Planetside 2: The Path We Walk

by Xzeron2000

4: The Greatest Day

CHAPTER-4: The Greatest Day

“At the time, I had thought I’d previously had it all wrong. The Vanu weren’t going to lie to us, they were our saviors. They’d found Earth, after all. After the hype calmed down, and I showed the Priestess that video I mentioned, my opinions changed. We were going back where we started; to war with the Vanu. I would be damned to hell if I let that happen.”-Chairman Richard Hawley, New Conglomerate Commander in Chief
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“So, Priestess, where exactly WILL we be going, hmm? Some wonderland where aliens live? A barren planet? And what do you think will happen when we get there? Because I know, and it won’t be pretty. When those people find out that the product of all their time, their labor, their very soul was all a lie? That we tricked them into thinking we were going home, just so we could get away from some guys who, I might add, are supposed to be the legitimate government? They’ll revolt. They’ll take over that ship, and beat Earth’s real coordinates out of you, whether you like it or not. That’s why this can’t include civilians. Military, and nothing else, or the deal’s off.” Chairman Richard Hawley’s eyes narrowed and he scowled at the High Priestess, who was seated at the table opposite him.

The meeting table had seen much use in the past few hours, but most of the delegation from the NC had left to attend to other things that needed doing, leaving the High Priestess and Chairman Richard Hawley to duke it out over whatever issues they saw necessary to discuss.

As soon as the Chairman’s compatriots had left, the High Priestess told him the truth. It was a gamble, but a gamble she was willing to take. She knew Hawley couldn’t stand up to the Terrans for long, and getting off Auraxis would hopefully give both the Vanu and the New Conglomerate a chance to start anew among the stars; peacefully.

The Priestess knew that Hawley would need time to debate with himself about what action he was to take; these decisions were not made instantly, without any thought. She had confidence, however, that he would see the wisdom in her words, and submit to most of her ideas.

After fighting a person for the length of time she had been fighting him, she was very informed on the decisions Hawley made, and knew a lot about his personality from those decisions.

This, however, was unprecedented. She had requested that several of her top civilian scientists, as well as some of the NC’s accompany the ship’s crew to New Eden. The Chairman had flatly refused, and went on a rant that had just now ended about how he’d “not be able to control what they do when they get back” and how “the civilians will riot in the streets”.

The Sovereignty expected the very most from its citizens. They were to be loyal and devout followers of the High Priestess, and they would take their lives if the Priestess so much as lifted a finger. The Priestess had to remind herself that this was not the Sovereignty by any means; the people in the New Conglomerate controlled the government, and kept its leaders in power only if the decisions their leaders made satisfied them. Only with the emergency powers granted to the Chairman in this time of war and strife kept him from being voted back in, or out of office.

In the end, the Priestess conceded.

“Very well. To ensure your population’s behavior remains in check, we shall not allow any civilians on that ship.” Hawley visibly relaxed, some of the tension leaving his body language after the Priestess conceded to his idea.

“Oh, thank god. I was beginning to think you were going to fight me… I guess nowadays we don’t have time for fighting, do we?” Hawley chuckled, and sat back in his chair.

“Sometimes, one must compromise, Richard.” The Priestess’ face softened, and she put her hands in her lap.

“So, how’s your son doing? Last I heard, he got promoted to Acolyte.” Hawley said, and the Priestess’ expression darkened.

“How do you know about Jacob? I have never revealed his existence to… Oh.” She looked to the Acolyte on her left, and smiled. “I apologize for being rude, dearest son, but, what were you thinking when you told him about yourself?” The smile faded, leaving a wizened mother’s look on the Priestess’ face.

“It was in the interest of the Vanu, mother. I told him as the negotiations were initialized. I figured the Chairman needed a little insight on how we think before he dealt with us.” The Acolyte, Jacob, smiled at his mother, almost mockingly.
Said mother gave Richard Hawley a venomous stare.

“If you so much as lay a finger on him, none of your precious freedom fighters will be able to protect you from my fury, Richard.” She spat, to which the Chairman of the NC didn't reply. He just put his hands on the back of his head, and his shoe-covered feet on the table, and smiled for all he was worth. Which was a lot.
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The pink creature seemed to be at a loss for words. The infiltrator’s unexpected question had caught it off guard. The guards gave each other comical looks that said “Are you serious?”, and the pink creature just stood there, apparently at a loss for what to do as well.

The infiltrator suddenly heard lots of clopping sounds, and she whirled around to face five more guards, spears all pointed at her menacingly.

“Oh, come on. You don’t think I’m going to let you guys catch me that easy, do you?” The infiltrator then activated her cloaking mechanism, but the pink creature acted faster. The infiltrator yelped in surprise as she was enveloped in a blue field, and could not move, no matter how much she strained to get away.

“Shining, honey I need you in here!” The pink creature spoke, and the infiltrator’s mouth thrust itself open, her eyes widening under her mask once again. This was the second time she’d been surprised today, and she’d never been the type of person to be easily surprised.

Another creature, decked out in what looked like an officer’s uniform, reminiscent of the Terran Republic’s crimson and black, except the black had been replaced by white. The officer had a blue mane, white coat and had a shield with a pink star on it, accompanied three blue stars across the top on its flank. She had only been captured like this once before, and it chilled her to think about the experience.

The creature’s horn started glowing, and she could feel herself floating through the air, drawing closer to the officer. She writhed and kicked as hard as she could, and felt the control over her hands come free for a millisecond. In that millisecond, she pulled the trigger on her sidearm.

She was dropped to the floor, and she activated her camouflage once again. She quickly stood, and stepped up behind the guard officer, pulling out her mag-cutter knife, quickly slipping it around to the front of the officer’s neck, her other hand holding her pistol to his head for good measure. She de-cloaked, and the officer jumped as it suddenly realized what was happening. Luckily for him, the infiltrator wanted some answers. And, for those, she needed a bargaining chip.

“I want answers, now! First things first, where the fuck am I?” She tightened her grip on her pistol, and applied more pressure with her knife. The hostage creature’s breathing quickened, and she could practically feel the fear radiating off of it. When the pink creature, now confirmed to be a female by the tone of voice, stepped forward, the infiltrator stepped back and dug her knife in further. She could feel a little dribble of blood running down her thumb as she did so, and she mentally chastised herself. She couldn't kill her bargaining chip, could she?

“Alright, alright! I’ll tell you anything you want! P-please,” The female was on the verge of tears. “D-don’t hurt him! Y-you’re in the C-crystal E-e-empire,” It sobbed a bit. “Please don’t hurt Shining! Please! I’m begging you!” It resorted to crying after finishing its statement. The guards looked stunned, and, as far as the infiltrator could tell, green as grass. They looked like they knew what to do, but hadn't had any actual experience in a situation like this. So, she took advantage of it.

“I’ll give you anything you want, just… let me go back to my wife,” The officer in her grasp made a small hiccuping noise, and a little blood oozed out of the wound her knife had created. By the voice, she could tell that it was a male; and the use of the word “wife” confirmed her suspicion.

“Anything? How about a way home, huh? Or, better yet, a way to Earth, since this is clearly not it.” The infiltrator said menacingly.

“A-anything, just please!” the pink female sobbed. Her words, and the male creature’s had seemed sincere enough. The infiltrator had been in this kind of situation many times, and she could tell when someone was lying.
She weighed her options. Drop the officer and run, drop him and fight, or drop him and capitulate to the guards. She couldn’t very well drop and run, because she knew that the pink female would probably just restrain her again. If she dropped him and fought, she’d need to waste valuable ammo, undoubtedly call even more guards than there were on the scene, and eventually get arrested anyway. So, all she could do, she decided, was drop her captive, and surrender.

Author's Note:

A little bit of action, some family problems, and a cliffhanger!