Chapter 148 - Jack Godspeed

"Walter had once seen his image before and was sure that he is still alive. He was the second son of the leader and was considered the next one to lead them. The reason that he asked us to not approach was not because he wanted to prevent anything bad, but to keep this information a secret," said Daniel. "The godspeeds are alive, have about 10000 members under Jack Godspeeds command."

"So, we need to contact them," said Vargrave. "If the situation is as you say, then it is best that we contact them as soon as possible. Did Walter already make contact? Do we need to prepare to receive them?"

"Wait a second, if the godspeed are our allies, don't the knights know all this?" asked Arthur. "Why did they do something so crazy as to cripple the forces guarding our territory?"

"We don't know either. It was something that always confused all of us. It doesn't make sense. It was the same as cutting the branch they were sitting on," said Daniel. "That is the reason, we are treating the knights with extreme prejudice and want to capture them to find out more."

"So, what are we to do now?" asked Arthur.

"First, we don't know if the remaining members of the Godspeed dynasty are responsible for the issue or not. We don't even know if they are with us or against us. But we are still hopeful that they are against the knights of the old republic. The reason for it is simple," said Daniel pulling out a locket in the shape of an eye.

"This is the locket of John Blyth. It was given to him by his mother when Walter rescued them," said Winston realizing the locket immediately.

"Yes, it is this locket that might help us. This locket is called the eye of the Watcher. It is usually always in the hands of the leader of the Godspeed dynasty. I am quite certain that John was Jack's son due to this. It was one of the main reasons that we expected that the Godspeed were all dead. Else, it wouldn't have been given to a escaping pregnant lady who would give it to her child," said Daniel.

"You knew the details of John's parents all this time?" asked Winston.

"I did. But I expected both of them to be dead. Now, this is the best way for him to trust in us. So, the priority is to keep Balthazar, Bolena, Robert and Jordan while we make sure that none are aware of this. I don't even trust most among us. We couldn't move Balthazar, Bolena or Robert because moving them would bring suspicions to others. Jordan is already at a safe place," said Daniel.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Arthur.

"You will serve as the head of the table for now and maintain contact with the other organizations as required. Inform the chairman of the alliance that we are trying our best to get Walter back and for them to not allow any vehicles or devices near the places where they suspect him to be," said Daniel pointing to Arthur.

"You need to not let anyone know and act as everything is the way it was today morning," he continued, looking at Winston. "Arrange the fastest ship for me and Vargrave. Need a strong team to support us. Arthur you will arrange that. None from any other family are to know of this. That's all for now."

"What actually happened to my brother? What did he see?" asked Winston finally unable to hold himself back. He had been waiting for Daniel to inform him about Walter's condition for all this time and Daniel didn't say anything about it. He had been fearing the worst for the past hour and felt that Daniel had avoided the topic intentionally. So, he finally couldn't hold himself from requesting it.

"Ah! Fine. I will be quick. Walter had Rupert infiltrate the ship as a mechanic. He was observing the pirates and that is when Rupert managed to discover that Asuragana ShouryaPrasad was coming to meet the captain of the pirates and his other nephew. He wanted to strike a decisive blow and called for us to remain ready. He had Rupert plant explosives all over the ship for quite some time now and he intended to use them and then make them follow him. He intentionally left some explosives unarmed as he wanted them to think that he failed and was running away," said Daniel at a rapid pace like he was dictating. "He planned to lead them to a desolate area where he had asked the armed forces to be station ready for ambush."

"Sadly, even before Rupert triggered it, Jack Godspeed arrived with an armada hot on tail of Asuragana ShouryaPrasad's ship. They began to bombard the unhindered. So, Walter crashed his own stealth ship into the unhindered to get Rupert out," he continued. "Everyone was confused. Both sides thought that Rupert and Walter were enemies. The planted explosives were used. Shouryaprasad was killed by Jack. Few of them escaped. The front quarter of the ship is apparently a huge escape ship. Jack decided to follow behind them, but both Jack and Walter recognized each other before Walter managed to get away on another ship. His ship and equipment is lost. That was the reason that he had to establish a separate comm channel."

"Vargrave and I will lead the ship along with a team to reach Walter. I am planning to go in search of Jack myself. I don't know if Walter will come with me or not, but I hope he is able to. This was the main content of the report that Walter sent," said Daniel informing them everything he heard.

"Well, there is at least one good thing. If Jack recognized Walter and didn't take any action, isn't it tacitly informing that they were still allies. Else, it would have been had for Walter to escape, considering the fact that the opponent has an armada," said Arthur. Vargrave and Winston also nodded in agreement.

"If it was that simple, Walter would have joined them and talked it out with Jack there itself. He wouldn't have run," said Daniel shaking his head.

"Jack attacked Walter after recognizing him?" asked Winston. He felt that Walter would have been seriously injured under such circ.u.mstances.

"No. Jack didn't do anything of that sort, but we are not sure about his aims for now. Actually, Walter and Rupert got caught by Jack's men, but they didn't kill as Walter informed that they were responsible for the explosions and weren't with the Nirbaadh pirates. He gave the locations of the unarmed explosive, before they believed him. Then, Jack recognized his face in the video and ordered his men to let him and Rupert leave quickly, but there were quite some odd behavior from him which is very confusing," said Daniel.

"When the armada attacked ShouryaPrasad, it was with extreme prejudice. They apparently bombarded his ship to tiny pieces. Except for the escape shuttle containing about 10 members, everyone else would have been killed. That consisted of about a thousand members. Jack personally went after the escape shuttle moving towards the unhindered to attack and kill ShouryaPrasad. He was apparently in complete control and his men managed to capture him, but Jack beheaded the man as soon as he confirmed his identity," said Daniel.

"What that is ridiculous. We could have learned a lot from someone like him about his activities," said Arthur. Such a thing would definitely make anyone aware of the pursuers. It didn't follow common sense.

"I agree. After that Jack apparently took a lot of effort and even at the cost of one of his battalions having severe injuries and being incapacitated, he got hold of Ranapratap, the current captain of the Nirbaadh pirates. He was knocked out and taken prisoner. The only scenario that we can think of is that, he might be working for the knights. Then, he would be privy to all information known to ShouryaPrasad and would need RanaPratap to be alive instead," explained Daniel.

"That is indeed extremely suspicious, but in that case, he wouldn't have let Walter escape safely," said Vargrave.

"Indeed, it was like his entire behavior was inconsistent. The more surprising thing that Walter informed me is that even his lieutanents behaved like that was the expected and most efficient thing to do. So, we are expecting them to have some contact with the knights. Thus, it will be a very...." said Daniel. "Honestly, I don't know what to expect," he said shaking his head. He had been thinking of a lot of scenarios, but every one of them had a flaw or two or expected Jack or Walter to behave foolishly. So, he couldn't decide on anything.

"It is indeed very peculiar. I will keep on lookout for any other peculiar behavior. Will contact Quentin if he managed to hear something similar underworld," said Arthur. Quentin was his contact in the underworld. He was a broker who dealt in shady deals and murderous contracts. But he was mainly an information broker who had been of help to the table of Ouroboros in the past. He would hear most things that others wouldn't and kept meticulous records.

"Hmm, you do that. Just don't let the reason be leaked. He always had tied to gather information from us too," said Daniel.

"He wouldn't dare. He had been under the operating table once and I had someone plant something in his head. He knows not to leak anything pertaining to us," said Arthur. Arthur never trusted Quentin completely. Quentin was the kind who would always provide his services to the one who offered better compensation. So, he had long since put him under his control.

"Also, will give you the location for the wreckage of the unhindered. Have Harvey hold back the armed forces. Let Evelyn check it out first from a distance and let them confiscate it only after the Godspeed troops leave. Tell her that we already have a trail on the new troops and we don't want her to interfere. Tell her it is an order from above," said Daniel. "I better contact her uncle too just in case she tries to defy orders. She is an ambitious one and would most probably try to follow them," thought Daniel

"Ok. I will see to that," said Winston glad that his brother wasn't in any danger currently. With Jack Godspeed currently on the Nirbaadh pirates' tail, he doubted that they would try to retaliate. Daniel opened the door to the main conference hall and the four of them returned to it.

"Winston," called Daniel as they were about to leave. "Keep them safe. I already sent one of my peers for Bolena but hearing the stories about the events of the citadel, I doubt that the boy would be able to discover anyone trailing him. I went over the details and the evidence, but there are so many gaps in his story. He was definitely hiding the real reason he managed to find them out. So, it is best if he isn't followed by anyone that he doesn't know. He might consider them an enemy," suggested Daniel before they left to their work.

Arthur and Winston left together to inform of the situation to Lucius and tell him to maintain a closer distance to them than the usually allowed. They didn't want to take any chances. Winston also called Salazar to be on standby on a stealth shuttle at the planet.

"Do you think that he had really kept his capabilities and tricks secret from us?" Winston asked Arthur.

"Daniel is right. Most of the achievement was pushed by him on a dead lieutenant colonel and he even used the same excuse to avoid informing anyone of the traitors. It was an ask from him to trust us, but he still didn't manage to clear tell us how he knew their plans in such detail. The Nirbaadh pirates were anything but sloppy in their previous attacks. They would have a lot of contingencies and agents planted there. Even after the blast, Salazar found three trying to kill the kid. I can say that he needs to have a certain level of awareness of his surroundings, if he managed to do all that before the unexpected blast," explained Arthur.

"Don't plan on grooming him as your successor. He is meant for the table. It had been quite some time that we had one at a high position in the border forces. Under the present circ.u.mstances and after hearing Daniel's secrets, it is only a matter of time that he joins as a proper member," added Arthur patting his old friend on his back.

"Yes. I know. I have known it for quite some time, but I still tried to change him. Now, I am sure of it. That ship has sailed. With the Godspeeds back, I don't know how things would change," said Winston in a tired voice.