Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 503: Home to Return to

Jace stretched as he stepped out of the hangar of the ship. Looking at the chaos of the public dockyards. Unfortunately they could not move the ship to the Cerberus private dock just yet. Since there were a number of foreign soldiers aboard. "I am back." Jace sighed as he started moving down the ramp and through the busy throng of people. Hesitating slightly when he saw Vana standing at the bottom with a smirk on her face and a datapad in her hand. He walked over to her. "I do not think I am going to like what that look means."

"No you are not." Vana agreed as she handed him a datapad. "We are already getting a flood of requests and permissions that you need to sign off on. But in addition, the High Priestess and Director Fenrir want you and the other incredible minds to come up with better armor. So report to the new Cerberus Research and Development center. In addition there is a list of people that you need to make armor for since Cerberus will be the spear that pierces the enemy first."

"Oh joy..." Jace sighed as he accepted the datapad and then shuffled it under his arm. Vana seemed like she was about to say something but stopped herself at the last moment. "Was there something else?"

Vana smiled at him. "Nope." She then turned and walked away.

Jace continued down the rest of the way and out of the compound to catch a ride to his garage. He had a number of things to prepare. With only so little time to do it.

As for Vana, a moment later she flinched. "Oh yeah... I forgot to tell him about the Vampire and Valkyrie. Oh, whatever. He will know soon enough anyways." She went to hand out the last few datapads she had.

Jace continued on home and walked right into his garage after the door opened. He sat on the couch with a sigh and relaxed for not even a second before the garage door began opening. He looked over to see Cho and Jordan run in.

He smiled as he watched both of their expressions lit up. But Jordan held herself back while Cho ran forward in excitement and her bag dropped onto the ground as she morphed into her tiger form and she jumped on his lap purring in happiness.

"Father..." He heard faintly and turned to smile at Jordan who looked away and blushed.

"Hey kids." Jace responded with a sigh and could slowly feel exhaustion start to take over his body. "Have you been good with Cain?"

"Hehehe..." Cho giggled as she rubbed her head against him and purred.

"I tried. But Cho has been causing more mischief. The teachers sent all of the students home early today and said that classes for the rest of the week were canceled. Something about it being a national order?" Jordan climbed up and sat next to Jace, swinging her legs while avoiding looking at him.

"Yeah... the colony is going to be chaotic for the next week." Jace answered as the garage door started closing as he lazily sent a bit of energy to trigger it closing.

"Does that mean we get to stay home with you and play?" Cho asked in excitement. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Nope. I have work." Jace told them.

There were a few moments of silence as he looked out the corner of his eye and saw Jordan pout. Then she looked at him. "Can we go with you?"

"Sure why not." Jace agreed and noticed something else but decided to ignore it.

"How about us?" A voice asked and Jordan and Cho both jumped in surprise. But Jace just ignored it.

"I have decided you are not real. So please do not talk, or better yet. Just go away." Jace informed the pair.

"Obviously someone failed to tell you that you are stuck with us." Jace opened his eyes and looked at the Valkyrie without her armor and sighed. "We were sent here and tomorrow you are supposed to be taking us to the Cerberus Research Center. Wherever that is."

Jace grumbled and grabbed the datapad he was handed and quickly started looking through the contents. "Oh joy." He sat up and pushed Cho to the side. "Find an open spot on the ground to sleep. I do not have open beds."

"Why did they send us to you then? I was expecting a giant ass mansion or something." Victor asked as he looked around and stopped as he looked over Jace’s hoverbike. "Nice ride."

"Thanks, I built it myself. But they probably sent you here so I can keep an eye on you two. They did not publicly release the information that I destroyed Yuri in order to turn the Mortella away." Jace reminded them.

"What about those clan leaders and heirs that were on that ship we took to get to the Wolfsbane?" Victor asked as he turned toward Jace who was already moving to the kitchen.

"In holding. We had already captured them when the Mortella revealed themselves so until the other countries determined the threat is real they will stay there. Probably even after then if they are determined to be a threat to the security of the people of the Victorium." Jace informed them.

"You mean if they decide to rally people and create an uprising?" The Valkyrie asked as she moved over and set the bag she had on the kitchen table. Jace glanced at it and noticed the broken gear and armor that was inside with his electrical sight. She was wearing a bunch of sweats that were probably from Cerberus. They had a number of emergency gear and clothes boxes that were broken open and accessed because a number of the Holy Empire and Vampire soldiers could not wear their gear out in the open. So they were given some sweats and other clothes for them to wear.

"That is correct. We do not have to worry as much about it with the Holy Empire since all of your people are soldiers and we can keep them in barracks until we can find your highest ranking officer which might end up just being you." Jace informed them as he pulled out some ingredients.

"What exactly is their plan to have us go with you to a classified military site?" Victor asked. "I only ask because I have tried to sneak someone in there before."

"I assume it is because you were able to hold your own against the Mortella. Regardless of the plan they are going to need as many people experienced in fighting them as possible." Jace explained to them. "So I would bring that broken or old gear of yours. Chances are that you will be getting an upgrade."

"Yeah. Like an upgraded armor helped you." The Valkyrie scoffed. "How’s your shoulder?"

Jace grimaced as he pulled a pan out. "Yeah... the point of sending me and the other geniuses to the research center is to come up with new gear and equipment before our next encounter with the Mortella."

"As well as integrate any of the technology that you have already stolen." Victor pointed out.

"Dad! This one is weird!" Cho called out as she walked around the Valkyrie.

"And you are a talking tiger." Valkyrie responded.

Jace rolled his eyes as the food he was preparing started cooking. "Cho, that is rude. Not to mention a bit ironic considering what you are. In fact there is not a normal person in this room."

"Normal is boring." Jordan pointed out as she sat down. "Do I get to test mechs tomorrow?"

"That will probably not be our priority. But I will see what I can get for you two to do while I am busy with work." Jace informed them as he the pan started sizzling. "But I am going to need to get someone to watch you because I think I might end up needing Cain’s assistance. So I think I might need to have someone else watch you."

"Cain?" The Valkyrie asked.

"He is a robotic dog butler thing that Jace personally programmed after he graduated from the academy. He was only one of two that created it. I could not find the other person who created it and just assumed that they were erased from records." Victor explained.

"Very good. But you will meet her tomorrow. Nowadays she is a bit..." Jace hesitated to find the right word.

Cho instinctively completed his sentence after probing his mind. "Crazy?"

Jace sighed. "Yeah, messing with- even if it was accidental- temporal stuff and tachyons would do that to you." Jace explained. "But I am excited what Gorund found,"

"The dwarf?" Victor asked.

"Wow, you really bought up as much information on my unit as possible." Jace pointed out with a chuckle. "Was I really that much of a threat?" Jace asked.

"Yes." Victor nodded. "According to my research you single handedly turned the tide of multiple planetary battles."