Embrace The Ether 18 A Fallback Plan To Outmaneuver A Master

"Hmm," Droh thought for a moment, "Well, he's not afraid of much… and has even fewer things he cares for. The only real exception that I know of being Roland and the clan itself."

"The clan?"

Droh nodded his little head, "Right. Elias relies entirely on the clan's power and success to move around and act without concern. He's quite dangerous when it comes to unrelated issues… but the moment the clan gets involved, he'll cave. You could say he's the sort of man who'd abandon everything if it was an order from the clan."

"Really? He's that uptight about everything?" Deus seemed truly shocked. "He always seemed to be completely arrogant and confident. Hmm, we can definitely use his insecurity to our own benefit."

The two talked for awhile, pa.s.sing back and forth different ideas. One of Droh's suggestions was for them to try mimicking Roland over voice communication in order to intimidate Elias. It didn't take Deus long to find several flaws in the plan, which returned the two of them to the drawing board. They didn't have long left until the meeting time, which caused them to feel even more pressure.

"Think… think!" Droh fired out to no one in particular as if he were trying to command his own brain to figure everything out.

"Wait!" Deus shouted out as a smile slowly formed on his lips, "This is perfect! It works in tandem with my previous idea to send out a broadcast. Hah! It's genius."

"Well don't just sit on it, tell me!" Droh said eagerly, practically jumping in his chair.

"Right. Well, it's just like you said… Elias doesn't want Roland to get involved because he's one of the only people who can actually threaten Elias and his claim over the clan. Why not just force Roland to intervene?" Deus began to explain, trying not to jumble his thoughts up as he spoke. "I hate to say it, but Roland is going to find out about you sooner or later Droh. So I thought 'why not control how he finds out?'"

"You want to just tell Roland about me? Won't that backfire immensely? You do realize he wants to kill me, right? I mean seriously kill… he told me if he saw me again he'd skin me alive."

"Oof, that's definitely going to be tricky… but the plan can still work. Elias is going to tell him eventually, he can't risk not telling. If Roland really does hate you as much as you say he does, and he finds out his second in command didn't tell him about you being around here… well, Elias won't risk that just for you." Deus took a quick pause, "Elias is playing you… stringing you along because you're being useful to him for the time being. The moment Roland even hears a hint about you he'll sell you out. So why not take the initiative?"

"I'm still not following…"

Droh looked up at Deus with pitiful eyes. "Is it really the best idea to hand me to Roland? I'm beginning to doubt this plan."

"It's fine Droh! Because we'll use captain Roch to keep Roland from even touching you. After all, didn't you say Roch was one of the only men in this city who could handle Roland and his clan of criminals? So why not give Roch information on the job, let him confront Roland, and then harbor us?"

"You…" Droh held his forehead as he let out a loud and stressed yawn. "Fine, but only because I'm believing in you and your plan. I swear if I get killed because of this… I'll haunt you forever!"

"Hah, now that's the spirit! Well, minus the haunting and being dead part. Enough about that, it'll work… because, well, I believe that captain Roch, well... I think he knows something about me that even I don't fully understand. h.e.l.l, it's probably the reason why he even approached me in the first place… I would tell you more about it, but we don't have enough time now."

"Woah, that definitely does sound pretty interesting, and even a bit ominous! d.a.m.n, you're right though... we don't have enough time, we have to figure out a plan first. You'll just have to tell me everything later! I'll hold you to that."

"Hah, right." Deus chuckled as Droh tried to lighten the mood, "So captain Roch will confront Roland and by doing so… Roland will confront Elias. Boom, job canceled and we're harbored within Direfell, outside of Roland's reach."

"It's a great plan," Droh rolled his eyes, "But, what if - and it's a big if - Roch doesn't bother with us after all? Wouldn't we have just announced to Roland that I'm alive, and to come and get me?"

"Then we improvise."

Droh coughed out, "I'm sorry to say, but that doesn't rea.s.sure me too much. Ugh, should we even be doing this? Why not just do the job and do whatever Elias tells us?"

"I told you already, Elias is just using you while you're still around. He won't risk his own skin just to keep you a secret."

Deus crooked his head to the side as he contemplated how to explain this so that Droh could understand, while also figuring out an adequate way to ensure Droh's safety during this. "So we'll go to the job as normal, but once it's almost done we'll make sure if Elias plans to string you along or not. If not, awesome, we can run off and act like this never happened. But… I have a feeling that it won't go so smoothly. Once… no, if he decides to betray his agreement, then we'll spring the trap and get the major players involved. Does that work? At that point, Roland was going to find out about you anyway."

Droh didn't answer for a few seconds as he thought it through. "Fine, but only after we find out for sure."

"That's the spirit!" Deus cheered out. "So, let me prepare the message that I'll be broadcasting for captain Roch to hear, you know, just in case this all goes sideways."

Time moved by quickly as Deus gave several commands to his Archive device. Droh sat there along with him and simply watched and listened, occasionally cutting in to give his opinion and feedback, even going so far as to alter the recorded message ever so slightly so it would relay the most accurate and relevant information regarding the plan and Elias in the shortest words.

The message prepared was a last-ditch effort. A single request from two desperate men who were relying almost solely on the contents of the message to be heard by the right ears. A message that contained several trade secrets of Roland's clan, secrets which only someone with inside information such as Droh could possibly know about. Information that could cause a sea of blood to be spilled.

However, that wasn't the problem. The problem was ensuring captain Roch would hear the message. Not one of his soldiers, but captain Roch himself. Anyone else would possibly pa.s.s over the message, but only Roch would stop and listen. Only he would know what some of the things that Deus mentioned meant, such as the word Transfer. Yes, Deus went as far as to ask Droh to leave for a moment so he could reveal his knowledge on the Transfer.

One of the only instructions which Deus had been given upon his arrival in Midnight was to never admit to being from the outside. That sort of knowledge could be disastrous if the wrong ears hear about it.

He went so far because he knew that if Roch didn't pay them any mind, they were practically certain to die for crossing Roland and Elias. Neither Deus nor Droh currently held any external power within Direfell and were thus unable to fight back against such a dangerous clan which could impact even the mightiest trading groups.

But, the time had come. The job was scheduled to start.

Deus and Droh finished their preparations and made off toward Club Nova. Outside the entrance to the club stood several of Mercer's men, as menacing as ever. They ushered them in quickly as the club centerstage was completely emptied. Clearly, someone with extraordinary sway in this place was present, because they were able to empty the entire building. A club like Nova would typically run as a drug den nonstop, so to empty it now was only proof of the seriousness of the task that came next. Elias couldn't afford any strangers overhearing the next stage, nor could he stand unnecessary witnesses.

"Deus, Droh! Welcome, welcome! Come on in, we were just getting started." Elias called over to them from across the room. Next to Elias stood several of the men from last night, along with several new faces. "Don't mind these guys, they're from the clan. You could say they're here to help oversee the exchange of clan-managed equipment to all of you."