Chương 5: Commander
["Caught again Talassar. How many times will you be caught Talassar?"] The core whispered into his mind for what seemed to be the hundredth time since he arrived in the small basement at the 'Safehouse'. By this point he was able to ignore the constant complaints and odd remarks radiating from the core. At first he'd tried adding a weave around his heart to dampen the psionic touch of the unholy thing, but the effort backfired and left him gasping for breath as it fought back with unprecedented fury. Flickering throughout the unfortunate chambers of his heart, Talassar was forced to leave it alone as the pressure of their struggle constrained his chest with such force he could hear his already injured ribs creaking in protest.
["They watch Talassar. Afraid. Reverent."]
Talassar looked up at the Ironian lounging by his side and M glowering at him from the corner of the basement. They flinched at his gaze, wariness flickering in their emotions strong enough for Talassar to sense without much effort. He turned away quickly, staring at the door and wishing for their mysterious commander to arrive. The rest of the squad and G had left long ago, new guards coming to replace them.
Guards that were terrified of him.
["Restricted Talassar? Not long. Not for long. Not for a lonnng time"] It wasn't talking about the handcuffs this time.
He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to concentrate on the binding.
It was crumbling.
Which shouldn't have been possible.
Whether it was an inhibitor or binding, they were essentially unbreakable, and this binding meant for Messengers and Guardians even more so. At least it was unbreakable in the dimensions of existence most humans could access. Even in the ones they couldn't access, there were very few ways to damage them. Which was why Talassar was troubled by the state of the binding.
The field it cast distorted his essence in some way he couldn't understand but the use of his abilities was damaging the field. With every weave he cast or emotion he read, the binding field would chip. [Has something changed in the way I access my essence? That's the only possible explanation I can think of, but without a full laboratory I can't say for sure.] The damage was minute, almost imperceptible, but with the core awake and raising his sensitivity he could sense it. At the current rate of deterioration, it might be years before his full abilities returned, but that was better than nothing and at least in a few months he would be as strong as any of the other Favoured.
["Far too weak Talassar. You're one of us now."]
Talassar flinched at the words and the guards in the room levelled their plasma rifles at his reaction. [I'm not one of you and never will be.] He growled back at the core and opened his hands slowly towards the guards to show how docile he was.
"There won't be any problems. I came all the way here so why would I do anything?"
"I'm still not sure this isn't some Synod plot to get rid of us." M muttered, raising the tension in the room even further.
"Why in the name of all that's Holy would the Synod allow you to start an insurrection just to sneak me into one of your Safehouses?" Talassar gaped at the woman. He reached out and sensed the belief in her accusation. [She was actually still suspicious? Despite breaking me out of the most secure facility on Delphi?]
"You can't trust the Priesthood." She muttered, fingering the handgun on her hip. [These Rebels are mad. The quicker I get away the better.]
The Ironian sighed, gesturing for the guards to lower their weapons and fixed M with an iron stare, his iridium eyes flashing with irritation. "I'm sure it's fine M. We've taken adequate precautions to ensure the Favoured isn't an agent, and the Commander has…" The tablet in the Ironian's hands beeped and he smiled in relief. "Speak their name and they arrive."
The door was shoved open and a squad of grim faced troops marched through, scanning the entire room for threats before taking up a place beside the other guards. These new soldiers were far better equipped than most of the regular HLA troops. From the modern weapons in their hands, to the psionically inhibited suits normally reserved for the Holy Guards special military police, they oozed danger and competence.
The Ironian was right. Most psionically gifted individuals wouldn't be able to overpower the threads of Chorum woven into their suits and would have to rely on simple telekinetic abilities to survive.
["No danger to us, Talassar. Talassar the utmost Favoured underestimated so much. My Mother would cry if she saw you now."] He shifted in his seat and craned his neck to see through the door.
"You're much shorter than I thought you'd be." A rough voice, worn with age crackled through the retro style speakers hanging from the ceiling on odd metal brackets. The Commander limped down the stairs, eyes glittering while he observed Talassar.
"Is that a joke?" Talassar tilted his head to the side as he considered the man who could only be the diminutive leader of the HLA. The man was almost short enough to be a Somnoid, the strange fox-like beings which lived under protection of the Ironians. M growled at Talassar, but the Commander simply chuckled and plopped into a chair facing him.
"It's from some old vid I remember seeing." The Commander's voice and laughter continued to come from the speakers and Talassar squinted at the metallic strip embedded in the man's throat. Like M, the Commander must not have been capable of regenerating. A rare condition in humans these days. Talassar reached out, snapping a weave towards the Commander but he grunted as it melted against an invisible wall, his attack turning the normally invisible inhibitor hovering over the short man into a golden halo for a moment before it spun out of existence again and dissolved into whatever higher dimension it inhabited. [That looks like an Ezani model. Rare and horribly expensive. It looks like they really did come prepared.] Ignoring Talassar's blatant assault, the Commander raised an arm and one of his guards placed a tablet and a plastic file filled to the brim with paper.
["Barbarians!"] The core hissed. ["Who uses dead trees to make records?"]
"Must have been some comedy." Talassar continued their conversation, ignoring the core's complaints. "But that's not why you called me. Or showed your face." No one in the Guard knew the face of the Commander of the HLA. His name, appearance and even gender, the greatest secret of this rebel group. It wasn't just a matter of captive rebels hiding the details on purpose. They simply didn't know, believing the Commander to be a ghost-like deity who would lead them to eventual victory. That fanaticism eventually led to the purges on Ceta-VII and the subsequent death of one of the most promising colony worlds the Theocracy ever discovered.
The Commander tapped the table as he studied the file, frowning almost imperceptibly at the words for a few moments before looking up at Talassar. "No. It isn't. Let's not beat around the bush. What's the secret of Invincible?"
"You don't know?" Talassar blinked a few times in surprise. "You started an insurrection…"
"Righteous crusade, Favoured." The Commander interrupted.
"… you don't even know why you want that dreadnought?" he turned to the Ironian. "You?"
The Ironian shrugged and gestured back at the Commander. "The Commander has our full trust. We are simply assisting in their just cause." No one believed him, but only M glared at the foreign agent.
"You're already here Favoured. Which means you've agreed to help." The Commander slid the file over and Talassar paged through it quickly. Basic schematics, personnel transfers and financial transactions for the Invincible or 'Project West Wind' as it was called before the commissioning, were clearly labelled, with a handful of scrawled notes in the margins.
"It's quite accurate." Talassar tossed the file back onto the table after pulling out the sheet where his own transfer order to the project was listed. "It's no wonder you knew who to come for. You're only missing the technical schematics and reports of the test flight. As for the secret of Invincible? It's quite a common one you could say. It's a test bed for experimental technologies."
"Invincible is only a prototype?" the Commander slouched a little in his chair, eyes losing focus. "But I was sure there was more to it." He muttered.
"There is." Talassar frowned and reached up to scratch at his chest, lost in thought as he recalled the cursed test flight. "It's experimental Guardian technology."
["Naughty Talassar. Mother will be displeased."] The core cackled madly in the back of his mind. [As if her pleasure matters to me… anymore.]
The Ironian gasped and exchanged an excited look with the Commander. "This is big." He pointed at the guards and M. "They can't be here anymore."
"Now look here Ironian…" M began but a quick glare from the Commander silenced her.
"That's enough Madeleine. Roquefort and I can handle the rest." The Commander rushed them out of the room and focused back on Talassar. "Anything that touches on the Concord must be kept quiet. You win Favoured, what do you want?"
Talassar didn't even need to think. He had considered his request ever since he agreed to follow them. Once he'd decided on treason, there was only one option left and as long as he had something the HLA valued, like the details of the Invincible, they would offer to help. [And if they chose to betray me… well I'm sure I can deal with them.] "Passage out of Theocracy space and a small starship, preferably a small-sized armed freighter. Something in the 20kMT displacement range."
"That's it?" The Ironian called Roquefort eyed him askance. Trade was in the Ironian blood, even its agents would barter like their lives depended on it.
"You want him to ask for more?" the Commander snorted.
"It's enough." Talassar emphasised the point by waving his manacled wrists in their faces. "I need to get out fast."
The core giggled hysterically at his haste. ["They don't understand Talassar. You're the greatest treasure of them all."]
"Agreed, but we need all the information you have on Invincible and your help in gaining access to the dreadnought itself."
"My access has been revoked." Talassar considered their request but shook his head as he remembered the fictitious trial. "Technically I'm dead."
"You'll help or there will be no deal. We get the ship and you get out." The Commander rapped the table twice with his knuckles.
["He dooms himself by keeping you here, but it would be nice to see my room again."] The core sent waves of sadness to batter his mind and Talassar grit his teeth, trying to focus on the Commander.
There was no way he could wait for the Guardians and Messengers to arrive. While the binding was faulty, he had no idea if they would be able to find him through it and proximity would only aid them in their efforts. Talassar was about to refuse but the core's words spun in his mind. [There's no reason I can't use Invincible as a distraction. It might actually be better.]
"Alright I'll help you." Already his mind was churning with plans that relied on some of the more obscure technologies of Invincible. Technologies only he would be able to utilise.
"Great!" Roquefort breathed a sigh of relief and sprang to his feet. "Let me call Master Trader Gobin. His squadron will be here in half a day and we can be out of the system within a day."
"Why would we leave?" Talassar stared at the excited man. "Invincible's on Delphi."
The core roared with laughter at the shocked faces in front of him. ["They know so little Talassar. I can feel your deceit. Your scheme. Betrayal is always so delightful."]
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