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Chapter 21: Love beats Infiltration

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

Despite the situation being under control, Adela wasn't happy with what her screen was telling her regarding the newest development they were facing.

The Colony Ship was under attack by a small contingent of imperial forces. It was expected for an interception of sorts to happen during the trip to reach Earth, but for it to happen in a time where the Empire didn't have the advantage and a good chance to win? Really odd and worrying under many aspects of warfare instead of giving her relief. The Emperor would have never approved a plan so daring with so few troops assigned into it. Her brain screamed this to be a trap, but her heart hoped she was wrong about it. Of course, experience ruled her into a cynical side of things since this wasn't the first time something cunning like this happened from a seemingly advantageous position. The ships engaged into combat, with the flagship deployed against them managing to briefly match theirs but… failing to catch up as soon as a tactical retreat was ordered. This wasn't a battle they had to win, but rather they needed the flagship to be frozen in that position for a while. The smaller ships they employed managed to keep an uncontested aerial supremacy over the abysmal number conceived by their foes, keeping at bay all threats as they prepared to make a big jump forward to complete the retreat. It reminded the young queen of the times where her mother had to order a full retreat rather than face direct attacks that could have destroyed their forces.

Yet this time around, things were different. They had the advantage and, while part of her wanted to press it just to score a bloody but definitive win, she also knew that it wouldn't be a move driven by common sense, but revenge. She was still angry at the Empire despite how much she was learning about its people. Most of them were slaves without much control over their actions and there was a degree of manipulation from the emperor over society that made everything under him shackled to his will. It felt so horrible and unpleasant, but it also painted a vision of her foes her mother had previously suggested but never proven. Can the enemy be considered the Empire itself, or was the Emperor to blame for everything? This notion was also slightly incorrect from what she discerned from her talks with Theo about it. In his opinion, it was all tied up to a case of individual judgement, where everyone had to be judged through their personal crimes and reasoning to commit those rather than branding the entire people with a single definitive sentence. While sleeping in the same bed with him made for a good excuse for extra cuddling for Adela to enjoy and draw more energy and amusement from her sleep, it wasn't unusual for the two to engage in those deep conversations. Especially when Grace and Carmie were around to add an 'extra flavor' to these nightly discussions.

The Gazelle Prime might not have much knowledge compared to them about the situation with the Empire, but her insight made for quite the intriguing quality to have during moments of confusions about uncertain elements of the Empire itself. In a sense, it reminded her of the tales about Prism's unification under a single queen, when the Love Crest was involved in stopping the earlier civil wars and brought everyone to a negotiation table to discuss a conclusion to the many conflicts festering the planet. Carmesi was more blunt with her comments and opinion, making it clear she wasn't exactly a complete expert of Imperial culture. She knew some of the norms tied to the Imperial society, but she wasn't part of it and so she didn't care too much about those. Especially now that she was no longer part of it to be interested and worried about it. Her tales about the training and preparation given to young warriors defined an incredibly disciplined military that still bent over some influential families whenever children of important elements of the Imperial society were involved into it. It made for a paradoxical system which promoted sternness in the officers' ranks but also allowed people that were vouched for by bureaucrats to get enlisted with a high rank early on.

Still, the current situation was hardly tied up to Imperial society but… there was a deep connection with the Imperial mindset of 'not retreating from battles'. In fact, as the Colony Ship was close to retreat from the battle and resume its path to its main destination, another jarring circumstance happened which solidified her dread. The Flagship and the smaller Imperial ships… retreated at once. That twist left her staring dumbly at her screen, thinking that maybe it was a technological mistake and that it wasn't true but… but it proved to be indeed the case of what was going on. The real mystery, the one reason why this felt wrong to the young queen as she thought back at previous skirmishes, was that the battle hardly lasted more than twenty minutes, and there hadn't been significant blows to the enemy's side to have them forced to retreat. They shouldn't have backed away from confrontation this soon. It completely felt out-of-character, and Addie could tell something was wrong about this bizarre move that would explain this sudden and illogical decision. If the reports were right, there was also a more concerning factor that cemented the worry as Minos had been aboard and commanding that Flagship.

Just as she studied the losses suffered by the enemy and the lack on their side considering the worst they got was a few ships in critical but still working conditions, she received an urgent request from Theo. The young man gave her a possible reason behind that attack and she felt chills go down her spine at the chance of that supposition ending up being proven right. What if the battle had been a massive distraction to cover an infiltration? The chance filled her with panic as she agreed to have Carmesi, Pulsar and even Grace to get squads to patrol the entire ship. Archie verified for any proof of that being indeed the case despite being skeptical that the inner security failed to bring this matter to his notice. Much to his surprise, there were some 'shadow areas', sections of the ships that had gone 'dark' suddenly as the devices there had been disabled by jammers. Mostly around the area where the engines were once stored and that had been moved away from to avoid leaving them exposed to any situation of the kind, which meant they were after their capacity to get back on track to reach Earth.

The plan of patrol was simple: Carmesi spearheaded a direct assault to destroy the devices disabling the security system in the specific areas that had been hit, Pulsar took care of checking where the infiltrating group had gone through and Grace was meant to stand in reserve to make sure that someone could intervene to relief both the main forces if necessary. Theo, together with Xeanica, was busy keeping track of any retreating ships as the Grand Knight didn't want anyone to get out of this infiltration. It was only for the best that those saboteurs were captured as they definitely held a degree of knowledge they lacked regarding current Imperial ideas on countering their plans. An idea that Adela agreed to and she expected this assault to end as smoothly as possible. Just as the operation started and the patrols began working into the depths of these shadow areas, a layer of tension formed over her face as she had her comms open and listened to all reports coming from the three main groups. She was calm and quiet… until Grace's communicators and those used by the team went dark. Panic exploded, the young queen almost called for a general assault on where Grace was and get the Love Crest out of whatever bad situation she was in. Still, she remained put and followed Archie's idea of just having Carmesi stop her operations and go help the fellow Crest in combat, knowing that there was a high chance that the one that was distracting Grace's forces could have been a small squad that was meant to distract Pulsar from his current mission. Everything was unpleasantly quiet and it remained so for roughly twenty minutes. Soon, the communications were brought back, with Carmesi speaking up first but… a noise from Grace's communicator leaving her baffled at what was going on.

"Things are… fine?" The Fox Prime tried to vocalize her own shock at the sight she was introduced to, with the Love Crest's sound having the girl giggle at the situation. "Grace just… suppressed the infiltrators."

The message didn't give enough to make sense of what was going on in that side of the Colony Ship, but soon Archie managed to get the cameras back online right by the room where the two Crests were currently trying to get the infiltrators properly captured and sent to the detention cells within the ship. It was there that Adela remembered one thing she forgot about Grace's unique grasp of magic. Much to her surprise and… amusement, the young queen stared at the Love Crest as she sat on the ground, humming happily while preening some of the feathers by the woman she was giving a lap pillow. The Eagle Prime shuddered in delight at the caring touch, her weapon of choice, a bow, currently lying on the ground as she allowed herself to be treated to that kind of affection. Love was a dangerous form of magic that could submit entire armies if the Crest knew how to manipulate that power to that extent without hurting themselves in the process- but right now, what Grace did was something of a minor manipulation. She wasn't outright controlling the leader of the infiltrators, but she gave her a single 'input' which found great traction within the woman's mind and drove her to seek that kind of care.

Later on, the novelty of the infiltrators' defeat would be heightened by a single detail which made the entire operation even more successful and important. The Eagle Prime was the… Air Crest. Definitely a victory, but one that opened a door neither Addie or anyone else in the ship had imagined thinking about: there were other Crests under the control of the Empire? It was clear that there had been one they hadn't been aware of as they thought that Air, just like the rest of the remaining Crests, was on Earth. To put an end to this, there were plans to contact the Wisdom Crest and check on her own list of known Crests to confirm that the rest was on their destination and not under the control of the Emperor. It might not be the best way to confirm this matter or not, but it was still a reliable source when it came to known Crests living on Earth. And while she set up the communicators to get that message through so they could get a clear understanding of the full situation, Theo took care of interrogating their newest prisoners to try and understand how the Imperial situation was right now and how much they knew about their current goals and destination.

Starting with the Air Crest herself as she definitely was an important element.

Despite knowing that the mission would have failed, Feather felt immensely aggravated by what happened in that situation.

Sure, Sem hadn't lied. It was convenient for her to get captured after losing that horribly against someone that was easily the least prepared of the Crests in that moment. She should have won in a fair fight, but the girl didn't expect to commit to a duel. Not when war itself was involved. So, in a way, she could find good reasons to put her out of commission like that, but that didn't mean she was anywhere happy with what had happened. Getting beaten through head patting wasn't something she would ever want anyone to know about and… yet that was what happened. Love Magic was a threat she didn't have the 'luxury' of facing until that moment, and the fact it was the Love Crest to show her the devastating effects of pure and unrefined Love Magic upon an adversary like her. The reason why it worked so well could only link up to the fact she was not shy on the idea she was starving for a degree of affection. There was no situation prior to the one of her capture where she could exactly hug or cuddle with someone, hence why her body and also mind were easily 'convinced' into submitting at the subliminal imposition mustered by the Gazelle Prime.

The Air Crest had been effectively beaten by the fact she hadn't been treating herself well enough when it came to affection, like pretty much the rest of the army. Love wasn't an option in combat, and even though she knew Sem loved her as much as she loved him, they never had the opportunity to… well, be more expressive about it. That and the fact that Sem himself wasn't exactly known to want these displays as much as Feather wanted. A huff left her beak, with her eyes narrowing at the only door to her modest-sized cell finally opening as her interrogator finally came to her… bearing a tray with a glass of water and some sandwiches from the looks of it on top of it. The human was quickly recognized as the Grand Knight, the queen's right hand and the one element that led to a complete shift in the entire war in space. Curiosity and worry wrapped well within her mind as he sat directly in front of her, carefully setting the tray on the small table between them and slowly pushing it for her to catch.

One thing that Feather didn't understand was why she had been left unchained or untied, but she realized that escaping wasn't feasible when she spotted from the half-open door the smiling face of the very one that defeated her. The Love Crest waved at her mirthfully and that sight had her shivering in brief dread. Her gaze turned at the water and then at the content of the sandwiches. Some were vegetarian, others were mixed with some fish and meat. A careful approach as to not ruin her palate, but also appear respectful about her despite her current situation. Feather didn't speak at first, knowing that the interrogator wasn't exactly planning on keeping quiet if she refused to talk. And she was proven correct when the human ultimately spoke.

"Were you sent by Sem?"

The question felt abrupt, and yet the Knight had got the golden one easily through a brief glance and perhaps a quick look at who she really was from public archives. She always dreaded that her acceptance of giving out her reports to the public as many other successful officers did would have led her to this very predicament. Yet, the way he muttered this question led her to feel a degree of hope as she carefully nodded. Remembering the Death Crest's own description of the human, he wasn't going to be an enemy of his or anyone tied to Sem. So, in a strong way, Feather was spared any trouble if she came out clean and without making her situation worse than it currently was. Theo hummed back, the human taking a moment to ponder about that quiet response before ultimately speaking up again.

"Why did he send you on this mission?"

The Air Crest grimaced at this. "He knew I was going to fail."

The human blinked, seemingly caught off-guard by that comment and driving him to take a longer pause over it. And Feather saw an opportunity to press her own questions and she went for one that she felt more appropriate for the circumstance.

"What will happen to my subordinates?" She asked blankly, holding back her tension as she saw Theo grasp the question and starting to hum over it.

"The Narakhans will be purified of their marks before being interrogated, but we aren't planning anything extreme against them for the time being if you can vouch on their moral integrity."

That sounded way too easy, and yet she could tell that it was a genuine attempt to reach out and make sure this didn't stop them from… reaching out? From the way they acquired the rest of the Crests, it was clear that they were really putting an effort to not kill Crests or those that could switch sides for their causes. And they represented the freer society many within the Empire would have flocked to join just because the Emperor… wasn't a nice overlord. Despite all the power and influence he had through his political grasp, chaos and the marks, it all didn't matter to anyone. They wanted a better life that he couldn't provide without losing that absolute control he was greedy about. So, in that case, Feather could see the allure of accepting that change of allegiances. And yet she felt still unsure about going through with it. Not because she didn't trust this idea, but because it felt too easy for it to be completely true.

"And you would accept them despite them having been your enemies until a while ago?"

He offered a weak smile. "They didn't have a real choice."

And that response had the young woman intrigued.

"Didn't they? They joined the army, they trained to kill rebels and now they do what they were taught to do. How is this an enforcement of sort?"

The human didn't skip a beat. "What would have been the alternative to these choices?"

Horrible things, Feather summarized without thinking much about it. A refusal, even a minimal one, would have been regarded as a case of high treason. And not something anyone wanted to do with how easy it was to get condemned to death with most crimes within the Empire. She agreed to the point, but she didn't expect the human to have spared so much time thinking about it. It felt really intriguing to say the least.

"I suppose you have questions tying up to Sem's decision to send me in this failure of a mission."

"Yes," Theo replied slowly, his eyes narrowing at the fact that she was being a bit too bossy about the interrogation when she was meant to be the one to be interrogated. It wasn't her fault that she was curious and knew how to exploit moments of weaknesses tied to the big shock of this capture being staged and almost warranted at this point. "Why did Sem decide to have you captured? What does he gain from this situation?"

"Not much," The Air Crest admitted quietly, knowing that the Lion Prime had valued her well-being in that gamble. "But I gained something from it. I don't have to tell Minos why an aggressive approach to put an end to this rebellion isn't feasible. So, in a sense, I preferred to be a prisoner rather than a scapegoat to exhibit to the Emperor and spare himself the pain of failure."

"That sounds… devious. But I suppose you're not here just to be treated as a prisoner."

Since Sem spoke with him, the young man definitely knew about their real plans. The Empire was a crumbling mess regardless of how hard the Emperor tried to coat it in shining glitters. Even if what remained of Prism was destroyed, nothing would have guaranteed the salvation of that serious decline which had begun in the last few decades. Resources were burning up fast, the army was becoming too cumbersome to fund and keep well-organized and this all was definitely going to culminate in an economic meltdown that chaos wasn't going to fix for anyone.

"No," Feather admitted, interest increasing at that pressure coming from the knight. Not too rushed out, but she was definitely appreciating the route taken by her interrogator. Clearly inexperienced, but maybe there was also the fact that he was treating it more as a therapeutic session than anything that could seriously relate to an interrogation. "I know that, at this point, I will be branded as a traitor regardless of me leaving or not, so I know it would be best for me to just remain and… join your forces."

"I'm glad to-"

"But I doubt I can just join the rest of the group without some time passing," Feather added quickly, interrupting the young man. "Something to motivate the shift of allegiances rather than an immediate jump that could endanger Sem."

He nodded. "That's acceptable."

"Same for information. I'm sorry to say that I can't exactly tell you everything at once."

Another nod, but he frowned. "How about just a few questions? Or something you feel you could give up without being outright 'converted to the cause'?"

A reasonable idea, and they both started to do that. The Eagle Prime would offer what small info that the group might not know about and make it appear that she spoke out of either torture or because she didn't want her subordinates subjected to heinous deeds to push her to be more 'honest'. But still, as they went through this conversation, she slowly started to feel particularly fascinated over something that was becoming clearer the more she spoke with the human. Something that made him stand out from previous Knights.

"I know this comes out as an accusing question but… you don't seem to really believe your side stands by an absolute cause, right?"

Much to her interest, Theo nodded and adopted a more tired look. This didn't seem the first time he dealt with this topic and she could tell not only from the expression he had, but also how he answered that question.

"We're fighting for a better future. It is as much as a cause as it is general common sense at this point," He flatly replied, confusing her a little bit with that response lacking the usual acceptance for the Dragon Gods. Many knights before him would have snapped to protect the image of the deities that have for so long abandoned the Primes, and yet he wasn't minding discussing of this matter in such a damning key had a fervent believer of the religion of old heard of this they would have shunned him as the worst knight ever. Regardless of the recent accomplishments made by the group.

"And what do you think of the Gods?"

"I only met a messenger and I can't exactly give an honest comment about them without meeting them one by one," Theo confirmed with a serious tone. "I only know that they have retired completely from this conflict. I don't know why they wouldn't be more helpful for the rebels."

"They are afraid of the only man that can kill them, the one that was bestowed the power of chaos through deception."

A familiar glint shone in his eyes and he delivered an unexpected counter at that cryptical reply. "Are you talking about Pandora?"

...Feather was speechless at this discovery. Only a few knew the name of the Goddess of Chaos because she was the one that blessed those with it. She wasn't trusting of new followers, and the only way she could have granted that honor to a supposed enemy and someone that was barely tied to that side of the religion was… because he was the champion that Sem said he was about to become in the eventual end game between the Crests and the Emperor. Still. The young man didn't seem aware of what he had just done with that comment, so the Air Crest kept herself from being too blunt about it and kept a calm outlook.

"Yes."

"She didn't seem the… well, ambitious goddess trying to take over the galaxy as I expected. I suppose she wanted to do things before the Emperor came to be."

"She… was. Yes."

This was the Champion of Chaos, the one that would bring an end to the oldest Feuds in Prism's history. An end to the rupture, a reformation of sorts if things went correctly. As far as Feather could see, this young man was… even bigger of a target than the Crests were to the Emperor. He was technically a usurper, and one that had yet to understand the might of the claim he had over that throne currently owned by the Emperor. In a certain way, this rebellion had just turned into a worse nightmare for the Empire than it had been in the last few centuries. Even worse than how things had been in the Decades of Blood. Eventually it was time to end that interrogation and the Air Crest felt confident she got as much as she could out of this first meeting. Theo was as interesting as Sem had told her, and she could already imagine the kind of impact his mere presence was going to cause in the final battle. He was essential, and he was definitely shaping to become the binding element to conclude the eternal clash between Order and Chaos. And as the human left without bringing with him the tray, Feather glanced down at the glass of water and… decided to drink some of it. No impurities, nothing that would suggest anything unpleasant and the sandwiches were quite good.

All in all, her stay on this ship might not be as bad as she thought it would have been.

AN

Two more chapters and… Earth will be on sight!