Twenty-Eight

Knight Draconis Jurgen's face snapped into being on the small holograph emitter, floating above the table as he looked them over. The man's strong jawline was bunched as he gritted his teeth as he looked over at Benny, but it quickly relaxed as a mask of professionalism drowned out his personal distaste. Seconds later another two faces appeared next to Jurgen's.

One was a young man with long blond hair that fell to his shoulders, a rakish scar across the edge of his eyebrow and a wide, white smile. His clean-shaven features were sharp and handsome, and he looked at Benny and his smile stretched wider.

"Benny, you old bastard! You're still alive!" the unnamed man said in a booming voice.

"Luther. I see you're as jubilant as ever," Benny said dryly while Luther laughed even louder.

"Life is good when I get to work with you. Who we killing?" Luther asked.

"You didn't read the data packet?" Jurgen asked acidically looking out the corner of his eye at the blonde Knight.

"No. Saw the price tag and the code and came over," Luther said. Benny turned to look at Diur and Kon, not caring that he could be heard.

"This is the type of future I'm trying to save you from. If you don't use your brain, it rots away." Both of them nodded even as Luther roared with laughter.

"Kon, Diur, it's good to see you're well," Jurgen said, tipping his head toward them.

"You as well, Knight Jurgen," Kon said for both of them.

"Introductions around then. These are my newest Squires, Kon and Diur. Kon, Diur, this is Knight Luther Brandt. He leads an independent Knight Chapterhouse called the Wild Bunch. They're a good group if you need something smashed with little to no subtlety. You already know Draconis Jurgen, who I'm seeing has brought with him a detachment of squires and a few Knights from his Order. Last but certainly not least, is Commodore Elaine Darcy."

The last figure was a stately middle aged woman with milk-white features, crows feet at the edge of her eyes and gray threading through her tightly bound black hair. Her crisp uniform was charcoal gray though Kon could only see her from the shoulders up.

"Commodore Darcy is here with Fleet assets from the Oasis. This is a mission of retribution, authorized by me, Knight Benjamin. A tribe of goblins assisted in the unprovoked assault on the Dragon's Maw. Other assets are working on the secondary objective of the Lupine assault elements," Benny said, his tone serious. Instantly the room became quiet and still as the commanders of the attack force looked at each other.

"Orders, sir?" Luther asked.

"The Puca will enter space, it's a three hour lane trip from our current location. Once there me and my Squires will begin scouting and rendezvous back here with the attack plan. Sourced intelligence has enemy numbers in the tens of thousands, though there are nearly no cultivators. Ship assets were modified freighters, pleasure yachts, tugs, and one single heavy frigate. We will of course confirm these numbers," Benny said.

"What do you need us for then?" Luther asked. Kon felt a bolt of shock roll through him at the thought of the Knights thinking that Benny could handle numbers and ships as numerous as what the goblin tribe had collected.

"If intelligence is correct, then there are multiple sites throughout the system. We'll need a multi-pronged attack to make this work. Their fleet should be in the shadow of the gas giant, the fourth planet from the local star. There's an abandoned fuel extraction facility there that they've managed to get operating. The fifth planet from the star is close by, stable orbit, with atmosphere. The majority of the tribe is located there and that will be the Wild Bunches target." Luther and Commodore Darcy both nodded along.

"We are looking for the financier of the operation and that'll fall to my team and Draconis Jurgen's squad. Near the edge of the system is a small asteroid field where they've managed to erect several shelters. It's here that they met their contacts to arrange the ambush. Their ambassador is named Te'vin, he should be on the station. We'll need to collect him alive as well as any records they keep," Benny said.

"I assume you'll be leading the capture and need my team for muscle?" Jurgen asked.

"Yes. I will return to this spot in seventy-one hours from now with a full sweep of the system and location. We will launch our attack within two hours of my return and distribution of attack plans."

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"Understood, sir," Commodore Darcy said, the only time she had spoken so far. Luther and Jurgen both acknowledged the orders and turned off their relays, leaving Kon and Diur with Benny as he paced back and forth, eyes lost in thought.

"It's been awhile since I've done a raid of this size. Nearly a century I think? Mostly I just go and do it myself," Benny said after a moment.

"Are you up to it?" Kon asked, mind flashing back to their conversation just a day or so ago. Benny barked a laugh as he looked over at them, rolling his eyes.

"This is why I don't tell people that. They start acting like I have one foot in the grave. I can deal with this myself if I was willing to take my time. But we need Te'vin alive and I don't want to spend a week putting their computers back together to find out who hired them. Their little fleet would be annoying to exterminate as well. Missiles are expensive you know," Benny said.

"You said there are few cultivators among them?" Diur asked as she looked him over.

"Basic level cultivation is common enough, F-Grade will be common. Anything beyond that will be rare. The tribes disintegrate and reform often enough it's hard for them to build cultivation traditions to aid in higher ranked cultivators. There may be a few close to your rank that you can test yourself against," Benny said with a single shoulder shrug.

"Don't think you'll be able to collect another sword," Kon said. Diur had mounted the sword she'd taken from the dockmaster in her room. She'd left plenty of space for more of them too. She gave a slight scoff as she turned to him, affront written plainly across her features.

"I do not ask this for trophies. A cultivator will be much more dangerous to us than a normal warrior. Enhanced speed and reflexes, even if they are only F-Grade." Kon stared at her patiently, blinking slowly as her facade slowly broke.

"I would still like to face any swordsman that we face," Diur finally said as she sat primly, fingers laced in her lap.

"We'll have Jurgen with us so anything heavy will be taken by him. Our primary objective is Te'Vin and the databanks. You need to be professional here and not go haring off to find some fight so you can add to your collection. The two of you will stay on my ass and provide cover. We'll be in full vacuum armor, heavy weapons, and everything not human, or Ulmna, is a target. Do you understand?" Benny asked them slowly, turning to look at each of them with calm, patient eyes.

"Yes, sir," they both responded as one. Kon felt a hint of nervous energy at the thought. Their raid to gain this information had turned into a disaster but it hadn't been a free-for-all like this was looking to be.

Benny grunted and got up, waving them with him as he headed toward the bridge. The specific locks for the room were keyed only to Benny, neither of them could activate the hatch that led in and only with him present were they allowed into the nerve center of the Puca.

"Three hours of lane travel and we should exit near the edge of the system. The Puca can be quiet, but I need you to monitor these systems," Benny said, pointing to two stations side by side away from the pilot's seat. The old man dropped himself into the pilot's seat and quickly brought up a series of holographic screens which he swiped his fingers through with practiced ease.

A slight thrum through the ship was the only sign that they were removing, the Puca accelerating as she headed toward the edge of the lane. Her engines flared as they ripped a hole into the lane, allowing the ship to slide into the current, whisked forward and away in an instant. The light of the stars faded on the screens, replaced by blackness as Benny looked over his screen for a moment before nodding, the displays collapsing as he spun around to look at the two of them.

"Sit down and I'll show you what we're doing. Now, the Puca is a personal ship, so she has teeth, but she's not standing up to anything bigger than a light frigate. Where she excels is being sneaky. When we run the full suite of stealth features we end up being damn near invisible to the naked eye, the vast majority of electronic surveillance, and with a few tweaks, even a cultivator's senses. Though, those are very expensive to run and I don't do it often."

"Even a B-Grade like my ancestor?"Diur interrupted, blinking repeatedly as she stared at Benny.

"No. Well, not if she's paying attention. I can pass by her myself, but the ship and you two? No. Good thing there's not that many B-Grades floating around. Most of them are system protectors and don't leave their home systems after they settle down. I know where they are and I avoid them," Benny explained. Then he proceeded to go over how one of the seats ran the stealth suite while the other the advanced sensors.

"Normally I either have it running manually, which isn't as effective, or I have some of my more trusted Squires doing this. Since it's just you two, you'll have to learn on the fly. When we exit the lane Diur, you're going to have to be ready to activate the shielding and cloaking abilities. Shielding first, then cloaking, the exact commands I showed you." Benny leaned over and repeated showing her the commands she needed to enter to activate the systems.

"Kon, once the shielding is activated, you'll open up the scanners and the telescopic camera. We'll be aiming at where the fleet and facilities are supposed to be. The longer we're in system the higher chance that someone notices us and things get messy or they try to bolt. I don't want to spend all my time hunting them down," Benny grumbled as he showed Kon what he needed to do.

"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up in two hours and forty-five minutes," Benny said as he stifled a yawn, flopping back into his captain's chair and closing his eyes. Within moments he was snoring.

"How can he sleep?" Kon asked Diur, not bothering to keep quiet as the two of them sat in their respective chairs, looking over the stations they were supposed to monitor.

"I don't think he needs to sleep, most advanced cultivators don't," Diur said.

"Then why's he doing it?" Kon asked as he risked a glimpse at Benny.

"It's comforting? He's seeking dreams of a time where he wasn't plagued by incessant questions?" Diur said, a sly smile on her face. Kon scoffed and hit her with a shoulder, eliciting a laugh from her. The two of them sank into silence as they went to work on memorizing the controls for their stations.

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