MGIS 5 - Gathering Strength - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Adepts are the prize of the Hegemony military. The jewel in the crown of the empress and her court. And the hardened tip of her spear defending the Hegemony from threats outside and within.

They are accorded a level of independence amongst the Hegemony military that is unheard of for any other branch due to their ability as force multipliers and how each develops along a unique path.

And while these benefits are many, there are expectations of decorum, respect, and propriety placed on the adepts, as they each represent the will of the empress herself.

Those found to be abusing these benefits will be disciplined as is appropriate, and may see a number of said rights stripped from them as a result if their infractions are light, or execution if they are harsh.

No one is above the laws of the Hegemony.

~Adept Code of Conduct, version 7.821 section 2b.

Skytreader’s prediction turned out to be right on the mark. Within twelve hours, Desmond received an official request to meet with the Ambassador Rockchewer.

The fact that it came in barely an hour after he’d woken up and was in the middle of rather affectionately tormenting Lila while the other girls watched in sleepy amusement didn’t exactly endear Desmond to the ambassador. Lila had started to pout when he’d paused with her pinned to the wall of their sleeping space to check his messages, but the star-studded Aelfa didn’t have long to complain because Desmond fired off a quick response that he would be available in an hour’s time before going back to ravishing his Aelfa to the sleepy cheers of his other mates.

When they finished up and had the time to grab a quick shower in one of the enlisted bathing areas aboard the ship—as a matter of habit they avoided the officer showers due to their previous conflict with Windracer, so Desmond had kept that up—they hurried down to meet the ambassador who had transferred to the Fist of Defiance from her own ship earlier.

“The fact that she came here physically rather than just spoke to us via the comms is telling,” Chloe murmured as they hurried down the hall to the officer’s rec-room near their mess hall as well.

“I’d wondered about that,” Raegan replied from Desmond’s other side. “I figured it was something like why the captain had us show up to talk in her office. Some kind of… what did you call it, Little Boss?”

“Secret Squirrel,” Desmond answered, intentionally switching back to English rather than the Hegemony Standard that he had been speaking all this time. “It’s slang from back home for something super secret, but has also drifted to include something that is needlessly secretive too. The phrase comes from an old cartoon that poked fun at spy culture.”

“Got it. So I figured it was some Sucret Squiggle stuff like that,” Raegan said, horribly mangling the phrase. The broad, sharp-toothed grin that she shot him when Desmond turned a questioning look her way told him that she had done it intentionally. Possibly in an attempt to annoy him. So he just rolled his eyes and looked away, then pinched Raegan’s ass firmly when she wasn’t looking.

The big woman yelped and swatted Desmond on the shoulder lightly while laughing once she regained her balance.

“Behave Raegan,” Chloe reprimanded with a laugh, getting a sour look from the granite-skinned woman.

“Why are you yelling at me, it was the Little Boss that started it?!” Raegan demanded, her red-orange eyes narrowing in anger.

“You are the one causing a scene by screaming and jumping about. We need to be professional while meeting with the ambassador,” Chloe replied primly, giving a delicate sniff and lifting her head up to affect an air of nobility. This had the side effect of angling her horns up high and she nearly caught them on an overhead beam, forcing her to abandon the regal air almost immediately in order to duck.

“Suuure,” Sasha muttered in amusement, only to shoot an innocent look Chloe’s way when the horned woman turned to frown at Sasha.

Before the squabble could develop further, they arrived at the door to the rec-room and Lila pushed through it without waiting. A moment later, she waved them through and Raegan went next with Desmond following her, then Chloe, and lastly Sasha.

The officer’s recreation room was both smaller, and nicer than the enlisted one that they normally frequented. What was hard-wearing fabrics and simple synth-wood in the enlisted space was replaced with leather, polished metal, and what looked like real hardwood. There were a double-handful of the various tables for card games and the like, as well as a self-service bar set along the back wall. Dozens of comfortable-looking chairs were grouped together, bolted in place like most of the fixtures on board the ship in case they lost gravity or had to maneuver without the inertial dampeners. 

There were easily a dozen different officers hanging about the room, all of them off-duty from the look of it, but their target was obvious enough due to the fact she was the only one in the room with guards as well as not wearing a standard Hegemony uniform in the black and gray of shipboard camouflage.

The Uth’ra woman sat in the corner with a lap desk that was easily as big across as Desmond’s torso. On it were four different data tablets, all of them with something displayed on them while she wrinkled her forehead in thought. She was dressed in a loose white blouse that contrasted with her dark granite skin while straining to hold in her abundant bosom. A dark purple skirt speckled with tiny reflective stones wrapped around her legs and reminded Desmond of a Va’Aelfa’s skin. He spotted a spiraling earring made of glittering gold hanging from the woman’s left ear, and he mentally made a note of it, as Uth’ra treated elaborate piercings as mating marks.

Raegan is certainly proud of hers after all, he thought with a grin, remembering the tribal-style earring his Uth’ra lover wore that held a fang from one of her kills while they’d been in a Rift.

Two guards stood, one on either side of the woman, in regular shipboard camouflage with rifles held at ease. They were both Uth’ra as well, and one leaned down to whisper something to the seated woman when she caught sight of them.

“Ah, you must be McLaughlin. Please, join me and have a seat. I won’t bend your ear for too long, I’ve got a lot to get done still before I can relax,” the big woman said with a broad smile that showed off her mouthful of sharp fangs. As was usual at such sights, Desmond felt a surge of uneasiness run through him. He attributed it to the predatory nature and power of the Uth’ra as a species, but for whatever reason Raegan’s sharp smiles never triggered it in him.

Probably because of her personality. Raegan is far more lap-dog than wolf in my mind, he thought with a small smile. I am just glad that Chloe didn’t inherit her father’s teeth. It’s hard enough kissing Raegan in the heat of the moment and not getting cut. Having to dodge it with two of them would be worse.

Aloud, he saluted the ambassador respectfully with a nod.

“That is us. Adept McLaughlin and guards. I’m assuming you would be Ambassador Rockchewer?”

The ambassador returned the salute carefully so she didn’t upset her lap desk before gesturing to the chairs in front of her.

“Please, have a seat. I’d stand to greet you but I don’t want to knock anything over right now. I’m processing immigration paperwork for a number of people who are coming from the EVN to the Hegemony. I need to get it done and submitted as soon as I can. I really should have had it done before we crossed the border but there is a never-ending river of paperwork right now.”

“Don’t worry about it. I won’t take up too much of your time, what did you need to talk to me about?” Desmond asked, settling onto one of the nearby chairs while his girls arranged themselves at his back. Sasha and Raegan faced the doorway while Lila and Chloe faced the ambassador.

Desmond watched as the alert Uth’ra in front of him noted each of the girls and their determined stances with a small smile.

“It is good to see your mates are diligent. Having a new Uth’ra clan spring up is not uncommon, but I feel like Clan McLaughlin has a good chance to make some waves and grow because of it. Your early promotion is a good way to get that started.”

“How much do you know about that?” Desmond asked curiously and the ambassador shrugged, tapping away with one hand on the nearest tablet to her.

“Not as much as I would like, but information is the coin of my profession and I can always use more of it. I do know that you came from the Valor’s Bid and graduated months early though. Also that you trained under and were sponsored by Maya Throneblood. If you were a Divination specialist, I would call you her protégé. But since you are not…” The ambassador let the sentence trail off and then shrugged. “But that’s not why I wanted to speak to you. I need to pass on a message actually, for a good friend of mine and an acquaintance of yours.”

Desmond squinted at Rockchewer for a moment in thought as he turned over who she might be referencing. The list of people that he knew was exceedingly small, and those in power to use an official ambassador as a courier was a very short list. In fact, he could only think of one person who might do something like this, but he wasn’t sure how or why it was for being so circuitous.

“Steelbender?” he asked, and the Uth’ra’s eyes lit up with amusement and her fanged smile made another appearance.

“You are a clever one. She wanted me to pass on an encoded message for you, as well as the means to transmit back to her. Apparently, your suggestions to her have helped out quite a bit and she was hoping to forge closer bonds to the Sire of Clan McLaughlin for his advice. She, unfortunately, couldn’t send the encoded frequency or packet to you through normal means, as it could be intercepted. But since I already have access to the encoded pipeline from working with Steelbender, she was able to forward it to me with a request to pass it on to you, since she knew I’d be traveling through this area soon.”

“That seems… needlessly convoluted to me,” Desmond said quietly. The Uth’ra woman quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly.

“Is it? Steelbender is a full ambassador, and would only be deployed to either a neighboring nation or a vassal state. The fact that no one knows much about Terrans tells us that you are a new species, likely entirely primitive. At least those who do not mistake you for some breed of Aelfa. The fact that there are a lot of questions in Steelbender’s notes would further indicate the primitive status of your world. Which would naturally be taken as a vassal state, and one that cannot defend itself at this time.” The stress that the Uth’ra put on the words made Desmond grimace.

“So this is as much for her own security as to keep someone from finding out about Terra before we are in a place where we can protect ourselves?” Desmond asked after a moment of thought and the ambassador nodded with another broad smile.

“Exactly. It is also why the data packet was addressed to the ‘Sire of Clan McLaughlin.’ Many would just brush it off and ignore it as a woman in power attempting to wiggle her way into a prestigious clan, and most of the nobles ignore clan politics as they do not believe them to be important. Much to their detriment.”

The smile on the ambassador’s face grew even wider and took on a decidedly predatory look. She reached into her shirt and produced a flat slab of metal about a quarter of an inch thick and half as big as a playing card. The whole thing was colored a dull, metallic blue. He accepted it from her and the weight of the item surprised him for a moment before he tucked it into his shirt pocket.

“It will interface with any standard data tablet using the universal ports. I would recommend using one in secured mode to ensure that the information is not compromised. The password is a multi-stage one of your fingerprint, voice, and the last thing the ambassador said to you in person. Be sure you get it right, or the drive will wipe itself with the first failure. You aren’t obligated to respond or assist Steelbender, but I’m sure she will appreciate any help you are willing to give.” The ambassador’s words made Desmond’s eyebrows rise in surprise and he nodded, patting the object once to ensure it was right where he left it and then sealing the pocket using the magnetic zipper.

“I appreciate your assistance in this and passing it along. I’m still surprised that she’s moved to this level of security when she previously sent me information and questions in regular transmissions in the past?” Desmond asked and the ambassador shrugged, setting down the tablet she’d been working on and picking up another.

“Possibly because you were still aboard the Valor’s Bid then? Or perhaps something has happened that has her worried more about operational security. Hard to say for sure. Katy didn’t explain anything about it to me, just asked me to download the file using my secured pipeline and pass it to you. If I know her, she’ll have the information inside to access your own secured pipeline and encryption in there. Once you have access to it, you’ll be able to transmit using the ambassadorial network on our high-security codes. Who you can message directly will depend on who you know and what your clearance allows, but expect to get a few ‘inquiries’ from other ambassadors when you activate it. Good luck, Forerunner.” She gave him a broad wink as she said that and Desmond nodded slowly.

This must be related to those diplomatic credentials that Lila had me put in for. I know they cleared a while back, but I don’t remember hearing anything about a high-security pipeline. This feels really sketchy right now.

Not letting his concerns show on his face, Desmond returned the ambassador’s smile and nodded once more.

“Well, again, I appreciate you delivering this. Was there anything else that you wanted to discuss, or should I let you get back to your paperwork? I’d hate for you to fall further behind on my account.”

“Not unless you are accepting applicants to your clan? I have a few nieces that are looking to branch beyond their birth-clan, and Clan McLaughlin is already showing potential.” The ambassador waggled her eyebrows at him and Desmond rolled his eyes at her.

“No, not at this time, Ambassador. We are focusing on finishing our commitment to the Hegemony first and foremost. Once that is done, we can consider expanding the clan more. We need to build a strong base and reputation first and foremost,” Desmond answered, keeping his tone neutral.

“Pity, but understandable. I’ll let them know to keep an eye on your clan in case things change. Thank you for meeting with me, Sire McLaughlin.”

The tone the ambassador used was a clear dismissal and Desmond stood without further comment. His girls shuffled to envelop him automatically as he offered the ambassador a salute before they headed out of the room.

They made it as far as the hallway and about twenty feet down that before Chloe spoke up.

“I think Raegan was right. This feels way too secretive. She brought up clan politics and specifically mentioned people discounting them.”

“Yeah, I caught that too,” Lila said thoughtfully, tilting her head to look back over her shoulder at them while her twin braids bounced on her back. “Ambassadors tend to be wily in general… I kind of wish we could still get in touch with Maya easily. She’d answer any questions we had about clan law.”

“Can I just say that, even with her permission, it feels weird to call Instructor Throneblood by her first name of ‘Maya?’ ” Raegan added with a grimace. “Not even counting the whole… heroic reputation. I’m still scared of pissing her off and we aren’t cadets anymore.”

“Ingrained fear of the drill instructor,” Desmond chuckled, then waved it away when the girls shot him questioning looks. “We could reach out to Throneblood, but it suffers the same problem as the ambassador directly contacting us. Such messages would be flagged and noticed by people. If Steelbender is trying to keep things under wraps, then it’s better not to draw more attention to anything. And from the stress on the security of the diplomatic channels, there is concern.”

“Skytreader?” Sasha suggested as they continued to walk along the Spine back towards their rooms.

Desmond slowed his stride for a moment before glancing around. Chloe nodded in agreement, while Raegan just shrugged. Lila gave him a thumbs-up of assent and he quickly bent to type into his comm-cuff.