The Citadel. The biggest military base on the east coast. The dark heart of Erubescan military operations on the north american continent. It rose up above the surrounding city like a great sentinel, the banners of the three disciplines, Knight, Alchemist and Acolyte, fluttering in the breeze that blew in off the Atlantic and whipped the flag, the King piece, into a frenzy atop the tallest tower. There were plenty of windows in the Citadel. Made with a strong, impact and heat-resistant polymer, they looked out, but not in. That was how,as she progressed along towards the departure point, Knight Kora Norrevinter could see for miles. Below them was the Citadel Capital, a sprawling metropolis of shop, housing and attractions existing n constant defiance of the threat of war. Beyond there, industrial land, beyond there, farms, beyond there, defensive lines, beyond there...the ash. The place of savages and poison and death. Soon to be her destination. [b]'Teleportation Area - Manual Checks in Operation' [/b] Kora stepped inside, passing a quick salute to the stationed knights guarding the entrance and exit checkpoint. There was only one place in the citadel where teleportation disruption was not in constant active effect and anyone teleporting in from the outside wouldn't end up with only around one half of them actually arriving. It was also one of the most actively guarded parts, for obvious reasons. You could get away with being reasonably lackadaisical when near every room in the base was under constant unceasing scrutiny from the eyes of- [color=0072bc]"I'm pleased you eventually saw fit to arrive, Knight." [/color]the synthetic voice in her earset wasn't especially grating, perhaps like something that had undergone far too heavy a use of autotune, and conveyed no tone whatsoever. And yet Kora still in some fashion found it needlessly condescending. [color=ed1c24] "I'm twenty seconds off the hour ORIN. If you have an issue feel free to pester the quartermaster on duty instead of me. I submitted the requisition forms for the new uniform a month back." [/color] Kora and the current quartermaster had exchanged some rather terse words several times over uniforms. Each year the fashion houses of the city engaged in vicious competition to design the next Erubescan military uniform. Each year Kora had to go through the rigmarole of trying to acquire a field set for a 6ft 6inch female. Each year it was a nightmare and generally resulted in her threatening some acolyte on the acquisition with intense levels of physical harm before she got it. They massively resented havng to order anything in for anybody under Commander rank. Knight Commander. The coveted position where you gained a unique uniform and people started knowing your name and inviting you to parties. The position Kora had been gunning for for eight years and still hadn't caught a viceroy's eye. But you never knew. Perhaps this next mission was exactly what she needed to pull some attention. Recovery of some fugitives who'd escaped into the ash. Pretty standard really, but if the rumours were to be believed they were attempting to sell state secrets to Liberty. That in itself was going to reflect well on her when she dragged their sorry asses back to the Citadel. [color=0072bc]"Bay 16K Knight. There's a teleporter waiting. Drop zone is near the last recorded sighting. They are wanted alive. Any deaths are going to result in consequences." [/color] [color=ed1c24]"Yes ORIN, I know not kill them. I'm not stupid."[/color] [color=0072bc] "Your previous records do nothing to give me confidence, Knight."[/color] Whether that was a reference to Kora's ability to moderate her damage to opponents, or her being stupid or not, Kora wasn't certain. So she stood there in all her glory. Six and a half foot high, with wavy ginger hair that threatened to obscure her vision on the regular basis and yet she'd made no attempt to cut back or style in a way to avoid it. Armed, not with firearms or anything so needlessly practical, but with her two most favourite combat knives, Geri and Freki, and seemingly nothing else. It was always that kind of soldier, the under-equipped kind, that you had to look out for. If a Knight was not carting kit around, it meant they were carrying inside them something that negated the need for it. A very destructive gift. [color=0072bc]"I've uploaded the data of the targets to you. Ingram, Leila. Lazos, Orion."[/color] Kora half listened as she adjusted the new bracers her current uniform had been graced with. Black, this time around, with the knight insignia, a horse-head chess piece, cast into a curved metal insignia on the chest. It provided no camouflage whatsoever. Fortunately Kora needed none. If the people in the area weren't aware of her upon her arrival...they would be soon after. Ingram. Lazos. The names didn't really matter as far as she was concerned. Traitors were traitors. [hr] Within a control room somewhere in the depth of the citadel, ORIN sat across a high-backed office chair. Her legs were hooked over the arm and a cup of coffee rested in her gloves hands. Several cables trailed up from her shoulders up to gaps in the room's ceiling, leading into the citadel's grid. Whilst she was a long way removed from the female knight, ORIN saw exactly what was going on. She also saw the names and faces of the fugitives that command had sent a retrieval order for. Orion Lazos and Leila Ingram. Ingram. ORIN would be lying if she said that she didn't take some satisfaction from this particular deployment. Some work was a chore, others was a joy to do. Even having to work with an idiot Knight wasn't going to entirely ruin the satisfaction of watching Ingram get dragged back to the Citadel as a traitor. And ORIN herself hadn't even done anything to bring about this catastropic change in fortunes. Well, they did say it, if you give someone enough rope they'll hang themselves.