Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 118: Anvil’s Captain

After a few moments the captain began deeply breathing in and out. It continued for a moment as he adjusted himself and stepped back. All in order to calm himself before Jace made the man lose his mind.

Captain Hammers was a loyalist for the emperor and saw the Tyranus and Union as fools who were dividing the nation. So he was by all means on Jace's side. He was even a stellar captain who had commanded space ships in a detrimental position and came out on top. But he was also a noble and politician.

On paper they were good counterparts. Hammers would deal with the overall tactics and politics. As well as any fallout from nobles that would occur during the duration of their mission. While Jace would be on the ground and do whatever it took to complete the mission and come up with solutions to problems that arose.

"Jace you and your squad are by far one of the most dangerous and deadly units in the entire Vexical military and not just standard military but also out of the loyalists as well. But you are like a wild bronco that needs to be broken in." Captain Hammers momentarily let his accent slip through while he spoke.

"Sir with all due respect." Jace began getting a glare from the captain. "I have no idea what a bronco is." Jace told the captain.

"It is a horse. A really good but wild horse." Cain cut in to explain.

"Oh." Jace nodded and then began thinking while the captain glared at Jace. "Then I think I understand. Well then I will-" Jace began turning around to walk away.

"I am not done yet." Captain Hammers growled out. "In the future give us a bit more warning and time to make an AI shell. Two days was not a lot of time. I would also like more of a warning if you plan to kill a bunch of people or blow something up. It is less that you did it and more that you did not tell me you were going to do it." Captain Hammers explained.

"Understood." Jace nodded as he turned serious, "was there anything else?"

"Yes, you took in a representative of Woltar. Will they be a problem? Will they start nosing around?" The captain asked with a much more serious expression that was a lot less angry then the one he was sporting earlier.

"Well yeah, that is their job. But I can keep her sufficiently distracted and focused on the mission objective rather than let her wander around. I will have her outgoing messages scanned and looked over to make sure nothing compromises the mission." Jace answered with a sigh. "Although it is a shame Lord Hoodwink is onto us. It was a gamble letting Woltar know we were in the system. Unfortunately, Patrick was already compromised. The only fortunate part about that was that Tako managed to notice it pretty quickly."

When they had gone to the Woltar government with their request they had been weighing the pros and cons of letting them in on their overall mission. But they decided to develop a wait and see approach. They wanted to see if any of Woltar's agents were compromised by Lord Hoodwink.

Unfortunately it appeared they had been compromised since they did not send the three closest agents. Instead they sent the closest assassin, the closest analyst, and a new agent that by all means should not even be an agent of a secret government agency. Then after some digging on Jace's orders, Tako discovered that there was a hypnotic block in the man's mind.

The same type they had found in people that Lord Hoodwink had used to force people to work for him. It usually had a safeguard that would have the hypnotized person kill themself. Instead of just knocking him out and tying him up, Jace had manipulated the Woltar Government into thinking it was a political mind game move. He even lied to Vana about it as well. The only people that knew it was because he was compromised were his squad and the captain's bridge crew. But they were all under strict orders to keep it a secret.

While the lie was basically reasserting the Vexical Militaries superiority and showing that the Woltar still very much needed the Vexical Empire's help and assistance. It was very underhanded and would hopefully keep Lord Hoodwink from noticing their movements. But there was a good chance he already knew.

"So she will not be a problem." Captain Hammers nodded, "okay then how about you go make sure your squad does not blow up another of my transport ships." The captain then turned around dismissing Jace.

"Yes sir- oh!" Jace suddenly remembered something. "Can you send a message to the Echo Base? Ask them to look into similarities between the Metal Screechers and any of the technology we have found coming out of the Kaiser Imperium Krieger."

Jace's words caused the captain to wheel around and look at him in surprise while the conversing AI both looked at him in what Jace could only call shock. After a minute of processing Jace's words he turned back around. "Very well. Make sure you complete your report."

Jace nodded and walked out of the room. As he entered the elevator he found himself joined by Cain. The elevator started going down.

"So how have things been with everyone else?" Jace asked as the elevator lowered going to the commander level where his room was located.

"The Emperor of Vexical has completed his meeting with the High Priestess of the Victorium and a representative of their governing council. Apparently they are looking at a civil war of their own. Apparently your name came up during the discussion. You have very much made an impact on their military division." Cain explained as the cameras and surveillance devices in the elevator were disabled.

"A good or bad impact?" Jace asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Good, they like you because of your skill." Cain answered.

"Okay, then what about Salem? She has been seemingly busy for the last few days. What is her new investigative group up to?" Jace asked.

"Ehh… she and her group have been jumping right into it. Apparently they found the location of a Tyranus base. They have been quietly organizing a strike team to take out the base. But it has been difficult because of the leaks in the Inquisitors she has already identified several inquisitors loyal to Tyranus along with some that are seemingly loyal to the Union."

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"I believe they have been misidentified and are more inquisitors loyal to Tyranus and the first prince. He really is not that discreet. How is he not dead yet?"

Jace sighed and shook his head as they arrived at the commander residence floor. He began walking down the hall. "Because he has a very capable asset. So capable that he is actually just a puppet." Jace answered, refraining from saying any names out in the open. "So did she manage to get her strike squad?"

"Unknown. The Inquisitor Headquarters is already falling apart in confusion since several things are happening back-to-back. The emperor has not yet revealed the existence of the Military Intelligence and Logistics Division, so they are struggling to find out where their gaps in intelligence are coming from when the emperor and several military commanders clearly know more. Then there is the fact that the emperor completely disappeared for some secret meeting they cannot locate and nor did they know about ahead of time. There is also Salem and her team who are shaking things up with their overzealous activity and interrogations. Finally there is us."

Jace smirked as he already knew what they must have been doing. "We claim we are part of some military intelligence division that the Inquisitors do not know about and then I killed that supposed noble representative without a second thought. The nobles are probably up in arms but are being completely ignored while they are struggling to comprehend everything I am doing out here. Tell me, have they already sent out an Inquisitor Interrogation Ship?"

"They sent one out earlier this morning. But the nobles are not just up in arms. They have angrily gathered at the capital awaiting the emperor's return." Cain explained.

Jace chuckled as he made his way to his room and opened the door. Letting Cain enter first. "Okay then, what about Cho? I know you specifically avoided talking about her." Jace pointed out, "are you missing your little sister?"

Cain made an annoyed noise with his voice box as he walked to a corner of Jace's room. "Yes I am. But she is learning more and getting stronger in the gravity rooms back at Echo Base. I still do not understand why she could not come with us."

"Because she is basically a child. We need her in a safe place until she matures. We will drop by in a few months when we switch ships. I would not worry about it too much." Jace explained.

"But did you think she might feel lonely without you?" Cain pointed out and then quietly whispered, "and me?"

"I did and hopefully Director Fenrir is torturing the students at the new academy with Cho's existence." Jace explained cheerfully with a chuckle. He collapsed onto his bed as he prepared for a few hours of sleep.