The Story Of One World I, Chapter X “The Beginning,” Part II — Ombro, Captain Temanov [Major Spoilers]
Important Notice: This section contains significant spoilers from the final chapters of “The Story Of One World.” If you haven’t read the previous chapters yet, it’s highly recommended that you do so to fully enjoy the unfolding events. You can find a guide to the chapters here.
Ombro
The rather dim-witted officer had yet to realize that he was no longer dealing with the meek Kevar but a completely transformed individual. Well, Ombro hadn’t doubted his competence, although she was somewhat disappointed. Initially, she had hoped she had finally found a worthy opponent against whom she could at least half employ her refined intellect. But it seemed she was not destined to meet someone who could provide her with worthy competition. Well, to Abyss with them.
Meanwhile, the Abyss was literally around them. The dreary flight without cryo-freeze and in tomb-like silence was nearing its end; the navigation instruments signaled their approach to the Great Asteroid Belt, and from there, Fraktura was not far.
Indeed, it wasn’t long before the ship passed through the crystal’s shell and soon reached the desired star system: the tiny bluish-green orb of Fraktura appeared in the front viewport.
As they passed through the upper layers of the atmosphere, and the coniferous forests of the temperate belt appeared below, Judjur asked for control, descended to a hundred meters, and confidently steered the abyssal craft towards a mountain range rising in the distance.
“Captain, where are we headed?”
“You’ll see, Kev.”
The forest that stretched for miles around abruptly ended, and Ombro’s view was met with a vast plain stretching to the mountains in the distance. And all this open space was occupied by an army. Huge transport abyssal crafts were unloading ground equipment, soldiers in green space suits were setting up tent camps and constructing barracks, and in the center, a gigantic command station was set up — Ombro had seen such a setup before, during the war.
“What is this for?” she asked as calmly as possible.
“Oh, that’s the ‘Solvo’ special operations unit. They deal with internal state problems beyond the police and even the army.”
“And what are they doing here?”
“Cleaning up after Squad 379.”
“What do you mean?”
“Literally. Now I think I finally understand why General Savone rushed out of the rehab center, and I’m continually amazed by the whole situation. Well, since you insisted on flying to Fraktura, it’s even more interesting, right, friend?”
Ombro simply nodded. As wild as it seemed, she had lost control of the situation and was no longer keeping up with events — apparently, impersonating Kevar had its negative effects. She took a few deep breaths, calmed down, and thought: well, it’s time to let the situation unfold and adapt to it.
Judjur landed the “Echo” on an improvised landing pad between two cruisers and gestured for Ombro to follow him. Nonchalantly shrugging, Kashita walked through the hold, opened the hatch, and stepped outside into the rays of the smoke-tinged autumn sun. The captain followed behind.
They were met by an entire delegation: five brave space infantrymen in modified suits and six ordinary ground soldiers. They silently parted, allowing the newcomers to proceed, and followed silently behind.
They walked a long distance to the command center, towering over the camp and having to navigate around barracks, tents, and spaceships. The sound of an incoming call rang out from Ombro’s helmet speakers.
“Kevar Argomantis listening.”
“This is the Counselor. We, especially you, have a problem: the police have uncovered your identity. I have a report to the king and the cabinet of ministers on my desk, and it’s your luck that all such documents go through me.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“Stop pretending, Kashita: this is no time for games. We’re on the same side and must act together and promptly. I’m not sure exactly who else is aware of the situation, but the paper came directly from police captain Judjur Temanov, bypassing all higher management.”
“I’m currently on Fraktura, and there’s a whole army group here, ‘Solvo.’ Someone from their department is also involved,” Ombro realized that she might soon have one less ally — now that the Counselor knew her secret, he posed a serious threat. She would have to discuss his elimination with Inisio. But that was for later; now, she had to extricate herself from the current predicament.
“If so, the matter is complicated. This means that Temanov has reported the situation to General Kai and has the right to act swiftly without direct command approval. I’ll try to sort out the documents, but we need to think about what to replace them with: the documents are registered as outgoing in their department and can’t just disappear.”
“I know what to do. You’ll have to do two things: first, slightly alter the documents — swap my name and the reporter’s. Second, authorize a search of the ventilation shafts of the Supreme Council Palace. There should be a pistol there — replace the number of Captain Temanov’s personal weapon in the police database with the number from this gun. And I’ll handle the planet issue myself. I hope your brother has prepared everything well. Over.”
General Kai awaited them in the command center’s main room, surrounded by officers. They clustered near the interactive screen, displaying the real-time positions of combat units, and were deep in discussion. When they noticed the newcomers, all conversations instantly ceased, and several pairs of eyes, green from their visors, stared at them.
Ombro instantly assessed the situation and struck preemptively, noting Judjur’s barely perceptible movement forward, preparing to report to the high-ranking officials. Taking the two steps forward prescribed by military regulations, she placed a fist to her chest and loudly reported: “Lieutenant Kevar Argomantis, reporting. Delivered a dangerous criminal known as the Bloodthirsty Zealot, or Ombro Kashita, for transfer to military tribunal jurisdiction. A detailed report has been sent to General Kafrash’s headquarters, the Cabinet of Ministers, and His Majesty, the Great Prophet Cruel Ungurabut.”
“What?!” Temanov choked in outrage. Ombro savored the notes of desperation and offense in the police officer’s voice and smirked slightly.
“Lieutenant Argomantis, I had different information about the situation. Explain yourself,” General Kai tilted his head in surprise.
“Sir!” Ombro replied with genuine pleasure, playing the role of an honest and loyal soldier. Moreover, she needed to quickly present her version of events while Temanov was still catching his breath, trying to recover, “as you may know, I was involved in investigating the murders committed by the Bloodthirsty Zealot, along with the police. It became clear to me that the killer was receiving information about the investigation, and I suspected a connection with the police. Further facts confirmed my worst fears: Police Captain Detective Judjur Temanov is the killer. Multiple pieces of evidence confirm this: for example, at the moment of the attack at the Police Department, the captain not only happened to be at the scene but was the only one among all to survive. Also, as I found out, he arrived first at all the murder scenes except one, as confirmed by inspection protocols. All this seemed suspicious to me, but I had no proof. Until today. Today, during a search at the site of the first crime, a modified police pistol with Captain Judjur Temanov’s personal number was found in a ventilation shaft.”
“Are you spouting such nonsense, you scoundrel!” the captain yelled and tried to hit Ombro. However, two infantrymen immediately reacted and twisted his arms behind his back, managing to hit him hard in the stomach, so the police officer doubled over.
“Captain Temanov, if you violate subordination again and attempt to attack anyone, you will be immediately taken to the brig,” General Kai said sternly and stared again at Ombro, “Lieutenant, according to the information I received from Captain Temanov before your flight to Fraktura, the case is exactly the opposite: you are the Bloodthirsty Zealot, and the captain has irrefutable evidence of your guilt.”
“General, during most of the murders, I was detained at the police station. By the way, this arrest, contrary to all laws of the Kingdom, was sanctioned by Captain Temanov himself. He tried to remove me, the only person who had figured out his game, but he failed. A few more facts: in his youth, Captain Temanov was involved with a sectarian cult, which is noted in his personal file — you can check this, as well as all I have previously stated. Lastly, today, before the flight, the captain withdrew all his savings from his account. I find this very strange: I suspect money was used to purchase weaponry. Moreover, he was absent for a significantly long time before meeting me in my family hangar. He could have spent this time on anything. I wouldn’t be surprised, for example, if a terrorist attack occurred in the capital soon.”
General Kai nodded thoughtfully and bowed his head. Checking the databases. The main thing was that the Counselor had time to do everything he needed to — otherwise, Ombro would have to switch to Plan B, an incredibly ugly and dirty plan that would ruin the entire game. Moreover, the plan was risky, and unnecessary risk was now unacceptable for Ombro.
The younger Savone once again proved his professional worth: five minutes later, General Kai raised his head and gave a short order. Four infantrymen threw an energy net over the police officer, the same one that had recently paralyzed Kevar, and dragged him to the brig. They didn’t give him a chance to speak, fortunately for Ombro. If the detective had started presenting his arguments, supported by real, not fabricated, facts, Kashita would have been instantly exposed. But the stupidity of those serving in power played into his hand once again.
As Temanov was removed from the hall, Ombro watched him. She felt no emotions. It was simply natural selection: the one who can adapt best survives. Nothing more and nothing personal. This is precisely why Kevar was locked deep in consciousness, and Ombro was changing the world and achieving results.
Now that the risk of exposure was behind, it was time to quickly deal with the second problem — the presence of royal troops on Fraktura. Everything seemed simple here, but the matter required certain organizational efforts from Ombro.
She quickly contacted the only person who could help her solve this problem: “General Savone, this is Ombro Kashita.”
“Kashita, now is not a good time to talk…”
“We, primarily you, have a serious problem,” Ombro interrupted him, “there’s an army group ‘Solvo’ currently on Fraktura. And if we don’t solve this problem right now, it will grow into uncontrollable consequences.”
“Where did you get this information?”
“From the fact that I am currently on the planet. And by the way, I’ve told you before that building a foothold in this place is foolish. Due to your careless actions and stubbornness, our entire cause is at risk. But, since it has turned out this way, it’s time to test the fruits of your efforts in action.”
“Yes, general, you are right. I will immediately order an attack.”
“Please do.”
With that, the conversation ended. Unlike the naive Kevar, Ombro never felt warm feelings for Savone. This man was a big mystery to her and did not inspire her trust. However, it must be acknowledged that he performed his job well.
Now, Ombro just had to wait and bide her time, trying to dodge questions about the last mission of Squad 379.
Captain Temanov
The last hour’s events blurred together in his mind, forming disjointed images from a nightmarish dream. Envisioning proudly and nobly accomplishing two goals with one stroke — first, dramatically handing over the murderer and traitor to General Kai, and then using the same ruse to reveal the location of the monastery, where, no doubt, all remaining questions would be answered if any persisted after the criminal’s interrogation.
What he hadn’t anticipated was the actual unfolding of events. He couldn’t fathom how it had come to pass that General Kai believed Argomantis. How had the traitor accessed the databases?
Lying in the narrow metal coffin of the brig, unable to move, Judjur realized just how helpless he was. Even if the volatile General Kai didn’t arrange for a summary execution right there on Fraktura, and he was transported back to the capital, his chances of escape were slim. In the current scenario, it seemed far more likely that the deceitful aristocrats in power would believe the son of the renowned Ror Argomantis over a simple policeman. It didn’t matter that the scoundrel Kevar (or Ombro, or whatever he called himself) had compromised himself repeatedly. Judjur saw no way out. Having shown undue pride and having relaxed, wishing for a dramatic conclusion to the investigation, he had unwittingly exposed himself to an enemy far more cunning and deceitful than he had ever anticipated.
Soon, self-pity gave way to pity for his mother and sister. How would they manage without him, without his support and aid? The money he had left would last for a while, but was it enough? What if his family faced persecution after the case was disclosed and Temanov was declared guilty of a crime he didn’t commit?
At this thought, Judjur resolved to do everything possible to escape and seize any chance. He must fight to the end, especially when the situation seems utterly hopeless.
Continued here:
The previous part is here:
