The Tactician
“I will head to the bridge to retrieve the ship’s data.”
Erec glances at me and shrugs. “I’m not coming along on your little suicide attempt. Men, we are leaving.” When he notices Erika remaining by my side, he gets frustrated. “Erika-“
“I’m staying, brother. Don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”
“I’ll be coming along too,” says Mere. “Exploding ships don’t worry me. But before that, what do we do with the Spirit?” She gestures at the man glaring at us. “We need to stop him from getting free and coming after us if we’re to be heading to the bridge.”
“Let me handle it,” I say. I take a few steps forward and crouch down besides the stricken Spirit.
“Do your worst,” he hisses through his clenched teeth. “I’ll remember your face. One day I will be back to repay this insult a thousand times fold.”
“Oh, no. No.” I smile. “I don’t think so.” The thin blue lines begin to grow over his body, pulsing and shifting like the veins of a living animal. The point which I must touch to end his existence…
There.
I find his origin, from where his lines sprout. It is a miniscule thing, hidden away at the back of his neck. Even immortals have a beginning… and that means they have an end.
All it takes is a simple touch. Blood spatters across the fabric my space suit as his body quietly splits apart at the seams, the living lines that criss-cross his body. The Spirit’s broken corpse withers almost instantly, as if a hundred years catches up to it in the blink of an eye. What is left is a dried, unidentifiable husk in a spreading pool of blood.
When I stand up again, everyone is looking at me intently, some more so than others.
“So that’s how you do it.” Erika murmurs. Mere, on the other hand, seems to be stunned at what just happened.
“Well then, that’s one problem solved,” I state.
***
“How did you do that? He died.” asks Mere as we move quickly down the corridors. Erec and the White Fang are raising a ruckus in the opposite direction to attract the crew’s attention.
“Questions later,” I say, stopping in my tracks and running my fingers along the smooth metal wall. “Is this the site?”
“Yes, Master. You can access the bridge if you go through this wall.”
“Alright.” I close my eyes and focus, my hand placed on the wall. I listen to the hum of the ship’s engine, feeling the vibrations of the battle that the White Fang are engaged in on a lower deck, and count the presences beyond the wall.
“There are sixteen people on the bridge, facing the consoles. Erika, do you remember the face of the ship’s commander?”
She nods.
“Keep him alive first. We might be able to get some answers out of him.”
She nods again.
I make a few quick traces with my sword and slice through the hardened metal. Erika kicks it down, sending the heavy metal piece flying into the bridge. She immediately springs inside, her blade drawn. First there are shouts of surprise, and then pain. When Mere and I follow, we see that Erika already has Dranu held in a chokehold, her gleaming sword poised threateningly against his throat. Three of the crewmembers are dead on the floor.
“Well, it looks like I don’t need to do anything at all,” laughs Mere as she leans against the commander’s chair. I move towards the information console and tear open a panel. There’s no time to perform a data transfer – I’ll just have to take the hardware with me. As I pull out the databank that stores the information, the viewscreen comes to life.
“Ah, the connection is live. Hello, can you hear me?” The speaker is a young boy, his black hair tied back in a knot. I notice Mere’s face immediately going pale. The boy notices her and smiles.
“Lady Tarliss, I assume you won’t be returning to enjoy our hospitality?” asks the boy.
“O-of course not. As you can see, I am just about to leave.” Her false bravado wavers slightly, but she gets a grip on herself and stares defiantly at the boy.
“Pity. Now-“
“Lord Adrahasis, destroy these rats!” shouts Dranu, his mustache and beard bristling. Erika edges her sword closer and nicks his skin, drawing blood.
“All in good time, Dranu, all in good time,” smiles the boy. “Now, the thief there, holding the ship’s databank in his hands – who are you? I do not recall your face being on any list of Star League personnel.”
“You remember the face of every single person in the Star League?” I ask.
“Every single person of note or those serving in the military, yes. Even if they undertake pains to disguise their identity, I will know them. How else did you think we captured Lady Tarliss?” His black eyes twinkle with mocking amusement.
Mere seems like she is about to make a retort, but bites back her words. She looks at me; apparently she wants me to take the lead.
“So, who are you?” asks Adrahasis again. “I cannot believe that I overlooked someone daring enough to attempt to ram and board a ship in the Star League military. You appear to be of Federation descent; are you a new officer?”
“I am nobody of note, as you said.” I reply. “Have you delayed us long enough to spring the trap?”
Adrahasis’s eyes twinkle again. “You noticed.”
“I miscalculated,” I admit. “I didn’t think that the Belesis itself was also a trap, after the rather obvious distress signal. The straightforward path it was taking home convinced me there was no danger. How many cruisers have you got stationed just beyond sensor range?”
“I have two cruisers that are heading towards you from the rendezvous point – you might have found hints of their existence had you investigated the wreckage of the battle,” grins the boy. “Will you surrender?”
“I might want to take my chances.” I shrug. “It will take them a few more days to reach us.”
“You are correct, but you have no chance of escaping now that I know where you are.”
With a sudden tremor, I realize that he’s right. I can sense invisible strings of thought extending across millions of kilometres of empty space locked onto us and the Independent Spirit of Adventure. The boy has tremendous mental reach. I could undo it; split those strings in two, but…
Commander Dranu begins laughing, half-choking under Erika’s grip. “You walked into our trap! The moment we found you, we relayed your coordinates to Lord Adrahasis.”
“Erika, do it.” I say. She slits his throat and leaves him twitching on the floor, gurgling his own blood out from the gaping wound in his throat.
“I thought you were going to ask him questions.”
“You should ask me that before cutting his throat. Anyway, the boy here is also tracking the commander. If we’re to escape, we can’t bring him along.” I reply.
“You are correct. You are also… cold-hearted,” says Adrahasis, frowning. “You didn’t need to kill him; you could’ve just left him on the ship.”
“I’m just sending him off early,” I say, tapping on the late commander’s console. The self-destruct sequence begins – I should have enough time to get off the ship.
“Who are you?” asks Adrahasis for the third time, his face now perplexed. “I am Bel-Adrahasis, Tactician of the Empire. Give me your name.”
“I am nobody of note,” I repeat. “Goodbye, tactician.” I cut the communications.
***
We escape the Belesis with no further problems, leaving it behind to self-destruct. I can sense Adrahasis’s strings tracking us every step of the way, even back onto the Independent Spirit of Adventure.
“If we do not move, the cruisers should arrive at our current location within two days,” says Emiri, reporting on the map she’s drawn of the surrounding region. “If we head towards the jump point, we can stretch it out to two more days.”
That would buy enough time for the black hole generator to charge – it would make our escape considerably easier.
“Master, I’ve finished analyzing the data from the Belesis. I think there’s something you’ll want to know.”
“What is it about?”
“The Empire have found and are tracking the trajectory of the Apophis. They plan to capture it.”
That’s the asteroid which Rei and the remnants of the cult are on. “Where is it?”
“I have the coordinates here – apparently the Belesis was part of a taskforce which would have proceeded to intercept the asteroid. It should cross this region of space in another two days.”
“Right when the Imperial cruisers arrive?” That’s interesting. Adrahasis must be planning something – I cannot rule out more than two vessels appearing here in two days, when the Apophis is due. “Is this part of your mission?” I ask Mere. She shakes her head.
“I was infiltrating the capital to steal an element of Project V. Before you ask, it’s classified.”
“I think we’re all in this together,” growls Erec. “Tell us everything.”
She sighs. “I can’t say everything, but Project V involves a weapon that the League is working on. It will end the war with our victory, and requires pieces of an artifact from our gods. We have been bestowed one piece, while the Empire holds another. It turns out that what I managed to take was a fake. Adrahasis predicted my coming. We fled, but were captured - I was separated from the rest of my team and put on the Belesis. Twintails and the others were put as bait where the distress signal you detected was coming from.”
“It sounds like the mission was a total failure, then.” I quip.
“Of course not,” she snaps. “I managed to find out that the Empire has two pieces. This will be important knowledge to the Council.”
“I see… where are those two pieces then?”
“They’re… wait, you’re not planning to go after them, are you?” Mere glances at me suspiciously.
“No, I’m just leaving the option open. You wouldn’t like to go back empty-handed, would you?”
“Of course not, but… the Devouring Emperor has them on his person. I do not want to get close to him if necessary.”
I nod, turning my attention to the map. There are a few things I can do from here…
***
A. Intercept the asteroid. If Rei falls into Imperial hands that could be bad. This means we will have to stay close to our current location and await its arrival.
B. Go after the Project V pieces in the Empire. They will not be expecting a second attempt so soon - best to get it done before Adrahasis sends word back about me - once we arrive, I'll infiltrate the capital and continue Tarliss's mission.
C. Head towards the jump point for a retreat using the wormhole. This is the quickest and easiest way back.
D. Track back the way we came - we will have to fight our way past the cruisers heading towards us, but this way we can pick up Tarliss's team if they're still alive.
***
1. I cut the strings allowing Adrahasis to track us, after deciding what to do. Of course, this will let him know that I can block his ability and allow him to compensate for it, but it is crucial he doesn't know what we are doing right now.
2. I allow the strings to remain - I will spend some time attempting to follow the lines back though I am unsure I can stretch my own senses that far. If successful, I could track his movements instead.
