“Admiral, we are ready to launch the landing ships. Approximately eighteen minutes of atmosphere burn is expected. We should land near the main capital, or if you wish to wait we can land near the outskirts of the island chain that houses the resisting population.”
The report came clear in his head. Admiral Griffon knew that voice as well as his own. His second in command, Vice Admiral Sophia, had groomed the commanders for the Federation’s Naval fleets for years under his supervision. They shared a goal to unite and chart all the planets that came under Federation control.
Planet Tios was just another on the list, but the quirky little planet had a monster problem that required the main command vessel of the Federation’s Navy to lead the defense. They had delegates on the planet dealing with the native population. The governments and states would all be absorbed together and left to be representatives of their people in the Galactic Federation.
“I’m ready to go. I have a feeling this will get messy if we don’t hurry.” Admiral Griffon responded in his gruff and gravelly voice.
He stood from his position on the bridge, but stopped as he caught sight of a flashing purple light. The quick pulse of light was a portal made by the heir of Mistress Nyx, he knew her dramatic entrances all too well.
“No, wait. We have business on the far side of the planet. The pirates have captured one of my subordinates.” Hizumi was stalking up to Admiral Griffon as if she had heard the mental communication he had just sent.
“What do I care? There are people I am actually being tasked with inside the capital city. If you hadn’t noticed, they're about to be attacked. The Minotaur horde is breaking through the defenses in the mountain pass. Whatever happened to let them free of the labyrinth underneath the surface is an omen. We planned an evacuation of as many citizens as we could manage to carry, currently we are about halfway through the population. I have six more ships that will arrive in one rotation; if there are any remaining survivors, well, they’ll be tasked with rounding them up.”
Hizumi smirked.
“Already planning a heroic last stand and withdrawal? How noble of you, Sir Griffon.” She bowed in a mocking gesture.
“What are you planning? Without the Federation forces stepping in, which we cannot do, these people will be slaughtered.”
“I have my troops already on the ground. They’ve already saved one village, that the capital city then bombed to make the excuse to call you in. They said an unknown monster attacked and devastated the coastline, right?”
Admiral Griffon nodded, then returned to his seat. Hizumi followed suit and found a seat in the empty technicians chair nearest the Admiral. He stared at her, his eyes trying to bore into her thoughts.
“My subordinate was there, along with what was two thousand freshly mobilized troops. She is now down to eight, losing most of them defending the village they had set up base in. Only four or five of them are fighters, the rest are support and medics.”
“You think they are capable of leading a resistance against the horde?”
“I think they beat the pants off those cows, then turn into legends by the local civilians, who then deify those who lead them. We save them, and instead of making them refugees looking for new home worlds, we save their home as well.”
“You want me to attack pirates, to save a rogue band of would be heroes. All on the off chance that they succeed and somehow… what? You expect to take control of this planet somehow?”
Hizumi winked at him, gave him a wishy washy sign with her hands, then laughed. Admiral Griffon sighed, running a hand up and down his face. He had suffered many crazy fools, but Hizumi would somehow always find ways to make him exasperated.
The girl was powerful, and extremely smart; but her unhinged behavior made it impossible to tell who she really played for. Mistress Nyx touted her as the next savior of the universe. Her tutors spoke highly of her intellect, but reprimanded her attention span and tardiness.
Admiral Griffon had spent much to learn more about her, and a lot of others in the higher ranks of the Federation. To his constant annoyance however, nothing more could be found out beyond her general information. She was as protected as the Mistress was.
“I don’t want the planet, it’s very sparse on resources. The people aren’t even that talented in production. As far as I’m concerned, they could be refugees and I’d just let them go. I’m here because I see a favorable way to spin a story for the future. If we save this meaningless planet, all the rest that are better off feel reassured we would do the same for them.”
“It’s a propaganda message then.”
“Exactly. What I get out of it is a team of well known heroes that I can then send to save other planets.”
There was a pause, and several minutes went by before the Admiral spoke. The quiet tension that had built between them was almost a palpable thing. The command deck had been emptied a while before Hizumi arrived, the Admiral remaining to oversee logistics.
“Stand down, we wait for the second landing option.”
Hizumi smiled and nodded her head. Vice Admiral Sophia strolled out from behind the station Hizumi sat at. She had been a shadow until she moved away.
“Sophia, nice for you to stop skulking.” Hizumi said with sweet malice.
—
“You wish for me to work with you, yet you hide your intentions.” Pirate Captain Queen spoke with barely veiled contempt.
Kuru dabbed at her mouth with a napkin, cleaning the small smug of sauce that was left behind by her latest bite. The meal before her was extravagant given that they were at sea. She had pulled it from another place, leaving all the cooks in awe as she put their potato soups and cabbage salads to shame.
Kuru feasted upon glazed hams and roasted fowls. She stacked desserts high enough on her plate that she could hide her face, then laughed as the little girl across from her tried and failed to stop a bit of saliva from drooling out of her mouth. The best piece of confectionery pastry was what confirmed Kuru’s suspicion that the girl was a living vessel.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
How such a young girl on this remote planet was gifted such a thing was beyond her. Kuru simply needed to recruit her before the fireworks really started. The other side of the planet would be nearing mass confusion and panic by the setting of this planet's star. The Minotaur horde that she helped unleash would be stampeding into the outskirts of the capital cities farmlands by now.
Her smile grew as she thought of what would come next. If Hizumi had predicted it right, the Federation would send in Naval help to evacuate the citizens. Then the commanders would be sent in to lead a counter charge to repel the horde, if possible. Kuru knew they would ultimately fail at the endeavor.
It would force them to take along any survivors and withdraw. The Minotaur horde would destroy anything left, then move on to try and find other pockets of life. Since there would be none other than the ocean-going pirate clans, they would eventually return to the labyrinth underground. Hizumi could come back and seal them up again, and then restore a population under her favor here.
Kuru was all for it, but she didn’t want to be left behind. So she called for extraction, and was told to sit tight. Hizumi would arrive and provide backup, and implied that she thought the plan needed her direct oversight to be finished.
After losing one thousand and ninety three of two thousand vessels might have led her to mistrust their reliability. Would this end the vessel project if they couldn’t get the job done? Or did Hizumi suddenly have a change in plans for Tios?
“And you continue to ignore me!” Queen smashed the table that Kuru had stacked her food upon.
It shattered and scraps went flying in all directions. Kuru didn’t flinch, nor did she respond in any way. She finished her thoughts, then looked about at all the spilled food.
“You shouldn’t waste, isn’t that an important rule for ocean sailors?”
The pirate growled and in a flash of rage shifted slightly. Kuru saw the scales emerge and the sharp teeth try to jut through.
“You are not amusing. I will not let your friends out if you continue to ignore and belittle me.”
“Forgive me. It seemed you had no intention of letting us live in the first place, so I was simply trying to have a last, proper meal. You have not answered many of my questions either. You have deflected or avoided all of them.”
The little girl pulled at her face and made grunting sounds. She was on the verge of letting the animal spirit take over. The vessel seemed to house two souls, one dominant and the other a sub that only showed itself when the girl’s emotions ran wild.
“For the last time, I don’t know what vessel you want or think I have. There are no outsiders living among my population, I had them all drowned or eaten. None of my people want what the Federation offers.”
“The Federation offers a peaceful transition to a world that can flourish in a Galactic union with other planets that have also joined.”
“I,” Queen gestured around at the other people in the cabin. “We don't want it.”
“Very well. Then we can offer solitude. There is a way to make a deal that leaves your planet off the map.”
The Captain perked up at this. Kuru noted how her fidgeting and noises stopped for a moment. Then she moved in agitation again.
“You lie.”
“I do.” Kuru giggled. “You must have an amazing sense if you could pick that one out.”
“You smiled without your eyes moving. It was a trap if I agreed.”
“We cannot leave you without oversight. While you’d live here without outside influence, we would still monitor and inspect your growth from time to time.”
“Cruel, leaving us like cattle or a hatchery. Then inspecting the spawn as if they would be a science experiment. I should just kill you, but how can I prove I want peace if I give into the bloodlust? Kuru, of Federation affiliation, I sentence you to prisoner duty for the next decade. We need a talented salt miner, looks like we found four. My second and third captain’s also report prisoners to send to the camps. How many of you were left?”
Kuru paused, if the others were on the other ships… She wondered how many truly were left. Last count she had was nearly a dozen. The souls were harder to track now that she had severed them from their host bodies. Each was now soul bound in their vessel; well, all but one.
Her attachment to them was faint, but she felt at least eight of them nearby. The other ships must be within a few miles. Was there anyone left on the mainland?
“We had over a thousand left, just a small handful of us came to inspect your ships.” Her lie rolled off smoothly.
“You rotten dirty…” The curse words from the little girl's mouth showed she was very deserving of the sailors title.
“Well then, might I be returned to my team?” Kuru waited for her rant to end and then simply wanted to end this.
“No.” was her answer.
Below decks, three sailors were opening the doors to the cell SarthDarah, Jorn, and Duerlin were in. They led them up to the main deck, then tied their chains tight to the storm anchors in the decking.
SarthDarah was forced to kneel with her arms tied far out in front of her and her legs underneath her. Jorn had each arm splayed to either side of him, and his ankles tied in a way that made him sit cross legged. Duerlin was strapped against the mast, his arms tied together high above his head and feet strapped tightly to the wooden trunk.
Kuru saw out of the cabin's window that her new crew was strapped to the deck. She was about ready to end the farce of them being prisoners. She needed to confirm the position of the other ships first, and how many other allies she would have if possible.
“I have a deal to make with a third party. The only party that I trust to take care of off worlders like your group.”
Kuru blinked, what third party could she be talking about?
The horizon was suddenly broken by the outline of another ship. A massive one, the banners still too far away to make out clearly.
“Ah, time to negotiate.”
—
“You know the leader of those pirates?”
“Yes, they are not pirates. They are natives that choose to live independently. The governments of the main cities of this world branded them pirates for not wanting to go along with the centralization needed to join the Federation. They blame them for Tios not gaining immediate approval.”
“They weren’t granted approval because their delegate asked for outrageous loans and don’t have the resources to back up the payments. It’s a bankrupt world from the start, who would approve of that?”
Admiral Griffon nodded. Hizumi knew what she was talking about. She just didn’t understand that the reality was they scapegoated the easiest targets every chance they got. Societies that used this philosophy never got far.
“She can be reasoned with?”
“I should be able to talk some sense into her. The people rallied behind her because she was willing to do whatever it took to keep the influence of the Federation out of Tios. She is still a young girl, but very wise and experienced because of what she has gone through.”
They fell quiet, letting the sound of the atmosphere burn soothe them. Hizumi relaxed, knowing there was still a chance her plan for Tios could still work. Admiral Griffon sat stiffly as the ship descended towards the island chain. Vice Admiral Sophia sat quietly to the rear of the ship, tapping at a data pad that had number charts scrolling across it.
The ship rattled, then slowed harshly as the parachute deployed to slow their speed. Hizumi looked out of the window, watching as a mountain range sank out of sight on the horizon.
“Don’t mention me to any of them.”
“Don’t mention you?” The Admiral sounded confused.
“I need them to do this on their own. If they can accomplish their task without my interference, the grander the story will be.”
“I see. Will you still remain here?”
Hizumi hummed for a moment. Then shook her head in the negative. She didn’t want the Admiral to think she was around and give her away somehow.