"I should have known you didn't walk her in through the front door," Lentan mused.  "The Resistance has been trying for years to get an insider in the Palace.  The closest we got was when one of our early sympathizers wound up in Shenzai Square, hanging by his tail."  He grimaced and looked at the map again.  "All right, so here's my plan..."<br/><br/>"Most of you, save for these two," he pointed at Chiro and Arget, "will be our main infiltration force.  I'll get into that in a minute.  You guys," he got Chiro and Arget's attention, "will have a special job."<br/><br/>He pointed at the shore of Lake Kassemar at the top left of the map.  The outer wall of the Palace ran parallel to the water line, just a few feet away by the look of it.  Twenty feet in from that was the bulk of the Palace itself.  "There can't be any motion sensors operating on the lake.  There will be cameras, though.  With those wings of yours it shouldn't be too hard to approach from the air, but if you come in from the city they'll see you.  You'll need to make your way over one of the bridges to the other side of the Lake and fly from a rooftop over there.  Most buildings are taller than the Palace, so it shouldn't be too hard. The cameras will be watching the Lake for suspicious boats, so you shouldn't be spotted.  Well, not by the cameras..."<br/><br/>He ran a hand over his short-cropped hair.  "The Bitch will have guards on the Palace roof.  Lookouts.  Since the fighting is entirely to the south and east, they shouldn't be looking across the lake.  Take them out quickly and quietly.  You should only be in the air for a few seconds, so nobody on the ground should see you.  Once you're on the roof, you should be able to jump right down onto the Lady's personal balcony out front.  It's not that much of a drop."  Lentan looked at Arget.  "You'll need to stay on the roof.  It's ten stories up and there's only one well-fortified door into the Palace.  Block off the door so the guards can't get to you.  Then find any way you can to mess with the Palace's electricity.  The more you screw with it, the more they'll be distracted by our main force.  The Palace is an old, old building, so any important wiring should be pretty obvious."  He looked back at Chiro.  "Your job is to break into the Lady's personal chambers and find that weapon she used on you.  Steal it and bring it back with you.  My scientists would like to take a look at it.  If you run into the Lady... give her my regards."  He gave Chiro a dark smile before moving on, looking at Halvorson and the rest.<br/><br/>"You guys are going to come in from below.  That means through the sewers, so make sure you stash your truck near a manhole."  He pointed to the bottom right corner of the map.  "You should be down here somewhere.  Get into the sewers and make your way to the Palace, below Shenzai Square."  He traced his finger along the map until it reached the outer wall of the Palace at the northwest edge of the Square.  "The Palace was built long before the city had a sewer system.  It's not hooked in now, either, but rather has its own water and waste system connected directly to the Lake.  Which means there's no<span style="font-style: italic">obvious</span>way into the Palace from below."<br/><br/>He smirked.  "Except for one.  When I was working in the Technical Division I had a lot of experience going over plans of the city.  When the sewers were put in, they decided to run the lines to the Lake also.  It just so happens that one opening comes out to the Lake directly beside one of the Palace's waste vents.  And the Palace's sewers were dug in below the catacombs beneath the Palace."  He smiled fully.  "And there's nothing much between the sewers and the catacombs but some rusty old grates."  He stabbed his finger at the map and traced an imaginary route along it.  "You'll follow the city sewers to the Lake opening, then carefully cross from that to the Palace's sewer opening.  Once in, you'll have to find a grate in the ceiling leading to the catacombs and break it open without making much noise.  Climb up through the grate and you're in.  After that it's just a matter of getting into the Palace itself and finding the dungeon where Mark Karogen is being held.  This is why I'm sending a lot of you.  There are no sensors or cameras until you get into the Palace, but once you're in they will certainly notice you.  You'll have to fend them off, break out Karogen, and make a quick escape the same way you came in."<br/><br/>"It's not going to be easy.  The city has a closed-circuit TV system that they can use to watch your truck.  If they see you going into or out of the manhole, the game's up.  I'll have to take down the whole system for a while so they can't see you.  And I'll have to do it so they don't suspect that I'm pirating their feed."  He glanced around at them all.  "But if we can do this - in broad daylight no less - we'll give the Bitch a nasty black eye..." he looked at Chiro, "...or maybe a little more."  He looked at the Slayers.  "We should keep from trying to extract the Slayer agent.  As far as we know, she's still got solid cover and could still help us out a lot."<br/><br/>He looked around.  "So.  Questions?"<br/><br/>Meanwhile, in the warehouse-cum-hospital, the medics were busy tending to Iln's wounds.  The medic that had been with Halvorson's platoon heard Iln's stomach growl and looked at the head doctor.<br/><br/>"Sir?  I think she could do with some food," he said.<br/><br/>"Right," said the doctor.  "She need 800 pounds, and probably not all at once.  We should start feeding her now."  He thought a moment, then looked sideways at the medic.  "Ask for permission to use the prisoners."<br/><br/>The medic nodded and left, relaying the request to soldiers in a nearby building.  In turn, a private was dispatched from there to the gazebo, where he tapped Colonel Merelli on the shoulder, whispering the request into his ear.  Merelli's expression hardened and he nodded curtly.  "If you will excuse me, my friends," he announced.  "I have to tend to my brigade."  He saluted Lentan, who returned the salute, then headed into the warehouse, approaching Iln's curtained-off section and leaning in over her, resting a hand on her shoulder.  Just outside the curtains, four dejected looking furs in Night Guardsman uniforms were lined up and told to keep silent.<br/><br/>Merelli leaned close, invoking words of endearment in the beautiful language he had used earlier.  "Iln,<span style="font-style: italic">anvti firicia</span>, are you hungry?" he whispered in her ear.