Telepathy / Illusions

A few months ago, Alhammarret had started sending Jace out to gather information. Alhammarret called them “training missions,” but they were quite real. Under cover of darkness and cloaked by illusions, Jace would sneak into a camp of one of the opposing sides. There, whether through telepathy or mundane sleuthing, he would learn about the army’s battle plans, and return to report to Alhammarret.

He’d protested at first, but the information they learned from these missions helped Alhammarret keep the peace. Often, just mentioning battle plans at a joint meeting was enough to keep the front quiet for a month or two.

***

“Welcome back,” said Alhammarret. “What have you learned?”

Jace could not read Alhammarret’s mind, and, out of courtesy, Alhammarret did not read his without invitation, except when they were practicing mental defenses. Jace was no longer helpless, but his mentor could still blast through his mental blocks without effort.

By way of answer, Jace opened up a particular set of memories to Alhammarret’s scrutiny. Jace had learned from a high-ranking Separatist officer of Trovian designs for a surprise springtime offensive. They planned to cross the Rime Marshes before the thaw and drive for the Ampryn Core. It would be a brutal campaign for both sides, bringing the fighting to previously untouched civilian territories and potentially breaking the Ampryn stranglehold on the Core States. And Jace had learned of it without letting the Trovians know who he was or what he had gleaned from them.

***

Unquestionably, he was growing more powerful. He’d had to fight his way out of the Trovian camp, but he’d cleaned up after himself. He’d gotten everything he went for, nobody who’d seen him was going to remember him, and he hadn’t done any permanent damage. Even a few months ago, that kind of operation would have been beyond him. Soon enough, he’d be a better mind mage than….

JACE’S ORIGIN: ABSENT MINDS