Amid the disturbing reality of the state of things, and in the wake of the death of captain Lisandro, the captains' council meets again at headquarters, and no one is smiling. The warning Lisandro sent with his D-pad was directed to the other members of the council. It was an audio recording of Kelechi's speech. Every member of the council received the message the instant Lisandro was moved out of the radius of the signal jam, by the white phoenix. It's a roundtable setting with a considerably large distance between each person. Malcolm rises to do the formalities.
Malcolm: We are gathered here today for another meeting of the captains' council. In attendance here today in no specific order...
Sinister interrupts.
Sinister: I think we all know who's here and who's not. Toro, Nicole, Omero and myself. The only one missing is...
Omero interrupts.
Omero: Let the man do his job, Jace.
Sinister becomes visibly angry.
Sinister: Call me "Jace" again and I'll make sure you become an absentee.
Nicole speaks in an attempt to intervene.
Nicole: (softly) Can we all calm down?
Toro isn't even focused on the meeting. He just leans backwards, staring at the ceiling.
Malcolm: I believe we all received the message from the now late captain Lisandro. As disturbing as the message is, there's even more disturbing news. On one of the bodies recovered from south lake, there was an inscription. They carved a message on her back. I'll read it to us shortly. But first, the underlying issues. The recoil judgement for Mari...
Omero interrupts again.
Omero: His Intel proved true, and so did his theory. The most part of it, at least. He should be acquitted of all charges.
Sinister: What about the dark forest incident? Operation north sweep failed woefully. A surveillance mission ended up involving combat, and led to the loss of two young hunters.
Omero: I think we all know the outcome of the mission.
Sinister: How about what led to it? What punishment will Renard receive? He's a CIT like Mari, and that makes insubordination an improper term to use. I propose he be stripped of his rank, for starters.
Omero: He'll just climb up again. We're in the midst of a serious crisis. We lost a captain, and our total man power is at an all time low. Just a little over a thousand hunters. Not to mention the fall in quality, and low recruitment success.
Sinister: Are you suggesting we let him go unpunished?
Omero: I've seen the boy's body. It'd appear that he's received quite the punishment. Don't bring your hatred for your boy to council.
Sinister: How dare you talk about my personal life like that.
Everyone else besides Toro at this point is silent and watching on.
Omero: Oh. I'm sorry. Let's talk about the mission. I've read the full report, and apart from Renard's disgusting actions, something else struck me.
Sinister: And what might that be?
Omero: How you were so comfortable with letting Lisandro run off and go solo. You even instructed everyone else to return home. One would think...you let him die.
Sinister: Are you accusing me of being partly responsible for Lisandro's death?
Omero: What if I am? You...let...him...di...
YOU ARE READING
DEMON HUNT
FantasyMario Cadel gets caught up in a series of tragic events that opens his eyes to the mysteries and darkness in the world. He begins a struggle to establish peace but whether he succeeds or not is another matter...
