Kazuki was honour-bound to fulfil the contract’s terms. Bring forth justice and order to the injustice of the galaxy. That's how they always phrased it, even back in Clandestine. But reality was never that simple; it was far from orderly, but it was a sense of justice: one with the idea that killing every single criminal solves crime. It was wrong.
Clandestine and the AGENCY were the two sides of the same coin. Kazuki knew that. Clandestine killed purely for profits. Whilst the AGENCY does as well: Kazuki was far more restrained than the previous ‘administration’. But at the end of the day, the AGENCY was simply a rebranding. It’s the legacy of Jessica he’s forced to use.
Yet he wanted revenge, that was why was in this industry first and foremost. But time was ticking. He paced around the frontal citadel bridge, Iron Will. The clock was counting down. Ten minutes left. Archius said something about increasing the time allotted… but where the fuck was he?
He knows Archius didn’t fail. But the mere possibility of it gave him stress beyond relief, much like worrying about Eliza. His aug-glasses gave him a sense of constant information and knowing. He’ll need it. They showed up on various screens, with a colour linking to various important topics. It was a rainbow of mind-inducing headaches.
With each update, he paused. Hoping that it would give him respite. Most were logistics reports that Eliza had sent. Practically anything that needed resupplying was supplied within the day. Despite his satisfaction, it did nothing to give him respite.
Looking outside, he saw the view of Narisa, ice asteroids surrounding it in small rings, clunking off each other and burning up upon re-entry. The world had checkpoints set around it in a blockade. The small flotilla patrolled the system and the planet’s orbit.
Quinn slowly stood up as he walked to the view. Kazuki stopped beside him, taking in the view for a little bit. His eyes skidded towards Quinn, expecting him to crack a bad joke.
“Good thing Anagora’s not a frozen shit-show.” Quinn commented, placing his arms in his pockets. “Just a regular shit-show.”
He seems to have been avoiding the fact that he got caught drunk in his room. Kazuki didn’t want to confront him on that one…
Kazuki understood that there was unfinished business for him. And as much as he hated that it got in the way, he’d be a hypocrite if he berated him.
“Next time you have the chance: will you take the shot?”
“Of course,” said Quinn, keeping his gaze set on Narisa. “Ten years is a long time, right?”
He looked at Kazuki, as if he was asking him for advice. He said none. He was incapable of doing so.
“Those aren’t the same people I knew back then.” He continued, letting off a melancholic smile at old memories, or at least that’s what Kazuki interpreted. “We were cathing idiots back then, Narisa’s a fuck-hole. It can’t be saved, we probably knew that back then; it’s too far gone.”
“You’ve done enough. I can transfer you off this operation,” said Kazuki. “Hosea’s asking for an experienced breacher to help train Yamikoi militias.”
“No,” Quinn stated, grimacing. He had some small bruises across his face. He looked like someone who had just sobered up, someone who regretted many things… That waterfall within Quinn’s eyes… Kazuki could feel it behind his own.
Kazuki dwelled on the thought for a moment, ten years is a long time for things to change… And many things have changed in those ten years, and within Quinn, Kazuki realised that there was a necessity for him to change as well, if only it was that simple.
“Unfinished business?”
“Yeah, we used to be in the same gang, with Petra and Riharia. Riharia kept us together, Leon and Osmond were the thinkers and me and Petra were the Shooty Shoot,” said Quinn, before joking things off, “Those explosives… What did you think it was for?”
Confusion dotted across Quinn’s face.
“I don’t know,” Kazuki stated. “I was half my age back then…” Still, there could be one thing that it was for… “What did Leon spend the money on?”
“Huh?”
Kazuki crossed his arms. “A hundred times market value.”
“Oh! I… He said he’d expand operations… Get more contracts. For the most part, we were small timers, but that deal made us some big shots… Least I think that’s what he thought,” said Quinn. “I’ll… Find out. I’ll play one round of Dullie for the info… If that doesn’t work, guess I’ll be getting my hands dirty.”
Kazuki hid his curiosity. The chances were high. Narisa was close to Anagora. Short distance. Made for a very good place to stock up arms. And explosives… Imperial Explosives… It could be it, he thought.
“As long as they’re dead.” Kazuki gave a harsh but standard response.
“Understood, sir.”
Quinn took out a pack of cigarettes from his vest-plate pockets, only to replace it with a deck of cards. It was old. Judging by the date of creation, it was one of the first thousand to be created, a signed copy. The signature was real. Kazuki remembered it when his sister got one, when she dragged him out of bed at 2AM to stand in a line.
But… it felt weird being called ‘sir’, he was no knight, nor was he superior. He’s an operative first and foremost, the same as Quinn. “Don’t call me sir, or Arbiter, off duty. We’ve known each other for over a year.”
Quinn paused, then slowly nodded as he opened his mouth, “Alright then… Kazuki. It feels weird, like I shouldn’t be calling a member of the aristocracy by their first name.”
“Don’t see me as a GemRy, that’s the best tip. I’m Kazuki, and if you’re not careful I could snap your spine,” said Kazuki, with a sarcastic voice - it wasn’t sarcastic; more monotone than anything. “We’re both operatives. I can rely on you, right?”
“Those two aren’t the same people I knew,” said Quinn, closing his eyes as he thought, “They stayed. We left, nothing more than that, s—Kazuki.”
Kazuki reached out a hand, and Quinn took it. They both shook on it. But Kazuki didn’t entirely trust Quinn’s word. He was just berated and disciplined over things he had no control over… to some extent. Who’s to say what he would do… Kazuki decided to gamble. To place the trust of the operation onto Quinn, one of his best guns.
“Good. Past’s a bitch, but we’re still alive. We must be doing something right.” Kazuki had an unremarkably emotionless face. He acknowledged Quinn’s statements, assuming nothing more. “Despite what it may seem, I don’t bite, most of the time. Don’t feel afraid to ask for more advice.”
Quinn chuckled, “It’s a bit weird asking advice from someone younger than me, but not much I can do about age.”
Kazuki nodded. And he turned back to the planet. He sighed as he started pacing around the room once again. The doors unsealed, opening up as the vibrations caught Kazuki’s ears, his limbs twisted before the door fully opened.
Eliza walked in. Rushing across the room, he asked her, “Eliza, any updates?”
She shook her head, disparagingly sighing, “I tried speaking with my dad, got off track quite quickly, so no progress was made on that front.”
“Where’s Claire?”
“Claire’s gone to get some shut-eye,” said Eliza. Sleep, how he’d crave for even that half-respite.
Kazuki nodded, turning away as he continued to pace, thinking as he did. She has no relevant information. His erratic behaviour only sparked a level of curiosity in Eliza.
She asked, “How long do we have left?”
“Four minutes; twenty seven seconds and counting,” said Kazuki, crossing his arms. “The gunrunnners have done dark on the surface. Archius and Sato have found no traces. We lack the manpower to properly scour the whole planet. A whole week of nothing.”
Eliza followed him as he walked around. He was getting desperate; it was unfair, but Frederick would use anything to get at him, even at the expense of the Judiciary it seems.
He needed to show gunrunner-heads to Frederick. Time ticked away at his mind, as he felt his control of his fingers slip away for a moment. Kazuki took out three pills of Halolazil. He swallowed it down, combating his headaches.
But as he swallowed his hopes, the door opened and Archius entered. He yawned as he shouted over at Kazuki, “Good news! I got an extension to our deadline, plus a little surprise for the smugglers.”
He twisted towards Archius. The smugglers have not done much as of yet, who’s to say that they will do anything between now and their new deadline?
“And if they don’t do anything?” asked Kazuki. “Is this little surprise supposed to clear that up?”
Archius smirked, shaking his head as he wagged his finger. “Nuh uh, my eyes have sped things up. Don’t worry, you’ll get your victory, Kaz. And this surprise… well, you’ll see.”
“Alright—”
“Kazuki!” Sato shouted, standing up from her monitor as she shot the trio a look. “We have a report from the Prometheus. A modified freighter with overheated engines broke through a checkpoint! It’s making a mad-boost to the coordinates.”
“Distance and interception?” asked Kazuki, twisting around to Sato. Archius maintained his wide, self-satisfied smirk.
Sato paused for a moment as she read through the reports. “Twenty AUs, not far but not close either. We can definitely intercept. Orders?”
“The Iron Will shall pursue,” commanded Kazuki, “Have the Prometheus join us in pursuit. The others will maintain the blockade, in case this is a diversion.” Kazuki turned his head towards Archius. “I hope this surprise will help us.”
“Oh, it will help, just give it a few minutes and it’ll be ready for us!” said Archius, “But we should pursue with more vessels, I doubt the gunrunners have much left in them.”
“I will not take that risk.”
A moment of rest spurred into flurry as boots crackled on the steel surface of the destroyer interior. And as quickly as the order was given: the ship was moving.
∗ ∗ ∗
The vibrations of the engines roared through the ground of the small escort destroyer, much smaller than that of the Dreadnoughts that they fought against back during the rebellion. But it was faster, more nimble, perfect for anti-smuggling operations. As the Iron Will and Prometheus barrel towards the Crescento, Archius stood firm, thinking about how he’ll utilise Osmond in this operation.
“Hmm… could sacrifice him away,” Archius thought aloud.
The pursuit continued, towards the voidway coordinates, a designated safe spot for interstellar travel. But there should be a surprise coming in any second… It should buy Kazuki’s mind a reprieve, Archius thought. He’ll show the gunrunners what it truly means to play with in a very big fucking galaxy.
Looking out the window from the command table, Archius saw the corvette-sized hauler flee, two pursuing vessels opening fire with plasma-lances, shot-shells and low grade munitions. The vessels began to weave through an asteroid belt, avoiding fire and debris through the field. Fragments of ice melted away as beams sparked through them, creating vapours and light visible for aeons.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Arbiter, we’ll have to increase the munition-load if we want to quickly disable the vessel,” said Sato, the AGENCY’s foremost naval expert. “They’ll get away if we pursue them through the asteroids.”
“No. I want to draw a boundary in the cosmos. They must be dealt with personally,” said Kazuki. “They are to be terminated in person, their cargo seized.”
Well, now that Kazuki puts it like that, he made some sense. The gunrunners would have a lot of old stock, and salvaging their system would give them more information. Archius liked the sound of the plan, yet… others did not.
Quinn shouted out of turn, “They’re betting on the fact that we want them alive! I know Leon… well, what used to be Leon. He’s a risk-taker, he’s betting that we don’t want to vaporise his ass!”
“That’s insane…” Eliza commented, her head popping up, with a mil-grade uplink attached to the side of her face and ear. Eyes glanced towards her as she shot downwards, embarrassingly avoiding the glares.
“Ugh…” Archius muttered to himself.
“Very much is!” said Lilly, joining in the argument, “I know from my marine days, typical smugglers run and never stop. If they stop, it’s over for them.”
Claire rushed into the room as she heard the guns fire from within the vessel, her medium-length navy-blue hair was messy. Bed hair covering her augmetic-right-eye. “What the fuck is going on?”
Zymuel, the TECHI-HEAD, turned towards Claire from the side of the room. He was nestled between a few of Kiri’s ‘caretaker drones’. “Ah, you’re just on time Claire! The fireworks are just starting.”
She nodded, though scratched her head at Zymuel, sighing as she groaned audibly, then twisting to look at Kazuki. “Hey, Kazuki, did we get a new drone in here?”
“HEY!” Zymuel shot up, “It’s me! Zymuel, remember?!”
“Ah… You know you wouldn’t be here if I didn’t know emergency surgery, right?” she said.
“Shut up, you two,” said Kazuki, as both immediately complied with his order. Despite them wearing the same trimmed armour, Zym and Claire seemed at odds with each other at all times; probably since Zymuel always jokes about usurping her position.
Archius counted on his fingers the amount of times that those two have clashed heads, sometimes literally. Counting on the joints of one hand with his thumb, he counted at least twelve times, before he got bored of counting.
Kazuki deliberated for a moment, then said, “Rear engines. Target them, disable them. But do not destroy them. Ensure they do not escape.”
“Fucking hell…” Sato quietly grumbled, nodding as she activated her ICAPAD, “Do all Ryzakus like to get up-close and personal.” Archius caught her small murmurs.
Archius tapped into the uplink, wanting to make himself known not only to the ship, but to Osmond. And now it’s time for him to choose between life or death. ‘This is the Iron Will to the Crescento, ground your vessel and prepare for inspection. Any resistance will be… met with unflinching determination.’
Archius waited a few seconds as no response came. He shrugged as Kazuki glanced over at him. Oh well, their loss. “I guess they want to be shot?”
But Osmond should get the message, that the moment to betray Leon is now, and that this will be the final time he has to comply with his orders. And as he turned back to the vessel, the first heavy salvos were fired - thick beams and scorching plasma erupted across void, gleaming onto the hauler.
The Prometheus also intensified its fire as sparks littered the stars. Munitions and lasers exploded around the vessel, bringing crimson bursts onto the debris field as the pursuers crashed forward - directly towards the path of the voidway coordinates. Asteroids and scrap debris smacked into the shields, but the Iron Will can withstand it.
Now all he has to do is wait. Eliza stood up, walking up to the top of the bridge as she looked out. Her eyes sparkled as the sight of the space-battle, though it was less of a battle and more of a hunt. But Kazuki? He stood idle, tapping his boot impatiently. A burst of energy sent the hauler forward.
“Kazuki! The hauler’s using all its fuel up, it’ll reach there before us!” Sato shouted.
“Something’s not right,” Eliza said. She looked to one of the monitors. “There’s... mathematical errors coming out of the jump point for Deep Drives?”
Kazuki responded, biting each word, “Full. Speed. Ahead.”
Sato glanced over at the monitor, shaking her head. “It’ll probably buffer out? Wait... No. There’s voidcraft inbound!”
Eliza’s eyes widened. The Iron Will continue its pursuit, slowing down to avoid the incoming vessels. “We’re not going to hit them, right?”
Kazuki shook his head. “Thanks to you, probably not.”
Lights flashed across with light flak shooting down missiles. The Crescento was closer to the void-destination. Too close, Archius thought… And as Kazuki uncrossed his arms, a sprout of light exploded in the distance. A gateway into the alt-dimension was unleashed as raw energy exerted itself outwards, with an explosion fading away slowly to dull nothing.
Something blocked the coordinate path.
Two corvettes exited out right in front of the hauler.
They were painted navy blue. Slick in design, they were new models, but were much weaker compared to the war versions.
The impact of their arrival stunned the Crescento, allowing a full broadside from all sides to cascade into the vessel. Its shields were on the brim of collapsing... The hauler shifted away from the seismic impact left behind by the vessels arrival.
Energy stung across space.
Sato patted Eliza on the back. Kazuki could see Archius narrow his gaze, slightly, before sighing. “Doing good,” he muttered to himself.
That caught Kazuki’s eye, and his eyes caught Archius’ ire. Kazuki nodded to Archius.
“Never knew you knew navigational mathematics,” Sato said with a smile. “Any closer and we’d been caught in that impact...”
Eliza scratched the back of her head. She humbly said, “Not particularly well, I suppose... Just the basics?”
Out of everyone in their class, Eliza was probably the only one that truly understood the subject. It even took Kazuki time to understand it, but Eliza was able to grasp it with speed and determination.
“Hey, Kaz, what are they doing?” Eliza asked, pointing at the two corvettes that arrived. Their weapons were primed and armed, pointing towards the Hauler.
“Well, they seem neutral enough.” Kazuki observed the craft, seeing their very visible police markings, before sarcastically smacking the question away. “Probably IUN.”
‘THIS IS THE SPTU! CRESCENTO, HALT!’ came the vessel. Kazuki glanced BACK towards Archius, he simply smirked back. Kaz did his best, but Archius saw his eyes murmur with relief.
The hauler gave no response. As the SPTU opened fire, the Crescento veered off, its engines bursting with flames as it avoided the four pursuing craft. What the fuck are they doing? Archius paused, thinking, watching as the Iron Will pursued, leading the chase.
‘Keep an active pursuit. Maintain distance and destroy their engines.’ said Kazuki, he turned towards Sato, “Where’s the next closest voidway coordinate?”
This wasn’t part of the plan that Osmond said… but neither did he say much for a while; hmm, Archius pondered to himself. He must be playing both sides, it seems. Rummaging through the databases and information relays, Sato groaned as she made a strained face of frustration.
“Other side of the system? The fuck are they going?” asked Sato.
The hauler’s shields started to flicker in vibrant, corrosive colours. The layers of its foremost defence flickered off to leave a naked ship to be blasted by munitions.
“Shields are down!” reported Eliza, watching the spectacle of rainbows and colliding colours. “Perhaps we should downgrade the plasma munitions? So... we don’t explode the vessel?”
Exploding the vessel will solve their problem easily.
And all the while, Kazuki looked out the bridge window, violently swallowing more Halolazil. Jeez, he’s reliant on those, Archius noted. Kazuki was grabbing onto his hand, seemingly stopping it. Huh? Kazuki let go of his own grasp, his hand was calm. The exposure must have dealt some damage to his hand… Well, Kazuki has his own ways of dealing with things and Archius wasn’t too interested in sticking his nose into medical problems. Information and secrets were the things he’s interested in getting high on.
“I’ll tell Cyrus later…” Archius mumbled to himself.
A cacophony of colours bled out from the ship. The main engines were now targetable… But now they have to make sure not to blow up the whole vessel. The SPTU were forced back as the hauler kept going. Its engines overloaded as it spat out vibrant streams of munitions towards the SPTU.
“Are they fucking insane?” snapped Sato, “Overloading their engines will fucking kill them if we target their reactor!”
“That’s the point,” said Archius.
Sato probably felt her naval pride kick into full gear as she criticised her enemy. The navy was always prideful… But that changed nothing, the hauler was still speeding off towards the edge of the system-star’s gravitational orbis. Just what are they doing?
Eliza flicked up another monitor, watching the vessel’s heat signatures. “They’re playing a dangerous game,” she said.
As Archius thought to himself, an epiphany hit both Kazuki and Eliza. Archius watched as the two sprouted up, saying the same words. “They’re going to blind jump.”
The two looked towards each other, as Eliza pointed at him. Kazuki pointed at himself, confused… Archius rolled his eyes. The moment passed as Sato’s face went pale with fear.
“Blind jump?! These gunrunners really are fucking insane! Iris knows where the fuck they’ll end up!?” shouted Sato, feeling second-hand panic for the crew of the vessel.
“They must have a plan, right?!” Eliza suggested.
“Their plan’s behind those corvettes!” Archius stated. “They’re just fucking winging it, now!”
But even with the overloaded engine, it could do nothing against the speeding destroyer that had been throwing itself forward. Its shields were barely powered, with the Iron Will pushing all power into guns and engines. And the Crescento was gambling on the fact that they’ll make it to the edge of the system.
“Kaz, if they blind jump, we’ll never find them…” Eliza worried for a moment, watching as the laser-lances poured forward, glazing off the hauler.
“I know,” snapped Kazuki. “One option remains.”
Archius could tell what Kazuki wanted to do. But it was risky, with the debris field spanning across the area, filled with asteroids, old Imperial dead-hulks and scrap metal. He twisted in his chair, glancing at Kazuki.
“You really want to do it?” asked Archius, crossing his arms.
Kazuki gave his answer in a heartbeat. “Yes.”
“Well, let’s get on with it then,” Archius replied, cracking his knuckles as he connected himself to his uplink. The plan wasn’t suicidal, but it was risky. “I’ll see what I can do if they do escape.”
“Either way… it’s a win?” Sato suggested, “It’ll take a while, but we can chase them across the High-Table if need be.”
The rest were talking as Kazuki remained eerily quiet. Archius moved closer, slightly, just in earshot. “What would father do...?” Kazuki whispered to himself, staring at the command deck.
Moments passed as Kazuki thought silently. Then, he opened his eyes and his golden eyes steadied with wrath.
“Prepare the boarding torpedoes,” ordered Kazuki, twisting around as he walked away from the window. Everyone in the room fell silent.
And everyone remained silent, except for Lilly. “Boarding action? I thought you'd never ask!”
Archius got a glimpse of the photos she was editing as she stood up, erupting into a wrathful personification of the marine spirit, both disciplined and ready for war.
“We’ll storm the hauler, take the bridge and crew before they blind jump.”
“Boarding action… Kazuki, we’re not in the war!” Sato objected, replacing her usual grumbling with worry. Archius thought that she worried too much. “We’re running anti-smuggler ops, plus… we haven’t maintained the torpedoes in a while, had to cut down on something!”
“Time to find out whether they still work,” said Kazuki, walking past everyone in the room. Alright, that was simply reckless, Archius thought. “We’ll be outnumbered and outgunned.”
“They shouldn’t be broken,” commented Eliza, “They’re Imperial torpedoes, right? Renowned for reliability?”
Fair assessment, Archius thought. She wasn’t wrong.
Quinn and Lilly both shot up. The two Ex-marines were pumped and ready for the mission, though for those not experienced, they felt a sense of dread. Archius looked over across the room as Claire, Kiri and Zymuel were less than pleased. Everyone knows the risks of boarding actions, it’s in the name: Boarding. Anything can go wrong, and the risk is high, even compared to regular operations.
“Come on, guys!” said Quinn, “This is what we specialise in, right! Quick in and out missions!”
He was clearly joking. But it did not help at all as Kiri and Claire both went pale. Archius sniggered at the sight, amused at everyone’s reactions as Eliza asked one question. “What’s wrong with boarding them?”
Claire twisted her head towards Eliza. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? MARTINEZ TOLD ME ABOUT THE TIME ONLY HIS SHUTTLE REACHED THE LANDING PORT! ONE! OUT OF LIKE TWENTY!”
Kiri, despite all her panicking and mild fear, tried to calm Claire down, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. “Hey, Lilly’s experienced with these types of boardings. We’re gonna get through this, right, Lilly?”
Lilly nodded, though Kazuki quickly interjected, “Lilly stays on the Iron Will.”
Everyone twisted their heads round to Kazuki, for his part he didn’t seemed too fussy. He ignored the sighs and groans from them all as he continued on with his flurry of orders.
“Lilly will coordinate the boarding teams with Sato. Eliza will assist. We’ll fire all torpedoes. Make them think we have. Only half will be manned. Our objective is simple. Take control of the vessel,” stated Kazuki, slamming down on the make-ready button as the vessel exploded into alarms. “And I will accompany you.”
Eliza chuckled slightly at the new responsibilities. She has no option but to accept them. Shoving her into the deep end, Kazuki? Surprising, but Eliza’s probably good with maths... Better than Archius, at least.
“Well, at least we have that,” said Claire.
“Kazuki…” Kiri slowed down, “Is this truly necessary?”
“They cannot be allowed to escape, so it is,” said Kazuki, “Plan is simple, we kill them all. Any questions?”
It was nigh suicidal, Archius thought. But it wasn’t the first time that the AGENCY has done something stupid, dangerous - stupidly dangerous. After all, the rebellion was built on confidence and stupidity. And despite everything Archius thought, Kazuki still has some of that fervour within him. But still, everyone was feeling tense, even Archius. A Member of the Seven could do a lot, but stop explosions? Not really their area of expertise.
“Just like at Umgahbi,” said Sato, shaking her head, twisting to Eliza, “Don’t worry, boarding procedures are a general issue in the navy. Plus, you guys are fighting smugglers, not Clandestine mercenaries.”
“Yeah! Relax guys,” said Lilly, before putting on a stern face. “That’s an order.”