Incoming Press Report, Zero Light Years Away (Jahellios System Comm Network, FEG Controlled).

Democracy or security? The question asked in the FEG High Council was once again levied against the FEG Military. What indeed would be the true focus of the FEG Authorities for the Sector at large? Three hundred years since the Link-Gates shut down, and the same situation remains. All this, to question the state of internal affairs of the FEG—martial law extended “beyond reason”.

- Orion Press

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

Jahellios System

New Krakow

Artowisz City

“Well, I wouldn’t be able to tell you that up here. Too risky.”

“But I didn’t know this was more than a mission I signed up for. I was just a courier, a courier, not a rescuer.” While I sure was not shouting at her on the encrypted comm link she established, I was definitely not amused at this move from Ms. Kalista. “I thought it was a simple job.”

“Unfortunately, Mr. Jones, I have to ask you to do this.” Her transmission became garbled for a second. “You have to do this, Mr. Jones. I don’t know your files, but I have intel. You have connections with something. A group operating down there. In New Krakow. That makes you a prime candidate for this mission.”

“I…that makes me want to bolt out faster now, don’t you think that’s the more reasonable response to this? This sounds extra dangerous already. Also, why are we operating under spotty intel? This is risky!”

“And abandon Louise?” She paused. “An innocent woman stuck in an awful situation.”

“Oi, oi, don’t guilt trip me here, woman. I’m not—”

“Twenty-four thousand SCs, Mr. Jones.”

I paused. “W-well, Ms. Kalista, how generous of you! Please, let us talk calmly about this deal, eh? I am, extremely excited to help, yes, indeed. Can I please get more details? After all, she’s…” I looked back at Louise, who still seemed distraught on her sofa after telling us her problem, with Juliett listening to us beside her. “A poor innocent Federation citizen who found herself in dire straights! Yes, indeed. How sad. What kind of a man would I be if I didn’t do this job, you know?”

I heard someone mutter, “Such a greedy slimy rat” as she subtly chuckled, and I imagined that would be Juliett, but I remained with my, err, cheerful™, and eager™ voice instead as I talked to Ms. Kalista. I wouldn’t be affected by these provocations. I was talking business here. And business meant business. There were twenty-four thousand SCs on the line. Twenty-four. Could you even count that? Right, you wouldn’t be able to. See? This was how much money this was.

This was big money. And I wouldn’t pass big money. I got into worse trouble in Loran for less. Significantly less. Quite frankly, that entire chapter of my life gave me less than even a thousand or two SCs, but it almost killed me. Why wouldn’t I bite this time? Totally not because I would want to help that brat. No, I assure you all, I was here for the money.

“Exactly. Now, Mr. Jones, as you may see in your datapad, the situation is quite dire. We are trying our best to track and eliminate these terror cells, or rogue agents, but the New Krakow Colonial Governor is refusing to bat an eye on this mess.”

“Why would he do that? Isn’t Louise the daughter of a literal Duke? I mean—”

“The nobility of New Krakow has already been in decline for decades, Mr. Jones. The Colonial Governor himself was elected by the citizenry specifically as a reaction to the centuries of their opulence and excesses. While his policy of ‘no land acquisitions, but no noble rights’ continues, I don’t know if he’s going to keep his promise of not touching noble families.”

“What about the FEG military? Hell, what about you? You’re the station administrator. You’re the authority here.”

“My position is just an appointed one. I cannot act against the interests of the FEG. And, for the FEG, New Krakow is a rebel colony. New Krakow was a part of the Triantan Spring, the FEG Military merely crushed the navies of House Fleur. In many ways, this could just be a move of the FEG to remove a long overdue competitor for their power in this colony. The official news says that the Duke was poisoned by ‘communard terror’ cells. Do you really buy that?”

“...What’s the plan with the Fleur family then? Are we just supposed to find her brother, then get the both of them out of here?” I asked. “Is that what my mission entails? Because I’m gonna be honest, while I know how to hide, sneak, and challenge a planetary government from within, I don’t think I’d like a stain on my records.”

“There won’t be any stains. You are acting under my directives. Technically, that means you’re commissioned by the FEG for this mission. If we are indeed dealing with any FEG elements, they would be in a black ops situation, operating under a legal grey area. FEG policy says that no Federation civilian, noble or otherwise, is to be subjected to violent treatment even if they had rebelled during the Second Revolutionary War if they’ve been given amnesty. You are helping Federation citizens. Not the other way around. Think of this as you, Mr. Jones, and Ms. Juliett, helping the restoration of the just and noble system of the old Federation.”

Now, I didn’t understand the political implications of that fully, but I did know that the FEG Military was, and this would be an understatement, extremely unpopular for those who live in FEG-controlled territories. Ever since the “controlled liberalization” of the FEG after the Second Revolutionary War, press and democratic opposition had been growing in droves in FEG colonies, administration, military, and even to the highest halls of the FEG High Council.

I imagine, even if House Fleur had a history of being aristocrats (and to be fair, the FEG originally allowed them local rule before the First Revolutionary War to ‘reduce the burden on the military’, which led to their strengthening in the first place) that rebelled against the FEG, they were still now under the FEG. And by Federation law, all citizens of the FEG, even if they were in active rebellion (and it seemed that Louise’s family had mostly kept to themselves for decades anyway), should not be subjected to undue political violence, like an assassination.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I guess it’s a bit different than the Von Wicht Gang’s operations. Well, obviously. Here, we were in a conflict over enforcing the correct way of conduct of the Federation. Back in Loran, we only did those things to make money. Still, me and Juliett would be operating in a legal grey area. But I guess if we are dealing with FEG operatives trying to target her and her brother, they’d be in a legal grey area too.

I placed down my datapad, before pulling out my Exsio-24 Pistol. It was my favorite back in Loran. I gave it a quick check, with its greyish build almost shining when I looked at it. I noticed that both Juliett and Louise were transfixed at the weapon I held in my hand.

“Send us everything you know, Ms. Kalista. I’m in for this one. Juliett, are you in?”

“Yes, absolutely,” Juliett said, as she stood up as well, her blue eyes almost glowing again as her determination hardened. “You don’t even have to ask me. I am in. Whoever is targeting Ms. Louise and her family, they are most likely evil people. I told you earlier, after hearing her pleas, even without money, or you, I’d be going.”

I sighed at her. “You always seem to want to play the heroine…” I looked down at Louise, who had, at this point, kept to herself. “Alright, we’ll get you and your brother off this planet. I’m sure of that. I’m contacting Harold. I think he’d be up for this mission as well.”

“Mr. Jones…I…actually,” Louise stood up as well. “I apologize for how harsh I was to you earlier. I…haven’t been able to find proper help for days already. So…thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, Ms. Louise,” I smirked at her, trying my best to hide my slowly boiling fury after hearing Ms. Kalista’s explanation. The more I thought about it, the fact that they captured her brother, threatened her family, and possibly poisoned her father to remove him, was starting to boil my blood. How could anyone do such a thing to their fellow man? That deep question inside of my being wouldn’t really be answered, even when I had asked the same question to myself in my long life in Loran’s underworld.

If this wasn’t a mere simple terrorist attack, but a sinister attack on their rights as Federation citizens, then I sure as hell would have to act as well. I may be a citizen of Loran or the Union, but, everyone, even me, would recognize that we were all, first and foremost, citizens of the old Federation. Citizens of the wide-spanning human domain that once created paradises and utopias.

And, perhaps that’s her mission as well, isn’t it? To save the Sector and restore that. Briefly, I felt envy. Unlike me, Juliett saw what the old Federation was like. I didn’t. And if even three centuries after its collapse, she still holds allegiance to it…perhaps its legacy isn’t just a meaningless husk. Still…who cares about that? Not me, of course. Not me. I’m just using it to justify this cash grab that I’m about to do.

“I’m only doing this for the money,” I said to her, and I noticed that she almost frowned. Good. “No need to thank me. Ms. Kalista’s twenty-four grand would be more than sufficient compensation for me.”

Even if I had these “noble” reasons, in the end, truthfully, I would only really want money. None of this would really matter if I didn’t get that SCs. I, Jonathan Jones, would never act without any ulterior motives. That was simply the truth, and I didn’t want Juliett nor Louise to believe otherwise.

And I liked that. I wouldn’t want to lie about my true nature. I was a greedy scumbag, that was just the end of it.

+++

+++ Jonathan Jones +++

“Alright, so…you said that these people broke through your estate three days ago?” Louise nodded, as we approached her family’s estate. It was somewhere on the edge of Artowisz City, in a gated neighborhood. Much of the area was already silent when we arrived, in comparison to the busier inner districts of the city. Quite frankly, the entire place seemed to have gone through a rough patch, even when it seemed to be the home of powerful nobles and wealthy businessmen. Well, that would be an understatement. It was abandoned.

“Last week, a major protest happened here,” She explained, as we flashed our flashlight on the gate. “Workers from Artowisz City stormed the First District. This…is the First District, where the old families and the wealthy elites of New Krakow resided. We thought that the city’s police force would protect us, but they didn’t…”

“Wait, do you have no defense systems out here?” I asked. “Or a security force of your own? That doesn’t make sense. If you guys are nobility, the wealthy, or whatever, won’t you have something going for yourselves?”

“Last year…they…they said any security force owned by private individuals was illegal. They also confiscated arms and weapons,” Louise said. “I remember mother and father calling it a reprisal. They were slowly isolating us, removing our power, influence, and wealth. But all throughout that, they promised they wouldn’t dare touch us, and that they would protect us—”

Juliett gave up trying to open the gate the old way and blasted her way into the gate through brute force. She seemed to have used laser, laser from her fingertips to cut through the heavy-duty wall, creating a circle wide enough for us to get through. It collapsed when she kicked it to the other side.

Beside me, Louise pulled out a stick for herself, which resembled a wand. I understood that it must have something to do with their “arts”, so I kept my mouth shut, and took the only weapon I had in comparison to these two. My trusty pistol. “Well, seems like the New Krakow government hates the old elites then.”

She lowered her head in response to that. “I guess…House Fleur has never been the kindest out there either. Perhaps, this is just us reaping what we’ve sown.”

I expected something more arrogant than that. It seemed that her earlier arrogance was just a mask of some sort. Or perhaps, inside, she wasn’t as high and mighty as she might be outwardly projecting. However it was, I felt bad for her. Louise was young, merely eighteen of age. She was born before after the Second Revolutionary War, after her family ruled New Krakow as their little fief.

To blame her for what happened before that would be nothing but egregious. It wouldn’t stand into any fairness. Especially since it seemed that her family had been in decline ever since she was born.

Perhaps, that’s why she feels strongly about her noble identity. I mean, the way she introduced herself alone was indicative of that. She was extremely prideful of herself and her family in the end. Maybe it’s just her way of standing up against the New Krakow Colonial Government.

I sure as hell was the same once in Loran. I took pride in being a part of the Von Wicht Gang, as it was my way of separating myself from those…bastards. Even when inside, I had always been ashamed of the crimes we committed. Or perhaps I was just lying to myself. Looking back on it right now, I still hadn’t answered that question to myself either.

“Perhaps it is,” I said, as we stopped in front of the front door. “But that doesn’t mean that the daughters and sons must bear the sins of their parents.”

She didn’t say anything to that and instead walked in front of me and Juliett. She aimed her wand on the closed door, and almost said a chant of some sort.

“[OPEN].”

Immediately, the door opened up and revealed what was inside in all of its glory. A banged-up and shot-up remains of what was once a pristine estate. Louise seemed frozen, as I looked at the shattered lighting, the collapsed furniture, or the screens cracked with bullet holes.

She turned back to the both of us, a tiny tear lined down on her cheeks.

“This…is what they did when they took him.”