by James Ashman
Chapter 4
The new, black, and pristine car made its way down a dusty road. On the sides of the road were several people in shallow water tending rice fields. A tinted window rolled down, only to roll up a moment later.
The car arrived at its destination, a small Japanese-looking village. A door opened and out stepped an old man in decorated attire. He had a wooden cane and wore thick glasses.
"Is this where the comet is?" the old man asked.
"Yes," said a man who had just exited the car from the other side. He was younger and had a solid face.
"What a backwards place. Come on, let's find him," the old man said.
The young man nodded, and then took his place at the old man's side. They ventured through the village until they arrived at a certain house. The house of Tenraijin.
"What do you need?" Aki asked once the door had opened.
"We're here to see Mr. Yue. Is he in?" the old man asked.
"Fei-chan is around. May I know the gentlemen's names?" Aki asked.
"Admiral Heff," the old man said.
"And Gene Tracer," the younger said.
"Please take a seat in the waiting room," Aki said.
Aki let the two men inside and led them to the room that Yue and Miku had once waited in. There were only the table and a few cushions. The two men looked around the room with a look of slight bewilderment.
"Sit, please, while I get some tea," Aki said.
"Where?" Gene asked.
"At the table," Aki said.
"But where do we sit?" Gene asked.
"Just sit," Admiral Heff said. He pointed his cane at a cushion on the ground. Gene looked but eventually complied. As Gene sat, Heff turned to look at Aki. "May I have a chair for these old bones?"
"Please wait a moment," Aki said. A moment it was, and she placed the chair at the table for Heff to sit on.
"Thank you," Heff said as he sat. Aki gave a bow, and then left the room.
"That wasn't fair," Gene said.
"Quiet and wait for our guests."
In another room, Yue Fei stood upon hearing Aki's notice, breaking his meditative position.
"Admiral Heff is here? I have to see him," Yue said.
"Fei," Genbu said. Genbu was on the ground, still in the meditative position that Yue had been copying only a moment ago. "Sit."
"But the admiral!"
"Sit. Or you have learned nothing," Genbu said. His words were commands, absolute. Yue hesitated for a moment, and then sat down. Aki didn't say a word. She left the room and returned to where Heff and Gene were.
"They will be with you in twenty minutes," Aki said.
"Tell them it is of utmost urgency," Heff said.
"They will be here in twenty minutes. I will get some tea," Aki said, and then left the room.
"What? That's not acceptable," Gene said.
"So be it. She's already gone," Heff said.
Aki arrived more than five minutes later with tea for the guests. She left them for another ten minutes, arriving again with materials to make fresh tea. She sat quietly at the table with the two men for another few minutes, and then started to make tea. She finished just as the door to the room opened.
In walked Yue Fei and Genbu. Both were dressed in loose kimonos. Yue was in blue, Genbu in green. Behind them was Miku in a yellow kimono. Genbu and Yue took their seats as Aki stood and left. She and Miku left the room after giving respectful bows.
"Is this the Comet of Helt?" Gene asked.
"Some have used that name," Yue said.
"Gene," Heff said.
"Fine, fine," Gene said. He crossed his arms and gave a small huff.
"Admiral Heff, sir, please forgive me for being unavailable until now," Yue said, and then gave a slight bow with his head.
"In many more ways than today. How long have you been here? Too long for us," Heff said.
"About a week, sir," Yue said. "What about that was too long? I thought my leave was approved."
"It was. But here you are in a place without outside communication. That's the problem. From here on it's military matters. Confidential," Heff said while looking at Genbu. Genbu sipped his tea, his eyes closed and face stoic. The admiral gave a small cough.
"Anything you say to me is information that my friend can hear," Yue said.
"No, this is secret. No outside ears," Gene said. Genbu opened an eye.
"You're in my house," Genbu said, and then went quiet.
"And who are you?" Gene asked. Contrary to his own expectations, Heff didn't reprimand him.
"Genbu Tenraijin. Better known as Heaven's Wrath Incarnate. Retired, of course," Yue said.
"The legendary general?" Admiral Heff asked.
"Please speak, as you know your words are fine here," Yue said.
"Yes, yes certainly," Heff said. He looked at Genbu, who still wouldn't return his gaze. "Here's the issue, Yue. Admiral Gim appears to be in a bind. A few weeks ago we received a report from him that he was under assault by a small empire force. It was just a report, saying all was under control. But a few days later, there was an additional report. And then another after that. Each one said it was under control. We haven't heard from him since. We cannot contact him either. The relay is still open, but no ships sent to Exoquis have returned. We fear that the enemy has taken hold of Exoquis, and hasn't closed the relay to us as part of a trap."
"Conventional speeds?" Yue asked.
"It's far. It's two months from the nearest coalition relay. Three weeks from the nearest empire relay, though now it doesn't matter for them," Gene said.
"So how large a force are we dealing with?" Yue asked.
"We don't know now. Gim's first report said two hundred ships, but apparently that was a diversion. Either way, it's small," Heff said.
"So you've been willing to send ships through, in hope that they'd send a message back," Yue said.
"Pretty much," Heff said.
"So we've lost the planet. A shame," Yue said.
"More than just a shame!" Heff said. "We need Exoquis. That is the closest relay to empire territory. If we lose it, then the war suffers a major setback. They will be able to coordinate better. This is why we spent so much effort getting Exoquis in the first place. In fact, Tenraijin should know about those times. It was a trying time, and we needed every advantage. Exoquis has been a boon for the effort."
Genbu nodded his head, but he said no words.
"Yes, but then, why are you here?" Yue asked.
"Your reputation as the Comet of Helt has been held in high esteem by several generals for a while. We would like you to take our forces into Exoquis. We want you to try your hand at regaining it from whatever empire general has stolen it," Heff said.
"Me? I'm not sure I'm the right person for this," Yue said.
"And you think there is anyone better? Look over this report from Gim. The last one we got before we lost communications," Heff said.
Gene pulled out the report and handed it to Yue. He took a few moments looking over the first few pages. He turned them slowly, analyzing them with thoughtful eyes. He put them down, and placed a hand on them. He then moved them in front of Genbu. Genbu also picked them up and looked at them. After he was done, he handed them over to Gene.
"This is odd," Yue said.
"We thought so as well," Heff said.
"Do you have any information on this Alquin person?" Yue asked.
"None whatsoever. If he's been in prior battles, he has done so without announcing himself. Or by joining into another fight. You well know how often that happens," Heff said.
"Yes. This is becoming interesting. I can see the use of the tactic, being a mostly psychological one. But its possibility of failure was probably very high. And Gim's attitude made it easy to take advantage of him," Yue said.
"Gim specifically? I would have thought more generals would fall into this trap," Heff said.
"Gim is a nice person. A good general, but a nice person at heart. So yes, many would fall i
nto this. I might as well. But probably wouldn't. Always assume the enemy is putting on an act, and never assume you know what his motives are. Gim had the first part down, but he didn't think about the second. He not only didn't assume what Alquin's motives were, but thought he didn't need to. It was overconfidence, stemming from years of defense of an impenetrable fleet. Its security was its downfall," Yue said. Genbu nodded slightly.
"Alright, but still too wordy and not clear enough," Genbu said.
"Fine, we assumed that much. So, what do you think, can you do it?" Heff asked.
"I'm still training here," Yue said.
"You aren't," Genbu said.
"But sir!"
"You're far enough. Just keep practicing and remembering what you need to work on. And I should say, Yue, I'm happy right now," Genbu said. His face was as solid and stoic as Yue had ever seen. Yue smiled slightly.
"Understood," Yue said. "In that case, I'll be on my way now, if that's fine with you, Admiral."
"Certainly. We've prepared everything already. You'll be off this planet before the day is over," Heff said.
"Thank you. I'll be out as soon as I say some goodbyes," Yue said. The door to the room was flung open. There, standing in the doorway was Miku.
"You're taking me with you!"
"Miku. You were listening?" Yue asked.
"You were going to leave without me. Weren't you?" Miku asked. Yue looked away without answering. "So you were!"
"Who's this?" Heff asked.
"My daughter. She will be accompanying you," Genbu said. "Please treat her with kindness."
"Daddy!" Miku said. She ran into the room and hugged him.
"I suppose there is no use arguing now," Yue said. He sighed slightly.
"And Fei, you know what this means," Genbu said.
"You're expectations are high," Yue said. He smiled, mostly out of nervousness. The weight of the new expectations on him felt weighty, but not overly so. There was a new feeling of responsibility. Genbu smiled.
"You'll do fine. She is safe with you. And if she weren't, that would only mean you wouldn't be around to be punished either," Genbu said.
"You make it thrilling to be alive, sir. I'll do my best," Yue said.
"Your best is better than anyone could hope for," Genbu said.
The formalities ended, and soon Yue Fei and Tenraijin Miku were on their way to the spaceport, where a new adventure awaited them. Yue asked Miku why she wanted to come along. Her response was: "To keep you in line and alive, of course! You're going in without a plan, after all."
Relos stood on the bridge of the Nirvash, cup of coffee in hand. It was late at night, technically. Relos never did understand how time was supposed to pass in space. He occupied his mind with thoughts of a lovely girl he had met on the planet. Then they turned to the mild blond who worked in engineering. He looked around the bridge and sighed. He was surrounded by men, much to his dismay. He smiled slightly, and then took another sip of coffee. The black liquid purged his thoughts and let him regain the standard expression he kept when in the presence of men.
Relos sat in the commanding chair, watching empty space. He turned his eyes to the giant structure in a part of the screen, the relay. He took a look at a hologram that detailed exactly how the forces he was commanding in Alquin's stead were set up. They were placed in key positions around the relay's perimeter. The moment an enemy dropped out of faster-than-light speeds, the forces would disable or destroy them. It had happened a few times, as the coalition had sent three recon ships. Two were destroyed, and the third had been disabled. The relay network allowed ships to travel at extreme speeds, but the downfall of them was that all travelers were limited to where relay points had been placed. It was only possible to travel from one relay to another or across relays instantly, but stopping always had to take place in the vicinity of one. The control of these relays, these marvels of engineering that allowed man to travel vast distances of space instantly, was key to the progress of the war.
Relos realized this, and smiled more. Alquin had secured the Exoquis relay, which would allow the empire to deploy further into coalition territory. He had also secured a large number of coalition ships, which were now part of the force that Relos was watching over. Certainly, whatever reward Alquin received would be more than justified. And this particular relay would be under Alquin's control indefinitely, whether or not the empire or coalition knew it.
"Relos, sir, a ship just dropped to conventional speeds. Coalition, a single cruiser. Shall we destroy or capture?" an operations person asked.
"Destroy immediately," Relos commanded. Soon a group of blasters had turned the solitary ship into dust. The momentary flash of orange and red had filled the screen.
"Sir, something is off. According to the readings, there were only basic systems. No communications were even attempted. Low mass. And the ship was stationary upon exiting relay space. I wonder. Was it even manned?" operations asked.
"An unmanned ship? A decoy, possibly," Relos said.
"It shouldn't matter, right sir?"
"Step up battle alert," Relos said.
Just as Relos spoke, the screen in front of him shifted. Relos blinked, opening his eyes to see several ships appearing. More than several, almost an entire fleet had materialized, all at once.
"A fleet? Blast. But no matter, we have the advantage. Open fire!" Relos said.
"Aye sir," operations said, and then relayed the message to the entire fleet.
The coalition fleet had immediately started attacking once they were at conventional speeds. Blasters and missiles filled the screen as chaos ensued. Several of the empire ships had attacked before being given the command, as the threat was obvious the moment the coalition ships appeared.
There was something odd about the ships, though. Relos looked at the screen closer, only to be shocked by what he was seeing. The coalition ships weren't being destroyed as quickly as Relos expected. In fact, most were completely unharmed. And each of them had a long line at the back of them. Each line was attached to a large rock, some as large as a small asteroid. Many were the size and mass of the coalition ships themselves, and had become the targets of the empire ships.
Relos ground his teeth for a moment, realizing that the rocks were causing the empire ships to automatically target them. He gave a command to the fleet, telling them to readjust their targeting.
The coalition ships had formed an expanding circle, and each one was traveling at great speeds, much higher than they could do battle with. As the circle expanded, it became apparent that the ships were on a collision course for the surrounding empire forces.
It was too late to have the fleet change positions. The empire forces, commanding mostly coalition ships, didn't have the time or maneuverability to get out of the way. The incoming ships were able to adjust their course to match however the empire moved. Several coalition ships were shot down before they could reach the empire ships, but the inertia that kept them moving was sure to damage the empire forces.
The coalition ships detached the cables holding the rocks and changed directions before colliding. The rocks kept on their course, several of them catching empire forces that hadn't been able to get out of the way.
Relos watched the ships on his hologram disappear as the strange tactic did its work. The Nirvash was maneuverable enough to avoid anything thrown at it, but nothing ever came from the front. The attacks that would make him shudder would come from the rear as the coalition ships that had broken out of the trap would soon turn.
Relos gave the command to turn the fleet. He felt a twinge of pain as several more ships were lost in the maneuvering, but didn't pain himself over the loss of mostly captured coalition ships. For a moment, he regretted taking command of the Nirvash, fearful that the ship may be damaged. He didn't want Alquin to worry about the status of his personal ship.
Alquin woke to the sound of an alarm. It wasn't an alarm Alquin had set prior. It
was the sound of an emergency alarm. The alarm's scream forced him to wake in mere moment. He was in a slight haze as he tried figuring out what was going on. He looked around and noticed that the room was dark. And then he realized that there was a voice in addition to the alarm.
"Commander Rinard! Sir! Sir, please answer! Are you there?"
"I'm here, turn off this noise!" The alarm stopped. Alquin stood and turned on a light. He noticed a clock. It was after midnight, locally. He wasn't sure what time he was adjusted to. All he knew was that he had been woken when he didn't have enough sleep. Which was bad for his temperament, but he controlled it anyways.
"Sir, emergency report."
"Hurry up with it." Alquin rolled his eyes, and then shook his head.
"Sir, a coalition fleet arrived via the relay about forty-five minutes ago. They were able to engage our forces. We've been sustaining losses, sir."
"Losses? How's Relos?"
"He's sent a request for aid. Thus the alarm, sir. We had no choice but to wake you. My apologies."
"Well you better have the full fleet ready to depart in no more than ten minutes! I depart the moment I'm ready!"
"Yes sir, already started, sir."
The line was cut, and Alquin sighed. He patted the side of his face firmly a few times. He wouldn't have time to shave, he realized. He donned his black and gold uniform, and then looked up at the ceiling. He saluted.
"I'm coming, hang on. I'll get those fools who think they can break through our strategy."
Alquin was soon at the bridge of an empire ship. He didn't mind the loss of captured coalition ships, though he did realize that they were staffed by empire personnel. He hoped they would be able to escape from any destroyed or damaged ships safely. Those that didn't would have to be honored afterwards.
The thousand ships that Alquin had originally taken to Exoquis launched. Several of the ships' commanders were ones that Alquin had personally recruited, so the coordination of these particular ships was good. Each commander had a miniature fleet under them, all eventually answering to Alquin.
Alquin looked back at Exoquis as the ship left the atmosphere. He hadn't had time to really enjoy his home planet, but that didn't bother him too much. He wanted to go back. But he didn't feel like he would be going back soon. Now that he was in space, he wanted to go to the places he had called home for the more recent years. He wanted to get Charlotte back. He had forgotten about her for a short bit of time on Exoquis. Between the extreme schedules he had been under and the mounting pressures from the plans he was putting into motion, it was no surprise that he had forgotten something that was supposed to mean much to him. Yet, for some reason, he didn't mind. He didn't regret forgetting for a bit. And he wasn't sure what that meant.
The view of the battle was a sobering one. There were damaged ships everywhere, but it was difficult to tell who was winning. At first glance, the ships all looked the same. There were a few ships that were empire in origin, but the dead coalition ships that littered the air made it seem like a massacre.
"Incoming communication. It's the Nirvash."
"Put him on," Alquin said. Relos appeared on screen.
"You made time for the fun?" Relos asked. He had a grin.
"Of course. Take a break from the festivities. We will handle it from here," Alquin said. A brief smile appeared on Relos. It was relief, though he had done it unconsciously.
"I can still fight," Relos said.
"I'm sure. So take a break and come back later," Alquin said.
"You'll be done by then!"
"So go take a break. That's an order, Relos."
"Yes, General. No, thank you, Alquin."
Alquin smiled. He gave a salute, which Relos returned. He nodded his head once, and then Relos' image left. It was replaced by the Nirvash, which started turning from where it was.
A brilliant image, the trail of a blaster, appeared for a moment. Alquin had blinked. Something had happened in that moment, but he wasn't sure what. His mind was racing, but he couldn't articulate his thoughts. Something happened, he kept thinking, but he couldn't say what. The second he spent in his mind seemed to be a minute. A flash of color appeared, staining the screen.
Another bright light of many brilliant colors distorted Alquin's vision of the Nirvash. Red, orange, yellow, and even a hint of blue. He could make out some green, but this rainbow of colors didn't mask enough of the truth. Alquin blinked again. His throat went dry.
Alquin looked at a console, and then started typing at it. He moved quickly, changing aspects of the hologram that appeared. Creating, modifying, and changing. He pressed a final button.
"Orders received and transmitted to the fleet, sir," an operations person said.
The empire fleet fanned out and began attacking in a coordinated manner. The empire ships stopped defending themselves from individual coalition ships, and started attacking coalition ships that were attacking allies. The empire ships were soon dominating, as they had started out with more ships to begin with. Their increased coordination and assistance of allies only furthered their advantage.
Neither side was able to gain a truly overwhelming advantage, causing the battle to continue for another couple hours. The empire forces had greater numbers overall, but the coalition forces were coordinated by an obviously skilled strategist. They were adept at avoiding losses and attacking in ways that Alquin couldn't anticipate. Nevertheless, his overall strategy was a solid one that his commanders followed diligently. The strain on the invading force soon became apparent.
The flight of several shuttles from various damaged ships obscured portions of the battle. Being the dominating force, all the empire forces were able to recover their allies without too much trouble. The coalition shuttles weren't as fortunate.
Alquin received a couple reports, one right after another. First was that a single coalition shuttle had been captured. The second was that there was an emergency message from the coalition fleet.
"It's a withdrawal notice, sir," an operations person said. A quick look at the battle screens indicated that the notice was honest. The coalition ships had started retreating towards the relay. They would soon be in position to flee.
"And?" Alquin asked, his tone flat.
"Er, should we stop attacking?" the operations person asked. He was surprised and dumbfounded that he even had to make the query.
"No," Alquin said. He crossed his arms and frowned at the images in front of him. Another coalition ship left the screen. Now half of the coalition ships had stopped attacking. Many weren't in position to, either.
"Get over it," said a man in communications. He had turned in his seat and stared at Alquin.
"What was that?" Alquin asked, his voice somewhat shaky. He stared at the man who had so impudently spoken out of line. Alquin knew what the man meant without thinking about it, but he forced himself to avoid thinking.
"It's a war, people die. Stop attacking. Let some of them live. Even enemies deserve the right to run away. Don't take your personal grudges out on others," the man said. The man's expression softened for a moment, and then he gave a quick salute. He turned around and continued with his duties.
"Stop attacking," Alquin said. He had given the command without thinking. He opened his mouth again to try and say something more, but no words came out. He didn't have anything he could articulate. His emotions wavered, unable to define themselves in concrete words. He could only look on as the coalition forces ceased battle and returned to the relay. Slowly, the ships started disappearing as they entered relay space. The last ship left the screen. Alquin waited a couple minutes, more than enough time for the coalition ships to move either several light days or light years away, and then gave the command to switch all relay travel to empire usage only. No coalition ship would be nearing Exoquis unless it came from a relay that was several weeks of near-light-speed travel away in coalition territory.
Alquin left the room. He was in a rush to get away, now that his duties wer
e no longer needed. He felt like he should stay to keep his mind off things, but that wasn't going to happen no matter what he did. He had wanted to reply to the insubordinate office, and he wanted to destroy the enemy that had taken away things that were precious to him. He knew war was brutal. He was the one who believed that the scale of casualty was high in all forms of war. He believed that the ends justified the means, just like everyone else. That was until it affected him.
The hallways of the ship seemed narrower than they were. Alquin stumbled through them, and then stopped. He put his hands on the wall and lowered his head. He felt nauseous, but the song in his stomach wasn't going to make its way out of his mouth. He let it pass, and then continued walking. He was asleep in his quarters before long. As horrendous as he was feeling, sleep came quickly.
"Yue Fei, otherwise known as The Comet of Helt, correct?" asked an imposing inquisitor.
"Yes, sir."
"We appreciate your promptness in responding to the summons. We will take it into consideration later when doling out punishment," another inquisitor said. The first man tapped some papers on a desk. The second man had a slight smile. Yue didn't appreciate the false sincerity behind it. A third inquisitor stared at Yue with hawkish eyes her behind horn-rimmed glasses. She was lacking smile lines on her old face.
"Punishment?" Yue asked.
"Yes. Why did you think we summoned you?" the first man asked.
"I didn't give it any thought, sir. I'll admit I've never been in your presence before, but I still don't understand what you mean by punishment," Yue said.
"I suppose congratulations are in order, Mr. Comet," the woman said. Her flat tone didn't compliment the sarcasm.
"Just what's going on?" Yue asked, somewhat exasperated.
"Yes, no more dawdling. You're under review due to the fiasco at Exoquis," the second man said. Yue gritted his teeth, the first time of many to follow.
"It was unfortunate," Yue said.
"More than unfortunate, Mr. Comet," the woman said. "You didn't take Exoquis back, causing severe losses for the coalition."
"No more than usual," Yue replied offhandedly.
"Quiet!" the first man said. "Usual? Is it usual to lose battles?"
"Yes, it is," Yue said. "Several campaigns I've been in have been losing battles. Like the fourth battle of Jenes, where I was deployed to offset the gridlock. The empire dispatched someone as well, overwhelming us. I was there to inflict more damage than usual. They outnumber us, after all."
"That's not what this is about," the second man said.
"Yes it is! You wanted to know if I lose battles," Yue said. "Yes, I've won several, most notably at Helt, but there's still things like the loss at Tindal. If it wasn't for me, we'd have been wiped out entirely. The disturbance I made by putting the two empire generals in each other's path only allowed us a way out of a losing attack. For all my wins, I've got two losses to go with them!"
"And yet you fail to mention that you weren't the commander of those battles. You were deployed there under another general's command," the second man said.
"Yes, and all those generals are alive and well," Yue said.
"No thanks to you, right?" the woman asked.
"I meant they are all still commanding generals. Celebrated and decorated for even those losses. You were the one who mentioned I probably saved their lives as well," Yue said. He was insistent in his words, but wasn't upset.
"That's a different case entirely," the first man said.
"How so?" Yue asked. The panel members looked at each other for a moment, but no words passed between them.
"After deliberations, we've decided to suspend your rank until further notice," the first man said.
"What? Why?" Yue asked.
"Your fleet will be reassigned as well," the second man said.
"You're taking my fleet? Fine. But just answer the question," Yue said.
"Another outburst and we will have to reevaluate our decision," the woman said. Yue stopped for a moment. His heart was beating quickly, and he could feel the sweat forming on his forehead. He told himself to be calm. Be relaxed. Speak to them calmly, he decided.
"Do you dispute the decision?" the second man asked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
"What are the merits of it?" Yue asked, calmly for a change.
"That is self-evident. That which isn't, isn't for you to know," the woman said.
"It's my life you're destroying! I had little ambition; I just wanted to help the coalition!" Yue said. He was losing his calm at the lack of feedback given to him. The panel members looked at each other again. They put their hands over their mouths and whispered things Yue couldn't hear.
"Upon further discussion, we are upgrading our report of you to possible treason. Say one more insubordinate thing, and we will imprison you immediately. This is your only warning. If you acknowledge, we will investigate without imprisoning you. As a reward for your promptness. Now that's off my conscience," the second man said.
Yue wanted to scream and yell about how wrong this was. How one-sided it was. It was as-if the only reason they even had him there was to annoy him, as their decision was already made before Yue came. Then it clicked. Yue wasn't here to defend himself. He wasn't being derided by this council because of their decisions. It was someone above them. Yue grit his teeth again, and then smiled. He couldn't change anything here. He remembered Genbu's training. Another flinch of pain and emotion flashed, but he suppressed it. He couldn't mourn now, it wasn't time. The wrenching pain in his heart was dulled while he forced himself to bear the inquisition.
"Acknowledged and accepted. Thank you," Yue said, suppressing the malice that had made its way into his speech.
"Excellent. Well, thank you for your time. You will be called in again when the investigation is complete. I suggest you don't make any extensive plans for the next few years," the second man said. Yue grit his teeth. Bureaucracy worked at the same pace it always did. But this particular length of time was a warning to Yue that he wasn't part of the military anymore. The message was clear. They didn't want him there anymore. Though he couldn't bear the disgrace he had to go through, he knew the reason why they didn't want him. It was all too obvious, afterwards. The only question Yue had was whether to capitalize on it. A while ago, he may have said no.
