THREE

  Elvia Hotel, Haig, Tortsin, capital of the Tortsinan Empire

  July 27th, 2505

  A month has passed since Hawk’s re-assignment to Tortsin. It has been uneventful so far, which was a refreshing change of pace for her, for better or worse. Over the last month, she got herself acquainted with some of the Empire’s governmental entities. It did help her in learning more about the systems in play and the big players in it. From her room’s window, she saw the bright sky shining on the buildings across the Haig district. Tortsin itself would’ve been a nice planet for a vacation.

  Of course, Hawk was aware that her 3 month stay in Tortsin is not a vacation, but a reconnaissance mission to ascertain the state of things. When Hawk was briefed about her mission, the state of things within the Tortsinan Empire between its Cold War against the United Human Dominion, its territories and its capital, was to put mildly; a buffet of shit.

  This was an evident, given the protests by the the Tortsinan people as well as the rise of Proud Sons of Tortsin. They present themselves as the voice for the people. But in truth, they’re neo-fascist terrorists hellbent on bringing back the old Imperial monarchy. Hawk’s been keeping up by reading the news, mostly out of boredom.

  The Milky Way galaxy is on fire on many fronts, and no one seems to be putting them out. Hawk dressed herself with formal wear. A V-neck black suit, nothing more and nothing less. She was personally invited by Empress Anna Vollan to a ball event. “Good thing her title is just for formality” Hawk muttered. But again, she’s on a mission, not a vacation. She heard the knock on the door, then moved to open it.

  She sees young blonde woman, wearing a dark grey outfit more befitting for a royal guard. “Miss Kyra Henderson, are you ready to go?” addressing at the incognito Ranger. With how sensitive the mission is, fake identities are a necessity. “Yes, Sergeant Katrien Crusan. I’m ready to go” As she left her hotel room, and with her aide walking besides her.

  Ahmed would love the dance event if he was here, Hawk mused about her husband. However, with him and his air squadron being in another part of the Frontier Regions, he couldn’t come with her.

  Nonetheless, the event is on, and so is the mission. Not the usual kind Hawk is used to, but she’ll manage.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Imperial Palace Ballroom, Haig, Tortsin

  Hawk went inside the ballroom of the Imperial Palace with help of Sergant Crusan, surveying the scenery ahead. People dancing, eating, even laughing. But most importantly, the architecture and decor. She never cared much how the rich and powerful liked to spend their riches. To Hawk, the rich and powerful are nothing but a symbol of decadence and misery.

  Yet, she couldn’t help herself but feel respect for the architecture of at least one room of many in the palace. She could feel the air of authority and leadership, even in a party event.

  “Nice architecture, don’t you think?” Hawk heard the voice of the Empress Anna Vollan. A weathered woman in her early 50s sporting a light brown hair streaked with grey, wearing a dark blue suit concealed by a cloak and flanked by two palace guards of stature. Hawk bowed to the Empress, showing respect. “There’s no need to bow, miss Hawkins. We’re all friends here.” Vollan smiled politely.

  “Yeah, I’m mostly doing it so I don’t piss off the nobles and your guards and get my ass arrested.” Hawk said tactfully. Empress Vollan chuckled, finding a bit of admiration in Hawk’s sense of humor.

  Empress Vollan shuffled her face towards Hawk’s ear and whispered “Private Quarters in the third floor. One of my guards will take you there.” Hawk nodded slightly, to prevent suspicion.

  “In the meantime, please enjoy the party, Ms. Henderson.” Vollan kept her facade, with Hawk who returned the gesture. She glanced at one of the palace guards, who gestured her to follow his lead out of the ballroom.

  “This should be interesting.” Hawk muttered.

  “I’d exercise concealment, Ranger. You’d never know who might be listening” The guard remarked with a hushed tone, warning her to maintain silence.

  Hawk rolled her eyes, feeling less amused at what her mission has in store for her.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Private Quarters, Imperial Palace, Haig, Tortsin

  It has been 45 minutes since Hawk entered the Private Quarters. 45 minutes as she waited for Empress Vollan to enter and discuss things. In her line of work, Hawk experienced a handful of times where she waited hours. Given the topic to discuss is urgent, however, she was running out of patience.

  She glanced at a window besides the study desk, and considered whether to get out of here. Luckily for her, Vollan entered the private quarters before she took action.

  “My apologies, Ranger. Had to deal with some high-end clients. You’d think my title is for formality would make me less prone to converse with influential people” Empress Vollan scoffed. Hawk chortled “Well, it is a title of high-importance. Regardless when the Prime Minister and his Parliament run the scenes.”

  Empress Vollan blinked owlishly, “Too true. But on the other hand, you and I are not here for a social call nor discuss politics. So let’s get down to business.”

  “Please do. I’m starving for intel.” Hawk cocked her head, as Vollan noted the sarcasm.

  The Empress went to the operations room as Hawk followed her lead. It wasn’t as big as a war room, but had enough space to handle around 6-9 people in the table. At the far end of the table, a TV with a record player and a remote stood at a stand.

  “So, here’s the issue at hand.” Vollan pulled a small disk from her pocket, then inserted it to the record player. She picked up the remote for the record player and played the recording.

  “Around two weeks ago, a group of four individuals infiltrated a warehouse in the Verza district.” The screen on the TV flickered, showing security cam footage of the warehouse. One cam in particular showed the inside of the warehouse, filled with rows and rows of boxes and equipment. Within around two minutes of the footage, it showed four unknown individuals making a heist on the warehouse’s interior.

  The footage showed the thieves stealing two metal crates via a forklift. Vollan paused the footage and glanced at the Ranger, “Security guards attempted to arrest the thieves, but…”, Her Majesty pressed fast-forward on the TV’s remote, fast-forwarding the footage a little bit.

  The camera footage showed the security guards being flanked by 4 hostiles from the north and south sides outside the Warehouse, and fell on the floor. The ambushers meet up with the thieves, where one of them calls a radio. After a couple of seconds, a vehicle rammed through the Warehouse, giving seats to the thieves and their assistants and escaped the premises. Vollan fast forwarded the footage a little more, showing thermal imagery of the Warehouse. The camera focused on a small thing from the chaos, almost looking like a patch.

  Her Majesty stopped the footage and turned off the TV, where she glanced towards Hawk. “Forensics inspected the scene where they found the patch. It was colored in crimson red and a clawhammer at the middle.”

  Hawk’s eyes widened, “Crimson Iron.” She stated harshly. Empress Vollan nodded, “Yes, and the Imperial Intelligence Agency, which I’m sure you know of, were investigating leads, but faced roadblocks. Namely, Sons of Tortsin sympathizers and anti-Imperium anarchists.”, Vollan spoke the last sentence in venom, displaying hatred against those two groups.

  Hawk raised an eyebrow, trying to find where she is fit into this web between SoT, IIA, and CI. “And you requested me for this assignment because I’m a foreigner and an anomaly to SoT and their operations.”

  Vollan cracked a small smile. Almost like her father, She thought fondly for a moment.

  “Yes. That Warehouse contained fabricators that creates our serial numbers. IIA were informed by the intel your Rangers provided a month ago. Some of my people…” She paused to take a breath, “They believe the conflict between the Frontier Defense Alliance and United Human Dominion is not an issue the Imperium should deal with and we most focus on domestic matters at home and in our borders.”

  Vollan glanced away from Hawk and looked at the empty black screen of the TV. “My father… He abolished the role of Emperor/Empress and established the Parliament and position of Prime Minister. He believed that the fate and power of of our Imperium should be held within the people and that us as leaders must be held accountable.”

  Hawk awkwardly glanced at the door, as she felt tense about this conversation. While aware of the importance of politics, she’s more of a novice than an expert in these matters. And if she’s honest, she’s more comfortable talking with her fellow Rangers

  Empress Vollan shook her breath, and looked at the Ranger again. “You will be assigned with the IIA’s Special Service Bureau. One of their units is standing by Antwar District and awaits your arrival.”

  SSB, wonderful, Hawk wasn’t enthusiastic about it, but the mission is a mission. And sometimes, Rangers don’t choose their missions, especially for an important one.

  “Alright, who am I working with?” Hawk asked. The Empress brought a datapad to the Ranger. Hawk perused through the data, inspecting three SSB agents assigned for the mission. One agent in particular, however, made her pause.

  Agent Anya Hawkins, age 26. Callsign Raven. Her sister. Or in more technical terms, half-sister. She was born out of wedlock as both their father had an affair with an high-profile individual within the Imperium, 26 years ago. During her upbringing, Anya faced difficult time fitting with in the Hawkins family and being bullied, but her sister Kate always stood by her side and protected her. She was reported to be dead after the 2493 Primoor massacre.

  But in truth, she was taken in by agents of Tortsinan Empire during the chaos and studied in a boarding school, where she eventually landed a position at the Imperial Intelligence Agency.

  However, Kate wouldn’t know of this until the day she passed her STAR selection at the age of 20. Her father, William confessed his knowledge about it as he was informed by Imperium agents. This caused a rift between her and her old man, and Kate hadn’t talked to him ever since.

  Hawk looked at Empress Vollan, who was smiling wrly, “Well, I am not amused, Your Majesty. And putting aside personal feelings, I hardly imagine it’ll be easy with working with a family member.”

  Empress Vollan’s smile disappeared, her face displayed coldness. “I figured that, Lieutenant. That’s why I request you to not bring personal matters nor cause arguments with Anya for the remainder of the operation. Same goes for Anya, as well. My associates went to your hotel room, and sent your gear right outside the Private Quarters. It is for the best you get dressed fast, you’ll be sent to Antwar District. You can use the bedroom to gear up, but please leave your formal war in your bag.”

  Hawk nodded, readying up to get her gear bag. “Oh, and Lieutenant.” Vollan asked the Ranger, the latter obligingly glanced back to the Empress

  “If you think of smuggling Anya out of Tortsin, don’t. There will be dire consequences if you do. Are we clear” Vollan remarked coldly, her eyes scowled. Hawk licked her lips, then nodded “Crystal.”

  Hawk left the room and took her gear bag inside. As she went inside the bedroom on the far-north side of the quarters to gear up, her thoughts were mixed.

  “Work with my half-sister and not bring up family issues? Yeah, right. Bad enough that only me and dad knows Anya is alive.” Hawk muttered, to make sure she wasn’t heard.

  She sighed, and looked at the bedroom’s window. “Anya, if only you knew how much our family went through while you were gone. How much Maya went through.”