Taka
03-08-2004, 21:45
Your destiny is that of a man, and your vows those of a god.
-Voltaire
She was beautiful from afar, though most are. There is a correlation between distance and beauty, the further away from something, and the least you can see of it, the more it appeals to you. As they got closer her true face was shown, lights from cities stretching over entire continents, pitted by green and blue specks. The air was clean and clear, allowing the concrete jungle of the urban areas to be seen clearly, a black cancer upon a once pristine planet. Ships of all description, size, and color zipped through inky darkness above the planet, its inhabitants long since apathetic to the once marvelous technology that sustained them. Fusion plants broke the black surface, large blue glass domes that radiated with light from thousands of tiny suns within, once heralded as the greatest advancement among humanity, now passed with little more than idle curiosity by inquisitive children. Above the shops and factories of the inner cities, towering above housing and even above the massive spaceport, were the governing buildings. Each staffed by millions upon millions, a bureaucracy that existed simply to provide jobs to those that would otherwise be unemployed. Here, decisions that would affect entire nations were made, decisions that would devastate entire solar systems in the name of resources, decisions that would decide the fate of every last man, woman, child, Squallem and Agrol in Taka.
Yuyi watched from his penthouse office, politely ignoring the tapping of holopads as his personal staff worked on under his glass floor. He read the letter twice, a cruel smile crossing his toad like face.
“They will be here soon” he said, half a question, half a statement.
“Yes sir” the girl said, her usual monotone a byproduct of her upbringing . . . after all, how can one have emotion, when one does not have a soul?
“And councilman . . .”
“Has no idea what is about to transpire. The infiltrating team has been informed that they are attacking an illegal anti-matter facility, as our ancestors proved, threats of mass death are often met with irrational willingness to kill.”
He nodded quietly. “What of the others?”
“Oblivious, though Commander Azreal has been acting strangely as of late. . . our reconnaissance teams have yet to turn up anything of interest, though based on his relative apathy towards the emperor, I would assume he is the least of our threats as of late. If I may, the Valnor Emperor would be . . . a potential asset in influencing Makoto.”
*********************************************************
**Taiga province, Ichiro Clan Stronghold, Special Weapons Testing Facility.**
Space ripped above the unimposing encampment, little more than a permanent barracks, mess hall and a small, squat concrete building. Activity on the ground was lit up by flashes from the atmospheric fold in process above them. In perfect sequence, shuttles folded in and glided softly to the ground, opening like baneful flowers and letting out long streams of Verniian Marines. Their Takian counterparts stood in perfect rank and file, squads marked by the special weapons teams, platoons marked by their exo-suit teams. They saluted, legs kept stiff as they bowed towards their fellows. Military precision, or as close as any mercenary group could come.
Lieutenant Colonel Taggart stepped forward, nodding to his counterpart.
“Welcome Colonel. . . “
“Malcolm” the small man said, smiling genially. Taggart could not help but follow his lead as he extended his hand, Malcolm taking it without hesitation in a firm handshake.
“I pray that the trip wasn’t too rough on you.”
“Save for a bit of turbulence on the final approach, it was uneventful . . . though I must ask, what are we facing here? I was informed that we were looking at a small covert ops group, though you’ve requisitioned six hundred of our best men.”
“Unfortunately, we have been getting conflicting information . . . best estimates say we are facing an enemy that cost their employers between one and ten billon dollars. . .”
Malcolm gave an appreciative whistle.
“That’s quite a bit to spend on a single group, no matter how elite they are.”
“We aren’t sure, but sources indicate that they may have been paid in military hardware. . . that’s why we are a little nervous about this little assignment ourselves and called in some support.”
“Any idea what we might be up against?”
Taggart nodded to a group of mechanized infantry, the moonlight reflecting off of layers of thick armored padding over the seven foot tall suit of power armor. “Something big, something that hits hard and hits fast. . . possibly light tanks and recon vehicles, possibly even air support. All I know is this. This facility houses the Shimmer wing Squadron, and we can’t afford to lose that now. Weapons lockers are on the second floor, if you need additional support then your men will be able to get it with the help of any Takian officer, though to facilitate you, we have a man with the key code to join each of your squads.”
Malcolm looked over the facility before beginning to bark orders. . . and within minutes, the Vernii marines and the Takian troopers were splitting into combined squads.
*******************************************************************8
**Arbiter System, between God’s Eyes, God’s Eyes Shipyards, TSA Angel of Death**
Azreal stood on the bridge of his flagship, an Ancient vessel that had been upgraded since the Race Wars from a small and unimposing frigate. It was the ship his great great grandfather had piloted nearly two centuries before, the ship that his great grandfather had used to quell the pirates of the outer rim of the old Mizunian Empire with. It was the ship his grandfather has used to explore the remnants of the Agrolian Empire, and it was the ship that his Father had died aboard, sixty years ago during the Great Split. It was a ship that had both protected and haunted his family for generations. . . it was his curse and his blessing to be given it shortly before it was to be finally scuttled. . . and it was his name sake. Azreal, the angel of death, was both at the bridge and working quickly through the ships thousands of miles of wiring, circuitry and crystal resonance centers. The long range sensors probed the darkness, but it was the satellite beacons that caught his attention.
“What in the nine hells?” He asked irritably “what is it now?”
“Sir. . . unknown FTL trail exiting. . . it’s in the Pegasus system. . . and it looks like its going towards the home world.”
Azreal nodded gravely, pushing a stray strand of ashen hair from his eyes. “Whose sector is that?”
“Councilman Yuyi’s sir, though why he’s not hailing it is beyond me. Orders sir?”
“Hold off a bit. . . if he’s not responding to it, then it means he’s expecting it. . . who do we have on planet side that’s of neutral interest?”
“It looks like. .. Vernii and Valinon both have presences, there is an Ortagan intelligence group monitoring military actions. . . what the hell?”
Azreal raises an eyebrow as he peers over the screen. “The Wick? What business are they registered here on?”
“It says a security action, but it won’t tell me arrival or departure date, and the hiring company is showing up as being unregistered. . .”
“Meaning that they are ghosts. . . I want a list of probable targets. . . you said that Vernii was on the ground, right?”
The officer simply nodded, already busy digging through records. “Sir, it looks like the Vernii are hired to protect the Ichiro province. . . That means Councilman Akira is expecting something.”
“Open a channel to the Exile, I want all of this sent to him ASAP.”
“Channel opened sir, the heir is getting all of this.”
“keep an eye out for interlopers, we can’t afford to be found out quite yet. . . as for this incident, lets not take sides, but get me in contact with the Vernii, if this is what I think this is, then we have a power play the likes of which has not yet been attempted by the council.
*********************************************
**Stasis Cell, Somewhere in the Arbiter system**
The body floated majestically, a grey swarm of nanites slowly repairing damaged tissue and stitching together burn scars. He had come a long way, but he had a long way to go still. Prince Taka’s mind wandered within its self imposed exile while his daughter and bastard son watched him in silence.
She laid a hand on her brother’s shoulder, and another on the tube, her eyes burning with intense flame as she read the reports, watching in anger as her sons desecrated the sacred name of her family. . .
“Makoto . . . Gustav. . . Josephine . . . even you Rei. . ?”
He put an arm around her shoulder, resting his head on his sister’s shoulder.
“Do not fear Ami, though your time here is nearly over . . . you must return to Valinon, I will stay and watch Father.”
She nodded, gritting her teeth and knowing that her son would be most unhappy as to her trips. . . he grew colder and colder as he grew older, every bit of power drained him more and more of his humanity. . . each step towards his goals of empire, brought him step after step further from his father and grandfather.
“I will go, in time, I will take care of my son to assure he does not pose a problem to my Father’s awakening. Goodbye my brother. . . goodbye Corinth.
She turned and left, leaving him in the cold blue light of the tube.
“Corinth . . . ” he whispered wistfully “Corinth Mizuna, Heir to my father’s empire. . . Heir to my homeland. . .”
He turned and retook his seat, burying his face in his hands.
“I am my father’s son. . .” he whispered, almost as if begging it to be true “I am my father’s heir. . . I am full blood. . . I am. . . I. . .” his voice trailed off as a soft beep distracted him. Absently, he turned on the holoscreen, half listening to the report, half dreaming of new ways to put it to his advantage.
******************************************************
**Ichiro Province, 5 klicks from target, 15 minutes till sunset**
The shuttle touched down, cloaking disrupted for a moment as the dust settled around it. The rear door opened silently, exposing the pristine forested wilderness to the ten men waiting inside.
-Voltaire
She was beautiful from afar, though most are. There is a correlation between distance and beauty, the further away from something, and the least you can see of it, the more it appeals to you. As they got closer her true face was shown, lights from cities stretching over entire continents, pitted by green and blue specks. The air was clean and clear, allowing the concrete jungle of the urban areas to be seen clearly, a black cancer upon a once pristine planet. Ships of all description, size, and color zipped through inky darkness above the planet, its inhabitants long since apathetic to the once marvelous technology that sustained them. Fusion plants broke the black surface, large blue glass domes that radiated with light from thousands of tiny suns within, once heralded as the greatest advancement among humanity, now passed with little more than idle curiosity by inquisitive children. Above the shops and factories of the inner cities, towering above housing and even above the massive spaceport, were the governing buildings. Each staffed by millions upon millions, a bureaucracy that existed simply to provide jobs to those that would otherwise be unemployed. Here, decisions that would affect entire nations were made, decisions that would devastate entire solar systems in the name of resources, decisions that would decide the fate of every last man, woman, child, Squallem and Agrol in Taka.
Yuyi watched from his penthouse office, politely ignoring the tapping of holopads as his personal staff worked on under his glass floor. He read the letter twice, a cruel smile crossing his toad like face.
“They will be here soon” he said, half a question, half a statement.
“Yes sir” the girl said, her usual monotone a byproduct of her upbringing . . . after all, how can one have emotion, when one does not have a soul?
“And councilman . . .”
“Has no idea what is about to transpire. The infiltrating team has been informed that they are attacking an illegal anti-matter facility, as our ancestors proved, threats of mass death are often met with irrational willingness to kill.”
He nodded quietly. “What of the others?”
“Oblivious, though Commander Azreal has been acting strangely as of late. . . our reconnaissance teams have yet to turn up anything of interest, though based on his relative apathy towards the emperor, I would assume he is the least of our threats as of late. If I may, the Valnor Emperor would be . . . a potential asset in influencing Makoto.”
*********************************************************
**Taiga province, Ichiro Clan Stronghold, Special Weapons Testing Facility.**
Space ripped above the unimposing encampment, little more than a permanent barracks, mess hall and a small, squat concrete building. Activity on the ground was lit up by flashes from the atmospheric fold in process above them. In perfect sequence, shuttles folded in and glided softly to the ground, opening like baneful flowers and letting out long streams of Verniian Marines. Their Takian counterparts stood in perfect rank and file, squads marked by the special weapons teams, platoons marked by their exo-suit teams. They saluted, legs kept stiff as they bowed towards their fellows. Military precision, or as close as any mercenary group could come.
Lieutenant Colonel Taggart stepped forward, nodding to his counterpart.
“Welcome Colonel. . . “
“Malcolm” the small man said, smiling genially. Taggart could not help but follow his lead as he extended his hand, Malcolm taking it without hesitation in a firm handshake.
“I pray that the trip wasn’t too rough on you.”
“Save for a bit of turbulence on the final approach, it was uneventful . . . though I must ask, what are we facing here? I was informed that we were looking at a small covert ops group, though you’ve requisitioned six hundred of our best men.”
“Unfortunately, we have been getting conflicting information . . . best estimates say we are facing an enemy that cost their employers between one and ten billon dollars. . .”
Malcolm gave an appreciative whistle.
“That’s quite a bit to spend on a single group, no matter how elite they are.”
“We aren’t sure, but sources indicate that they may have been paid in military hardware. . . that’s why we are a little nervous about this little assignment ourselves and called in some support.”
“Any idea what we might be up against?”
Taggart nodded to a group of mechanized infantry, the moonlight reflecting off of layers of thick armored padding over the seven foot tall suit of power armor. “Something big, something that hits hard and hits fast. . . possibly light tanks and recon vehicles, possibly even air support. All I know is this. This facility houses the Shimmer wing Squadron, and we can’t afford to lose that now. Weapons lockers are on the second floor, if you need additional support then your men will be able to get it with the help of any Takian officer, though to facilitate you, we have a man with the key code to join each of your squads.”
Malcolm looked over the facility before beginning to bark orders. . . and within minutes, the Vernii marines and the Takian troopers were splitting into combined squads.
*******************************************************************8
**Arbiter System, between God’s Eyes, God’s Eyes Shipyards, TSA Angel of Death**
Azreal stood on the bridge of his flagship, an Ancient vessel that had been upgraded since the Race Wars from a small and unimposing frigate. It was the ship his great great grandfather had piloted nearly two centuries before, the ship that his great grandfather had used to quell the pirates of the outer rim of the old Mizunian Empire with. It was the ship his grandfather has used to explore the remnants of the Agrolian Empire, and it was the ship that his Father had died aboard, sixty years ago during the Great Split. It was a ship that had both protected and haunted his family for generations. . . it was his curse and his blessing to be given it shortly before it was to be finally scuttled. . . and it was his name sake. Azreal, the angel of death, was both at the bridge and working quickly through the ships thousands of miles of wiring, circuitry and crystal resonance centers. The long range sensors probed the darkness, but it was the satellite beacons that caught his attention.
“What in the nine hells?” He asked irritably “what is it now?”
“Sir. . . unknown FTL trail exiting. . . it’s in the Pegasus system. . . and it looks like its going towards the home world.”
Azreal nodded gravely, pushing a stray strand of ashen hair from his eyes. “Whose sector is that?”
“Councilman Yuyi’s sir, though why he’s not hailing it is beyond me. Orders sir?”
“Hold off a bit. . . if he’s not responding to it, then it means he’s expecting it. . . who do we have on planet side that’s of neutral interest?”
“It looks like. .. Vernii and Valinon both have presences, there is an Ortagan intelligence group monitoring military actions. . . what the hell?”
Azreal raises an eyebrow as he peers over the screen. “The Wick? What business are they registered here on?”
“It says a security action, but it won’t tell me arrival or departure date, and the hiring company is showing up as being unregistered. . .”
“Meaning that they are ghosts. . . I want a list of probable targets. . . you said that Vernii was on the ground, right?”
The officer simply nodded, already busy digging through records. “Sir, it looks like the Vernii are hired to protect the Ichiro province. . . That means Councilman Akira is expecting something.”
“Open a channel to the Exile, I want all of this sent to him ASAP.”
“Channel opened sir, the heir is getting all of this.”
“keep an eye out for interlopers, we can’t afford to be found out quite yet. . . as for this incident, lets not take sides, but get me in contact with the Vernii, if this is what I think this is, then we have a power play the likes of which has not yet been attempted by the council.
*********************************************
**Stasis Cell, Somewhere in the Arbiter system**
The body floated majestically, a grey swarm of nanites slowly repairing damaged tissue and stitching together burn scars. He had come a long way, but he had a long way to go still. Prince Taka’s mind wandered within its self imposed exile while his daughter and bastard son watched him in silence.
She laid a hand on her brother’s shoulder, and another on the tube, her eyes burning with intense flame as she read the reports, watching in anger as her sons desecrated the sacred name of her family. . .
“Makoto . . . Gustav. . . Josephine . . . even you Rei. . ?”
He put an arm around her shoulder, resting his head on his sister’s shoulder.
“Do not fear Ami, though your time here is nearly over . . . you must return to Valinon, I will stay and watch Father.”
She nodded, gritting her teeth and knowing that her son would be most unhappy as to her trips. . . he grew colder and colder as he grew older, every bit of power drained him more and more of his humanity. . . each step towards his goals of empire, brought him step after step further from his father and grandfather.
“I will go, in time, I will take care of my son to assure he does not pose a problem to my Father’s awakening. Goodbye my brother. . . goodbye Corinth.
She turned and left, leaving him in the cold blue light of the tube.
“Corinth . . . ” he whispered wistfully “Corinth Mizuna, Heir to my father’s empire. . . Heir to my homeland. . .”
He turned and retook his seat, burying his face in his hands.
“I am my father’s son. . .” he whispered, almost as if begging it to be true “I am my father’s heir. . . I am full blood. . . I am. . . I. . .” his voice trailed off as a soft beep distracted him. Absently, he turned on the holoscreen, half listening to the report, half dreaming of new ways to put it to his advantage.
******************************************************
**Ichiro Province, 5 klicks from target, 15 minutes till sunset**
The shuttle touched down, cloaking disrupted for a moment as the dust settled around it. The rear door opened silently, exposing the pristine forested wilderness to the ten men waiting inside.