Meeting the Captains
Kellsie Skan saw a beautiful young goddess step out of the ground car. Her escort, a richly clad Silver lord of a minor house, clasped her hand gently as he helped her rise. He let go reluctantly, still gawking at her fine face and voluptuous body even though he must have been admiring it all the while he drove her here. They exchanged a few words, she thanking him for his aide, he inquiring when he might meet her again, and both ignored Kellsie. He was, after all, just a Red manservant.
Finally the awkwardness of the prolonged goodbye got to the young lord and he pried himself away into his vehicle and drove off. The woman looked at Kellsie with the characteristic haughtiness look Silvers bestowed on the Red underlings. Kellsie stole a closer look at her face. It was as close to perfection as he could imagine, her features were gracefully curved with a hint of a sharp edge. Her golden locks, straight with a curl at the ends, and cosmetic coloring, maroons, blended well into and complemented her natural alabaster skin.
She was such a vision, Kellsie almost doubted this was who he came to meet. Then she winked at him and he knew who it really was, Oscar Kendrick. The Faux Face. A simulacrum.
"Well don't just stand there boy!" The false woman screeched, losing all the charm 'she' had used on the young lord. "Conduct me to my father's house!"
Kellsie quickly bowed and waved her in the direction they were to go. As they walked down the street, him two paces behind 'her,' he reflected on the contradiction of conducting his false mistress to their destination while keeping the appropriate distance behind 'her.' Silvers! They made even simple things hard and overly complicated. Well, why not? They were gods after all. Noble Silver blood over the base Red.
Not for long though, Kellsie thought as he smiled grimly to himself. If my plan works, the Silver gods will meet their demise at the hands of the Red mortals.
They arrived at a townhouse, one being advertised for rent, and slipped in. They took a tour of the townhouse, and Kellsie smiled again when he noticed his mistress had aged forty years in the blink of an eye. With properly placed lines and grey hairs on a now brunette head, she looked the part of a distinguished matron gracefully aging into old age. Few, after all, would have considered the young lady responsible enough to rent a house.
His mistress patiently examined the rooms, asked the right questions, gave polite answers in turn, and skillfully disincline offers without seeming to do so. They then slipped from the building and headed in another direction.
This time they entered a clothing store. A Silver attendant greeted them at the entrance. With a smile, the young Silver informed Kellsie's mistress that the establishment did not serve Reds and that Kellsie would have to leave. Kellsie left but didn't wait outside the front door. Instead he walked down the street until he found an alley passage. Backtracking to the rear of the store, he was just in time to see Oscar exiting via the back door; he was wearing the face of another of the store's clerks. After giving Oscar a packet of clothes, Kellsie stood watch on the alley, while Oscar slipped behind a cargo trailer and changed.
When the shape-shifter emerged, taking longer than Kellsie, expected, he was now a teenaged Red boy with peach fuzz on his chin dressed in livery similar to his own. Kellsie grinned at the sight. "Now we take our rightful places as boss and underling. " He joked. "Come on, my friends are eager to meet you."
"You mean eager to find out that this was all a waste of time and that you managed to recover the funds you spent." Oscar clarified. "No doubt they are debating on how to punish you since you are too valuable to execute."
"Yeah, I guess I am now aren't I?" Kellsie allowed himself a moment to wistful reverie before coming back to the present. They had taken another path out of the alleys and onto yet another street. One might think this overkill for avoiding tails, but after spending two years in the Shafts of Mitsiadazi Kellsie was in no mood to go back. And Oscar had no objections, this is how he usually operated anyway.
They walked for three more hours, taking random turns and waiting in dark corners for a few moments for tails to show. Fortunately none did so they didn't have to use up more time stashing bodies. They were late enough as it was.
They reached their destination in the slums at the outskirts of the Capital. The building was a two story former inn, rundown and boarded up on the outside. However, like Faux Face, looks were deceiving. They entered through a missing plank in the side entrance and immediately had to take a left turn.
"Halt! Who goes there?" Came the sentry's challenge. Kellsie knew if he didn't respond correctly in ten seconds, they would riddle him and his guest with lead. Not that it concerned Kellsie much, he'd just do it over again.
"Common son." He said, giving the password. He heard the sentry and two others in adjacent rooms cock their guns. Oh yes, he thought. I almost forgot the guest call sign. "And leech."
"Pass." Growled the sentry, stepping out of the darkness, sub-machine gun lowered. They squeezed by in the narrow hallway towards the center of the building. It all had the appearance of decay and abandonment, though Kellsie knew for a fact that the roof was well patched. In the center of the building, just off what had been a lobby, was the stairs down to the basement. Descending them they found signs of habitation, a small kitchen area and a few cots. It was all a convenient ruse, the place where the sentries slept and ate during their watches.
In the second basement room, he located the bathroom, not hard do to the odors that escaped through the door. He was use to the smell but he spied Oscar pinch his nose. A couple of blows to the far wall and heavy panel side open, reveling a tunnel.
There was a reason why the Scarlet Guard had chosen this place as a safe house and base beyond the fact that is was remote and deserted. It was near the old subway tunnels. They didn't even have to make the Passage to the subway, it was dug by Red smugglers and thieves years before, when this part of the capital was more prosperous. Since the times changed, the Scarlet Guard had recruited or bought out the various crews and their establishments. This was one such place.
He hesitated for a second. Since the shafts, the underground unnerved him, bringing back painful memories, of darkness, heat, and a slow death. But these places were escentical for the rebellion's survival, he needed to use them. As he had during the two years since his escape, he took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The passage was roughly hewn out of the rock, dark, and somewhat dirty due to use. What would you expect from a rebellion struggling to get started? Well if his plan was put into play, that would change. They could stop groping in the dirt for any little advantage like animals and plot in the dignity of people.
Pacing himself between the lights, they emerged into a subway by-pass tunnel. Much better lit and far larger, it eased his discomfort. They had to go through another check-point as his identity was confirmed again. Only then were they conducted into the train car to meet with the leaders of the Scarlet Guard.
Technically they weren't the leaders of the whole Guard. To keep the rebellion safe from a total collapse, the founders had decided on a cell system in each country, working independently of similar goals. With only the simplest of communication between the cells at the highest levels, coordinated effort was difficult at best. However if a cell should fall, the others would not be compromised, and it was hoped that if the rebellion should succeed in one nation, it would then be able to aid the others from a position of power.
So as it was, these people, standing before him now were the highest ranking Guardsmen anywhere. Captains. There were three of them gathered around the thin, long table in the middle of the car's interior wearing mismatched clothing that vaguely resembled uniforms. The plotting table filled with failed and failing plans.
At his right was Mace Carpenter, and old timer with decades under his belt and senior captain in Cascadia. Gal Pier was at the far end of the table, looking over her ledgers, plain faced and uninteresting until you got to know her and be wowed by her organizational brilliance. Ned Flanks, on the left, was the only non-native as well as the newest and youngest captain. He was an immigrant from the Lakelands far to the east. Fifth generation special forces soldier and product of a special breeding program by an eccentric Lakelander noble family, he had the finest physique any mortal could ask for and a tactical mind to match. Quite the coup for the Scarlet Guard when he deserted the army to join the rebellion. These were the people he had to convince to accept his plan.
"Lieutenant Skan." Mace said in acknowledgement. Gal looked up and gave him a once over, then turned back to her ledgers, but letting a portion of her brain to listen in and participate. Ned grunted as he fingered his pistol.
"Captains." Kellsie said in response, giving the half-hearted salute common in the Scarlet Guard.
"So you're back." Ned said, stating the obvious. He usually did that when he was out of his martial element. "Where is this 'secret weapon' you were suppose to bring? Don't tell me he really went AWOL with our money?"
Kellsie smiled at the sneering use of the term. He had used it only once that he could recall, an attempt to attract Ned's attention and support. Instead, Ned used it as often as he could to deride what he considered myth. Kellsie knew that they hardly noticed the 'boy' behind him. Funny how much alike Reds and Silver can be! Well if this meeting doesn't shake their complacency, he didn't know what would.
"Here." Kellsie stepped aside and motioned Oscar forward. The 'boy' obeyed. Ned snorted again, louder. Gal glanced up, mumbling to herself. Mace, the most thoughtful of the trio, looked cautiously at the lad.
"A boy?" He asked Kellsie. "I thought you said your actor was a man?"
"I am most of the time." Oscar replied, voice deep and carrying. Both Mace and Ned looked shocked, not expect such a mature voice from so callow a youth. Even Gal looked back up for more than a moment, her brows furrowed in puzzlement. Oscar, seeing he had their undivided attention, went further. He changed, his form rearranging itself onto the Silver goddess Kellsie met earlier. 'Her' clothing was now ill-fitting on such a glorious frame. The captains' eyes literally bulged, Gal especially, unable to return any attention to her ledgers.
In a higher pitched and melodious voice, Oscar went on. "However, there are times I find it more advantageous to be a woman."
Silence reigned in the room until Mace found his tongue. "So it's true! The legends, I always thought they were only hear-say!"
"Nope." Kellsie confirmed proudly. "They are real."
"Impossible!" Ned said. Kellsie noted that the captain had upholstered his sidearm though not as yet aiming it at the shape-shifter. "I could be a trick! How do we know this isn't some Silver plot?"
"If you really believed that," Gal said, "then you would be here, nor any of us."
"Yes," Mace concurred. "We believe, hard to doubt our eyes, but a little more proof would be helpful."
Kellsie feared for a moment that Oscar would be insulted. "You're afraid that I am some kind of Silver agent despite the fact that you know no Silver with my ability has been known in living memory." The shape-shifter sighed. "Fine, I'll give you the best proof I have. Captain Ned, may I barrow a knife?"
Ned tensed visibly and glared at Oscar. "I am not going to give you a weapon."
"Ned," Mace ordered calmly. "Just slide one over the table. If he or...she tries anything, you can shoot her." Ned grumbled as he pulled out one of his knives, Kellsie knew he kept no less than three on his person at all times, and slid it across the table to Oscar. The captain then took two paces back and tnesed, ready to bring up his pistol at the first sign of trouble.
Kellsie didn't know what Oscar planned to do, how was a knife suppose to prove anything? He watched with the others as Oscar took the knife and slit 'her' left forearm. Kellsie flinched at the sight as silver blood dripped onto the table, visible to everyone.
"How is that proof?" Ned demanded.
"Wait for it." Oscar said. They waited a second longer, then it happened. The sliver blood, indistinguishable from the blood of any Silver, turned pink, then vermillion, and at last and deep venetian red. Oscar summed up their observation. "I am a Red, even if I can change the color of my blood for a while. My power lasts only a moment if any part of me is separated from the main whole."
"I still don't trust him." Ned said, but his grip on his pistol loosened slightly.
"Unfortunate Captain." Oscar answered sliding the knife back across the table. "That is the best I can do, if you want my help, you will have to trust me."
"No need. I trust you." Mace said. He looked at Gal, and she shrugged. In things like this, that was a yes. "We accept your help."
"Excellent." The shape-shifter said. "And about trust, I would prefer it if you wouldn't divulge what you have just witnessed. It and telepathy are my only weaknesses. You can understand why I wouldn't want them exposed. I normally wouldn't have told any of you if I wasn't going to retire after this engagement, but I understand that this will be a particularly, long and involved job. I thought it best to inform you before we plan details."
"Yes, of course the job!" Mace spoke, pulling his eyes away from the blood spots on the table. "We need to discuss what Lieutenant Skan has planned. Oh!" He cried, remembering something. "Forgive me Mr...?"
"Kendrick. Oscar Kendrick. Or Faux Face if you prefer." The shape-shifter explained.
"Yes," Mace nodded and turned to Gal. "Gal could you go get a med kit for our guest?"
Gal turned to leave but Oscar stopped her. "No need Captain, look." 'She' raised the arm and the cut had all but disappeared. "Not as effective as a Blood Healer I grant you, but my ability does make patching up small injuries a fair simple affair."
"Perhaps we should get on with my plan, sir?" Kellsie said. He saw that he had the approval of his superiors and was eager to continue.
"Yes, of course Lieutenant." Mace motioned the floor to him. Oscar turned to him as well, patiently waiting to hear what plan could call for a imposter of his caliber and expense.
"The basic plan is this," Kellsie began. "We are going to infiltrate the Silver court and start a civil war. To do that I propose to take over a noble house!"