XX7: A Prelude for what is to Come
The sound of gunfire railed through the training hall. Eliza's hand was steadied, but the constant fire beside Eliza shook her to the core. "Eek…" Eliza sent a round down the range, missing by a whole football field. "LILLY!"
"What?" Lilly snorted, patting Eliza on the shoulder before holstering her pistol. "You need to be able to fire under pressure, pressure! It makes coal into diamonds… well, less valuable nowadays, but still pretty to look at. You can be the best marksman, but if you can't aim for shit when the bolts are flying, you're going to end up in a body bag."
Eliza frowned. "Pistols aren't for me," she said. "I'm more of a drone person."
"Yeah, which is why you need to learn pistols," Lilly said. "A backup is always a backup, you'll need to learn that not everything is just smooth fucking sails, you think the enemy will wait for you to get your drones up and ready before shooting you?
Lilly grabbed a drone, throwing it at Eliza. She nearly froze before Synthia activated Eliza's uplink, powering it up and stopping it a mere inch away from Eliza's face.
"Say, Lilly… What was it like?" Eliza inquired. "Quinn never really talks about it, so…"
Lilly crossed her arms. "By the end of it, I saw half a dozen stupid new officers nearly get my men killed… My company was lucky to have a captain who had been enlisted before." The drone was slowly powering up fully. "Half the time, we didn't know what we were shooting at… The other half, we were chasing tails over miscommunications because some stupid new ensign missed one callsign."
"Must be… rather stressful," Eliza admitted, feeling rather sorry for Lilly.
'Bleep?' The drone tilted slightly in confusion before gently hovering away from Eliza's face.
'There you go,' she said.
"Ah. Thanks!" Eliza gently placed her hands on the drone, placing it in front of her as she gently patted the combat drone's chassis. It hummed as its screen showed a smile upon its singular lens. "Lilly, you don't need to go hard on me, you know? We have time, don't we?"
Lilly didn't seem too convinced, or perhaps something was going on that Eliza hadn't realised… With what happened to Kazuki earlier, Eliza could only guess, but that anxiety only swelled butterflies within her stomach.
"I'm being easy on you," Lilly said. "Even if you can shoot straight and under pressure, you need to be able to take a life. Can you do that for me?"
Turning to the gun range. Eliza opened fire upon the targets. Her pistol merely grazed the targets… whilst her drone fire had a much more concentrated fire!
It wasn't much, but Eliza smiled slightly at her improvements. "It… it doesn't matter that much, right?"
Leaning against the range booth's divider, Lilly shook her head. "It's going to be your first kill. Whether you're excited or scared, it's going to happen. When push comes to shove, can you kill?"
It was such a clear answer, yes! But… such an answer didn't suit Eliza. Even if she had been the cause of so much trouble, Eliza couldn't hold it in her stomach to pull the trigger… "I'm not a murderer."
"Correction, you're not a murderer, good people kill, and bad people don't kill, just because you kill doesn't mean you're bad," Lilly said. "Do you think Kazuki's first kill was just some innocent kid? Hell no!"
Despite the topic, Eliza Lilly was being surprisingly understanding. "I guess I'll just have to stop thinking when the time comes.
"Keep training," Lilly ordered. "Do, don't think, the moment you hesitate is when you die, Eliza."
Eliza went back to it. Without a gun firing beside her, Eliza was getting some half-decent shots in. The recoil of a gun was still a rough thing for her to get used to, but she was much better at her drones…
Maybe Kiri would be proud of her, Eliza speculated. With this, maybe she can protect others where they would have protected her.
The fantastic notion swelled up in Eliza's head like a plague, encompassing all of her thoughts and objectives in a matter of moments. Lilly then raised her pistol, switching the munition to a sound-bolt.
BANG!
Eliza reeled backwards in fear and ache. Her ears were ringing, but her hand clenched up in response over her ears! Her clenched fists sent a signal, unleashing a torrential bolt of fire in all directions at the sound.
Eliza felt her legs being swept to the floor. "Agh!" She grunted as her guns fell silent.
"Fucking hell," Lilly said. "Let alone pressure, you need to shoot straight!" Eliza opened her eyes, seeing Lilly's shield dotted with blunt bolts.
"Oh my… I'm so sorry!" Eliza shot right up, leaning over and trying to see if Lilly had taken any damage. "Are you okay?!"
Lilly nodded. "Yes. I've learnt my lesson, fuck that."
Synthia stood atop Eliza's drone, dragging it to the table before switching it off. 'Miss Elizabeth, perhaps the basics are what you need to focus on. Miss Bergan is right on that.'
Hearing it from Synthia was the Hail Mary, Eliza sighed. "I suppose you're not entirely wrong about that."
"You damn well right!" Lilly barked. "Drones are fickle, more like a mechanical extension instead of a gun; you can't just shut them off by pulling your finger away."
Eliza nodded. "Should we continue?"
"Not now, this is a smaller training session, you know?" She raised another eyebrow.
"What?" Eliza blinked in confusion. "Is something going to happen?!" A cocktail of anxiety, excitement and interest rose in Eliza's chest.
"We're having a party?" Lilly took Eliza's pistol, placing it on the table. Then, she took off her armour, tugging at the sides of her tank top, "Ugh… sweat. It was sent out to the whole Judiciary Department of the AGENCY… Didn't you notice how… little people were aboard the Fury?"
Oh… Eliza jumped up with a smile. "Well, it does normally take quite a while to wait for the next metro-line…"
∗ ∗ ∗
Tugging at the side of his mouth, Archius smiled before falling into a glare. "You can still smile," he said.
Removing his fingers, he was still able to smile – thank fuck for that. His eyes lowered, trained on his ICAPAD, holding his arm out in front of him as a mirror.
The warm evening breeze of Anagora's summer blew past him. Archius over the parapet for a moment, glancing down at the neon and grey lit surface below. Even this high up, it was still incredibly warm. He turned his ICAPAD off, tugging at the collar of his shirt…
"Ah." Cold air felt somewhat nice.
Fucking hell, Archius thought that growing up on a burning shit-hole would have made him better at enduring heat...
Still, Archius shivered slightly at the two contrasting sensations.
Living on Anagora for the past decade or so must have killed that little boost he'd have. All that resistance had been replaced by knowledge… Necessary, Archius thought, especially if he wanted to rig another election or blackmail scum both high and low again.
All that CRIS training to turn him into an intelligence officer seemed to have wiped away entire slates of emotion. Still makes him far more emotional than Kazuki...
"Isn't that right?" Archius peered down at Anagora's bright surface before turning to Kazuki.
Kazuki stood beside him, hands in his pockets, taking in the moment of calm for but a moment. It seemed Archius ruined the mood, as Kazuki glared back. He squinted at Archius. "What?"
Archius sighed, leaning against the railing separating him from becoming a red mist splatter half a klick downwards. "You chose some real high-class place," he said. "How much did it cost. Hmm? Hundreds of thousands? Millions?"
"Negligible," Kazuki stated, crossing his arms.
Unlike the normal pizza parties dead-end jobs have, Kazuki celebrated with a whole damn feast. Knowing Kaz, he probably got a whole crew of Kasté star chefs working overtime so his operatives could get fattened up and drunk for the third and fourth quarters.
"Any damage to the venue is coming out of their bonuses."
"Cunning cunt," Archius jokingly sneered. "Before we go into noise hell, there's something I need to ask."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Go ahead."
"Our enemy… Blood Contractors. You can deal with them?"
Archius leant in slightly as Kazuki gave a faint nod.
Peering back at his ICAPAD, Archius swiped to view the cameras. Yawning, he took note of the last batch of Contractors entering the venue. "Last bunch just arrived, it's Persephone's lot of Ex-Seekers. They'll be waiting for us soon enough."
"I'd prefer if you didn't hack the cameras OFF the hours," Kazuki said. "Right now, we're merely civilians. Delia has everything prepared. All she needs is the First Consul to give his stamp on the expenses."
Archius chuckled. "You thought I had them hacked right now? Are you fucking serious?"
Kazuki raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Please, I'm not an amateur, I've had these cameras hacked years ago, it's just a coincidence we're all here. You have no idea how much executives blabber on when they're drunk."
That intrigued Kazuki slightly. "How many corporate and state secrets?"
"More than I could ever hope to use," Archius said, as he began to walk off. Kazuki followed suit. "Right now, we're in a mess of your own making. Just had to pick the wrong fight, hmm?"
"Tell me something I don't know." Kazuki took out a small ballpoint pen and flicked it at Archius' face. Archius raised his hand, as it bounced right off… out of the hallway and down into the… abyss of clouds and colours below. "Someone's day will be ruined by that."
"Yeah, and you're ruining my day. We should try our best not to add more fucking fuel to the fire," Archius said. "That's the first step. We lay low for a month or two before pulling back into the game."
"It'll create cashflow issues," Kazuki stated. They turned through the fine establishment's corners and halls. The whole place was built and decorated to mimic the Art Deco air of the ball Palace. "The AGENCY is not as profitable as Clandestine. Nor will it ever be."
Archius opened his mouth, but Kazuki responded with a glare. "Hey! I wasn't going to say what you think I was going to say," Archius said, rolling his eyes.
"And what was that?"
"Cut some of the men, pay them less, reduce our operational costs," Archius said. "Or... whatever shit you learn in business school."
Kazuki gave a simple reply, "Yeah."
"Keep good relations with the Contractors and clients, strong word of mouth marketing to create a niche in the Republic. Blah. Blah. Blah. All that boring shit you and Martinez probably draw up in some meeting room isn't for me."
"Sato," Kazuki corrected Archius. "Martinez handles operations."
Sato?! Her of all people?! Archius chuckled at his reply. "Sato has just as much good business sense as Marco Nasseri had good political sense."
It was a very clear implication: Sato in charge of business will simply lead to destruction and chaos.
Still, chaos will beget chaos, and Archius knew Kaz had brought some of it on himself.
But that's just what Kazuki does, unrelenting to the Eclipse and back. So Obadiah brought his doom upon himself trying to protect himself. Ironic, Archius thought.
Archius opened his mouth, but Kazuki spoke first, "Who's the real enemy?"
An inquisitive question, and one that Archius was just going to ask Kaz. Archius peered around the walls, noting that no listening devices were placed around them. Though if they were, Kazuki probably wouldn't have asked in the first place.
"I don't know," Archius replied to Kazuki's surprise. "Strange, isn't it, that level of unease? Does it make you feel anxious at all, Kaz?"
Kazuki grumbled at having the mick taken of him. But the lack of an expression did tell Archius that he wasn't expecting a serious answer.
"You don't know?"
"Of course I don't," Archius stated. "Those Tarot cards, they're to help us narrow big players, but what if a smaller player's pulling the strings of a bigger one? We won't know, after all. Even my eyes aren't privy to some things."
Silence crept into the conversation.
Sliding his hand into his inside jacket pockets, Kaz brought out the pack of cards, flicking through them. "So this is just a hit list?"
It wasn't exactly what Archius was going for! But it did work for it. "Well, just in case, it'd be funny if we were to hunt some exiled politicians, you know? Triarchs, Mercs, Politicians and hell even those Departmento guys, I've had a lot of work put into them."
"Departmento?" Kazuki scoffed.
"Hey, it's not perfect, but it does its job well."
Despite all of Archius' efforts in the intelligence community, he wasn't able to leverage his position and pressure to get information about the Shadow Seekers and their Departmento.
"You're thinking hard, aren't cha?" asked Archius.
They kept walking, walking down a flight of beautifully crafted stairs. "None of your concern," Kazuki replied.
"Sure... sure... Just tell us your super secret plan before half of us get zeroed in, alright?" Archius remarked. "I'm practically you're therapist, you know?"
Whatever's going on in that thick skull of Kazuki's, Archius could only assuredly know that they were on the same page on one thing. Someone was pulling the strings. It wasn't going to be an easy job.
"Great, I must have missed the wireless transfer," Kazuki sarcastically replied. "We have much to do…"
"Duh…" Archius rolled his eyes. "So let me do some field work."
"Of course. First thing I'll see next week is a parcel with your severed head," Kazuki rejected the idea outright. "The She-Wolf's hounds are stronger. Deadlier. The answer is no."
A set of doors opened in front of them. Archius swore that Kazuki nearly drew, but the sight of such an innocent face stopped Kazuki's hand from moving. Eliza… Of course, it had to be her of all people.
"Oh! There you are!" Eliza grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "You're late… What were you guys even doing up here?"
"Enjoying the weather, something you Engans probably can't fathom," Kazuki jeered. "We were talking strategy. That's all."
Archius snickered at the jab.
The sides of Archius' lips rose into a smirk, but he hid it as he realised that it was a good opportunity to get Eliza on board with things, maybe he could use her ignorance to… shift the chess board around, help leverage things Kazuki would think are too risky for him to do.
"Kaz didn't want me running operations to see if we can track them down," Archius said, crossing his arms in frustration. "But I digress."
"Oh?" That piqued Eliza's interest. "Oh, whilst we're here, is our little side project being postponed?"
Kazuki shook his head. Oh? Multi-tasking, great, Archius thought sarcastically. "These Contractors are linked to our investigation. Someone wants us dead, good money as well… We're a wildcard."
Someone behind the guns, huh… That much was probably true, but Archius had little evidence to back up his assumption.
"We need to wait for things to fall in line. Obadiah's testimony will break the dam. His words will be his benefactor's doom."
"And to make things even better," Archius said, as Eliza walked alongside the two. "The Board doesn't know that we know their involvement, they just think we're… ignorant, stupid, suicidal baboons." Archius then gently patted Kazuki on the back.
"Fuck you, Archius."
"Kill yourself," Archius snapped back.
"I'll take you with me," Kazuki snapped. Archius let a snide snicker rush off his tongue. "And I'll bill you for everything you owe to your next of kin."
Archius scoffed, as if he had any family left. "Rich fuck get richer, hmm?"
Eliza sighed. "Well, he does pay for everything, doesn't he?"
"Out of my own pockets," Kazuki added. "Don't you dare lump me in with my sister."
Archius pointed at Kazuki with his thumb. "His pride wouldn't take it."
"Unlike her, I don't need my damn family fortune…" Kazuki paused as he stopped walking. "I don't need it."
Oh, shit. Archius had just realised that both he and Eliza struck a nerve. Both of them quickly noticed Kazuki's change in attitude. He was glaring much more than usual!
"I'm not her…"
"I didn't say that?" Eliza mused. "But, what's wrong with that? She's kind and well… rather good company, right, Archius?"
Nodding, Archius decided to remain silent. Eliza might know Kaz, but she didn't know all those little insecurities that Contract-Breaker bore.
"Blood paid for my gold," Kazuki remarked. "Tragedy and time paid for my sister's. What good would my inheritance be? The rebellion won my men our lives and a mercenary empire."
Tragedy… Archius and Eliza were to remember just how awful Kazuki's life could be at times. And… well, that of his family. Cursed, Archius thought, that was what some people said back in the CRIS, doomed to die and doomed for glory – but never doomed to live.
Archius rolled his eyes. "Infinite money. Lucky bastard."
"Some things cannot be paid for in money," Kazuki replied. "This storm cannot be blown away with any type of jewels."
"So… we just have to weather this storm?" Eliza asked, pausing. Kazuki paused as well, then Archius. Eliza stepped towards the side of the hallway and peered out into the orange skyline. She placed a hand on the balcony parapet. "Any progress here is just… an extension of the project?"
"Yes." Kazuki crossed his arms. So then, the little project to find the perpetrators of the P-1 Incident was… still on the burner. "We'll bring justice soon enough. Coincidences don't happen, not in this galaxy. We'll find out soon enough, Eliza."
Eliza then asked, "We'll be fine, right?"
"Yeah, yeah." Archius brushed her concerns off, placing his hands in his pockets.
Kazuki, however, stepped forward, standing beside her. "I hope so," he said. That wasn't good at all.
The three stared into the sunset of an Anagoran summer, fluorescent neon clashing with the dying blue and growing orange sunset.
After a small moment, the three began walking again – exiting out into a large dining hall. It was a large auditorium with several layers and platforms connected by stairs. Archius and Kazuki leaned against the highest platform's railing.
Everyone was already here.
"Sure, sure. I guess we can talk about this later," Archius suggested. Eliza walked on ahead, giving an ample nod that kept Kazuki's gaze steady for a moment.
Kazuki then nodded. "We'll have much to discuss with Martinez and Sato."
Ugh... So this was just a work meeting. "Ugh, I'll still enjoy the free food though," said Archius.
"You better," Kazuki snidely replied. "It's expensive… It'd be rude for me to cheap out on my friends."
Archius raised an eyebrow. "You have friends that I don't know? Well, don't worry, I doubt our friendship will ever end – especially if you keep pouring Kasté-star food down our throats."
By now, Archius was already used to Kazuki's fiscal antics. Even if Kazuki haemorrhaged money by the day, Archius knew full well that Kaz would never see an empty coffer.
That's just life, that's just the galaxy. Sometimes, it's not fair, but that doesn't matter. That rich, fucked up kid called Kazuki bled his way to victory, and no amount of money could have stymied his bleeding."
Walking towards the highest table, Archius noted that people were already present, the highest command staff in the AGENCY. Police and SPTU representatives were also here, guests… good for politics, after all.
Eliza sat down close.
"Come on," Archius tugged at Kazuki. The two took their seats at the high table. Ironic... High table... Peering down below, Archius thought of all those operatives. Those will be the gears that turn this machine around and around.