Chapter Nineteen
Stealth recon planes, flown over Summerset Isle just hours after the enemy counterattack on allied lines in Falinesti, revealed a small hole in the enemy defenses, in the vicinity of the coastal city of Dusk; too small for a major assault force, but large enough to allow a small team to infiltrate the enemy lines. Faasnu decided this would be his insertion point for his assault on the portal. Going in during the day would be too risky, so he opted for a night op. However, instead of dropping in by air, he decided to go in by sea. Conscious of the fact that any ship approaching Summerset Isle would be blown apart by their coastal batteries, Faasnu took Kabier and Elenwen, equipped with incredibly-long-lasting breathing apparatuses, on his back in his dragon form. Using his wings and powerful arms, not to mention his dragon form's ability to hold his breath for incredibly long periods, Faasnu swam all the way to the shores of the Aldmeri homeland – and into the hole in their defenses.
Once out of the water, Kabier and Elenwen got off Faasnu's back, and shed their water gear as Faasnu shifted back to his normal form. They then materialized their armor, and readied their weapons.
"Let's go – PCDs on," Faasnu whispered. "Elenwen, where is the portal?"
"Not a clue – we'll have to find something pinpointing its location in Dusk," Elenwen answered.
"Any idea where to start looking?" Kabier asked.
"I'd guess somewhere in either the Dusk Commandant's office or in a Thalmor facility," Elenwen responded.
"Let's get going, then," Faasnu suggested. "Once we have the portal's location, we'll signal the allied fleet by lighting the lighthouse."
"Let's just hope we can get out of dodge before the allied forces get here," Elenwen said.
"We will," Faasnu assured his comrades. Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen headed off the beach, taking care to stick to the hole in the enemy's coastal defenses. Once clear, they turned and headed for Dusk. Getting past the enemy sentries wasn't easy; Mirdakian elves were everywhere. Sneaking about the city wasn't easy, either, as Luranni Marines, Squarr troops, Fasheen and Zurrak officers, and Thalmor and Dominion soldiers were all over.
"Seems the enemy is waiting for us to invade their shores," Kabier commented.
"Wait or don't wait, it matters little," Faasnu said. "We will take the Aldmeri homeland, and end this war once and for all."
Along the way, Kabier noticed something. "Faasnu – see the wires?"
"I see 'em," Faasnu answered. "Electronic cables – these ones in particular are common with electronic surveillance systems."
"Could the systems be online already?" Kabier asked.
"I imagine if they were," Elenwen said, "We'd be hearing about it by now."
"Let's not take chances," Faasnu suggested. "Key 1-3-6 on your gauntlets' keypad."
Everyone complied, and Elenwen queried, "And what was that supposed to do?"
"It's an electronic countermeasure system in our armor that hides us from electronic surveillance systems," Faasnu explained. "Distorts our visual image in a way that makes it seem like we're not here."
"Nifty," Kabier commented. Faasnu spotted a Thalmor-manned facility up ahead, and motioned for the others to follow him in. The door guard's radio squawked, and he left, leaving Faasnu and his team free to enter. They quietly opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it.
Contrary to Faasnu's op in the Thalmor Embassy in Skyrim, this outpost was not empty. The denizens of the outpost took notice of the door opening and closing without anyone entering.
"... the hell was that?" one NCO asked.
"Come on, private – you've got the big gauge," another said.
The private looked to the one who'd just spoken. "I'd rather piss glass," he growled. "Why don't you go check?"
Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen moved away from the door slowly so as not to attract attention. The sergeant of the group moved to the door where they had been, opened it, looked around outside, and closed it. "Must've been the wind," he said.
"The wind opened a door and closed it?" the private asked.
"Wouldn't be the first time," the sergeant responded. While the Thalmor soldiers went on speculating, Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen moved to the upper level of the outpost. They moved from one room to the next, silently taking out whoever happened to be in said rooms, until they came to what appeared to be an executive office. The office was empty, so Faasnu and his team began rummaging through the papers, finding all manner of personnel lists, officer manifests, and...
"I've got it!" Kabier whispered. "According to this, the portal is in the capital of Alinor."
"Should've known," Elenwen commented.
"Anything else?" Faasnu asked, "Traps, defenses? Anything that might hinder our assault?"
"Nothing that I can spot presently," Kabier responded. "But we can review the documents in detail later."
Faasnu paused, starting at Kabier with a smile on his face. She was becoming just like him. "Very well," he finally said, "Let's get to the lighthouse and light it. By the time the Thalmor-"
It was then that the owner of the office came wandering in, and seeing the barely-visible distortions that were Faasnu and his team, was about to shout an alarm. Faasnu leapt and tackled the Thalmor agent as he went for his radio, and slammed his head against the floor with a loud thud! With any luck, he'd finished the agent off quietly enough. This, however, was not the case; the Thalmor troops below heard the ruckus, and were coming up to investigate. Kabier quickly took a drink that had been on the desk and splashed it on the floor, below the Thalmor agent's feet, then stored the documents. The three then fled before the troops below got to the agent.
"That was close," Elenwen whispered.
"Indeed," Faasnu agreed with a smile. "That was quick thinking, Kabier."
Kabier chuckled. "I have my moments," she told Faasnu. They quickly snuck back downstairs while the Thalmor troops were upstairs trying to figure out why the agent had fallen. They were out the door before anyone even knew they were there. The team moved with impunity through the Aldmeri city. The Thalmor remained unaware of Faasnu's presence. They continued to move through enemy lines, heading for the lighthouse. When they arrived, they entered through the structure at the base.
It was not, however, empty. At least half a dozen Luranni marines were waiting inside, all of whom had seen the door open and three barely-visible distorted figures looking like ghosts enter. Faasnu was quick to drop his rifle and unsheathe his blades, cutting them down one after the other before anyone had a chance to scream or call for help.
While none of the Luranni got out a call for help or an intruder alert, the killing of the marines stationed inside the lighthouse did not go unnoticed; a security camera caught the whole scene, and the Dominion soldier watching the carnage slammed his hand on the alarm button.
When the alarm began to blare, Faasnu looked to his team. "Come on; we don't have much time," he said. Faasnu, Kabier and Elenwen dashed up the stairs, and when they reached the top, saw that the only way to light the lighthouse was to light the wood within. Unfortunately, none of them brought anything to do so with.
"We need to improvise – fast!" Kabier exclaimed.
Faasnu simply gathered his breath, and shouted, "YOL!" his voice carried a breath of fire, and lit the wood ablaze. "How's that for improvising?" he asked Kabier.
"Smart-ass," Kabier remarked as they dashed down the stairs.
"How do we plan on getting out of Dusk?" Elenwen asked.
"We're going to find some local transportation to Alinor," Faasnu answered. "Once we're in Alinor, we're going to locate that portal and neutralize it."
"I imagine the Thalmor leadership won't be willing to allow us to sabotage that portal," Elenwen said. "We'll need to neutralize them, too."
"Of course," Faasnu agreed. "Neutralizing the enemy leadership will also throw the enemy command hierarchy into turmoil – and that may be enough to force a surrender."
"Assuming all goes as you suggest," Kabier asked, "What will we do once our objective is done?"
"We'll find transport out of Alinor... and we'll all go home," Faasnu responded. Kabier and Elenwen could detect the subtle nuances of a longing hope – Faasnu was eager to end the war. So were they.
They exited the lighthouse, the city alarm blaring in the distance, and headed deeper in to the city. It was as they were arriving at a personal aircraft hangar that the distant sounds of combat could be heard.
"The allies have made landfall," Kabier noted. "We should hurry."
Inside the personal hangar was a small drop ship, meant for a team of four people. Just what they needed. Faasnu quickly climbed inside and powered the ship up, while Kabier and Elenwen settled into separate seats. Faasnu guided the craft out of the hangar, then into the sky. As they vanished into the night, nothing stopped them. The Dominion, Necromyan and Mirdakian forces were so preoccupied with the invading DMC, Imperial and Stormcloak forces, they had no time to stop the theft of a small ship...