“Master Moor, on the other hand, is hereby relieved of all council duties.” The man who was in charge of my case said. “Her inability to impose her will upon her self-proclaimed apprentice after almost four years of attempts has shown that she does not have the mental or moral fortitude to fulfill her duties to The Order.”

“If I may speak?” I said as I raised my hand.

“Your voice here carries no weight.” The man said. “You have already been dismissed and as you have clearly stated, you are not a part of this organization.”

“I believe we have already established that I was the only person to ever disagree with everything the council does and didn't want anything to do with it.” I said. “Why would my words mean something a moment ago and nothing now?”

None of them answered and I turned to Kara.

“I told you they were unreasonable and bigoted.” I said to her. “Even though none of them, with all their experience and abilities, could make me behave after eight years, they expected you to do it in only half the time and are punishing you for their failure.”

I saw several of the council members blush, or their versions of it anyway, and I turned to them.

“I believe if you hold Kara to such a high standard, then all of you are also failures. Will you all order yourselves to step down?” I looked at their faces. “No? Why is that? Why is Master Moor being vilified? If it's because of me, then a good portion of your people here are also guilty by association.”

“That's... not...”

“How many of you just sat here and let me do what I wanted?” I asked. “How many outlandish and stupid pranks have I done and either gotten away with or were ignored because none of you wanted to be my next target?” I scanned their faces again. “Over the years, I've been tested by you to see if I was good enough to be in your organization. Not once did any of you realize that I had been testing you the entire time.”

“Excuse me?” A woman near the end asked. She seemed to be the most vocal of the group.

“Nothing I ever did harmed anyone, and yet I was a huge disturbance to a lot of people sometimes.” I said with a smile. “The sleeping gas I put in the air filters of the barracks threw off your well planned military display that day, didn't it?” I asked, and her face flushed red. “What did you do in response?”

The woman sighed and slumped a little in her chair.

“Nothing.” I said and smiled. “You knew that if you came forward and tried to punish me, you would have to take a prank personally.”

“Get to the point.” The man in charge of my case said.

“None of you have the mental or moral fortitude to fulfill your duties.” I said. “Except Kara.”

“Excuse me?” The woman asked again.

“Unlike all of you, she was smart enough to take advantage of my generosity. She kept me under control and limited my movements, watched me constantly, and used up her personal time to maintain her self-appointed role.” I said. “Did any of you even think to do that?”

The council members exchanged looks.

“She did it for almost four years, right up until this council denied me my rights.” I said. “Then, rather than side with me like I desperately wanted her to at the time, she turned on me... the man she had accepted as her apprentice... all because she believed, quite falsely as it turns out, that The Order had a higher priority to her actions than her own feelings.”

No one could counter my words, because the Presence didn't waver.

“She knew it was wrong for you to deny me my coming of age ceremony and acted on your behalf and not mine.” I said. “And you all wonder why I never wanted anything to do with you or your organization.” I shook my head. “You preach and you lecture and you all believe your delusions are more important than the people around you. You use the members of The Order for your own agendas and none of you care how much your actions impact the people you use and especially those that are not in your organization, because you believe that they are beneath you.”

The man that handled my case slowly sat down.

“Surprising, isn't it? The Presence isn't wavering, is it?” I chuckled. “So, do my words still not have weight?” I asked. “Hmm? Does the truth fall on deaf ears once again?” I looked at their faces. “You just want to get rid of Kara so that she doesn't start looking into all the things you are doing. You're all afraid that she will see how... you know what? I'm done talking. I know you aren't going to say anything to try and defend yourselves, not now and not to me. I'll just leave you with a little tidbit of information so that you can mull it over.”

“What is it?” The woman asked.

“I was reincarnated.” I said.

Surprise and shock flowed over the room.

“Even as a child, I saw through all of your rhetoric and brainwashing techniques.” I said. “I hated that thing...” I waved to the headless corpse of the Gruskluan. “...for giving a child a compulsion to worship at every meal, and I hated all of you for LETTING HIM DO IT AND DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!” I yelled. “I was a child! Just a child! None of you helped me at all!”

My anger flared and everyone tensed up as they felt it when I let out a little bit of my Presence.

I closed my eyes for a moment and used a mental technique to calm down. “I've had years to clear his corrupting influence from my mind and it pisses me off that none of you had the moral fortitude to help an orphan that was created by your organization's practices.” I shook my head. “What right do you have to rule over all of these people in The Order... to impose your will... when you won't even take care of a child?”

They still didn't say anything in response.

“Of course, you're all guilty. Not just you. If it wasn't this group at the head, it would just be another and they would be just as morally bankrupt as you people.”

“Hunter, that's enough.” Kara said in a soft voice.

“Yeah, I went a little too far in revealing their faults.” I said. “It's a good thing that my words don't hold any weight here, right?”

The Presence wavered so much that everyone in the room felt a touch of nausea and had to brace themselves. When the nausea passed, they all stared at me, even Kara.

“Would you mind lowering this security barrier?” I asked. “I can easily break it; but, you'll charge me for breaking Order property if I do.”

A moment later, the barrier disappeared and the circle stopped glowing.

“I'll expect Lashina to receive the appropriate bounties for the criminals I brought you, and Kara brought me in, so she should get the bounty on me.” I said and walked over to the door. “I'm borrowing a shuttle to get back to my ship, then I'll have both shuttles sent down to return them to your custody.”

“H-Hunter.” Kara said, surprised I was giving her the bounty, despite us coming here together. “What are you going to do?”

“Are you sure you want to know?” I asked as I turned to her and she nodded. “I'm going to dismantle The Order.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Presence didn't waver and the council kept staring at me.

“Are you surprised that the Presence didn't waver?” I asked. “Don't be. I literally just told you that NONE of you have the right to rule over others. It will take years to tear you apart and slowly remove all of the people and resources that you've had a stranglehold on for decades; but, I've got time.” I looked at Kara and saw her not-so-surprised face. “Lots and lots of time.”

“Are you threatening us?” The outspoken woman asked.

“Of course not.” I said. “A threat would be something like, 'if you don't stop, I'm going to...'. I'm not threatening anything. I am telling you I am doing it. No threats. No promises.” I smiled. “It will be done.”

“Do you really expect us to accept...”

“I don't expect anything from you.” I said and cut her off. “When you failed to meet even basic standards of child care, without even asking the child what they wanted or listened when they expressly told you, I haven't expected anything at all from you.” I used invisible Presence Hands to open the large doors and left them to think about that.

*

“We should issue another bounty.” The scaly alien said.

“Did you listen to anything he just said?” Kara asked, surprised. “Why are you trying to prove that he is right about you?”

The scaly alien chuckled. “Why do we need to pander to him? He just told us he would be taking The Order apart. If we don't take care of this now...”

“Are you serious?” The outspoken woman asked. “The Presence didn't waver!”

“We have hundreds of troops right here in the compound.” The man said. “Have them surround the shuttle.”

“Why not just blow the shuttle up?” Kara asked, incredulous. “Or better yet, instead of having others do your dirty work, why don't you cowards get off your asses and go out there and confront him yourself!” By the Goddess! She thought. Why am I saying such things? She asked herself, then she realized something. The Presence didn't waver when she called them cowards.

“Now that's insubordination if I ever heard it.” The scaly alien said. “I order you to go out there and capture him.”

“I already did that and you released him.” Kara said and let the smugness into her voice that they expected her to have and not what she actually felt. “I've done things that none of you have done and how much older are you? Shouldn't you be more powerful than me? Are you all so weak that you need underlings to do all the work?”

“You are suspended from...”

“From what? You already suspended me from my hard-earned spot on the council for frivolous reasons, even though I was appointed by The Wise One and he's the only one that can legitimately remove me. What else are you going to suspend me from? You just ordered me to go and apprehend someone that hasn't committed any crimes, even according to your twisted view of our laws, so I'll suspend myself from that ridiculous order. How's that?”

The scaly alien's eyes were full of anger. He was about to speak when the doors opened again.

*

“I'm sorry to interrupt your tirade.” I said with a smile. “I forgot to ask Kara if she would escort me.”

“H-Hunter, I...”

“Unless you want to declare her a rogue for not following your illegal orders?” I asked the council. “Hmm? Yes? No? Which is it? You don't have to speak up. I could clearly hear you all through the doors, as could everyone else stationed outside.”

The scaly alien clamped his mouth shut.

“Well, then.” I said with a smile. “Kara, why don't you resign from The Order?”

“Wh-what?” Kara looked at me with wide eyes.

“Don't you see? You're going to be the scapegoat for me.” I said and waved at the council. “They need someone to blame this whole fiasco on, and who better than someone who tried to illegally arrest someone that was just freed?”

Kara gasped and the scaly alien ground his sharp teeth. “It's true?” She looked at the scaly alien. “The Presence didn't waver.”

“I didn't realize my words would have fallen on deaf ears.” I said. “So, give them all of your Order things that they provided to you, like your Light sword and your robes. The personal things you can keep and I'll remove the tracking devices from them later.”

Several of the council members stiffened at the revealed secret.

“What do you say, Kara?” I asked. “Do you feel like leaving all of this dirty water behind?”

“Hunter, The Order is my life.” Kara said. “Until you came along, I never questioned it. It's how I was raised and it's how I live.”

“I didn't say you had to abandon your principles or leave all that you believe behind. I'm only asking you to change venues.”

“Change what?”

“You can still do good work to help people, even if you don't do it under The Order's orders.” I said. “Did you feel lost or separated at all for the last little while?”

Kara thought about it. “Well, I... I knew I was doing the Goddess' work and I wasn't alone.”

“Then what's stopping you from doing that somewhere else?” I asked. “Obviously, some of these people can't see reason and The Wise One, who also appointed you, isn't here to stop their insanity before they ruin your life.”

“Hunter, I... I can't just...”

“I'm only making the offer. The decision is up to you.” I said. “If at any point you change your mind, contact me. You can leave a message at any trading hub and it will get to me. I'll come and pick you up and take you anywhere you want to go.”

“Hunter...”

“We're members of the same race, Kara.” I said and looked at the council. “We are going to outlive everyone here by centuries.” I grinned when I saw the council's shocked faces. “What are future generations going to say about the incompetence of The Order's leadership when you and I will be right there to set them straight?”

Kara looked like she didn't know how to respond, mainly because she knew I was right. She would be a member of The Order for as long as she lived and she knew that if she didn't do something about it soon, then everything she was raised for... everything she believed in... would have been a waste of time. That was why I had made the offer I knew she wouldn't accept, so she could see that.

I reached out and touched her shoulder. “I'm glad you understand.” I said, let her shoulder go, then turned and left the room and absorbed the Presence Hands holding the doors open and they closed behind me. One of the other Order members that had been waiting in the hallway with the platoon of troops, motioned to me and four of the troops took up escort duty. They stayed with me until I was outside the building and I stepped into the shuttle.

“Take me up to my ship, please.” I said. “I won't need the space suit this time.”

The pilot looked at me oddly for a moment, then shrugged and we took off. When we reached orbit, I had him float beside the ship so that the shuttle's hatch and the main hatch of the ship were beside each other.

“Thanks for the ride.” I said and hit the button to cut off the cockpit from the crew area, then I covered myself in Presence, while leaving an inch of space in front of my face. I then depressurized the crew compartment and opened the hatch.

“Pilot to ground control! He's ejected himself into space without a space suit!” I heard over the linked com Luxea had given me. I chuckled and stepped out into space, then I closed the hatch and used Presence to press the button to pressurize the shuttle I just left and floated over to my ship. I formed a Presence box inside the main hatch, displaced the air inside, then opened the main hatch. Luxea stood there and shook her head as I came inside and closed the hatch, then I eased the air back into the box and absorb it and the Presence protecting me.

“You're such a show off.” Luxea said.

“Hey, I had to play one more prank before I left.” I chuckled. “Did you hear the pilot freaking out?”

“I heard all of it, including inside the council chamber, and we recorded everything.” Luxea said. “You weren't close enough to the control tower for us to get access the main communications array, though.”

“That's why I didn't fight so hard to keep the shuttle.” I said with a grin and she laughed.

“I knew you had something devious planned.”

“How long do you think it'll take to set up the relay?” I asked.

“Ten minutes, assuming you don't care if they find it.” Luxea said.

“They're going to strip the shuttle to the bulkheads anyway, so why hide it?” I asked and we walked over to the middle of the ship and climbed the ladder. “Hey, Rhubin.” I said. “How's the cleaning going?”

“Damn slow.” Rhubin said. “I've got the supplies restored to pre-flight levels; but, the computers are a mess.” He chuckled. “Do you know how much data we have in this thing?”

“I'm sure Luxea already has a copy of it, so just wipe everything except the basic flight data.” I said. “Plus, it'll save us from having to comb through it and try to decide what we want them to know and what we want to keep hidden.”

“I'll handle it.” Luxea said and sat down in the co-pilot seat. “I'll do it while I set the com taps.”

“Com taps?” Rhubin looked at her and then at me. “Oh, sneaky! If we can get one on the main array, we'll be able to get them in real time.”

“We'll also have access to all the previous communications, assuming they don't back everything up offsite.” I said. “I doubt it, mainly because this is their home planet.”

“All of their backup servers are here.” Luxea said. “Given enough time...”

I laughed. “Who was it that expressly forbade us from raiding The Order's home planet?”

“Information pilfering is okay, now that we have a legitimate chance to do it.” Luxea said. “I'm configuring it as a normal dummy ship relay, that way they won't realize what it's actually doing.”

“Ha!” Rhubin barked a laugh. “You're going to make them think the shuttle is just a drone ship!”

“Bingo!” Luxea said. “Information relay is normal for unmanned small craft.”

“I really missed you guys.” I said and both of them turned and looked at me. “What?”

“How could you miss us?” Rhubin asked. “You were only gone for...”

“Finish the shuttle and while we float around the system and drop the stealth relays, I'll tell you everything that happened.”

They nodded and got back to work, then had the shuttle prepped and we climbed back into the main ship. Rhubin remote piloted the shuttle down to the base and established communications with the control tower, and that started the relay. Luxea's smart programs quickly entered their systems and started to relay communication protocols, passwords, archive access codes, and everything else that goes through a planetary communications array on a daily basis.

We bid the tower a good day and took our ship out of orbit, dropped stealth sensor relays all along our path, then when we hit the Lagrange point of the system, jumped into hyperspace.