Disclaimer, I own nothing, don't sue me.
Chapter 8: Undercover
"And what have learnt today?"
"Muuu… gambling is bad and I shouldn't enter a casino again." Louise answered in a crestfallen tone, eyes firmly fixed on the ground. Her attempt to increase their mission funds had ended abysmally and she had lost all the money Henrietta had entrusted to them.
"I was gonna go for don't play unless you know your opponent isn't cheating but that works too." Saito shrugged and waited for the few seconds it took for the words to sink in. Predictably, his vertically challenged partner exploded on the spot.
"Cheating… CHEATING!? HE WAS CHEATING!? You… you… WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING!?" Stamping her foot on the floor, she shouted at her familiar who was busy plugging his ears to avoid hearing damage.
"I thought you'd have realised it after the first few times partner. Seriously, who pulls a straight flush, a full house and a royal flush in a row. Nah, he was cheating, I saw him switch out the cards for the ones inside his sleeves."
"GRRR! That settles it, I'm going to… get out of my way!" Louise ordered when Saito refused to allow her to pass.
"Nothing much you can do now partner, the casino was in on it. You complain and they'll just laugh you out of the place for being a sore loser. It is partly your fault for not quitting while you were ahead."
"What!? They can't do that! Can they?"
"In theory no. But if you can grease enough hands… well, not even the nobility can do anything about it since the establishment is backed up by other nobles and officials."
"WHAT!? We need to report it to the murghffh!" She was cut off when Saito slapped a hand over her mouth to silence her.
"Do remember why we're here. Shouting our benefactor's name for the whole world to hear doesn't help us in the least. Leave them be for now, we don't want to spook them before we're ready." Seeing her nod in understanding, Saito lowered his hand.
"But we can't just let them get away with it! Just think of how many they must have swindled!"
"Quite a few I imagine but nowhere near as many as you're thinking. They are first and foremost a business, cheat too much and no one will come anymore since they can't win, also enough complaints will bring the wrong sort of attention."
Shrugging, Saito pulled out his coin bag which had more than tripled in size. "If it makes you feel better I won over fifty times the amount you lost."
"How!?"
"Roulette."
"The ball and spinning wheel one? B-but that's just a game of luck! How did you even guess right?"
"Who said anything about guessing?"
"You cheated!?"
"Of course not! I did no such thing! I'm sad to see that you have so little faith in me." Saito feigned hurt before continuing when Louise's eye started twitching.
"It's not my fault the ball is moving so slowly I can easily see where it's going to land in. Really, there's no law or rule against being good. Ah well, got to give them some time to forget my face before I go back and bankrupt them… say, how would like to own the casino?"
"You're unbelievable. Stupid familiar making me worried for nothing… at least now we don't need to find a job!" Louise's mind went off to fantasy land immediately as she began debating which of the high-class inns she should relax in.
"Ahahahah… no." Her thought processes came to a screeching halt as the words ripped her from her fantasy.
"What do you mean no?" Her betrayed tone only made Saito's grin grow.
"We are going to find a job. We're supposed to be looking for evidence on corrupt nobles and keeping an eye out for any rumours about Albion remember? That's not something you can do by just relaxing in a hotel room somewhere." Seeing his partner's rapid mood swing from overjoyed back to depressed, Saito sniggered.
"Chin up partner, you've already survived my training. It's not going to be worse than that. So relax and just enjoy the change of pace."
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"You were saying?"
"…I was wrong and I immediately regret this decision."
Louise and Saito were staring up at a mountain of a man and wondering if it was too late to turn back. Tall and muscled, he would be the very definition of the word 'manliness' except for a few very glaring, very painful flaws.
Very shiny hair, fancy moustache, a tight purple singlet exposing way too much for their sanity and reeking of perfume. Saito briefly considered eating his gun and being done with it, oh sure he'd fought mutants in the tiberium infested wastelands far larger than this… man… but none of them were quite so disturbing.
"Oh you poor souls! Jessica has told me all about your plight of course I'll help! Room and board in exchange for some light work will be fine I think. And I'll pay a good salary too!" The flamboyant man did a different pose with each sentence before winking at the duo at the end.
Resisting the urge to scream and tear out his own eyes, Saito did his best to remain stoic in the face of this abomination. "O-of course, thank you for your offer. We won't be any trouble and we can start work immediately."
Acutely aware of the death glare Louise was stabbing into his back while cowering there, a pretty large part of Saito was siding with her on how discretion was the better part of valour and it was time for a strategic redeployment.
Unfortunately for them both, the side of him dedicated to duty won out in the end. It was the off season right now and this was the only place willing to accept new hires with zero experience. If he was alone it'd probably be slightly easier but Louise's pink hair was a dead giveaway that she wasn't your regular peasant.
It didn't help that pink hair was effectively synonymous with the Heavy Wind and nobody wanted anything to do with anyone related to her lest the duchess come knocking.
Saito had initially assumed he struck gold at the charming fairies inn when the waitress he'd spoken to had been receptive to their 'plight'. Although he wasn't quite sure exactly how much she bought the story of them being refugees from Albion given her somewhat disturbing smile when she left to fetch the owner.
Now though he was having second, third and fourth thoughts while the fifth was seeking a second opinion on which was faster, eating a gun or a grenade. Drawing upon reserves of will he didn't even know he had, Saito fought down the urge to run away screaming and listened as their jobs were outlined.
Louise would be working as a waitress while he'd be helping out in the kitchen with any physically demanding tasks. Mostly just taking out the trash and carrying around whatever the cooks needed. Simple enough, Louise needing to interact with the customers was a little worrying but hey, at least she wasn't cooking, what could possibly go wrong?
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Saito resisted the urge to repeatedly introduce his head to the wall as the sound of shouting came from outside the kitchen followed by the sound of a fist meeting a face and a long string of curses after that.
"I apologise for my idiot sister's actions, you can… you can just dock my pay for any damages." Saito bowed to Jessica and apologised profusely, in the four days they'd been here this was already a common sight.
"Ah its no biggie, dad thinks that her actions are just what the inn needs to liven up the place. Those perverted old coots had it coming anyway, and besides if we did dock your pay for all that you'd probably end up working here for life to pay off the debt."
"I am really sorry. I'll… do my best to talk some sense into her later."
"It's fine really! Although, this would be a lot easier if you just let her work in the kitchen…"
"NO!" Saito coughed sheepishly as his outburst attracted the attention of everyone nearby.
"Uh I mean, she can't cook. At all. If you value the kitchen at all, you will never allow her to step foot inside. Bad things happen when she does." Saito whispered in a low voice as several images of blood, bone and writhing tentacles flashed through his mind before he could repress those memories. A lot of screaming had been involved and he'd much rather fight the entire brotherhood than deal with that again.
"Oh come on, she can't be that bad." Jessica stated in a disbelieving tone.
"Trust me she is." Saito shuddered one more time as he successfully shoved those memories into the dark corner where they belonged. Grabbing a glass of water, he began to drain it to calm his nerves.
"Huh… okay then, so… Mr Saito, are you her lover or something?" Executing a perfect spit take, he managed to get out a denial through the sputtering.
"Wha!? What the heck would make you think that!? She's my younger sister!"
Jessica deadpanned and raised an eyebrow. "You know that you're not fooling anyone right? Little miss pinkie outside is definitely a noble and you… well, I can't quite place you but you're definitely not related to her. I mean, you two look nothing alike! So? What's the real story? Were you secret lovers on the run from her family to be together? Tell me tell me tell me!"
Raising his arms to placate the over excited Jessica, Saito unconsciously took a step back when she closed in, a dangerous gleam in her eyes. "C-calm down, its nothing like that. I really am her older brother, I'm just adopted."
Seeing the shine in her eyes intensify, Saito quickly added on to that statement. "There is absolutely nothing of the sort between us. Really! I'm just here to keep my-"
He paused when the sound of a slap and more angry cursing came from outside. "Haaah… very immature sister from getting into trouble. For what it's worth, I really am sorry about her actions."
"Hmm… you don't seem to be lying about not being her lover…" Jessica pouted as she continued trying to puzzle out the nature of their relationship.
"But. The sibling angle doesn't quite fit either. You don't act noble enough for someone who's supposedly been adopted by a noble family. Are you her body guard then?"
"You're not gonna let this go, are you?" Saito sighed when he saw her head bobbing fast enough to leave afterimages.
"Haa… alright, so maybe I am her body guard." Saito said before returning his attention to his work and speaking no more.
"…That's it? Come on, there must be more to the story than that! Why are you even out here? Missy has clearly never worked before so why leave your lives behind like that?"
Saito remained silent while coming up with a new cover story on the fly. Telling the truth was a definite no but given what he knew of the nobility, he was certain he could come up with something believable. Whether Louise would be able to adapt to it on the other hand… he'd cross that bridge when he got there.
"She's been betrothed to a much older viscount who happens to have a particular… taste… in women. She… well, you've seen how she is, ran away the day after finding out and dragged me along. Of course, she completely forgot to pack any supplies which led us here. Thanks for getting us hired by the way… even if she's a pain in the neck."
"Hmm… is that so? Something's still missing though…" The doubt in her eyes hadn't lessened in the least despite his performance.
"Ah if you'll excuse me, I should go calm her down now before she kills someone. Excuse me." Saito hightailed it out of the kitchen before Jessica could question any further. Best leave before he dug himself in too deep, the girl was sharper than he gave her credit for.
There was talent there and if nurtured would have her grow into an excellent intelligence officer. How Scarron ever had a daughter like that he'd never know…
Adopted maybe.
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Slipping into a back alley, Saito removed the facial prosthesis and discarded his worn trench coat in a nearby bin. Ensuring the heavy sack of gold coins was securely fastened around his waist, he vanished into the shadows and waited for his pursuers to catch up.
Unless his map was wrong, this should be a dead end, a series of crisscrossing alleys that led nowhere and the perfect place for an ambush.
"Damnit, where the hell did that drunk go!? Fuck. The boss will have our hides if we don't get him." A panicked voice announced the arrival of Saito's targets. Five thugs rounded the corner with swords drawn.
"Shut up you idiot, you want to scare him off again? Son of a bitch is here somewhere, this is a dead end, nowhere for him to go." The apparent leader rebuked his panicked underling and raised his torch high.
"Split up and hunt him down. Five gold pieces to whoever brings him to me, another five if he's still alive. I'll remain here so he doesn't escape… don't let him slip by you." A chorus of acknowledgements sounded off as they split up to begin the hunt.
The moon was obscured by the clouds and the only light in the area came from their torches, something that brought out a wicked smile on Saito's face. "Yo derf, you wanted some action, right?"
"You're an arse user, I wanted glorious battle, not be used to hunt rats… ah nuts, I'll take whatever I can get." Derflinger's annoyed reply was loud enough to attract the attention of the thug Saito had been shadowing.
"Wh-who's ther- urk!" His question was cut off when enchanted steel opened up a second mouth where his throat was. Catching the flailing body and gently lowering it to the ground so it wouldn't make a sound, Saito flipped the body over onto its front and left the corpse where it lay.
Extinguishing the torch before it could start a blaze, Saito noted that the filth strewn around the alley did an excellent job of camouflaging the expanding crimson pool. Satisfied with his handiwork, he retreated into the shadows to stalk his next prey. "Four left."
In the darkness they never stood a chance. The next two fell without much effort on his part at all. The first was so confident in his appearance scaring off any citizens who didn't want a beating that he never even noticed the black-haired man walking up to him.
That lack of awareness was promptly rectified when Saito buried Derflinger in his chest and sunk it all the way to the hilt. As his eyes widened from the shock and pain, Saito slid his sword free with a wet squelching sound.
He was dead before he touched the ground.
The next had virtually zero sense of urgency and had elected to allow his 'comrades' to do the bulk of the heavy lifting while just kicking back and collecting his pay once everything was over with. The former commando nearly snorted with disbelief when he found the thug whistling a jaunty tune while pissing against a wall.
Such carelessness would have had him drummed out of the program followed by a court martial. Death tolls were high enough without factoring in suicidal overconfidence and there was no room for anyone willing to jeopardize the mission with such carelessness.
Wrapping his free hand around the man's mouth to stifle his cries, Saito drew a red line across the throat and waited for the struggles to cease before lowering the body.
Honestly, he'd feel bad about such a one-sided slaughter except for the fact that these were enemies of the state. As soon as the words Reconquista and payroll came up, they were dead men walking.
The bugs he left behind in the casino days before had paid off in full. A Reconquista agent would be arriving in the morning to pick up the proceeds and spirit them overseas. The familiar had elected to relieve them of their funds a day early by breaking the bank at roulette.
Management did not take kindly to that and sent their 'best' after the lucky 'drunk'. Saito snickered as he approached number four, the anxious man from the start and now having a full blown nervous breakdown.
"John? Greg? Hello? Is anyone there? Guys!?" Waving his torch around as though to ward off evil, all the flickering fire light did was play havoc with the shadows and worsening his panic. The quiet was eating at him, something was seriously wrong and he knew it.
His gut was telling him to screw the job and run. The oppressive darkness, the obscured moon, it reminded him far too much of the horror stories he'd been told as a child. About how the elves, demons of the night, would torment their human prey by stranding them inside the forest on a moonless night and hunt them down for sport one at a time.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted the trench coat their target was supposed to be wearing lying in a bin. Cautiously approaching it, he lifted it up for inspection and found nothing off about it, a perfectly normal piece of clothing worn by the masses.
What was under it however scared the living daylights out of him. a rubbery skin coloured object lay in the trash. A closer look revealed the 'face' of the man they were supposed to be chasing.
Dropping the mask, he fell on his ass and backed away in a panic. His torch fell into a pool of stagnant water and extinguished with a hiss. "No. Nononono! This can't be real. This can't be happening! Demon! He's a demon!"
Coming to an abrupt halt when his back hit a pair of legs, he slowly raised his head and found himself staring into a face shrouded in shadow. His scream died in his throat when Saito buried Derflinger right between the eyes.
"Set em up and I'll knock em down. Only one left… this shouldn't take long."
Sheathing the sword and returning to the exit, he found the leader standing there impatiently. "What's taking so long? It's just one bloody drunk. They cannot possibly be this incompetent."
Saito picked up a pebble and hurled it behind the thug, the resulting noise was deafening in the quiet and as expected, drew attention to it. With his back turned, Saito was free to ghost up to the leader and knock him out with one blow.
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Ice cold water being dumped over his head caused the Gaius to wake up sputtering. Cursing and trying to move, he found himself securely tied up and sitting down in an empty room. More importantly, his wand was missing.
"Good evening traitor, I have questions and for your sake you better have the right answers." A disembodied voice addressed him in a condescending tone.
"First of all, who hired you?"
"FUCK YOU!" Gaius roared at the top of his lungs in a show of bravado. He immediately regretted that decision when a throwing knife flew out of the shadows and buried itself in the ground inches away from his groin.
"Bzzt, wrong answer. You only get so many of those. I already know you work for Reconquista, the others were hired muscle but you… oh no, you are so much more than that. Piece of advice, if you're going to work undercover don't carry a copy of your orders with you… burn those as soon as you understand them."
"W-what do you want!?" There was a hint of fear in his voice now.
"I want answers, shoot straight with me and I'll release you… or don't and we'll see just how many knives I can put in you before you bleed out. Make no mistake, I don't need you, I can always get my answers elsewhere, you are just… convenient."
"W-what do you want to know."
"Let's start with what we both know shall we? Your name is Gaius Bartholomew III, a minor noble from Albion without much to his name and in service to Reconquista for career advancement. Your mission here in Tristain is to serve as a scout of sorts, identify possible converts and mark troublesome individuals for termination."
A nod.
"Good, good, now that we're on the same page, who do you report to. I understand that the casino is also run by Reconquista sympathizers but your boss is someone else, who is he?"
"I-I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just heeek!" Gaius denial was cut off when a second knife buried itself into the wall behind him, leaving a cut along his cheek.
"Wrong answer again. Just so you know, I'm actually terrible at aiming. I was going for your arm but… I missed. Let's not put my aim to the test again, shall we? It would be a shame if I hit something important."
"Okay! Okay! He's a Tristainian noble! That's all I know I swear!"
"I need more details than that. Maybe a bit of pain will jog your memory?"
"H-he has silver hair! That's all I know! I've only met him once! H-he uses dead drops to send down orders. A-and he uses lightning magic!" Gaius stammered out while trying to back away, relief suffused his being when no additional knives came flying.
'Silver hair and lightning magic? Can't think of anyone who fits the mould right now. Maybe Agnes or the princess will have a better idea when I report back.' Maintaining a neutral tone, he resumed his questioning.
"Very well… you pass on that. Next question, the agent coming to collect the money in the morning, who is it?"
"It's the tax collector, h-he will be picking up the money and adding it to the extra taxes he's already collected before sending all of it to Albion."
"Extra taxes?"
Gaius nodded eagerly in an attempt to convince his interrogator of the truthfulness of his words. No sense in dying for a cause he didn't believe in. "Yes! He over taxes the peasants to increase resentment against the princess. Once they revolt, it'll be easy for Reconquista to take Tristain."
'Damn, so the sabotage extends that far?' Pushing the worry out of his voice, Saito moved on to the last question, one he really dreaded the answer to.
"So it is. Last question, who else is involved. I want the names of everyone who's part of your little club. Every sympathiser, every agent, every traitor."
"…I don't know, I swear! The higherups keep things on a need to know basis and I don't need to know." Gaius pleaded and bit back a cry when a knife buried itself in his thigh.
"Not good enough. I need more. If this is all you can offer I'll be using you as target practice now." Allowing some of his frustration to slip into his voice, Saito fingered the hilt of another knife.
"I DON'T KNOW DAMNIT! I don't know…" Gaius shouted out before degenerating into sobs.
"T-they're everywhere, in the government, the military, the businesses… please, I've told you all I know… let me go."
Saito found no deception in his words and resisted the urge to slam his fist into the wall. If the conspiracy ran deeper than just a few nobles lining their pockets while preventing aid from being sent to Albion he needed a lot more to work with.
Striding over to Gaius, Saito loped his head off with one swing. "Consider yourself released from this world."
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Stashing Derflinger and the sack of gold at the safehouse prepared by the princess, Saito made his way back to the inn and found Scarron waiting for him outside, an unreadable expression plastered on his face. "Bit late for a walk isn't it?"
"I needed some fresh air." Saito replied cheerfully as he buried his hands in his pockets, reaching for his knuckledusters. 'In the businesses, huh?'
"Fresh air? Well, I suppose that's as good a reason as any. How was the air like near the casino anyways? I need a break myself" The flamboyant man responded in an equally cheerful tone. All around them, hooded figures in black materialised out of the shadows, silver daggers glinting in the moonlight.
"Friends of yours boss? Didn't realise there'd be a welcoming committee." Saito coolly regarded the opposition and felt the boost from the gandalfr powers kick in.
"In a sense. I will have to ask that you come with us. The noble is with my daughter, nothing will happen to her." Left unsaid was the word 'yet' and they both knew it.
"And if I refuse?"
"Oh, I insist. You're under arrest." On cue, the cloaked assassins rushed Saito. Kicking it into combat mode, Saito felt the world slow down and stood at the ready.
Inhale, count to four, exhale.
Lashing out with twin blows, two assailants went flying when Saito buried his fists into their midsections and lifted them off the ground with brute force.
Pulling back and parrying the other incoming daggers, he delivered a series of kicks at blinding speed and felt bone crunch with each hit. Why they weren't going for lethal blows he didn't know, maybe it was about the money, maybe it was something else. In any case, if they wished to handicap themselves that badly that was their problem and something he would most definitely capitalise on.
Dodging the remainder and grabbing hold of one, Saito spun the man around and used him as a human shield, keeping the other daggers away before tossing him into a group of three, causing a pileup.
Taking advantage of the confusion he caused, Saito leapt backwards and created a space between them. "Why is it you Scarron? I thought we were friends."
"So did I. But you have proven yourself to be a problem. Surrender, there is no version of this that you come out on top. I promise that you will come to no harm, we're not barbarians." Scarron issued his ultimatum as more cloaked figures came out of the shadows.
"Could have fooled me. Why Scarron? Why work with them? What could they possibly have offered you to do this?"
"I could ask the same of you… you know, I really didn't want to believe that you were the agent. You never struck me as the sort but I guess looks can be deceiving no?"
"That's rich coming from you."
"Hahahaha… maybe so, don't make me do this Saito. Just hand over the money and come quietly."
"Not a chance in hell." Saito shrugged and raised his fists and readied for the next wave.
"Haah… disappointing. I'm sorry kid, but for queen and country I will take you down." Scarron sighed and drew a pistol and fired it at Saito. Twisting to the side to avoid the bullet, it lodged inside a tree and left a neat hole.
'What the hell was that!? I didn't hear anything at all. Magic silencers?' Crouching to present a smaller target, Saito kept his body tense and ready to dodge at the drop of a hat. His mind raced to make sense of it all while keeping track of all the others just in case they had silenced weapons as well.
'And since when did Reconquista answer to a queen? Only queen I know of is… shiiiiiiit. Don't tell me.' Feeling his brain crash and reboot, Saito rushed to test out his theory before the situation could escalate any further.
"Quick question, which queen are we talking about here?"
Holding fire for the moment, the mountain of a man continued aiming at Saito but nevertheless answered. "What kind of question is that? I answer to Queen Marianne of course."
"So… you're not Reconquista?"
"You… are you daft? We're trying to arrest you for being a Reconquista agent. Why the hell would we be working for those godless bastards?" Scarron replied unable to comprehend the question but seeing no harm in answering it.
Saito resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands and start screaming when he detected no falsehoods. Settling for a drawn out growl, he rose to his feet and removed the knuckles and slipped them back into his pocket. Raising his hands in the air once he was done to indicate surrender.
"You're surrendering?" The innkeeper asked dubiously, again incapable of reconciling the defiant Saito with the annoyed one.
"I'm just trying to show I mean no harm."
Scarron took a look around at the men still trying to pick themselves off the ground, those that weren't unconscious anyway. "You call this meaning no harm?"
"Yes, but that was before you said you served her majesty. I thought you were the agents from Reconquista. This battle is pointless, we're on the same side."
"Are we? I'm afraid I still have to arrest you, you can prove your innocence later."
"Haah… if you must. I won't fault you for doing your duty, if you can, contact Chevalier Agnes, she'll vouch for my identity… I'd appreciate if you did so discreetly, too many snakes in the grass." Saito sighed and allowed himself to be cuffed.
The weight of several sonic grenades hidden in his sleeves was a comforting one. If they proved to be Reconquista after all, he wasn't without options but there was no need for further violence against allies.
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"Got to say, didn't think I'd ever see you in the dungeons. What? No loopholes to exploit this time?" Agnes' amused voice drew the attention of Saito and Scarron who had been making small talk.
"Oh sure, laugh it up chevalier, wasn't my fault somebody forgot to mention that there might have been other undercover units in the area." Saito shot back without missing a beat.
"There wasn't supposed to be. Scarron, right? I thought the Scattered Bones had disbanded years ago." Agnes shrugged and addressed the innkeeper.
"We did, but after the King Henry's untimely passing and the rise of Reconquista, we've been reactivated to serve as her majesty's eyes and ears on the ground. Since you're here I guess Saito really is working for the princess."
"More of doing a favour really, still what's this about robbing a casino?"
"Casino's a front for collecting funds, I decided those funds would serve a better purpose in the hands of Tristain so I broke the bank. Moneys in the safehouse if you want to collect it now." Saito answered and drew a sigh from Scarron.
"Ay damn, we were hoping to use the money as bait to draw out the Reconquista agent. Guess that's no longer on the table."
"Not necessary, the man you're looking for is the tax collector Turenne. A little birdie informed me that he's been overtaxing the people trying to create resentment against the government while raising funds for Reconquista." Saito laid out everything he retrieved from Gaius including the documents he'd been carrying.
"…You certainly work fast. But a noble with silver hair and lightning magic? The only one that fits that description is Viscount Wardes, his loyalty is above questioning. Pretentious prick maybe but still one of the most dedicated and talented officers in the army." Agnes muttered as she processed the information.
"I'll look into it further when I get back to the princess. In the meantime, what do you intend to do about the traitor, I assume you have a plan of sorts? We don't have enough proof to arrest him since you took the money and collecting added taxes is a grey area especially with a potential war on the horizon. Without hard evidence that he's embezzling the money, there isn't much we can do."
Saito remained silent as he considered the options available. At the moment there were two possibly ways he could deal with it. The first was ye olde cloak and dagger, just disappear him when no one's looking. The second was get him to break some law in public and arrest him on the spot.
Having him disappear was the easier option but doing so could cause the other conspirators to go to ground, especially since Mott bit the big one not too long ago. An engineered public felony was harder to pull off but less likely to arouse suspicion, more so if he was arrested for being an idiot instead of corruption.
"I have something, the Scattered Bones are an assassination unit yes?"
"Hmph, we prefer the term trouble-shooters."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night… how good are your men are throwing stuff, like say… needles?"
"Needles? We're decent I suppose, but-"
"Good enough for me, here's what I have in mind…"
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"Oi, how much longer must we do this? It's been almost a week and we don't have anything to show for it... other than some peasants not liking the nobility." Louise said as Saito helped reset up the tables for the incoming lunch crowd.
"Today's the last day actually. There's another unit ready to take over, all that's left is for us to entertain a special gues- speak of the devil and he shall appear." Saito cut himself off as a pompous noble burst through the door surrounded by several guards.
"Just as trashy as the last time I remembered it. Hmmph the service better be good or its double, no triple tax for wasting my time." Laughing as he scratched a small cut along the side of his neck.
"Oi Scarron! Where the hell are you you bastard!?"
"Coming! Ah Sir Turenne, how nice to see you again. Welcome to my humble shop!" Greeting the corrupt official in his usual flamboyant manner, Scarron betrayed none of the contempt he felt.
Wrinkling his nose, Turenne sneered and cast a disapproving gaze around the inn. "I got a flyer earlier, there's a special promotion going on now isn't there? Extra special service for valued customers? Hehe, if there's one thing this miserable dump gets right it's that the staff know how to dress gahahahaha!"
Disgust painted the faces of the waitresses as they backed away from the repulsive noble.
"My deepest apologies good sir, but we do not offer such services here. We have other customers to attend to." Scarron spoke up as he offered a plate of meat to him.
"Perhaps you'd enjoy our food instead?"
Grabbing a piece of the plate without a word of thanks, Turenne popped the morsel in his mouth and swallowed it instantly "Other customers eh? I'll take care of that. FILTHY PEASANTS, THIS INN HAS NOW BEEN RESERVED BY ME, HER MAJESTY'S GREAT TAX COLLECTOR! LEAVE IMMEDIATELY!"
When nobody moved despite his declaration, Turenne growled and signalled to his men. The guards drew their weapons and began smashing up the place, drawing screams from the customers and serving staff.
"Ah! You can't do that!" Putting up a show of trying to stop the guards, Scarron received a broken nose for his efforts and the remaining customers evacuated the inn en masse when the violence showed no signs of abating.
Once the last one had run out the door, Turenne turned back to the kneeling innkeeper with a smug smile plastered all over his pudgy face. "Would you look at that, no more customers. I guess you can afford to attend to me now?"
Saito held out an arm to stop Louise from charging the guy. "Don't do it partner."
"Why. Are. You. Stopping. Me?" Spitting out each word as a curse, her fingers were already inching towards her hidden wand.
"Just enjoy the show, look, it's starting."
Turenne stumbled slightly as his vision blurred at the edges and his sense of balance was thrown off. "Wha? What's with all the colours?"
Staggering and trying to remain on his feet, his vision was going haywire now and his sense of hearing had gone with it. The colours had become muted in places and blindingly over saturated in others. And the voices. Whispering in his ear, tones too low to make sense off but there all the same.
It was maddening, the world was going mad- had gone mad. He didn't understand why the others didn't seem to be affected, the world was shifting, shifting, always shifting.
Trying to support himself by pushing against a nearby pillar, his hand slid down the surface offering none. His wits had deserted him and he couldn't muster any strength, everything was so slow, so sluggish and… and… were there… were there always grinning skeletons in front of him?
Squinting his eyes to make sense of the blurry image before him, Turenne fought against the fog clouding his mind and terror filled him when his vision sharpened into hyper focus.
Decayed flesh clung to blackened bones, peeling off in places and becoming a thick black sludge that corroded the floor. Unholy crimson orbs burned where the eye sockets were and he recoiled in terror when he realised those weren't tiny balls of fire, they were actual eyes set aflame by hellfire promising eternal torment.
Dropping to his knees, he began to crawl away, seeking desperately to escape this living nightmare before the pitiful remnants of his strength deserted him as well.
The whispering was louder now, he heard the laughter of the damned, each one calling out to him, inviting him to join them in oblivion. Incomprehensible gibberish left his mouth, a cross between demented laughter, pleas for mercy and outright screams of terror.
Bumping into the legs of one of his confused guards, he looked up and for the first time noticed the pointy decayed ears on the skeletons. Elves. The demons were elves.
They had come for him at last. Memories of every horror story he'd ever been told about the inhuman abominations rose to the surface accompanied, by the fear that they had invoked in him. The primal emotion flooded what was left of his sane mind and his mouth opened wide in a soundless scream as tears stained his cheeks.
As one last act of defiance, Turenne drew his wand and tried to cast a spell to save himself. Despair and fear mounted when nothing happened, no fireball emerged to burn away the monsters. His mind was too shattered to muster up the willpower to cast even the simplest spell now.
Saito turned to Louise and shrugged. "See, everything under control."
"What… did you do to him?" Taking a few steps forward, she pinched her nose and looked on when it became evident Turenne had soiled himself.
"Nothing much, he's just trapped in a nightmare on his own making."
"E-explain y-yourself familiar."
"He's Reconquista. We need an excuse to arrest him. So he was poisoned with a mild hallucinogen before he arrived. The meat offered by Scarron? That had the second part of the plan. A quick acting drug that amplifies the first. Together, they will trap their victim in a waking nightmare made from their own worst fears that won't end for a few hours at least."
"T-that's horrible. I-isn't there another way? Not even... no one deserves this"
"I'm afraid not, none that would be as fast and effective as this one. Right now though, we just need to arrest him, he's tried using magic against a commoner… even if it is his guard and he's clearly mad, that's still a punishable offense." Saito said before sighing when Louise's expression didn't change.
"Go inside partner, get some… get some rest. You don't need to be here right now. I'll be with you shortly, okay?" The familiar turned his master around to block her view and gently nudged her in the direction of the door. Nodding dumbly, Louise obeyed and moved off with unsteady steps.
Returning his attention to the guards who were trying to move their employer while the insane man was still lashing out at them, Saito exchanged a glance with Scarron and sighed again. "No rest for the wicked indeed."
-line break
"Was it necessary? Missy is far too young for this." The sun had gone down and the prisoners had been escorted away by the royal guard earlier. Saito and Scarron had given their statements and thanks to Agnes had been pushed through without too many troublesome questions. Now it was just the two of them fixing up the destroyed inn.
"It needed to happen sometime, she wishes to be the princess's right hand. That means dirty business every now and then to keep the peace."
"Yes, but right now?"
"Why not, this is probably the best chance I'll have to show her the reality of her dreams. Not to mention the safest, Reconquista is a major threat however much the people don't seem to care about it. Ninety percent of Albion's fleet is in their control, that's a lot of firepower and they've already made their ambitions clear."
"Haaa… so it comes to war… again."
Saito shrugged and paused his sweeping to remove part of a broken a chair. "We're still trying to avert that worse case scenario. If we can root out the corruption and send aid to Albion before the resistance collapses, we have a good chance of containing the threat."
Scarron snorted upon hearing that analysis. "You are far too optimistic. The royalists are on their last legs, they'll fall long before we purge the traitors."
"Then we'll have to fight Reconquista with every thing we've got. No need to be so stressed about it right now, there's still time to stop that key from turning. And even if it does come to open war, Tristain still has her teeth… more so if the zone initiative is completed in time."
Silence reigned between them as each tried not to think too hard about the fact that their way of life might be upended in the near future. It was broken with Scarron's question. "Do you think we'll ever have peace, a true lasting peace? I disbanded the Scattered Bones years ago when Tristian no longer needed such monsters to survive, I swore on my wife's grave that I would never return to that life, that I'd provide a peaceful life for our daughter without watering the fields with the blood of others. Yet here I am, captain once more."
"I… can't answer that. I never found my peace back home but I do know this. The people here, they have a right to peace, it's why soldiers like us fight. I don't know what the future holds, but fighting to protect others? That's the hill I'm willing to die on."
Authors notes: Have rewritten this chapter three times and it still doesn't seem quite right to me but I can't put my finger on it. Been going on a wiki crawl to gather info again and it turns out that commandos really are immune to mind control and it's not something I made up. I had no idea that was the case when I wrote chap 1.
The next thing I found was that GDI's grade A asshole Redmond Boyle is actually Lando Calrissian, mind = blown since I've never noticed it before, how I don't know. The other 2 that blew my mind were General James Solomon as Vader and Premier Cherdenko as IT.
On the more serious side, the next chapter should have the beginning of the full scale war between the uprising and Reconquista. I'm probably going to need to have a few speeches in there somewhere and there are plenty of speeches by actual people like Churchill which are thousands of times more badass than anything I can ever dream up. Is it disrespectful to their memory if I use their words? I refuse to dishonour their memory and if someone can give me an answer I'll be most grateful.
