Admiral vs Commander

Sven could hardly believe the mess he was in now, escaping persecution from PikanVale academy by boat only to face **** and further persecution by the Triadom. Blackmailed into what exactly? Into Assassinating a man Sven had no problems with what so ever. It didn't sit well with him that he should kill a man just to save his own hide, yet here he was.

Sven had ordered his party to stay back while he dealt with this one himself, after all none of his party members were trained assassins... Let alone himself of course, but he'd not stand idly by and make one of the girls clean up after his mess. 6ft 9 as he was though, it made staying hidden a harder task than it already was.

Sven had waited under the cover of darkness to follow the commander off the boat, making certain that he wasn't spotted or followed himself. The commander made his way into a tall building shaped out of a mud-cement mixture with a rounded dome-like roof. At the top of the building there was a balcony that extended 360 degrees around the top like an additional floor. At the top of the house there was several windows, several points of entry for him to make his entrance.

The commander ordered his two escorts to guard the door while he entered, looking around Sven saw that the building wasn't entirely secured. Around the back, it might be possible to... Sneaking around, Sven made extra sure that he didn't step on anything too loudly, making his way around the building unnoticed, Sven saw small indentations between the bricks that he could climb up. His upper body strength and grip were phenomenal, so this task was right up his ally. The trick now was to climb quietly.

With what little vantage points he could, Sven scaled the muddy bricked wall until he could grab onto the underneath of the balcony, shimmying his way around and then up the balcony, Sven landed deftly onto the surface. Sneaking around the sides, Sven peered into one of the lit windows to see the commander was winding down for the night, changed from his admiral appearance into some comfy looking pajamas with accompanying night cap.

Sven hid behind the walls as he watched the admiral open the double doors to the outside world, letting the fresh air seep into his room. Going back inside, Sven seized his chance. Creeping inside through the open double doors with his weapon drawn, Sven activated his invisibility and tiptoed as silent as a mouse through the room, the admiral was seated with his back turned to him, reading some papers by the open fire.

Sven looked at the Orc commander as he sat there reading, his heart was in turmoil over what he must do - after all, they had his party members sealed off in some room while he must do the dirty work. If he came back empty handed, the general would simply kill the girls and then him. There was no way he was going to fight an entire city and win, he had to tow the line somewhere.

'I'm sorry.' Was all Sven could remorsefully think as he raised his blade behind himself and then unleashed his swing with lethal intent.

...

..

.

Only he stopped just before the blade would cut into his neck, his blade hand trembled as he considered that this might not be the only option. Sheething his blade quietly the invisibility ran out, the Orc admiral still being none the wiser, the pressure of his swing must have been luckily covered by the slight breeze that had entered through the double doors with him. Standing back several meters, Sven coughed to get the mans attention.

Startling himself to his feet, the admiral stared wide eyed at Sven for several motionless, wordless seconds before Sven spoke.

"Worry not, I didn't come here to harm you - although that was the purpose given to me by a man who wants you dead." Sven spoke, the admiral stood up straight and looked over his appearance, clearly not comfortable being addressed in this attire about nefarious plots so casually.

"I was aboard the civilian vessel your fleet attacked today, when I washed ashore one of the land based commanders, General Bergh, proposed that if I killed you, he would let me and my party go." Sven continued, clearly seeing that this was all a bit too much for the fleet commander to be taking in so suddenly.

"And... Why didn't you?" He asked incredulously.

"I don't know you, but you didn't fire on us as we passed, so I can gather you at least value innocent life. I was hoping that instead of acting out his deal, you could offer me a counter proposal. Anything, just so long as I don't have to kill somebody I have never had a problem with." The admiral seemed to think on those words for a time, making sure to look deep into Sven's red eyes to truly take him in as a person.

"Did General Bergh tell you why he was demoted to land commander?" The general finally asked.

"No, he was pretty tight lipped about it, just that you were to blame for it and that's why he wants you dead." Sven did find it odd that there would be this kind of in-fighting at this level of military office.

"Take a seat first." The admiral motioned for a vacant seat facing his. Sven walked around the admiral and the desk and seated himself in the comfy blue chair. "Back when we were just recruits, 30, maybe 40 years ago now, he and I were the top of our class and best of friends. We never saw eye to eye on much, but neither doubted the others capabilities. Which is why he sent you, I would wager, I suppose he's not too keen on losing his remaining good eye." The admiral chuckled, looking off into the distance as he recollected times been and gone.

"Last year I caught him doing some... Horrible things, you're an outsider to these lands so I assume you're unfamiliar with the culture of Orcs, allow me to explain a few things. Orcs in positions like ours, high ranking military commanders live a life of luxury and reap rewards most of my fellow countrymen could only dream of, one such reward is the access to a fertile harem of concubines and wives. Such a thing is ordinary for people like himself and I, but what isn't ordinary is for the male to **** his harem like he did. I always realized he was a domineering person, but to go to the lengths he did to assert control... Well I think it's better left put like this: He was an unsavory fellow and I wish all the luck in the world for the surviving members of his dissolved harem." The admiral poured himself and Sven a glass of an unknown ****, not one to appear rude, Sven accepted the strong smelling brown liquid and shot it down in one go, but couldn't help but cough as the liquid stung his throat as he swallowed, causing the admiral to laugh and ease up a little bit.

"Strong isn't it? Most humans can't handle it so don't feel too bad." The Orc chuckled as he poured himself and Sven another glass.

"I appreciate you not killing me, but I'm still questionable to your claim that you did not start the conflict. Most of my fleet captains all confirm the same story, that a civilian vessel sailed through acting innocently until they opened fire on one of my ships. And even if that wasn't true, you still managed to sink 5 of my ships, killing many of my men and especially 3 of the captains I've trained from childhood. I've lost a lot of good men today, are you asking me to strike a deal with the man that killed them?" The admiral swirled his drink around in his glass, staring at Sven as darkly as the drink he held.

"My side wasn't without casualty either, many good, innocent men died today because of the blundering errors made by your confused captains. I understand that all isn't clear and transparent in times of battle, but objectively speaking my side was completely faultless. Our options were either to defend ourselves or die, I can't help but feel like my hand was **** while yours was careless." Sven finished by downing his drink whole again, growing accustomed to the burning sensation this time around he finished it without any discomfort. The admiral couldn't help but let a small smile curl across his face.

"That may be true, however you telling me about my old friends plot to **** me leaves me with little vantage point over him. After all, it's your say so vs his - and the council won't look too kindly on an outsiders perspective, even despite of all Bergh's recent transgressions. No, what I need is something more concrete to do away with him, this time for good if all goes accordingly. You see, there's rumors that Bergh has acquired a dark elf off of the black market, or so my sources tell me. If there's proof that he has started a harem in secret then he will be dishonorably discharged from service, and from there... Well lets say he might have himself a little accident now that he's without protection." The admiral shot his drink straight and slammed the glass down onto the table with a satisfied noise.

"What about my party? His guards are waiting outside to make sure I don't wander off after I've killed you and are also keeping my party hostage at the same time." The admiral stood up and began to put his admiral cloths on over his pajamas.

"My men will see to it that he remains in the city for proof of his crimes to come to light in the eyes of the council. While we do battle, you and your party should make your way to his mansion atop the hill just outside of the city. He will have armed men guarding the house night and day, so be careful. Good luck, well I never did get your name." The admiral asked as he buttoned up his armor.

"Sven, my name's Sven Gate." The admiral nodded.

"General Vander, those are my terms Sven Gate, if your party wants to be cleared of its crimes then you must free whatever women you find bound or... worse inside of his mansion and bring them to me so that their testimony can be used to convict Bergh. Do we have an agreement?" Vander extended his hand to Sven in the form of a handshake.

"We do." Sven took it confidently, he liked this deal much better than Berghs.