[h2]The Grand Conduit of Vitrium.[/h2]

Desa lurked in the shadows of Vitrium. She had been formerly contacted by Mayven Reigns for a sensitive mission within the Grand Conduit. Her target was a puppet of the Dominion, an outskirts senator named Mac Reed. A frail man hid under the thin facade of a decadent failing empire. 

The job had been addressed by Mayven Reigns herself. The details of her target took her to the theater in the Grand Conduit of Vitrium. Apparently, the OPAO through an informant of the Dominion was notified about this senator breaking down in the middle of his colleagues. Mayven saw it as an opportunity to lead a frightened mouse searching in the dark hungry for answers into the cat’s bed. Former Dominion officer Williams pulled some strings to get the next destination of Mac Reed, a theater where Desa kept a low-profile. 

It was not difficult to spot Mac, he made the fatal error of surrounding himself with 6 beacons of attention. The beacons were an exosuit escort team, a junker force shod up in rusty old Dominion technology toting their poor defense weapons. Before Desa could get herself over to Mac discreetly, he had already signaled his team to leave. 

Damn. Where is he going? Desa thought as she kept a far enough distance away while still maintaining a direct line of sight on Mac. He exited the theater and she made her way upstairs peering out of a window. 

Typical…thirsty dogs, why am I surprised? Desa reflected as she watched Mac Reed enter the nearby bar. There were four windows across the theater on the second floor, it was a hall that had several pieces of furniture for lounging. The space was designed for the theater’s intermission moments. The people who could afford the box seats would hang here as servers walked around with refreshments. The show staged today was not one of their most celebrated at the highest class, which meant Desa was safe to hang as her view allowed direct sight to the bar. 

[i]30 minutes later…[/i]

A drunk Mac Reed came fumbling out of the bar with his escort team. He was moving back to the theater as the first show finished wrapping up. Desa made her way back down into the dark theater room where Mac was last, her eyes trained on the door, Mac entered, and she moved into position. The team was ill-equipped and ill-trained, their gaze as was Mac’s was on the stage and not their surroundings. Desa, if she had cared too, might have been a little insulted by the Mayven Reigns assigning her to this job. Approaching the team from their left profile the alien on stage was making a loud noise which drew in their attention. Except Mac, he appeared more like he was about to fall asleep instead of being entertained. Then there was a brief pause. She could not move, yet she sensed something shifted. Desa was an Anubi, an Iyesi of the Anubi system where Princess Valshehk originated. Some Iyesi although not magical in nature, exhibit a form of psychic prowess, a sense beyond the five for the typical human, and her mental awareness cued in on the disturbance that interrupted her stream of consciousness. 

An apparition of some sorts, a form, a subtle, yet indistinct shape appeared close to Mac…then it was gone. Her body moved as intended but she fault exhausted. Before she could carry out her plan her legs gave out, quickly two men came to help which cut off her direct line of sight and as she regained her footing from the help of the two patrons…Mac Reed was gone. 

Desa slowly made her way out of the theater in hopes to catch a glimpse of the direction Mac would be heading in. As she fumbled outside, a car sped up to the curb and she got inside. 

A dark brown man looked over to her as he drove off, “I know where they are going, I put a bug on their vehicle, but how did he get away?” 

Desa took a deep breath, “I don’t know, there was something else there.”


[h2]The Empire Strikes Back.[/h2]

The stream of communications across the galaxy came pouring in from the OPAO’s central intelligence office up the ladder to the Executive Strategic Office. The state of current affairs was complex as Solis managed to squeeze through Oros and OPAO space, take a city on Thera, begin mounting strongholds on Ibirius, and advancing into the “Yanna” system to take Ibirius. The same momentum of force shocked the Dominion across the Saxony borders who pushed their arms forward attempting to meet the Solis lines in Yanna. The three powers were at war, and the OPAO stood idly by waiting for their time. 

One of the officers in the ESO slapped a letter down on the table of General Bernard’s desk, “General Bernard Sir, my apologies for the forwardness but this is timely!” General Bernard looked up from reviewing the preparation logs of the OPAO gearing for entering the war, “Well, then what is with the formalities officer?” The officer relaxed from an attention stance, “Of course, I received this information from one of our contacts in Beau, it appears a large fleet headed for Othae has been sent by the Dominion to reinforce their lines to crush Solis and Saxony from meeting their lines.” The General nodded, “Is there more?” The officer continued, “We are not sure but these reports claimed that they are not going to Othae to reclaim any lost ground…but to completely waste the surface of any life and resistance.” The General leaned back in his seat, “My God, get me General Octavia on comms in my office, now!” The General stood up from his seat in the command deck of the ESO Headquarters.

Upon entering his private office he walked over to a short ledge containing a bourbon bottle. Picking it up, he opened the cap and tipped the substance into a clean short class next to the bottle. A small elegant steel ice cooler was next to the bottle half opened from the last drink he poured. Lifting the lid off the cooler he used his fingers to pick up a square block of ice and dropped it into the small glass. General Bernard then sat down at his desk, he situated himself before a ping rang through the office. The old General waved his hand across his desk which immediately responded to his motions by projecting a holographic vision of General Octavia on the surface. 

“Greetings General Bernard, you requested my attention?” General Octavia asked before Bernard could brief her.

General Bernard always admiring Prime General Octavia’s demeanor began to report the recent details. She responded, “Well, I guess it is time for us to make ourselves useful then. Try to make connection with Solis and warn them about the incoming threat. I need Commander Nyx to be ready, he will be spearheading the defense of Othae. Also, have Nyx contact Major Baesili, I want her team fitted into SOL suits. I will meet Nyx at the front in three days, is there anything else General?” Bernard recorded his orders, “No Prime General Octavia, that is all.” Octavia signed off, Bernard looked down at his glass picking it up for a small taste of the good stuff, a nice warm feeling caressed his insides, “Time to become useful again.”