Junction Pt. 04

Jace forwarded all the orders and paperwork back to the Minister of Defense who shook his head. The General looked over and saw he had another incoming call. Jace dropped.

The General sighed, "Pull back for now." He answered the call and had the Human General above him and the Minister of Defense online. The Minister of Defense looked at him, "What caused you to take this action?"

General Lisharara looked right at the monitor, "We were getting rebellious activity out of the civilian sector. The Marshal said he did not have the forces to handle it. I declared Martial law over the area and have troops patrolling the towns."

The human General, General Littleton, looked at him, "Why was this not reported back to us?"

The elven General refused to answer to him. The Minister of Defense looked at him, "You wish to be deemed irredeemable, or are you going to answer his question?"

General Lisharara looked over, "I do not recognize his authority over me. He might be entitled, but he is not of an entitled race."

The next image was of his new female head of the Royal House who was brought into the call. She heard his response, "You are to return to Avalon immediately. You are being discharged from the Army; your career is over.

Elven and dragon telepaths will ensure you have no sedition plans going through that head of yours. Before being released to your family for the dishonor you bring upon yourself and our people."

The general stood up, pulled his service weapon, and blew his brains out in his office. An administrative assistant, also elven walked in.

The Minister of Defense looked over, "He had just been fired from his post. A new commander will arrive soon. Another Elven General, we will see how far this rot goes. The head of the Elven Royal House relieved him for illegal activity.

Find his second in command and tell him to take charge, and recall all troops out of civilian zones immediately. I will appoint him as the acting General until the King rules on this matter."

---

Jace drove into the first border town which was almost 50,000 people and went to the Marshals office. He found Captain Gallow in his office. Captain Gallowinsha of the Elven people.

Jace looked at him, "Pack up your personal belongings and report back to the Marshals office for reassignment. I am removing you from command out here. Lieutenant Vashmiresia will take over as the acting Captain until I can get that made permanent or the Director chooses another. You do not sign over the authority for Marshal Law to the military.

A Commander or the Director has to make that call with the approval of the Minister of Defense. As the last Commander is now the Director, I am positive that you did not forward this request to him properly. Regardless you were not authorized to sign it. The military is pulling back.

I want a briefing in 1-hour Captain on the trouble spots that caused this action. I have 32 marshals assigned out here and I only see 8, I hope the others are on patrol or on their day off. Then again, how would they get past the blockade I just brought down? Get me an accounting of who is here and who is missing."

Jace slammed the door on the Captain's office and went and informed the new Captain of his temporary appointment and tasking. Jace sent a text message only to Coop, "Working it but relieved the Captain out here in the Holly Wilds." He sent the paperwork that caused that action. "Sent him back to headquarters for reassignment."

Jace got a message back from Coop, "He will be riding a desk for a while. I have 12 more Marshals en route to you. Sounds like you will be creating a vacuum out there."

Jace walked across the street to the local sheriff's office which seemed busier. He looked at the lady in a back-office answering comms left and right. Jace walked into her office and she looked up and saw the badge, "You know what in the hell is going on? I got civilians saying the military forces are pulling out of the town."

Jace nodded, "The Marshal Law put into place was illegal. I just brought it to an end. If it is truly needed then it will get approved and manned the right way. Not some sticks approach with backroom deals. I have another 12 Marshals in route to the standard barracks, once I find out where they are at. Commander Jace Rivers, San Angeles Marshal Service."

She sighed, "Why was I not informed?"

Jace pointed behind him, "I just relieved the Captain out here for his role in this mess. There is a briefing in 45 minutes. I want you there. You can fill in any holes our elven counterparts leave out."

She smiled, "You're the one from the Avalon wilds. The one who got all of the rape cases relooked at and prosecuted. You won no favors with the military. A lot of the civilians out here were happy to get some justice."

Jace nodded, "They overreached. Former Spec-ops, myself. Straight out of basic and the CGR's program. I am an entitled individual and things will change, one way or another. I support our military. They have a job to do. I don't support them doing things like raping the local population."

She nodded, "Sheriff Tawney Fires. Also, out of the program. Spec-ops, high-value asset protection detail. I think I have seen you once or twice before. We called in for support and got a unit decked out in purple and black armor twice, no 3 times. Did my 2 years and 12 more and completed my spec-ops tour.

Before deciding I had enough and moved out here. I left a Captain, with a carrot of being made a Major. They wanted me to move into another spec-op unit instead of out of the community. I saw it as a death trap as it was for a Mastrao97A unit. That had me submitting my papers over a year ago.

I ran for Sheriff as I have family in this area. I was not a fan of this Marshal Law as most of the trouble came from the military. They wanted designated whore houses for the troops. I raided them all in town as did the other 9 towns. Your Captain released them all, the military ones back to the base.

I was left with charging women for prostitution without a license. They did not want to be prostitutes. Instead, I sent them to rape councilors which pissed that Elven Captain off. There are 9 other border towns out here, some near the mining facility with similar stories.

They are not just with the military. Some involving dwarves. I have been relieved and re-elected 4 times by your Marshal, every 2-3 months, without fail. I guess I can scratch that off my list of upcoming activities."

Jace sent the recording to Coop with a title, 'Watch latter, it can wait.'"

Jace looked at her, "You can scratch that off as no Captain will be relieving any sheriffs out here without getting clearance from me. Don't forget the meeting. You made the right call."

She asked, "What is with the dark glasses?"

Jace smiled, "Meeting Sheriff."

---

He had 20 Marshals, 12 got caught outside of the area and the Captain had reported them on duty and told them to keep from calling in. He forwarded it back to Coop. with another message. "Another log for the fire you will build tomorrow."

Jace looked around, "We have 10 border town, 2-man teams, 2 marshals in every town. SUPPORT the local Sheriffs and the fucking law! No Captain out here will be relieving any Sherrif without consulting me first and it better be for fucking cause.

All whore-houses are to be shut down. Those that operate them are to be arrested. Those forced to work at them are to be sent to rape counselors. We will deal with round 2 of getting those involved prosecuted, not necessarily the individual soldiers. Unless they were violent. The ones who orchestrated these efforts within the military will be looked into.

The Minister of Defense will not want to lose that many people for what some might have thought had been legally authorized. This is a systemic problem that we need to address. For everyone who was raped, we will work compensation from the city and the individual soldiers. We will see how that pans out.

Pass the word into the population. Those looking to have children, and wanting interactions with those cleared to participate, get on the social boards. This area is mostly mining support and the front line for the base.

That base houses over 500,000 troops in peace, let alone war. I am sending a report off to the Director now. This including the recording of this meeting. Now to the one question remaining, I had some resequencing done."

He pulled off his glasses so they could stare into his dragon eyes. He looked at their shocked faces. "My vision is superior to a human and my left eye is cybernetic and had to be redone to compensate for the differences. I am still 60% human. Now 10% bronze dragon, species 874, and elven.

The other 10% is a mix of Frost giant, my eye color, size, and strength. With some troll DNA to help with regrowing limbs. Both giants technically. Like the leg, I lost in the vid you have all have seen. I got rid of dwarven DNA in the process. Which I am sure will please our Dwarven chieftains in no small matter."

Jace sent off his request and his manning request to keep the 12 marshals being sent and add another 24 to the group due to the larger population centers. He copies the Minister of Defense on the matter.

Jace displayed footage from the wilds including snapping the metal bar in half for the farming tractor, "I have cybernetics. Titanium microfilaments and muscle enhancers. My base Ki is 500 now, I have a 2,000 Ki unit as well.

I carry spares and have a second connector that acts like a 25Ki vamp unit on those storage units alone. I run everyone I meet through facial recognition and the Warrants Database. I scan for toxicology or pregnancies.

You do not want to piss me off, that is when the gloves come off and it gets messy. Do your jobs. Follow the law, and support the Sheriffs. Tawney, I expect you to relay this message back to the other Sheriffs."

She nodded, "They will all hear from me. Sounds like they sent the right man in. For the other Marshals here. I worked in Spec-ops, defensive missions on high-value targets. I completed an 8-year tour in that unit. We had to call in for outside support on 5-6 occasions.

On 3 of them, we got guys in purple and black armor. I saw the armor in the mall vid. They saved our asses from getting attacked by a Mastro97A unit out of other City-States. When they showed those targets did not leave alive."

Marshal Bell raised a hand, "What is a Mastro97A unit?"

Jace went to answer and she cut him off, "Suicide units. High-risk ops. They did not do protection details. They launched assaults like the ones we put down. 97% fatality rating within the unit is what the 97 stood for, from what I was briefed. They provide support when called upon between missions."

Jace looked over, "For those here, my personnel file lists me as a Mastro97A asset. The 'A' at the end stands for Alpha types or alpha predators if you will. My stint was 2 years and straight out of basic training, spec-ops training, and into one of these units for 2 years. My missions, I will never confirm them to any of you. I went in straight from the program at CGR."

He stuck his hand into the identification which showed his military file sealed, Kings Eyes only. "All you need to know beyond that. My wife enchanted my new armor into my unit colors."

---

The Minister of Defense looked at the information coming in and sat back and contemplated. He contacted Director Younger for a change and asked him, "Have any permits for prostitution establishments come into the wilds before? Any with military bases?"

The Director sighed, "None approved. We never had the manpower to ensure the 2-year restrictions on the military would remain effective. Many cases of rape likely occurred but were never reported back to my office.

Local Captains typically dealt with those matters. It usually involved turning the offenders back over to the military and barring them from town. The witnesses often recanted. Issues like the ones Jace faced in the Wilds.

We got thousands of them reported after Jace went to work and cut that off on the Northern wilds. Over half of those came out of 3 provinces, Holly, Cordon, and Claremont. Between the mines and the large bases to the south. The military was not strong in prosecuting those charges. The dwarves having militias was nothing our men could overcome. We had a few Marshals disappear in those mines in 'accidents.'"

The Minister nodded, "I will have to look at removing restrictions on outside sexual contact during the first 2-years and potentially legalizing prostitution. With them checking identities and getting reparations."

Director Younger looked at him, "The problem is they will want to be paid in Ki. Those soldiers are not allowed to pay with Ki. They have to be fit for service. Let alone reparations using vamp units. Better to let them search for a wife on social media and remove that restriction, at least for the males."

The minister sighed, "What about the mining facilities? Setting it up for the border towns?"

Director Younger sighed, "Keeping the military out? They could pay with Ki but they consider the mountains 'their entitled facilities.' The workers are little better than slaves, paid but that is about it. You know the issues we encounter with that place."

The Minister sighed, "Jace has all 3 of those areas. How did Marshal Cooper deal with it?"

Director Younger looked at him, "He did not work to break the military. He never tempted fate by going deeper into the mines, we discussed this almost 3 years ago. How Jace will deal with it is what you should be asking. I am sure his solutions will be inventive."

The Minister of Defense shook his head, "Alright. I will see what shakes loose. I have already had one elven general blow his head off. That base is under the guidance of the newly elevated human General, G-2. The other is under another Elven General, G-1, but reporting to your G-2 elven general. It will be interesting to see what he does to bring some stability to those regions."

---

Coop laid in bed with his happy wives and turned his comms chip and looked at the stack of messages and files from Jace. He ran them all and shook his head. Hellen saw him doing this and smiled, "Jace I take it?"

Coop nodded, "Thus far one elven General blew his own head off. The one in command of the base to the south in the Holly Wilds. He relieved an Elven Captain in our Marshal Service for dereliction of duty and sent them back to headquarters for violating the law.

I am approving his temporary promotion of an Elven Lieutenant to Captain out there. Leaving it to me to deal with the returning Captain. I am forwarding those to Director Younger to look over as he knows this captain. He sent me the briefing he gave everyone and his manning requests. All in all. He is being Jace, but calmer in his approach. Thus far, anyway." Coop shut down his comms and went back into another round of sex with his 2 wives.

---

Director Yougavaiashina looked at the information sent to him by Coop. He went and saw Levaransin. She saw the serious look on his face and he threw the messages up on a monitor in her room and let her watch what was reported back.

She looked over, "Have him submit his resignation to the Marshal Service. Bring him into our service as agreed upon. Then subject him to telepathic interrogation. If this proves to be true; kill him for his involvement in illegal activity discovered in his entrance into our service. Something tells me it will be true, given the General's actions to keep us out of his mind.

I want to send a statement to our people and not have Director Cooper be the one to do it and inflame tensions even more. I have given orders to the new General to behave and respond to the human General, I do not want our status disrupted any further, else his family would suffer. To keep a wide berth on Jace Rivers and attempt to work with him in his efforts.

Jace is entitled and dangerous. This new Captain being elven I find surprising, but if he is trying to stem the flow as he did with the geneticists before I took over, this would be one method. Be sure you send that Captain a message from me. I am not expecting to hear day-to-day reports on Jace. All of that would come in from Director Cooper to you or the Minister of Defense to you directly now.

I expect him to do his job in the Marshal Service. He may one day become a commander or even the Director over the Service. He should consider his future carefully. Send it blindly to the Minister of Defense as well, as to note my actions in this matter. To be safe and let him know I am addressing the other issue."

Director Younger bowed to her, "I will see to these tasks, Your Majesty."

Hours later that Captain failed in the in-processing interrogation ordered by Levaransin and was deemed irredeemable just as quickly. Word spread that he left the Marshal Service and failed his in-processing evaluation into the Elven Security Service (ESS).

The new name for their own Marshal Service. Levaransin sent out a missive informing all Elven members of the Marshal Service who came into the ESS would be subjected to telepathic interrogation. "Adapt to your new environment or be ready to face the consequences."

---

Thus far the Minister of Defense seemed to like this new Elven leader's approach to the subject. Her communications were being monitored from Genesis Station. She saw that Jace did not hold the Elven people in contempt.

He was trying to keep them entitled even. She saw he could be an ally to her in regaining respect and to keep the King from appointing a second entitled race. One of which, Jace would be facing soon.

---

Jace drove out to the border town with a pair of Marshals leading the way. The one that sat outside the large dwarven mining complex that the dwarves tried to declare 'their entitled town and facility.' That had not been recognized by the Dragon Royal Family and was still considered part of the wilds.

Jace already knew what he wanted to do here. He just needed the miners' names. He set up, out of the holding company, a new start-up company for exploratory mining. Dragon's Eyes Exploration Mining. (DEEM).

Then 4 subsidiaries that obtained the mineral rights were established through 4 different law firms in the city. The only thing he lacked, happened to be miners. Thus far if the Gold Dragon King detected his activity he had not notified Jace to stop.

He had petitions approved through normal channels for establishing 2 new border towns. Nowhere near the others but close to the Mountains. One in the Holly Wilds and another in the Cordon Wilds. They were set half-way between the 2 mining locations in each area. Hedging his bets on profitability based on mineral survey scans.

He got to the town and got into the car with the two Marshals. "Take me up to the dwarven complex. Time to introduce myself to the Dwarves."

Marshall Bell was driving, "Alright, They are not going to like us coming."

Jace nodded, "I understand that. I am not asking you to stay. I got my bag and they are not recognized as an entitled race here. They are pushing it. We will see what happens in that area, For now, I am entitled as are the heads of 3 dwarven mining conglomerates who claim to be separate here. Yet they all sit on this 'town council' As the only members on the council."

They pulled up to a mile wide hole in the mountain face. The Marshals turned the vehicle as Jace got out and walked forward. A dwarven guard looked at Jace, "New Miner?"

Jace opened his leather duster so they could see the gun, armor, and badge. "Marshal."

He shook his head, "We are not part of the wilds."

Jace laughed, "Yes you are. Your claim for an independent town here has never been approved. It is still considered part of the wilds."