[AUTHOR NOTE: Bonus chapter because someone just bribed me for it. I won't mention who they are for obvious reasons, but make sure to thank them for bribing me.]
Sandanar Galaxy, Terrana Five.
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The high-pitched screams of two individuals came from the large holographic screen in one of the rooms of the Terran Imperial Palace as Empress Victoria Terrana and her grandfather, Michael Ororis, watched the public flaying of former Crown Prince Steven Terran and his mother, Petunia Terrana.
Victoria had kept to her word and done as Adam had requested, but she had also done more by publicly broadcasting the flaying to the entire empire as well as the eventual execution of the pair live over the empire for all the citizens to watch, should they wish to.
"Even I have to admit that's kind of brutal," Victoria remarked before taking a sip of her drink.
Michael nodded in response before turning to Victoria, who sat opposite him and asked, "How goes the investigation into the list of traitors Tessa sent you?"
Victoria only responded after taking another sip of her drink and placing it down on the table between them, "It is almost complete. It took longer than it normally would since many of them hold high positions and we've had to do everything in secret so as not to alert them."
"Good, what about those on the Imperial Down and other ships?"
"Tessa's ship, along with the others where the commanding officer remains loyal to us, is easy to arrange; it's those ships where the commanding officer has betrayed us that's the issue."
"True, the captain holds the command codes after all," Michael said with a frown before asking, "So what do you plan to do?"
"Thankfully, that former husband of mine wasn't completely incompetent when it came to being emperor. He at least knew how to protect himself against coups."
"Shame the same can't be said about assassination attempts," Michael replied.
"That's your opinion, grandfather," Victoria replied while smirking.
"Honestly, the women in our family are so problematic," Michael said with a sigh.
"Blame our Succuba ancestor, not me."
"I do, but we're getting off topic. What do you plan to do about those ships whose captains are not loyal and also the Imperial Down? We can't have it entering Solarian space with traitors onboard."
"Ships with loyal captains and little to no traitors on board have been ordered to rendezvous with them using excuses like combat drills or joint missions.
As for the Imperial Down, Tessa and Andria both agree that we can't take the risk of the traitors on board being able to get a warning off before they are dealt with.
Because of this, all teams, both planet-side and on ships, will launch a coordinated strike at the same time."
"A bold yet risky plan. If the traitors figure out we're onto them, who knows what they could do? It's unlikely they don't have any contingency plans in place."
"I agree, however, this is our best chance to take them all out at once and maybe even get some prisoners to interrogate; we can't risk them going into hiding should they somehow figure out our plan."
"Ok, but what did you mean when you said that Daniel protected himself against coups?"
"After he won the power struggle for the throne against his brother, Daniel secretly ordered that all ship cores be installed with an override that he alone had access to. This override would shut down all systems on the ship with the exception of life support, leaving them to float in space," Victoria explained.
"If it's a secret, how do you know about it?" Michael asked.
"Our relationship wasn't always bad, you know that in the beginning, after we helped him win the throne, Daniel and my relationship was rather good and he confided many things to me as I helped him solidify his position as emperor. This was one of those things."
"Interesting," Michael replied thoughtfully before asking, "I'm assuming you know how to access this override?"
"Naturally," Victoria replied with a smirk before reaching into her cleavage from which she pulled out a datadrive.
"Seriously? There?" Michael asked in a bemused tone.
"It's the safest place to keep it, especially before we remove the traitors," Victoria replied.
"And what happens when one of those you entertain yourself with sees it? What do you tell them?"
"That it contains my secret stash of Narven pictures," Victoria replied while winking.
"Seriously? That dragon who was voted the most handsome man in the universe?"
"Who better to claim that I have special pictures off," Victoria replied smugly.
💫💫💫
As Adam and Stacey stepped into the room in the palace where the others were waiting for them, he suddenly heard a happy scream before a white-haired comet collided with his chest.
"ADAM!" Tephe said happily as she hugged him.
"Hey there, Tephe," Adam said with a smile as he began to gently stroke her hair.
"Adam, how are you feeling?" Lorelie asked with a smile as she stood up and walked over to him.
"I'm feeling fine," Adam replied.
"What about the Temporal Displacement Syndrome?" Rowena asked as she looked him up and down.
"According to Spector, my readings look good, but since we don't really know anything about this Temporal Displacement Syndrome, Spector doesn't know what to look for," Adam explained.
"Makes sense," Rowena responded.
"I hear you two managed to persuade Koki to take the job as long as the evidence leads to Leiko's imprisonment," Adam said to Rowena and Emma before adding, "Good job."
"No problem," Emma replied while smiling.
"It was easy," Rowena replied while flashing him a wink.
Suddenly, the door to the room that they had just closed burst open again as Revi rushed in while saying, "I heard Adam's here."
"Empress, please," Elemence said with a sigh as she followed her into the room.
Revi ignored Elemence and instead focused on Adam as she asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm good, how're you, Revi?" Adam asked in return.
"All the better for seeing you," Revi replied while giving him a happy smile before jabbing him in the chest while adding, "Though next time, don't make me wait so long, two thousand years is an awfully long time, you know."
"Yeah, but you know that wasn't exactly my fault," Adam replied.
"I guess that's true," Revi conceded just as Elemence, who stood behind Revi, coughed.
"Oh, sorry Elemence, here let me introduce you," Revi apologised before saying, "She wasn't present when you all arrived, but this is my personal assistant and one of my oldest friends, Elemence."
"A pleasure to meet you all," Elemence said politely as she looked at each in turn until she got to Adam, where her gaze seemed to linger longer than with the others as she studied him.
"Is there something on my face?" Adam asked as Elemence's gaze began to make him feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Oh, sorry, I'm just interested in the man who saved my entire race," Elemence replied, causing Adam's eyes to widen before he asked.
"You know?"
"Yup, about you and Tephe both. Revi just told me all about it," Elemence said with a smile before surprising everyone as she bowed slightly towards the two of them and said.
"Thank you so much for saving us during our darkest hour."
"Hehe, no problem," Tephe said happily as she released Adam before proudly thrusting out her chest.
"There really is no need to bow," Adam said while waving his hands before he continued. "If you want to thank someone, you should be thanking Tephe. I only originally helped because she asked me to."
"That might be the case, but the fact remains that you are the pilot of the black knight and you saved our race when you decimated the Herpolisk fleet. You are a hero to our entire race, especially since, according to what Revi just told me, our race would have become extinct if you hadn't acted."
"I told you he was too humble for his own good," Revi complained while rolling her eyes.
"I see what you meant," Elemence replied.
"It can be such a headache," Stacey said with a smirk.
"It's something we're trying to change," Lorelie added.
Adam sighed as all the women looked at him in amusement before he said, "Is it really that amusing to all gang up on me?"
"Uh-huh," Stacey replied.
"I bet you wouldn't mind us all ganging up on you in bed," Rowena said in a flirtatious tone.
"I'd be down for that," Aphrodite immediately replied.
"No surprise there," Lorelie remarked while rolling her eyes.
"I'd also be up for it," Tephe said hopefully while Elemence looked at Revi pointedly.
"How about we discuss the celebration now that Adam is finally awake to join us?" Revi suggested making Elemence sigh in exasperation.