//------------------------------// // Going Up // Story: Do you believe in Ghosts? // by Material Defender //------------------------------// The hums of military drills and various other happenings thundered in the background as a pair of eyes observed the military camp intently from a distance. A pair of griffons, oblivious to the watcher, flew above a rock-covered ridge, returning to their base from their patrols. The shimmering figure moved only slightly, shuffling around as he panned his eyes across the entire horizon. “Scope to Talon. This place is a hornet’s nest. It might be easier if we can just hunker down and wait for them to go on the offensive before we strike.” “It’ll have to do if we want to minimize casualties for our friends on the other side of the mountain range. Highcloud’s our next priority target, and we’re not about to let them catch a breather. Once they get wind that Whisper’s dead, things will get dicey, and fast. Report on enemy activity.” “The whole place is just covered with griffons, both on the ground and in the air. I did notice something, sir. They have balloons traveling up and down the mountain next to Aerocem. You should probably check with Scarclaw about that.” “Roger.” The line went silent for a moment, the sound of rushing wind on the plains his only company. Unlike Carseract, up north, things were considerably colder. It was fortunate that the Ghosts’ armor had already been insulated from most environmental climates, otherwise they would have had to risk wearing non-standard cloth to keep themselves warm. And if it was already as cold as it was here, moving north wasn’t going to be too pleasant. On top of the ridge, Raymond had an unobstructed view of the entire craggy plains before him, with Aerocem and its associated mountain hanging in the background. Blocky obtrusions indicated that the base was situated directly out the side of the mountain, and the entire countryside surrounding the city had been turned into a camp for Strongbeak’s armies. Talbot returned with hopeful news. “According to what I’m hearing, the balloons are a recent thing. They’re used to ferry supplies up to the base where they used to do it by elevators before. Those are gone now, and the change was most likely to make the base more autonomous, as the base can shut landing gates and deny entry on a moment’s notice. In addition, the whole city seems to be filled with hostiles, so this is going to be a short infiltration op. In, out, and on our way before anyone notices.” “So, cleared to move forward, sir. Get up here to the ridge, maybe you can get a better look that way.” “Roger. Talon on the way up.” Talbot sat next to Raymond, putting away his own binoculars as he sighed. “Well, at least we have some element of surprise with us. Whisper’s death has been mostly muted, so it’ll be a couple of weeks at most, perhaps, until they get word that he hasn’t reported in. Assuming they can see through the magistrate’s ploy, of course.” The capture of the underground base meant that Whisper’s confidentiality seals for his intelligence reports still remained intact, an oversight on the deceased general’s part. With it, Leret’s father could easily fool Strongbeak into thinking he still had control over the city. “I doubt they’ll be expecting an attack,” Raymond said. “Most likely not. And even if they did, they would probably expect it from either griffons or ponies, so they’ll be keeping their eyes sharp on those. But the point still stands: we have to make it in quietly. When they find Highcloud dead, they’re going to be on guard for assassins. Assuming that they know what to expect, that is, and without Whisper, they’re going to have problems trying to do that.” “High-risk infiltration,” Raymond said. “And through a whole city and up a mountain at that. Sounds like our sort of thing.” “So what’s the plan then?” Mendoza asked. “We just hijack a balloon and float ourselves up there, kill the guy in his sleep, play it off like the spooks we are, and then ride off into the sunset?” “If it were that easy,” Talbot said. “We’ll have to do things in a way that’ll make it appear legitimate. We’ll need a griffon crew to guide us up there while we stay hidden, and then hold their positions until we’re ready to extract.” “Fellwyre’s been working in their military for a while. Maybe he knows,” Pastor said. “I think with a small group, Bloodfury and him included, we might stand a chance at making it out in one piece. The problem is trying to make their stay look natural while we take our sweet time trying to off Highcloud.” “Ask Fellwyre about it. Maybe he could shine some light on this for us, and I’d rather not go in blind,” Talbot said. After a thorough grilling by Scarclaw, it was decided that Fellwyre could be trusted. A quick search through lineage files dating early on showed that Fellwyre’s family did indeed fall at the hands of Strongbeak, one of many prestigious families that fell from grace as Strongbeak rose to power. The only two survivors listed were Fellwyre and Whisper, where one joined Strongbeak’s cause almost immediately, and the other one seemingly disappeared from public gaze. At least, until the loyalists found him. “Hmph. I’d sooner throw him off a cliff than trust him,” Raymond said, off the comm. “Guy still give me bad vibes.” “You don’t have to. Scarclaw’s the one calling the shots here. He might be willing to hear you out, though, but as it stands, he’s exonerated of all suspicion. He was on the run from Strongbeak’s forces until he ended up in Carseract.” “I can stand working with him, but that doesn’t mean I can’t keep a gun behind my back when I have to. But enough of that. I don’t see any viable points of entry from here. Gates are guarded, walls are guarded, and it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to sneak in underground any time soon.” A wave of shadows passed over their cloaked forms as several dozen-strong griffon air wings returned to their bases. “And the numbers don’t seem to be in our favor.” “Smell that fresh northern air,” Mendoza said from down the hill behind them. “It was getting a bit cramped inside the hideout, so I thought I’d come out and stretch. Man, you know, I totally didn’t see all those guys last night when we snuck in ‘cause I couldn’t see for shit, but now, it’s just... wow, I don’t remember any Ghost squad ever taking on numbers this big. I don’t want to see what happens if we screw up.” “Think of it like this,” Raymond said. “It’s a good way to make sure we still have our A-game with us.” “Heh. Yeah. Totally no pressure,” Mendoza said, laughing. “When’s the raid going to happen?” “Soon enough.” Talbot stowed his binoculars and headed down the hill as Raymond observed a small convoy of battle wagons entering the town. “We don’t want to overstay our welcome, anyway. They’ll find this camp sooner or later if we don’t make a move.” “Roger, sir. Fellwyre reports that the griffon strike group may be able to impersonate a supply group from Carseract with some papers from Leret,” Pastor said. “There’s two problems, though. The first problem is that we’ll be sneaking through a gauntlet of soldiers as we follow the strike group through the city, and they’re on a timetable to deliver the supplies otherwise they’ll be in hot water. The second problem is, naturally, the way up.” Mendoza’s form gave a quick salute to Talbot as he headed inside. Within the depths of the cave, a small fire sat burning and boxes of equipment sat stacked against the far side, with a table and a map of Aerocem sat on top with markers denoting paths of travel. “Well, what’s the problem with it?” he asked. Pastor unrolled a scroll detailing the schematics of the supply balloon. “It’s only made to fit around three to four griffons, with the rest of the compartments allocated entirely for storage. There’s a good chance that they’re going to be suspicious when they’re off-loading if there are a few missing boxes to make space for us to hide in.” “Okay. So are there any proposed solutions, then?” Talbot asked. Mendoza stretched as he came back inside, sitting down next to the fire as he listened in to the conversation. “Well, one, of course. I hope you guys aren’t rusty with pull-ups, because we’re going to be hanging off the sides of those things on the way up.” “Oh, great,” Mendoza said. “And here I thought we’d have some nice cozy seats away from the cold high-altitude winds as make our way up.” “If you wanted the easy way, you wouldn’t have signed up for the Ghosts,” Talbot said. “How long is the trip up going to take?” “Judging by the estimates from seeing those other balloons right now, I’d expect that it’ll take around ten to twenty minutes before we make it to the entrance. And we’ll be hanging off the sides the entire time.” Talbot shook his head, sighing. “Are you sure there isn’t any other way to do it?” “When a balloon goes up, they’ll expect the entire cargo bay to be loaded with supplies. Unless you want to take a dip into a supply bag and wait until they get you all sorted out in the storage bays—which could take days, I might add—there’s no other way to move things along quickly without drawing some major attention to ourselves,” Fellwyre said. “Uh, yeah, my gear doesn’t exactly mix well in cramped storage,” Mendoza said. “I think we’re better off just hanging off the side with some ropes or something.” “Ropes? I think that can be managed.” Fellwyre nodded towards a large bundle of heavy rope in the corner. “I think that will do. You’ll be hanging off the sides the entire time, and so long as they don’t get too curious, we’ll be able to sneak you in undetected.” “And if that doesn’t work,” Bloodfury said, “myself or any other number of our Imperial Guard strike members can work the charm. Being an Imperial Guard means more than just muscle, after all; you have to know how the politics and the ballrooms work. We can keep their attention off of you long enough to sneak by unnoticed.” “Okay, uh... great,” Talbot said. “I don’t think we have much in the way of intel or a window of opportunity here. We want to finish this before they start their offensive, that way we can put them into a state of emergency and disarray, maybe even force them to play things closer to their chest. By then, I hope we’ll be away from here and on to our next target by then.” “Works better for us. When they think infiltrators, they’ll most likely assume it to be a griffon or a pony. The first won’t work because Strongbeak usually keeps his elite guard close to his generals, and the latter won’t work because ponies are too easy to spot. With your squad, they won’t even see what hit them.” “I think they’re preparing to move out now. I’m seeing lots of troops on parade and in formation, and air cavalry seems to be moving southeast. Either the fight’s already started, or it’s going to get worse very shortly,” Raymond interrupted. “We’d best move tonight,” Fellwyre said. “The local patrols are starting to get a little too close here for comfort, and we already have the disguises needed to get in unnoticed. But, still... what about trying to get into the city?” There was the sound of ruffling as Leret returned from his own scouting patrol, cloak heavily wrapped around his head and shoulders. “Nothing of much to report. Security, as always, is still tight, and I’m having a hard time trying to get by the camp without being noticed,” he said. “Did you manage to see any point of entry, though?” Bloodfury asked. “Any way that we can sneak in?” He shook his head. “None, I’m afraid. There are so many guards on the walls that trying to fly in would be difficult, the entire army camp acts like a security system to stop anything else from getting too close to the walls. They still get supply wagons, though, which they check for in the regular ways.” “Great. The wagon’s hidden in another cave not far from here. I suggest we move in during the evening, when the last of the convoys are expected in. From there, it’s going to be a nighttime raid on the fortress, and we’ll be out by the time the morning hits,” Fellwyre said. “So, here we are again,” Raymond said, bumping into Talbot’s shoulder as they sat beside each other in the supply wagon. As usual, Mendoza and Pastor had taken up the seats on the other side, separated between with large bags of grain. “I hope this doesn’t become a normal thing for us.” The dim moonlight cut into the cart, dimmer than the light their own crosscoms produced. There wasn’t really much of a plan, as they didn’t have much information. As far as things were concerned, they were going in blind. Even the minute details like guard checkpoints in the city were impossible to get due to the active presence of guards in the area. Loyalists within the city, what little there were, seemed to have gone to ground in fear of being outed. “Man, I’m glad they gave us magnetics and NV for this mission. We’ve been passing guard after guard for minutes now. This camp’s huge,” Mendoza said. Shouts of officers and commanders throughout the camp were met with unified confirmations as the rumbling of thundering infantry steps began to shift throughout the camp. “And I’m pretty damn sure that’s not a good thing.” The wagon slowed to a stop at an intersection, as Talbot’s magnetics caught sight of several battle wagons moving by them, rumbling by in front of them as they maneuvered towards the camp exit. “That looks pretty bad. I sure hope our boys back home are holding up alright,” he said. “If we run into one, can I use my rockets?” Mendoza asked. “Only if we run out of options. You should be more worried about not getting spotted in the first place, Fuse,” Raymond said, as their wagon creaked into motion again on their way towards the city’s gates. “Get ready to move. We’re going to try to drop you guys as soon as we reach the balloon depot,” Bloodfury whispered from the driver’s post. “Got it,” Talbot whispered back. Their passage to the gates was unhindered as they traveled along with a number of other supply wagons from other parts of the Empire, joining them when they had departed from their cave hideout only an hour before. “Halt.” Talbot could see the profile of a guard holding up a claw for Bloodfury to stop the cart, as Fellwyre carefully shifted beside him in his Imperial Army armor. “Papers, please.” “Right, here you go.” Bloodfury handed him his clearance papers, and the guard looked them over for a moment. After a minute, he handed them back, giving a nod. “Alright, you’re clear to pass. I hear Carseract’s as much of a hole in the ground as it is these days, that true?” the guard asked. “As usual. At least we can still get some supplies, right?” Bloodfury said, moving the wagon forward. “Good for something, I guess,” the guard chuckled. “Next!” “Well, that wasn’t so bad. If security’s going to be like this all the time, I think we can rest easy,” Mendoza said. “Lax through and through, it seems. And here I thought the griffons were all about discipline...” Raymond said. “At least it’s just the bad guys resting easy on their laurels. They’re so sure of an easy win and promises of glory from Strongbeak that it’d be dumb not to get feel a little too optimistic,” Pastor wondered. “But it strikes me as weird, though. Here we have our two little princesses capable of controlling the sun and moon, and these guys think they can go to war against them? Where’s the sense in that?” “Maybe they have an ace in the hole. I know I wouldn’t start a war with a nation of magic-wielding... uh, people without knowing I had some sort of leverage against them.” “True. Maybe we’ll find out about that later on. I mean, it just seems a real bit odd to gamble on having an army win the war against people that can fight back on even ground. Wouldn’t be surprised if they get a can of whoop-ass opened on them when they get to home turf, though... that’s the territory of our royal highnesses, after all,” Mendoza said. “No, no, turn left down here,” they heard Fellwyre whisper outside. “Thank goodness the guard presence is lowered now. But—” They passed a loud and rowdy group of drunk soldiers. “—looks like they still have some on station, it seems...” “If only Scarclaw was in charge...” Leret said, standing to the left of Bloodfury as they made their way down the street to the depot. “Such laxity would never be tolerated under his command.” “Not like I’m complaining. Just makes the job for the Guard that much easier,” Bloodfury said. He pulled the wagon straight through the open gates, giving a nod to the two guards on duty, and parked the wagon in a darkened area, giving a furtive glance around him as he unhitched the yoke from his chest. “Alright, guys!” he said, loudly enough for any bypassers to hear. “Let’s get the supplies loaded up!” Raymond peered out the small window on the wagon’s back hatch, only to almost jump back when Fellwyre’s helmeted face to show up in the window. “Get ready to move,” Fellwyre said, and opened the door up so the griffons could start moving the bags to one of the many balloons on stand-by. “Well, how’s it going on there?” a balloon mechanic said. “Bringing those supplies on up to Stratus Highbase? Balloon’s here and ready to go, just have to open the cargo bay hatch underneath, and... there! Just load it up and you’ll be good to go!” “Thanks,” Bloodfury said. “Last shipments in for the night?” “Yeah,” the mechanic said. “Must suck showing up after the moon’s risen, huh? Not enough time to do anything except sleep since you’ve been hauling that thing from ancestors only know where. Done that myself a few times, actually.” The Ghosts stealthed their way over to the corner of the compound, their path to the balloon landing zone immediately to their left. “Hold here, and wait until they have the preparations ready,” Talbot said. “Check your gear and make sure everything’s topped off.” “Tell me about it,” Bloodfury said, continuing his conversation as he helped Leret and Fellwyre haul the bags into the caged compartment underneath the balloon. “So, I saw that the troops are starting to move out now.” “Indeed they are. Not that I care one bit about that, of course. I’d rather be happy here running the supply lines than doing whatever it is they’re doing out there. Fighting’s not in my blood.” “Soldiers can’t do everything by themselves, huh?” Their balloon was the last to remain as the wagon that preceded them began its ascent up the mountainside. “Hmm, looks like we’re the stragglers. Better finish up this delivery so we can catch some rest.” “Hey, good luck with that. Just wondering, you know how to use these balloons, right? Hot air and all that stuff, and this chain, and the release, and all that stuff?” “Of course. Why would I be here if I couldn’t?” Bloodfury said, laughing. And all Imperial Guards have training in the use of almost every single piece of equipment in the Empire... Leret walked past him to the balloon’s basket, the rope slung over his shoulder. Receiving a quick nod from Bloodfury, he quickly began tying the strong rope on each side of the basket, one for each of the Ghosts. Away from the gaze of the mechanic, Fellwyre quickly checked to see if they could maintain their weight, using his own from his heavy armor to test the strength, and gave an approving nod to Leret above him. The mechanic chuckled. “Heh, alright then. Just head on up and make sure you don’t crash this thing into a building on the way down, okay? Anyway, just look for me in the workhouse over there when you get back down.” “Will do,” Bloodfury said, and watched as the mechanic hummed to himself as he walked to the lit workhouse in the distance. Joining Leret and Fellwyre in the basket, he looked around before giving the okay for the Ghosts to advance. “Clear for go,” Talbot said, and they advanced through the now-empty courtyard, finding their respective positions on the basket’s sides. “Is everyone ready?” Receiving a thumbs-up via their own silhouettes, Talbot nodded and knocked twice on the side of the basket. “We’re ready.” “Right, going up,” Leret said, moving the balloon upward as a rush of chilly wind slammed into the side of the basket as they cleared the rooftop level of the city. Talbot’s nose tingled as the cold stung his nose, unfortunately taking up the southern side of the basket that bore the brunt of the winds. “Oh, man, this is a real bad time for those field rations to be kicking in now. Either that, or this cold’s getting to me,” Mendoza said. “Thank God for these exo-frames, but damn if this still isn’t heavy...” “I’d say that we’re pretty damn lucky that the supply cage has footholds that we can use,” Pastor said. “Otherwise we’d be falling to our deaths due to the weight of our kits right about now. Not sure about griffons, but I’m pretty sure we can’t hold on to all this gear with our arms alone.” “At least we have a nice view...” Raymond offered. “Glad I didn’t bring the old sniper rifle up here. Would be a pain in the ass to lug it through the whole place.” “Bloodfury, which side of the basket is going to be entering the base first?” Talbot asked. “I believe that will be the west side, if we can maneuver this thing correctly!” he responded, having to lean over the side of the basket and shout over the winds. Talbot nodded. “Right! Shell, prep sensor grenade and drop it in the basket when we enter.” “Yes, sir, sensors at the ready. Hope our little walk through the base isn’t going to be too inconvenienced.” Pastor tightened the grip on his rope when the winds shifted to his side of the basket, wobbling to the side as the high-speed shear threatened to throw him off. “Shit, talk about one hell of an infiltration job.” “Deploying sensors.” Pastor dropped the sphere within the basket as the balloon floated outside the opening base gates, flooding their crosscom vision with dozens of yellow diamonds. “Aw, shit...” “Full house... no pressure,” Mendoza said. “Alright! Bring her in!” shouted the dock foreman. Several hooks shot forth from some deckhands as they struggled to bring the balloon forward. “As usual, store the food and goods down the hall on the left, warehouse three.” “Affirmative, sir,” Bloodfury said. Nodding to Leret and Fellwyre, they hopped out of the basket and opened the supply bays as the other deckhands walked off to other docks to survey the unloading of other cargo. “Now’s your chance,” he whispered. “Go.” Silently landing as the foreman shouted orders from his observation roost above, the Ghosts quietly regrouped behind a large pile of boxes, deliberating on their next plan. “So, what’s the guard to civilian ratio in this place?” Talbot asked Pastor. Pastor shook his head and pulled out the rudimentary portable map he’d replicated from the intelligence’s schematics for the base. “Best thing I can guess is that he’ll be up at the commander’s tower, and that’s deep within the base. Civilians will most likely be kept here on the outer grounds to prevent them from trudging further inside for risk of compromising sensitive talks.” “And our timeframe?” “Judging by the distance between our dock and Warehouse Three, and the speed at which they’re carrying the cargo, we have roughly around an hour before they’ll be scheduled to leave.” “An hour. Good.” Peeking over the boxes, the doorway that led to the inner fortress was flanked by a pair of guards decked out in familiar armor. “Elites are guarding the door. Any suggestions, gentlemen?” “Find another way through? Make our own entrance? Try to distract them?” Mendoza said. “Eh... yeah, that’s all I got. We could always just try to sneak past them...” “This dock doesn’t have a lot of ways to get out... maybe we can get into the scaffoldings, try to see if there’s anything up there?” Pastor said. “Better than nothing. Get your UAV up there and see if there isn’t anything we can’t use,” Talbot said. Pastor pulled out the small four-rotored device, tossing it into the air above him as it activated with a muted beep. His crosscom immediately brought up the visual display from the UAV camera in infrared vision, and darted the UAV through the air, stopping at the side of the observation roost. “I see a doorway, in the back. It’s behind him, but I don’t know where it leads.” “Probably to the second floor areas of the courtyard in the next area over.” Talbot looked closer at the map. “That’s where the staff of this base usually stay, in rooms arranged around the entire area. From there, it seems there’s a set of gates that goes further in. Send in the UAV and check.” Bringing the UAV through the doorway, Pastor carefully zoomed across the head of a helmeted guard. The griffon merely yawned in exhaustion as he continued on his patrol, oblivious to the bug-like hum of craft as it floated over the courtyard. “Reads clear. Should we proceed?” Pastor peeked over the box and noticed a number of shelves on the far side, some occupied, some not, as they gradually inclined towards the wooden beams that led to the scaffolding above them. “Route there seems clear, low light, mostly deserted.” “Then let’s take that chance.” Pastor put the UAV into idle above the roof, away from any nearby eyes, as Talbot stepped out of the corner and edged across the exposed docking bay painted in dim torchlight. Looking left, Bloodfury and the other two had only reappeared at the end of the long hall joining the rest of the docks together as Talbot gave a thumbs-up when he reached the bottom of the stairs. One by one, the Ghosts individually crossed over, providing overwatch until they had gathered, and moving up the shelves. The noise in the background easily covered for the small amount of creaking the old wooden beams gave, and they found themselves balancing carefully above the dock, the view of the city and the landscape beyond sitting before them obscured by wispy night clouds. “Uh... watch your step,” Talbot said. “Easier than walking over a tightrope...” Mendoza muttered. Inching their way forward, they crossed the scaffolding towards the observation roost, pausing just before they landed on the deck as the foreman began another bout of shouting. “Alright, another balloon’s coming up! Dock seven’s about to finish up, so all extra hands divert to make room!” He turned away for a moment to take a swig out of canteen sitting next to him. “Damn late nights... never going to get this all finished...” He turned his frustration on another crew of dockworkers as Talbot slowly stepped down from the scaffolding, landing with a thump. Carefully sneaking through the roost, he held his aim on the back of the griffon’s head the entire time, in the off chance that he should turn around and spot what would appear to him as ghosts trying to sneak into the base through the door. Eventually, each of the Ghosts took their turn moving into the shadow of the door’s hallway, lining up in the darkness as Talbot sat at the end, observing the guard making his way around for another lap. “He’s on the other side, let’s move.” Talbot motioned for Pastor to move to the left, as the guard would be approaching from the right side, and they filed out one by one. Looking over, there were two sets of stairs, one on each side of the courtyard, respectively, and they quickly descended down to the courtyard proper, where a single guard stood dutifully as he fought against his drooping head. Talbot held his breath as another group of guards walked right past them, barely an arm's length from where they sat, and turned into one of the rooms. He could catch bits of conversation speaking of banal guard duty, and tidbits of talk about the frontlines of the war... and lots of yawning. “Sandman’s paying everyone a visit here tonight, it seems...” Raymond said. Pastor issued a return command to his UAV, catching it in the air as it folded itself back into storage mode, and giving a nod, they moved to the gates that led into the inner sanctum of Stratus Highbase. “And... go.” Sneaking through the marbled halls of the inner fortress, they passed through several ornate displays of griffonic armors before coming to a stop at a set of ornate double doors. “Is this the one?” Talbot asked. “No. Still further in. Estimate on time reads a little over thirty-five minutes now.” “Running down the clock,” Mendoza said. “Wait, did you hear that?” “Guards. Find cover,” Talbot said, as they scattered, melding into the shadows as a pair of elite guards walked around the corner conversing with each other. “...sheesh, and you know things are up on the front. I heard the ponies have some crazy heavy weapons that totally smashed our battle wagons on the first go. So much for heavy armor, huh?” said one. “We put so much of our stock into that, it’s a shame to see it all burn... but the boss is the one in charge, you know? Strongbeak’s call, not ours, but if he wants to throw away precious metal on making moving metal coffins...” They both laughed as they passed by the statues, unaware that Anvil Squad had their guns aimed at their heads the entire time. “Yep. Totally aren’t expecting anything to happen tonight,” Mendoza said. “Then it’s time to give them a rude wake-up call,” Raymond said. “We’re getting close now. I can feel it.” They continued down the hall, passing by more identical double doors, encountering little guard resistance until they paused at the location where the map labeled as the far end of chamber. “Stairs, winding upward.” Pastor observed, crouching at the foot of the flight of steps. Tilting his head to look up, he pointed at skyward. “I see chandeliers at the top. I’ll bet that whatever we’re looking for is up there.” “Then up we go,” Talbot said. Splitting the squad to two on each side of the wall, they held their guns at the ready, scanning for possible threats as they moved upwards, eventually moving at a snail’s pace when they reached the end of the steps and ending up in what appeared to be a small atrium. A set of golden double doors awaited them as two elites stood guard on both sides, and an open balcony sat across from them. “Well, that makes things awkward...” Mendoza said. “So how do we get in?” “We could just shoot them,” Raymond said. “I don’t see any windows, and those doors are our only way in.” “I’ll go check the balcony, see if I can’t see anything using the UAV,” Pastor said, heading out the open glass doors and hiding around the corner to avoid detection when he deployed his UAV. The device buzzed into existence, and he brought it upwards and noticed a lit window above the balcony. “So it’s a two-story suite, huh...?” Moving off of the infrared view, he noticed a sill to his right, and climbed on top of it to see if he could manage to find a way up without having to use the doors. The wind was strong at this height, higher than rest of the foundation the base sat on, but his weight coupled with his exo-frame’s balance prevented him from falling over. Looking up, it was a clear stretch to the window, at an incline, but manageable without falling off. “I think I’ve got something here, sir. Incline, up to a window.” “Great. Moving up now.” Talbot joined up behind him with his comrades in tow, as he nodded approvingly at Pastor’s find. “Good work. Let’s move on up now. Watch your footing.” Pastor stowed the UAV again, letting Talbot step forward on the roof, thankfully devoid of frost. They managed their way up the slope, the heavy stone roofing completely absorbing any sound that they made, and hunched up around the slightly-opened window. Within, a fire roared as a single lone griffon wearing decorated golden armor, bearing a crimson cloak like officers of higher note in the Legion, was positioned in front of a table. His face racked with concentration, he sat in front of a war map, oblivious to the Ghosts watching him from outside. “There’s our griffon,” Talbot said. "Scope, move forward. You’re taking the shot.”