Chapter 122: Building Alliances I
"Reporting as ordered, sir." The man says.
"Good, that armor looks good on you two! Ha, ha." Valerius says with a chuckle.
"Well, it itches and it stinks." The man complains.
"It's had a dead man in it, what do you expect!" Valerius says with a roll of his eyes.
"So, now that we're all here, Valerius would you like to fill in our friends on your plan?" Marcus says.
"Of course, but, before we begin, do you trust these people?" Valerius asks staring at the newcomers with a weary expression.
"I wouldn't have brought them if I didn't." I tell him resolutely.
"Understood, have you ever stopped to wonder how my men and I came to this place?" Valerius asks.
"I assumed it was to spy on or assassinate the Thalmor." I tell him.
"Not too far off, but that's not all of it. Up until a couple of weeks ago, we were Cyrodiil. And our sources began reporting on new Thalmor activity taking place south of here. Rumor was that they were turning an old fort into a prison for captured Talos worshipers, and I deemed the reports credible enough to investigate. I sent my best man, Korst, on the mission. He was ordered not to confront them, but to observe only. Unfortunately, he did not return and I'm afraid something went very wrong." Valerius explains.
"How long has he been missing?" I ask.
"About two weeks? After one week went by, we started to fear the worst so we mobilized and came here. Finding Korst is the main reason we're here. This fort gave us the perfect spot to rest, resupply, and prepare to find out what happened to him. So, we eliminated the bandits, took over the fort, and tried to blend in and not draw attention to ourselves." Valerius answers.
"I see, but Marcus said you had a plan, how can we help?" I ask.
"Yes. Fortunately, the Imperials left everything behind when they abandoned this place. It looks like Elenwen herself was here." Valerius says.
"What does she have to do with your plan?" I ask, vaguely remembering the name.
"I need you to pose as an Imperial Officer with orders to transfer Korst back to Elenwen for interrogation. Legion prisoner transfer parties always travel in groups of three, so Falco and Cienna will be going with you." Valerius says motioning to the man and woman beside him, "As you can see they're already in Imperial uniform, and you must do the same if it has any chance of working. We found some Officer's Armor that should fit you, and Altan put a little enchantment on it for you. It's only worn by high-ranking officers, so it should help you carry a bit more influence. If you have any other powers of persuasion, this would be the time to use them. Perhaps between the two it will be enough for this to work." Valerius explains his plan.
"I can be pretty persuasive when I want to be, but what about the transfer order from Elenwen?" I ask not sure how he's going to get the orders.
"While searching the fort we found a communique from her own hand and were able to forge a Transfer Order to give to the men at the prison. If the Thalmor Officers question you, remind them you are a Special Envoy from the Embassy, and they had best comply. Hopefully, it will be enough, but if not, you may have to resort to the 'old fashioned' way of negotiating." Valerius explains.
"Hmmm… I'm certain they'll be heavily guarded. I have about a dozen men I can bring to bear as a backup outside the facility if we need it." I tell him.
"Yes, it certainly will be. But that wouldn't be a terrible backup plan, those Thalmor bastards are beyond brutal. And I've heard there is a particularly ruthless Justiciar named Aerandil who may be in charge there. If it's the Aerandil I know, you can be certain he will kill you on sight, so you be careful." Valerius agrees to my adjustment to the plan before warning me of another potential threat.
"Don't worry, if Korst is alive, we'll bring him back." I assure Valerius.
"Thank you, friend. You know, Marcus seems to be quite impressed with you, and well, if he trusts you, then I'll put my trust in you. The prison is located south of here on the road past Fort Neugrad heading to the Cyrodiil border. Here, I'll mark it on your map. And here is your armor, don't forget to put it on. Please return as soon as you can, and good luck. I'm sorry we didn't have longer to meet with your associates, why don't me and Marcus speak with your merchant friend while you take care of this matter." Valerius says, handing over the armor while marking on my map the location of Korst.
"Of course, Lokir, go and get ahold of the crew at the camp, lead them to this location, we'll wait for you there." I tell him as I go to change into my new Captain's Armor.
Once I'm changed and have fitted the armor, I meet with Inigo.
"My friend, it appears that those two, Falcon and Ceiling, have gone ahead without us. They seemed in quite the hurry to rescue their friend. Mr. Dragonfly suggests that we take the horses to catch up." Inigo tells me once I've left the keep.
"Not a bad idea, let's ride." I agree, ignoring his misremembering of the two's names, as we hop on his horse to ride down the roads to make our way to the meeting site.
We quickly catch up to the two and set up a small resting site just outside the prison.
It takes until nightfall for the rest of my company to make it, to the rendezvous point, but I'm greeted by a pleasant surprise.
I see Atris, Benor, Erik, Gringar, Lokir, Lydia, M'rissi, Rayya, Sofia, Sinding, Stenvar, and Vladimar approaching in a unique set of half-plate armor I'd never seen before.
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