Chapter 109: The Seeds (Patreon)

Far above the city covered in black sand and grime, the people were living relatively clean lives. Though it was not near as dirty higher up, the smoke from the factories filled the air. That would not matter for most of the people there, though—their homes were covered, their only windows made of glass, not to mention they could actually afford air filtration systems. 

There was only one hotel on the entire planet in Sector 114. It was mostly used for people that were passing by and needed a place to dock their ship and rest. This time, though, they had some real guests that were there for the planet itself. They weren’t tourists, and they were easily distinguishable not only because no one wanted to visit this planet, but because of their distinctive glossy white uniforms. 

They had a golden dagger on the front of their uniforms, immediately distinguishing them from any other unit in the Richt Empire. There were four of them, and they were housed at the top building of the hotel. It had a great bay window, but only one stood watching the outside. 

Someone entered the room. Though it was the highest class building on the planet, it was still relatively poor compared to most places in the galaxy. They still had simple doors on hinges with knobs to open them. The door creaked shut. 

“Dagger Captain,” greeted the tall reptile man. “Despite the Softmerchant Corporations best efforts, they did manage to call out some mercenaries. I don’t think we have much choice but to abandon the operation at this point.”

“I see,” responded the one looking out the window—a woman with purple skin and black hair. She turned away from the window. “What mercenary company are they from?”

The reptile man walked further into the room and set a round device on the desk. “It’s the Archduchy, I’m afraid.”

“Damn. It’s always the Archduchy, isn’t it?” She walked around the room, looking at the shabby furniture that had been prepared. 

If it had been any other company other than the Archduchy, it might’ve been possible to simply wipe them out. But the Archduchy had better communications, and took better care of their own, than any other company in the Richt Empire’s present domain. Besides, most other mercenary companies were puppets of the Richt Empire, anyway. 

“Do we pack our bags?” The reptile man asked. The others in the squad all looked to her for her answer. 

She considered her answer for a long time, hesitating more because she disliked her own answer than genuine doubt. “We don’t have any choice, do we? I don’t want to be the one responsible for starting the Archduchy’s rebellion.”

Her men sighed, and then flinched when there was a sudden bang on the window. The Dagger Captain twisted her head behind her to see what had made the noise. 

It was a simple square scout drone. The Dagger Captain had seen and used these kinds of drones all the time. It had four rotating blades to keep it in the air, and it could not be larger than a fist altogether. It repeatedly banged against the window. What the hell is this doing here? 

“Back away,” the Dagger Captain cautioned, fearing explosives. “Keep watch on the door. It might just be a diversion for a separate attack.”

“Understood,” her unit, disciplined as ever, answered back. 

The drone was very evidently watching them, for it ceased banging against the window, and instead made other attention-grabbing gestures. After a time, the Dagger Captain realized it was motioning for the window lock. 

“I’m going to open the window,” she relayed to the rest of her unit. 

She walked forward slowly, undid the hatch on one pane of the bay window, and slid it aside. Wind howled into the room, and the drone quickly entered, taking position in the corner of the room. Everyone watched it tensely, their Primordial Energy prepared to go at any moment. The Dagger Captain put the window back on, and the wind died as quickly as it had come.

“Why’d you let it in?” one of her men asked. 

“It’s just a scout drone,” she replied dismissively. “There’s not enough space in it to have a good amount of--”

“Hey, soldier boys!” the drone interrupted her. She stopped talking and listened to the voice. It was a man’s voice, neither too deep nor too high, and it had a humorous bent to it. “I’m glad that you decided to let me in. I don’t think you’ll regret it.”

“What’s your purpo—“

“Oh, and don’t bother trying to talk to the drone. It doesn’t have sound capabilities. Maybe I’ll get a better one next time. Anyway, where was I… oh, right.” The man cleared his throat. “I have a little business deal for you all. Well, not business, and more along the lines of ‘work,’ but work is business and business is work, yada yada.”

People watched the drone, but seeing it didn’t have hostile intentions, they dropped their guard a little. 

“I’ll be forthright with you so that you might trust me a little more. I’m with the Archduchy of the Sleeping Giant. Though I can’t say I know exactly why you’re here, I have a little bit of a guess. Nothing big, of course.

“I’ll cut to the chase, because I don’t know how long it’ll be before this thing drops. I want to meet up in a neutral, quiet location. You might wonder why I’d suggest such a thing. I might not know much, but I do know this much—the Archduchy and the Richt Empire aren’t on the best of terms.”

Everyone in the room stirred. Is he suggesting that he wants to work with us Daggers to betray the Archduchy? 

Traitors weren’t uncommon in the Archduchy. Few places could be spared of that plague, and the Richt Empire was no exception, as much as the Empire’s propagandists would try to hide it. The issue was that the Archduchy had no traitors that stayed alive. 

“I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this.” The man paused for a while. “Now then, I’d like you to go to the old abandoned building near the commercial district of this city. As much as I hate to advise a future business partner to climb through mud and grime, you’ll probably have to. Now then… could I, uh… trouble you to open the window? You’ll probably want some time to discuss what I’ve spoken of.”

The Dagger Captain stopped for a moment, debating if she should let the drone go after what it’d spoken of. I don’t think meeting up could hurt us at all. We’d have to pass on word of what has happened here to Kranter, but that won’t be exceptionally difficult. Above all, all informants in the Archduchy are very valuable to him. 

The Dagger Captain opened the window, and the drone flew out with nary a word of goodbye. She watched it fly away, and down into the city. 

“Do you want us to send our own drone after that one?”

“No need,” the Dagger Captain said dismissively. “If he was open enough to tell us he was a member of the Archduchy, we wouldn’t want to spook him by tailing him.” She closed the window, and looked out across the filthy slums. 

“Maybe this visit won’t be so pointless after all.”