Musings Part 4
Part 4
The room was exactly as I left it, and Anima was inside she nodded giving me the all clear for magical eavesdropping before vanishing into the astral to check the rest of the hotel for anything out of the ordinary. Belle pulled a small device from her purse and quickly swept the room with ease…she had had allot of practice…before nodding the all clear. “No electronic bugs so it should be safe to talk.” I nodded and pulled out a data chip from my comlink and handed it to Belle explaining as I went.
“As you know a several years ago a stash of Lowfyr’s memory crystals were stolen from his lair, he was away at the time hence why the heist was so successful. Since then the crystals have been a…hot potato…among the dragons they have been palming them off between themselves never holding onto them long enough to warrant Lowfyr making a formal approach to regain his property.” I began, Tangent raised a hand, “Yes?”
“Did they take pictures of themselves holding the crystals and mail them to Lowfyr just to drive him nuts?” The mage grinned, while Belle suppressed a laugh.
I repressed a snicker but not a grin. “I believe one dragon did…I decided I liked my life too much to warrant asking for details.” Yes Immortals do have a sense of humor; unfortunately Lowfyr didn’t like being the butt of the joke. “So finally the Replacements tracked the crystals to the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, the stronghold and power site for a Lesser dragon who is known as Chaos Bringer.”
Belle frowned. “So why do we have to break in? She’s a Lesser, he’s a Great she shouldn’t have even accepted the crystals that could get her into deep trouble with the other dragons, the whole truce thing they have. Even if she got them by accident the second he said gimme…she should have agreed or something. Unless she IS claiming to be behind the heist…?” She was as knowledgeable about dragons as I was, there was a very strict code of conduct between the Dragons as well as a equally strict pecking order, as a Lesser Dragon, Chaos Bringer couldn’t hope to openly challenge Lowfyr. He was not only a Great Dragon but he was also Loremaster a title passed to him by Dunklezhan. He was several rungs above Chaos Bringer on the draconic pecking order, if she was claiming to be behind the heist it would be one hell of a draconic insult to Lowfyr, a Lesser outwitting a Great in such a public fashion would cause the Great to lose face among the other dragons. I nodded. “So she claims to be the mastermind behind the heist and since she snatched them fair and square she isn’t obligated to give them back. The real thief…whomever they may be…has decided to let the Crazy Dragon take the credit and hopefully the fall when Lowfyr retaliates.”
“Exactly.” I finished. “Lowfyr and Chaos Bringer are now locked into a type of draconic duel. Gods only knows what the stakes are, I’m not about to ask but the short of it is they cannot directly attack the other but they can send pawns to strike at the other. Chaos Bringer has tossed the gauntlet at Lowfyr, now he has to retaliate by getting his property back and maybe make a swipe at Chaos Bringer while he’s at it. If he doesn’t then he looses face among the dragons while Chaos Bringer’s standing goes up a few notches.”
Tangent sighed. “Explains why you two have to do this solo, if I get caught she can safely fry me…you two as known agents of Lowfyr might be worth more on a bargaining table than dead.” I nodded even in her current state, Belle was still Lowfyr’s drake a pawn that can be tracked to him ergo perfectly legal to use in the duel, Tangent was closer to a deniable asset so he would be killed on sight if caught in her lair…or worse.
“So, you spent six months in her domain gathering intel, where would Chaos Bringer hide those crystals.” I focused on Belle as she tapped on her comlink, after several minutes she answered.
“The Commander Islands are a small group of islands on the very tail end of the chain of islands that almost stretches from North America to Asia. In the early 2010’s a fair sized pocket of oil and natural gas was found a few miles off the coast of Bering Island, the place was actually a nature reserve with only a small village as it’s population. Needless to say Greenpeace didn’t like it with the Azzie’s laid claim and build a massive oil rig over the pocket.” Belle paused as she looked into the next file. “The rig was alternatively taken over, blown up and rebuilt till Chaos Bringer woke up, she shadow controlled many of the pirate gangs and once everything in the Island chain was under her talons…then she revealed herself as a dragon, and has been ruling the place ever since. When I was there my guess was her ‘main lair’ was on either Bering or Medny Island, couldn’t get close enough to confirm that. That is where we’ll find the crystals.”
I frowned, I was hoping that she had more detail but this was a start. “So who would know where her lair would be?” Belle showed me a few pictures on her comlink, one was a ork shaman couldn’t tell his path from his attire in the image, the other a male elf…obviously a pirate gang leader going by the insignia, a silver and black dragon stylized in the traditional art of the native tribes of the Bering Sea and tribal tattoos he was sporting. “Ah she would need metahuman contacts to keep the runners and pirates in check…who are they?”
“The ork is her main ‘voice’, he’s a shaman evidently he was born on Bering Island from a long line of natives who have fought to preserve and maintain the island from corruption and development. He’s insanely loyal to Chaos Bringer, thinks she’s the guardian spirit of the islands and will do anything to keep her powerbase secure. He has a ‘true name’ that he refused to tell anybody so the gangs just started calling him Ethan just to have something to call him and it stuck.” Belle snickered before pointing to the Elf. “There are dozen’s of pirate gangs and smugglers in the area, they use the rig as a stopping point before making a run to Russia, Seattle, Hong Kong, or any place else in the area. It’s out of the way enough that most of the law won’t go out that far and a good stop point of you need repair or just a breather. This guy…Fallon…is the head of the largest gang…Chaos Bringer’s personal army for lack of better term…they were barely scraping by till she decided to use them as her catspaw to take over the place and bring the other gangs in line.”
I paused for a bit... These two were the best shot at getting closer to Chaos Bringer, however that fact was not only known to us…but every other being trying to get into her stronghold thusly they would be prepared for anything, subversion, tracking, tails, kidnapping you name it. Which meant they were powerhouses in their own right or had enough protection that made trying to go for Chaos Bringer directly seem like the better option. “What do you know about the islands themselves? Anything out of the ordinary there?”
She didn’t pause for a moment. “They were pretty clean before the Rig moved in and Greenpeace blew the place from under the Azzies noses before it could do more damage and then the Awakening hit. No real differences between them other then size…Bering is bigger…and habitation…again Bering has the only village and it has only a thousand or so permanent residents, the Rig has several thousand and that varies depending on what’s going on though the routes.” Belle sighed. “I was able to get footfall on Bering for a few hours and it wasn’t easy lemme tell you, the whole island went astrally ape when I got on shore. It’s a power site that’s for sure.”
“Topography?” I asked, there had to be something…some clue to which island was her lair.
“Most of the maps I could get were for Bering again…and there was nothing to clue me in on where a Dragon could enter and leave without anybody noticing, and it’s been habitated for some time.” Belle paused “Medny has never been populated, barely explored and has a much rougher terrain than Bering.”
“Rough enough to hide an entrance big enough to allow a dragon to come and go as she pleases?” Quipped Tangent, and Belle nodded in reply. “Evidently she likes her privacy it seems.”
“Name me a Dragon whose doesn’t like his or her privacy.” I muttered in reply as I looked over the maps Belle had just transferred to my comlink. My very basic plan wasn’t changing which was to get to the Rig, find some local help then head to the Islands. Medny was tiny compared to most Islands but more than large enough to allow for a well hidden Dragon sized door. “I’ve heard the rumors about her skills care to tell me if any are true or not?”
“By most accounts she does live up to her name ‘Chaos Bringer’ most of the dragons steer clear of her like they have no idea what to do with her. Rumors on the Rig states that she has at least two to three dozen metahuman forms that she uses to move around the Rig in…” My eyebrows shot up, yes Dragons could take Metahuman form but they usually limited themselves to one or two preferred looks, some Greats had maybe three or four. I know Lowfyr had two that I knew of maybe more. But for a lesser to have two dozen?! Belle continued. “…I know odd to say the least but she knows transformation, really knows it, and REALLY likes it.” Her voice told me there was more to it than just her perchant to change forms the way we changed clothing and she continued. “Then there is her rumored ‘Zoo Collection.”
“Zoo collection?” I wondered where this was going, it didn’t sound good to say the least my imagination was going crazy on what that meant in regards to a possibly insane transformation spell happy dragon.
“Big rumor is that all the former gang leaders and runners that crossed her? She transformed into…well you name it critter wise, cats dogs birds rodents…and keeps them on the preserves of Bering or somewhere in her lair.” Tangent and I just looked at Belle in shock. “It’s just a rumor…but a big one a few of the survivors claimed that they saw her zap their team mates into rats or toads or something else. As far as I know none of the ones she transformed have resurfaced. Believe me I looked for them.”
Memo to self. Do everything in my power to keep out of her line of fire. I have been transformed enough for one lifetime thank you very much, I am not relishing the possibility of it happening again, especially if the results are fur and feathers rather than scales and tusks. Shaking my head to clear it of those unpleasant thoughts I moved on. “So the plan remains the same, we head to the islands and hope to grab some more intel once there and then move in to retrieve the crystals.”
Belle nodded grimly, she was not looking forward to this but she had still agreed, willingly at that, another reminder how in a previous life she would have only done it if forced or to make my life a living hell. Times had changed to say the least. “I’ll start reaching out to some old contacts out there, get things ready since time will not be on our side. What is our timetable?” She asked.
“Within the next week or two at the latest.” I replied. “No idea if she’s going to keep the crystals there or move them to another location, hell I don’t even know if she has other lairs.” I looked to Belle again for confirmation she nodded. “So she does have other lairs?”
“I wouldn’t call them lairs, more like residences when she is not on the islands. She’s been seen in Denver, specifically at the Midnight Eclipse, and in New York. No idea what connections she has to the Denver Dragons and I don’t how many lesser are in New York these days. With winter coming travel to and from her islands is going to be difficult at best. Unless she intends to move them personally in Dracoform I don’t see any way to get them off the islands securely.” Belle went back to her notes. “Nothing else she’s been pretty quiet lately.”
“She’s been preparing for this move against Lowfyr is my guess.” I replied. “One possible motive for both is the reserves of oil and gas under her domain. A successful swipe against Lowfyr could insure he…or to be more specific SK Oil Companies…keep their distance. If Lowfyr succeeds against her he could have greater footing to getting access to those reserves.” I sighed, only Dragons could take a simple B&E and explode it into a complicated political minefield. “How soon before you hear back from your contacts on the island?”
“A few hours, tops it’s the slow season there for smuggling, autumn on the Bearing Sea is not pleasant so the smugglers use other routes during the winter, but there are still a few crazy souls who can get us from Seattle to the Rig for the right amount of cash.” I nodded at Belle all I could do now is wait.
The room was exactly as I left it, and Anima was inside she nodded giving me the all clear for magical eavesdropping before vanishing into the astral to check the rest of the hotel for anything out of the ordinary. Belle pulled a small device from her purse and quickly swept the room with ease…she had had allot of practice…before nodding the all clear. “No electronic bugs so it should be safe to talk.” I nodded and pulled out a data chip from my comlink and handed it to Belle explaining as I went.
“As you know a several years ago a stash of Lowfyr’s memory crystals were stolen from his lair, he was away at the time hence why the heist was so successful. Since then the crystals have been a…hot potato…among the dragons they have been palming them off between themselves never holding onto them long enough to warrant Lowfyr making a formal approach to regain his property.” I began, Tangent raised a hand, “Yes?”
“Did they take pictures of themselves holding the crystals and mail them to Lowfyr just to drive him nuts?” The mage grinned, while Belle suppressed a laugh.
I repressed a snicker but not a grin. “I believe one dragon did…I decided I liked my life too much to warrant asking for details.” Yes Immortals do have a sense of humor; unfortunately Lowfyr didn’t like being the butt of the joke. “So finally the Replacements tracked the crystals to the Commander Islands in the Bering Sea, the stronghold and power site for a Lesser dragon who is known as Chaos Bringer.”
Belle frowned. “So why do we have to break in? She’s a Lesser, he’s a Great she shouldn’t have even accepted the crystals that could get her into deep trouble with the other dragons, the whole truce thing they have. Even if she got them by accident the second he said gimme…she should have agreed or something. Unless she IS claiming to be behind the heist…?” She was as knowledgeable about dragons as I was, there was a very strict code of conduct between the Dragons as well as a equally strict pecking order, as a Lesser Dragon, Chaos Bringer couldn’t hope to openly challenge Lowfyr. He was not only a Great Dragon but he was also Loremaster a title passed to him by Dunklezhan. He was several rungs above Chaos Bringer on the draconic pecking order, if she was claiming to be behind the heist it would be one hell of a draconic insult to Lowfyr, a Lesser outwitting a Great in such a public fashion would cause the Great to lose face among the other dragons. I nodded. “So she claims to be the mastermind behind the heist and since she snatched them fair and square she isn’t obligated to give them back. The real thief…whomever they may be…has decided to let the Crazy Dragon take the credit and hopefully the fall when Lowfyr retaliates.”
“Exactly.” I finished. “Lowfyr and Chaos Bringer are now locked into a type of draconic duel. Gods only knows what the stakes are, I’m not about to ask but the short of it is they cannot directly attack the other but they can send pawns to strike at the other. Chaos Bringer has tossed the gauntlet at Lowfyr, now he has to retaliate by getting his property back and maybe make a swipe at Chaos Bringer while he’s at it. If he doesn’t then he looses face among the dragons while Chaos Bringer’s standing goes up a few notches.”
Tangent sighed. “Explains why you two have to do this solo, if I get caught she can safely fry me…you two as known agents of Lowfyr might be worth more on a bargaining table than dead.” I nodded even in her current state, Belle was still Lowfyr’s drake a pawn that can be tracked to him ergo perfectly legal to use in the duel, Tangent was closer to a deniable asset so he would be killed on sight if caught in her lair…or worse.
“So, you spent six months in her domain gathering intel, where would Chaos Bringer hide those crystals.” I focused on Belle as she tapped on her comlink, after several minutes she answered.
“The Commander Islands are a small group of islands on the very tail end of the chain of islands that almost stretches from North America to Asia. In the early 2010’s a fair sized pocket of oil and natural gas was found a few miles off the coast of Bering Island, the place was actually a nature reserve with only a small village as it’s population. Needless to say Greenpeace didn’t like it with the Azzie’s laid claim and build a massive oil rig over the pocket.” Belle paused as she looked into the next file. “The rig was alternatively taken over, blown up and rebuilt till Chaos Bringer woke up, she shadow controlled many of the pirate gangs and once everything in the Island chain was under her talons…then she revealed herself as a dragon, and has been ruling the place ever since. When I was there my guess was her ‘main lair’ was on either Bering or Medny Island, couldn’t get close enough to confirm that. That is where we’ll find the crystals.”
I frowned, I was hoping that she had more detail but this was a start. “So who would know where her lair would be?” Belle showed me a few pictures on her comlink, one was a ork shaman couldn’t tell his path from his attire in the image, the other a male elf…obviously a pirate gang leader going by the insignia, a silver and black dragon stylized in the traditional art of the native tribes of the Bering Sea and tribal tattoos he was sporting. “Ah she would need metahuman contacts to keep the runners and pirates in check…who are they?”
“The ork is her main ‘voice’, he’s a shaman evidently he was born on Bering Island from a long line of natives who have fought to preserve and maintain the island from corruption and development. He’s insanely loyal to Chaos Bringer, thinks she’s the guardian spirit of the islands and will do anything to keep her powerbase secure. He has a ‘true name’ that he refused to tell anybody so the gangs just started calling him Ethan just to have something to call him and it stuck.” Belle snickered before pointing to the Elf. “There are dozen’s of pirate gangs and smugglers in the area, they use the rig as a stopping point before making a run to Russia, Seattle, Hong Kong, or any place else in the area. It’s out of the way enough that most of the law won’t go out that far and a good stop point of you need repair or just a breather. This guy…Fallon…is the head of the largest gang…Chaos Bringer’s personal army for lack of better term…they were barely scraping by till she decided to use them as her catspaw to take over the place and bring the other gangs in line.”
I paused for a bit... These two were the best shot at getting closer to Chaos Bringer, however that fact was not only known to us…but every other being trying to get into her stronghold thusly they would be prepared for anything, subversion, tracking, tails, kidnapping you name it. Which meant they were powerhouses in their own right or had enough protection that made trying to go for Chaos Bringer directly seem like the better option. “What do you know about the islands themselves? Anything out of the ordinary there?”
She didn’t pause for a moment. “They were pretty clean before the Rig moved in and Greenpeace blew the place from under the Azzies noses before it could do more damage and then the Awakening hit. No real differences between them other then size…Bering is bigger…and habitation…again Bering has the only village and it has only a thousand or so permanent residents, the Rig has several thousand and that varies depending on what’s going on though the routes.” Belle sighed. “I was able to get footfall on Bering for a few hours and it wasn’t easy lemme tell you, the whole island went astrally ape when I got on shore. It’s a power site that’s for sure.”
“Topography?” I asked, there had to be something…some clue to which island was her lair.
“Most of the maps I could get were for Bering again…and there was nothing to clue me in on where a Dragon could enter and leave without anybody noticing, and it’s been habitated for some time.” Belle paused “Medny has never been populated, barely explored and has a much rougher terrain than Bering.”
“Rough enough to hide an entrance big enough to allow a dragon to come and go as she pleases?” Quipped Tangent, and Belle nodded in reply. “Evidently she likes her privacy it seems.”
“Name me a Dragon whose doesn’t like his or her privacy.” I muttered in reply as I looked over the maps Belle had just transferred to my comlink. My very basic plan wasn’t changing which was to get to the Rig, find some local help then head to the Islands. Medny was tiny compared to most Islands but more than large enough to allow for a well hidden Dragon sized door. “I’ve heard the rumors about her skills care to tell me if any are true or not?”
“By most accounts she does live up to her name ‘Chaos Bringer’ most of the dragons steer clear of her like they have no idea what to do with her. Rumors on the Rig states that she has at least two to three dozen metahuman forms that she uses to move around the Rig in…” My eyebrows shot up, yes Dragons could take Metahuman form but they usually limited themselves to one or two preferred looks, some Greats had maybe three or four. I know Lowfyr had two that I knew of maybe more. But for a lesser to have two dozen?! Belle continued. “…I know odd to say the least but she knows transformation, really knows it, and REALLY likes it.” Her voice told me there was more to it than just her perchant to change forms the way we changed clothing and she continued. “Then there is her rumored ‘Zoo Collection.”
“Zoo collection?” I wondered where this was going, it didn’t sound good to say the least my imagination was going crazy on what that meant in regards to a possibly insane transformation spell happy dragon.
“Big rumor is that all the former gang leaders and runners that crossed her? She transformed into…well you name it critter wise, cats dogs birds rodents…and keeps them on the preserves of Bering or somewhere in her lair.” Tangent and I just looked at Belle in shock. “It’s just a rumor…but a big one a few of the survivors claimed that they saw her zap their team mates into rats or toads or something else. As far as I know none of the ones she transformed have resurfaced. Believe me I looked for them.”
Memo to self. Do everything in my power to keep out of her line of fire. I have been transformed enough for one lifetime thank you very much, I am not relishing the possibility of it happening again, especially if the results are fur and feathers rather than scales and tusks. Shaking my head to clear it of those unpleasant thoughts I moved on. “So the plan remains the same, we head to the islands and hope to grab some more intel once there and then move in to retrieve the crystals.”
Belle nodded grimly, she was not looking forward to this but she had still agreed, willingly at that, another reminder how in a previous life she would have only done it if forced or to make my life a living hell. Times had changed to say the least. “I’ll start reaching out to some old contacts out there, get things ready since time will not be on our side. What is our timetable?” She asked.
“Within the next week or two at the latest.” I replied. “No idea if she’s going to keep the crystals there or move them to another location, hell I don’t even know if she has other lairs.” I looked to Belle again for confirmation she nodded. “So she does have other lairs?”
“I wouldn’t call them lairs, more like residences when she is not on the islands. She’s been seen in Denver, specifically at the Midnight Eclipse, and in New York. No idea what connections she has to the Denver Dragons and I don’t how many lesser are in New York these days. With winter coming travel to and from her islands is going to be difficult at best. Unless she intends to move them personally in Dracoform I don’t see any way to get them off the islands securely.” Belle went back to her notes. “Nothing else she’s been pretty quiet lately.”
“She’s been preparing for this move against Lowfyr is my guess.” I replied. “One possible motive for both is the reserves of oil and gas under her domain. A successful swipe against Lowfyr could insure he…or to be more specific SK Oil Companies…keep their distance. If Lowfyr succeeds against her he could have greater footing to getting access to those reserves.” I sighed, only Dragons could take a simple B&E and explode it into a complicated political minefield. “How soon before you hear back from your contacts on the island?”
“A few hours, tops it’s the slow season there for smuggling, autumn on the Bearing Sea is not pleasant so the smugglers use other routes during the winter, but there are still a few crazy souls who can get us from Seattle to the Rig for the right amount of cash.” I nodded at Belle all I could do now is wait.