After all these years loyally serving Haqqislam, people seem to have forgotten that Saladin was loaned by ALEPH via O-12 to the Bourak authorities.
The Recreation was the liaison officer of the Bureau Aegis with the Haqqislamite High Command, but his personal involvement with his adoptive nation and his worth as a strategic planner would make him fully integrate into the Haqqislamite command ranks, his remaining role as a liaison with the Bureau relegated to the background. It was not an easy or simple process, doubts and suspicions towards Saladin were constant and even the Old Man of the Mountain subjected him to the constant vigilance by a Hassassin team. However, over time, the full dedication of Saladin and the relevance of his contributions in the Paradiso conflict would dispel the doubts of many, to the point that even the Old Man of the Mountain reduced the intensity of their vigilance over him. This does not mean he is not watching him, the difference is that now he does it imperceptibly for everyone, for everyone except for Saladin, who always knows how to recognize the presence of his shadow, giving him a slight bow and a smile.
However, the one who does not forget, the one who cannot afford to forget what Saladin’s true affiliation is or should be is the Bureau Aegis. An organization with a wide spectrum and a jurisdiction that covers the entire Human Sphere, which is always in need of funds to be able to fulfill its duty, cannot leave behind such a valuable resource as Saladin. Thus, after the crisis unleashed with the opening of the Cerberus wormhole and the deployment of the Combined Army in Helheim, the Bureau requested the re-entry of Saladin into its ranks. At first, this request was rejected by the Haqqislamite High Command, alleging “the moments of extreme need faced by Haqqislamite citizens on ISC: SALADIN, NAVAL LIAISON OFFICER Paradiso”.
Nevertheless, Saladin, with his usual elegance and fairness, interceded for the Bureau before the Diwan al Jund, suggesting a possible part-time collaboration without ever abandoning his duties with the High Command of the Sword of Allah. The Recreation knew how to play its cards well, pointing out the political advantages of collaboration, in addition to the fact that neither Haqqislamite citizens nor humanity by extension, had any interest in Concilium falling into alien hands. At his own request, Saladin was assigned to the command section of Starmada, allowing him not only to act on the symptom of the problem, which is Helheim’s beachhead but also to get to the root of the problem, Cerberus. In addition, this destination gave him greater mobility, allowing him to return to Paradiso more easily. Despite this, Starmada seems to have been the worst destination he could have chosen, the place where he could have been the worst received.
Too many naval officers from the Bureau Aegis have too much past history with Haqqislamite corsairs who could have acted on orders from Saladin himself. So, once again, the Recreation is in a position where each piece of advice provided, each decision made will be questioned, and must prove its worth one day or another as well. Of course, this is nothing that Saladin was not accustomed to or that he did not live before when he was assigned as a liaison to the Haqqislamite command. Nor is it something he was not prepared for, for it would be naive to think that a man of his intelligence had not foreseen a scenario like this.
And despite everything, despite the obstacles and difficulties, he volunteered for the position, assuming it with a royal dignity typical of the kings of yore—the kings who earned their crowns with the sword, as he himself had done—because, as he pointed out, it was the best option for both humanity and Haqqislam, the nation he carries in his heart.
