Last mission

It was a warm summer day in Limsa Lominsa, and the sky was clear. Susule was having a drink, a cold pale beer, with some sailors who had earlier mistaken her for a sailor boy. She laughed along with the rest as they told sea stories and traded tales of the fights they had all been in.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but I need to go to the ladies' room," Susule said, standing up with a smile and acting drunk.

"Yeah, go fill the sea. It's getting dry," said one of the sailors, and the laughter of the others filled the whole tavern.

She headed directly to a private chamber. It looked very organized for a pirate's chamber, with a desk, a big red chair and a window the size of the wall, looking out over the sea. Nobody was there, so she started searching the desk for a document. The smell of rum and tobacco hung in the air.

A pirate entered the room, a big white Hrothgar. He was alone, with his sword drawn.

"Are you looking for something, kid?" he said in a very deep voice, then paused and walked slowly toward her.

Susule put her guard up and reached for her sword and shield.

"There's no need for that, kid. You're good, but you're no match for me." The pirate dropped his sword. "My name is Captain White. I guess you're the soldier from the Maelstrom."

Susule simply sat down in the big chair as if it were hers.

"Do you mean that if I were taller, I could beat you?" Then she poured some rum into a glass from the desk and took a sip.

"Why don't you buy a higher-quality rum?" said Susule.

"That's not funny, kid." The pirate stood in front of the desk, and three more pirates entered the room.

It was a serious situation. The only two exits were the door, which was blocked by a pirate, and the window behind Susule. The window was closed, and the tavern was so high that the fall might kill her.

"Considering you were drinking cheap beer with my crew, I bet you're a little nervous and need the rum."

Susule took another sip, calmly. "I just happen to like good drinks," she said, smiling.

The pirate moved next to Susule and reached below the desk. The movement made Susule grab him by the wrist. Her hand was so small that she could only grip half of it, but she squeezed with such strength that he could feel it.

"Whoa, whoa... easy, boy. You're not in a position to fight."

The pirate clearly knew she was a female Lalafell, but he had decided to keep calling her "boy" or "kid." Susule released him and kept watching his movements closely.

The pirate pressed a button, and a hidden safe appeared on her right. Inside were some documents. He took the one on top and dropped it in front of Susule.

"Read it, kid."

Ririyuno was Aline's father. As she read the letter, Susule felt her temper slipping. The accident had happened a few months ago, and since then she had neither seen nor heard anything of her dear friend Aline.

"They take me for a fool. If I had burned it, I'd have had nothing left as proof for the payment, and still they sent you."

"What do you mean?" said Susule, confused.

The pirate lit a cigarette but stayed quiet. He was not a man who liked to answer questions.

Susule was lost in her own thoughts. Why had the Maelstrom sent her to check on the pirates? And why did she have to retrieve these documents? Of course, her orders were not to read anything, but this was a matter of life and death.

"You can do what you want with that, boy, but you owe me one, and I'll come looking for you. Don't you want to know how we did the job?"

The pirate put out his cigarette on Ririyuno's name, burning part of the document. Susule could only clench her fists and grit her teeth as Captain White burned the name of Aline's father. Then he left the room.

She rose from the chair; the smell of tobacco still hung in the air. She took the document and left. Outside, the day was still bright and warm, and White's crew was still laughing and drinking at the tavern as if nothing had happened. She walked past them without a word.

She decided not to report that day. She was confused and might make a mistake.

That night was hard for Susule, and she could not sleep at all. She could think of nothing but Aline. She knew she had to calm down, but she couldn't. The only thing she could do was listen to metal music, which had always been a kind of escape for her. At the highest volume, she just stood there staring at the order to kill Ririyuno.

The next morning she woke up early, as always, and put on her military uniform. She looked elegant for a tiny Lalafell in her dark red uniform. She still reported to her superior first thing.

"Ah! Susule, efficient as always. We saw Captain White on a ship late yesterday. Could you retrieve the documents?"

Her superior was an Elezen Storm Champion, Lothaire Celestaux, second only to the Admiral. He was reading other reports as he asked about the mission, but Susule did not answer. Celestaux raised his gaze to look at her and demand an answer. Before he could, she handed him the document, still silent.

Celestaux read it and immediately understood why she was angry, though he had no idea of its contents, since it was a request from the Immortal Flames. But he remembered about that event and immediately deduced what was about. He exhaled in a sigh.

"You were told not to read anything. This was supposed to be assessed by us first. You know how we work."

"I know," said Susule as soon as he finished, then fell quiet again.

"I... I will answer the questions you have. And I'll tell you what I really know."

He had no obligation to tell her anything right now.

"NO," Susule shouted. "You are going to ANSWER for your damn crimes."

She drew her sword and put the edge to his neck. Celestaux raised his hands to the level of the blade, surrendering.

"I think I know why the Flames did it. I didn't know it was related to Captain White."

"Then WHY did they do it?" Susule was trembling, and Celestaux could feel the blade shaking against his neck.

"The Flames are funded by the Syndicate. They might have acted on Ririyuno to get a share of the market. I don't have the details, but that's the most probable scenario."

"Is she alive?" Her voice was broken now, and sweat ran down her forehead.

"Who do you mean? Her daughter?"

"Yes, and her name is Aline!" Susule pressed the blade harder, drawing a drop of blood from his neck.

"Only Captain White knows. He didn't report back. We only knew about the fire at the house."

Susule furrowed her brow and closed her eyes, trying to picture what Aline had felt that day.

"This was for the good of the people. If I had told you, could you have done anything?"

"Or you wanted me not to try anything."

"Don't be foolish, Susule. You were going to get the report once we found out everything."

"You mean whether she was dead or alive?"

Celestaux paused, lowered his hands, and simply nodded.

"You know this is treason," Susule said. "Call it whatever you want, but you are going to pay for it!"

Susule sheathed her sword and turned her back on him.

"Consider this meeting my resignation."

Celestaux was old, and Susule was one of his best soldiers, but he had no plans to say anything more. After all, what she had said was true. It was treason, against her and against the people they were supposed to protect. But they were hidding a murder committed by another Grand Company just to get funds.