Sigh. Things aren't going my way.
I wonder what can I do to fix this?
And why do I feel like there's something missing?
Like... something... intangible..."Argh!" Jacen screamed as he felt his legs half-collapse under him. His whole nervous system went into shock as a splitting pain wracked his brain, and refused to go away. Falling upon the floor, he moaned as he buried his head in his hands.
"You alright, Jace?" Aduna asked tenderly as she approached the young man, who was starting to tear his hair out from the pain.
Looking up with a distressed face, Jacen slid forward and gripped his demon tightly, trying to make the pain fade away.
"Blimey, Jace, you're white as a sheet," Aduna muttered in shock as she glanced behind her, and motioned for her mate to fetch Endarius.
Moving swiftly, Neros crossed the distance to Endarius's door, and rapped on it.
"What's up with him?" Endarius asked when he emerged from the door a few seconds later, though it felt like whole minutes to Jacen.
"I don't know," Aduna replied in a panicked tone. "He just fell upon the floor all of a sudden and he really looks like he's in intense pain."
Damn right I'm in intense pain, Jacen would've thought sourly, except he couldn't even get his brain to form those words. Second by second, he felt bits and pieces of himself slipping away, and his precious grip on sanity began to loosen.
Closing his eyes for a moment, Endarius focused on Jacen's mind, and cursed bitterly before moving forward to take the young man's head in his hands.
"Don't you disappear on us, kid," the Deritonian murmured as he gathered his powers to try and reverse the damage done. "Come on, come on."
Opening his eyes wide, Jacen screamed in agony, creating a mental shock-wave that pushed everyone away from him by a couple of meters.
"Woah Jace, it's us," Aduna tried to placate the agitated young man as they all got back to their feet.
Glaring at her with evil eyes, Jacen held his hand out as if to launch a strike, and paused.
Scrutinizing the young man, Endarius focused his powers in case he needed to shield in a hurry, as he tried to reach him once more. "Jacen?"
Putting his hand down, Jacen collapsed to the ground and stared at his hands. "I know. I know now."
"You know what?" Endarius questioned as he took a step backwards. For a split-second, there was a look of desperate fear within his eyes.
"I... I don't know," Jacen sighed as he smashed his fist into the floor. "I felt like I suddenly knew the answer, like I suddenly found it all. And then it slipped away from me."
"Good, good," the Deritonian mumbled to himself. "Do you know what happened, Jacen?"
"No. Not at all."
"You were thinking too much," Endarius explained. "You were contemplating the Source and got too close to it, thereby creating a sort of link to it. The resulting amount of data was way too much for your mind to handle, causing your whole essence to go into overload."
"Oh."
"I cut the link and cleared your mind of the unnecessary data already. I have also sealed off your mind from this so it doesn't happen again. But I must also ask you to try to avoid contemplating the Source again, for safety's sake. If you were overwhelmed, the sheer amount of raw... potential, would spill over to the ones you were closest to. In time, it could very well destroy the world as you know it," Endarius warned as he silently congratulated himself on his quick thinking. The truth was, he hadn't sealed off Jacen's mind. It was impossible to do so. For the pain Jacen had experienced was from a seal itself.
"I see," Jacen whispered as he closed his eyes.
"Stop straining against your bonds, kid. I know what it's like to feel trapped, to feel helpless, but honestly, sometimes it's better to remain where you are. Sometimes it's better not to know the truth. It could very well overwhelm you."
Closing his eyes to stop his tears, Jacen whispered his final reply before he disappeared from the scene, heading for a spot of serenity.
"I know."
"You lied to him," Aduna turned on Endarius the moment her master was gone.
"I know," the Deritonian quoted Jacen in a somber tone.
"But you're not going to lie to us," Neros noted as he leaned against a wall with his arms crossed.
"I'm not, because I'm not going to tell either of you anything."
"Hey! I thought we were in this together," Aduna protested.
"You two are his demons. If he asks you, you are bound by his power to answer honestly. We, that is to say, the other Deritonians and I, along with all of the creation underneath us, can't risk him finding out. What I can say is, if he ever does find out, which I sincerely hope he doesn't, yet know he will someday, we're all in for a load of shit," Endarius replied as he shook his head in sorrow.
"You're sure he will find out?" Neros asked.
"Dead certain. Come on, now, we all know Jacen. He's got this stupidly lucky knack of finding out the truth about things, whether for good or for evil. It's almost like there's always got to be something exciting happening for him, or his life-story just won't go on. All I can hope is that he'll be ready to deal with it when it happens."
Aduna gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand for a moment, before whispering timidly, "It's... it's her you're talking about, isn't it?"
Endarius's eyes bore down on her with a determined look, before he turned about and went back into his room. "I've said too much," he finished as he closed the door.
"I was listening that day, Endarius! You have to tell me! What does she have to do with him?!" Aduna wailed as she hammered on Endarius's door.
Shaking his head, Neros took hold of his lover and led her away. "Come on, love. You can't do anything more here."
Jacen roared with all his rage, the resulting sound echoing throughout the Canyon of Despair.
He knew Endarius had lied to him. Despite Endarius's brief experience in the mortal world, he still hadn't learned to lie worth a damn.
But Jacen also knew that Endarius wouldn't lie without reason, which meant this had to be something really serious.
Oh gods, why does this always have to happen to me, he thought bitterly.
Looks like I better stop thinking too much.
Must I?
Can I?
Can I overcome my inquisitive nature, and be content to stay within my chrysalis, for the sake of everyone else?
Is it worth it?The very first answer that came to his mind was no.
So be it then. He would stay in this canyon and continue screaming at himself.
And he wouldn't stop until the answer became yes.
"Alright comrades, it's time."
"Time for what?" Cheryl asked innocently. The whole team was gathered in Jacen's office, and from the way he had requested for their presence earlier, all of them knew something was up.
"I say it's time we take down that scummy bastard. Tonight, we're going on a raid. We're going to take on Limones' headquarters, and pull him in as our detainee. Or prisoner-of-war, depending on how you want to look at it," Jacen proclaimed.
Everyone's jaws instantly fell.
"Don't be such a bunch of sissies. We'll go in, take everyone out, capture Limones and drag him back here."
"Uhh. Sorry boss, but is it even possible? The six of us, only? Taking on his entire force?" Horace pointed out.
"Oh trust me, most of them won't be in this late. At least, they won't be normally, except I took the liberty of telling Limones that we were going to pay him a visit tonight. So all that'll be left are his best men."
The five other people in the room paused in silence, and glanced around at each other.
"No offense Jacen, but you're crazy," Jim raised. "What, someone had to say it!" he added when the others looked askance at him.
Standing up, the Grandmaster unrolled a map on the table. "None taken. Now let me continue my briefing. All we know about the local headquarters of the Movement is its location. We never had a look inside, so we don't know what the infrastructure is like, and therefore we're going in blind. That's not going to stop us though, cause we'll be barging in through the front door. I want you lot to use whatever I've taught you to take down everyone still hanging around in there. Remember, conserve your strength, recharge, swap opponents, and feint. Keep those four points in mind and abuse the methods if they work. And oh, don't worry, we'll probably have a couple of guests dropping in on us later to help us out, so it won't just be the six of us."
"I don't want to die today, Jacen. I have a future I still want to live out," Horace noted with a sideways glance at Imelda.
"Yeah well so do I. If there's anyone here who's the most at risk, it's me. You people will be going after his spare men and bodyguards. I'm going after the head honcho himself."
Moving forward to the desk and slamming her hands on the table, Kate drew her face close to Jacen's, before whispering fiercely. "I have a family to feed, Jacen. Now I never had a problem with your methods before, never had a problem with your operations, but this seems like a god-damned suicide mission. And I'm not suicidal. Don't you dare gamble our lives away on a whim like this. I'm out of here," she finished as she headed for the doorway.
"Don't you dare walk out on us, Kate," Imelda spoke up for the first time since she entered the room. "Or what, this team means that little to you?"
Kate halted and turned around with a stony face.
"We are a team," Imelda hissed. "It's just like Jacen said, the five of us are like a hand. Alone, we can't do anything, we can't grasp, nor can we control. We are nothing, nothing on our own, and everything together. If you walk out that door, we lose half our efficiency right away. We'll be finished the moment we step into the Movement's HQ. So are you going to leave us to die, or what."
Remaining silent, Kate stepped back to the group around Jacen's desk.
"I've procured a van. You're driving," Jacen announced as he tossed a pair of car keys to Jim. "Take a look at the map to familiarize yourself before we leave."
As Jim hunched over the map, Jacen took the moment to pull Horace aside for a moment, conversing in whispers. "Team's pretty volatile. It's going to affect the dynamics and efficiency. I don't care how you do it, get Kate and Imelda to patch up."
"You gotta be kidding me. That's a tall order, boss. Why don't you do it," Horace rebutted with a poke at Jacen's chest.
"Don't be a nincompoop. You're the closest to Imelda. Get it done," Jacen finished as he shoved Horace back towards the group and shut the rest out for a moment.
I need my equipment. This is it, the showdown, what am I going to need. Blessed amulet, yes, in case he tries something funny. Some of the latest developments too. God I hope I pull this off today, I'm practically staking all our lives on it."Jacen?" Jim queried.
"I'll meet you guys outside in the van. Go ahead, grab what you need from your labs and lockers, and we'll convene outside in five minutes."
Everyone immediately left the room.
Taking deep breaths to steady himself, Jacen glanced around the room, and found his gaze on Gerald Hunter's portrait.
Shaking his head in amusement, Jacen moved towards the portrait, and took it down. "I always did say Gerald could get away with anything."
Taped behind the portrait was a ring.
As the van trundled on towards the destination, Jacen smiled at Horace's hopeless attempts to get the two women talking again. On the bright side, Cheryl had also noticed, and was trying to help. On the other hand, none of them were succeeding.
In all honesty, Jacen knew there was no real need to get the two ladies to patch up. Their styles were largely identical, which meant the two of them did not really need to rely on each other except for additional support. If Horace succeeded, then good. If he didn't, at least it kept them all occupied till they got there.
Putting on his earphones, Jacen switched on his music and drowned out the chatter from the rest.
I'm about to walk into a battlefield I haven't even scouted out properly besides a few times passing by. This could be the day I get killed.
No, his mind refuted.
Think of it just like your RTS games. You never needed to scout there either, and why was that? Because you know. You know what your opponent is up to. You've always known. You know where his office will be. You know what traps he has set. You know it all, don't you?"I do," Jacen blurted out aloud in astonishment. The rest turned to look at him.
"Sorry, was thinking about something else," he hastily explained before replacing the earphone he had taken out.
Judging by the sniggers and wry looks the rest were giving him, he knew someone had cracked a joke at his expense, probably involving a wedding.
Ignoring them, Jacen went back to his own thoughts, drawing up what he knew of Limones and creating a psyche profile of the man.
By the time the van finally pulled to a halt, Jacen found himself more ready than he ever would've imagined he could be.
"Lead the team in," Jacen ordered Horace as they all disembarked. One of the few things he had learned was that a leader had to earn respect, and it was time for Horace to earn his.
The man stepped onto the porch and knocked.
Rolling his eyes, Jacen stepped forward.
Okay, maybe not. "We're an assault team, Horace. We don't knock," he reprimanded as he raised his hand and blasted the door in despite the psionic shielding.
"Go go go," Horace commanded as he rushed in, and began fighting with the people inside.
Immediately, Jacen began getting his customary headache from too much raw energy being released into the air. Sighing, he stepped in last, and assessed the situation.
They're doing a good job, Jacen noted as he counted three Separatists already on the ground unconscious, and the remaining seven banded together to conserve energy on shielding. In response, Jacen's team spread themselves out, enveloping them and forcing them to keep up shields in every direction.
Deciding to leave them be, he slunk off from the main battle, and slowly ascended the stairs into the dark corridor above.
"Why sit in the dark, Limones? I know you're here," Jacen announced to the dark area at large as he finished climbing up the stairs.
"Why not? I thought you loved the dark. It really does bring out the real you, doesn't it? But since you insist," Limones responded as he snapped his fingers, and a dim flickering light-bulb turned on, revealing the man in the center of the large room.
Approaching the table, Jacen appraised his surroundings. Unfortunately, he couldn't see anything beyond the tiny circle of light the hovering light cast, which was probably what Limones wanted.
The sound of a click was the only thing that alerted him, but it was too late.
"Victoria," Jacen addressed coolly, since she had his head at gunpoint.
"Hello Wayward. How good of you to drop in. Or should I say, how foolish," the ex-member of the Hunter Corp Executive Council replied.
"You can still walk away from this, you know, Victoria. Drop your gun and I promise you I'll let you walk away from this house untouched."
"How fascinating. And if I don't, Wayward? What will you do, kill my daughter? Oh wait, she's already dead!" Victoria screamed. "Dead by your hands! And you're going to pay for it, just as the other two responsible will!"
"Last chance, Victoria," Jacen replied calmly, as Limones watched, wary for a trick.
"Say goodnight, Jacen," she whispered in response.
Jacen clenched his fist.
The sound of glass shattering sounded from behind Limones as a bullet struck Victoria's pistol, sending it flying across the room.
Yet more glass shattered as another bullet found its way into the room, only this time it impacted with deadly force into Victoria Hoffman's brain.
The blood splattered across the floor, thankfully in a direction away from Jacen.
"Boom," Jacen declared as he flooded Victoria's mind with energy, putting her out of her misery.
Five hundred meters away in a high-rise building, Defender smiled as she put her sniper rifle back in her duffel bag. "Headshot."
The nightmare was finally over for her.
"How careless of me," Limones began. "It never occurred to me that your lot would procure sniper rifles too."
"Oh, we didn't really have to. We lifted one off Victoria, she's getting a bit careless in her old age," Jacen responded with a glance at the body.
Limones shook his head. "I should have just killed you the second time we clashed."
"You mean the time at the Botanic Gardens? Yes, you should have. Unfortunately, you were too arrogant to. That's your mistake there, Limones. Hubris."
"Yeah, well, sadly for you, I can overpower you. You don't have the sheer force to take me on. And you're not walking out of this building alive."
Jacen shook his head. "I think not. In fact, both of us will be leaving this building alive. Well, you will be semi-alive, but still breathing, at least."
"And who's the one with hubris now?" Limones sneered. "Back up your threats with force, son. Except you don't have the power to. I, on the other hand, have gotten the newest technology developed by my scientists. Psionic amplification crystals," he laughed as he lifted an amulet out of his shirt.
"That could be trouble. I suppose I should do something then. Endarius!" Jacen summoned.
In a dramatic cloud of smoke flashing with lightning, the Deritonian appeared.
"Cut the theatrics. I want you to alter reality."
"No can do, Jacen. You know the rules."
"What I know is that the rule says an exchange can be made if things are fair. And that's what I want. I want you to remove all of Limones' psionic energy permanently, of all types except light and dark, and do the same for me."
Endarius hesitated for a moment, before smiling as he realized what Jacen was up to. "Acceptable," he nodded before disappearing.
"Fuck," Limones muttered as he felt his stolen power fading from him. "What the hell were you thinking Jacen? You just went ahead and sacrificed all the power we had!"
"I suppose I just did," the Grandmaster laughed bitterly. "You know what I've learned? It's not about the amount of power you have. It's what you do with it that counts."
"Yeah well, eat this then," Limones snarled as he fired a powerful blast at Jacen, who didn't gather his powers to do anything.
"I don't think so," a voice announced as a shield appeared to deflect the blast.
"Fuck this," Limones cursed again as the Trickster stepped into the circle of light. "How the bloody hell did you get in here?"
"Climbed in through the window," the Trickster replied simply as he reached into his pocket and drew out the Regenesis amulet, clutching onto it tightly.
"But you're not supposed to interfere! You're neutral!"
"Not anymore. As of a week ago, the Trickster has officially joined the Clan in its war against the Separatist Movement, on several conditions that we were happy to agree to, things that we were going to change anyway," Jacen declared.
"This stinks to the core," Limones muttered.
"Believe me, I know," Jacen sighed.
Five minutes later, the stand-off was still ongoing.
I'm going to have to kill these two, or knock them unconscious just to get out of here, Limones decided.
The Trickster has the Regenesis amulet, whereas Jacen has the same amount of raw energy as I do. I on the other hand have this stupid amplification amulet that doesn't seem to be doing much.Jacen felt sweat pool beneath his palms on the table as he glared at Limones.
I can't beat him alone. For that matter, if he goes all-out this very moment, he'll be able to overpower both the Trickster and I with brute force because of the amplification. I've got to keep him from realizing that. I need to buy us more time.The Trickster stared unwaveringly at Limones, as he stood at the edge of the circle of light.
Heavens above, I can't do this. He's going to kill both of us. I thought Jacen had a plan! Where is his backup?! he panicked frantically as he felt another sweat drop beat on his forehead.
"You do know that you'll never get past my people downstairs, don't you," Jacen declared.
"Oh? I thought my people would've taken care of them," Limones replied smoothly.
The Grandmaster shook his head. "If your men had won, they would be up here by now. My people on the other hand, were given strict orders to wait downstairs once they finished. Maybe I shouldn't have given those orders."
"Well, then, are we going to stand here till dawn then? Why don't we just get it over with?" Limones challenged.
Jacen sighed. "My my, where is your sense of drama, Limones? Don't you know standoffs have to include men standing around in dramatic positions, exchanging useless small talk, before the fight begins?"
"I tire of small talk. This has dragged on long enough. Oh I get it... You're buying time for the Trickster to regenerate his energy, aren't you? Damnit I should've seen through this from the start," Limones thundered as he raised his hands and fired psionic blasts at both of the young men.
"He's cottoned on," the Trickster shouted in alarm.
"I can tell, thank you very much," Jacen responded as he put all his effort into shielding alone.
Where the hell are you?!The Trickster thinned the radius of his shield, choosing to dodge several of the blasts in an effort to minimize energy loss. It was a risky tactic, but served him well.
"Enough!" Limones roared as he slammed the table from the side, sending it flying across the room to block up the stairs. "It's time you two died."
Steadily being pushed back, Jacen and the Trickster found themselves forced into a corner, and all too soon, Jacen's energy stores were depleted.
"Die, fool," Limones spoke calmly as he raised his right hand to send a fatal blast of energy at Jacen.
"I think not," a voice interrupted from behind him.
"God damn it how many people are going to crash this party anyway?!" Limones screamed in rage as he turned around, forgetting Jacen for the moment.
"Afraid I'm the last one, pal," Danielle smiled. "Next time you try to kill me, make sure you finish the job, because I've come to repay you the favour."
A short duel ensued, but it was clear from the start who was going to win. Danielle not only had superior force but also superior tactics, which left Limones on the floor defeated a few minutes layer.
Creeping forward, Jacen slipped the ring he had retrieved earlier onto Limones's finger.
Instantly, the man jerked up, then his eyes glazed over as if he was in a bad dream.
"Is that... what I think it is?" Danielle whispered.
Jacen nodded. "Project Nightmare Cascade. See I told you it'll come in handy eventually. It'll keep him trapped and without will until we can sentence him in the Clan Executive Council's court."
"Poor man," the Trickster muttered.
"Ah yes, David. Hi-five?" Jacen laughed as he raised a palm. "Good work mate."
"Thanks," David replied as he met Jacen's palm with his own. "I can finally drop the title of Trickster now. I trust our terms will be met?"
"Indeed. Every tagged Separatist will be offered a pardon for psionic crimes up to the third degree, and given a chance to join the Clan as an Adept."
David breathed a sigh of relief. "That'll be enough to save the friends I've made. Thank you."
"Hey, it's not like I wasn't going to do it in the first place anyway. Besides, we're classmates. We've got to stick together, right? Even in an arena such as this."
"Yep. Now what do you say we get this finished and done with?"
"Thought you'll never ask," Jacen grinned.
Applause rang in the Separatist Movement's headquarters, as Jacen and David marched Limones down between them. The applause only intensified as Danielle stepped into the light too, with Horace whooping in joy. "I don't have to be your freaking secretary anymore! Whoohoo!"
Jacen looked around at the ten comatose Separatists lying on the floor, several of them in uncomfortable looking positions. His people, on the other hand, all looked perfectly hunky-dory. He never felt any prouder of them.
"Good work people. Today, major success on all fronts. Now let's get back to HQ, kids. It's been a long night, and it'll probably be a lot longer before we get any sleep!"
"Party?" Jim asked hopefully.
"Paperwork," Jacen replied in a dull tone, crushing all their hopes. "Just kidding. Damn right we deserve a party. Time to pull out of here, people, let's go, hustle!"
The merry party of eight, plus one semi-comatose man drove away in the unmarked white van, stopping only to pick up Defender from where she had been waiting for Jacen.
Inside the van, the atmosphere was cheerful. Even Kate and Imelda seemed to have patched things up, as the women chatted away on good terms.
Danielle smiled at Jacen. The two of them were sitting at the very back, next to the doors. "I can finally see my family again," she laughed. "It's finally over."
"It's been hard on you," Jacen nodded. "Good work."
"It was worth it. And now my family are safe."
"Mine too," Jacen replied quietly.
Yes, it was worth it. It was worth it all."Alright people, sorry to ruin the party with this, but I've got to conduct a short debrief at least. I owe you guys that much," Jacen announced as he stood up in the reception area, where everyone was busy imbibing alcoholic drinks and munching away on snacks. David and Jacen, being sadly underage, had been bullied into drinking coke instead.
"Yeah, go ahead and explain all the secrets, Jacen. We want you to spill the beans," Horace demanded, as the rest murmured their agreement too.
"This whole plan began with the very attack on Danielle. To be honest, her condition was not serious. It was merely faked to be. The coma she was in was actually a self-induced regenerative state, and she was actually still capable of communicating with us all the while."
"Why would you do that?" Jim asked in bewilderment. "Wouldn't it have been more useful for you to be out with us?"
"My family," Danielle answered. "I did not know what they were capable of, but at that moment, it seemed like they would resort to anything. I decided that if I could stay out of it until it was over, then my family would at least be safe. That was all that mattered to me."
"And I decided," Jacen continued, "That it would be beneficial for us if she remained hidden. I visited her often in the hospital, in the guise of talking to her in the hopes that she would wake up. In truth, I was teaching her many psionic tactics, and also how to expand her reserves, in the hopes of making her the ultimate weapon for this clan. She was codenamed Delta Source, and since her entry into the supposed comatose state, she has helped us with tons of operations that took place, it's just that you people never knew it."
"No shit," Defender muttered. "So it was you who picked up the Regenesis amulet in the end."
"And said amulet was given to the Trickster, because at that point, I felt that he needed it more than I do if he was to even the odds. And since then, he's helped sabotage several operations, one of which was a strike targeting our HQ itself. The reason why we had that peaceful period and were able to train up, was only because he was buying us time, being the spanner in the works for them.
"And speaking of the peaceful period, we had our little drama in HQ, didn't we, Horace? Your investigation into the slip-up that led to the Trickster stealing our data and prototypes of Project Regenesis," Jacen laughed as he sipped at his coke.
"Oh god, that factored into your big plan too?" Horace sighed as he shook his head and took another swig of his beer. "How the hell can you think on so many fronts at the same time?"
"I was born with it. At any rate, it was meant to be a distraction. I knew Limones had his eye on the Clan. There were spies among us somewhere, and though I've known them for a very long time, I never rooted them out cause I knew it was best if we could control the information Limones was getting. So while they were fixated on Horace's work in investigating the incident, because they were afraid of being discovered, I sent the rest out on something. Do you four remember the training exercise about working without a teammate?" Jacen asked the strike-team, excluding Horace.
Kate, Jim and Imelda nodded, while Cheryl gasped in astonishment. "That thing we were told to retrieve..."
"Is not anything I've planted myself. Though you people didn't know it then, it was your first official mission as a team, though without Horace. The thing you lot retrieved was a sniper rifle, liberated from Victoria's stockpile of weapons."
David shook his head. "No wonder Victoria was in such a tizzy that day, it helped with my interference in their strike."
"Yes. David here informed me that they were going to hit us the same day you lot got the rifle back for Defender, and I knew we had to act soon. Victoria knew one of her sniper rifles had gone missing, but didn't know where it had gone. She didn't dare to tell Limones because she was a naturally paranoid woman, and constantly suspected Limones of turning on her.
"At any rate, that all built up to our raid today, where you five beat odds of two to one, Victoria was sniped down by Defender, and Limones was defeated by the combined efforts of David, Danielle and I. And I need to say, I couldn't have done this without any of you. Just like in chess, a king is useless if he has no supporting pieces, and so, cheers, people," Jacen toasted as he raised his glass.
Everyone closed in, and glasses clinked against each other as everyone accepted the toast. Sitting down, Jacen smiled contently. For a moment, it felt just like a family.
A strange hodge-podge mixture of personalities, and we're certainly all screwed up, but we're a family nonetheless."And I would like to propose a second toast," Horace announced. "To none other than our esteemed leader Jacen, of course. I've been his secretary for almost six weeks and I can say he's one hell of an asshole, but he gets results, and yes, now I firmly do believe he's the best damned Grandmaster we've had in decades."
"I second that," Imelda laughed as she raised her glass. The rest echoed their sentiments as they raised their glasses too, saluting Jacen.
"Oh come now, he's not really such an asshole, is he?" Danielle laughed. "Are you, Jacen?"
"Well. I suppose I am, but that's only cause I have to deal with you crazy lot," Jacen returned.
"Bah. Excuses," Jim muttered as he slumped back on the sofa, falling asleep.
Smiling as he shook his head, Jacen placed his glass on the coffee table and stood up. "I've got something I need to do, I'll catch you guys later. Don't drink too much, and get a cab if you're going home."
Alone in his office, Jacen accessed the world Clan's website, and addressed an email to the other Grandmasters.
Fellow leaders of the Clans, it is with great pleasure that I announce the subjugation and capture of Samuel Limones, leader of the Final Fate, extremist wing of the Separatist Movement.
Would appreciate it if we could get him trialed and sentenced as soon as possible. As you all know, he is the leader, the very symbol of the Separatists, and they may have ideas about springing him from his current imprisonment. If I may suggest, the upcoming meet in Switzerland would do nicely.
Once he's been dealt with, the Final Fate will fall apart quickly. But that is not the end of our war against the Separatists. Rather, it's only just begun.
Eternal vigilance, fellow Grandmasters.
Cheers,
Jacen"Doesn't sound too pompous. Will do," Jacen muttered to himself as he clicked the send button.
Leaning back against the comfortable armchair, he relaxed his muscles. It had been a long day. But it was done, at least.
This war was over. Victoria was dead. Limones was blubbering like a baby with a nightmare, and soon to be sentenced. As for the gods... well, he would have to live with it.
For once, he could have peace to himself for a few moments.
Smiling to himself, Jacen found his eyelids closing, as he fell asleep.
