Ozzath’s shuttle landed on the grounds of the Heart estate. It had only been an hour since Zera had made her scene. The fire in the hedge mage had been doused, and the gaping hole in the glass doors had been tarped over. The place was swarming with SS officers, none of those thuggish ADCU officers Hanzo had somehow established under Ozzath’s nose, but good normal officers.

They nodded differentially to Ozzath as he slowly made his way to where two men were standing.

One saw him approach and gave him a short bow.

Gin Kenzo really was a loyal pet. Centuries ago his great-great grandfather had been an interminable pain in Ozzath’s side, stealing the glory that was rightfully his, upsetting his plans, and even weaseling himself on to the council before Ozzath got his own overdue promotion.

The Gin patriarch, captain of the Amaterasu, had been thorn in Ozzath’s side. The only reason his awful race of barbaric Hellworlder’s ever achieved the height and influence they had was because of his meddling. If Ozzath hadn’t been laying long term plans that wouldn’t have borne fruit centuries down the line then Gin may have truly made humanity a reputable force on the galactic council.

And now, after decades of slowly corrupting each patriarch he had turned the family of his great adversary into his most loyal pawn.

Really, it was a shame he would eventually have to dispose of Kenzo. He had been corrupting that boy since he was able to properly walk and talk.

How a race who spent so much time as helpless toddling morons ever survived a deathworld as wretched as Earth was beyond him. Obviously evolution had gone very, very wrong on that world for a species like humanity to become sentient. Barbaric, brutish, impatient, and entirely to clever for their own good.

And worst of all, impossible to predict.

“Ozzath-sama.” Kenzo and Richard Heart both said with a bow.

At least they were loyal and easy to fool.

“Kenzo, Richard, what happened here?” He asked softly.

Kenzo glanced to Richard. “The human serial killer know as the Reaper Mantis attacked one of my party guests. As well as my deviant daughter.” Richard reported.

He knew that there was more going on than that, Richard had organized this party for the sole purpose of either killing the pirate or his own daughter. But he knew better than to speak the truth in the open.

This was all apart of the great game. A man of Ozzath’s position had to take an interest when an attack like this happened within his domain. Already news drones would be taking pictures of him looking concerned and upset, and soon the demands to do something would grow more and more vocal.

“Casualties?” he asked. This was his true intentions, he wanted to know if their plan had been successful.

“Some guards and party goers were trampled to death in the panic, but her victims escaped.” Kenzo reported.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Survived? Both of them? That was not expected.

Danm humans couldn’t even die properly. For a race determined to throw themselves in danger they had a ridiculously strong will to survive. How troublesome.

“I see, Mister Heart, you have my condolences for what had happened. But may I speak with my fellow councilmen in private?”

“Of course councilmen.” Richard said with a bow.

Ozzath nodded and began to stroll forward into the Heart’s home. He had been here many times and knew all the halls like he knew the veins on his arms. “What went wrong?” he demanded,

“Unknown.” Kenzo reported. “I took Zera’s advice in trying to lure the pirate away. but I believe that she is not as much of a whore as Zera implied. She seemed repulsed by the offer, though I don’t know why.” He spoke.

Maybe that was because Kenzo had never bedded a female, human or otherwise, without using force or the influence of his position. That the boy thought he actually had the charm to bed a female not beholden to his power was laughable. But he didn’t say anything. “That is unexpected.” He lied plainly. “And the actual assassination?”

“It failed. It seems that even with the upgrades Zera was incapable of killing off one woman. The pirate even snapped Zera’s neck, twice.”

Ozzath hummed in displeasure “That, should not be possible. Even for a Hellworlder.”

Kenzo nodded “More over she escaped Zera, on foot, while carrying the Heart girl.”

Ozzath paused. “That-” he paused as he was about to repeat himself. He collected himself. “Obviously our pirates have more to them that meets the eye. Do you think they have been successful in creating a fully mechanical cyborg as well?”

Kenzo shook his head. “That should not be possible, and Zera reported that the pirate women is definitely flesh and blood.”

“Synthetic muscle replacement then?”

He shook his head again. “All our testing has shown that such things are not possible. Or at least too difficult to accomplish successfully. The treatments all proved to invasive and dramatic for the subject to survive. Only one in a thousand survived the attempts, and the results were not good enough to pursue.”

“I have heard rumors that the Humans of Earth cracked it, and have even made it easy enough for common thugs to survive.” Ozzath stated.

Kenzo snorted derisively. “I doubt any backwards savages on a deathworld could accomplish what my researchers have not.”

Ozzath smothered his annoyance. “Even so, let us assume that some are physically enhanced. What percentage are we looking at.”

Kenzo pondered the question. “I can’t imagine them having more success with it than we have. Out of a five thousand only ten have survived the conversion. We are seeing improved success as we get more familiar with the process. It shouldn’t be more than a small group of elites.”

They entered a room. The once pristine walls had been torn up, the furniture smashed, and a Zera was currently in the process of tearing up the floors.

Kenzo frowned, and Ozzath smothered his own hum of displeasure. “Zera!” Ozzath snapped. “Calm yourself.” He ordered. The command code reached her ears, and the micron wires attached to her brain made sure the order was followed.

The behavior controls couldn’t be active all the time, at least not the ones installed in Zera, so Ozzath was limited to a basic programed loyalty and some innocuous commands that she wouldn’t question later.

Zera calmed. “Yes, sir.” She said, her voice notably more synthetic sounding. She turned to look at Ozzath, and Ozzath found that he felt less unnerved by the mask than her original features. Humans were so… predatory with their gazes, and they didn’t even realize they were doing it.

Savages.

“Explain your failures tonight.” He said calmly.

Zera looked upset by his word choice, but had no grounds to contradict it. “Daisey escaped.” She said simply.

“How?” Ozzath demanded. “How did a single girl, burdened by the weight of another, out run you and get away?”

“The resurrector module got me back up after she snapped my neck, twice, but I still had troubles coordinating my movements. Couldn’t throw straight, couldn’t run at full speed. If Daisey had stood her ground she might have really killed me.” Zera explained.

Ozzath looked to Kenzo.

Kenzo looked ashamed. “We did not know the limits of the module. We will need to do more testing sir.”

“See that it happens. It’s too potent an ability to leave underdeveloped.” Ozzath ordered.

His plans for tonight had been foiled. The murder of either Daisey or Rachel should have pushed the pirates or ADCU to clash, he would have used the fear and panic to finally rid Unity of the lower class humans. But now it seemed more likely that the pirates and ADCU might ally.

How to fix this?

“Zera, we’re changing our focus. We need the public opinion of Humans to be as bad as it can be. Your next mission will be to drum up terror in the populace. Parks, museums, schools, any where people come together and feel safe.” Ozzath ordered. “The people will not be able to ignore such tragedies.”

The assassin looked excited “As you will it.” she purred.

“Kenzo.” Ozzath said turning to face the human with one eye. “Make sure Richard and his ships are ready to receive the influx. I want all those we deport to find their way to one of your facilities.”

He bowed “Yes Ozzath-sama.”

“Good, now to speak with our friend in the Central precinct.” Ozzath said as he left the room.

He hated working with humans. They were so troublesome. But he couldn’t deny their competence and ability.

Zera and Kenzo were monsters. But they were his monsters, and Ozzath would repay their loyalty by putting them down cleanly.