Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 398: New Cerberus Recruits

Chapter 398: New Cerberus Recruits
"Let them in." The High Priestess pressed a button and answered. Then the door opened up and she swiped the hologram and it disappeared. Jace raised an eyebrow, she just shrugged. "What? I was browsing classified files."
Three humans and the dwarf walked into the room. The humans were dressed in the new Victorium uniforms. The dwarf was dressed in one as well, but it was looser and he clearly was uncomfortable in it. "What’s with these suits? They have no metal and seem like they don’t want to be dirty. What a shitty design?"
Captain Tyler nudged him. Then he saluted. "Captain Tyler ing for duty. How may we be of assistance?"
Jace groaned as he figured it out. Mostly because he just read a list of names of people who would have as part of his new unit. "You have got to be kidding. Are you sure about this?" Jace asked with doubt since this could end up really badly if he did not handle this properly.
Captain Tyler looked over at him in surprise while Gorund waved at him. "Hey Jace."
"Hey Gorund. You willingly joined?" Jace asked in doubt.
"They said they would put me in a position where I can tinker all I want. What are you doing here?" Gorund asked as he went to lean over and read the data pad. But Jace just turned it off. Causing Gorund to blink in surprise and look at him.
"Captain Tyler, Gorund Velwrench, Lieutenant Vaz, and Lieutenant Salunise. It is my pleasure to introduce you to your new commanding officer." Jace looked over at them and waved. "Major Jace." The High Priestess waved her hand at Jace. "Now I ask again, are you sure you want to start in the militia rather than the military? Was there a reason for this decision?"
"Umm..." Captain Tyler glanced at Jace nervously. They were still saluting, aside from Gorund who loudly ripped a part of his uniform.
"At ease. The proper procedure is to drop the salute after your existence is acknowledged." The High Priestess explained and waved her hand.
"Understood, we each have different reasons. The same is true of our subordinates. I personally want to ensure that I am part of this larger organization and that you won’t be taking advantage of us." Captain Tyler answered.
"I just want some useful materials. Apparently all the decent stuff is the property of the military." Gorund told them as he gave up whatever he was doing. Leaving his uniform torn on the shoulder.
Jace remembered something. "That reminds me. I heard that the military handed out hover plates to a private company."
The High Priestess sighed and brought a hand up to her head. "Yeah.. I heard. That is a new headache of mine. Apparently the engineers involved did not realize that the designs were privately owned. I already sent a notice to the people and gave a warning to the engineers. It won’t happen again. While the people using your design are trying to push back against it, because I am forcing them to either pay or do a complete recall." Gorund looked over at Jace in surprise. Jace never told him that he owned the design patent for hover plates.
"Thank you, I just wanted to make sure that everyone’s word is being kept." Jace smiled and the High Priestess scoffed at him.
"So... Major Jace is an engineer? Why are we under his division?" Lieutenant Vaz asked with a scoff. "I know Captain Tyler is a mech pilot, while the dwarf is an engineer. But I am a pilot, a fighter pilot at that."
"That is because Major Jace is not considered an engineer. Not to mention you two never said why you came to the military and not the militia." The High Priestess informed them while also asking them to continue.
Lieutenant Salunise spoke up next. She is actually a scientist. She was actually the scientist that the dwarf has the hots for if Jace recalls. "I heard you are doing some remarkable things with science. Nor do you plan to just horde it for the upper class either. That and a militia probably gets far less funding than the military."
Lieutenant Vaz grumbled, "yeah, okay. I figured I could fly a faster and more maneuverable craft if I joined the military rather than the militia. Not to mention the militia will probably have a bunch of set in place nobles who will be prejudiced against us."
"Good, now my next question. What did you feel about the attack?" The High Priestess realized they were immediately confused. Because there was an attack on the station recently. "By attack, I mean the sabotage and subsequent attack on the New Hexarian Republic’s capital." The High Priestess elaborated.
"Oh? That? I could not give a shit. I was a slave." Gorund was the first to answer. Then he began looking around. Then he walked over to one of the couches that were sitting nearby.
"I was on the other side of the planet when it happened but a number of my friends were on the main ship when it blew up. But I understand we started the fight, or rather our government started it. What they did was a strongarm tactic to end the war before more lives were lost. In a way, I can respect that." Lieutenant Vaz answered.
"I feel like I am having to explain all my theories again since a lot of my assistants were racist bigots who got shuffled back into civilian life." Lieutenant Salunise declared with a sigh. She brought a hand up and rested it against the side of her face.
Captain Tyler went stiff and seemed to contemplate his answer. "It was extremely well executed. It was surgical. But I also think it was a bit too good. It felt like they were too informed, I mean they knew about my mech which had only just finished." Captain Tyler pointed out and then looked at the High Priestess with suspicion. "How many spies did you have within our military and government to manage an attack like that?"
The High Priestess cackled for a moment before bursting into laughter. "I apologize. But spies are now fully in the domain of the Military Intelligence and Logistics Division, formerly of the Vexical Military but now of the Victorium Government and Military."
Captain Tyler did not seem satisfied with that answer.
"You read that the Victorium is split between three groups right?" Tyler nodded his response as the High Priestess spoke. "Well there is mine, the Military. Then there is the government. Then there is the new division, MILD. They hold sole control over spies and super advanced technological developments. So I can not influence anything regarding them. But we can ask Major Jace..."
Jace rolled his eyes. "We did not know about the second mech. I learned about it when I infiltrated the base. So then I proceeded to go through and sabotage both of them." Jace answered before looking back at Gorund. "You did not tell him?"
"Why? What’s done is done." Gorund answered with a shrug.
"Wait... are you telling me this guy is responsible for the attack?" Vaz asked in disbelief since Jace was not as well put together as he might have figured the responsible party was.
"He was given the task of disabling valuable assets. Of course he took some liberties with those orders since you, Captain Tyler, are still alive and we are able to have this conversation." The High Priestess declared as she leaned back and pulled out four more data pads from her desk.
Captain Tyler flinched and frowned. He was clearly having mixed feelings about what happened. But Vaz was the one who spoke up. "What did you do to the city? They said there was a massive explosion near the government building."
"Ah that..." Jace chuckled nervously and saw the High Priestess glaring at him. "I got a bit angry. A sniper used an anti-mech rifle on my head. My response was... a bit overkill."
"I will say it was more than a bit." Captain Tyler pointed out. "So what are we?"
The High Priestess looked at Jace. She clearly wanted him to answer. "We are the multi-tool of the Victorium. We work under either the Director of MILD or the High Priestess. When they have a problem we go in to solve it. Sometimes we will be tossed in a warzone. Sometimes we will be infiltrating foreign countries. Sometimes we will be on covert operations. Most of the time, we will be at a disadvantage." Jace explained proudly. "Are you in?"
"Sure." Gorund raised a flask. "Sounds like fun!"
"As long as I can do my work with decent funding." Salunise answered.
"It sounds like I will get decent work." Vaz answered.
Captain Tyler sighed, "okay... I am in."
Jace raised a hand and snapped his fingers. Then the data pads that the High Priestess handed to them lit up. All with the symbol of the Cerberus Special Response Unit. For now it was just a three headed dog. Part of his task was to finalize all of that information.
"Welcome to Cerberus."