Incoming Press Burst, Zero Light Years Away (Jahellios System Comm Relay, FEG Controlled).

An unknown hostile force attacked the ‘Expedition Fleet-24’ of the Upper Sagittarius Sector Defense Theater (USSDT). The eight-ship strong fleet reported “unknown hostile” entities that trailed them in the outer sector, days before the USSDT Command lost contact with the fleet. It is unconfirmed whether it was a pirate, DSA, League, or Communard attack, but the FEG Military has issued no further reports aside from it being a “possible Communard provocation”. The FEG Military will also re-expand counter-terrorism operations against communard terror fleets.

- Orion Press

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+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Jahellios System

New Krakow

Artowisz City

“What do you mean it disappeared from your registries?” The official frowned at me, as I had already asked the same question for what must be the third time. “That’s impossible, we saw it earlier. It was in your terminals.”

“I assure you, it’s not there, it’s gone,” he scoffed at me. “Look kid, I get that you are all curious about this stuff, but I’d appreciate it if you stop asking questions now.”

“What? Why? Dude, you manage this place, right? What’s the big deal? It’s just ship departures.”

“Ship departures can tell a lot about things, and it includes things you shouldn’t know. I don’t know either, and knowing what crap is happening in this city, I’d also rather not ask. I admit, yes it was there, but it was snuffed out. I’m not going to be asking any further questions about that to my superiors, and I suggest you do the same. Capiche? Now piss off.”

And with that, I was booted off from their managing office. I scratched the back of my head as I returned to them, all of them waiting for me expectantly. Naturally, upon seeing my pathetic exit, they all sagged as if they expected that result.

“Hah…whatever, as expected of a commoner,” Louise said.

“That’s what happens when a weakling gets drunk,” Harold gave me a mocking smirk.

“I bet he just talked to them without tack,” and of course, the last cheeky quip came from “Miss Perfect” Juliett herself.

“Shut up, the three of you,” I said, stopping in front of them. “He said it didn’t happen. Based on the records. Well, it did happen, but officially, it didn’t.”

“Sounds like an average sunny day in the FEG,” Harold laughed. “Of course, what did we expect? Quite frankly, asking any official other than Ms. Kalista is bound to result in a dead end. There’s quite literally no point.”

“Still gotta try,” I countered. “In any case, we have to modify our plan. Since it’s not on the records, that means no one’s tracking his ship. To be expected, I suppose. Which means he’s somewhere out there, far away, on a gigantic sea.”

“That’s just…great,” Harold sagged. “Can we just grab an aircraft? I’ll fly it personally, then we’ll find him in like, three minutes.”

“More like we’re all dead in a plane crash within three minutes,” I snapped at him, and he frowned.

“Hey, I’ll have you know, I have eight thousand hours in the best simulators out there.”

“Great, so that’s what you did when you’re traveling in hyperspace? Lock yourself in your ship’s basement and play video games?” I crossed my arms. “No, that’s not an option.”

“Say, what’s an option? Let’s do a speedboat. I can do that too,” he smirked cheekily. “I mean, don’t tell me you three are quivering pussies? Why the fear of speeds?”

“Gah, these two rascals!” Louise turned red. “Your crass vocabularies are perhaps your greatest crimes. I can’t believe I’m associating myself with the two of you. And I can’t believe someone as fine as Lady Juliett is with the both of you.”

“I mean, they’re not that bad, but you’re right,” Juliett said, supporting the other woman in our group. “I think these two need to be taught some etiquette. I mean, think about it Jonathan, if you were even a quarter more gentlemanly than now, maybe you’d have talked to that guy more productively.”

I felt my eyes twitch. “Sorry, but I ain’t interested in high-class table manners. Piss off. Anyway, I think I have a plan. And I’d like the three of you to listen to it closely.”

Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“What?”

“You see, I saw a semi-autonomous surface ship at the port. More importantly, it’s armed. And I mean, well-armed. It’s a Coastal Defense Corvette. Hyacinth-Class. But it’s old and mothballed. Currently not operated by the FEG.”

“Great, how convenient,” Louise said, rolling her eyes. “Seriously, do you really expect that they would just hand us a warship just like that? This is bordering on delusion.”

“Oh, you sweet summer child,” I said to her. “You have a lot of money, right?”

“Erm, well, yes, I did just retrieve our emergency bank account,” she said, looking up at me. “W-wait, what are you planning?”

“Well, we have a decent amount of funds, and we have a powerful connection, Ms. Kalista. So, I say, we do the thing someone as ‘noble’, ‘prideful’, and ‘righteous’ as you would frown at. Money, connections, and government officials. Got any idea?”

Her eyes widened. “You’re not suggesting…”

“Let’s do a little corruption, shall we?”

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+++ Jonathan Jones +++

“W-well, if that’s the agreement then…I mean, it’s a pretty old ship after all,” the port official awkwardly laughed as we presented Ms. Kalista’s authorization to him. We were alone in his office, and we had talked about the deal for only a few dozen minutes. At first, he was naturally apprehensive about the idea, until he realized that Ms. Kalista sent us and that we were dropping a lot of money for him.

“Of course, think of it as a…legal commandeering of a FEG asset for the FEG, you wouldn’t want to ask too many questions now, would you?” I said to him, as his smile turned even more awkward. “I mean, I did hear Ms. Kalista’s reputation…”

“Of course! Of course! My dear friends, for the good of the FEG! Questions? I have no questions, there’s nothing questionable about this at all! Gee, what a nice little Monday it is, don’t you think? So sunny and peaceful…” Outside, the rain, while not heavy, definitely made the atmosphere seem quite dull with the light rain. And we could still hear the faint sounds of the riots and chaos inside the city. “There’s even rainbows and stuff. What a nice…perfectly normal Monday…yeah…”

We were definitely all looking down at him at his pathetic attempt.

That’s the poorest choice of words you can do, old man. I sighed, but I suppose a small port operator like him didn’t really expect a bunch of shady men and women to just barge into his office and demand a decommissioned warship off his port. I bet he was thinking that we were a part of the FIA or something, on a black ops mission. And if someone like that dropped in your office, you sure as hell would cooperate.

Both to save your life and your job prospects.

I heard Louise sigh in disappointment. “We’ll just drop the money on your account. Expect it by tomorrow.”

He looked at her with strange familiarity, and I should say, when I barged in at first, he was really apprehensive until he saw Louise. I suppose he knew her? She was the Duke’s first daughter after all. I mean, I wouldn’t be too surprised about that.

“No worries, ladies and gentlemen. There’s no problem with my bank account suddenly getting a large sum of money from an unknown source randomly, not at all! Please, proceed to the docks, I’ll get the men and women to assist you in getting the ship up and running, and get you off to your merry way to the high seas!”

“No more need to keep speaking, old man,” Louise said, and I could tell she was tired of it. “It’s not working.”

“Oh…erm…I mean…”

I smiled at him awkwardly. “Well, don’t worry about it. It was nice working with you.” I gave him a goofy thumbs-up. “The FEG appreciates your cooperation. Have a good Monday, sir.”

And with that, we left his office, going down straight to the packed hallways. I could see Louise sag as we left, and Juliett immediately asked her. “Hey, Louise, do you know that guy?”

“Just an old friend of my father,” she shook her head. “Ugh, I can’t believe that old geezer outlived him. He always dragged my father to these drunken sprees. Kind of like how Harold drags Jonathan to his vices.”

“Oi, why did I turn into a criminal again?!” Harold said defensively. “He consented to it.”

Why’d you have to frame it that way, you idiot? That could have been taken badly out of context. Damn him. At least I was being painted as the innocent victim this time. That was new. Goddamnit, this small little party I’m with suffers from severe brain damage.

And by that, I meant, I was included in that. Juliett and her cheeky poking at all of us, including her incessant electronic trolling. Harold and his drunkard ramblings. Louise and her mind grating arrogance and false virtue. And then there was me, the goofy, greedy rat who literally dragged our entire team to commit corruption in daylight. Quite frankly, who’d have the balls to do that? Yeah, me, the one and only Ratnathan.

But I suppose all of them had their own virtues. Harold went beyond and above to rescue his buddies, and I’d bet good money that he would do the same to us. Juliett was…well, at this point, I could clearly establish that she’s almost a damned pure angel (unless she wants to mess with us), and as for Louise, I would bet that there’s some truth to her nobility, and her sheer drive to protect her own family.

What did I even have to speak for myself in comparison? Unlike all of them, I was here for the money, wasn’t I? And if it weren’t for the money, in the almost self-destructive side quest of looking for clues about what happened to my father. And for what? For the same path of revenge that I had undertaken in Loran, and ultimately destroyed the old gang I was with?

Sure, I could pin so much of the blame on our leader, but ultimately, had I stayed in a lower profile, and avoided confronting the Royals, we would all still be alive by now. Instead, we were dispersed, cast adrift, killed, and every awful fate one could count. Meanwhile, I, the eternal rat, was still alive today.

Still alive, and now, I was seemingly finding another family…another family that I might destroy if I ever chose the wrong path.

The only question was…if I would really choose that path again while being with the three of them.