The sharp sound of a magenta Colored Orb pulled Ingrid out of her sleep. Vaska's tight arms retreated. "What time is it?" Ingrid asked. Vaska groaned.

The dark bedroom lit up slightly with a dim magenta light as Vaska pulled the Colored Orb from a drawer. "Yes father?" she said.

A familiar masculine voice said: "Vaska, you are awake. Excellent."

"I am now," she replied.

"Vaska there has been an incident at one of our black sites, one that you had shown interest in before. How familiar are you with the area?"

"Familiar enough to use the projection to get there," Vaska said. "Is this the site with the soul flares?"

"Exactly so. The nearest FIA agents are a six hour flight away. Get help from some soldiers. I want eyes in that black site immediately."

"Yes father." The light vanished. A few moments later a gas lamp sparked to life and filled the room with dim orange light. Vaska checked her fine watch on the bed stand. "About two in the morning," Vaska said. "I need to go. You can go back to sleep."

"No," Ingrid said as she clambered out of bed. "I'll go with you."

"Get dressed," Vaska said. "Unless you want to brave the snow naked. I suggest furs."

The Ten Skies was alive even in the dead of night. Airmen roamed the narrow hallways executing fire drills and the cafeteria was filled with soldiers. Vaska found the soldier she was looking for at a table with his men, chatting over the leavings of their lunch. "Special agent Vladimir," Vaska said. "Come with me, bring your men. Assume this is an order from the Emperor himself."

"Up we go lads," the man said. The men at the table began to rapidly stand up. They were Imperial Marines, dressed in white trousers and black military coats, and each man had a rifle and a saber leaning against the wall behind them. Vladimir looked no different from the others except for his marks of rank.

"Get your winter gear," Vaska said. "Meet me on the deck in two minutes."

"Yes Princess."

Fighter jets were in fact operating on the deck, however they were using low power and generally nose-diving off the edge of the deck instead of performing normal takeoffs. Those fighter jets were all two-seat trainers, and Ingrid assumed that the trainees were gaining experience flying at night. When the Marines arrived on deck they were wearing solid white fur overcoats and matching caps. They followed Vaska to a secluded corner behind a parked fighter.

A portal to the Plane of Darkness opened and the Marines shuffled in. As the portal closed behind them, Ingrid noticed a shadow forming at her shoulder. As if she had seen a spider, she jolted away, but the shifting shadows stayed on her shoulder, materializing into Ashe's small form. "I thought you meat puppets lost your strings at night," the little woman said as the portal closed.

"Where have you been?" Ingrid asked.

"Firstborn!" Vaska shouted, interrupting her. "Take us to the black site with the soul flares." The landscape of white spores and dark crystals rushed past in a blue, and translucent waves began to form around them as the Firstborn's projection transported them across the ocean to another continent.

"Well, I come here," Ashe whispered. "To my realm, to admire the blood rivers from my balcony. Where else? You never do anything interesting in that bed of yours, at least nothing I want to see."

The shifting of the Firstborn's projection stopped, and the shadowy outlines of snowclad trees surrounded them. Vaska opened a portal to the outside world, and the Marines rushed through with their rifles at the ready. Vaska and Ingrid lingered behind, stepping slowly out into the snowfield. It was dark, lit only by the light of the moon.

"Titania, can you provide light?" Ingrid asked. The saint-like Elemental appeared, illuminating the snowfield with a brilliant, pure golden light. A second Light Elemental appeared near Vaska. "Where did you get that?"

"My sister transferred the bond to me," Vaska replied. "When we arrived back in Heylin. It only took a few seconds."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"Natasha did not need it?"

"My sister correctly pointed out that my engineering work may make me a target for domestic assassins. And with my cursed luck, I agree. No chances."

The light of the Elementals revealed barns and old wooden fences. A reindeer snorted from behind a fence as they passed. Dogs barked. The snow began to accumulate under the sole of Ingrid's boot as she walked. She stopped to kick a post and clear the clumps off her heel. The Marines marched through the snow just ahead, weapons forward.

They came to a tall metal structure that used radically different architecture from the surrounding farmhouses. Those farmhouses were built from sturdy logs and had steep-pitched roofs to allow the snow to slide off. In contrast the metal structure was blockish and reinforced with massive steel beams. The entire structure was painted white, with slight deviations to the color, presumably to provide camouflage from a distance.

The door to the structure appeared to have been destroyed by an explosion. The snow around the destroyed door was covered in black soot, and the metal appeared to have melted. The explosion appeared to have started inside the building, causing the doors to fly outward. The snow nearby was pocked with boot prints that had started to fill with snow.

"A fire elemental, from inside," Vaska said. "Soldiers flooded inside. That means there must have been a defector."

"A defector?" Ingrid asked.

Vaska summoned her magenta Colored Orb. It floated above her palm, pulsing. "Father, the Federation of Kanti must have sent agents here. That is my guess. A defector inside invited them. The door was destroyed from the inside by a Fire Elemental."

The Emperor did not reply.

The Marines rushed into the structure, and Ingrid sent Titania inside to provide light. Scorched bodies littered the floor just beyond the threshold.

Inside the structure was a square pit filled with industrial equipment, tables, and burned bodies. Brutalist concrete columns and steel beams supported the roof against the snow. A single metal gantry lined the square pit. The occasional ladder provided downward access, and there were no staircases.

"Completely scorched," Vaska continued, "burned bodies strapped to tables, melted metal cases. Father, what was Professor Makari working on?"

"For many years he was working on the design for soul flares. After the dark crystals stopped working, me and my advisors decided to halt the project. Defense against Dark-Three missiles suddenly lacked military value."

"And how did he react to that?" Vaska asked.

"He wrote a dissent, which is not surprising, this project was a huge responsibility with the potential for a great deal of recognition."

Vaska sighed. Special Agent Vladimir ascended the nearby ladder and approached the Princess. "Nothing living Princess," he said. "All the files have been stolen or burned."

"If we assume that Makari defected," Vaska said, "then Kanti would know exactly where this black site was. They could easily fly a tilt-rotor through one of the Elemental Planes to this exact location and extract the Professor. He may have had a magenta Orb in his possession that allowed him to time the explosion."

"Titania," Ingrid said. "Can you still tell us when portals are opening?"

"I cannot," Titania replied. "That power belonged to the corruption, through Mother's design and command."

"Why, why would Kanti want obsolete technology?" Vaska muttered. "Vladimir, please give us some privacy." The Marine saluted and then scurried off. "Father, do you have any other information? Any other red flags or concerns with Makari other than his dissent?"

"There were some concerns about the scope of the project," the Emperor said. "Concerns about his proposed budget. He had demonstrated a working soul flare, and we had hoped to begin production of military-grade versions. However, he kept insisting on extending the project." The man lowered his voice. "Also, there were significant concerns about the sheer quantity of men he was killing. We ran out of condemned men in our prisons. We needed to import them from Taisia and now Ayaru."

"He went rogue," Vaska said. "He must have started working on an orthogonal project, something he cared about. If that was the case, why not just tell us about it?"

"Um, excuse me sir," Ingrid said. "My Emperor, did you ever see the soul flare? Did you see how they were made?"

"Vaska, you brought your lover with you? I wanted you to go alone."

"It was a fair question Father," Vaska replied. "Answer it."

The Emperor sighed. "I did see one being constructed. They sedated a man and severed his arteries. They inserted tubes into the incisions, and began to pump the blood using a small machine. After the body was nearly drained of blood, they cut out the heart and the brain and connected them with a series of wires and tubes. They sealed all this inside a canister, shaped like a large brick."

"Meatless meat puppets," Ashe mused. "Organless organ bags, boneless bone cages. How positively devious." The little woman actually giggled.

"And then they shot a missile at it?" Vaska asked.

"That is correct. They performed a live demonstration on the canister that had just been created, after a delay of about an hour to demonstrate that the person was still alive."

"To sacrifice a person like that..." Ingrid whispered.

Sacrifice.

Sacrifices.

In a sudden realization, Ingrid nearly collapsed on the floor. The thought was so evil, so sickening that it made her want to vomit. "Steady there," Vaska said as she reached out to support Ingrid. "What is wrong?"

"Sacrifices," Ingrid said. "Kanti is going to chop up their sacrifices, and stick them in canisters. That is how they plan to power their crystals from now on."

Vaska nodded. "Father, I think Ingrid may be correct." The magenta Orb dimmed. "Vladimir! Rally your men, we are leaving immediately."

"What an evil thought!" Ashe said. "Ingrid, I'm so proud of you!"