A V E N G E R
IMPERIAL SPECTRE
RETROSPECT
Previously...
Dimly lit, the open holobook and chandelier are the only sources of light within the study. Used to be the place I would clear my mind and focus when meditation failed. But I don't even know what I'm reading now. Floating words across a pane of cyan light. Rough knuckles jab my cheeks up to my eyes. I'm not as tired as I'm concerned.
Carlac. That cursed world of ice. Chelenne. Bloodied, tip-toeing between nightmares. I know I should've disengaged, kept my distance when the first jitters of emotions began to form up. But here I am. Entangled. My mind's losing its sharpness every time she becomes a variable. Stupid. Should've been better than this. Why does it feel
different this time? Or am I convincing myself it's different?
I shut off the book and bask in the darkness. I know the answer but I don't want to say it. I wish it was ISB working me. Bonds are just pain delayed -inevitable to break by each's own volition or by tragedy eventually. Been numb to death for two decades and now it's gone - went away with the frantic fear of holding Chel as life departed her.
"
You're quite in a pickle there, aren't you, Sir?"
He'd caught barely any sleep the night before, as usual, but the mask hid the crevices of exhaustion forming on his face. Not that he needed the helmet to remain looking as solid as a stone but like everyone here - their identities were a secret. For the most part. Varian knew who Bloodlet and Revenant were. He found the man with Chelenne on Dantooine and employed the woman as a spy before the Battle of Carlac. The other, Blitz, was still a mystery to Avenger. For now.
His attention was fixated on the job at hand, Bloodlet delivering an up-to-date profile report on the more pressing Warlords and Moffs, and Revenant presenting details on her investigation of Tavlar's assassination. In this court of spectres, in this
job, duty, mission or whatever you want to call it was where he found escape from his tribulations over Nightha- Chelenne. It was an odd, but quite a successful coping mechanism. Bury yourself in work and there's nothing else that could press your mind.
"
To add onto Revenant, I've begun an investigation within our territory for Maw cells. No such plan can succeed without careful and long preparations that can only be conducted up close. ISB is already on the case, seeking to find and uproot any covert Maw presence on other Imperial worlds." the dark crusader stated, tone as usually neutral and stoic, "
Whatever I uncover here may aid Revenant's infiltration and vice versa." he added. Teamwork was never his forte but compromises had to be made for the sake of the mission.
"
But there's more than the assassination that I want to report." he said, tapping a but on his wrist and the table projected a hologram full of various statistics, "
In the waning days of Imperator Tavlar's reign, there was a growing contempt, or rather exhaustion, from the total war doctrine enacted during the civil war. A lot of unrest." he paused, then continued, "
Tavlar's death seems to have tempered the heat down and united the state in mourning."
"
This, however, has been the case on worlds ruled by the central government, by Moffs. The situation is slightly inverted on warlord governorates, where segments of the population not directly attached to the lord in charge, especially the youth, seem to be growing more supportive of the notion of more centralized governance."
"
There's more to that in the details." he tapped the button again and another report, this one directly from ISB, emerged from the holoprojector. "
ISB operatives have found there is a rising sentiment among new recruits in the military who are not as keen to wage a total war again." another tap produced the
Open Letter of the ISYG, "
This speaks for itself."