02-07-2020, 10:27 PM
Off the coast of Lauchenoiria
7th February 2020 – 2am
She had tried very hard to achieve her mission objectives. She had been sent south to Lauchenoiria after the triumph of the Matriarchy over those who sought to subvert the mission of Kerlile – the so-called Democratic Kerlian State. At the end of the Kerlian Civil War, in 1999, she had come to Lauchenoiria with a mission of making sure that their southern neighbour would never pose a military threat again.
In that, at least, it seemed as if she’d achieved her objective. Lauchenoiria was incredibly weak militarily at this point, but it didn’t give her joy. For it had come at great cost to the Matriarchy. Many lives had been lost, what little goodwill Kerlile had was gone, and the Council was in disarray, splitting into factions and political parties like the weak, spineless democracy she’d been forced to spend her life in.
During the Lauchenoirian war, she hadn’t even had the opportunity to do much. She’d been stuck on that damned blockade of Aeluria, making sure foolish little teenagers didn’t try to flee off the island. She had found it insulting, frankly. Her commanding officer at the time had been perfectly content with his role, which is why she took great pleasure in reporting him for refusing to allow medical shipments to Aeluria during the war. And thus, Captain Gregor Docherty was in a Sanctarian prison.
Commander Lorna Rigley was meant to be asleep, and yet she feared to fall unconscious, lest they come for her. She hadn’t been worried for most of her assignment. Lauchenoiria was hardly known for being excellent at hunting down foreign agents. Yet since the end of the war, she had been uneasy. Her dreams were haunted by Charissa Clarke, her mind replayed the few videos she’d seen of Clarke after some traitor to the Matriarchy leaked the existence of Auroras. She couldn’t get the look of defeat on Clarke’s face out of her head.
They would come for her. She knew that. She had tried to think of a way to escape, but she’d used up all her leave and she had no way to get off her ship without being detected. She was trapped, and she had managed to discover that they were going through the records of military personnel. It wouldn’t be long before they noticed some discrepancy, the files were not intended for the level of scrutiny they were going to come under: after all, too much had been leaked by this point.
She had only three options left, and none of them were good. The first: she could turn herself in. But she was no traitor. Second, she could continue doing her job and just wait for them to find her, imprison her and interrogate her. It was an unpleasant option, waiting around for certain discovery, knowing that it likely spelled the end of her freedom forever. The third option, she had been considering for several months. She hadn’t wanted to for so long, but in the past week, she had been coming around to the idea, and she had made her choice.
Silently, she moved through the ship, avoiding areas she knew people would be. Somewhere deep below decks she took out a tablet, and opened an email app. She hesitated slightly before she clicked send on the email she had drafted long before. Then, she took a deep breath, headed quickly up to one of the decks and threw the tablet in the sea. Ducking back inside before anyone could notice her, she took out a pile of pills from her pocket and looked at it.
Voices. Footsteps. She was running out of time, someone would have noticed her creeping around by now. So, shaking, she unscrewed the lid of her water and swallowed the pills, sitting down and closing her eyes. The world began to slip away from her, and she opened her eyes, suddenly afraid and regretting her decision, seeing someone approach her before the darkness took her.
*
Military Hospital, Summersea, Lauchenoiria
9 hours later
“The concoction of pills she took were designed to kill her, but they got to her in time to stop instant death. I can’t guarantee she’ll survive. Only time will tell.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Jae Chung nodded, looking down at the unconscious probable Aurora attached to the machinery. “Any indication of when we will know?”
“It’s impossible to say, sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Chung said, stepping closer to Rigley and watching her with concern. “The more I find out about them, the more I question our objectives here…” she said softly.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Chung?”
“Nothing, Doctor,” she said, turning from the Aurora. “I should be going. Tell me, do you know if they found any electronic devices on her person when they discovered her?”
“No,” another voice said from the doorway, and Chung looked up to see a young naval officer, “but she threw something in the water shortly before we found her.”
“Thank you,” nodded Chung, making to leave, but the young officer stopped her.
“What do you lot want with her?”
“That is not your concern,” she said, not unkindly.
“Yes, it is. Commander Rigley is a good person. She helped me cope when my brother died in the war, and I know what you lot are up to.”
“What are we up to?” she asked, curious to hear what the rumours were.
“You grab random women off the street, claiming they’re Kerlians, and then they’re never seen again. Well, you know what? I don’t care if she’s a Kerlian, if the rumours are to be believed those Auroras come here as kids. They don’t have a choice and I don’t think they deserve to be locked away in dark holes for doing nothing! Charissa Clarke wasn’t evil because she was Kerlian, she was evil because she was evil!”
“Listen,” Chung said gently to the young man, pulling him out of the room and into the corridor. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but nobody is being disappeared. But I’m curious… your attitude to Kerlians is very different from most men I know.”
“That’s…” he glanced around, almost afraid. “I have to go.”
She watched as he abruptly turned around and dashed down the corridor of the hospital. He turned a corner as quickly as he could, and was out of sight. The doctor had turned back to Lorna, checking her vitals. Jae stopped someone.
“Who was that, may I ask?” she said, nodding in the direction of the retreating man.
“I don’t know, ma’am, sorry,” the woman she’d stopped said. Jae sighed.
She stared after the man for a few seconds, then turned around to head in the opposite direction, when her phone rang.
“Hello?” she said upon answering.
“Jae…” came a voice she recognised that made her freeze. “We need to talk.”
*
Alvarez’s Office, Buttercity
Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez put down the phone and folded her arms. Her lips were pressed together in slight anger as she looked over the files she’d been delivered this morning. She was the very opposite of pleased.
“She will be here in the morning. Put her in my diary,” she told her assistant. “I know Jae Chung, if what I suspect is true, and Gabriel Fleming has been blatantly disobeying my orders, she will tell me.”
7th February 2020 – 2am
She had tried very hard to achieve her mission objectives. She had been sent south to Lauchenoiria after the triumph of the Matriarchy over those who sought to subvert the mission of Kerlile – the so-called Democratic Kerlian State. At the end of the Kerlian Civil War, in 1999, she had come to Lauchenoiria with a mission of making sure that their southern neighbour would never pose a military threat again.
In that, at least, it seemed as if she’d achieved her objective. Lauchenoiria was incredibly weak militarily at this point, but it didn’t give her joy. For it had come at great cost to the Matriarchy. Many lives had been lost, what little goodwill Kerlile had was gone, and the Council was in disarray, splitting into factions and political parties like the weak, spineless democracy she’d been forced to spend her life in.
During the Lauchenoirian war, she hadn’t even had the opportunity to do much. She’d been stuck on that damned blockade of Aeluria, making sure foolish little teenagers didn’t try to flee off the island. She had found it insulting, frankly. Her commanding officer at the time had been perfectly content with his role, which is why she took great pleasure in reporting him for refusing to allow medical shipments to Aeluria during the war. And thus, Captain Gregor Docherty was in a Sanctarian prison.
Commander Lorna Rigley was meant to be asleep, and yet she feared to fall unconscious, lest they come for her. She hadn’t been worried for most of her assignment. Lauchenoiria was hardly known for being excellent at hunting down foreign agents. Yet since the end of the war, she had been uneasy. Her dreams were haunted by Charissa Clarke, her mind replayed the few videos she’d seen of Clarke after some traitor to the Matriarchy leaked the existence of Auroras. She couldn’t get the look of defeat on Clarke’s face out of her head.
They would come for her. She knew that. She had tried to think of a way to escape, but she’d used up all her leave and she had no way to get off her ship without being detected. She was trapped, and she had managed to discover that they were going through the records of military personnel. It wouldn’t be long before they noticed some discrepancy, the files were not intended for the level of scrutiny they were going to come under: after all, too much had been leaked by this point.
She had only three options left, and none of them were good. The first: she could turn herself in. But she was no traitor. Second, she could continue doing her job and just wait for them to find her, imprison her and interrogate her. It was an unpleasant option, waiting around for certain discovery, knowing that it likely spelled the end of her freedom forever. The third option, she had been considering for several months. She hadn’t wanted to for so long, but in the past week, she had been coming around to the idea, and she had made her choice.
Silently, she moved through the ship, avoiding areas she knew people would be. Somewhere deep below decks she took out a tablet, and opened an email app. She hesitated slightly before she clicked send on the email she had drafted long before. Then, she took a deep breath, headed quickly up to one of the decks and threw the tablet in the sea. Ducking back inside before anyone could notice her, she took out a pile of pills from her pocket and looked at it.
Voices. Footsteps. She was running out of time, someone would have noticed her creeping around by now. So, shaking, she unscrewed the lid of her water and swallowed the pills, sitting down and closing her eyes. The world began to slip away from her, and she opened her eyes, suddenly afraid and regretting her decision, seeing someone approach her before the darkness took her.
*
Military Hospital, Summersea, Lauchenoiria
9 hours later
“The concoction of pills she took were designed to kill her, but they got to her in time to stop instant death. I can’t guarantee she’ll survive. Only time will tell.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Jae Chung nodded, looking down at the unconscious probable Aurora attached to the machinery. “Any indication of when we will know?”
“It’s impossible to say, sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Chung said, stepping closer to Rigley and watching her with concern. “The more I find out about them, the more I question our objectives here…” she said softly.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Chung?”
“Nothing, Doctor,” she said, turning from the Aurora. “I should be going. Tell me, do you know if they found any electronic devices on her person when they discovered her?”
“No,” another voice said from the doorway, and Chung looked up to see a young naval officer, “but she threw something in the water shortly before we found her.”
“Thank you,” nodded Chung, making to leave, but the young officer stopped her.
“What do you lot want with her?”
“That is not your concern,” she said, not unkindly.
“Yes, it is. Commander Rigley is a good person. She helped me cope when my brother died in the war, and I know what you lot are up to.”
“What are we up to?” she asked, curious to hear what the rumours were.
“You grab random women off the street, claiming they’re Kerlians, and then they’re never seen again. Well, you know what? I don’t care if she’s a Kerlian, if the rumours are to be believed those Auroras come here as kids. They don’t have a choice and I don’t think they deserve to be locked away in dark holes for doing nothing! Charissa Clarke wasn’t evil because she was Kerlian, she was evil because she was evil!”
“Listen,” Chung said gently to the young man, pulling him out of the room and into the corridor. “I don’t know what you’ve heard, but nobody is being disappeared. But I’m curious… your attitude to Kerlians is very different from most men I know.”
“That’s…” he glanced around, almost afraid. “I have to go.”
She watched as he abruptly turned around and dashed down the corridor of the hospital. He turned a corner as quickly as he could, and was out of sight. The doctor had turned back to Lorna, checking her vitals. Jae stopped someone.
“Who was that, may I ask?” she said, nodding in the direction of the retreating man.
“I don’t know, ma’am, sorry,” the woman she’d stopped said. Jae sighed.
She stared after the man for a few seconds, then turned around to head in the opposite direction, when her phone rang.
“Hello?” she said upon answering.
“Jae…” came a voice she recognised that made her freeze. “We need to talk.”
*
Alvarez’s Office, Buttercity
Prime Minister Josephine Alvarez put down the phone and folded her arms. Her lips were pressed together in slight anger as she looked over the files she’d been delivered this morning. She was the very opposite of pleased.
“She will be here in the morning. Put her in my diary,” she told her assistant. “I know Jae Chung, if what I suspect is true, and Gabriel Fleming has been blatantly disobeying my orders, she will tell me.”
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax