Tyranny of Steel

Within the confines of the Mamluke Sultanate, an Agent of Austria was currently dressed from head to toe in Arabic attire; Though a German by blood, he had spread enough makeup across his skin and dyed his hair in an attempt to blend in with the local population. If one did not pay close enough attention, they likely wouldn't tell the difference.

This Agent had a singular purpose: to frame the attack on the Second Prince on the Byzantine Empire's long-term rival. This was a task easier said than done, as it required smuggling ordnance into the country through the Emirate of Granada.

Yet despite the difficulties in his journey, at the moment, this man was on the back of a camel with several crates that were filled with artillery shells. These shells were a faulty product fired during the war in Iberia and remained undetonated. Despite this, they were fully armed and capable of being detonated if one knew what they were doing.

Of course, they could also be drilled out, where the TNT could be retrieved and turned into a makeshift explosive like what was used in Antioch. His goal was to plant the evidence within the Mamluke arsenal, as for what came after that, only time would tell.

In order for this operation to succeed, the man had taken up the identity of an Islamic radical who had salvaged the equipment in Iberia and was willing to sell it to the Mamluke Sultanate. As the camel slowly approached the gates of the Mamluke Arsenal, the Austrian Agent was stopped by the local guards, who immediately began to speak to him in Arabic.

"Halt! State your business!"

The Agent immediately did as he was told and stopped his mount before speaking in a perfect Granadan Accent.

"My name is Insaf Al-Mursi; I am a humble scavenger from Granada; I have acquired some assets from the war in the Iberian peninsula that your masters will be greatly interested in..."

The guards looked at this stranger with questioning gazes. Currently, the Islamic world was preparing for a Jihad against the Byzantine Empire; despite this, they had not included Granada due to their secular leadership and close ties to Christendom. For a Granadan to cross the straight of Gibraltar with gains from the battlefields in the Iberian Peninsula was suspicious.

Nevertheless, if he was genuinely faithful, then they could make great use of whatever was retrieved, and thus the leader of the guards nodded his head before responding to the strange scavenger from the North.

"Very well, I will escort you to the Magistrate. However, if you make one move out of line, I will cut your throat. Do you understand me?"

The Agent immediately nodded his head in silence, signaling that he understood the threat. After doing so, the gates opened, and he rode his camel through the entrance, where he eventually was led to the center of the facility.

After reaching a certain point, the Austrian Agent hitched his camel before following the guard further into the Armory, where the Mamluke Magistrate in charge of overseeing its operations was located. When the man witnessed the stranger beside his guards, he immediately began to question what was happening.

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"Who is this? Why have you allowed him to have access to this facility?"

With this said, the guard immediately began to explain his actions

"This is a scavenger from Granada; he comes bringing weapons scavenged from the battlefields of Iberia. I thought you might be interested in what he has for sale..."

The Magistrate's eyes immediately widened in excitement as he heard this news; anything utilized by the Austrian Army in warfare was a considerable gain and was greatly desired by the various powers of the Western World. As such, he quickly addressed the Austrian Agent with a welcoming response.

"My friend, I am Ufayr Ibn Sulaiman, Magistrate of the Mamluke Sultanate. Please show me your wares; I promise I will pay a fair price for whatever you offer."

A smile immediately etched itself upon the Agent's face as he bowed before the Magistrate.

"It would be my honor..."

After saying this, the group walked over to the camels where the Agent lowered one of the crates; after doing so, he opened it up to reveal the unexploded ordnance.

"These are explosive shells fired by the Austrian Artillery; they proved to be faulty and failed to detonate. However, the explosive material within them is said to be still active. If you were to open these up, you could use them as makeshift explosives far more powerful than gunpowder!"

The Magistrate was immediately enamored with the product; he did not even care about its potential danger. As such, he swiftly nodded his head with enthusiasm before holding up five fingers.

"I will pay 5 Austrian Guldens for each! If my people can research how these devices function, we will easily be able to defeat the Byzantine Empire!"

By now the Austrian coinage had pretty much become the international standard of currency in the Western World. Its purity, and size made it a stable commodity, and the strict laws of Austria's National Mint prevented any debasement. The Austrian Agent did not even bother to negotiate. Instead, he bowed his head gracefully and responded with a surprising statement.

"That is fine by me; anything I can do to support the faithful!"

Upon hearing this, the Magistrate began to trust this supposed Granadan Scavenger more; as such, he quickly ordered a servant to retrieve the payment. After a few moments, a sack containing several gold coins arrived and was handed to the Agent. After counting the payment to ensure it was accurate, the Agent nodded and smiled before responding.

"A pleasure doing business with you!"

As he said this, he began to depart, where the Magistrate called out to him from behind.

"If you find any other Austrian weapons, our doors will be open for you!"

Despite hearing this, the Agent did not respond. Instead, he hurried off to a safe distance from the Arsenal; after all, he had left a little present for the Mamluke Sultanate. The Magistrate looked over at his guards and gave them their orders only after the strange scavenger disappeared.

"Quickly, unpack these shells and get them to the research department. I want to know how they function as quickly as possible!"

The guards immediately nodded in response and began to do as instructed; after searching through the opened crate, a guard noticed something peculiar. There was a small pocket watch at the bottom of the crate. He immediately called out to the Magistrate with a hint of concern.

"Boss, what is this?"

Immediately the Magistrate walked over and inspected the device, it was some form of a clock, but he had no idea what it was doing in the crate. The seconds slowly counted down as the Mamlukes inspected the device with curiosity until finally, the hands struck noon. The moment it did so, a massive explosion detonated, killing everyone present and bringing down the entire Arsenal.

The Agent gazed off from afar atop a dune as he watched the massive explosion rocked the city. He had wired this clock to act as a detonator; at the bottom of these crates was a board that served as a fake floor. Beneath this board was a layer of tightly packed TNT. When combined with the explosive shells, it provided a large enough blast to tear apart the Arsenal and everything in it.

With this act of terror, Austria could effectively claim that unexploded ordnance had been smuggled into the Mamluke Sultanate, which was used to attack the Second Prince of the Byzantine Empire. In doing so, absolving themselves of the guilt. They could also claim that after learning about this fact, they dispatched an agent to detonate the ordinance to prevent the Mamlukes from making another such attempt in the future.

This was the plan that the Deputy Director of Royal Intelligence had come up with to frame the most prominent enemy of the Byzantine Empire for the attack on Decentius and the other Conspirators. Unfortunately for the Mamluke Sultanate, Byzantium would retaliate swiftly and fiercely when this so-called fact was revealed.

The only people who would know that Austria was involved in the attack would be the Austrian Agents and the second Prince himself. After all, it was his actions that were responsible for the retaliation that had permanently maimed him.

This was something that he would never forgive so long as he still drew breath. However, despite knowing the truth, he would never reveal it; after all, if he did, his conspiracy to murder his sister and dissolve the Austro-Byzantine Alliance would be revealed.

If such a thing were to reach his father, he would be punished severely as a traitor to the Byzantine Empire and the Palaiologos Dynasty. The punishment for treason was death, and though he was now maimed, Decentius would never willingly walk into the grave.

As for the Agent responsible for this operation, he would quickly exfiltrate out of the Mamluke Sultanate and back to Granada, where he would begin to conduct operations against the various warlords of Portugal who still resisted the Sultan's rule. For a man of his occupation, work was never truly finished.