The situation suddenly turned chaotic as hundreds among the thousands of native civilians in the settlement started throwing sticks and stones they picked up from the ground at the nearby Nexus soldiers.
Looking at the situation, Lieutenant Vilma swiftly approached Julian and asked for an order as a mere one hundred men at their disposal would certainly not be able to pacify the villagers.
Julian swiftly passed down an order as he also understood this situation would become dire over time. “Make sure to watch the prisoners closely. As for the villagers, you need to be decisive. Catch the troblemakers right away, use force if you have to. They should also be part of the rebels.”
Nodding her head, the lieutenant quickly went to do as asked. A group of soldiers broke away from their ranks and quickly restrained more than a dozen people who shouted the provocative and loudest words amidst the crowd. But of course, because of the chaos, there were dozens of people who were injured by the decisive action Julian ordered.
Emery was a little worried with Julian’s way of handling things, but decided to keep it to himself.
Within minutes, after the provocateurs were caught, the chaos quickly subsided. But even so, the expression that the villagers showed became worse.
Minister Otto who was anxious quickly said, “Envoy, I don’t think this situation will last for long. Should we leave now?”
Julian, however, still had a calm expression on his face. “Don’t worry, minister. They should be arriving by now.”
“They?” asked the Minister of Science, clearly confused as to who ‘they’ referring to.
Just moments after Julian said those words, Emery felt people approaching the settlement in droves. With a simple scan, he could sense that these newcomers numbered at least in the hundreds.
It was the reinforcement that Julian had requested, more than 300 soldiers were sent from the first Nexus colony’s by General Kobe.
“Yes, as soon as the location of the rebels was confirmed, I sent a message to the General, informing him of the situation and also asking him to send reinforcement.”
Emery applauded Julian when he heard that, complimenting the Roman for being meticulous in his strategy.
The commotion caused by the reinforcement quickly caught the attention of the villagers.
With the arrival of dozens of vehicles and hundreds of soldiers, the situation in the settlement was back under control with the prisoners started being transported out leaving them unable to do anything but scream out their anger.
“Please just let them go!!”
“Release them!”
Emery could clearly see the helplessness of the villagers as the soldiers filled the street and dragged the hundreds of rebels into the prepared vehicles. These captured rebels must have been their sons or brothers to elicit such reactions from the villagers, and the realization brought some discomfort to Emery’s heart.
Knowing what Emery was thinking from his facial expression, Julian grabbed his friend’s shoulder and said, “Don’t think too much about it.. That’s not why we are here. We can’t be involved in their politics.”
Emery didn’t answer right away. It was only a moment later that he sighed and nodded his head, to which Julian said, “Cheer up. At least our mission is complete.”
“Haha, looks like Klea and Chumo went looking for information for nothing,” Thrax said.
Before long, all the rebels were chained and dragged by the soldiers in a line. Meanwhile, the rebel leader Stildar Quartermain was brought into the Interceptor ship for a more secure transport.
“You receive a VIP treatment, man! Rejoice!” Thrax said as he pushed the magus into the ship.
Emery, Julian, Thrax, Otto, the old marshal Shane, and the captured Stildar; all six plus the five soldiers guarding the minister boarded the ship and headed straight for the first colony where General Kobe was.
Along the way, Emery sat in front of the captive magus, and the rebel leader spoke to him.
“You made a huge mistake! Those people and thousands of others are relying on us! By capturing us, you render them defenseless!”
Hearing such words, the old marshal said, “This is your fault, brother… You have crossed the line and your actions involve them all.”
The rebel leader unexpectedly chuckled at those words saying, “Hahaha, we have simply no choice.” Turning his head and staring at the minister, Stildar said, “Tell me, Otto, how is the water treatment plant doing? ..Or what about the irrigation project?”
It seemed that the question asked made the minister a little anxious as he answered. “They are a bit behind i know, but again that’s totally normal since the solar panel project is the priority right now.”
The man’s chuckle grew even louder, turning into laughter as he said, “A bit behind? Hahaha… they have completely stopped for three years!… what is more important than life!?” The rebel leader glared at the minister, anger evident in his eyes. “Those people are starving and dying, but no! The faction did nothing!”
“Yes, Stildar! With the Replicators, we don’t need any more of those facilities because everything can be produced with solar energy!”
The rebuttal Otto offered only served to further magnify the rebel leader’s laughter.
“Hahaha, then my honorable minister, let me ask you what the faction has produced for the natives in the last three years?” Stildar spit to the floor and said “Don’t you think I am a fool, the principal never really serious about colonizing this planet!”
Emery just sat in silence as the two sides argued with each other. After all, as Julian had said, they were not and should not be involved in their politics; and that’s exactly what he’s going to do.
The ship quickly arrived at its destination and landed on the airstrip in the first colony. When the spaceship hatch opened once again, the group was welcomed personally by General Kobe who had a respectful expression on his face.
“Congratulations on successfully apprehending the rebel in such a short time and I sincerely apologize for my rude behavior yesterday.” The man said while bowing. “Please follow me, we need to celebrate your success.”
While the captured rebel leader was taken into the strongest cells, a festive feast was held in the colony by the general. Otto, as Minister of Science of the Nexus faction, congratulated the three on the mission’s success and invited them to return to the space station to meet with the Principal.
“Not yet, we are still waiting for our friends.”
The answer apparently doesn’t sit well with the minister
“Envoy, i don’t think there is anything else to worry about”
“Let’s hope not”
Just as Emery was worried about the two, a message came from Klea.
[You should come here and check]