Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 152: Shinobi Escort

"Are you really wearing that?" Vana asked from the bed. She was climbing out of the bed grabbing some clothes she would use from a bag she brought aboard the ship.

Jace looked down at his clothes and shrugged. "There is nothing wrong with it." Jace told her, "besides I need civilian clothes to wear. It is not like I can wear my uniform."

"But it is the same type of clothes you wore to Nymph which is a tropical island planet. But this time we are going to an industrial city planet. Shouldn't you wear something to fit in a bit more?" Vana asked as she started putting on clothes.

"I mean I could, but between a carefully crafted disguise and someone in a tropical shirt which would you think a carefully trained agent would be more cautious of?" Jace asked as he opened a panel in the wall to reveal his array of communication devices and other technology he kept in his room.

Vana nodded and went back to her bag. "Fine but I am going to be taking my own precautions as well. It has not come up because I am not required to wear it when in my own nation but in foreign nations I am required to wear it." She pulled out a full face mask that looked like a wolf with the nose protrusion.

"That is fine with me." Jace answered with a chuckle. "I am not sure how the shinobis will like it though." A shinobi is the Oda Empire's form of intelligence agent. Just like how the Vexical Empire had the Inquisitors. The only difference was that virtually nothing was known about them.

There were rumors. Some said that they were human weapons raised since childhood to be loyal only to the emperor. Others said that they were androids programmed to be loyal only to the emperor. There were also stories that said they were immortal warriors that were the previous rulers of Oda.

The shinobi wore full-body armor that disguised their appearance and fitted to the body. This was a consistent fact according to MILD's records. They also used an array of weapons from poisons to blades but avoided guns if they could. They were also experts in assassination and could use various types of mecha.

Jace put on one of his communication watches and grabbed a pair of communication aviators he had. They were one of his creations for discreet surveillance and communication. They had an array of data and features that made them useful. They were essentially a communication device and datapad in one that he could control with his eyes and thoughts.

Vana stood ready to leave as Jace opened the door. "So how are we getting down to the planet? Are we taking a ship or something else?"

Jace chuckled as they walked out and closed the door after Vana stepped out. "Neither. They are sending a ship to pick us up. Or more accurately a ship has already arrived to pick us up. It is waiting in the hangar."

They began moving through the ship. "How exactly are we going to be doing this? We did not have a big meeting or briefing where we talked about what we were going to do." Vana pointed out as they walked.

Jace nudged her shoulder, "actually we did. I talked with my unit about what is going on." He chuckled as they arrived at a hangar. "They know that we are going to New Osaka. They also know that the entire unit and you are going unarmed. They even know we are going to apprehend Qwan Lee, a former Vexical Commando. They have all the relevant information they might need for this operation."

Vana sighed as she looked deeper into the hangar. "They look like they were waiting for us. How long have they been here?"

"A few hours." Jace answered.

Vana nearly tripped over herself as her eyes went wide. "You mean for the last few hours when we were doing it they were waiting?" She asked in surprise as she looked at him with a glare of suspicion.

"Oh, yeah." Jace shrugged as he walked over to his unit who were just chatting casually. While their escort from the Oda Empire consisted of several samurai in red armor standing in lines leading up to the ramp of a transport ship. At the top of the transport ship were six shinobi from the Oda Empire who were standing at attention. It was a standard ceremonial escort for foreign soldiers entering the country.

Jace had them wait because he was given orders to be accommodating but annoying. There was no reason he could not enjoy himself while he was following those orders. Which is how he came up with the plan to exclude Vana from the very small briefing he gave his unit and Captain Hammers.

"Are you all ready?" Jace asked as he walked up. To the Samurai escort. The Samurai were the traditional version of commanders of infantry in the Oda Empire.

"Yeah boss. Did you and Vana take your time?" Tako asked as he walked over to join Jace. "Because it sure seemed like it."

Jace glanced over at Vana but she had already put on her mask. "Let's get going." He told them and walked past the precession and up into the ship. The shinobi and then the samurai followed them once they were all inside. Then one of the shinobi walked up to Jace as he was relaxing in a seat.

"Are you Spectre Jace?"

"I am, how can I help you…" Jace responded.

"I am the commander of this unit and operation." The shinobi told him. Jace narrowed his eyes as he listened. "There are six locations where the fugitive known as Qwan Lee is known to frequent. We will have one of each of your people travel there along with one of my shinobi." He then looked at Vana. "But I suppose this one will have to go with one of the pairs."

"She is coming with me and you." Jace told him. "We will be going to the location he is most likely to be located."

The shinobi stared Jace down for a few minutes as the transport swayed as it took off. Then he clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Fine, but just to reinforce the rules I will repeat them." The shinobi then spoke loudly so Jace's entire unit could clearly hear him. "First, you will not bring any weapons. Second, you will not take any weapons even if given the opportunity or attacked which is why there is a shinobi traveling with you. Third, you will not kill anyone without permission or detain anyone either."

"But we are allowed to get in a fist fight to defend ourselves." Jace told them as he yawned. The Shinobi glared at him. But Jace just shrugged, "I looked over the message several times and confirmed the rules. No matter what you say we are allowed to fight others if they start it. We just can not kill them or detain them."

"I suppose that is true. Would you like to know what your fugitive has been doing in our territory?" The shinobi asked as the ship slightly swayed.

"It would be useful. But I suspect he has been doing various activities." Jace answered with a chuckle.

"You are correct. He is the head of the Lee Gang. They rule the underworld in the city of New Osaka. He has a prostitution ring and several brothels. He exports counterfeit goods and identifications. He smuggles drugs and illegal slaves both in and out of the city. The strangest activity that we have not comprehended is the fact that he is kidnapping children and smuggling them off planet and making the bulk of his wealth from this activity." The Shinobi informed them. "In addition he runs a protection racket for several private businesses."

Jace nodded as he figured that was going on. He was hiding it among his other crimes. But even the shinobi noticed that he was oddly making a lot of profit out of smuggling children that they had kidnaped. It would be best for now that it was all that was noticed. But Jace had a feeling they would try to dig deeper into this matter.

"Which are we going to?" Jace asked. Getting what he could only describe as a confused look from the shinobi. "I mean which of these criminal activities are we going to go looking for him at."

"Well I suppose if myself, this one, and you are going to the most likely location then we are going to the bar where he likes to run most of his businesses out of. He had taken up shop there a year ago. It seems like the local police were able to find that out but have been struggling to get any evidence to bring him to trial." The shinobi explained.

Jace nodded, "we have enough evidence to throw him in a cell and toss out the key."