Interlude - Torde's Boss

While Blackfire and Zac 'fought' against each other in between the sheets, the nearby station had finally received it's important convoy. Three ships had jumped in and docked, two patrol vessels and one much large ship. It was made out of a white metal with golden trims running down it side, with a strange whirlpool or vortex symbol on the side, with a V engraved in the middle of it.

And on this ship, Torde was sweating bullets.

He was on hands and knees, knelt down as low as he could get without being flat against the long stylish rug he just above. The room he found himself in looked more like a throne room than any sort of office or reception room. A long chamber with pillars carved from rare and expensive materials, holograms in place of statues that seemed dance to an unseen song, and the 'throne' at the head of the room. It was large, with a square base, white in color with gold decals, pusling with green and blue lights from under the glass cables that no doubt powered the few computer arms that were gathered around the man that sat in the chair.

The man that could very well end everything he'd work so long for. And that was just because he was bored.

What was he going to do about this failure he'd brought to greet him instead of a gift?

"Overseer Lysander...., I hope you had a good... trip out he..."

Torde's body was slammed hard into the floor with enough **** to leave cracks under the rug. For all the pressure on his back, the alien was able to shift his head and see... nothing. But the pressure only increased, causing him to cough up some blood as his bones started to crack.

"You've made a mess it seems. For what? To save your pride?" the man spoke as he got up and walked over.

He got a better look of his boss now that he was standing over him. he had short black hair but his skin was grey and his yellow eyes looked like pure gold. A long thin tail whipped around him, it's end replaced with some sort of metal cybernetic blade. Other than that he looked a bit like the two who showed him up at the bar, only a bit bigger than the male. He was dressed in what could only be described as 'posh office suit', the outfit looking both to show off his charm and personality, but also elevate him above those that served him.

"How many favors did you have to call in? How much gear did you lose to just... two people? This will be a large hit on your profits Torde." he spoke each word out very carefully.

"I... I'm sorry just..."

"The only reason you are not dead is because I do not wish to stain my rug, just yet." he flicked a hand and the pressure let up just a bit, but not enough for him to get off the ground, "How are you going to make up for this mistake?"

"He could be sent to one of the mining colonies you own." a voice spoke up.

Back near the throne he saw a pretty curvy woman in a rather alluring secretary outfit. Her blue skin, white hair and feathered wings made her quite the looker in that small dress..., but her red eyes and talons in place of heels told him he'd be a dead man if she was given the smallest chance to do anything. He gulped as Lysander walked back and took a sit on the throne, tapping away.

"Now now. Honestly I think that's a waste for how much he's racked up."

"I... only lost a couple guns and..."

"You cost us several favors with Station Secruity, lost the faith of the smaller gangs, and disrupted all sorts of operations just to deal with your own pride. And more to the point, don't think we havne't realized you're skimming the coffers." Torde started to sweat as Lysander smiled, a slow predatory smile, "Yes...., we know about that. Why else would I come out all the way to this backwater station. See I do enjoy seeing worms like you wiggle....., but..."

He punched in a few commands and a security vid popped up in front of him, showing the man and woman that had humiliated him. He could hear the overseer's fingers drumming at the keyboard.

"Normally, I would have you out an air locker. But you..." he clicked a few more buttons, more screens showing up and displaying the two in action caricatured over the last day. "You have brought something quite... interesting to my attention. Had these been someone else, we wouldn't be talking. So.... given you have some experience in fighting them and are still lusting for ****; I offer you another deal."

"A.... deal?" Torde asked, as he tested to see if he could get to a kneeling position. Which he could.

"Indeed." he clapped his hands.

More servants came out from the wings, each one presenting a silver case and popping it open for Torde to look inside. Each one held a disassembled weapon, usually fire arms but a few melee weapons where there too. Each one brand new as if fresh off the factory floor. Even some body armor too, and a couple had schematics for grenades.

"What... is all this? ... I am thankful for this deal but...., " he hesitated as he looked around at all the offerings.

"New products. They've been lab tested so they are safe..., if I wanted you dead, giving you a rigged rifle seems rather roundabout to do so." Lysander gestured at the armaments, "No see while they have been tested, they haven't seen any actual performance. So why not test them against these two? Oh.... that reminds me."

He snapped his fingers again and from a side door, two large robots appeared carrying a large case. This was placed down standing upright before Torde and was opened. Inside was a monster of double sided axe or maybe halberd was a better way to describe given the shaft was just as long. The metal it was made out of had a rusted look to it, but it's sharp twin curved edges reminded him of jagged pieces of earth rather than scrap metal, well looked like it could smash the hulls of ships. Around the eye of the ax was a large vented cylinder that blew out a sickly green steam. Down it's length, it was wrapped in a rubbery material to make up the grip, and a spiked pummel ended the shaft.

A pair of gloves came with it; heavy duty power gauntlets that had outlets built into them. No doubt to connect to the few cables that were on the ax.

"I want you to use this as well."

Something about the ax drew his attention to it and when Lysander cough, he realized he had almost taken hold of it. He backed up a few steps while his boss gave another slow smile.

"I want you to understand though; your choice. You can decline but if you do well, off to the mines with you.... or worse. You have been given a chance to show your achievements can outpace your crimes. So..., will you take the deal?"

That felt like a loaded question.

"Why did you give him all that gear?"

Lysander paused in his drink as he looked at his secretary. She had a sharp head on her shoulders but sometimes she couldn't see his plans or as she called them, Games. Which to be fair, was in part the point; to look like he was doing something foolish to make others doubt. Granted this was a little foolish but..., where's the fun in playing safe all the time?

"Well Vix; we were going to test that gear out anyway. In fact you suggested to use them against Torde and anyone that held any loyalty to him"

"That was the most effective way to test." she sighed as she sat on the arm of the throne/chair, "You're just going to waste more equipment this way."

"Please, it's not like we can't replace them." he hooked a hand around her waist and pulled her closer, "Besides. Who said this was a test of the gear?"

She pursed her lips before he brought up a panel that showed Blackfire and Zac mid sprint. Lysander's grin widened.

"I am very..., very interested in these two. And if my guess is correct, we may need to step in to deal with them ourselves."