Soul of a Gambler

Part V - "The Fool, Inverted"

"You're passing him off onto me?" General Calhoun grumbled to Shadow, who despite bearing the same rank was often recognized as the superior between all of the Blackwatch Generals.

"Of course, how else can I be certain that if he does something stupid it gets stopped? I was there for your reassignment, you're on thin ice with her as it is." Shadow rebuffed him, maintaining lockstep with her compatriots as they made the long walk to the Blackwatch headquarters building and the elevator to the Ring where their shuttles awaited.

Folten shrugged and looked to Calhoun over Shadow's head, "It could be worse."

"Tell me, Alberich, how it can get worse? I have zero faith that Jax is going to prove anything other than a nuisance at best and at worst what's stopping him from killing my crew, huh? The Prototype's only crewed by forty, no legion to back me up here."

Folten and Calhoun stopped beneath an ivory lamp-post on each other's unconscious cue, but Shadow continued walking for a few steps before realizing that the group had been split up and stopping herself.

Folten stepped in threateningly close to his junior, both in age and in service, and drew Calhoun's sidearm from its holster. He held it so the handle was nearly tapping Calhoun's nose. "You take this, and you fucking shoot him. Shoot him like any other rebel. He's not a person, not anymore. He made that decision when he pulled the trigger on one of ours."

Calhoun snatched the gun away and gave it a practiced flip in the air, catching it in a ready position, the squishy texture of the polymer grip fitting perfectly in his strong hand. He gestured with the weapon, "And I'm supposed to wait until he acts first?"

"Your ship, your discretion. Especially if you're out in the Black. If you want you could walk right up to him and pull the trigger point blank and nobody here would bat an eye. Not me, not Shadow, not the Delegation, nobody."

With that reassurance Calhoun smirked and reholstered his weapon. They resumed their casual walk the rest of the way along the footbridge over the multi-lane freeway below to the expansive structure that housed the nerve center of the galaxy-spanning organization. The Central Command building appeared as though it was designed as more of a castle than a military stronghold. A more cultured space explorer might say the design evoked the sharp motifs of the Krazoran Palace or the sweeping architecture of the Keep of Wishes on distant Kamine. The Justice Center looked more like a reinforced and well secured base than Command did. As they passed the luxurious fountain in the building's courtyard, flanked by adjacent miniature surface-to-air batteries poorly disguised as statues, Calhoun removed his hat and let his head air out in the cool mist. He shook out the heavy felt head cover, and took a moment to ensure that the leather-bound brim remained stiffly straight and that the Blackwatch pin center set in the band still shined.

Upon entry, where anyone else--Blackwatch personnel or not--would have been stopped, searched, and scanned, they only received a pair of salutes from the security officers and continued their confident strides into the wide-open main hall of Blackwatch Central Command. Their goal was the elevator bank situated behind a heavy decorative glass wall with the Blackwatch sigil precisely etched into it, beyond an ocean of rapidly moving currents dark suits both in civilian business-style and fine military dress.

Folten and Calhoun bid Shadow a brief and professional farewell at the central lift, and she saluted them as she called her own elevator bound to the floor of the structure that housed her office when she wasn't doing field-work.  They returned the gesture, and entered the spire elevator. Folten pressed the circular button for the top floor, marked 'RING ACCESS' in lieu of a number and it blinked in response. The doors soon shut, and the elevator began its blisteringly fast ascent.