Sanko took the folder, and Zeff watched her silently flip through its contents.
“Project Blacksong,” said Parson.
And the Gargoyle stopped flipping briefly, then continued.
“Those reports all confirm it. Gema Elroy sabotaged Blacksong. I’m sure you understand what that means, ma’am.”
‘Sabotage?’ said Ax. ‘Lawrence told us that Gema had killed an Intarian diplomat, so what are you saying now?’
‘I am afraid that information is classified,’ said Overra.
Sanko started handing papers off to Zeff. “And now it isn’t.”
Parson almost jumped. “Ah--! Um! Ma’am--those documents! They’re not really meant for other--!”
“Oops,” Sanko said flatly.
Parson just stared with wide eyes.
Overra remained calm, however. ‘I suppose that’s one way to negotiate. Fine, then. An Intarian diplomat WAS killed, but we have not confirmed who was responsible. Gema Elroy is a suspect, but she and her reaper are primarily wanted because they are traitors.’
Zeff was busy skimming through the report in his hands. It referenced some kind of information leak. The word ‘Blacksong’ was indeed mentioned multiple times. The text didn’t go into detail, but Zeff had seen reports such as this before. The vague language. An overabundance of codenames. These reports were from the Covert Intelligence Division.
Spies. Ramira would have been excited. Zeff, however, was not. There were few things worse than having to deal with people who lied for a living.
‘What is this Project Blacksong?’ said Axiolis.
“It does not matter,” said Sanko, eyeing Parson and Overra. “The point is moot. Even if Gema Elroy were attempting to destroy the whole of Intar, that would still not give you the right to detain her family members for more than a single day of questioning. And as we understand, you held Zeff for much longer than that and are in fact still holding his son.”
“Well, yes, but--”
“Unless you have further evidence that proves the other Elroys were conspiring with Gema in her sabotage, then you are obligated to release Zeff’s son now and stand down.”
‘Well, you see--’
“And as we do not currently have the time to conduct an investigation into your unit ourselves, you and all of your men will leave for Jesbol immediately and report to Field Marshal Jackson for a mandatory evaluation. If you do not comply with these orders--”
“Wait!” Parson nearly dropped his box. “You can’t just--!”
“Do not test us, Miles. Patience and mercy have never been our strongest points. If you have conclusive evidence, then present it now.”
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Cloak and dagger: 0
ReplyDeleteSledgehammer: 1.
Unless Miles wants to fight with Sanko, then that another matter.
ReplyDeleteThis is Parson Miles we're talking about, no doubt he wanted the sledgehammer in order to be sent to Jesbol and leave Lawrence to get the rest of the shaft while moving suspicion off of himself.
ReplyDeleteOr (horrible thought) unless he MEANT to get the Rheinhal garrison ordered out of Sair...
ReplyDeleteExactly
ReplyDeleteI did not like this woman before, now I do :D
ReplyDeleteSanko, any more chances that she's just casually ruined Parson's plan again with the next page...?
ReplyDeleteSo, Parson's schemes tend to revolve around him looking Stupid/Wrong/Oblivious while exactly what he wants to happen happens.
ReplyDeleteRight now he appears Wrong, and did something Stupid by handing that file over. Everything is probably going according to plan.
The best bet for Parson's plans to be ruined are Garovel/Hector and some sort of diplomacy from Atreya, because there's no way he could have accounted for that. Or for the Blackburns and Ibai with his semi-cheat powers, because no one was expecting the Rainlords to give the Blackburns mercy, and they have their own damning testimony to give against Parson.
How do you figure he gets the heat off of himself when he is currently getting stared down by someone older and scarier even than himself, and he now has to choose between fighting her now, surrounded by powerful allies, or when he gets his soldiers questioned for what he has done and they reveal his treachery. Unless he's got an ace up his sleeve that can remove Sanko from the equation (which he might) I don't see how he comes out of this ahead without massive pointless bloodshed from only good factions, which ultimately benefits Abolish and nobody else.
ReplyDeleteI would guess that maybe both his seeming loyalty and his shadow faction are ruses and that he and Overra are Abolish double agents working to turn Vanguard against itself, but for the fact that he has his career of brilliant service which he went to great lengths to conceal. Having that, just to confuse the few people who might look into his past seems like far too much of a long con for Abolish, especially when if it got uncovered it would mean so many people not dead for nothing.
Personally, I liked her from the start, at least after I realized that "I'm not here to fight" didn't mean "I'm a lazy bum, and I'm not going to fight, even if the situation demands it.".
ReplyDeleteGah. Crash and burn, I managed to read all 9 oaths in 2 days... I'm still hungry...
ReplyDeleteStill not trusting. Can't see the hook in the dangled present of info, but I'm pretty sure there's something iffy about to play out. <_<
ReplyDeleteI looked at is as she was there to give orders, the self assured attitude of a commander with vast experience. A fight implies there is opposition, pretty sure she feels she doesn't need to demonstrate her superiority.
ReplyDeleteDidn't you read the previous pages? Parson WANTS them all to leave. This was the only way to have it done without everyone there being suspected of being traitors. Parson is suspected, but only of being overzealous in his duties, not of being part of a secret plot to overthrow the Vanguard leadership. And his soldiers will be "questioned" by Lamont, who's loyal to his cause.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that all this can only be bad for the Vanguard, but fanatics who think "any means to an end" is ok are often immune to the idea that their unfettered methods themselves will lead to worse outcomes than not doing doing anything they can to achieve their goals. Or he might be a long-term Abolish spy. What better way to take down the Vanguard than to convince the Vanguard to do it for them?
Not that I'm weighing in on your theory, but Sanko said he would report to "Jackson" for evaluation, not "Lamont." Naturally, Sanko would know better than to send a potentially overzealous or corrupt unit to be evaluated by the same person who has been giving them their orders the whole time.
ReplyDeleteAh. Thanks for the correction. I forgot who was who.
ReplyDeleteWill that diplomacy involve Harpez Norez included?
ReplyDeleteHad to reread this page cause Sanko was just way too badass here lol
ReplyDelete{The word ‘Blacksong’ was indeed /mention\ multiple times}
ReplyDelete*Mentioned?
Got it, thanks.
ReplyDelete