It’s unusual for Sergi to be late. Although the man himself is not present yet, many of his men have already mustered by now. At least one full company has assembled by now. The rest are either pouring in from our barracks or arriving from transport shuttles from the rest of the fleet.

Thirty minutes have ticked by and yet there is still no sign of the gruff looking man. I don’t need to say that we’re falling slightly behind schedule. Is Sergi experiencing difficulties with getting the last of his men? Or did he get pulled aside to get an earful by the Mission Control transmission?

“Madame!”

I turn around to see the man who has been causing me a migraine. “Sorry, I had some issues to matter to. Some men were not willing to cooperate.”

That’s a bit concerning, I cross my arms. “This isn’t going to become an issue, will it? You did not think to bring this to my attention earlier?”

Sergi shakes his head. “It will not cause us any problems now, it just means we will be a few men short—I decided to throw them in the brig for a while. Let them cool their heads.

“…I don’t believe we need this many men anyway.” Sergi finishes with a muse.

“You could be right about that” I gaze through the stern, emotionless expressions of the men who line before Sergi and I, “if we bring too little we can’t put up a fight. If we bring too many it will complicate things. I suppose this is quite the predicament, no?”

Sergi seems a bit disturbed that I would say that out loud for the others to hear. He steps closer to me, obscuring me from the others. He leans in real close, it seems he doesn’t want to have the men hear this; has he not told them our intentions yet?

Well, regardless if he has or not the case of needing to suppress some dissent suggests some of them have connected the dots before. If most of them weren’t aware of it then, they had to be aware of the revelation now.

“—With all due respect, Madame, it’s not too late to call this off—As idiotic as the plan is, we should just get the supply barges and let the men enjoy a moment of recreation while we still can. No good can come out of this. This will have dire consequences for you later if it fails, never mind the fact if Simon and his men do not execute you.”

But I can’t back out of this now. The die has—more or less by now—been cast. A similar saying credited to ambitious dictators would be this is the point of passing the Rubicon .

I can’t help but crack a smirk, “Sergi… are you getting cold feet?”

“I…uh… Madame?” He takes a step back—still obstructing the men behind us, and looks at me with puzzlement. “If that is how it goes down then I have no qualms with my fate. You are more than free to stay here on the sidelines with Olga if you are feeling cowardly.” I reply with a bigger grin than before.

“Accusing me of being a coward…” He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Why is it you want me to come with you, and not Olga in any case?”

I’m surprised he would only ask me now, but I suppose it’s a fair point regardless. “I feel that… Olga might put my plans at stake—and…” trailing off, I can’t help but lightly clasp my hands together.

“—I… don’t want to imagine if things escalated, I don’t want her to get hurt… or worst yet…”

“And you decided to take me with you, because…”

“Don’t get the wrong idea, Sergi, I am not suggesting you are… expendable or anything of the sort. You are valuable to me almost as much as Olga—” I pause at the moment when Sergi scoffs with amusement, “—I’ve just decided you are far less likely to do anything that would cause provocation. If things come to worst… I’m sure you can maintain a clear head and maintain discipline in your men. Olga on the other hand…”

Sergi nods with each word, and even after I finish speaking he continues to nod in acknowledgment. “…I feel as though you are putting too much faith in me, Madame.But it is not too wrongly placed.”

Sergi turns to address our men and orders them to load onto the shuttles. The next moment my ears are violated by the rumbling of hundreds of boots as our company of shabby men herd themselves into the shuttles’ passenger cabins. The rumbling of footsteps dies down, and the two of us are left alone with the calming atmosphere of engineers toiling away at their craft.

“—Do you think, if it comes to it, you are willing to give the order to neutralize Simon if he poses an obstacle to your goal?” Sergi asks, breaking the quiet melody of machinery hisses. “Do you have what it takes to pull the trigger yourself? To become a devil greater than your father, and bloody your hands with the corpse of the one you held dear?”

“…”

Sergi is caught off-guard when I walk past him without a word. I stop halfway on the ramp leading into one of the shuttles’ side doors.

“Sergi.”

“Yes, Madame!” Sergi snaps to attention with a chest salute.

“There’s no more room for hesitation now—and you can cut out the formalness, Sergi, I’m not angry at you… we can spend all day speculating about the ifs and wontsof this scheme. But I’d rather not. I’ve had enough of this back and forth dialog. It’s starting to get a little tiring discussing this to death. ”

“—But it is necessary, no?”

I reel to face Sergi. “Necessary? While I did say it is necessary to let Che suffer for a little while, I didn’t mean to let his men suffer in vain. This is the time for action, Sergi.”

Sergi looked like he wanted to make another argument, but he seemed resigned to let me have the last say in the matter. His shoulders relax at last — he must’ve been unusually tense, was he expecting me to back out of this after all? — and joins me in the passenger cabin with the others.

‎ “MAPPA-1 to Side Brunsbüttel Mission Control, requesting navigational entry into the harbor.” I could make out one of the shuttle pilots speaking into his intercom.

Dozens of us were strapped into our seats—some looked nervous, and I don’t blame them. Others look terrified, stricken, darting eyes between their peers and averting mine when we make eye contact. An odd few were leaning forward to vomit their breakfasts.

I suppose these reactions are only natural. We are, after all, confronting the legendary pirate Simon Oliver himself. The man that many could say is the founding father of the Year 217 Mafia. While my father is the head of state—the Don— the lieutenants, like Simon, are the ones who manage the actual handling of government affairs.

It was Simon who even proposed the code of laws that we pirates must abide by, as well as putting to use basic Federation laws for the civilian populace, to ensure a peaceful transition of power. Putting aside my father, we are essentially going against the very foundation of the Mafia itself.

With my permission, Sergi has spent a good amount of time discussing the true purpose of our mission to the capital Side. Sergi informed the men back then he had them assembled and readied with the intent to assist hauling supplies to the barges that will then be ferried to the rest of the fleet. It’s not too far from the truth, since we will need to help out with moving equipment around. But their real purpose, in his words, is to assist the Madame Scarface for a coup d’etat in any way she sees fit.

Some of the more… intellectual thugs were more than capable of connecting the dots when Sergi instructed them to also bring along their weapons. You don’t go into your capital under the pretense of moving around supplies while carrying fully loaded guns. I suppose these were the ones Sergi had to snip in the bud before it could jeopardize the plan.

Scanning the faces—a good mix of old elites and young men—many of the mature ones seem relaxed. As if deep-down, they have quietly accepted that this would happen, I imagine the older gentlemen knew that this day would eventually come to fruition. It’s only human nature that a ruthless adoptive daughter of an even more ruthless pirate dictator would make a move to overthrow him. Even if it was all done for a noble cause.

For a noble cause…

“…This is Side Brunsbüttel Mission Control— MAPPA-1, MAPPA-2, and MAPPA-3 you are clear for landing.” The intercom from the cockpit pops with a bit of static.

“Roger that, Mission Control, MAPPA-1 is synchronizing with runaway lane GPT-1.”

How has aspiring conspirators of eons past championed that their seizure of power is a noble cause? Is it even possible to do so? The values of society change with time, and so too do the interpretations of historians.

The means to a coup d'etat can be recognized as a justification for positive change, and it is often the end-result of coups that is the subject of scrutiny. After the purpose of one is said and done, is there any point in remaining in power lest they get deposed of themselves? In my case, would it make more sense to negotiate directly with the Federation at Valspon rather than attempt a coup at Brunsbüttel?

Will history remember me as the one who is pursuing to oust my father for my agenda, rather my actual interest in preserving the overall integrity of the Year 217 Mafia and its members? If I were to step down and let the Federation install governors, would history still be unkind to me, or hold me in praise?

The smooth ride of the shuttle is cut short by a heavy jolt. If it were not for the harness I—and the others—would’ve splattered against the ceiling. Some of the men, mostly the greenhorns, give startled cries. The elite gentlemen either ignore them or give them a few encouraging ones to settle them down.

One of the pilots emerges from the cockpit. “Touchdown! We have landed at GPT-1. Madame, the other MAPPA radioed to me informing me they have also landed. They await further orders.”

All eyes in the passenger cabin turn to me.

Despite the daunting gazes, I calmly unfasten the belts holding me in place. Some of the men are already fastening and getting up as well, but I gesture for them to stop. I walk past the endless rows of curious eyes and stop in front of the mechanical box that manages the passenger ramp door.

With a clenched fist, I press the top green one. There’s a whining buzz from the door as it lowers into a proper ramp.

It’s hard to see outside—the white mist produced from the shuttle’s engines obstruct anything past a few meters past the ramp door. It does not seem like Simon has sent anyone to greet us yet.

Turning to face my band of brothers I gesture for Sergi, who unlocked his harness and stands attentively next to his seat, to come to my side.

“Madame?” He inquiries, looking over his shoulder at the others.

“I know this will sound strange, Sergi, but…” the smoke was starting to dissipate, and the two of us could make out a dock devoid of anything but the occasional large pallet with fastened goods, the nearby control tower, and a lone figure standing behind an automobile, but from this distance, it is hard to make out who it is as they are not facing us.

From my perspective, I can surmise that Simon did not put together any forces of his own. This can either be a good thing or perhaps he has them set up out of sight for an ambush.

Unless…

“Sergi.”

“M-Madame?” There he is, getting unusually nervous for no reason. I suppose even this tension is getting to him as well.

“This may sound strange, but please stay back for the time being.” Sergi glares at me with a crooked eyebrow and a partially open mouth that says, what?

“I do not want to alarm Simon just yet. I think it will be better to talk it over and if I bring along them in a standoff, it will only result in some of the scared ones getting startled and firing a trigger—and a trigger is all it will take for this coup to produce nothing more than a pile of needless corpses.”

“I understand, Madame, but at the very least take me with—”

“No.”

“…’ Sergi clears his throat in frustration.

“I need you to ensure not a single soul goes out…” I frown, trying to think of the expression I thought I heard somewhere before, “—guns blazing."

Sergi tries to suppress a scoff, but he quickly nods in acknowledgment. “Very well, but what about the men in the other MAPPA crafts?”

“Leave that to me, but I’ll have you know I have good faith they will not pull anything too stupid.”

Maybe bringing along Olga would have been a good idea after all… or maybe not. The other companies are being led by some of the… intellectual officers that dared not speak out against Sergi regarding the true context of our Brunsbüttel escapade. If they can keep the others in check, then all is good.

Heaving a sigh, I turned back through the aisle of curious faces towards the cockpit door where the two pilots were still waiting for my order.

“Madame?” The two of them give me casual chest salutes. “Your orders?”

“Inform the company commanders to be on standby until further orders. They are not to leave their craft under any circumstances.”

The one operating the radio gives me a conflicting look but doesn’t question the order. “MAPPA-1 to MAPPA-2 and MAPPA-3…” The voice trails off as I reel around to head out the craft. All I can hope now is the company officers will stay put. At the end of the day, this is merely a deterrence. So does that mean Simon is doing the same?

The automobile is parked quite a distance from the landing pads. I look behind me to confirm that no one, lest Sergi, went against orders to follow me. Indeed, the shuttle is devoid of any activity.

An uneasy tightness in my chest as I get closer to the figure and the dark-blue vehicle. The figure is almost entirely obscured by a leathery tan poncho and hat, making it impossible to tell who it exactly is. But given the person’s excessive height, and an ashtray next to him on the car’s trunk overflowing with one cigarette butt too many, I can only assume it is none other than my aging mentor himself.

I stop at the rear of the car, opposite of where the fellow is. My breathing has become increasingly strained, and I find it necessary to inhale deeply in short bursts. I don’t have to hold my chest to know that it is beating fast.

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Instead, it is the cloaked figure who breaks the silence.

“So you finally came, Li.” That all too familiar voice confirms for me it is none other than Simon Oliver.

“Si…mon” I utter, and even I catch myself off-guard at the timidness of my voice. I clench my chest in a futile attempt to calm myself, to no avail. I suddenly feel a little lightheaded, and numbness works its way up from my legs.

Is it exhaustion from all the warp jumps? Come to think of it I did not eat much either. I suppose my body could not handle the stress for much longer.

I take a few more careful steps toward the trunk and lead against it, just to use as a stabilizer and avoid collapsing to the floor. I look out at the vast naval yard cluttered with pallets and containers. No men have emerged from the MAPPA transports yet. But some of the Brunsbüttel engineers have arrived in this section of the naval yard and begun the process of moving them to the shuttles.

“Li…” Simon trails off. The pause is joined by lengthy inhales from his cigarette and heaves hazy fumes into the air.

To this day I still do not understand why Simon smokes so much of this disgusting substance. From what I know, he has been abusing this nefarious tobacco stuff for decades. It certainly is a popular recreation among the elite guards, as well.

Is he as stressed out about this as I am? Looking again at his ashtray, it is more than the usual amount that he consumes—several piles are simply thrown on top of each other giving off the sight of a tiny pyramid.

“Where are your men?” Simon asks after flicking the tiny remains of a cigarette butt onto the tray—which proceeds to bounce off it and falls to the floor next to me, instead.

“…” I lift one of my feet and gently crush the remains of the butt under my heel. Not once do the two of us make eye contact.

“I feel that you already know the answer to that, Simon—why I decided to come out from the fleet when I could have sent an envoy instead—like Olga, or Sergi.” The two of us watch as the supplies are carefully lifted from the pallets and carted up the ramps ofMAPPA-2 and MAPPA-3. Dozen of my men step off the ramps to assist Simon’s engineers.

Even on the cusp of a coup, there’s still cooperation between the two parties. I can only silently appeal to merciful celestial beings that nothing ill comes out of it.

Simon rummages through his inner breast pockets for something. If I have to guess he is trying to find another carton of cigarettes. Glancing at his feet I can see several crumpled boxes that Simon carelessly disposed of.

“That’s a possibility.”

“You seem… awfully casual about this.”

Simon gleefully pulls out a half beaten carton of cigarettes and slips out one to light. “Mmm, You could say that.” Though, with the subtle jitter Simon has in his other free hand, it’s clear that he is trying to hide his anxiety.

Now that it has come to this… how do I reveal Simon my real intentions? Even my arms begin to shake from the lack of energy. Will I even last long enough to see this through?

“Before you came here, Li, I did receive an interesting message from your father, and the contents of it were rather…”

So father sent an order to Simon ahead of time, I’m surprised our communications array did not pick up the message. It must have been encrypted in any case.

“—I am under the impression that you are not merely stopping by to expect a warm reunion so soon. After all, as you may very well be aware, there is a Federation assault underway just a star system away—”

“Simon.” I can’t bear it any longer. This may not be the best way to go about it, but if we continue to beat around the bush like this then all of Che and his men’s suffering will be for naught. There will be no point to this coup if we drag this out any longer.

“I didn’t want to believe it myself, Li. It was a shock for me—I even had a heart attack!” The old badger lets out a hearty laugh, but wounds up hoarsely coughing because of the smoke. “And as you can see… I drove here without notifying anyone else…” He gestures over to the engineers taking the last contents from one of the pallets up the shuttle ramp. “It was pure chance that none of my underlings were around, or it would have caused a nightmarish revolt. Those guys over there—they don’t know what you’re up to Li. That’s why they can work without a care in the world.

“But Li…”

He doesn’t flick the cigarette into the ashtray. Instead, he flicks it outward, and it lands a few meters from us. A faint trail of smoke rises from its remains.

“If you were not so lucky… you are aware of what might occur otherwise?” Simon pushes himself away from the automobile and walks in front of me.

“There are those who view you as a threat to their rising influence—and if shecaught wind of your detour here, they would’ve whipped up quite a mobilization to see to it that you are eliminated. This whole place here—empty, is it not? Had she been informed, it would’ve been quite a fortress. Armored cars, elite infantry, you name it. You can bet that you would have experienced difficulties even entering the landing zone, well, no… I wouldn’t go that far, but I imagine you would be immediately detained the moment those ramps dropped.

“Li…

“You signed your death warrant with this maneuver.”

I’m speechless. Utterly speechless.

He places hands on my shoulders. “…Or it would suffice to say you almost signed your warrant. For the time being. I do not know what the future entails; she will want to know why I suddenly shipped away a load of supplies to the dockyard.”

“By her, you mean…?”

“The other madame…

“Kamon Hwang.”

“…!”

My father’s legal wife. She was the original governor of Brunsbüttel before our occupation of the region. She is more or less responsible for the peaceful transfer of power to Simon and father back then, and entered an intimate relationship with theDon— I will not understand what she sees in that monstrosity…

“Kamon, huh… I take it she has been at her post at the… what was it called again… the intelligence agency?” Even before the departure from Lübeck I never see the woman most days; and the few times we do interact is a brief exchange of words at father’s banquets. She is almost always cooped up in that compound of hers, always spewing some mature proverbs about keeping mindful ears on Federation activity.

“As fate would have it, she happened to be… off the clock when Zhui’s message came. But don’t think you’re off the hook just yet. Once she does catch wind of the message— and she will, no relayed messages will ever get past her—you will be at grave danger, Li. I will do what I can when that time comes, and I’ll no doubt be interrogated about what transpired here. Nothing gets past her.”

“Then, it is all the more reason to—!” I start, but Simon tightens his grip on me.

“For your own sake, do not finish that sentence, Li. What exactly do you expect to happen if you went through with… seizing the government for yourself? Did you intend to be romantic and sue for peace with the Federation, before the fighting brings the republic to collapse? Do you think Kamon will simply sit by and let you undo years of hard work? How do you intend to hold off the men loyal to her while you wait for the Federation to come to the rescue? How do you know if they will even assist you at all?

“Li…”

Frankly, I never factored in Kamon at all. I’ve been so focused on Simon that I forgot all about the older madame. Considering she is always spying on Federation intelligence, I never imagined she'd have the influence to mobilize father's men as Simon described.

I look down at my trembling legs. Was this all for vain? Did I cross the threshold without realizing what my consequences were? Did I get too… ambitious? Even if I did eliminate Simon—or I persuaded Simon to join me, I—or we—would still have to confront Kamon… which means blood being spilled for what?

“We’re criminals, Li. We’re thugs on the wrong side of history. Do you truly think in your best interest anybody will be able to walk free out of this? There doesn’t exist a peaceful life for us, Li! It will always be a death sentence—and I would not want that to happen to you—but I’ve come to accept the sins I’ve committed throughout the years.” I look back up at Simon. He’s not angry with me, but rather… sad.

“I suppose… at the end of the day, I have no choice but to fight the Federation,” I say emptily. I feel so drained I could just faint into Simon’s arms.

“You had a noble cause, Li… but…” Simon trails off. He brings me closer to him in an embrace—but to my surprise, his clothes feel a little less than dry.

“Simon… you’re awfully…”

“—Wet? Yes… some of my dimwit hooligans set off fire alarms earlier. I never had the chance to even change clothes.”

“I could tell from the mountainous ashtray.”

The two of us laugh weakly.

“Li… for what it’s worth, I would’ve tried the same thing in your shoes. If I was still your age and had that flamboyance from back then. I would’ve taken the chances and headbutt with Kamon’s forces. But once you get to my age, you start to become adullard.”

‎ “Simon… I just want to know… even not factoring in Kamon… would you still join me in a coup?”

Simon is silent for a very long time. He looks into the distance at the MAPPA shuttles behind me.

“Li… I think it’s time for you to head back to the fleet. You have no choice but to fight.”

“But, Simon…!”

“There are no buts, Li. I want you out as soon as you can. I can’t guarantee your safety if you stay any longer. There’s really no telling if Kamon will send men after you. I have a hard time ever reading her most of the time.”

“Simon… please, won’t you come with me?”

“You know I can’t do that, Li. I have to stay here. And besides, at my age it would be detrimental to my health to go through consecutive jumps—you need to quickly get to Valspon and back to Velksland, correct? Just look at you—you look paler than a ghost. You must be completely exhausted.”

“So you could tell, huh…”

“It’s all the more reason not to go through with this. I imagine your men are no better condition than you are. And you expect to take on a battalion’s worth of Zhui’s best men plus armored support? Li, by the time fighting even ends, the Federation would be knocking at our doorstep!”

“That’s true, but…” I trail off unable to think of anything. My mind wants to argue and yet I can’t come to terms that I’m simply in the wrong.

“Return to the fleet and get a few hours of rest, Li… the coming battle and force march will surely take a greater toll on your health—and your men.”

Simon places a hand on my back and gently guides me in the direction of theMAPPA-1.

My feet move on their own, and the pressed hand on my back disappears. I almost feel wobbly now.

“…Do you think you will be okay, Li?”

“I think… I will be fine. I just need to lie down and rest for a while, as you suggested… and I’ve already allowed the men to rest in shifts.”

‎ Simon nods in acknowledgment. “Goodbye, Li, until we meet again. Take care, come back to me in one piece. It wouldn’t do my heart good if I was informed of your passing.”

‎ “Fare we—Goodbye… Simon.” I try with all my strength to not choke on the words. A part of me wants to leap forward and give him one last embrace before I depart. But I must use what energy I have to make my way back to the MAPPA-1.

‎ I glance back at Simon one last time. He has opened his car door and waves back at me with a meager smile.

‎ Sergi meets me partway on the ramp and looks back at Simon proceeding to back up and drive away. “Madame…?”

‎ “It can’t be helped, Sergi. We have no choice but to fight the Federation.” I say weakly and cling to him with what remains of my strength. “It was all for…”

‎ “Don’t say that, Madame, in the worst case you could be dead by now. If there’s nothing else to do here then let’s head back to the fleet.”

‎ “I…”

“—Don’t say any more, Li… I’ll strap you into your seat, so just relax. I’ll give the order to return to the fleet.”

I find myself increasingly in a haze, unable to make out most movements of others. Sergi sets me down, and I feel the harnesses fasten me into the seat. There are a few murmurers and collective sighs as Sergi makes his way to the cockpit to relay orders to the pilots.

It can’t be helped… those words echo in my mind repeatedly.