Planet Luo, Astro-Continental Hotel, Executive Suite, Balcony
Lan Jue quietly leaned against the balcony balustrade, peering into the distance. As a platinum member of the hotel, he could enjoy the executive treatment from any Atro-Continental while only paying a pittance.
Held between the thumb, middle and index finger of his right hand was a Former Era Cuban cigar from the El Laguito factory. A 6.5 inch, 56 ring gauge Cohiba cañonazo extra, also referred to as a 1966 Edición Limitada, a rare and precious limited edition. While red wine required different spaces and techniques to properly store, this cigar needed only a humidifier to last for a few hundred years, with a pronounced smell like nanmu. In reality it’s date of production wasn’t 1966, but was in fact 2012 of the Former Era. As to why it was called 1966, no one knew for certain. One flawless, limited edition 1966 was worth one-third a bottle of Romanée-Conti, King of Wines.
Lan Jue had never known poverty, but this sort of precious, rare commodity he rarely deigned to partake in. But today, the end of this 1966 Edición Limitada glowed intermittently with fire. A deep inhalation, the smoke never passing the throat, remaining in the mouth to roll from the tip of the tongue to the root, savoring, then gradually exhaling.
The intense flavor of coffee beans and the marvelous, burning taste in his mouth was mesmerizing. The entire cigar was covered in cream flavor, and the taste of leather, but once smoked for a time became full of the sweet taste of milk chocolate. It was irresistible. A moment of intense satisfaction filled his heart.
Though the high-grade cigar would mean abstaining from wine for at least a week, to immerse himself in the taste of the 1966 Lan Jue was as ever powerless to resist.
“So fragrant, so fragrant, only… ‘tis better to enjoy together than partake alone, Third Brother*. Surely you don’t plan to keep it all to yourself?” a languid voice wafted forth. Suddenly there was another beside Lan Jue, bent over the balustrade and peering with him out over the distance.
The man appeared comparable in age to Lan Jue, with medium-length red hair that hung freely to his shoulders, and pink eyes that made him look like some evil spirit. The corners of his mouth were turned in a impish grin. He wasn’t as handsome as Lan Jue, but his features weren’t without their own charm. Black shirt, black jeans, black shoes; it was as if he intended to blend in with the night, only his red hair bobbing like a flame through the darkness.
“If you really want me to call you by this method also, keep calling me Third Brother.” Lan Jue didn’t look at his companion, his voice faint.
The grin upon the red haired man’s face suddenly slipped away. “Why would I possibly want to be a few months older than you? Why would I want to be second? Fine, A-Jue**, I wont call you Third Brother!”
At last Lan Jue turned to face the red haired young man, who was of similar height to him. “A-Cheng, I apologize.”
The red haired man shook his finger in admonishment. “You meant to let your feelings slip, just as you meant to stay on Planet Luo to wait for me. You aren’t sorry. If you wanted to conceal your feelings no one would be able to guess them. I’m just curious… You’ve lived in seclusion for three years, what price inspired this legend of the mercenary world to come out of retirement?
Lan Jue took another drag of his cigar, then gently exhaled the plume of smoke. He then said the four words on that piece of paper that inspired him to leave Planet Skyfire. “Hera is not dead.”
The red-haired man’s body shook visibly, and he unconsciously stood a little straighter. “Really?”
Lan Jue nodded his head. “This price that drew me out, is her whereabouts.”
The red-haired man took in a breath, raising a hand to pat Lan Jue’s shoulder. “Right. Your older brother will help.”
Lan Jue looked up at him and smiled, warmth in his eyes. “How bad was the loss?”
Casually the man responded, “My family only holds a thirty percent stake in the Heavenly Auction House.” As he said this, the man snatched the 1966 from Lan Jue’s grip, placing it in the corner of his mouth. “And this is mine. When you do wrong, there’s always a price!”
Lan Jue’s face twitched. “I only brought the one.”
“Nonsense.” The red-haired man reverently puffed the cigar.
Lan Jue lifted a hand to his forehead. “Chu Cheng, ya nothing short of a bandit!”
Chu Cheng’s eyes grew large. “Ya JUST stole from my family, and you call me a bandit? Aren’t ya a noble? What kind of noble says ‘ya’?
Lan Jue puffed out his chest. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“Hera’s there, do you need my help?” Chu Cheng said.
Lan Jue shook his head.
Chu Cheng let loose a peel of laughter. “Yeah, if you couldn’t manage, neither could I.”
“Joining me tonight?” Lan Jue shot him a glance.
“Alright.” Chu Cheng took another drag from the 1966, nodding emphatically.
Lan Jue returned to the room, while Chu Cheng leaned against the balustrade once more, the smile on his face never wavering.
After a short while Lan Jue returned, bearing a bottle of brandy and two glasses. He stood beside Chu Cheng, placing the glasses on the ledge between them before pouring. At once a heady, fragrant aroma wafted forth.
Chu Cheng’s eyes shone. “A-Jue, luckily you still remember your older brother’s fond of spirits, brandy especially. This bottle of Hennessy XO isn’t the highest caliber, but it’ll still go down well.”
Lan Jue offered a small smile. “Aren’t you always on about the disadvantages of being older? How are you going to drink this in one gulp. Do you think this is the Former Era? Finding an XO bottle of brandy is already very difficult. The X means ‘exceptionally’, and the O means ‘old’. Exceptionally old brandy is already quite rare.
As he spoke, he poured approximately thirty milliliters in to each glass.
“Bring some ice cubes!” Chu Cheng said, lifting his glass.
Lan Jue shot his brother a disdainful glance. “We of the nobility always appreciate brandy a little warm.”
“Brandy can be heated?” Chu Cheng said with astonishment.
Lan Jue indicated the glass before him, saying nothing.
Chu Cheng flicked his left wrist, and two small flames appeared beneath the brandy glasses. After a moment, Lan Jue extinguished the flames with a flourish.
Lifting the glass in his fingers, Lan Jue lightly sniffed the contents, the full-bodied mixture of grapes and alcohol filling his nostrils. Taking a sip, the aromatic grapes and warm current slipped past his throat. Indeed you couldn’t enjoy wine after a fine cigar, but pairing it with brandy was beyond compare.
“Not bad at all!” Chu Cheng praised the brandy while taking a drink.
Chu Cheng continued. “A-Jue, you know… When I’d learned a person named Zeus had stolen from the Heavenly Auction House, my first reaction was joy. But seeing you here now, makes me even happier. My brother’s back.”
Lan Jue drained his glass in one gulp. “I’m sorry I worried everyone.”
Chu Cheng looked shocked. “Oh I was fine. But Elder Brother… you haven’t kept in touch with him at all? Surely you don’t still blame him? You must know he realizes what you did.”
Lan Jue trembled, and shook his head. “Drink.”
“Right, drink! Tonight I’m here with you, let’s get wasted!”
——-
Early morning.
Chu Cheng had left, leaving only a slip of paper.
“I know you have the ability to open the Cipher Box, but why go through the trouble of doing it yourself? Find Hera, tell me the good news. Bring her back to drink with me.”
Under the sentence was a three-line password.
Planet Skyfire, Skyfire City, Skyfire Avenue, Zeus’ Jewelry Store
Lan Jue sat upon the sofa, quietly looking at the black metal box in front of him. Beside it sat the slip of paper containing the passwords Chu Cheng had given him.
Three years ago Lan Jue, in his arrogance, would never have thought to open the box. He’d have presented it to his employer without question.
Then again if this were three years ago, he also would have absolutely refused the assignment, since the owner and his brother had a relationship.
Now he had to see what the box contained. He had to know what he owed his brother for.
Placing a hand atop the box a beam of light emerged, it’s rays creating the image of a keyboard hanging in the air. In the same instant, a sixty-second countdown began.
Lan Jue did not input the password during his first attempt. It was as though he was unaware the three-line code was needed within that minute.
Watching the red holographic keyboard, his eyes betrayed deep consideration.
A minute passed quickly, and it seemed almost immediately the final ten seconds were ticking down.
Ten…
Lan Jue stirred, his fingers stretching forth. They weren’t thick, and his hands were smooth and fairer than most women, but also somewhat larger.
Ten fingers began to flutter, as though they were caressing the skin of a lover. The naked eye was incapable of discerning where his fingertips pressed. The three-line code, completed in a single action, appeared upon the Cipher Box’s small screen.
Beep!
An electronic ringing arose, the holographic keyboard dispersed, and two sides of the metal box drew out. They opened quickly, retreating layer by layer as the interior rose to reveal the goods within.
On Skyfire Avenue, Lan Jue was known as the Jewel Master – he was no stranger to the exquisite and masterful. But when he spied the contents of the box, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch ever so slightly. Muttering aloud, he said “A-Cheng, how will I ever be able to repay this favor?”
Within the box a pale gold piece of metal rested. It was twenty centimeters long, fifteen centimeters wide, and ten centimeters thick. Though the object was made of gold, it emitted a pale blue halo.
The average onlooker might think it pretty, but Lan Jue knew precisely what it was. No wonder it was protected by password and convoy. No wonder they hired a Chief-Ranked Mecha-Pilot and Sixth Level Adept. What they carried…
Refined Technetium!
Technetium is the byproduct of uranium fission from nuclear reactors. It is a metal that does not exist in nature, and can also be created by heating ammonium pertechnetate (Tc2S7) and ammonium sulfate in hydrogen gas at 500 to 600 degrees Celsius, then using electrolysis in a sulfuric acid solution to extract the metal. It melts at 2170℃, boils at 4877℃, and has a density of 11.5 g/cm3. It’s characteristics are similar to ruthenium, found in the same chemical family. At high temperatures technetium oxidizes to form Technetium Heptoxide (Tc2O7). It has a half-life of 2.13 X 10 years. It can be used a standard beta-emitter. A small amount (around 5 X 10 mol) of technetium ammonium sulfate used in steel plating can greatly reduce corrosion. Technetium, along with the molybdenum alloys, are also superconductive materials. It can only be produced in small quantities, with prices exceeding 2,800 New Era Dollars per gram.
In addition, refined Technetium is created when the metal undergoes intergalactic compression. One kilo of crude Technetium can produce between ten to twenty grams of it’s refined state.
Refined Technetium can be integrated into any alloy, infusing it with two unique characteristics; self-repair, and energy amplification.
Through the special properties emitted by Technetium, or perhaps some capacity of it’s morphology, it is capable of producing and amplifying a superconductive state, increasing available energies by a factor of three to five. The purer the refined Technetium, the more excessive it’s compression process, the greater it’s resulting power and amplification. In addition, a single gram of refined Technetium can endow ten kilos of metal with the capability of self-repair. Once melted and cast, only very specific types of destructive force could render it powerless – but it would never lose it’s shape. The lump of refined Technetium certainly didn’t look heavy, but in reality weighed more than twenty kilos.
In short, applying this element to the body of a Mech, would render it capable of repairing itself while simultaneously increasing it’s survivability and power exponentially.
Lan Jue couldn’t guess at the worth of the refined element. On the black market, one gram would fetch ten thousand New Era Dollars. But there was no market for it. The Three Alliances of the New Era together only produced less than a hundred kilos a year. And so, that piece of metal before him was the equivalent of two fifth’s a year’s output.
In general, refined Technetium was rarely used on Mechs. Due to their massive bulk there wasn’t ever sufficient quantities of refined Technetium to produce the desired effects. As a result it saw most of it’s use in personal combat weaponry and equipment.
It was no surprise they wanted to sell it, a piece this large was asking for trouble.
This piece of refined Technetium should certainly be given to A-Cheng. On all of Planet Luo, he’s the only one qualified to use it.
He closed the box, and the precious metal once more disappeared into it’s interior. Lan Jue’s eyes were awash in emotion, but his features quickly returned to a flat stoicism.
Lang Jue motioned with his left hand, and a screen lit up adjacent to the sofa revealing a four dimensional menu. Thin and agile fingers moved with deft speed to enter a string of numbers. The image on the screen began to shift.
Pearl appeared upon the screen, smiling as she looked at Lan Jue.
“If Zeus does it, it will be extraordinarily done.” Pearl’s tone was pleasant, but looking at her through the screen Lan Jue saw only her frigid expression.
“Tell me where Hera is.”
“The item?” Pearl’s eyes fell upon the box placed before Lan Jue.
Lan Jue responded. “Tell me a place, and I’ll have it sent by Interstellar Courier. Once I’ve confirmed your information on Hera I’ll give you the password.”
“Fine,” she responded without hesitation.
“Where is Hera?” Lan Jue’s eyes shone, arcs of blue lightning coiling in their depths. His impatience was clear today, a state he hadn’t experienced for a long while. A state he couldn’t control.
Skyfire Avenue was rich in shops, but even at the height of it’s nightlife there wouldn’t be many people. Occasionally a patron would saunter by, clad in finery, but none would break the relative peace of the street much less quarrel or do something uncouth. If they did, they could lose their Skyfire Emblem at any moment.
Thrummm came the dull sound of thunder, and the avenue was suddenly illuminated by lightning. Not a cloud hung in the sky, yet lightning fell freely. The tumultuous roar of thunder filled the heavens.
It began with a single thunderbolt, but before long countless threads of lightning criss-crossed the sky, thunder surging. The sky was an undulating sea of electric blue, melting into a forest of lightning which grew until the entirety of Skyfire City grew stark in the shadows of lightning.
A cloudless thunderstorm. Lightning from an undarkened sky!
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GOT IT