As Seth and his brother near the
planet the mercenary guild the pilot is from, his brother says, “What’s the
plan?”
“Go in, ask for information, get
it, then clear our names,” Seth answers.
“That’s not a plan. That’s a generalization.”
“We don’t know how it’s going to
go, so I think it’s better if we have a flexible plan. We talk to the person
who gives out requests and get him to expose the anonymous client.”
“What if they can’t do it or don’t
want to?”
“There are ways to force it, especially
with the Bishop of the Battlefield Cadmen, and Seth, the soldier who gave
everything for God and His Church asking questions and demanding answers. Our
reputation opens doors that no one else can.”
“It also brings with it a certain
amount of trouble.”
“Let it come. God will protect us.”
“I’m not doubting God’s protection,
but you have to take steps in protecting yourself otherwise you’ll end up like
how you did in the war.”
“You’re one to talk, Bishop of the
Battlefield. You went into the war to prove to the higher-ups that their plans
and the war wasn’t worth fighting for.”
“I also fought to protect you. I
was the one who pulled you out when you were barely in one piece.”
“Then it’s good that we’re doing
this together. We’re landing on the planet soon. Get ready.”
Seth lands Cadmen’s ship on the
platform. The brothers step out to take a look at the city before them.
“This place is a ghetto of a
planet,” Seth says, “Even though the Church occupies it because of the recent
war, she didn’t send her best here. It has some of the most corrupt people that
are the reason for its condition. I wouldn’t be surprised if we find the people
being our framing here. I don’t even trust the cathedral we landed on.”
“If you’re so distrustful of them,
then we should get moving and stop complaining.”
“I’m sorry, brother. I just had to
get that out of my system.”
Seth and Cadmen walk the streets of
the city while being looked at by very promiscuous people whether they’d be
officials or criminals that either hide, turn away, or try to mind their business
to not attract their attention. They reach the mercenary’s guild that’s
disguised as a bar. Entering into the bar makes a few people walk out when the
brothers pass while others whisper to each other about them.
Seth approaches the bartender and
asks, “We’re here looking for information on an anonymous source connected to
the recent assassination attempt on a Secretary Levi and his supporters.”
“That’s information that will cost
you.”
“It’s going to cost you if you don’t
give us it.”
“Do you realize that you’re
outgunned in a place where you have no friends who will save you?”
“Do you realize who you’re dealing
with and what will happen if you do anything drastic?”
“…fine. Talk to the boss upstairs.”
The bartender presses a hidden
button that moves the shelves of alcohol away to reveal a hidden door that
leads to an upstairs office. In this office, is a woman in business attire and a
veil on her face similar to that of politicians in the Church. She sits at a
computer with a TV showing the latest news.
“I know what you’re here for,” the
woman says.
“And? Can you give it to us?” Seth
asks.
“I can. Despite telling my clients
that their identities are protected, I always keep their true identities in
case I can use it against them later if they decide to turn against me or if
the information will protect me.”
“It’s a good thing you do, so hand
it over.”
“I understand, but I must have your
promise that-”
“I make no deals with sinners such
as yourself.”
“What are you going to do if I don’t
give you the information?”
“I’ll find a way to get it myself.
Either way, you’re going to be shutting down your operation. If you hand us the
information without trouble, then my brother and I can lessen your sentence.”
“Think about it. You’ll have enough
time to make yourself right with God, if that means anything to you,” Cadmen adds.
“…here.”
The woman hands Seth a USB drive.
“We’ll honor the deal,” Cadmen
says.
“I know you will. I’ve recorded it,”
the woman says before turning around to the TV to watch it.
Seth and Cadmen leave the office and
enter back into the bar only to come across a squad of officers enter into it.
“Sergeant Seth and Archbishop
Cadmen, you are under arrest for leaving a planet while being suspects in a
crime,” one of the officers says.
“We got permission to leave. The authorities
let us go because they didn’t suspect us of the crime,” Seth says.
“They let you off because they like
you a bit too much. That kind of rejection of law won’t happen here.”
“I know your kind of people here. They
both reject the Church’s law and God’s law.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think. We’re
taking you in.”
“If you are, then you might want to
see what we have here. We have evidence that tells us who paid the mercenaries
to attack the secretary and his supporters.”
“So what? You’ve broken the law by leaving
the planet while being a suspect. You’re going to jail either way.”
“That is not going to happen.” Seth
takes out his assault rifle and points it at the officers. “We’re leaving here
whether you like it or not.”
The officers point their guns at
him.
“Put your gun down or we will shoot
you both!” one of the officers says.
“Seth, what are you doing?” Cadmen
asks.
“The right thing, brother. The people
here even those in the Church are corrupt. I don’t trust them one bit.”
A cloaked person in the bar shoots their
gun into the air and the bar erupts into chaos. Seth and Cadmen run to cover as
the officers and some of the mercenaries try to kill them.
“At least we can’t be blamed for
shooting first,” Seth says.
“It’s not going to matter if they
kill us!” Cadmen responds while taking out his guns.
“Then let’s make sure that doesn’t
happen! Come on, Bishop of the Battlefield. Show them how you got your name.”
“Can you stop calling me that?”
Cadmen transforms his rifles a multi-barrel
gun similar to a minigun while Seth engages the officers and mercenaries. The
brothers shoot and kill everyone who shoots back at them while wrecking the bar.
Cadmen’s rifles tear through cover and the armor of the guards while Seth takes
out his enemies fast with headshots and shots to their limbs and guns to overload
them. When the dust settles, the bar is a wreck with bodies, blood, and laser
burns everywhere.
“You haven’t lost your touch,
brother,” Seth says.
“I practice shooting and my
swordsmanship on Sundays, as the Lord intended. You haven’t lost your accuracy either,”
Cadmen says.
The woman from the back comes out
with her gun drawn. She says, “You are going to-”
Seth shoots the woman dead.
“Seth!”
“What? She had her gun pointed at
us.”
“But we still owed her for giving
us the information.”
“We’ll pray for her assuming she
repented of her sins before her death. It’s all we can do now.”
“You seem happy that she’s dead.”
“I’m trying not to be. People who do
business in murder need to face justice.”
“She was going to face justice in a
trial.”
“Can we talk about this later?
There are probably going to be more officers coming this way.”
“How are we going to explain this?”
“We’ll think about it on the way
out. Let’s go!”
Seth and Cadmen run through the
streets while more officers come in. A ship flies in the air with its turrets
fixed on the brothers while assassins put their sights on them.
As they take cover and exchange fire,
Seth says, “This is just like the war!”
“Is that supposed to be comforting?”
“Not really, but it’s something we’re
used to.”
“But last time we had more backup.”
The ship is suddenly shot out of
the sky while the assassins and officers are shot at on their blindside. A
group of people with red and gold crosses on their masks come out to help the
brothers.
One of them comes up to Cadmen,
bows, then says, “We’re here to help, Bishop of the Battlefield. How can we be
of service to God and you?”
“You can help by clearing the way
to the cathedral then getting to safety.”
“As you wish.”
The group of resistance fighters
clears a way forward for Seth and Cadmen as they approach the heavily defended
cathedral. A bishop exits the cathedral and raises his hand to get his forces
to stop the assault. Cadmen gets their forces to stop fighting as well as the
brothers approach the bishop to see what he wants.
“Turn yourselves in, Archbishop
Cadmen and Sergeant Seth, and hand over the information you found. If you do
this, then you will be granted a fair trial. Refuse and you will be executed,”
the bishop says.
“Oh, so is this why you chose you to attack
us now rather than we landed? Who are you working for?” Seth asks.
“We are working for God and His Church,
unlike you who are killing her guards, disobeying her laws, and threatening to
rewrite them.”
“You dare accuse us of disobeying
the Divine Law when you’re the ones who are attacking us?! Tell me, are you
working with the people who staged the assassination?”
“We have similar interests.”
“How can you align yourself with
people like them?”
“Because they’re willing to do whatever
it takes to keep God’s law in place. Lay down your lives now or everyone
including your rebel friends will be killed.”
“I don’t think so.”
The brother’s allies come out from
hiding to shoot down the ship and blow up the surrounding forces. Seth, Cadmen,
and those supporting them help finish off whoever still chooses to fight. While
walking into the cathedral that was damaged by explosives and the crashing
ship, Cadmen looks around it with a heavy heart. Seth puts his hand on his
brother’s shoulder.
“This is their fault, brother. Don’t
forget that. We can repair this and make it better,” Seth assures his brother.
“I hope so,” Cadmen says as he
makes his way to the landing platform.
The man who talked to Cadmen before
goes up to him and says, “We’re sorry we couldn’t lessen the damage to the
cathedral. You inspired us to act because of your actions and devotion to God
and helping His Church.”
“Thank you, but you’re all going to
be wanted criminals for helping us.”
“It’s all for God. We’re willing to
do anything to see His Will become a reality.”
“When this is over, we’ll make sure
the charges against you are drop. For now, try to lay low and not cause any
more trouble.”
“Yes, father.”
“What is your name?”
“My name is Ham.”
“Thank you, Ham. Go in peace to
love and serve the Lord.”
Ham exits the cathedral while
telling his allies to withdrawal while Seth and Cadmen go into their ship. They
fly away as they analyze the data they got.
“This data doesn’t tell us exactly
who hired the mercenaries. It looks like that woman was on the verge of finding
the name of the source where the money came from,” Cadmen says.
“So, if we want to find who’s responsible,
then we have to get them ourselves. What do we have to go on then?” Seth asks.
“We’d have to the colony on Mars to
check that out. It’s where the money and communications come from.”
“I’m surprised that’s true. The colony
on Mars is full of faithful Catholics that were very much against the war, so I
thought most people there would be on our side.”
“That doesn’t look to be true.”
“How are we going to find the
source there?”
“This data shows the city the
source came from as well and it also the source’s bank account number that she managed
to decrypt. We have to bring this to the bank there to find who owns it.
Hopefully, this shouldn’t be too troublesome.”
“I hope you’re right.”
The brothers now fly off to Mars in
the hopes of finding the source of their problems and bringing them to justice.
