Imperial Star, Rosetta
1955 hours, 24th May 1450 A.B.S
“Still no sign?!” Daniel screamed through his communications terminal to the intercom of a patrolling soldier. He sat in the conference room where he had been for the whole day, coordinating the search for the Empress.
“None Sir, The locals aren’t helping at all,” replied the squad captain in a weary tone. Daniel had been contacting him around the clock and the constant prodding was beginning to wear on his nerves.
“Then search harder! Our deadline’s tomorrow noon. I want that girl found by midnight!”
“Yes sir!” the Captain said.
Daniel turned off the connection with an exaggerated sigh. “And where did that damned Tom run off to now?” He picked his pod and flipped out a holoscreen showing Captain Morgan’s orders. As usual, the report still had no detail on the significance of capturing the Empress. However, he had to admit the Captain’s clever use of the Revolutionaries’ attack to allow their troops free movement in the city was indeed first class.
The door to the conference room slid open and he watched as Jack came into the room with a broad smile on his face.
“Glad one of us is happy. I’ve had to coordinate the entire operation myself,” Daniel muttered angrily.
“Ah, sorry about that,” Jack said as he took a seat. “But to make up for it, I found some leads on the Emperess’ whereabouts.”
“What! Where is she?”
“Couple of locals claimed they saw her running around the backstreets this morning with a blue haired girl. And the same girl was seen taking her to the palace.”
“What? So you’re saying she’s in the palace already? But before that, how did you get the locals to tell you anything?”
Jack grinned. “Simple Daniel. Find a bar, get drunk and listen to the latest gossip.”
“So that’s where you were. Should have figured; You do realize we have till noon tomorrow right?”
“Cool down friend. We know the princess is in the palace. Now all we need to do is seize her.”
“But, just attacking out of the blue? We won’t have any excuses this time,” Daniel stuttered.
“We won’t need an excuse,” Jack replied as he stood up and went to the door. “Annihilate everyone in the palace. We can always place the blame on the Revols,” he said with a nonchalant smile that chilled Daniel to his bones. Jack always acted so easygoing and calm but inside, he was a ruthless beast who would do anything to complete his mission.
“I’ll order the attack. What about the blue haired girl?”
“Hmm? What about her? If she gets in our way, kill her. If she doesn’t, then she’s probably some childhood friend who helped her escape,” he said and walked out of the door.
“God, still the same as always,” Daniel sighed as he opened a link to all the squad captains. “Change of plans. All captains are to assemble their squads and purge the Imperial palace. No quarters are to be granted to anyone. Our priority is the capture of the Imperial Empress. I repeat, annihilate everyone and capture the Princess. God be with you men,” he ordered, and shut off the link. Sighing loudly, he sunk in his chair. “And God forgive us all.”
Imperial Palace, Rosetta
2030 hours, 24th May 1450 A.B.S
