Chapter 1558: Reporting

Ning thought for the entire night, wondering what he should be doing. It would be public knowledge when he put the conspiracy to light and made the entire military go through a tumultuous time.

And Parima would know that it was he who put her father in prison.

Parima was a good friend. He had met her a couple of times since their first training and while they hadn't found a time to meet the last few weeks, he still didn't want to hurt her.

'But a crime is a crime,' Ning thought. He sighed. He couldn't let a criminal go free just because of friendship. Sometimes, he had to do the right thing.

The night passed and Ning went to meet Harper the very next day.

Harper wasn't in her room at the time, and Ning couldn't get a hold of her. So, he went to meet Lieutenant Franc instead. And it turned out that he was in a meeting with Redaime somewhere else.

Ning found where that was and went there.

He wasn't allowed to enter, but given that he had some important information for the captain, he was allowed to remain outside in wait.

The two guards at the door, a pair of men and women, were strict Chief Officers, but given that Ning was the same rank as them, they were open to talking with him.

"Do you guys know what they are talking about inside?" Ning asked the male guard.

"It's nothing important. It is a monthly meeting to catch up with everyone on what has been happening," the man said. "I don't know if anything important has happened, but we'll know soon if something has."

"Hmm," Ning said as he waited.

"Oh, but did you see the captain's face? Something important must have happened," the female guard said. "Not just that, Lieutenant Harper wasn't even allowed to join today. She was made to go work."

Ning raised an eyebrow. "Oh, do you know where she has gone to? I was supposed to report to her. I only came here because I couldn't find her."

The guards shrugged. "All we know is that the guard gave her an important mission. She took a small group of soldiers along with her."

"Hmm," Ning mused. "Have they gone outside by any chance? Now that I think about it, I don't know what Lieutenant Harper can do."

"She's a Connector," the male Chief Officer answered. "One of the best ones out there."

"I hear there's an Officer that is better than her," the female Chief Officer said.

"Hmph, I trust it when I see it," the man said.

The woman shook her head. She looked back to Ning. "I don't believe Lieutenant Harper has gone to the surface. That sort of thing needs delicate balancing and at least two Generals and a Major need to sign off on it. It's not something you can just do."

"Is that so?" Ning said. He hadn't been aware that it was that hard to get a mission to the surface. But then, it was the surface, where there was no atmosphere.

'Compared to the asteroid though, this should be much easier.'

"Have there been many missions to the surface since we arrived? I haven't really known if-"

Someone walked out of the door and everyone shut up. It was a Lieutenant who walked past them without looking. Ning and the rest still saluted.

One by one more Lieutenants came out, going past them. Ning quickly moved toward Lieutenant Franc when he saw him, stopping him.

"Lieutenant, I have something important to report," he said.

Franc stopped and looked at Ning. "I am not your superior officer. Aren't you under Harper? Report to her," Franc said.

"She's away on a mission," Ning said. "So I came to you."

"Wait for her to return then," Franc said rather strictly.

"I would, if only the report wasn't so important," Ning said. "I'm actually here to report to the Captain, but I want to pass it through you first."

Franc finally sighed. "I have an important job to do. You have one minute. Go."

Ning got close to the man and whispered. "I infiltrated the people who make Dust and managed to track down a connection between them and a General."

Franc's face turned from an emotionless state of just wanting to get through it to one of absolute horror.

Ning barely hid his smile. He wanted to see this face on Harper, but Franc wasn't any less fun either.

"What did you say?" he asked. "What nonsense is this?"

"It's not nonsense, Lieutenant," Ning said. "Which is why I came all the way here to report." Franc frowned. "Which General?" he asked.

Ning shook his head. "I do not recognize the General, so I don't know his name. I only saw his uniform and thus know he's a General. I can describe him though. I saw his looks fully." Franc nodded. "Wait, the Captain should be coming out at any moment now. Tell everything to her."

Ning nodded and waited. Finally, he heard the footsteps of various people and one of the ones that came out first was Redaime.

Franc quickly walked up to her and whispered into her ears what Ning wanted to tell her. Captain Redaime's naturally narrow eyes narrowed even more as she walked directly up to

Ning.

She grabbed Ning and pulled him to the side, getting in closer. "Is what he said to me just now true?" she asked.

Ning nodded. "I managed to track down a connection to a General indeed," he said.

"And you don't know his name?" Redaime asked. "Only his description?"

Ning nodded. "Will that help?" he asked.

"Of course, tell me what he looks like," Redaime said intently.

Ning only began to describe when his voice stuck to his throat, refusing to come out. He looked past Redaime at a man who came from inside, wearing the General uniform.

The same balding man he had seen last night.

He looked at the man and then at Redaime and quickly understood what he had stumbled

upon.

The General he was going to report turned out to be his own General.