by Jessie Wolf
“Wait, how is it you have all this intelligence on the Nakatoma’s Sister Gale? The best anyone here has been able to dig up on that family of whores is what is in the public files. Where did you find all this?” Telemann was only voicing every one’s own questions.
“Before coming here I was tasked to study the reports coming out of their Family Temple from the Silent Sister’s there. Most of what we learned is useless and unreliable, but there were rumors of her being some kind of prototype Second Generation Death Dealer. This was born out to be true during the war with the rebels. While she did share the technology with her family and whore, the only one who had any real training was Alice Wellington. Since then the four members of her family have not had any real training in how to work with their AIs or the rest of the second gen upgrades. Yes, they are powerful, but lack training. Thus making them vulnerable to close quarters combat.” When Gale finished her report on the abilities of the younger members of the Nakatoma family, everyone was more than ready to follow her advice.
With one Black Rose going after the six secondary targets, and the Crimson Shield handling Maiha and Alice they were sure to succeed. There was one person though that needed to be addressed, Dai Etsu Nakatoma. She was the real threat to the Imperial Temple, and Angela Walters was not going to let this fact go unaddressed. “What of Dai Etsu Nakatoma? Even if she is the only one to survive, she will be able to call on the Death Dealers that have sworn loyalty to the abomination for revenge. They may not fall underneath her command like the Nakatoma House troops, but they hold the abomination in high regard. There is no telling what they will do.”
“We kill her and her new husband, at the funerals for the others. Remember she is first and foremost a Reverend Mother, she may have left the Temple, but she will still follow her teachings. She cannot take any action until the souls of her family’s dead are laid to rest.” Catherine Shuellar said. She could already see where Sister Gale’s plan was going, it was perfect. “Then there is the seven month long period of mourning in which she may not have contact with the outer world. If Light, Daniels, and Moore, had not attacked them when they had but waited until the House Nakatoma entered the mourning period they could have won, as the Nakatoma forces would have been without leadership.”
“I doubt that Sister Catherine, it is a well-known fact that James Owens followed no faith. I don’t doubt he passed on this distasteful trait to his granddaughter. Dai Etsu may have followed the teachings and customs, but the abomination would not have. She was the real leader of the Nakatoma troops and the Death Dealers during the rebellion. However you’re correct in the fact that Dai Etsu will follow the teachings and customs. Yes, that is what we’ll do. We kill the abomination and the others tonight, then while they are being buried we take out the rest of House Nakatoma.” Telemann could almost taste the rewards for finally being able to remove the thorn that is House Nakatoma. “When do we strike?”
“Tonight just after zero hour hundred hours. By this time everyone will have returned to their dorms and will be asleep. Those fools in the Death Dealers will not be looking at the dorms and by then the security team manning the surveillance board will be half a sleep. With our built-in stealth packages we can move about without interference. So long as we use blades only no one will know we were even there.” Hubert’s even and calm statement of how when and where they should act was reassuring to those present. If anyone knew how to kill someone quietly and not get caught it was him.
“Then we are in agreement. The Nakatoma family dies tonight.” When Arnold finished speaking everyone just nodded their head yes and left his office. Once Arnold was alone he turned to the wall behind his desk and opened the secret panel that hid his remote access communication center. After setting it up and running a startup diagnostic program he sat back and waited. Within a few seconds he had a secure connection with Vega Prime.
“How may I direct your call Warder Arnold?” asked the operator at the other end of the connection.
“I need to speak with Cardinal Richelieu at once.”
“I am afraid that the Cardinal is not available at this time.”
“I don’t care interrupt him this is an emergency.”
“I cannot do that Warder. He and all the rest of the Temple Elders are in conclave. The doors to the Great Hall have been sealed.”
“WHAT?! No they must know what is transpiring here on Hades. Why have they entered conclave?” Arnold was almost in a panic. Here he was with an answer to all-out war with the Nakatoma family and the Death Dealers are Cardinal Richelieu has called for a conclave of the Elders. He had to stop this before things got out of hand. He may be a member of the Black Rose Brotherhood, but his reasons were not the norm. Unlike his brothers he was still loyal to the Emperor. If Richelieu has his way there will be war between the Imperial Temples and the new Temple of Ida-ten. A war they cannot win. He was a student of history, he knew that their chances of winning this war were not good.
Already they have gained fifteen hundred and fifty five followers. Once word gets out to the other schools and planets there will be no stopping the flood of recruits. Within a month their numbers will reach a point where not even the entire military might of all the Temple Guardians from every Temple throughout the Empire will be able to stop them. Then add in the fact that these new Temple order members will be made up of idealistic teenagers and young adults, nothing will be able to stop them short of every division of the Death Dealers.
“They gave no reason for the conclave Warder, only that they were not to be interrupted for any reason. The seal is on the inside. I do know that a recall order has gone out to all orders of the Black Rose and Crimson Shield.”
“Thank you Brother. I guess I’ll have to wait till they exit conclave. Good night, and may the Holy Light shine upon you.”
“And to you Warden Arnold.”
Arnold cut the connection and sat back in his chair. He played out every possibility in his head and they all came to the same two ends. The first was the destruction of House Nakatoma, Richelieu on the Imperial Throne, and the Temple of Ida-ten in ashes. The other was the total destruction of the Temple of the Holy Light and all its orders, and Maiha Nakatoma taking her place upon the Imperial Throne. Of them all it was the ones that had Richelieu sitting on the Imperial Throne that bothered him the most. Yes, he was a member of the Black Rose order, and a Warder within that order, but his loyalty to the Emperor never went away.
If the others were successful there would be no one to stop the Cardinal’s plans. As much as he wanted to believe they were doing the right thing something didn’t sit right with him. For a long time now he has been questioning his faith in the order and the Temple of Holy Light. But what can one man do against what has been one of the greatest pillars of the community for over four hundred years. He has tried to work within the system to bring about change. Not all that the Orders have done has been for the good of their fellow man. In fact all too often they have acted for only the benefit of the Orders and Temple.
In fact over the last fifty years it was as if the ancient Holy Roman Catholic Empire with their Popes have returned. Whole Houses declared Outlaw by the Imperial Temples snapped up in seizures to repay debts or fines to the Temples. Almost all of it going to the Temple of Holy Light and its orders. Now, because one House dares to stand up to the Imperial Temples and remove them as a threat to the common people, there will be a war of extinction.
The most disturbing thing is the fact that for the past four hundred and fifty years the Nakatoma Family has stood in the way of this happening. Because no one at the Imperial Temples wanted one of them on the Imperial Throne. Now, though there was an even greater threat to the Temples, and it was of their own making. If they had not arranged for the deaths of James Owens two children, he would not have used the Gift of Life Banks to create his granddaughter. They could have kept the Nakatoma Family fractured. This would have let them die off nice and quietly, but no the Cardinal, had to remove a
supposed threat to his power base.
However now they had a real threat to not only the Temples but the Throne as well. A child of not two Family blood lines which would be bad enough, but one from three of the most powerful blood lines stood ready to take on the Temples. One that had inherited a title from one of the most powerful commoners in all of the Imperial History. First High Lord of the Death Dealers James J. Owens, was a man that no one in their right mind would challenge. Of all the First High Lords, he was one of only three that could call down the full weight of the Death Dealer Divisions. Now his granddaughter had that power as well, plus by one simple act had won over their loyalty to the point that if she wanted it they would place her on the Imperial Throne by sundown on Earth Prime.
Now, those nine fools want to anger this girl, by attacking her family in their sleep. The foolishness of this was beyond absurd. If they let the Temple of Ida-ten grow and become the stabilizing influence it once was, then the Temple of the Holy Light could return to its true calling. However for this to happen the Black Rose, Crimson Shield, and Cardinal Richelieu needed to go. The only way for that to happen was for them to be destroyed by fire and sword. The more he thought about it the more Arnold realized he had to warn the Lady Maiha Nakatoma and her family.
It would be easier to warn the Death Dealers that were working as security for the campuses yes, but for this to work right and to keep the Emperor out of the fight, the Nakatoma’s must deal with this threat. If they could not do so without the Death Dealers coming to their rescue, there would be no stopping the Cardinal and his ambitions for the Throne. No, he was not going to let Richelieu destroy another House, and take the Throne for himself.
Turning to his desktop computer he opened a program that was hidden within a secret partition on the hard drive. No one would find this partition unless they knew the thirteen character password. The program he was looking for was one that only Imperial Command Staff had access to. If it had not been for his brother Eric giving it to him so they could talk to each other he would not have it. The fact that he did was an act of High Treason if he was caught with it. However this was one time he was willing to face the hangman’s noose, if it prevented Richelieu from completing his plans of Imperial conquest. Over the next ten minutes he carefully crafted a warning to First High Lady Maiha about the actions of his former compatriots.
To: First High Lady Maiha Nakatoma
My Lady Maiha, you do not know me, and I doubt that you will listen to me, but I will try my best to explain myself and my actions. My name is Warder Prefect Benedict Arnold of the Black Rose Order. This night nine of my former compatriots will attempt to kill you and our family. Their goal is to decapitate your new Temple leadership and end its return. Once this is done they will wait for your mother to enter the customary period of morning to kill her and destroy your House. Their goal is to set it up so that the Imperial Temples can seize your family assets. The reason for this is to better equip the Orders of the Black Rose and Crimson Shield. With these assets they can then place the Cardinal on the Imperial Throne.
At this very moment he has called for a conclave of the Temple Elders on Vega Prime. It is my firm belief that once this conclave breaks they will have declared House Nakatoma Outlaw along with the Temple of Ida-ten and all of its followers. With this declaration they will be able to wage a holy war against you and your family.
If this should came to pass you will face not only the two orders of the Imperial Temple of Holy Light, but all of the Temple Guardians for each of the six Temples. Their numbers are close to twelve full battalions in strength. Do not take Cardinal Richelieu lightly. The man has aspirations for the Imperial Throne. One way or another he will try to kill the Emperor and crown himself Emperor.
Do not try and trace this warning. As once it has been sent the terminal from which it was sent will wipe its hard drive and self-destruct. To save you the trouble of firing me I am also tendering my resignation and leaving the schools. Where I will go I do not know, but it will not be a return to the Black Rose order and Temple of Holy Light.
Formally
Warder Prefect
Benedict Arnold the twelfth.
Taking a few minutes to compose and send in his resignation Arnold sent them both and then shut down his computer after inciting the security protocols. He sat back once again and contemplated his actions. He only hoped he had acted in time to stop the Cardinal. Getting up from his desk Arnold turned off the light and got ready to leave, only to find he was not alone.
“So you are our Judas, as befitting your family name, Arnold.” Hissed Ronald Hubert of the Night Shadows secret order. There was no denying what he was there for. He was here to kill Arnold plain and simple. The twelve inch combat blade in his hand said it all. “How long have you been a spy within our orders?”
“I have never been a spy, Ronald. I have always been faithful to the Order and it Temple, but what you and the others would do this night smacks too much of earthly desire and hubris’s. I will not stand in your way, but I will make sure the playing field is level.”
“It won’t matter, one way or another, the Nakatoma blood line dies.be it tonight or six months from now their time is at an end.”
“So, I take it that the Cardinal has already given the order for their deaths?”
“Yes, His Holiness has already decreed them Outlaw and sentenced them and all those who would follow them to death. I just wish you could be around to see their down fall.”
“Oh, I do believe I’ll be around for a lot longer than what you believe, Robert.”
“You poor demented man. You have no chance against me. I have been trained by the finest assassins ever known to man. You don’t stand a chance against me.” With that Hubert lunged at Arnold with every intent to drive his combat knife in to Arnold’s chest.
The sound of the pistol in Arnolds hand went unheard thanks to the silencer on its barrel. Arnold fired until the magazine was empty and Hubert was dead. At point blank range right up against Hubert’s chest there was no way for the man to dodge the shots. The fact that he had been shot did not register with his brain until it was too late. He died before he ever had a chance to hurt Arnold. Arnold knew he had to get rid of Hubert’s body before anyone could suspect him. Looking out into the empty hallway Arnold quickly picked up Hubert and carried him down stairs to the schools furnace. Once there Arnold used Hubert’s own knife to cut up the body and throw it into the fire of the furnace. It wasn’t easy with all of the cybernetic implants, but with his own implants helping he was able to get the job done. As Arnold stood there with Hubert’s head in his hands he was reminded of something his father had once said. ‘Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight and always have a gun in a knife fight.’
Leaving the cellar and heading to his quarters Arnold had for the first time in a long time felt good about himself. He had warned the Nakatoma family of the threat from his former compatriots. The threat to the Emperor and the Empire that the Temples pose and finally he had evened the odds for the girls. For the first time in ages he was proud of his family’s heritage. Maybe in the years to come they will no longer call his family traitors, but patriots.
No one paid any attention as one of the teachers packed up his belongings. No one would see as a lone patriot placing his bags and belongings into the trunk of a hover car. Only the gate guard would bear witness to his leaving. It would be several days before anyone would know of the part this man would play in the coming war for the control of the Empire.
A few hours later a lone passenger would board the out bound drop ship headed for the colony planet of Key West. The last bastion for those whose only wish is to escape the worries of the modern Empire. They say it is a paradise of untold freedom. The inhabitants have a saying. ‘Key West it is a state of mind.’ It was kind of befitting that Benedict Arnold would catch the last flight out for Key West Prime.
2830 hours Maiha’s room…..
The constant beeping from the in school c
ommunication console awoke Maiha from what was just starting to be a very good dream. Rolling over she groaned as she saw that there was a priority one alert waiting for her. Alice just rolled the other way and pulled the pillow over her head. They had both been up for far too long and had had far too much celebration. As they ate with their new brothers and sisters of the five orders, papa and mama worked out a training schedule and study schedule with the Heads of the four schools. If it had not been for them Maiha knew she would not be anywhere near being ready for what lay ahead. For now though it was constant beeping that had her attention.
Sitting up she swung her feet to the floor. Giving Alice a loving look before stepping over to their room’s central desk and communications console her mood became fouler. The floor was cold on her feet, and that didn’t improve her mood. She had just gotten to sleep, a sleep that she desperately needed. In the last few days Maiha had, had a total of twelve hours of sleep. She was rapidly reaching her burn out point. Sure she was able to operate on little or no sleep for periods of time, but sooner or later the piper must be paid. Maiha was seriously considering saying to hell with it and going back to bed. That is until Dee De got her attention.
Maiha, the waiting message has an Imperial Command Security tag and encryption code. (Dee De)
“Say that again, Dee De.”
I said that the message has an Imperial Command Security tag and encryption code. (Dee De)
