Sol followed Admiral Stonefist down the halls of the ISS Swordheart. The Admiral's long stride was slower today, his expression more contemplative.

The Admiral sighed heavily. Admirals spent a lot more time sighing than Sol had ever realized.

Admiral Stonefist's face looked more haggard than usual. The constant skirmishes with pirates had been wearing on him. They had been wearing on everybody, really. Getting pulled out of bed at 0300 hours to smash another round of pirates was nobody's idea of a good time.

On top of the constant battles, the Admiral had to present a strong front, playing his role as the relentless, indefatigable fortress of the Ninth Fleet.

But in these little moments, these interstitial times when nobody else was really watching, Sol could see him collapsing in on himself, allowing himself to be bone-deep weary, just for a moment.

Now they were making their way to the conference room for the next Council of Admiralty.

Under other circumstances, Sol would have been excited. He wouldn't be allowed to attend the Council meeting himself, of course, but he'd prepared the reports for Admiral Stonefist to discuss with the other Admirals of the great fleets. The thought of the most powerful Admirals of the Imperium discussing his words, reviewing his data-- well, it should have been heady, but with everything going on, it just left him feeling as tired as Admiral Stonefist looked.

"We're here," Admiral Stonefist said. He paused, gathering his strength as he stared at the door to the conference room. He handed Sol his stasis mug of coffee without looking at him. "Wait with the other Assistants," he said absently. Admiral Stonefist paneled open the door and walked in.

Sol turned to the small group of Assistants standing nearby. He smiled awkwardly.

"Hi. I'm Lieutenant Baric," he said.

"So they really did get rid of Kinnit," said the tall one, frowning.

"I told you," said the heavy one. "The word came down from CenCom, no SSes in sensitive roles. I knew that that was going to land on Kinnit. Unbelievable CenCom bureaucracy."

"Even Admiral Cora Din thought it was a stupid rule," the tall one rejoined. "Now they have to try and replace Kinnit with someone less qualified."

Sol wilted.

"Hey guys," said the thin female, "if you tried really hard, I bet you could be even more breathtakingly rude." She held out a hand to Sol. "I'm Lieutenant Lena Solborne, Seventh Fleet, Assistant to Admiral Dermot."

Sol hesitantly took her hand.

"Uh... thanks. I'm Lieutenant Sol Baric, Ninth Fleet. Uh, Assistant to Admiral Stonefist. I guess you know that already."

The tall one stepped forward, red-faced, rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry. Sorry about that. I didn't mean anything about you, it's just Kinnit's so, you know..."

"I know," Sol said shortly. "I hear about it every day."

"Sorry," Voth choked out. He stuck out his hand. "Lieutenant Levi Voth, Fifth Fleet, Assistant to Admiral Cora Din."

Sol took his hand. The heavy one stepped up, adjusting his glasses.

"Lieutenant Ezek Daos, Third Fleet, Assistant to Admiral Balia. I'll just shut up, since I've embarrassed myself enough already." He shook Sol's hand as well. "I'm sorry I'm an idiot."

"S'fine," Sol said.

The conversation paused for a long, awkward time.

"So," said Lieutenant Voth, breaking the silence. "Pirates, huh? I've heard the Ninth has been pounding those guys pretty good."

"Yeah," said Lieutenant Solborne. "That's pretty hardcore, going after those guys."

Sol's mouth dropped open.

"Wait, you guys aren't hunting pirates? We've been running ourselves to the bone taking those guys out."

An uncomfortable look passed between the other Assistants.

"Admiral Balia doesn't really keep up with current events," said Lieutenant Daos.

"Admiral Cora Din doesn't feel that the pirates are a real threat. They're just local pests for the outposts to handle," Voth said, shrugging.

"Everybody knows Admiral Stonefist is a little, you know, eek about pirates," appended Lieutenant Solborne. "Nothing wrong with that," she hurried to add. "Like, somebody needs to pay attention to them, right? Make sure they know not to cross the Imperium."

Sol looked from face to face, aghast.

"You don't understand, there's a huge surge of them!" he bleated. "We've got the fleet split into hundreds of detachments chasing them down, and there's more all the time!"

"I mean, I'm sure it seems like a lot," Lieutenant Solborne said. "There are always pirates somewhere. They're like roaches, you can't ever totally get rid-- "

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"People are dying! Citizens are dying!" He realized his voice was dangerously close to whining, but he couldn't believe nobody else was taking him seriously. "We should have every ship of the fleet out there busting pirates!"

Lieutenant Solborne's smile took on a fixed quality.

"Hey, I get it, okay?" she said. "Admiral Stonefist gets wound up about them, it's only natural you'd--"

"This is not about the Admiral! This is about the people!"

Lieutenant Voth cut in.

"He's not wrong, Lena. We should be busting pirates. Whether there's a surge or not, it's part of what the Imperium does." He turned to Sol. "But it's not up to us to direct the fleet. The Admirals will sort it all out in there, don't worry."

Lieutenant Daos theatrically pulled out his scanner and started scrolling through it.

"What?" Voth asked.

"I was just looking at the weather on Geina," Daos said, "to see if it's snowing. I figured I'd check, since Voth is the one being the voice of reason."

"Oh, go stuff yourself in a torpedo tube."

"There it is."

"Anyway," Voth continued, turning back to Sol, "if our Admiral directs, then the fleet will follow, as will we. For what it's worth, I agree with Admiral Stonefist."

"Of course you do," muttered Lieutenant Solborne.

Lieutenant Voth ignored this.

"We should be protecting the Imperium," he said. "It's why we're here."

"That's right," Sol said quietly. More quietly, to himself, he muttered, "The Imperium protects her citizens."

----------------------------------------

Admiral Stonefist glared around the table.

"Look, this is all very interesting," said Admiral Dermot, "but they're just pirates. You're not facing a real, massed, military threat. Who cares about a bunch of rimward misfits in their barely functioning ships?"

"It's not a military threat," Grimthorn rejoined. "It's a threat to the people's faith in the Imperium. Every raid, every stolen shipment, every murdered crewman gives lie to the principle that the Imperium protects her citizens."

"This data is alarming," said Admiral Cora Din. "Why are there so many attacks all of a sudden?"

"It's this conspiracy," Grimthorn said. "The Bolt of Justice."

"Oh, here we go with this again," said Admiral Dermot, rolling his eyes.

"Do you have a question?" Admiral Stonefist asked archly.

"No, not about your pet conspiracy theory."

"Look, it's well-established that the Bolt of Justice was behind the Oryndrax outbreak--

"Yes, just as it's well established that the leak of the final attack on the Oryndrax came from your office."

"That has not been established at all."

"Gentlemen, we're getting off track," broke in Admiral Cora Din. "Admiral Stonefist, please outline your theory." She glanced over at Dermot. "Without interruption."

Dermot muttered, but allowed Grimthorn to speak.

"According to some of the captured pirates," he said, "they're being paid by the Bolt of Justice for every operation they complete in Imperial space. It's my theory that they're trying to weaken the Imperium ahead of a military incursion."

"So let's say I buy all this," Admiral Dermot said, "where is the mystery military force that will attack once the Imperium is irretrievably weakened by losing a couple of commercial vessels?"

Grimthorn's mouth twisted in annoyance.

"Up until a couple weeks ago, it would have been the Oryndrax. Now the answer's not so clear. They may be in talks with the Fyronix to re-open hostilities--"

"So you don't even know. You're taking a statistical blip in pirate activity and spinning a galactic conspiracy out of it."

Admiral Stonefist leaned across the table.

"If you doubt me, why don't you spend a couple weeks chasing pirates? Or are you afraid you might scratch the polish on one of your ships?"

"Some of us have better things to do than confabulating nonsensical tales while pursuing our personal vendettas."

"That's exactly the response I would expect from a coward."

"Gentlemen!" Cora Din called as Dermot shot to his feet. "Let's focus. The data is clear. There is a surge of pirate of activity. Whatever the cause, our duty is to protect the citizens of the Imperium. I will commit the Fifth Fleet to helping stanch the influx of pirates."

"I deeply appreciate the support of the Fifth Fleet, Admiral," Grimthorn said.

"Hear, hear," creaked old Admiral Balia, startling all assembled. "Scrub the filth from the galaxy."

"Look, now you've got old Balia wound up," Admiral Dermot said. "A man his age shouldn't be in combat."

"I could be dead in the grave three weeks and still fly circles around you, Dermot," Balia croaked. Grimthorn snorted a laugh out before he could control himself.

"If that's a statement of support of the Third Fleet, Admiral Balia, I'll happily accept it as well."

"Fine," Dermot said. "Let's all go pirate hunting. It's not like there's anything else important going on at the moment. And once we quash this blip maybe that will get you off this conspiracy kick."

"The support of the Seventh Fleet will be extremely valuable," Grimthorn said. He took a deep breath.

"Admirals, I look forward to crushing this threat with you all." He saluted the assembled Admirals. "All hail the Imperium!"

"All hail!" they cried in response.

----------------------------------------

Kinnit took a deep breath. Today was the day. The plan was set.

She shook her head, remembering Grimthorn's teaching. Not a plan, an idea. Ideas can change, plans can't. Not as fast as combat can.

She held Tazrika's tattered black cloak in her hands, sneering at it. Now that she'd remembered who she was, who she really was, she couldn't believe she'd ever been tempted to follow the path of the rebel. Undercover or not, frustrated or not, she should never have allowed her thoughts to turn that direction.

But it was all fine. After today Tazrika would be dead. One way or another.

With any luck, Kinnit wouldn't be dead along with her.

Kinnit allowed herself a brief moment, a small time to indulge herself with thoughts of Grimthorn. If everything went well today, she'd be able to be with him again soon.

She hoped, with all her heart she hoped.

She caressed her face with the cloak.

"Tazrika, die and bring Grimthorn back to me," she said quietly.

Then she flung the cloak around her shoulders, and her alter ego settled onto her along with the garment.

Tazrika grinned wickedly.

"Let's go blow up CenCom," she said to the empty room.

----------------------------------------

Grimthorn sat alone on the sofa in the nook. Their little private world seemed empty, dead without Kinnit in it. The spray of stars gleaming in the portal went unheeded. His books sat untouched on the endtable.

He held his scanner loosely in one hand.

Why hadn't Kinnit contacted him? She wouldn't respond to his messages, either. They'd been communicating regularly when suddenly she'd stopped responding a few days ago. He'd been sending her regular updates and messages, but hadn't gotten any response.

Had he upset her somehow? He sighed.

There could be a thousand reasonable reasons she hadn't gotten back in touch. Bad signal, broken scanner, maybe she was just spending a lot of time with family.

Or... maybe she'd forgotten about him. Maybe now that she was back home she'd decided that the Navy was too much bother, that she was treated too poorly in the Imperium.

Maybe she'd found someone else. A Kobold of her own species. Someone... better for her.

His head told him he was being foolish. But his heart ached and swan in dread and would not listen as he stared blankly at his silent scanner.