Bab 254: 250: A Plague of Phantoms: A Revolutionary’s Arrival IV
"I'm sorry…where are my manners. I am Turak'Kahn Solomon IV, Pharaoh of Egypt. You may call me your majesty or King Turak'Kahn."
"Umm…I…your majesty." I said bowing my head slightly. Oliver did the same and glanced at me with panic in his eyes, wondering what to do next. I looked for Beaufort and my dad with my peripheral vision, found them along with the rest of my unit preoccupied with several splicers trying to talk to my dad.
"Turry, aren't you forgetting something?" The queen asked as she squeezed his arm a little tighter. The Pharaoh smiled softly at his wife.
"Not at all dear. This is my wife, Queen Viola Solomon." The Pharaoh replied and motioned to her. She offered both Oliver and I another smile that lit up the sky again.
The queen was one of the most beautiful women I'd seen by far. She had an innocent librarian look to her with her large black and gold glasses, her hair softly tussled and cascade down her back in auburn waves. The gown she was wearing hugged her body in all the right places, I would have called her my perfect woman if it wasn't for the crystal that marked her as a splicer.
"Pleasure to meet you your highness." I said repeating the bow, and ultimately stalling for time and hoping Beaufort or my dad or anyone saw us.
"Likewise…is what I would like to say Logan Kingston, but given who you're currently guarding you'll have to forgive my slight rudeness." Viola said. I frowned at that statement.
"Who I'm…" I froze as it suddenly dawned in me that I never told either the queen or Pharaoh my name. While they could have heard it from any of the dozen or so people that said it earlier the fact the Pharaoh and queen were talking to me, a American and soldier at that, was suspicious.
"Don't look so shocked that I know your name. You're quite the talk of the afternoon. The normie brother of the Revolutionary Paragon who seems to have no idea how important his brother is. You're confusing a lot of people, as is your father." Viola said.
"Half-brother." I corrected.
"All's the same." Turak'Kahn said then glanced off into the distance somewhere. A soft smile tugged at his lips and he looked to his wife. "Ah…look who's here."
I turned towards the direction the Pharaoh was looking wondering who he meant and saw her almost instantly. A vision of beauty and elegance, a young woman a few years younger than myself. She looked to be the spitting image of Queen Viola only her hair was a brighter shade of auburn. She was a tight black and burgundy dress that one could say was business casual but on her looked like it could be worn at a royal ball or some other splicer event.
Oliver and I gasped softly, we couldn't help it. That woman was too beautiful, too ethereal, too otherworldly to be real. But she was and the moment her eyes landed on the Pharaoh she smiled and started walking towards us.
"Father!" She exclaimed as she got close and held her arms out for a hug. The Pharaoh obliged her instantly and pulled his daughter into a tight hug, letting his wife go in the process. The Pharaoh and his daughter hugged for a brief moment before she let go and looked to her twin/mother. "Mother."
"Jane!" Viola exclaimed and pulled her daughter into a hug, which Jane seemed more reluctant to give compared to her father. She hugged her mother back though and smiled. "How long ago did your group arrive?"
"About an hour ago. Would have been sooner but we ran into some Japanese navy Zee-waro and they had no clue who we were. At least until father's favorite idiot sent his evos after them." Jane replied.
"Oh Little Bo is stepping up now?" The Pharaoh asked. Jane chucked and shook her head.
"Not that idiot, the walking disaster." Jane reiterated. The Pharaoh smirked at his daughter in a reassuring way.
"Ah yes. The revolutionary Paragon. I should have figured." He said then glanced my way. "Oh Jane let me introduce you to…"
"Logan Kingston…" Jane interrupted her father. Sparing a glance in my direction. For a brief moment I thought I saw a look of pure and unadulterated hatred burning in her eyes. The look was so intense and raw it was as if Hel herself was staring at my immortal soul and finding me wanting. But just as quickly as the look appeared it disappeared, leaving me questioning what I had seen.
"And you know the lieutenant's name, how?" Oliver asked, sounding very defensive like a jealous girlfriend. The princess looked his way and smiled.
"Why, I know his younger brother, Chase. We're in the same class as college…among other things." Jane replied. The Pharaoh chuckled and arched a brow at hos daughter.
"Other things? You make it seem like you and Chase are on more than friendly terms, Bug." He said. Jane narrowed her eyes at her father and pouted.
"You know that's not what I meant, Father." Jane said sternly. As she turned I noticed a gleam on the back of her neck, it was then that I realized she too was a splicer. Just like Chase, just like the Pharaoh, and just like every single fucking dignitary on this roof.
"Lieutenant Kingston!" Beaufort exclaimed suddenly. I turned towards the sound of his voice and saw him and the rest of my unit walking over. My father a few steps behind, talking to another noble or royal.
"Mr. President!" I exclaimed and snapped to attention saluting properly. Private Oliver saluted too, the both of us stepping to the side to give the president a wide birth.
"At ease." Beaufort said with a tired tone. "You were supposed to report back immediately Lieutenant."
"I'm afraid that is my fault." The Pharaoh said suddenly. Beaufort looked in his direction, pretending that it the first time he noticed the ruler. Beaufort visibly relaxed and turned to address the Pharaoh.
"Your fault? And you are…?" Beaufort asked.
"Turak'Kahn Solomon IV, Pharaoh of Egypt. You are Beaufort T. Justice, former owner of Justice Technologies and current President of the United States of America." Turak'Kahn replied. Beaufort looked surprised that he knew all that as was everyone else in the unit but I was starting to get suspicious about this encounter.
"President of the Zeonic States of America, our country recently went through a change in name." Beaufort corrected. The Pharaoh nodded and snapped a finger as if suddenly remembered that fact. Turak'Kahn looked towards my father who was just joining the conversation.
"Ah, you must be Thomas Kingston."
Dad looked surprised and a little confused, having just joined the group from another conversation.
"Um…yes, your majesty. Umm…how did you guess?" Dad replied. The Pharaoh simply smirked and then pointed to my Dad and me.
"The family resemblance is strong between you and your sons. Particularly around the eyes." The Pharaoh said.
"Shame you three don't share the same eye color. Chase's are a most beautiful steely color." Viola perked up. Dad became guarded at that comment as did I.
"You know Chase?" Dad asked. The queen and Pharaoh nodded in unison.
"Jane brought him with her to our anniversary ball…lucky he was there to help with all the…unpleasantness." Viola said. The Pharaoh's eyes darkened for a brief moment as did Jane's. I took that moment to step closer to Dad and whispered in his ear.
"Apparently…he…goes to school with the Pharaoh's daughter." I whispered.
"I see…" Dad whispered back sounding a little concerned. Beaufort took the moment of silence to clear his throat and gather attention from the royals.
"Well I'm glad I caught you your majesty. I've been meaning to talk to you about a little business." Beaufort said then paused and quickly added. "Well Mr. Kingston here has. And I'm sure your lovely wife and daughter wouldn't want to be bored with business talks. This is a party she should go enjoy it."
I noticed Viola bristled a little a being dismissed, however she quickly hid it. Not that Beaufort noticed. The Pharaoh looked a little insulted as well.
"I wish I could just enjoy the party but unfortunately I'm here on business as well." Jane said, shocking Beaufort and the rest of my unit.
"Business? Now what would a beautiful princess like you be doing for business at a techno-splicing expo?" Beaufort asked. Jane simply smiled, the look sent chills down my spine.
"Oh, that's right I never formally introduced myself." She motioned to a emblem on the her dress just over her right breast. It was of a star shaped shield with two swords behind it and a liger shark or some kind of evo holding it between its claws. "I am princess Jane Solomon, Chief of Operations at Sho'lajah Artifact Company."
The moment those words left her mouth it was like all the air in the area had been sucked up by a vacuum. Beaufort, my dad, and everyone in my unit froze. Sho'lajah Artifact Company, a name I hadn't heard of before today and a company I knew nothing about except that the president had ordered my unit to kill the owner and everyone connected to it. The fact that a princess of Egypt was a part of the godsdammed company put a wrench in that.
"We're a pretty new company so I'm sure you haven't heard of us." Jane added.
"Ah…well…ahem! I hadn't until this morning when the Tech-9 committee informed me that your company was invited." Beaufort lied, it wasn't even a good one. "Might I ask who the owner of your company is?"
"Oh, you'll meet him a little bit. He wanted to make a big entrance." Jane said dismissively. She opened her mouth to say something else when her eyes suddenly locked on to something behind Beaufort. Her eyes burned with Anger. "Gods above what is that boy doing here?!"
I turned around and immediately saw who she was referring to. It wasn't hard since there was only one person in that direction that could be called a boy. He was a waist height Egyptian boy wearing a west African garb that I was sure was called a dashiki. It was in the same black and burgundy color as Jane's and even had the same logo.
Standing besides the Bo was a man that grabbed my attention, mostly because he was wearing a suit with the same color scheme and logo as Jane and the boy but also because he was fighting with a small evo trying to pull something out of its mouth. The evo was putting up quite a fight but with one quick pull the man managed to yank out what the evo had swallowed, which was an entire silver platter more than twice the size and width of the evo. My eyes bulged as the evo's jaw unhinged and the man yanked the shiny platter free.
"Isn't that Bo?" The Pharaoh asked. Jane sighed and shook her head.
"Yes…unfortunately." She groaned. Viola smiled and stepped in front of her daughter and waved her hand.
"Oh Booooooo!" She exclaimed. The boy, Bo, turned towards the sound of the queen's voice and then smiled.
"AUNT VI! UNCLE TURRY!" He exclaimed then rushed over. He all but tackled Viola and the queen didn't seem upset by it. Instead she smiled and hugged the boy back. The Pharaoh smiled and then patted the boy on the head once he and the queen stopped hugging.
"The Pharaoh's nephew is part of this company too…" Cross muttered softly.
"How well connecter is the owner of this company…?" Oliver whispered.
"Bo Kestrel!" The man that had been fighting with the evo exclaimed as he walked over, evo still in hand and struggling to get free.
"But Daaaad! It's uncle Turry and aunt Vi!" Bo whined and pointed to the Pharaoh and queen. The boy's father stopped a few steps away from our group and bowed respectfully at the Pharaoh.
"Your majesty, it's an honor to meet you, I am Nathan Kestrel. I'd also like to apologize for any problems my son has caused you in the past and any problems he will probably cause in the future." Nathan said. I arched a brow at that.
'Has he never met the Pharaoh before…then how is that boy his nephew?' I thought.
"Nonsense! I only wish my own son was more like yours, attending college at ten and a Paragon's class no less." The Pharaoh said. Jane's eyes bugged at that comment and she quickly turned towards her Father.
"Do not put that evil out into the world, Father! It's bad enough I have to deal with Chase and this little mini-chase, a third one would probably end the world!" Jane exclaimed. Both Jane, Nathan, and Viola shivered at that statement.
"Bad part is she's probably right…" Nathan said. Bo turned to me look over in my unit's direction and frowned when he saw me and my dad.
"Hey! That guy kinda looks like Chase…except taller…more muscular…whiter…and doesn't look as bright." Bo said then looked to Jane. It took all my strength to not reach out and bat the little splicer shit across the nose.
"BO!" Nathan snapped and smacked the back of his son's head.
"OWWW!" Bo exclaimed.
"Actually…this is Chase's father and half-brother Thomas and Logan Kingston." Jane said motioning to my dad and then me, her tone dropping to a serious and cold one.
Bo and Nathan's eyes widened and the duo looked at both of us. All at once any warmth and joy that had been in the boy's eyes went away in a flash, same with his father. They looked at my dad and I like we'd just killed someone precious to them right in front of them. I instinctively took a step back, the anger I sensed from them getting the better of me. Oliver and Rhodes stepped in front of my dad and me, sensing the change in demeanor from them. No one said anything for several moments which to me felt like an eternity, until Nathan spoke up first but spoke to my dad.
"I see…Thomas was it? We met your wife…I mean ex-wife, recently." Nathan said, the venom in his voice could have melted steel.
"Oh…I see…I would hope that hasn't colored your opinion of me." Dad replied, trying to make his reply sound jovial and failing.
"No…but then again there's not much further you can go once you hit rock bottom." Nathan quipped then reached out and grabbed his son by his shoulder.
"Well now! There's no need for such talks right now." Beaufort spoke up suddenly then looked at the Pharaoh. "Your majesty, if we could convene privately I would love to speak more in depth about our contract."
"Yes…about that…" The Pharaoh said then paused to look at his daughter before looking back at Beaufort. "…it has recently come to my attention that several of the thrads that my military purchased from various sources have gone berserk. What's more a large Laboratory was found in the desert not far from Andromeda city that was manufacturing thrads similar to the ones we purchased. As a precaution my country will not be purchasing any thrads for the time being."
"Wha…why…while I'm astonished and sorry to hear this your majesty I would like to remind you that Justice Technologies has a contract with Egypt for the purchase of thrads. You are not considering breaking that contract are you," Beaufort said quickly. The queen spoke up this time, her voice commanding and cold.
"We will be paying Justice Technologies the full amount of the contract however we will not be ordering or receiving anymore thrads." Viola said, offering Beaufort a smile that was anything but friendly. "Now as the leader of a country yourself I'm sure you can understand our caution."
"Yes…I can…" Beaufort replied.
"I'm just thankful that my daughter and Sho'lajah Artifact Company warned me about these thrads and that dubious facility. Without them the loss of life in my military could have been disastrous." The Pharaoh said.
Beaufort was hiding it well but he was very, very pissed. I didn't know the full extent of his plans or much of his plans really but I knew the way he and my dad kept going on about those thrads and how they pushed the sellers for the company to market meant the fact any country was saying they were refusing them was bad.
"Well since you brought this to our attention we'll be doing a comprehensive review of our manufacturing process as well as a investigation to see where those evos came from." Dad butted in. The Pharaoh nodded at that answer and looked to Bo and Nathan, the father manged to calm himself enough to not look feral anymore but the same could not be said about the son.
"Now your majesty, you said that Sho'lajah Artifact Company brought these problems to your attention? Do you mean the owner of that company or did your daughter just tell you?" Beaufort suddenly asked.
"The owner. We talked at length about it." The Pharaoh said.
"I see. Well I would very much like to meet this mysterious person. To thank him for their help." Beaufort said. The Pharaoh's brows shot up inquisitively.
"It was my understanding that the two of you had already met. But then again you probably aren't recognizing him because of all the new titles people are associating with him." The Pharaoh said then smirked. "The Peerless Paragon, Gods-sent spell forger, Demon of Sho'lajah, and Revolutionary Paragon. Though that last one is a official moniker I gave him."
'Already met him…?' I thought.
For a brief second a impossible name floated into my mind: Chase. But that was impossible, beyond impossible. I've been around that disease his entire life. He's nothing more than stain on a beggars unwashed boxers. A weak splicer that can't do anything without cowering behind their evos. He might have showed a little bit of a spine two years ago with the ascended for all the good that did him and his grandma.
"You'll meet him soon enough…" Jane said then froze and looked off into the distance as if in a trance for a brief second. She then smiled and looked up at the sky. "…in fact he's already here."
"He's alre…" Beaufort started only to be interrupted by a ear piercing screech.
"AAAH!" Everyone exclaimed and grabbed their ears. A few were brought to their knees as the building seemed to shake from the volume and intensity of the screech. Oliver, Reagan, and Rhodes from my unit were among them as well as my dad.
A wave of panic and confusion swept over the rooftop as nobles and royals alike looked around and tried to find the source of the noise. My own men jumped into action and surrounded Beaufort, I however was hesitant. Jane, Nathan, and Bo were all to calm and all looking up at the sky.
"AAAAAAHHHHH! THE SKY! UP IN THE SKY!" A woman suddenly shrieked. I looked up and for a second wondered if I was seeing things but as a chorus of screams and exclamations followed that woman's I realizes I wasn't.
About six hundred feet above me, where the clouds touched the horizon, a enormous bright red human skull poked its head through the clouds. Two massive blue eyes glowed from the sockets of the skull and insectoid mandibles poked put beneath the top half of the mouth of the skull where it's jaw should have been.
The mysterious creature let out another shriek that parted the clouds and reviled and impossibility large and long body, similar to a centipede flying high behind the clouds. It coiled and twisted similar to a serpent, having to be more than two miles long. How something so massive could fly I had no idea, it seemed to defy all logic, all laws of nature that splicers already spat in the faces of normal humans like me. To the splicers that were attendance as well it seems. Not a word was spoke, or a breath taken as everyone stared up at the evo in reverence and fear.
The evo, if something that big could be called a evo anymore, descended down towards the rooftop. Turning sharply it flew down below the rooftop of the building. Being near the edge already I could have ran over to see what it was doing but…I was scared, terrified. As we were equipped right now no American soldier on the island could take that thing down, it was too huge. My fear was then compounded when I realized the body of the evo was wrapping around the building. Coiling multiple times before the butt end finally faded from view and its head surged up about thirty feet in the air, right in front of the ledge I was currently standing in front of, before leveling and looking down at everyone below.
I was too stunned by the sheer size of its head alone. Wider than me by at least three times over, it was alien and predatory. It took me several moments to take all of its face in, this evo had every single person on the roof with me hypnotized or at least too scared to move fearing it would attack. It wasn't until I noticed some movement on the top of the evo's head did I notice that it had a rider.
"Wait…is that…?" Reagan muttered behind me.
"Impossible…" dad muttered.
Standing on top of the evo was none other than Chase. My pathetic, weak, worthless, half-brother. Only he didn't look any of those things right then. He looked strong, authoritative, regal, celestial even. Dressed in a burgundy dashiki with black metallic trim and a intricate design sown into the cloth, his hair done up in dreadlocks with the ends colored varying shades of pink and burgundy. The fading light of the sun making it look like a mane of fire as each lock swayed in the wind. He had gold or silver rings on each of his fingers and a chain necklace, each link looked to be made out of pure jade or obsidian.
His eyes swept the crowd, his steel colored eyes burning as he regarded each person. His eyes fell on me for a split second, a fraction of a second really, and I saw that fire burn brighter. Every instinct in my body screamed in that fraction of a second. Alarm bells, sirens, some deep seeded survival instinct embedded in my genes howled to life warning me. Danger, slaughter, DEATH.
It took every ounce of strength I had to keep my knees from shaking, to not run. But that was absurd, this was Chase, my younger half-brother, the punching bag I took my frustrations on for my entire life. He was a splicer, a weakling, a nobody. But there he was standing over everybody like he was somebody, like he was a hero. It didn't make sense.
The sound of heels clicking in pavement snapped me out of my panic stricken daze and I looked down towards the sound. Jane had stepped away from everyone and was half turned towards Chase and half towards the crowd Chase still had captivated and cleared her throat gaining everyone's attention.
"Esteemed dignitaries, noblemen and noblewomen, and royalty from across the globe. I am Princess Jane Solomon, daughter of Turak'Kahn Solomon IV: Pharaoh of Egypt and Chief of Operations at Sho'lajah Artifact Company. While I would like to apologize for the start you all just experienced on behalf of the company I would first like to introduce Chase Kingston, owner and operator of Sho'lajah Artifact Company."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone