Dromos 15, Imperial Year 1644
The Free City of Velathri – The Secondary Workshop
Ten days had passed since the rescue at Ironfast.
The class had gone south to recover and plan their next move. Grom traveled with them, still learning to be free. But the Black Knights had not rested. Vlad had spent every waking hour preparing for their first coordinated assault.
The target was a man named Silas Vane. He was not a noble, not a slaver, not a corrupt official. He was a merchant – but his goods were poison. He manufactured and distributed a drug called dust, a fine white powder that enslaved the mind and destroyed the body. Thousands had died. Thousands more were addicted. The city guard was bribed; the courts were blind.
The Black Knights would bring him to justice.
Vlad stood before the seven knights in the expanded workshop. The Geass crest glowed on the wall behind him. Each knight wore their custom armor and carried the tools he had made for them.
Hound – bastard sword, round shield with hidden blade and axe, reinforced half‑armor.
Sparrow – compound bow, lightweight leather and chainmail, steel half‑helmet.
Rook – padded jack, gauntlet dart launcher, lockbox for evidence.
Lynx – silent cloth armor, grappling hook, throwing knives, lockpicks.
Titan – full plate armor, tower shield with spring‑loaded spike, war hammer.
Phantom – dark hood and shadow‑weave cloak, dual wrist‑mounted spring blades, smoke pellets.
Eagle – elven scout armor, folding spyglass, signal mirror, light crossbow.
"Tonight," Vlad said, "we end Silas Vane. His compound is fortified: walls, gates, a private guard of thirty men. He has a vault where he keeps his ledgers and his product."
"How do we get in?" Hound asked.
Vlad walked to a cabinet and opened it. Inside, disassembled, lay the 20mm sniper rifle – Tyrant's End.
"I will make the entrance."
Dromos 15, Imperial Year 1644 (continued)
Silas Vane's Compound – Night
The compound was a small fortress on the outskirts of Velathri – stone walls, iron gates, torchlit towers. Guards patrolled the parapets, their shadows flickering. Inside, Silas Vane slept in his mansion, surrounded by his wealth and his poison.
Vlad had positioned himself on a hilltop one kilometer away. The 20mm rifle was assembled, the bipod planted, the scope calibrated. He wore the Zero armor – black cape, masked helmet, Geass crest. Beside him, the seven knights watched through spyglasses.
"The gates first," Vlad said. "Then the towers. Then the mansion doors."
He fired.
The 20mm round struck the iron gate. The sound was a thunderclap – a deep, concussive roar that echoed across the valley. The gate exploded inward, torn from its hinges, twisted metal flying. Behind Vlad, the knights flinched.
Titan's eyes went wide. "By the gods…"
The second shot took down the left tower. Stone shattered. The guard atop it vanished in a spray of red. The third shot collapsed the right tower. The fourth shot blew open the mansion's double doors. The fifth shot punched through the wall beside the doors, creating a second entrance.
Silence fell. Then shouting.
"Move," Vlad said.
The knights descended.
Hound led the charge, his shield raised, his sword ready. Titan followed, his war hammer swinging, his tower shield absorbing a crossbow bolt. Sparrow covered them from a low wall, her compound bow singing – arrows finding throats and shoulders.
Phantom slipped through the chaos, invisible, his wrist blades extended. He found the guards' captain and silenced him with a single, fluid motion.
Lynx scaled the broken tower, her grappling hook securing her line. She dropped down inside the mansion, unlocking a side door for the others.
Rook stayed at the rear, his dart launcher ready. He did not fire – but he watched, noting every detail for the report.
Eagle climbed the hill opposite Vlad's position, mapping the escape routes. He saw no reinforcements coming.
Inside the mansion, Silas Vane tried to flee. He had a hidden passage behind his bookshelf – but Hound was faster. The knight blocked the passage, his sword at the merchant's throat.
"Silas Vane, you are accused of manufacturing and distributing poison, of bribery, of murder. Surrender."
Vane spat. "You are nothing. The guard will hang you."
"The guard is not coming."
Titan entered the room, his hammer dripping. "The compound is secure."
Vlad appeared in the doorway, the 20mm rifle slung across his back. He walked to Vane's desk, opened the vault, and pulled out the ledgers.
"Evidence," Vlad said, handing them to Rook. "Take him."
Dromos 16, Imperial Year 1644
The Workshop – Aftermath
The knights gathered around the table. Rook had already analyzed the ledgers – enough to convict Vane a hundred times over. The merchant was in a cell, awaiting trial.
"We did it," Sparrow said. "No casualties on our side."
"Because of Zero," Hound said. He looked at the rifle, now disassembled and locked away. "That weapon… it tore through stone and iron like paper."
Titan nodded. "I have never seen anything like it. Not in twenty years of fighting."
Vlad said nothing.
Phantom spoke, his voice barely audible. "If such weapons fell into the wrong hands…"
"They will not," Vlad said. "I will not share them."
"But if you are killed?" Rook asked. "Or if someone steals them?"
Vlad turned to face them. "Then you destroy them. Or you keep them locked away. They are not for this world."
Sparrow stepped forward. "And if you stray, Zero? If you become the very thing you hunt?"
The room went silent.
Vlad looked at each of them. "Then you pull me back. Or you stop me. That is the weight we all carry."
Hound placed a hand on Vlad's shoulder. "We will."
The knights dispersed. Vlad stood alone before the crest.
Geass, he thought. A wish. A hope. And a warning.
He returned to his workbench.
There was always more to build.
End of Chapter Thirty‑Four