NationStates Jolt Archive

The guard straightened up. "What is the nature of your cargo and vessal?"

" we not till someone who just a guard about the cargo as we do have our orders till only someone high up"said Sir Prize

"vessal well it's Battleship dressed up as a cargo ship"said Miss Forturne as Sir Prize rolls his eye's at what she said

" we not till someone who just a guard about the cargo as we do have our orders till only someone high up"said Sir Prize

"vessal well it's Battleship dressed up as a cargo ship"said Miss Forturne as Sir Prize rolls his eye's at what she said
"Right..." said the guard dryly. "A Battleship the size of a cargo ship. That makes sense," he said sarcastically. "Look, I need to know why you're here. It's really simple. If it's a government operation, show me your papers and I'll admit you to see the Port Authority Director. If you're not here on business, you're just wasting my time."

"Right..." said the guard dryly. "A Battleship the size of a cargo ship. That makes sense," he said sarcastically. "Look, I need to know why you're here. It's really simple. If it's a government operation, show me your papers and I'll admit you to see the Port Authority Director. If you're not here on business, you're just wasting my time."
"here i's a very short written order as the AI that load it go the full one "Sir Prize waving it about

take a cargo of ----------- to 46971419741 and and hand it over only to someone of High Rank, do not tell no one who not of High Rank of --------
Sign Wolf

The guard gave a heavy sigh. The document looked to be badly forged. Actually, not forged. Merely written in an approximation of what such a government order would look like. "Ma'am and Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me please." He turned about and opened the door leading inside. He led them though the building to a office. Behind the desk a kitsune sat and tapped on a datapad. The guard bowed and whispered a few things into the mans ear. He was a dark, charcol color, if he was human he'd be called black. His ears were black, his tail was black, his eyes were black, his skin was black. The guard saluted after straightening up and left. The kitsune put down the datapad and leaned forward in his chair, dark eyes fixed on the couple. "I understand you have just landed and are carrying percious cargo. Please give us your activation codes so we can unlock your ship."

The guard gave a heavy sigh. The document looked to be badly forged. Actually, not forged. Merely written in an approximation of what such a government order would look like. "Ma'am and Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me please." He turned about and opened the door leading inside. He led them though the building to a office. Behind the desk a kitsune sat and tapped on a datapad. The guard bowed and whispered a few things into the mans ear. He was a dark, charcol color, if he was human he'd be called black. His ears were black, his tail was black, his eyes were black, his skin was black. The guard saluted after straightening up and left. The kitsune put down the datapad and leaned forward in his chair, dark eyes fixed on the couple. "I understand you have just landed and are carrying percious cargo. Please give us your activation codes so we can unlock your ship."

"i'am not cutting off my hand ,handing over my key or password to you"said Sir Prize

"aside the the Base AI put a Lock onto your cargo hold doors and said we find the key to it by the name of Nichole and said the ship AI well tell what to do when we find the key,which make me thing there something more sent that we not told of for safely"said Miss Forturne

ooc DNA and voice Lock on the cargo doors

"i'am not cutting off my hand ,handing over my key or password to you"said Sir Prize

"aside the the Base AI put a Lock onto your cargo hold doors and said we find the key to it by the name of Nichole and said the ship AI well tell what to do when we find the key,which make me thing there something more sent that we not told of for safely"said Miss Forturne

ooc DNA and voice Lock on the cargo doors
The man sighed. "Look, I don't know anybody named Nichole. I'll send you with an escort on your way until you find what you're looking for. I don't really trust either of you, so a guard will be with you. I'd like you to keep your unidentified, top secret cargo in space, please. If you don't know exactly what it is, it could be anything, and I won't have a potential threat to our port, and maybe to Xiscapia, here. I'm going to have to ask you to put your ship in orbit above the planet. A shuttle will take you back down here and take you back up when you're done. If you refuse, you'll be detained and your ship impounded. And we'll break into your cargo hold to find what's in there. Do I make myself clear?"

The man sighed. "Look, I don't know anybody named Nichole. I'll send you with an escort on your way until you find what you're looking for. I don't really trust either of you, so a guard will be with you. I'd like you to keep your unidentified, top secret cargo in space, please. If you don't know exactly what it is, it could be anything, and I won't have a potential threat to our port, and maybe to Xiscapia, here. I'm going to have to ask you to put your ship in orbit above the planet. A shuttle will take you back down here and take you back up when you're done. If you refuse, you'll be detained and your ship impounded. And we'll break into your cargo hold to find what's in there. Do I make myself clear?"

"oh yes real smart break into the cargo hold yes real smart you think if the military put the lock on that they would not think to rig the hold to blow up if some try that dumb idea you said "said the Ship AI from Sir Prize coms arm band military grade

"they rig my ship"asked Sir Prize with a shocked look on his face

"yes they don't trust no one right that all i'am saying and ship now be in wrap till you call me back, oh from a Coms drone i find this Nichole was a Marine and been turn into a Vamp "

"they rig my ship "said Sir Prize again

"yes dear now get over it"said Miss Forturne then she turns back to the Guard
"you best find someone from the military i guess the other cargo we not told must be something sent for them to us as well as the one we know of"said Miss Forturne

OOC so i don't forget as i be busy from next tesday as friends from the other side of Australia that mum and i not seen face to face for sometime are over
the cargo is ten thousand boxes with six military grade ZPM inside each and 400 Void Dark Matter Warheads

OOC: What is a ZPM? And I doubt a cargo ship could hold any more than fifty (at most) antimatter warheads. Unless they're real small.
IC:
The man, who, if one looked at the insignia on his uniform, labeled him as "Security Commander", went pale. "I'll have a search done immediatly. We'll find her. In the meantime, I'd like it if you'd stay in the Port and not go out into Xiscapia unless by escort. You won't have to stay any longer than nessicary until we find who you are looking for, I assure you."

OOC: A ZPM is a Zero Point Module- taken from the tv series Stargate: Atlantis. Theoretical energy source. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Point_Module) Meh, my problem is with so many of them ( 60,000 of them?) sheesh. talk about over kill....

Just to remind every on that there are others involved with this thread...

Indigo had tossed and turned, unable to sleep despite her weariness. Throwing aside her covers she slipped into her soft from many washings and well faded kimono. Silently she slipped from her room and went next door to Gerrak's suite. Hesitantly she tapped very lightly on his door, feeling even more wretched as she was going to disturb someone she guessed was as tired as she was.

OOC: What is a ZPM? And I doubt a cargo ship could hold any more than fifty (at most) antimatter warheads. Unless they're real small.
IC:
The man, who, if one looked at the insignia on his uniform, labeled him as "Security Commander", went pale. "I'll have a search done immediatly. We'll find her. In the meantime, I'd like it if you'd stay in the Port and not go out into Xiscapia unless by escort. You won't have to stay any longer than nessicary until we find who you are looking for, I assure you."

OOC star trek antimatter warhead fit in a Photon torpedo body
http://www.mikedunn.com/pictures/startrek8.jpg
and my warheads are the size of the ones find in ICBM seeing i seen and what i can guess that how big 40K ship torpedoe are

ZPM (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Point_Module)

IC

"can we go shopping"asked said Miss Forturne

OOC: :eek: Isa, are you trying to kill me? Thousands of ZPM and hundreds of antimatter warheads...That's enough firepower to destroy everything from Xiscapia to Alversia, leaving not even stars. And you RIGGED THE SHIP TO EXPLODE IF IT WAS TAMPERED WITH? ARE YOU INSANE????
OOC2: Oh, and NN, this thread has lost most of it's traffic now. I should have created a new thread for Alversia and NC and I with the whole "SASM" thing. But now that a new thread HAS finally been created we can get on with actually RPing what this thread was about: Indigo, Pat, and Gerrak. At the Palace.
OOC3: I just realized I highjacked my own thread.
OOC4: Bow chicka bowt wow, NN.
IC:
The Security Commander looked confused. "Uh...yeah, we have shops here. Yes," he looked at Miss Forturne. "What were your names? I need them for my report and for the record."

OOC: A ZPM is a Zero Point Module- taken from the tv series Stargate: Atlantis. Theoretical energy source. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Point_Module) Meh, my problem is with so many of them ( 60,000 of them?) sheesh. talk about over kill....

ooc well they can't make a ET call now to us asking for more now can they

IC:
The Security Commander looked confused. "Uh...yeah, we have shops here. Yes," he looked at Miss Forturne. "What were your names? I need them for my report and for the record."

OOC it's all in a transporter buffer for easy storage of many items in a null space that can be rematerialized at virtually any time.
so the ship gose up by good old C4 and the cargo is lost for good and no one would know what was

IC

"Sir Prize and Miss Forturne""said Miss Forturne

OOC: Ah, so it's one of those things that can't be set off by normal explosives alone, it has to have the detonator primed or the key turned or whatever.
IC:
The Security Commander typed the names and situation into a datapad. "I have some calls to make, so you two are free to go, so long as you don't go outside the port." he waved his hand and turned his back on them, picking up his comm unit. Once outside the pair was discreetly followed by a plainclothes Port Authority officer.

OOC: Ah, so it's one of those things that can't be set off by normal explosives alone, it has to have the detonator primed or the key turned or whatever.
IC:
The Security Commander typed the names and situation into a datapad. "I have some calls to make, so you two are free to go, so long as you don't go outside the port." he waved his hand and turned his back on them, picking up his comm unit. Once outside the pair was discreetly followed by a plainclothes Port Authority officer.

OOC it got other things to pick cutting and beaming inside,that all i can say to you as i spent a a hour moving a fridge out from where it was, then get told to put it back where it was :rolleyes: i'll put it back later as i hurt myself taking it out
IC

"fine just tell me where i can buy baby things"asked Miss Forturne

The door slowly slid opened, and Gerrak looked at Indigo. "Not zpekt zee yu dis afternun." He said, pulling the bellcord. "Kall, bring tea to mayk heer, wid flour, sugar, zinn-mun, fresh fruit an' hunney. Zum eggzez, tu, wid milk."
He bowed, and held the door open, gesturing within."Pleez, kumm freelee an' uf yur own will-enjoy wot heer and leef zum uf da happinezz yu bring."

bump

."Pleez, kumm freelee an' uf yur own will-enjoy wot heer and leef zum uf da happinezz yu bring."

"Thank you Gerrak. Your darkness feels so comfortable" Indigo said softly as she slipped inside, the funny, fuzzy bunny slippers (http://www.atddm.com/vbs.gif)- one of the first things she had ever purchased on her own after her exile- making no sound as she crossed to Gerrak's sleeping alcove and sat on the edge. He had so thoughtfully held the door open enough so that while she crossed the room she had a small amount of light.

Indigo closed her eyes, intent on just meditating enough to left the infra red portion of her Novan vision kick in. However, in seconds she was curled up, nestling into the furs - fallen deeply and serenely asleep.

Kall entered silently, to find Gerrak watching over Indigo. Placing a claw to his mouth, he whispered,"Da Laydee zleepzez-we mayk niyz znak fur her wayk up-brew tea den. Komm, help wid cookin'."
He deflty mixed up several small pastries filled with honey and fruit sealed in soft dough, and set them aside-when he determined she would awaken, he would place the tea to boil and the pastries on the coals to bake, but not before-the smell of baking pastries was always a pleasure to wake to, and Gerrak decided it was something Indigo could use. The portents were not good, and little pleasures should always be taken when available...

"fine just tell me where i can buy baby things"asked Miss Forturne
OOC: Hope it gets better, Isa. And who is she asking? They've already left the building.
IC:
Gerrak's Room...
Kall nodded silently. He was not, of course, a Palace cook or baker, but he had some experience in such things. Palace servants were expected to know a little bit about everything. He stood beside Gerrak, helping when he could he slowly brewing the tea, making sure he had the exact right amounts of everything- Too much might make the tea an explosion of taste, and therefore undrinkable, and too little may make it bland, and therefore unwantable.

OOC: Hope it gets better, Isa. And who is she asking? They've already left the building.
.

ooc i rested on my back put it back and went back to resting on my back and fubar i did not highlight all that post from wordpad,she was talking to the AI

Indigo truly was exhausted, she slept solid for six hours, then abruptly came awake - she very seldom woke disoriented or muzzy headed. Mortified at her unintentional imposition she apologied, her voice filled with dismay. She scarmbled from the soft sleeping furs to kneel on the floor and bow deeply to him.

" My humblest apologies. Oh Gerrak, I didn't mean to steal your bed, or keep you from your rest!

Gerrak smiled and set out the freshly baked pastries on a low table, and placed the teapot in the center. "Nonzenzz-yu need zleep, an' now a znack-komm, me try dis tea zeremonee ding."

"I am such a terrible guest. Those smell so absolutely marvelous that I am going to not deny myself some" Indigo returned Gerrak's smile and kneewalked over to the low table. Then she made the proper bow for a guest arriving at the beginning of a tea ceremony.

"Is there anything you require of me? I would not want my participation to be lacking" She asked earnestly. Indigo looked down at her kimono and vorpal bunny slippers - one of the 'mouths' had flipped open, displaying the soft fabric fangs -and sighed. "Though I am certain my attire doesn't do the solemnity of the occassion any merit." Giving Gerrak another apologetic smile she offered. "I could go change into something more suitable, I have no wish to bring any disharmony to your ceremony."

"Me unnerstan' tea zeremonee tu focus widdout diztrak-shun. Yu diztrakin' 'nuff now. Pleez..." he gestured opposite him and began the rudiments of the tea ceremony, setting everything just so, cleaning the utensils with the proper cloths, and serving Indigo and himself.
"Me dinks diz Orange Pekoe, but Kall mayk-me dinks should mayk during zeremonee, but Kall know bedder, zo..."he left it hanging.

Indigo couldn't help it, she blushed pink. She had certainly never been told she was a distraction before.

Then the power of the ceremony swept all other matters aside, ephimerial, unimportant, leaving behind only the shared serenity, the peace internal and external...

She took the tiny cup, admired it as it sat steaming in the palm of her hand - then turned it, sipped, turned and sipped the ritual three times, then set the cup down and bowed to Gerrak.

Her voice was gentle, not disturbing the tranquility that filled the suite "The provenance of the cha, or when it is made, does not truly matter. It is the resonance of the cha master's soul, and the calm sureity he projects, offering it to his chosen guest, like the cha that he presents them, that is the heart of the ritual. And your soul is most serene Lord Gerrak."

Once again she bowed to him "I am most grateful for such a gift."

Kall quietly bowed himself out at this point. A servant's work, of course, as never done, and he had no right to intrude on such ceremonies anyway. He saw everything was in order and vanished, always on call via the bellcord if his services were needed once more.

bump-

Fade had slept unconcernedly - he'd been pleased when Indigo left - her tossing and turning had don'e nothing to to help him sleep. But now he wanted another swim, and headed towards the large soaking pool - it was a soaking pool for a human sized being, for him it was a swimming pool. He luxuritaed shamelessly in the hot water. Once he felt he'd taken enough advantage of the hot water he climbed agilely out and sat before the fire that the Palace servant had lit in the bathroom.

That occupied a full hour of meteculious grooming and eventaully a pull on the bellrope.

A servant appeared. "Yes?" she looked around before noticing the cat-like thing. "What can I do for you?"

"What can I do for you?"

"Preezze large chunk of cheese, some raw chicken, and thingzzzz on lizzt." He handed her the list he had penned up. He was very dexterous and while some of the terms were in Novan, most were in trade tongue.

"Oh, pleezze fresh cold water too?"

Fade needed to sing a blade or two, and he wouldn't be disturbed here.

The servant took the list and bowed herself out.
Kitchens...
One of the cooks looked frazzled. "Now what?." he listened. "Well that's easy enough to do, there's a block of cheddar in the 'fridge, some chicken in the butchery, and water from the stream. I don't know what this other stuff is, though."

A translation of the Novan let the staff realise that the items on the list were certainly not food stuffs, but an odd selection of metals, some rare, some precious, and some not, some gemstones and yet other materials that may have raised eyebrows in utter bewhilderment. It would take some time to gather what had been requested, but no great expense as the amounts requested were small.

Fade made himself a fine meal of the chicken and cheese, and sipped on the water as he mentally designed what the blades would look like, it was most important that they fit the ones they were destined for.

There is a large variety of staff at the Palace. Guards, cooks, servants who analyze information, servants who, like Kall, make visitors stay at the Palace as enjoyable as possible, priests, mechanics and pilots, as well as a small army of droids. The kitsune who now looked over the datapad in his hand was a pilot, and was running errands for the Palace. The Palace, with gardens and livestock and heated underground pools and whatnot, rarely needed anything it didn't already have, but this was an exception:


silver -20 ounces
gold - 20 ounces
iron - 1 pound
bauxite ore- 1 pound
pearl from the forehead of a naga
diamond - 501 carats
carbon - 100 grams
fullerine balls - 200 grams
bottled dragons breath...1 long snort

sunshine - 1 days worth
moonshine - full of the mkoon one nights worth
and
a purring kitten
The silver, gold, iron, diamond, carbon, fullerine balls and the kitten could be found on Xiscapia. The bauxite ore would likely come from Kel, and the pearl from the forehead of a naga could be procured from offworld shipments. However, the bottled dragons breath posed a slight problem. Dragons were not, so far as anyone knew, resident anywhere on Xiscapia or any of the colonies. This would take some searching. The credit amount to be spent was relatively large, but nothing that would not be missed from the Imperial Treasurey's coffers. Apparently one of the Palace's guests requested these items, and such a asking could not be refused. John placed the datapad in his vest pocket and went to speak with one who specialized in the sale of gems, rare metals and minerals.

Pat awoke to the beeping of his implanted comm. The implant in his brain began to send electrical impulses to the part responsible for memory. Like a recently occurred event, a message was sent through. Like a story Pat saw a probe jump into the system, release a satellite and jump back out of system. The satellite approached until 5 Million miles away from Xiscapia, then, stopped and stayed motionless.

After the short "movie" a technical readout of the satellite was sent. With a little shock Pat realized that the satellite was no satellite at all, rather it was a resupply pod. After the readout was complete he received an entire list of various supplies in the pod.

1. 45 MRE's
2. 3 Bottles of Nectar
3. 1 MAS suit
4. 20 Nano-resupply packs

Pat stopped, and re-read the list, slowly a grin spread on his face as he realized what goodies he had just received. He had asked HQ for a re-supply drop but he had not asked for a MAS suit. Pat climbed out of bed and put on some fatigues, then pulled the cord in the center of the room.

A male servant appeared abruptly in Pat's room, head bowed. "The Master called?" He was dressed in white robes with silver, segmented trim, a white katana by his side, black hair done in a topknot. His eyes were orange and his fur a dirty tawny-orange color.

A male servant appeared abruptly in Pat's room, head bowed. "The Master called?"

Pat was slightly shocked by the sudden appearance of the servant, his hands had barely left the rope. He was slightly uncomfortable being called "Master" but that wasn't terribly important right now.

"Uhhhhh, yea... I just received a message that I have a resupply drone in orbit some distance away. It's carrying several items that I need, but I don't know where or even if It's allowed to land."

Pat now reached for a piece of paper on the bedside table and pulled a pen out of his pocket. He quickly jotted down the contents of the pod.

"As you can see some of the supplies are military in nature. Do you know who I could talk to to get the pod's landing cleared?"

A male servant appeared abruptly in Pat's room, head bowed. "The Master called?"

Pat was slightly shocked by the sudden appearance of the servant, his hands had barely left the rope. He was slightly uncomfortable being called "Master" but that wasn't terribly important right now.

"Uhhhhh, yea... I just received a message that I have a resupply drone in orbit some distance away. It's carrying several items that I need, but I don't know where or even if It's allowed to land."

Pat now reached for a piece of paper on the bedside table and pulled a pen out of his pocket. He quickly jotted down the contents of the pod.

"As you can see some of the supplies are military in nature. Do you know who I could talk to to get the pod's landing cleared?"
"Leave it to me, young sir. I will have your supplies to you as soon as possible." The servant vanished. After several comm calls a scout lifted off from Imperial Hangers to intercept the drone. It was carefully stowed away and brought back down to the Palace. It took all of twenty minutes until the drone was sitting in the Imperial Courtyard, unopened, ready for Pat's inspection. The servant appeared once again. "Your drone is situated in the Inner Courtyard, sir." He bowed.

"One-Eye" Keno sat slumped backwards in his chair, his singular eye and namesake apparently studying the ceiling. Officially an import/exporter, he was Xiscapia's most adept smuggler, even conducting slave trade outside Xiscapian jurisdiction. His procurers scoured the transit terminals preying on runaways who found their way to the more lucrative slave markets of the galaxy. His throat had been slit, the stain on his shirtfront already rust-brown, but he gurgled and splashed fresh blood over the stain as he spoke.
"The cyanide in the mucilage of my envelopes was nice-I lost three secretaries before I twigged to it." He rasped, "And electrifying the urinals at my favorite restaurant? Inspired. I knew then I'd attracted the ire of either the Black Pharaoh or the trolls-no one else is so imaginative in their brutality. I should have known you were out of ideas when you stopped spoiling me and strafed my yacht...but this? Slipping in and slitting my throat? It's beneath you."
The hulking figure he addressed shrugged and went back to rifling his files, reaching over to take up Keno's brush to annotate them as he went along, perfectly forging Keno's hand to clarify matters for the authorities-and lead them to other nests.
"Secrecy? Now? You've severed my spinal cord, killed my guards..no gloating or explanation? Shall I not know my enemy?"
An electronically garbled growl filled Keno's ears. "Quid pro quo...what did you smuggle off Pamaltela? Your caravan lingered at Hunadora for three weeks before hustling at top speed to Big Rubble. Your ship was two thousand pounds heavier than it should have been-what did you leave with a ton of?"
Keno laughed, fresh blood spraying from his cut. "Is that what this is about? Weapons for the rebels? That was pro bono-a favor for the Lady Tomasuza-you should ask her."
"Tomasuza?" the figure produced a flask and doused Keno with propellant. "This will bring your men, but you'll be past their help by then."
"Ah..you didn't kill them." Keno lurched forward and hit a button under his desk, and his door flew open, men bearing automatic weapons blazing providing the momentum.
The figure flew back, riddled with innumerable bullets, and fell on the floor. Keno wiped his throat, holding it shut as not to draw attention to his injury. "Burn it-I want no evidence of his presence on Xiscapia-every scrap, you hear? BURN IT!"
One of the thugs walked over. "Weird medallion-digital display."
Keno leaned over the body. "What's it say?"
"3...2...1?"
The fireball took out the building, and set a five block radius ablaze.

Indigo sat enjoying the companionable silence I didn't know what I had not, what others take for granted. I feel deprived now, on behalf of my past self, isn't that silly. Though I don't think I could return to that life, that solitude. I'm not cut out for a contemplative's life. and given that I realise what I feel, how I feel about Gerrak... She watched him unobtrousively, reveling in the simple pleasure of just being able to Sometimes in the evening when you do not see, I study the small things you do constantly
I memorize moments that I'm fondest of... her smile was gentle and private as she memorized the moment.

She didn't want to brak the peace, but she also knew they - she Gerrak and Pat - needed to discuss their worries. Not that the Xiscapians weren't taking theing seriously, but she felt that allo three of them from different cultures had a take on things that the Xiscapians did not.

"Gerrak, I think you, I and Pat need to discuss the baggage" Her voice was low and she stressed the word baggage, feeling that the Muri would understand.

Lights flashed, yellow and red and blue, mixing chaotically with the dance of yellow and orange flames. The explosion had been massive, leveling several buildings and throwing debries hundreds of feet into the air. Everything nearby was on fire: Homes, vehicles, trees. Burnt corpes, charred black, had been tossed randomly about, lying like discarded dolls. Fortunatly the general area was warehouses and unused apartment buildings, and those who did live there were thuggish and crude- Certainly no loss to society in general. But here and there: A dead child, sprawled with his arms over his face, blood leaving onto the pavement, skewered by a two-by-four. An old woman, back broken, thrown though the windshild of a parked speeder. Fire fighters and paramedics were already on the scene, as were the RCPD, but there was no evidence to be found yet. A gas explosion would be likely, except that gas was little used, Xiscapians perferring to substitute power crystals and the like. A bombing, by the Rebels, except why would the Rebellion choose a relatively uninhabited area such as this? No groups had claimed the crime. No information was avaliable. So, as the fires were swiftly put out and the paramedics loaded up the wounded and dragged away the dead, it remained a mystery.

The servant appeared once again. "Your drone is situated in the Inner Courtyard, sir." He bowed.
Pat looked up in amazement. It had taken these ingenious people less than an hour to get his supplies on-planet.

"Thank you, thank you very much. If you'd give me a couple minutes I must go retrieve my friends to show them my presents." Pat said the last word with a chuckle, like a kid on Christmas morning. With that Pat left the room and knocked on Gerrak's chamber door. Pat was particularly excited because this would give him the chance to spar with Gerrak. He needed to practice, he had gotten rusty.

Lord Morga's report was disturbing. The Ordo Annilla was secretive, perhaps overmuch so, but Morga's report told Gerrak the Order was not used to losing agents. Lord Morga had even attempted to get permission for "Extreme Vengeance" a handful of times, but Gerrak had dealt with the Order of Annilla for six years now, and was wary of their "reports" and his responses to them.
"One-Eye" Keno had admitted he was smuggling for the Lady Tamasuza, which meant there where layers to this onion-the Lady advanced her own agenda, and often supplied product illegal on Pamaltela, but this was not Pamaltela, and allowing others to even suspect the trolls were capable of such things was expressly forbidden. He would need some ruse to leave the Palace, to go exploring on his own, something palatable to the Emperor...
A knock at his door disrupted his thoughts and he irritably dismissed Lord Morga and lumbered to the door.
"Pat!" he shouted, grabbing his huntbrother up in a bearhug he thoughtfully rendered less than fatal, and licked his face in joy. "Wut bringzez yu heer?"