Red Beard worked for Orzaghmen, I knew him since I knew my mother. He knew everything and everyone. He was the oldest and wisest the world had ever known. When Edwin built the arsenal, Orzaghmen vowed to protect it; he needed someone who could be reliable, so he sent Red Beard as a guardian and messenger. Anything unfortunate happened, he was their first contact.
"Did you use this to ask for help?" I asked. I stayed for hours in the chamber accompanying Armdan, pitching solutions and trying to find a better way to survive.
"We did," he said. "It didn't work."
"Then try again."
He eyed me with pure irritation, "we are sending every incident happening, it's either not reaching them or there is no one to reach."
Yes of course, if they could find out about Condor's location, they might have had no difficulty finding Red Beard. Killing him would have been their first step.
"So how will you do this?"
"Do what?"
"Destroy the control…"
Armdan took a cylindrical case under his desk and held it on his lap, he pushed the handle on the end of it and turned it upside down. A series of rings that were stacked closely slid out when he pulled the handle.
"It converts the elements into explosives," he said. "And it can be activated remotely."
He pushed them back into the cylinder and locked the handle. I wanted to ask how they would plant it when the whole storey was flooded with knights but I swallowed when a dwarf rushed through the door.
Red lights flickered behind him, "They are here."
Armdan darted out of the chamber and joined a group of five dwarfs. He opened a metal box that looked very much similar to a weapon crate. Inside emerged three pairs of arms held by a wooden stand. The dwarfs grabbed one for each.
Armdan hit a glance at me, "you may need one."
I picked the last one up hesitantly, it was not the Ant or Eagle, it was a short, handy, single-barrel Bulldog, but that didn't make it light; it was as heavy as a half-ant. Before leaving, Armdan warned us that those attached to the arms were the last elements. I followed them to the stairs blindly. When we reached the swirling stairs they became still, one of the dwarves at the top slightly opened the door and peeked through the gap. He then jumped out, fully unbinding it and signalled the others. I followed them like an obedient child. They randomly took covers behind the short machines, pillars and trees. I did the same behind pillar support. The storey that was filled with the crowd was then empty, the chambers above were tightly closed, and it was completely silent that I could hear my breath. I scanned the whole storey and finally found the holed plates that passed on either side of the tree line. Under-floor storage.
Footsteps surfaced from the end of the storey, they were casual and confident yet well-equipped with arms. There were exactly four of them, I would have run away if there was one more, for if one of them took out two of us I would be forced into a deadly situation. Luckily that didn't happen, I wish I had the Eagle, but the Bulldog was better, I could hold it in one hand even though it was heavy. We waited as one of the dwarves held his hand in the air. When he let it down we immediately started to fire, two knights fell immediately, and one of the knights jumped behind the pillar. And the last one disappeared. The firing suddenly stopped, the cylinders had been emptied. They knew we were done, and I realised I didn't fire at all. A knight stepped in front, holding for us to show ourselves. I took a long deep breath and emerged. He had the hold but was slowed by his weight. The leads thrashed his armour. I ducked into the cover back and realised how quickly the element was exhausted. There was another knight behind the cover. His communicator made some weird noises. He tried to call for backup. The dwarves glanced at each other but none had saved the element. We couldn't rush directly as the knight was armed... As time went we got nervous. A dwarf looked at all of us individually and nodded. At first, I thought he would rush and try to take the knight out with bare hands. But the dwarf just ran into him and exploded into pieces.
Pieces of the knight's armour scattered on the floor. I expelled heavily, dumb, weak, trying to figure out what happened, but the dwarves got at ease and moved; the plates opened and the refugees climbed from the storage. He must have had a grenade, which he must have triggered when he was close to the knight. Just the thought of it made me sick.
"Thanks," Armdan said as he rose through the stairs. He walked past me and stamped the half-split communicator that survived the blast.
"Why?"
"We can jam the signal," he said. "But not forever."
The dwarves who went came back with three corpses of other dwarves. I glanced at Armdan.
"Watchers, only three, less suspicion."
"How many times has this happened?"
"This?" He wondered. "This is the fourth."
"And how many dead?"
"... a lot," he agreed.
The watchers send a warning when the knights approach, with no arms so that they would be unaware. When they enter the storey their communicator would be blocked, no way out. The other knights would never know until they repeat the same.
"How will I get out, after planting?"
"Just dive out."