Soon after the Pioneers left the open cave, it collapsed behind them. There was a part of Daniel that winced at the loss. There might have been more Litradia still in the facility, but now it was buried and gone forever. Fortunately, he’d managed to replenish some of his stock while he was on his way to rescue the others. He’d flown through a lab with another half-dozen syringes in a cabinet and had stopped to grab them. The Imperium’s top scientists would doubtless work hard to replicate the stuff, but the more they had of it, the better.
Speaking of Litradia, now that Daniel thought of it, it was entirely possible that the serum was the item that’d been codenamed ‘Philosopher’. If it was, then they had actually achieved their Main Mission’s goal and were due some fabulous compensation. No matter what, the Pioneers would still likely be rewarded for such a valuable find. This left two flies in the ointment—the revelation of his System and his killing of Lieutenant Korta.
Killing your commanding officer was a serious offense, but Daniel hoped that there would be some leniency considering the circumstances. The man had clearly been operating in a corrupt fashion, and Daniel had struck back in self-defense, so no self-respecting jury of his military peers would be likely to convict him. Especially considering his heroics in the facility afterward. Those truths were made complex by the difference in status between Daniel and the lieutenant. The Korta clan would probably try to get him convicted. All the others in his immediate group swore to him that they would testify on his behalf, to the point that a part of Daniel was tempted to try for another cover-up. If he could alter all their footage and swear them to secrecy, he could remain below the radar and avoid any court-martial or other messiness.
That plan was spoiled by one irrefutable fact. Daniel had learned from the others about how Harold Goldstein had run away from their fight and abandoned them. The data in his Codex said that the man was still alive, meaning that he was out there somewhere. There was no chance that Daniel could get Goldstein to agree to a cover-up, even assuming he had the chance. Trying to do so and failing would only be more ammunition that would be used against Daniel. So, he would likely need to grapple with disciplinary consequences in the future. That situation was made even more complicated thanks to the revelation of the System, but Daniel had a plan for that.
He still hadn’t shown off the System’s ability to interface with machines or cover his tracks, and it would be difficult for anyone to detect his initial cover-up. Some might be suspicious, since his past data uploads had been tampered with to omit the System’s full capabilities. However, that failure could easily be chalked up to weaknesses in the Empire’s technology when interacting with extremely advanced Meta tech. Such weaknesses were well known and even demonstrated by his Codex’s own confusion when dealing with the System. Technically, both were Meta tech, but comparing the two was like comparing a grenade with a nuclear weapon. Daniel could plead ignorance of the Protocols’ presence within his Integrated Tech, before ‘discovering’ them when finally reaching the Ocean planet. Any prosecutor would have a hard time proving that he had deliberately withheld information, unless Jordan and his other friends gave him up.
That just left dealing with the fallout of having the Protocols revealed to the world. The efficiency and power of their stat boosts would be clear to anyone who saw him toss Korta around like a ragdoll, meaning that he would be in an interesting position politically within the Empire. He could only cross his fingers and hope that his worst fears wouldn’t come true, and that the Duceps wouldn’t abuse him too much.
That said, there were a few bright spots to being unmasked. The presence of the System would ensure he wouldn’t get the death penalty, assuming it couldn’t be stripped from him. The Duceps would never voluntarily throw away a powerful weapon. And if they decided to force him to stay in the military for life and accelerate his growth, that would be manageable as well. In the past, he'd worried that they would pump him full of resources with little regard for Psionic poisoning, limiting his lifespan then classifying him as a living weapon to be used against the Empire’s enemies. However, now that he’d discovered Litradia, those concerns were significantly allayed. Any lifespan damage that he’d take could be healed with the substance, or a close duplicate. The possibilities and implications were endless, and they swirled around Daniel’s head as he and his team swam back to the drop pod.
As they swam, they contacted their allies on the planet and informed them that the sunken Republican ship had been destroyed. They had confirmed as much before beginning their journey back. That meant that this mission was over, and rather soon after it began. There would be some who didn’t believe them and went to check the crash site themselves, but eventually command would call off the exercise and order everyone back to the ship. In the meantime, Daniel and the others intended to have a nice time on the beach, possibly hunting the local wildlife and growing even stronger. A part of Daniel was tempted to absorb the Gamma class stone he’d retrieved, but he rejected the notion. Delaying absorbing it would be smarter. If he used the resources at his immediate disposal to grow a bit stronger first, he would be in better a position he’d be in to absorb it. In theory, the Empire would eventually claim his entire inventory, but not until they got back to a FOB.
As for Korta’s Codex, Daniel had considered breaking the lock and rooting around within, but he’d discounted that as well. The Korta clan probably knew what resources Marko had come into battle with. If he broke the lock and took or disturbed something, he risked revealing the System’s tech manipulation abilities. It was safer to hand the Codex over to the proper authorities.
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With all that out of the way, there was still one big thing that needed to be cleared up. Emily Sillica had been following their group this entire time, as they swam back to their drop pods, a fact that puzzled the Imperials. At one point, Arnold had coughed and said: “Well, we weren’t ordered to take prisoners on this expedition, and the Empire and the Republic aren’t currently at war, so if a certain someone wanted to leave, we wouldn’t have a reason to stop them…”
She looked back at him, deadpan at first before cracking a small smile: “Oh no, Master Sergeant Martel, I do believe I’m your prisoner now. I can hardly escape all these powerful guards around me, now can I? I’m totally outnumbered.”
That comment perplexed the Imperials, and they looked at each other before turning back to their Republican friend. Not one of them would lift a finger to stop her if she wanted to leave, thanks to the solidarity that they had built up over this short period. Seeing their confusion, she shook her head in dark amusement: “My situation is complicated. My whole squad got wiped out, and it would honestly be better for me and the people I care about if my military thinks I was taken captive. I technically abandoned my commander mid-battle, whatever my reasons. The longer we keep what happened under the ocean a secret, the better.”
That, naturally, elicited a lot of sympathy from the Pioneers. What kind of awkward situation was this woman in? Daniel happened to be nearby Emily when she explained this, and he reflexively reached out to pat her comfortingly on the shoulder. He froze in embarrassment after doing so, realizing that they didn’t even know each other that well and that she wouldn’t necessarily welcome a random pat on the back. Emily didn’t seem to mind, even giving Daniel a genuine smile, and all the other Imperials gave her a few of their own comforting words before they continued on their way.
Rather than immediately returning to their original island, however, they decided to stop at another smaller island nearby. The Pioneers chose to do this because there would likely be other Imperials on their original island, some of whom may want to hassle Emily for being a Republican. It was better to keep their ‘prisoner’ a secret from the others for now. The soldiers spent the next few weeks waiting for the mission’s end, but that didn’t mean they stopped being active.
One local fish with a shrinking ability was very common in their immediate area, prompting some men to compete to see who could catch the most of it within a limited time frame. To make things more interesting, and fairer for the fish, they prohibited the use of Capacities. Daniel was also forced to operate blindfolded since he was Delta class. He was still a heavy favorite to win before Bob Forsythe came out of nowhere and claimed victory by a narrow margin. The bald man explained sheepishly that he’d grown up a fisherman, giving him a lot of experience in herding and predicting fish.
The Pioneers also built makeshift huts and chairs, helped along by Arnold, whose stepfather was a hobbyist carpenter. They also managed to configure an umbrella with some sticks and a tarp, allowing them to lounge in the shade. The trees also grew a particularly round fruit that made for a pretty good football. Some of the guys tried to get a game together, only to run into a few obstacles. When the Pioneers struck the fruit with their normal strength, things tended to go poorly. Daniel learned this the hard way when he kicked one so hard that it burst instantly, covering him in sticky orange fluids and sending small chunks of fruit everywhere. After that, the Pioneers decided to make a new rule. Whoever broke the fruit first automatically incurred their team’s loss, meaning that physical control was nearly as important as speed and strength. However, this rule also meant that the ‘ball’ wouldn’t travel very fast when kicked, relative to the soldiers’ running speed, since they all needed to hold back when striking it. They compensated for this deficit by forcing everyone to ‘run’ on one leg. Instead of regular dribbling, the Pioneers needed to keep the ball in the air with one leg while hopping along on the other. Use of the head was also allowed. It was hard to govern Reggie with these rules, so he was usually the goalkeeper, a position exempt from them. In exchange, the goalposts were quite wide and tall.
This improvised ‘sport’ wasn’t super balanced or reasonable, but it did create many entertaining moments and fun competition. It might seem irresponsible to be playing games on a dangerous alien planet, but the Pioneers had been through too much to care. They had been under so much stress and pressure this entire time that the release they gained from these few weeks was enormous, to the point that it was almost necessary. No one could bring themselves to stop, so they set a single man watch and let their hair down.
Another unique ‘attraction’ was Emily herself. Even putting aside the fact that she was a beautiful woman, she was a Republican citizen. While intergalactic travel did exist between the nations, tourism was broadly discouraged on both sides of the Imperial fence due to the Empire’s generally antagonistic relationships with everyone else. This was less true with the Coalition of Free Worlds, but many Republicans wouldn’t be caught dead in the Imperium, and vice versa. Most of the Pioneers didn’t come from the tourist-friendly worlds anyway, meaning that some of them had never even seen a Republican in person before, much less had an extended conversation with one. Everyone from the Empire was very interested in what the Republic was like, even those who felt negatively about it. It was a curiosity that Emily reciprocated, and they learned a lot from each other.
Daniel in particular spoke with her a lot, their conversations going on long into the night. She had been guarded about her personal details and circumstances, but after Daniel opened up, she decided to share a little too: “I lost my parents at a young age. I remember my father being a businessman who got into debt with the wrong people. When he couldn’t pay, his life insurance did. Poor mom tried to raise me as best as she could without him, but she passed away from a workplace accident around six years ago. My only real family left is my twin sister, Cecillia.”
Emily seemed to have complex emotions when she talked about her sister, like happiness, sadness, and worry combined, but Daniel soon learned that their relationship was a good one. He got Emily to tell him some positive stories about growing up with her sister, and the two of them bonded while reminiscing about family lost and family found.
The remaining weeks passed quickly on that small, tropical paradise.
