Chapter 63 - Meeting of the Chiefs

Police Chief Jintang Fang was sitting in his office in the Central Noga Police Station when he heard shouting coming from outside. Sensing that something was wrong he exited out into the hallway.

A panic stricken officer was already on his way to fetch him and met him at the entrance to his office.

“Chief Fang!” The officer saluted sharply.

“What’s going on?” Chief Fang asked.

“E-Emergency! There is a- a huge monster approaching the city! The other Chiefs are gathering in Conference Room One.”

Fang let the man go as he quickened his pace to a jog. From the large windows in the third floor hallway he could look out into the main atrium below. He could see officers lining up in ranks and quickly ushering the public out of the building. Several of the units had rifles at their sides.

“Chief Fang!” A voice greeted him as he stepped into the large meeting room. There was a large table in the center of the room surrounded by chairs, and one entire side of the room was floor to ceiling windows with a clear view of the atrium. Jintang Fang walked in to see the round form of Police Chief Kinpo Luan of the Department of Missing Persons and Domestic Violence. Beside him was Police Chief Trevor West from the Homicide Department.

Chief West was a tall man with dirty blond hair and a strong stature. He was young and capable. His expression was completely serious, a departure from his usual good natured manor.

“It seems that it’s just the three of us here at the moment.” Chief West said, “From reading the reports, it appears that a Corrupted One is approaching from the woods to the east.”

Chief Fang’s eyes narrowed as he said, “Any news from Chief Yun?”

The other two men shook their heads. “Why?”

“There was a special operation tonight in the Chenmai Forest to the east, targeting a Marked Devout ritual.” Chief Fang said succinctly. “Yun was leading it.”

The highly confidential mission had not been communicated to all the Chiefs, since each department was responsible for its own operations. If the operation did not overlap with the responsibilities of another department it was generally not announced. In particular, the Special Ops department was quite secretive. Therefore Chief Luan and Chief West had not been aware of it, despite having the authorization to know about it.

“No...” Kinpo’s eyes widened in shock as he realized what Jintang was hinting at.

Chief West hesitated before he said, “The Corrupted One is suspected to be attuned with the domain of SpaceTime, though a highly demonic aura is emanating off of it. We have not been able to locate Chief Yun or any members of his team.”

This was more or less confirmation that the operation had gone seriously wrong. Chief Fang felt a pit form in his stomach but he maintained a serious composure.

“Then we must treat him as out of action until he shows up.” Chief Fang nodded, “How big of a threat is it?”

“It appears to be hostile. It is slowly approaching the city, it may reach sight of the outskirts in less than an hour.” Chief West replied. “In addition, the demonic aura is mutating the wilderness around it.”

“Who is coordinating the response?”

“I’ve activated the emergency protocol and initiated our preparations.” Chief West said, “But you have the most experience out of all of us.”

“Very well, I will take charge.” Chief Fang said, not mincing words, “Chief West, your team has several Exalted in its ranks. Gather the members of the Special Ops department and form a squad to attack the monster and either kill it or drive it away from the city.”

He turned to Chief Luan, “Chief Luan, take charge of the regular force. We need to keep the public safe. Evacuate the districts on the eastern edge of the city and form a perimeter. Call in all the personnel we can, you can take charge of my department for this as needed.”

There was a shimmer in the air as a rift opened in space next to them. Out stepped two men in long black coats. The one who had opened the Planar Door had a full black beard and black leather gloves. He was Organized Crime’s Chief Enzo Bernier, nicknamed Chief “Bear” due to his massive stature and intimidating appearance. Beside him was a thin, wiry man with spectacles and sunken cheeks. This was Forensics Chief Dexter Vox.

All five of the Police Chiefs were now gathered together, aside from Special Ops Chief Yun.

“Where is Chief Yun?” Bear asked gruffly, looking around.

“Missing.” Fang said simply. “Your men sounded the alarm?”

“Yes. Chief Yun informed me of his operation. I took the initiative to keep a few eyes awake outside the city.” Bear nodded, “Dexter and I just returned from the eastern city outskirts. We are trying to skirmish with it but it is difficult to engage the monster. It has an extremely potent corrupting aura that seems to be growing stronger by the minute. We could already feel it on the outskirts as we left.”

“What about leading it away?” Chief West asked.

“We are trying but it seems to be drawn towards the city.”

Vox adjusted the spectacles on his nose as he said, “The Corrupted One is a threat, however we must not be careless with defending the rest of the city.”

“What are your thoughts?” Fang asked.

“We are still unsure of the Marked Devout’s main goals.” Bear nodded thoughtfully, “This could be a trap.”

“With such a strong aura of corruption, this must have taken significant planning.” Luan added on thoughtfully, “There must be more to the situation than what we know.”

“Something that we can worry about after the threat is dealt with.” Fang frowned. “The A team led by Chief Yun in the operation tonight consisted of some of our highest rank Exalted officers. Since they are missing, it will be difficult to round up a more capable team, let alone enough to protect multiple locations in the city.”

“There is still the Special Ops B team.” Fang said. “Can we work together to form another?”

“We usually spread our Exalted men quite thin. Only Special Ops has dedicated Exalted teams.” Chief West said, looking at Bear. ‘But with the combined forces of Organized Crime and Homicide we should be able to put a solid team together.”

“Agreed.” Bear said. “Maybe one and a half.”

At this moment the lean, fragile looking Chief Vox spoke up. “I’ve already taken the initiative to send someone to inform Briant Chaser. I believe this threat is large enough that we should let the Royal Guard handle it.”

A brief silence fell over the Chiefs. Briant Chaser was the Minister of Security and also a Demi God of the Spacetime domain. With his strength he could likely resolve the Corrupted One by himself, however requesting his assistance was a last resort for the police force.

Bear grunted, crossing his arms with a frown, saying sarcastically, “If it gets that bad, we might as well pray for Lord Noga to assist as well.”

Bear’s attitude was quietly shared by most of the other Chiefs. The ideal solution would not require calling in assistance from the higher ups.

This wasn’t simply a matter of pride, but the Demigod also had his role, primarily in defending the Tye-An Cathedral and other critical locations in the city. If he were to leave to help the police forces, other locations in the city would be left undefended.

The spiritual intuitions of all the Chiefs triggered as another rift opened in the room. Out stepped a petite lady with shoulder length dark blue hair and blue eye shadow. In appearance she looked like a young adult, but she gave off an aura of seniority and power. She wore a top hat and a tailored double breasted men’s suit. In her right hand she carried an iron cane. For a woman to wear men’s clothing was completely unheard of in modern society, yet this was her signature style.

Her name was Robin Lang, Secretary of Lord Noga. The men in the room didn’t know much more about her than her name and title. Most of the Chiefs had only met with her once or twice, except for Chief West who was the youngest of the Chiefs. She had a reserved demeanour and never showed any sort of expression. Even her speech was impassive.

She placed her cane squarely between her feet and stood sharply with both hands on its head. She looked at each of the Chiefs in turn with quiet gray eyes. There was a deeply unsettling, piercing quality to her gaze that put a great amount of pressure on the older men. “The Royal Guard has been deployed to deal with the Corrupted One outside the city. The police are to handle the citizens and minimize panic.”

“What panic?” Chief Fang asked. “On the eastern edge of the city?”

Robin shook her head, “Within the city. We appear to be under attack on multiple fronts.”

“I don’t understand.” Chief Fang said. The other chiefs stood in silence, intimidated by her aura. Even Chief Fang could barely muster the courage to speak.

“We have already spent too much time here.” Robin said. “Defend the populace. Use your best judgement. You are the people’s shield. The Guard shall be their sword.”

She rose her cane a few inches and struck it down on the ground, instantly disappearing from the room.

The men in the room breathed a collective sigh of relief as they recovered from her presence.

“That was...?” Chief West spoke first.

“Robin Lang. Secretary of Lord Noga.” Kinpo Luan said. “A demigod. To think she’d come instead of Briant Chaser...”

“We could have handled the Corrupted One ourselves.” Bear grumbled. Beads of perspiration gathered at his temples.

“Apparently Lord Noga believes our forces are better allocated within the city.” Vox said, removing his spectacles and wiping them with a handkerchief.

“Or perhaps he’s had to step in because we’ve told him we’re incapable of handling it ourselves.” Bear muttered with an edge to his voice.

“The initiative to contact the Ministry is appreciated, Vox.” Fang said quickly in an effort to defuse the tension, “Now we can focus our forces better, and not risk losing more men.”

“Losing more men...” West muttered beneath his breath. A heavy mood sunk as the men’s thoughts turned to the missing Chief of Special Ops and his team.

Chief Fang’s eyes darkened. He stared out onto the atrium below before speaking. “Chief Luan, you may leave to carry out the regular response. Focus your efforts on the eastern districts, gather forces from other districts if you need to. Chief West, Chief Bear, gather the Exalted in your teams. Find out what ‘panic’ Robin was referring to and deal with it. Public safety is the highest priority.”

Luan immediately left the room while West and Bear spoke quietly to one another.

Chief Fang turned to the frail looking Chief of Forensics, “Chief Vox, your team will handle the investigation once the threat is neutralized. Also, organize Special Ops’ B team to immediately search for Chief Yun and provide assistance to his team. I will stay here as operations head and to assist Chief Luan.”

“Yes, Sir.” The three Chiefs saluted Chief Fang and shortly after left the room by various means.

Chief Fang stood alone in the quiet boardroom with a dark look on his face. Below he could see Chief Luan stepping out onto the floor and barking orders. Within minutes the main atrium was clearing out as the various police units deployed around the city.

The fate of Chief Yun hung heavily on his mind. His mind flashed back to another point in his past, one that he held on to with a deep sense of regret and shame.

Alone in the empty room, his composure broke for a brief moment as he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He exhaled softly, and at the end of it he opened his eyes and his stern expression had returned to his face.