052: The Tools of Acquisition – Seven
Within the cockpit of Zaanlaa, Queen Kaizoku sat in the pilot's seat as if it were a throne, one leg crossed over the other while her head was propped up on her hand of metal. The systems that would hold her in place while she would pilot the machine were not in place, and so she was free to watch the displays before her. Several official broadcasts from the auction set to happen on the world below were displayed, along with the map tracking information she'd been watching on the bridge earlier.
Her eyes darting across all the information laid out before her, Queen Kaizoku called out, "Augury, do your visions yet tell you how the mission the Chancellor is undertaking will pan out?"
There was a long pause before the seer's distant voice crackled through the comms. "…Forgive me, my Queen, my sight is relegated to the past and future. The present I experience as you do…"
Kaizoku allowed herself only the smallest hum of annoyance before she replied, "Then we will have to stay alert for her signal."
The comms went silent, and the Queen's attention turned back to the live feeds before her, all of them awash in pale blondes in gold attire. She scoffed at the sight of them.
A knowing smirk gracing her lips, the Chancellor made her way over to the knot of noisy drunks that were currently pinning Averral in place, her eyes locked on Vadna Chanschlde laughing among them.
BATHORY: Where exactly are you?
AVERRAL: I had to scramble up this damn statue to keep from getting bumped into. Thought I'd have a chance to either leap away or they'd leave on their own, but by the sounds of things, they aren't budging any time soon.
As the Chancellor took in the messy group, leaning against one another as they swayed and gossiped, she could see why. Their inebriated state would no doubt make things much easier for her.
Skilfully she wove through the crowd, making it look like she was headed elsewhere, casually glancing around at those mingling about, when she very obviously did a double take when she laid eyes on her target.
"Pardon me, but are you Vadna Chanschlde?" She called out to the group, coming to a stop just beyond their circle.
"Indeed, I am she," the woman in question confirmed with a tipsy grin and an even unsteadier bow, "To whom might I have the honour of?"
"Saela Monischlde," the Chancellor told her with a slight bow, "Yara Nabischlde tells me that you're one of the sellers of that large mech over there?"
"Oh here we go," one of the other drunkards said with an uncoordinated eye roll, "Get her talking about that thing and we'll never get another word out of her!"
"Be silent, cur!" Vadna said with teasing fondness, "Had you such a prize, you'd extol it yourself!"
Just then, and just as the Chancellor had planned, someone bumped into her from behind, nearly spilling her drink as they brushed past without so much as even an acknowledgement of what they'd done.
"Here, come come!" Vadna said, motioning the Chancellor over, "You wish to hear more about this marvellous mech, yes?"
Fixing her expression into one of polite interest, the Chancellor made her way to Vadna's side, the woman clearly eager to speak on the subject of her item about to go up for auction. Several of the other necupole in the cluster grumbled good-naturedly, breaking away to find other conversations to attach themselves to.
AVERRAL: Oh well played.
Bringing the Chancellor over to where she was propped up against the truly baffling piece of statuary, Vadna grinned from ear to ear as she began to speak. "Yes yes, it was discovered in Hyttan ruins nearly a century ago, you see? My partner and I, we acquired it through some very careful business dealings, as one must do, especially for something clearly so powerful!"
The Chancellor nodded politely, keeping her attention carefully on the other woman.
BATHORY: Have they thinned out enough for you to make your escape?
AVERRAL: Yes, I'm just about to leap down beside you. Keep her talking.
"I'm surprised I haven't seen it on any battlefields, a machine more potent than the Odazaen!" The Chancellor said as she looked over at the machine in question.
"Only because we've been waiting for it to go to the right person!" Vadna told her with an obnoxiously loud laugh. As she watched the woman, the Chancellor heard the faintest of thumps next to her, and then felt a light touch against her arm even though there was nothing to be seen.
AVERRAL: You're a life saver. I'll be ready to leave by the time you get to your mech. Good luck with… all of that.
BATHORY: Try to keep of the decorations next time, hm?
AVERRAL: No promises.
"-and so we were, of course, honoured to offer it up for auction, going to such a worthy cause and all!"
"How generous of you," the Chancellor said, with the clear intent of buttering the other woman up, "I look forward to the chance to begin placing bids on it myself, wish though I might that I could forego that process and just buy it outright. But alas, charity calls and all that."
Vadna blinked at her, as if trying to force herself into sobriety. She must have thought it worked, because a sly smile lit up her features as she leaned towards the Chancellor and said, "Well, seeing as I am one of the current owners of this machine, I may be able to pull some strings."
"Would you now?" Was the Chancellor's response as she leaned in as well, "I would be very interested in that. Would it be possible to get a look at the mech up close? I'd like to see where my, ah, charity funds will be going to."
Intoxicated as she was, Vadna wasn't quick enough to mask the look of panic that flitted across her face before she wrangled it into the expression of a woman who very much had a working mech on her hands as she said, "Why of course, my dear! Let's have a chat with security about that!"
The pair of them made their way to the roped off section at the back of the room. Well, the Chancellor supported Vadna as the woman stumbled drunkenly by her side, chattering about her item up for auction the entire time. They eventually reached one of the security guards keeping an eye on things, and after explaining the situation, the guard let them pass with a nod, deactivating a doorway-sized portion of the forcefield that was actually keeping lookie-loos away from the deadly machines going up for auction.
The Chancellor couldn't keep the triumphant grin off her face as she and Vadna carefully made their way up the walkway set up in front of the Storlayacas, and the other mechs on display.
"As you can plainly see, the mech soon-to-be-yours stands head and shoulders above the competition, quite literally in fact!" Vadna said as they came to rest in front of it, "Why, you're sure to fetch quite a sizeable sum for it yourself when it comes time to resell it!"
"Oh I won't be selling this one." The Chancellor told her, and as if it heard and understood her voice, the cockpit of the Storlayacas opened up to her.
Letting out a startled shriek, Vadna stumbled back and clung to the railing of the walkway as the hatch reached out like a ramp in front of them, and the Chancellor wasted absolutely no time at all in leaping into the pilot's seat. The last thing Vadna saw of the woman about to steal her property was the Chancellor giving her a condescending salute as harness and control devices pinned her to the seat, the cockpit sealing up around her.
BATHORY: I'm in the Storlayacas. I hope you're ready to go by now.
AVERRAL: Just starting the launch sequence. I wait for you to open the door for us.
The Storlayacas' eyes flared to life, and with a grace one wouldn't expect from a machine so large, it gently moved the walkway aside, Vadna still clinging to it as the mech that had failed to respond to any of her efforts, for years, to get it to move obeyed the commands of a complete stranger.
Alarms began blaring at this unexpected activation, and a swarm of security guards came running over. But what hope did they have of stopping a mech with nothing but their sidearms?
Striding down the length of the warehouse, drawing and igniting the energy sabre from her hip, the Chancellor charged at the furthest wall, slashing an opening large enough for both her and the ship roaring to life behind her.
Lights and noise sent the whole warehouse into chaos as the two machines made their escape, the fighter craft blasting up and out through the hole, the Storlayacas, thrusters flaring, following right after it.
The defense turrets all along the outside of the Aaur Niikaschlde Centre roared to life, lighting up the sky with laser fire as it tried to bring down the threats that emerged from within it, but before they had a chance to lock onto their targets, a squadron of mechs suddenly dematted out of thin air, three of them Storlayacas like the one making a break for it, raining down covering fire as the two craft rose to meet them.
Before any Necupole authorities had the chance to scramble any kind of response, the ship and mechs vanished, and unbeknownst to those watching from the ground, the vessels that now carried them made the jump to subspace the moment they were clear of Miasferr's atmosphere.
And back on the ground, Vadna Chanschlde realized that she was not going to be seeing a return on that particular investment.
"And cameras are off!" Elytra said as the face plate of her helmet slid away, stood in front of her monitoring station on the bridge, "We really did numbers with that broadcast!"
"With that cacophony of an exit, one would hope so!" Pryseia said as she threw herself into her chair, "Truly exceptional work on your behalf, Rhea."
"Hey, it was a team effort." Rhea replied from where she was leaning against Pryseia's seat, leaning over to clap her on the shoulder.
Still displaying her axe avatar, Viatrix piped up, "Speaking of which, I have a hail from Captain Saiwa."
"Please, let's not keep her waiting." Pryseia said.
A moment later and the bridge of the Sudoxe appeared on the main screen, Saiwa and her crew as flushed with adrenaline as the rest of them were.
"That was a hell of a performance," Saiwa grinned, "I truly can't thank you enough for your assistance in this whole affair."
"It was an incredibly mutual arrangement, and we were happy to lend what assistance we could." Pryseia returned with a grin of her own.
Saiwa laughed at that. "You assistance saved our asses, in more ways than one. If you ever need aid, know that the Sudoxe will always answer your call."
"Just as the Pelekys will answer yours." Pryseia promised with a respectful bow of her head.
Returning the bow with one of her own, Saiwa said, "Safe travels, and good luck in your search."
And with a final wave, the call disconnected.
"Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm ready to get the fuck out of this nonsense!" Rhea said as she plucked at her dress.
"I believe we have an outro for this escapade to broadcast, and then we can give you your just desserts." Nevara said with a small grin.
"My victory surprise!" Rhea said in a singsong voice, "Are you gonna tell me what it is now or make me wait?"
"We made you ice cream." Malakh told her with a smirk.
Rhea frowned at that, "Like with the fabricator? How's that a surprise?"
"Not with the fabricator," Elytra told her, "Well, not entirely? We fabricated the machine to make it, but we used actual, non-fabricated ingredients in the actual concoction itself."
Gaping at her, Rhea demanded, "When the hell did you manage to get all that?!"
"Back on Amanhecer Station," Malakh told her, "You mentioned to me that the fabricated stuff wasn't quite the same, so I've been looking into getting you the real deal."
"Shut the fuck up," Rhea said, smiling despite the fact she looked like she was about to cry, "You actually made me ice cream?"
"Yeah," Malakh's smile was soft, "They way you hyped it up, I made enough for all of us. Had to do research into something that would be okay for all our systems, so it's flavoured with something called… coffee?"
Rhea grabbed her head and paced out a short circle before she exclaimed, "You made me coffee ice cream?!"
"We also managed to get some seeds for the plant they derive from, so we should be able to grow our own in the hydroponics bay." Pryseia added.
Dropping her arms, Rhea just stared at the lot of them for a moment, before her eyes returned to Malakh, who was grinning as she leaned against the nearest console.
Throwing her arms out in what could have passed as frustration if it weren't for the words that came out of her mouth, Rhea demanded, "Hey, how 'bout you just marry me if that's the kind of shit you're gonna pull?!"
Shrugging casually, though her eyes were as bright as her smile, Malakh replied, "Sure, I don't see why not?"
The ship was an arrow, a lance, a lightning bolt as it was dematted outside the Sudoxe, in motion almost before it even fully rematerialized. It tore through the black of the void, driven by the deadly intent of its pilot. It approached a small, barren world surrounded by attack satellites with the inevitability of a tidal wave, weaving through a lattice of weapons fire like a needle through embroidery mesh.
On the world itself, sirens were blaring, alarm lights flashing, and the Shareholder panicking.
"What's going on?!" She shouted from behind the desk of her private office, hands braced against it as she glared at her comms.
"A ship has breached our defences," the person on the other end of the line told her, panic evident in their voice, "They're headed for the west side docking bay."
"What!? Impossible! Deal with this! I want that ship blown out of the air, and anyone aboard it dead!" The Shareholder demanded before closing the line.
She angrily slapped a hand against one of the buttons on her desk, and a groaning whirr sounded. From along the tops of the windows of her corner office, blast shutters began to descend, cutting off the view of the strange, grey green sky and jagged tan spires of the rocky landscape beyond her little fortress. The room was momentarily thrown into darkness once they closed, but dim amber lights soon lit up the space.
The Shareholder aggressively pulled open a drawer in her desk, pulling out a gun before giving it a once over to make sure it was in working order. A high pitched whine filled the room as it powered up.
Shouting came from outside the closed door, distant, and accompanied by the sounds of weapons fire. Not long after, this was followed by the sound of an explosion.
Another button slam had a blast shield falling over the door to the office, and the Shareholder reactivate her comms with a curt, "Report!"
The channel was open, but the only sounds that greeted her were the crackling of things burning.
Angrily switching to another channel, the Shareholder tried again. "Commander, I need a status report!"
Screams came over the comms this time, panicked shouting undercut by the staccato of energy beams tearing through flesh. Another explosion sounded, much closer now, cutting the channel off.
"Shit!" The Shareholder hissed, moving around her desk to do something, but before she could get three paces she was blasted off her feet as the door to her office - blast shield and all - were detonated off their hinges.
She crashed into the front of her desk so forcefully that the whole thing nearly toppled over, but even in this stunned state she raised her gun at the now open entryway.
It didn't get far, as from out of the smoke crowding the door came a single blast from a sidearm, knocking the gun from the Shareholder's hand. She looked over at her now gunless fist in shock, before she turned back to the door and growled out, "You!"
The smoke swirling around her form, Captain Sharp stood in the remains of the doorway, her gun levelled at the Shareholder's head, her expression wild eyed and piercing.
"What was that about never being able to find you?" Sharp said with a level, deadly calm.
Scrambling up against her desk, the Shareholder went for bravado, though panic was shining clear in her eyes as she snapped, "You think this will get you anything?! I have an entire private army at my disposal! Even if you kill me, you're never leaving this place alive!"
Further explosions from elsewhere in the facility refuted this statement.
Not even acknowledging that she'd heard the other woman, Captain Sharp stepped into the room, her hand and gaze steady as she advanced on her target. Her nerve failing her, the Shareholder tried to skirt around her desk to keep something between her and the vengeful Captain, but she tripped over a piece of debris, falling to the ground and sending her chair skidding to the other side of the room.
With all the calm of someone doing nothing more taxing than checking the mail, Captain Sharp holstered her gun as she rounded the desk, bending down to grab hold of the Shareholder with one hand, and picking up a chunk of the destroyed blast shield with the other.
"Wait! WAIT! I can give yo-"
But whatever the Shareholder had been hoping to sway her fate with was cut off as Sharp's hand rose above the desk before smashing down with a wet crunch, once, twice, then again and again and again. The only thing visible of the Shareholder herself were her legs frantically scrabbling for purchase as she tried to escape, but all too soon they could do nothing but twitch, before falling still, jostled only by the blows continuing to be rained down upon her lifeless body.
Pale, lilac blood began spilling from beneath the desk.
The interior of the Sudoxe's cargo hold, some time later. Leaning against one of the struts of the walkway that allowed for quick access to the cockpits of the mechs lined up behind her, Averral watched as the vessel she stole was dematted back into the hold, hovering briefly before it came to rest in an empty berth and powered down. Captain Sharp emerged from it a moment later, her eyes immediately landing on her hacking expert before she made her way over to where she was lounging.
"Your meeting went well, I take it?" Averral asked casually as soon as Sharp was within arms reach.
"I've closed our account." Was all Sharp said, voice raw and expression unreadable.
Averral shoved herself upright, her hand reaching up to flick away a few specks of dried, lilac blood, before she cupped Sharp's jaw. Closing her eyes, Sharp leaned into the touch.
"Good." Averral replied, eyes intent on her Captain.
Side by side, the four Storlayacas units filled the cargo hold of the Pelekys with their presence. The crew of that very same ship stood along the walkway in front of them, dwarfed by the magnitude of these ancient machines.
"Four down, one to go," Bathory said, brushing back a stray strand of blonde hair that had fallen out of place during her escape as she turned to Grim, "Hopefully you won't have to go through such a dramatic transformation in order to get it."
"Indeed," was the General's response, "Blonde is not my colour."
Chuckles were surprised out of everyone over this unexpected bit of levity from the normally apathetic apiarian.
"We shall begin our search anew," Queen Kaizoku said as she nodded for the others to follow her, "Augury, let your foresight uncover that which we cannot see."
"…Of course, my Queen…"
The others filed past Chancellor Bathory as she stayed behind to regard the Storlayacas she'd pulled from the clutches of the Necupole, turning to lean against the railing with both hands. "Yarula…" She said quietly, staring up at the machine.
Movement out the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she turned to see that the Hand was still there, turned towards her with one foot on the step below. They locked eyes silently for a moment before the Hand smirked, saying, "See? I had no reason to be concerned."
And with that she turned and descended after the rest of them.
Bathory watched her go in silence, her expression of mild shock more honest than any she'd worn before. She blinked and looked away, a quiet laugh falling from her as she turned to stare up at the Storlayacas once more, her expression one of triumph.