Chapter 12: Exposed
Location: Pukapito Palace
Afternoon...
Graven Hill had expected to find himself at the King's Residence when he woke up that morning, but imagine his surprise. Emerging from the Quantadyne APOD-33 dropship, he was escorted into the palace by a pair of Royal Guards. The mercenary recruiter knew not what to expect from the meeting, only that King Routhe required his presence. Heading into the climate-controlled interior, Graven could feel the tension that seemed to saturate the air.
"Mr. Hill," King Routhe greeted, as they entered the throne room, "Thank you for coming."
"Of course, sire. How my I be of service?" he inquired.
"I am correct in my knowledge that you are a recruiter of mercenaries?"
"That is indeed correct."
"Excellent. You are no doubt aware of the goings on in Augustgrad?" the King asked, rising from his throne.
"It has come to my attention."
"I have need of your mercenaries."
"Lots of folks ready to fight...for the right price," he stated, earning himself a disapproving look from several of the guards.
"I'll take them...all of them."
"All of them?" Graven asked, believing he had misheard.
"All of them."
"That's...gonna be pricy, your majesty," he warned.
"It's a small price to pay to ensure that democracy is restored to the Terran Republic," Doran declared.
"Well, it's none of my business to tell you how to spend your credits," the mercenary recruiter said with a shrug of his shoulders, "do you have an intended assignment?"
"I'd like for them to take control of the Central City Speedway. We'll require a foothold in the city for the battle that will inevitable come."
"I understand. If there somewhere private we can retire to, then we can iron out the details of the contracts."
Location: Central City
Three days later...
The rhythmic beeping of the numerous machines that her husband was hook up to filled the air around Miranda. She had been on an rollercoaster for the past several days, now she was feeling emotionally drained. Victor was in a coma, one that had been medically induced, but it appeared that he had had some reaction that was preventing him from awakening. Even if he did awaken, the doctors had grimly reported that he would be left a paraplegic. Advancements in medicine had allowed the disabled to walk again, but that didn't make the knowledge any easier to process.
"MOM!" Leon cried out, as he burst into the hospital room.
She opened her mouth to scold the boy, but was silenced when Molly entered the room, a look of concern etched upon her youthful features.
"The King's holding a press conference," she announced, while the boy fiddled with the remote control.
The small television that was suspended from the ceiling came to life, the image of an empty podium appeared on the screen. For days, it had been suspected that Doran Routhe intended to abdicate, although there hadn't been much in terms of evidence. Now however, it appeared that there had in fact been truth to the rumors that had persisted for days.
"With everything that been going on, you'd think that now wouldn't be the best time to abdicate the throne," Miranda stated.
They watched as King Routhe entered the press briefing room, taking a long walk towards the empty podium. They could make out the sound of camera flashes, the occasional question shorted by a reported, but those were ignored by the Terran King.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming here today," King Routhe said upon arriving at the podium, "For days, there has been rumors of my intention to abdicate the throne. I wish to clarify that there is no truth to those rumors."
"What was the point of holding a press conference then?" Molly asked, "He could've just issued an official statement.
Her step-daughter's words were seemingly echoed by the reports, who hurled questions directed at the monarch.
"Several days ago, I received classified information from a member of the Special Services, who risked his life to deliver it to me," he continued, silencing the crowd, "this information was taken from the Director of the Internal Security Division - Tamsen Cauley, and details a conspiracy by members of the government against the Mobian population."
The crowd erupted in conversation, but grew silent when a video recording began to play on the two monitors positioned next to the podium. It was security camera footage, showing the ambassador being held within a glass chamber, with Cauley and General Vasillj Tatarin standing by and watching.
"As you can see here, the Ambassador is being subjected to a form of neural resocialization by Director Cauley and General Tatarin, one that operates sub-consciously."
Miranda choked back a gasp, having placed the blame for her husband's predicament squarely upon the princess' shoulders. She had thought the absolute worst of her, and yet they had turned out to be completely unfounded.
"She was innocent...," Miranda said, "my god, she was innocent."
"Ambassador Acorn was acting against her own free will when she attempted to assassinate the Prime Minister. Furthermore, the charges against the Deputy Prime Minister were falsified in order to place the President of the National Assembly in charge, who is secretly a member of Humanity First."
The reaction was exactly what one would expect from such a revelation, with the crowd erupting in a flurry of questions. Her attention was immediately drawn away from the television and to the door, which had suddenly been open to permit a doctor to enter. She recognized the woman as Lisa Cassidy, the doctor who had been treating her husband since the incident.
"Just here to check up on the Prime Minister," she stated, casting the television a glance.
She approached the side of the hospital bed, checking his medical chart, before removing something from the pocket of her lab coat, preparing to inject it directly into his IV.
"Just administering an injection," she replied, "hopefully it will bring him out of his coma."
"Drop it...," an unseen voice ordered.
Everyone present in the room looked about in confusion, until their attention was drawn to the rippling energy of a deactivating cloaking device. Standing directly across from her husband, with an AGR-14 assault rifle trained on the doctor, with a Ghost. The covert operative was a blonde-haired woman, dressed in a standard issue hostile environment suit. Having seen her previously, Miranda immediately recognized the woman as Nova Terra. Dr. Cassidy promptly whirled around, seizing Leon form the couch behind her and held the auto-injector against the boy's neck.
"LEON!" she cried out.
"Get away!" Dr. Cassidy order, "All of you."
"You don't have to do this," Nova urged, watching as Molly backed away reluctantly, joining her step-mother.
"I haven't a choice," she stated, not backing down in the slightest.
"I know that Tatarin's been blackmailing you into keeping the Prime Minister sedated."
"I have an addiction to crab," the woman admitted, "he threatened to release photographic evidence to the media if I didn't cooperate."
"It's over, Dr. Cassidy," she stated, "Humanity First's plans have been publicly exposed."
"It changes nothing," the doctor lamented, "If I don't wind up in prison, then I'll most certainly never be permitted to practice medicine again."
The woman abruptly raised her arm high into the air, threatening to inject the boy with her downward thrust. Nova didn't permit that to happen, instead shooting the woman in the head without a second thought.