An Imperial knight stared at the file in her hands disbelievingly. "Neros Drathal. Twenty counts of murder, half of them Hlaalu guards. Thirty-eight counts of assault, resisting arrest, over fifty-thousand gold in stolen property... and you're telling me a man like this wasn't executed on the spot?"
"The captain wanted him alive. He gave us a lot of information in exchange for his life; we managed to stop a couple groups of outlaws that were doing more damage than him, Mara." The other knight in the room said calmly.
"A couple groups doing more damage... I know how much two groups can do. It might be more, but just barely... we're talking about one man that did all this, Radd!" Mara said, waving the file at the guard's face.
"One very... scary man. I was assigned to prison guard duty when they first brought him in. You know how most people we bring in tend to be either very vocal, or very quiet?"
Mara nodded, recalling many occasions when the prisoners were either screaming their innocence, revenge, or resigning themselves to their fate and walking along in silence. "Yes, which was he? Probably the one shouting for vengeance."
Radd shook his head. "He was about the same then as he is now. You'll understand when you see him." He added, noticing Mara's questioning look.
"I still don't approve of letting someone like this out. Even if it is under guard."
A knock on the door interrupted him. "You two aren't doing anything inappropriate in there, are you?" Came an amused voice.
Mara turned and pulled open the door. "Mind still stuck in the sewers, Lance?"
"Only when it comes to you." Lance smirked. "The captain's looking for us, it's about the mission. Shall we?" He offered his hand.
She ignored him. "See you later, Radd." Said as she pushed her way past Lance.
The meeting room was mostly empty, compared to how many soldiers usually gathered in it at a time. The captain was in the front, as usual, but there were only five others apart from him. Mara glanced around at the other four. Lance Murdin was sitting next to her, of course. Jake Endira, an Imperial she almost never got along with, was on her other side. Val, a Nord, was tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for the captain to speak. The fourth was a Breton spellsword and good friend of Mara's, Orland Sires.
"Today is the day." The Captain said at last. "You five have been chosen to guard one Neros Drathal."
"Guard him? The fetcher murdered countless people, what danger would he be in?" Val interrupted. She had talent, but manners and the chain of command was something she never paid much mind to.
The Captain took it in stride; he was too used to it by now. "Perhaps I should be more clear. You are to guard the rest of Morrowind from him for the duration of this mission. I will go over the details once... ah, here he is."
The door creaked open and a Dunmer in faintly glowing iron bracers walked in, along with four guards. "Captain." The Dunmer said calmly with a slight bow. "What a pleasure to see you again. I thank you for sending such a fine assortment of soldiers to fetch me, but it was hardly necessary. I doubt I could do much damage in the heart of Fort Moonmoth, nor would I try."
"No sense in taking any chances, Neros. Have a seat and we can talk about the plan." The Captain replied coldly, gesturing to the chair against the wall near him.
Neros nodded, walking over and sitting down. Two of the guards took positions on each side of him, and the others stood by the door. "Such precautions are not needed. You are planning to let me out anyway, are you not? Why would I risk an escape now?"
The Captain ignored him. "As you all may know, a group of outlaws has been causing troubles across Vvardenfell. We have been able to gather some information about them, and learned the name of their leader and the location of one of their hideouts."
"Why exactly does that mean we have to take him along? We should just go in and slaughter the lot of them." Jake said, glancing at Neros.
"That would get us nowhere fast. These bandits... they're not normal. It's almost impossible to catch one of them alive, and the leader is who we need. It's unlikely he'll be in the hideout we know about, and we need to capture someone to interrogate. That's where Neros comes in. He used to lead the group, if anyone has a chance to infiltrate the group, it's him."
"Won't they get suspicious about him turning up while he's supposed to be in prison for life?" Orland asked.
"That's why we're going to stage a breakout. Make it look like Neros escaped, and after a day or two he'll turn up at the hideout in question."
"What about us? How are we supposed to watch him then?" Lance wondered.
"You will be disguised as outlaws as well. I've been working on a background for each one of you, and you'll have to rehearse them well in the next couple of days before we stage the escape. Hopefully they'll be enough to fool the people at the hideout long enough for you to get the information about where their leader is."
"If you don't mind my asking, Captain." Neros spoke up. "What exactly is in this for me?"
The Captain glared at him, but kept his tone even as he spoke. "You sentence will not be reduced, but your rations will be a bit more..."
"Edible? The slop you've been feeding me now isn't exactly enjoyable. Of course, if that's the only perk to helping you out... maybe I won't."
"There's one more thing."
"Oh?"
"The name of the new leader is Sethes Redrin."
Neros looked up at him, staring disbelievingly for a moment. "Sethes..." He grinned, shaking his head and laughing. "Ah, dear Captain. We've been spending too much time together; you know my weak spots all too well. It's a deal."
"Good. I'll give everyone their backgrounds later; I have a couple finishing touches to make on them first. Dismissed."
Two days later the fabricated breakout occurred. The event went smoothly, all things considered. Neros played his part well; the Captain and half the garrison expected him to kill someone, accidentally or otherwise. Orland and Val, playing the role of other escaped prisoners, ran off with him as well. Lance was supposed to meet up with them along the path, while Mara and Jake waited in a cave they had planned to use as an HQ during the mission.
Mara tapped her foot impatiently, leaning back in her chair. She and Jake were still waiting, and the group was almost a day late. She voiced her concerns, but Jake didn't seem that worried, pointing out that things could be delayed or go wrong easily in a job like this. That just made her feel worse.
The door to the cavern creaked open and a gray-haired Breton hurried inside, a blight storm raging furiously outside. "Well, that was unpleasant." Orland grumbled. "I'm getting too old for this kind of crap."
Mara stood up, about to ask him where everyone else was, when they all came inside, Neros leading the way. "Ah... nothing like a good walk through a blight storm to get the blood pumping." He said brightly, clapping his hands together. "One of life's little pleasures you don't get in a dinky little cell."
"I'd hardly call THAT pleasurable." Lance snapped, pointing the direction of the door with his bloody spear.
"It's an excellent way to train yourself. I used to do it all the time. Go out into a cave in the middle of nowhere, wait for a storm so bad you can't see more than a foot away, and then walk outside. The cliff racers still being able to somehow find you gives it a sense of suspense, you never know what direction they're going to come from. Good for honing your reflexes and hearing, if you can pick out the sound of their wings and screeching through the howling wind." Neros explained.
"You're crazy... but that's obvious just by looking at you." Val said calmly, watching him closely with her axe resting on her shoulder.
"Why, thank you. I do my best to have the outside reflect what lies within." He replied with a smile.
"You should all get some rest. We're going to the first hideout of Neros' little friends tomorrow." Mara said, locking the door to the cave.
"Ah, so soon? How exciting. Though the journey here was a bit tiring, there wasn't much exercise room in those Moonmoth cells so I fear I'm not quite as fit as I once was. Would one of you mind pointing me to my bed?"
"Follow me." Jake said, leading him into one of the back rooms. The others followed closely, not trusting Neros for a second. They soon came to a room with five bedrolls laid out, but Jake led Neros past those and over to a barred door just beyond them. "Here it is." He said, opening the door and gesturing into the small room.
Inside was a bedroll, small basket of food, a couple flasks of water, and a bucket in the far corner. "Well, this is familiar. Did you set this up so I wouldn't be homesick for my cell? How thoughtful." Neros said brightly, walking into the room and sitting down on the bedroll. Jake locked the door behind Neros, pocketing the key.
"Why do I have the feeling this mission is going to be one of the worst I've ever had?" Orland asked, taking off his boots.
"I think we all feel like that." Mara mumbled, already laying down on her bedroll with her eyes closed. Now that Neros was safely locked up and the others were with her, she wasn't feeling that worried.
"If you're feeling nervous, Mara, I could-" Lance began, but she quickly cut him off.
"Get your mind out of the damn sewers and go to sleep."
"No fun at all." Lance sighed.
Everyone settled down onto their bedrolls and began drifting off to sleep; the last thing they heard was Neros' cheery voice from beyond the locked cell door. "Goodnight!"