Pioneers: Creation

Plan of Action

Plan of Action


         The endless sea of space.  So beautiful in all it’s starry glory.  There was many a person that could sit and watch such a display for hours on end, loving the sight of mother nature at it’s finest.  Aiston Malcom was not one of those people.


         Looking into the expanse of space, the noble only concentrated on one thing: the small speeder slowly making it’s way towards Aiston’s personal yacht, Venoudious - a name he remembered from a brilliant tale of war and politics, the character being a powerful and respected emperor who tragically perished at the end.  It was a beautiful yacht, Aiston thought, painted in varying shades of white and blue and holding interiors reminiscent of a large, well trimmed garden with walls of specially embroidered wood.  The speeder, on the other hand, was nothing in comparison.  Little more than another ugly hunk of grey metal floating in space, it almost made Aiston sad that such a piece of trash would actually have to dock with something as beautiful as his Venoudious.


         “My lord, docking bay B has been cleared,” the captain of the ship, Captain Wren Opress called from the end of the corridor in which Aiston stood.  The noble didn’t even turn to look at the man.


         “Nobody will near docking bay B without my explicit permission,” the prince replied, watching the speeder maneuver it’s way toward Venoudious’ rear to dock.


         “Yes, my lord,” Opress said before giving a deep bow and turning to relay the orders.  Malcom had little doubt they would be followed.  Many a crew member had been executed for the traitorous action of ignoring a simple order.  Malcom had too many secrets for some curious nobody to walk in on and willingly keeping Ruki aboard would be one of the more potentially dangerous ones.


         ‘The damnable pirate had better stay to herself while under my hospitality.  I do not need yet more bad press for being seen with such a vile creature as her,’ Malcom thought angrily to himself.  He watched for a few more seconds as the speeder finally disappeared from sight and turned to walk toward the docking bay, Yenshin in tow.


-------------------------


         Larger yachts were truly something to be amazed at in this day and age.  Particularly ones of Aiston Malcom’s variety.  The beauty of the ship was comparable to very little and the sheer comfort and technology such wonders provided was simply unmatched by anything but the richest men’s homes.  Even still, Davnick was not jealous in the least.


         The small speeder ship, Hindsight, was cozy enough as is with it’s main cabin, bedroom, bathroom and cockpit without needing all the upkeep any luxury boat would need.  But more importantly, Hindsight was one of the fastest ships a person could find.


         Originally a 30 year old piece of scrap in an industrial junkyard, Davnick had upgraded, polished and refitted the entire ship to his exact preferences.  While it still took the appearance of any old speeder, the four Echon-12B thrusters and two hidden Renand plasma blasters under the nose told otherwise.  What was once a underused thrill seeker was now an agile ship with a deadly surprise.


         Slowing the speeder down to a snail’s pace, Davnick made final adjustments to his maneuvering before setting Hindsight down within the enormous yacht.  He checked over the systems one final time and shut the engines off.  No time was wasted climbing out of the cockpit and heading for the main cabin.


         As he closed the door to the cockpit Davnick’s eyes caught sight of the reason he was here in the first place leaned up against the far wall with a smirk on her face.  Ruki turned her head to him as he entered and pushed herself off the wall.


         “Before we go out and meet this guy, you mind telling me why I’m here?” Davnick asked.  Ruki, it seemed, liked to keep her partners in the dark until the last possible minute, for whatever reason.  Davnick didn’t even know yet who this Malcom guy was, much less what they were doing for him or even why Ruki felt she needed Davnick’s help to deal with him.


         “I don’t feel like spending God knows how long dealing with rich shits like Malcom alone.  It isn’t good for business when you kill a client while you’re working for them.  I learned that the hard way.”  He had to fight off a cringe.


         “Simple enough then.  Will I actually be doing anything or getting paid?”  Ruki grinned and stepped toward him.  She stopped only inches away and looked down into his eyes with a mischievous gleam that made even him squirm.


         “Depends what you consider payment, hmm?  I guarantee you’ll be seeing plenty of action, though.”  Davnick felt something slide across his thigh and wrap around it.  He was tempted to look down and see what the object was, but found himelf too afraid of breaking eye contact with the vixen before him.


         Instead he just gave his own tempting smile and said, “In that case I have no complaints.”  Ruki’s smile widened and she stepped away, the object wrapped around his thigh going with her.


         “You ready to settle in with you first big job, rookie?” Ruki asked as she stepped beside the exit hatch.  Davnick smirked at the word.


         “Of course.  Piece of cake, right?”  Ruki turned around and Davnick saw the smirk gracing her face as well.


         “Sure.  If you can call stopping Kenshi Tamaki from throwing Malcom in jail slash killing him, capturing him and recovering a stolen item from him a piece of cake,” she said just before opening the hatch and stepping off Hindsight.


         Davnick stood there a full moment trying to keep a string of curses from exiting his lips.  Finally he shrugged his shoulders, threw on an award-winning smile and walked off his ship.


-------------------------


Name: Aiston Malcom


Alias: n/a


Age: 72


Race: Midollonian


Height: 5 ft. 2 in.


Hair: Brown


Eyes: Violet


Skin: White


Family: Hessong Malcom, Father; Kessy Malcom, Mother; Pearry Malcom, Sister click to see more


Occupation: 11th Crown Prince of Midollonian Royal Family


         Kenshi stopped reading there and leaned back against his chair.  A prince?  Ruki was actually dealing with a prince?  He looked back down and read the five page summary of Aiston Malcom’s life.


         Apparently, Mr. Malcom was a little deeper into the criminal underworld than anyone would like to expect from a prince.  Starting with age 20 he had been suspected as a major drug dealer in the galaxy.  The offenses seemed to multiply from there.  Hundreds of disappearances and deaths were suspected to be under Aiston’s belt.  132 men were ‘executed for traitorous acts’ around his presence for various reasons including a rather disturbing naval massacre he remembered hearing about just before the Terran had gone off the grid.  In his later years he’d been suspected as a ringleader in a number of spaceway robberies and pirating incidents, the latest of which would have put him in jail if not for the sudden heart attack of a key witness.


         To top everything off, Aiston’s bodyguard, Lieutenant Lyle Yenshin, had apparently been caught in a number of extortion and assault cases, yet he was somehow still guarding his employer.  He seemed to be a good bodyguard, as well.  In the five years he’d worked for Aiston he’d thwarted 13 confirmed assassination attempts on the prince.  Malcom, it seemed, was either widely hated, got himself into dangerous situations or both.


         ‘And now he wants to build a titan,’ Kenshi thought as he shut off the computer.  ‘I just have to figure out how to put this guy away before he tries for a second shot.’


         Standing up, Kenshi winced as he felt the fabric of his clothing slide against the only somewhat healed burns along his backside and arms.  He let loose a muttered string of curses and headed for the training room.


         ‘I’ve been making too many mistakes lately.  Haven’t been keeping up with my training nearly enough.  Even if I can handle it I shouldn’t be getting shot up like this.’  His scowl slowly changed into a smirk, thinking of his training from what seemed like lifetimes ago.  Back when he was still just a kid and he’d actually had trust in people.  Happiest time of his life.  Ignorance truly is bliss.  “Time to go back to my roots,” he whispered.


-------------------------


         Ruki walked off the speeder almost laughing her ass off at the look on Davnick’s face as he struggled to keep his nonchalant and flirty attitude intact.  Her own struggle was cut short, however when Malcom’s voice drifted through the air.


         “You are restricted to using only this section of my yacht.  If so much as your scent drifts out of this room you will be terminated.”  Ruki turned to see the noble standing a good 20 meters away from the ship, his bodyguard standing quietly behind him as usual.


         “I have some coordinates for you,” Ruki said, taking out a piece of paper from her subspace pocket.  Malcom frowned.


         “I am not running a transportation service.  Our agreement was for you to follow me in the shadows.”


         “You want Kenshi in your hair Malcom?  Do you really want to take the chance that he’ll find dirt on you?”


         “I am still questioning why he would succeed where others have failed,” he countered.


         “He knows what to look for.  All he needs is a link.”


         “Again, why would he succeed?”


         “He’s seen you and me together, talking in the same room” she said, guessing.  Didn’t matter in any case.  He had some sort of link and that’s all there was to it.  “Again, he knows what to look for.  He’ll find whatever he can on you, tail you and search for any opportunity he can to get you convicted which won’t be too hard considering everything you said back on Haqnen.  And even if he can’t get anything he’ll simply kill you.  He’s a soldier, formerly part of a group who’s primary training is in killing, destruction and remaining unseen while doing both.  He’s not your average bounty hunter or investigator and he has few qualms about doing anything illegal if he feels it’s right.”  She stepped forward and handed over the coordinates.


         “How will this help?” Malcom asked, hesitantly reaching for the slip of paper.


         “I have a...friend of a sort who I’ll be asking a question or two.  Should be of some use.  Might even be able to track him down.”


         “Almost makes it sound easy,” Davnick piped in from the hatch of his ship.  Ruki smirked at him.


         “You just keep thinking that.”  There was a moment of silence between the four as Malcom looked over the coordinates, Ruki and Davnick examined their new residence and the bodyguard watched over all three.  Finally Malcom broke the quiet.


         “I will allow three days to direct the course of this ship as you see fit.  As you should well know I must attend a very prominent ball in nine days.”


         “I’ll only put you off for one,” Ruki replied.  Malcom nodded.


         “Very well.  One day.”  That said, Malcom turned tail and walked away, his bodyguard doing the same a close distance behind.


         “He is a very pleasant man,” Dav said as soon as Malcom was out of earshot.


         “A pleasant man who pays well,” Ruki corrected.  “When push comes to shove,” she added under her breath.


         “Who’s the ‘friend’?”


         “Can’t wait for it to be a surprise?”


         “Well, if you put it that way...”  Ruki laughed and floated into the air.  After a bit of positioning she made as if she were lying on a bed and relaxed.  From beside the speeder Davnick stared wide-eyed at the performance.  ‘So he hasn’t seen me fly yet. Huh.’


         “How in the hell...?”


         “One of my better payments, if I do say so myself,” she said, fingering the collar.  Davnick relaxed himself after a few second and leaned back against the speeder.  He played the aloof part nicely, though she’d seen better.  Added, he couldn’t keep the questions from spewing for long.


         “How do you know this Kenshi guy?” the Frentan asked.  Ruki took a moment to ponder her answer.


         “Kenshi...is hard to describe.  Most people think we’re partners, and if you spent any good time with Ployer he’d probably tell you it’s more than that.”


         “Is it?”  If she was being completely truthful she might have to take another moment to think on that.  In this case, however, she wanted Dav to know the bare minimum.


         “No.  He’s just some guy who got betrayed for greed.  He wanted redemption through getting me.  By now I think he knows he’s beyond that.”


         “Why’s that?”


         “You sure ask a lot of questions, Dav.”


         “What can I say?  I’m a curious guy.”


         “Mhmm.  Well all you need to know is that Kenshi is dangerous.  Real dangerous.  And beside that he’s not doing this for money or redemption or revenge.  He’s doing this because that’s how he is.  He’s backed up against a corner with really nothing left to go on for but what he feels is right and wrong.  He’s got nothing else.  Nowhere to go home to, no one to call for help.  He’ll be vicious in a fight because of it.”


         Davnick had nothing to say to that.  He just nodded, sat back, pulled out a deck of cards and grinned up at Ruki.  The pirate grinned back and floated down, preparing for whatever match-up Dav had to offer.


-------------------------


         Terrace sat back into his chair as two knocks came from the door.


         “Come in,” the commander said and the doorway opened revealing the two SEALS commanders, Lieutenants Preesly and Wicks.  A frown appeared on his face as the two men walked in and stood at attention.


         “You called for us, sir?”  Wicks asked.  Terrace relaxed himself into his chair before answering.


         “I have heard in the past that you carry two of the best SEALS teams in the MMC.  Do you agree?”


         “Yes sir,” Wicks immediately responded.  Preesly remained silent.


         “Do you agree, Lieutenant?”


         “I wouldn’t know,” the older man said.  “It was never my job to keep up with such things.”  Terrace sneered.


         “Well then, let me put it to you nicely.  You, along with Wicks, have one of the worst SEALS teams I’ve ever had the opportunity to hear about.”  Both men tensed though both kept their mouths shut.  “First off, both of you were bested by a single man.  One man!  All the training and all the equipment at your disposal and you were both defeated like you were nothing!  And still I cannot figure out how in the hell you managed it.  Then you both have audacity to actually assume it was Tamaki without making any sort of identification.  Am I correct so far?”


         “Sir,” Wicks defended, “we were sent looking for two people: Ruki and Tamaki.  The man we saw matched the height and build descriptions and carried his weapon of choice...”


         “And yet you used no scanner and never saw his face.  You are not here to assume, gentlemen, so unless you know for sure then leave it out of your report.”


         “Yes sir,” both men gritted out at once.  Terrace sighed and leaned forward on his desk.


         “To be fair, I honestly believe you two did fall upon Tamaki.  Unfortunately, according to an informant, Tamaki currently holds critical information and we no longer have even a scent of the man.  To add to this, maybe the one person who could inform us more you, Lt. Preesly, let walk away.”


         “Sir, we are not an investigative unit.  We are not trained in interrogation.  We had no business even being there without the proper inte...” Preesly tried to get in, but was interrupted by a red-faced Commander Burlai.


         “Do not assume to have authority to question my orders.  And do not think that I care what kind of training you have.  You could have just as easily taken her and let someone else do the interrogations.”


         “Lynn Hower knew nothing.  All she was was a victim of a criminal.  Even if she was involved with Tamaki in some way, she was left behind by him.  If Tamaki has any intelligence in his head he wouldn’t have left her behind with useful information.  She was a blind pawn, if anything.”


         “You are not an investigative unit and yet you still feel qualified to make that judgement?”  The veteran team leader grit his teeth but kept quiet.  “I expect much better results next time, gentlemen.  I will not stand blundering fools working under me.  You are dismissed.”  Both men gave a firm salute and walked out of the room.


         When the door was shut once more Terrace flipped open his computer and read the newly decoded message.


Still traveling alongside Tango1.  No new sign of Tango2.  Recently boarded yacht Venoudious.  Traveling to unknown coordinates to meet with unknown informant.  Scheduled to take one day.  Sorry for the lack of info.  Should have something better in a day.


         Terrace gave a small smile at that.  Cecile was turning out to be a surprisingly effective spy.  Already he knew of the falling out between Ruki and Tamaki, the involvement of the ever famous noble, Malcom, and the efforts to retrieve the Titan’s information from Tamaki.  Such ongoing updates would be necessary if there were to be any chance in finding Tamaki before he put his own plans into motion, whatever those plans ended up solidifying into.


         ‘If Tamaki doesn’t return the info himself,’ some part of his brain said and Terrace frowned at the thought.  Maybe, just maybe Kenshi really wasn’t corrupt.  Maybe his involvement was meant to stop the information from falling into the wrong hands.  But that wouldn’t make any sense.  If that was true he wouldn’t have attacked the guards on the Titan and escaped with Ruki...


         ...right?


         Turning his head from such thoughts, Terrace rummaged through the papers on his desk.  One more setback in successfully capturing Ruki.  No known blood type.  It should have been expected with the pirate’s race being unknown, but it was annoying, nonetheless.


         Rubbing his temple in frustration, he started typing into his computer, making sure to keep the information basic should Ruki somehow stumble upon the mail.  If such an occurrence were to occur the mercenary would need to be able to make a good excuse fast if he would have any hope of remaining with the pirate.  Or even surviving, for that matter.


         New job.  Blood sample required.  Pays $1,000,000.


-------------------------


         “Damn boy thinks he’s the head of the universe,” Wicks said as the door shut behind him.  An older SEALS, Wicks was new to leading a team, only a year into graduating into an officer and leaving Preesly’ own team.  Preesly said nothing to the comment.  “I don’t know about you, but I despise people who take advantage of popularity.”


         The pair started walking down the corridor toward the carrier’s barracks.  Still Preesly said nothing and the younger team leader finally took notice of the silence.


         “What’s got you so quiet?” he asked, slowing down a bit.


         “We screwed up,” was Preesly’s harsh reply.  Wicks stopped at that.


         “Yeah, well people screw up sometimes.  Human nature and all that.”


         “Not like this.  We should be dead.  You, me and nearly all our men.  We were spared by a superior foe who shouldn’t have been superior.”  Wicks looked around the empty corridor trying to spot anyone who might eavesdrop.  Speaking of a mission like this was a quick route to a court marshal at best.  Assured they were alone, Wicks spoke up again.


         “But we aren’t.  We learn from our mistakes and go on.”


         “Mistakes that should never have been made.  We got cocky.”  Wicks laughed.


         “All SEALS soldiers are cocky!  They wouldn’t be a SEALS if they weren’t!”


         “Not like this.  It went too far.  We screwed up too much.”


         “So what?  There’s nothing you can do about it now.  Just go on and don’t get overconfident next time.”  Preesly shook his head and started walking forward.  He stopped once more at the turnoff into another corridor.


         “When a sword dulls you can sharpen it again.  But at some point no amount of sharpening can help for the sword has weakened over time.  Better to dispose of the sword before it breaks in a life and death battle.”  Wicks blinked as the fellow soldier’s meaning started to sink in.  “A disposed sword can go three ways from there.  It can be thrown out and forgotten, hung on the wall to display proudly to all who would notice, or it can be reshaped, remade in hopes that it will be what it once was.”  Preesly started walking once again and disappeared behind the corner.


         It was then that for the first time Wicks noticed something odd: his fellow team leader wasn’t wearing the unique golden SEALS pin which displayed his job proudly to his fellow soldiers.  A pin all SEALS operatives took pride in wearing.


-------------------------


         The bowels of the supply ship, Taneska, were deathly silent and rightly so.  Death hung in the air like a foul mist, permeating even where the three dozen bodies did not lie and the living stood in fearful wait for the thing that had destroyed over three fourths their number.


         A rattle of gunshots suddenly echoed from the sentrybots hanging inside the last corridor between the bridge and the intruder.  Another sound echoed with it.  Something strange, as if a blaster were being shot repeatedly at a pace well beyond what any laser weapon would rightfully be able to handle.  And to the growing fear and tension of the last ten men the buzzing of the four sentrybots started to stutter, indicating one or more of the small, well-armored anti-intruders was destroyed.  Finally the only sound which remained was that of the strange automatic blaster.


         As one the ten men raised their weapons, standard issue J-12 pistols with a pair of similarly standard J-23 submachine guns thrown in for good measure.  Each man shed sweat like it was a second layer of skin.  All fidgeted nervously while trying to keep their composure in another deathly silence.


         A sudden explosion caught all ten men off guard, the entry hatch to the bridge flying from it’s frame to crush the unfortunate man standing directly in front of it.  The remaining men fired as soon as the shock had worn off, pelting plasma into the smoke screen created by the explosion.


         With their focus so firmly set on the doorway and the noise of two submachine guns and seven pistols, none of the men noticed the thin steel being cut away above them.  Only one saw the 3 X 3 square of metal falling down next to him and a thunderous gunshot ended his notice while bringing everyone else’s to the hole formed in their ceiling.  Together they watched a spherical object drop down, only two of them being able to register what was about to happen before the grenade exploded.


         Two men were incinerated with the blast, another two sent flying by it’s concussive force.  Only ten eyes were conscious to look up at the ceiling and start firing their weapons, one stopping to pick up a submachine gun from the man who’d been shot.


         “Switch to AP!” one of the men shouted out.  Everyone listened, paused to flip the switch on their weapons and together they tore apart the ceiling with the slower-firing bolts of magnetically slung plasma.


         Five men heard strange automatic blaster.  Four men registered what it was and what was happening.  Three men turned to see a tall man with heavy body armor, a scouter and a weapon that looked like some sort of gattling gun firing short blasts of lasers at a frightening speed walking toward the back of a group of control panels in case he needed cover.  Two men managed to scramble for their own cover.  Only one man realized that the lasers were cutting through the control panels like they were paper.  Then there was only the one man.


         Cautiously the tall man in bulky body armor made his way around the room, searching for survivors.  There was only one, an unconscious man who’d hit his head after the grenade blast.


         “End program,” he called out in his raspy voice.


-------------------------


         A metallic hiss went out as the hatch to the VR simulator opened and Kenshi felt the headset lift itself above him.  Blinking his eyes a few times he climbed off the inclined cushion he’d been lying on for just over twenty minutes.


         “Better,” he rasped to himself.  The Taneska transport ship program hadn’t been at the hardest difficulty, but it had been very reminiscent of the drills and programs he’d run over a decade back.  It had been much too long since he’d done proper drilling, but it had come back to him rather quickly, fortunately.  This had been the seventh program he’d run.  The first he’d been killed by a few too many shots to the chest.  The five after had been with various wounds which would have left his older body on the verge of death and his new one hurting something bad.  The sixth skirmish he’d only been shot in the arm and now the seventh he’d gone wound free.


         He smiled at the thought of his enhanced body and new weapons he’d been provided.  The firestorm cannon Ally had given him put his old staple, the HG-60 LMG, to shame.  The sonic blaster, he’d discovered, surprisingly didn’t bounce off walls and bodies as he’d feared before.  Ally must have designed the frequencies in some strange way to keep everything moving.  It did, however, take down walls and doors effectively.  Maybe not as destructively as breach charges, but much more quickly.  And his body...that was a weapon on it’s own.


         Though he was still having slight balancing problems, the strength in each of his muscles made all the difference.  His speed was uncanny.  Weaving between opponents had been cakewalk.  His upper body would make a family of gorillas proud, his arms managing the virtual men as if they were children.  Very, very weak children.  His eyes caught things he’d never be able to see before.  Even bolts of plasma set on AP mode were seen every step of the way and his new reaction time gave him the chance to step out of their path.


         Ally’d been right, Kenshi hated to admit.  He appreciated it all.  He couldn’t wait to test the exosuits...


         Feeling the need to stretch and yawn suddenly, Kenshi grinned slightly.  It’d been awhile since he’d slept last, considering he’d been in combat, had been shot multiple times and had trained hard within the last 12 hours, not to mention he’d only gotten in a short nap the last time he had slept.  Wiping his forehead with a towel, Kenshi prepared for a well-needed rest.


-------------------------


         Hindsight sat within Venoudious waiting to take off at a moment’s notice.  The coordinates Ruki had given had been reached a half hour ago and nothing had happened yet, much to the annoyance of Malcom.  But Davnick couldn’t really care less about what the noble thought.  Ruki sat within the small common room of the speeder relaxing surprisingly patiently, leaving Davnick to himself within the cockpit thinking about how Ruki had to be the avatar of lady luck, especially considering her incredibly random personality and the fact that she’d wiped the floor with him in multiple card games.  That and she seemed to like him.  A lot.


         Davnick grinned, but frowned when darker thoughts started to plague his mind.  Burlai wanted a blood sample.  How the hell did you get a blood sample off someone without them noticing?  And what’s more, why couldn’t he have asked him a couple hours ago when Ruki’s blood was spread across Haqnen II like dust in a basement.  To add even more to the annoyance list, they were in the middle of nowhere.  Dead space, pure and simple.  The closest thing to them was a black hole and the next closest a star on the verge of becoming a black hole.  A waste of time.  But then he did get to be alone with a beautiful spitfire, didn’t he?


         ‘A beautiful spitfire known to kill with a smile and a laugh and with your own memory to prove it,’ he reminded himself.  Maybe screwing Ruki wouldn’t be the best idea.  ‘Hell to that, she’s got a body most people couldn’t get through intense plastic surgery and you don’t want to fuck her?  Her insanity must be contagious.  I bet I could go back there right now, get a hell of a quickie and be all the better for it.’


         Of course, that thought had just passed through his head when the navigation panel went out of wack.  Out of nowhere, literally, an enormous...something appeared only a few thousand kilometers away from the yacht.


         “I guess that’s my cue,” Davnick grumbled as he fired up Hindsight’s systems.  Jetting off into space, the mercenary could hardly believe what his viewscreen showed.


         Before him an enormous pink ship the size of a tiny oval-shaped moon sat.


         ‘...pink?’  If Davnick hadn’t known better he’d say he was looking directly at an unfortunately discolored titan.  Taking the time to pick up his jaw, Davnick maneuvered his ship toward the colossus before him.  Seconds later, the speeder jerked and Davnick found himself without control.  The oval titan thing had tractor beams.


         Shrugging, the mercenary folded his arms behind his head, leaned back and enjoyed the ride.  His speeder took three minutes to reach the dark maw of what Davnick guessed was a hangar, and when it did he sat up in confusion as he passed a large banner lit up with bright lights.


         It read: ‘WELCOME TO WONDERLAND!  ENJOY YOUR STAY!’


-------------------------


         “What a surprise visit!  I wasn’t expecting you back for a few months.  Miss me already?” Ally called up to Ruki the second the hatch to the speeder opened.


         “You know why I’m here,” the pirate replied with a scowl, walking down the ramp to be face to face with the small scientist.  “You went behind my back, Ally.”  The genius gave a stupid grin at that.


         “I did?  No, I couldn’t have.  If I had you would have already tried putting one of them spiffy swords through my head by now.”


         Gritting her teeth, Ruki ran up to the scientist with her arm outstretched, fully intending to choke Ally to the brink of death.  What she hadn’t counted on was running straight through a hologram.


         “Well, now.  Who is this handsome devil, hmm?” Ally’s nasally voice called out from behind her.  Ruki spun on her heels to see the real Ally smiling up at a very confused looking Davnick.  “I’m Ally, who might you be?”  Dav spared Ruki a quick glance before looking back at Ally.


         “Umm, Davnick.  Though you...”


         “Nice to meet you Dav,” the scientist interrupted, using the nickname prematurely much to the rookie’s surprise and Ruki’s annoyance.  “On Ruki’s behalf I’m very sorry you were dragged into this.  That girl is just waaaaaaay too horny for her own good.  Can’t say I’m much better, though.”  The childlike woman let her eyes roam up and down Davnick’s trim black clothed body in an altogether disgusting manner with a nasally giggle.  Dav certainly didn’t look too happy about it.


         “ALLY!!!” Ruki screamed, flying high-speed into the scientist...or the invisible barrier right in front of the scientist.  Rubbing her forehead from her sudden seat on the ground, the pirate looked up angrily at the ‘child’ before her.  “Quit fucking around, dammit!  The hell’s the matter with you?”


         “That’s pretty funny coming from the mouth of a nympho serial killer.  I’ll have to remember that one.”  The ensuing unearthly growl made even the scientist cringe.  For all intents and purposes, however, she kept her composure.  “Now what did you need?”


         “What did you do to Kenshi?” Ruki managed to growl out instead of the thousand curses swirling in her mind at the moment.


         “What, you didn’t know?  And here I thought you were supposed to be smart,” Ally chided with a wicked grin.


         “Just answer the damn question!”


         “Fine, fine.  No need to be pushy.  Strength enhancements, kindathium bone plating, decreased reaction time, increased bloodflow to the eyes and these nice little nanobots that can regenerate damage for him significantly faster than usual.  Fun stuff.  But I’m sure you’ve already noticed most of that.”


         “Wait, wait,” Dav piped in from just beside Hindsight.  “That’s why he’s so dangerous?  Because this so-called friend of yours made him a living tank?”


         “No,” both women said at once.  Ruki let Ally continue.  She’d talked well enough about Kenshi in the past day to last her a long time.


         “Kenshi is one of the best trained soldiers in the universe.  Maybe the best trained.  He was formerly a SEALS, but any moron who’s taken a good look at his records and seen what he’s capable of also knows he must have had some intense training before he joined.  What I gave him just enhanced what was already there.”


         “Oh,” Dav said, looking for all the universe like a reprimanded puppy.


         “Why in the hell would you help Kenshi?” Ruki asked.  Ally shot her a knowing smirk.


         “Do you really need to ask?”  If Ally weren’t behind the barrier she would have been torn apart right there.  Every muscle in Ruki’s body tensed and it took all the willpower the pirate had not to launch herself into the barrier again.  Her eyes shot to Davnick for a flicker of a second before settling back on the scientist.  Better to keep quiet and have the rookie not know everything between her and Kenshi.


         ‘The midget actually thinks she did me a favor.  Thinks I wanted a big, strong Kenshi Tamaki to wrap myself around.  So she makes my rival able to compete and probably beat me in just about any physical competition.  Then she just throws him on my front porch so she can show off everything she did.’  A number of images of Kenshi making love to her passed through her mind.  ‘FUCK!!!  The fairy was right!’  “Where is he now?”


         “I could tell you that.  But it would be easier just to stick with Prince Charming for the time being.  I doubt he’ll even give you time of day until Malcom is taken care of.  And right now, his ship is faster than yours.  If you were to find him he’d probably just run.”


         Ruki gritted her teeth.  Damn her for being right.


         “Is that all?  I’m a very busy woman, you know,” Ally said, actually looking and sounding somewhat serious.


         “Yeah,” Ruki replied hesitantly.  “Fine.”  Turning to board the speeder, she was stopped by a hand grabbing her flailing tail.  She spun around to glare at a grinning Ally.  “What?” she barked.  The scientist handed her a rectangular package.


         “A little something for you to open in a few days.  I’m sure you’ll like it.”  The pirate stormed off into the speeder, a confused Davnick following slowly behind her.  “Come back any time, my handsome little cutie pie!  I’ll be sure to give you the proper attention next time,” the scientist called after Dav and Ruki heard his pace quicken.  Ally’s cackling followed the ship long after it had taken off for Venoudious.


-------------------------


         Screams and gunshots.  Blood on his hands.  Plasma and explosions tearing through corridors and rooms.  People running everywhere, only the survivors running away.  All but him.  Comrades piled onto the floor with a glazed, dead look in their eyes alongside the corpses of opponents.  A burning in his chest.  Behind it all stood a tall man with a large pistol.  Two fiery eyes gazed upon his wounded frame in amusement, a wicked smile spreading across his lips.  The plastic in his hand felt like an extension of him.  He felt himself grin back.


         Kenshi sat bolt upright and breathed heavily.  He looked around wildly for a few seconds before calming himself.  Wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, Kenshi threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.


         “Damn memories,” he mumbled to himself as he stumbled into the bathroom.  A shower and change of clothes later had the former soldier sitting in front of the computer looking blankly over any records having to do with Aiston Malcom.  It was repeated information from earlier over and over again, much to his boredom, but it was something to take his mind off the betrayals of a past life.


         Hundreds of crimes passed in front of Kenshi’s eyes.  Murders, kidnapings, robberies, drug deals, black market deals, highjackings and even a few rapes showed up on the screen.  Just the same, information about the noble’s extended family showed up.  His mother, father and sister - all dead - the aunts uncles and cousins who made up a third of Midolloni nobility and even the emperor, his wife and their children came as various links under Malcom’s name.  High brow events he frequented showed up, as well.  Starnika Fair, the universally known festival celebrating the famous holiday going all the way back to stone-age religious times; TWV Day, or Terran War Veteran’s Day, parade on New Terrioc City, an obvious celebration for the many survivors of the bloody war; Midollonian Independence Day on Midolloni City, the day celebrating the end of the Kerosian-Midolloni civil war way back when Kerosia was more than just a nomadic military group, but a nearly universal presence; and of course the ever-famous Cindelliac Ball, a nobility event aimed at everyone in Midolloni regulated space used as a way to keep alliances, relieve tensions and set up future friendships.


         Kenshi stopped at that last one.  The date on that was 4/27.  That was in nine days.


         ‘Bingo,’ he thought to himself with a smile.  The smile quickly turned into a frown.  Only the high level nobles and their guards got into the Cindelliac Ball and maybe an MMC representative or two.  Malcom probably got in only for the fact that he was a prince under Midolloni.  11th level princes wouldn’t likely get in from anywhere else unless they had done something spectacular.


         ‘But how the hell am I supposed to get in?’  The answer was simple enough: become one of the top bodyguards in the MMC within nine days.  It was time to head back to Midolloni.


-------------------------


         The famed 11th prince didn’t even wait for Ruki to step out of the scrap heap before he called out, “How was your trip?”  The pirate didn’t so much as glance in Malcom’s general direction.  She just walked out and sat on a metal crate.  “Is there anything I should know about?” he asked, annoyance touching his voice.


         “No,” was the monotone reply.  With a frown Malcom turned his attention toward the second pirate.


         “And what about you?  Do you care to share any information with me?”  The Cecile boy shrugged and grinned at the noble.


         “Nothing much to tell.  Person didn’t know much.”  The frown deepened.


         “Am I to assume this was a wasted trip?”


         “Assume whatever the hell you want.  There’s nothing I was told you in any way need to know,” Ruki spoke up.


         “Then why are we out here?” Aiston asked, making no effort to hide his annoyance.


         “I have a contact out here who might’ve known where Kenshi is.  They didn’t.  Alright?” Ruki raised her voice and stood up.  The look on her face made the noble take a step back unconsciously and Yenshin to step forward warningly.


         “If that is the case we are leaving.”


         “Fine,” Ruki said with a wave of dismissal.  Malcom did not hide his scowl.  In fact, he kept it up just long enough to make sure Ruki noticed before he spun around and walked towards his personal cabin.


         The pirate would die.  But first there was the matter of his titan.


-------------------------


         Davnick waited until he was sure Malcom left before he started speaking to the pirate.  “Why did that Ally girl help Tamaki?”  Ruki looked up from her seat on a crate.


         “Forget it.  She just owed him something.”  It was an obvious a lie, otherwise she wouldn’t have reacted in such a way to Ally’s words.  But he wasn’t about to argue with her about it and she said it with such a good poker face he felt obliged to give her credit.


         “What about finding him?”


         “Ally was right.  We’ll have a better chance to get him if we just stay with Malcom.”


         “Ok...  But how does she know all of this?”  He was a bit curious how the scientist seemed to know everything that had happened only hours before.  It was a scary thought wondering if she knew who he was.  Luckily such information would be hard to come by.  Chase was good with protecting his men.


         “HA!  Just try to wrack your brain on that one.  You’ll go as crazy as she is!”  He wasn’t completely sure Ruki saw the hypocrisy of that statement.


         Davnick observed the pirate closely.  Whatever Ally had hinted at hit her hard.  After Haqnen II he didn’t think it was possible for Ruki to be serious.  Now here she was acting like someone had just run over her pet dog.


         ‘Yeah right.  I can just see her laughing her ass off at that.’


         He observed her for minutes on end.  If it wasn’t for her breathing he’d have thought she was a statue, she was holding so still.  “Are you alright?” he felt himself asking and mentally slapped himself.  Better not to make conversation with nutcases in a bad mood.  It seemed to snap her right out of it, fortunately.


         “Hmm?  Why wouldn’t I be fine?”  Davnick could name a dozen things right off the top of his head, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t go over well with the pirate.  A morose killer was enough to deal with without making her angry as well.  But he wasn’t Davnick Cecile if he couldn’t cheer a woman up.


         “You look out of it.  Like you haven’t slept in days.  Anything I can do to help out?” Davnick asked.  She shrugged.


         “Whatever.  I’m fine.”  He could see her looking at him in a not-so-discreet manner.  So maybe the nympho tales had some truth to them...


         “You could always be a little better.”  Damn.  That woman could give a smile that would send a priest to hell.  And those fangs...cripes.  Erotic, though he’d have to avoid trying to get her to go down on him.  Ouch.


         “Oh I’m good.  I’m very good.”  He frowned and threw his arms in the air jokingly.


         “Your loss.  Apparently you don’t want the universe’s greatest massage.”


         “Now there’s an arrogant boast.  You actually think you can give a better massage than me?”  He smiled at her and caught a glimpse of some expression that he couldn’t say he entirely liked.


         “I have a very tried and true technique,” Davnick defended.


         “And I’ve got gifted fingers,” Ruki pressed.


         “Is that right?  Gifted enough to outdo my abilities?  Excuse me for questioning such a thing.”


         “You’re questioning my abilities?” she said in an impatient growl that almost made him jump.  And in that moment he was once again reminded that this was a psychopathic killer standing before him.  One who’d broken a couple of nasty records.  A quick vision flashed before him: Ruki with her plasma swords smiling happily as she cut away the attackers at Ployers Place.  Blood was everywhere, but she didn’t care.  She just kept killing and killing and killing...all the while smiling so happily...


         ‘Keep calm, Davnick,’ he thought to himself.  ‘So she’s defensive of herself.  Tread carefully but don’t get scared now.’  Out loud he said, “Of course not.  Though I’d like to test such abilities first-hand.”


         Ruki didn’t need further hint.  As she leapt at him Davnick had one last coherent thought before lust overtook him: ‘All women love Dav.’


-------------------------


         She couldn’t get her damn mind off of him.  Why couldn’t she get her mind off him?!  The guy was different, that was for certain, but not that different.  And he could probably relate to her in his pessimistic view of people.  But Kenshi was so different from her!  He managed to care somewhat about the universe around him while she couldn’t even remember a time when she’d held such feelings.  He held himself back while she always followed her desire.  And to top it all off, Kenshi hated her!  Always had, always would.  And while she never really hated him, they were still rivals.


         She knew what it was.  She’d just spent too much time with him over the years.  Not enough vacation since she’d gone alone again.  She’d had much more contact with the former SEALS than with anybody else since she’d met him and her pathetic mind had naturally formed feelings that simply weren’t there.  Feelings that didn’t exist for her.  But dammit!  Why did this have to happen with Kenshi?!


         “Are you alright?” Davnick’s voice cut through her thoughts.


         “Hmm?  Why wouldn’t I be fine?”  She watched an almost genuine smile cross his lips.  It looked strange on his usually charming face, but still just as attractive.  The guy was handsome.  Real handsome.  A womanizer who thought he was God’s greatest gift, but damn did God do something right with him.  Probably great in the sack if he had half the experience she suspected he did.


         “You look out of it.  Like you haven’t slept in days.  Anything I can do to help out?” he asked.  Ruki shrugged.


         “Whatever.  I’m fine.”  A distinct glint came to his eyes.  One she knew she very much wanted to follow up on.  Get some annoying thoughts out of her head.


         “You could always be a little better.”  That earned him a seductive smile.


         “Oh I’m good.  I’m very good,” she said.  He gave an exaggerated frown and threw his hands into the air.


         “Your loss.  Apparently you don’t want the universe’s greatest massage.”


         “Now there’s an arrogant boast.  You actually think you can give a better massage than me?”  The smile returned.  Dammit.  She wasn’t in the mood for these games.  She didn’t have the patience for this right now.  Still, she stayed put.  No use scaring the rookie.


         “I have a very tried and true technique,” he said teasingly.


         “And I’ve got gifted fingers.”


         “Is that right?  Gifted enough to outdo my abilities?  Excuse me for questioning such a thing.”


         “You’re questioning my abilities?” Ruki growled out a little more harshly than she had meant.  Impatience and people questioning her - even jokingly - were not two thing that went well in the temperamental mind of the famous sociopath and Davnick seemed to catch onto this by the flash of fear she saw run down him.


         “Of course not,” he got out slightly more quickly than he might have otherwise.  “Though I’d like to test such abilities first-hand.”


         She had enough of this game.  Hell, she just wanted a good fuck to get her mind off her rival.  Jumping from the crate she tackled Dav, nearly crushing him against her in a massive bear hug while her tail took to work holding their waists together.  Her hands worked in a fury ripping clothes from both their bodies and in seconds she had her shirt open, both their pants undone and was being as passionate as a dog in heat.


         “Shit,” Dav gasped as she moved against him.  She looked down at him lustily, but it wasn’t Dav she saw lying below her.  Kenshi’s green eyes stared back at her with a fire she’d never imagined he had.  His large hands caressed her firmly as he moved himself against her in perfect rhythm to her motions.


         Moaning, Ruki leaned down to press herself even tighter to the man below her and locked lips with him.  Tongues sparred, both exchanged muffled moans and neither dared break eye contact.  It seemed like blissful eternity before she saw the fire in Kenshi’s eyes turn to napalm at the same time as all his muscles tensed under her.  He broke the kiss and let out a loud, throaty moan, finally breaking eye contact, to her dismay, before exploding into her and settling down.


         Letting him relax for the moment, Ruki let her eyes travel over the lean, muscular body before her that seemed to dwarf her own.  She gazed lovingly into forest green eyes and bitterly watched them slowly change to chestnut while his short red hair became shoulder-length and brown.  The large body between her legs grew smaller and smaller, the muscles shrinking until she gazed at a form slightly smaller than her own.  She suddenly felt strangely uncomfortable under the glossy gaze of the man below her.


         ‘Damn,’ she thought to herself shakily as she stood up and fixed her clothes.  Not even Dav - a man significantly more handsome and charming than Kenshi - could sway her traitorous head.  WHY COULDN’T SHE GET HIM OFF HER MIND?!?!?!


-------------------------


         “You called for me, sir?” Roce Giznek said as he entered the office of Emperor Berin Midolloni, head of the Royal Family and the primary power in the galaxy.  He had been a young emperor and had grown into the position well over the decades.  Now, at the age of 86, the emperor nearing middle-age was one of the most respected leaders the galaxy had ever had.  With a soft touch, the man had a current popularity of 82% and with his preference to know his top leaders personally he was well-liked by those who surrounded him.  Roce was one of his favorite MMC leaders.


         Midolloni looked up from a pile of paperwork no man alive should have to deal with and nodded to the admiral.  He was a slight man with a pale, lean face typical of his family and peppered blonde hair pushed back just down to his shoulders helping frame a pair of kindly blue eyes.


         “Roce, it is good to see you again.  How have you been?”


         “Fine, fine.  But with all due respect, I hope this is not a social call.  I am unfortunately quite busy at the moment...”


         “No, of course not.  I doubt you will like what I have to say, however.”  Giznek narrowed his grey eyes at the man nearly 37 years his younger.  This was going to turn out bad.  “Roce, I want you to attend the Cindelliac Ball next week.”


         “Sir, I...”


         “Leaders are getting antsy.  Word has leaked about the Titan.  I need a man who knows what’s going on to give them answers.  I find you are the best option.”  Bad.  Bad!  BAD!!!  He already had pirates tearing the galaxy to pieces right now without having to deal with some formality event.


         “Sir, I have messes to clean up all over the place.  I don’t have time to spare to be some sort of rumor control,” the Admiral said gruffly, hoping the emperor would see reason in this.


         “I need someone who can tell these people what’s going on and someone they can trust.  Otherwise we’ll be facing galaxy-wide panic.  I doubt that would help matters for you.”


         “What about the defense advisor?”


         “He knows nothing.”


         “The MMC Grand Marshal?”


         “The same.  These people need someone with a real connection to the Titan.  They need someone popular who knows what they’re talking about.”


         ‘I have almost no idea what’s going on with the Titan!’ Giznek’s mind screamed, but he dared not say it.  Wouldn’t do for the emperor to know his top admiral knew little of one of the prime dangers to the galaxy at the moment.  Instead he said, “What about the commander in charge of the retrieval?  I know he has someone tracking those responsible.  To my knowledge he isn’t doing much other than waiting at the moment.”  Midolloni tapped his chin lightly in thought.  “He’s a hero as well.  A survivor from the Orlius incident three years back.”


         “Really?” the emperor asked, his interest piqued.


         “Yes sir.”  Midolloni seemed to think on it for a moment.


         “And you’re sure this commander can spare the time for such an event?  I would like this to end without any further hitches.”


         ‘How considerate of him,’ Gizneck thought, suppressing a scowl.  “Yes,” he affirmed.  Midolloni nodded.


         “Very well.  Get him instead.  Although I am very disappointed you cannot make it.”


         “My apologies sir.”


         “Have a nice day, Admiral,” the emperor said, turning his attention back to his paperwork.


         “You too, sir.”  And with that, Giznek left the office of the Emperor of Midolloni.


-------------------------


         The ringing in Terrace’s cabin had him rolling off the bed and crashing to the floor somewhat painfully.  Grumbling mixed curses, the commander stood up, pulled on a robe and switched on the vid phone.


         “Burlai here,” he said groggily.


         “Commander,” the voice of Admiral Giznek cut through any grogginess the Terran had and got him sitting straight and at attention.


         “Admiral Giznek, sir.”


         “Have you any updates?”


         “I have a lead and am following it.  It will, however require some more time.”


         “Good.  Then you will have time to attend the Cindelliac Ball.”


         “Sir?”


         “The emperor wants someone to help as rumor control for the leaders of the galaxy.  I decided it would be best to send you.”


         “Thank you, sir,” Terrace gritted out.  What a waste.


         “You will receive your invitation upon arrival at Koskov’s command wing.  Goodnight, Commander.”


         “Goodnight, sir.”  The screen turned black as the phone shut off.


         Shit.  Now he had to go to Midolloni.  Not that it was a terrible place, but he had work to do.  There was much planning in need of finishing and Cindelliac would likely put much of that off until the party was over.  Wonderful.  Sighing, the Terran walked back to bed and quickly fell into sleep once more.