her shoulders. Taller than average for her species but still a head below Huemac. He recognized the white and black feathers of her face before he even looked down to her nametag.

“Did they actually honor my request for your assistance on this operation, Major?” He saluted back.

“Given my experience with the Western Wastes and one Isak Elijah Moreno, they did more than that.” She explained.  “Major 10rain Bixyo, sir. Here to serve you in this operation…and make up for my mistakes.”

Huemac had been told that his current, or rather previous, Major would be taking over for his previous posting. All of this was doubling as a test for a fast tracked promotion.

Huemac saluted back. “Good to have you on the team, Major. And there’s no errors to be found.  We already went over your reports.”

Ivyd asked the obvious question with a glance. The trio moved inside on instinct to afford themselves more secrecy. Even standing in the entrance of a place no one else should be able to access, it was second nature to them to speak in greater secrecy.

The lizardman Lieutenant Colonel marveled at the large yet so far empty main room that had several exits to indicate a much larger complex. A few 3rd Eyes that were already setting up greeted them but continued their fast pace in getting everything ready for the promised waves of personnel that would be arriving over the coming days. The new command center’s size was a confirmation of just how seriously The Great Speaker was taking all of this. Though Huemac’s staff were all currently in the process of packing up and moving here, there was ample room for expansion in personnel if he needed.

And he expected that he would with how big this was likely to get.

Huemac willed Tepetl to start scouting the place while the trio continued their conversation. “For the record, Major, I probably wouldn’t have found anything unusual with Isak either from what you have told me.”

“He was being secretive about his familiar…” The colorful avian dressed in the dark uniform of the Shadowguard shook her head. “I thought it was just something like a rat that he was embarrassed about. That’s why I showed him my rat!” She withdrew her own confused looking rodent from her pocket before returning the creature to his hiding spot. Her composure returned in the next moment. “I already have my findings in the library, Sir.”

10rain led the way into a centrally located and thus far baren library. This room would hold all reference materials that would be deemed appropriate to the operation. For now it held only empty shelves and untouched desks and lamps with the exception of one large satchel. The copijcha opened it and flicked through several folders before plucking one to hand over to the Lieutenant Colonel.

Ivyd’s brow furrowed as he sized up just how little was in both this folder and the rest that 10rain withdrew.

“There was nothing else unusual about him that warranted further investigation.” She lamented and laid out her gathered findings on a nearby desk. With a few movements of her claws and the accompanying words she displayed an illusory Isak looking mildly panicked. “Just a nervous yet polite young man who seemed ambitious for a brighter future…I was going to set him up with my niece.”

Huemac had read this file before when the Major had been summoned to an urgent meeting. The others were of a similar level of detail. All of it painted the picture of a professional who simply had nothing of note to report.

The 3rd Eye flipped through the files in between glancing at the small illusory human. “How much do we know about the other students?”

“It averages out to a similar amount.” Huemac paused his reading and added to 10rain’s illusion with his own display of the rest of this little group. “The Yalkab girl has the biggest file by far and Citlali has some interesting associations…which are now apparently past tense. Aside from that, they have the meager files befitting a bunch of teens with no criminal records.”

“And Isak’s Nightspawn encounter?” The drow asked while perusing that incident report.

10rain answered and shifted her own illusion to the small pack of Nightspawn, with Huemac dropping his own now ill-fitting illusion at the same time. “The Landguard and Army investigators both concluded that there were many odd things about it but at the time there wasn’t enough evidence or reason to chalk it up to anything but ‘Wasteland Weirdness’. I may have my biases but I can vouch for them not digging deeper into the many mysteries to be found on the frontier. Especially ones that at the time were seemingly unconnected to anything larger.”

“As I have emphasized before, Major, this is not proof of your shortcomings.” Huemac shook his head. His voice echoed in the room full of empty shelves, drawing his own attention up to stare at all that wasn’t there. 

A good few hours would have to be spent writing an entire file on his son for the sake of completeness.

All because he just had to ‘check in’ on him.

This ‘mission’ was supposed to be halfway over already. Send a trainee off to check in on Tonauac and make sure he’s adjusting well to being away from home and everyone he ever knew. What parent wouldn’t want to make sure their only child was doing alright? Just a quick check. 

Just the greatest discovery of the millennium. 

Just some other interested parties who seemed to also be interested in those same discoveries.

Pupils narrowed into slits and Huemac let out a slow breath. “Mister Ivyd, please continue showing the Major and I around the facilities. We have much work to do.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Exploration further in, as Tepetl had been discovering on his solo adventure, revealed that there were even larger rooms that looked as though they could be used for information collection and processing. The large entrance was just that, a place to direct all important traffic to other parts of the command center. A spell range was included in the event that anything magical needed to be tested on site. Kitchens and sleeping quarters were provided in the very likely event of long days and longer nights. 

Huemac was already planning on trying to see if the budget for those quarters could be upped for nicer accommodations. He hadn’t actually been home since his son had gone off to school and now he would have even more excuses to stay busy.

“Do you think the Yalkabs are busy putting together a command center like this?” Huemac asked as he surveyed the unsettlingly empty space adorned only by furniture. 

“No.” After a curt response, Ivyd craned his neck around. “They’re probably converting an entire island to monitoring ‘Xoco’, Sir.”

The lizardman restrained a laugh into a snort. “Then the least that we can do is have an entire room here devoted to monitoring their actions. Put it next to the room dedicated to Isak.”

Ivyd raised a confused eyebrow while the rest of his face remained unchanged and 10rain looked just as lost with her tilted head.

“She has non-platonic feelings for him that are obvious enough that my operative was able to make that conclusion on the first day. I have my theories on how this gives the Yalkabs even more reason to be interested in this matter.” Huemac offered an apologetic smile. “Yes, all of this is going to be relevant. I’m so sorry.”

Ivyd’s endoceras placed a tentacle on his shoulder as he winced. “I was sincerely hoping that that part of my too brief briefing had been a miscommunication.” 

“Wait, what does Isak think of this Yalkab girl?” 10rain crossed her arms, and found an endoceras tentacle of condolence on her shoulder as well. “Is my niece not good enough for him?”

“Your niece isn’t there showing interest in him.” The lizardman shrugged. “But he’s reportedly missing all hints despite his own obvious interest. And none of them aside from Citlali seem to know ‘Xoco’s true identity.”

The copijcha clicked her beak. “...the stereotype of Storm mages finding themselves in the middle of big messes is certainly being reinforced.”

Ivyd hummed in thought. “Then it seems you were brought in for your multiple areas of expertise, Ma’am.”

“I make a mean paella, will that come up too?”

The pair shared a look before turning to the lizardman who wasn’t even aware that the question had somehow ended up being for him. “I have to constantly spare my son from my cooking with takeout. Anyone here who brings in enough home cooking to share shall be cherished.”

Ivyd’s face said that he was making a mental note of this when another 3rd Eye found them.

“Sir?” The jungle troll man addressed Huemac. “We’ve set up communications with The Turquoise Grand House. Ready for your inspection.”

The 3rd Eye team was to be found in an office next to what would be Huemac’s, bearing a paired chime device that would allow for instant communication with its twin in the Turquoise Grand House. The Great Speaker himself would be available for contact should the need arise.

Again, Huemac was reminded of how seriously this was being taken. 

Worry about that sometime between later and never, he told himself. 

In addition to being the Great Speaker’s eyes and ears, the 3rd Eyes were there to assure operational safety, advise, and support where needed. Their briefings had indeed been minimal and had focused on the fact that this was an operation of utmost priority and secrecy. Despite their overall professionalism, Huemac caught some small expressions of shock and incredulousness as he explained just what they had been assigned to.

Greatest discovery of the millennium that other mysterious parties were already poking around in.

And it was tied up in the goings on of teenagers.