Diana

Still healing from the attack, I breathed slowly as more people filtered into the room — both physically and in holographic projections from what tech wasn't ruined by the Bladedaughter's attack. Corporals and Sergeants from every sect of the First Precinct, Lieutenant Anabelle Grazhe and even a rare show from the Captain himself. Ishram Krishav had a grave look on his face as assessments from the attack came in.

"76 Police personnel dead." One voice said.

Another grunted. "Only eight of Muramasa. All grunts. They shattered our comms!"

"The Dogwhistler did." Said Morgan, medics working to seal the impaling he had taken. "She's gone from neutral to antagonistic."

Then, another voice came in. I dreaded him more than any other. One screen was larger than the rest. It held a bronze-skinned man who looked like he didn't have the time for this.

NeoCore Inquisitor Tusk -- once, his hands tried to crush my skull for my Implant. "This woman… she just now claimed stake over several hundred Iron Implants, nearly a hundred Bronze, twelve Silvers… and two Gold. That is your priority."

"Muramasa has always been brazen…" Lieutenant Anabelle Grazhe looked visibly disturbed on her screen. "But they've never dared to attack a corporation like this before. What are they planning?"

"A significant foothold over the Swarm." One Sergeant hushed. "Or worse."

"This demands retaliation." The Lieutenant decided. "Muramasa Dynasty… we cannot let them distribute those implants into the criminal sphere. It would tip the balance and... the sooner we counterattack, the better."

"I'm in agreement." Omen hissed from pain. "They won't risk that shipment being taken to Little Requiem; the entire city now has a windfall up for taking."

"We must retrieve it." The Captain finally spoke, determination heavy in his voice. "I will lead this operation on the field. We will have three tasks. First, the retrieval of the Implants. Second, the imprisonment or death of Muramasa leadership. Third, their disbandment — no other criminal organization must be allowed to think they can get away with this. We cannot fight only for the sake of retrieval, we will be fighting to eliminate Muramasa as a whole. Lieutenant Grazhe, you will be my second-in-command on the field. SIO Staff Sergeant Kirrel will take reconnaissance and act remotely. Everyone else… your duties will be assigned shortly."

The screens vanished, leaving only the lieutenant and Captain Krishav. Even those who were in person left, and I was about to as well. Omen shook his head. "Stay, Ulrich."

The Captain spoke aloud. "I will be the one to combat The Bladefather."

"Captain… that's an unnecessary risk." Lieutenant Grazhe said with wide eyes. "You're the only Tier IV among Westbrook's police. If you die… we'll lose control until either Captain Jakob or Captain Harris return from the Siege Capitals."

"We also do not have the aid of either Emizren or The Iron Devil right now." Omen coughed. "Which means…"

"The Uncaged, yes." Krishav sighed. "Skeleton had not said anything about this to me, but that does not mean he was unwise to it. As for Dogwhistler… she played an instigator role in allowing this to happen. Her secrecy was to conceal her plans… as for the other-"

The Lieutenant chuckled, her eyes suddenly turning red and soulless. "Ah, I can assure you — my others had nothing to do with this. We're just as surprised as you are!"

My breath grated out of me, burning at the mere sight of those eyes.

"Oh, relax Diana Ulrich!" Soul Killer spoke from within the Lieutenant's body. "I'm of aid to your cause right now! Maybe I'll have a Nexus on standby in case things go wrong. I'll make sure my men wear thick visors to prevent anything suspicious from being noticed."

Then those red eyes vanished, and Anabelle groaned as she rubbed her head. "As I was saying, if either of those two is involved… then likely, they're not working together on this."

"They're not." I confirmed. "They're at war with one another now."

The Lieutenant groaned before putting on a straight face. "Tell us what you know, Ulrich."

I spoke, telling them with confidence what Ripley had divulged to me. Now wasn't the time to keep secrets; now was the perfect time to have the Dogwhistler and Skeleton be taken down in one go. I told them about Dogwhistler and the homeless, how Skeleton controls his drones and his Unique Feature.

Neither of them questioned how I knew this. They likely believed I had one source.

"Dreadwire." Krishav clicked his tongue. "He has been intertwined with the kinds of Emizren and The Iron Devil. You're in contact with him?"

"Yes. He can help." I tensed as I looked at Anabelle, not eager to divulge the existence of his developing a cure. "I would… put my trust into him."

"Trust." Anabelle seethed. "You will take responsibility for him, policed Mercenaries are not taken in so lightly, but based on his… acquaintances, we can make an exception."

"He'll want to know what the pay is." I said flatly.

"One million Shardyne, police immunity for his past crimes, further contract work with us." Krishav grunted. "But he has one job, the same as yours."

"Which is?"

"Elimination of The Bladedaughter." Krishav said with fierce grit. "She is Gold like the two of you, even though she may be Tier III — you both are the only ones capable of intercepting her Warp Energy equally other than me."

"And I," Kim Liyung said, speaking up for the first time, "I am the one with the most experience fighting her."

"How is that, exactly?" I met her sharp gaze, it felt like a hurricane was buried in her Soul.

"Kim Liyung," began the Captain, "is a former Muramasa Princess. She is our expert in their operations; alongside you and Dreadwire — she will lead the charge of defeating The Bladedaughter. If both the daughter and the father fall, Muramasa will weaken themselves as they splinter to the other members of their royalty, fighting for control. Only those two have any real power."

"So if either one of the two survives, Muramasa can rebuild." I sighed. "And then, they'd band under someone else — either Dogwhistler or Skeleton?"

No direct answer came, but the silence weighed enough.

"By when should we commence the operation?" Morgan asked, screens popping up around him as they already began planning a retaliation.

Tusk answered that. "They'll want to scan those Implants to figure out what's on them, with the hundreds loaded into them… you'll have a week before they're distributed."

A week. That was so little time to prepare, to manifest a killshot on Muramasa. One of the oldest and arguably the most dangerous of the gangs in the city. Morgan sighed, his eyes flicking up in annoyance as what looked like a call began to vibrate on a screen in front of him. "Mercs are already reaching out to us. They'll want a piece of that Implant stash."

"I'll verify the contracts myself." Lieutenant Grazhe declared. "Who's on the top of the list?"

"Normally, Missy and The Iron Devil… but they're not reachable right now." Morgan sighed, taking me for a surprised turn. It seemed that those two were also possibly in contact with the police from time to time — it made sense, as they were highly connected mercenaries at the top of the food chain. It was also likely why even Special Investigators didn't have direct access or permission to look into them.

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I felt a need to add onto that. "Skeleton's responsible for their exit, think he's had a hand in this?"

That was when the voice of the bastard popped up, a hologram of his smug yet inexpressionable face appearing in front of us. "Ah, while I do like my schemes, I can assure you I had no direct involvement in this maneuver. In fact, one could say I'm mildly surprised they went through with it."

"So, you still knew?" I seethed, of course he did.

"I heard inklings of a plan that they requested certain aspects of aid from me to accomplish, but I was never directly involved with this." Skeleton sighed. "The Bladefather, as well, had been unaware. This scheme was entirely orchestrated by Prince War-Watcher and my ever-so-distant-yet-rebellious fiancé. I will, naturally, provide my support on this operation of yours."

"How so?" The lieutenant's gray eyes slimmed down.

"Dogwhistler… The Revenant, you can expect both of them to take advantage of the chaos. Her especially." Skeleton's hologram transferred a set of data that the Staff Sergeant eagerly pulled to his side. "I can have my men on standby, I have some inside sway on Muramasa operations within the daughter's sect. She might execute them for divulging with me any info, but rest assured… I want you to succeed. That is all."

His hologram disappeared.

The Lieutenant groaned, slamming a fist beyond the scope of the hologram. "Omen, we are seriously not considering this, right?"

"Oh, but you are." Came a response from another figure. Leopold Hackridge, the Head of SynTec's Counter-Intelligence in Westbrook. He had a greedy smile that I would have loved to punch of his smug face. "I've been eager to see his Cadavers in action."

Omen, with a stern face, sighed. "We can have him on standby notice, but its a last cause measure. As for now… let us communicate with Mirage."

He clicked something in the air, and then purple tinted woman with a sleek dress of flowing light and shadows formed. She had a cheery voice as she introduced herself. "Hey there, all you fancy faces, the name's Twilight!"

Twilight… That was the name of Starlight's second mother, one of Mirage's Personas.

"I'm here to represent Dreadwire and our eager consensus to aid your case, along with someone very special!" Twilight snickered, before a pink fairy floated up beside her, transforming into a tiny girl that sat on her shoulder and waved to everyone, her eyes a little mischievous when she turned to me. "This is my daughter, Starlight!"

"Hey there!" She said proudly.

"Twilight… and Starlight? Another one of Mirage's then." The Lieutenant gripped her tired head. "You seriously let them into the call, Omen?"

The Staff Sergeant nodded. "Only after Skeleton left, we know Mirage has experience in his books. Working for him."

"Well, not anymore." Twilight corrected with a stern expression. "Skelly's being a real bitch. Cut us off, but I do know that he has plenty to gain from your victory."

"What?" Captain Krishav leaned in, his oceanic eyes seemingly rippling.

"Corpses. Powerful corpses." Twilight explained, pulling up a diagram of a map. "You want to keep him in check, look at the morgues. He owns half of them in the city."

"Fucking hell." Captain Krishav growled. "So he's going to steal the bodies of those who fall, then? To build an army."

Starlight peeped up. "Exactly, he could any number of MALs running around from police and Muramasa corpses alike! Also…"

She pulled up another map. "Might want to look into these, suspected Dreamframe operating factories, he's loading up a lot of innocents with digital MAL-seeds."

She winked at me, and I was grateful for it. That had been one thing I was struggling to properly bring up amidst the chaos of everything.

Twilight coughed, pulling up digital glasses onto her eyes as she explained further. "If we had to expect other forces involved in this, Metal Heavens is likely to ally with Muramasa for a stake in those Implants. Los Diablos may buy a few but not offer any support, while Crimson Souls would be most favorable to support you."

"So… in concensus." The Captain gritted. "December 19th. We raid Muramasa's stronghold over the Implants, they'll be expecting as much. Even if they've disagreed over their methods, the Bladefather won't give up such a valuable package worth more than a several Hundred Million Shardyne. He'll be there, and his daughter will too, likely as a punishment for going beyond his orders."

"Kim." Omen looked at her. "Any idea where they might be storing the Implants?"

"Somewhere they'd be ready to ship the second they're done profiling them. Outside this Precinct, but not beyond the District. They'll likely ship by air over boats, a stronghold where they reign supreme… Sixth Precinct is where they are strongest."

"Xiao Beijing." Twilight thought to herself. "I'll see if I can find the right place. We'll make it a race between us and you guys."

"Oh, what do we get if we win, mom?" Starlight giggled.

"My little Star raises a good point." Twilight chuckled. "While my bosses aren't in town, my coworkers are — we'd be willing to help."

"Who?" The Captain asked.

"Well, you all know about Dreadwire. Obviously, Mirage is on board too, along with Topaz and Quartz." She played a sly smile. "Our price is heavy though."

Omen turned to me, his gaze heavy and demanding. "Your thoughts, Silvereye?"

I took a firm stance and nodded. "I'll take responsibility over them, Mirage will be invaluable for protection against the Dogwhistler."

"And me!" Starlight added with a sly smile.

Gritting, the Captain took his chance. "What's your offer?"

Twilight pulled out a list. "Topaz will handle sneaking in and getting information, he'll charge you about 800,000 Shardyne up front. Quartz will be the best distraction you've ever seen at the mild cost of 500,000 Shardyne. Mirage'll run you 1.2 Million Shardyne — that's a package deal including me — for digital breaching and protection from invasive Delvers. Starlight is a seperate cost, but she'll work at 300,000 Shardyne as a direct coordinator for whichever squad you want to kick ass! As for Dreadwire… elimination, stealth, repairs, breaking in — he's the most versatile option, good at everything. He'll run you 2 million — half upfront — and a blind-picked Silver from the stash, and he wants you to stop looking into him for the next two months, plus to drop his charges completely. Afterwards, he's gonna lay low."

Krishav studied the demand and came to bargain quickly. "That's a heavy cost."

"But the reward is the elimination of Muramasa Dynasty." Twilight argued.

Another sound of a desk being hit erupted, the captain sighing. "Very well, Dreadwire is to be assigned with Silvereye in eliminating The Bladedaughter. Mirage will deal with their Delvers, Topaz is to assassinate key targets while Quartz draws their bulk vanguard."

Tusk clicked his tongue, annoyed. "Employing criminals, especially that damned brat who already stole from us?"

"And now he's helping you get it back." I defended, drawing many eyes to me.

Tusk's hands turned into marble-like claws. "Don't think I've forgotten about you, Ulrich. You're lucky the Herald wanted you alive… but we have bigger issues at play. Two Gold Implants are on the line once more, at earliest, I can send only one agent to assist you."

"Who?" I already had a feeling.

"Archangel. Alisha Noori." Tusk slid her information over. "Be aware, she's not at full functionality… but pit her against the worst anyway, she's in your hands. If she dies, it's her weakness — just get her Implant back to me."

I stared into the indifferent expression Tusk wore all the time.

Was all this bastard cared about were Implants?

———

The meeting ended shortly after, some duties were assigned amidst corporals, sergeants and other high-ranking Investigators in preparation for the operation. STRIKE, Intelligence, and the SIO would be working in direct coordination with one another across multiple precincts. And I'd been picked to play a major role that was vital in the assignment.

Killing the Bladedaughter. And she'd so easily taken me out just an hour ago.

Gold. It would be my first time fighting on an equal playing field, mine and Ripley's both. And a Tier III.

The only person who didn't look concerned was Kim 'Ghost' Liyung. She stood tall and silent like it would be an easy task, barely an inconvenience.

Her data was startling. Dual Adapter after being chosen as a Muramasa princess, Silver, Tier II… Special Investigator ranked fourth in the District — above quite a few Tier IIIs.

Sabrina's ex, and Belle's girlfriend.

Approaching the woman as she strode ahead, I did something unusual. Something that was typically necessary for me. I tried to get her attention.

"Hey, Investigator Liyung," I tried to sound casual, "uh, any tips for your sister?"

"Don't die, but if you do, give your Gold to me." She didn't even meet my eyes as she walked further. "And be good with a blade."

"A blade?"

"You going to block her with your arms again?" Kim pulled out one of the floating blades that had attacked me from a bundle in her hands and threw it at me. "Get Dreadwire to make one for you."

"I don't have… recent training with a blade." I tried to angle this, hoping to get some… assistance. "Think we could… practice… together?"

"Are you willing to risk death?" She met my gaze intensely, her soul spreading into the room as I felt a magnetized pull on my vision — like Quartz but more… focused.

"I… I've already died once." I didn't back down. "Do your worst."

I would regret saying that.

———

Ripley

As Starlight relayed to me everything that had been shared throughout the meeting, I smiled. "Good girl. Now go back to training with your mother, we'll handle things on our end."

She grinned, zipping back through the net towards Twilight. She was both the same and different since she came back from the dead. Elsa had… confided in me that the reason she ended Twilight in the first place was because she tried telling me about Selene and that Elsa was Dogwhistler.

But that wasn't important right now.

The Auto-taxi slowed down, and a woman walked in, her long hair was snow-white and curled down like a blizzard fell from her hair, contrasting with the void-black eyes slicing into me. The Bladedaughter.

Who else but an invisible Dreadwire had picked her up as she was launched out of the First Precinct building? It was a shame the Staff Sergeant hadn't been killed, Mirage was counting on that nuisance pulling the police into further disarray against Dogwhistler.

"Now," I began, my golden gaze sliding over her Shardware, "let's figure out how to kill you."

Things had changed in my future, and it all depended on this next event. As The Bladedaughter smiled at me… I quickly revised the events of the last few weeks that had led up to this.

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