Chapter Five

It had been five days since Faasnu left on his mission. There hadn't been a peep from him. No one was assuming he was dead, but Balgruuf was worried that something may have happened. Ulfric and Tullius were just as worried. While meeting with Paarthurnax, Balgruuf, Tullius and Ulfric discussed options.

"The Thalmor are preparing for war, there can be no doubting that," Balgruuf said.

"Agreed," Tullius stated. "My spies have reported ships from the stars bringing in alien troops in Dominion territory. They're gearing up to hit us hard – but where?"

"I think they may be gearing up to hit Whiterun," Ulfric suggested. "My sources are certain on this."

"Then we must activate that beacon," Tullius said. "Let Faasnu's allies find us."

"With respect, General Tullius," Paarthurnax told Tullius, "Faasnu said to wait. It's not been a full week yet – we must wait for Faasnu's return. He-"

A Whiterun guard entered the area and bowed to Balgruuf. "My Jarl," he said, "Faasnu's been sighted nearby; he'll be arriving any minute."

"Thank you, soldier," Balgruuf said. He looked to Ulfric and Tullius. "Let's not keep Faasnu waiting. He'll no doubt have the intel he was looking for."

Ulfric, Tullius and Balgruuf walked out into Whiterun, just in time to see Faasnu and a lioness woman get off Odahviing's back. Faasnu called up something in Dovah to Odahviing, who just laughed and flew off. Faasnu and the lioness began to walk toward Dragonsreach, and Ulfric frowned.

"I know that woman," he said. "Kabier Lionheart – ex-member of the Argonian Military, before she moved to Windhelm."

"I'm assuming something happened to her?" Tullius asked.

"She disappeared two days after she found an armored chest piece and a gun that fell from Faasnu's ship when it passed over Windhelm," Ulfric explained. "No one knew what happened to her, but I suspected the Thalmor grabbed her."

Faasnu arrived at Dragonsreach, where he and Kabier bowed to Balgruuf.

"You're just in time, Faasnu," Balgruuf said. "We were just discussing you."

"Then I'd suggest we move this conversation inside with Uncle Paarthurnax," Faasnu requested. "What Kabier and I discovered is for our ears alone – for now."

The group headed inside, while Kabier asked, "Did I hear that right? The dragon leader is your uncle?"

"My godfather, actually," Faasnu responded.

"This just keeps getting better," Kabier chuckled.

Tullius, Balgruuf, Ulfric, Faasnu and Kabier entered the dragon den of Dragonsreach, where Paarthurnax was waiting.

"Faasnu!" Paarthurnax greeted Faasnu. "Good to see you unharmed. I... see you have a friend."

"Uncle Paarthurnax, this is Kabier Lionheart," Faasnu introduced Kabier. "She's a new ally of ours in the situation I am about to brief you all on."

Faasnu then went on to recount the details of his op, showing the documents and the recordings he had. He also explained the nature and origins of the races allied with the Aldmeri Dominion. When he finished, there was a long, uncomfortable pause. This was it. This was war.

"Now that we know who the Thalmor have allied with," Balgruuf finally said, "There's but one thing left to do."

"Activate that beacon, bring the DMC running," Tullius finished.

Faasnu nodded, then looked to Kabier. "I hate to ask this of you and your Argonian friends, but we'll need every ally we can get against the Dominion and their Necromyan allies," he said. "Will you help us?"

"The Argonians have no more love for the Dominion than the Empire does," Kabier explained. "While I am hardly in a position to speak on behalf of the Argonians, I can say for certain that we will stand with you."

"Then we are ready to start this war in earnest," Ulfric said solemnly.

"Then it begins," Paarthurnax commented. "The beginning of the second Great War."

Faasnu walked over to the beacon he salvaged from his ship, fiddled with it, and then stepped away. "It's active," he reported. "Let's hope the Corps detects it in short order."

With nothing left to do but wait, the heroes split up, returning to their duties...

General Kyle Indari enjoyed shore leave with his wife. Even the High General of the Dragon'taan Marauder Corps needed a little R & R now and again. Still, as this shore leave drew to a close, he sensed something was going on, elsewhere in the galaxy. It wasn't until he woke one morning that he got his answer. He had just gotten into uniform when his subspace transmitter beeped with an incoming call. He answered it, and said,

"General Indari here."

"Sir," one of his subordinates said, "We just received a subspace beacon signal."

"Location?" Indari asked.

"A little-known world – local sources ID the world as Nirn. The beacon is originating from the province known as Skyrim," the subordinate reported.

Indari thought for a moment, and as comprehension dawned, he ordered, "Gather Strike Fleet Zero; we're heading out."

Indari knew what this meant – the beacon at Skyrim was Sergeant Major Faasnu continuing his father's quest, and he was letting Indari know that which his father suspected; that the Necromyans were involved in affairs unfolding there.

Here we go again, Indari thought...

In recognition for Faasnu's service to Whiterun and the Empire, Jarl Balgruuf gave Faasnu and Kabier a home in Whiterun, called Breezehome. Kabier, glad to be out of prison and grateful to Faasnu for his rescue of her, vowed to aid Faasnu in his quests. As such, Faasnu materialized a set of the MASRA SPOIS MK IX Armor he wore for Kabier.

One night, as Kabier read in her room, she heard Faasnu, talking in his sleep. From what she could hear, he was having one hell of a nightmare. Kabier felt a small pang of pity in her heart, and put her book down. It was then that Faasnu awoke with a scream. Fearing he was in trouble, Kabier grabbed her rifle and rushed to Faasnu's room, seeing him getting up covered in sweat.

"Are you alright?" Kabier asked.

Kabier's voice startled Faasnu, and he nearly jumped three feet in the air. He went for his rifle, pointing it at Kabier. Realizing it was her, Faasnu lowered his weapon and said, "Sorry – you scared me."

"I'll be fine," Kabier said, "But the question is, will you be?"

Faasnu sighed. "Just a nightmare," he told Kabier. "It happens from time to time."

Kabier safetied her weapon, then leaned it against a wall. "May I ask what it was regarding?" she asked.

"You may ask, but the answer is a long story," Faasnu answered.

Kabier sat down next to Faasnu. "We've got a while before the DMC finds us, so humor me," she requested.

Faasnu heaved a sigh. "It... goes back to the Marauder War," he said. "I served in the latter years of it."

"What is the Marauder War?" Kabier asked.

"The war against the same enemy allied with the Dominion – the Necromyans," Faasnu answered.

"Serving in war is never easy," Kabier said. "All that death... all that killing..."

"Have you ever killed anyone before?" Faasnu asked.

"Yes, many times," Kabier replied. "Even now, the people I killed haunt me."

"Then you understand why I have nightmares of the war," Faasnu stated. "I've killed so many... and still, I kill, in the name of the people I serve. But the dead still haunt me, even though I've learned not to let them; I can sometimes hear them asking me, 'why? Why did you kill me?'"

"If you hadn't killed them, they would have killed you," Kabier said.

"I know," Faasnu sighed. "That's what I keep telling myself. But it doesn't make the blood on my hands go away."

Kabier put an arm around Faasnu's shoulders, looking into his eyes. "Don't torment yourself," she told him. "If ever you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Faasnu looked at Kabier. "Thanks," he said.

There was a long pause, as they looked into each other's eyes, before Kabier commented, "I've never seen a human with dragon eyes."

"Well, honestly, I'm not entirely human; I'm one-half dragon-shifter," Faasnu told her.

"Oh?" Kabier asked. "What's the dragon-shifter home world like?"

"In all honesty, it's not unlike this world," Faasnu said. "It's a beautiful place – and we on Dragon'taan all live, fight, and die side by side with dragons and dragon-shifters."

"Well, the people here on Nirn have had a troubled history with Dragons," Kabier said.

"Yes, so I've heard," Faasnu commented. "But that changed when my father came here, didn't it?"

"It did," Kabier affirmed. "In fact, I made friends with one of them – a dragon named Aldovulom." She paused, then asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Faasnu responded.

"Back at the Thalmor Embassy... why did you rescue me?" Kabier inquired.

"Whatever blood is in your veins, no one – not even an Liiraan woman as yourself – deserves to die there," Faasnu explained. "I had other reasons, but... I'd rather not get into them at this point."

"Fair enough," Kabier said. "However, I think-"

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Faasnu dressed and grabbed his rifle, and Kabier got the feeling he sensed something was going on. She hurried into her armor and followed Faasnu to the door, and saw Tullius and Ulfric there when he opened it.

"We've got problems," Tullius said.