[IC] Grim Galaxy: Shots and Chances

[Penny]

Sayeeda took the weapon she had selected from Neil. It was a police issue rifle with a combination of firing modes and a plastic case of dull non-reflective plastic. She found a bandolier and put several magazines into its pouches before slinging it over her shoulder. Aiden chuckled and Sayeeda cocked a questioning eyebrow.

“It really completes the ensemble,” he explained gesturing to her torn evening dress and sparkling finery.

“I doubt the dress makers would approve of such accents,” he went on drawing an old fasioned pistol from a box and checking the weight. The thing looked to be made of gold, but judging from how easily Aiden lifted it, it was a decorative plating.

“I wouldn’t be so sure, I think that the staff could give most combat crews a run for their money. Particularly if you suggest that sapphires and silver can work as a color combination.” Aiden snickered and racked the slide on his pistol.

Neil passed Taya a needle stunner, the weapon as small and theoretically non lethal although Junebug was just as glad that the girl seemed to be remembering her lessons about muzzle control.

“Alright, lets do it.”

“Are you sure this is safe?” Aiden yelled over the howling intakes of the stolen air car. Sayeed laughed as the wind tore at her hair.

“If you want safe you are in the wrong car tonight!” she yelled back. The aircar was a high powered sports model they had snatched of the street. A few minutes with a cutting bar had sliced the top off in an effort to decrease the weight. At Neils insistence they had stripped the guidance system, emergency fail safes and every other component that wasn’t essential to the drive train or the control systems. Even the doors had been cut away to bring the power to weight ratio as high as could be achieved. Taya finished a series of keystrokes on her data pad. She looked terrified and was clearly wishing she had a helmet. Junebug as making do with a pair of shooters glasses from Ranalds apartment. A light on the pad went from red to green and Taya gave her a thumbs up.

“The code was good, the system won’t recognise us as friend or foe, it should just ignore us!” The wind was intense without a windshield of any kind but it couldn’t be helped, the heavy bullet proof glass had been to heavy to save. Approaching the palace, even with the transponders foxed, would have been impossible. Emergency back ups meant to avoid air car crashes would have been tripped. In order to enter the palace they had to come in nearly vertically and without power until the last possible second. Neil said it was possible and that was good enough for Junebug.

“Alright Neil, fire her up,” she commanded.

“Hold onto your a…” The car slammed upwards through Junebug’s legs as Neil rammed the throttle to the gates. The sickening sense of acceleration crushed them to their chairs as the car surged skyward at several hundred kilometers an hour. The pressure lasted only five or ten seconds before Neil chopped the throttle to nothing and killed the engines. The car as still hurtling upwards on nothing but momentum. The pilot flexed his hands over the controls as the wind whipped past them. The approach as an extremely high parabola. The huge burst of acceleration would carry them high into the heavens and then gravity would bring them down. If Neils calculation and piloting were correct that should be ontop of the north tower.

The lights of Dar’mond glitterex below them like diamonds as their speed slowed. For a queasy moment there was equilibrium as the car reached the top of its arc. Sayeeda had never liked roller coasters, but then she had never liked rather a lot of things and she didn't let them get in the way of doing her job. The car plummeted downwards in a ballistic course as terrible and predictable as anything Newton could have imagined. She gripped her seat belt and counted silently, knowing that life or death depended on Neil sticking this landing.
@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

"This is what I live for," Neil said, though his voice wasn't screamed so there was no way for anyone to hear through the gale force winds that pummeled the passengers of the car into their seats. The pilot grinned despite the obvious insanity this was. Fast ships, fast cars, lots of guns. He knew what he wanted out of life, and those were definitely some top picks for him. "Hold on to something!" He cried out as the car began to plummet back to the planet.

The seconds went by painfully slow, and Taya began to scream as Sayeeda closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Aiden began to yell for his life, gripping the seat. Only Neil seemed perfectly at ease, his eyes focused on the task at hand. The Palace suddenly grew in size as their velocity increased exponentially. Neil turned the car slightly to the left to give it just that much more of a tipping balance, and soon their car's electromagnetic field beneath it grabbed ahold of the wall as they dived past it.

Gradually, too gradually, their car began to slow as the ground came up to meet them. Sayeeda gripped Neil's arm in a reflex, but the Pilot simply rerouted the direction and slammed on the breaks, causing the car to spin on its axis once as it grinded to a halt, before the bumper lightly tapped the ground and broke the taillight.

"Aw, are you kidding me!?" Neil shook his head in frustration. Luckily they had taken out the car alarm or they would be in deep shit. Neil gave the others a wink. "And you guys were worried," he said, sliding the car off the wall as he increased the vertical thrusters, letting it slip gracefully from a vertical to a horizontal position ontop of the grand Balcony of Alexander's Palace Wing. Neil unbuckled his seatbelt, letting out a breath.

Neil's voice grew into a baritone as he spoke like an airflight announcer, obviously joking. "Thank you for choosing Neil for all your travel needs. If you have any questions or concerns, you can kiss my ass."
@Penny

[Penny]

Junebug stepped from the car with the rolling grace of a combat veteran unassing a vehicle. Despite the nerve shattering ride in, long experience and muscle memory meant that she didn’t freeze up or stumble under pressure. Taya and Aiden faired worse stumbling from the car as though motion sickness was about to make them lose whatever was in their stomachs. Neil dropped gracefully to the balcony also, clearly impressed with his flying as indeed he had every right to be.

The night around them was quiet after the howling winds of the approach, although the distant thrum of aircar fans was a presure you could feel in your bones. Not for the first time Sayeeda was pleased that the palace restricted the use of the camera drones that were an omnipresent feature of life everywhere else in the city. It wouldn’t do to have an audience.

The balcony itself was nearly big enough to have accommodated the Highlander, though Junebug would not have vouched for the structure taking the ships immense weight. It was made of the ubiquitous white marble and sported beds of carefully manicured plants and trees. A hot tub steamed at one end where the occupants could look out over the glittering city lights. The whole area was tastefully lit with small recessed lighting which cast a moonlight ambiance which must have been extremely expensive. And this was just a balcony, Junebug would not have imagined that the vast appartment they had been assigned could be made to feel second rate but here they were.

“Stop!” Taya hissed as Aiden reached for the door. The prince paused with his hand halfway to the handle of a large door of blackened glass. He cocked an eyebrow at the young blonde. Taya lifted a small scanner of some sort to emphasis the words.

“There is a security screen,” Taya whispered as though they hadn’t just landed an air car on a balcony.

“Can you deactivate it?” Aiden asked glancing back over his shoulder. The door banged open and a beautiful woman in a see through shift stepped through the door. The woman looked at the group in confusion. Her eyes went from the butchered aircar to the group strung out on the balcony and their very obviously displayed weapons. Junebug shot her twice from less than a meter away. The weapon was nearly silent hissing like a soda can opening. Compressed air fired needles of polarized crystal into the womans chest. The woman looked down in shock and opened her mouth to scream. Before her lungs could draw breath the alternating currents the crystal produced dropped her in a twitching heap. Froth flecked her lips as the muscles spasmed uncontrollably.

“Who is that?” Aiden asked looking a little wide eyed. Sayeeda stepped around the fallen woman and stuck her foot in the door before it could swing shut.

“Some woman,” Sayeeda said with a shrug, “I have no idea.”

“But you shot her!”

Junebug stepped through the open door and looked back at her companions.

“I don’t know most of the people I shoot, someone tape her and lets do what we came to do.”

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

After Neil's first and only love had died on Fortus, he'd appreciated many beautiful women and had an almost hormonal desire to protect such precious commodities because they provided a much needed service as far as he was concerned. Plus they filled the void, however little, of what he once had. But he didn't feel that way recently, nor did he at the moment (much). He didn't really know why. "Don't worry," he said, patting Aiden on the shoulder. "She's still alive. Oh!"

Neil knelt down and rolled the woman over onto her stomach as Taya wiggled past them, terror from the thought of Sayeeda's merciless nature evident in her eyes. "Don't want her to suffocate on her tongue." he explained, and bound her hands and dainty feet. Aiden followed behind Taya, and Neil took up the rear. Aiden was clearly put off by the casual shooting, but Neil could tell the man would have to admit it was lucky to have someone run out there and open the door for them.

To say the inside was lavish and decadent would be a gross understatement. Tapestries and curtains made of the finest deruvian silks cascaded down the walls and separated the outer rooms, substituting solid doors. When Neil pulled them aside, they felt as soft as a dancer's thighs. The floor looked uniform, yet it was sturdy but soft, with a material that was not only practical, but he wouldn't mind sleeping on. The air held a hint of lavender and expensive wine. Paintings from all across the galaxy with colors he had never imagined were placed along the walls, displaying great historical battles and heroic feats of kings. "Hard to imagine this guy's after the throne, eh?" Neil joked, which provided a raised eyebrow from Aiden.

After exploring the outer rooms, Neil located a vidcaster in the next room. It was an opulent living area, with couches of lush pillows and tables of wine, fruits, and sausages. There was a balding man, lounging and watching the vidcaster as they gazed into the room. The Prince stroked his refined chin, contemplating. "That's Gaius' rival, Archimades. Why would he be here?" he asked softly. "Is the opposition to my rule bigger than I thought?"

"We can interroga-" Taya began, only for a 'clack' to be heard from within the room. The companions looked in to see Neil having pistol whipped Archimades on the head with his firearm, knocking him out cold from behind. "Well Taya, you got yourself a platform." Neil said, indicating for her to get to work rigging the vidcaster to broadcast.

Taya facepalmed. Neil began to clear out the room of telling objects and expensive paintings so as not to announce where Aiden would be broadcasting from his background, while Sayeeda guarded the entry ways. This was one of the first rooms with actual doors, and once Neil cleared the place he guarded and took point at the opposite exits. These doors looked to be sliders like the halls down below, but they would indicate an approaching person with a red light at its center, below the small window at the top of the door.
@Penny

[Penny]

Taya sat hastily at the terminal and began to type furiously absorbed in columns of holoprojected data which meant nothing to Sayeeda. The mercenary explored the luxurious room while the younger woman worked, pausing long enough to truss the unconscious seator in cargo tape. She wondered what would happen to him if Aiden survived this attempted coup, not that she much cared, he had rolled the dice and if the odds came out against him he didn’t have anyone to blame.

“Any idea what you are going to say to your adoring public?” Sayeeda asked Aiden as she straightened from the task, pausing to make sure her weapon was safed. It wasn’t something she would have bothered about with a familiar weapon, but old soldiers were those who realised there was alot you couldn’t control and so you had better make sure you controlled what you could.

“The truth,” Aiden replied simply, looking at the senator with a mixture of anger and sadness. Sayeeda wondered if Aiden really had the stomach to be a ruler. She tried to picture Colonel Andor in a similar situation and found it an impossibility. Andor would have never trusted anyone enough to let this situation arise and he wouldn’t have hesitated to crush it violently and immediately. She wondered if her fate was the same sort of paranoid sociopathy. Well she trusted Niel and Taya and so long as that remained true she was probably safe.

“This is incredible,” Taya breathed and hit a few controls. A hologram appeared in the air, the coherent light illuminating the room in ghostly shades of silver. In the three dimensional image Aiden could be seen creeping through a hallway in dark clothing.

“Hey,” Neil interjected, “that’s the hallway we found your sister…” as he spoke the words Aiden’s sister rounded the corner. There was no sound but she clearly screamed as Aiden sprang forward and buried a knife into her her, stabbing her several times before fleeing, leaving her in the pose in which Neil had found her.

“Whoa…” Sayeeda breathed and all eyes turned to the prince. He held his hands up in desperate protestation.

“I didn’t do it! I couldn’t you were with me!” Aiden whispered, his voice hoarse. Taya entered a few more commands and the recording began again. This time, as Aiden stepped into the frame she paused it and then typed furiously for a minute. The false Aiden disolved into a slightly shorter man. His face was familiar even though the strange suit he was wearing was not.

“That is Kagan,” Junebug noted, he and his team hadn’t been here to take the Highlander, that was just an additional task. The real work had been the assassination.

“Who?!” the prince demanded.

“How?” Neil began. Junebug held up a hand for silence.

“Its impossible to fake holo isn’t it, convincingly I mean, in a way that will stand up to scrutiny,” Taya asked. Junebug nodded.

“Yes but they aren’t faking holo, that suit he is wearing is projecting it and we are holographing that. Could you have unmasked it if you didn’t have multiple camera angles to go by?” Taya shook her head and then looked back at the screen.

“Shit, they broadcast this ten minutes ago across the emergency broadcast, the whole planet just saw you kill your sister my prince.”

@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Prince Aiden didn't know how to respond to this level of betrayal. "Wel- What can I do then?"

"Well I mean, the only thing that we can do now is kill your brother." Neil replied flippantly, talking out of his ass as he usually did in hairy situations. It usually worked, oddly enough. This time was no exception.

"I can't kill him." Aiden said, defeated. While the prince was in a downward spiral, Neil's brain was working a mile a minute. He approached the prince. "You're going to need to start thinking about this whole thing differently. Why do you wear dress uniform if you've never been in combat?"

"I have been in combat." Aiden said, though halfway through his sentence Neil started talking again, interrupting the prince. "Didn't he kill your father? Have you forgotten that you're now an orphan?" He let the words sink in. "Because of him? The brother you're trying to protect so much. Killed your father then your sister. He tried to duel you to the death when we were visiting and now he's framed you in front of the entire planet and it's put us in jeopardy too. You know usually I don't mind jeopardy-"

"Enough!"

"Unless it's the vidcaster game show-"

"I said shut up."

"We're in his compound now." Neil pressed. "I'm no assassin but if we don't do this, your father's murderer will win and I don't know about you but your dad seemed like a cool guy. You know maybe you were so far up your own ass you never noticed."

Aiden punched Neil in the face, staggering the Pilot. Taya's jaw dropped, her gasp audible. Neil caught himself as Aiden grabbed his bruised fist and rubbed it, looking at Neil in anger. The young pilot rebounded quickly, with only a split lip. But he didn't strike the prince back. Instead he tongued behind his gums, and then spat out a small bit of blood. "Was wondering if you had it in you." Neil said.

The Prince breathed heavily, but his eyes met those of Neil and they seemed to have a brief understanding. Neil had purposely goaded Aiden into rash action to prove he had the capability of not simply being a negotiator. Taya walked up and grabbed Neil's face, looking at his lip as she asked. "So what do we do?"
@Penny

[Penny]

unebug’s mouth flattened into a hard line of disapproval as the brief scuffle unfolded. She glanced at Taya’s screen as the girl moved to interpose herself between the two men. Most of it was nonsense to her, save for the running video of a news cast discussing the video of ‘Aiden’ killing his sister.

“How do we know he is even still here?” Aiden asked pointedly refusing to look at Neil.

“He probably is, down with the command group of this little coup,” Sayeeda replied, running a hand through her slightly too long hair. She made a mental note never to leave the Highlander without her armor again and then mentally chided herself for it. You couldn’t be on all the time, not and still be human at any rate.

“Besides he dosen’t strike me as the kind to leave his hot little piece here...” she nodded at the trussed woman. She was awake now and gared at Sayeeda with impotent fury, unable to speak for the cargo tape over her mouth.

“... all alone,” Sayeeda concluded and winked suggestively at the bound woman. Spots of color appeared on the other womans cheeks, making her look lovely rather than the enraged she was probably going for.

“What are our options then, go down their shooting? Surely it has to be more complicated than that.”

“People always seem to think going in shooting is uncomplicated,” Junebug complained philosophically.

“But he has already spread the video that shows you killing your sister,” Taya interjected, “Will the people still support you?”

“I had enjoyed fairly broad based support, this conspiracy is based on whipping up uncertainty rather than any love for Alexander,” Aiden said looking uncomortable.

“We can release the unedited footage,” Taya said, “It might take a while but people will accept the …”

“Yeah yeah,” Junebug interjected, “all very interesting points to consider after the usurper is dead. Taya get into the video feeds and find out where they are.” The girl leaped to the console and began typing furiously.

The bound woman’s eyes flicked to the door, beacuse Junebug was looking at her she caught the motion. The indicator had gone green, someone was in the hall. She lifted her weapon just as the door hissed open.
@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Senator Giaus entered the room, in the middle of reciting an oration he was to give soon before he realized that he stared down the barrel of a machine gun. He froze two steps in, gathering his wits to process just what had happened. Behind him four armed men held their weapons at the ready.

"Wait!" Giaus ordered his men, keeping them from unloading into the room. Neil had his gun aimed at Giaus's calm visage. The man wasn't elderly yet, but he was definitely aged, with a well groomed light grey beard and close cropped hair. His blue eyes were sharp and intelligent, and he would appear kindly if not for the circumstances that were transpiring at the moment. Giaus's eyes went to the gorgeous woman on the ground, and then back to Prince Aiden, and then to his companions.

Once the senator realized he was still alive, he began to speak. "I see you're resourceful," he said, and if Neil didn't know better, he could swear there was admiration in his voice. The men behind him wore tactical helms, darkened visors obscuring their faces. Giaus drew himself up, his arms and hands now firmly rested within the arms of his robes. "Come now, what do you hope to accomplish?" He asked. "Dar'mond is the mob. Even if you somehow succeeded here, Prince Aiden would need to convince millions he was innocent."

"I think you should be focusing more on how you're getting out of this mess," Neil said. Taya had already hidden herself behind the couch. "See we tend to shoot first and think strategic politics later, and as of this moment you're not giving us a lot of incentive to hold back."
@Penny

[Penny]

Gaius stiffend in fear but his face looked resolved. Junebug recognized the expression from the faces of rookie troopers about to run a gauntlet of enemy fire. The man clearly figured that so long as he held firm and survived he would be victorious. That didn’t stop him from being afraid, but he probably didn’t think Aiden would kill him out of hand. It as poor judgment indeed if the senator thought Aiden was even the second biggest threat in the room right now.

“Taya, can you pull up holocam footage from the security system?” Junebug asked as an idea crawled into her mind. Taya made a vexed sound from her monitor, artfully experessing how limited she judged Junebugs understanding of technical matters.

“Yes, but there are thousands of cameras in the palace, even sorting by confernce rooms or something it could take…”

“Can you back track from this stiff’s arrival, I’m willing to bet he came from wherever they were holed up.” The speculation as immediately borne out by a look of panic on Gaius’ face. Taya spun back to the console and began furiously tapping buttons. It would take her a minute or so but using the sophisticated holo editing software it was at least possible.

“Did you know that they were going to kill my father,” Aiden asked quietly. Gaius stiffened at the question and cast a sidelong look at the prince, his face becoming a mask of false disgust.

“You mean did I know that YOU were going to kill your father” the senator mocked. Aiden’s eyes blazed with fury and he took a step closer to Gaius. The man must have known Aiden as a gentleman, or else his contempt for the prince overmastered his reason.

“For generation we have made do licking your family’s boots for what scraps you give us, well from now on its going to be different, Alexander was so desperate that his handsome big brother not ascend to the throne ‘he’ was destined for. We wil supplant him within a year. I think we proved that your family is just as mortal as the rest of us when we killed dear old dad…”

Aiden made a growl of inarticulate rage and lunged at the seator. Junebug realised to late he was going for a pistol and leaped for the prince. Aiden smashed the butt of the weapon into the old man's nose with a sickening crunch that sent him staggering back. The big pistol went off just as Junebug grabbed Aiden’s arm. The boom was deafening in the high ceilinged chamber. Gaius screamed and pitched back against a wall, clutching his hip where blood welled between his fingers.

“You idiot!” Junebug snapped as she pulled the pistol from the prince’s hand.

“He killed my father, I have every right…” The palace alarm began to sound, a high warbling sound.

“You had the right?!” She pointed her assault rifle at the moaning senator offhanded and squeezed the trigger. A half dozen rounds stuttered out, jerking the man spasmodically and spraying blood and brain matter against one of the expensively polished walls.

“Who gives a fuck about your rights? Now the whole fucking palace knows we are here!” she snarled, thrusting the pistol back into Aiden’s hand and springing for the door to the patio. It as securely locked barring retreat to the air car, not that it would have been a great option with the anti-air defences alerted. She put three rounds into the reinforced glass, resulting in little more than a scratch.

“Looks like the only way out is through,” she said, her voice growing calmer as her options narrowed and there was nothing left to do but actually act.

“Taya feed as the route as you decode it, Neil, lets go,” she commanded, leaping over the remains of the senator and racing deeper into the palace.

[POOHEAD189]

Neil decided to save Aiden from more anger and embarrassment so he didn't even look at him as he followed Junebug. "Aye, Captain." He said, his combat shotgun at the ready as the door slipped open and closed behind the two of them. The halls remained as decadent as the previous ones, though Neil could see more functional doors and less flashy and aesthetic decorations the deeper in they moved. Taya directed them forward, and they found themselves in a wider hallway that was dome shaped. The walls curved from the ground into a domed ceiling, making the hall an elongated half circle. Floral arrangements on foyer tables and overhanging tapestries framed the red walkways.

Neil poked his head out, and confirmed the coast was clear at the moment for Junebug. He swept left and she swept right, and they moved out the next Taya spoke.

"Ok, go to the left and continue until you enter a fork in the walkway, and turn right. The forward gate is a blast door and impossible to open unless you used the Highlander's guns. But you can go around it through a series of rooms and another hallway. Past that you can open the blast door and give us a way out." She said.

"Any bad guys?" Neil whispered through the comm.

"I can't tell yet. I don't have full access." She reported, and the clicking of her fast-typing fingers echoed over the comms before she turned off her frequency for the moment. Neil looked at Junebug and shrugged, before they continued forward through the route Taya had informed them of. It looked like she was right about the first few turns, and the blast door. Even this massive slab of Xarconian steel was embroidered with Gold.

"Before we leave," Neil commented. "Let's steal something."

A rough and croaky noise was heard from the left, and it took both Neil and Junebug only a few moments before they were sprinting right. Junebug kicked though the first door they found to hide in, and she yanked Neil inside just as the hostiles were approaching the blast doors. Neil took the smallest peek out of the doorway before closing it slowly and silently. "Hexanagallions." He breathed and rolled his eyes, shrugging as if to say 'what are you gonna do?'

A race of reptilian Xenos, with tall and hulking humanoid bodies, 3 massive fingers and 3 massive toes akin to hooves, along with 4 mandibles. They were some of the more popular mercenaries employed by humans, and were members of one of the few civilizations that could boast about being able to withstand humanity's xenophobic attitudes with force and barbarity. Superb soldiers and disciplined troops nonetheless. Neil should have known that the royal family could afford a handful, along with what he suspected was a small army of guards.

The room they were in looked like a supply room. Unfortunately it had no weaponry or ammo. But dried foodstuffs, nutribars, hypercompact rations and small utility tools were arrayed upon the walls and the desks. With a quick inspection, the cabinets were filled with the same.

Outside, the heavy footfalls of the Hexanagallions grew audible. Their harsh, guttural tongue barked as they closed. Junebug held herself still, gripping her weapon. All was silent within the room, until she heard a crackle. She would turn to see Neil opening a nutribar, and he spotted her giving him an incredulous look. He stopped, not thinking it was that loud but seeing it wasn't worth the risk.

They passed by after what seemed an eternity, and the two breathed easily. Neil sighed, and opened the nutribar fully. "Oh this is so good." He said. As the pilot bit into the bar, he was knocked aside by the door behind him opening, and three human guards in tactical gear walked in swiftly, obviously going to find the disturbance further within the palace wing.

"Why always the door?" he said under his breath.
@Penny

[Penny]

There was a moment of frozen silence as the guards goggled, clearly taken by surprise to find Neil spitting out a mouthful of nutribar as the rest of it flew from his hand. Junebug whirled a moment before the guards could react. A short birth, shatteringly loud in the confines of the small room, chattered from her rifle, tumbling the three men down in a spray of blood and tangle of limbs. Rather belatedly she remembered Aiden’s admonition to try not to kill any of the palace guards. Well, worse things happened in war time.

“I agree,” Junebug said dryly, “we should steal something.”

Outside she heard yells and distan reptilian shrieks as the gunfire alerted other guards human and otherwise. It would only be a few minutes before they were pinned down. Sayeeda stripped a weapons belt from one of the guards and pushed the door open. A burst of gunfire smashed the door frame to flaming splinters and she ducked back inside barely avoiding decapitation as a thundering combat shotgun added its roar to the cacophony.

With a twist of her wrist she plucked a grenade from the weapons belt, thumbed the arming switch.
“Fire in the hole,” she announced from reflex and then lobbed the explosive down the hallway in the general direction of the shots. There were shouts of alarm and then a concussive boom that rattled Junebug’s teeth. She leaned out around the corner and fired a burst into the coiling smoke and shattered masonry. There was another doorway about three meters along the hallway and the opposite side which stood ajar, its polished wooden surface scuffed and pitted by the grenade blast.

“Follow me, I’ll cover you,” she snapped and made a diving roll across the hallaway, batting the door open with her modest weight. The shotgun roared again and the blast came close enough that she felt the wind of its passage as she tumbled through the shattered doorway. A conference room with wall to ceiling glass windows and a massive white marble table stood in perfect condition save for where the concussion had knocked over a stack of papers. A massive foot came down towards her and she barely managed to squirm aside as one of the Hexangallion’s drove a foot down at her with enough force to crack the marble tiling.

“Fuck!” she yelled and swung her rifle awkwardly at the things ankle, driving it into the mass of bone and sinew with an audible crunch. The alien made an undulating hiss and dropped on top of her grabbing at her throat. She kneed it in what would have been a humans groin to no noticeable effect and then barely managed to catch its thick wrists before its hands could close on her throat. For a moment they were frozen together like status of effort, but then the aliens superior weight began to tell and its mandibles descended millimeter by millimeter towards her face.

Outside the volume of fire redoubled. This one must have ducked in here when the grenade came out, its weight rather than the grenade had smashed the door. Junebug kicked viciously at the thing but the angle was poor and robbed the blow of much of its force. The things tongue lolled out in anticipation of its triumph.

[POOHEAD189]

As the dust faded and the gunshots rang, Neil grabbed what Nutribars he could and shoved them into his pack whilst moving. Before he made it through the door, he grabbed his own combat shotgun and followed Sayeeda, ripping three shells into the obscured hallway to keep whatever foes they had at bay. He heard the sounds of return fire, and the wall behind him was suddenly ripped by the passing of shrapnel.

He didn't have time to contemplate his luck, instead diving to avoid the rest of the shots that came at him, though they were fired noticably slow. If there was a Hexanagallion past the billowing cloud of debris, it was most likely injured. He had the faintest time to contemplate such matters as he soared through the air, and he landed on his shoulder in a rough slide across the smooth floor into the conference room. Suddenly his world gained clarity, and he saw Sayeeda fighting for her life against a hulking, Sauren Xenos that looked to be toying with her as its arms, limbs thicker than her legs, slowly inched his alien hands closer to her throat.

Luckily, it was so intent on Junebug that it didn't hear Neil get to his feet. Though it let out a warbling grunt of confusion when it heard the pilot cock his shotgun once more.

"Hey swamp water!"

It tried to turn, but it hadn't the time before Neil unloaded a shell into the brute's back, point blank. Its midsection was so thick, it could not even pass through completely. But the beast let go of Junebug weakly and gave a sonorous roar into the air, turning around and baring its otherworldly teethed mandibles in Neil's direction. The rogue responded by firing his next shell into the Xeno's head, its face exploding in a spray of iridescent bodily fluids.

Neil moved on instinct, grabbing Junebug's arm and pulling her out of the towering corpses way as it toppled to the ground. The bony protrusions from its limbs scuffed and even cracked the smooth floor tiles. He let out a haggard breath and helped Junebug to her feet, clearing his throat and giving her a grin. "And whoever said I can't do something right from time to time?"

Another warbling cry was heard from just outside the door, and with a single step of its massive stride, a bleeding and now one-armed Hexanagallion entered the room and swiped at Neil, who happened to be standing facing Junebug, his back to the creature. It easily lifted him off the ground with the sweeping blow and he was sent flying. His world spun, and he landed heavily on the oaken desk to topple on its other side. Almost on instinct, his hand felt for a hold and instead, his fingers felt a small item on the table's side, gripping it and yanking the memory drive off as he hit the floor. As his world faded into oblivion, he briefly realized he had let go of his own shotgun where he had first been hit not a moment ago...
@Penny

[Penny]

Sayeeda rolled into a crouch, brownish ichor coated her chest and right arm where Neil’s shotgun blast had splattered the first of the alien. Its companion roared as it swatted the pilot aside and then swung a short barreled weapon towards Junebug. With a spike of adrenaline she threw herself behind the large marble table a second before a spray of hypersonic flechettes tore the floor where she had been crouching to fragments of powdered stone.

“Fuck,” she moaned, her own rifle had been lost in the scuffle and the abbreviated nature of their preparations meant she didn’t have a side arm or another backup weapon beyond her power knife. She didn’t fancy her chances against the hulking xenos with only a six inch cutting bar. Glancing around desperately she caught sight of Neil’s shotgun laying against the wall a few feet beyond her. The alien made its weird hunting hiss and leapt atop the table with a crunch. Junebug dived for the weapon, snatching it up by the rubberized grip and twisting to face her opponent. The Hexangallion was already swinging its flechette gun down towards her. There was no time to aim, or properly brace, only to pull the trigger. The shotgun smacked into her shoulder with terrific force as it went of, the blast blowing the alien’s knee into a pulpy mass of shredded flesh and shattered bone. It screamed as its body betrayed it and toppled off the table into an ungraceful heap. Junebug fired a round into its chest and another into its head, spraying the white marble room with gore.

For a moment she lay on her back gasping, the smell of poisonous vapours and slaughtered alien tugging unpleasantly at her olfactory senses. The things smelled like burning dung, their blood or flesh evidently containing some kind of sulfurous compound. It wouldn’t be long before however was out in the hallway either rushed the room, or, more probably, tossed in grenades to do the work for them. Taya was yammering in her ear but Junebug ignored her, crawling instead to where Neil lay. The pilot was unconscious but still breathing. There was no way that Junebug was going to fight her way passed the remaining soldiers in the hallway dragging the supine pilot.

“Junebug,” Aiden’s voice sounded in her mastoid implant, “Alexander and his cronies are on the move, they are headed for the garage four levels down from you.”

That didn’t strike Junebug as a good idea, for all Alexander knew they might have an anti-aircraft gun waiting to swat him out of the sky, but war was a fog and no one ever had complete information. As it happened it was the right move, there was no way they could make it down four levels unless…

“We are on it,” Sayeeda acknowledged.

The window blew out with a gust of wind that swept a storm of paper and detritus out into the night. The howling wind took Sayeeda by surprise but it should not have done. They were several hundred feet above the ground and there was nothing but the shattered glass to obstruct them. With a shout she ran for the window one hand on Neils belt the other on his heavy shotgun. She leaped into the abyss before she could think about what she was doing, plunging downwards at heart stopping speed. The rope which Neil had worn like a bandolier played out behind her until it snugged up tight against the marble table. The jerk nearly broke Junebugs ribs, but the webbing she and Neil wore distributed the force of the four story fall enough to save them. Nonetheless, they slammed against the window with enough force to star its reflective surface. Awkwardly she turned the shotgun to press against the window and blew it inwards with another shower of shattered glass and then swung them inside. There was no way to disengage the rope so at the end of the swing she sliced it with her knife and the pair fell the remaining three feet to the carpeted floor.

The room appeared to be a lounge of some sort but it was presently deserted. Against the far wall was an impressive fish tank that had sprung a leak when one of the shot gun pellet ricochet through the relatively thin plastic wall. The slow leak would take hours to drain the half a tank of volume. This was the right floor, they just had to get to the garage before Alexander and his council could escape. Neil groaned below her and she realized she was sitting astride him. His eyes fluttered open and she rolled off him.

“Awww,” the pilot moaned in mock disappointment then pawed at the rope attached to his webbing.

“Rope, you always end up needing it.”
@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Neil had his wits about him quickly, and he rubbed his head. "Goddamn girl," he exclaimed, and he began picking the glass out of his thick head of hair. Neil had always been the most risky of his unit back on Fortus, and he gained a somewhat dubious reputation for insane jobs when he slummed it in the space stations before he was contacted for the Highlander crew. But Junebug still somehow managed to surprise him every now and then.

"Alexander's on this floor, in the hanger." His Captain told him.

He pulled himself up, and realized he and Junebug had found themselves in a storage facility. More like a storage room, now that he got a better look at it. Plasteel crates were piled 6 units high, and powered down heavy machinery was set in rows along the side of the room. He even saw three Haulers like the one he had stolen from Fornax. But now wasn't the time to marvel or try to add to his collection.

Sayeeda tossed him the shotgun, but he tossed it back to her. "I'll be a distraction. You take the shots." He told her with a wink, and they hurried on past the small area into a squat, utilitarian hallway of grey that led to the hanger. Neil was surprised even the bottom workman's halls weren't extravagantly decorated, but he guessed Alexander had the mindset to keep the lower class from getting too "big headed" toward their betters. Neil just hoped they would make it in time.
@Penny

[Penny]

The contrast between the opulent floors above and the mundane working space was jarring. Worse still the corridors that lead between maintenance and storage areas were of the same decorated marble as the rest of the palace. Doors of ornately carved wood opened onto greasy fabrication shops and warehouse shelving. Presumably the arrangement meant that a noble who had business here wouldn’t have to see the unsightliness necessary to run an establishment of this size. Sayeeda found the experience unpleasant in the extreme as though the hall way were a magical conduit with doors opening to alternate reality.

With Taya’s directions they raced down the hall and through several bays. Workmen in palace smocks watched them run past with shocked expressions, doubtlessly wondering what to make of the strange ensembles of battle gear and formal wear. Junebug as glad of their shock because she didn’t have her less lethal riot rifle anymore and she didn’t want to blast a half dozen civilians to paste if she could avoid it.

The roar of aircar fans filled the air as they opened the door to the hangar bay. It was an odd mix of stylish and practical, with expensive limousines and sporty compact air cars lined up in twin rows of glistening paint and sparkling chrome. High vaulting pillars supported a high ceiling which allowed even amateur pilots, as many of the nobles no doubt were, to land safely. The support pillars hung with vast silk banners twenty or thirty meters long, displaying the sigils and heraldry of Dar’mond’s noble houses, Aiden’s own sigil foremost amongst them.

At the end of the chamber a knot of armed men were climbing into a pair of air cars, their fans already running up to speed. Some of the men, not yet aboard, spotted the pair and opened fire. Plasma bolts burst on the doorframe and sprayed shards of jagged stone and flaming timber in all directions. Neil and Sayeeda both dived forward into the hangar, skidding on the slick marble flooring to land behind one of the pillars.

“Ok…” she began, ready to outline a plan but Neil was already on his feet. Yelling at the top of his lungs he took off along the right hand row of cars. The pilot had no weapons but made his hands into imitation pistols as he had when they landed and mock firing them at the gunmen. Junebug could only watch in horror as the fire shifted to him. Plasma bolts ravened through the air, one struck the hood of a red sports car igniting the paint and windscreen in a fireball of burning plastic.

“Make a distraction he said…” she muttered to herself, but it was too late to worry about strategy now. With the attention on Neil and the ongoing destruction of property he was causing, she jumped to her feet and bolted down the left hand side, keeping low to keep out of the sight of the gun men. Her formal shoes pounded on the marble and she was really glad she hadn’t worn heels for the opera this evening. None of the shooters even looked at her, their whole attention focused on the capering Neil as he doded and rolled from car to burning car.

By the time she reached the end of the chamber the big limousine was already lifting on air pressure. Throwing caution to the wind she lifted the shotgun to her shoulder and pulled the trigger. The big weapon thumped hard against her shoulder and the windscreen starred in a thousand crazed stress lines. The glass had to be bulletproof and though the pilot was in no danger, no civilian reacts well to a point blank shotgun blast. The unseen pilot hauled back on the flight yoke and the big aircar lifted and tilted towards Sayeeda the back blast of its fans blowing her hair out in a short snapping banner and forcing her to narrow her eyes. It was an understandable mistake. If the pilot had kept his head, he could have slid out of the hanar on his air cushion and slipped away. As it as his panicked maneuver liftd the bottom of th car towards Sayeeda, exposing the micron precise fan arrays which powered it. She squeezed the trigger and held it in a long thumping, shoulder bruising burst, walking it down the length of the car. Thousands of pellets smashed into the fans, air intakes and control rigs. Several of the fans seized on the spot. The shafts, rotating at thousands or RPM, bound in their housings, cooking the bearings in a shower of sparks more brilliant than any firework. The imbalance in thrust flipped the aircar like a childs toy, smashing the top of it into a pillar that starred all of the bullet proof windows and smashed the chassis into mangled scrap. A hydralic line blew in a fireball that seemed boring amid the fountaining sparks. Either a saftey cut off finally kicked in or, less likely, the pilot was able to cut the power and the wrecked limousine slid down the pillar with a groan of rending metal and hit the ground, coming to rest nose to the ground and rear to the pillar at something like seventy degrees.

Sayeeda sucked in a throat flaying breath of air filled with the stink of a dozen different combustibles, and swung the shot gun onto the four gunman standing in open mouth horror. She dropped one with a shot to the chest and the others threw their weapons aside and ran for one of the service exits. Taya was shouting something in her ear but Sayeeda couldn’t hear anything over the thundering adrenaline, Whatever the girl needed would wait. Junebug staggered towards the wrecked car, making it nearly to the vehicle before the door cracked open and Alexander flopped out onto the stone floor. His handsome face was bloodied and the general’s uniform he wore as torn and disheveled. Smoke poured from the interior of the car.

“Sayeeda stop!” a voice yelled in her ear. She looked left and saw no one before she realised it was Aiden talking through her implant.

“Do NOT shoot him!” the Prince commanded. Alexander was on his hands and knees looking up at the shotgun wielding figure in her bizzare mix of evening gown and combat gear. Blood ran from both nostrils and one of his ears and a row of medals had gashed his chest during the crash. She leveled the gun at his face and pulled it in snug to her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Neil getting up from behind a wrecked air bike.

“THAT IS AN ORDER!” Aiden roared. The barrel of the gun wavered for a moment as the adrenaline began to drain from her system.

“Yeah,” she replied and then pulled the trigger. Alexander screamed in horror as the weapon clicked empty, its magazine expended. For a moment there was silence except for the crackle of fires and the differential pings of cooling metal.

“Yeah, no sweat,” she repeated, her voice weary.
@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Alexander shook from lasting fear, his tousled hair disheveled and whipped to the left from the forceful removal of the aircar. But as the reality of his life remaining donned on him, he let out a rattled breath, and an anger returned to his visage. "You..." he seethed between his teeth, his blue eyes fixed on Junebug. "You insolent-" A foot appeared where his jaw had been, and the royal's neck snapped back, followed by the rest of his body as the unconscious captive fell over. Neil clapped his hands off, satisfied with his handiwork at silencing the man.

"Eat it bitch." Neil spat, grinning, seemingly engrossed in his own world. The pilot turned to Junebug a moment later. "Why didn't you shoot him?" Neil took the shotgun and hefted it, aiming at Alexander, only for it to audibly click once more. "Why didn't y-oh." He turned the comm back on, only to hear Aiden speaking tersely and harsh to Junebug.

"Bring him to me, and we will speak of this later." His voice cut out, to be replaced by Taya's more soft, sympathetic voice. You could almost hear her strained smile. "I got the camera's working again, you probably figured out. I also unaltered the footage from earlier...good job team?"

Neil absorbed all of the information, and nodded after it dawned on him what had just transpired. "Oooooh."

---

The following hours were filled with shouting and aimed guns, as the Prince and his party first fled the opulent wing of Alexander and made their toward the first station of guards they had found, being swiftly inducted into custody while the royal officials of Dar'mond reviewed the tape and gave the footage a metric scan and a full diagnostic. It was only by the will of Aiden's mother the Queen, and the fact they had given themselves over willingly that the officials had even bothered listening to them. That and, the famed cult status the Highlander crew had gained in their brief time on the planet.

Prince Aiden had been cordoned off by the Dar'mond Planetary Defense Department, and after hours of sitting in a cell, Junebug, Neil, and Taya had been set free and escorted under arms to their quarters. The guard that accompanied them to their rooms were decked out in Daristeel plate and carried the latest plasma rifles, embroidered with gold and bronze filigree and enhanced sights along the base of the barrel. Neil had to admit they were fine looking weapons, and judging the power cells, they could even be used in a light anti-tank fashion.

They didn't deign to speak with the crew, however. The doors had simply been shut behind them. However, the group did not even have time to get undressed when the doors were reopened. Taya sighed heavily, deciding not to even give a curtsy to whoever was coming to greet them. As the gateway opened, Ranald stepped through with that looked like a portable vidcaster ledger, his smile meeting his eyes. "Well, I suppose the heroes of Dar'mond have found themselves out of the noose yet again." He said, albeit somewhat sadly, oddly enough.

"Here is the invitation for tomorrow's coronation. It has not been officially announced yet, but the Prince insists the planet gets it over with. I feel as if this ordeal has taxed him."

He placed the invitation in Junebug's hands. "Oh and..." Ranald bared his teeth as if he was about to do something unpleasant. "I am afraid, Captain Cykali, that the Prince has decided that he shan't attend with a date. But he looks forward to seeing you and your friends." There was a small uncomfortable silence, and Ranald clapped his hands to banish the quiet. "Well, you deserve your rest. You will be celebrated and rewarded come the morning...and you have my personal thanks for clearing the Prince's name."

With a bow, he escorted himself out. Taya was already asleep on the lush couch, having not heard the brunt of the man's message. Neil unloosened his collar, grimacing at the suit as if it was personally offending him. "Well...I'd hate to pass up free food, but maybe we should just go." Neil said, then realized what he was suggesting. Junebug's bewildered look showed her surprise at him giving up treasures and prizes.

"You're right, you're right." He said, and placed a hand on his hips as he looked around. His sleeves rolled up and his collar unbuttoned, he would only need a cigarette and Neil would look the part of a scruffy, fetching noire character. He went over to the bar and his delighted "oooooo" revealed that they had restocked the bar yet again. He tossed Junebug her favored whiskey poison, and took up a second bottle for himself.

"So when do we tell Taya?" Sayeeda asked, swilling her bottle, tipping its butt into the air.

"Let's surprise her in the morning." Neil grinned, and tapped his bottle into hers as he took a large gulp as well. He sighed audibly, and a thought popped into his head not moments later. "Since we're going tomorrow, wanna be my date?"
Though it was a serious question, Neil fluttered his lashes.
@Penny

[Penny]

Sayeeda laughed in spite of herself and clinked her bottle against Neil’s. The glass tonked unmusically but she didn’t let that stop her from taking a mouthful of the smoky liquor. Neil might have had a point, the fancy of aristocrats was nothing to play with. Granted Aiden didn’t seem the sort to have them all impaled on a whim but… well they had risked enough they deserved to get paid.

“It is a date,” she declared with a throaty chuckle. And may the stars save us if it goes sideways she added mentally.

It seemed that the red carpet that the Highlander’s crew had previously enjoyed was well and truly rolled up. When they arose the next morning they found that while the doors were unlocked armed guards politely but firmly turned them back to their quarters. They were able to establish contact with Lonney, who to Sayeeda’s horror, seemed to be developing a taste for the news feeds. Somehow, and she had her suspicions, footage of last nights events had been leaked to the press. The prevailing narrative seemed to be that while Alexander had tried to usurp his brother, most of the death could be chalked up to the ‘foreign killers’ who Aiden had generously, but foolishly, bought to Dar’mond.

“Nice,” Neil griped, “we save his ass and now this.” Sayeeda could only shake her head. That was the way it was sometimes. Politicians needed mercenaries but they were rarely welcome once the cold calculus of victory started to grind away. If nothing else they were a reminder that where one regime could be toppled by hired guns, so could another.

“I’m just mad I missed my chance to be swept off my feet by prince charming,” Sayeeda grumbled mostly in jest.

“You just make a terrible damsel in distress,” Taya observed, swiveling in her plush leather chair to face Neil and Sayeeda as they sat at the table playing cards for the few small denomination credit chips they had.

“Plus I don’t think Aiden is much of a dashing Prince. I mean he says all the right things but you should have seen him last night. He was terrified,” Taya disagreed. Sayeeda snorted as Neil took the pot with a particularly unlikely play, she peered suspiciously at her cards.

“That makes him human, only an idiot wouldn’t have been afraid,” Sayeeda declared, tossing a card half heartedly into the play area. Taya arched an eyebrow.

“You two didn’t seem afraid, I wasn’t or I mean not totally terrified,” she protested. Junebug grinned without humor.

“Maybe we are just dumber than we look?”

House arrest aside the day progressed more or less as normal. Instead of travelling to the Royal Seamstress the entire department came to their room, dividing the space up with mobile partitions so they could be dressed appropriately. Sayeeda strenuously overrode every attempt at a traditional court dress, settling instead for a black top made of a leather like material and accented with gold. The thing had a breastplate like appearance and pinned over only one of her shoulders leaving the right side of her from throat to armpit, with a generous scallop of bosom, bare. For her lower extremities she selected a black on black slashed skirt that fell nearly to the ground and long leather boots of matte black leather with high but sturdy heels. Around her waist she hung an intricate belt of woven gold strands which gathered and expanded from a central clasp consisting of a gold rimmed saphire the size of a lemon. At the right hand side of the belt hung a platinum chased holster which held a unadorned 20 mm pistol. The choice to go armed horrified the dress makers but they lacked the authority to prevent it. Her hair she wore pinned up on one side, held in place by long pins of polishe electrums, accented with small sapphires. As a final touch she added a small pin to the shoulder clasp of her top. It was a small shield bearing a raptor spreading its wings, dark blue against a silver field the formal sigil of Andor’s Armored. Over the bird stood two golden captains bars in simple bas-relief.

Most of the clothing was run up by computerized fabrication units and sophisticated material printers, though the final tailoring was done by the team of clucking women, each eager to put their own stamp on the project. Junebug looked into the mirror with satisfaction as the final laces were pulled tight on the corset like breastplate. The effect was almost ascetically slimming and pleasing to her eye. Maybe there was something she would miss about this place afterall, she never looked this good in her pt gear.

“Are you ready Neil or are you going to primp all evening?”

[POOHEAD189]

"I resent that." Neil said, facetiously offended. He placed down a card as they played to pass the time. "I am exactly as dumb as I look."

"I'm not even going to touch that one." Taya said.

Hours later, as the servants ushered Sayeeda and Taya to their chambers, Neil was suddenly grabbed and escorted into his room, more out of excitement by the seamstresses and court ladies than any sort of demand. But yanked in he was, and the next hour was a blur of clothes swapping, giggles, arguments, and Neil felt himself poked more than once by needles and fingers. If one were to place their ears at the door, they would hear Neil's protests.

"Ladies, please. Ladi- HEY! Don't touch that!"

In a lot of ways he felt more violated at that moment than ever in his life. Usually he enjoyed women fretting over him, but this was exhausting. Luckily, their efforts bore fruit. It was just as Sayeeda left her room and called for him when the ladies shoved Neil out of his quarters to stumble in front of his date. Neil turned back at the door and slammed it, running a hand through his washed, wavy hair. "Goddamn," he gripped.

The pilot wore a practical, albeit handsome garb. A sleeveless, royal purple vest cut in a "Y" shape with gold trim that accentuated his shoulders, closed nearly at the center of the long garment by a maroon sash belt enwrapped snugly at Neil's slim waist. Beneath the vest was a deep colored beige shirt with sleeves that covered the arms. His trousers were loose fitting and dark, with simple, comfortable black shoes. He'd chosen a dashing, exotic look to differentiate himself from the other nobility. On his wrists were golden bands, with bronze inscriptions of a the intellectual language long dead on Dar'Mond.

The pilot sighed, and turned to the Captain, only to blink. "You know, normally I wouldn't say this because of rank and all, but Goddamn." The word now far more flattering from emphasis in contrast to his previous usage of the word toward the seamstresses. "What I mean is, if I get lucky tonight I won't complain." He declared, quite obviously appreciating Sayeeda's look for a long moment, before looked at himself and running a hand over his smoothly woven garb. "Speaking of good looking, sexy right?"
@Penny

[Penny]

Sayeeda whistled appreciatively at the suave outfit. The pattern of the vest showed of Neil’s physique to better effect than most of the outfits she had seen him in and the cut and style were impeccable.

“Looking good,” she said honestly, eyeing the pilot up and down.

“Thank you,” said Taya, emerging from her own partition and misattributing the compliment. Taya was wearing a white and gold gown that shimmered with metallic thread. The bodice and hem were extensively embroidered with silver thread that was visible against the white only as a glimmer when the light struck it. All the white reminded Sayeeda of a wedding dress but she didn’t doubt it was the very height of fashion in Dar’mond. The girls blond hair had been woven with golden thread as well, pinned back slightly with combs of some opalescent pearl like material. She looked up at Sayeeda and scowled.

“How do I always feel like the ugly duckling?” she grumbled throwing up her hands.

“You look lovely Taya,” Junebug told her truthfully, molifying the girl slightly. Taya pulled on silken gloves that had been tucked through an unobtrusive loop at her belt. Sayeeda felt her heart sink as she realised that meant that food was unlikely.

“How do you come up with such creative outfits? Are they from your home world?” Taya asked. Junebug shook her head, careful not to disrupt the hairstyle and wondering if she would cut it again when they got back to the Highlander. Some people did wear buns or ponytails beneath combat helmets without too much difficulty.

“Loot,” she said simply and then realising that neither Neil or Sayeeda understood elaborated.

“Dresses are one of the more valuable things mercs loot,” she explained.

“They are light and expensive, and they sell wherever you go. Plus its easy enough to tell your sweetheart that its a dress from the Empress of wherevers own closet, and that you killed six men with your bear hands to get it.” Taya peered at Junebug as though she thought the older woman was playing some trick.

“The things you know,” the girls said eventually. As she spoke the doors to the room swung open and a quintet of men in ornate uniforms but very functional weapons stepped into the room, rifles at porte arms.

“Well I guess our escort has arrived,” Junebug remarked dryly and slipped her arm through Neil’s.

The vidscreen replayed the scene of the official laying a jeweled circlet on Aiden’s head for the thousandth time, for all that the real scene had taken place less than an hour ago. Junebug sipped her drink, something sour and bubbly and a stimulant rather than alcohol. She had been drinking more than usual lately and she didn’t want booze sweats later. The drink had a sharp aftertaste that as vaguely and unpleasantly reminiscent of the wideawakes the Armored had used when sleep wasn’t an option.

The stood in the Grand Throne Room of Dar’mond, a room which could easily have held a small space cruiser or a score of Highlander’s. The vaulted ceilings were so high that Junebug suspected they would have created their own weather if they didn’t have recycling pumps up there. Each of the pillars was carved with the history of Dar’mond in an ancient script, a fact of which she was aware due to the fact that Aiden’s coronation had been ceremonially carved by royal masons right after he had been crowned.

“Do you have anything to say regarding the new King Captain?” A stunning reporter in a black body glove asked, her drone buzzing behind her shoulder like an excited bee. Around them the crowd swirled and danced while Aiden performed some arcane governmental ritual on the raised dais.

“Long live King Aiden… or whatever,” she responded, having grown bored of the media attention. A suprising number of press seemed present although she supposed that shouldn’t come as a shock in a place so media mad as this. In addition the proceedings would need to be broadcast to the several subject words Dar’mond ruled. A surpising number of questions had been about her tatoo, bare on her shoulder for a change, of three swooping owls. In the interest of science she made up a different lie for each reporter, confident that none of the news networks would bother with her words.

“Captain of Space, Sayeeda Cyckali, Officer Neil Edwards,” boomed the voice of Ranald now the Master-at-Arms or some other such arcane title. Though the words were clear they had been routed through a complex personal address system to be so clear. Sayeeda was familiar with the summons from the earlier summons of the planetary delegation, each summoned forward to declare fealty to the new King. She wondered if Alexander and Gaius had condederates amongst them. Likely enough, unless they were bigger fools than they seemed, but the delegates had each sworn eternal fealty to king Aiden.

Junebug passed her drink to the reporter who took it on reflex. Before the woman could protest she strode over to where Neil was waiting and linked arms with him before walking up the corridor that opened in the crowd. Aiden sat on his throne his face distant and remote. Ranald met them at the bottom of the stairs. He bowed formally but his eyes cut to Sayeeda’s pistol.

“It is forbidden to bear arms before the King,” Ranald said formally. He looked uncomfortable in his white velvet suit and cumberbund. Junebug suddenly felt uneasy.

“No,” Junebug corrected, her voice quiet but firm.

“It is forbidden to bring arms into the presence of the King, Aiden was only the Prince when I arrived. Technically someone crowned a king in the presence of my arms,” she said reasonably but with a slight bite to her voice. Ranald clearly didn’t know what to do with that particular piece of sophistry so instead he just nodded and led them up the steps.

Aiden had aged a decade since she had seen him the night before. His formal robes made him look massive and powerful in a way that defied the lean powerful man she knew him to be. She had tried to call him several times during the course of the day but gotten no response. Even now his face was remote, though she thought she caught a flicker of jealousy when his eyes cut to Neil.

“Captain Cyckali,” he began in a ringing oratorical voice which silenced the crowd. Drones buzzed in close to capture each facial expression and preserve each word. Junebug had the sudden and powerful impulse to pull her pistol and start shooting the cursed things out of the sky.

“You have rendered service to the Crown in its hour of need, and saved our life and our throne. You are pardoned for whatever excesses you have pursued in pursuit of those noble goals,” Aiden said his voice carrying a carefully modulated hint of disapproval.

“You are like, super welcome,” Neil quipped. Junebug stifled a giggle by the barest of margins. Aiden coloured slightly but went on none the less.

“There is one more service you can perform for the crown however,” Aiden went on and touched a key on his throne. A hologram sprang to life before the throne, a quarter life sized but otherwise perfect image of a man in black tactical gear. It was Kagan.

“We know that you captured this man, a foreign assassin who murdered my sister, during the assault on your ship. Turn him over so that he may be made to face justice for his crimes,” Aiden declared. Junebug felt the euphoria of the party slide away like a pane of greased glass.

“I don’t know where he is,” she lied, thinking fast. Ranald looked queasy but his hand was already on his pistol holster.

“Junebug,” Aiden warned in a quiet voice that somehow didn’t carry to the address system.

“Turn the murder over to me and be done with it.” Sayeeda licked her lips, forcing her hand not to stray towards her pistol by force of will.

“Your brother was the murderer, not this man,” she insisted.

“Our laws dont make that distinction. Now you have one final chance,” Aiden said eyes narrowing. Junebug’s stomach flipped. Kagan had surrendred on terms a fact he had no doubt informed his superiors of. If the Indiges executed him now, she would be held to blame. Colonel Andor and any number of other mercenary outfits would hunt her down, and Neil and Taya as well in all likely hood.

“Aiden, please…” the King snapped his fingers and guards closed in, seizing her arms. Ranald unsnapped her pistol holster and plucked the weapon free.

“Take her away,” he ordered coldly.
@POOHEAD189

[POOHEAD189]

Neil had been admired by a few women before, and he often felt an instinctual, playful elation in a way only a man could. He realized he felt something extra when Sayeeda gave him a look of interest. Maybe it was pride. He'd felt somewhat miffed that she'd never at least checked him out before, so her doing it here was a pleasing change of pace. Or maybe it actually hit home they were going out. He shrugged it off, either way he didn't mind.

"Taya, what are you talking about?" Neil said incredulously, waving her off. "You're the one who always looks good. We're the ones that look like we've been through wood chippers."

---

Neil kept an eye on Taya to make sure she didn't feel left out, and he enjoyed the free food. Though he kept by Junebug throughout the party. Unfortunately, they hardly had any time to enjoy it before they were called forth before Aiden. Unfortunately, it went tits up almost immediately. He knew Aiden couldn't have been as perfect as he portrayed himself to be, but this was, as the kids say, horseshit. He expressed as much through his sarcasm. But he couldn't keep Aiden from arresting Junebug under charges even Neil found hilarious.

"Hey whoa, hold on." Neil said, holding his hands up between the officers and Junebug, halting their approach. The men didn't show emotion behind their helmets, but they did slow. "Under interstellar law, this is a contested case-"

"For heroism-" Aiden continued, speaking over Neil and imploring his men to continue their advance. They did so at his motion, pushing past Neil to apprehend Junebug. "and bravery, you are to receive 120,000 units of credit, and as you were not in agreement with the perpetrators I wish to apprehend, you and lady Taya are free to leave, if you vacate the planet within six galactic hours and never return."

The hall had quieted fully at that point, and Neil realized he had the room's full, undivided attention as they restrained his Captain and date. For a moment, Neil wasn't necessarily certain what he would do. Taya seemed torn, and near the verge of tears and shouting at Aiden. On the one hand, Neil had never passed up such a large sum of money before. One could retire on that amount of money in luxury, even at his age. He realized all he would need to do give the word fly away, and he would receive a fortune, one that he would only need to split in two ways.

On the other hand, that was his fucking date.

"Who the hell do you think I-"

"First officer," Junebug barked, snapping him to attention. The pilot blinked, halting his hand that had been inching toward his concealed firearm. He gave Junebug a look that showed he was having none of this, but her iron gaze shut down anything he was about to try. He seemed to hesitate, and he let out a sigh. Taya looked between the two, and Neil gave a light bow as he acquiesced to Aiden's offer. "Your Highness, thank you. The Lady Taya and I are most grateful, and we will accept this offer."

"_What!?" Taya whispered ferociously, glaring at Neil and opening her mouth to give Aiden and Neil an earful of her mind. Neil returned her look, grabbing her arm to keep her quiet. "_{I have a plan. Let's just go. Now shut up and curtsey, soldier.}" He ordered her. Taya's mind caught up with her, and realized that even though he never really used the authority, Neil outranked her in the crew and was now effectively the captain if Junebug was under arrest. She fumed, but visibly pulled herself together and curtseyed. Neil curtseyed too, and they left.
@Penny