Chapter 26 – Imperial Priorities
21 days until Night Raid's Assault
Night – Squalor District Shop
Being a store owner wasn't easy. This particular man would know. A man of middle age was wiping down his store counter down as he'd begun to close the shop. Upon doing so he moved a few newspapers that people had left there in hurries or forgetfulness. He'd already had his fill of the news. Things in the Empire were becoming worse, tension between the government and its people were worsening. Recently, the infamous terrorist group had become quiet. Many imperial governors' lives had been taken in the past year, because of the group.
Perhaps, they're preparing for total war with the empire. A war that would no doubt crush this district in nearly every way. Even if the Nightraid wins, they'll likely subjugate them just as the empire had; seeing as that they are murderers just like the imperials. After catching himself in a mental daze he'd seen a few people enter.
Store owner: Hey, we're closed. The registers already locked.
He then decided to walk over to the people to address them properly. The man within moments was knocked out and went smashing into the floor!
The men had quickly raided the store of money and left the store.
The three men had quickly ran and made their way into an alley.
'Now we have to count it", One of them said.
However, one of them noticed a dark mass sling by the opening of the alley.
Robber: We need to count this somewhere else. Somebody just ran by.
Robber 2: If they ran by what's the big deal?
Robber: I'm telling you, whoever that was didn't just run by, they're still right there!
The man yelled with a whispered and pointed at the corner of the building. The black mass then rounded the corner and dashed forth, one of the robbers had shot with no accuracy as fear seeped into his very pores. Two of them ran and the other stayed as the dark figure had jumped onto him.
All the other two heard were shouts of pain and horror from their partner as they traversed the dark, damped, and not very well-lit alley ways. But the dark form wasn't far behind, the other one was snared at his ankles and dragged off into a darker section of the alleys.
The final one could care less as he made a break for it; so, he could be out in the open and prepare to fight back. However, he was stopped as this dark person obscured by darkness unleashed a flurry of punches into the robber.
The robber dropped his money and blocked and even began to fire back with punches of his own. The robber had managed to land a few good shots on the hero, before lifting them and slamming them against the wall. He then jammed his boot deep into the chest of the would-be hero and applied pressure. He began to stomp down again and again and the lump of scum fell over.
The robber catching his breath, bent over and collected the money he'd stolen. After walking away the man stopped. He looked at the person in some sort of dark costume. He then went over, crouched down and began to unmask the person. Before he'd even touched them, they'd grabbed his wrist and twisted it in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree angle with a sickening POP!
The man screamed as they'd mounted him and pounded his face into the pavement. One blow after another, more blood splashed upward after each shot. The person got up and hog tied him with great strain. After battering and defeating all three of them, the tired and hurt vigilante sat against the alley walls and placed their hands upon their face.
Afternoon – Imperial Streets
[Name] had finally reached the empire's capital. It's been somewhere around a week since he was here last and that was only investigating the wild hunt murders. He'd almost forgot how homely this nation was after being gone for so long. He fully intended in only returning to make some sort of final stand against the imperials but looks like that's out of the question right about now.
He needed information on Faid if he's to assassinate him, he'll head to the cantina. What better place to look than in a retched hive of scum and villainy? Time to find his lead man, Koukei.
Unfortunately for [Name] he could not see Koukei. He should've known better than to search for him during the day time. This annoyed [Name] more than it disheartened him. So, there was only one thing he could do, go to the city hall find out where exactly he is.
Simultaneously – Imperial Palace
Marshal Faid sat at his mirrored dresser and brushed his long black hair. He knew people, women even were jealous of his appearance. He took pride in it, he fed into people's insecurities. Something he loved doing, he gained it from his father who did the same to he and his mother while he was young. Another thing he gained from his father was his love for combat. Finding the imperial arms that allowed him to manipulate gravity only bolstered his bloodlust. He would kill and destroy many just to test his power.
With over twenty-one military campaigns completed, and zero failures he was seen as possibly the deadliest force the empire has seen in centuries. However, in recent years Esdeath's popularity has shot right passed his and this won't do. The only reason why he's still here is because the empire is celebrating the animosity they were granted from the other nations. After the Nightraid is dealt with he will return to the capital from his station in the north and or south. He will come back and murder Esdeath, proving his superiority in the eyes of all the empire's people.
He almost got giddy just thinking about it, although she could be an extremely formidable; she can't defeat him. There is just no way that it'll be possible. But as for now he's stationed at an outpost near Kyoroch.
He then heard a knock at the door, upon giving an annoyed sigh; he opened the door. Seeing a lowly informant only annoyed him further.
Informant: Field Marshal Faid? I have come with news.
Faid: And that is?
Informant: You've been reassigned to another mission by order of the Prime Minister.
Faid: What?! For what?! Where are my mission specs?
Informant: Here sir.
The female said as she handed him a file in which he just snatched away. After ripping the papers from the folder, his eyes scanned them like a radar. He smiled upon reading it.
Faid: "Follow the location in which the revolution is attacking Tobashi from and finding Nightraid may be easier, I now entrust this to you"? This is going to be exciting.
Afternoon – Imperial City Hall
After walking for seemingly ages he finally reached the front of the city hall building. He remembered when Seryu had dragged him here and secured his first true job here. He was made an imperial sentinel on guard in case of Nightraid's attack. The only thing that killed him however, was boredom. Standing around in halls both in the city hall and the palace like some faceless guard, which he was.
He walked into the massive building and passed numerous people who had their own business to take care of. Thankfully he hadn't seen anyone he knew and they hadn't saw him. As he made his way to the front desk, he'd seen someone. It was Kurome. What luck. He made his way passed the desk and attempted to leave up the stairs to evade her.
Maybe if he hid somewhere like in the bathroom for a long enough time, she'd leave.
Kurome then turned around and immediately spotted [Name].
[Name]: Damn.
He said with a smile as he walked over to and greeted her.
Kurome: Hey there [Name]. Where've you been?
She asked with somewhat of a perky tone.
[Name]: Nowhere special. Kurome do you know where Koukei is?
Kurome: Who?
[Name]: They guy who's in authority of some military operations here. He should be here somewhere.
The person from behind the desk had then chimed in by waving his hand to get their attention.
Secretary: If you're looking for him, he's out on business. I can't tell you when he'd be back. What is your business with him? Once he returns I can relay the message.
[Name]: Man, I need him right now. Never mind it then, I'll come back later.
Kurome: Why do you need him in the first place?
[Name]: I just needed some info on a case I'm working.
Kurome: A case? Who gave you a case?
[Name] began to become hot. He was frustrated enough with not being able to find Koukei, now Kurome is asking a thousand and one questions. It's harder to lie to her because she's so close to many people of importance that he's also in league with; Esdeath, the prime minister, etc. He has to find something to say fast.
[Name]: Koukei did and I needed to be briefed further on it. I also thoroughly thought about what you said to me before. I'm all in, the empire; The Jaegers is the only place for me.
Kurome smiled warmly as he proclaimed this.
Kurome: Glad to hear it. But I'd bet you could guess who'd like to hear that even more.
[Name]: Where is she?
Kurome: She's out on assignment.
[Name] then sighed a sigh of great relief. Now he's in the clear for sure. There's nothing he has to fear other than not being able to get to Marshal Faid and kill him. But he knows what he's going to do, he's going to go up to the mail room and find Faid's box and find out where he should be stationed. It could be even better if he was at the Palace so he'll look there too.
Kurome: Hey [Name]? since you've got nothing to do you wanna hang out?
[Name] thought about it, if he were to make up a lie and head upstairs to look for the mission specs; she could potentially find out and catch him in the act. He'd better not risk it. Having a little fun today couldn't do all that much harm.
[Name]: Sure. I don't see why not.
Afternoon - Tobashi
A small imperial outpost sat outside of a small settlement named Tobashi. This particular outpost was tipped off, the revolutionaries that planned to take Tobashi. This cannot happen, this city serves as a secondary armory to the Capital. If this base fell into revolutionary hands the empire will've been dealt a critical blow. An imperial commander and his forces stood in front of the outpost driven to defend the city to the last man.
Across the dry fields approached the revolution soldiers; ten thousand strong driven to sack Tobashi or die trying. The warriors of the revolution charged, the sounds of the men running and yelling were thunderous. The empire's forces fired several mortar strikes as did the revolution. Flaming balls of ore were flung across the bluish grey sky as numerous men's' lives came to abrupt ends. The air's scent was thick with dirt and the iron of blood as the battle raged.
Hundredsof metallic cling! and clang! Noises filled field as limbs were strung out amongst the dirt.
Back at the base some of the remaining and last-ditch defense forces were conversing with one another.
Soldier 1: You think we're gonna make it?
Soldier 2: Maybe, maybe not.
The soldier said after swallowing.
Soldier: 3: I've never seen a revolution force of this size before. It's not looking good guys.
Esdeath: Fear not, I am here.
She said with a very reassuring and a yet lackadaisical confidence.
The throng of men and women were immediately bursting with hope and glee as the general clad in white had arrived. Esdeath had adjusted her hat as she peered out at the coursing battle afar.
Esdeath: The battle looks fierce…. Excellent.
She said with a smile. She then immediately brandished various ice weapons from her hands. An axe, a scythe, longsword, and multiple other she'd cycled through.
Esdeath: Hm? Which should I choose?
Before she could make a decision on her favorite murder weapon, Run had flown down with his wonderfully feathered wings. This had gotten the general's attention more so than her fascination with bloodshed.
Esdeath: Run, what are you doing here?
Run: I've received word from the capital.
He then walked to her and presented her with a folder. She then took the folder after dissipating her weapons and read the papers that were inside. Upon doing so realized immediately what this was. She has been reassigned to Kyoroch's outskirts.
Esdeath then became somewhat dejected at the idea but was in no position to fight it. It was probably for the best.
Esdeath: Well I suppose I should be on my way.
Soldier 1: But General what happened? Aren't you here to assist us?!
He yelled with more fear than anger. All of the soldiers looked at her for her answer. She looked at them back and retorted.
Esdeath: No, It appears I've been stationed elsewhere. Soldiers, just make sure this base isn't to be reached.
Soldier 3: But General?!
Esdeath: Surely my replacement will assist you in battle. At least make sure you all hold out until then. Just remember if this base is compromised when any of you survive and or return home…..you'll wish you hadn't done either.
With her chilling warning, she'd left. Run made sure to comfort them on who their general will be before leaving himself.
Evening – Imperial High-Class District – Diner
For a good majority of the day [Name] and Kurome went to numerous places to relax. They've visited clothing stores for Kurome. They'd walked around different parks, enjoyed a good talk and dinner to cap everything off.
[Name] and Kurome sat apart and after eating a fine meal they've continued to conversate.
Kurome: What a day huh?
She stated after putting down her fork. [Name] wiped his face off with a napkin and nodded his head in agreement.
[Name]: Yeah, I thought you'd be super creepy and evil. You know, like talking about corpse puppets and stuff.
Kurome then placed her hands on her face and inched her face closer to [Name] from across the table.
Kurome: Do you like when I talk about that stuff?
[Name]: No, that's more of Wave's thing. By the way, where is he?
Wave: He's home, he got a cold. I'm going to go visit him after this.
As she said this she looked out of the windows. [Name] noticed that she had a red tint to her face even if the orange lighting from the sun glared through these large windows. Her tone had changed and she seemed even more excited to go and see him.
[Name]: You like him don't you.
Kurome paused but then replied.
Kurome: Am I really that easy to read?
[Name]: I assume that's a yes. I mean, you two seem pretty tight and it's not a brother/sister type deal either. Maybe you guys should take a chance.
Kurome: You really think so? We shouldn't, there's no way we can. We're in the middle of war and anything can happen. I don't wanna to lose him like Bols or Seryu.
[Name]: Sometimes you just have to take a chance. You can't get anywhere unless you do.
Kurome: You would know. That's all you do. Maybe we should.
[Name]: Are you going to tell him when you see him?
Kurome: No! I'll be a nervous wreck. You might be the same when you see Esdeath in a few days.
[Name]: Probably, at least I have a few days to prepare….She won't torture me will she?
Kurome: I wouldn't bet on it. She seemed mega pissed. She was out trying to recruit more Jaegers. But for now she's out at Tobashi.
[Name]: Then that might get me a chance to run away before she gets back.
He said as they both shared a small laugh.
[Name] looked at edge of the table and spotted the newspaper. He looked as the title stated "The empire's shadow returns". This fully grabbed [Name]'s attention as he instantly had the paper in his hand and read.
Kurome: What is it?!
[Name]: The shadow is back?
Kurome: Oh yeah that. In the past week, there's been quite a few sightings of him again. They disappeared months ago though, I wonder what brought em back. If they're going to be as much of a problem as before we might have to step in. I saw him one time and he ran from me.
[Name] remembered that, he'd attacked and pacified a bandit hide out. As his luck would have it, the Jaegers had descended onto the sight and the heavily injured [Name] had no choice but to flee. Now it seems there's an impersonator, he'll have to deal with them later. But right about now, killing the marshal tonight is top priority.
Kurome: We never caught him, and we never knew who he was. Although something tells me that the General knew more than she was letting off. He might be someone from her clan or something to be so skilled. It's be cool to have him and put him in my little collection.
[Name]: Now I could see why he ran from you.
The time came where Kurome and [Name] parted ways. She stated that she'll tell Wave that [Name] gave his regards. She then left after waving goodbye as did [Name].
Twilight – Imperial City Hall – Halls
This was perfect timing. The sky continued to darken as he ran all the way to the City hall and up to the stairs. He ran up the carpeted stairs, and he then searched floor to floor and room to room. He then finally found the mail room. The room was utterly silent and all mail boxes were left in massive shelves the spanned down the long room as if this were a library.
He then slowly walked along the carpeted flooring searching. He then tirelessly looked through most of the alphabetized mail boxes and finally found it. Faid only had a few pieces of mail and he saw a folder. He grabbed the folder and saw it. There were a few pieces of paper and he read that Faid is to be stationed at Kyoroch.
[Name]: Nice. Now all I need is a mask.
He then left the City hall and reached a store in the High class district. This time he'd entered a clothing store that had novelty items and had ski masks, perfect. He'd glanced through a few of them, to find one that suited the occasion.
He'd seen one that looked like it was from a story he'd read before. The story entailed the man who's powers only activated upon seeing his own blood. That same protagonist also happened to fall in love with a girl who was half alien. The story was very different but it was a riveting tale none the less. Regardless he decided another mask would suffice.
After purchasing a mask. He then set about to Kyoroch.
Dusk – Kyoroch Military Outpost
[Name] only road his ghostly steed to certain point outside of the compound. Since Faid is here they'll likely see him at a certain point. After dismounting his horse, he stealthy made his way throughout the compound.
He snuck over the walls quietly. His heartrate had gotten very high, the thumping went through his chest as he slipped around corners and crouched around bushes. One slip up and he's dead. Once one bit of commotion begins we'll put up an amazing fight, but once Faid comes out of his tent he will likely not survive a one on one. He still hasn't found the exact tent that he'll be found in either.
From afar he'd heard someone saying, "sorry general- I..I'm sorry general!" before he saw someone exiting with great speed a tent that was completely opposite of where he was currently hiding. "General" he thought. These people are idiots, you call them by their title not by their supposed rank. Faid is a marshal. Time to crawl over there.
He then finally after minutes of trying to make his way over to the tent got there without incident. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest. The sweat coursing down his face and wetting his fingers. His hands quivering, he sat against the tent waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"It's now or never" he thought. He saw no one looking in this general direction and his crept into the tent with speed. After entering the tent his heart sank to the bottom of his chest. His blood ran cold and he froze in his place. There had to be some accident.
Esdeath: Yes soldier?
She turned, her blue hair swaying and her eyes locked onto the masked man. She was hit with a dash of irritation at first. Then she sized up this soldier, who is some would be assassin. She gnarled her face contorting it into a twisted scowl, while brandishing her teeth. She was already in a foul mood, between being reassigned for seemingly no reason, ripped away from the action and the cloak of loneliness draping her every night. Now a lowly assassin seeks to annoy her?!
[Name] stood shaking, he didn't know what to do.
[Name]: Dammit.
Esdeath's mind was flushed and cleansed of all of it's hatred. The height, the armor, the build. She knows who this was. The same red tint spread across her pale yet beautiful face as it did with Kurome earlier in the day. Her mouth gaped open in disbelief as her cheeks were covered in red.
Both: This can't be real!