After a long wait (pretty typical :/ ) here is chapter one. Please enjoy.
Castle Dour, Solitude
The Dragonborn, Aidan Callegari, watched from his raised stage as the ranks of Imperial officers filed to their seats in the well-lit presentation hall. It was nearing the end of the day, about mid-evening, and many of them were anxious to eat and return to their typical duties. When all the lesser officers had found a spot, General Tullius took a seat in the front row of benches and nodded at him to proceed.
Aidan cleared his throat to obtain their attention. "Thank all of you for being here today," he began. "As many of you may be aware I take a particular interest in Dwemer technology. I enjoy studying the inner workings, the functions, and occasionally I can even fathom some sort of practical use for it. I believe I have something that can be of great aid to our forces." He motioned towards a table off to the side; two legionaries picked it up and placed it in front of the assembled officers.
On the table was a small object covered by a cloth which Aidan promptly removed. The officers leaned in to see what it was; many started laughing. "What is THAT!?" They jeered. "What are we supposed to do with a child's toy?"
General Tullius was not amused by this breach of discipline. "Quiet!" He ordered, and turned back to the display. "I hope you aren't wasting our time here," he wondered, as though bad things would happen if that were the case.
"No sir." Aidan replied, as he picked up the model… thing. "This is a small model of what I've taken to calling the 'Armored Breakthrough and Defense Machine'. Come around the table if you would like a closer look."
He spent a lengthy time pointing out features on the model. It traveled on two solid looking metal 'tracks' and mounted a Dwemer ballista in a rotating housing on the top. "It has a crew of three," he explained. "There will be a legionary who controls it, a legionary who mans the ballista, and a commander." He pointed to certain spots on the machine. "They will enter through these ports."
The legates gathered around the table seemed impressed, though many had skeptical looks. General Tullius gave no hint of his thoughts. The Dragonborn returned to his position on the raised platform and added: "The 'Armored Breakthrough and Defense Machine' will be invulnerable to traditional weapons and most forms of magic." He let that sink in for a moment, and then asked: "Questions?"
A legate whom he recognized as Rikke raised her hand. "Legate Callegari?" She said. "How can we be sure that the machine will work the way you say it will?" Many of the other legates murmured approvingly at the question.
Aidan nodded. "Thank you Legate Rikke. Like most experiments, I've done the best I can to make the right judgments, but there is always the chance I could be wrong. For that reason I will take it upon myself to fund and build the first full-size machine, and I shall also supply my own crew." Rikke seemed satisfied by his answer.
He glanced around the hall, looking for more questions, but no one seemed to have much of a desire to query him further. He indicated this to General Tullius, who stood up and faced the assembly. "It appears our gathering here is over," he said. "Officer's dinner is in 15 minutes. I must also remind you that Jarl Elisif requests you keep your men confined to the Castle; we don't want a repeat of what happened at the inn last week." A low grumble escaped the audience.
As the gathering dispersed and Aidan gathered his model and equipment General Tullius approached him. "I don't suppose you will be staying with us for officer's mess this evening Legate?" He asked. Aidan looked off to the side. "I'm afraid not General. I need to get back to Lakeview; Lucia and Sofia are probably worried about me." He said, sadly.
Tullius nodded. "I understand, but that's soldiering for you, Dragonborn. Your family worries about you and you're gone for weeks or months at a time." He gave the faintest hint of a smile on his face. "Your campaign against the Forsworn in the Reach produced great results; I'm sure they've heard hearsay about it."
It was an impressive military operation; the insurgent Reachmen, already destabilized by the death of their underground king Madanach, suffered substantive losses at the hands of Aidan's detachment. In his report to Tullius, Aidan had indicated that even if any significant portion of them survived, they will never again pose the type of threat that could become more than a very minor annoyance. It also meant that much of the empire's force in the Reach could be transferred to the still volatile former Stormcloak regions of Eastmarch and The Rift.
"Maybe so sir, but I suppose I really want to see them too," he admitted. It was true; he missed his adoptive daughters and their occasionally ridiculous shenanigans.
"Of course!" Tullius said. "Don't let me keep you, Legate. Dismissed!" They saluted each other, and Aidan moved off towards the exit to the Castle Dour courtyard.
"And Legate?" Called Tullius, who was halfway through the door leading deeper into the castle. "Keep up the good work; I want to see your full size machine as soon as you're finished with it."
Aidan grinned. "Yes sir!"
"Excellent." And with that Tullius was gone.
After reviewing the room one more time and rechecking his belongings, the Dragonborn sighed and stepped out into the late evening air of Solitude.
Between Whiterun and Solitude he had trouble deciding his favorite city. On one hand, Solitude was on the sea and the proximity to Castle Dour kept him in the loop in regards to Imperial intrigue. On the other hand, Whiterun had a certain rustic charm to it that he liked and its central location meant he could go anywhere in Skyrim and yet not be far from home. He felt, however, that it sometimes proved out of touch with the Imperial High Command which may have had something to do with Jarl Balgruuf's continuing reluctance to associate with the Empire more than he needed to.
A sharp crack to his left broke through his musing. An arrow had embedded itself into the outer rings of one of the archery targets lining the square. A short distance away Serana stood with a standard issue longbow and an Imperial instructor inspecting the shot and her form.
They had yet to see him so he made his way, making sure to be discreet, over to where they were standing and into earshot.
"…and I never got into archery. I don't really think I've used a bow in…" Serana hesitated, the way she always would when her awkward past was in question. "…a long…ish time…"
"Well, you're not bad." The instructor replied, ignoring her discomfort. "Most new recruits I get in here probably couldn't hit a mammoth from a few paces away, but it looks like you're a natural. Words of advice, you still aren't drawing the bow far enough to get the most power out of the shot. Also, instead of holding it there, you should hold it here." He said, indicating the location on the grip that he was referring to.
After some adjustments, she was ready to loose another arrow. She drew the bow, took aim slowly, and looked at the instructor, who nodded. In a few moments, she let the arrow fly; it buried itself in the same outer ring she had hit before.
"Damn!" She exclaimed.
The instructor was chuckling. "You'll get it eventually," he said.
The entire time Aidan had been standing a safe distance to the rear, observing her progress with archery. He knew that it wasn't her strong suit, but there had been no mages or fighters who knew more than her or were even available. She wasn't bad at it, and she seemed to be having fun, but it was time to go.
"Serana!" He called. She jumped and twirled around. "You aren't bad for a trainee! Maybe you should join the archer corps after all?"
"Oh it's you," she said, a bit embarrassed. "How was the presentation?"
"Pretty typical, most of them think all new technology is some kind of deathtrap, especially anything having to do with the Dwemer." He rolled his eyes and continued. "They might approve it if it works, but I can't talk about it here, it's still top secret." He was eyeing the instructor who had moved off to tend the rack of bows in the corner.
Serana followed his gaze. "So you have issues with Silus hearing about the meeting but you're more than content to tell a civilian?" She said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "What would Tullius say? Hmm?"
"Tullius knows he can trust me, and he knows I trust you, so he doesn't second guess me." Aidan replied. "But you already know that, funny lady." He entered an exaggerated thinking pose. "Hmm, I wonder how that plan of mine got leaked to the enemy? Certainly not Serana! And besides, you're only nominally a civilian! I imagine the Forsworn branded you as a terrorist and I'm sure some of our troops think so t-"
"You wish!" She laughed. Aidan smiled. "It's time to go, do you have all your things?" He asked.
"They're over by the rack, I'll be right back." She said. Aidan stopped her before she could go. "The instructor, uh, Silus is his name?" He said. "Give him some septims and tell him I said thanks for keeping you from murdering people while I was making intelligent talk." He gave her a sack of coins.
"The coins sure, but you might want to watch it, I can still murder a certain Dragonborn I know." She joked, and headed in Silus' direction.
Aidan sighed. He had come to know Serana well since he rescued her from Dimhollow Crypt so long ago. It was good to see her so at ease. He knew it wasn't easy for her even after she agreed to purge her vampirism on his council. Especially difficult had been the weeks following the showdown with her father at Castle Volkihar. Harkon may have been insane, abusive and downright evil, but he was still her father and Aidan knew exactly how she felt.
Still, she was happy now, and that made him happy.
"So what now?" She asked as she returned to him, gear slung over her shoulder.
He smiled and gazed into the sky towards the direction of his beloved estate. "Now we go home."
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Thanks! :)