I woke to Nova leaning over me, shaking me hard. “Wh-what the hell?” I asked, sleep still evident in my voice. She saw me awake and began talking. “We need you at the wall, we have company and Fernando said you’d be needed. It seems to be something rather...official.”

She said ‘official’ with enough disdain to curdle cheese. Alrighty then, wake up, stop thinking about her leaning over you and keep your eyes on hers. Right...eyes. I coughed and nodded, forcing the sleep from my eyes with a quick rub and moved to get up, feeling wobbly still.

“Alright, take me there Nova.” We made it to the wall about half an hour later. I was beginning to dislike the distance and really wished I had vehicles of some sort to make the damn travel time quicker.

Upon arrival I saw Fernando at the entrance gate, Janus and a few Marines beside him, speaking with a foppish looking man with multiple men and a few women surrounding him. The men were lightly dressed in what appeared to be tactical gear, while the two women wore more formal attire. I had a feeling this little visit was going to royally piss me off.

“As I said before, Magistrate Ryles, he is currently being told of your presence and on his way. Had you given notice we could have met you at the gate upon your arrival. As it stands I will not allow you further inside until Magistrate Fern arrives.”

Oh, fuck me, really? Him? I heard him then, his voice as high pitched and nasally as I remembered. “You dare bar my way? Do you know who I am? I should have you flogged for your impertinence! Why, if you were under my command…”

I’d gotten close enough then and cut him off, refusing to let him continue that idiocy. “He is not yours to command though, Magistrate Ryles, he is mine. Lieutenant Fernando is an excellent soldier and General. He was also following my orders, no one enters Bastion without my approval, I have had far too many encounters with uninvited ‘guests.”

I meant the pirates, but no need to clue him in on that. For all, he knew it meant we’d been attacked more than that and still remained standing. He looked at me then, his beady little eyes showing his disapproval of my interruption. He changed gears quickly enough though. “Magistrate Fern! Such a pleasure, and look! You brought along the charming Miss Terra! Come now, won’t you allow us in so we can move past your brutes?”

Yep, it was going to be a very annoying evening. “I would ask you to not disrespect my men when they are doing their jobs, and yes...you may enter. Welcome to Bastion.”

“Good, good, come on then ladies let’s see the amenities Bastion has to offer, yes?” The women with him let out soft giggles. I felt my eyes narrowing as I corrected his assumptions. “We have few amenities, Magistrate Ryles. I have focused on building my settlement and its defense more than the luxury.”

He waved that away, an odd gleam in his eye while looking at Nova. He was a pig, no doubt about that. His little entourage of men, five in total, moved up behind him and his ‘ladies’. Wasn’t as big a fan of that actually. “Fernando, follow me, please. Janus, you have the wall. Keep your men on alert.” He saluted sharply while Fernando silently moved up beside me, placing his considerable bulk between me and the militia, at least I assumed that was what you were supposed to actually have in the form of militia.

“Magistrate Fern! As you know I proposed a trade agreement with you the other day. I came personally because the man you left in charge while on some...confidential assignment given to you by the Confederacy, refused to even bargain with me for Marine armor like yours, preferably stock suites though. I dislike the color scheme your house offers them. Regardless, he traded a mere five SCV Riggs, while useful they were nothing like you were reported to have. I find that disconcerting and decided to come in person to speak with you about trade, rather than an uppity..” - “Careful, Magistrate. My men are not to be belittled in front of me. - “...than a soldier.”

He finished lamely, wilting a little under the sternness of my voice. I admit it was probably the wrong move politically, more so when I got a notification that my reputation with the Trade Enclave went down by five points, but I was still a bit raw at losing Fob.

“As far as the trade agreement, it stands as I ordered. He was given five SCV Riggs to trade for food products. The fact you stated they were not what I had been seen to possess was simply because those are needed by my people to build what we require to survive. They are also not easy to create. As for the Marine armor, as Janus no doubt informed you, they are all in use. I have no means to produce more.”

A bold-faced lie, but it didn’t matter, he’d not be allowed anywhere near my Barracks or Swann’s area. He regarded me cooly then returned to his overly friendly attitude, making small talk and no doubt trying to ferret more information out of me. I failed in this aspect of leading anything, I wasn’t a fucking politician. No doubt I let slip information in my responses, unintentional though they may have been, without proof, he couldn’t do shit.

When we did arrive at the center of my settlement, the foppish idiot was sweating and bitching about the clear lack of transportation, his ‘ladies’ wilting from the heat and throwing hate-filled glances at Nova, who was cool and collected, unaffected by the heat. His men were faring better, likely use to it now.

“S-so” he took a gulp of air and tried to collect himself. “What is this structure?” He asked, looking at the Monument I had built. I answered as calmly as I could. “It is where we place the names of our dead, Magistrate Ryles. Why don’t we adjourn to the Command Center for now? We can discuss things further there.”

I saw him looking all around him, eyeing the Barracks and Swann’s Mechanics with a greedy look before nodding, reluctantly, and following me inside the Command Center. We arrived at a section I seldom visited, only during my first tour of the building, the conference room. A huge room with a table and chairs meant to be more of a staging area than a meeting room. He sat down with a sigh of relief, his women following suit on either side of him. His men took of position by the wall, Fernando had refused to allow them entry to the room armed and with Trenton had made the point clear that it would happen one way or the other. They chose to remove their visible weapons.

With me were Nova and Fernando, Swann refused to join, though he and Caspian were privy to the conversation via Nova’s more advanced Comm system.

When we were situated and I’d managed to kill the urge to strangle the asshole for his continued glances at Nova’s ass when she moved ahead of us during our walk, we began speaking. Ryles beat me to the punch as well.

“Now then, Magistrate Fern, allow me to be blunt. What will it cost for you to give me a few of the SCV Riggs I know you to have, and some of your Marine armor? By all accounts, they are more advanced and expensive than the normally seen models within the Confederacy. I assure you the Trade Enclave will compensate you very well for these items.”

I see...they wanted the technology to further their own profits. Tough shit right there, those being mass produced by someone able to do it would end my own primary advantage until I gained more from the System. “Magistrate Ryles, they are not for sale. I stated that we have few of either and they are all in use.”

“Now, now, Damian...May I call you Damian? Let’s not be hasty and deny the Trade Enclave what it desires. I have been given a massive stipend, as I said, to purchase even just one of each from you.”

That was a hidden threat, I admit I only learned that mostly because Fernando went still and Nova looked like she was about to throw him into the wall. Ryles noticed as well and smiled a sly little smile. “Oh, your lovely lady seems to dislike me. It matters not, I have also been told to make an offer for her as well. Someone with close connections to the Ghost program seems to have taken an interest in her…”

Nova paled a bit, no doubt memories of what that did to her initially coming to the fore. I knew little, but I knew that to actually become a Ghost normally was not a pleasant event for the subjects involved in it. “That most certainly won’t be happening. Magistrate Ryles, if you are not going to adhere to what I said then you may leave. I have no desire, or ability, to trade the items you requested.”

“Damian” - “Magistrate Fern” I corrected him. “Very well, Magistrate Fern, I will ask once more for you to reconsider your position.”

“I won’t,” I said with as much steel as I could. The pompous little ass actually let out a sigh, looking to the woman at his right. “I did try, did I not Melody?”

The woman responded, her voice no longer flighty but cold. “Indeed you did Magistrate, the Academy will commend you to the Trade Enclave for your participation in this matter. Take your men and leave.”

Wait, what the fuck was happening here? “What the actual fuck?” I said allowed, and Fernando began moving a hand to his helmet as Nova placed herself closer to my front. Magistrate Ryles, sensing the way the wind was blowing removed himself, and his men, to the furthest point in the room he could. The woman, Melody looked at us, blank-faced and placed a single item on the desk. A vid display.

The image was distorted, as was the voice within, but still understandable. “Magistrate Fern, I am the current head of the Ghost Program. I have sent my two best agents to you, hoping this would not be needed. Under Confederate Law, code 32-A-156 I am enacting a recall on all Ghost operatives under your Command. It has been made clear you are building a force of them, do not deny it as General Vex witnessed the operatives in question, and that is illegal. The ship, The Orion, and all Ghost Operatives will be handed over to my two Agents and you will be purged of all wrongdoing. Failure to do so will mark you as a traitor and dissident.”

What in the actual living fucking hell was this? I looked at Nova, then Fernando. Both were actively paling, the blood draining from their faces. I had no idea about this ‘code’ or Confederate Law as it was in this fucking Universe, but this sure as Hell wasn’t going to happen.

“I will be declining those orders, these are my people, and I will not hand them over to some shady little shit to scared to be here in person!”

I rose then, the two women, Agents apparently, rose as well and Trenton entered from outside the room, shield raised and Lance-Rifle aimed at them both. The image was silent before responding. “Very well, Damian Fern. You have hereby been declared a traitor to the Confederacy and will be issued a warrant for your arrest, dead or alive. Melody, Melissa, please take care of the issue.”

The image cut out, and then shit went down in a blur, a gunshot, a high pitched scream, Fernando yelling into his calm and a whole hell of a lot more radio traffic than I cared to admit. Following all that was the single message prompt that I knew would happen one day, but had hoped wouldn’t come this soon. It made things a hell of a lot more complicated.

System Announcement!

You are no longer an ally of the Terran Confederacy, your Magistrate Status has been removed and your House has been labeled as Fallen Nobility. Terran forces not loyal to you will actively attempt to sabotage, assault, or otherwise destroy you. System advises Player to fight with all his might for the amusement of your followers and Xal’gul.