Officer Jones looked over at Jace and Nina. "They were the first one interviewed by Gaius along with those two over there. They were allowed to leave shortly after once their stories were confirmed. Lord Hoods had a ship already prepared and ready at this landing pad."

    They looked over at Jace and Nina. Jace smiled and waved at them. Jack the half-giant grumbled and began storming over to them. "Why are they not on the ground? You should have them in zip-ties and lying on the ground in terror." Trentwood and Jel seemed unbothered by the fact their companion had decided to storm over to them.

    Jace chuckled, "we do not feel like getting our nice clothes dirty." Jace told the half-giant as he approached.

    "You do not get a choice! But since you do not feel like getting on the ground voluntarily. I will just have to crush you into the ground." Jack the half-giant bellowed as he was only a few feet away.

    Jace sighed as he saw Nina grin and look at Jace with a smile. Essentially asking permission from him. "Go ahead, but do not kill him. Only knock him unconscious." Jace told her as he accepted her purse which she slammed into his chest.

    Nina''s high heels were kicked up into the air and Nina was racing across the ground. Covering the few feet between them in less than a second. Then she jumped up so she was right in front of his face and launched a palm strike right into his head.

    BANG!

    The attack was so quick it almost sounded like a gunshot when she struck him in the nose. She then dropped to the ground and turned around, beginning to walk back over to Jace. Her heels landed on the ground just as Jack the half-giant collapsed to the ground. He was bleeding from a very reddened nose but was still breathing as he collapsed unconscious.

    Jace held out a hand to help her step back into her heels. As she was doing it, the other members of Union were realizing what had just occurred. Trentwood and Jel walked over with the one called Officer Jones.

    "Who are they?" Trentwood asked as they approached.

    Jel tapped a few times on his datapad before frowning. "New additions from the Vexical Empire. Added to the guest roster only a few days ago. There is no specific name listed on the guest list, just to coordinate with them when they arrive." He explained while reading from the datapad.

    When Trentwood arrived in front of them, walking past their unconscious companion, the people around them switched from the local Union members to the Infantry armored Union soldiers. Trentwood looked them up and down while Jace and Nina smiled in response.

    "Names?" Trentwood asked.

    "Well hello to you too!" Jace responded joyfully. "My name is Jace and this is my companion, Nina." Nina gave a slight head bow when he said her name. "We were sent to make a request of the King. Unfortunately it appears that will no longer be possible."

    Trentwood grunted and then nodded. "Someone wake up Jack." He called back and then turned to Jace and Nina. "I hope you do not mind accompanying me back to the ballroom." Trentwood told them and then began walking to the entrance that Officer Jones and his local Union members blew up.

    Jace shrugged as he handed Nina back her purse. "I most certainly do not mind." Jace and Nina calmly followed behind the former General. "It does seem like we will be stuck on this planet for a few days. Our ship had to unfortunately leave to make progress on our mission."

    "Oh? What mission would that happen to be? Hopefully it is not a classified one." Trentwood asked sarcastically, clearly not expecting an answer. So when he got one it was entertaining to watch his expression change into one of surprise.

    "We are hunting Lord Hoodwink, or Lord Hoods as the Leonair came to know him as. He is wanted for sabotage and conspiring with the Crystoph Federation. Oh, and unauthorized experimentation on sentient beings." Jace answered honestly. Causing several of the Union soldiers around them to shudder and glance his way for a moment.

    Officer Jones glanced back at him as well, "then why did you not detain him when you arrived? I mean you even walked with him to the ship that was waiting at the landing pad."

    Jace chuckled while Nina let out a long winded sigh. But Trentwood was the one to answer. "Because the Leonair Kingdom is a political nightmare for the Vexical Empire. Especially with how unstable the empire already is. They would not want to risk war from a triggered defensive pact."

    "Mhmm…" Officer Jones began grumbling as he continued to lead the way deeper into the Palace. Eventually throwing open a set of extravagant doors leading to the ballroom. The room had drastically changed because there were now Union soldiers lining the doors of the second and first floor. While up on the third and fourth floor were several attendants and slaves who were armed with weapons and looking down at the lower floors from above.

    In front of the thrones were several people who were kneeling with their hands behind their heads. They ranged roughly from twenty year olds to six year olds. They were the members of the Leonair royal family.

    The guards that had been originally in the room were nowhere to be found. But there were several trails of blood leading out of various doors. The investigator from before, Gaius, leaned back on a chair nursing a bleeding shoulder wound. Another guest helped him with the wound.

    "Please go down and join the others." Trentwood told them before he walked over to the only two members of the royal family who were not kneeling. The Second Prince and Fifth Princess, the two outspoken members of the royal family who were well liked by the commoners.

    Jace and Nina walked down the steps to the first floor and walked over to where Gaius was. Nina immediately started helping him with his wound. "Investigator Gaius, we meet again." Jace asked with a tone of amusement as he looked at the terrified guests. S~ea??h the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    "Ha… annoyed. I didn''t even complete the interviews before they came barging in. It was perfectly timed and executed. The guards and my investigators never saw it coming. I was one of the fortunate few to only be injured. The others were carried out on stretchers or dragged to the pile of bodies with the other people they have killed so far. How did you and Spectre Nina fair?" Gaius asked while trying to distract himself from the first aid that Nina had begun to do on his arm.

    "Unfortunately we did not have enough to leave the planet. Even more unfortunate is that Lord Hoods managed to leave just before they came for us." Jace shrugged and looked around the room. "I see that the Prince and Princess worked out a deal beforehand."

    Gaius glanced at Jace with a raised eyebrow and then looked up at the second floor where the Second Prince and Fifth Princess were being escorted out of the room. "What type of deal do you think they made?"

    "They helped poison the chalice. In return they are provided with a safe place out of the spotlight where they can live." Jace told him after he eavesdropped on the conversation between Trentwood and the now former Royals.

    "What about the rest of the Royal Family?" Gaius asked, then groaned in pain as he sat up. Nina finished up the first aid on his arm. But now her hands were covered in blood. So she grabbed a handkerchief from a nearby person and wiped her hands before tossing the blood-covered handkerchief. Gaius'' arm was no longer bleeding but now there was a bandage wrapped around the spot.

    "Seems they have outlived their usefulness. The older ones, the ones above the age of fifteen, are going to be executed during a live broadcast. But the younger ones will all be executed quietly behind the scenes." Jace answered. There were murmurs and whispers as the nearby people who were listening began spreading the word.

    Gaius chuckled, "then I suppose the royalty and nobility in the Leonair are about to be wiped out. I do not suppose the Vexical Empire can help?"

    Jace shook his head. "We have to remain neutral. Besides, you brought this on yourselves by having a quarter of your population being enslaved."