Nula, Yarın, Ev'saht

[Zimmerwald]

Despite the ferocity of the Xyraeli soldiers, who had inflicted far more casualties than expected, they were being driven into an ever-tightening pocket.  Aydin surveyed the scene with approval from the rooftop; beside him, his Section was taking potshots into the Xyraeli mass from 4A and 4B, the Xyraelis almost unable to do anything about it.  The other Section had been sent from the roofs to ground level in order to fully trap the Xyraelis.

There was no doubt in his mind, as he watched from 4B, that these Xyraelis were finished.

The two sections to which Tulin and her comrades were attached had expected a swift, easy march to where the i'va'ksh did battle with the Xyraelis.  They had expected to play a supporting role as the Xyraelis were surrounded and crushed.  However, there had appeared in front of them, as if from nowhere, another ten of the enemy.  Their swift fire had taken out several men of the two sections, filling the air with the stench of sulfur, cordite, and slowly drying blood.  The Davet fighters had fired back quickly, striking several Xyraelis before they could get back under cover.  Slowly, they were being pushed back toward the main fighting, but this trap...it made Tulin even more wary than she had been of what the Xyraelis were capable of.  They seemed to appear from the ground, from the very air.

Casualties:
Gelibolu: 14/48 (34)
turned i'va'ksh: 17/60 (43)
loyal i'va'ksh: 180/180
Xyraelis: 36/60 (24)

[Zimmerwald]

somewhere in Ozia:

Aygen had, after weeks in the desert, grown used to the burning expanse of sand, unshaded by buildings or even a stunted bush.  She had grown used to the grit that clogged her eyes and nose even through the headscarf she now wore everywhere to keep it out.  She had grown used to the loose-fitting robes that she wore in place of her old costume.  And she had grown used to the travelling, the constant thirst, the closeness that existed between everyone in their band, closeness that was a necessity in a world where other human contact was few and far between.

Her leg was healed now, she could follow the Sancta without the need for a crutch, listening to her speak, softly, persuasively, to any other small group they happened to come across.  Aygen always felt left out at these meetings; they all seemed to know each other, as though these meetings had happened hundreds of times before and would happen a hundreds more.  So she stayed by the Sancta and her brother, watching, listening, doing whatever task her much expanded, but still limited, Ozian vocabulary permitted.

[St Oz]

Strelok laid his Iseltov against the cave wall, the fire was dim and most everyone was sleeping. However he did notice how Aygen slept on her side instead of her back, he thought this was a most unusual sight. He went to where she was resting and nudged her, saying in Ozian,  "Wake up, I want to show you something."

Aygen was half awake and agreed as she stumbled up in her loose robes. When Aygen was awake she noticed she was being led down a dark tunnel. The torch Strelok held only provided a minimal amount of light in the pitch darkness. Then when he stopped, he said, "You hear?"

Something odd was about this sound, something that sounded familiar to her, but was it really that? She looked around him and saw the flowing water. An opening from a pipe that was made out of a concrete sort of mixture, the architecture looked old and Ozian writings were scribbled on the sides of it. Then Aygen heard Strelok's words, "Ozia used to be a great, wealthy, and powerful Empire. Even then the Moacians were only this small sect of people under us. The Emperor about 1000 years ago ordered these Aqueducts to be built randomly around the deserts. This was one of them and here you see the Zuavka Plant growing near it. You see, many do not know the origin of zuavka, but if you take a bit of zuavka and put it next to water in a dark area, it will grow. Hardly do you ever taste wet zuavka, personally we're all used to dried zuavka so we let them dry in the sun for a day. However, I wanted to show you this to read to you what this says on here." He pointed to what the text said, "The Blind feel Gaea's Spirit more than anyone else"

Strelok smiled, "I'll have to ask my sister about that..."

Sevda put her Sword back in her hilt and grabbed an I-19 from the armory. It was odd how she was now going to shot the very gun her father designed. A Few other Ozians followed her as she went room by room in the facility gathering as many men and women possible. Already did she announce on the intercom that Xyraelis are now aggressive towards Ozia and supportive of Moacians. She thought perhaps a little motivation like that would influence some of them. She ran down the hallway noticing other Ozians breaking out of several other labs and offices. Continuing throughout the building she finally found the stairway where she would go down to the ground level. Which she instructed over the intercom. She had no idea what she was doing but she used her father's instincts in being inventive with everything you have. She however noticed she and her followers had probably been sitting around too long. Many of them were a bit out of shape being scientists and engineers and all. Though when she got to the bottom floor she saw probably 500 Ozians gathering around and more spilling in. From the dock area she saw some Ozian Mechanics beating Xyraelis with tools and wrenches. The many noticed her, being the daughter of Zuavka and with so many greeting her. She noticed the docks and was still cognitively analyzing her situation. It then struck her as silly as it seemed, would oddly work.  The Northern Fleet housed all of its vessels at the port she was standing in. She would sink as many ships possible and destroy the facility. Already fires were growing in the building but that would simply be put out, what they needed was explosives. Sevda shouted to the crowd, "Hush! Who here knows which ships are ready to go?"

As the Ozians whispered with each other a sole man yelled out, "Sevda, Sevda, I do! That Small Carrier there, that's ready to leave. Armed, Fueled, and fit for living conditions!"

"Good, I see I should no longer call you mechanics, assistants, and scientists now eh? My, My what a good day for Ozia my comrades! Finally we are in the final battles of the evil Moacians and the Imperial Xyraelis! Stand together and raise that Ozian birthed rifle! We will prevail! Now I should cut my inspirational speech to say Get on that boat, take spirit of this place, and kill those who try and stop us!"

The Ozians cheered as Sevda drew her sword, cut her hand, and drew blood onto the sword. An ancient Ozian ritual before battle, she then raised her sword up and said, "La'maeh Gaea Re Ozi!" 

[St Oz]

"Sir, the radio is picking something up at the north sea. I think you should listen to it."

"Mt. Ijek what's your status, Mt. Ijeck..."

"We're holding off the Enemy, who is in contact?"

"This is the new Carrier Ev'saht of the newly formed Vlasif Nahad. Dira Sevda Iseltov requests correspondence with her father."

"Let us get him."

(moment's later)

"Iseltov Speaking..."

"Father... How are you doing?"

"I'm managing.... but in the end I believe my spirit is ready to return to Gaea."

(Static) "Father..."

"It's for the best my Sevda, I will unite with your mother at last after all this fighting. How're you doing?"

"We apprehended the Carrier of the Xyraeli Northern Fleet and destroyed most of their base... I'm heading west towards La Sava."

"In that case.. I'll send my pilots in their aircraft to your position, they'll do more good than what we have here."

"That'd be greatly appreciated... but... why can't you ..."

"Sevda, please understand this, it's for the best. Maybe if I'm dead they'll be satisfied..."

"Father, I love you."

"I love you too... (Static) Sevda?"

(static) "Father!?"

(static) "I'll be with your mother now..(static)"

(end line)

"Dire?" asked the radio operator.

Iseltov looked at him and said, "Cut all contact for now on. Send the pilots to the hangers so they can take off and meet up with my Daughter."

"Yes Dire," As he carried out his orders, Iseltov went back to his office where the other higher advisers waited his next move.

"Can we do a radioactive seal on all doors except the hanger?" he asked them.

The facility's infrastructure manager nodded to him, "Yes..."

"Do it then, then once we get word that the planes have left, seal the hanger too," Iseltov sighed and looked at each of them, all of them looking back at him with their maroon eyes. Their guns were around their shoulders and they knew now what was to be done. He nodded to them muttering, "It's time, get everyone ready to ambush them."

They all nodded and then one of them recited the ancient verse, "La'maeh Gaea Re Ozi." (Old phrase yelled aloud by Sap'Dire Araemik when at the Battle of Mera fighting the Praemorians. Means: Gaea's wrath from Ozian Hands)

Then Iseltov smirked finishing the phrase, "Per'ah Sankt Zha'rah erda Dae'moh" (To the divinity's scared spirit we return)

[Zimmerwald]

OOC: I'd like to move this conflict along, so I'm just going to encapsulate the results of the Davet-Xyraeli skirmish in a report.

IC:

Report by Lostromo Hadis Besikci to Military Commissar Rana Aras
As ordered, the remainder of 3 Company proceeded to reinforce the position of 9 Platoon.  By the time 3 Company arrived on the field, 9 Platoon had, in cooperation with a platoon of i'va'ksh, cleared the field of Xyraeli opposition at great cost to themselves.  Casualties from 9 Platoon amounted to twenty-one; reported casualties from the i'va'ksh platoon total 25.  Only three Xyraeli prisoners were taken, out of an estimated force of sixty.

Available force in the area thus amounts to 254 combat-ready soldiers.  The i'va'ksh have been integrated into 9 Platoon, with Aydin Koprulu taking the post of Tegmen.

Intelligence from Tegmen Koprulu suggests that Checkpoint Five is held by a force of about 180 i'va'ksh, possibly reinforced by artiliery.  Kaptan Zafer thinks, and I agree, that we should use our greater available force to take Checkpoint Five as soon as possible, before the i'va'ksh can be reinforced and before they begin extensive bombardment of Corlu.  I also recommend preparing to circulate the news of a victorious engagement between the isci battalions and trained Xyraeli soldiers as soon as possible, as a morale-boosting measure, and as a way to bring more i'va'ksh explicitly to our side.

[St Oz]

Northern Seas
On the bridge a man hurried to Sevda saying, "Dira, there's a ship to the west, Small Merchant one."

She walked outside in a dark maroon robe viewing out to the distance, on the deck the aircraft from her father's boat had just landed. She saw the ship and then motioned for one of the binoculars. She took a closer look and saw the ship with more clarity. Noticing something strange about the ship she said, "Capture the ship, don't kill anyone though..."

The bridge hand bowed to her, "It will be so Dira..."

He radioed in to the ASW helicopter crew. Their pilot wasn't very fluent in the ways of driving a helicopter but he had learned to pilot the old cargo helicopter at the base. The Ozians replaced much of the equipment for passenger space and converted a tracking helicopter to a transport helicopter. His co-pilot didn't even know how to fly a helicopter but she did speak fluent Xyraeli, which helped the pilot who spoke not one word of the "vile language".

The pilot, Iade and the co-pilot Vera waited as some of the "SOSOT" troops came to the helicopter. Vera asked Iade, "What's SOSOT mean?"

Iade replied, "You missed the meeting?"

"Well... yeah, they bore me."

Iade paused, "From what I remember... (translated from Ozian) Silent Ops and Forces of Divine Ozia.... bunch of Assassins, tactical units, really... They're our only ground force at present though... About 30 of them anyway..."

Vera smiled sarcastically, "Sounds like a lovely trip... It's a shit's chance that we are the only damn helicopter available on this ship."

"I'm sure nothing will happen..."

Iade started the engines of the helicopter and waited for the rudders to rotate fully. As the 5 SOSOT agents climbed on board he let the engines pushed the rudders faster. The helicopter jerked forward then with the passengers feeling a bit uneasy. Vera looked at him saying, "If they don't kill us you will.."

Iade glared at her, "Shush."

As they gained speed towards the ship the passengers on the vessel had rifles at ready on them. However one of them yelled something in Ozian. Apparently they noticed on the side it wasn't a Xyraeli symbol but had the symbol of Gaea on the side. The Helicopter then uneasily floated towards the ship. Inside the craft the helicopter was shaking and tilting around but then the pilot managed to make the helicopter stay in a constant hover but over the edge of the ship. He tapped it backward a bit and then kept the helicopter steady. The five slid down a rope and met with them. One of the soldiers motioned to the pilot to land on the junk of a ship. He then pushed the end to align perpendicular with the ship so it wouldn't hit anything as he descended. Vera glanced nervously at him, "Don't Kill us!"

Iade rolled his eyes and kept descending and then suddenly dropped to make a successful but bumpy landing. The pilot turned off the engine and took his pistol from the compartment of the helicopter, Vera looked at him and said, "What do I get?"

Iade looked around, "Uhh,"

Vera glared at him, "Nevermind..."

Iade put the pistol in its holster and walked over to the SOSOT agents. Standing infront of them were many Ozians that spoke in a Nomadic accent, one of them said, "You are Gaean fliers?"

Iade nodded to them. Then came forward another nomad who seemed to be the leader, he presented himself as Vendecci.
Somewhere in the Desert
Sancta Adara was what they called her, the mass of 2,000 nomads spoke out her name in the night as the blind prophet passionately shouted out, "People of Gaea's Sacred Sand! The great spirit less souls of the western regions and their ripe lands have gone sour to our tongues. Xyraelis do nothing to separate us! If they dispose our armies for their empire they must be afraid Ozians! We are the keepers of this land, we have divine right of this land and we will take it by the blood's full Spirit! Unite children of Gaea, not to ruin Xyraelis, not to gain power for ourselves, and not to establish a new nation of Ozians. What we face is Divine War! War that Gaea herself breathes in! Fear not our passage! Fear not the feats! Gaea's sacred desert accepts only us Ozians and chooses who it keeps alive! Do you not know that even when they the enemy of the west tried to take and murder all Ozians they were stopped not by our guns... but by our lands? The Desert ate them! For they are entities without souls. With Gaea's blood we're to sacrifice our lives so that this desert remain ours. Pai'hulu accepts this!"

The nomads looked up at her and raised their rifles in the air, the wind around them blew over them in a gust, a sign that Gaea had passed through them at that very moment. They knew what they had to do.

The Northern Seas
"Dira, the..." the aide guessed, "Captain of the vessel."

She nodded to him and said, "Leave him with me."

Vendecci stepped in putting down the hood of his robe. He was about to speak when Sevda put her finger over his mouth, "Don't say anything..."

She removed her finger and walked to the middle of the conference room, hopping onto the table instead of taking a seat and dangling her legs on the side of the table freely as if she was a little girl.

Vendecci almost spoke one word but then she glared at him, "Not one word, to answer some questions.. I am Dira Sevda Iseltov, I am the daughter of the man who designed the rifle you're holding, and this is a commandeered Xyraeli Carrier. I plan on liberating La Sava, now... I think we will need use of your ship.. Now you may speak"

Vendecci smiled, "I have nothing to say."

Sevda smiled back and hopped off the table to kiss his left cheek, "It's nice to meet you"

Vendecci nodded back at Sevda, "After you liberate La Sava, what shall you do?"

Sevda grimaced and boldly stated, "I'm going to teach those Moacian Bastards a lesson. Doubtless you wish the same?"

Vendecci silently rasped, "Yes.."

Sevda looked at him in his maroon eyes, "Are you ok."

Vendecci choked up, "I'm fine.."

"Good, then will you lead that vessel into harbor, we will strike at late night. When the moon almost exits the sky."

Vendecci assured Sevda, "I will do what is needed."

[St Oz]

bump

[Zimmerwald]

At times like this, Adara usually stood upon some raised surface, usually a small outcropping of rock, addressing the people in front of her.  Aygen usually stood in front of the rock, slightly to the left, with another member of the group (today it was Strelok) taking a similar position on the right.  Aygen's function was to protect the Sancta and watch for any signs of trouble.  So far there had been none, but this was the largest crowd that Adara had addressed to date, and anything could happen.

Aygen scanned the crowd restlessly.  She wasn't as moved as they were by Adara's speech; the Gelibolu had been isolated by the Ozian-Moacian conflict by their earlier occupation, though they had taken the side of the Ozians in the earliest years of the wars.  Aygen had yet to sense Gaea in the way that her companions seemed to do, but she could feel a tension in the air that had nothing to do with the content of Adara's speech.  It centered not around her words, but around her presence.  Aygen shook her head, dismissing the feeling as nothing but nervous anxiety, and turned back to the crowd.

[St Oz]

Strelok turned in early that night, the great crowd tired him and he would have to try and lead the same crowd in the morning through training. Though there would probably be a lesser number than those that showed up. Some remained ignorant, some formed their own groups, and then the rest would join their group. He kissed Adara on the left cheek and then he kissed Aygen's forehead before he went to sleep. He was practically dragging his body. However before Aygen could do anything Adara showed her eyes at Aygen and said, "Aygen, we have not talked one on one in awhile, will you follow me out to the desert night? Be sure to wrap up though, it is cold though it wouldn't seem it until you walked out. Gaea at the beginning kept you alive, we were about to kill you but she said something against it. I wonder if Strelok also felt it about you. Please would you escort me?"

[Zimmerwald]

"I would be honored, Sancta," said Aygen, pausing to grab a cloak and drape it over herself before taking Adara's arm and following her outside.  Aygen wondered why she used the title; she had never used it before.  Adara had always been Adara.  Perhaps it was the enormity and enthusiasm of the crowd that had made Aygen more aware of the power Adara held, or perhaps it was Aygen herself, becoming more aware of Aygen's spiritual power.  The two emerged into the still night, the wind blowing gently now, the sky, far from any cities, aglow with stars.  It seemed a night in which secrets could be shared, truths discovered.

"Strelok has told me how close you felt to Gaea," began Aygen, searching for the words "how you...hear her more clearly than the rest of us.  I know that even if she speaks to me, I'm not sure I could understand, not yet.  What plans do you think Gaea has for me?  For you?"  As Aygen watched, Adara seemed to withdraw into herself.  Her hand, instead of resting on Aygens, now clutched it with a powerful grip, as if reflecting the concentration its owner felt.  Aygen tried to pass her doubts, her uncertainties, and her hopes into Adara's consciousness through this grip, through the tension she felt in her body, tension left over from the streets of Laen'ka.

[St Oz]

Adara smiled and felt the cool breeze hit against them, the warmth of her hands comforted Adara, "Like my brother and most of the people I speak with, they think such a thing. You see, Gaea is what you feel in your spirit and those that hear me speak feel their spirits move inside them. They then have their spirits move towards a divine path which they think I have achieved. I am no closer to Gaea than some think but I use what I feel. Me being blind must have something to do with it. As to answer your questions about Gaea, what you feel in yourself determines that. The great genius inside you and within you that moves. We have many plans for ourselves and Gaea never infringes you for such. However, Gaea never has a specific need, more what you must do to better yourself, better the tribe, and better Ozia. Now... I never heard of your times in Laen'ka, what were you there, tell me about it."

[Zimmerwald]

Aygen took a deep breath and remained silent for a few seconds.  What could she tell Adara?  And why did she want to know?  She exhaled, and her breath formed a faint cloud in the air, one more sign of the dropping temperature.  "Where to begin?" said Agyen out loud.  "My life was...regimented--is that the word?  Highly structured.  I woke up, left home, broke rocks for hours and went back.  There was much fear, especially for someone like me.  Wait, I'm going about this all wrong...

"I was a member of an opposition group.  We fought Xyraelis, and some of us hated them.  When I was out on the street, under the eyes of Xyraeli soldiers, with not real protection against a beating, or rape, or torture...that's the fear I felt.  And not only for me; for my friend Mualla and her small son, for anyone who they might find out had contact with me.

"I wonder what happened to them..." she trailed off miserably, tears tracing faint lines down her dust-covered face, and splashing onto the parched ground.

[St Oz]

Adara could hear her soft sobs and she kissed her left cheek lightly, "I'm sure you left them strong, they are probably equally worried about you..."

[St Oz]

La Sava
The small merchant vessel eased into the port, as it was about to fully dock a few Xyraeli Soldiers hopped onto the vessel. On top was the whole crew, standing there awaiting the clearance to leave. One of the soldiers called out, "Where's your captain?" They looked at him still and then when he was about to repeat it, out of the bridge came Sevda. However she was dressed not in Ozian clothes, but the clothes the captain wore. She walked down the steps and she extended some papers. One was a "notification" of the Captain's leave of vacation. The soldier looked at it and said, "He left his only ship to you?"

Sevda smirked, "Yes, his mother died and he didn't want to miss the big sale."

However the rest of the Ozians on board had no clue what they were saying. They spoke not one word of Xyraeli and only half knew Moacian. Sevda knew Xyraelis couldn't tell the difference between Ozians and Moacians.

The Xyraeli Soldier blinked his eyes, "I'll assume he forgot his seal or he doesn't have one, you Moacians are always forgetful. Anyway... Search the ship for anything, shouldn't take more than 10 minutes miss."

As the soldiers walked to the cargo bay they opened some of the crates to find old fish and rotting tomatoes. One of the soldiers had to hold himself in and the other said, "I assume you need to dump these too... I'll get you a warrant."

Sevda smiled at Vendecci who winked back at her. She then proceeded to walk off the hull. She ordered one of the crew to lock the cargo as she walked off the ship. Vendecci walked beside her and the rest of the crew walked with her, she was about 10 in number. They exited the dock and eyed many of the other Ozians in the crowd who were surprised to see them walk out of the dock. Sevda stopped and said to them in Ozian, "Find some Ozians to stay with, meet with me at the hotel at mid day in three days. Gather as many to join a resistance and then choose the best soldiers from that to join us. See to it that we get our cargo "dumped". La'maeh Gaea."

The others nodded to her, "La'maeh Gaea"

[Vince_Ares]

"I hate salt water" he groaned, half to himself. Which made his previous carrier in the Imperial Marines that much more perplexing.
Didn't matter though. He had been told to contact the Gallipoli and work with them, and that was what he was doing.
It didn't matter if the leader of this insurrection didn't trust him. His job was to earn that trust.

He peered through the shadows, the radar station nestled between rocks on an otherwise barren island.

"Time to get underway" he thought to himself, unsealing the explosives from their water-proof packaging.

OOC: Added to 12/3/07, 2:12 pm, EST

IC:
A lone Xyraeli guard made his way back and forth on a catwalk giving him full view of the beach in front of him.

Quietly Ares scaled the rock formation the facility was nestled against. A surveillance camera kept watch on the roof.
Hidden behind a large, jagged rock Ares pulled a handheld electronic device from his left sleeve pocket, undoing the waterproof seal.
After being switched on, a red dot began flashing just right of centre on the screen.
Ares entered a code, and the red dot's flashing sped up, finally going out all together. The facility's outer surveillance system had been fried.
It was meant to look like a malfunction to the guards inside to avoid the tightening of security, but that also meant someone would be out shortly to try and get the system back up and running. He had to move fast.
Stuffing the device into one of his many pants-pockets leaped onto the roof of the building, jumped onto the catwalk, and took the guard out in the back of the head with his silenced Hanso PPK.

Suddenly he heard the sound of boots scaling the outside staircase. Quickly he rummaged through the dead guard's pockets, finding a key.
Turning a corner he saw a door marked with a lightning bolt. The key fit, and he ducked inside.
As soon as the door closed he could hear Xyraeli voices. Fluent in that language, Ares knew they had found the dead guard.

Looking around he saw a second door, no doubt leading to the facility itself. He also saw what appeared to be a switch box and a generator.
"Central Control....Maintenance...." Ares quickly scanned the labels next to the switch box's many switches.
"Open!" a loud Xyraeli voice yelled, followed by the sound of a fist banging on the door.
"Bloody hell" he thought to himself, attaching an explosive to the box, before attaching an other to the generator in the corner. One was set for eight seconds, the other five.

Kicking open the door leading to the facility's interior, Ares drew his weapon and shot the first person he saw, a technician. He then darted for the end of the hallway as surprised Xyraeli guards rushed after him. Seconds latter an explosion rocked the room, and other then the flames, the facility was thrown into darkness.
Ares dove around a corner as Xyraeli voices from all directions called out in confusion.

Ares pulled a pair of goggles from an other pocket, slipping them over his eyes. They were very basic night-vision goggles, just addiquit enough for him to get around. Drawing his PPK again, he opened a door ready to shoot, only to find it empty. Putting the pistol away he looked for anything that would help him determine where the central control room was. He found that "something" in the form of a fire escape map. Central control was just at the other end of the hallway.

Slowly opening the door he watched as two Xyraeli soldiers rushed past, not noticing the slightly ajar door in the near pitch black surroundings.
Quietly he made his way to the end of the hall he spotted a door marked "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY" in Xyraeli. Flanking the door were two Xyraeli soldiers.
Ares pressed himself up against the left wall of the hallway, slowly inching himself closer to the door.
Quietly he drew his pistol, keeping it as flat against the wall as possible. When it was fully extended he tilted it slightly and shot the first guard. Before he was even sure he hit the ground, Ares took out the other. Quickly he checked his surroundings. Nothing.
He grabbed the limped body of one of the guards, and using it as a shield, kicked in the door. Bullets instantly hit the dead soldier's body, as Ares threw it into the soldier shooting at him.
An older man in uniform went for his sidearm, Ares elbowed him in the nose, driving the naval bone into the brain. Finally he shot the remaining soldier, trapped under the body of his dead comrade. He heard screaming and the sound of boots running. Slamming the door shut, he pushed a filing cabinet into the door.
Looking around he saw posters of wanted Gallipoli revolutionaries. As fists banged on the door, Ares went through the filing cabinet, finding files on seemingly everyone within the rebellion's top ranks, and reports detailing the structure of the Gallipoli's "party."
Suddenly bullets started hitting the door.
"Time to get going then" he thought to himself. Going through the pockets of the dead soldier who had been shooting at him, he found a lighter. Using it he set the files ablaze. Then he kicked open a panel on the central control hub, and placed an explosive set for three minutes next to a set of wires and panels.
---------------------------------------------------
The Xyraeli guards finally got the door open, only to be greeted with a wall of fire.
Through the flames the CO could make out the flashing of a timer, as it reached three seconds, two seconds, one second, then double zero.
---------------------------------------------------
A patrol boat flying the naval jack of the Xyraeli empire was rocked by the explosion coming from the island it had just left.
Ares, wearing a spare uniform found below deck, was steering the boat back to the Gallipoli mainland, in his hand clutched the dog tag of the older man he had killed in the central control room, the CO of the station.
The boat and uniform would allow him to get close enough before he could disappear back into Constantinople's underworld.