“I really don’t see how this is necessary, Nova!” that earned me a look that implied I was being a child. Now true, I may very well have been acting that way, but I had no clue how in the actual fuck being subjected to this was the requirement of a ‘Noble’

The activity in question? Being forced to try and move a pencil across a table, even while being Psionically crippled. I had yet to succeed of course. The simple fact of the matter was that while I maintained very small amounts of my gift, the splitting headache even trying to use it caused me to damn near fall to the ground in agony.

Did Nova care? Not one fucking bit. Her response was always the same. “Damian, even if it is a small advantage, an advantage is an advantage. You may be crippled, but the ability to perhaps force a gun clip to fall free will limit the danger you face, cause a distraction, give you an edge. So you will continue to train, surpass your pain, and be better for it.”

Oh, I’d argue of course. She had informed me that if I continued to whine like a child, she would start treating me like one. That led me to some very...interesting and disturbing images involving diapers, bottles, and an adult man saying ‘Mama’. Needless to say, I had questioned every single choice I had ever made in my life after that image flashed through my mind and forced myself to train in an attempt to cause me enough mental anguish to bleach it from my memory. It hadn’t worked yet.

Another hour, another migraine from hell. It finally ended when we had reached Tarsonis. Pierce, stationed on the Bridge, had notified Nova that we had arrived. I’d been allowed to stop trying to push my new nemesis, the pencil, let’s name it Francis, I always hated that name and disliked anyone named it. Mostly because of a Sergeant I’d known back home who was a glorified, overindulged, pencil pusher. Francis, you shall burn! Shooting a glare at Francis, I followed Nova.

When we reached the Bridge I could only smile at what I saw. Tarsonis was a great deal more colorful than Mar Sara was, it also had space defenses out the wazoo. I mean, I saw at least three stations that looked armed to the teeth after a simple glance, no doubt there were more as well.

Once we moved closer, Cruisers, Battleships, whatever you wished to call them met us while our coms flared to life. “You have entered Confederate protected space, state your identity and purpose or you will be fired upon!”

The deep baritone voice sounded fierce and nonplussed. Like he didn’t care either way, which made sense if I remembered much about the Confederate lord from the game. Nova responded shortly after with my identity, house name, and a set of numbers I could barely follow.

“This is the Orion, flagship of the Fern household of Mar Sara, en route to the celebrations for a successful colonization. Clearance code 239/092/198A.”

“Orion, you are cleared for entry to Tarsonis, advised Magistrate Fern that General Vex would like to discuss a personal matter upon his arrival planetside.”

I raised a brow at that. Why the fuck would a General want to speak to me? I was apparently a really minor Noble, could it be the Orion? The System stated it was a Unique structure, and had actually changed its look to be more, well, sleek. Something in line with what Nova seemed to prefer upon specialization. Even if they had been working on something like this they still shouldn’t be able to place the Orion.

“Nova, thoughts?” I asked after making sure our side of the com was closed. She just shrugged, looking just as confused. I even understood why. She shouldn’t know anything about the inner workings of Tarsonis, at least not yet.

“Perhaps it has something to do with our survival of the Kel-Morians? Perhaps they received work about our imprisonment of Hika? It could be a number of things, Damian. I don’t like it though, it will make us late for the Ball.”

I eyed her dubiously, how the fuck would a meeting that might take an hour make us late? According to my recently updated clock, didn’t like that it was in the top corner of my vision without a fucking helmet on, we were actually ahead of schedule and ten hours earlier than expected. What the hell was she planning to do?

I was drawn from that line of thinking though, fascinated by the landing process. I felt the thump of each atmosphere we entered upon descent. I was glad I didn’t feel like my stomach was going to rebel against me as well. Watching the city close in, I smiled at a massive projected sign that read ‘Welcome to New Gettysburg!’

I remembered that mission in the old game, it’s where Sarah was taken by the Zerg. I wondered if something similar would happen in this Universe when the Zerg made an appearance, with luck I’d have my own Settlement prepared before anything like it occurred.

When we were on the ground, we had been redirected to a larger landing pad due to the size of the Orion, Nova began explaining how things would go in terms of my security. It was fairly simple. “Pierce and Stone will be with you at all times while cloaked. I’m sure they have detection methods but all Nobility are allowed two guards, I will be the third, the one visible.”

Yea, pretty simple to follow. I was to follow everything she said to a T when in combat situations here since I had no weapon, or armor at the moment. I even agreed with it, didn’t mean I liked it.

Leaving the ship seemed to be a streamlined process, inputting my Signet Ring into an odd little scanner made it go by smoother. The Nobles in this fucking place really had it easy. Naturally, nothing went that smoothly forever though.

Shortly after leaving the ship we were met with an armed escort, ten Marines in armor. Not a one wore a shield, which actually made me glad. It meant I was the only one with that little help, for now. The one in charge informed us we were to follow him and report to General Vex before leaving the docking facility. That got me to thinking, of course. I still had no idea what the fuck the damn General wanted.

“Lead on.” was the only thing I could reply with, so led we were, right to a side office that seemed far larger than it should be, adorned in what I could only assume was expensive decor. A bit lavish for a fucking docking facility. “Your Ghosts remain here.” I felt my eye twitch as I regarded him in silence, noticing an odd glow behind his visor that seemed green. Probably some kind of detection addition? Interesting if true.

“I do not recommend keeping the General waiting, he is a busy man.” I frowned at him, looking at Nova slowly. Ok, this seemed staged beyond believe. If I could see it, I was sure as hell certain Nova could. “I will, but one of them will be joining me. Nova, come.”

Stay confident, ignore the muscle. I am a Noble, I am a Noble. I saw the Marines around him tighten their grips on their rifles, beginning to lift them. Nova didn’t move, but she had the creepiest fucking smile I had ever seen on a woman, and I’d had an ex who wore disturbing smiles when she tried to trick me into becoming the ‘girl’ in the relationship to experiment.

“Stone.” was all she said, just that word that was so unlike a name that no one would likely expect the reality of the situation. The Marines seemed to pause, confused, and then the leading Marine began shouting, seeing whatever it was Stone was likely doing. “Cease and desist or we will open fire!” He crumbled to the ground, the grind of whining servos and crunching metal filling the hallway as whatever Stone did just crushed the armor around his knees, followed by another, and another until they were all on the ground. The sudden lack of control causing them to keep from firing, and instead focus on not becoming a turtle.

The rifles were then ripped, and I do mean ripped, from their grasps, because the fucking metal fingers were bent backward on the pressure, and a few Marines screamed in pain when their actual fingers broke. “What the hell?” I muttered, Nova looked at me after that and explained, kind of.

“Stone is my strongest Psionic, a very talented man when exerting pure force.” Ok then, don’t piss Stone off. I had a feeling the ‘Don’t piss off’ list was growing larger by the day. What the hell kind of people did I have working for me? Did Superman jack off into the primordial ooze that was this System made Universe or something? Ok, sure, Superman had no telekinetic abilities, but Jesus.

“Alright, well let's see what the General wants. I can assume we won’t be killed for Stones littles...display?” Nova harrumphed at me, looking at the Marines who seemed more concerned with not moving more than they had to, or trying to get up, than us.

“Hardly, Sir. The General was seeing if you were a pushover, someone easily used. Welcome to Politics.” Ok then, so I wasn’t a fucking idiot, lovely. We entered the door leading further in, past the opulent decor and furnishing, to a small office with an older man, he looked sixty but was probably far older based on Terran technology.

He had strong, weathered features. A single scar cut across his forehead, with a receding hairline. Strong brown eyes regarded Nova, me, and the two empty spots I assumed held Pierce and Stone. He was well put together in a deep red colored uniform, gold tassels hanging from the shoulders, and more medals than any one man had a right to.

“Are my men alive at least?” Dear giddy lord his voice was deep and sounded like a fucking blender. Too many years screaming orders no doubt. I waited a moment, not realizing he was speaking to me until Nova lightly nudged me with her foot.

“Yes, General Vex. They are all alive, though perhaps not well. Why the test, if I may be so bold as to ask.” I hated talking like this, I mean I fucking hated it! It is what it is though. He eyed me, then the door we had come from before shrugging.

“Very well, Magistrate Fern. I wanted to see how big a pushover you were. Your House has been known to be weak-willed little guttersnipes, hardly worth the Nobility they obtained in our earlier years.”

Ok...what? Apparently, I had a family backstory. That was kind of neat, the details not so much. “So, you wanted to see if I could be bullied into being used by you, why?” I asked, I knew I was getting angry, that I shouldn’t show it, but I was.

“Because of my reports stating you had somehow managed to hold out and defeat a Pirate force of roughly one-thousand, including the capture of one of the Confederacy’s most wanted individuals, Hika Morimoto. I had fully intended to take all of your people and put them to better use under me, still do.”

He spoke in a slow manner, not bothering to hide behind anything resembling bullshit, which I found somewhat odd. At least I could handle it, kind of. “Yea, that won’t happen. They are my people, and you won’t be getting them.”

“I could simply bomb your tiny settlement into powder from orbit, I am a firm believer in crushing insects before they become a problem.” He had actually just fucking threatened me, what the Hell? I turned to look at Nova who seemed very focused. I wasn’t sure I liked that.

“You can try, General. You might find some insects are a lot harder to crush than you believe.” Nova seemed oddly focused on a corner of the room, did he have Ghosts of his own? I really wish I had detection myself, or some way to see if he had anyone else here.

The General sighed lightly, leaning forward onto his desk and clasping his hands together under his chin. “I’ll make this simple, Magistrate. Under Confederacy Law, as a ruling House member, I am going to order you to give me those under you who personally led you to your victory over the Pirates. If you fail to do this, you will be tried, found guilty, and summarily executed. At which point I will take them regardless.”

Ok, this was going to get a hell of a lot worse. I also had no intention of giving my people to this pompous fucker. “Nova, Stone, Pierce, you are all allowed free action.” I really wish I could join, but I was fairly helpless at the moment. I saw the General narrow his eyes, slightly lifting one hand as a fist. Before he could even finish the action, Nova was moving.

She was like a blur, throwing an open palm at the corner of the room she had been focused on, a loud ‘oomph’ and a small indentation appeared there before two ‘pings’ were heard and two thuds, the outline of bodies slowly forming as they decloaked in death appearing, then Nova was beside the General, a letter opener she commandeered from the desk pressed firmly against his neck.

I tried to not breathe hard, the adrenaline rush of a few seconds where I knew the action was happening but couldn’t join kicking in while I looked at the General, who seemed slightly shocked at the actions that Nova had performed, and his failed little ambush with Confederate Ghosts. Apparently, Nova and her people were just downright better, a damn good thing in my mind. I was very glad I gave them the gear upgrade.

“General Vex, I do believe you said something about killing me? See, I don’t take kindly to that, neither do my people. They are rather protective, as you can see. Perhaps we should discuss this in more detail now?”

I moved forward, taking a seat in the chair before his desk, placing an ankle on my knee as I leaned back. Keep up the act, that’s all you have to do Damian, act the powerful Noble.

The General moved to speak, and Nova pressed the little letter opener hard into his neck, a small bead of blood forming at the end, and he stopped. He was surprised but had actually gained complete control over himself a second later, a very experienced soldier.

“Nova, he can speak.” I said, and she eased up on the pressure, another ‘ping’ sounded out from my right, and a body fell to the ground where Nova had sent the first Ghost into the wall. Apparently, he had wanted to keep going, I doubted he would anymore.

“Magistrate, I advise you have your little pet Ghost here move away. Killing a Confederate General, or his people is grounds for execution.” He actually seemed so damn sure of himself and me doing what he said out of fear of dying. Did he not remember that was how he got into this mess, to begin with?

“Well, General, as I recall you were going to kill me regardless. Give me a reason I shouldn’t kill you and take my chances with escaping and returning to Mar Sara.”

He actually thought about that for a moment, and then did the strangest fucking thing. He started laughing, a small chuckle building into a roar of laughter, utterly ignoring the blade at his throat. “Oh, oh I do like you, Magistrate, you do indeed have some balls, regardless of what reports stated. Call off your pets, we can discuss actual business now.”

Wait, what? I looked at Nova, confused as hell. This had been another fucking test? He had allowed three of his men, Ghosts, to die...all to test me? Was he fucking insane?!

Nova took my look to mean withdrawing and I couldn’t gainsay that after she moved back to my side, now could I? Goddamnit…

The General calmly wiped the bit of blood from his neck with a white linen he pulled from a breast pocket I had missed and smiled at me, an expression seen seldom on that ancient face I imagine.

“Shall we discuss business now? Good. I want Hika Morimoto, she has a certain value to the Confederacy as a bargaining chip to her enemies.”

I blinked at the sudden change, he had mentioned the pirate before, but I never knew her last name. I shrugged a bit, not sure where this was going but went with it. “It’ll cost you, I lost a lot of good men ensuring her capture.”

Partially true, the men I had lost were all during the assault, and they were good men. The General looked at me, seemingly weighing me, and then I spent thirty minutes in what would likely become the first of many ‘business’ deals I would perform. The end result was no charges would be pressed against me or my people for the deaths of the three Ghosts, he would grant me enough food to supply eight-hundred people for four months, and an Engineering Bay schematic for Bastion. In turn, I would have Hika Morimoto delivered to a pre-disclosed location a month from now with Fernando in my company. I had absolutely no doubt that something was hinky about this deal, but I needed those supplies, and he was willing to pay upfront as long as I signed an agreement that would mean orbital bombardment if I failed to uphold my end. I signed that bitch too.

When we left there, Nova looked at me. “Good work, Damian. You played that, if not perfectly, at least with a passing grade. I fear it will only get worse the longer we remain, however. We are also going to be late.”

“Why do you keep saying that? We have nine hours until we have to arrive!” I finally couldn't stand it and blurted out my question. That earned me an odd look, and she smiled in a very predatory way.

“Damian, we have to ensure we are both dressed for the occasion. We will be finding you formal attire that matches your station, not that...thing you are wearing now. I also will need a dress for the evening.”

I blinked, thought about it, and looked at my clothing. This wasn’t formal wear? I mean, it was the same clothing I had been wearing, black and blue was even my House colors. The armor everyone in my employ had begun changing to it at Bastion, the Ghost armor was a mixing of the colors, even Novas armor had changed colors overnight.

“What’s wrong with this?” I asked in confusion, to which she sighed.

“You do not wear Military garb to a formal ball, Damian. Come along now, I managed to have Thompson locate a few places for you.”

Five hours later I had been to six different shops and was dreading the second until Nova found a suit that she felt was perfect for the occasion. She had informed the tailor at the shop that, yea that was a tux, the suit would need to be black, with a dark blue undershirt and a black tie. She had also ensured, I assume under threat of death, that the fucking thing had a Chimera engraved upon it.

It was here that I learned I had a form of currency, which had shocked me, though it really shouldn’t have. Credits were the standard currency, of which I apparently had a hefty sum at the moment, even after taking into account paying my people. Well, at least the game had made me filthy fucking rich at the start. The suit had taken three-hundred thousand credits to pay for, barely a dent in the seeming millions I had at my disposal.

Then the real hell started, mostly the waiting, as Nova led me to shops where she felt a formal dress would be found to fit the occasion. That alone too three hours, I had the oddest feeling she was already aware of what she would pick but was making a show of it for some reason I couldn’t fathom.

The final selection of dresses came down to two. One was a deep blue one piece with a knee-length skirt that had scarlet red highlight in strange flowing patterns that reminded me of Celtic Runes.

The second, and by far best option, was a full length sleeveless black dress with had a thin string of fabric around her neck, flowing down and widening to encompass her breasts, her back was left bare as well. It flowed along the outline of her body, contorting and molding to her like a second skin. A single cut on the left side of the fabric ran from mid-thigh down to her feet, showing off tanned skin, and an elegant open toed heel design. Golden flowers, I think they were lilies, ran up the right side of her dress, flowing toward her stomach upon reaching the hip, and stopping at the point her cleavage would be visible in a fully blooming lily bud pattern.

I swear I stared at her for a full five minutes while she did a slow, calculated, twirl for me, showing me that this dress did indeed require no bra, and judging by the lack of panty lines a very small bit of clothing there if any. Her hair had even been made up, somehow, during her dressing. It was no longer in a ponytail and looked to have been permed as it fell in soft waves onto her shoulders, and upper back. A very light amount of makeup was used to accentuate her features, mostly those impossibly blue eyes, making them simply pop, you could get lost in those depths if you didn’t pay attention.

I came to when I felt her hand touch my chin, and close my mouth. Apparently, it had been open the entire time in shock. I now understood why she refused to have Pierce and Stone present though, seeing her like this even had the other women in this shop looking on in shock, unable to move. “I do believe this will work then?”

She tilted her head at the question, almost teasingly, and I all but shoved her to the counter, handing my Credit Chip thing to the salesperson, not even hearing the price of the dress, and apparent hair styling and makeup as she spouted off a heartbreaking number that might have been one-million, or one-billion. Frankly, I didn’t care. I refused to allow Nova to not wear this tonight at that ball. I was also mentally memorizing every fucking contour of her surprisingly curvy body, at least curvy for a woman with her build, no one needed to know why I did so, no one at all.