Jace flipped open the lid of his grey, metal lunch box, and blinked slowly as he stared down at the tightly wrapped, precisely sliced sandwiches.
He pinched at the cling film gently with two of his large claws and tugged at it, scuffling the previously pristine plastic.
The wind howled and rushed through his horns, and the thick, red scarf around his neck flapped violently behind him, like a flag in the punishing breeze.
A loud, deep *buzzzzz* echoed through the air. The sound was followed by five electronic pings in his ear.
He sighed loudly and shook his head. He raised his communicator close to his mouth.
"Tighten that aim, please. You're firing several kilograms of hyper-sonic scale-steel. That level of deviation at this range is unacceptable. Heart in the game, eyes on the target."
Jace sat upon a small wooden bench on the edge of an impressive cliff face. The sheer, vertical rock wall below him had several large hover drones lining it, shining bright red lights into the air. Below him, the turbulent waters crashed against the soft, pale sand of the beach. Thick, grey clouds hung heavy in the air, threatening rain at any moment. The grey rock face of the cliff was broken only occasionally by clinging, puffy shrubbery, growing anywhere their roots could take hold.
Laid out on the beach was an oversized obstacle course built from freshly cut logs and surrounded by drones, all for the training Dragoon pilots to sharpen their skills on. Five mechs were stomping about on the sand, their sharp white chassis standing out against the grey of the water, but blending with the soft foam that collected at the tide's break.
The trainee in question strode back to the start of the course. Her Dragoon stood twenty feet tall and carried a huge macro-vulcan rifle, clasped firmly in one of its powerful, metallic hands. A guide drone gave her the green light and she surged forward; the audible crunch of the sand underfoot, followed by a heaving mechanical rush as the mech sprinted forward and vaulted over the first log, placing a hand firmly on the soaking wood and leaping cleanly over the obstruction. The spray of the sea fizzled away as it landed on the grated vents on the back of the Dragoon's chassis.
She leapt through the various obstacles in front of her. The moment she was clear, she raised the giant rifle up, its sleek body and barrel painted with orange and black stripes, firmly signalling it was a training weapon. She aimed it at the hovering drones further down the beach and slowly, the Dragoon squeezed the trigger, the same way a traditional soldier would wield and fire a rifle.
Another loud buzz shook the beach, and Jace counted twelve pings in his ear. He nodded.
"Much better."
The Dragoons moved with a bizarre mechanical grace, caught somewhere between organic and robotic. The mannerisms of their pilots were visible in each movement, even if subtly, but they remained devoid of the little things that make a person seem… alive. It didn't matter how many times he witnessed these towering metal soldiers in action however; Jace couldn't help but feel a rush of pride in his chest at the sight of the Dragoons erupting from the coastline, splashing through the waves in a mix of bubbles, foam and fusion-powered might. These machines were some of the finest feats of engineering the Draconic Alliance had ever produced, and their service record was testament to their effectiveness. There were few problems that couldn't be solved with a salvo of macro-needles from a Dragoon.
With the training going well, he turned his attention back to the sandwich on his lap, his frown easing at the sight of the wrinkled sheet of cling film.
He plucked at it softly and unwrapped his sandwich, before taking a slow bite.
All the ingredients in the empire and I still can't make it taste as good as hers.
He chewed his food in a timely, methodical manner, sighing gently to himself and casting a tired gaze over at the Dragoons. The ones standing deeper in the ocean were visible only by their headlights, shining through the water, illuminating the rising bubbles with a warm yellow glow amongst the grey, stormy depths.
Before too long, a call came through on his communicator. Jace quickly finished his current mouthful of sandwich, dusted his hands off and accepted the call.
"Jace! It's Theo! Where's everybody at? I'm at the hanger and there's no one here."
"Dragoon training - we're at Velk bay. What's up?"
"I was just wondering, did you manage to pull anything from the inspection report on the Zits I submitted a couple days ago?" Theo asked. He seemed to be breathing a little heavier than usual, and Jace could hear his tail scraping gently against the hangar floor in the background, as though it were swishing around restlessly.
"Nothing, I'm afraid. Their documents were clean. Everything followed compliance and I couldn't find a hint of fabrication. As per usual, Evangeline is running lean and clean."
"UGH!" Theo growled down the line, huffing loudly in frustration. "I thought that might be the case, but I was so hoping your expert eyes might find something I missed. Fucking bastards."
"No such luck, I'm afraid. Sorry, Theo."
"Well, luck is all it is, Jace. We'll catch them out, one day, one way or another I'm sure… Hey! Speaking off, has anyone reached out to you?"
"What, about the inspection?"
"Yep!"
"No, I don't believe so. Were you expecting someone to?"
The rhargnorn didn't reply straight away. He seemed lost in thought for several long moments, which was long enough to twist the pride in Jace's chest into a knot of anxiety in his stomach; if Theo was quiet, something was probably wrong.
"Was it the student you helped out?" Jace pressed. "I read that you renovated her, uh… 'office,' if you could call it that."
Theo remained silent, only the quiet whistle of his nostrils could be heard.
This is not like Theo. What in Chance is going on?
"Theo, I need you to speak your mind." Jace commanded.
"I… think I've fucked up? I think? Jace, I got a dagger in my guts, metaphorically this time."
Jace straightened his back. Eyes narrowing, he placed his half eaten sandwich back in its box.
"Well, let's talk it out. What's troubling you?" Jace spoke calmly.
"That student, Mooki Rye… she knew something. I didn't want to put it in the report, because, y'know, Evangaline also gets a copy and she seemed stressed enough as it was… the last thing I wanted was the poor girl to be challenged on something I'd written, which may not have even been correct… But I swear Jace, something had scared her. She was shaking, and tearing up…I'd go as far as to say traumatised her; her eyes had that look to them, you know?"
"You anticipated the girl getting in touch?"
"Yes." Theo replied with no hesitation. "I told her to keep herself safe from prying eyes, and I gave her both mine and your C-Add. She was this close to telling me but she was so anxious, Jace. I didn't want to pressure her, not after the phazire incident, but I knew she was going to message us. God-fucking-DAMN IT! I shouldn't have left her there like that, I knew something was wrong!" A loud clang rang out across the connection - it sounded as though Theo had just smacked his fist against the wall.
"How sure are you?" Jace asked firmly. "How unlikely is it that she just changed her mind?"
"No way she changed her mind, no fucking way. Hand on heart. She saw something, and it was cutting her up."
Jace stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"Okay. I'm happy to send her a message if you're worried about her safety. How… worried are you?"
"Very. Jace, I want to go and check on her, now. I'm worried something's happened. I was convinced she was going to message us the second I left that station, and there's been nothing for three days."
"Then I need you to give me something so I can support that theory, Theo. If I send you back to Evangeline's station with nothing but a gut feeling, we're handing her a loaded gun if we're wrong. You saw her at Scyler's trial, you give her an inch and she'll lay a minefield in it." Jace clenched his jaw as he thought back, but shook himself free of the anger after a few seconds, relaxing his shoulders as his scars twitched on his back.
"Shit… SHIT." Theo was frantically wracking his brains for any clue he could, the stress in his voice clearly audible. "She was… she was scared! She told me she was worried about an NDA agreement, and didn't want to violate it, I couldn't get much more out of her!"
Jace slowly raised an eyebrow.
"Calm down, Theo. We'll get to the bottom of this. Now, you said she mentioned her NDA..? That's unusual."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it - You're telling me, hypothetically speaking of course, that she witnesses something so awful that she can't even talk about it to an RMD officer, because her biggest concern is a piece of paper she would have signed several months ago? That isn't how people react to trauma." Jace stated bluntly. "She would have signed that NDA months before even starting her placement on the station. No one goes around actively thinking about them. I simply do not believe that is a logical trail of thought - unless, someone conveniently reminded her of it."
"You think the Zits knew she'd found something?"
"She was working alone on the utility deck, correct? You thought she'd done something wrong, perhaps broken a machine, or gotten on the bad side of her manager?"
"Hell yeah. They were outright punishing her." Theo confirmed.
"Maybe she tattled. Maybe she found something she wasn't supposed to and raised it with management… whose response was to threaten her with her NDA. Before you know it, she's conveniently working alone on the basement floors days before an inspection, and scared shitless thanks to the legal guillotine hanging over her head. You know the XITD division, Theo. They're all firmly rammed up each-other's asses, and don't appreciate people who rat on them."
"That… sounds… plausible. I never considered the NDA thing."
"I wouldn't put it past them, Theo; someone threatened her with it. And they wouldn't have done that unless they knew whatever it was she saw could get them in trouble. Mooki is new blood there, and hasn't proven she can be trusted yet. Moreover, there was no mention in Evangaline's documents about an admin relocation, or a small disagreement, or even a minor accident with Mooki's name next to it. Which means, either we're vastly overstating and over-analysing what's going on here, or -"
"- Or they've covered something up, and sent us false documents."
"Exactly."
Jace paused for a second, staring out over the stormy waters of the bay.
"Theo, if I send you back out there, you must come back with something. I'm putting my reputation on the line here, if you come back empty handed… the next court case might be about us."
"Roger that, sir. I don't think I'm wrong about this though; something has happened to her, I can feel it."
"Understood. Off the record, Theo - I don't think you're wrong either. Rarely is your gut wrong. I'm getting twitchy too just thinking about this. Oh, and do me a favour on your way back…"
"Mhm?"
"Check the sector relay for tampering. I don't think Evangeline would mess with one, but I can easily imagine that one of her little cronies might. Perhaps the student did send a message, but it never made it."
"You got it. Anything else?"
"No. Head off as soon as you can and keep me updated on everything. If Evangeline so much as sneezes, you tell me. I'll need to react fast if we're wrong here."
"If I'm wrong, Jace, I'll take the hit. You can say I acted on my own impulse."
"Whilst I appreciate the gesture, Theo, I'm your superior. And if I allow you to make bad judgement calls and act upon them, that is on me as much as it is you. We will stand shoulder to shoulder, not single file. We will bear the consequences of failure together, if it should be."
"Thanks Jace. I'll drink to that, or at least I would if I wasn't about to hop in a hyper-fighter." Theo's words were followed by the sound of him frantically rustling around, and that distinct sound of his metal leg clanking against the floor as he rushed about the hanger to fetch what he needed.
"Stay in touch, Theo. Let me know what happens."
"You got it, thanks, Jace."
The communication ended abruptly, leaving Jace with that uncomfortable knot in his stomach. He flicked the lid of his lunch box shut; those sandwiches didn't look quite so appealing anymore.
It's not impossible that the student just… forgot, or changed her mind, but I can't help but feel it all fits together too well. If she did rat about something potentially damaging to their cause… Evangeline wouldn't dare hurt a student of the empire though, would she?
*
On the XITD space station, Scyler sat in his office chair alone, staring at his forearm intensely.
Laid out in front of him was a metal tray with a bandage, a medi-gel sprayer, and a scalpel.
He ran his small, curved claws up and down the fabric of his cuff, a bead of sweat visible on the side of his head as it slowly ran down his face.
His eyes briefly shot up towards the door, confirming for the hundredth time that it was locked securely, and that the glass wall had been darkened to privacy mode.
Nodding gently to himself, he exhaled slowly and rolled his sleeve back, exposing his milky, white, scaly skin. His other hand carefully reached for a scalpel, clasping it tightly between his thumb and forefinger.
His eyes focused as he ran his middle finger up and down the exposed skin, up and down, up and down until he found it.
A minute deformation, barely noticeable to the naked eye.
Scalpel gripped securely, his other hand balled into a tight fist.
His breath slow and controlled, he pressed the blade to his skin and made an incision slightly to the side of the bump in his skin. Blood immediately began to seep from the wound. Half an inch long he stopped, and quickly pressed the pointed tip into the wound, wincing in pain.
It tapped against something hard.
The blade caught something and, gently, he pulled it free; a small black and gold slice, barely a slither of circuitry.
He sucked air through his teeth and quickly dropped the artefact onto the tray, reaching for the bandage and tightly binding it around his wound. Once the bleeding was halted, he quickly cleaned his arm and the object off, dabbing up the blood.
His gaze did not stray even once from the artefact as he clamped his wrist computer back on, over the bandage.
I wonder what they want… Never thought I'd hear from them again.
He tapped at the light controls on his desk and the room dimmed quickly, leaving only a warm, golden glow in the corners, behind the potted plants.
Gently, he picked the device up and slipped it into a slot in his wrist computer, holding his breath as a holo screen flickered on in front of him.
It was blank. Just a dull black colour, as if it was dead input.
Unphased, Scyler briefly scratched his chin before grabbing the scalpel and, using its other end, gently tapped against the communicator's keyboard.
He took his time, calm and slow. Tapping one key after another.
One on the one-hundredth input exactly, the screen suddenly flickered awake.
A figure, concealed by a golden mask, with dancing flames reflected in the perfectly polished surface of its face appeared on-screen. They were dressed in pure black robes that concealed their body. The background only showed low resolution; murky brown colours with the occasional slither of brilliant blue, but it was impossible to make out further details.
"You remembered." The figure croaked, its voice modulated and fuzzy.
"I would never forget." Scyler whispered back, casting another nervous eye back at his office door, which was still firmly locked.
"Your dedication has been noted."
Scyler nodded, another bead of sweat seeping down his head.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this unusual -"
"- It is." The figure interrupted. "Highly unusual. You failed. That would typically be the end of your initiation."
"Then… may I request an explanation?"
"Is this not enough to satisfy you?" The crackly voice hissed through the speakers. "Are you not grateful for the lenience we have already shown you? Do you insist on questioning us, your elders, for information you are decades away from being privy to?"
Scyler took a sharp, deep breath in through his mouth, his lips quivering slightly.
"I am incredibly grateful to you all. I am humbled. But I want to understand. You have gone back on one of your strictest and infamous rules for me, and I need to know why. So, I gently request, again, an explanation."
There was a slight pause, as the cloaked figure pondered Scyler's response. Scylar's heart was beating heavily in his ears for what felt like an eternity, when the figure finally spoke.
"The unexpected circumstances surrounding your first trial resulted in several members requesting a new task for you. A second chance." Although Scyler couldn't know for sure, he was almost certain he could hear a smirk as his superior spoke. "Your recent actions have convinced enough of us that you deserve one. Your previous task had unexpected factors that complicated the goal."
"That is… very fair of you. Thank you, Minister."
"Hold your gratitude, initiate. You do not know your new task."
Scyler's heart was thumping in his chest, his body buzzing with a mix of excitement and panic.
"Please. I request my task details."
"You know what's at stake, so let's not delay. Initiate, your task is as follows -"
Scyler sat forward, staring at the screen intensely, his legs bobbing up and down nervously.
"-You must plant a monitoring artefact on the personal communicator of Commander Jace Koa without being detected, or arising suspicion upon yourself or our people. In the event you succeed, we will grant access with you as a reward for your espionage, in addition to the other benefits previously discussed. Do you accept?"
His heart leapt into his throat, threatening to choke him where he sat.
"I-I do." He half coughed, stifling it back down.
"Good. We look forward to seeing your victory. A monitoring artefact will be left for you to retrieve in a secure location. Ensure you're not followed during its retrieval."
"D-do you have any guidance, Minister?"
The figure paused for a second, only the flames dancing on its golden surface confirming that the connection hadn't frozen. Scyler stumbled to find some words.
"I-it's just that Jace is ver-"
"- Jace is remarkably difficult to catch off guard, and extremely attentive. I never said that the task ahead of you would be an easy one. However, it is the anniversary of his daughter's death in two weeks. In his grief, you may find opportunity."
"T-thank you, Minister."
"Soar high, strike low, Initiate."
The connection cut immediately, and the screen flickered dull and black once more.
As though it had been holding its breath, the room suddenly relaxed and came back to life. The privacy blinds parted to reveal the offices opposite, and the lights faded back into their bright white, usual selves. Scyler recoiled in his chair. His eyes looked lost. They darted from the floor, to the ceiling, and from wall to wall. Gently, half-shaking, he pulled his wrist computer off and plucked the chip back out. He pulled the bandage back, and slowly, painfully inserted it back into the wound. Once it was nearly back under his skin, he grabbed the medi-gel and sprayed the wound generously. He seemed distracted as the gel knit the cut back together again, with a slight fizzle.
I have to bug Jace fucking Koa?! On the anniversary of his daughter's death?
Suddenly, a sly smile crept over his face as the pain in his arm faded.
That's filthy. I love it.
*
A few floors above, Evangeline stood in her own office, drumming her fingers against her breast pocket as she closely examined the lab-coat hanging in the middle of the room.
Strung up by energy tethers, she slowly circled around it, taking in the details; brown chocolate stains on the sleeves and front, some light wear around the collar, and some pen marks on the inside of the pockets.
Did she really spill hot chocolate on every damn lab-coat?
The dragoness sighed in frustration, returning to her seat after a couple more rounds of the coat. Her fingers danced above her keyboard, but didn't press a single key.
Her tongue pushed against the back of her teeth. Her eyes squinted at the screen.
It was supposed to be a simple, easy report. A tragic accident, but just that, nothing more.
And yet...
Tsk. I simply wouldn't allow it to happen like that. As if such an egregious breach of common sense and security would happen on my station.
She deleted her current entry and started afresh.
"Dearest colleagues, I am deeply saddened to report that we have lost a valued member of our team today. We - ugh!"
Evangeline shook her head, glaring at the screen.
An accident. A damned accident. On my station! I'll never live this down, the other board members will remind me of this for years, they'll think I'm as graceless as the damned Yuskol! Ugh, I'll come back to it, I need something cold and creamy.
After just a couple of button presses, a drone was dispatched to her office. It came buzzing in through the door, carrying a selection of cakes and desserts on a silver platter.
"Leave the tray, please. I'll need all the sugar I can get to finish this."
The drone beeped in response and carefully lowered the tray onto her desk, before nimbly flying back out the way it came.
If I get this wrong… Jace will tear it to pieces. He'll have that damned rhargnorn back here too, scraping his awful tail on my floors… UGH! SCYLER!
Her long, slender claws squidged deep into a fresh cream cake.
I'll just have to suck it up. An accident happened on my station. It happens. It was the girl's own fault anyway, clumsy little thing.
She hummed quietly as the sweet cream hit her tongue, a nice contrast to the bitterness that has been swilling around her brain for the last few days.
I wonder how she's doing?
She pressed on her communicator in between mouthfuls of soft cake.
E-16. The response was instant.
"Ma'am! How can we help?" A XITD scientist asked promptly.
"How's our newest subject holding up?"
A muffled, angry voice echoed in the background.
"She's pretty feisty. Are you sure we shouldn't dispose of her?"
"Absolutely not."
"If you insi- HOLY SHIT SHE'S BREAKING OUT!"
There was a shuddering crunch, and the sharp tearing of fabric sounded across the line. She could hear shouting, and several stumbling feet before a new voice yelled out through her speakers.
"IS THAT EVANGELINE?! I'M GONNA WATCH YOUR BRAIN MELT INTO GOO YOU FUCKIN' ASSHOLE, YOU'RE GONNA BE MY SLAVE! YOU AREN'T IMMUNE! YOU'RE MINE! YOU HEAR ME, EVANGELINE?! I'LL HAVE YOU BENT OVER YOUR FUCKIN' DESK, SCREAMING MY NAME BEFORE I BREAK YOU! YOU - MMGHMM-MHMM!" The feminine voice was suddenly muffled again, as several loud clacks rang out.
"Sorry about that, ma'am. We're still figuring out the right way to keep her down. The subject has extremely elevated adrenaline levels, all the time."
As Evangeline continued to converse with her team, the muffled kicking and screaming rang through the call, with little pause for thought.
"I can imagine. I very much doubt she's happy to be there. Still, let's continue our investigation. Has the czarite done much since her little incident?"
"Nothing, ma'am. E-15 reports she's been quiet since we ramped up our pre-mortem research."
"Mhm. How interesting."
Suddenly, the comms line fell quiet. Although it had only been muffled, the sudden absence of the scuffle in the background made Evangeline's office feel rather empty.
"Finally, a moment of peace. What's she doing?" Evangeline asked as she gazed out the window, considering a walk down to the lab.
"Ma'am… Erm…" The scientist sounded uncomfortable.
"Don't tease me like that. Tell me. I want to know." She grinned eagerly.
"She's, uh… stopped. She's gone completely blank, ma'am. She's just staring at us."
"Blank? Is that unusual?"
"She's spent the last three days snarling, threatening us, and trying to break free, but now she's just looking around the room. Her eyes are darting all over the place, though I'd describe her expression as… vacant, ma'am."
"She hasn't had a seizure, has she? Or popped a blood vessel or something?"
"Vitals are strong. We have got some unusual brain wave activity, but to be frank we're not sure what we're looking at, or what we should be looking for. It doesn't look like anything is medically wrong with her though." The scientist's voice trembled a little as he spoke. "Eek, she's looking at me now. It's a bit unnerving, if I'm honest, ma'am."
Suddenly, a new call came through on Evangeline's communication line.
"The security team? Hold on, I need to take this."
She switched the channels and accepted the new call.
"Ma'am, we have a situation." The guard spoke sternly.
"Go on."
"We have an approaching ship, at high speed, heading directly towards us - showing DA serials."
"Oh shit." Evangeline frowned. "Is it the damned RMD?! Theo can't be back already, can he?!"
"It is Royal Military Division, ma'am -"
She interrupted him with a growl from her throat, bolting upright from her seat.
"This WON'T do! Not one bit! Get ready to eject the E-labs!"
"Ma'am! That isn't it! You need to see this."
A holoscreen popped in front of her, and a serial code flashed into view.
She paused and stared at the code intently, blinking twice. She went to speak, but couldn't form much more than a low croak. She tilted her head slightly and read it several more times, mouthing the characters in silence.
"That… that is an RMD ship serial code. But… That was… That was the ship destroyed on Barru X!"
"Your orders, ma'am?"
Evangeline felt a pit open in her stomach as she turned to look out of her window, out into the void of space.
It shouldn't have been possible - the station's environmental conditioning was fully operational - but she could swear that the room was getting warmer…