Caught Blue-Handed

"Now tell me Tyler. Are you a spy too?"

Tyler began to form beads of sweat on his forehead. He had just gotten this life and was literally staring down the barrel of a gun. Two guns with an RPM of 5,000! He had to pick his words carefully. 

"Well S-sir" he spoke with a stutter as he choked on his spit. he coughed violently before he took a deep breath to control his nerves. "Well Sir. As I've said before I am a Seer. I foresaw the Battleship York being caught in an ambush. IO Ramirez handing over a magical scroll to the Zandari before changing into his true blue skinned form. Form there the Zandari killed you and all nonessential personal, and used magic to mind control the few Supers onboard the ship. The the Zandari spends the next 5 years traveling the stars to get into position for a surprise attack."

"During those 5 years the spies they sent cause the Federation to be ingulfed in a full blown civil war leaving them weak to outside forces. I can't speak more, but I have a plan to help the Federation. I just need you to trust my words."

Admiral Halto had some food for thought. He remained silent with his arms raised. He didn't want to believe Tyler as it meant the Federation was in a much precautious situation than he thought. On the other hand if Tyler was right he had a chance to save the Federation.

he narrowed his eyes and spoke. "I have two major questions. Firstly, why are you helping the Federation. I've looked into every file in the Federation and you do not exist. I doubt anyone would want to hide your existence as those that help the Federation find a Seer are given a large sum of money and other rewards."

Tyler looked down at his feet as he thought about why he was helping the Federation. He had many reasons. Firstly the system or whatever it was gave him a quest to do such a thing. Secondly, he always did. When he was a real player he sided with the Federation because they stood for justice and wanted to do good in the universe. Plus the Zandari were a race of slavers that used magic to bind others. Granted they were still on the smaller side compared to other galactic civilizations, but they bullied the weak. He hated that.

"That's easy Admiral" Tyler spoke with a nervous smile. "The Federation will be a symbol of good in the universe as the Zandari is an Empire of magical slavers. I couldn't stand for that. The Federation and I have a common enemy. Simple."

Admiral Halto nodded. He was internally glad Tyler was a good person. Or so it seemed. "My second question is about magic. You called the scroll a magical scroll and even called this Zandari a 'magical' enslaver. Is magic real?" He was genuinely curious. The Federation was based in technology and science. To them Gods, Magic and anything along those lines didn't exist as the Federation was very secular. 

Tyler rocked his head side to side. "It's more complicated than that, but yes. Magic does exist. I can't explain what the actual.. science behind magic is, but it does exist. Just some races and people are more connected to mana than others. Humans can learn magic, but it would be harder for those that are more secular."

He looked at Tyler skeptically. Admiral Halto was a man of science and technology. Of course he wouldn't believe what Tyler said about magic. It was hard to believe. Yet, something deep within him knew Tyler was right. A gut feeling he learned to trust through his life. He felt conflicting emotions and remained silent till NCO Keda reported in. 

The two sat in silence, still with the turret pointed at Tyler, for a handful of minutes. Admiral Halto stared at his terminal looking through the cameras. He was replaying all footage of IO Ramirez. Nothing seemed off, but he did notice a quick flicker of the screen. It was so unnoticeable that anyone that didn't know the ship as well wouldn't notice. 

BEEP BEEP

Admiral Halto quickly answered the call of his communicator. "NCO Keda. What have you found." He could see an image of NCO Keda looking somewhat off put. 

"Well Sir" she spoke softly. "I didn't find anything amiss in his room, but I did find this. I believe it's the scroll Tyler had mentioned. She lifted a large yellowish white scroll into view. "The problem is there is no slit to the paper. Its almost as though it was made in this shape like a roll of paper towels. I can look through it and I see no sign of writing." 

Tyler was able what was being said. Admiral Halto gave Tyler a look with a raised eyebrow. "Well Tyler. It seems you have proven that IO Ramirez has some paper in his office. It's still not enough proof for your story to have any merit."

Tyler sighed and began to think. His memories were blurry, but he focused on hidden lore of the time before the game. Then he got an idea. "You need to channel mana or energy into it and speak the command phrase; Asmu' Jivl' Oshrima. Once you do so the scroll will open it." He was more or less making a gamble. The phrase he remembered was actually just the basic phrase for a the basic Lock spell. 

Admiral Halto nodded to NCO Keda to follow Tyler's direction. She began to recite the phrase while channeling neutral energy into the scroll. Once she finished the phrase the scroll began to glow a glittering red hue before it moved. NCO Keda was stunned by the sight! She wanted to drop the scroll, but she was still holding her communicator showing Admiral Halto the same events. The scroll began to unravel itself and grew in length.

The scroll began to grow from her hand all the way to the ground. It never stopped and grew and grew till it reached 30 feet down the hall way. Once it was done growing writing began to appear on the on the entire length of the scroll. NCO Keda and Admiral Halto were awe struck by the sight! It was the first time they saw real magic and it being a very important and rare magical scroll. Although the only person who knew the real value of the scroll was Tyler.

"NCO Keda, go place that in section 4 of the on board vault of the ship now!" Admiral Halto commanded before turning off the communication. He waved his hands telling the turrets to rise back into the ceiling. "I'm sorry for not believing you before Seer Tyler" he gave a light bow while remained seated. "I never thought magic would be real and that the Federation had pests infesting it. Before we move on to other matters I must first take care of a rat on my ship." He quickly rose form his chair and just as he was about to give a command Tyler grabbed his wrist.

"Sir! If I'm correct than IO Ramirez is a powerful Mage. He's not at strong as you, but he probably has a spell ready to leave the ship or at least hide aboard her till we arrive at our destination. I suggest you personally knock him out instantly. From there to make sure a Mage is bound without a chance to escape, you need them blindfolded, gagged, their arms bound together and even their fingers covered. They can still cast spells by writing with their fingers."

He nodded and remained silent and motioned for Tyler to follow him. He waved his hand forcing the vault door to quickly. He walked out slowly yet with intent with his hands behind his back. He walked over to IO Ramirez who was standing by the window looking out at the colors of space as they were in Hyper Space.

"How are things looking IO Ramirez" Admiral Halto spoke in a pleasant tone.

IO Ramirez was taken aback as he didn't sense the Admiral walking towards him. "Ah Admiral" he spoke with a smile. "This ship is on course to our destination. I'm going to miss this scene. Never get to see this when stuck in the office" The IO joked. 

Admiral Halto twitched annoyingly. "Well then. HAVE A GOOD LOOK!" He yelled drawing attention of the entire crew on the command deck. They all saw as the Admiral gabbed the IO by the back of the head and slammed his face into the widow. Everyone watched in shock as the Admiral repeatedly slammed his head into the window. Over and over again. Blood splattered the window as it began to slowly crack from the force of his strength. 

Alarms started to sound as a robotic voice spoke. 

{Command Deck window breach. Sealing bulkhead}

{Command Deck window breach. Sealing bulkhead} 

Admiral Halto held the unconscious IO by the back of the head dropping him to the floor as the a dense metal bulkhead closed over the window. The IO bounced off the floor as he fell. As the Admiral, and everyone else in the room, looked down they all watched in horror as the IOs' shape changed. Like wind blowing over his skin it changed from the tan color so vibrant blue. His hair remained the same color. 

Everyone gasped seeing that who they once thought was a comrade turned out to be a never before seen alien! 

"Guards" Admiral Halto shouted! "I want this man in maximum restraints with addition of a blindfold and gag. Also get the doctors to numb his body and chop off his hands. I want to risk of his escape!" 

The guards ignored their own concerns and thoughts as they followed orders. The two guards that had been around since Tyler was in prison quickly scooped the blue alien off the ground and headed towards the medical bay. They would relay the Admirals orders and have the aliens hands removed before being fully restrained. 

Admiral Halto then waved to Tyler signaling him to stand next to him. Tyler listened to the Admirals orders yet was still shocked by the mans ruthlessness. He told him he would only need to restrain the Zandaris' hands to fully restrain him, but the Admiral took it a step further! In all honestly he was impressed with the Admirals decisiveness! He rather have complete control and risk zero chance with the prisoner breaking free. He would have to remember that in the future. 

Once Tyler was standing next to him Admiral Halto waved his hand again. A camera descended from the ceiling and began to broadcast to the entire ship. Everyone on the ship paused what they were doing to watch the broadcast as the Admiral only did these himself if it was vitally important. 

"Good evening everyone" the Admiral spoke in a dignified voice. "I'm sure many if not all of you know of our stowaway.. His name is Tyler Rivin. He is a Seer who has snuck on board to save us. He's brought to light two major things. Firstly, our Intelligence Officer Ramirez is actually an alien!" On the screens projected around a short clip played of he unconscious IO changing into his true alien form. Everyone was stunned seeing the clip.

"This is not a fabrication but the truth! Tyler was the one who helped us find the rat on this ship. Not only that, but this entire reconnaissance mission is a ploy for an alien empire to capture this ship and the state secrets that the former IO brought back. We've gotten through our first hurtle, but we aren't out of the woods yet. From what Tyler had informed me is that the star system we are heading to is actually an ambush by this alien empire to capture us!"

He let his words ring through out the ship. Many began to feel a sense of dread and fear. No one has ever seen or fought aliens. Sure there were civil wars and insurrectionists, but never aliens! It was soo hard for them to grasp. 

"Now do not panic. Tyler has an idea how to solve this. I will speak to him and those of you who will need to help him in this situation. For now. Prepare for Battle! We have less than four hours till we reach out destination!"