A New Frontier

Chapter Four

Chaos erupted. The soldiers responded immediately to the threat and with swift and merciless violence. Fingers reached for triggers and gunfire thundered and mixed with screams as the soldiers of The Rising Phoenix killed civilians.

"Stop!" Violet shouted as she dropped to the ground to avoid being shot. They were arresting her and now they were committing the same crime that she had. This was utter madness. Hands grabbed her started dragging her away from the slaughter. When they were far enough away to be safe Violet was lifted to her feet. She was surrounded by men and women who looked like they were used to violence wearing clothes that would not stand out in any gathering of ordinary civilians. But they all had the symbol of the Empire tattooed on their hands.

Just like the man Violet had been following before the violence had started. She counted twenty one imperialists. Sixteen men and five women. One the men took out a key from one of his pockets and unlocked her handcuffs.

"What do you want from me?" Violet asked. "Why bother getting me away from... there? I killed one of you. If you're hoping for a ransom-"

"We're not." The man with the key said. "We know your people would rather let you die than negotiate with insurgents."

"Then why?" Violet asked while she inspected their guns. They all had standard military issue handguns strapped to their waists. She contemplated reaching for hers briefly before abandoning the idea. Violet could easily kill a few of them before they had a chance to shoot her but not all of them. And she wasn't feeling suicidal.

"To give you a chance." The man said. "A chance to see the truth and realise that you're on the wrong side. But we can't stay here. We need to keep moving."

The imperialists took her to a house far away from the m******e that they had left behind. It didn't matter where they took her. They would soon learn. Kidnapping a soldier of The Rising Phoenix was never smart. Many people still hadn't figured that out. After they had gotten inside the man who had unlocked her handcuffs turned to her.

"What do you think about the actions that you just watched your fellow soldiers take?" He asked.

Violet didn't answer. Then the door burst open and several soldiers charged in. It didn't take them long to eliminate the imperialists. A few shots and the walls and floor around her were stained with blood.

"Are you ok miss?" One of the soldiers asked.

"I'm fine." Violet said.

"We've been instructed to take you to Commander Venator." The soldier said.

"Let's get going then." Violet said.

She stood before the patrician features her commander and met his steady gaze that betrayed nothing about what he was thinking. It was quite unnerving.

"What do you mean I'm free to go?" Violet asked.

She must have misheard him. What she thought that she had heard didn't make any sense.

"I mean you're free to go." Venator said. "You're not under arrest. I have reviewed the evidence and decided that you took appropriate actions under the circumstances. You will not be punished for actions that you took."

"But I killed a civilian." Violet said. "I unlawfully murdered a civilian. That is a crime."

"Like I said." Venator said. "I have decided that the actions that you took were entirely legal. I appreciate the information that you've brought me and I now have important matters to deal with."

Violet recognised the obvious dismissal and the fact that there was no point in continuing this conversation. The Commander had said all that he was going to and he wasn't going to undo the decision that he had made. And there was no authority that she could appeal to. Violet had contemplated a scenario like this existing and didn't know what to do. She walked out of the meeting feeling dazed. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to return to her normal life like nothing had happened?

Wandering around the city Violet noticed expressions of fear and unease on the faces of many people who walked past her. She could feel the tension in the air. The city had never been like this before. She couldn't understand the Commander's reasoning. Her walking free among the people would not help the situation. Some looked at her with undisguised hostility. Once word of the Commander's decision spread throughout the city... Who knew what might happen. Violet went home.

Was she wrong to question the Commander's decision? Surely he had to have good reasons for doing what he had done. Not accepting his decision would be to question his right to command. And that would be sedition...

Violet had been trained from a young age to respect the chain of command and to obey without questions. Not agreeing with the Commander's decision felt unnatural. It was like walking on your hands or trying to walk in two different directions at the same time. What was she supposed to do?

A few days passed by without anything noteworthy happening. Well without anything important happening that she had heard about. Violet had been avoiding the news. She didn't want to know what they were saying about her. She also hadn't gone outside. Someone knocked on her door. Violet went to open the door and was greeted by a soldier in uniform.

"Hope you don't mind the intrusion." The young soldier said. He had bright blue eyes that looked at her with a significant amount of anxiety and strawberry blonde hair.

"Can I come in?" He asked.

Violet hesitated for a moment before replying. " Sure." She said and let him in.

"I'm Mason Bennett miss. Command doesn't know I'm here."

Violet gave him a look. There was no reason for saying that that wasn't questionable. If he wanted her to know that Venator didn't know that he was here then he was clearly operating outside of the chain of command.

"I know." Mason said. "I thought you would understand..."

"Understand what?" Violet asked.

Mason fidgeted and looked around him, avoiding eye contact.

"Why did you come here?" Violet asked.

"Well..." Mason said.

"Just say it." Violet said and sighed.

"I don't agree with the Commander's recent decisions." Mason said. "I that you might agree. I had to talk to someone and you were my only option. Everyone else I know would report me for sedition. I was there when you..."

He didn't need to finish that sentence for Violet to know what he was talking about.

"What happened." Mason said. "Shouldn't have happened."