Lavellan pushed her hood off of her head and let the chilly mountain air fill her lungs as she approached the ruins of Haven. She had decided to show a symbolic gesture of unity and mourning by visiting the area where Corypheus had brutally set upon the beginnings of the Inquisition. Behind her walked Cassandra, Varric, and the Iron Bull as they made their way through the mountain pass with a full 100 of the Inquisition's best in tow for their mission. She could feel the doubt and suspicion some of them had for her.
How could a heathen Dalish mage be the Herald of Andraste?
She forced her bitterness down and recited a prayer to Mythal to calm herself and her anger.
She inhaled and exhaled, the anger leaving her, and continued through the valley.
They were getting close now, the features becoming more familiar as they approached the ruins of Haven. In minutes they could see it.
Or what was left of it.
Much of it was smashed to timbers by either the enemy or rocks from the landslide she had caused. It was a bit of a ghost town now, the eery silence permeating through the valley.
Some of the scars of battle were still visible through the avalanche.
Parts of bodies showing through the snow, smashed timbers of walls, weapons, and various other signs of battle dotted the landscape.
It had been almost three weeks since the battle and still nobody had come to reclaim the town. Perhaps the memories were too painful?
Regardless, Lavellan pressed forwards with her group.
She felt a chill and it wasn't from the cold mountain air. Having grown up in a Dalish clan with an unusually large number of Mages, Lavellan and her clan had all developed a quite accurate 'sixth sense' about being watched.
And right now, she felt many eyes on her.
She stopped, every fiber of her being screaming at her to turn back.
"Something isn't right..." She whispered.
"You feel it too, boss?" She heard Bull ask with more than a little concern in his voice.
He felt it too, his years of combat experience against entrenched guerrillas showing.
The others tensed now, not knowing who or what was watching them, but preparing all the same.
The soldiers locked shields and several ran to shield their Inquisitor.
"They haven't seen us have they?" Asked Lieutenant Lucian as he saw the incoming column move into a defensive formation.
Gallus shook his head. "Impossible. The warp and our own prowess are concealing us completely."
Lucian gazed through the magnoculars again and focused on the group of four at the front.
The one with the staff was clearly the leader. She was short, slight of frame, and dressed in leather armor with a few pieces of plate over vital areas.
He magnified.
Curiously, she had the traits of the Aeldari but possessed none of their technology nor any of their arrogance as she seemed to trust the humans around her.
The other was a was a human woman, with close cropped hair and brandishing a large sword and shield and wearing plate and chainmail.
The shortest one looked to be of the abhuman race known as the Squats. He was in an expensive coat with no visible outward armor and a large crossbow.
The final member of the party was clearly either an undiscovered abhuman species or a mutant.
It didn't seem to be a crazed worshipper of chaos, so Lucian was guessing the former.
He panned the magnoculars to the trees around the column of soldiers and switched to thermal. There were over two dozen heat signals around them. He magnified and saw they were of the Red Templar abominations, assassin type, with blades for arms and a quickness they could rival his own for short bursts.
"Squad Titus." He said as he keyed his vox. He got a key in reply from the Eliminator team. They were under strict orders to not reveal their position and as a result, none would move. They could stay like this for days at a time and with the insulating properties of their Phobos pattern armor and being covered by their camo cloaks they were nearly invisible to anything short of warp magics.
"Prepare a firing solution." He checked the chamber of his Occulus Bolt Carbine and motioned for the Infiltrator squad to follow.
Lavellan would never get used to the jerky motions of the corrupted Red Templar Shadows as they leapt from the trees. She heard shouts as more of them set upon the column and started hacking at the Inquisition troops. She couldn't help them, however, a full half dozen of the bastards were heading for her specifically. She conjured fire from her hands and let loose a cone of flame from her hands, immolating one of them. She ducked, a red lyrium spike missing her by centimeters, and sent a spike of ice into the assassin's skull as she rose back up.
One Inquisition soldier in front of her had his head lopped off by a Horror, showering her and her companions in blood. Bull cut the damned thing in half with his massive battle axe seconds later.
She turned and blocked a strike from another Horror, sending electricity up the staff and shocking the creature to give her some breathing room.
She almost didn't see the Shadow as it lept over the phalanx behind her. She turned to meet the attacker but before it could land, it exploded.
She heard several sharp cracks and with each one another Horror or Shadow fell either completely eviscerated, or missing one or more limbs. She heard a grunt behind her, towards Haven, and turned to see the largest Shem she had ever seen stabbing a Red Templar Knight, possibly the leader of the attack, through the head and chest with a 'knife' as long as a sword in each hand.
The corrupted soldier twitched and the Shem dropped him unceremoniously with a crack of its neck and a sickening thud.
Lavellan and the rest of the Inquisition soldiers stared at the Shem and he was a sight to behold.
He was huge, larger than even the Iron Bull in stature, and encased in a dull blue armor. His halfmask betrayed bright green eyes and raven black hair that was closely cropped and a pale complexion, likely from wearing a full helmet frequently. His armor had numerous wax seals and parchment waved from the fixtures in the midday breeze as he walked forwards, and his movements seemed... off. By all rights, someone of his size and wearing that much armor should be loud and clumsy as the plates shifted and they clanked along.
However, all they heard were his foot steps as he approached Lavellan and her guard and party closed around her should the worst happen.
His weapons were equally as odd. Lavellan saw how his knives had punched through the steel and red lyrium enhanced flesh of the Knight. This showed not only his strength but his blades were scarily sharp and strong. He also carried something in the small of his back and on his hip. They were both blocky and she could faintly smell sulfur coming from the barrel with her keen sense of smell.
He stopped roughly five meters short of the party.
There was a tense silence before he slammed his fist into his breastplate.
A salute, she realized as she let go of the breath she had subconsciously been holding.
Then he spoke, his voice coming out as a growl, likely some effect of the mask.
"Greetings. I am Lieutenant Lucian of the Ultramarines 5th Company." He pauses. "I... we are here on a mission to investigate that." He says while pointing to the recent scar in the sky. The Breach had been closed over a month ago but the permanent scar in the blue sky persisted, and it was a grim reminder at how close they'd come to damnation.
She gulped before she spoke. For a Shem the man was incredibly intimidating. Something about him radiated 'danger' and every fiber of her being was screaming at her to be careful.
Lieutenant Lucian was many things. An expert at infiltration, a crack shot with all forms of weaponry both common and rare, and a rather competent leader. But a diplomat was not one of these things.
He could kill every mortal in front of him with little effort but that wasn't his mission.
His mission was to negotiate with them. After his initial meetings with the abominations, Cassiel had given him orders to find and negotiate with a member of the organization directly involved in fighting with them.
That he'd actually encountered the leader was unexpected so he had to improvise.
Damn that Captain Cassiel. Thrice damn him.
He exhaled and let his annoyance leave him as the small... person spoke.
Was she Aeldari?
No, she is too short and her movements are nothing like how the Aeldari move.
Abhuman then.
She was the leader of the 'Inquisition' and she herself was humming with warp energy. Luckily Gallus informed him that her power wasn't malevolent though it was on par with his own.
"H-hello. I am... Inquisitor Lavellan. I... I lead the armies of the... faithful, against the madness that has consumed this world."
She cleared her throat.
"Lucian, was it?" He nodded.
"Excuse me for any rudeness but you're unlike any human I've ever seen. You can clearly handle yourself. Why talk to us at all?"
Well that's a first. He thought somewhat surprised by the mortal's boldness.
Impressed even.
"We are but 200 battle-brothers against the frothing tides of insanity. We will stand regardless, but we are no fools and neither are you. If you wish, Captain Cassiel has expressed he is willing to show you what our capabilities are. All we need is a target."
He keyed his vox and the Infiltrator team stepped from the tree line, surprising the gathered mortal soldiers a great deal.
Gallus stepped beside him, seemingly from thin air, his warp powers giving him near invisibility.
Lucian stepped slowly up to the 'Inquisitor' and slowly extended his hand. He'd seen numerous mortals seal agreements in such a manner and only hoped he had negotiated well.
She gingerly shook his hand, still extremely suspicious by the look of her body language and how she never let her staff into a relaxed posture.
"Very well." She said. "We have more than a few possibilities."
"I thought not. Now, do not be alarmed."
She looked puzzled.
"Of what?"
The answer presented itself seconds later as a Stormraven gunship screamed into view. To the mortals who hadn't even met the Industrial Age, the sight of a large winged beast usually meant a high dragon and a quick, fiery death.
To her credit, the 'Inquisitor' didn't look alarmed for very long. When the mighty gunship touched down, she merely looked curious.
The others, however, had weapons drawn and ready again as Lucian and his comrades walked to the mighty royal blue gunship.
Lavellan watches as it takes off and tilts towards the heavens.
Varric says what they all think in this moment and not for the first time, his company wishes he wasn't so right.
"Well... shit."