Whatever Kazuki thought of in those long moments, Eliza could only speculate. His golden eyes spoke nothing. She questions herself… Why did she ask that?! He just survived being captured, and here she was, adding even more stress to his plate. Yet as she followed Kazuki into the command room, followed by Cyrus, he didn’t portray any thought through any movement pertaining to… anything. Just why can’t he open up? Why must he always be so closed off from others, Eliza asked herself, finding no answer.
The typically pristine command room had snack bags littered around on the tables, and decks. It had been some time since the mission, and not much had happened. Everyone present scrambled to put them away as Kazuki entered.
Cyrus flanked the blast-door with his rifle-bore blade, weapons of the old Imperial Knights.
“Kazuki, the Commissioner wishes to speak with you,” said Sato. She stood up, pointing at a holographic call, incoming. “Should we tell him to fuck off?”
“I wish…” Quinn trailed off, sitting with his legs kicked up. Archius was busy away talking to someone on phone, nestled in the corner as he leant against the railing. Amyé was drunk, somehow smuggling half a crates worth of booze onto the vessel with Quinn. Apparently they did so with Archius’ permission. He gave them a dismissive glance.
Eliza slowly moved across the room to sit near them, leaving Kazuki alone. He stood at one end of the command table, glancing at the incoming call for a moment..
“Put them through,” said Kazuki. Lilly glanced up from her data-pad.
She nodded, grumbling as the command deck loaded in for a moment, she swore under her breath as she slammed her fist at the module. It caused the call to be sent through. Polygons formed up to create a direct video-link… She remained silent - unwilling to attract his ire anymore than she already has, as her chest felt heavy..
‘Contract-Breaker, status report on the operation to eliminate the Narisan gunrunners.’ Frederick ordered, he kept calm as the two glared at each other, there was definitely something else at play.
‘The majority of gunrunner assets have been either seized or destroyed.’ said Kazuki, he wasn’t lying - but he was omitting the more volatile parts of this operation. Though knowing her father, he probably already knew.
‘And of their leaders?’
‘In hiding, we are currently tracking them down.’ reported Kazuki.
‘The SPTU would have gotten them already.’ Frederick scoffed, laughing to himself slightly as he turned around the room, glancing from the table at each and every member of Kazuki’s current command. His eyes glistened with hate as he continued, ‘Contract-Breaker, anything other than total victory is utter failure to Madame Justice.’
‘As I said, we are currently—’
‘—Doing nothing. And while I’m at it, I’ve also heard of the little incident at the Yamki shipyards.’ said Frederick, ‘You know anything about that? Planetary assets destroyed in an attack…’
Eliza felt the glare skim over the room, directed at Kazuki. She watched as the two glared off at each other, Kazuki’s apathy clashing with Frederick’s hate… She never understood why her dad despised him with all his mind and will and guts. Maybe it was because he’s a ‘savage Contract-Breaker’.
Her first initial reaction was similar, but over the years and months: she realised that they all had dreams, wants, aspirations… She could only speculate how much it weighed Kazuki down, all of those hopes - never to be uttered again.
‘And what about you, Hypocrite?’ retorted Kazuki, snapping, his eyes unmoving, ‘We do the heavy lifting whilst you sit in your office and polish your brooch.’ She could feel a sense of malice within his voice, as if he’d just fired a bolt into her father’s head.
‘We are not here to talk about my role as the Commissioner, you are to get things done.’ Frederick pointed a finger at Kazuki, as his eyes slowly deepened into a navy blue, matching the badge on his torso.
‘But that is what I am talking about. In fact, your overbearing oversight with us may lead to us… pulling out.’ Kazuki stated, with a disgusted look on his face towards Frederick. ‘Killing criminals on your behalf isn’t our only revenue source, and I’m sure there’s many people needing for our services.’
Kazuki wasn’t lying, Eliza thought, but it did seem lie a bluff of some kind. Frederick gritted his teeth, ignoring Kazuki as he continued, ‘The amount of damages you have done to the Yamki shipyards will cost the local governor—’
‘We have a governor?’ interjected Quinn, attracting the ire of everyone around. Eliza saw none of the life-hearted joy that encapsulated him. All that was left was hate… was everyone like this, Eliza wondered? All trapped in something? ‘You think Senator fucks-their-name or Governor can-go-cathing-shove-a-muzzle-down-their-throat cares about our planet?’
“Quinn.” Lilly shouted across the room, causing Eliza to shake slightly at the uproar. Lilly placed her pad down, before glancing at Eliza, then back at Quinn. Her voice softened. “Go to storage. Now, get us all some beer.”
“Go eat shit, Lilly.” said Quinn, standing up as he made his way out of the room. Kazuki stood still, waiting for the storm to pass, looking all the same with an apathetic, emotionless glare.
“I heard what happened down there, Quinn.” said Lilly, as he opened the blast door. “Why didn’t you take the shot?”
Quinn stood for a moment, he twisted to look at her. And whilst she seemed mad, he simply looked dejected. “I just couldn’t… alright?” He murmured.
A moment of silence fell as he left the room, Eliza slowly looked up to Lilly as she sighed, shaking her head.
“Hey…” Eliza whispered, “I think you should have gone lighter on him.”
“You don’t say.” Lilly angrily muttered, her eyes widening as she realised the burden she’s always piled onto him. Then, she glanced back at Kaz and Frederick.
‘Blood thirsty killers… the lot of you.’ started Frederick, ‘You have no unitary goal or idea, the only thing you fight for is credits. Just a rabble of money-hungry contractors.’
‘People need money to live?’ Kazuki asked, pretending to be shocked. Though, his face wasn’t exactly shocked, more rather annoyed. ‘This is a revolutionary thesis, you should write your PhD on the matter.’
‘Tch, blood thirsty men, all of you.’
‘AND THIS BLOODY KILLER WILL HAVE YOUR SKULL!’ Amyé shot up, pushing past everyone as she crushed a beer can, acting as if it was Frederick’s neck. Before Eliza could even see Amyé’s drunken face, Claire had knocked her out, her face a thousand shades of red from embarrassment…
“Sorry…” said Claire, dragging Amyé away, through the door.
‘Need I say anymore?’ asked Frederick. ‘No discipline…’
Kazuki remained silent for a moment, staring down Frederick through the holographic projection. His eyes were a cold gold, a haunting aura lingered around him, felt by Eliza, as he opened his mouth. ‘No. We might not be as disciplined as your officers, we may be blood thirsty: but we get the job done where you do not. The Judiciary would not need us if you were able to adapt against crime.’
Everyone in the room froze, including Eliza. His words pierced everyone’s ears as his voice crackled with a measure of restrained frustration, it felt awful, spine-cracking even, to hear him speak with such vigour in his voice. She has never heard him like this before. Intimidating was putting his words lightly; he placed both hands on the table. Archius turned around slightly, shrugging at the situation as he turned back to his call.
Frederick was not amused, a face of disdain painted over his spiteful soul. She’s seen that face many times, but this was the first time she’s seen it directed at anyone outside her family. ‘You have seven Terra-rotations. If you do not provide me with results by then, I will not provide you with my support when the hounds come calling. Results, Contract-Breaker, that is what I want. I am glad we can both see that.’
Seven Terra-rotations?! Doing the maths, they’d have just half of that with Narisa’s orbit. Three and a half days? She wasn’t familiar with everything, yet the skyliner op took that long to prepare. And her father expects results?
‘I agree, results come first before any personal grievances, right?’ snapped Kazuki, Frederick thinned his eyes in response. ‘And tell your sycophants that after the gunrunners, I may pay them bolts next.’ He slammed down the projector, turning towards Sato.
“Splendid…” Eliza trailed off, feeling uneasy at the whole encounter.
“Sato, dossier.”
“Ugh, you haven’t seen it yet?” she asked, activating a button on the command deck as a dozen visages sprouted upwards, rotating towards Kazuki. There was the Iron Will, Prometheus, Kalico and the Blazen Lemu. One destroyer escort, one converted laundry-frigate and two patrol-corvettes. Laundry-frigate? She paused for a moment, thinking to herself: so those really do exist!
Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.
But the force seemed small, even the Phoenix’s Fury had more displacement than the whole fleet combined. She hasn’t been around, but she’s heard that the AGENCY is much larger… But yet again, she did not wish to speak out on this matter. She felt confident in other topics, but military deployments were far out of her speciality of knowledge, for now. If she’s to be a good aide, she must learn more, and there’s always more to learn and understand. Albeit concepts or fact, she felt invigorated by the realisation.
Eliza could see Sato’s frustration, the meeting went even more poorly than the last, and she had a breakdown there. Kazuki paused for a moment, nodding at Eliza, then glancing at Sato. Everyone was talking amongst themselves as Sato walked across the command deck, a tenth the size of the Dreadnought’s.
“Say it.” stated Kazuki, “We’re not Clandestine. I won’t slit your throat for speaking.”
Sato was immediately put on the spot as Eliza watched her shoot up. She glanced towards Eliza, who in return simply gave her thumbs up, it was the best she could do in her situation. Sato tugged at her collar, sighing. She wore exhaustion as her makeup, her eyes riddled with sleep deprivation.
“Shouldn’t you go see if Quinn’s alright?” asked Eliza.
Lilly paused, thinking for a moment. “Quinn’s not the talkative type, I know - hard to believe. Time’s what he needs, you concur or what?”
“Yeah,” said Eliza. She understood what Lilly meant, some things were simply unavoidable.
“I understand that the Commissioner is,” Sato turned towards Eliza, before sprouting a look at Kazuki, “No offence, an absolute fucking manic—”
“No offence taken,” Eliza muttered.
“—but there’s a time and place for everything, he could have bought us more time if you hadn’t thrown a damn tantrum! Seven terras? That’s not even four days here!”
“Tell me what I should have done, then?” asked Kazuki, to the surprise of Sato, “Bend over backwards for that Tapping idiot? I’ll give him my respect once he earns it, for now, he has not.”
On one side was progress, Sato; the other side was integrity, Kazuki. Sato was right… they needed more time, Eliza thought. But Kazuki was also right… they needed to draw a line in the sand, lest the reputation of the AGENCY be drowned in a muddied hellfire of her own father’s choosing.
“No… but I would have been more cautious.” Sato crossed her arms, making her annoyance known to Kazuki.
“Ah,” Archius interjected, twisting around, “I have some good news! Everyone! And bad news…”
Everyone turned towards Archius as he slipped off his uplink communication. All eyes were on him as he scratched his cheek, chuckling slightly at the sight.
“Bad time?” asked Archius.
“No, continue.”
Archius smirked, shrugging as he approached the command table, pressing one hand against it as he leaned. “My eyes on the inside have told me that they’re attempting to flee. Republic Intelligence wasn’t much help.”
“That makes things simple,” said Kazuki. “What else have you learnt?”
“Not much, the CRIS did some covert ops before during the First Shadow War, most of the locations have gone deserted.” Archius said, “But, the bad news is we’re playing a waiting game, unless you want us to scour that frozen wasteland.”
Sato agreed, nodding, “Yes, the only problem being that we’re on a time limit. Archius, can you get them to speed up?”
“No, not without my eyes being killed, Leon’s paranoia is getting even more intense now that shit’s hit the fan. He’ll be on the low for now.” Archius sighed, saying, “Just when we were getting to the fun part as well…”
Eliza glanced at the interface in front of Kaz, fascinated. She watched as Kaz unravelled information, looking at all the Mercenary Units under his command. Project Heimfall and Deltastring were at the top, with their sigils displayed: A blazing phoenix and a web of torpedoes respectively. Project Cavilcade, Busephalus and Torrential were also present.
Eliza could see the cogs in Kazuki’s brain twist, though it was not decipherable for her - his guard was up, it seems. But despite no numbers being present, he said, “Five hundred and fifty two operatives across four war-vessels. Elite, but small.”
“Hey, at least I called in reinforcements.” Lilly said, lighting a cigarette, making sure the smoke didn’t blow its way towards Kazuki.
“And for that I thank you,” stated Kazuki. “But call in the Skitari, Ulcion’s Wrath and the Honour of Castillrie.”
“Only three?” asked Sato.
“We’ll be running checkpoints in orbit. No need for Cantari-4 levels of firepower.” Kazuki explained. Sato and Lilly both chimed in with Kazuki, as Eliza listened in to the monotonous chatter of naval logistics and bureaucracy. “Martinez and the Phoenix’s Fury will remain on Anagora.”
Eliza looked down at her ICAPAD, glancing through the various completed reports and assignments given to her.
“What?” asked Archius, looking down at Eliza from the railing, “Not enough paperwork for you?”“Hmm, no—actually… yeah. I also haven’t gotten a reply from Professor Killian yet, so that’s still on my mind,” Eliza said, looking up at Archius as she complained about university. He probably forgot that she was a uni-student first and foremost, and this was simply a little side-gig she was doing.
Archius merely shrugged. “Well,” Archius paused for a moment before smiling, “Least you solved the logi-team’s situation. Plus, Killian’s lazy.”
With that, he walked away… Eliza glanced up at the information sprouting across the room. The Iron Will itself was only two kilometres long, nimble and small compared to the bulkier cruisers, battleships and dreadnoughts.
“How do you even… man them…” Eliza’s thoughts sprawled out as she trailed off.
Both Sato and Kazuki caught wind of it. Though Kazuki’s face didn’t show anything, Sato’s lit up with interest. But it was Kazuki that spoke first, “Not every contractor’s an operative. Most are civilians.”
Kazuki spoke… calmly. More than usual, at the very least. Something felt soothing about it. He looked at her with some interest in his eyes, like a light was in them she hadn’t seen before. But behind those dead golden eyes, it was hard to decipher anything.
Archius glanced over towards Kazuki, looking into his eyes. As Eliza opened her mouth to reply, Archius interjected, “Kaz, my informant has information, it’s important for you to know.”
“What about the rest of us?” snapped Sato, glaring up. “Don’t want to tell us important shit?”
“Important shit yes, not important to you, though.”
Kazuki looked neutral. He nodded at Archius as he turned to Sato. “Organise the blockade. You’re in command of the fleet, Commodore.”
Sato groaned at the mounting responsibilities as both Archius and Kazuki disappeared through the door, escorted out by Cyrus. Things immediately calmed down as they left, with a more calm attitude being adopted by the operatives; most of them got out their snacks and drinks.
She then turned back to Sato. “But, still!? It must be a nightmare to man the guns…”
“It IS a nightmare!” blurted Sato, “Why do you think we have you working on logi? Things are a lot smoother now that the chaos of recruiting’s over, but the Phoenix’s Fury alone takes—”
Sato did the maths in her head, muttering to herself as she did the numbers. Eliza’s thirst for knowledge seemed to have overtaken her concerns, worries and everything else as she listened intently, all the while Lilly scribbled to pass the time.
“—Fifty thousand crew? Five times the drones, as well! Plus like… few thousand contractors.”
Eliza bathed in the knowledge, intrigued and interested. Her eyes glistened with a thirst for knowledge, as if her school-self reignited with curiosity, except without the cold-apathy that rears its head from time to time. She felt the urge to ask even more questions… But… she asked the wrong one.
“I guess you were quite the navigator in the past.” said Eliza, interested in Sato’s service history.
Sato’s face slowed down, she thought to herself. She slowly nodded. “Yeah, I met a lot of people in the navy, including Lilly. She got me into Clandestine to begin with.”
Eliza looked at Lilly, but she was too invested looking into a holo-cam reel from one of the drones. She gave a simple nod and grunt of approval. But Eliza could feel an air of solemness with Sato. Eliza realised that she had just asked about her past, a seemingly innocent question must have opened the dam for Sato…
She quickly tried to backpedal the conversation. “So, uh, back onto the—”
“No point hiding it?” asked Sato. “It’s alright.”
Eliza was silent, but it gave Sato enough of an answer. Eliza thought it was quite clear… but she felt bad now, accidentally reminding her of past memories. She had no idea what happened in the past, but the dots were easily connected. Even something as simple as this added more guilt to her mind, as if she was prying ito Sato’s own mind. She silenced her thoughts.
“Eliza, make sure not to get stuck in the past like me. Live for yourself, you’re still young after all.”
Live for herself?! She is! Eliza knows she’s living for herself, right? Give Victoria’s memory rest and restart her mother’s company… Those are her goals, right? “B—but I am!” said Eliza. They had to be her’s. She’s had them for so long that she’s moulded these two missions to her own specifications; they were hers. No doubt about it.
“You’re not.”
Eliza furrowed her brow, for once actually frustrated at Sato. “I’m doing this for myself, Sato.” said Eliza, “I chose voluntarily to carry the burden!”
Her firm determination staggered Sato in the conversation, but she was silent. Lilly looked up from her photo-works. “She’s right, Liz’s a hard skull to crack, you should have seen those eyes back in our barracks, I swear she can probably convince Kaz to do anything.”
Lilly wasn’t exactly wrong… Eliza thought for a moment. “Eh, I guess… I kinda got him to start the investigation in the first place, twice…” She trailed off.
Sato remained quiet. Eliza wondered if she said the wrong thing, after all this was a touchy subject. And she felt like she’d trespassed on Sato’s turf; yet something in her yearned to help her, even if she couldn’t. Sato slowly sighed, taking out her necklace as she glanced at it, swinging it with a finger.
Then, she spoke: “I know… I’m… just projecting, aren’t I?”
“No shit.” Lilly nodded, but Eliza violently shook her head upon seeing Lilly’s reaction. Yet the headshake was more of an instinctual reaction than anything.
“I’ll choose to go with Lilly’s answer.” said Sato, “Sorry, Liz. I shouldn’t have shocked you like that.”
Eliza shook her head once again. “It’s fine, really, it’s alright to feel crushed; but shouldn’t we always fight back? The galaxy hates us, yes, it’s not fair, I know, but we stand our ground anyways,” she elaborated.
She’s felt crushed before, and she knows how hard it is to pick oneself up. And in the darkest of her times, she remembers the words her mother gave her.
“Yeah… Yeah…” Sato tried to wave away the concerns.
“Come on, Sato, we aren’t dubbed the indomitable race in the galaxy for nothing.”
She spoke from her heart, letting her optimism seep into her words as she smiled, giving Sato a sense of clarity. Eliza hoped her words met Sato’s mind, she begged for them to. Yet Sato’s dead face slowly curled its lips. A slight smile twisted upwards as she looked up, seemingly awakened from her slumber.
She chuckled under her breath. “Yeah. That sounds right, even though we gave that name to ourselves after we killed all the rest.” said Sato, “Nothing to be done ‘bout the past. I didn’t expect to be given advice from an old sage like you.”
“Hey!” Eliza remarked, crossing her arms as she pouted in annoyance, grumbling at being compared to an old lady. “I’m far from wise… it’s just some words of advice I got from my mom…”
“Still, you sure you can do this?” asked Sato.
Eliza’s eyes lit up as she nodded. She could do this, no: she will do this. Everything in her life was based on it. “Realistically, not much progress has been made. But compared to my last attempt, the possibility of success is real: and it’s getting ever larger with each passing document.”
Eliza was reminded of her mother, how after everything she did for her, she died anyway. But Sato simply smirked.
“Anyways, I hear you’re into holo-cards now… you're up for one?” asked Sato, as if the last five two minutes didn’t happen. “We’ll need to kill some time, after all.”
Putting it all behind her, Sato seemed rejuvenated, though Eliza couldn’t tell if she was hiding the guilt behind layers of fake happiness. She placed her hope, her faith, that Sato spoke the truth. Yet she believed it, Sato’s one for logic, she’s a workaholic and a master of her craft.
It was all she could do after all, and she has no right to tell her how to live her life. And with a competitive smirk, she too noded.
“Sounds lovely, I’ll accept.” said Eliza, as Sato slammed the cards down.