A short chappie, but it introduces da bad guy. I love these descriptive beginnings ...
[offtopic]
I just drew this rux0r pic of CT, Claw and Shinyso. YaY! If only I could find a way to post it, now ...
[/offtopic]

The small, dark building was, at first glance, naught but a shadow nestled against one of the huge hills on Carrotus' surface. It was crumbling, blasted, half destroyed, nothing but a curiousity, and a relic of a bygone age. The stonework was decaying slowly, blocks of grey granite lying scattered through the pass, long overgrown with ivy and shrubs. Tall trees could not grow in such a place, and so the ruin lay abandoned to the elements, deprived of even that scant protection a forest would provide, barren and windswept for years. Nothing moved except for the vegetation, as it was stirred by the wind.
But under the ruin was a different story ...
The spiralling, half-caved in staircase, hidden in a relatively intact corner, led below the pass, winding down through the silent, still darkness. If illuminated, the walls would be rough and raw, towering banks of hard-packed earth, with no protective stones to hold them at bay. The roots of dessicated plants would shine whitely, dried and twisted into tortured, contorted shapes.
Soft footfalls broke the silence. Something moved without lights, following the old, twisted stair down through the soft, concealing blackness.
A corridor lay benearth the surface, at the end of the stairs. This was navigated flawlessly, and at the end a door hissed open softly, the technology odd in this ancient place.
Light flooded the raw earthen corridor for an instant and then the creature had slipped inside, fleeing the darkness that waited, ever patient, without.
The figure shielded his eyes from the sudden illumination. The unsteady light of the wall-lamps revealed him to be a small, golden-red lizard, dressed in a simple grey uniform.
"Justiar ... you were unseen, I trust." A dark figure moved from the far end of the room, as Justiar navigated the shallow steps that led down to the circular depression in the middle of the room.
"Of course, General."
"Excellent. The message was delivered." It was not a question.
"No. The contact did not show up."
"Pity. Oh, well, nothing is flawless. Tepal's devision will have no part in the glory to come."
"That goes without saying," Justiar agreed. "Did the Cambion contact you?"
"No, I have been maintaining comm silence."
"Well, they contacted me. They're just outside of the Carrotus system, where defense scanners can't pick them up. They're ready to begin landing, on your command. Plus, Rambarath stands ready."
"Ah, yes, Jheran. Do you think he arranged the very convenient closing of space traffic?"
"No. He wouldn't do that, not for us." Justiar hesitated. "Irinn, you can't trust him."
"I don't." Irinn paused, the flickering lights playing over his lithe form. He, too, was a lizard, larger than usual, black as the corridor outside. His scarlet pants brought out crimson highlights in his coloring. His muddy green eyes were intelligent and piercing, and unnervingly enough, fixed on Justiar. The smaller reptile looked away nervously.
"Well, they're waiting. You'd better give the command. The Cambion has already picked a landing zone close to the target."
"Perfect."
"Almost. They have to wake the troops out of coldsleep."
"Estimated time delay?"
"Two or three days; a week, max."
"Delays, delays ..." Irinn paced. "Still, not so great a setback after all. This time, we will finish the great work started by Devan Shell!"