Ravens of Eternity

Chapter 271

271 False Angels

One Month Later

The Grand Hall’s main floor was filled to the brim with Peacekeepers. Over two thousand of them were lined up in orderly rows and watched as the promotion ceremony unfolded in front of them.

Each of the Peacekeepers wore their spotless white dress uniforms, which also displayed their achievements through numerous colorful ribbons and stripes. Most only had a few, and those who had truly distinguished themselves and risen above the crowd were instead up on the stage in front of them.

At the very center of the stage stood a lectern, behind which the Peacekeeper’s First Chief gave a rousing speech to everyone. Standing right behind him were his most trusted officers, and right behind them were dozens of their proteges.

It was that younger generation that was currently being promoted – some to lieutenants, some to commanders, and a few to captains. Among them stood Seraph, who was grinning with absolute pride.

He looked out to all of the Peacekeepers in front of him, and beamed at them.

The First Chief was deep in his speech, and spoke of courage and dedication and commitment to upholding Federal law. His voice was firm yet fatherly, authoritative yet instructive, demanding yet patient.

The entire crowd in front of him stood stoically and listened to him with rapt attention. The majority of them were still relatively young – fresh graduates of the Law Academy, School of Enforcement. As a result, they were completely impressionable, and soaked up the First Chief’s words like sponges.

He did his absolute best to pass on his veracity and loyalty to the word of law, and hoped to instill it deep in their bones. While some certainly took his words to heart and held to that strict belief in the law, some others didn’t. Not by a long shot.

.....

Those few found the words ridiculous and meaningless. To them, laws existed to make people less fearful. And they understood that invisible fences didn’t keep the real wolves away. But they were forced to play along anyway.

Mostly because they understood that the badge was more than a shield. It was a disguise – one that made wolves seem like sheepdogs.

As Seraph tuned out the First Chief, his mind wandered towards his future. He imagined finally getting his hands on Freya, and imagined beating her to death in a dark room somewhere. All with a Peacekeeper badge on his chest. It came with a joyful smile. Hopeful, even.

Then as he looked out to the younger Peacekeepers, he wondered how long it would take for him to eventually take control of all of them. He was certain it would be long before his 20 year ‘sentence’ was over.

The captain’s pips on his collar gleamed as the stage lights reflected off them. They were proof that his climb would be fast and easy and utterly inevitable. Especially with the help of his shadowy Benefactor.

Seraph’s erection grew in his pants merely daydreaming about it all.

“This year, the Peacekeepers have been blessed with truly dedicated talent,” the First Chief rambled. “One in particular has risen above all others. He has brought justice to some of Helios’ most dangerous suspects, and ensured the sanctity of Federal law through virtuous action.”

The First Chief stepped aside slightly, then gestured behind him.

“Please,” he said, “come say a word to your compatriots.”

Seraph puffed up his chest slightly, then walked forward with grace. He bowed lightly to the officers as he passed, then bowed slightly deeper for the First Chief. Then he took to the lectern and nodded in reverence to the Peacekeepers in front of him.

“I’m honored,” Seraph began. He spoke calmly and softly, but he was bursting with excitement underneath. His smile changed right after, however, and turned to a grave frown.

“I know many of you don’t want to hear this,” he said, “but I believe you must hear it. The Federation is incredibly sick.”

A few gasps erupted around the Peacekeepers in surprise. Even a few of the officers behind him were stymied by his words. They felt the declaration too strong, too heavy-handed. But the First Chief was all smiles regardless.

He nodded at Seraph, and encouraged him to continue.

“Sure, the Core Systems are strong,” Seraph continued. “And the Inner Sector’s also relatively peaceful. But everywhere else is weak. Lawlessness plagues the Federation in the Outer Systems and the Colonial Territories. There, criminals and pirates and murderers roam free and destroy all that our citizens build.”

He scanned the Peacekeepers in front of him as he spoke, and made sure to make stern eye contact with as many of them as he could.

“Just last year, over three thousand lawbreakers fled from our grasp. They ran from the core and hid out in the wastes, where they continue to plague good people. Since we don’t patrol there, they’re free to **** and kill and steal wantonly. That’s on us for losing them. And it’s on us to bring them back in.

“Which is why I’m announcing that as my first action as Peacekeeper Captain, I’ll be starting a special unit. We’ll be the elite, handpicked members who will bring these deviants and degenerates to justice. We’ll go to all ends of the galaxy, and use every means necessary to accomplish this.”

He lifted himself up slightly, squared his shoulders, then scanned the Peacekeepers in front of him one last time.

“Who’s with me?” he asked, to rousing cheers. It seemed many were with him.

The First Chief put a hand on his shoulder proudly, and squeezed it.

“You’ve done well,” he said. “Things are looking brighter for the Peacekeepers. Soon, we’ll all have greater influence, and help usher in a new wave of peace across the Federation. You should be proud of your role in it.”

Seraph merely bowed humbly.

“I’m simply following in the footsteps of giants,” he said.

Behind the two of them, the officers who were initially dubious had changed their minds. Especially since they saw the First Chief encouraging Seraph. Any extension of their influence only meant a strengthening of the law – how could that not be a good thing?

Not only did that mean a larger beat to patrol, but a larger budget from the Federation itself. After all, maintaining the law in multiple galactic zones meant a need for larger, more powerful fleets, better trained personnel, and a slew of militarized equipment.

Keeping the peace was always an expensive and costly endeavor. Those expenditures were going to be necessary if they were going to deal with more lethally armed criminals, after all.

~

It only took a couple of weeks before Seraph’s special unit got up and running. He had been awarded his own light destroyer, which was equipped to run extended missions out in what they considered “the wastes”.

He walked down the main passageway, past the holding pens and towards the ship’s barracks. There, two dozen of his hand-picked Peacekeepers were busy moving into the ship.

Some were unpacking their items and putting them into their storage closets, while others were tending to their beds and personal space. Others still were grouped around their bunks and socialized gaily.

All of them stood to attention the moment Seraph walked in.

But he waved them down almost immediately.

“Look, there’s no need for that here,” he said. “This is a special unit, not a standard unit, alright? Standard decorum doesn’t fly here.”

The Peacekeepers dropped their stances nervously, unsure of what to do. They looked to each other for guidance, but none had any to give.

“What regulations should we use?” asked someone. “I haven’t been taught special unit decorum, and I’m kind of at a loss...”

“You gotta understand something about special units,” Seraph replied. “We make our own regs, alright? But this unit’s about action, not regulations. Here, we’re gonna be too busy to deal with any of that. So you may as well drop ’em.”

“We Peacekeepers are held by our vows,” said another. “Are you saying that we should just ignore that?”

“Of course not. But certain limitations have been lifted. Limitations regarding apprehension, use of force, due process. If we adhere strictly to Helios protocol, we’ll get shot down and killed instantly. Out in the wastes, we gotta be smarter, more flexible. You get me?”

He looked around and saw a few smiles among the crowd. He knew those people were on board – they probably understood his intent from the first time they heard him. The rest of them were rather trepidatious. Federal Law was the rock they stood on, and being told they couldn’t use it left them shaken.

“In addition,” continued Seraph, “we need to blend in with everyone else out there, and that means we gotta ditch our Peacekeeper colors. They’re a dead giveaway. The only way we’re gonna be able to hunt the people we need to hunt is if we look like everyone else.”

This led to a lot of grumbling from the Peacekeepers. Half the reason they got in the service was for the uniform and the armor. It made them stand out from everyone else, and turned them into shining beacons of law.

Without those colors, they seemed far less powerful, far less imposing. Seraph saw their doubts, and quickly interjected before they could fester.

“I know this seems odd and outta place,” he said. “But it’s necessary, believe me. The only way to chase the lawless while in lawless lands, is to adopt their ways. Some of you already know what I’m talking about. For the others, you’ll come to understand that we need... certain freedoms to be granted before we can be effective.”

He sat down in front of the few who looked the most doubtful, and made sure to impress the importance of letting go of ‘regulations’.

“The law is important to all of us,” Seraph continued. “To me, most of all. But these criminals are hardened to the core. They’re not limited by laws or rules or honor. Not a single one would hesitate to kill any of us. And if we’re going to succeed over them, we can’t have laws and rules hamper us, either. Sticking to protocol is only going to get you dead, you hear me?”

The dubious Peacekeeper in front of him nodded his head in understanding. He didn’t like it, but did his best to understand.

“What does the First Chief say about the... lack of regulations in the special unit?” he asked.

“The First Chief insisted on it,” said Seraph. “He said it was tantamount to the success of our mission, to the preservation of our lives, and to the extension of law.”

The words sunk into the Peacekeepers around him. Silence filled the room as many of the Peacekeepers reflected on them. If the First Chief required regulations to be relaxed, then so be it. They did their best to wrap their heads around the apparent contradiction.

Of course, there were others who understood what was actually happening. That they had the run of the galaxy once again. Only this time, they had badges attached to their chests. To them, it meant they could do anything they wanted. Anything at all.

And no-one could stop them from doing it. No-one would even know.

“Once we’re re-equipped and ready to go,” said Seraph, “our first order of business is gonna be to reignite a hunt that went cold a while back. I was one of the people in charge of holding a criminal, but we lost her. Violently. It’s my intent to make up for that initial failure.

“We’re gonna go to the ends of the galaxy, and do whatever it takes to bring her and every single one of her co-conspirators to justice. Clear?”

“Yessir!”