“Another boring social event with all the usual nobles in parliament.” Mon’Kelron thought to herself as her gaze shifted over the room. “So why does something seem… off?” Her intuition had been magnified over the past few years, probably something to do with the enhancements the Humans did to her while she was recovering from what should have been a fatal wound. It suddenly dawned on her that the outside radio traffic hadn’t reported in.

Putting her hand to the impossibly small earbud in her ear she spoke quietly, “Section 1 report, you’re past due.” She waited for a response. None came, “Section 1, I repeat, report in!” A little more frantically. She then put her hand up to the earbud again to order the interior guards to investigate when the doors to the ballroom exploded inwards. Bits of wood and metal sprayed into the room, turning those closest to the doors into bloody chunks of meat that were either dead or dying and knocked her guards in power armor off their feet.

“Fuck!” She shouted as she pulled her pistol from its holster and grabbed the Empress by the arm pulling her out of her chair and putting herself in between her and the now visible attackers. She started pushing her towards one of the secret exits to the south wall of the ball room. Orange and black silhouetted figures in strange power armor stepped through the carnage firing rifles that discharged green bolts of energy.

She wasn’t sure how, maybe one of her guards was quick on the uptake, or perhaps it was that damn Spy-Mistress Kel’Taraan, but the door to the secret exit began opening as she pushed Empress Shi’Lana towards it, keeping herself between her and the power suits. She was doing it again, her vision narrowed, time seemed to slow down, her body couldn’t keep up with what was going on around her. As she ran, mostly dragging the Empress she watched in horror as the figures started firing randomly into the crowd.

Something hot hit her breastplate, the one the Humans gave her to replace the one destroyed by the last assassination attempt. She ignored it, grabbing the Empress and shoving her towards the two guards who appeared in the doorway before spinning and taking up position behind one of the huge marble pillars that held up the roof to the ballroom. “Get her to the safe room now!” She shouted as she took aim and fired her gauss pistol at the armored figures.

With her slowed down sense of time she saw that both of her door guards were down, probably dead, two more of her guards were in the room, using pillars for cover and returning fire with their Human made rifles. There were four guards in section 1, she could only assume they were down as well. “Section 3, we are under full scale attack, where are you?”

It seemed like ages, but finally a response came back over her earbud, “Transferring the Empress to the safe room, this goddess damn door is heavy! ETA one minute!”

“Damnit, everyone in this room will be dead before they get back.” She thought to herself as she heard gauss rifles open up from outside the ballroom. She heard a familiar voice over comms, it was the Spy-Mistress Kel’Taraan, “Ministry guards are taking up station behind them, Mon’Kelron, where is the rest of your guard?”

Putting her hand to her earbud she winced as one of the green bolts slammed into the pillar showering her with marble shards, “They’ve secured the Empress, in route back, we need to hold them in place until backup arrives.”

It was in that moment she saw something that was impossible, several of the Humans raced towards the armored combatants, she could swear the stone floor shattered under their feet as they moved. Even with her sense of time slowed she couldn’t follow their movement, it wasn’t possible, nothing could move that fast!

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WARMODE ENGAGED

SAFETY PROTOCOLS OVERRIDDEN

MICRO-FUSION REACTORS 100% NOMINAL

CAPACITOR BANKS 98% NOMINAL

HUD DISPLAY ONLINE

“Greg, Izzy, you have the two on the right, Kara and I have the two on the left, we meet in the middle. Move!” Alex sent over the in group comms channel. With all the chaos it was doubtful any of the guests would see what was about to happen, and even if they did it could be explained as hysteria or exaggeration.

Full acceleration was something none of them had ever used, memory plastics that were the analog for normal muscles strained as the capacitors sent enormous power through them, he covered the ground to the doorway in less than a second. This action forced him into frame jack mode, as no biological human could keep up with the speed he was now moving.

The closest armored figure must have seen something from the corner of their eye, for they started turning their rifle in his direction. It was too late, the servo motors just couldn’t turn quick enough to bring their rifle to bear before his warsteel clad fist crashed through the glass-equivalent faceplate and crushed the skull behind it like a ripe melon.

Turning he saw from his peripheral vision Kara sweep the legs out from under her target, slamming an open palm into the chest of the power armor and crushing it into it’s occupants rib cage before they even hit the ground two meters away.

Greg grabbed his target by the helmet and wretched it hard, twisting it one hundred and eighty degrees, as well as the head inside it. Meanwhile Izzy jammed her fingertips through the neck armor of her target almost to her wrist, crushing and cutting through the throat and spinal column.

Alex then grabbed the rifle one of the middle combatants tried to raise towards Kara and ripped it from their grasp before slamming it down onto their helmet, there was a sickening crack, and something told him the occupants spine must have compressed under the immense pressure. He saw that Greg had grabbed the other one and slammed them to the stone floor as Izzy brought her foot down on the helmet, shattering it, and the head inside.

Turning he saw that the ministry of secrets agents had downed four more in the outside lobby, his HUD showed no more enemies active. Looking around him he saw absolute horror, both Alandran and Humans were dead in every direction. Looking down he saw a beautiful high heeled shoe, and the rest of the severed leg it was attached to. His own right hand was covered in blood and brains, it didn’t bother him as much as the senseless mutilation he saw around him.

“Kelly, get medics in here now, some of these people won’t make it without help. The rest of you, tear up tourniquets from whatever you can find and staunch these people from bleeding out. I need to check on Mon’Kelron and the Empress.” Alex sent over the comms before nodding to Kara and walking through the carnage towards what was left of the ceremonial throne.

He was only made it a few paces when he saw a uniform, crisp white, but covered in red, haunched over another. It was Henry Thompson, Captain of the Reckoning, and in his arms was Admiral Benton. The top of her head was missing, he was cradling her in his arms, a low keening coming from his lips.

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“Goddess damnit I want answers! How the hell did ten soldiers in Ulraar power armor manage to infiltrate the most heavily guarded building on the whole planet?!” Empress Shi’Lana roared at both Mon’Kelron and Kel’Taraan in her private office.

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Kel’Taraan was the first to answer, “They had help, they compromised the internal security cameras putting them on a loop and came in through a passageway that even the ministry of secrets did not know existed. Agents found it goes from a store room to almost a kilometer underground to outside the Imperial gates. There can be no doubt, we still have a Redeemer presence on our planet.”

The Empress slammed her good fist down on her desk. Her other arm in a sling from Mon’Kelron’s less than gentle actions during the attack. “I don’t care what you have to do Kel’Taraan, find out who helped them, find out where they are based, and eliminate them, every last one of them.”

Shi’Lana sighed and leaned back in her chair, her shoulder hurt, her arm hurt, her everything hurt, goddess above how strong was Mon’Kelron to jerk it out of socket while getting her to safety? “Get to work Kel’Taaran, leave me with my Captain.”

Saluting with a hand over her heart Kel’Taraan turned and left the private office, closing the door behind her. Empress Shi’Lana looked over to Mon’Kelron, who stood at attention before her, she noted that the breastplate she wore was scorched and dented, he face scratched and cut. “Were you injured?”

This seemed to catch Mon’Kelron off guard, “No your majesty, Kara checked me out and stated that it was a good thing I kept the breastplate they gave me, or else I would be dead from the beam it stopped. She did tell me to let her know immediately if I start feeling sick or start losing hair, or if my gums start bleeding.”

Shi’Lana shuddered at that rather ghoulish detail, sadly many Ladies and even a few Lords may soon succumb to similar wounds. “How many dead?”

“Six Imperial Guard, twenty three party goers, and one Human officer.” Mon’Kelron answered immediately, as she had committed the number to memory.

Shi’Lana nodded, “And how many wounded?”

Mon’Kelron shifted a little on her feet, “A further seventeen, some with life threatening injuries that probably will not last the night. The Human’s took their own wounded and three Alandrans up to their ship to try to save them, even they didn’t look hopeful.”

“This is an absolute clusterfuck Captain. The media will spin this out of control by the end of the weekend.” She brought her good hand up to rub the bridge of her nose. “You said you had something you needed to tell me about the Humans, is it about Admiral Benton?”

Shaking her head, the Captain answered, “No you majesty, it has already been established she was killed by shrapnel from the door explosion. I wanted to ask, have you ever noticed anything strange about the Humans?”

Chuckling the Empress nodded, “There’s very little I don’t find strange about the Humans, I think you’ll have to elaborate.”

“During the attack I found time slow around me again, something in me… shifted. When I pulled you out of your chair and rushed you to the exit it was as if you weighed nothing.” Mon’Kelron explained.

Shi’Lana nodded, “I’m well aware, you pulled my shoulder out of its socket and lifted me off the ground, I don’t think my feet hit it again for another two meters. I doubt some of our best athletes could move that distance that fast, much less in plate armor. The doctors say I’ll be at least a few weeks recovering.”

“Sorry about that your Majesty, but that wasn’t what I wanted to report, things were looking bad, the ministry agents had them pinned in from behind but we didn’t have enough guards or agents to bring them all down before they killed everyone in the ballroom. That was when I saw the Humans attack them.” Mon’Kelron explained.

Leaning forward in her chair the Empress looked at her Captain questioningly. “Wait, you and the ministry of secrets agents didn’t take down the last of the assailants?”

“No your majesty, it was four of the Humans. They took them down with no weapons and no armor.” Mon’Kelron stated.

This caused the Empress to raise her eyebrows, “How? They were in power armor, even the gauss rifles had a hard time bringing them down.”

Mon’Kelron shook her head, “During times of extreme stress or danger whatever the Humans did to me kicks in. Time slows down, my strength, speed, endurance seem unlimited, but what happens to them, it’s a little terrifying. I could barely keep up with how fast they moved, and they broke through Ulraar power armor with their bare hands! Those last six armored assailants weren’t brought down with rifle fire, they were taken down in hand to hand combat.”

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“Today we lay to rest one of our own. Admiral Benton was a shining light of hope to this universe. Her life will be remembered by everyone in the navy as an example of what a fleet officer should be. Tough, fair, brilliant, and unwavering in the protection of Humanity. Her name will be adorned in our halls of heroes, one of many cut short before their time. With that, we commit her body to the stars, so that she may watch over us for all time.” Alex stated as he stiffly marched to the control panel that would launch the coffin into space.

Everyone present was in full dress whites, and there were but few without dark circles under their eyes. He glanced over to Captain Thompson, who simply looked haunted, Greg stood to his side, face impassive, but the twitch in the corner of his mouth betrayed his inner turmoil. He pressed the button as Taps played over the speakers in the cargo bay turned mortuary. Without a sound the coffin was launched into space, and everyone watched it leave somberly.

An hour later he was cleaning out Admiral Benton’s office when he heard a knock at the door. “Come in!” He shouted as he continued working on boxing up items.

Captain Thompson walked in looking around the mostly spartan office. “May I have a word with you Commodore?”

Putting a tablet in a box he nodded and turned to the Captain to give him his full attention. “Of course Captain, is everything ok with the Reckoning?”

The Captain nodded and walked around to the chair in front of the desk, gesturing for Alex to sit down. “Commodore, I’m not doing very well.”

Alex sat, put his big hands on the desk, and intertwining his fingers, “Of course you’re not, you just watched your commanding officer die in front of you, that will fuck up anyone.”

Thompson wiped his face, “It’s more than that Sir, she was one of the few people in the fleet that looked past the Marabou incident. Do you know about it?”

Alex checked his databases, sure enough, there was a file on it. One of the worst losses for the New Human Republic, Marabou station was destroyed with four thousand souls lost. Digging deeper he saw that Thompson was there, and blamed for it’s lack of defense. This lookup took milliseconds, the Captain wouldn’t have noticed the brief pause in Alex’s android body.

“I do, she defended you in the court martial proceedings. You were ordered by Admiral Gear to take aboard as many refugees as possible to New Glasgow, and you followed those orders.” It seems some members of the council were looking for a scapegoat, and thought they found one in you, they didn’t expect Admiral Benton to come to the aid of a junior officer with his first command.”

Thompson nodded, “I owed her everything, my rank, my career, my pride. She even offered me command of the Reckoning when she saw political pressure was forcing other Admirals to give me the cold shoulder. Now she’s gone, and I’ve lost my compass.”

Alex opened his hands and put them on the desk. He wasn’t good at this stuff, he knew that, he linked up to Kelly to ask for help. She just sighed and said, “You’re better at it than you think, you helped me with the loss of Isa’Bella, you’ll be fine with Captain Thompson.” Then ended the instant message.

Sighing, as she was no help he just decided to wing it. Standing up he adjusted the officers white uniform, understanding now why Greg always tugged his down. “Come on Captain, we’re heading to the Officers Lounge. Greg, suit up your android, you’re coming too.”

Greg’s hologram appeared in the room. “Sir, I must remind you that Captain Thompson is on duty at the moment. As am I.”

“Commodores orders! You are both to come with me to the Officers lounge, we’re going to have a few drinks and tell some stories about our beloved Admiral, now get moving.” Alex said as he shooed them out of the Admirals office. As they left there was one last picture frame on her desk that he hadn’t packed yet, it was a holographic print of her and Captain Thompson at her sixtieth birthday party.

___________________________________

Kelly was fuming mad. At least that was what Monty assumed, as she was throwing things at the walls of her cottage, hard. She didn’t think she had seen this side of her, sure, she had seen her devastated with the loss of Isa’Bella, but never angry. “Want to talk about it?” She asked.

Kelly turned, a vase still in her hand ready to launch it at the wall. “I screwed up, I screwed up and people died, Alex just messaged me for help in dealing with Captain Thompson and his loss of Admiral Benton. I didn’t know what to say to him, I pretty much told him he was on his own. I’ve kept watch on everything I could think of, not once did something tip me off that there was still a cell of the Redeemers left on Alandra.”

Monty walked over and took the vase from her hand and put it back on the shelf she took it from, “Have you ever thought that you didn’t find anything because they went to ground and covered their tracks? They have near peer level technology at their disposal and obviously help from someone either in the Imperial staff, or parliament, or both.”

Kelly nodded and hugged her, “It is sweet that you think that, but there had to be signs of this coming, we’re sweeping the scene, and the rest of the Imperial castle from roof to basement looking for any other surprises that we’ve overlooked.”

Monty pulled away and rubbed at her chin, “Have you ever thought about what wasn’t at the scene, or more importantly, who wasn’t at the scene?”

“Well, we haven’t found any out of place fingerprints or threads of clothing or anything like that, what do you mean by who?” Kelly asked.

Monty paced a bit, “Look through all the footage everyone’s androids recorded of that night, since we can’t trust the internal cameras of the castle, who do you not see?”

Kelly took a few mills to scan through all the footage. “Well I’ll be damned.”