“It’s an old cruiser from the war, probably has some nice weapons on it, and enough capacity to house thousands of men. Diving headfirst probably won’t work,” said Archius, feeling somewhat smug at how easily he was able to get the information. Sure, he had to blackmail it, but that was just a part of the job…
At this rate, Osmond will truly live to see Quinn, if he continues to collaborate. “Sato, Lilly, any input you guys have?”
Sato shrugged, twiddling that necklace of hers with one hand. She still have that? Interesting, Archius noted. Despite his intentions, he still harboured some ill will towards her… After all, she was there. She could have searched a little harder, but she didn’t.
“Guns are probably rusted by now, plus you think a bunch of low-lifes know how to man a TX45 Rail Blaster?” Sato asked.
“Fair enough,” said Archius, before snapping at her. “But if they start shooting at us with those, I’m putting it on you.”
“Ooh, I guess we’ll be going on a deployment?” asked Zymuel, leaning against the bannister. “Well, let’s get on a fucking roll.”
“Outnumbered and outgunned? Absolutely not,” Lilly said, smacking the idea down.
Claire said, “I’m surprised the tank-shell didn’t take your arrogance with it.”
“Well, I have you to thank for that!” Zymuel said in response.
Sato simply nodded, too tired to deal with Archius’ rambles. Her responses are getting more and more dull by the day, perhaps he should stop… But Lilly slammed the table.
“We should get the Iron Will down into orbit and launch the rockets! Show those fuckers how it was back in the marines…” She was fired up for sure. But fiery minds was not what he needed.
“Wait! But Kaz is on board…” Eliza shouted, looking towards Lilly as an argument slowly brewed. Astute observation, Archius thought. No fucking shit he’s on board.
But… she did make a fair point, and he didn’t even need to say it himself. It was the song he wanted to hear. If he had shot Lilly down, she would have held something against him, subconsciously. And as predicted, Lilly relented, simply nodding.
“Good point,” lied Archius. “Which is why I’ll go down there personally, use a few connections here and there and free Kazuki, PERSONALLY.”
“Thank fuck…” said Sato.
“Thank fuck indeed, but that means you’ll be directing shit by yourself.” Archius raised his voice, catching everyone’s attention. “I’ll break Kazuki out. The two of us will have a field day inside and you guys go full send it. This is the Gunrunner HQ, I’ll greenlight the attack from the communication relay a few decks above where he’s being held.”
Quinn froze for a moment as he glanced towards the cruiser. Don’t worry Quinn, Archius thought, he’ll see his old friends… soon enough. This was the perfect test to see if Quinn really was as loyal to the AGENCY - even after Petra and Riharia’s deaths.
“Now then, any questions?” Archius asked coldly, dropping his facade. Not a single uttered word, amazing! They all understand the mission, well done, Archius congratulated himself.
Eliza slowly raised her hand. Of fucking course it was her, annoying… He gulped, then nodded at her. “Not to second guess you, but this source of yours… can we really trust them?”
“Exactly…” Sato rolled her eyes. “You haven’t been vocal about this pair of eyes of yours.”
“An inner core member of the smuggling ring, if anyone knows anything, it’d be him. And their information hasn’t failed me before, I doubt they’ll change their colours, especially given their extraordinary circumstances…”
Archius glanced at Quinn, checking his eyes. Though his face held nothing, he could see some agony behind those eyes. Archius started to wonder, was it best to kill Osmond or let him live? Osmond was a threat, yes, but Quinn might be able to get Osmond on their side. Someone with experience in gunrunning might come in handy in the future, though the task will require Quinn… He may be emotionally unpredictable, given the circumstances. But with the right whispers, it may be done.
But for now, Kazuki must be saved. Time is of the essence. The gunrunners’ headquarters are in their crosshairs, and an attack from within and without can cripple them. One final strike can deal the killing blow. The mission will be accomplished.
Once again, Archius was met with the feeling of emptiness… He felt alone, even now as he’s surrounded by supposed ‘friends’ and ‘allies’, he feels nothing. Glancing at them, he was reminded of his old life, merged with old memories. Jasmine, Kaz and him… He projected them onto Sato, Lilly and Quinn. Nostalgia… It feels weird, but those really were the days.
He deliberated on it for a moment. But it passed, the cold munitions falling into the chamber. Let ‘justice’ be done; though the Eclipse falls… It was all he had left. And he lied to himself, it was what he did best of all: lying and controlling.
“Lilly, Sato, you two will take command; Zymuel, you’ll lead the reserve forces, Claire, you’ll lead the strike team heading for the relay.” said Archius, “And uh, the other units? I'll let you guys decide that, military battles ain’t my forté.”
“Ugh, reserves again?!” Zymuel complained.
Archius rolled his eyes. “You want me to send you in right after you had surgery? It hadn’t even been a fucking week, relax… I’ll send you into the grinder next mission,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Yus!” Zym clenched his fist in the air, as if celebrating being thrown into the meatgrinder… Actually, he was. Always the cheery one… Archius thought.
Archius exuded an air of authority, though more artificial than the aura created by Kazuki’s mere presence. It’ll hold the team together… for now. It was an illusion, a lie.
The best mercy any engineer of his skills can give to someone is lies, white lies for their own consumption. All that mattered now was the mission. Whatever Kazuki may set it to be.
∗ ∗ ∗
It was quite obvious what must be done, at least to Archius it was. Kazuki was missing, captured. That much was known, and he didn't know what state he was in. He gulped down his thought, snow blowing past him as he sat down on a makeshift balcony, overlooking the frozen streets below. He roughed up his green hair, pulling his hood down. There was work to be done, Archius noted, standing up and walking across the roof.
Some distance away, the silhouette of a large battlecruiser loomed high, embedded into the ground - a derelict hulk; its scale was spectacular to Archius. The Phoenix Fury was larger, though; much larger in comparison. He washed away the thoughts with a swig of a water flask, pressing his legs forward towards the dead-hulk.
Information is lacking, and he won't have Sato for this one. In fact, he's going in dark and blind; lest they find out a communication link between him and headquarters. The blizzard made it hard to see clearly, and he could barely hear the rabble of the streets below.
Continuing across the roofs, a small 'checkpoint' of sorts came into view on street level, guarding a walkway leading into the dead-hulk.
A voice called to him, Eliza? ‘Archius... I hear you’re back down there, you’re going to get Kaz back, right?’ she asked, worryingly.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Archius nodded. ‘Well, yeah? It’d be a bit rude if we just left him to freeze, no one in the AGENCY wants another Trasian-fever episode.’
Eliza let off a small chuckle, but the worry seeped through. ‘Just get him back, alright?’
‘Oh? So you were putting up a little façade back there?’ Archius inquired. ‘Shame. Would have loved to have seen that!’
‘What are you insinuating?’ Eliza murmured. ‘Can’t you just get on?’
Archius shrugged, keeping his body warm by moving around as much as possible. ‘Well, I would, but it’s been like a really long time since I’ve just been able to have a normal conversation with people, you know? Not talking about work or talking to Kaz. You’re apparently holding well to the rest of ‘em.’
‘Holding well?’ Eliza inquired. ‘Rather ironic that you said that, then immediately talked about work.’
Yeah, work’s been the main thing on Archius’ mind for a long time. ‘Hah, just wanting to know if you’re getting along well, after all you’re basically a kid compared to everyone else.’ Archius kept up the loose and light-hearted voice.
Eliza audibly nodded. ‘Mhm! They’re much kinder than I initially thought they’d be,’ she admitted. ‘It was the same for you... right?’
Same? ‘Hmm? You mean keep tumbling over hurdles until you got a pep-talk that finally got you to drink some of that wisdom juice? Hell no! Well... A little bit, but I was younger, m’kay! Just get used to things, there’s been nothing too big for the AGENCY to handle.’
‘What about the Loyalists?!’ Eliza raised her voice. Ugh, what about the loyalists now? Archius peered down at the guards, patrolling the area up to and around their Headquarters. ‘They’re small amoeba in a large galaxy! Just keep practising, alright?’
She better keep practising. Her emotions got in the way of the mission last time. The P-2 Incident was only narrowly avoided thanks to her, though. But if Kaz wasn’t distracted babysitting Eliza across the uplink, he’d probably have a better chance against Svenn.
Then again, who the fuck was he to decide Kazuki’s chances of victory? They always seemed slim to begin with.
‘Well, it’s a bit hard to practise when I’ve only got training and little real experience,’ Eliza elaborated. Ugh... Excuses. She should just be training hard, then. Do all that leg work before so she can run in the races.
Archius hummed to himself for a bit. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ll find experience in no time, don’t worry... You’ll get the work done, you always do!’
That bit of motivation should fuel Eliza’s ego for a bit. Eliza audibly nodded. Archius could easily imagine her grinning face across the uplink from meeting someone’s expectations – even if they were artificial at best.
‘Still, you’ve got a long way to go, the mission must always come first, you got that?’
‘Understood!’
She didn’t understand that at all, of course she wouldn’t. She’s a damned civilian, in this mess of a mercenary world. Archius sighed to himself – she’ll need to learn quick.
It was in Archius’ best interests to make the AGENCY as efficient as possible, at least to the extent that Kazuki would be happy with. Eliza was a source of inefficiency, both to herself and Kazuki.
Bluntly: she was the weakest link in the chain. ‘Ill go get your man back, then,’ Archius said.
‘Oh—Wait a minute!’ Eliza blurted out, before Archius cut the uplink connection off, chuckling to himself.
Several gunrunners were standing guard, letting in shipments; most people walked by as if it were normal. Edging over the roof, he looked down, was there any other infiltration points?
He couldn't tell, but those shipments seemed to be something that would work. They're a vector of infiltration, yes, and the guards didn't seem to check the cargo crates. Or more likely they didn't have the scanners for the job, and opening them up in the irradiated snow might contaminate the cargo... Or at least that's what Archius thought they'd think, even though it was incorrect.
"Alright..." Archius trailed off, slowly climbing down onto the street level. A few patrols of criminals passed by as he slid down into an alleyway, watching them march by.
They're probably the only thing close to law enforcement on this planet, actual law enforcement. They wore makeshift Imperial armour, thick at the front - but missing some critical parts.
The missing parts were filled in with extra layers of fabric, scarves and cloaks to keep them warm. They looked more like a motley batch of survivors than professional criminals… But the heavy imperial guns and armour ruined that truth.
"Hey! I gotta take a leak!" shouted one of them, passing by the alley as he turned into it. Archius pressed himself against the wall, hiding within an indent.
Another cried out, "Sure! But base is right here!"
"Yeah, but the latrines smell like frozen shit!" replied the criminal, walking into the alley as he chuckled to himself. He was wearing the 'uniform' of the criminals, though the only identifying marker was the armband and bulky chest armour.
It was sturdy, inelegant - and strong. But where its strength lies in that durability, it left much to be said about the joints. The criminal turned towards the wall opposing Archius, fidgeting around his pants as Archius trudged through the snow forward.
"Fucking hell..." said the criminal, "Still fucking cold..."
They started to hum, and Archius let them do the deed. He'll give them that; they let off a sigh of relief, zipping up their pants. But before they could turn around, Archius unleashed a precise slash. Blood splattered onto the wall, bursting out from their cut neck, the criminal made a gurgling noise, before Archius went for a second stab, into their head.
He gently let the body rest on the ground. He didn't fidget around as that one Loyalist... so that was a good thing. The thought, however, passed as he stripped them of their armour and arm-band. It was tedious, though, the Imperial marine armour being notorious for being hard to work with.
Changing into new armour, he placed the armband on, dragging their body off to the side, dumping it into a dumpster. Emerging from the alley, he now fit the part of a gunrunner; approaching the checkpoint. The guards took one glance at him, before continuing their shift. Huh, that was easy, Archius thought as he walked past them all.
Entering into the vessel's large entrance, it became quite evident to him that the place had been retrofitted for their purposes. The cargo hold was a collage of shelves, faulty machinery and cargo boxes stacked into large piles, there was a mix of both heavily clothed smugglers and mercenaries, probably the ones led by Tifta. He'll have to avoid those mercs, on the off chance that any of them would remember the face of a random handler in Clandestine from years ago.
But that wasn't what he was here for. He needed to get to Kazuki, but he couldn't just stroll in and rescue him, that wouldn't work. Archius knows he doesn’t have Kaz’s speed, durability, or strength: but he’ll make up for it in cunning and scheming.
"A disguise should work..." Archius muttered to himself, walking deeper into the vessel. Its walls were covered in ice, the frostbite biting into the interior after decades of being abandoned.
The halls were sparsely populated, with everyone he passed wearing the thickest of armour and insulating clothes. Guns were being hauled around, with large holographic labels attached to each one, denoting conflict zones across the galaxy.
Time may not be on his side, and Archius knew that. He'll have to speed things up, even if it may lead to his cover being blown. Approaching an elevator, he stood behind two smugglers, one shorter, female, mid-thirties; and one taller than him, late twenties, male. All he has to do is act calm and eavesdrop; the capture of a member of the Seven must have caused some noise within the rank and file.
With a distorted ding, the elevator doors came open. A cart full of weapons slid past Archius out into the halls, with similarly named war zones attached to it. The two smugglers entered, giving Archius a moment to enter as well. He moved to the side as he looked towards the two. First impressions were everything, and he'd prefer not to stab them both to death, at least for now.
"Deck and floor?" asked Archius.
The tall one spoke, "Deck four, floor two." They crossed their arms as Archius pressed D4, F2. He then pressed the floor above theirs, it'd be suspicious if he didn't press anything.
The elevator started moving, with Archius standing in front of them. Even inside here, the cold was ever-present. The doors slid shut, and the two started talking.
"Those mercs are making me nervous..." said the short one, a dark brunette Vergoldeburgi, looking orderly despite the cold environment. Seems like some things die hard... "I thought Leon would have booted them out already."
"Relax, relax, they'll be gone once the prisoner's dead, I think..." The tall one sighed an Engan man with pink hair and red eyes, nudged Archius in the back. "What do you think?
"Pfft, the sooner they're gone the better, I say." Archius had the chance to steer the conversation towards this 'prisoner'. "Faster we kill the fucker, the better things will get."
"Agreed!" said the short one, "I asked Osmond and Leon if they'll kill him and the boss just gave me the stare."
The tall smuggler jabbed at the short one. "That was because you tried to give them advice, let's not do that, alright? We should leave this to Leon's interrogator."
"Ugh..." trailed the short one, "You know, there used to be a time when we didn't have to rely on interrogators..."
"Yeah, yeah, ten years ago or whatever, well shit's changed and I frankly don't care." The tall one dismissed the short one's point. "Just focus on what we do and we'll get paid, we’ll survive, we’ll make it, alright? Got it? Good? Yeah… that’s what I thought.”
“Survive? Sounds about right, it’s about all we have left now,” Archius commented. Poor people, he thought, but he held no Sympathies for them. They were just another enemy, another target. Sure, they have to do whatever it takes to survive, even if that is exporting guns to murderers, but they picked the wrong hound to holler at.
"No shit, but still..."
Archius needed more information on the interrogator. "She's right, money ain't everything, what's the point of riches if you lose everything you stand for?" asked Archius. "But interrogators? Sounds like a clean word for torturers."
"It is, ugh... stay away from them," said the short one. "They give me the fucking creeps."
"Fair enough," said the tall one, as the elevator gave another ding, the doors sliding open to a mess hall, packed with people. The two moved past Archius, exiting out. "You want us to save you a seat?"
"Ah, no." Archius shook his head, smiling for the gesture. "I'm feeling a bit tired, I'll probably hit the hay."
"Well, if you're hungry, just pop down, I'll save you a seat nonetheless," said the short one, winking at him.
Archius winked back, feeling disgusted at the action but doing it no matter his feelings. The elevator doors slid closed, and his face dropped into a deathly silence. They seemed like good people, if one ignores the fact that they smuggle goods for survival, Archius thought. He had no empathy or Sympathies to spare, even if they were merely the victims of their parents’ circumstances; too bad they’d end up in body bags.
Interrogators. He'll have to find them. The highest chance is around the brig, somewhere far away from where people would normally go to. Looking through his ICAPAD, he saw the brig's level, slapping a new destination on the elevator panel.