Stefan was carried into a gargantuan hall, itself twice as large as the entire clearing that Derban was situated on. That excluded the smaller halls and rooms that were granted access to by the dozens of sliding doors that were placed all around the walls. Inside, easily over a hundred people clad in the same armor and masks as the sniper’s assistants had been marking their time, but quickly assembled into lines as they watched their comrades hauling in Stefan, who felt like he was nothing more than an exhibit before them.
“Welcome back, Vi! Congratulations on getting the target.” members of the resistance group said one after another, in one form or another. The masked sniper only nodded in acknowledgement as their colleague’s made way for them and their envoy to move to the back-most wall, at the center of which a single desk and chair rested—an office in the hall of the base for everyone to see. This was the Anbieter’s idea of transparency, which already told Stefan much about him even though he still had not caught a glimpse of the Black Shield’s leader.
Stefan was lowered to the ground, but the guards remained at his and Vi’s side to ensure that he wouldn’t run off. Vi approached the desk and pressed on a button installed on its top, sending a signal for the Anbieter to arrive. One of the doors on the wall that the desk and chair were against had opened up, and a lean but well-built man wearing the Black Shield’s mask but more casual uniform consisting of a long coat and boots exited. His posture and the way he carried himself told Stefan that he wasn’t serious, a more laidback kind of person. He stepped up to the desk and leaned against it with one of hands.
“Ah, y’all done got the target. Good shit, Vi, but horrible timing. I was just about to beat the Anbieter in our seventh straight game of carrom!” the man with an evident southern Yeupisian accent. This was Stefan’s first time hearing such an accent, but not his first time seeing someone from that part of the continent.
Vi’s shoulders tensed, indicating their frustration.
“As the Anbieter’s second in-command, you shouldn’t have been mucking around while I and the others were undergoing our most important mission yet! You need to be better, Jayant.”
“Woah now, you know how stressful the job of being the Shield’s top brass can be!” Jayant defended himself. “And please, I insist you call me Jay. We’d never get anywhere if we were always so formal.”
“Tell him to come already!” Vi scowled. “The sooner I can get this boy off my hands, the sooner I can relax.”
“I doubt the Anbieter will relieve you of your duty so soon,” Jay said in a more proper but still relaxed tone. “But he’ll be coming—oh my, there he is right now! Hey, Anbieter! We’ve got your guy!”
A towering, yet slim man left the same room the Deputy of the Black Shield had just minutes earlier. He wore the same uniform as his righthand man and had the same informal swagger as him.
“Excellent work, Vi.” The Anbieter said, sitting in his chair. He had a very flamboyant manner of speech and hardly sounded like a leader. He was definitely not from the south, but he didn’t seem to be from the north either—just like Gareth, but this man wasn’t serious like him. “Now… Stefan Laine, welcome to the Black Shield! I know you didn’t expect this to happen—
“Just tell me what you’re going to do to me. And if it’s anything bad… Gareth will make sure you people never walk again.”
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“Relax, lad,” the Anbieter laughed under his off-centred mask, meaning he quickly had slapped it on himself. “We hate the Angels just as much as you do. We’ve brought you here so that we can protect you.”
‘Do they know about me being the asset that they want?’ Stefan wondered.
“Protect me from what?” Stefan asked.
“It’ll be best if I can explain that when all your companions come. Now, since we know that you can use Utrium, they’ll find you in… I’d like to say an hour. But just in case they do not, I’ll send out a few men to guide them here.”
“That doesn’t even make sense. How’d they find me just ‘cause I can use Utrium.”
“Utrium users attract each other. It’s a fact of the universe, my boy. Someone get him a chair while we wait!” he said, clapping his hands. Ten seconds later, a Black Shield soldier provided Stefan with one.
‘They’re so cohesive,’ Stefan made a mental note of. ‘They don’t even ask for clarification. It’s all second nature to ‘em.’
“Master, may I return to my quarters?” Vi asked. “I have to take my mask off.”
“Don’t ask for permission, my dear,” the Anbieter said. “You’ve been here long enough to understand that.”
Vi bowed their head in respect, which seemed unnecessary given the attitudes of their superiors, but did so anyway before leaving for one of the doors posted around the massive communal hall.
Just over an hour later, Gareth’s party had arrived, escorted by half a dozen of the Anbieter’s men.
“Jeez, this place gives me the shivers.” Leon said, as the large room and strange attire of the Black Shield made him feel off.
“They’re supposed to be on our side,” Anwen reminded him quietly as she trailed just behind him, Gareth silently following them. “Be cool.”
“I’ll try.” Leon said.
“Hey, it’s the Bernard kid!” a young, masked officer called out as he recognized the doctor of Marius’ grandson. He attempted to remove his mask but only exposed his chin and mouth before another soldier pushed it back down.
“We don’t show our faces to non-Shield.” The other soldier reminded.
“Sorry.” The first soldier whispered.
Leon had heard his last name being called but was directed by Jay to the Anbieter’s desk.
“Stefan, your friends have arrived.” Jay said with a pleasant tone. He shot up from his chair, eager to greet his friends.
“Glad you’re alright, Stefan.” Leon said with a smile.
“It worked out,” Stefan chuckled. “Thanks to Gareth’s ingenuity.”
“Hello, friends,” the Anbieter said with a cheery voice, crossing one leg over the other with his feet on the desk. “I’d like to apologize for having to take away your friend, but he’s our responsibility, now. So—
“Says who?” Gareth spoke for the first time since entering the Black Shield’s base.
“Oh, well, as the leading authority in the currently silent rebellion against the Titanians… me. But once we overthrow the Crown, he’ll be able to do as he pleases.”
“You seem like you know a lot.” Gareth remarked.
“Thanks to our lovely intelligence squad, we’ve been keeping tabs on what’s been going on up at Titan. Our sources say that our lad Stefan here is being pursued on behalf of the interests of the Crown, something to do with the Emperor. I needed to make sure Stefan was somewhere safe before we looked into them any further.”
“Does any of this have to do with my mother?” Stefan asked, remembering that she was a soldier who had fought against the Titanians. Perhaps she had to do with the Black Shield at some point, as well.
“The Bastion of Terra, Kallista Laine? Oh, some of it, if I had to guess. But we won’t know for sure until we receive more information. Regardless, my boy, you will stay here, and only the Black Shield stays here. You’ll be one of us.”
Jay presented Stefan with a black mask, identical to that of everyone’s in the hall. He held it against his chest.
“What about us?” Gareth asked. “You knew about us, too. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have sent your sniper out to save us.”
“Our objective is to protect Stefan. You just happened to be there, as well.”
“Happened to be there? Look, chief, Stefan’s been under my care for the past six months and that won’t change now. Either all of us join your organization, or none of us do.”
The Anbieter sprung to his feet, slowly walking up to Gareth, until the dark surface of his mask was mere centimetres away from Gareth’s face. The man remained undeterred, staring the Anbieter right in his bright green eyes.
“I don’t trust you, Gareth Koppel the Angel Slayer,” the Anbieter hissed in a tone not even Stefan thought he was capable of. “You reek of Titan.”