Author Games: The Absent Empress

Semifinals: Maanyo

 "For every sword

There is a sheath;

A wharf the Empire's

Lies beneath.

Harumi stands

On hollow ground

Within it Sato

Will be found."

It was fitting, Aar thought, that Project Phoenix's most dangerous venture would take place in the dark.

They lingered on the outskirts of Harumi Wharf, hidden behind a derelict brick building on the nearby road. Darkness cloaked them; the only light bled from the city beyond the harbor, even the moon a sliver in the sky. Aar could not make out the crease in Nora's brow, or the restless movement in King's legs. He could observe very little, but perhaps that was for the best. He could afford no distractions from the only factor he needed to observe—the movement of Empire guards.

A few days' worth of research, coupled with references from Project Phoenix's own files, had fleshed out the bare-bones puzzle their oracle had provided. Obviously, the riddle indicated Ms. Sato's location at Harumi Wharf, but the criminal presence around that wharf only became clear through review of the Project Phoenix records. These pinpointed Harumi as a transportation hub for the Empire, a mob-like organization with deadly control over the city. For decades, the Empire had committed brazen offenses, ranging from petty theft to murder of high-ranking officials, but its roots in the city were too strong for any objector to challenge it. Past heroes had attempted to take down the organization—one Tokyo hero, Dragonfly, had routinely battled the Empire figurehead called "the Emperor"—but the Empire had always seemed to regroup, rebuild.

Notable to Project Phoenix, agents of the Empire had been spotted blending into tourist crowds in the nearby Koto district, always coming or going from the Harumi warehouses. But the oracle had indicated Harumi was more than a mere transportation avenue. "For every sword," he had said, "there is a sheath." The sheath to a lethal organization, the heroes had reasoned, could only be its headquarters. Further research uncovered that the Empire guarded Harumi heavily. By day, the wharf serviced all of Tokyo, every business that relied on supplies from overseas. But by night, the "security officers" that patrolled the wharf were no government officials, and they possessed ties to external entities, entities that appeared in the Project Phoenix records again and again for Empire crime.

More disturbing were the oracle's words on the wharf itself. "Harumi stands on hollow ground," he had said, as well as noted that the Empire "sheath" existed beneath the wharf. Clearly, the hub of all Empire operations could not be run out of a lone warehouse. What the riddle implied was that the Empire headquarters stretched underneath the wharf, below the ground their guards patrolled. An entrance underground had to have been constructed inside one of the warehouses, where it would be inconspicuous during the daytime. Only by descending through that entrance could they access a hostage Ms. Sato.

But blocking that entrance was the security. Five of the six remaining heroes would need to infiltrate Empire headquarters without being gunned down—from her vantage point on a nearby hill, Irene had already observed semi-automatic rifles strapped to every patrolman, rifles that research indicated they would not hesitate to use. As coordinator of covert operations, Aar had worked with Irene to plan the heroes' entrance, placing Irene in a position where she could see using the project's magnification goggles. She would tell them where and when to move, and the heroes would follow. Once inside, Aar would hide and observe the door while the others retrieved Ms. Sato. The plan was highly risky, obviously—even the Declan Hart mission had guaranteed them more cover—but Project Phoenix could proceed in no other fashion. How else could they preserve the life of the woman who had done so much, for them and for the world?