Chapter One Hundred and Eighty: Everyone is the Hero (in their own story)
In the void, April 4, 3036
"We got the power supply issues fixed boss, we're ready to move to engage whenever you are."
"Good, we have finally have a confirmed path in which we can intercept Hull," the man replied. "We need all of the fleet repaired and ready for when we engage and destroy him."
"Boss, why the focus on Hull? I'm not trying to correct you or anything, but we have a Warship, we could raid just about anywhere we wanted to and get away with the loot."
"Hull has personally offended me," Pirate Lord Kalvin Bar-Dyness replied. "We shall seek him out and utterly destroy him and his lineage before we move to raid the regional capitals."
"We're behind you sir, you brought all of the pirate bands together after all."
"We all seek profit, all I did was make sure that we were more effectively able to make use of what we had stolen by finding us a safe harbor," Kalvin replied. "The Marian Hegemony was grateful that we chose to do business with them, and they accepted the remnants of the factories that we had found as an acceptable trade for us making them our new home after the destruction that Hull visited on our previous safe haven."
"Why lie to that Kristofur fellow then?"
"I did not lie, I merely distorted and twisted the truth. He asked for us to distract the rest of the Federated Suns Allies and prevent them from committing their forces," the pirate lord had a wicked smirk on his face as he thought about the trick that he had pulled on the Word of Blake. "We did provide a distraction, but it was not enough to prevent their destruction, and instead opened up corridors to what we wanted."
"We have places that are normally heavily guarded now opened up for raiding," Kalvin smiled. "We are going to seize the opportunity and take everything that isn't nailed down. But first, I want to get my revenge, and then I will go and join in the raiding parties."
New Avalon, July 30, 3036
Vesar Kristofur slowly woke up from his chemically induced slumber, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he tasted the strange chemical aftertaste that always was left behind from modern sedatives.
"Well, it seems that you've at least given me a five star prison cell," Kristofer smiled to himself. "I love the decor. After all, what better way to taunt me than to have the evidence of my failures on the fielding."
The ceiling, walls, and floors were all mirrored one way glass. Which meant that everywhere that Kristofur turned was an image of himself. The only thing that wasn't mirrored was the lone bed in the corner next to a toilet.
"Well, is anyone going to speak to me?" Kristofur asked and then waited. "Ahh, isolation to see if I will break." The man folded his arms and sat down on the flat shelf that sufficed as a bed.
—
—
"How long are you planning on leaving him in there?" Hanse asked as he looked down on the man who had ordered and orchestrated the death of his brother.
"We're going to give him twenty-four hours of isolation and no food until the time is up," Ardan Sortek replied. "We managed to locate and bring in your nephew, he should be arriving in a day or so."
"I want every single piece of intel you can pull out of Kristofur cross analyzed and gone over by both our people and that of our allies," Hanse said stroking his chin where the beginnings of a beard were growing. "I'm bringing Dana with me to meet the boy and his mother. It is not their fault that they were caught up in this scheme of the terrorists after all."
"Just try not to let your emotions run wild," Ardan cautioned. "It's going to hurt a little at first."
"I'll have Dana with me," Hanse said. "She'll help me out if I get overwhelmed."
"Mark is supposed to be arriving in a couple of months," Sortek said. "I would consult with both him and with the Steiners before making any decisions about bringing him into the official line of succession."
"I'll take that into consideration," Hanse replied. "I'll be in my quarters should anything that I need to know about happen."
"Have a good night Hanse," Sortek said as he moved to sit at a desk nearby. "I'll keep you posted on everything."
August 6, 3036
"Ms. Avellar," Hanse greeted the woman who was his nephew's mother. "I take it this is little Michael?"
"It is," the woman answered curtly, eying Hanse and his bodyguards with suspicion. "Are there anymore tests that you would like to run your highness?" Venom shown in her voice.
"No, and I apologize for anything that may have distressed Michael during this entire process," Hanse knelt down to get a look at the three-year-old that was hiding behind his mother's legs. "Hello there Michael, I'm your Uncle Hanse, would you like to see the rest of the palace? I have a couple of Mechs that you might want to see."
Michael's eyes lit up at the thought of seeing a real life Mech and he walked around the front of his mother before looking up with a questioning look at her face. "Can I go look?"
"I guess so, but stay close to your uncle, I don't want you getting lost," the Avellar lady replied before Dana diverted her attention while Hanse took the boy away to see the rest of the palace.
"You look so much like your father," Hanse said as he picked the child up and sling him onto his shoulders. "Let's get you into a Mech, and see if you take after him as well."
—
—
"Now Kristofur, can we go over this again?" Ardan asked the man who was being chemically interrogated.
"I told you to call me Kris, we're friends after all," the once Precentor ROM spoke to one of his reflections.
"I'm not sure he has anymore information to give us," Ardan whispered to an aid. "Let's ease him off of the drugs until he's lucid again. He'll need the ability to focus in order to communicate with his lawyer after all."
"We're actually giving him and the rest of them a fair trial?" The aid asked incredulously as they left the mirrored room and sealed it behind them.
"We have laws, and despite my wish to bypass them sometimes they are still necessary," Sortek replied. "So they get a trial, and then an execution of their choice."
"That's too good for scum like them," the aid replied. "But I guess I somewhat understand it."
"It's less about whether they deserve it or not " Sortek replied. "And more so that we are a nation under the rule of law, and must conduct ourselves as such or lose the moral high ground against our foes."