Operating at the fastest at which they possibly could, General Hiau was pleased to find that her warship has been able to be repaired to at least functioning spaceworthiness in just the span of a few hours. Sure, it did take the threat, extortion, and forced labor of everyone at the shipyard to do so at no cost, but in the end, the results were achieved with only minimal casualties. Though the warship itself may be in a less than ideal condition, it will still nonetheless carry her and her troops and crew to where they needed to go.

  And with that, she continued with her pursuit, and soon, the warship was blazing out of the planet’s atmosphere, demanding transit through Pliua’s gateway. After a rather heated argument over communication lines, permission was at last granted.

  Now comes the difficult part. Where could they possibly have fled off to? Despite earlier demands, no records, flight logs, or even visual detection of their vessels are reported back. That meant that they must have snuck in illegally without approval somehow. If that is the case, with such vital information lacking, how are they to know where the terrorist, demon, and their colluders could possibly be hiding? If anything, the only confirmed fact about it is the data from her warship’s trackers from when it watched the ascending vessels, in which the computer returns a continued trajectory up to the gateway before a sudden disappearance.

  Hiau frowned at this as she calculated the possibilities, taking a bit of time even if her mind has been altered to work faster than the average individual’s.

  Given how small the ships were and the lack of any reported visual sightings of said ships, that must mean that room had to be made for whatever illegally acquired cloaking mechanisms they might have installed. This would thus further limit the already confined ranges of the much smaller vessels, even with the use of a gateway, thus eliminating the vast majority of possible destinations down to the neighboring sector. Only a few worlds would necessitate use of a gateway with their supposed range, otherwise they could just fly there themselves.

  The most likely contender then, would be World Amrita. There were a few other nearby worlds they could have possibly traveled to, but, knowing what she knew of the terrorist Zviedal, World Amrita is of greater strategic importance. In trying to put herself into his shoes, there’s not really any “good reason” to go to any of the other worlds, which aren’t major hubs, are less populated, and have less resources. There can always be the possibility that he could attempt to flee out there to be more difficult to track down, but that would also mean cornering himself in a lot of ways. Blending into crowds, after all, can be a far more effective tactic.

  The concerns of a possible terrorist attack being staged rose in question for Hiau, and just to be safe and preemptive, she sent out messages on secured lines of communication warning of his possible presence. Perhaps a further meeting can be tabled on how to best strategize around countering the threat, and a consensus can be reached.

  And with that, course is set to arrive in World Amrita, and powering through spacetime at full speed, the warship soon finds itself on the other side, its imposing presence driving away other smaller vessels like a shark amongst schools of fish.

  *****

  Gahn found himself to be mortified by what he saw.

  World Amrita turned out to be far, far different from what he expected it to be. Having no realistic perspective on it, being from a planet so far away, he had always imagined Amrita to be the shining star in the sky that it was always presented to be.

  Yet here, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  As Gahn and his ships hung in the air at an airborne refueling station, Gahn watched as society crumbled beneath him. Down below on the myriad of maze-like streets is only chaos and disorder as the rule of law has seemingly disintegrated. Violent rioters looted and trashed the streets, burning everything down in sight. Armed law enforcement and riot control are beaten back fast, hard, and mercilessly as crowds gather to jump atop abandoned vehicles. A sinister green aura befell the grisly sight as Amrita’s giant gas planet took up much of the sky, mixing with the overwhelming billows of smoke.

  Around him, the workers at the station continue to bustle about as typically expected of them, and his own men and women hung about anxiously as they too watched the events unfolding beneath them.

  And then, there it is.

  At first, he couldn’t believe his eyes, but indeed it is true. The likeness of the Subject is being paraded around on the streets upon banners, now used as a rallying symbol.

  It cemented the realization into Gahn’s mind that it is directly the result of Zviedal and the Subject that has led to the widespread radicalization, extremism, and catastrophic loss of social order as present here. Thus, this would make them negligent at best, and complicit at worst.

  Looking up at where Vertan and Lym have parked their gunship, he could just barely make out a very subtle aura of refraction and distortion, the only sign that the thing exists there right now. It sat out of the way, but just close enough to everything in case something happens.

  Should he continue with this mission, it would mean throwing away everything he has.

  *****

  General Hiau finally makes her landing in spite of the worldwide upheaval over Amrita. Multiple different skyports have been shut down due to the unrest, keeping more and more people trapped there together on the moon. In the end, her warship was allowed to park in low orbit while she descended to the surface below, making her entrance into the complex deep in the heart of Catanac province.

  “Senators, Ministers,” General Hiau began within the conference chamber. “Thank you for taking this on such short notice. It is an honor to be before you all.”

  “It is our pleasure,” replied one of the Ministers, a fat and balding man with scraggly hair. “Please, do continue. We take it that this is a very urgent matter?”

  “Indeed, Minister,” replies Hiau. Secretly, she found herself disgusted by the Minister’s appearance. “I will be direct and simple. We have credible intelligence suggesting Vertan Zviedal and Subject-000002 may be en route to or already on your world.”

  “That’s a grave claim, General,” one of the Senators replies. “Zviedal, the same extremist responsible for the destruction of World Ritus and our invaluable operations there, and the same Subject-000002 that has been causing numerous casualties on multiple worlds?”

  “Our security hasn’t detected any such movement through any of our ports,” the first Minister adds. “What makes you believe Zviedal and the Subject are here? Might you elaborate?”

  “During our search operations in the months following the Ritus incident, we encountered them in a skirmish on World Pliua just yesterday,” continues Hiau. “Our ship’s data monitoring their movement tracked their ascent from the Pliuan atmosphere in the trajectory of Pliua’s gateway, before a sudden disappearance from our detection. They appear to have acquired new ships with the capability to conceal themselves, but seem small and limited in range. Your world holds the greatest probability to be their destination.”

  A moment of tense silence passes as everyone in the room considers these facts.

  “Are you certain that he would arrive in our world?” one of the Ministers asks. “Coming to a more populated and surveilled world while on the run sounds oddly risky for him to do.”

  “This is a consideration, yes,” continues Hiau. “However, in observing the context of the rising political tensions as seen here and on World Pliua, you all may very well know that Subject-000002 has become used as a radical extremist rallying symbol by some parts of the populace who sympathize with the demon. Given that we are all aware of the fact that Zviedal has been working in cooperation with Subject-000002, it is safe to assume that a terrorist act could be staged to incite further social upheaval.”

  “So you are suggesting then that it’s because our world is the most developed and populated in the sector, that is why Zviedal has most likely chosen us?” one of the Senators asks.

  “Correct,” replies Hiau.

  A nervous commotion arises amongst the chamber.

  “What do you recommend of our course of actions, then?” asks the first Minister. “Our resources have been tight as they currently are, trying to quell these insurrections. How can we anticipate an invisible enemy?”

  “To most effectively engage the threat, I recommend bolstering defenses towards the most populated areas,” suggests Hiau. “It is more likely that to gain more witnesses to his cause that something might be staged in these regions. Furthermore, discreetly tighten all port inspections and monitor comms lines for anomalous traffic. Do not broadcast any public alert as you increase security presence. Lastly and most importantly, do not directly engage Zviedal and Subject-000002.”

  “Do not engage with them?” exclaims one of the Senators. “What, are we just going to let them get away?”

  “I was not finished,” replies Hiau sharply. The Senator sinks back into his seat. “You will not directly engage, as that will endanger the lives of many and your critical infrastructure should another violent incident break out. When they inevitably flee, allow my task force to discreetly follow them with additional escorts so that they can be contained elsewhere, minimizing casualties and collateral damage.”

  A few murmurs around the room.

  “Any further questions?” Hiau states.

  “And if you’re wrong?” one of them finally asks.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “If I’m wrong, your populace won’t get any more significantly embittered than they currently are now,” replies Hiau. “If I’m right, you’ll still have a functioning government and remain in power.”

  *****

  The meeting had gone successfully, and the world government of Amrita will go about carrying out the recommended procedures. Hiau hoped for Zviedal to slip up and make her job just a little easier, but knows she can’t count on an already dangerously competent adversary to suddenly be incompetent.

  As she stood down the hall from the chamber, Hiau watched across the expansive burning and smoking cityscape from within the massive complex, an engineered mountain towering above the masses below. She had to give credit where credit is due. Zviedal had somehow managed to get everyone riled up as such over many multiple known worlds so far. He is certainly not to be taken lightly.

  Looking up at the sky, the green gas giant shone spectacularly with some of its faint rings visible. The farming arrays can be seen pumping the gaseous natural resources to industrial plants elsewhere across Amrita as swarms of ships swam through the artificial atmosphere as though wildly varying schools of fish. Her own warship will arrive shortly, still descending from low orbit.

  It was then when Hiau suddenly picked up on some words of interest.

  From this distance away from the chamber, she could only just barely make out these whispers behind closed doors. But nonetheless, it soon became undeniable to her that through her sharpened hearing, she could eavesdrop into the conversation that the Ministers and Senators continued having in their chamber.

  “—What a freak that bitch was—!”

  “You all saw that, didn’t you? Four eyes and arms! Nuts!”

  “What can someone do with four arms?”

  “I’d like to see what she can do for myself.”

  A round of creepy snickers passed around, and Hiau frowned in disgust.

  “Fellas! I get it but we’ve at least listened to what she’s said, haven’t we?”

  “Oh shut it you bastard, you’re always ruining the fun. I’ve had a long day.”

  “I’m just saying—”

  “Yes, I’ve already sent the message out earlier.”

  “Alright, alright.”

  “She is kind of pretty in a way though, right? Or is that just me?”

  “Man, are you kidding? She’s hot, fucking exotic. I’ve never seen someone like that, and boy, the way she carries herself and stares you down, too. If she wasn’t in that program and as strong as she is, I’d try and have my way with her!”

  “You think she got four tongues, too? What else she got four of?”

  Another round of uncanny laughs. Hiau found her blood boiling.

  “Man, I just want to get my hands all over her! Look how refined the whore is! Bless the Expeditionary program so much for such a treat!”

  “It’s a shame she’s technically not even where ‘perfect’ would be.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “You dumbass, you don’t remember?”

  “No I don’t, quit callin’ me names!”

  “She’s the product of making do with what we don’t have! We’ve yet to fully decode the entire genome, so until then, a perfect replication and any further refinements are only theory on paper.”

  “Aw, really? I figured she’d be perfect for me.”

  “She’s not picking you in a million years, fatass.”

  “Well, you wouldn’t need her either once it’s finished. That genome’s saved for us.”

  Another round of chuckles, and Hiau listens more closely with growing alarm.

  “Man, it’s a shame, really. She’s so fine! I’d hate to see her go.”

  “You don’t want anything still in your way, though. Especially a prototype like her.”

  “True, that.”

  “Just think! The rest of the cosmos will be our spoils! We’d have their power and capabilities with nobody left to stop us. All the bottom-feeding filth and trash will be so far beneath us they’ll be less than bacteria.”

  “I never thought I’d live to see the day. We’ll have the power of the Gods! We can do literally anything we want!”

  “What a miracle they managed to recover from Ritus, I thought we were set back by years!”

  “What’s it looking like now?”

  “Just a few months’ time.”

  “Damn!”

  “It’ll finally get that mess over with for good, too. My God, those vermin are so stubborn. Can’t they just roll over and kill themselves for us already?”

  “It will come, my friend. We’ll wipe them out clean and we won’t ever have to worry about it anymore!”

  “Cheers to the future!”

  “Cheers!”

  General Hiau, for all that she was strengthened to do, almost falls down from lightheadedness. Her head swam and her breathing quickened. Her arms shook and her vision blurred its focus. A concerned janitor passing by almost reaches out to help, but seeing the expression of which she held on her face, instead scurries away.

  And then, accompanying the already overwhelming panic, a flood of anger rushes through her system.

  No amount of reasoning, coping, or lying could deny the evidence of her own ears, of which even they were engineered for exactly that purpose.

  So, it is true then.

  All of these years of hard work, sacrifice, bloodshed, and conditioning have led up so that she could earn her place, her position, up here. She used to be nothing, came from nothing, descended from nothing. She had crawled out of the same garbage masses that laid in the city below her to become who she is now.

  And for what? So that she can also become nothing in the end?

  Suddenly, the once strong, prideful, powerful General who had survived countless trials and tribulations felt weak, vulnerable, inferior, and at a loss of all sense of self agency.

  She’s a piece of meat. That’s all she is and ever was. A piece of meat who fought for the honor to be genetically modified meat, repeatedly experimented upon, so that it can one day be discarded when deemed no longer tasteful.

  She was only ever a step on the staircase for these disgusting men to get to the top.

  Her ears involuntarily pick up more of the conversation again, sharper than before. Now they were talking about what they’d do with their newfound abilities once the program completed replication and refinement of the genome for proper and safe use.

  They were all laughing about pinning her down so they could take turns raping her.

  For a single moment of overwhelming extremity, General Hiau almost burst from her position to break in and kill every single one of them. She wanted so desperately and so bad to rip and shred every last bit of them into unrecognizable, mangled pulps, leaving their testicles, guts, jaws, teeth, and eyeballs strewn over all of the floor, walls, ceiling, and table.

  But with all of her might, she held herself back through gritted teeth.

  No. This wouldn’t be the way. There are far more of them out there just like them. If these are simply the elites of Amrita, who knows what the elites are in on over in a headworld such as Suprima? Suddenly she’s guaranteed herself to death, and the system still stands indifferently.

  If she wanted her enragement to mean something, she had to go about this carefully. Slowly, she calmed herself and regained regular intervals of breathing.

  How can she effectively maximize the damage in taking vengeance against these wretched bastards?

  It in fact felt so overwhelming at first. Where could she even begin to approach this? The system is so incomprehensibly large, dense, and complex. She is but one individual amongst quintillions across the Coalition. She can’t even yet comprehend overthrowing a single world, let alone the system, aster, sector, galaxy, group, and so on above it.

  Suddenly, an explosion burst out a mile away in the distance, and the flames and smoke rose into the air. Faint shouting could be heard, and Hiau’s ears picked up someone bellowing, “Free Qiaou! Free Ulminh! Free Happia!”

  Happia.

  Immediately, Hiau found herself convulsing at the word. She remembered it too well. The wretched demon, Subject-000002, is a self-described Happian. At the time, she didn’t want to believe anything the demon could have possibly said, vigilant against any possible methods of mental manipulation.

  But perhaps worse for her, after hearing in on the Senators’ and Ministers’ conversations, she realizes that Lym was right. She hated that whatever the demon dared to say to her face turned out to be humiliatingly true—

  But if Lym is right about that, what else has Hiau been lied to about?

  Perhaps then, her entire worldview has been incorrect. A falsification. The men may have called them vermin, but they made no mention of demons.

  Hiau looked back out at the fire in the distance. The protests, riots, and violence continued. People have been parading around Lym’s likeness. Hiau herself is aware of the initial spread of the first Ulminhan newsreels and Qiaouian broadcasts. She had initially believed the valid personhood of Lym to have been a hoax or other illusion.

  The people have made the same discoveries and realizations that she is coming to now.

  There are no demons, never were.

  Only an elaborate, industrialized scheme to secure power to those at the top.

  Forever.

  At last, the warship comes into view, and descends from the stormy sky. A bolt of lightning is accompanied by immediate thunder that clapped the air with a mighty crash.

  As the vessel came to a distance from the balcony of which Hiau stood, the mighty general took a breath as she was slowly brought back to reality.

  With a single bound, she gracefully steps onto the warship’s deck, her cape flowing behind her. Entering the vessel, she gives the order to return to orbit, her face having returned to its usual expression.

  Finally back in the confines of her quarters, she takes off part of her uniform with a traumatized exhale. Many questions remain. They had just confirmed the next steps of their mission. What to do? How can she effectively stall or sabotage her own mission, that she herself had earlier explained in detail?

  An even crazier question. There are clear actors working directly against the interests of those she wants to now enact vengeance upon. If the enemy of her enemy is therefore her friend and ally, then—

  What if she joined the side of Lym and Vertan to ensure their success?

  A call rings from a control panel. On the holodisplay, it notified several unopened messages.

  Anxious and weary, she walked over to pick up the call.

  “Hello, this is General Hiau speaking.”

  “Hello General Hiau. This is Admiral Gahn. “

  A moment’s hesitation.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Hiau finally responds.

  “I’m calling you on a secured line,” the other side responds. “I have a proposition to make.”