January 14, 2112
Kalvin Keefe
Information is power, but if misused, it can be catastrophic. And that is what makes information a misunderstood asset. Those who would have leverage yet flaunt it outward like an avaricious child will only incite friction and animosity from others. It is all but guaranteed that those results end bloody and pugnaciously. Only foolish wise men fall for such disaster. However, the right information used under the right circumstances guarantees fortune to the handler. Such information has been the weapon of choice for Kalvin Keefe throughout his long life. He learned early on he was never meant to be a man who fights with fists or physical brawn. That was a game for the less elegant. Only by admitting what we are can we gain what we want. That is why Kalvin was a man who never fought, because he would have already won before ever meeting opponents face to face.
Kalvin rested comfortably in his desk chair, in thought, with his eyes glued to the desk in his private quarters. This was his official place of business, the place he went to when he needed to run the Order of Aegis to its fullest capabilities. A place of legend and lore where its true purpose is known only to distinguished members of the Order of Aegis and ARW military. A place known as Station 51.
Before him were the latest results on his study of Steion and the nano-bugs he had been fascinated by for some time. After all, the Wersillian Legion tried to destroy his findings a while back. Based on these findings, those same nano-bugs were found in Steion's brain as well as the countless other dytircs and lycargans they studied. A result that only added questions to his already overworked mind. Kalvin theorized the nano-bugs had something to do with the warlords' influence over lesser dytircs and lycargans. However, finding some in the warlord Steion seemed to be discredit that hypothesis. Maybe it all links back to that head warlord he had heard about recently, Airra. Or even a different, still unknown warlord. So many unanswered questions connected to this one little thread.
He slid open his drawer and pulled out a bottle of brown pills and took his daily medicine. He then placed it back where it belonged.
There was a knock on his office door.
"Enter," Kalvin called.
One of his assistants entered. "Sir. Chief Admiral Day-Bringer is orbiting the station."
Why would she be here?
Right now, Day-Bringer most certainty was not one of his favorite people, and he, forthrightly, did not want anything to do with her. This emotion had nothing to do with her as a person. It was the mere fact that she remained the only chief admiral he had little useful information about. It was not due to a lack of trying. Because of this unfortunate situation, Day-Bringer remained one of the few who could defy his charisma. Which she often did. And she customarily led in ways a bit unorthodox compared to the other three chief admirals, which aggravated Kalvin.
"Tell her she does not have authorization to enter," Kalvin responded.
"Sir. I told her, and she's insisting that I put her through to you."
Kalvin sighed. "Fine. Put her through to my channel." Once she was through, Kalvin began. "Day--"
"Shut up, Kalvin. I don't have time for your power games. I need to meet with you this moment."
"This is a privately owned facility, and, honestly, under our laws I am not obligated to let you in."
Day-Bringer raised her voice. "Either you let me in now, or I come back with a few star cruisers and let myself in. I leave the choice to you."
Damn upstart always trying to overreach, Kalvin thought to himself. He let out a breath of stress. "Have it your way." He swiped a sequence on his cyberwatch, and the main hatch began to open. With this, Kalvin began his walk to the hangar to meet his very stubborn guest.
Kalvin traveled through the long corridors of Station 51, followed by some of his guards. Kalvin dragged his hand down the dark ashen walls, each made of a concrete-like compound more expensive and durable than the aforementioned material and strengthened with a fair sum of veridium-dipped rebar.
Station 51, his home away from home, was the most fortified and enormous station owned by the Order of Aegis. It was constructed almost completely inside a remarkably dense asteroid that took a decade to carve out. Due to Station 51's high durability and scale, it served two purposes: It housed the most safeguarded projects, and it housed the projects too colossal to be conducted in any other station.
Kalvin arrived at the control room overlooking the hangar. A few Aegis employees manned the operations from the corner. Kalvin stepped to the hard-glass that overlooked the hangar. There she was, Day-Bringer's starship; fast and armored, fit for a chief admiral.
Day-Bringer stepped off her ship. And she looked up to the glass. It was one-sided, so she would not be able to see him.
"Escort her up here," Kalvin told a guard.
He nodded and opened the door leading down to the hangar. Kalvin waited the minutes until she walked through that same door herself, not once looking away from the glass until she was out of view.
She started, "I'm glad you could see things my way." As per usual, Day-Bringer's presence seemed to brighten the room. Kalvin always attributed this strange phenomenon to her elegant style of leadership. Or perhaps it was her unusually bright-red skin for a dor'o.
"I see that you enjoy finding ways around the rules of the game. I admire your ingenuity," Kalvin teased.
"Still as sharp as ever, Kalvin," Day-Bringer responded, without hesitation.
"Are you referring to my suit, or my intelligence?"
"Does it have to be just one?"
"Well, we do all have our talents after all." He tilted his head.
"Some more than most." Day-Bringer's sharp eyebrows and smirk indicated she was referring to herself.
Kalvin began to lead them down the hall. "In that case, surely a chief admiral such as yourself must have more important matters to attend to." His statement attempted to appeal to her superiority complex.
Day-Bringer walked to Kalvin's direct right. "Don't sell yourself short, Kalvin. What is a chief admiral compared to the man himself, the big director of the Order of Aegis?" Day-Bringer paused for a brief moment and then stopped. "As chief admiral, I have standards that I'm held to. There are rules in my world. So, it must be nice to operate without being restrained by such pesky irritations." Now standing next to him, Day-Bringer placed her hand over Kalvin's back.
Kalvin looked to her arm, then down to her face. He was not going to let himself be fooled by such a noticeable attempt at playing his friend. He knew better. "I would not know," Kalvin responded.
She let her hand go. "If that's the case, why keep this ah--" she gazed around, "--surprisingly marvelous facility hidden from public eye?"
"I am a purveyor of both confidentiality and innovation. In my line of work, I find both to be equally important."
"Although, what some could call innovation, others may not. While I'm sure the public and military find many of the products the Order of Aegis so kindly puts out to be inventive, they don't quite see the full picture, do they?"
"And you do?"
"I have it from a good source that the Order of Aegis dabbles in many… projects, and not all see the light of day. Take Project Ace, for example--"
Kalvin interrupted. "Project Ace has trained valuable assets with great success for military use. You are welcome."
"Oh, I wasn't talking about that Project Ace. I am referring to the old Project Ace, the one focused on taking one ace, James Stone, and making more. Must've been difficult for you to acquire subjects willing to undergo such dangerous testing procedures. Or maybe it was easier to snatch unwilling subjects instead."
Kalvin raised an eyebrow, slightly tilting his head. "Strictly speaking, such a thing would not be in accordance with the law."
"Strictly speaking, of course," Day-Bringer quoted him.
Kalvin flinched his lip. "Tell me, Day-Bringer, how does one such as yourself come out of nowhere and end up in one of the most powerful positions among our alliance? I have often wondered."
"Strange for you to wonder such a thing. I'm sure it's as easy as looking in a mirror and asking yourself for the answer," Day-Bringer shot back.
Kalvin's quick tongue nearly caught on itself. He knew there was no way she would know such a buried secret. There was no way she could know, he was the only one left alive to know, so he had to continue to play cool.
Day-Bringer gazed back up to Kalvin and smiled. "Of course, I'm joking," she teased. "I like to think we have the same goal, Kalvin. So let me put this forward: I know that the Order of Aegis hides certain projects behind closed doors and uses less than ethical methods for the sake of progress. I'm certainly against this practice. But the ARW needs to win this war. I wholeheartedly agree with this fact, because our galaxy depends on it. And to win, we need you, Kalvin, and the Order of Aegis. So I can often look the other way for the sake of the galaxy. Are we at an understanding?"
"We are."
Day-Bringer brightened the room. "Pleasant." There was that strange verbal tic of hers again.
"Now that we have laid it on the table, I would like to know what your purpose is for being here."
"I'm sure you would, Kalvin. In fact, I do only seek one project in particular - Project Aurum."
Kalvin snickered.
Day-Bringer squinted her eyes. "Does that amuse you?"
"Amuse is not the right word. I actually find it quite sardonic, yet not at all unbefitting your entitlement. I say this because it was only just recently that you - what is the word - mishandled a few of my aces."
"Your aces? You speak to me as if those people are your property."
"Hmm." Kalvin raised an eyebrow. "You dodged the point."
"And who's dodging right now?" Day-Bringer mirrored Kalvin's expression. "We both know that we could do this all day. Instead, I propose that you take me to what I want to see."
"It would save time." Kalvin led the way, and Day-Bringer followed his lead down a long hallway. "Now what is your intention with Project Aurum?"
"I came upon a report by you, actually. And in that report, it stated that you believe that this project will be part of what wins us the war. Then again, you've made that deduction over many projects in the past years, so--" Day-Bringer shrugged. "That being said, I do have the perfect test run in mind."
"Test run? You mean a field test, do you not?"
"I do."
"That is something I am not about to sanction."
"Excuse me?" Day-Bringer halted. "If I recall correctly, most of these individuals are active members of the ARW military, and you are merely being allowed access to them on loan. Remember who is the chief admiral here."
"Trust me, you would not let me forget edgewise. So let me bring this forward: I was the one who found every one of these individuals--"
"I'm sure that means so much to them--" Day-Bringer tried to interrupt.
"I wasn't finished! I also convinced most of them to enlist. You are welcome for that. And after you lost James Stone, Jay Bridges, and both the Bruising Brothers, I will be damned before I let you take these aces away, too."
"No, that's not it. You intended on using them yourself. It's the only reason I can think of for your overheated reaction."
"I have no idea what you mean."
"I'll tell you what: I'll let you know what I have planned for them." Day-Bringer pulled up a disturbing image of sharp bones piercing a dozen soldiers. Blood and guts poured all over the control center of a star cruiser. One man had his head spiked clean through by bones shaped almost like a spear. Another was torn apart, with bones sticking out of his stomach, arms, and face like a porcupine. And those two got off easier than the rest.
"What, dare I ask, happened to them?!" Kalvin finally asked.
"I wish I knew." Day-Bringer cleared her throat. "We lost contact with this ship - the Madame Galactic - for days. When we finally got a recon unit to investigate, this was only one of many images they sent back."
"Did you have the bones tested?"
"No, I never thought of that." Her sarcastic tone was apparent.
Kalvin frowned. "Be serious."
"Yes, we had the bones along with a few deposits of organic material tested, and our computers came up with nothing that would link us to any known species. Whatever these bones belonged to, it isn't in our database. But the most unpleasant news… the bones are more dense and durable than any other bone makeup we have on record."
"Quite a discovery. What does this have to do with my aces?" Kalvin crossed his arms.
"This wasn't a single case. Over this last month, we have had units ambushed, and the Madame Galactic was the first of three star cruisers we lost! I think we have a new threat."
"And you want my aces to figure out what it is?"
"Yes, and I want them to take out the threat at all costs," Day-Bringer said, "Whatever or however many of them exists."
"I appreciate the guilelessness. So allow me to reciprocate, I was planning on using them to retrieve the lost aces."
Her apprehension showed. "For one, we don't know if they are alive. And two, we have no way of knowing where they are."
"Are you so certain?" Kalvin chuckled.
"I'm not following." Day-Bringer held a confused expression.
"Let me let you in on another secret. I know someone who may know of such information, and, before you arrived, I was planning on summoning him today."
"Summoning?" Day-Bringer gave Kalvin a dubious stare.
"Follow me." Kalvin gestured down the hall.
And down they went - down the halls of Station 51. Kalvin formed a grin on his face. It had been years, but he was finally going to see him again; the man more mysterious than anyone he had ever encountered, a man he called The Broker.