The Oathbreakers: Chapter 3

Following the Myst Complex incident, Armstrong spent a lot of time researching. Unfortunately, there were little leads as most of the civilian casualties lacked documentations. The secretive Imperial Praetorians, the emperor's personal guards, also refused to comment.

"Director, the Minister of Interior is here to see you." said Deputy Aoki.

"Thank you, Misaki."

Soon, a tall and dignified man entered Armstrong's office. The man had dark skin and an athletic build. It was clear he was from the southern continent. The land of formidable warriors shaped by the scorching sands. Roger stood up and shook his hand.

"Good day, Mr. Jelani!"

"Please, Roger, call me Xazu. Sir Xazu if you'd prefer."

After exchanging pleasantries, Xazu's facial expression became stern. He sat down across from Armstrong and continued.

"I'm sure you are aware of the incident at the Myst Complex." said Xazu.

"It has me quite perplexed, Sir Xazu." said Roger.

"I don't blame you. I came here today to ask for your help."

"Oh?"

"Mr. Armstrong, I believe The Emperor's life is in danger. And I'm afraid the Praetorian Guards have been compromised. And we don't know who the ringleader is. I don't know who to trust."

Xazu's serious tone caused Roger to let out a sigh.

"I need leads." said Armstrong.

"Start with the summer palace. It is the closest Praetorian cluster near the Myst Complex. I'm counting on you, Director. And please be careful."

With that, Xazu handed Roger an Imperial Insignia. The insignia represented The Emperor and would allow him to enter unopposed.

---

Armstrong led a squad, accompanied by Deputy Aoki, to the summer palace. When the group arrived at the palace, the guards went into defensive positions. Roger displayed the Insignia and the guards promptly resumed neutral stance.

Upon entering the palace grounds, the lead guard greeted the group.

"Ah, Director Armstrong. What business do you have here?"

"Lieutenant, I am here to do some investigations related to the Myst Complex incident."

"Well, by all means, look around. And please let us know if we could be of any assistance."

The group marched towards the palace itself. A pair of servants opened the doors inside.

---

It seemed unusually empty in the main lobby. There were only two maids near the doors. Roger looked at Misaki with a quizzical look.

"I suppose they don't need a lot of staff when The Emperor is not around." she shrugged.

"All right, let's split up in pairs and start interviewing some palace staff." declared Armstrong. Aoki paired up with him naturally.

"Would you ladies kindly show us to the chief of staff's office please?" he asked.

The maids led the duo to the main office. They did curtsies and left. Then, Roger knocked on the door. Nobody answered. The lights were on and he could see a silhouette of a person at the desk through the stained glass. He knocked a bit harder. Still no response.

"Deaf. Or dead?" asked Roger.

"Only one way to find out." replied Misaki.

Figuring they could always ask for forgiveness later, they burst through the door. They approached the chief of staff's desk. To their horror, her clothes were soaked in blood. She couldn't have died for more than several hours judging from the blood and stiffness. Armstrong started to call on the radio.

"Regroup at the main lobby. We need to lock down this place." he ordered.

There was no response. Both Roger and Misaki realized something had gone terribly wrong. It also occurred to them that the communication channels had been silent for a while. The pair quickly headed back to the main lobby.

Along the way, they passed by the maids that led them to the office. Except, they were a bloody mess. The pair rushed towards the lobby. They tried to contact the servants at the other side of the doors. When they opened the doors, the servants too, were dead.

Shocked, they feared for the worst. Suddenly, a strong gust blew the doors shut and seals formed on them. Before they saw what came next, the duo dodged the incoming attack.

"Not bad at all. As I expected from the heads of the SI." said a voice.

A woman appeared before them. Both Roger and Misaki's eyes widened. It was one of the renowned assassins from an international assassins group. Her name was Nina Sharapova. She was a slender, blonde, woman from the Far North. Her attire was themed after her homeland, but more provocative. She was what you would classify as a femme fatale.

"I didn't know the Blood Runners offered massacre as a service." said Armstrong.

"Don't be like that, Roger. It's business. It's not personal." said Nina.

"Kinda overkill to kill off everyone in the vicinity, no?" said Misaki.

"Da, but that's what was requested. And your heads are optional." grinned Nina as she pointed one of her scimitars at the duo. "Entertain me."

As she said that, she lounged at Roger with great speed. In response, he blocked both of her blades with his arms and was knocked back across the room into the wall. The force was strong enough to dent it.

"Ah, so those aren't fashion statements." Nina's smile grew bigger.

She had only cut off his sleeves, revealing his gloves were part of his adamantite gauntlets. Misaki rushed towards Roger only to be greeted by Nina's blades and she was knocked across the lobby as well. She flew through several furniture.

"Looks like you can use air magic as well." said Nina. "Most people would have been cut in halves."

She started to approach Aoki, who was trying to recover from the knock back. Then, she jumped out of the way as a dark energy crushed the ground she was walking on.

"I suppose it's only fitting the director of Syndicated Intelligence uses shadow magic." said Nina. "Those gravity wells can be quite scary." she continued nonchalantly.

"Who hired you, Sharapova?" demanded Armstrong.

"Client confidentiality!" she replied playfully.

This angered him. He charged forward to attack her. She dodged Roger with ease. Nina made no attempt to retaliate as she knew she couldn't damage him while he was channeling his magic.

"The iron curtain is such an unfair advantage for shadow magic users." pouted Nina. "It makes you too hard for my liking."

"We can do this all day, assassin."

Roger started to increase the area of effect of the gravity wells in the entire lobby. With a smile, Nina dashed towards the recovering Misaki. Roger's eyes widened.

"What's wrong, big boy? Isn't she precious?" grinned Nina.

She held Misaki hostage and had a dagger on her captive's back. Many thoughts raced through Armstrong's mind. Why did Nina infiltrate the summer palace? Why did she kill the staff? Were his agents dead too? Who hired her? The most important one of all, how could he and Deputy Aoki get out of their predicament?

"It would be a shame if I pushed this dagger into her. Her aorta would make a great gush. How about we make a little deal?" giggled Nina.

The gravity was affecting her, but it was definitely not enough to stop her before she could harm Misaki. The three of them were at a standoff.