Sprite: Wake up, Luke.
No.
I woke anyway. The consequences of not waking were not worth it. So far, we were in debt, last on the ladder and paying for two of our team who had washed out. We all expected the spoiled rich kids to ditch, but KittyCat and our Aux were gone.
In the end, KittyCat was just too mean and too paranoid. If he could have, Rufus would have kept her in just to make our life worse. It was tragic; we had been bashing along for nearly three weeks on little or no sleep and short rations, and then she snapped. After a random 2 am drill, she attacked Rufus with her bare hands. Rufus managed her efficiently and brutally.
KittyCat was detained and marched out; we didn't see her after that.
"The Babies", as we were known, all felt horrible and partially responsible. I did get notifications that she was in the CC or correction centre then she was discharged. All the other cohorts said she killed herself and gave us shit for that.
We knew she didn't.
Sprite double-checked up on that for me. Even though I didn't know her, I still felt sorry for her and a little responsible. Was there something we could have done to help her more? Ultimately, it didn't matter, and we could not change anything. It would have been too little too late. We had become the bad luck cohort.
The other to wash out was our Aux. He was a professional who served in a specialist capacity. Our brief interactions led us to believe he was not a bad guy. From the short conversations we had when we were not under Rufus' direct oversight, he was supposed to be training in logistics. Rufus had tried to have him as a spy and informant. Aux, whose name was an unfortunate Drusus Stolo, ran afoul of Rufus' temper. He refused some commands which we were sure were quite illegal, but that did not save him from being discharged as well for insubordination. Each discharge came with a penalty.
Rufus Babies fined 10000 Cr Discharge.
Then pushups or worse.
Each hardship made us more determined not to let that bastard beat us. We were down two members but still expected to operate at full capacity. Team mock combat, 8 v 6. It was hard, and we didn't fail as often as was the expected outcome. For the ones we did win, Rufus accused us of cheating or the other cohorts for feeling sorry for us instead of congratulating us. I was not able to stand out too much, even though I was sure I could wipe the floor against another team with my stats at full. I was frustrated as I knew I had to perform well without showing off at full power.
We had to set up camp and set watches with two fewer, which translated to less sleep. There was no compromise. Rufus was on everyone's shit list, and we were all on his. In our free time, we still had to double time. Even three weeks in, we were still at double time. The only times we didn't jog were, as Rufus had told us at the beginning, when we were asleep or having a crap. Most of us had at least two or three visits to the latrine daily for some respite. I also tried not to cheat.
But with our first official parade and rankings coming up, we needed to do something so we would not give up in despair and keep hope. One of the few perks I had was my stats. Sometimes I would bump them from my training base to somewhere I could feel comfortable. I overrode the settings to let my stats sit at much higher values. As much as it was a relief, I didn't keep them there because I felt guilty that the rest of my team had to suffer and that I wanted to maximise my gains from all the running and fitness. I was expecting some major success if and when I survived, but Fuck Rufus.
Sprite wanted me to use this more often to ensure I did not burn out or suffer physically. I was trying hard to keep up with Tasar's methods, reducing my stats, training hard and not checking notifications, but I needed an edge. I started slowly so as not to draw too much attention to myself. Moving that bit faster, lifting more, needing less sleep, paying attention and listening in. I kept my endurance higher than I should have, enough to keep me alert but not enough to stand out. It didn't take long for the others to realise something was happening. I was always first up, ready to go. I had my uniform in the best condition possible. In our mock combat, I was last standing or winning. My marching and parade performances were nearly flawless. Some of it was cheating, but a lot was actually hard work. We all had improved, and we were all quite sharp.
I had Sprite monitoring me to make sure I was not overcompensating. I still had to maximise gains. The others also thought it was weird that I kept up with a couple of hours of mental exercises each day, either early or late at night. I would stay up after lights out reading in near pitch dark. With my perception, I was able to see clearly in near-total darkness. Personally, I was ranking well, I kept in the top 10, but overall, we as a team absolutely at the bottom. A group penalty soon removed any recognition any of us got as individuals. We had not moved rank at all.
Soon after Aux was discharged, a new Aux was appointed. He was totally different. A nastier piece of work did not exist. We didn't even get his name. I didn't waste time identifying him in case he had a detection skill. He was supposed to be one of us, but if anything, he was worse than Rufus. He was built like a Legionnaire, and he had an attitude of contempt for us. Even though he could not directly give us orders, if we didn't do what he said, it came back on us worse than an order from Rufus. We were never told he could order us around, but if he made a suggestion, it needed to be followed. He had this permanent sneer and an ugly glare about him.
He was continually trying to get Naevius alone and making suggestive comments towards her. It was sickening for all of us, particularly her. I felt she had been identified as our next weak point, and Aux was trying his hardest to break her. Initially, I thought Grete and Vlato would fail, but whatever happened in the Correction Centre changed them. Neither spoke about it, but they became solid. There was still a bit of distrust. Not quite one of us, but dependable enough until our lives were on the line. As Aux and Rufus were leaving, I overheard Rufus tell Aux to take the night off as he had some important business to take care of and didn't need his services.
This was an opportunity, and I decided to do something before we fractured, before Naevius broke. I don't know if we could cope with one more washout, and if we lost too many, then we would all be out. I would find out what this critical business was.
Sprite, can you activate my skills, please? This is bullshit.
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities.
A Negative Karma Penalty will apply. Penalties are cumulative. HUD filter enabled. HUD Filter Options Disabled. Profanity Randomizer Installed
Sprite, what management is that?
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities.
A Negative Karmic Penalty will apply.
Sprite: Remember the Skill you got? Well, it seems that humans swear a lot. All Earth Humans have the Skill SWEARS TOO MUCH. The system has enabled a word randomiser instead and applies a karmic penalty. Also, the filter is disabled the more frequently you swear. At the moment, yours is disabled for 24 and a bit hours. The record is 6.6 months.
Was that Sarah?
If I could laugh, I would have. I felt Sarah's loss more than ever now.
Sprite: That information is withheld. But since she is on the skill notification, I would say yes, she has the record. To answer your previous question, yes, I can and will use your skills as you need them.
That would be annoying.
Sprite: Also, my sister, Solace, discovered that if we use our spare Mind capacity, we can train our Intelligence, Focus and Wisdom in the background. I have run simulations and I have just cleared it for implementation with you. She had seen excellent results; would you like me to engage in this protocol?
Why now? Is it safe?
Sprite: I have recently been what you might call depressed or saddened. That made it difficult for me to want to think about Solace. But yes, it is safe. We cap your mind anyway, and if I cap your Mind at 25, which you would not notice in this place, as it is generally capped at much less, I could use the rest of the capacity to train. Solace saw gains of 1-2 points every 12 hours. We could see as much as 3-6 points because your Mind is higher, and quite frankly, I am older and more experienced. If we keep your Mind capped, the extra capacity would then be added to the spare capacity, and we can continue to train with it. Theoretically, we could see your Mind increase by 6-12 points a day, rising quicker the longer we train. This seems to be a uniquely Earth human trait. I would like to see if we can push boundaries.
What are the side effects? It seems a bit too good to be true. Let's do it if it can be stopped at short notice and there are no issues. But tonight, I need to get up at 1 am.
Sprite: The side effects increase as the difference between the cap and your maximum mind increases. It can be disorientating for you for a few moments when we switch, and there may be some cognitive differences that people may notice too. Alarm set.
I rested to make sure I was ready for the evening's activities.
Sprite: Luke, wake up.
Sure.
I was awake at 1 am.
Our barracks were silent except for the occasional sleep movement. Everyone was exhausted, so I was in no danger of being observed.
Stealth and Invisible Sprite.
Sprite: Ok. Engaged.
Eye of the City Watch, Mystic Eye
Sprite: Ok.
Because of the direct orders from Rufus, we could not use our skills unless directly authorised. I was lucky that I had given permission to Sprite to use my skills, and we had worked out a great system to work around it. I was also sure that shenanigans were happening with Rufus, so I was sure his orders were suspect. That gave me some wiggle room and made Sprite easier to work with. It also made me a hypocrite.
I slipped my clothes off and into my under-armour. It was perfect for what I needed. It would be silent and not catch on anything, and black for night work. I had everything else I would need in my inventory.
Silently I moved out of the barracks. The door opened a crack, and I was through. With my enhanced perception and both sight skills active, I could move as if it were daylight. I had a couple of missions tonight. Moral boosts, so food; some of the stuff we were owed for our downtime for relaxation, and if possible, find the bastard Rufus and snoop around. See why we were being targeted and what was going on. I knew there was something up.
Food was easy. The mess hall had minimal security. It was set up for bulk preparation, not fresh food, but ration packs, mountains of ration packs. The storage room was straight off the actual hall. Service was just lined up, and whoever was on mess duty would retrieve a rat pack or MRE for you and mark it off. We were supposed to get three a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner and the special ones for dinner once a week. Rufus' Babies always got one meal. We were lucky if we got two, and only twice did we get three meals. With my higher stats, I found that I tended to burn more calories but needed to eat less. It was worse in the low-energy area, tough and balanced out. I needed to eat.
The security in the mess hall was pretty basic. It was a combination of a guard, a ward and a dog-like creature that was, if possible, nastier than Rufus. The guard was easy. He could not see me. The wards were simple, with Sprite running the counter wards for me to bypass them. I was slightly concerned about Bruno the dog thing, as I was calling it,
Bruno: Dowers Hound (Tier 2)
I was unsure if it was Sprite or the System picking up on my internal monologue names, but I think it was a neat feature and hoped it would continue.
We had all had guard shifts with him working as night guards, so we knew to stay away from him. He had a control collar on that regulated his behaviour and movement. If you stayed away, it was all good. Only one person had been stupid enough to disregard that, a dog lover. Bruno was not a friendly pet dog, and the noise he made while chewing on the recruit was disturbing. The recruit was sent to medical and not allowed accelerated treatment as a punishment. The scars took days to clear up.
I had been planning this heist for some time, so I used my Karmic Flare (Attack) in preparation. With Sprite's assistance, I could directly modulate it to suppress Bruno.
It had taken quite some time to get right, but I succeeded a week ago. Bruno would crouch and watch me. I think it was some pack alpha canid psychology or some bullshit, Sprite told me, but all I cared about was that the dog sat.
The drain on my energy and mana pools was significant, but nothing I couldn't manage, as I was able to sneak past the guard,
Hrabanus Nitor Tier 1 Brawler (Legion Tirone) L7 First Vanguard
He was in the top group, not that I wished him ill, but he would be busted and in the shit tomorrow. I smiled silently to myself. He was not guarding well anyway, just leaning against the wall. Not that I could blame him as this was pointless duty, as if anyone was going to steal ration packs!
I smiled and had a silent chuckle at the thought. They would probably have a more prominent guard after tonight. If I were careful, maybe no one would even notice if there were missing packs.
The wards were relatively easy, Sprite indicating in my HUD what to do and where. It was fantastic having her as an encyclopedic know-it-all on tap. To bring Bruno into line, a light
Karmic Flare (Attack)
It didn't hurt him; instead, it made him feel dominated, unable to move in the presence of a true alpha predator.
Then I moved into the storage room. I smiled. The piles of ration packs would feed our training group for several years at the rate we were going through them. I was reasonably indiscriminate with the number I took, but I tried to keep it to what we needed and what we had missed. That way, I didn't feel as guilty about stealing.
Sophistry and fuzzy thinking were my friends tonight.
The quick math was six people, three a day for five months. I was getting all the future ones that were needed as well. I was not counting Aux in my calculations. I put just under 2000 ration packs into my inventory. One-third breakfast, one-third dinner and one-third specials. They disappeared into my inventory, taking up very little room. I spread where I took them from to make it less evident that there were missing packs. Even with 2000 gone, there were still mountains of them left.
My inventory was terrific. Instead of stacked slots, I had a visual of sections that were more like shelves in a warehouse. I had no idea how much I could put in there or how big an item I could add, but 2000 ration packs didn't even register. Backing out of the mess hall was just as easy. It felt terrific to be doing something proactive.
The officers' hall and barracks had less security. There was a checkpoint and then nothing else. Even with "Identify" in full "Mystic Eye" and "Eye of City watch" mode, I could not see any warding that would detect me. I knew where Rufus' office was, on the ground floor at the end of the corridor. He even had a nice little banner, "Rufus' Babies", on the door.
None of the doors were locked because we were all on the same side, and they had a checkpoint to stop people from coming in. In theory, there should be no sensitive information stored here.
We were just a rudimentary training fort. His door was silent on its hinges, and I could sneak in and close it. I knew there were a few bits of the equivalent of paperwork in here. Still, I was fishing, seeing what I could find, unsure what to do if I found anything suspicious. It was not as if I could walk up to Liliana and say, "Hey Lilli, your buddy Rufus is a scumbag. Here is the evidence" One, she was never here; we had not seen her since day one and two; she probably knew that he was a scumbag. I was careful not to move anything around, but a quick look didn't show much more than what I already knew. I quietly tapped the table to see if there were hidden draws. I was fishing and didn't have any bait.
Sprite: Your perception would pick those up and be less noisy.
Ok, Ok. Just a bit nervous. Not like I have practised being a cat burglar or anything.
Sprite: Why would you practice stealing a cat?
Never mind, I'll explain later. Do you think I should sneak upstairs to see if there is stuff in his room? He shouldn't be able to see me only if I am stupid.
Sprite: Well, he will see you then.
OMG, Sprite, did you just crack a joke? What, wait, was that cat thing a joke too?
Sprite: I don't know what you are talking about. I have an extensive database of jokes and puns I have yet to unleash on you. Would you like me to increase my humour rating?
Not tonight, Sprite, maybe later.
Just what I needed an AI that I couldn't escape with a database of dad jokes
Sprite: With the current lack of information, it may help. There is a slight chance of being caught with time spent in the CC. Consequently, you would also drop down in the personal rankings, but we may find some information. I, too, find his behaviour and your circumstances irregular. According to simulations, based on your Cohort's individual scores, your Cohort should be ranked 3rd or 5th at the lowest.
I backed out of the offices and crossed the yard to the officer barracks. I didn't really need to sneak. With both Stealth and Invisibility, I was like a ghost. Sometimes it is about making yourself feel better, and I don't think I had the balls to just walk across the yard, so I was moving slowly. One thing about the Legion is that they are predictable. All the buildings are the same in every camp or fort. They standardised equipment, roles and even building and construction. Any Legionnaire anywhere could find their way around any base. This made my job easier. We knew where Rufus bunked thanks to first Aux, who got shafted for standing up for our mistreatment. I made my way slowly up the stairs. I cast my perception out.
I wanted to be even more invisible and stealthy. Silent and invisible.
Outside Rufus' door, I saw a shrouded figure. Hidden. Some sort of obfuscation skill.
Crap, before I could get Sprite to disable my Identification skills,
Svanþór Ingiþórsson Rapid Dogs Mercenary Clan Tier 4 Warrior. Strength
Crap, Crap. What was he doing here? If anything, it confirmed that he was up to no good. It was obvious he knew that he had been scanned. He tensed up. I could see him reasonably clearly with my perception, and I could see that he was glancing about. Rufus' door opened, and his fellow merc came out. I froze.
Þórsteinn Fylkisson Rapid Dogs Mercenary Clan Tier 4 Warrior. Endurance
Sprite: This isn't good.
No finish, Sherlock.
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities. A Negative Karmic Penalty will apply.
Not customer now, oyster, please, SYSTEM?
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities. A Negative Karmic Penalty will apply.
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities. A Negative Karmic Penalty will apply.
SYSTEM: Previous Karmic Penalty removed. ONCE.
WTF does it listen? Does it pay attention? What the hell?
Sprite: Be careful what you say.
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Grrr, don't need that right now. Can't even say CRAP! Maybe I'll say Carp!
Crap, Crap Crap, but I could think it.
I moved slightly back to lower my profile. There was no way this was ending well. Still, they had not seen me, so at least I had that on them.
Hey Sprite, are we still in Humble Divine's bad books?
Sprite: I'll query.
LOG: You are not in our bad books, so to speak, just a very high-risk client. We can help in certain situations. Please enquire, and we will be happy to see if we can assist. There is a high probability that this may qualify for assistance. There may be a small one-off re-establishment fee.
Well, FU very much. Would you be able to use the Failsafe override when Sprite tells you?
LOG: As an offer of our sympathy for not being able to help you, our legal team would like you to know that if you believe that your orders are illegal, you are not bound by them. So you can use your skills yourself. You have been skirting them for some time now with no ill effects. Indicating that the system agrees that a lot of what you are undergoing is illegal. The fact that there is a known Karass agent here also gives you the credence to ignore his orders.
Well, I'll be. I hadn't thought of that. You could have pointed that out a while ago
LOG: not while you are in our bad books, as you called it.
Crap, just what I needed. Were these AIs getting snarkier?
Sprite, full stats, and I am going to use skills.
Sprite: I concur that you are in a situation that warrants this.
I had a kind of plan. Svan and Port, the two mercs, were still on alert. I was sure they were Karass agents, which meant that Rufus probably was too. I had not moved. Port opened the door and re-entered Rufus' room. Perfect. Inch by inch. Or cm by cm as I measured it, preferring metric, damn Americans! I should really curse Liberia and Myanmar as well just to spread the hate.
I moved across the few meters that separated us. He had not noticed me, and I was not taking any chances. I moved so slowly. I had one option here. I angled around him, taking my time so that I would come behind him. I was glad I was in my under-armour. It allowed me to move silently. Eventually, I was as close behind Svan as I dared.
Invisibility and Steath at Tier 5 were impressive. I could have reached out and grabbed his head if I wanted to, which is precisely what I did.
It worked against the Grimclaw with great success. I had only improved my skills, so I activated a double-handed Thunder Grip with maximum impact and minimum noise.
Sneak attack.
Critical Hit. (Head)
Sneak attack.
Critical Hit. (Head)
You have Killed Svanþór Ingiþórsson.
DEFEATED: Svanþór Ingiþórsson Rapid Dogs Mercenary Clan Tier 4
Experience Awarded: 6450 x 100% contribution bonus: 6450 experience.
Bonus Experience: Kill on Sight Foe.
System Credits Awarded: 10000 credits x 100% contribution bonus. 10000 Cr.
Karma was Awarded for defeating Karass' agent.
Autolooted to Inventory: 17 items: See log for details
I loved sneak attacks, not that I knew they were a thing. I also loved critical hits! Two sneak attacks with a Tier 4 attack backed up by 197 strength on someone's head. He had a personal shield that instantly vanished as it went from green to brown to black. Then his unprotected head disintegrated. I forgot to catch his body as I was too busy congratulating myself.
The door rattled as his body fell. I managed to grab the body and put it into my inventory. Luckily it went. I had no idea before I tried if you could do that. I did know you could not put live things into it. I checked that "Stealth - Hide from Shit" and "Can't see me, I am invisible." were active, and I moved beside the door.
I couldn't do much about some of the mess right now. I wondered why my Skill's names were not censored. The stupid erratic system, I wished it would make up its mind and keep consistent rules. I was so going to kill Mike when I saw him next. I miss Sarah more right now.
I could feel my energy recharging slowly. Thunder Grip, at maximum, sucked quite a bit of energy. Suppressing the noise also increased the energy draw.
The door opened. Perfect. Port stuck his head out and looked around. He stepped through and closed the door. I could see him clearly now, but my Tier 5 stealth trumped whatever his perception was. Invisibility was just a bonus. He moved right next to me. I am unsure if he felt my breath or some other perception skill, but with a speed that I could never match, I had a dagger embedded in me, just missing my kidney.
I panicked.
There was a huge freaking dagger sticking into my gut. I am sure it missed all my vitals because I was still standing.
I lost nearly 80% of my health in one hit. That was what levels and training had over raw stats.
You have been poisoned
25 health per second for 30 seconds.
29 energy per second for 30 seconds.
I'd have to manage the damage, ensuring I got a potion into me as soon as possible. The total was almost three times my health pool.
I knew I could take a little bit of a physical beating, and I had 30 seconds, so I was not that concerned. Well, crap, yes, I was – I had a freaking dagger sticking out of me!
The poison was also starting to make me feel quite fuzzy, and my vision blurred a little.
It must have been good stuff. Luckily, Sprite was terrific. She activated, "OMG, Heal me, it hurts." before I could even register, the pain was a distant buzz.
His mistake was assuming he had killed me straight out. Lucky for me, I ignored the pain and damage. Otherwise, I would have been done in. I stepped into his range and gave him the same treatment as Sven. His hesitation cost him.
Critical Hit.
Critical Hit.
It was disgusting. It didn't kill him outright, but I think the brain trauma had done something to him. Half his head was mush and twitching like he had stuck a finger in a light socket. I could see his brain inside his pulverized skull. As I held his half head, his feet drummed the floor. I think I threw up on him too, which made me throw up on him again.
It was The Most Disgusting Thing EVER!
But I had to do this. He was useless, but I only had moments before this was detected. I pulled the dagger out of my gut and ended him. He, too, went into my inventory. Dead bodies don't stack even if they are the same species. My hands and shoulders were sore from the energy flow from my use of Thunder Grip.
I think I was misusing it. I am pretty sure that it was not supposed to hurt like that. At least this time, I had not dislocated my shoulders.
DEFEATED: Þórsteinn Fylkisson Rapid Dogs Mercenary Clan Tier 4
Experience Awarded: 14400 x 100% contribution bonus: 14400 experience.
Bonus Experience: Kill on Sight Foe.
System Credits Awarded: 12000 credits x 100% contribution bonus. 12000 Cr. Karma was Awarded for defeating Karas's agent.
Autolooted to Inventory: 42 items: See log for details.
Crap. That meant that Rufus was an agent or at least being bought.
Ok, Sprite, it's time to end this business. It will end tonight. He will answer questions or die.
Sprite: That was chilling. When did you become so dark? But we can't kill him. We have to use the proper channels. When we get back, I will notify Xar. We need proof that he is an Agent. The Legion must know about this.
Don't push it! Who do we trust here?
I grabbed a healing potion from my inventory and downed it to speed things up. I waited for the poison debuff to clear, and then I chugged another one to ensure my innards were all ok. I really hated Liquorice, so I held my nose and quaffed it, and it did the trick. I shivered just thinking about having the knife in my guts. When I got home, I would take all the damn Liquorice flavoured ones out and give them to Mike. Maybe I should rethink my stance on injectables. I had another one just to wash the flavour out of my mouth.
"Stealth - Hide from shit" and "Can't see me, I am invisible." were still up.
I opened the door and moved in.
I was surprised.
I had expected to confront Rufus.
Fortunately, or unfortunately for me, Rufus was dead. His neck was broken, and it looked like he had been strangled, with large bruises forming around his neck.
Fuck me.
I was not hanging around. I was out of there. Moving like the wind. Invisible.
If I had been a minute later, I would have been caught. As I was moving past the checkpoint, I saw a group of fully outfitted Legionnaires moving information into the barracks. They were not in the hand-to-hand melee stuff. They were in their urban riot kits, the equivalent of military police. I sprinted. Back in our barracks and dorm, I kept stealth up as I cleaned myself up. I did a thorough wash-off, changed clothes, ensuring that all the evidence was in my inventory, and went back into bed.
I was breathing fast, more from nerves and adrenalin than anything else, and I was pretending to sleep.
Minutes later, the base alarm went off. It was all hands, a complete kit, not a drill, assembled and ready for anything.
I got some odd looks from the others. Naevius, of all people, ended up wiping quite a patch of maybe bone and blood from under my chin. Gross. She didn't say anything.
"Thanks"
"For what? Nothing happened here."
"Exactly. Thanks."
I quickly said, "Talk later" to the team, and I got some odd looks but nods as we finished making our way to the parade grounds. Because we were at the bottom of the ladder, this was one drill we had been drilling more than any other contubernium, and we were getting good. We were first ready and out and best dressed. Not that there were points tonight.
Even though no one was supposed to be talking, it didn't take long for everyone to know that Rufus had been murdered with a recruit's dagger too. That was bull. He had been strangled In his sleep and had his neck broken.
If I had been a few minutes earlier, I might have been able to prevent that or maybe helped. I am not sure if I felt terrible for not feeling bad about that or the fact that I had two corpses in my inventory. It was not a good look if someone asked to see them. We stood on parade for the rest of the night.
Then all of us were put under barracks arrest pending an investigation. Not just Rufus' Babies, all of us. Despite no evidence, guess who was getting the blame? Yep. Everyone thought one of Rufus' Babies did it. We certainly had the motive. Not one of us was unhappy, but we were worried.
We returned to the barracks and our dorm and were not allowed to leave. We had two centurions on guard outside the room, stopping us from leaving or talking too loudly. Over the day, we got ration packs delivered. Each contubernium was taken to the parade ground for an hour of exercise and then returned. During our exercise session, we didn't talk. There was just an uneasy silence. We could see other recruits being taken out one by one, and sometimes entire contubernium was taken over to the mess for interrogation.
I was waiting for it, but eventually, Grete started, "So talk, What the fuck is going on? You were covered in … god, did you do it? We are fucked. They all think we did it."
Sprite, how come he can swear? That is so unfair!
Sprite: He is not Earth Human
I thought hard. I had had a long time to practice talking and thinking around an oath, so bending the truth was only slightly challenging.
"I can honestly say I did not kill Rufus. I'd like to have, and any of us would have liked to."
Time to deflect a bit, "I am sure if it were one of us, it would have been multiple stab wounds, with possibly some pissing on his corpse, which no one would ever find again. I hated that …piece of work…. I know this looks bad, but …" I looked around at them.
Although I didn't really know them that well, we didn't talk about our pasts that much, but they were part of my life at the moment, and if I couldn't trust them, then I was royally screwed anyway.
"Look, some of this is crazy, and some is not good. It is way bigger than us. What do you all know about the Karass?"
I got some crazy looks. Apollo said, "What have they got to do with anything? We are in the middle of the Empire, not on the outer fringe near the borders. The war is over."
"Do you know why you were put into this group, to be at the bottom?" I looked at Grete and Vlato in particular.
Vlato shifted nervously. "Business deal went wrong. Some corpo put pressure on my family to get me in here. I was going to be contacted just before graduation and asked to do them a favour".
Vlato started to look worried, "Shit, with all this now, that sounds really bad, doesn't it? I swear I had nothing to do with this."
Grete grimaced, "Similar here. It was blackmail. My family. This is really bad." Vlato continued, "Do you think they will connect us to the murder somehow?"
With a huge sigh, "Look, I know it wasn't either of you two. I promise you that if they blame you, I can and will prove that you were not involved in the murder of Rufus. Rufus was murdered by Karass agents. He was strangled in his sleep. His neck was broken. He was not stabbed. It was not me. Look, I believe but can't prove this; He was working for them."
Everyone looked at me in horror.
Naevius casually said, "So that wasn't blood or brains all over you this morning?"
Even more looks of horror. Maybe I had read her wrong, and she was a bit tougher than I expected.
"Not his no. There were two other deaths last night, Karass mercenaries: Rapid Dogs Clan. Outside Rufus' room."
"Who are you?" Gentius asked. He was ordinarily stoic and quiet, dedicated to his training and one of the good guys from my point of view, which is why his question threw me a bit.
"No one really, no one special, just had a busy month or so" I could see that they were not buying it.
"So, what about the dagger? Everyone got their Pugio. I am assuming that was what they will say was used?"
A quick check showed everything was in order.
"What about KittyCat and Aux, She attacked Rufus. What if it was hers, and they didn't collect it, and they try…." Tetris, as I called Tertius, started, almost panicking. It was funny how everyone picked up on nicknames, even if they were hated. KittyCat certainly hated her nickname and a lot of other stuff as well.
"Calm it, Tetris. Even if it was hers, they needed to prove anyone was there. As far as anyone is concerned, we were all asleep. Now I am not saying anything about where I was or what I was doing, but if you didn't do it and were sleeping, that is all you know. You can swear an oath. Did anyone see anyone leave or get up last night?"
Hey Sprite, are there classes that can detect truth?
Sprite: Yes. Ranging from Justiciars all the way to some bounty hunting skills. If you joined the guild, you might even get access to them.
Can you contact Xar and let him know about what has happened?
Sprite: I already did, it cost a lot, and we may be detected yet.
Can't be helped, but maybe he can pull some strings, not that I want him involved. Maybe Julie can do something. Man, I miss Sarah. She would know what to do right now.
Sprite: Focus on Luke. You asked me not to contact anyone to minimise distractions and to stop you from getting depressed.
I guess you are right. Other stuff first, right? Maybe later, see how my day goes. Let's leave contacting anyone else until we really need to. No need to pull them into this unless it is urgent.
"When they come and ask, swear an oath and tell the truth. I have not confirmed or said anything about what I was doing or where I was. All you know is I was asleep. We have nothing to hide, but we all wanted him dead and didn't do it."
It was weird. I expected this investigation to be all high-tech and all the evidence recorded in real time. From what Julie had explained in some of our conversations, tech and magic cost money and energy. Sometimes it was worth it, but it wasn't when there were easier ways to do things. That was why there weren't any cool robots running around. The cost to run them was too high for what they could do. Simple bots existed, but they could only do simple tasks. Cheaper and more manageable for a farmer with skills to manage a farm than building and buying a tractor to match his skills. The same philosophy went into law enforcement: why collect evidence and investigate when skills and spells worked? I was betting that most of today was waiting for skills to recharge.
As usual, we were last. They came for us one at a time. It was pretty nerve-racking, really. They took Tetris, Naevius, Grete , Osvaldus, Apollo then Gentius. Finally, I was left alone. It was almost as if they knew. Then I was marched across the mess hall with the two centurions flanking me. The mess hall had been set up as an impromptu investigation and interrogation area. I could see some Legionnaires still talking to Vlato and Apollo over to one side. They didn't look over and possibly didn't see me. Everyone looked tired. Most people had been up since very early in the morning. I know I had been.
The big lady herself was here, Lilli. She was as stunning today as when she stood before us on our first day. However, perfection was marred as she looked exhausted and ready to rip a head off someone's shoulders. I got the impression that I was it. I knew she had some oratory skills and that I was oath-bound to follow her orders if she asked me something. It depended on whether I saw it as a request or an order.
Intimidation resisted.
Charm resisted.
Interesting. She smiled at me. It was a tired, and don't mess with me smile, nothing friendly about it. Do lions smile at prey? I think I was finding out. The only thing I had going for me was that I did not kill Rufus.
I was forced into a small chair in front of her desk.
She didn't waste time, "Tirone, Luke Hammond, did you kill Aries Rufus?"
I could answer this straight out, "No."
She was right back at me, "Did you want to kill Aries Rufus? Be warned that truth skills are active, and any deception will be dealt with harshly. One of our own has been murdered."
Before I could think, I felt a compulsion, some of my Oath making its presence known, not forcing me to tell the truth, just making sure I did. I had almost forgotten his first name too! "Of course I did. He treated us like … cattle, "I forced the word out. No negative karma happening here, thank you very much. He was not worth swearing about ", and it was even worse after Aux left. We all wanted to kill him, too, especially for how he treated Naevius."
Maybe if I kept talking, I could keep them from digging too deeply. "I mean, we only got one meal a day most days, and never the specials, no free time."
She interrupted me looking angry, "He is dead, murdered, and you disrespect him?" Maybe I played it too hard.
"I don't mean to speak ill of the dead, but he was a right … piece of work …" This not swearing was worse than the interrogation. "Quite frankly, he deserved what he got, and I can't believe he was in the Legion!" That was pure frustration. "Use your truth skills to see if what I say is true." I nearly spat the last bit out.
She erupted, "Enough! He was an officer. He was Legion. You are a recruit who knows nothing about the….." That was snapped out, and we got a few startled glances. "Enough. It has been a long day. Do. Not. Press. Me."
Boy, had I triggered her somehow, and I was not sure why.
"You have admitted to wanting to kill an officer, so I ask you under oath, Did you kill Aries Rufus last night?"
Again, easy, "No, I did not kill Aries Rufus."
"Did you intend to kill Aries Rufus last night?"
Weird way to phrase it. Crap, Crap. I had to tell the truth.
Again I felt the oath curl around and wrestle with my consciousness, "To tell the truth, I don't know. I mean, if I saw him alone, I would have liked to, but did I get out of bed to kill him? No. Did I dream of it, probably."
She looked annoyed. Why did I feel like she was playing with me? Cat to the mouse. "Did you murder anyone last night?"
Crap, crap, double crap. Murder was murder. Self-defence was not murder. "No, Of course, I did not murder anyone last night", I managed. My Oath agreed with me. I killed the mercs, but they were agents of the Karass, and since I am Kill on Sight with them, it was self-defence or war or something. I'd talk to Julie to sort out intergalactic politics later. I was going to have to practice sophistry skills a bit more. This was too intense.
"Did you steal from this mess last night?" her gaze was oddly piercing.
Compulsion resisted.
Crap. That threw me. Steal, technically, they were ours or going to be, and I had only taken them to give to the rightful owners, so that was not stealing. It wasn't 'anything' either.
It was ration packs, so could I say that?
"I didn't steal anything from this mess last night" Yes! I avoided a fist pump on that one. I did feel a bead of sweat roll down my brow.
She looked at me with more focus. I was being paranoid, trying to determine if I could trust her. Her dedication to Rufus could just be Legion loyalty, but what if it weren't? I don't know if I would stake my life on it, and I bet that was what it would be if they pinned his death on me. She seemed to relax a bit. "Did you know that two of your tent group have come clean on conspiracy, bribery and blackmail? It won't be long before we can link them to this murder."
I remained silent.
"Well? Did you?"
Crap.
"No, didn't know that they had come clean." I didn't know they had come clean to her, and I didn't know about the conspiracy part.
She smiled. I think she had set the hook in me. Fuck, what if she could mind-read.
Sprite, can she mind read?
Sprite: There is a very low probability of that. It is more a mystic skill found in cults, religious orders or very high-willed individuals.
"What would you say if I said we had solid evidence that pointed to their involvement in the murder?"
"I would have to say that it would be doubtful."
"Explain."
Crap.
"They were asleep when the murder occurred."
"How do you know?"
"I couldn't sleep and was awake when the alarm went off. They were both asleep in their bunks."
"Where were you at the time of the murder?"
Fuck. I had to think quickly. "I don't know. I could have been asleep, probably not being able to sleep and all that," I could have been. I didn't know when the murder occurred, just before I was there.
She smiled a bit more, "Are you a Karass agent?"
"What? White, no! Of course not. I thought you poetry were"
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities.
A Negative Karmic Penalty will apply.
She looked shocked. "Please repeat that without profanities, and clearly, please do not make any sudden moves. I will ignore the implication that you thought a superior officer in the Legion was an agent of one of our hostile neighbours."
"I swear on my oath to the empire that I am not a Karass agent, have never conspired with one and could never be one."
"Please explain?" she said with a frown.
"Do I have permission to share a system log with you?"
She looked to one of the officers beside her, who nodded. "Yes, you do."
I shared one of my logs with her:
Your renown with the Karass Collective is Enemy of the Collective. (Kill on Sight)
"I am Kill on Sight within their territory."
Lilli looked a bit more relieved but worried, "So amongst all the truth you were telling, is there more you want to tell me, or should you tell me?"
I had to risk it. "Can we do this somewhere a bit more discreet? I may need some space."
She called one of the Legionnaires over, who promptly cleared the room, then came back in with four others, all armed and ready.
She said, "You can understand that there is a bit of a lack of trust, and we can't take any chances, can we, not with murder in our fort."
I sighed. "Well, I am royally liquefying if I can't trust you now. I can solve the murder for you. Rufus was killed by two Rapid Dogs Mercs, who used to work for the Karass Ambassador to the Imperial Senate."
Bonus Human Race Penalty: Please refrain from using profanities.
A Negative Karmic Penalty will apply.
"I assume you have proof? And you said use to work for?" she asked.
I sighed. I didn't like dramatic reveals, but I was going to do one.
I dumped the corpses out of my inventory, "These are the Karass agents who killed Rufus, er, sorry, Aries Rufus." Damn. I spoiled my dramatic moment.
I swear I saw her nearly throw up, which was not a surprise because they were gross, and the inventory kept them fresh.
And that was how I got sent home to continue my training under Xar.
The only reason I was not kicked straight out and charged was due to that connection. Surprisingly I had impressed the other trainers with my hard work and discipline under conditions that were being recorded as harsh also counted in my favour. That and from the investigation, there was enough evidence to point to Rufus being an agent, with links higher in the Senate and the Legion itself. To keep me quiet and under an Oath, I was packed up and sent home for Xarius to deal with. I was sworn to secrecy, of course. Nothing like a cover-up to make me feel safe.
Ultimately, it took some time to calm everyone down. Officially I was to have my training temporarily suspended and be sent back to my sponsoring officer, Xarius, who would be able to continue my training if he agreed and he was able. I would continue as I had before.
Lilli made me return the rations, which I did with a slightly guilty smile. I was both happy and sad to be leaving. I was a little disappointed that I would not graduate with "Rufus' Babies" and complete the boot camp. Was I a quitter? Was I discharged? I was not sure if I was happy or sad that I got rid of the Title Rufus Babies. Regardless of its benefit, it was another title for me to collect.
I had to wait five days, as the Legion refused to pay my energy costs to teleport me home to the house. I had been out of communication for some time. When I sorted everything out, I was surprised that I could not port directly to the house as the temporary portal had been moved. Julie had set it up somewhere called Min Min, which I believed was northwest Queensland somewhere. It cost 7000 energy to charge the portal, so I went each morning, channelled energy, and then spent the rest of the day training with weights and mental exercises. I would channel the energy before bed. I could fill close to 500 energy a day. Most of the time, everyone gave me a wide berth.
However, from the looks I had gotten from my squad. I was still calling them my squad since I was feeling very unloving towards the Legion right at the moment. I thought they wanted to talk. I did manage to chat quietly with them, and they were relieved that they were being given a chance to finish their training without the negative stain of Rufus. It would be rough on them, though, being in the unlucky group with three members out.
I could have just dumped the energy, waited for the regeneration, then dumped again and been back a lot earlier. Still, I needed some time to sort through how I felt about things. There was quite a bit going on, and I knew it would only get crazier when I left here. It would be good to get back after being away for under a month.
Man, the system and its crazy powers!
Besides, I re-enabled my notifications and had a metric ton of announcements to sort through.
Eventually, I was able to activate the teleportation plate, and I selected Earth:
Min Min(Empire: Provisional)