The Undercity Headquarters, a cramped, cold hideout with magically sealed walls, felt less like a fortress and more like a besieged bunker. Rian stood at a folding table, illuminated by a single, focused lamp. Around him, his command structure was assembled for the first time.
Garl, his leg now encased in a sturdy, Varya-designed splint, manned the communication array. Varya was hunched over her workbench, attempting the slow, painstaking process of stabilizing the collapsing West Wall Vein with minimal mana.
And finally, Seraphina Vast, dressed in practical, dark mercenary leathers, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Lia (The Broker), who was still chained by one wrist to the wall but granted limited use of her hands. The tension between the Chief of Security and the new Intelligence Asset was thick enough to cut with a dagger.
"The immediate objective is non-negotiable," Rian stated, looking at his two deadliest assets. "We have less than six days remaining on the Baron's debt, and The Grand Executor is now aware of our existence. We need to clear the ledger and then eliminate the source of the attack."
He pulled up a rough schematic on the desk—a map of the Lower City's old Banking District, provided by Lia. "Lia has provided the location of the Grand Executor's private financial archive. This archive contains evidence of his illegal consolidation efforts—the ammunition we need for the political kill. We are going to retrieve it."
"This is madness, Thorne," Seraphina stated, her voice tight with professional reservation. "The Executor's vault will be heavily guarded. We have no armor, no sustained magical support, and my Chief of Intelligence is currently a prisoner."
"Correct. Which is why this is not a raid, Seraphina. It is a surgical information retrieval operation," Rian countered. "Your high-impact combat methods are unsuitable for a stealth environment. This mission requires precision and trust."
Rian looked directly at Lia. "Lia, you will provide real-time security data and logistics. Seraphina, you will provide the lethal force and the tactical execution. You will not engage in sustained combat. You will not risk exposure."
"I am not working with a chained traitor, Thorne. She is a liability and a professional risk," Seraphina insisted.
Lia, however, gave a faint, chilling smile. "The risk is that you fail, Commander. My loyalty is guaranteed by the fact that the Grand Executor will kill me first. I know this vault. I designed the initial security protocols before he acquired it. I know the flaws."
Rian nodded, confirming Lia's leverage. "Lia will be our real-time decryption key. Seraphina, you will be our Extraction Specialist. Varya, Garl, your job is to stay here and provide remote support."
"My Lord, I can't walk, but I'm your best shot with an ax!" Garl protested.
"You are our final insurance policy, Garl. You stay here and guard our research and intelligence," Rian insisted. "Varya, you have barely enough residual charge to power a single, strong Disruption Pulse. You will wait for my code word. It will be our emergency exit."
The pair made a strange picture in the shadows of the Lower City. Seraphina, wearing a dark cloak and moving with the silent, disciplined gait of a soldier. Lia, still chained by the wrist, wearing a hood and acting as the eyes and ears. They were guided by Rian's calm, constant voice through the communication stones.
"Lia, the alley ahead," Rian's voice instructed. "Security protocol analysis."
"The alley is clear, Commander," Lia whispered, her head constantly turning. "The lock on the vault door is a standard Tier 3 physical tumbler, backed by a pressure-sensitive Ward. They rely on the Ward, not the lock. The Ward cycles power every two minutes."
"Seraphina, observe the patrol," Rian continued. "Lia, what is the patrol's timing?"
"Two guards patrol the exterior in a clockwise circuit. They take precisely 110 seconds per rotation. The Ward cycles every 120 seconds. They have a ten-second gap when the Ward is at minimal power and the guards are out of sight."
"Ten seconds," Rian muttered. "Tight margins. We optimize for speed. Seraphina, when the Ward hits minimal power, bypass the lock immediately."
Seraphina moved, melting into the shadows. The two exterior guards passed. As the Ward's pulsing light dimmed, Rian gave the order.
"Now, Seraphina. Go."
Seraphina slipped to the massive steel vault door. She bypassed the Tier 3 lock with practiced ease. But as she touched the handle, the pressure-sensitive Ward flared, bathing the area in red light.
"Thorne! The Ward is triggering!" Seraphina hissed.
"It's a pressure-sensitive trap," Lia explained, her voice urgent. "It triggers on any weight shift against the door frame. I didn't account for the heavy steel door's micro-shift when the tumbler turns!"
"Unacceptable data omission, Lia," Rian snapped, his focus intense. "Varya, report on the Guild patrol."
Varya's voice was strained. "Lord Rian, a Guild patrol is entering the sector! They detected the mana spike from the Ward! They're fifty seconds away!"
"Seraphina, you must break the Ward now!" Rian commanded.
"I can't break a Ward designed for Tier 4 suppression without a spell!" Seraphina insisted.
"No, you will exploit the Ward's security threshold!" Rian yelled. "Lia, what is the Ward's power maximum before it triggers a full lockdown?"
"Seventy percent, Lord Rian! Above that, it collapses!" Lia revealed.
"Seraphina, find a dense object—anything—and drive it into the Ward with maximum force! Hit the center node!" Rian ordered.
Seraphina, desperate, grabbed a heavy, discarded stone paver and launched herself at the door. She slammed the paver into the pulsing red energy shield. The Ward screamed, the energy spiking violently. The paver exploded, but the shield held.
"Seventy-one percent!" Lia yelled, reading the faint feedback through the communication stone. "It held! The Ward is resetting!"
"No time for another strike! Garl, report on the guards!" Rian demanded.
Garl's voice was rough. "Thirty seconds, My Lord! They're turning the corner! Get out!"
"Seraphina, retreat!" Rian shouted. "We must break contact! Lia, guide her to the nearest low-visibility access point! Now!"
They broke off, retreating into the shadows just as the two Guild guards rounded the corner, their eyes scanning the area for the source of the magical spike.
Back at the Undercity HQ, the air was thick with the scent of failure. Seraphina stood rigid, her clothes torn, her face set in a grim expression of frustration.
"We failed, Thorne," she stated, her military pride wounded. "The mission failed because your intelligence asset failed to account for a simple pressure plate. We lost the ten-second window and risked exposure."
Lia, still chained, bowed her head slightly. "My apologies, Commander. The Ward was a non-standard upgrade. I overestimated my internal knowledge."
"Apologies are irrelevant, Lia," Rian said, his voice cold, focused entirely on damage control. "Varya, analysis on the Ward."
Varya, pale and exhausted from the near-miss, provided the data. "The Ward is designed to be highly unpredictable, Lord Rian. It reacts to kinetic force by spiking its power, forcing the attacker to retreat. It's a low-cost, high-deterrence security measure."
"A perfect deterrent against brute force," Rian confirmed. He looked at Seraphina. "We cannot use brute force. We need a targeted exploit. Lia, your next task is to provide the Maintenance Schematics for that vault. Every piece of security has a weak point, usually where the power comes in."
Rian paused, a slow, predatory smile spreading across his face. He pulled up the Ledger, highlighting their severe debt. [DEBT LIABILITY: 1,500 G. CASH ON HAND: 150 G.]
"We have to make this operation profitable, Seraphina. We have to make a profit that covers the cost of this failure," Rian said. "We are going back in tomorrow night. But this time, we aren't just taking the records. We are taking the Ward's Power Source."
Seraphina looked intrigued. "Stealing the source? That's madness. That will trigger a massive alarm."
"It will trigger an expensive, time-consuming investigation," Rian corrected. "That Ward is powered by a large, specialized Mana Crystal—a perfect, untraceable source of capital. We will sell the crystal to clear half our debt, and then we will take the records."
He looked at Lia. "Lia, locate the Ward's power inlet and the maintenance access point. Varya, design a disruption pulse that can de-synchronize the Ward's power flow for precisely two minutes—enough time for Seraphina to sever the crystal and grab the records."
Rian leaned back. "Seraphina, you will need to operate with absolute silence. You are the shadow, not the sword. We are going to teach the Grand Executor that when you mess with the Auditor, the cost is always calculated to be greater than the profit."
The planning session continued for hours, fueled by desperation and Rian's relentless focus. Garl, despite his injury, managed to find a moment of dark humor in the situation.
"So, let me get this straight," Garl groaned, adjusting his splint. "We are going back to the place where we almost got killed, this time to steal the expensive rock that powers the giant shield, just so we can sell the rock and then steal some papers. Isn't it easier just to get me a bigger ax?"
"Easier is not always more profitable, Garl," Rian said without looking up from his calculations. "A big ax solves one problem; the Ward Crystal solves three: Capital Injection, Debt Reduction, and Systemic Disruption."
Varya, completely absorbed in the scientific challenge, provided the first glimpse of success. "Lord Rian, the Ward's power source runs on a dual-cycle frequency to prevent external interference. If I can hit it with a perfectly timed, low-frequency pulse, I can create a de-synchronization lag. The Ward will think it's running fine, but its energy flow will be completely chaotic for 135 seconds."
"135 seconds," Rian repeated, a spark of satisfaction in his eyes. "That's two minutes and fifteen seconds. That gives Seraphina a massive cushion. Varya, your performance metrics have exceeded expectations. Seraphina, you are going to need to move with extreme speed to utilize that time."
Seraphina, whose initial contempt had been replaced by grudging respect for Rian's tactical mind, nodded sharply. "I require a full briefing on the power inlet's structural components. I need to know precisely where to strike to sever the crystal cleanly."
Lia, who had provided the crucial insight into the Ward's power conservation and was now fully engaged in the destruction of her former employer, worked quickly, sketching the power matrix. "The inlet is copper-reinforced steel, Commander. The disconnect matrix is fragile. A sharp, powerful blow at the base will sever the crystal cleanly before the Ward can register the physical breach."
Rian observed the interaction: the cold precision of Seraphina, the sharp, technical intelligence of Lia. His security force was coming together, bonded not by friendship, but by shared ambition and calculated risk.
"Seraphina, I will not be there physically," Rian concluded, standing up to face the Chief of Security. "This is your mission. Lia provides the data, Varya provides the window, and you provide the execution. We need that crystal, Seraphina. Get it, and half our debt is gone. Fail, and we're bankrupt and hunted by the Grand Executor's private army."
"Understood, Thorne," Seraphina said, a fierce, predatory gleam in her eyes. "I will collect your payment. The Grand Executor is about to learn that a Knight Commander is far more dangerous when she has nothing left to lose."
Rian nodded, a silent agreement passing between the Auditor and the Warrior. The second, riskier phase of the hostile takeover was about to begin.
A/N: The failure was just a setup for a bigger score! Rian is sending Seraphina to steal the enemy's power source. Chapter 13: The Crystal Heist.