[center] [h1][b][color=f72f39]Alexander Kherol[/color][/b][/h1] [/center][hr] [quote][color=f72f39][i]"Attention rebel forces. Your leader is dead. If you don't want to follow her, kneel."[/i][/color][/quote] He had no intention to be formal and courteous with this stern warning. He wanted serious business, and it showed in the language. The remaining Deilos ships that got left behind immediately self-destructed as a result. The rare few were then neutralized by the local defense forces. They would soon be trialed for war crimes and Alexander doubt any of them would get away with a firing squad, even with bribery or manipulation. Finally. Finally. The final ghost of the war had been eliminated, and threats (at least external) were extinguished. His years of hard work finally bore some fruits. [color=f72f39]"Wow, these kids did their work quite brutally."[/color] Long after the Xuanzang left, Alexander finally stepped foot on the Akriem's Razor. There weren't that much fighting on the way up to the bridge apparently. It is clear as days which were the victims of his soldiers and those of the kids. The former would finish their targets off quite quickly, so injuries were relatively few on their bodies. On the other hand, the latter's targets - the higher crew - were completely hacked to death. One with broken spinal cords. One missing fingers, melted hand and a stab in the legs and lower jaw. One completely blown up, his cooked flesh still smoking. And the other was decapitated. All of them were messy and brutal. Not that Alexander thinks these people don't deserve such deaths. He was in the opinion that all some people deserved was death, and he wouldn't mind one bit the brutal ends for these bloodthirsty monsters. Nevertheless, given they might not have personal connections to these folks, this might be how these people fight normally. "Sir, the ship navigation system still works but the control center is gone." An engineer onboard reported. [color=f72f39]"Is it destroyed?"[/color] "No, just...gone. It should be over there according to designs. But these's no pieces of it that I can say it's destroyed. It just vanished." [color=f72f39]"Ok..."[/color] His eyebrows piqued weirdly. He didn't know what sort of magic can simply just make something disappear like that. [color=f72f39]"Well, then we'll just have to tow the ship back. Scrap it for metals, we don't need this piece of crap in my fleet."[/color] "Yes sir." He shook off the thoughts and simply continued his work. Once Alexander was back on his carrier after inspection, he announced the cleanup operation for the rest of the remaining participants. They were to wipe off any traces of what happened today. By the next day, the routes would be back to normal operation, while the images of the destroyed fleet remnants would be displayed on the media as a warning and show of force.[hr] Following the inspection of his spoils of war is the routinely briefing. It is relatively short with most of the content directed toward further missions that needed to be carried out. Once it was done, every ship captain and officer proceeded with a salute one at a time before they left for their respective vessels. The last in the room was his flagship's captain, Carina. She didn't seem eager to rest yet apparently, being glued to the screen in front of her even as her colleagues have already left. [color=f72f39]"What seems to be attracting you there, Carina?"[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Hmm."[/color] She pinched her lips before passing her tablet over to Alexander. [color=0b4cb5]"It's the pilot's reports. Our first squadron didn't have sightings of the Xuanzang, but apparently the second one does, and they report neutral signals being flashed from the ship."[/color] Oh yeah, that thing. Its appearance over the entire battle was a strange event. And for what Carina just said, indeed it is strange. Of course, it made sense that they would hide from the Deilos fleet, and it also made sense that they would flash neutral signals to the combatants, assuming they didn't know the Deilos fleet before. But both of them back to back is a little weird. It's also possible that the Deilos spotted them and they chose to show their identities instead. But he didn't think the Akriem's Razor would have functional radars. His intel suggested that, but they could be wrong. The engineers were still doing their analysis, so he'd know soon enough. [color=f72f39]"Speaking of the Xuanzang, you seem to know that ship's captain?"[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Oh Natasha? Yeah she's my academy friend, remember?"[/color] Carina replied. [color=f72f39]"I...don't remember much. The name does click some buttons, but that's it. Maybe because I'm in Officer's Training all the way through."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Yeah probably...She and I were top students in navigation classes, so we talked quite often. Well, before you snatched me to your department!"[/color] Carina threw a jab at the Grand Admiral, to which he'd return an amused smile. [color=0b4cb5]"I thought she died during Proxima, but apparently she's still kicking around. Hasn't changed a single bit, still couldn't understand sarcasm. Her apparent love for vehicles got the best of her communication skills I guess."[/color] [color=f72f39]"Well, the war got it hard on everyone. You remember how those two kids, Ashton and Flame, and how they literally called themselves geniuses unironically?"[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Ah, give me a break! I never knew second-hand embarrassment was a thing until that happened."[/color] She shook her head hard. [color=0b4cb5]"But hey, it's nice seeing her still finding a job in the OIS after the war. And a pretty good one too. Tang-class ships are mostly reserved for skilled pilots."[/color] Carina searched the ship image just for Alexander to imagine. [color=0b4cb5]"I mean look at it. They have more tools with the ship so they wouldn't want a rookie at the helm."[/color] Alexander gazed through the different images of the Xuanzang online and was surprisingly silent for a long while. [color=0b4cb5]"Alex?"[/color] Carina curiously asked. [color=0b4cb5]"What's going on?"[/color] [color=f72f39]"I noticed something weird..."[/color] He took a few swipe over the different images before plugging it into a wire on the table for the hologram. [color=f72f39]"Do you have still have the data for that ship earlier."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Yeah?"[/color] Carina was still a bit confused but obliged anyway. As the two holograms appeared side by side, controllable by the panel near Alexander's seat, the Grand Admiral quickly pulled his captain and friend over to the side of the table. [color=f72f39]"You see that bridge?"[/color] He pointed. [color=f72f39]"The ship we encountered did not extend down to that area here."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Oh?"[/color] Carina took a few seconds to look over the two models. [color=0b4cb5]"Oh, it doesn't! It's a bit tricky to spot from this angle."[/color] Alexander switched the hologram setting for a complete sideway view [color=f72f39]"And look at the height of the ships. The Xuanzang from the online database is taller. By quite a bit. I assume that's the storage area"[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Yeah it is storage. I think the OIS wants to increase capacity."[/color] Carina also noticed something. [color=0b4cb5]"Does that engine look a little different to you? The shape is weird. That's military grade engine. How do they get that?"[/color] [color=f72f39]"Oh this looks fishy."[/color] Alexander walked back to the panel, his strides getting wider and faster. [color=f72f39]"What's the code they gave earlier?"[/color] Further inspection is required here. Something is definitely off. His suspicion earlier was tickling his senses again. Once Carina provided the code again, Alexander immediately called the OIS and requested special access, and not without threats delivered. [color=f72f39]"Alright, here's the ship's basic information. Captain: Crawford Everest. Last update: 8 hours ago."[/color] Alexander slapped his palm on the table. [color=f72f39]"That's not the Tang-class OIS Xuanzang. They lied to us."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Cheeky bastards. These two ships look similar in design it got passed our eyes while we were occupied."[/color] Carina checked the detail as well. [color=0b4cb5]"Apparently, there was an old design of the Tang-class. It was put in use for a bit, with a few ships being produced, but all of them have been decommissioned in favor of a more protected bridge and more storage capacity. All of them are scrapped now, and one was also named Xuanzang."[/color] [color=f72f39]"So they somehow got their hands on that Xuanzang."[/color] Alexander said. Illegal vehicles roaming around the galaxy bought over the black market is an Ascendancy issue. But the bottom line for this whole ordeal is: he just got fooled. [color=0b4cb5]"Natasha just mentioned she was heading to Plenty to deal with some sort of rebellion. I don't know if that's a bluff to throw us off or not."[/color] Plenty? That is an agricultural world. Coincided conveniently with the unusual spike in food price in recent months! It all made sense now. Those people are rebelling and doing some shady media blackout to hurt the Ascendancy economically, especially the military. And for those kids on the fake Xuanzang are in on it as well. [color=f72f39]"We want to cover all possible scenarios. We'll send ships on a search around the nearby sectors. For Plenty itself, we do have men on it yes?"[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Yeah"[/color] Carina knew exactly what's coming next. [color=0b4cb5]"I'll inform them."[/color] [color=f72f39]"Good."[/color] He never would have thought these immature unruly little ankle-biters had actually managed to fool him. Clever and smart of them indeed, throwing those information at him when he was not prepared to carefully analyze. Rebelling against the Ascendancy eh? They think they have what it takes to carry out a revolution? Brave, but now that they got his undivided attention, they would need way more than bravery and skills.