The Arcane Trilogy: Sins of the Past - Book 2

Chapter 31: The Time of the Sword and Axe

The very moment that the midday sun began its slow descent, all of Ambessa's warriors snapped into action, marching for the Medarda solar. Ambessa had rapidly turned the open-air living space into something of a war room. The Noxian art that Mel had been delicately crafting, the piece that bore vibrant waves of crashing yellow slashes that danced atop the highly detailed painting, remained in place. However, across the room from it, the various pieces of furniture had been pushed aside to make room for a large wooden table, and sufficient space for Ambessa's higher ranked soldiers to witness her battle plans. Just as she had expected, all of her soldiers arrived within the minute leading up to the arranged time for her meeting.

"The plan is simple, but that does not mean it will be easy to execute." Began Ambessa as she placed her firm hands atop the wooden table, sweeping a few small papers aside with the mere force of her resting her weight over the table. All of her soldiers in attendance watched with silent, firm and focused gazes.

"We will be leading the vanguard of this assault. The enforcers will be providing us with ranged support with these." Explained Ambessa, gesturing to the hextech rifle prototype that Hakim and his team had been working on. "The fancy magic stones that the Tallis boy has cooked up will be inserted into these, allowing our Piltovian allies to hit nearly as hard as us." Commented Ambessa with a sly grin, cracking forth a few smirks and a handful of chuckles from her soldiers. "We will use that increased firepower to make our jobs easier. Any one of us can take down the strongest and fastest fighters that the Undercity can throw at us in single combat, including those tin cans that we saw on the bridge. However, due to the nature of the enemy territory, we won't have the luxury of engaging them in single combat. So, while we lead the charge, the enforcers can effectively pick off any additional approaching combatants, preventing us from getting overwhelmed."

Her gathered soldiers continued to nod along attentively, a few of them shooting the hextech rifle a few curious looks. She then brought forward two pictures of Southside to the centre of the table, spinning it around so that her troops could see. The photos showed the areas leading towards old access lifts, which themselves were buried deep within the maze of Southside.

"Thanks to a new friend of mine, we have these photos showing us our way into the Undercity. These are the three main access lifts that are used to enter the Undercity. As you can see, they are not very big and they do not have complete structural stability." Began to explain Ambessa, only for the door to her solar to creep open slightly. Everyone's gaze shifted from the Ambessa to the door, where a familiar head of ashen hair slid into the room.

"Ah..." Spoke Bryden aloud as he scanned the gathering of imposing Noxian warriors who regarded him with stern and focused glares, as held a leather folder filled with papers close to his chest. "I've been meaning to find you Councillor Medarda but...am I interrupting something again?" Innocently asked Brydnen as his eyes found Ambessa, who smirked at his sudden appearance.

"No it's alright Councillor Seastar. As a matter of fact, I was just talking about those photos you got for me." Continued Ambessa, gesturing to Brynden to join them.

"Mam. Are you sure it is wise to-" Spoke up one of Ambessa's soldiers who bore an incredibly prominent and pointed beard.

"It's quite alright, Lieutenant." Cut off Ambessa. Her tone was not one of anger, but contained a stern edge to it that quelled any further notions of questioning her. The Lieutenant simply nodded in response to her gaze briefly landing on him. "Besides, Councillor Seastar here is quite a clever young man. He values the experience that others bring to the table, and he has actually understood the nature of our situation far quicker than some of his co-workers."

"It would not be right of me to speak ill of my colleagues, but I appreciate the compliment." Replied Brynden as he took his place at the table by her side, nodding in respect to her praise, causing her smirk to grow slightly wider.