The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Letting Commander Ajax know
“Be sure to take care of yourself okay?” Vivian said for the nth time.

She was now fully rested and ready to leave, so Reid, commander Ajax and his friends came to see her off.

“I will” Reid answered, also for the nth time today.

Satisfied, she then turned to the rest of Reid’s friends and said with a gentle smile, “Make sure he doesn’t get into too much trouble.”

“Don’t worry ma’am,” Clara said, “he’s in safe hands.”

She took a small pause as a mischievous grin appeared on her face before she added “especially Lisa’s”.

This caused Vivian to burst out laughing while Lisa’s face turned red.

“I know she will” Vivian’s words did nothing to help with Lisa’s blush, only worsening it.

The laughing soon died down and Vivian proceeded to turn to commander Ajax, the amusement in her face completely gone.

“I trust my son is in safe hands?” Her words didn’t sound like a question, they sounded a lot more like a command, one he had no choice but to obey.

“Yes Lady Fletcher” Commander Ajax answered with a straight face.

Considering that her son had just come back from a death mission, saying ‘yes’ in this situation was a stretch but he intended to keep his word.

“Good,” Vivian nodded. “Because trust me, the last thing the military wants is me as their enemy.”

Her words caused a cold sweat to run down the back every military personnel around at that moment.

Vivian’s demeanor suddenly switched, reverting to her cheerful mood “that’s it, I’ll be on my way now.”

“Oh and Lisa” she paused as if remembering something “don’t forget about what we discussed.”

An even intense blush, if that was possible, covered Lisa’s entire face. If this was anime, there would’ve been visible smoke coming out of her ears.

“I—I won’t,” Lisa stammered, fidgeting with the hem of her uniform as everyone turned to look at her with curious eyes.

Reid raised an eyebrow. “What did you two talk about?”

Lisa looked like she might actually combust.

Vivian just chuckled and winked. “That’s our little secret.”

Before Reid could press further, Vivian created flaming wings and grabbed unto Ellie.

“W-wait, Mistress! Don’t you think it’d be better to take the—whoaaaaaa—!”

Before she could finish her sentence, Vivian had already shot into the sky, leaving behind a trail of flame and an echo of Ellie’s scream.

The group watched as the glow got smaller due to the increased distance between them, until they disappeared into the clouds.

Clara suddenly turned to Lisa and teased “what did you discuss with Reid’s mom?”

Lisa stiffened like a deer caught in headlights. “N-nothing important!” she blurted out way too fast.

Clara leaned in with a sly grin. “Oh? But judging by that blush, it didn’t sound like nothing.”

But before the teasing could continue, Commander Ajax suddenly said, “officer Fletcher, come with me to my office.”

“Yes sir” Reid answered and followed Ajax towards the part of the base his office was.

Clara muttered as they watched Reid and the commander walk away “do you think he’s in trouble?”

“No, he’s not” Damien, who had been with them the entire time, answered.

“You’ve been weirdly quiet today,” Clara turned to him “usually, you’d be trying to annoy me.”

Damien’s eyes twitched but he just decided to ignore her last comment.

“…It’s just that standing in front of the strongest person in the world feels surreal.”

His words confused Clara.

“Wait, I thought you’ve met her before” she asked.

“I have” Damien answered “but at that time, I was just five and she was only at platinum rank.”

“I see” Clara nodded.

They silently before deciding to return to the tower and wait for Reid, after all, Clara’s ferret was back and it had found something interesting.

______

While the others returned back to the tower, Reid trailed behind Commander Ajax.

They soon arrived at his office and Ajax took a seat behind his desk and gestured Reid towards the chair opposite him.

Reid quietly took a seat and waited for the commander to speak.

“You must be wondering why I called you here” commander Ajax started.

“I assumed it was about my team mate attaching her forged beast to commander Voss’s shadow” Reid knew the commander was aware of that move,

Which was a good thing since, just like the cult, they also needed a high ranked in the military that they could trust, and his instincts told him to trust the ever angry commander.

The commander let out an amused chuckle and said”normally, in this situation you’d try to deny it, but I appreciate the honesty. Saves us both time.”

Reid relaxed slightly in his chair. “I figured you’d already pieced it together the moment Clara’s ferret latched onto his shadow and Commander Voss’s shadow trailing oddly, it would’ve been obvious to someone like you.”

“Would you care to explain why?” The commander’s face had returned to its neutral self.

“Because I have reasons to believe that the commander is a spy for a group that calls themselves the cult” Reid wasted no time and went directly to the point.

“That’s a bold claim to make, Fletcher” Commander Ajax leaned forward, placing his arms on table before him “do you have any proof to back it?”

“I would say that our previous mission was proof enough” Reid paused “but I know that won’t be enough, after all that’ll just be excused as a bad call and that’s why Clara’s ferret is currently attached to his shadow.”

Commander Ajax went quiet for a while, seemingly processing Reid’s words.

“…You do realize what you’re suggesting, right?” Ajax finally said. His voice was calm, but there was a hidden edge to it..

“I do,” Reid answered. “But I believe it’s the truth.”

They locked eyes, with Reid not backing down until the commander sighed and said,

“I had my own suspicions about Voss,” Ajax said, “Suspicions that only deepened after his previous call on your mission, but I couldn’t act on a hunch.”

“Not without solid evidence at least. The higher-ups would’ve dismissed it as paranoia—or worse, accused me of insubordination.”

Reid nodded. “That’s why we’re getting you proof. Clara’s ferret can relay everything it hears and sees. If Voss slips up, we’ll know.”

Ajax stood up and walked to the window behind his desk, staring out at the base grounds. “You said the cult’s name like you’ve heard it more than once. Tell me what you know about them.”

“Not much,” Reid started “all I know is that they’re a group of fanatics who think the primals are some type of divine judgement and it’s their duty to make sure humankind goes through said punishment.”

Commander Ajax nodded but Reid wasn’t done yet.

“They also have the ability to summon primals from portals and also create things called Voidspawns.”

“Voidspawns?” The commander muttered, not in question since the report Owen had handed him had everything they knew about voidspawns.

His fists clenched at the thought of other humans working with the destructors of their world but he soon sighed and unclenched his fist.

“Alright, dismissed” Commander Ajax ordered and Reid stood up and walked towards the door.

But before he could open it and leave, the commander spoke again,

“Be sure to keep me informed about anything you find on the cult.”

“Yes sir” Reid answered and left, leaving only commander Ajax in his office.

The commander sat back down and pulled a drawer open. In it lay a framed picture of a younger him and a girl with similar red hair sitting on his shoulders.

He hesitated before picking the picture up and passed a finger on the glass surface.

He passed a finger over the smiling face of the girl in the photo, and for a moment, the hardened commander’s expression softened.

“She would’ve been about Reid’s age now…” he murmured.

For a few long seconds, the room was silent.

But then, as if snapping himself out of it, Ajax placed the frame face-down in the drawer and shut it with a decisive thud.

He turned toward the secured console on the corner of his desk and activated it with a fingerprint scan and retina verification.

The screen flickered to life, displaying encrypted files and black-level clearance logs.

He created a new one and labeled it “Red List: Cult Affiliates – Suspected High Command”, and at the very top of the screen he wrote a name in red:

“Commander Voss – Status: Under Surveillance”

His jaw tightened.

If what Reid just told him was true, then they had a bigger problem in their hands, bigger than even the primals.

Ajax leaned back on his chair and deactivated the console, causing it to blend in and be no different than the rest of his table.

______

Reid walked back to the tower and to his surprise, everyone was waiting for him at the door.

Looking at their expressions, he knew they held anything but good news.

“You’ll not like what we found” Damien spoke up.