Something huge was happening. Because the moon mission was to launch in September and it was already July, the final test for the rocket to the moon was to take place in Belize, beside the Caribbean sea.
It was a good warm and clear day, all the preparations had been done. The cryogenic engine was supposed to be the best ever made. With the help of wizardry, they were able to make something called fuel bombs. These were tiny balls with expanded storage in them, they were to store excess fuel. This way, even though the rocket was going to be too big, it can still reach space.
Bobby reached the launch station on his private jet to oversee everything. "Alright, let's get this done, everyone. We have all done this many times before, this should be a piece of cake at this point,"
"Mr Armstrong, you coffee," his secretary brought him a nice big mug of black coffee. He had been working overtime these days and needed it to focus.
He felt weird telling a bunch of men decades older than him what to do. But, he had already proven himself to them, and he paid their salaries. It was a simple automated flight test, the rocket had to go up and then land back down. Yes, they were going to attempt a vertical landing on the moon, for this they had created a huge expanding landing system at the base of the rocket that can adjust itself to the terrain according to the gyro sensors in it.
Their main reason to be sending this big rocket was the cargo they will be taking along. There was a single living unit that could house three men on the moon, and it would become a temporary moon base for their stay. Then there was a Lunar Roving Vehicle, a few more sensor machines, communication equipment, power generators and whatnot.
The other reason was that they were going to bring back a lot of extracted minerals with the rocket.
"9"
"8"
The countdown started. One by one all things were clear and the thunderous roar of Merlin 1, the rocket engine, bellowed throughout the area. The bright light from the ignition made everything seem white near the launchpad.
The booming breaking noise increased when the giant rocketship started lifting off, it was really slow initially, then it picked up the speed, a metre, a dozen metres, it continued to soar towards the sky uninterrupted.
*BEEP BEEP*
But when everything was going well and people were cheering, something happened and a red light appeared on one of the computer stations. The man quickly called the mission commander, "The pressure pipes for the stabilisers are leaking, we're losing control from the left side,"
And that did happen, on the big projector screen, the live cameras showed the view from the clear sky. The Rocket had tilted towards its left and was soon going to break apart due to the extreme pressure and speed.
Bobby frowned, they had done these exercises dozens of times in the past one and half years. The engine had no problems, it was tested more than enough times even in extreme conditions, it was even coated with special magical potions to make it more durable.
He quickly took out the walkie talkie and ordered, "Secure it,"
Immediately, a team of 5 wizards, all hidden under expensive invisibility cloaks flew to the falling rocket, their job was to ensure that the rocket does not fall apart so much that their Reparo can't fix it.
The mood became depressed in the mission control room. All those who were cheering not long ago felt dejected, blankly looking at their screens. Bobby had to do something, "Everyone, we shall have the rocket back soon, do a diagnosis on it and start preparing for another test next week, we have a spare rocket. The mission to the moon, however, I think it will need to be pushed up a little, Steve, when's the next window?"
Steve, the flight path director, quickly looked at his notepad and charts, "Umm, December 20th, sir."
Bobby sighed, "Fine, prepare for that. I will reveal the news to Magnus,"
He went to his office cabin and called Magnus, telling him about what happened. Magnus was only disgruntled about not being able to see his siblings on their birthday on the 25th, the rest he didn't care. Though now some things will need to be changed, as his coronation was supposed to happen in October. Now, he will be going to space not as the crown prince, but as the King of Britain.
That entire day, he had to work constantly in the space centre to find out the fault in the rocket they sent. Yet, no matter what they tried, no real plausible reason could be ascertained why the pressure pipes burst.
Late at night, he headed to get some restful sleep. He did not wake up until the next day's noon, something happened, he started to feel a burning sensation in his chest. Initially, he thought it was indigestion, so he took a pill for it. But the sensation only increased, eventually reaching the point where it started hurting.
*Cough*
He had a loud cough, instinctively putting his palm on the mouth, but then felt something wet on it, looking down, there was red blood. "FUCK!" he cursed and took out his phone. He pressed one button three times, and then dropped down, unconscious.
...
London,
Magnus parked his car in front of the Continental Hotel. The valet was there to take it. He had already been recognised by most of the people around, as a few people who were coming in and out were staring daggers at him while their mouths nearly drooled.
He was the golden goose in their eyes. But the thing was, Magnus too saw all of them as a golden goose. It was the ultimate reversal. He walked into the hotel lobby, straight to the reception. 3 more people were sitting on the visitor's chairs, they were fixated on him as soon as he stepped inside.
He talked to the man at the reception, "I would like to meet the manager of this hotel, and no, my name is not Karen,"
The man, not even bothered by his status, replied in a monotonous voice, "I'm sorry, we only serve the members,"
"Oh really? How do I get my membership then? I've killed my fair share of people, even beasts." Magnus replied, instantly making them aware that he too knew everything about them.
"You need to be sponsored by one of the area leaders to get the membership." the receptionist said.
Magnus rubbed his chin, "Is that so, then does this mean I can not enjoy the services here until I become a member? Until then this is just a building for me?"
"Y-yes" The man stuttered, not having a great feeling about all this.
*CLAP*
He cheered, "Amazing, this means the rules don't apply to me."
All of a sudden his staff appeared in his hand, he sent a big wave of magical energy at the three assassins sitting there, planning to kill him the moment he leaves the building. The three dropped dead with a fist-wide hole in their chest.
The receptionist panicked, he pressed a secret red button under the marble counter while trying to deescalate. "Sir, please calm down. Killing is not allowed inside the hotel grounds,"
A vein popped on Magnus' forehead, he grabbed the receptionist by his hair and dragged him down, "You fucking little twigs, I don't even see you worthy enough to be stepped on. You are all twigs that get drowned under pigeon poop and rot away. And remember, I'm not a member, rules don't apply to me,"
He dragged the man inside, ending up in some sort of VIP sitting lounge for the members, it was full of assassins, men, women, heck there was an 80-year-old guy.
Not stopping, he dragged the receptionist all the way to an empty sofa seat, then made the receptionist kneel down on all limbs. He put his feet on his back to relax, "So, which motherfucker from you wants to earn 500 million dollars? If nobody wants, I'd like to claim the prize as I brought myself here,"
*Puff*
A middle-aged black man walked in, wearing an expensive suit, what caught the eye was a rolled joint that he was smoking. He took a seat in front of Magnus and also put his feet on the receptionist, "Damn, never thought I could use this useless guy like this. By the way, it's a pleasure to meet you, your highness, or majesty. Anyway, I am Harlem Chaplin, aka Smoke Dog. I have a special talent for sniffing around secrets and killing people with my sweet joint. *Puff* see this smoke, it's toxic, it can kill a man, each of my teeth is empty and has special liquid in it, I can mix it with my smoke to make all kinds of poison,"
"And? what am I supposed to do with this information?" Magnus asked him.
Harlem coughed, "Ah, damn, I forgot to say, I'm the manager here. Seriously, I was telling those mofos not to mess with you, they didn't listen. A true fan, by the way,"
*BEEP BEEP*
Magnus' phone beeped, he read the text message, it was from Adrian, ~Bobby was poisoned, condition stable, recovery in a day,~
His blood boiled at this point as he faced Harlem Chaplin, the man who just claimed he was a poison expert, "Tell me, was it you?"
[Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn]
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You can read 20 Advanced chapters and Marvel fic at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.
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"Tell me, was it you?" Magnus questioned him, not keeping his dangerous aura hidden.
Harlem Chaplin looked confused, "What? What are you talking about, brother? I do a lot of crazy shit every day, which one are you talking about... ah, is that about the fat dump I took in my neighbour's flower pot? Hear me out, her dog is crazy, barks all night."
"I am talking about the CEO of FutureTek industries, Brandon Steel Armstrong, he was just poisoned, did you do it?" He went straight at it.
Harlem stopped talking, "Him? Brother. I ain't stupid like the High Table, I won't ever do something against you, for I know how powerful you are, and besides, I wanna live in this country, I can't do that when I make the King my enemy.
"High Table would not have done it either, from what I can imagine. FutureTek is a big name in the tech and defence industry, they wouldn't dare to mess with them as that would alert all weapons suppliers. Think about who it could be that had any grudge or reason to harm him. It could be personal or professional,"
Magnus brainstormed who it could be. The only major thing they were doing right now was the space mission. But who could have a problem with the space mission? Certainly, some deep conspiracy was going on.
"If you can tell me which poison was used, I can tell you who did it." Harlem offered.
"And what do you want in return?" He inquired.
Harlem quickly blurted, "When you act against the high table, just be considerate for me, I got no beef with you,"
Nodding, Magnus stood up to leave, but before that he handed him a piece of paper, "Get this to the High Table. This is my term that they must accept if they want to stay in power."
When Magnus left, Harlem looked inside the paper, his eyes nearly popped out, it was the same thing that criminal organisations did to extort money from businesses and people, "Fuck, he wants protection money from the High Table, he's crazy. Hahaha..."
...
Magnus arrived in Belize the same day to see Bobby. The news of the assassination attempt on him had already been revealed to the world and all kinds of speculations were being made. The British government had already opened a top investigation into trying to find the ones responsible. But they won't need to, as the best investigators from MEDA were already on it.
He arrived at the Space Centre to get a report on the initial investigation. Tom(Secretary of Home now) and Adrian were there.
Bobby was still in bed, a bit weakened but completely fine.
"So, who was it?" Magnus asked.
Tom briefed, "We tried to thin down the list. The only thing that could have earned Bobby this is the Cryogenic Rocket engine. This is a tech that only two nations in the world have, America and USSR. These engines can be used to make Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles."
"So it can be either of the two? I can understand USSR, but why would the US do this?" Magnus wondered.
Of course, Tom being in the government, knows more things, "Well, the US has started to feel threatened by our ambitions. We just took over Belize, a nation in the backyards or the US, something they consider their playground."
Adrian added, "The poison used by them was that of a special kind. It is a biological living virus that triggers a heart attack."
Magnus nodded and popped out his phone to call the manager from the Continental, "Harlem, a virus that triggers a heart attack. Who uses this?"
Harlem, on the other side, was very cooperative: "Ah, classic. the CIA uses it, they kill many politicians in South America and the Caribbean with it. I can count on one hand how many people know about this secret."
Magnus hung up and faced Adrian as well as Tom. "It was CIA. I will head to Washington, D.C. and meet the president. Don't worry, Bobby. I will make them publicly apologise for this.
"Tom, tell the Prime Minister to intimate the President of this fuck up, in case he didn't know."
They gotta have some reason for doing this, something solid. If there wasn't, then he wasn't going to be nice.
...
White House,
Gerald Ford just ended the call with the British Prime Minister, and a big frown was clear on his face. "Fuck, when did I sanction this action."
He quickly called the director of the CIA to his office to inquire about the incident. He only asked one thing, "Did you do it?"
Admiral Stansfield Turner nodded, "Yes sir, we had no choice but to do it."
*BAM* The President was angry, "I didn't sanction this act,"
"You don't have to, the CIA has no oversight and is allowed to act at your discretion. Even if you don't explicitly give the orders, we can still go ahead. Brandon Steel Armstrong was a danger to the continuation of American hegemony. If they would've been able to reach the moon and set up a base, it'd put American security at risk.
"We have made similar assassinations of Atomic scientists and physicists across the world. We have assassinated USSR's Kurzki, East Germany's Haustein, India's Bhabha, France's, China's, Japan's and many more. We are always at a war, Mr President, war to stay at the top." Admiral Turner said.
Gerald Ford sighed, "That may be true. But you have no idea what you have brought upon us now. His majesty will not tolerate this. You have tried to kill his brother-like friend. And knowing his ruthlessness, you're as good as dead. The main question is, what else will he ask."
Admiral was shocked by the disregard for his life, who wants to die? "He certainly can't just kill the Director of the CIA like that on American soil,"
"Oh, but he can. You can go now and await further orders," the President ordered him.
...
Magnus went out calling it an official visit to the United States this time. The reason was simple, the people were pretty angry at what had happened and the whole situation needed a good closure.
"Your Majesty, I have arranged everything. The Director of the CIA left the White House not long ago, which means the president now knows. The director's address, his family's whereabouts, the agent they used to do this thing, have all been located. They used the coffee Brandon drank as the means to poison him," Adrian briefed him.
Magnus didn't care, however, "I'm going there to do something else too, Adrian. It's about time instead of running from the US, we take it under our fold. In 1980's elections, we will have to play our move."
...
Magnus' big plane landed at the airport. He got into the company's reserved secure cars and headed straight to the White House, no bullshit pompous ceremonies were held, nobody came to receive him. But the media did come, as many had already speculated about who the poisoner was by now.
He strode into the President's office, escorted by the president's Chief of Staff. This was the second time Magnus was meeting him face to face, he had basically given this man presidency on a silver platter.
"I am not happy, Mr President. You dare to try to kill my brother on my soil. This is unacceptable and the consequences you must face. My terms are simple, your director of the CIA shall publicly apologise and tell everyone it was him who planned this. Then you too will apologise and dishonourably discharge your director, as well as initiate criminal proceedings.
"The United Kingdom too will file a criminal case against the CIA, compensation must be paid. We know you sabotaged the rocket test as well, we lost millions because of you. Hence, pay back ten times the damage. Do all this, I will forget this incident, don't do it, I will make it my life's goal to ruin your remaining tenure." He made simple and clear threats. The situation had crossed his tolerance line, and the US had gone unchecked for far too long.
Gerald Ford sweated, he was no wizard and neither had any pull over them, but Magnus had a pull over both, muggles and wizards. But he had to save his nation from the PR disaster, "Can't we have something settled in secret?"
Scowling, he nodded, "Sure, the price will be 20 Billion dollars, pay this much money and I will forget it"
~Fuck, on one side's a devil and other side's a volcano.~ the president cursed in his mind.
[Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn]
CAN I SLEEP WITH STONES?!
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You can read 20 Advanced chapters and Marvel fic at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.
Special thanks to *DougErNuts* *Oluwatimileyin Olayemi* *BirdRant* *Franklin Walley* *Brennan Tubbs*
1 Stone = 1 Extortion Banana [ Effect: Extort Money out of anybody with 100 Extortion skills.]
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