//------------------------------//
// The Theam and Preen Connection 
// Story: Utaan 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	Raptr squinted.  "And you got all of this from... a beat-up prisoner?"

"Not just any prisoner," Theanim Mane replied.  He stood inside a stone-carved barracks deep within Frostknife.  The gray walls of the narrow chamber were lined with sets of silver armor and serrated gauntlets.  "But Jeryn, the leader of the Southern Hoof."

"You mean the Syndicate," Starstorm said from where she sat across the table.

Theanim nodded.  "That is correct."

Windburst leaned against a wall, sharpening his crossbolts.  "And no doubt this slimy cretin wants something in return for supplying this information."

Theanim cleared his throat.  "He... uhm..."  He shifted where he stood.  "He simply wants to be relocated somewhere distant from the general population of the Frosted Shelves."

"Because Verlaxion forbid that he should suffer more undue punishment for the pain and agony he's caused countless souls:  continentalists and colonialists alike."  Starstorm grunted.  "Piece of filth got off easily."

"Still..."  Raptr scratched his headcrest.  "...seems a bit too good to be true."  His hawkeyes narrowed.  "You sure he's willing to give us all this information just to be relocated?"

"I'm certain the whole lot of you are familiar with seeing the eyes and faces of the desperate," Theanim Mane said.  "Even beneath all of his whelts and bruises, Jeryn has that same look tenfold."  He gestured.  "This is his chance to live out the rest of his years in relative peace.  And it's our chance to unearth the final link to the Syndicate that's infected this continent.  Believe me, there'll be nothing more satisfying in Jeryn's grimy heart than to bring ruin to his former collaborator."

"And..."  Starstorm's eyes darted between Windburst and Raptr.  She looked back at Theanim.  "...just who is this former collaborator, according to Jeryn?"

"Yes."  Windburst looked up, his gaze narrowing.  "Just how far does the hammer fall?"

Theanim took a deep breath.  "I speak of Brye Chandler."

The three sergeants clammed up.  They turned to look towards the far end of the corridor.

Lieutenant Keris stopped pacing.  His talons scraped against the stone floor as he stood still before a series of gray vertical windows.  "... ... ...Chandler of the Shoreline Trade Consortium."

"That's right."  Theanim nodded.  "Jeryn's testimony corraborates with the eyewitness accounts given by the pilgrims of the Quade who boarded his company vessel bound for Frostknife.  According to the Luminards, Chandler's worked closely with Monket, the alleged Slaver of Waves."

Keris pivoted to stare fixedly at Theanim across the way.

Theanim blinked.  "This... isn't the first time you've heard of Monket?"

"Hardly."  Keris adjusted the weight of his cast and shuffled closer.  "As a matter of fact, I met him."

Theanim swallowed.  "At Red Barge."

Keris nodded.  "Indeed."  His eyes glanced across the hanging weaponry and armor of the Right Talon.  "I know that he was there to conduct an illicit deal between the Red Bargers and an outside party.  We also happen to have a representative of that same outside party situated in a temporary holding cell located within the upper bowers of the Frosted Shelves.  She attacked me while I was in Red Barge, and the Talon encountered her again... in Braum."

"Braum?"

Keris nodded.  "Her name is Longaze.  And she is a high ranking executive of the Shoreline Trade Consortium.  After engaging in a violent battle with the Rainbow Rogue—one in which Longaze willfully put multiple innocent civilians at risk—she was swiftly incapacitated.  We soon learned that she arrived in Steamfall shortly before her infiltration of Braum."

"Then... then the Right Talon already knows that the Shoreline Trade Consortium is participating in criminal activities abroad!"  Theanim's jaw dropped.  Suddenly, his brow furrowed.  "Why didn't you bring these details up when you presented your report to the Council?"

Keris raised an eyebrow.  "Would you?"

Raptr winced.  Starstorm hung her head while Windburst lethargically returned to sharpening his crossbolts.

Theanim sighed.  "Well, I suppose you have a point."

"I was expected to present my report concerning the Rainbow Rogue to the Council, and that is precisely what I did."  Keris stood across the table from Theanim.  "In truth, we expected to resume with our investigation into the Consortium as soon as the Commander arrived in Frostknife."

"But Seraphimus has been... noticeably absent."

Keris clenched his beak.  "My... hope is that her veteran experience and wisdom is currently assisting her in gathering some much needed evidence concerning the Consortium."

"That's why she hasn't arrived?"  Theanim leaned his head aside.  "She's investigating the Consortium?  On her own?"  He looked at the other members of the Talon.  "...and you just let her wander off without any support?"

"The Commander's authority supercedes our own," Starstorm murmured.  "It's not our place to challenge her—"

"And precisely what good does blind faith accomplish?"  Theanim frowned.  "I've been in that place before, and I came to realize I was not doing any good for this world and the ones who dwelled in it."

"The Commander is more than capable of handling herself," Raptr said with an edgy tone.

"I'm certain that she is!"  Theanim nodded.  "And what of the ponies in her way?  How will they handle her hard-edged tenacity?  Hmmm?"  Theanim leaned back.  "Your Commander is a brave soul, but also happen to know she's quite a passionate one."  He clenched his jaw.  "Or am I the only soul in Rohbredden who's seen what's hidden below in those frozen stasis chambers?"

Starstorm stood up to angrily retort.

Keris calmly rested his good talon on her shoulder.  "The Commander... has much to fight for."  He walked slowly around the table.  "Just as she has much to protect.  That's what the Right Talon is all about, Professor.  Protection."  He came to a stop beside Theanim.  "Without the Commander's insight, we are at a loss to understand the Consortium's nefarious role as of late.  Longaze is proving... stubborn when it comes to giving information."  He glanced at Windburst.  "It certainly doesn't help that Seraphimus paid her a rather tense visit shortly before she was brought to Frostknife."

Windburst's eyes fell to the floor.

"Every day that we wait for the Commander is another day that the Consortium gains greater subterfuge."  Keris took a shuddering breath.  "And I've seen enough partial evidence to infer that Chandler's organization is as big a threat to Rohbredden as the Rainbow Rogue."  He swallowed.  "If not more so."

"Then allow me to help you complete the picture," Theanim said.  "Come with me to Sunset Prefecture.  Together, we'll catch this criminal exchange in the process and pull the rug out from beneath Chandler and his entire operation!"

"As a scientist, aren't you supposed to go into an experiment with a null hypothesis?"

"At the heart, I am an anthropologist," Theanim explained.  "Not everything in the field works by beakers and centrifuges, Lieutenant."  He tilted his head aside.  "You have to read the surface of ponies before they unfold the rest of their substance to you.  Right now, everything Jeryn has said, breathed, and gestured tells me that this lead is solid.  The meeting happens in just a few days, and I don't think we can afford to waste this opportunity.  Do you?"

Keris leaned back with a sigh.  He stroked his bottom beak with his good talon.

Starstorm cleared her throat and leaned forward.  "Lieutenant... the Commander is expecting you to wait for her here in Frostknife."

"Send one of us to Sunset Prefecture with the Professor if you have to," Windburst said with a shrug.  "I'm sure whatever's going down, it's nothing we can't handle."

"Mmmm... yes."  Keris nodded.  "But we've been guilty of that sin before."

Raptr gulped.  "It... c-can't be as bad as what was going down in Braum."  He blinked.  "Could it?"

"I have a duty to the Commander," Keris said.  "But I have an even greater duty to the interests of the Council... and Rohbredden at large.  Coincidentally, it's the same duty she has."  Keris paced past Theanim, speaking to his sergeants along the way.  "I can't in good spirit force one of my subordinates to make this journey in my stead.  At the same time, I can't presume to guess that it won't end explosively, judging from our previous dealings with Longaze."  He scuffled to a stop, gazing at the rest of the Talon.  "For that reason, I will accompany the Professor personally, but I will not go alone."  He looked to his left.  "Starstorm, you will go with us.  In my condition, I will especially need the backup."

Starstorm saluted.  "Aye, Lieutenant."

"Windburst."

"Yes, sir?"

Keris pivoted to face him.  "You and Raptr will maintain the status quo in our absence."  He gestured with his good talon.  "Keep an eye on Longaze and play face for the Consortium.  If they ask about my absence, tell them that..."  He shifted slightly.  "...tell them that I am assisting the Commander in her investigation."

"Heh..."  Windburst slid his crossbolts back into a quiver and folded his arms.  "This should be interesting."

"You won't regret this, dear guardians," Theanim said, standing up straight.  "I can promise you that."

Keris slowly turned to squint at the stallion.  He marched slowly towards him.  "Professor... you could have gone to the Ninety-Seventh Scientific Order with this information.  You could have hired innumerable peers from your field to conduct this... 'study.'"  He came to a stop, facing the pony.  "Why come to me?"

Theanim stared back.  "Do you plan on informing the Council as to what precisely you'll be doing in Sunset Prefecture?"

Keris blinked.  "I think the answer to that is evident by now."

Theanim leaned forward, speaking in a low tone:  "Rohbredden is under attack, Lieutenant.  Not from the outside... but from the inside.  You saw the Council.  Everypony is at each other's throats.  The Great Goddess Verlaxion is nothing but a shadow as of late, and her foalish tribes are growing anxious."  He slowly shook his head.  "Now is not the time for public fearmongering.  I don't trust the other members of my Order to keep secret about what I'm discovering here.  If the truth is to be unraveled, then it must be done so in a swift and deliberate manner.  That requires the work of a soldier, not a lab technician."

"But why come to me?"  Keris tilted his head aside.  "I am merely curious.  If you're aware of all the dissent in the Council, then why do I have your trust?  The Talon and the Council perform as separate organs of the same body."

"I need a soul of integrity, Lieutenant."

"That's difficult to define, don't you think?"

Theanim took a breath.  "You've met Rainbow Dash, have you not?"

"Indeed."

"And you let her free?"

"Yes."  Keris nodded.  "If you keep score—like the Council—then I've done so twice."

Theanim smiled.  "Need I say more?"

The sergeants blinked awkardly at that.

Keris clenched his beak.  "She is a criminal, I hope you know."  His hawkeyes glinted.  "She's committed numerous misdeeds.  While it may still be up to the Council to investigate, it's quite likely that you were an accomplice in one or two of those acts—between Rust and Shoggoth."

"And how much better are the Seven Seas after the disbanding of the Syndicate?" Theanim remarked.  "And how safer will the Rohbredden be after Chandler steps down?"

Keris merely stared at him.

"I wasn't there in the Quade, Lieutenant."  Theanim sighed.  "More than ever... I wish that I was.  Truly, I do."  He gulped.  "Maybe I would have saved Rainbow Dash from performing the grossest error ever committed this side of the Blight.  But the time for trying that pegasus is not now.  No one knows that more than you and your fellow brothers and sisters of the Talon."

"You know, if my Commander was here, she would rebuke me for even speaking to you here in this armory," Keris said.  "She would claim that I've lost the strength and vigor of my conscience... that I've allowed the sinful deceit of a beast from beyond the Blight to poison my mind and plant doubt in my heart."

"What do you have to say in her stead?"

"I cannot pretend to guess.  But right now, I am looking at a pony with all of the good will and courage of Rainbow Dash, but devoid of the blemishes."  Keris nodded.  "Let us set out early so we can arrive at Sunset Prefecture on time."

Theanim smiled.  "Agreed."

"Well then..."  Starstorm walked briskly to a weapons locker.  "...shall I pack extra daggers?"

"Carry whatever you can, so long as it is light," Keris ordered.  "After all..."  He marched across the corridor and grabbed pieces of armor.  "...in the shadows, there's no telling how many steps ahead or behind our new prey may be."