Grand Admiral Taylor and Fleet Captain Rou were going to have a meeting in the Lord Commander’s office at an early hour. Markus, was already sat on his fair enjoying his cup of coffee, a nice blend from Curacao, very aromatic. They were summoned to discuss the success of Operation Anvil and the future plans for the Legion’s flagship.
Admiral Taylor arrived first, she entered the room and the aroma of the coffee struck her in the nose. “Good morning Lord Commander. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting for long, Captain Rou should be here any minute now. Your coffee smells fantastic by the way.” Markus took a sip from his coffee. “Help yourself with some if you want and sit down. I can’t start my day properly if I don’t have my coffee, so don’t ruin it by rushing things, Chloe.” Taylor tilted her head and got a cup of coffee and sat with the Lord Commander. She got out her pack of cigarettes, the heavy ones that smelled pleasantly like vanilla to compensate a little for their bad taste. Markus frowned when she pulled that move. “You should quit smoking before it’s too late. Chloe, your skin and lungs will start falling off.” Chloe lit a cig and stared at the ash tray “I’m going to die anyway Markus, I’m going to enjoy as many things as I want before my time comes.”
That moment Captain Rou opened the door and hailed his two superiors. “Looks like the last member for this meeting is here, grab some coffee and sit down Daniel.” Rou acknowledged Markus’s request, he got himself some coffee and sat down. “Before we begin, we’re going to enjoy our coffee and we can forget our ranks for the time being.” They spend nearly half an hour doing nothing but relaxing before they got to the reason they were summoned in his office.
“I’ve summoned you here to congratulate you for completing the task you were given and bringing everyone home alive and to assign you a new mission. I have authorized the deployment of Polyphemus in Cortez and Coronado to observe and destroy anything that looks suspicious and you two will have the command. Your primary targets are Rogues, Outcasts and Lane Hackers that pollute those systems and are often spotted dealing in drugs and slaves. Your other target is the Colonial Republic, I want you to keep an eye on those damned flies and report every action of theirs directly to the High Command. We are currently in an agreement but after their last power trip we cannot be sure if they will turn on us again.” Markus paused to take a breath. “Your secondary mission is top secret and you will report that part directly to the Lord Commander via an encrypted channel. If information that we are spying on them leaks, we might have that war we prevented not too long ago. Any questions?”
Taylor listened carefully to what the Lord Commander had to say and some parts made little sense. “Markus, I cannot leave my post on Leniex as too many things depend on me. You know that because it was you who put me here. Unless that means that you’re relieving me?” Markus smiled naughtily at her “Not at all! You will continue doing everything you do now, plus directing and handling any requests from Polyphemus from Leniex. More work for you, I’m afraid.” Chloe let out a silent sigh and carried on with her questions. “On the classified part of the mission, you mentioned something about reporting everything to the Lord Commander and not to you. Anything we should know?”
Markus sat back on his chair and looked at Chloe’s ash tray. “This is a tough life we are living and we are forced to go on through many hardships. I may gave out not before too long so I made sure that my replacement will know about it in the worst case scenario.” Markus chuckled “But the truth is that I will be relieving myself from my duties very soon, I’m stepping down from Lord Commander for personal reasons that you do not need to know. I’ve already found my replacement so there won’t be a time without someone to carry the burdens. Anything else? Daniel, got something to ask?” Daniel replied negatively but Chloe was surprised by Markus’s words.
“Those are shocking news but I understand your sentiments. I’ll oversee Polyphemus through its new mission, be certain of it. It is sad to hear that you are stepping down and I really wished you were joking but I can see it in your face that you’re pretty serious about it.” Chloe stood up from her chair “Well, I have nothing else to ask and I should return to my duties. Am I dismissed, Lord Commander?” Markus glared at Chloe “After you clean the ash tray, you are. You too Rou, you are free to go. Sucks that you kept quiet through the entire meeting but I’m sure you’ve understood every bit of it.” Markus laughed and signaled them to empty the room.
