Capazo's hologram sat with hands clasped in front, his back slightly bent. As he looked at Hianyan, who stood tall across from him, it was surprising that despite his meticulously combed hair and perfect posture, just a few hours of war had worn him down so much. It was as if time had accelerated with the war, stealing years from their bodies.
"War…" Capazo said, his voice weary but sharp. "…has taken an inconceivable turn. I knew it would be grueling, but I didn't expect everyone to commit themselves so blindly to the fray. Even Martin is fighting as if this were his final battle."
Hianyan gathered his breath. In a single day, he felt as if whatever organic parts remained in his body had rotted from stress. War had consumed not only lives but an unimaginable amount of ammunition. Following this clash, which had lasted little more than half a day, he couldn't even guess if a single machine capable of working would be left in the factory.
"The Calosians," Capazo said in a disdainful tone, "are useless. They serve no purpose other than increasing the numbers. They wear every death like a medal. If they win the war, they'll say, 'We made great sacrifices.' Yet, none of the sacrifices they make change the outcome."
Hianyan raised his head. "And what about your little army?" he asked. "The armored units that were supposed to infiltrate the clouds… What is their status?"
"They should have emerged from the cloud by now." Capazo paused for a moment, locking eyes with Hianyan. "It is entirely possible that they have failed."
"Then what shall we do?"
"We will sustain the war…" Capazo said, weighing his words, "…for as long as we can. And we will wait for your friend named Edmond to do his job. He is the one who will end this war."
"Veltin…" Hianyan murmured.
"Veltin is on the verge of surrendering to Tallus. Ormene has refused to join the war. Our strength is melting away rapidly." Capazo's voice grew stern. "We must pull the SWR (Supreme World Republic) to our side."
At that exact moment, Capazo's communication device vibrated with a violent alert. A brief look of shock appeared on the hologram's face. Simultaneously, a message opened in Hianyan's field of vision.
The SWR court had decided to accelerate the decision-making process. According to a journalist, the decision likely to emerge from the assembly was that the former manager Labiba was in the right. The SWR was considering supporting Labiba. Ashengine, meanwhile, announced that it would respect the SWR's decision.
"What does this mean?" Hianyan asked, his voice sharpening involuntarily. "Why would the SWR take such a path?"
"It means…" Capazo said slowly. "…Labiba found evidence that will speed up the court."
"What kind of evidence?"
"The attack on the transport vehicle. The loss of the cargo." Capazo stood up abruptly. "He can present this as direct proof."
"So you're saying…"
"I'm saying…" Capazo interrupted. "Labiba's damned transport vehicle was stopped. But looking at the deathly silence from my teams, it wasn't my men who stopped that vehicle."
"In that case," Hianyan said, unable to hide the unease in his voice, "we don't know what was being carried in that vehicle."
"We definitely do not know…"
Capazo sat back down slowly, as if the weight of the war had settled on his shoulders once more. In his eyes, there was no longer just fatigue, but the cold shadow of an approaching defeat.
"Could he have orchestrated this attack himself?" Hianyan asked in a cautious but suspicious voice. "Just to speed up the court proceedings?"
"I doubt it…" Capazo's answer was not delayed, but his voice was uncertain. He stared ahead with misty eyes; the sorrow of war did not leave his face for a second. "Labiba is not someone with the courage to present such a document as evidence to the court. He cannot walk through that door without staining his hands with blood."
There was a short pause.
"Now," he added, "only God knows what is going on behind the clouds."
God… Hianyan weighed the word in his mind, a word he hadn't heard in a long time. It always seemed strange to him that the Korans kept their faith in God alive, as if in defiance of the dead galaxy. In a universe so decayed, there were still eyes looking upward…
Capazo suddenly lunged to his feet.
"Damn it!" he shouted. He could no longer hold back his rage. He kicked one of the chairs at his feet; since the hologram did not project that chair, it looked as if Capazo was attacking the void.
"Curse it! Nothing is going as I planned!"
He turned around and took a few steps. He took drag after drag from the cigarette he pulled from his pocket. The smoke didn't accumulate in the room; it seemed to be gathering in his mind.
"Please, calm down, Capazo," Hianyan said, softening his voice intentionally. "Wasn't our main plan to buy time anyway? We thought that was the only way we could win the war. Our Plan A was Edmond. Why are you pushing yourself so hard for the other possibilities?"
Capazo stopped.
"Edmond was never my Plan A," he said with cold clarity. "I do not trust a stranger… especially a stranger who dragged an entire planet into war."
"But now," Hianyan replied, not taking his eyes off Capazo, "you are forced to, just as I am."
This was Hianyan's distinction. Unlike the other managers, he had a persuasive ability that could draw a snake out of its hole. It was this trait that allowed him to be the manager of the TESO2 factory in a structure where his power was limited and crushed under the hegemony of his brother and Labiba.
And now… Hianyan was being Hianyan.
"Perhaps…" he said in a quiet but sharp tone. "we need to disrupt the court processes."
Capazo rubbed his eye, which was watering from the smoke. "I am well aware that this needs to be done," he said. "But such power…"
"I believe you could have such power," Hianyan interrupted.
"I tried."
"You tried as Capazo, the manager of TESO3," Hianyan said. "Not as Capazo the Koran."
Capazo immediately understood the meaning behind those words. An involuntary smile appeared at the corners of his lips. He scrutinized the man across from him.
"You people from outside Kora are all the same," he said mockingly. "You think every Koran is a relative of Judge Elara Justitia. You think all of us have influential judges behind us. That's why you fear us anyway."
"And we also think a Weisshafen is arrogant and spoiled," Hianyan said with a calm but stinging smile. "And that often turns out to be true."
"If I delay the court because I have evidence and your friend Edmond fails; as a Koran, I cannot live with that shame. I'd rather look for another job than take such a risk."
"And you'd leave all your Jijigelian men to their deaths, is that it? If Labiba wins the war, he will wipe out all your hard work in one stroke!"
"Everyone gives effort when they work," Capazo said. "Being an employee means knowing that your efforts might one day go to waste. That doesn't bother me; I've accepted it."
"But let me tell you something you cannot accept," Hianyan said. "You cannot accept Labiba taking you down with such useless and cowardly tactics. You cannot accept that spoiled, crooked mutant looking down on you as if to humiliate you. You are a Koran! You are a man of honor!"
"I am also honorable enough not to risk my name in front of my friends!"
"No! There is no risk!" Hianyan said.
"So you trust Edmond that much!"
"Yes! I have no other choice! When I declared this war, I truly believed that war would change something. That's why I put everything on the line! Since I am responsible for Nagara's death, if I am proven wrong in the war, I don't even have a life outside! If I have risked everything and a brave Koran man like you hasn't, then there is a problem here!"
"Hianyan, there is only one thing I agree with you on. As a Koran, I cannot stomach losing to Labiba." Capazo spoke his final word with a slight smile. "Fine… I will call Eldar Justitia."
Hianyan's hair stood on end the moment he heard that name. Did he really know Eldar Justitia, the director of the Interstellar Legal Audit Agency? Was this woman really Capazo's reference? Was that why he had been so cautious about contacting her? Hianyan's mind began to race. Eldar Justitia stepping in meant this war was no longer just a conflict between two factories. The game board was expanding; the rules were being rewritten. And if Edmond failed, they wouldn't just be defeated; all their actions, all their intentions, would be scrutinized under the ice-cold light of an international court.
"If you want…" Hianyan started, his voice tense, trying to line up the objections in his mind. But Capazo's hologram was already fading, dissolving, leaving only silence and the weight of the interrupted conversation in the room. Without being able to voice a single word of opposition, Hianyan was left alone with a blank screen.
Capazo's message to Hianyan was clear: "You got what you wanted. You can't object anymore…"
If they failed, they could face much more than a simple firing and trial process, and in such a situation, Hianyan couldn't even imagine what they would live through.
The fate of the war rested in the hands of Edmond Kingsley.
"Damn it… We are getting into deeper and deeper trouble."