Hey guys, KaiserSoSage here a.k.a Axius Revan.
So AMOSS is here and I've decided to make a short story. Originally this was just a practice/concept story I wrote whenever I needed a break from writing my stories but I decided to use it for AMOSS. As for the Silver Fox, I intend on continuing the story once I'm done with this one. Currently I'm just writing draft chapters, picking bits from each of them and combining them and whatnot.
Anyways, that's all from me. Now enjoy.
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Eagles of the Sands
Part 1
10th First Seed, 4E 176
Calderin wandered aimlessly around with his arms crossed. He and his team had been waiting for two hours for their aid to arrive. They were told that Aldmeri High Command would send in additional help to assist them on their mission, yet there was still no sign of said assistance.
“How much longer must we wait, Calderin?” Niramil asked, sitting cross-legged on a rock. She wore brown-and-yellow robes with a belt that contained potion vials as well as a small book. “Can’t we just forget about them and just head to our objective? We’re already good enough with four people.”
“As much as I would like to agree with you Niramil, we can’t.” Calderin replied with regret. “Orders are orders. High Command has offered us help. We must accept it and be grateful about it.”
The Altmer mage huffed. “Well, our ‘help’ is sure taking their time. I mean who in Nirn would High Command even send to help us? We’re special forces for Auri-El’s sakes, Desert Eagles.”
Calderin couldn’t help but agree. The Desert Eagles were the Aldmeri Dominion’s special forces unit in Hammerfell, specializing primarily in desert warfare. They were trained to survive the harsh conditions the Alik’r desert would throw at them and learn the ways of the nomads. The thought of High Command sending someone to help an already exemplary unit did bother him.
Just who is High Command sending us? He wondered before he was interrupted by two Mer rappelling down a tall rock formation. It was Arinmo and Liriel, his two other members of his team.
“Our aid has arrived.” Arinmo announced. He was a lean and gaunt mer skilled with the sword. Two quicksilver shamshirs hung from both sides of his belt. “We spotted them coming from the west, just as we were told they would.”
Calderin disregarded every thought on the matter as he and his team prepared to meet their so-called ‘help’. Time to see who High Command sent. They heard the rumbling sound of horses as their aid appeared, riding brown Yokudan Chargers, dust kicking up from the sands. For one alarming moment, Calderin thought they were Alik’r warriors as they were dressed like them, clad in cloth and leather armor.
The two riders dismounted their horses and one of them came up and asked, “Which one of you is Captain Calderin?” The voice was female, only slightly muffled by the headscarf that concealed most of her face except for her hazel eyes. Her short height was comparable to Liriel’s who was the team’s marksman and a Bosmer.
“That would be me,” Calderin answered. “I take it you are our aid High Command has sent?”
“Yes,” The Bosmer nodded before un-wrapping her scarf to reveal her face. “My name’s Rena, and that back there is Corvunir. We’re from the Bureau.”
The air around them grew silent when they heard the Bosmer’s last words and how blatantly it was spoken, as if someone would say, “I’m going out for a walk.”
Niramil’s face turned solemn while Arinmo and Liriel were exchanging quiet words with each other. The Aldmeri Intelligence Bureau. Calderin thought, dumbfounded. Why didn’t I see this coming?
Aldmeri Intelligence Bureau was the main intelligence agency of the Aldmeri Dominion and counterpart to the Empire’s Penitus Oculatus and its predecessor, the Blades. They were task with providing intelligence for the Thalmor and were also known for conducting covert operations in foreign lands. Their field agents were commonly referred to as Talons.
Calderin knew the Bureau was operating in Hammerfell, but he would’ve never thought he would receive two of their agents as part of his team. The feeling he had was both honored and terrifying. “I… wasn’t aware that the Bureau was interested in our mission.” He said.
Rena giggled. “Well, let’s just say the Bureau and High Command share the same interest on this matter.” The Bosmer seemed jovial despite being a member of an organization known to operate in the shadows. She wore leather bracers, leathers boots, brown pants, and a supple coat of mail over her brown tunic. A bow was slung across her back, adorned with feathers and other odd trinkets.
Calderin nodded to himself. “That’s understandable. So, now that we are all finally here, I guess we’re now set to proceed on. I assume you two have been briefed on our mission?”
“Yes, we have already been briefed.” Corvunir replied as he walked upfront. His voice was like an icy cold chill. He was tall, lean, and golden-skinned, just like every other Altmer that was born in Alinor, but also sinewy-looking, suggesting an athletic build. His face was almost devoid of any expression; just a flat mouth line that resembled a small frown below a pair of half-lidded yellow eyes. “We will assist you in any way we can, as long as it doesn’t interfere with our own objectives.”
“Objectives? What kind of—”
“That’s classified.”
Calderin decided to let go of the matter. Best not to pry in the Bureau’s business. He said to himself before turning his attention towards his team. “Alright, everyone pack your gear and mount up. The village is ten miles from here. If all goes well, we should reach there by late noon. We have received help from the Aldmeri Intelligence Bureau, so let’s not try and disappoint them alright? Any questions?”
“No,” Arinmo said, compliant as usual.
Liriel shook her head.
Niramil stood up, brushing away the dust from her robes. “Let’s just get this over with.”
Without any more delay, the six mounted their horses and rode south towards Bergama. Today, they were going after a highly sought-after target in the Crown-Forebear army: Janus Mero, a former Legate of the Imperial Legion and a man with a bounty on his head. He was widely known as ‘the Jackal’ by the Aldmeri forces and is responsible for coordinating raids on Aldmeri camps in the Alik’r Desert for the past thirteen months.
The Desert Eagles have been hunting him since late 175, and now they have a lead on him. Though they had many leads before, this one had been the most surest they had in months. Reports of a military outpost being established in a supposedly abandoned village outside the city of Bergama had come into reach of Aldmeri High Command when the codename ‘Red Dust’ was used, denoting to the presence of the Jackal.
The Jackal thinks he can hide forever. But no animal is safe from the eagle’s talons. Calderin felt the wind hitting his face as he kicked his horse forward, taking the lead with his group behind him and the Bureau agents at the rear.
They passed by a group of tall rock formations, their shadow casting eastwards like giant fat fingers. The Alik’r Desert riddled with them, as well as a few patches of palm trees. It was a grueling place for people to live in. Scorching hot by day and freezing cold by night with dangerous creatures, like the thick-plated dunerippers and large crimson-shaded assassin beetles, prowling the sands. Even northern Elsweyr was far better when compared to this barren wasteland as said by some of the Khajiit soldiers in the army.
The desert had been the site of many battles, both ancient and new. It was here the Aldmeri Dominion made the march across to conquer northern Hammerfell and captured Skaven in 173 and it was also here that they were pushed back across a year later, suffering heavy losses from the harassing Alik’r warriors during the retreat.
The creation of the Desert Eagles was the result of that disaster and since then, the Aldmeri army has been fighting the Alik’r warriors using the same tactics the Redguards had used on them. Calderin and his team were one of the earliest members of the special forces unit, already veterans in Hammerfell. Now, they were a part of the Alik’r. They became the wanderers of the desert and raiders of the ancient sands. They were, essentially, Redguards in all but blood and name.
As the sun began drifting down westwards over the sky, the group stopped just a quarter mile away from the village. They could see it in the distance. Set on a flat barren ground and surrounded by rock formations to the southwest, the village was a tight cluster of sandstone buildings with flat roofs and broken towers laid out in a symmetrical order – a standard layout for any desert village.
“Get me eyes on that village.” Calderin ordered. Even with all the information they acquired, they had to be certain that the Jackal was inside the village.
Arinmo swung down from his saddle and went to search for higher ground. When he found one, he took out his spyglass, laid on his belly and began surveying the land.
“They have johads set up and growing crops growing.” Arinmo said from up top.
The people of the Alik’r often used johads to collect water from the morning dew of the desert. They were made from sticks and fabric, simple but effective. The Desert Eagles and even some of the Aldmeri soldiers have adopted this technique to survive in the desert.
Well at least we know there are people there. “What about the men?” Calderin asked.
“I count six men on patrol. A mix of Redguards and Imperials.”
There was nothing unusual about that. The main core of the Crown-Forebear army consisted of ex-Imperial Legion soldiers who used to serve under General Decianus before he discharged them due to their ‘severe injuries’. Calderin knew how the Legion fought during his time as a normal soldier in the battlefield – disciplined and well-organized. Combined with the Redguards’ martial prowess and guerilla tactics and it was no small wonder how the Aldmeri forces were pushed back across the desert.
“Any sign of the Jackal?”
“No. I don’t see—wait!” There was a moment pause before Arinmo spoke again. “In a compound, three-stories tall, center of the village. There’s a Redguard and an Imperial talking at the topmost floor, beneath a bro—no, red canopy. I think it’s the target.”
“Describe him.” Calderin said, his tone growing serious.
“Tall, middle-aged, brown-haired with a scruffy beard and a slightly wrinkled face. Wears a modified version of a standard-issued Imperial Legion officer’s armor with red cloth.”
“The description matches the reports. The Jackal is here.” He let himself smile in content. This was the closest they had been to their target in months. “Alright, we’ll proceed on foot, infiltrate the village and assassinate the Jackal.”
When Arinmo rejoined them, he objected. “I’m afraid that isn’t possible, captain. There’s half a mile of barren land between us and the village, with too few rocks for cover. They will spot us the moment we get within a tenth of a mile near the village.”
“Your colleague has a point.” Corvunir said suddenly. He and Rena were observing the landscape from their horses. “If we strike now, we risk being detected and alert the Jackal of our presence. I suggest waiting until nightfall before we begin our approach.”
While waiting for nightfall would be a wise decision, Calderin thought, it did not come with its risk. It would be two hours of waiting with the chance of the Jackal leaving during that time. Either strike now or wait. He closed his eye as he pondered over his choices before finally making his decision. “Alright, we’ll wait for nightfall.”.
Next
Comments
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