Chapter 267: Vexical Prime: A Friend?
He had only interacted with the man for a short time. But he had a feeling that the event was more impactful for the other party. Jace honestly did not care unless it ended up causing problems for their current situation.
But Jace had a feeling that Shepard was not that kind of person. He was more ’forgive and forget’ than ’an eye for an eye’ that most people in their line of work were. "Shepard. Last time I saw you, you were being dragged off in chains for a thorough search." Jace pointed out with a chuckle as he stepped up. "Can we talk down in your underground lair?"
Shepard was dressed similarly in black camo with black combat gear. But he just nodded and turned around. Walking back down to the underground area. The last of the civilians followed him and then Jace followed after them with the soldiers and police officers. The Union soldiers took up the rear end and closed the hidey hole.
"I am surprised, last you saw me, you looked pretty pissed off." Shepard pointed out with a chuckle. "Did something interesting happen between then and now?"
Jace could hear the Union soldiers whispering. Trying to figure out how this mysterious soldier knew their spymaster that had only recently returned to the fold after being imprisoned. They split between thinking they were enemies and allies.
"I got to go and quell an uprising in Victorium territory." Jace answered with a chuckle. "But you probably figured it was something like that, isn’t that right?" Jace looked at the staircase and had to duck his head to avoid hitting his head on a low hanging light. This staircase had been made by hand. The stairs themselves were jagged and there were random plates at points in the wall where haphazard repairs had been clearly made.
"Haha... yeah, as soon as I saw you were off the table I figured you were either at that secret base of yours. Or you were somewhere outside of Vexical territory." Shepard grumbled, "honestly having to keep track of you Spectres is going to be a nightmare."
"Sir," The hybrid soldier from before called out from behind them. "What did you mean by ’Spectre’? I do not recall seeing that anywhere or hearing about it before now."
"Then you need to pay attention to Vexical Military propaganda. Spectres are a new military unit. Their place in the chain of command is above Military Generals. They only report to the Director of the Military Intelligence and Logistics Division and the Emperor." Shepard explained loud enough for not just the Union soldiers but the civilians to clearly hear him.
The stairs opened up to an underground area. They were far under the ground. Not more than half a mile though. It was an old underground railway system. It had long been built over and abandoned once it had been determined to be obsolete.
Vexical Prime had a ton of buildings and works that had been built over. Jace was not completely familiar with the planet’s history. But he was aware there were entire underground towns, bases, even these train stations. Most of which had been forgotten to time and history.
It seems the Union had taken to using those forgotten places. They had old repurposed train cars ready. There was a jerry-rigged power system on the rear car. While the cars were covered in newer metal plates and the doors on them were clearly modified.
"We got an injured one over here." Shepard called out and a pair of Union soldiers with medical markings ran over. Jace handed over the injured soldier to the Union medical soldiers.
Then motioned at the medical soldier that was part of the Vexical Military. "You go help them, they might be short on manpower so you can probably help." Jace ordered and the soldier followed after them. He then turned to the single soldier and the police officers that had stayed near him. "The rest of you go find where you can help. Your priority is the safety of the civilians until a Spectre, the Emperor, or Director Fenrir says otherwise." Jace ordered them and they scattered to go find a use for themself.
Jace turned to Shepard to see him with a raised eyebrow. "I am surprised you do not have an alternate objective."
"Not on Vexical Prime. My squad completed its objective. But then myself and another member of our squad had the misfortune of being separated during our escape and we ended up planetside. Before she left, the director left a message with two objectives. The civilian’s safety and our own safety." Jace explained with a shrug he then focused on something on his heads up display.
"In that case you should know, there was radio chatter about an Infantry armored unit being captured with the same emblem you have on your shoulder." Shepard nodded at his shoulder, "unfortunately the location they are holding him and a large number of civilians are deep in the Circle of Yuri’s established territory."
"You lack the fire power and means to put up a fight?" Jace asked, already figuring out what happened. "You came here with only enough security for the vessels you brought. The plan was to be unthreatening so you can safely extract civilians from the warzone."
"Yeah that got screwed up, not sure where or how but something seemed to go wrong." Shepard pointed out with a growl as they moved over to a separate train. "I assume you do not want to go to the evacuation station. These tunnels lead just about everywhere."
"Fenrir’s ship, The Elysium dropped a pod of weapons and resources for me." Jace informed Shepard. Everything including the pod itself could be useful for the Union if they got their hands on it. Jace could tell that Shepard was thinking the same thing with the ways his eyes light up.
"What type of weapons are we talking about?" Shepard asked as Jace orientated himself and looked for the tunnel that went in the direction of the ping that was on his heads up display. "Here this might help you."
Jace looked over at what Shepard brought him over to. It was a withered map of a large portion of the underground. It seemed the map had been drawn over and updated with hasty notes from the Union. This was definitely not the first time the Union had used these tunnels.