Blackmoor

Chapter 45


Yelena stood quietly still, her head slightly tilted in a way she could listen to Jimmy a few feet away from her. Due to his clumsiness of not muting his call, she also heard everything he said to his friend, from the start of it all to the end.

In that moment, she felt little emotion about his conversation with Hal, but she could understand how he felt and everything he had to endure until this moment. Surrendering was always the safest option for anyone in his shoes, but somehow, she felt a little disappointed, even if she didn't show it. The reason, she herself didn't know.

Dismissing the thought, she turned to face the HyperComm super computer in front of her and dragged some symbols on the console, all together to form an alien pattern.

Unlike Jimmy, who used a headset, Yelena picked up a different device and applied it to both her wrists, then moved backward, giving herself and the towering computer some distance as she stood.

**RING.**

A continuous beeping rang loud, and a glowing red light on the console of the ship indicated an incoming call.

A communication staff member, wearing a headset like device, clicked on a button to pick up the call and take a listen. In that moment, she then nodded and turned to call out.

"Send message to Strike Officer Harley, her immediate attention is needed," she said loudly, taking the device off of one ear as she looked behind her.

A few seconds later, Harley Stanford entered the bridge, the main commanding operation center of the spaceship where the call had originated.

"Alright, what's our status?" Harley spoke as she walked in confidently, accompanied by Ross. Her tone echoed with authority as she proceeded to the commanding deck, an area slightly in front and higher than every other area in the ship, where staffs and soldiers operated below.

"We have a live call, ma'am. Permission to authorize projection," the lady with the headset spoke.

"Permission granted. Hello," Harley spoke, her voice calm and sharp as she folded her arms, looking upwards like she was expecting something.

A huge glowing projection of Yelena immediately appeared at the front of the bridge. Everyone in the room, except for Harley and Ross, immediately stood up and saluted in respect, their actions synced in orderliness.

"Took you twenty five seconds to get here. An unacceptable delay from an Officer," a voice, Yelena's, echoed throughout the room.

"If that's your way of saying, 'Hello, I missed you,' then I should have you de-ranked," Harley replied, looking up and holding a smirk as she kept her arms folded.

"You and I both know you can't make that call," Yelena said, her arms folded also folded as she narrowed her eyes coldly at Harley.

"And that's the main reason you're still alive," Harley replied, scoffing and rolling her eyes as she faced the live projection.

"How have you been? It's a little quiet without you, ya' know," Ross chimed in, walking to Harley as he approached the commanding deck, looking up at Yelena's projection.

Yelena stood silently, looking down at Ross with a little bit of disgust and disapproval on her face, a clear sign she found him annoying and not worth her time as she held onto a cold look and watched him.

"This projection, it's encrypted. The same patterns Commander Ellen got when that Galaxy destroying lunatic radioed in," Harley interjected immediately, wanting to end the weird and awkward connection between her friend and Ross but at the same time, provide answers to her curiosity.

"That's because they have access to HyperComms. Unauthorized access," Yelena said, her voice calm.

"They? What do you mean by 'they'?" Harley questioned, tilting her head in confusion as she folded her arms and stared at the huge projection of Yelana in front.

"We found his base... Well, not exactly his base, but it's something," Yelena replied.

Her response immediately caused a stunned reaction in the room, as everyone's attention shifted to Yelena, shocked by her words. Harley and Ross were more stunned than others, unable to believe what they had just heard.

"You found his base?!" Harley said loudly, grabbing the railing in front of her and leaning forward.

"Send us your coordinates immediately!" she added, her voice reverberating with seriousness, loud and clear as she held tight on the railing.

"I'll do just that right after I relay an important piece of information," Yelena replied, unfazed by Harley's reaction as she proceeded with her speech.

"It's at E851, Valera Vol. That's the location of the Nebulux."

Once again, her response caused another storm of shock and surprise, hitting Harley harder, unable to truly believe the Nebulux had been found, not even by the battalion of fleets sent by Commander Ellen.

"Are you sure about what you're telling us?" Ross, also surprised, said loudly in shock as he stared up at the projection, his eyes partially widened.

Yelena immediately found this to be annoying.

"Do me a favor and shut that mouth of yours. You irritate me!" Yelena replied, her voice cutting through the air, cold and furious as she stared.

"Look, I've heard enough of your braindead and arrogant attitude! Might I remind you, I'm higher than you in status, so show me some goddamn respect!!" Ross yelled loudly, banging his fist against the railing in a fit of rage as he looked up at the projection.

Yelena, annoyed by his mere presence, felt more irritated.

"Call me braindead again and our next encounter will have you six feet below the ground," Yelena launched back, her voice loud and cold as her eyes radiated with pure bloodlust, deadly fixated on Ross. Veins seemed to bulge out of her head in anger.

"Enough!!" Harley yelled, disrupting the heated moment between the two.

"This is not the time to act unprofessional and foolish. We have intel on the Nebulux, for crying out loud!"

"That's more important than anything right now. More important than hearing you two bitching around like dicks. Get your fucking heads straight!" Her voice echoed loudly throughout the room, fierce and angered.

It placed the room in complete silence, as partly everyone bowed their head and had an expression on their face like they were the ones being yelled at.

Ross, seeing Harley's reaction, moved back a little and folded his arms, a deep frustrated frown on his face as he stood.

Feeling a little stressed from it all, she swiftly turned to Yelena and pointed.

"You!" she pointed, her voice loud and clear.

"If you have more information about the Nebulux, spill it," she added.

Yelena stared silently at Harley for a moment, her gaze cold and serious.

"There's a rat!" Yelena replied, her tone calm but cold.

"What?" Harley replied, a little confused by her response as she held onto the railing, looking upwards at the projection with a serious gaze.

"The criminal we're after, they call him the High Monarch. In some ways, he's worshipped as a god who knows all," Yelena spoke.

"He knows the exact location of the Nebulux but has never actually seen it, or come in contact with it either."

"So you're saying..." Harley replied, her voice now calmer, her gaze very focused, slowly connecting the dots.

"Someone took it directly to him. Someone who knows how NEXUS operates. Someone from the inside," Yelena's voice echoed coldly throughout the room.

In the wake of Yelena's response, Harley suddenly clapped her hands, her voice cutting sharp with a commanding tone.

"Alright, I want everybody out. Now!" she said loudly with authority, commanding every working staff and militant in the room to leave, making them absent from their next conversation to keep it a secret.

Her internal thought was clear, the imposter might be in the same room with them and get the message out.

At her command, everyone began to leave, batch by batch as they crossed the exit. And after a while, they were all gone. The room was empty with only Harley, Ross, and Yelena's projection present.

"Okay, with Ross as my witness. It seems that we're both on the same page here," Harley spoke.

"I knew something was off and suspected something similar," Harley added, almost frustrated as she held a serious look on her face, squeezing tight on the railing.

"Like I told Ross weeks ago, I did some checks. On the day of maintenance, everyone in charge of security went missing after the theft"

"Not a single one of them that day even had their identity verified. But it all makes sense now," she added, her hands squeezing more tightly on the railing as she trailed her words into silence.

Ross stood in silence and maintained a frustrated look on his face but was still actively taking in the conversation, also connecting the dots.

"It'll be in our best interest to give this information to the commander," Yelena replied, breaking the silence.

"No!" Harley immediately sparked from her silence.

"We can't do that, at least not yet," she said, easing her tone and controlling herself.

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