Chapter 1
MIIO Directors Office, Avalon City, New Avalon, Avalon Combat Region, Crucis March, Federate Suns, 4thAugust 3046
Justin Allard sat at a honey-coloured hardwood desk working through the paperwork as the light faded outside and the corridors of MIIO were taken over by the night shift he was however stuck doing last-minute paperwork.
Sighing he rubbed his eyes and looked at the old desk was the same one all directors of MIIO had sat at in the same office each occupant had left their marks he looked over to a shelf and saw his fathers own contribution was an ornate clock that had supposedly come from Terra when the members of House Allard had left that world. It now sat in this office with a copy of Ill Principe next to it both a none too subtle reminder to him when he took over.
There was a knock at his door, frowning since he wasn’t expecting any visitors at this time.
He called out, “Enter.”
In walked a man who was of medium build with short greying brown hair and hazel eyes his Special Aide Luca Cummings who right now looked like he was about to throw up his face drawn and pale. Justin frowned worried as he looked the usually formal man over and saw he had a paper file in his right hand which he noticed was in a death grip.
“Luca,” he asked, “what’s the matter?”
The man seemed to take hold of himself mentally, “Sir, we just got a report from one of the Specials we inserted into the confederacy,” Luca paused as Justin brought the operation to mind.
He nodded bring the information to the forefront of his mind after the chaos caused by Romano purges and aftermath of the failed war of 3039. This lead to the creation of the Specials, were deep-cover agents that had been both altered heavily and selected for their skill and loyalty, spread throughout the confederacy by MIIO and DMI only he and a select few knew about their real identities.
“Who called in Luca?” He asked.
“St Helen’s Sir using the emergency contact method,” Luca replied in a steady voice.
Justin sat a little straighter his eyes bored into Luca like Yen-Lo-Wan boring out the cockpit of another mech. St Helen’s was a highly placed agent in the Mask, one he had set up himself who had risen through the ranks rapidly and distinguished himself as one of Romano’s stooges. If only the bitch knew he had put a spy on her, she was as blind as her farther.
“What have they reported,” he asked intently.
Luca worked his jaw trying to find the words then just handed the folder to him taking it he read the first line, and his eyes widened, and he felt a surge of shock and surprise pass through him. He carefully read through the document a sense of horror and anger coursing through him and when he got to the pictures at the back he had to with a tremendous mental effort stop himself from tearing up the photo as he saw the horrors that had been visited on the person in question.
He opened and closed his mouth and let the anger purge his shock, and in a voice of steel, he asked, “How long ago?”
“By mine and the cleared analysts sir,” Luca replied quietly, “eight to nine months.”
Justin nodded slowly keeping a firm control on his emotions, “Luca,” he ordered, “I want you to get in contact with the Heads of CID and COD as well as the heads of MI1, MI4 and MI6 tell them we have a Broken Mask situation we will be meeting in alpha in the next hour and pass to Rabid Fox team Gamma 2 and the LOKI team six-two who are training to improve interdepartmental coordination in the Southern Hemisphere to make ready for immediate operations.”
Luca nodded making a note on a pad he pulled from his pocket then Justin added, “I also want to have a message sent to Simon Johnson tell him we have a Broken Mask situation and to begin his sweep effective immediately.”
Taking a deep breath and then he added, “tell Hanse and Mel we have a potential Potemkin as well, and we are acting on it.”
Luca nodded, “if that will be all, sir?”
Justin nodded slowly and as Luca left he turned and looked out at the darkening sky his mind racing and praying that the person in the photographs would still be alive when they got to the, and if they and their family would ever forgive him for his screw up.
Also if he would ever forgive himself turning around and pressing his com, he dialled a familiar code.
“Yes,” came the tired voice of Ardan Sortek.
“Ardan,” said Justin in a controlled voice, “sorry to call this late, but I need your help on a small family matter that just blew up and shattered all over me.”
“Oh, what’s gone wrong,” he said calmly recognising the word choice as the code it was.
“One of the Corgis broke Candace’s favourite mask,” he said, “an old ceremonial one I need help glueing it back together.”
There was silence for several seconds, and the old soldier replied, “I will be right over you still in the office?”
“Yes,”
“See you soon,” he said and hung up.
Training Base Leek, New Hebrides, New Avalon, Avalon Combat Region, Crucis March, Federate Suns, 5th August 3046
The room was packed with a mix of DMI, LIC and MIIO uniforms most were sat down talking in hushed tones some had gathered around the pot of coffee in the back for this 0300 briefing which had suddenly been sprung on them out of nowhere.
Captain Hayden of Rabid Fox Team Gamma 2 sat in the nondescripts briefing room of Training Base Leek he was a short bald man who always wore a serene expression, people who
Didn’t know would think he was a priest rather than a hyper lethal killer.
The woman who sat next to him lazed back in her chair her everyday LIC uniform; most people would mistake her relaxed posture for arrogance until they got a look at Hauptmann Morgan’s eyes that were constantly scanning the room which he knew from the last month of training meant she was checking her escape routes and trying to figure out the most efficient way to kill as many people as possible.
“What do you think this is about Hay?” She drawled out, “ Outside of an op, surprise training or combat we rarely get roused out this early.”
“I have no idea Morgan,” he said, “but considering who I’ve seen in the room so far it has me thinking that this is a national emergency.”
“Oh,” she said, “who?”
“Very funny,” he said with a sigh, “you know who.”
“That I do Hay in fact….”
She stopped as the door to the room opened, and n everyone in the room stood to attention as Justin Allard. Then Ardan Sortek walked into the room followed by the head of various MIIO and DMI departments as well as the LIC liaison officer.
“As you were,” he said, and everyone took their seats.
“He looks tired,” Morgan murmured, “and he seems stressed as well.”
Hayden nodded at morgans words seeing the same thing in the Director.
The Director of MIIO looked as if he had been through hell in the last hour as he sorted through his files as everyone settled down to people not trained as well trained would not have noticed it however both he and Morgan were highly experienced in this business. They could read people, and they saw the subtle signs of only barely on the spymaster for the Federated Suns.
What neither of them thought needed saying was the lava-like anger coming off the Prince's Champion and old friend. He had a reputation of an honourable, and good man bu now seemed as if he was quite ready to slaughter anyone and anything just to vent his anger if he wasn’t keeping it under control right now he knew he would be getting ready for a fight.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said, “what I am about to tell you is classified Sword Two any word of the leaves this briefing room the consequences for yourselves and the nascent Federated Commonwealth will be dire if not fatal.”
Everyone in the room even Morgan sat straighter their eyes locked on Justin Allard, Hayden looked thoughtful at the Director waiting for him to continue.
A holoprojector flashed to life showing a face anyone who had not been living under a rock for the last decade would recognise, “this is Katherine Steiner-Davion,” he said simply, “or at least we thought she was up until a few hours ago.”
You could have dropped a pin in the room and out of the corner of his eye saw the now serious Morgan’s eyes narrow, and he heard her murmured, “Mein Gott.”
“That’s right ladies and Gentlemen we are dealing with a confirmed broken mask using hair samples taken when she was a baby. We have confirmed the Katherine Steiner-Davion currently on New Avalon right now is a doppelgänger,” Justin said into the stunned silence of the briefing room another picture came up on the holoprojector. He felt a sea of rage rise through the occupants of the briefing-room he detached himself and examined the image before him or a woman who was the same age as his daughter.
Her head was shaved, and her face was a mess covered in a mess of cruel surgical scars, one eye looked like a broken egg that showed how badly damaged it was from what he could tell the other looked dead and haunted. The camera zoomed out, and he found it harder to suppress his boiling rage, and he heard a sharp intake of breath from Morgan. Her arm left arm, and right leg was missing. She looked like a caricature of the health woman from before here body was skinny and laced with scar tissue he looked at scrolling text. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he read the litany of what had been done to her by those bastards and he heard Morgan’s quite cursing getting even more vicious.
“This,” Justin said calmly as a few voices started to cry out in rage, “is the real Katherine Steiner-Davion who is being held at a Mask Blacksite the man who took it over from its last CO is our man on the inside it’s where they keep people who Cappies never want to see the light of day.”
He paused his eyes surveyed the room, and then the Prince Champion spoke up, “and we are going to liberate her and burn that place to the ground.”
There was a deep growl of satisfaction that went through the people in the room and Hayden raised his and Justin nodded to him, and he asked in a surprisingly calm voice, “sir how long do we believe they had her?”
“Since just after she entered NAIS in 3046,” he said, “We estimate that she was taken between nine and six months ago, but at this point, we can’t be sure.”
The holo changed again showing a world brown, and blue with splotches of green and Justin said: “To the Cappellen Blacksite on Rollis we didn’t pick it up due to it being hidden in routine traffic to the system and codes using shipping manifest now that our agent pointed us to it we estimate the black site was set up before the start of the 4thsuccession war by Romano Liao as her private hell and only recently inducted into the mask fold.”
“You ladies and gentlemen will be hitting the camp which is hidden on the Spruce continent so far intelligence provided suggest the guards are two companies of Death Commandos and cultist,” he said as the display zoomed in, “your goal is to extract the Princess and our agent on the inside.”
“I don’t need to say this, but your priorities are getting Katherine Steiner-Davion out of Cappellen captivity, and back into the Commonwealth this has priority,” Justin said to the now quiet room.
“While you all are working on that,” said the Adran, “I will be hitting the worlds of Mitchell, Yuris and Jacson with a task force built around the Heavy Guards. The Cappellan won’t know what hit them as to your deployment you will be boarding the Dagger and….”
Two hours later the dropship Dagger lifted off from New Avalon heading to meet with the Jumpship and another one the Excalibur carrying the Prince's Champion set to meet with his task force while Justin Allard met with his lord and friend to tell him a fake had replaced his daughter.
MIIO Directors Office, Avalon City, New Avalon, Avalon Combat Region, Crucis March, Federate Suns, 4thAugust 3046
Justin Allard sat at a honey-coloured hardwood desk working through the paperwork as the light faded outside and the corridors of MIIO were taken over by the night shift he was however stuck doing last-minute paperwork.
Sighing he rubbed his eyes and looked at the old desk was the same one all directors of MIIO had sat at in the same office each occupant had left their marks he looked over to a shelf and saw his fathers own contribution was an ornate clock that had supposedly come from Terra when the members of House Allard had left that world. It now sat in this office with a copy of Ill Principe next to it both a none too subtle reminder to him when he took over.
There was a knock at his door, frowning since he wasn’t expecting any visitors at this time.
He called out, “Enter.”
In walked a man who was of medium build with short greying brown hair and hazel eyes his Special Aide Luca Cummings who right now looked like he was about to throw up his face drawn and pale. Justin frowned worried as he looked the usually formal man over and saw he had a paper file in his right hand which he noticed was in a death grip.
“Luca,” he asked, “what’s the matter?”
The man seemed to take hold of himself mentally, “Sir, we just got a report from one of the Specials we inserted into the confederacy,” Luca paused as Justin brought the operation to mind.
He nodded bring the information to the forefront of his mind after the chaos caused by Romano purges and aftermath of the failed war of 3039. This lead to the creation of the Specials, were deep-cover agents that had been both altered heavily and selected for their skill and loyalty, spread throughout the confederacy by MIIO and DMI only he and a select few knew about their real identities.
“Who called in Luca?” He asked.
“St Helen’s Sir using the emergency contact method,” Luca replied in a steady voice.
Justin sat a little straighter his eyes bored into Luca like Yen-Lo-Wan boring out the cockpit of another mech. St Helen’s was a highly placed agent in the Mask, one he had set up himself who had risen through the ranks rapidly and distinguished himself as one of Romano’s stooges. If only the bitch knew he had put a spy on her, she was as blind as her farther.
“What have they reported,” he asked intently.
Luca worked his jaw trying to find the words then just handed the folder to him taking it he read the first line, and his eyes widened, and he felt a surge of shock and surprise pass through him. He carefully read through the document a sense of horror and anger coursing through him and when he got to the pictures at the back he had to with a tremendous mental effort stop himself from tearing up the photo as he saw the horrors that had been visited on the person in question.
He opened and closed his mouth and let the anger purge his shock, and in a voice of steel, he asked, “How long ago?”
“By mine and the cleared analysts sir,” Luca replied quietly, “eight to nine months.”
Justin nodded slowly keeping a firm control on his emotions, “Luca,” he ordered, “I want you to get in contact with the Heads of CID and COD as well as the heads of MI1, MI4 and MI6 tell them we have a Broken Mask situation we will be meeting in alpha in the next hour and pass to Rabid Fox team Gamma 2 and the LOKI team six-two who are training to improve interdepartmental coordination in the Southern Hemisphere to make ready for immediate operations.”
Luca nodded making a note on a pad he pulled from his pocket then Justin added, “I also want to have a message sent to Simon Johnson tell him we have a Broken Mask situation and to begin his sweep effective immediately.”
Taking a deep breath and then he added, “tell Hanse and Mel we have a potential Potemkin as well, and we are acting on it.”
Luca nodded, “if that will be all, sir?”
Justin nodded slowly and as Luca left he turned and looked out at the darkening sky his mind racing and praying that the person in the photographs would still be alive when they got to the, and if they and their family would ever forgive him for his screw up.
Also if he would ever forgive himself turning around and pressing his com, he dialled a familiar code.
“Yes,” came the tired voice of Ardan Sortek.
“Ardan,” said Justin in a controlled voice, “sorry to call this late, but I need your help on a small family matter that just blew up and shattered all over me.”
“Oh, what’s gone wrong,” he said calmly recognising the word choice as the code it was.
“One of the Corgis broke Candace’s favourite mask,” he said, “an old ceremonial one I need help glueing it back together.”
There was silence for several seconds, and the old soldier replied, “I will be right over you still in the office?”
“Yes,”
“See you soon,” he said and hung up.
Training Base Leek, New Hebrides, New Avalon, Avalon Combat Region, Crucis March, Federate Suns, 5th August 3046
The room was packed with a mix of DMI, LIC and MIIO uniforms most were sat down talking in hushed tones some had gathered around the pot of coffee in the back for this 0300 briefing which had suddenly been sprung on them out of nowhere.
Captain Hayden of Rabid Fox Team Gamma 2 sat in the nondescripts briefing room of Training Base Leek he was a short bald man who always wore a serene expression, people who
Didn’t know would think he was a priest rather than a hyper lethal killer.
The woman who sat next to him lazed back in her chair her everyday LIC uniform; most people would mistake her relaxed posture for arrogance until they got a look at Hauptmann Morgan’s eyes that were constantly scanning the room which he knew from the last month of training meant she was checking her escape routes and trying to figure out the most efficient way to kill as many people as possible.
“What do you think this is about Hay?” She drawled out, “ Outside of an op, surprise training or combat we rarely get roused out this early.”
“I have no idea Morgan,” he said, “but considering who I’ve seen in the room so far it has me thinking that this is a national emergency.”
“Oh,” she said, “who?”
“Very funny,” he said with a sigh, “you know who.”
“That I do Hay in fact….”
She stopped as the door to the room opened, and n everyone in the room stood to attention as Justin Allard. Then Ardan Sortek walked into the room followed by the head of various MIIO and DMI departments as well as the LIC liaison officer.
“As you were,” he said, and everyone took their seats.
“He looks tired,” Morgan murmured, “and he seems stressed as well.”
Hayden nodded at morgans words seeing the same thing in the Director.
The Director of MIIO looked as if he had been through hell in the last hour as he sorted through his files as everyone settled down to people not trained as well trained would not have noticed it however both he and Morgan were highly experienced in this business. They could read people, and they saw the subtle signs of only barely on the spymaster for the Federated Suns.
What neither of them thought needed saying was the lava-like anger coming off the Prince's Champion and old friend. He had a reputation of an honourable, and good man bu now seemed as if he was quite ready to slaughter anyone and anything just to vent his anger if he wasn’t keeping it under control right now he knew he would be getting ready for a fight.
“Ladies and Gentlemen,” he said, “what I am about to tell you is classified Sword Two any word of the leaves this briefing room the consequences for yourselves and the nascent Federated Commonwealth will be dire if not fatal.”
Everyone in the room even Morgan sat straighter their eyes locked on Justin Allard, Hayden looked thoughtful at the Director waiting for him to continue.
A holoprojector flashed to life showing a face anyone who had not been living under a rock for the last decade would recognise, “this is Katherine Steiner-Davion,” he said simply, “or at least we thought she was up until a few hours ago.”
You could have dropped a pin in the room and out of the corner of his eye saw the now serious Morgan’s eyes narrow, and he heard her murmured, “Mein Gott.”
“That’s right ladies and Gentlemen we are dealing with a confirmed broken mask using hair samples taken when she was a baby. We have confirmed the Katherine Steiner-Davion currently on New Avalon right now is a doppelgänger,” Justin said into the stunned silence of the briefing room another picture came up on the holoprojector. He felt a sea of rage rise through the occupants of the briefing-room he detached himself and examined the image before him or a woman who was the same age as his daughter.
Her head was shaved, and her face was a mess covered in a mess of cruel surgical scars, one eye looked like a broken egg that showed how badly damaged it was from what he could tell the other looked dead and haunted. The camera zoomed out, and he found it harder to suppress his boiling rage, and he heard a sharp intake of breath from Morgan. Her arm left arm, and right leg was missing. She looked like a caricature of the health woman from before here body was skinny and laced with scar tissue he looked at scrolling text. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he read the litany of what had been done to her by those bastards and he heard Morgan’s quite cursing getting even more vicious.
“This,” Justin said calmly as a few voices started to cry out in rage, “is the real Katherine Steiner-Davion who is being held at a Mask Blacksite the man who took it over from its last CO is our man on the inside it’s where they keep people who Cappies never want to see the light of day.”
He paused his eyes surveyed the room, and then the Prince Champion spoke up, “and we are going to liberate her and burn that place to the ground.”
There was a deep growl of satisfaction that went through the people in the room and Hayden raised his and Justin nodded to him, and he asked in a surprisingly calm voice, “sir how long do we believe they had her?”
“Since just after she entered NAIS in 3046,” he said, “We estimate that she was taken between nine and six months ago, but at this point, we can’t be sure.”
The holo changed again showing a world brown, and blue with splotches of green and Justin said: “To the Cappellen Blacksite on Rollis we didn’t pick it up due to it being hidden in routine traffic to the system and codes using shipping manifest now that our agent pointed us to it we estimate the black site was set up before the start of the 4thsuccession war by Romano Liao as her private hell and only recently inducted into the mask fold.”
“You ladies and gentlemen will be hitting the camp which is hidden on the Spruce continent so far intelligence provided suggest the guards are two companies of Death Commandos and cultist,” he said as the display zoomed in, “your goal is to extract the Princess and our agent on the inside.”
“I don’t need to say this, but your priorities are getting Katherine Steiner-Davion out of Cappellen captivity, and back into the Commonwealth this has priority,” Justin said to the now quiet room.
“While you all are working on that,” said the Adran, “I will be hitting the worlds of Mitchell, Yuris and Jacson with a task force built around the Heavy Guards. The Cappellan won’t know what hit them as to your deployment you will be boarding the Dagger and….”
Two hours later the dropship Dagger lifted off from New Avalon heading to meet with the Jumpship and another one the Excalibur carrying the Prince's Champion set to meet with his task force while Justin Allard met with his lord and friend to tell him a fake had replaced his daughter.
