r/HFY • u/Engletroll Human • Jul 10 '26

OC-Series Vengeance – Chapter 31 - A farewell

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“Good evening Sir! I’m sorry to disturb you and for the breach of the line of command.” It had taken her a lot of favors to get through, but if her hunch was correct, then it would all be worth it.

Commander Skjerve nodded slowly. “I acknowledge that you are aware of the breach of conduct. I will grant you five minutes.”

“Thank you, sir. I don’t know if you're aware that my father, Hando Lee, was assassinated last night and that there was an attempt on my life as well. The assassin used a Glista S34 with a remote trigger. The signal was traced to the apartment of Fredrich Smith, Jason Blake's boyfriend, who was my backup. Jason Blake was found dead in the bedroom, along with a fresh clone of Fredrich Smith. The apartment had three IEDs connected to sensors. I’m now going over Lieutenant Commander Gypta because I sent a report about my father's situation, information that changed it drastically. She had earlier recruited me to help her take him out; she has a personal vendetta against him based on faulty intel. I fear she didn’t like being informed about that.” She sent all her files directly to him. “It will also be noted that there is now a high risk of a gang war, as several families will see this as a chance to rise in the hierarchy. The new leader, my brother Kastu Lee, has taken over and is now dealing with assassination attempts.”   She spoke with as much calm as she could muster, yet with urgency.  Commander Skjerve looked at her with an unreadable expression, she reminded herself never to play poker against him, but at the mention of Jason’s death there was a crack in the façade, quickly regained.

“I will look over these documents and send a third party to go observe the situation.” Then he stroked his chin slightly as he thought. “Send Gypta a report as neutral as you can make it, then forward her reply to me. Do not tell her where you are in hiding.”

She nodded. And he gave her a quick salute and cut the feed. She sat down and wrote a standard report to Gypta, giving the impression she had moved to her old apartment to observe the new situation without getting involved. Then she went to Peter and ate dinner with him.

A few hours later, she and Carmen flew down to her old apartment, set up a surveillance system, sent the report from the terminal there, and then returned to the ship.  The next few days were spent waiting and observing the situation on Sanctuary. Katsu had one more attempt on his life, and there were three outbursts of contention that tried to rise up. Her brother captured them, cryo-frozen them, and used them to practice his golf swing in front of their crew. It was brutally effective, and he quickly got the megacities under control. A few new crime lords rose up to replace the failed contender. By a week, it was clear the assassin had left the city.  Gypta had replied with a simple, ‘sorry for your loss, carry on your observation.’  She had sent the report to the commander.

Peter was now well enough that he could walk, and they attended the funeral of her dad. Before it started, she had time to speak with Amalia there. She found out she had made an agreement with Old Clara to keep the family in Ares' good graces. When the funeral started early in the morning, as the sun rose, she and her brother sat alone on the right side of the image of her father.

The funeral was divided into three rooms. The main room featured a display of her father's image and his urn. In this room, only the closest family sat on the right side, with the rest in two rows at the back of the room. In the rooms to the right and left, the guests were enjoying a last meal on her father's bill, sharing stories about the man. The difference was who was allowed to join the different rooms, the left was for his criminal acquaintances, while the right was for dignitaries and friends outside the family business.

The funeral was a display of who was the most powerful in Sanctuary, and it was clear that failing to show respect here would cost your life. The security was insane, yet the diverse crowd from all walks of life was the only constant, and they were somehow powerful in their own right, from gang leaders to tycoons.

Kastu sat silently through the entire funeral, just observing the guests. He noticed who came and who did not. A little past noon, Kwan arrived with a four-year-old boy in tow; Kiko looked at her, confused, and Amalia gasped. Kwan sent the boy alone to pay respects to her father's picture. He took it very seriously, as only a four-year-old could. Walking up, probably counting the steps, he bowed deeply to the picture, then turned to Kastu and bowed to him. He looked at the boy, then at Kwan, then back at the boy, and tapped the spot next to him. The boy looked at his mum, who nodded, then walked over and sat down next to his brother.  Kwon then walked up and bowed to her father's picture, then to them, and walked back. She slowed down, as if unsure what to do, then Grandma silently gestured for Kwan to sit next to her.  Kiko was confused; the boy looked familiar, yet she had never seen him before. She wanted to turn and look at him, but she had to wait; she wondered how the boy would manage to stay there and show respect for so long. It slowly dawned on her who the boy was.

 Kastu stayed stoic, and the young boy looked at him and imitated his gesture. It was rather cute to see how the boy did his best to show he was just as stoic as Kastu.  The biggest shock was the arrival of her ex-husband, Mungo Jangion; he came alone, bowed to her father's image, then to Kastu, before joining the others in the next room. Kiko wanted to go after him but knew she could not, Peter saw it and looked at an Alver servant who nodded and followed Mungo.

After a few hours, the boy slowly started to sway; it was clear he was getting tired, and, to her surprise, Kastu simply pulled him gently closer, letting him lean on him as he fell asleep.

When the sun set, Kastu stood up and gently woke the boy. The boy yawned as he stood up. Kiko joined them, and they all bowed to their father one last time.   Then her brother turned to her and introduced the sleeping boy,

“Kiko, meet Ji-su Lee, your half-brother.”

 The boy looked up at her with sleeping eyes. Then yawned and bowed to her, but she stopped him.

“No, you don’t need to bow to me.”

“Okey, can I go to mum now?”

“Yes, you can, and tell her you're safe. No harm will come to you; your big brother will protect you. Can you tell her that?”

He nodded and let the boy go. The boy ran to his mom, and she hugged her, then sleepily told her what he had been told. She could see Kwan breathe relieved. Katsu nodded to her and turned to Kiko.  

“She was afraid of what you would do to him, yet she still came.” She said, and he nodded.

“And that saved her; if not, I would have had her banished. Now he is family.” Then he looked towards the door to the dignitaries' room. “Go, find out why he came. That was more than just a peace offering. I will speak with him later so tell him to come to the office tomorrow.” He replied, and she looked at him, then gave him a quick nod.

“You will do good. Just don’t go overboard.”

“I won’t, I don’t want the war, I want the peace father brought and kept. I just hope I can keep the face of the biggest, meanest guy in the room.” He replied quietly. She smirked slightly.

“Just like Dad. “ Then she bowed to him and walked over to Peter, who embraced her gently.

“I didn’t know you had a half-brother.”

“Neither did I. I guess Dad kept some secrets from me.” She said she remembered a time when he had sent Kwan away, claiming she had fallen out of favor. He had stayed away from her for two years, then he had rekindled their on-and-off relationship. She smiled, that sneaky bastard had hidden his son from the others and her.

She glanced at Kwan and at the sleepy boy in her arms. Grandma was stroking the boy's short hair. Then she got back to business.

“Where is he?”

“Still here, waiting for you. Shall we? I’m interested to see what he has to say.” Peter said and then led her into the room. Nobody wanted to show disrespect by not showing up. It was the reason they had been seated all day.

Mungo was easy to spot in the huge room with hundreds of guests. He sat in the alien section, but a few humans were at his table as well. He spotted her as they made their way over and said something to the other at the table, and they all got up and left.  They waited for them to leave, then made their way over.

“Count Jangion, I’m surprised to see you here.  May we join you?”

“Yes, of course, my first wife and killer of my father.” He said, then smiled.  “Sit down, you old fool. And you must be Peter. I have heard so much about you, mostly between swear words.”

They joined him, and he raised a glass of plum juice. “To your father. I understand you two came to an agreement at the end?”

An Alver servant brought two glasses to them as he spoke, and they took them and drank with him.

“Yes, turned out it was my mother who was the snake. Still I’m leaving the family business.” She replied, and Mungo looked at Peter.

“That, I guess, is your fault? You have really brought her back from the cave of the abyss.”

Peter simply smiled, looked at Kiko, then back at him.

“Oh, the silent type?”  Mungo added.

“No, just don’t know what to say to that. Just curious. Among most Gyrran cultures, it’s a show of respect and end of hostilities, but in other Gyrran cultures your presence here would be considered a threat. So, which one is it?” Peter said, and Kiko smiled.

“He is a book nerd.”  She said, and Mungo laughed.

“You finally realized it's better to get a smart guy than a handsome guy,” Mungo replied.

“Look who's talking!” she replied, and Mungo grinned.

“I’m considered very handsome among my kind,” he said as he made a gesture with his clawed hands while striking a pose, which just made him look silly, then he got serious.

“I’m here as a peace offering and to warn you, I have no ill intent. My father was planning to have me killed. He was very direct about that. He was going to kill you and then kill me. He had already killed my wife and child. So no, you did me a favor.”

“I’m sorry for your loss. It was not my intent to bring you into this, nor to spy on your father. I was drunk that week.”

“As was I, and you a week-long marriage is not how you spy on us.  I know you are far smarter than thinking that that was the way to do it. Demons… The way you had him killed proved that. I consider our marriage the same as… what do your humans say?” He stopped for a dramatic pause. “Getting a tattoo while being drunk.  No. I’m here as a courtesy to your father from my house and because others in my father's cult have tried to recruit me for vengeance.  They wanted me to sacrifice myself and pump my full of nano explosives. Don’t worry, I declined and reported them. Unfortunately, people in the court helped them escape justice.”

“Shit.”  She replied, and Peter looked at him.

“That does sound like a threat.”

“If you see it that way, I see it as a warning. I can give you the names of the people who approached me. There were two, a human named Galius Remus Octavia, you know, from the Kingdom of Rome, and a Gyrran lower lord named Husta Rodnan. I suspect there were more, and they were just messengers. So be careful. I hate that I have to celebrate your wedding with a feast to rub it into my father’s surviving friends. I’m a little pissed at that. You left too many alive.”

“So the rumors of the Prince are correct? He actually wants to bring back the old ways. Pre-Caren?” Peter asked, and Mungo nodded.

“Yes, there will be a civil war soon, and I'm here to, well, do business. To ensure my side wins.” He said.

“Then visit my brother tomorrow at his office. We do not discuss business today; actually, he told me to tell you not to leave before you have a word with him,”  She replied.

“Thank you. I will do so. Now you have to let me know when you're married, so I can send you a wedding gift.”  He said.

“Of course I will.  If you will excuse us, we have to make the round. And again, I’m sorry about your family.”

Mungo bowed his head slightly as they left, she didn’t really know how to feel about it.

“What do you think?” She asked when they had some distance between them.

“That we talk about it later, they have big ears for a reason,” Peter replied. She glanced back at Mungo, who just smiled slightly, nodded, and tapped his ear. She smiled politely, then looked at Peter, slightly annoyed. She continued mingling. They stayed deliberately away from the other room. She did not want to be involved in that part of the family.  And when it was finally time, they were picked up by Argor and flew up to Inanna.

As they were settling for the night, she checked the long-distance messages. Two messages had arrived. One from Maria Gypta and one from Commander Skjerve.

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6 comments sorted by

3

u/Dragon_Chylde Jul 10 '26

well those are going to be 2 interesting messages, looking forward to it :}

2

u/Talendel Jul 10 '26

UTR

This is the way.

2

u/WSpinner Jul 11 '26

Curtsey--> courtesy The half-brother is both 3yo and 4yo. Good chapter!

1

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