Deadman’s Port. Neutral Zone.

As surprising as it sounded, there were some bars opened up in the Neutral Zone. Mercenaries wouldn’t shy away from throwing their hard earned money on drinks. As long as someone was willing to take the risk, they could make a huge profit.

In one of the bars, the door opened, and six figures walked in.

The leading one was a woman. Her blonde hair was tied into a ponytail, simple and clean. She wore a jacket and a pair of pants. Both were tight and fit her body. She looked warm and beautiful, unlike most of the occupants of the port.

Five reapers followed her like they were her knights.

Some of the drinkers looked at Jean and licked their lips, but they quickly looked down at their bottles as they saw the reapers.

The nature of reapers meant they were either extremely good or dead. Jean had five reapers by her side, so she wasn’t just some random girl that could fall prey to a few drinkers. The mercenaries knew their lives were always more important than some girl. Still, they couldn’t help but sneakily peek at the girl’s curves.

Ignoring the lustful eyes, Jean sat down at one of the tables. She took out a computer pad from her pocket and turned it on.

The mercenaries were a crucial part in her plan. According to her research, one of the most important players in the field, Mira Han, had around fifty battlecruisers. Colonel Orlan, a mercenary leader slightly weaker than Mira, had nearly thirty capital ships. The other smaller mercenary groups had nearly seventy ships in total. That totaled up to nearly 150 capital ships.

That was not nearly enough for a fight against the Golden Armada or the Dominion Fleet, but when put to a good position they could change the tide of a battle.

Unfortunately, Jean herself needed to stay with the Raiders, so she needed someone among the mercenaries as a partner. Someone she could trust.

Mira Han was powerful, but she was too well connected to the Raiders. Jean needed someone who could stand by her whatever the situation was. Even if she launched war on the Raiders, she needed the partner she chose to aid her.

She had a few options. The name on the top of the list was the reason why she was here.

At a corner of the bar was a cloaked figure. Jean looked down on her computer screen again before walking to that table. As she walked, she whispered something to the reapers, who stayed where they were.

As she approached, Jean suddenly found herself staring down the barrel of a C-20A sniper rifle.

The figure didn’t say anything, but her action was more than enough to show her opinion.

“Viper.” Jean said quietly, ignoring the weapon capable of taking her life in one shot but glancing at the slant arm that was holding the rifle.

As soon as she said the name, she felt the figure’s finger pressing down on the trigger of the rifle.

“I am not your enemy.” She quickly stated. “Trust me. If I want you dead I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you alone. I would be behind two walls of marines and a line of ravens.”

The figure stayed silent for a few seconds before lowering her rifle. Still, there was no doubt she could raise it again the second she felt the need to use it. “Who are you?”

“Someone that can help you.” Jean sat down in a seat facing the figure. “I know every piece of information there is about you. I know you were a former Confederate ghost whose inhibitor chip malfunctioned. I know you came to Deadman’s Port to seek a living. I know Colonel Orlan managed to hack into and fix the inhibitor chip and use it to force you to do his dirty work. I know the inhibitor chip malfunctioned again, resulting in your escape. I know Orlan sent out a bounty for you that is large enough to turn everyone in this bar against you. I know you are trapped and looking for a way to get revenge on the colonel.”

“It’s amazing what you can find with a few minutes on the computer.” She concluded.

The figure finally sighed and took off her cloak, revealing a woman with short black hair. A pair of ghost visors covered her eyes. Hostile environment suit covered her skin, labeling her identity as a ghost operative. Something that looked like a handle was attached to her belt.

“What do you want from me?”

“I want to strike a deal with you.”

“Speak.”

“I help you take down Colonel Orlan and make you the leader of all his remaining forces. In exchange, after you rise to power, you and your new forces will stand by me against my enemies.”

The ghost smirked. “Colonel Orlan has over thirty battlecruisers and hundreds of fighters. He owns a space platform covered with orbital defenses. As far as I know, he has at least three nuclear missiles. He has over four thousand infantry units and god knows how many warbots.”

“So, tell me, please, how can you help?”

If the ghost wasn’t robbed of her emotion for most of her young life, she would’ve been smiling. Colonel Orlan was most known for his hacking skills, and he used both the money he earned and the technology itself to build and maintain his powerful forces.

She failed to see how the girl could help her. Sure, she had some reaper guards, but it would take more than some security to seal the deal.

“Like I said, I’m good with computers.” Jean wasn’t lying. In order to program the Warden AIs, she took hold of the codes of adjutants and several types of warbots and broke every single line of them down.

Most of the terran factions in the sector used automated AIs simply by taking over a template made by someone else and changing a few numbers. This was easy but also made them vulnerable to hacking. For instance, with the necessary security code, Raider adjutant could easily access Dominion security network and change the label of Raiders to friends and label of Dominion forces to foes, and every turret linked to the network would fire on their former comrades. This made things like orbital defenses and automated warbots extremely vulnerable.

Jean, on the other hand, developed all the codes by herself. She singlehandedly completed the work that usually required an entire team of Dominion scientists to complete, which meant as long as she could get an access point, she could hack into everything that didn’t have a man in it and make them her puppets.

“Really?” The ghost wasn’t impressed. “Prove it.”

Jean tapped a few things on her computer pad and looked up meaningfully. “Well, that bar owner over there, for instance,” She pointed at a short man behind a counter. “has just sent an encrypted message to one Colonel Orlan. Here’s the message.” She tossed the pad to Viper.

The female ghost glanced at the message for a second before suddenly standing up. Seeing her motion, the bar owner turned and ran for the door. He made it out two steps before he collapsed with a hole through his head.

Dead.

The drinkers rested their hands on their weapons, but none of them made a move for it. It’s not like they were a friend to the bar owner. Some of them may have had a few conversations with the man, but that wasn’t nearly enough for them to risk their lives and try to take down a ghost. Plus, they didn’t know the woman was worth a ton.

“Impressive, but can you fight off an army?” Jean glanced at the bar owner and tapped another key on her pad. “Because that’s what is coming here. I count at least fifty marines and four goliaths approaching. Two banshees are in the air. I have to admit. The colonel is not exactly dedicated to following his own rules.”

Viper groaned. “Follow me.” She hissed and walked out of the backdoor of the bar. Jean grinned and followed. She was joined by the five reapers.

As they left, Viper psionically sensed a small army entering the bar she just left. The random gunshots suggested that the drunk customers weren’t happy with being disrupted by the colonel’s men, but the shots immediately died down.

Viper and Jean walked for a few more blocks before entering what seemed like a house. Viper pulled over a chair and sat down. Jean got down as well and crossed her legs. The reapers waited outside the entrance.

“What’s your plan?” The female ghost finally asked. The deal Jean provided was fair, but if they wanted to be alive after this they would need to plan everything carefully.

“Our eventual purpose is the death of Colonel Orlan and your control over his forces, but we don’t have the men, so we need to use something else to exert control.” Jean explained. She had most of this planned out a while ago. “Something like the automated missile turrets, gun turrets, orbital cannons, and computer programmed warbots. I did a little digging and realized the colonel really relies on his AI forces.”

“Correct. Orlan has enough orbital defenses to take down his entire fleet. He has over three hundred warbots. They are enough to launch a surprise attack on his main forces.” Viper had been with Orlan for years. Orlan was good with encryption and decryption, and this made him ignorant. He was confident that the inhibitor chip he programmed wouldn’t fail, and he didn’t bother keeping any secrets from Viper. This means the rogue agent knew almost every single piece of information about Orlan. “But even you can’t hack into them from down here. Hacking into the security network of a mercenary leader, especially one so good at computer, is nothing like going into the communication channel of a bar owner.”

“What happens if I can get the security access code?” Jean wasn’t moved.

Viper frowned. The security code could certainly help. “Only one person has the security code, and that person is in his fortress, behind a fleet. There’s no way we can get to him.”

“Not quite.” Jean showed Viper something. It was the personal profile of a large man. Jean started to explain who the man was, but Viper, from her experience with Orlan, already knew who he is.

“Lieutenant Isaac. Orlan’s second in command and, well, perhaps the most welcomed guest in Deadman’s Port’s most luxurious brothel, the Pleasure House.”

“Where is he now?” Viper stood up violently. Someone as trained in the art of combat as she was knew what it meant.

“In his favorite place, probably with his favorite woman. One thing for sure, he is not behind a fleet and a sea of defenses. He will be much easier to get to than Orlan.”

Viper sat back down, relaxing and thinking. “But he will still bring security. Orlan knows I’m rogue in the port. Even if he doesn’t, someone as important as Isaacs will not just come to a place this dangerous alone. There’s just two of us, seven if you count your guards. We can’t take down Isaacs and get the code from him before reinforcements arrive.”

Jean tapped her lips with her right hand. “What do you suggest?” She was able to continuously impress Viper because she did quite some research, but the fact was Viper was an elite ghost agent who personally participated in several times more missions than Jean had commanded. It would be wise to listen to her words.

Viper considered all the options. “Orlan’s reinforcements can arrive in less than ten minutes. The best option is to instantly disable all means of communication. A modified EMP charge should be able to do that, but it’s got to be at least one meter tall. There’s no way we can sneak it into the middle of the defenses. If we can’t disable all the guards at once, someone will be able to send out a request for help.”

“So we need to find a way to bring the EMP inside the brothel without being noticed,” Jean remembered something. “I’ve got that.”

“What?”

“I can bring the EMP inside. Now, let’s go over the plan again….”

As Jean spoke, Viper couldn’t help but nod. This was going to be risky, and there was a part she didn’t quite understand, but it would very likely be successful. This might be the best option possible.

As Jean finished, she found herself being scanned by the female ghost. The playful smirk on her face told Jean the ghost was enjoying this.

“Now, we just need to find a dress for you.”