Project - Prometheus Ch. 41

"I'm liking that vein of thinking right there! If we word it right, we may be able to get the people on our side with it! Especially if we relay the story on how the Confeds want them dead too!" Jenque smiled, seeing the potential for it to work.

"Some clans on Talemkha have put aside blood feuds to work together for our very survival. Such things are not easy and the more defenders Tanith's Gully has, the easier it would be to repel an attack from the Confederacy!" Luminia stated.

"Let's hope it's only ground forces we have to worry about! We will need more intel on what we're up against. Have you managed to peel anything from Sargol yet, babe?" Jenque asked her husband.

"Nothing yet. That bastard is a tough nut to crack, but I figure it's only a matter of time before he talks," Daved replied. "What about you? Any luck with Lohrek or Cahlayn?"

"I have made some headway with them. What they've told me has given me some insight as to what is going on here," Jenque said to him.

"And that is?" Inari asked.

"My suspicions about Sargol have been proven correct. He's not the bigshot here, but he is allowed to believe that he is. He's more like the patsy, or face of the enemy, if you will. Someone that everyone will focus on and vilify, while the real leader continues to work behind the scenes, executing the plan," Jenque told the group.

"They said that?" Inari growled, angered that he wasn't the major player here.

"Admitted as much when I pressed them hard enough and plied them with the correct leverage. It wasn't just him that was made to believe it, but every other Confed turncoat beneath him and the councilors. It was to sell the illusion that Sargol was the big bad, when in fact, he is not," Jenque stated.

"Did they give you a name?" Daved asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"They have not. I tried pressing them for it, but they wouldn't roll on who it is. I got the sense that there is a serious level of fear of whoever it is. But, I do have a few ideas and have narrowed down the list of possibles down to less than half a dozen," Jenque smiled.

"How did you get the list down to that small?" Luminia asked, astounded that the woman had narrowed it down that far.

"Deductive reasoning, along with the various tells of these two when I asked them my questions. How they reacted helped me figure out that it's someone who works with the town council, but is around enough to where they see and know what's going on. Especially with who is doing what, what their leanings are, and so on," Jenque finished.

"Always trust my wife to get shit done!" Daved beamed proudly. "Oh, and I'm curious if Taal'ani has made any headway with those devices that we took from Sargol's safehouse."

"Haven't heard from her in a while. Let me do a quick check in and see what she's found out," Inari told them as she tapped her earbud.

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Taal'ani was floating around in cyberspace, following the digital pathway to the last device that had been taken from Sargol's. The other two she had studied were wipe remotes, which would wipe and burn down everything in those small hidey holes the man had.

She had taken a good long trek through those lines, disabling the signal receiver so the wipe couldn't happen. Taal'ani had even gone so far as to disable the traps he had set, ensuring they could not be sprung. She had done so digitally, taking the catches and laser lines offline. That way, none of them would activate when the deputies and crew headed there later to plunder the archives of information he had.

The Fel'caan woman had been tracking where the signal of this device was sending to. So far, she had found that it diverged into various endpoints throughout the town. This seemed a little odd to her, as there should only be one end point, not multiples. She thought it might have been an encoded signal that would be received by other sleeper agents in Tanith's Gully.

The only thing was that the signal endpoints weren't moving, so that idea was quickly discarded. Taal'ani then brought up a map of Tanith's Gully, tracing each endpoint to the overlay of the town. There were a few dozen of these points scattered throughout the town and the woman inspected the overlay carefully, to see if a pattern emerged.

"That's the main intersection where a lot of people go to eat in Tanith's Hill district. This one is... a random street off in the apartment blocks near Zuzanna's clinic? Now this one is... the sheriff station... oh... FUCK!!!!" Taal'ani screamed, as she finally deduced what these signal endpoints were. They were targets, and the endpoints were the locations of bombs planted in each of these zones!

Upon a deeper inspection of the code, she saw that the coding was that of a detonation signal, which could go off at any time! After confirming her fears, she bolted back to the terminal aboard the Darkstrider, emerging from cyberspace as fast as she dared. The moment her consciousness was back in her physical body was when she got a call from Inari.

"Talon! Took you long enough to pick up! Tried calling you half a dozen times and thought you might have been busy with—" Inari started before Taal'ani cut her off.

"Get out of the sheriff's station!! You and everyone who wants to live needs to get out, now!!! There's a bomb set in the sewers below it that's rigged to blow at any time!!" Taal'ani all but shouted.

"Taal'ani, this isn't the time for practical—"

"This is no joke!! I confirmed that there's a bomb signal that is set underneath the station!!" Taal'ani yelled, as she kept an eye on the signal that she was monitoring on her console. Seconds after that warning, the signal went from a dormant green to solid yellow, going into standby mode.

"Are you sure—"

"YES!! The signal just went from dormant to standby!! The bombs are armed!! GET OUT NOW!!!"

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At the rover depot, the last of the half dozen of Dagan Min's crew that were guarding the zone fell to the ground, dead as the dirt he lay in. A group of about two dozen people milled around in the depot, all of them packing up what belongings they had before hopping into the vehicles. Every one of them was a spy for the Confederacy, and they were all getting out of town.

While none of them had been compromised yet, they all knew it was a matter of time before they were. News about Sargol's capture had spread fast, and they all knew that it was time to get out of town while the getting was good. They all still had jobs to do and they wouldn't be able to do them if they were all behind bars.

"Sir? We are ready to go," a lower level spy said to a tall and imposing man.

"Very good. Make sure that everyone is aboard and the engines are hot. I will be with you momentarily," the man said.

"Yes, sir. If I may venture a question?" the underling asked.

"You may," the man said, feeling in a generous mood.

"Why are we leaving our people behind? I mean, I know the mandates about being compromised, but wouldn't it be better if we had their intel and help in our arsenal?" the man wondered.

"While it is regrettable to leave such good people behind, they all knew the risks. You get caught, you're on your own. No one will come to save you. Though I will say, with some of those left behind, good riddance! We will not need their ilk in the new order we are trying to build here," the tall man told his subordinate.

"As you say, sir," the other man replied submissively before turning to mount the nearest rover.

The leader of the group smiled at the town, thinking about how it had its charms and uses, but how that time was now at an end. Sighing happily at the moment, he fingered the device he held, an exact replicate of the detonator that Sargol had in his safe house, and pressed the button.

Explosions rippled through town, as the fire and destruction they caused could be seen immediately. The man just grinned as he heard the cries and wails of anguish on the air, knowing he had caused such pain. He relished the moment for another second, before he turned to the nearest rover and hopped in. The moment his ass touched the seat, they were off, leaving the ruined town of Tanith's Gully behind them in a trail of dust.

The group laughed for the most part, at having evaded capture and elated to be moving on to the next phase of their operation. What they didn't know was that they were being watched by a pair of eyes that looked upon them with utter disdain. These eyes kept watch on them as they departed the town, then followed them, wondering where they were headed.

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And that's the end of that chapter!! I know, I know! I'm an evil SOB for leaving you all with this bastard of a cliffhanger!! Yes, I can be evil like that, but doing things like this is insanely fun, and it gets even better when I come up with how I'm going to resolve it!! Tanith's Gully in ruins, Shadow Dancers and Children of the Wolf on the ropes and the fates of many are unknown!! What will become of the people in harms way? Stay tuned to find out in the next chapter!!!

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to read my work and I hope that you've enjoyed it! I'm open to constructive criticism and will seriously consider any suggestions made about various story arcs. Please rate and comment on my work down below and ask me questions if you wish, as I love hearing from my fans! If you like what I write, don't be afraid to follow and share with your friends, though your views, ratings and comments are enough for me.

In the meantime, this is C.H. Darkstrider, signing off to grab a beer and some quality time with the wife! ;) You will attain whatever you most desire, as long as you believe in yourself. Cheers!