There was not even the slightest of jostling as they landed. The door opened up in front of them and Jace stepped out with Elder Joza held by an arm. Elder Joza was in restraints and schooled his expression so he was not looking particularly emotional.
Uti was standing on the other side of him and had already handed back all of Jace’s weapons that Jace had let the Ola take when Jace stayed behind to fight Joash. Apparently he did have to end up shooting a few enemies on the roof so there were not as many bullets left. But now that they were on the ship it was no longer relevant.
As they walked off the Victorium transport and onto the Venture they were welcomed by the High Priestess, along with several other VIPs that he helped save earlier. Then there was Isaiah the Hammer, the General who was in charge of this joint warship. The General was quietly talking into a communicator as they approached.
Jace could hear the General. He was talking about the last pockets of resistance on the planet. After announcing the death of two elders and the capture of a third the enemy’s morale was at an all time low. Apparently they planned to hold off on taking them and then doing a coordinated push to secure their control of the planet. Then there would be weeks afterwards where they would have to hunt down the remnants.
"Spectre Jace, welcome back to the Venture." General Isaiah announced as he put away his communicator when they got close enough. "For a first run, Cerberus Squad has done a hell of a job in leading the way."
"Thank you sir. When can I get back down there for the rest of my squad?" Jace asked as he handed Elder Joza over to some soldiers that Isaiah had standing nearby and ready. One of them was a human, the other an Accer. They took Elder Joza and then began escorting him towards the exit of the hangar.
"No you will not be rejoining them on Yati. I plan to pull them out once the rest of our soldiers secure the Elder’s Church. You accidently created a perfect landing spot for the transports when you decimated an entire floor while fighting Joash the Flame. In addition we are looking for the possible bomb that he mentioned before your death from that recording you sent of your battle. But now that you are back aboard you can relax and start going through your after battle motions." Isaiah informed them before turning to the High Priestess and other VIPs. "Part of which will be talking down these very important people down and the other is securing your squad’s war room."
Jace nodded as Isaiah made a gesture and started walking away. Jace looked at the VIPs and then looked at Uti who seemed incredibly nervous since he was constantly shifting his weight from side to side. "Uti, go to the Cerberus War Room and make sure everyone’s things were sent there. If they haven’t, track them down. I will follow behind with the VIPs."
"Yes... Spectre Jace." Uti seemed to be looking for the formal address before doing a Victorium salute and leaving. He had noticed it before, but some of the Victorium were doing a particular type of salute. While others were doing another. There did not seem to be any rhyme or reason for it. They watched Uti march off at a quick pace and then Jace turned his attention to the High Priestess and other VIPs.
"How can I help you, High Priestess? Other council members?" Jace looked over at them and shrugged, "I apologize but I have not familiarized myself with descriptions and names."
"That is alright, Spectre Jace. I just had a few questions about human military operating procedures." The High Priestess responded with a head tilt and what Jace believed was a smile.
Jace sighed as he slowly began walking to the exit of the hangar. He shuffled slightly with the giant hammer on his shoulder. "I hope you do not mind us talking while moving."
"We do not." The High Priestess responded.
"Good." Jace nodded, "As for what you were asking. In the event of an emergency or where the superior officers are part of the objective, Vexical procedure is to ignore their complaints and let them get pissed off so they are still alive later."
"But if we are your superiors-" One of the other council members cut in.
"You are not, you are members of the Victorium’s military and governing council. At the moment I only have three direct superiors who I will report to. General Isaiah, the Director, and the Emperor of Vexical. You can pester and beg all you want but at the end of the day, I can choose to ignore your orders if I want." Jace explained as they walked out of the hangar.
"You arrogant little-"
"So what you are saying is that back on Yati, you were not being disrespectful but were instead completing your objective in a specific time frame?" The High Priestess cut off one of the council members and Jace could see her glare at the person for a moment.
"Yes, especially since we were worried about the transport getting shot down. Which it almost was." Jace explained. "On the other hand the injured soldiers you were worried about would have likely been more than willing to sacrifice their lives for yours." They were making their way past a few rooms. They were still a few minutes away from the Cerberus War Room.
He could hear a noise behind him, he would have to equate it to grumbling. "Very well." She then nodded in a certain direction. "I noticed you also managed to get the injured to the Venture as well."
"Affirmative." Jace nodded, "I value life at the end of the day and there was something we could do for those soldiers. So that is what we did." Jace informed them as he noticed a message pop up on his HUD. Apparently taking the building had become easier with all of the support that had arrived. Nila was reporting that her and the rest of his Squad would be back aboard in a half an hour.