章 4: A Dangerous Game
Jezebel and Jean stepped off the grav-lift and into the hangar of the elegant ship. He and Jean walked over to the royal transport, a thing of beauty. It's blue highlights and beautiful curves greatly impressed him. They both sauntered over to the craft, he watched Jean with careful eyes. His newly added bodyguard training had enhanced his peripheral perception, allowing him to guard Jean in a commendable fashion. To any outsiders, Jezebel exuded a strong refined presence, mostly due to the suit custom-tailored to fit his exact dimensions. The sunglasses on his face clashed with his auburn locks, it created an impressive scene of a dangerous fashion sense.
"Hey, sir Jez. If we see my sisters, promise me you won't talk?" Jean suddenly remarked.
"Uh, sure m'lady. Why is that?" his tone gradually shifted to something more appropriate for royal bodyguards.
"I'd rather you not make them mad. They're already targeting me, and it'd be a shame if they targeted you as well."
"Well, young miss, I'll keep that in mind." Jezebel and Jean continued walking until they reached the entrance of the royal transport. Its grandiose exterior clashed with the minimalistic background of the destroyer's hangar. It was surprisingly flashy, and yet, somehow fitting for the announcement of a royals arrival. At the top of the ramp, two figures stood in a grand pose. "Eeeeugh" Jean hacked.
"What is it, miss?" Jezebel quickly replied.
"Those are my two younger sisters, Anna and Laurelynn. Stuck-up brats, both of them."
"Well miss, that's not a nice thing to say about your sisters!"
"Jez, sir, come on. They've, on multiple occasions, induced attempts to abduct me, assassination attempts, and they even once tried to get me indicted in a money laundering scheme. A money laundering scheme! I'm a princess! How would I get caught up in that!"
"T-that's fairly impressive miss. It's a good thing I'm here now."
"Yes... I do suppose it is, sir Jez."
"Anyhow miss, nothing to fear from them now I'm here. Let us get on the craft and descend, eh miss?"
"Yes, sir Jez. I suppose we shall. Now, let me do the talking up here."
Jezebel and Jean continued to the lift platform to the top of the entry. It slowly climbed up the ramp, while Anna and Laurelynn watched on intensely. They reached the top and the two younger sisters walked over to strike up a conversation.
"Hey there, big sis!" the tall one in the blue cheongsam said, with a tinge of excitement, and tailed by her much shorter sister in the same outfit.
"Hello there, Laurelynn. I see Anna is tailing you as usual."
"You bet, big sis! So, did you enjoy your walk around the station?" Laurelynn hinted at what occurred.
"You know what, Laurelynn? I quite did. It was very exhilarating, especially when my bodyguard saved me. Thanks for the amazing experience!"
Laurelynn and Anna both put on shocked faces, recoiling at what Jean had just said.
"W-well then! I'm glad you had a fun time! Haha, I suppose it's time for us to drop now huh? Well, Anna and I are going to sit in our cabin, see you later!"
Laurelynn quickly walked away, tailed closely by Anna. They swiftly retreated to their own cabin in the transport ship.
"Well then sir Jez, shall we make our way to my cabin and buckle in?"
"Yes miss Jean, of course."
Both Jezebel and Jean walked to her cabin. It was triple-reinforced and padded tightly, it allowed for a very comfortable reentry, with almost no movement. They both sat down and buckled in, directly across from each other. They barely felt the ship lift off, and wouldn't have noticed without the windows facing the outside, the blackness of space, interrupted by the bright light given off by Xanodros and its sun. The transport craft circled around the planet until it was given permission to land. The craft inverted and went straight down towards the plant, it rapidly gained speed as it reentered the atmosphere. The ship began to shake, greatly reducing its speed as they quickly oriented up and thrust to reduce their speed. They slowed down and swiftly landed.
"We have arrived, m'lady. Where to?" Jezebel said
"Just follow me, sir Jez. I know where we're going." Jean replied quickly.
The ramp slowly lowered to the ground, landing with a soft thud. Jezebel and Jean left her private cabin, boarded the moving platform, and finally landed on the ground. The hard metal landing platform hovered precariously over a deep verdant gorge but was still stable with a many tonne craft perched on top. As they left the landing craft, an elegant hover-car was brought around. Its sleek deep blue exterior emulated a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. In the driver's seat, was a cleanly-dressed woman. "I've brought the car around m'lady." the yet unnamed woman said.
"Good, thank you, Dinah. I don't believe you have met my new bodyguard yet. Dinah, I introduce you to Jezebel Mahon. Jezebel Mahon, I introduce you to Dinah Iams. She is my driver, and one of my closest friends." Jean introduced the two workers.
"Ah, so you're the new guy. Nice to meet ya, Jezebel. Mind if I call ya Jez?" Dinah said.
"No problem, Dinah. It's nice to meet you as well. So, you a good driver?"
"You bet your ass I am Jez! I'm the best driver in the Elar Sigma system! Ask anyone from there."
"Alright. I suppose I must be relying on you to drive us."
"That you would, now, could you both kindly get into the vehicle? I do believe m'lady has somewhere she'd like to go in Tamarind?"
"Yes, I do Dinah. I'd like you to take us to Buxahs Information and Self Defense Stand."
"Alright m'lady. Buckle in and prepare for lift-off!"
They all boarded the car, Dinah in the driver's seat, Jezebel and Jean in the back, across from each other. Dinah twisted the key into the ignition of the car, and it began to hover off the ground. She mumbled something under her breath, and the car shot off. It quickly gained speed, the impressive greenery becoming a blur as the speed increased rapidly. They felt almost no movement in the car, the only indication of movement was how they passed the scenery at incredible speeds. Jean picked up a book from the table and began to read. Jezebel looked out the windows and saw a hulking gray mass in the distance. The mass clarified as they speedily approached, it became individual buildings and a light show of myriad colors from the advertisement holograms on buildings. Traffic began to be seen as they got closer, hundreds of thousands of cars, both hover and ground-based, jittered about and dotted the scenery.
The car came to a slow as they neared the monumental city gates. On either side of the gate was a statue of a man adjusting his sleeves. He was dressed in a suit and had wild hair. On his hip was a holster and inside was a revolver of some sorts. They went through the gates and quickly arrived in the carefully guided hoverlanes and ground streets of the city of Tamarind. Dinah navigated through the traffic carefully and methodically, the two in the back watched out, they gazed upon the thousands of unique vehicles that crowded the hoverlanes and ground streets of the city. She brought the car down through the tens of different levels of hoverlanes and landed on the ground. The car converted into something right for the street. Jezebel and Jean began to talk about their destination.
"So, miss. What is this place, 'Buxahs Information and Self Defense Stand' exactly?"
"It is our current destination, sir Jez. I need information on the location of something important that'll benefit the military of the Elarian Klarrinate. Especially for the upcoming skirmish against a local pirate lord. Nothing for you to worry much about."
"Well, miss. I'll always worry as long as it includes you. That is in my job description." Jezebel chuckled at the end.
"There isn't much you can do against the armada of the pirate lord though, Jezebel."
"If they're in the way of my protection of you? I'll do anything, m'lady. I'm sure Dinah would too." Dinah gave a thumbs up from the front.
"Thanks, that means a lot, the both of you. I'm quite glad that you'd do anything to protect me. Especially because of the interference of my sisters. So, don't be surprised if something unexpected happens on this excursion."
"Of course miss, I'm always ready to protect you."
The car crawled to a slow, it stopped at a low traffic entrance to a building. At the top of the entrance, a faded signboard read 'Buxahs Information and Self Defense Stand'. Jezebel and Jean exited the vehicle, leaving Dinah behind to take care of it. They entered into the shop, dim lights greeted their eyes. On the walls were brightly lit racks of weapons, rifles, pistols, blades, and knives. The further they walked into the shop, the more expensive and overly designed they became. From a simple revolver to an over-engineered curvacious hunk of dynosteel that shot energy rounds. They eventually came to a stop at the worn wooden counter with a man behind it. "Names Buxah, what ya be needin today eh?" he spoke from behind the counter.
"I need information on an Arrythian weapon that may be on this planet. It's ship mounted, and if my records are right, is called the 'Hyperspace Gattling Gun'. Do you have any on that sir?" Jean questioned
"Eh miss, already sold dat. Two nice lookin laydeez came in. Bought it quick ay? Might be persuaded to give ya it anyways, if ya promise a bit of fun wit me" Buxah gazed lecherously at Jean, he eyed from her feet, past her brownish gold curly locks, and to the top of her head.
"Well sir, you know what. Let's skip the shit. I am Jean Quincy Klarranti the Fourth of Her Name, I don't take too kindly to these kinds of propositions. I'm not above using some violence to get the answers I want, especially from lewd non-cooperative peoples. Jez, go nicely ask the man the question for me."
"Yes miss, of course."
Jezebel was roused into action. He quickly advanced onto the fat orc-like man. Buxah backed away but wasn't fast enough. He perfectly jumped over the counter after Buxah. Buxah continued to back away, but he was rudely interrupted by a blow straight to his nose. Buxah fell to the ground, his greenish hued blood spurted out as he wailed. Jezebel grabbed his collar and held the man up against the wall. Buxah attempted to avoid his gaze, but Jezebel used his free hand to force his focus on him
"Tell me, about the 'Hyperspace Gattling Gun' man. Keep in mind, I don't quite like it when people make m'lady mad. So I recommend you get your information straight. "
"N-no hurt me brotha!" Buxah sniffled while he talked "I can't give away information I already sold! Come on man, help a brotha out eh?"
Jezebel let go of Buxahs' face and thrust another blow to his nose.
"F-FUCK! I'll tell you! I'll tell you ok! Just no hurt me anymore ay!" Buxah wailed.
"Good, now, tell me the location. I promise you'll regret it if you lie."
"It's in da Valley of tha Deep! There a secret defunct base dere. On tha terminals is some data. It may be there! Don't hurt me any more ey?"
"Best be good information, Buxah."
"I swear man! I swear it good!"
"Good, I hope we won't be having a problem then."
Jezebel dropped Buxah down and walked out with Jean in tow. They both boarded the car, and Jean told Dinah to head to the Valley of the Deep. As they traveled along, each distracted by whatever they were staring at, Ags chimed in, in Jezebels' head.
[So Jez, it's been a hot minute. How have you been?]
'Ags? Forgot you were even here. Today's been a blur.'
[Yes it has Jez. Good news is, the place you're heading for doesn't have what they're looking for. That's all up here with me.]
'Then why are we heading there?'
[Oh, that's because there is an ancient Arrythian base here, but it would never have stored something like that weapon, plus, all databanks had been wiped already. I just assume that they thought it was there because of the defense systems.]
'Ah, also, why hasn't this information appeared yet in my head? I thought I would've got this as soon as I landed?'
[Well, technically his information is correct. Also, I see you're a bodyguard now for the Elarian Klarrinate. Have fun with that! She's right around your age too. Though she does look sort of young.]
'Jesus Ags, I'm not looking for a bride yet. Can't I just enjoy this ride and get my job done for whatever benefits I'll get?'
[Well, that'll take a bit. So do a bit of flirting! It's never bad to have some friends in high power, especially the princess of the Elarian Klarrinate.]
'I do suppose as such. But, I'm not looking to restart the Kingdom of Arrythia yet Ags. Give me some time for that.'
[Yeah, I suppose you aren't. Anyways, you've got a decent drive ahead of you. I'd recommend you read something fun. Maybe something like Steelheart.]
'I just may Ags. See you again soon. Thanks for checking in. Hows the ship?'
[Ah, it's doing pretty good. Yeah, see you soon. Don't forget, I'm always here in your head!]
'Yeah, see you soon Ags.'
He and Ags ended the conversation, and he opened a holobook.
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"Yeah, she did that? Ahaha! That's so her! Getting violent after not getting her way! Thanks for the heads up Buxah, we'll be expecting her quite soon."
"Laurelynn, is big sis on her way?"
"Yes Anna, she is. I can't wait to see her! We'll have so much fun!"
Laurelynn was perched at the edge of a cliff, she viewed down the steep sides and focused on a camouflaged base. A group of 15 well-armed mercenaries worked on the door as some patrolled and watched. A temporary barracks was set up nearby, a las-turret emplaced at the front watching far down the valley. Every man had a KFS-464 Carbine, a left-over from the Taramind - Echolate Civil War. A man wearing a fancy hat radioed Laurelynn...
"Hey boss, door is open. Ready to come down from there and venture in?"
"Yeah, I'm ready Captain Homer. Meet you down there soon."
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