The Tale of the Ascendants

Chapter 17: When the darkness comes

Sabay-sabay kaming tatlong naglakad patungo sa conference room kung saan naghihintay na ang karamihan. Kagaya namin, wala rin silang ideya kung ano ang agenda ng meeting na ito. Naupo kaming tatlo sa unahang bahagi at naghintay sa pagdating ng Chairman.

Few minutes later, a middle-aged man, walking side by side with my Dad, entered the room, followed by a special security group, who swarmed the room. Everyone stood up and paid respect to the newly entered individuals. He took the presidential chair beside my Dad and adjusted his tie. He looked around the room as if looking for someone. Nang magtagpo ang tingin nila ni Ex, agad itong tumango. That gesture left me curious. Something was obviously going on.

I threw a glance at Ex hoping he could explain what's going on, but he never looked my way. I ended up looking at the Chairman. For someone with a high position in the government, he, indeed, resembled a persona of a stiff and controlling individual. Very military-like.  I wondered what he was once as a member of The Forces.

"The Forces is facing a lot of controversies these past few days," the Chairman started. "One of which is the recent issue about our maximum security. The President himself isn't happy with that," he paused for a second letting us reflect on his words.

Who would even rejoice with that news, huh? I wanted to snarl at him.

"With this, I needed to step in and meddle with some decisions," the Chairman said with conviction—as if he didn't want to hear any complaint. I looked around and noticed how the rest of the crowd reacted—most of them were astounded of the Chairman's words. I felt Terrence's uneasiness and Ex's tension beside me. I remained quiet and impassive, though. As much as I wanted to butt in, I knew my dad wouldn't feel good about it, so I remained mum.

"Special Action Forces will be here soon. I assigned them to be in-charge of the training in the Academy. Captain Delrio will lead them," he continued.

I heard Terrence grunt in annoyance while Ex remained poker-faced with his hand curled into a fist. Something was going on with them for sure. I glanced at Terrence, hoping he could give me an idea, but he seemed seriously listening to the Chairman.

"Captain Venzuela's team would step out of the Spidex case." He gave us a look before he continued. "They will be on a 100-day holiday with the US-Argons joint troop in Danaka," he said with finality. Nanatiling tahimik lamang ang dalawa sa tabi ko. I still waited for them to explain or complain, but they didn't. I wanted to ask them about it, but they seemed preoccupied. They didn't even bother to throw me a glance.

So this was the reason why Ex couldn't handle the case. I wanted to protest. Why did it have to be now? I guess it was an unjust decision. Something wrong was going on—politics and its dirty tricks.

Tinitigan ko si Daddy na mukhang hindi natutuwa sa panghihimasok ng Chairman. Hindi ko mapigilang hindi maawa sa sitwasyon niya. It must be really tough for him to just go with the Chairman's order.

Halos isang oras din ang itinagal ng meeting kung saan ibinalita rin ng Chairman ang napipintong paglilipat kay Juno. Because of the recent breach of security, he would be detained under the maximum security of Argons Eastern Base Camp. Nobody dared to go against that order. Maybe they thought it was the best option after the controversy of Aeon's escape, but I begged to differ. I had a bad feeling about it.

Aside from that, the Chairman emphasized the need for double security to avoid future controversy. Everyone was re-briefed about the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). When the meeting ended, everyone went back to their post except from the three of us who remained in trance. After few minutes, Ex stood up and took small steps out of the room. It was our cue to follow.