Operation Honey Trap vs The Emperor of the Apocalypse-Chapter 105: My Good Looking Boy

Delphi and Alton sat in the control room with the four new recruits.

They scrubbed up even better after showers and dressed in fresh clothes for their welcome party.

Delphi was scared to hear their news, knowing none of it would be good.

"Tell us what’s happened back at the palace," she asked Brenner.

"After you eight ladies disappeared, the Emperor tore the palace apart of course. There was a witch hunt extraordinaire. He executed all of the guards who were at the lantern festival."

"I was still there when that happened," said Alton.

"He interrogated then killed any consorts he found out were involved, if they didn’t have children."

"We knew that too," said Delphi. "Alton was still around for most of those atrocities. Do you have all of their names?"

Brenner listed by name the consort martyrs who had lost their lives. They were all the names she had known would be among the dead but hearing them spoken still hurt all over again. It made final what she had been pretending might not be true. Alton saw the tears gathering in her eyes and he gripped her hand and held it tightly.

"What about the other ones? The ones with children?" she asked.

"All in cold palaces now," Brenner replied. "There are a couple who weren’t implicated. Chief Consort Tang and Consort Cheales remain operative."

Delphi let out a sigh of thanks for that small mercy.

"The Chief Consort is Kai and Tingting’s auntie, that’s how they’ve been kept informed and joined the Rebellion. The Emperor has had his eyes on Tingting since she was little, but her aunt has managed to keep her out of the harem. Still, it’s only a matter of time before the Emperor comes for her. We know that Chief Consorts rarely last as they age, and her Auntie’s power over the Emperor is waning."

Delphi nodded. An all too familiar tale from prior dynasties...

"Opal’s in the same boat as Tingting. Our aunt is Consort Cheales. We’ve always been privy to the training they’ve been putting you all through, Delphi," Brenner told her.

"General Chastain," interrupted Alton.

"Sorry, General Chastain," he amended. "You’d probably be aware that the secret of this facility has been passed down for generations in our family."

Delphi nodded. "How did you guys make it to Horsham? It’s not an easy trip."

"That’s a much longer story," he laughed. "Let’s just say it was touch and go at points along the way and thank god for the metal hulled boat that we had. It rides high above the water and apparently nothing can upset it’s balance or sink it. It just kept righting itself."

"I hope you’ve moored it somewhere hidden and safe," said Alton. "That will be a real asset to the cause."

"We have," Brenner opened up a map he was carrying on his person and showed the two generals where the boat was hidden at Port Fairy.

"Ooh, that’s much closer than Phillip Island," said Delphi with delight.

She and Alton shared a smile with one another. That boat would be a huge asset for their first mission.

"Yes. The consorts decided we should come up the west coast instead of the east because of the sensitivities after your escape. It was a longer sea journey, shorter land journey. That’s why we had an indestructible boat made to order by a friendly."

"We have pigeons with us," said Kai.

"Amazing," breathed Delphi. "We couldn’t find any on Phillip Island. I guess they didn’t survive the local predators."

"There are pigeon facilities on the rooftop," said Alton. "You can take them up there later and get them housed, Kai." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

They briefed the newbies on the tubiàn and Delphi’s control over them, and that was all they had time for before Winter popped her head in.

"Party’s started," she smiled. "We’d better have the guests of honour before the men get rolling drunk and can’t string two sentences together to ’welcome’ them."

"Thank you, Winter," Delphi smiled.

They followed her down to the training room, which was prettily decorated and had a big banner reading ’Welcome New Recruits’.

Based on Baer and Niko’s volume and antics, the muscat had already been flowing. Arrie had a song playing whose chorus was ’my good looking boy’. Alton gave a huff of laughter and rolled his eyes at the tiny troublemaker.

The excitement in the room was palpable as they lead the newbies in.

Arrie and Lili, who were dancing together, waltzed straight over to talk to Kai. Cormac traipsed grumpily behind Lili. Delphi’s initial observation was that Cormac mainly glared at the newly arrived recruit and barely spoke to him, while the girls chattered ten-to-the-dozen, talking his ear off.

Opal was immediately whisked away by Baer and Niko, who poured her a drink and stood too close to her.

Delphi strode over to them. "Give the girl some room, boys," she said. "You’re crowding her out. I think you both forget how big you are. You’re probably terrifying the poor girl."

Opal, who was a scant five foot five, gave Delphi a grateful smile.

Delphi went to join Feifei, who was deep in a serious conversation with Tingting already. Delphi smiled happily as she listened to them chat. It looked like these two were going to get on famously. She had already picked their similarities. Serious, humourless girls who followed orders without question; both high-performing perfectionists.

She knew Feifei was going to have an awfully hard time telling everyone her news.

Brenner stood with Magnus and Han. Although he was deep in conversation with them, it didn’t escape Alton’s keen eye that his gaze kept flicking across to Delphi.

He didn’t blame the guy, but he really didn’t like it. The sooner he could stake a claim on the woman publicly, the better. Hopefully the mission would solidify their relationship status.

As the drinks kicked in, the dancing started, with pretty much everyone up on the dancefloor in a big group, letting their hair down.

Only Feifei and Tingting remained seated on the bleachers, still deep in conversation.

Alton had taken up residence at the drinks table, keeping an eye on proceedings. He expected he might need to step in tonight, given the heady mix of alcohol and new members of the opposite sex.

Delphi had given up on the serious pair, downed a muscat, and was now dancing with abandon alongside Indy and Loveday.

She wore a white body-con dress that was absolutely lethal, hugging her curves in all the right places, and turning somewhat see-through under Arrie’s coloured lighting.

It probably wouldn’t have mattered with the old crowd, who knew each other well and had seen an awful lot of each other’s bodies, but for poor old Brenner, it was like a flashing lure to a snapper.

Alton watched the man deliberately inching his way around the circle of dancers until he danced alongside Delphi, eyeing her with a predatory intent Alton immediately recognised, because it was the same as his own...

Delphi danced with Brenner with a sweet innocence that was completely undermined by her luscious figure, and the combination was dynamite.

It would have been a delectable show to watch if Alton’s jealousy wasn’t percolating at near boiling point.

Just as the General could bear it no longer and rose to cut in on the man, Niko shouted out, "who’s up for the Nude 100?"

Alton gave a deep sigh. Mix Niko and alcohol, and it was never long before he got his kit off.