The Crystal Knight

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Lanceras C'Tasi waved his hand at the HoloPak in disgust, cutting off the live broadcast from the Council Chambers.

He leaned back languidly in his chair, and regarded his guest sitting across the desk. "Two weeks, and they continue to chase their tails" He remarked. C'Tasi quirked one exquisitely maintained eyebrow. "Your thoughts on the little drama that just transpired?"

Admiral Hera Luthwathe, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the ASF, mimicked C'Tasi's laid-back posture. "Naru'sa and Nyet need to get a room." She laughed, a musical sound. "What is there to think about, Lanceras? Melchior was very studious in evading identifying our 'mysterious' enemy, wasn't he?"

"Our beloved Presider must walk a fine line, my dear." C'Tasi replied. "Don't hold it against him too terribly much."

Luthwathe smiled "Perhaps you are correct. But I can't help but wonder how long he can keep up the juggling act for?"

"Oh, I've no doubt he's got some years left in him." The other replied. C'Tasi, a Velsana by birth, was over seven hundred standard years old, though he only looked about thirty by human standards. Coming from him, such a comment carried great import, indeed.

Coming from the retired head of ASF Intelligence, it carried even more import.

"I'm sure you know," C'Tasi continued, "this was never about Seris VIII; it is about the Navy and the ASF, and the Navy's stark refusal to accept the truth that the Void exist and are a threat to the security of the Four Galaxies."

Luthwathe threw up her arms in frustration. "I know!" She complained. "The worst part is, I understand their refusal."

"Oh?" C'Tasi raised a meticulously cropped eyebrow fractionally. "Do tell."

"We need the Void to be real in order to justify our defense budget, our very existence." Luthwathe answered grimly. "But the Navy needs them to not be real in order to justify theirs." She shook her head remorsefully. "It's insane. Utterly insane. But there we have it."

"There we have it." C'Tasi agreed, smiling fractionally. "It doesn't help matters that the ASF has captured the hearts and minds of our dearly beloved public."

Luthwathe groaned, cradling her head in her paws. "Don't remind me. It's bad enough, hearing that our personnel are being idolized as super soldiers and heroes, but then I hear reports about the GATEnet thrillers-"

"-and the merchandise, and the fan groups, of course." C'Tasi supplied helpfully.

Luthwathe looked balefully at C'Tasi "Indeed." She shook her head. "Our legend is deeply ingrained in the public's collective psyche. They seem to believe that there are no conflicts we cannot resolve, no battles we cannot win."

The admiral clenched her paws in exasperation. She knew all too well just how wrong the public were.

"If only that were true." C'Tasi replied, the regret unmistakeable in his voice. "The problem is, many ASF personnel seem to buy into the myth." He gave Luthwathe a significant look. "Even the more experienced ones."

The admiral barked a humorless laugh. "You're referring to the Double Zeroes, of course."

C'tasi leaned back in his chair, gesturing helplessly. "Who else?"

Each of the hundred million ASF squads currently in operation had a designation number. The lower the number, generally the higher the proficiency rating. The squads that received the most media attention were without a doubt the so-called "Double Zeroes", those squads numbered 009 to 001. Interviews with squad members, especially the squad leaders, commanded totally disproportionate viewership on the GATEnet. Public addresses by the Presider himself didn't even come close.