Fear of the Lorentino

When an operative is killed, the handler should do all they can to discover the source of the leak and silence it - Imperial Field Guard Manual

I've lost more friends than most people will ever have in their life time. And yet I still make more, the truest form of insanity I engage in. Chronicles of Lorentino.

Nihls was waiting outside the generals office. He had been waiting for five hours. When he had been summoned he figured it would be a fast meeting, but the waiting was unexpected, the length of it was almost a joke to him. He would have laughed if not for the crushing boredom of waiting in a generals office for five hours. He had exhausted every thing he could think of when it came to trying to take ones mind off the time. So he was left just staring at the young lieutenant as she told other people to wait.

"Nihls? The general will see you now." Nihls wanted to rebuff her for not using his rank, but he also didn't want to have to wait longer so he just hurried into the generals office. The office was small, most of the Imperial military heirarchy didn't have large offices. Nihls did find it funny considering the opulence of the Emperor, that everyone else in the empire lived fairly spartan existences.

"Lieutenant sit down." Nihls knew he was in trouble immediately, on top of the weight the general did not call him a Lieutenant Commander, just the Lieutenant.

"Sir I just want to..." The general held a hand up to cut him off.

"Save your own ass, yes I'm aware you're completely in the dark as to why Commander Lorentino was killed, or even how he was killed. What I'm trying to ascertain is does the old man know?"

"The old man?" The general who was easily triple Nihls age and Nihls was not a young man, got a perturbed look on his wrinkled face.

"Trezlan Lorentino."

"I wasn't aware we had any kind of intelligence on the elder Lorentino."

"But surely his son must have had a way of contacting his father, and does Trezlan know his son is dead now because he's not in contact?"

"I'm not aware of any method of contact between son and father, Rolando's apartment was empty when I got there, but I assume it was empty when he got there, he brought little with him that indicated who he was." Nihls was surprised by the the general worried about a fugitive the empire was hunting, but he gave up long ago trying to understand upper management.

"Then we're safe for now, though we have reports Trezlan was glassed, I do not believe them. Still were I you Lieutenant I'd consider changing my name."

"My name sir?"

"Dismissed Nihls." It was a confusing summons, that ended even more confusing. Nihls was happy that he at least was not formally demoted yet, though the Generals worry about Trezlan did cause him to pause. The reports on the Elder Lorentino were nothing if not full of flights of fancy, but if half of them were true he was a terrifying person. Nihls at least took solace in that if anyone killed Rolando, it was Rolando, and therefore not his fault. He was sure Trezlan would understand that much.