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Chapter Six

The Anean Star Empire

Res'Ort System, Res'Ort II

Over the Ferrurana Continent

January 1, 7997 Haroma Year

For Cadogan, the past few days had been slow and uneventful. The crew of the Adamant gave him a rather wide berth when they learned what had happened and what he was likely doing. An extension of Emperor Xaimoungkhoun's orders put the _Adamant_on patrol, responding to potential leads on Director Niadh's location. Most leads, it seemed, took them further and further counterspinward in the galaxy. At one point, they were heading into the Crossroads region, but they stopped there since there were no Bureau offices that way yet.

Janele's body, following extraction from Remnora Novus, was ejected from the ship following a typical space-bound ceremony and removal of her armor beforehand. Luca headed the ceremonies as she was technically the one in charge of the ship, commander of the squad they had on the ring, and the ranking officer if one were to compare House structure with the military. A few words were said, but little else before the body and the makeshift casket were launched into space. Not knowing who else to give it to, Luca gave the Anean flag that had been placed over the casket to Cadogan.

The ceremony didn't help ease his mind, however. Over the past several days, Cadogan hadn't even removed his armor, always ready and expecting some sort of combat in the near future. He knew that Director Niadh wouldn't get too far from the ring, and wanted to be ready for when they finally found him. If he had to spend half an hour getting into his armor and ready for the fight, he was going to run the risk of losing Niadh. He couldn't let that happen as he had now come too far to let Niadh get away if he's ever that close.

On a hunch, vaguely recalling a discussion that Cadogan had with the Director years ago, he told the Adamant's crew to approach Res'Ort. As the name implied, and it had been named by a person with a stupid sense of humor when the Empire first found the planet, it was a garden world. Most of the surface was covered in jungles or oceans. Naturally, resorts sprung up quickly to take advantage of the planet and its inevitable tourism. The extremely wealthy generally purchase a piece of land and build themselves an estate on the planet.

During the jump to Res'Ort, relying upon the Director's own adherence to the law and protocol, Cadogan had done a search of all private estates on the surface of Res'Ort. While most was private and required special access, Niadh kept his estate publicly listed. Something about that in particular amused Cadogan. Adherence to law was starting to bite Director Niadh in the ass, unless he was planning for it. Cadogan was trying to determine if there was a better way to deal with this, but the only thing he could do was check the estate in the hopes of finding the Director, or at least an indication of where he might have run to.

Once the estate on the surface was located, the _Adamant_the crew did a surface scan to display the information in the ship's War Room. The estate was one of the smaller ones on the surface, built primarily as a retreat given its location on the shore and on a beach nestled between cliffs. It was a fairly secure estate despite no evidence on orbital scans of any weapon emplacements on the surface. Luca and Cadogan were both going over the structure. The orbital scans showed very little in the way of underground structures, with what there is being only standard basements or a few rooms that dug into the cliffs a bit.

The building itself was a three floor estate on a raised platform to compensate for the abnormal tides once a year when the moon makes a close pass to the planet. The structure itself was built in a typical modern Remnora Novus look. The roofs appeared to be flat, but were slightly angled to allow rainwater to run off, and there was a lot of glass being used by the building to allow as much natural light in during the day. On other roofs, photovoltaic cells take in the almost continual sunlight during the day and convert that to electricity to ease its environmental impact. It was a mix of typical environmental technologies, but enforced by laws for Res'Ort that are to ensure that the environment stays intact and minimally affected by settlement.

"He picked this spot well." Luca said after some looks over the building. "Might be tough to break into." She said, thinking. "What sort of insertion do you have in mind?"

"If you don't mind a bit of a walk, we could land a distance from the building and drop down the cliffs onto the house." Cadogan said, scrolling the map over to the jungle area near the house. "Or we could take a shuttle in and drop into the ocean and swim to shore." Luca only looked at him. "Right. Armor. Never mind. Could do a shuttle insertion on the beach once the sun fully sets. I almost want to bet that he has no lights on the beach."

"But the shuttle engines will be very visible." Luca said.

"True. Jungle landing it is?" Cadogan said.

"Jungle landing it is. What do we do once we drop into the house though?"

Cadogan moved the hologram to the rear of the house. "It's not a far drop, so I don't think that we'll be heard if we slide down and land on the roof gently. From there we could just drop off the roof and onto the top level. Head inside and clear the house."

"That's your best idea?"

"It's only the two of us. We have to go somewhat stealthy. I am trying to be realistic. Maybe the Director will be on the top level of the house and we just extract from there. Something tells me he has no accompanying agents." Cadogan said while looking over the hologram and trying to make sense of it.

"What makes you say that? You saw what happened on the ring in his office. He laid a trap for us, knowing that we were coming." Luca said. "What if we knows we're coming again?"

Cadogan hadn't considered that. Niadh was typically several steps ahead of him. This, however, was likely to be far beyond anything that the Director would have anticipated. Beyond, that is, if he hadn't also planned for his crackdown on Remnora Novus and the response carried out by the Empire. There were too many possibilities that would fit Niadh all too well.

"I don't think he does. He might have contingencies, but I think it was as much luck as actual planning with him." Cadogan said. "He might have a contingency plan, but I almost want to bet he wasn't anticipating to be found here. And, if he was, he might actually give himself up."

"Wishful thinking Cadogan." Luca said. "We'll see when we get to the surface. Are you ready?"

"Luca, I have been ready for the past several days. I was ready to find him and rip his spine out the moment he walked out of his office." Cadogan said. "I won't kill him. I know that now. He'll suffer more if we bring him in front of the Supreme Court."

"Good. That's what I was hoping to hear." Luca said. "Cadogan, you show a lot of restraint. I have to admit, that's rather impressive. If you're ready, we can begin the trip to the surface."

"Yeah. Let's finish this." Cadogan said.

Luca turned the display off and led the way out of the War Room. She made a left once out of the shuttle bay and passed through a security door. The shuttle bay was just large enough to support one light transport. It would be enough to get them to the surface and back after calling it down for extraction, especially if they find the Director in there somewhere. The pilot was waiting on Cadogan and Luca. Once they climbed aboard the shuttle, the pilot closed the side doors and lifted off, backing out of the shuttle bay.

The shuttle realigned for the surface and began its approach to the planet. Cadogan stayed looking down toward the floor of the shuttle, not wanting to see how close the surface was. If he could see, it would feel like it took less time than he wanted. He needed the extra time to make sure he was mentally ready. Even though he knew what to do, finally being able to do it was... odd. He had hoped it would be sooner, quicker, and easier. This was going to be easy, but it still had significant risks.

Given the day, it was likely that Niadh was going to be here. The New Year, in Haromian and Remnoran cultures, has always been important. For Haromians, it marked a new start, a new chance at a better year, and a rebirth of sorts. Cadogan didn't fully understand all of it. Remnorans saw it in a similar way, but also saw it as one last chance, and the first chance, to enjoy the year to its fullest before returning to normal duties.

Cadogan could hear the rush of wind outside as the shuttle entered the atmosphere. He looked up and saw the shuttle approaching the house from a different direction, coming in over the trees rather than over the ocean. Why he hadn't thought of that, Cadogan didn't know, but it obviously made sense. Coming in over the water, especially on this planet, would make it quite clear they were here.

After getting as close as possible to the house, the shuttle set down in a small clearing on the surface, killing the engines as he did so. Just in case, the pilot was trying to keep as much fuel as possible. Once on the ground, Luca slid open the side door and climbed out, Cadogan following closely. Luca checked her map, which came up as a hologram over her left hand, and got Cadogan's attention. She pointed in the direction she was going to be walking in and Cadogan followed her. They were, at most, only a few minutes of walking from the cliffs.

Once out of the clearing, the jungle quickly turned into thick undergrowth. Had they not been in armor, it would have been significantly harder to just push through, breaking branches or stepping on the plants as they did so. It wouldn't really harm this part of the planet given that some of the jungle dwellers do far more damage to the tree than what they were doing now.

Luca came to a stop after passing through one of the plants. "Careful Cadogan. I'd rather not fall down when unprepared." She said when she heard Cadogan rustling through the leaves behind her. Cadogan stepped out next to her and looked down. "Well, there it is." Luca said, pointing down at the house.

It was midday, as the shuttle insertion was for the day while the other ideas would be at night for extra cover in the dark. Luca kneeled down and took out her rangefinder, zooming in on the building. She scanned each level and what she could see, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Other than the solar panels on the roof actively turning as the star moved, the entire house seemed to be deserted.

"Look. Right there." Luca said. "Top floor. Is that a child?" Cadogan looked as well, and that's the only thing he could figure. "Yeah, definitely a child. I guess it sort of surprises me that Director Niadh would have a family."

"Wouldn't leave his kids unattended I'd think." Cadogan said. "He's either here, or the mother is... or he hired someone to take care of them."

"No matter what the case might be, they weren't planned on." Luca said, looking back when she noticed a larger figure stepping out. "Yeah, that's Director Niadh." She said as she focused on him. The Director picked up his child and, with the rangefinder as zoomed in as it was, she could see that there was a bit of a laugh.

"Let him be?" Cadogan said, almost hypothetically. Part of him didn't want to ruin whatever this might be, but most of him wanted to make sure the children saw their father get slammed to the ground and arrested. "What's the new plan? We obviously can't go in all guns blazing."

"We can, but I'd rather not have to explain the dead children." Luca said. "No guns, target Niadh only. Simple, quick, and then drag him out to the shuttle. We'll land it on the beach."

"Why there?" Cadogan said.

Luca gave a point toward the front of the house. "I can see stairs leading to the beach, and we might as well take the flat spot. Makes things easier on us."

"Fair enough. Ready to move?"

Luca looked around a bit more and then tucked her rangefinder away. "You head down first. I'll be down right after you."

Cadogan walked over to where the roof was built into the cliff and climbed over, holding on for a moment and looking down at the 30 foot drop. Rather than letting himself drop, he slid down the cliff face until he could set himself down mostly softly. As she had said, Luca dropped down right after he let go of the cliff. She landed lightly, and Cadogan heard no noise from it. He walked to the upper level and dropped down off the roof, landing lightly on the ground behind the house itself and out of sight. Luca was down right behind him.

Luca took over the lead once again, crouching down as she walked toward the corner of the house. Cadogan pressed himself against the wall along with her. She peeked around the corner, to see nothing and she turned the corner. A look into the windows showed a living room. On the TV was some sort of children's show. She looked around the corner even further to see Director Niadh and a few kids with him. Luca pulled back a little when she saw another wolf woman walking up the stairs.

"Three kids, one wife, and the Director." Luca whispered to Cadogan. "On three, I am going in and I am going to grab Niadh. You go in with your rifle and keep the wife at bay. She'd be the only real threat." Cadogan nodded and Luca held up a hand, raising three fingers, and dropping each of them.

Once she lowered each finger, she jumped up and ran around the corner, smashing through the window and causing a scream from the inside of the house. Cadogan ran around the corner with his assault rifle out. He jumped through the hole that Luca made, aiming the rifle at wife as Luca pulled Director Niadh off the couch and threw him onto the floor. Luca pulled the Director's hands behind him and took a pair of handcuffs out, restraining him like that.

Between the children screaming and the wife shouting obscenities at him and Luca, Cadogan was left with having to silence them. He raised rifle and fired a round into the ceiling, quieting everyone for a moment. Needless to say, it was a scene of chaos in the living room. Luca dragged Niadh to his feet.

"How does it feel to be shamed before your own family scumbag?" Cadogan said. "This one is for Janele. Let's go Luca. Call up the shuttle and let's get home. We got the fucker. I'll catch up to you."

"Cadogan, what are you about to do?" Luca said.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be down in a moment." Cadogan said calmly and nicely. It made Luca move, though hesitantly, with Niadh in hand. Despite what Cadogan expected, the Director was mostly passive about being captured now.

Cadogan was left looking over the living room with the mother and the three children, now crying and asking questions. If he couldn't take out his anger at Niadh, he was going to take it out on something else. Hand shaking from anger bubbling up again and imagining the kind of reaction he'd get from the Director once he found out, Cadogan raised his pistol and took aim at the mother. She looked up at him, at first out of anger, then it quickly faded to fear before he fired, striking her in the head and killing her nearly instantly. The children ran over to the mother, but Cadogan wasn't quite done yet.

While Luca was escorting Niadh to the beach, she heard the first shot, and stopped just for a moment. She wanted to run back and stop Cadogan, but she didn't need to be shot, and Niadh might get away if she let him go. One after the other, three more shots rang out from the upper level. Luca knew what just happened, and she'd be sure to file it in her report. Right now, she could do nothing. The Director obviously heard it as well as he became even more compliant as he was pushed along. The shuttle had already powered back up and set down on the beach.

Cadogan caught up with Luca as she set foot onto the beach, but he walked past Luca and Niadh, boarding the shuttle quickly. Luca picked up the pace and climbed into the shuttle with Cadogan. She stared at him as the door closed and the shuttle took off again. Once Niadh was locked up and she had him alone, Luca had a lot of yelling to do at Cadogan. His actions were, simply put, unforgivable and reckless. While, technically, they could be "accomplices", it didn't justify the killing.

The trip back to the Adamant was made in total silence. Cadogan had nothing to say, Niadh was afraid to speak, and Luca wanted to save what she had to say for later. When the shuttle landed, a pair of Xaimoungkhoun soldiers were waiting for her and took Niadh from her custody. Once they were out of the shuttle bay, Luca grabbed Cadogan by the arm and dragged him through the ship. Cadogan didn't even resist, as she had expected, and she dragged him up to her cabin, locking the doors behind her.

She threw Cadogan down into the chair and pulled off his helmet, setting it aside. Cadogan was, simply put, looking rather angry. Luca pulled off her own helmet and tossed it aside, landing it next to Cadogan's. "What the fuck was that?" She asked.

"I didn't hurt the Director." Cadogan said without any emotion.

"I know but... you fucking murdered four people now, three of them children." Luca said.

"Justice must be served. How many families did he kill during his control?"

"Justice." Luca repeated, reflecting on the word and what Cadogan had been saying the past few days. "Justice." She laughed now. "Alright, justice it is. That's your excuse. As much as I hate it, I know it would stand up in court. I can remark on it in my reports, but nothing will be done." She sat down and put her head in her hand. "You have been planning something haven't you?"

"I didn't know he had a family, but it worked quite well with my plan." Cadogan said. "After all, he'll be joining them soon. If anything, it was as much a mercy as justice."

Luca shook her head, thinking she was imagining what he was saying. It was the kind of logic that a mass murderer would be using. For all intents and purposes, Cadogan was a mass murderer now. "Agent Gavin..." She closed her eyes. "I can't fathom your rationalization of your actions. Just get the fuck out of my cabin." Cadogan stood up and started to head for the door. "And take your fucking helmet with you." He walked back over and grabbed his helmet and walked to the door.

"Thank you for everything Captain. It eased the pain quite a bit." Cadogan said before unlocking the door and stepping out. Being thanked for that made Luca shudder in disgust, fear, and regret. She could have managed this on her own, but this was what she did.

"Captain, take us home. Haroma." Luca said over the intercom. "I need to get some sleep."

"Yes ma'am." The Adamant's captain said.

Luca stripped of her armor, and the nanosuit then headed into the shower. She was going to need a long one to cleanse herself, in some way, of the taint of what she just did and some time to think of how she was going to deal with Cadogan and what he did. Most Aneans wouldn't stand for something like that. Child killing was anathema, even if justified in some way. This had a very loose justification.

Cadogan, after being sent out of the cabin, returned to his own and settled back in. With a lot of problems taken off his mind, Cadogan finally got out of his armor and the nanosuit and headed into his own shower. He needed it, lest he walk around the ship without having bathed for several days. It probably wouldn't be noticed, but he'd rather not have to risk it, and he wanted to look good for if they met the Emperor. There was only a faint feeling of regret, but Cadogan knew he did the right thing.

Haroma System, Haroma III

Gracaria-Nordavic, Gracaria Air Force Base

January 2

The return to Haroma took longer than had been expected. During the trip, Cadogan had kept only the nanosuit on after he gave it a thorough cleaning on the inside as he had no other clothing aboard the ship. The armor he kept piled up in a corner of the room, but he put it on upon arrival back at Haroma. He looked out the windows of the cabin as the ship touched down, and noticed a large number of Federal Police vehicles and a prison transport. Part of him feared it was just as much for him as it was for Niadh.

In the time he had to think about the operation and reflect on what happened, the more Cadogan found himself regretting the rash action that was inspired entirely by anger. While it pushed away whatever pain he was feeling from his loss at first, it was very much only a temporary thing. As the realization of what he had done set in, Cadogan realized that he was now no better than the very people he fought against, and not Niadh. While the Director was the one giving orders to carry out the Bureau's atrocities, he never actually did it.

"Cadogan," Luca said after opening the door to his cabin, "we're disembarking now. Father is going to want to see you."

"Am I under arrest?" Cadogan asked.

"Should be, but no. You'll definitely be going through psychiatric evaluations to say the least though." Luca said, knowing protocol in situations like this. Given that it was a combat situation, some things cannot be helped when the fighting gets to a person, combined with emotional stress. "Just get up. You'll be fine." That got Cadogan to stand up and walk toward Luca. She noticed he wasn't even looking her in the eyes now. As he passed her, Luca gave him a pat on the back. "Cadogan, I understand. I said that in the tower. We all regret the things that we do. Best we can do is move on and learn from it."

Cadogan said nothing, letting Luca lead the way. She too stayed quiet, knowing nothing more needed to be said. An elevator ride to the cargo bay brought them behind the group of Xaimoungkhoun soldiers that were escorting Director Niadh into Federal Police custody. Upon stepping off the cargo bay door, the Federal Police took over custody and put the Director into the prisoner transport. It was a quick, clean affair and the Federal Police departed quickly.

Luca continued to lead the way once the Director was on his way off. She left the cargo bay and made a right toward a limousine that stuck around. Cadogan wasn't left guessing who was inside as one of the Imperial Guards opened the door for Cadogan and Luca. Both climbed in, settling into the back seats of the vehicle. At the other end, near the divider, was Isaiah and the Empress.

"Welcome back you two." Isaiah said. "Cadogan, I don't think you properly met my wife."

"Doctor Kyla Xaimoungkhoun." She said with a smile. "If you call me Empress I might have to find a use for my surgical tools for you."

"Anyway, Cadogan, I will make this short. I am not too pleased with what you did. I can understand though. I was a soldier once and I made mistakes." Isaiah said. "Nonetheless, you did what I asked of you. I have big plans Cadogan, but I need a couple weeks. Right now, I am dropping you off at the Imperial Hotel. I've arranged for you to have the Imperial Suite for the next couple of weeks. I'll need you close at hand. As for Janele... I know what it's like to lose a loved one. I know how you're feeling, and I know that you've done things thinking it would make it better but it failed. If you need to speak about anything, you have my number."

"Thank you sir." Cadogan said, taking some solace in the emperor's own words.

"Your armor case is in the trunk of the vehicle along with some of your clothes. Figure you don't want to wear that for several weeks. I'll be in contact." Isaiah said.

Silence filled the limousine as Cadogan tried to relax in the seat. The limousine, with Isaiah's tap on the divider, began to drive off toward the exit of the base. Through the heavily tinted windows, Cadogan could make out very little, but currently there was nowhere else that the vehicle could be going. Cadogan settled in for the ride as he wasn't sure where the hotel was in the city exactly, and he wasn't even sure where the AFB was exactly.

The ride to the hotel took only a few minutes, surprising Cadogan. After a few handshakes, Cadogan stepped out of the limousine. One of the Imperial Guard soldiers had already opened the trunk of the vehicle and was taking Cadogan's cases out. When he had some trouble with the case for the Goliath, Cadogan just grinned a little and removed it on his own. With both out, and the trunk closed, the soldier saluted Cadogan and headed back to his seat in the limousine. Cadogan turned and headed into the hotel.

Once inside Cadogan was fairly impressed with the look of the building. It was centuries old, and well maintained despite that, and it maintained the old appearance. Most of the walls were wood, there were a couple chandeliers, and the floors were marble. As he approached the front desk, there was a nervous look from the human receptionist. She was silent, despite supposed to be giving a greeting.

"I believe I have a reservation. Cadogan Gavin." He said once it was clear she wasn't about to say anything.

"I don't believe you do sir." She said quickly, not even looking.

Cadogan sighed and grit his teeth a bit. He wanted to yell, but he held it in. "My uniforms and suits are in my case here. Check the damn computer. I don't think Emperor Xaimoungkhoun would lie to me about a reservation."

That actually made her laugh. "You know the Emperor? I doubt that." Nonetheless she checked the computer and put Cadogan's name in, even asking how to spell it. Her smile faded quickly when she saw that he had a reservation. She reached under the desk and pulled out a pair of cards, setting them in front of Cadogan. "My apologies Mister Gavin. You didn't seem like the sort of person that would be here."

Cadogan said nothing about that as he took the cards. "And it's paid for?"

"Yes. It's coming out of..." She started to say before trailing off.

"Coming out of..." Cadogan said with a grin, wanting her to continue.

"House Xaimoungkhoun accounts." She whispered.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to speak with the manager when I get the chance." Cadogan said as he headed away from the desk. He could find the Imperial Suite from here. He couldn't help but smile at what just happened. There was something rather nice about proving someone wrong, especially in this case.

"Sir, your wife has already arrived." The receptionist said, making Cadogan stop.

"Wife?" He said, walking back to the desk.

"I... assumed she was your wife sir. You two have the same room." Cadogan's confused look only made her explain more. "A tigress. She's an ASF officer I think, though I don't know uniforms too well."

"Oh. Commander Garret." Cadogan said.

"Yes sir. That was the name."

"Not my wife, but I know her. Thank you." Cadogan said, heading off to the elevators.

The elevator operator was a new addition that Cadogan had never actually seen before. A lot of times the idea of an elevator operator was poked fun of for being for the excessively wealthy. The human operator, nonetheless, seemed slightly surprised with the armored person approaching him. He still put on a smile and pressed the button to open the door for the elevator, then stepped aboard with him.

"Welcome to the Imperial Hotel sir." The operator said. "What level?"

"Not quite sure." Cadogan said. "Imperial Suite though."

That, too, surprised the operator but he pressed the button for the top floor. Once the elevator started to move, the operator said, "I must say, I've never quite seen an outfit like that."

"Goliath VI powered armor." Cadogan said. "I've been getting thrown around the galaxy for the Emperor. Have proper clothes in my case, but I am finally getting my break."

"I see sir. It's good to see someone equally devoted to our monarch." The operator said. "I might question some of what he believes in, but Emperor Xaimoungkhoun is a good leader nonetheless, and a war hero."

"Have you actually met him?" Cadogan said, noting the almost reverence for the emperor.

"Yes sir. We fought together once. We were once both sergeants." The operator said just before the lift arrived at the top floor and the doors opened. "We've arrived sir. I hope you'll enjoy your stay."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet someone that isn't judging me because of what I am wearing." Cadogan said. He stuck a foot in the door so it didn't close and went into one of his pouches. After some fishing around, he removed a $100 bill and offered it to the operator. "Least I could do for that, and I know it's also a tipped position."

The operator was hesitant to actually take the bill, but he did. "Thank you sir."

Cadogan stepped off the elevator and then looked at the cards he was given. The number on them was, simply, '1'. He looked to either side of the hallway he was now standing in. The doors on the right had a '2' on them, and the one on the left had a '1'. Cadogan laughed just a bit as he approached that door, sliding the card in the door and hearing the beep as it was unlocked. He pressed down on the handle and opened the door, stepping into a very well decorated foyer.

Curiosity took hold as to how well decorated the suite was as he stepped into an oval shaped foyer. To the left was just a hallway, and to the right seemed to be a study of sorts, judging by the computer. He took note of the artwork, but none of it really interested him as he wasn't much into art, seeing it as a short lasting waste of money. He walked across the oval into the next foyer seeing another hall to his left that turned and a dining area to his right, then kept going, finding himself in a living room. It looked entirely untouched.

"Jaylene?" Cadogan said, turning around and heading back to the hall he had just passed, wanting to see what was down there. This room was almost too big for just himself, or even Jaylene and Cadogan if she was actually here.

As he turned the corner, stepping into yet another foyer, he saw Jaylene peek her head out from the end of the hall. She gave him a look, perked up, and then disappeared again. He kept walking until he reached the bedroom, where she had disappeared again. Given that it was the bedroom, Cadogan set his cases down finally. He'd get the armor off once he found Jaylene again. He saw a walk-in closet and looked in there. Jaylene was getting dressed in something rather simple at the moment.

"See, I didn't believe the Emperor would be putting us in the same room." Jaylene said after putting on a pair of pants and a light shirt. "I guess I get a bit more leave on the Emperor's order. I don't mind." She walked over to Cadogan, giving him a hug. Without any hesitation, he hugged her back. "It's good to see you again. I'm sorry."

Cadogan wanted to say something about that, but he had nothing to say. He cared about Janele, but he had tried to dispose of his anger wrong, and that hurt him more than the loss itself. After getting Niadh, he tried to ease his own pain by remembering that she died in the line of duty and likely knew what she was getting into. It was the best that he could do. Whatever tears he might have shed had long fallen into his drinks days ago.

"You probably want out of that armor huh?" Jaylene said as they let go. "Need help? I know how tough the Goliath can be to get out of."

"Goliath VI comes off fairly easy." Cadogan said. "Few releases here and there, and it comes off. Thank you for the offer though. It will take just a few minutes."

"Alright." Jaylene said with a smile. "Just make sure you keep the nanosuit on. Wouldn't mind watching you strut around in that." She laughed as she headed out of the room.

As she left, he couldn't help but laugh. It was... exactly as he'd expect from her. She was predictable if nothing else when it came to things like that. However, he had no intentions of wearing the nanosuit. He had been in uniforms and armor for too damn long. He just wanted to sit down and relax like he normally would after a day of work. In his case, it was a couple weeks of work without a single real break.

Cadogan quickly released his armor, setting each piece into his armor case. The nanosuit he made a mental note to clean again once he got home, but he folded it up and set it into the case, then closed it and finally locked it again. He gave a pat on the case, realizing that it was now his armor. Tens of millions of dollars' worth of technology was handed to him for only his continued service. Seemed like a fair trade, and he might even have a use for it at some later date.

Entirely nude, and quite comfortable, he eyed the bed first. Part of him just wanted to crawl in and get some real sleep in a real bed that was made for quality rather than the cheap bunks and low end beds he had been sleeping on since he had to jump between planets. Frostfall was good for quality, but not so much the Adamant, Pacesetter, or the Spirit of Remnora. There was something inherently uncomfortable about those beds.

Nonetheless, after some judgment, Cadogan walked out of the bedroom and saw Jaylene lounging in the living room with a news program on. Of course, with his arrival on Haroma, Director Niadh was the big story. A peek at the TV showed that Director Niadh was already being led up the stairs into the Supreme Court. Cadogan couldn't help but laugh when the news reporter said it would be "quick trial and a faster execution".

The laugh got Jaylene's attention, who looked toward him, then looked him over. "Oh. Well, nanosuit was fine, I think that's better." She pointed at the TV she sat up, beckoning Cadogan over. "You got him didn't you? Arrival seems about right."

Cadogan sat down next to Jaylene, but she pushed him back to lay down on the couch. Rather than her holding him against her, she crawled up and laid against his chest. He didn't mind the change as he wrapped an arm around her. "Yeah. Captain Xaimoungkhoun and I both got him." He was going to leave it at that. "Just got back. It's... good to see him getting what he deserved."

"Yeah. I read about what was going on." Jaylene said as she started to purr a bit. "What a damn mess. Good to know it's over finally though. What are you going to do?"

"Isaiah told me he needed a couple weeks, and he gave me reservations at this suite for that entire time." Cadogan said. "It's on his account, so I intend to milk it for everything that it's worth." He laughed, and knew that that was mostly a joke. Incurring tens of thousands of dollars of debt to be paid by the Emperor on top of the immense cost of this room anyway wasn't a way to make friends, unless the Emperor had already planned for extravagant expenditures. Cadogan would have to ask.

"Isaiah?" Jaylene said, turning her head back and looking up to him. "You're really on a first name basis with the Emperor already?"

"Yeah. It's nice." Cadogan said. "One of the first things he told me was to not call him by title or anything, so I hot used to it."

"Must be nice. And to imagine that only a few weeks ago you were living a typical job and a typical life. In one mistake you got thrown into changing the political landscape of Remnora Novus for decades or centuries to come." Jaylene said before sighing. "I envy you in that."

Cadogan pulled Jaylene just a bit closer. "Envy me all you want, but I promise you it's not something you'd want. In the end, I think it was almost worth it. After all, I got to properly meet you, rather than as just a neighbor... whose name I didn't even know." He added the last part after remembering that moment in the hospital.

Jaylene laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I was content playing along. It was worth it. I guess I made my mark in history by helping you and Janele." She paused. "Let's stop talking about this."

"Good idea." Cadogan said, allowing a moment of silence. "So how long are you on the Emperor's leave?" He asked, as she hadn't yet said that outright.

"I have another week of leave as a reward. I guess it was in helping you." Jaylene said. "As I said, I don't mind if it means I get to stay in this suite in this hotel."

"Makes sense." Cadogan had to concede that point. It was hard to beat free, luxurious accommodations. Cadogan found himself subconsciously petting over Jaylene's head, and rubbing behind her ears. He only noticed what he was doing as her purring got loud enough to drown out the TV.

With no actual warning save for the sound of her contentment, Jaylene wrapped an arm around Cadogan and picked him up as she stood up throwing him over a shoulder. He very nearly resisted in the moment where he was moving from the couch to a little over six feet off the ground. Jaylene carried him into the bedroom and tossed him down on the bed in a similar way that Cadogan had done the day he got out of the hospital.