Sorcerer… Cyborg???

Chapter 192: Infiltrators

The sky outside the enormous glass panels that made up one side of the Imperial Court was beginning to darken, the faintest hint of starlight now visible in the sky, a sliver of moonlight coming from the slightest crescent that shone in the sky.

The Emperor looked around the gathered fighters with a narrowed gaze, while they had fought against the invaders, many of their comrades had not.

"Tell me, why have you remained loyal to the Empire?" The Emperor took a seat on his throne, and asked the gathered fighters.

"So many of your comrades either surrendered, or betrayed you in the last moments of the battle at the docks, why did you not join them?" The Emperor continued, he was truly curious as to what drove these fighters.

"Sorry to interrupt! Your Imperial Majesty, but while many of those who surrendered were fighters from the Arena, those who betrayed us were invaders that had infiltrated the ranks of our forces." Jeremiah spoke, his aged voice quaking with fear, he hated to be the bearer of bad news.

"What!" The Emperor exclaimed out loud, he had sensed that there had been Arena fighters that had turned against the others, but had not realized that they were planted there by the invading forces.

If they had infiltrated the ranks of the Arena fighters, then they could be anywhere within the Inner City by now, they could even be within the Imperial Court right now!

As these thoughts crossed his mind, the Emperor's eyes widened in realization. He knew what the Ursten forces would target next, especially with the bulk of his forces returning south.

"Captain Jeremiah! Can you say with certainty, that none of the men in this are infiltrators?" The Emperor stood u-p from his throne abruptly, marching toward the enormous paired doors that led out to the rest of the palace. 

"Sire, I can vouch for the Palace Guard who accompany me, but I cannot speak for these Arena fighters, but none of them conceal their faces and my men and I recognize most of them, and those who we did not recognize have been vouched for by the others." Jeremiah explained, his voice still shaky, he knew that this was not the answer the Emperor wanted to what, but he was determined to be as truthful as possible.

"Alright, this will have to do. Just know, any of you who betray the empire, will face the full force of my wrath." The Emperor spoke softly, but his voice was as firm as steel, and his eyes momentarily glowed with shining light, reminding those gathered of his immense strength.

The gathered soldiers and Arena fighters bowed in unison, and fell into formation behind the Emperor matched out of the Court, and into the halls of the palace, making his way out toward the inner city.

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Within the auction hall that served as a makeshift headquarters for the Ursten forces, Tam stood at the head of a large wooden table, all of his Lieutenants gathered within the room, as well as the commanders of the rest of the army.

"Everyone here has their orders. Once the signal has been given, the gates of the Inner City will open from within. At that moment, the vanguard will rush into the Inner City, they will be led by Anteris." Tam addressed the gathered men and women, and from the fact that he still wore the scuffed and dusty army from his clash with the Emperor, it was clear how busy he had been.

"Those of you who have been ordered to keep watch to the north, I want to make this extremely clear, we cannot afford to be caught unaware by the Storm generals, if you even see the slightest hint of a group of men approaching, then alert the entire army immediately. If this happens during our offensive against the wall, then we will disengage from the forces in the Inner City, leaving alone a small force to guard our rear. Understood?" Tam continued, his stern gaze brushing over all those gathered in the auction hall, the scarred face of Boson, the hooded figure that was Serena, the stocky twins, Slate and Shale, and the myriad commanders of the rest of the army.

"Understood."

Yes, Grand Marshal."

"As you say, Master Tam." 

A mixture of affirmative response came from all around the room, and those inside began to file out. 

In the time it took for the Ursten forces to gather at the gates, Kothar had enough time to recover well enough from his injuries to join the impressive crowd of Ursten forces that had arrayed themselves in front of the wall. 

"We get to do the honors." Docara chuckled as he nudged Kothar, it had taken some time for Kothar to find the gathered Nighthawks.

Along with Boson and Serena, they had been tasked with watching for the Storm generals, and had hidden themselves amongst the roofs and tall walls of the buildings that flanked the main street of Aznur.

"You seen one of these before?" Docara asked Kothar, as he showed him the device in his hands. It was large and clunky, with a large glowing Mana Crystal set within a square shaped housing, which held a rocket shaped object inside, a red powder enclosed in a glass bulb at the head.

"Ah, I believe I have, but not up close and personal like this. A group of Nevisse soldiers fired it off while I was fighting them." Kothar smiled a little behind his mask, he had wanted to see one of these up close.

[See if you can get one from the Quartermaster after the battle, I want to see the insides.] Silane commented, as Docara set the device on to the ground, quickly flicking an array of tiny levers on the side of the device.

[You're talking like we've already won again-] Kothar began to say, but was interrupted by a yell from Docara.

"Cover your ears, lads!" Docara yelled, as sparks began to fly from the device.

Then, there was a deafening screech, and the rocket shaped object flew into the air.