Chapter Fifteen

The transport bucked slightly in the wind. Shadow-class stealth transports weren't meant to fly in high winds, but the pilots did an admirable job keeping the craft steady. Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen all sat silently. This was it. The liberation of Valenwood. The first true offensive of the war. Faasnu looked out a window and whispered to Kabier and Elenwen,

"Say hello to Valenwood, comrades."

"Might as well get used to the way things look here," Elenwen suggested. "We're gonna be here for a while."

"So where are we landing?" Kabier asked. Faasnu turned to her with a grin.

"Who said anything about landing?" he responded.

"You mean we're going to jump out of this aircraft to the airstrip?" Elenwen queried in shock.

"What's the matter?" Kabier chuckled. "Never gone skydiving?"

"I've never jumped out of anything from this height before," Elenwen admitted. "And regardless; that's a long way down! We wouldn't survive the impact!"

"That's why we have parachutes," Faasnu told Elenwen. "You didn't think I'd make us jump without them, did you? Just do what I do, and you'll make it to the ground alive."

"How comforting," Elenwen growled. She grabbed a parachute with Faasnu and Kabier, and waited with them. Faasnu stared intently at the now-lit red light, waiting for it to go green. When it finally did, Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen jumped from the transport, beginning their plummet to the ground far below.

"These parachutes aren't slowing our descent!" Elenwen yelled over the rushing wind.

"That's because we haven't deployed them yet!" Faasnu responded. "Just do what I do!" When the team reached a certain altitude, Faasnu jerked a cord, and the parachute deployed. Kabier and Elenwen did the same, and they began to glide down to the ground.

"This is fun," Elenwen sarcastically commented.

"Could be worse," Kabier told her. "Your chute could've malfunctioned and not deployed – then you'd be in real trouble."

"Quiet," Faasnu said. "We're approaching the ground. Be ready."

Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen hit the ground at a run, and therefore avoided falling over. They quickly shed their parachutes and readied their rifles.

"Do they know we're here?" Elenwen asked.

"I imagine that if they did, we'd be hearing about it by now," Faasnu replied. "Let's get to that airfield. PCDs on."

Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen vanished in their PCD cloaking fields, and made for the airstrip. It wasn't hard to spot; the air control tower with the searchlights gave it away. It was when they infiltrated the airstrip's perimeter that a problem arose; the area was crawling with Luranni marines and Fasheen officers.

"Boy, this brings back memories," Faasnu whispered.

"You've done something like this before?" Elenwen queried.

"Did something exactly like this before," Faasnu replied. "Sabotaged a Necromyan airstrip on New Manchester during the Marauder War. The airstrip there was no different than this one."

"So what's the plan?" Kabier asked.

"Kabier, you and Elenwen put detpacks on the fuel dump; I'll sabotage the aircraft. Avoid enemy contact at all times. Radio in once you have the explosives in place – I should have the aircraft sabotaged by then. We'll rendezvous on the outskirts of Arenthia once the strip is out of commission," Faasnu explained. "Got it?"

"Got it," Kabier responded. She and Elenwen peeled off to head for the fuel dump, while Faasnu snuck about the airstrip, sabotaging every aircraft he came across. It was fairly easy going; enemy personnel was minimal, most of them being asleep or in the city. Only a few were on night patrol. Faasnu rigged some aircraft to explode when started, and sabotaged the engines of the others so that they wouldn't start at all. A select number, however, were sabotaged in a way that they'd be able to start, but not take off. It was as he finished rigging the last aircraft that he got a radio signal from the other two.

"Kilo to Foxtrot," Kabier said, "Come in. Over."

What the hell...? Faasnu thought. Deciding to play along, he responded, "Foxtrot here, go ahead Kilo, over."

"The fuel dump is rigged – we're headed to the rendezvous point," Kabier stated. "Over."

"All aircraft have been sabotaged on my end," Faasnu told her. "I'm headed that direction, too – meet you there. Over and out." He clicked off the radio and headed for the rendezvous point, where Kabier and Elenwen were already present.

"We ready to hit the city?" Elenwen asked.

"What's the first target?" Kabier added.

"Armory," Faasnu replied. "It's closest. Elenwen, are you monitoring the enemy's comm chatter?"

"No," Elenwen admitted with a shake of her head. "They have frequency scramblers on their comm lines. I can't listen in without the scramble codes."

"That should complicate things to some degree," Faasnu commented. "Come on – the Stormcloaks should already be on their way. PCDs on."

Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen then made their way toward Arenthia. There was still a mission to complete...

Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen made it inside Arenthia just before dawn. Everything was still dark. And in the dark, dragon-shifters like Faasnu flourished. They made their way to the armory, taking care not to alert the Dominion or Necromyan troops to their presence. So far, the enemy gave no indication that they were aware they'd been infiltrated.

The team stopped just shy of the armory, and Faasnu checked the time. "0430 hours," he said to his comrades. "The Stormcloaks should be pulling out by now – once we radio them, they'll detonate the explosives, and start the task of pushing the Dominion and Necromyan forces out of here."

"Let's not waste any time chatting, then," Kabier suggested. Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen entered the armory and set explosives on the weapon racks but kept them hidden from sight. Once that was done, they crept out of the building, and headed toward the Ammo Dump. For an enemy-controlled city, the patrols were seemingly light. Either that, or the enemy was content to let Faasnu and his team bomb their strategic targets while they tended to something else – in which case, Faasnu couldn't imagine what that something else could be. As with the armory, they set explosives everywhere, then vanished.

Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen then made for the communications hub – not far from the ammo dump. They quickly entered and silenced what few guards were present, then sabotaged the radio equipment. That done, they moved outside, to a nearby...

No sooner than when Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen were nearly to cover did the bombs planted by Faasnu and his team and by the Stormcloaks detonate near-simultaneously. Explosions ripped through Arenthia. At the airstrip, the fuel dump was blown to bits, and the scramble alarm was sounded; several aircraft refused to start, and several more exploded when they started. It was absolute pandemonium in the enemy lines. Gunfire started to echo in the city, and Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen were quick to recover. Necromyan and Dominion troops appeared to investigate the nature of the disturbance, and spotted Faasnu and his team.

"Weapons free! Weapons free!" Faasnu shouted. He drew down and fired at the Luranni NCO closest to him, drilling the bastard before he could react. Kabier and Elenwen fired as well, running with Faasnu to cover. Two Luranni marines and a Dominion soldier dropped dead. Before reaching cover, Faasnu primed and threw a frag grenade, firing a short burst at the enemy to keep their attention on him. The ruse worked; the enemy troops were focused on Faasnu and didn't notice the grenade sailing through the air. It bounced once, then twice, and detonated, sending half of the mob flying in six different directions. Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen rose from cover to engaged the dazed remains of the enemy troops that attacked them; half-dazed and milling around like retards, they were cut down one after the other.

An explosion marked the entrance of the Imperial Army's arrival with the DMC. Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen made for allied lines, moving through now-brightly-lit streets and engaging whatever enemy troops were in their path. They came across an intersection where Imperial troops were trying to advance on a deeply-entrenched Dominion/Necromyan command post. As it happened, Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen were on the rear flank of the enemy.

"Grenades," Faasnu told his comrades. They all pulled out, primed, and threw a grenade, and took cover as they detonated. Half of the enemy combatants were put out of the fight, and Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen rose to mop up the stragglers with the Imperials. With one CP secured, Faasnu and his team moved through the Arenthia streets. They fought and killed as though on autopilot, helping the Imperials and the DMC take one CP after the other. Eventually, they pushed the Dominion and Necromyan forces into full retreat.

The day had been won... again. They had pushed the enemy out of Arenthia and were hailed by the Bosmer elves there as heroes. But there was still Silvenar... and finally, Falinesti, before the assault on Summerset Isle. Just a little but further...