Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 415: Bullets for Later

Chapter 415: Bullets for Later
Twelve Hours before arrival in the Sakana System.
Jace was sleeping at the moment. Or at least that is what it looked like to anyone else. But in reality he was in the Arena of Warriors. He had been returning here every time he went to sleep. Now that he was off the colony station he knew for sure that whatever this was, was following him around.
Jace leaned down and to the side and drove the sword through the Knight’s chest. Jace stood shocked for a moment that he managed to land a fatal blow. While the Knight, which had turned gold at this point, slowly began falling apart. In place of it near the edge of the arena a new knight statue appeared. Made up of purple and black material as it stood in a different position.
Usually the knight was standing tall with the sword poking downward into the ground. But the new statue knight was different. It was standing tall with the longsword aiming upward. Instead of the flat end facing to and away from him, the sharp end was facing toward and away from him.
This was not the first time this had happened. It happened whenever he completed a ’level’ in his training by destroying the moving statue of a knight. It came back with a new statue made of a new material. It went from stone to bronze after the first time. Then it turned into iron. Next was silver and then steel. Then this last one was gold. Each time the statue ’woke’ up to fight it would turn from its material into a person. Then when he ’defeated’ them during one of the tests, it would turn back to the material it was before.
But this was the first time the stance it had while inactive had changed.
Jace looked around for a moment before walking over to the statue and tapping it. That would usually trigger the training for the next ’level’ but this time nothing happened. It did not move or anything. It was a cool and jagged material, it looked like it was obsidian.
After a few seconds he looked around and frowned. Usually he was able to start the next training and test. But this time instead there was a faint glow covering the other statues that were all made of stone.
Jace walked around for a few more seconds before stepping toward one and tapped it on the shoulder. When he did the statue began moving and changing into a person again. The samurai with the menpo stepped forward. They growled and Jace stepped back.
Jace watched as the samurai pulled his sword out of its sheath and pointed it toward him. Jace followed him out to the field and glanced at his own longsword that felt lighter and realized that his longsword had transformed into a katana. It was lighter and the way it felt in his hand was different compared to the longsword that was heavier.
"You have mastered those Medieval Knight’s lessons. But now you are training with me. I may be your second teacher but that does not mean I will be any less hard on you." The samurai declared as he spun his katana. Jace frowned as he realized the voice sounded off.
"Are we jumping right into it? I figured it would be like last time with some training in forms and then I would fight you." Jace pointed out as he tried to get a correct grip on the sword. It was a completely different design so he was struggling with it.
"Yes." The samurai answered and launched himself forward. Jace barely managed to side step a lethal blow as it cut his side open. "Like I said. I do things differently. So I will train you differently. In this case that means you will train by watching and countering."
Jace’s sword sparked as it brushed against the samurai’s sword and then as Jace pushed forward. The samurai slid back then around Jace before Jace felt a pain in his back as the sword slid inside. After that he felt something click again and Jace woke up in his bed in his room on the Wolfsbane.
Jace pulled himself up and checked the clock. He still had plenty of time. So he stood up and walked into the shower. "Solisa, did anything important happen while I was asleep?"
Her hologram did not appear this time. Instead it was just her voice. Her main focus was probably elsewhere, her ’body’ usually went where she was focused. But she could have multiple voices and part of her consciousness at other locations at the same time.
"Major Jace, there is nothing critically important. With that being said there are several minor issues that may need to be handled at some point in the next twelve hours. Including the fact that the officials at the negotiations with the Oda Empire are getting impatient and are asking what the status of the Wolfsbane is." Solisa informed him.
"Unless we get communication from the High Priestess or Director Fenrir, outside communication is low on my list of priorities, Captain Solisa. What else do you have for me?" Jace asked as he chuckled after stepping out of the shower. Going toward the small bag he had where his clothes were stored.
"There is an issue with some of the ammunition. It appears we were given the wrong crate by mistake. We were given two experimental bullets fit for Wildfires that are glowing slightly blue. I have failed to place the origin of their existence."
"Huh..." Jace thought for a moment as he pulled on black cargo pants. They went well with the black boots, black short sleeve shirt, black body armor vest, and the hat that had the word Cerberus on it. "Where are the bullets located?" Jace asked as an idea already began forming in his mind.
"The cargo hangar that you planned to use to board the other vessel through." Solisa answered.
Jace began pulling on more clothes. "Tell me exactly how it was listed and what it switched places with."
"It was just listed as extra munitions that came from DF manufacturing. It just switched places with normal bullets." Solisa answered.
Jace finished putting clothes on and then moved over to a secure cabinet. Opening it up to reveal a pair of aviators which he put on and connected to his communication device. Along with a few other pieces of equipment including his Pyre sidearm. "DF manufacturing. That is definitely the message for the origin of the bullets. They are coming from Director Fenrir and MILD but for some reason she decided to use back channels instead of any official ones."
"Should I change the origin after the fact?"
Jace thought about it for a minute before shaking his head and walking out the door. "No, if she did it she did it for a reason. I am heading down now to take a look at these bullets. Hopefully I will be able to figure out what they do with a little effort."
"Understood." Solisa answered, "In addition, it appears that translation has hit a standstill for the moment. The only information we were able to glean from the intercepted demon’s message is that they are racing to conquer us before another group notices our existence as well."
"Sounds about right. There were two hostile races involved in the extermination of the Xenar. If one notices us again then we might be on the other’s radar as well. See if you can figure out why we became the focus of attention again." Jace was walking down the hall as he answered. He still had to go get a primary weapon before they boarded the Fiji-8.
"Understood." Solisa answered before going quiet and presumably disappearing.
Jace stepped into an elevator and then a moment later he was joined by Vana who immediately handed him a data pad. "What is this?"
"Captain Solisa’s crew roster. She wanted to get your permission to pouch officers and people from the other divisions before she actually did it." Vana answered as she waved her hand and the elevator went downwards. "Where are you going? Personally, I need to go to the priority cargo hangar."
"I am going to the same location. Is it about the bullets?" Jace asked as the elevator began quickly descending.
"Indeed it is. I plan to get to the bottom of-" Vana started.
"Drop it. Something covert was done and as far as anyone is concerned those crates of bullets are just that. Crates of ordinary and average bullets." Jace explained quickly as the elevator stopped and someone joined them on the elevator.
Vana glared at him but knew better than to ask any questions out in the open. But after a few minutes they were walking off the elevator and toward the cargo hangar. "Major Jace. What do you know?"
"Enough. Now let me see what these are before we do anything else." Jace told her as they walked toward a set of boxes that looked like normal armor boxes. But when they got close Jace saw the top was cracked open so he pushed it a bit and pulled out a glowing blue bullet. Jace looked at the design and studied it for a moment before nodding. "I know what these do. Have them closed up and sent to secure containment. We will likely use these on a later mission."
"Understood. I will put them in the back of a cargo room and keep them listed as they are." Vana answered as she started tapping away at a data pad that she has in her hands.