Space Odyssey: Spectre

"You landed on a red space so you lose the token you got last turn." Jordan explained as she rolled a dice and moved her own piece forward. Landing on a question space. "Dad, you draw it for me."

Jace leaned forward and pulled the card. He then raised an eyebrow before reading the question. "On what human adapted planet do the bears have an exoskeleton that is black but with a slightly red finish for the females of the same species?" He saw Jordan scruff up her face. "Oh come on, you have to get this right." Jace remarked then there was a beep from his communication device.

"This is the High Priestess along with my war council. What do you want, Commander of Cerberus?" The High Priestess asked. She sounded annoyed.

"To tell you that the colony planet at the edge of the galaxy occupied by foreign countries is our problem." Jace started as he watched Jordan make a thoughtful expression.

"Jace, if they are ending out an emergency message-"

"An automated message. The repeating algorithm was fairly obvious." Jace interrupted her when suddenly Jordan looked up with her eyes shining.

"Kamot!" She practically yelled. "It is a planet in the Kamot system. Only Kamot Prime has the bear with the red hued exoskeleton."

Jace handed her the card with the answer and she quietly cheered as she added a token to her stack. "Are you... playing with your daughters?" The High Priestess asked in what was definitely astonishment. Jace did not respond and she continued a moment later. "We know it is an automated message but that does not stop the politicians from wanting us to reassign the liberation unit."

"Tell them if they send the liberation unit to my territory I will consider them enemy combatants." Jace answered as Cho rolled next. She got a six and quietly cheered. The six brought her tiger to a green space. So she got double tokens.

"I will but they might still try something." The High Priestess pointed out. "Not to mention that the growing anti-Cerberus faction among the politicians will try to push us. But if you can assure us by telling us about your plan. I can at least prevent any reason from the military to interfere if I have a good enough reason."

"That is fairly easy." Jace rolled the dice and frowned when he rolled a one on the dice. He moved his forward one and landed on an exclamation point. He reached for a card and pulled it. "Cerberus plans to corner the remainder of the foreign galactic nation’s space ships in another system. While we will maintain a presence in that system and use the occupying forces calls for assistance as bait. We are also going to have to get in-depth scans of the planet and coordinate with the ground force which will take a month and a half at least. Longer if they have set up surface to space weapons."

"Could you not move in now?" Someone asked.

"No, too many of the surrounding systems have foreign galactic armadas occupying them. Spreading our resources to retake a planet right now will just spread our resources thin. While bringing in outside forces from another area will just be a waste of life since we do not know for sure what the defenses on the planet are." Jace explained as he read the card and then turned it around so the girls could see it.

"So we can’t move in because if we blitzed it the defenses they are using could take out our people. We can’t bomb the planet because they are using the colonists as shields." The High Priestess explained. She probably already understood the situation. She just needed her other commanders to fully understand as well.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!" Jordan announced as all three of them held out their hands before making a symbol with their hands. Jordan held up scissors. Jace held up paper. While Cho made scissors as well.

Jace pursed his lips while Jordan and Cho collected tokens from the larger pile rather than him. If he had tokens they would have taken them from him. But since he didn’t, they had to take them from the bank.

"Then does Cerberus need any additional resources?" One of the officers asked. "We got the politicians to stop withholding resources."

"No, we are fine. Very self-sustaining." Jace answered as Jordan rolled a two and moved onto a green space.

"Is that all you wanted to talk about then. Warning us away from moving into Cerberus territory?" The High Priestess asked as Cho rolled a four and moved to a question space. Jordan picked up a question card.

"It is." Jace answered. He then ended the communication.

"What nation has themed themselves after ancient Earth’s Germany during the Second World War?" Jordan asked and then watched Cho’s expression change several times.

"I think I remember this one." Cho grumbled in annoyance. "They were teaching it in ancient history the other day." She clicked her tongue. "A bunch of the original founding nations of this galaxy took inspiration from ancient Earth countries. Oda took on Japan’s theme and... the Kaiser! The Kaiser Imperium took on the German theme."

"Correct!" Jordan yelled.

"While they did take on the theme. Their form of government was fundamentally different. Because most nations took on a monarchy. It was rare in those early days for one to do something different." Jace explained to them as he rolled the dice and moved three spaces. Going a few spaces and arriving on an exclamation point.

"How do you know that much about it?" Jordan asked.

"Because I like history and archeology and learning about hidden secrets of the past is a hobby of mine." He drew the card and read it aloud. "Roll a dice each and bluff about your number. If anyone guesses your number you lose a token and they get a token. If you manage to bluff your way through you get a token. If you manage to say your number and no one guesses it then you get two tokens."

Jace’s communicator buzzed and he answered it. "Commander Jace." He spoke into his device as Cho pulled out some more dice from the box. She then handed him and Jordan one each.

"Jace. What game are you and the girls playing?" Salem asked. "Also the military council meeting ended with some of them commenting on your improper meeting etiquette since you only used voice and not hologram."

"Okay." Jace shrugged and then he and the girls rolled their dice and then hid the outcomes.

"We are playing Accer, Humans, and Besties, Oh My!" Jordan yelled as she pointed out at Jace. "You go first since you pulled the card."

Jace nodded. "Okay, I have three."

"You’re gonna try and get more tokens so I think you do have a three on your dice!" Cho answered instantly and then Jordan made a scrunched up and thoughtful expression.

"Oh? The intellect and luck training game. I think MILD developed sometime in the last year." Salem explained.

"I do not think dad is that desperate. He has a different number. Four?" Jordan declared confidently.

Jace blinked and then brought his hand back to reveal a four on his dice. "What made you think of picking four?"

Jordan shrugged as she collected a token from the pile. "Just did. Cho’s turn!"

Jace chuckled and responded to Salem. "Yeah we are playing that game. Jordan thinks I will be better at boardgames rather than video games." Jace told her.

"I have the number two on my dice." Cho stated confidently. When she spoke Jace analyzed her statement and realized she was telling the truth.

Jordan frowned even more than before speaking. "You are... lying?" She tilted her head. "Are you doing a psychic thing?" Jordan asked.

"No." Cho hurriedly shook her head. She was lying.

"Five. I think your number is five." Jordan decided.

"She was using her psychic thing, whatever that is and her number is two." Jace told them as he collected a token as Cho revealed her two and frowned.

"How could you tell?" Cho asked suddenly.

"He was probably watching your facial and bodily expressions. He could also listen to your heartbeat if he wanted but he was probably not doing that." Salem explained over the communication device.

Both Cho and Jordan looked at the device then at each other and then at Jace. "Is that one of those nano ability thingies?" Cho asked with a frown.

"It is not." Jace answered. "It is a talent I spent time training." Jace explained.

"It does help that his senses were enhanced when he got an ability for his original system awakening." Salem declared. "The first time he told me about it I was surprised until I realized the reason he told me was so I would clean up after myself more."

"Dad! That’s cheating!" Cho declared.

Jace raised an eyebrow. "I do not think you have a place to speak." Jordan pointed out before looking at her own dice and shifting through several facial expressions. "I have a six on my dice." She claimed.

"Mmmm..." Salem mumbled under her breath. Jace rolled his eyes when the girls looked at him.

"Two. You have a number two on your die." Jace told her.

"I think you have a six!" Cho declared.

Jordan revealed a two on her dice. "How did you do that?" She asked towards Jace.

"Your voice denoted you were lying." Salem informed them.

"I also saw a reflection of your number in your eye when you checked it." Jace told them.

"Now that is insane." Salem declared.

There were a few minutes of silence. "Dad, you are weird." Cho told them.