Notes :
Heya. Not doing great, but not utterly awful either. Idk, it's weird.
Wrote this today. It's a lot easier to write than the main stories because honestly I'm way too worried about those. For MFR because it's the book finale, for TFW because there's so many plot threads to juggle. It's kind of soul crushing, because I'm so worried about dropping the ball it paralyzes me which makes me feel even worse and it's just a shitty, vicious cycle. The only way I can think of is just writing and fuck everything, but in that case you'd have to excuse a potential drop in quality.
Also I'm using my new keyboard and its extremely shitty, sweaty wrist rest. Gods it sucks.
As for this special, it was something I believe I discussed a while back, a 'what if' involving the Order. Extra author's notes at the end. It will also be posted on RR later today. Sorry if this isn't much of a 'patreon exclusive upload'.
"Well, sorry we ended up wasting your time." Said Raika as they entered town.
Cassie smiled.
"Hardly wasted. Heading out on quests is why I joined the guild in the first place. Besides, no problems is good." She nodded towards the party's newest addition, and the reason for her presence here. "Isn't that right, Alex?"
"It is." The young woman looked odd to the 'guild attendant', and totally-not-a-princess, but that was how all extradimensionals were supposed to be. "Sure beats having to fight slavers, mercenaries or what have you."
"Oh there's worse." Said Cassie with a smile. "I'm sure that once the news make its way over to the capital, you'll have letters of introduction from half of the duchies and a quarters of the baronies. Plus probably some royal knights to go see if you'd like to enter the service of their majesties."
"I'll probably pass."
Cassie smiled.
"I know. But still, they'll try. Now, the guild hall. Uh..."
As they arrived near the building, she almost stumbled as she saw the guildmaster standing in front of it.
"Good to have you back in one piece, miss Alexandra." Said Erik. "May I have a moment of your time?"
Cassie's eyebrow rose, but the guildmaster simply gave her a minute shake of the head.
"Sure." Said the extradimensional, before smiling at her party. "Well, it looks like...not duty calls, but possibly bureaucracy. I'll see you soon!"
"You owe us a beer!" Said Thomas, a split second before Alyssa bonked him.
The guild attendant watched as the party devolved into their usual antics. Yeah, Alexandra was going to fit right in.
*****
"So, what's up?" Asked Alexandra as she followed the guildmaster down the corridors in the 'guild personel only' section of the hall.
"I have an old friend who wished to meet you."
"Please tell me it's not another 'we wish to recruit you' thing."
"It is. But her offer is...you'll see." Erik opened the door to his office, and waved Alexandra through.
She raised an eyebrow, but complied.
Inside, she found a woman, of an age indeterminate enough to be artificial.
Not that she caught Alexandra's attention.
Because she was also flanked by two soldiers in power armor.
Alexandra stared at their gear, and the gauss submachineguns they held in their hands, barely hearing the door close behind her.
The woman stepped forward, and Alexandra refocused on her. She was beautiful. White hair, red eyes. Unnatural, yes, but genemods and cybernetics had created far more exotic fashions on Earth.
"Greetings. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lesly Rubicon. And I wished to introduce you to the Order to Restore Humanity."
*****
Alexandra toyed with her glass. Lesly was currently leaning against Erik's desk, her guards politely on the sides of the room, but in a configuration that would enable them to intercept her if she tried to run for it.
She didn't intend to. She mulled over what they'd told her. She knew, without question, that refusing to acquiesce would mean death.
Her first instinct was to doubt their word. To kick her implants into overdrive and take one of them with her before she was brought down. Yet...
What if they were telling the truth?
Her mouth tasted like ash. To visit such horror upon a world, to reduce humanity to this, deliberately and methodically...
"If you wish, we can give you a day to think it over. You'll have to be under guard, of course-" Softly said, Erik, but she interrupted him.
"No. I have already made my decision." She raised her gaze, and met Lesly's gaze. "I will join you. But you need to know something first."
"Which is?" Asked the high-commander.
"I'm not Alexandra Rousseau. It's a cover. A lie."
Lesly's eyebrow rose.
"Excuse me if I find that hard to believe. She is in our database."
"It would be a pretty bad cover if it wasn't. Since you have access to so much Eurofed data, I assume you have a serial number and authentification code decoder?"
"Of course."
"Then I shall give you the real ones. Serial Number: Zero, zero, eight, six, three, six, eight, omega, epsilon. Authentification Code: alpha-theta."
Lesly's eyes became unfocused, as she no doubt checked her implants.
Alexandra saw the precise second it returned the results. The high-commander tensed up, and almost threw herself back.
"That's...no, this is impossible! You...you died!"
"I did not. My death was faked."
Lesly's gaze met her own.
"The name of the ship you did your ensign cruise on."
How the hell did they knew that? Nevermind, didn't matter. It was obscure enough no one would remember that off the top of their head unless they were her.
"It was an old Glimmer-class, the Polaris, hull number eight eight three dash one one six."
Lesly fell to her knees. And then, to the absolute astonishment of everyone in the room, prostrated herself.
"It's you. Oh stars it's really you. I'd always...nevermind!" Lesly jumped back to her feet, and saluted with parade ground precision. "High admiral, ma'am, it is an honor to meet you. You must come with me immediately. The grandmaster will wish to speak with you forthwith."
*****
Alexandra wasn't sure how to feel about her new uniform. She'd turned down a carbon copy of her high admiral one, but she wasn't sure if the one of the Order's continental high-commanders was much better.
Nor the mix of terror and veneration most members of the Order seemed to give her.
She sighed as the man in front of her stammered.
"Look. Joachim, was it?" He nodded, and she put her hand on his shoulder. "There is no need to be nervous. I'm not going to devour your soul for not giving your presentation fast enough. We're all here to save mankind, no matter the cost. So take a deep breath, then continue. Clear tone, as if you were adressing an empty amphitheater."
"Of course. My apologies ma'am." He cleared his throat, and took a deep breath, before starting up again as Alexandra smiled encouragingly. "As I was saying, the problem would be to give Sunrise the manpower to prosecute such a conflict. We have found an elegant solution, implicating the Sapphire Kingdom and putting a hard time limit on this surge of forces, thus pushing Sunrise into launching an all out attack."
She listened. And listened, and listened.
At the end of the day, she simply gathered her officers, and spoke.
The morning after, half a dozen firing squads opened up in synchronicity, and she walked out in the courtyard of the stronghold, speaking to the assembled core of her command, the smoking corpses of the executed as a backdrop.
"You know who I am." She started. "And you know what I have done. No longer will the Order pursue these mad schemes under my command. We will save humanity. But we will do it my way. Anyone who wishes to dispute my right to command, step forward, or be forever silent."
There wasn't even a hint of movement. She wasn't sure what was more terrifying, the fact that the security teams had done the executions without blinking, or the fact that the assembled members of the Order seemed to be taking it in stride or even approve.
"Excellent. Let us get to work then. There is much to do. Mankind must prevail!"
"Mankind must prevail!" Shouted the assembled members of the Order.
She watched as they dispersed.
No doubt there would be shockwave throughout the Order. But while she was ready to do a lot to save humanity, there were some lines she shouldn't cross.
Still, she was going to need some help.
She turned towards the Relic Guard flanking her.
"Show me to the vault. It's time we activated some of those AI cores."
"Yes, ma'am. Shall I send someone to the software archives as well? The cores are blank."
Alexandra used her implants to 'gaze' inward, at the partition with her previous self. The person the Order thought they were getting.
It was a gamble. But some times you had to lay down some cards.
"No need. I have everything I require."
It was high time someone kicked this little operation into overdrive.
And perhaps, at the end of this, she would be known as the Godslayer, and not the Butcher.
******
Orokis grunted as the kunai plunged into his stomach, and screamed as the flame charm on its handled triggered, yelling like the damned as he writhed on the ground, fire rampaging through his entrails.
"You bitch!" Yelled Arkor, his blade whistling through the air. Allya took a step back, dodging the swipe, before pulling out a dagger and parrying the follow-up strike. "This was a simple job!"
"That was before you started 'removing' team members." Said the assassin, calmly, giving ground bit by bit. Almost.
"Less troops, bigger share. Ever heard of that?"
"Of course. And I'm sure you would get the biggest share by removing us all." In position, at last. Allya sliced the rope.
The awning fell on top of the warrior, and he cursed, trying to cut away at it with his sword.
It worked. But it distracted him.
Long enough for her to plunge a dagger through his skull.
Allya looked around. Pyn was down, with labored breathing, holding her side.
John was dead. Poor bastard had been since he'd signed up, really, but Pyn hadn't seen it that way, and the idiotic elf had leapt to his rescue when Arkor had put a blade through his chest.
Orokis, the mage, was on the ground, barely moving. But Allya had learned the hard way to never underestimate mages, so she slit his throat and stabbed through the side of his skull.
Then she knelt, and tended to the elf's wounds.
"For the record, doing something like that again is going to get you killed, and I won't be there to save you." Said the assassin. She wasn't even sure if the elf could hear her. "So please don't. You have great tits but they're not worth dying over." She pulled out a potion, and the elf's lips parted as the bottle was pressed against them.
Allya watched as she drank the life saving liquid, and nodded as her bleeding stopped and her flesh began knitting itself together. Technically the basic bandages and dressings she'd used were superfluous, but better be safe than sorry, especially with the lower grade of health potions.
*****
"Well. This simplifies things."
Agent Seraik of the Autonomous Threat Removal Bureau of the Eris Empire mused to herself as her target began carrying the wounded elf. No one cared what happened in the backstreets of Darthar.
She was musing hiring a team of thugs and siccing them on the Knight-Valiant and her party, but she had been obliging enough to kill her own teammates!
Well, no time like the present.
She stepped off the roof, and rushed forward.
Of course, the target was well trained. Sensed the agent coming, dropped the elf. But it was too late, and-
*****
Allya stared as the smoking corpse of her assailant came to a halt at her feet, after sliding across the sandy street.
"These alleyways are surprisingly crowded."
The assassin whirled around.
There was a woman there. She looked out of place. Her clothes were normal for the area. But the way she stood, the way she spoke....
She irradiated authority.
And she...
She wasn't breathing. At all.
A neonite?
"Who are you?" Said the assassin, as she shifted back. Why did she not sense the woman? Why did she not have a weapon? The flash she'd seen hadn't been magic, it was some kind of Old World plasma armament.
Invisibility. It had to be. The good kind.
"Someone who tried to hire your boss for another contract, which unfortunately seemed to have awakened his greed and stupidity both. Given that he is now indisposed, by your hand no less, I believe my offer falls to you."
"You haven't answered my question."
The woman smiled, then laughed.
"I like you kid! You've got guts. Very well, if you have to call me something...you can call me 'Ghost'. It's what I am, really. So, are you willing to listen to my offer?"
*****
Emilia sighed as she closed her book.
It was getting late. And the librarian would no doubt chide her for staying up late.
Another boring day in the Western Marches...
///
So, to be entirely clear : normally, Allya and Pyn would have been murdered by the ATRB and had a bad end. I shoehorned Ghost in for the 'hey they end up working together anyway, even if by proxy' value, but also because I'm already having a shitty month and I'm barely out of a depression episode, by the skin of my teeth, I don't need to kick myself back down that hole.
That ending though is both for humor and really because Alexandra becoming a dungeon core was Emilia's inciting incident, otherwise she'd just be chilling at home XD
As for the plenty of skips, the reasons why are, first and foremost it's a special, not a short story, then because there would be a BUNCH of spoilers. As you can imagine, there's a lot of secrets the Order knows, and some reactions to who she is which I know some of you have been anticipating for a while and I don't want to spoil here.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this ! It was fun to write.