Chapter 8
Wayne stepped into the VIP viewing area and found the Pureblood clearly waiting for him. No sooner than their eyes had locked than Dahl took Wayne by the elbow and began pulling him over into what was most certainly one of the bes seats in the arena. There were two rows of ten seats arranged to face the arena, but it had a slight overhang and felt oddly tilted somehow.
It was a perfect view of the arena.
Dahl sat him down in a seat next to a man with red hair and pale blue eyes who was staring at Wayne oddly. To which Wayne nodded his head at.
Then the Pureblood sat down on Wayne’s other side and blew out a breath.
Looking up, Wayne watched a slowmotion replay of himself ducking under most of the second Launch attack, then springing up to flatten the Typhoonwolf.
There was a lot of Dashi being flung around by everyone, including the announcer, but ‘Warrior Hesh’ was something Wayne could always distinguish.
“That was impressive,” Dahl said and sat down next to Wayne. He looked at him for a few seconds. “It looked like you wished to kill the pilot?”
“No,” answered Wayne and shook his head. He looked down to the arena in front of him. Two Walkers were already in position.
In the next moment they began shuffling toward one another. They were measured, appropriate, and in an approach that made Wayne realize that this was likely what was more expected here.
“Just… fell into war,” Wayne answered honestly. “I’ve been in one form of combat or another since Mirkil was invaded. This is my first time truly away from the lines for longer than a week or two.”
“You came to Dashi as your leave time?” asked Dahl with a sharp and sudden laugh. “I will make sure that that little tidbit is fed to the media. They will eat that up.”
Wayne frowned, looking at the two Walkers. He had been pretty sure Barbie was supposed to go after him.
“Did my companion go yet?” Wayne asked. “The white haired one.”
“Your other woman has already gone,” Dahl answered with a chuckle. “She is clearly partially trained or influenced by you as her response was very similar to yours. She strode straight into the fight, dominated it, and cleared it far quicker than most fighters tend to go.
“Many look at this as a chance to show off in a way. Those that are combat pilots respond far more similar in the way you and your companion did. They’re calling her White-hair, by the way.”
“Ah, when’s Cara coming out?” Wayne asked, looking forward.
“Next,” answered Dahl.
Then the man on Wayne’s left said something, causing him to look over at the man.
Then stare at him.
Just beyond him was a woman of similar age to the middle aged man. Beyond her was a younger woman.
“Ah,” Wayne got out as he realized who he was looking at. “I’m grateful to have met your daughter. She is my Handfast and I’m blessed to have her in my life.”
Both the man, the woman, and the young woman all stared at Wayne.
Then Arsenic translated for him from his phone which was once again in his front pocket. Causing all three to smile at him and nod their heads.
A dialogue box appeared when the man began talking.
Cara’s Father?: “Thank you, Warrior Hesh. We appreciate your kind words. She has been a good daughter and provided us with money. Despite our assurance that we did not need it. You apparently pay her very well.”
Wayne noted the question mark next to the dialogue boxes’s naming convention and he couldn’t fault Arsenic. It was his assumption as well.
“Whatever I pay her for her work, isn’t enough,” Wayne answered with a smirk. Then the crowd roared and pulled his attention away from what was likely Cara’s father.
The previous fight had ended and two new combatants were in the arena.
Above the arena on a screen came up a picture of Cara. Wayne’s household crest was slotted in next to her name and photo along with a lot of information in Dashi.
Looking away from it, Wayne immediately looked to what was clearly Cara.
She was indeed in her chosen Walker. Both hands spread wide and the claws ready.
No sooner than the green light was given then she sprinted forward. Just as apparently Barbie and Wayne had done.
Then suddenly she pivoted hard to the right and put on the speed. Sprinting clear to the outside of the arena, then flanking wide around. Moving along the edge of the arena.
Her opponent was still facing forward almost as if they didn’t have a clue what Cara was doing. That she hadn’t just flanked him, but completed the maneuever and was coming up behind him.
“I guess that’s my fault,” Wayne mumbled. “I keep using her as assault recon.”
To which Arsenic readily translated for him.
“Oh? Does she have many kills?” Dahl asked as Cara slowed down in her rapid approach. She was stalking the target now.
“Twenty or so Walkers,” answered Wayne. “She’s gotten far more lethal lately due to some upgrades my engineer has been putting together. If I didn’t want her in my personal squad I’d have put a few squads of Scouts under her to lead.”
Cara just about closed within twenty feet before the Walker began to turn and look to it’s rear.
To which Cara shot forward.
The claws flashed and in a single pass, she’d taken the left arm and left leg at the joint, sending the Walker to the ground.
All around Wayne the screams, cries, and cheers of the Dashi populace let their pleasure known at such a perfect flanking attack.
Pivoting with a half-step, Cara turned and slammed into the rear of the enemy Walker and sent it to the ground. Stepping up on top of it, Cara’s Walker visibly turned, then faced where Wayne, Dahl, and her family was.
She screamed something in Dashi through the speakers of her Walker.
Which caused the entirety of the crowd to roar in approvla.
Cara: “For my Handfast! My Warrior Hesh! From his Warrior Fahleigh!”
“I thought my own shout was just as good,” Barbie stated from behind him. He hadn’t even realized she’d slipped in.
“Fraid I missed it, You were too quick,” Wayne apologized.
“Did you? Damn. I was afraid you might still be getting out and checked over,” Barbie said with a shake of her head. “I basically said the same thing, though in Confed. Really probably should learn more Dashi.”
Laughing at that, Wayne looked ahead again.
There was a rattling bang that caused Wayne a moment of concern. It had the distinct sound of an explosion in a hallway to Wayne.
Or a cockpit imploding from munitions fire.
The latter was a sound he really didn’t like hearing, but had personally heard a few times during his life already.
In fact, he had a number of nightmares about it that left him waking up from a rough slumber.
Before he’d realized it, he had already stood up and was looking around for an exit.
As his gaze flicked this way and that, he saw that the guards were moving quickly toward the Pureblood.
“Sounded like some good boom there, boss,” Barbie reported, clamping a hand around Wayne’s shoulder. “Hey Pureblood, time to go, right?”
“Yes,” Dahl said as his bodyguards encircled him. “Come along Wayne, Barbie. We’ll be leaving right now.”
Without hesitation both of them followed Dahl, moving with his guards as they led the way to the exit and into the hallways beyond.
Though Wayne did note that no one else was moving. The announcer was continuing his spiel, the audience seemed entirely engrossed in the situation, and no one was panicking.
Whatever had just happened was directed at th Pureblood, while also being handled without alerting the masses.
“Any chance that Honey-badger is around? Or can I get a gun?” Wayne grumbled as they moved into the hallways. “Cause that was an attack, wasn’t it?”
“It was,” confirmed the Pureblood. “I haven’t heard any reports other than it’s contained, but they’d like to get you and I out of here. A diplomatic incident would be unpleasant.”
Nodding his head, Wayne allowed himself to be escorted away.
It left him wondering though.
There seemed to be more going on in the Dashi than Dahl had let on.
Or more than the man knew.
***
“It’s you,” Arsenic reported while Wayne sat on his bed. He’d allowed her to use his phone as a means to start pushing through the Blood of Dashi security measures.
Which she’d been programmed to understand originally to help defend against the Confed. Now she was using that knowledge to break through the lockout to keep Wayne and his people off the Dashi internet.
It’d seemed reasonable at first, since they could still send out signals to Confed stations or buoys, but now it was annoying. The limitations were keeping him from looking at the current Dashi news and situation as a whole.
In fact, he likely would have more information if he was sitting at the edge of Dashi space, rather than inside of Dashi space.
“It’s me?” Wayne asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Yes. The attack this morning wasn’t against the Pureblood, but you,” Arsenic reported. “Your challenge that was delivered was received positively by the vast majority of Dashi space.
“But not everyone. There is a group that seems to think you’re bringing a downfall to the Dashi. That even allowing a Confed to become a Warrior was a mistake, let alone a Ghost Speaker, or someone stating up front that they’re challenging for the right to lead an army.”
“Really?” Wayne asked, not quite sold on everything that’d been said.
“That’s what I’m reading,” Arsenic answered.
Wendy looked up from the end of the bed where she was actively using Wayne’s phone to go through the Dashi internet, provided courtesy of Arsenic and her hacking.
“From what I’m seeing,” she began, an odd tilt to her mouth making the normally pretty woman seem cute in a way. Tapping at Wayne’s phone slowly and with care. Her eyes moving back and forth. “Wayne is just the current rallying cry. What I saw coming in matches with what Dahl told us.
“Diverisfied congregations of causes that line up in a weird way, but only to make it harder for the Dashi Pureblood to keep his people on a path he wants.
“They seem to only exist to push the Dashi into conflict or into harms way. The Mirkil war was the big result of that, but even now, it does seem like they’re pushing to attack a Blood now.
“Yet the moment you step in and suggest attacking Hawke, with a formal claim and reasoning, they no longer want to go to war. Even the war with another Blood has gone quiet.”
“Really,” Wayne murmured, thinking on that. That was indeed a bit strange when you thought about it. “Is it… do we call this done and leave it as is? As much as I want to pull the Dashi into our war, I don’t want to do it at the cost of making them an enemy.
“We’ve made a lot of progress so far, haven’t we?”
“We have,” Wendy admitted, set Wayne’s phone down, plopped her head down on the bed and looked to Wayne. “We’ve made more progress in three days than we did over three-thousand years. Mirkil is likely the first to truly be welcomed like this into a situation. Partially because of you and what you are, partially because you genuinely have a storied life.”
“In other words, it could be a risk to continue to push in the tournament as myself,” Wayne summarized. “We’ve gained a great deal and we’re betting what we can get next is better than what we have in our hand.”
“More or less, handsome man of mine,” Wendy agreed with a grin. “There’s no guarantee that even if you win the tournament, you’d get the right to lead an army. The generals that hold those ranks could refuse and cause an issue. Or colonels. Majors. Captains. You get the idea.
“There is the distinct possibility that this… resistance to you, could spread through the military chain. It’s a wonderful idea, but it wagers a lot to make it happen.”
Groaning, Wayne pressed a hand over his eyes and just sat there, his back pressed to the head-board.
“Welcome to reality. It can suck sometimes, but I wouldn’t give it up,” Wendy offered. “I’ve been real close to the other side. Real close. I’d rather leave that experience for much further down the road in my life.
“But in this case, you need to bet, Wayne. Do you think you can force Dashi and it’s military to follow you if you stay. Assuming you win, which I do.
“Or do we take all the trade and diplomatic wins we’ve gotten so far and leave it alone. Though if I had to bet on anything, I think Dahl will show up today to talk to you.
“He might even have a request one way or the other of which way to take this.”
“Oh?” Wayne asked, letting his hand fall away.
“Indeed. He could ask you to push on,” Wendy suggested, her head resting on the bed, yet looking up at him. “He might ask you to push deep into the tournament so he can figure out who fits where and then… maybe eliminate them.
“He’s been quite kind to us so far and seems somewhat every-day benevolent, but at the same time, I know for a fact he isn’t above vanishing people. That he doesn’t remove people who are politically inconvenient or problematic to continued Dashi peace.
“The only reason he hadn’t acted on the Elders is he didn’t have enough proof to justify it. Not enough evidence to shield himself should it come back at him later.
“If he did, people like Miri would’ve been sent out to make people drop dead, then get picked up, and hauled off by someone else.
“And yes, I’ve seen all of Miriam’s profile. I will not tell you the work she did specifically, but she very much is what you would send to make someone go away. Permanently. She’s quite impressive.”
Snorting at that, Wayne then sighed and looked up to the ceiling.
What would Miri tell me to do?
Mm, that’s actually a bad question.
Because whenever she told me to do something, I more often than not did what I felt I should.
“Arsenic, send an email to Dah…to the Pureblood asking him for a meeting, on behalf of Warrior Hesh of Mirkil House,” ordered Wayne. It seemed it was time to corner the Pureblood.
Until he knew the shape of the board, Wayne couldn’t really act in the way he would normally. Pushing ahead without information was just asking to have problems mount.
That meant talking to the Pureblood.
Not Dahl.
Wayne looked back to Wendy at the foot of his bed.
“I know, who would have ever thought I’d be sprawled out in your bed, right?” asked Wendy in a whisper, though her eyes glittered. “Yet here we are. Oh what fun, hm? The Witty and Attractive Captain, all for you. Chasing you across the galaxy from one system to the other.”
“Not a captain anymore,” grumped Wayne.
“True. You promoted me,” Wendy answered, her brows coming down over her eyes. She looked annoyed.
“Still witty and attractive,” offered Wayne as an almost apology.
Wendy’s smile grew wide at the comment, her eyes moving around his face in small movements. Then she began to nibble at her lower lip.
“Got a response from the Pureblood. Meeting in an hour,” Arsenic reported from his phone. “Cara is spending time with her family. I don’t know where Barbie went but sent a notice earlier that she’d be away for a few hours.”
Wend released her lower lip, sat up, and smiled at him.
“Oh good,” Wendy murmured quietly. “I’ve got some Wayne time all to myself. I even got a permission slip from your wife and Tink!
“Let’s see if I can feel my toes curl, hm?”
When the time came to walk into the Pureblood’s office, which was roughly an hour later, Wayne certainly felt lighter.
Though he definitely felt like he was drowning ever further into problems of his own making, but lighter.
Like being able to put a wooden board under your feet, even as you remain in the pit you dug for yourself. You didn’t make any progress on escaping the pit, but you felt a bit better.
A bit.
Wendy seemed a great deal happier, however.
“Warrior Hesh, you’ve formally requested to see me,” stated the Pureblood, standing behind his desk. He gestured to a seat directly in front of his desk. It was only fractionally smaller than the office chair Dahl sat it, but it was smaller.
Perhaps symbollically, which made sense to Wayne.
“Please, won’t you sit? I assume this is a formal meeting in regards to what’s happened today,” Dahl continued and watched as Wayne took the seat. “I will not insult you by assuming that you have broken the internet lockouts and have been looking around?”
“No, not an insult. It’s what I’d assume in your position,” admitted Wayne with a shrug as he got comfortable in the seat. “Nor will I assume it’ll insult you to assume that you realize why I’m here? I need to know which way you’re moving on this.
“If you’re looking to expose dissidents while providing me support for Mirkil, I’d be interested. If you’re not going to help me get the army even if I win, even if I silence those who speak against, then it might be better to leave now.
“To take the wins our two nations have secured with one another rather than risking more by my presence being a counter-punch to our progress.
“The steps and deals I’ve made here will help my wife a great deal. I’m not sure I would want to risk what I’ve gained, and the goodwill, on pushing something that your people seem unsure of.”
“You have indeed seen some of the odd responses to your challenge,” mused Dahl with a heavy sigh. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Wayne. Then looked up to the ceiling. “Yes, I’ve seen the same things you’ve seen. From what my intelligence reports tell me, it’s very similar in the spread and thrust of how they were moving to push attacking the Blood of Prus.
“In some ways… it’s quite similar to how they received all those internal, not internal, communications as well.”
Waye nodded his head.
Wendy had given him a solid playbook on this one. To state what he needed, then shut up. Because until Dahl answered one way, or another, there really wasn’t a conversation to be had around this point.
They really did need a direction.
Dahl watched Wayne for several seconds, then looked away. His facial expression blank and clear, though there was a hardness to him that hadn’t existed only twenty seconds ago.
“I’m a Warrior by my ability with an axe,” Dahl growled. “Earned it young. Had to defend myself against my brother’s assassins. He didn’t care for family and kept trying to kill his younger brother, me.
“Didn’t end up killing my brother. My father killed him. All very ‘correct’ and ‘proper’ according to how things go, you realize.
“None of it sat right with me, though. None of it. Though as I wasn’t the Pureblood at the time, it didn’t really fall within anything I could change.
“Now it’s all mine to handle. All mine to deal with.
“My family is safe, no siblings attempting to end the other, but in the same breath, I feel like I’m steering the proverbial ship into a storm.”
Wayne only nodded his head at that.
He couldn’t fault the man.
Everything he said made sense.
Especially when he considered what Josephine’s own sister had done.
“I will support your call for an army,” Dahl stated and looked to Wayne. “I will put it to writing, sign my name upon it, seal it, and hand it over. The only caveat is you must win the tournament. I will handle dissenters and naysayers.
“Supporting you in this challenge is the easiest way for me to flush out those who would work against me, while also… changing the directory of the Dashi.
“We must break free of the rut we’re in and this is our opportunity to do it. Using our muscle and might to trade for colonization and terraforming.”
“Good,” Wayne replied and sighed. “Personally I think Dashi fighters behind a Confed leader would be rather disgusting. Be able to cover for each other’s faults. Greater than the sum of it’s parts.”
Dahl snickered at that and gave Wayne a side-eye.
“Don’t delude yourself,” he warned him. “Even this much is already too much for many.”
Wayne… didn’t quite believe that.
In his mind, the idea of Dashi and Mirkil working together didn’t seem far fetched.