Chapter 341: Forced Vacation
Jace blinked the spots out of his eyes as the doctor flashed a light in them. "I have to go old school because even trying to scan you with our new and advanced equipment causes it to malfunction." The doctor grumbled as he stepped back and wrote on a data pad. "Okay, give me a few minutes and then he will be good to go. I just need to confirm what I have." He then walked away to a computer and he looked to the High Priestess and Nila.
The High Priestess was holding his still broken helmet. "What managed to do this when everything else did not manage to even scratch your armor?" The High Priestess asked as she spun around his helmet to show off his broken visor.
"It was a combination of things that ended up doing that to my helmet." Jace shook his head. He had already done a check on all the available armor systems to figure out what went wrong. "If anything I was lucky that the armor is so durable. They used an anti-mech rifle on me, which is labeled as overkill since they penetrate Century-Class Mechs and below."
"What happened to your shielding? It should have taken most of the hit?" Nila asked as she had a data pad of her own out. It was her armor footage and she kept watching it over and over.
"The shielding was actually the problem." Jace confessed as he sat straighter. "There was an issue with the double shielding where both of them combined created a frequency and with the frequency I was using to control the Hollows my shielding had been weakened to work less than even the weakest of shielding." Jace informed them. "It is complex but basically, I found a new way to make people with shielding vulnerable."
The High Priestess frowned and tossed his helmet to him. He caught it and looked it over. "Well either way there is a lot that is about to go down. So you will have time to recover while you are stationed here. Aside from you and Rook, the rest of your squad is going to Echo Base for additional training and enhancements. Rook will be going in a few months." The High Priestess began explaining getting a glare from Nila. "Sorry, but I knew you would disagree."
"Is there a reason for this training and enhancement?" Jace asked as he spun the helmet in his hand.
The High Priestess looked over at the doctor who was waiting. Understanding immediately that he was not wanted here for the continuation of the discussion he stepped forward to get his things out of the way. "As far as I can tell you are fine. Just maybe a bit dehydrated." The doctor nodded and then walked past the High Priestess and out of the room. A little too quickly, almost like he was nervous to be there in the first place.
"Okay, with the combination of your Emperor’s research and the Artificial Intelligence’s knowledge we were able to find a way to get a few people access to the system. Your Squad was nominated since you are all experts in your field. While Ulin and Charlie are going to enter the Spectre Program. We think we can modify the program to increase the amount of Spectres coming out, they will be part of the first experimental batch." The High Priestess explained once the door closed.
"So what am I and Rook doing while we are here?" Jace asked as he hopped off the table he was sitting on top of. The High Priestess and Nila backed up to give him room. "I doubt you want us to just do nothing."
"Actually, I have decided to keep you on The Princess’ Pride. By Victorium standards you are supposed to have had a break following your deployments. The most you got was a working base deployment. So you will be on vacation while the rest of your team is training. So I would suggest picking up a new hobby. Meanwhile Rook is still in the Spectre Program. So he will be deployed to another front to back up some Special Operations team." The High Priestess began explaining as she lifted a communication device and then swiped it.
A moment later both Nila and Jace heard noises coming from their communication devices as their new orders arrived. "So is there nothing I can do?" Jace asked as he swung his legs. "I just get to putz about for..."
"A few months. That is how long you will be staying on the Princess’ Pride. You will only get pulled back into service in the event of an emergency during these next few months. So feel free to go spend that astronomical amount of money you made." The High Priestess explained before looking at her device. "But for the next few days when the Venture departs you have time to get all of your gear packed away on the colony station and Director Fenrir requested you get the First Prince to loosen his tongue."
Jace raised an eyebrow, "You do realize-"
"I know and as long as it is out of sight it is out of mind. Try to refrain from doing anything permanent." The High Priestess then turned and walked out of the room.
Nila pouted for a moment before leaving. Jace stayed for a moment passing the broken helmet between his hands before he walked out of the room. If he was going to be stuck on this colony station for a few months he might as well go all out.
Maybe find something that would give him a bit of action and violence. Then find some ’action’ in the other sense. Build something incredibly and work on his private projects that he had only had in the design phase before. But in order to do all of this he would need to set up somewhere he would relax.
He might as well go back to his roots and set up in a decent place in the slums. That should be a fun experience. But first he should get some of his excess aggression out in the form of giving Prince Cassius a relaxing massage.
That was a lie. He planned to torture the prince until he begged for death. He was sure Director Fenrir would understand. She was just as frustrated about the Family Registries that he had stolen.