Open the curtains, strike the drum, now,

　　Raise your voice,

　　Sing until the wind can

　　Hear your cries,

　　And don`t forget the breath in your lungs

　　IS YOUR OWN,

　　Not a favor to pay back

　　To them

　　-From a traditional Adma marching song

　　244 YT, Spring: Kurikuneku

　　 The waters of the underground splashed under Kotire`s Invictan boots as she headed the crew. Invictan rifle in her Adma hands, the red and black and gold draped over her, she still crept forward like a thief fearing snatchers around every corner. To Kotire`s right, Hakios moved with surprising quiet. The hand-console resting in his palm chirped every once in a while, but so quietly that Kotire could hardly hear it over even the light splashing of the underground waters. Ranotia walked off to the side, looking enormously out of place - his dress uniform was exposed from the waist up while he wore heavy trousers covering his legs. A second pair of boots in addition to the ones he wore were tied to a belt loop on the back of his hip, swinging back and forth as the group advanced.

　　 From behind Kotire, Henryk came along at swift pace. Kotire still found herself a little surprised whenever she glanced over her shoulder and saw Henryk there, walking with the rest of the group. Before they`d split off from the rest of the cell and made for the city, there`d been little indication that Henryk was coming along. But when they`d done so, Ranotia acted as though that had been the plan the entire time.

　　 Henryk looked strangely out of place among them - dressed in casual Gaurl-style clothing where the others had their stolen Invictan uniforms, carrying a small medical kit on a chain around his neck. He walked gingerly along the side of the tunnel, glancing every few seconds over his shoulder at the distant light behind them.

　　 As their path grew darker - further from the source light - Kotire raised her flashlight and flicked it on, holding her rifle in one hand. She flashed the beam side to side, noting the empty sconces on the walls and the old flame-torches that once would have lit this place before they burned out. She approached one, and glanced over at Hakios. "What do you think?" she half-whispered, and he came up close and looked at the wood.

　　 "Looks like old burnt-out wood, rotting."

　　 "No, I mean how old do you think it is?"

　　 "Oh, a few months." Hakios shrugged.

　　 "It`s strange that they`re still lighting the tunnel with flame torches instead of electric lights," Ranotia said. "You saw what the city itself looks like from outside - it`s practically all electric. The whole place is one big light display, I`m surprised they`re able to keep the city running. Imagine the power demand, and we don`t even know where they`re generating their energy."

　　 "Is that really important?" Kotire muttered, turning her light forward again, pointing her path down the corridor. "We don`t need to know where their light comes from. At least now we know they don`t come down here often - that`s what actually matters."

　　 "It`s also important to be sure of where their energy comes from," Hakios said. "We may need that information once we get into the city."

　　 "Well," Kotire said, "I`m sure they`ve got to have a power generator somewhere."

　　 "Multiple generators," Ranotia corrected her. "We already saw two of them outside the city proper, with enormous cables linking them to the city itself, but those facilities wouldn`t be enough to power a massive city like this, not when everything`s alight. Based on the information we`ve intercepted in the past about their supply lines and the city`s internal economy it`s clear that they must have some other generation facility in the city itself, and besides that it`s likely to be located -"

　　 "Oh my Word, are you seriously going to bore me with that stuff?" Kotire grumbled and picked up her pace. "Let Hakios handle it. I`ve got more interesting things to deal with."

　　 "Bold words coming from the person who insisted on handling radio contacts to Mirshal," Hakios called in a stage-whisper forward as Kotire continued moving. "You never objected to learning about the supply lines so that you could relate that information to Kivv&"

　　 "Supply lines are one thing," Kotire said, slowing her pace again so the others could catch up. "They`re like troop movements. They tell us where to attack. We need to know that sort of thing. I care about that much, but why do we need to know where the Invictans` stupid power generator is? We already know about the two, if we really need to knock out their electricity I`m sure we can have our people on the outside raid those generators and destroy the cables. They weren`t heavily guarded enough, so it shouldn`t even be that difficult of a raid."

　　 Ranotia sighed. "Hakios, didn`t you say&"

　　 Hakios nodded and said: "If we want to really disrupt the city we need to knock out all of their power generation simultaneously. So we need to know what the location of their internal facilities is. That`s why I`m going to get familiar as I can with the city`s electronic systems as soon as we get inside. A city like this, it`s got to be extremely advanced. Wiring everywhere, connections everywhere, pathways everywhere. There`ll be an extremely solid electrical grid and on top of that, there will be computers running major parts of the city, both with and without regular, direct human intervention." Hakios flashed a wicked smile. "It`s extremely advanced, and therefore extremely insecure."

　　 Kotire chuckled quietly. "Hakios, you scare me sometimes."

　　 "Well that`s why we don`t operate that way. Better to do things a slightly slower way than to open ourselves up to constant attack. And you can be quite sure that if we had the kind of infrastructure Kurikuneku has, that infrastructure would be under constant attack."

　　 On the opposite end of the tunnel a ladder was growing close. The group gathered near the ladder, and Kotire flashed her light up at the grate that waited above. Light streamed through it, faint but present. She turned off the flashlight, waited for her eyes to adjust, and watched for dancing shadows. None.

　　 "Okay, this spot should be safe," she said, placed her hands on the ladder, and started to climb up.

　　 The grate was easy enough to remove, though the creak of rusty metal against rusty metal made her wince. She paused for a moment, freezing instinctively, and then turned her head to peer through the grate and checked that no one was approaching. She gave one last push - better that a potentially suspicious noise last little time at all - and set the grate aside on the ground. Then she climbed up and turned toward the others.

　　 She found herself in a small room, surrounded by boxes and bags and dust. There was a window in the wall, from which streamed the light. Outside was a deserted side-street. Opposite the window was a small wooden door. Above its frame, there was a symbol - swooping lettering and vinelike patterns combining in unique symphony. Kotire turned back towards the others. "Confirmed," she said in a loud voice. "This is the place." She reached down an arm into the underground and took Hakios`s outstretched hand, helping to pull him up through the opening.Stolen novel; please report.

　　 Once he, and Ranotia, and Henryk were all through, Kotire took the grate off the floor and, with little of the caution she`d shown before, shoved it back into place. It creaked loudly, and Henryk jumped, reaching for his knife and glancing at the door.

　　 "Relax," Ranotia said to Henryk even as the air grew quiet and footsteps approached the door.

　　 Henryk flattened himself against the wall, clutching his knife, and Kotire stepped in front of him, holding an arm out to keep him back. "Relax," she said, echoing Ranotia. "We`re among friends."

　　 The door opened and a big man, not much taller than Kotire but imposing in his presence, stood in the doorway. His brow furrowed and he glanced between the Invictan soldiers with suspicion. By instinct, Henryk stiffened and snapped off the salute of the Invictus: index finger pushing against his forehead, hand snapping down over his chest and stomach and then to the right. His arm stretched out to its full length and the big man stared at Henryk, suspicion in his dark eyes. Then he saw Ranotia, and his eyes lit up. "Ah, it`s you. I was about to ask what three of His Radiance`s soldiers and a peasant were doing crawling through the tunnels under my bar. It`s good that you`re here."

　　 "Awfully convenient that one of the few safe places for us in Kurikuneku just happens to be directly over one of the tunnel grates," Hakios commented as he brushed himself off and shook his boots. Ranotia stripped off the dirty trousers to reveal the pants of his dress uniform underneath as he stepped toward the big man.

　　 "Not convenient," Ranotia said. "Intentional. Devraj, thanks for your cooperation. I know it wasn`t easy, and -"

　　 "No need," the big man - Devraj - said. "I knew when I bought this place and realized what was underneath that I`d get dragged into something like this eventually. Now quick, take this." He shoved a sheet of paper into Ranotia`s hands. Kotire peered over his shoulder and saw that it was an inspection slip - or rather, a forgery of one. "There aren`t many people out at the bar and none of them are sober, so nobody`ll ask any unfortunate questions. You`re here to inspect my tavern and make sure I`m not hiding any contraband, got it? Then when you`re done with that you`ll head out and you`ll slip into the crowd as normal and do whatever scouting you need to do. I can provide you with some information about the city obviously - I do live here after all - but there are limits. I can`t do anything too suspicious with the Holy Alchemical Society breathing down my neck."

　　 "The Holy Alchemical Society?" Hakios raised an eyebrow at that. "Is that what they`re calling themselves now? That`s ancient history - many centuries pre-Desert."

　　 "A few centuries," Devraj grunted. "Funny how what used to be considered a short time on the historical scale is now ancient history`. Well, I guess that`s what happens when the world gets royally fucked over." He shrugged, bent down so that his head came below the top of the door, and halfway stepped inside. Then he seemed to think better of it and turned around. "Well, leave whatever you don`t need here. I`m going to go back to the bar, you come see me in a few minutes and we can finish up this whole inspection thing. That sound reasonable, Grace?"

　　 Ranotia, normally almost unflappable, leaned back a bit at the title and blinked. "Why, yes," he said, quickly recovering his poise. "That will be quite fine. Back to your duties, barkeep. We`ll handle things from here."

　　 When Devraj was gone, Ranotia closed the door to only a crack opening and dropped his extra supplies on the floor of the storage room. "Better leave whatever we don`t need right here," Ranotia said. "We`re Invictan soldiers, so we can get away with carrying weapons around, but we shouldn`t look like we`re preparing to head into battle."

　　 As they dropped their equipment in the storage room and pushed it behind crates and heavy bags, Ranotia talked quietly to the others. "I`m going to take advantage of our forged identities and see if I can get into some important circles in the city by passing as a guest at high-society events. If I can learn anything useful from the loose lips of the city`s upper class I`m sure this is the way. And if not, well&" he flashed a brief grin. "We have backup plans."

　　 "Right," Hakios said. "As soon as I can find a good place to get plugged into the network I`ll start doing my thing." He tilted his head, and Kotire`s eyes were drawn to the open port just above his ear, shining copper and chrome in the faint light of the window.

　　 "And I`ll be working on mapping out the city`s defense systems," Henryk said. His calm voice still surprised Kotire - she had not been expecting his presence at all. "I`m sure we can work on mapping out points of interest today, and besides that it looks like we have contacts."

　　 "And Kotire, you`re in charge of -" Ranotia began, before Kotire cut him off.

　　 "Making contact with any potential allies inside the city. Starting with Devraj here. I got it, Ranotia. We ran over the plan twice already just today."

　　 "Yes," Ranotia said. "And do you remember the list I gave you?"

　　 "I have it written down," Kotire groaned, reaching into her pocket and fishing out a piece of paper.

　　 "Memorize it," said Ranotia gruffly. "You`ll need to."

　　 Kotire made a sound of guttural annoyance low in her throat and glanced down at the list. The names blended together and made her eyes almost glaze over. She didn`t even know how to pronounce half of these&

　　 Ranotia opened the door, glancing down at the inspection form and marking at it as though to look busy. Kotire looked over his shoulder at the form. It had everything she would expect it to have on its checklist: no contraband, building up to code, no mysterious locked doors or cellars&

　　 No prohibited ritual objects&

　　 No prohibited emblems, marks, clothing, or other such items&

　　 Clean aura&

　　 "What does that even mean&"

　　 "Huh?" Ranotia glanced up at Kotire, and she indicated the clean aura` checkbox. "Oh," Ranotia said, "I think we`re uh& I guess we`re supposed to do some kind of magic inspection. I&" he shrugged, rueful. "I don`t know how it works exactly." He checked the box and stepped out into the hallway.

　　 The three "Invictans" made their way down a small hallway while Henryk trailed along nearby, playing the civilian follower. The noise of the bar beyond - although Devraj had said it was not very crowded - drifted down the hall and put Kotire on edge as soon as they exited the back room. What if somebody recognized them, somehow? Knew who they were? Or that they didn`t belong here&

　　 In the tavern`s main room, Devraj stood behind the bar, hands clasped on the table as he leaned forward and muttered quietly to one of his patrons. Muted laughter and quiet, under-breath singing drifted from a corner, where one woman had a foot up on the table and another on her chair, arm held out in front of her as she recited an old-world melody. All told there were perhaps a dozen patrons in the bar now, not many particularly for this late in the day. Most of the city folk would have gotten off work by now, and Kotire assumed many of those would wish to come to a place like this to relax. Or perhaps drinking was not as popular a pastime in Kurikuneku as Kotire had assumed.

　　 "Everything in order, officer?" Devraj`s voice startled Kotire, and she saw Ranotia turn towards the bar.

　　 "It appears so," Ranotia said. "You may relax, barkeep. Just see to it that you do not allow any contraband substances to find their way into this place." Kotire tried to affect a glower, but then Ranotia said: "And for the record, I will happily return in a more pleasant capacity when I am off duty. You run a fine establishment, my good man."

　　 "Thanks, I guess," Devraj grunted with practiced indifference. "Well, have a great day. Aether smile on you."

　　 When they exited onto the street the group found it easy to blend into the crowd. Hundreds of people filled the streets, though many roads were so wide that they did not feel crowded despite it. The people gave them a wide berth as they made their way down the street, and Ranotia spoke quietly so that even his three companions could barely hear him.

　　 "We need to be very careful now. Any suspicion from these people is likely to get us in deep trouble, and forged identities can only get us so far. It`s highly likely that we will be found out eventually. We need to get everything ready before that happens." They passed by a tall building, its base alone big enough to fit the entire Adma camp. Great pillars of iron held up the building`s enormous fa鏰de.

　　 "Hey, Kotire."

　　 Kotire glanced over at Henryk, and nodded. Henryk indicated the dinged-up old piece of heavy paper he held in his hand. Crumpled edges and torn corners. There was a large square marked with a circle, which Henryk pointed at. "That`s a civic government building," Henryk said. "Right there. We have a person on the inside that you should try to get in contact with."

　　 "A person& inside& there?" Kotire pointed at the enormous building. She craned her neck to get a better look. It stretched up, so tall, so high&

　　 "Did you even read the list?"

　　 Kotire shoved her hand back in her pocket and pulled out the crumpled paper, her face flushing red. Her eyes scanned across the sheet, back and forth until she came to a name. Beside the name was written a little description: Enforcer in the Holy Alchemical Society - can be bought, disillusioned and corrupt, sympathetic to our cause. Do not indicate any intention to harm Kurikuneku itself or he will likely turn on you.

　　 The name beside this note: Beren Avci.

　　 Nervously, Kotire stepped toward the building, and her companions moved past her. They stopped, and she turned, and though there was little distance between herself and Ranotia it felt suddenly as though she`d crossed a great gulf - and he still stood on the opposite side. He nodded. She glanced up at the building looming above.

　　 Taking slow, practiced breaths, she walked toward the threshold.