We launched the Something Clever into Venus’ atmosphere with a with the three envelope blimp assist. While the Something Clever hangs into the blimp that’s eight times larger, the blimp hinders the use of sensors in the direction of outer space. Luckily we don’t need to look in that direction. Ylisaya and I were on the bridge and while our eyes could not see through the sulfur clouds, the clouds could not impede the ship’s sensors. Through the sensors, we watched the Southern continental magnetic ring spinning against the the slow rotation of Venus. The atmosphere slowly faded away and we could clearly see the Southern continent. The sensors detected two life forms, one was Tony and the other was an adult human male.
In the sky around us, the ship detected the three other gunships, all of which were in similar blimp configurations. Ylisaya aligned the targeting sensor and I was able to see through it, Tony in his full armor, a cloaking device, and with the few weapons he choose, slowly stalking through the jungle towards the unidentified male. Ylisaya transmitted the sensor configuration to the other gunships, as I sent them the flight formation. I opened the communications array to talk to the other gunships.
“This is First Officer Jhessyreen Eryssa’ad, addressing the broadcast fleet. Ringside ships, acknowledge visual on the arena.”, I said to the three other ships through the communications array.
“Golden Zealot here, sensors online”, said a woman’s voice through the array.
“Bloody Fang here, sensors online”, said a man’s voice through the array.
“Gunship seven-two-seven-four here. Sensors online.” , said another man’s voice through the array.
As each gunship linked it’s sensors to the Something Clever, the image of the ground became more tangible, more dimensional, and more real. The first image from just the Something Clever was a flat image from a distant viewpoint. The first additional sensor allowed us to see depth and shape from another angle. The next additional sensor allowed us to measure even the density of a footprint. The final additional sensor allowed to see the surface as if we were standing on it. I remembered the time over two thousand gunship blockaded Mars and as many as two hundred scanned the city of Rhetonis just before the Confederacy sent in their cavalry. Thankfully this time I was the flight coordinator, the fleet was smaller, and I didn’t want any ship crews to stay in cyber-link.
“Premium ticket box seats, please acknowledge and verify visual on the Phantom.”, I said through the array.
“Mercury visual confirmed.”, said a man’s voice.
“Mars visual confirmed.”, said a woman’s voice.
“Jupiter visual confirmed.”, said a woman’s voice.
“Saturn visual confirmed…”, said a woman’s voice along with the sound of a cheering crowd behind her.
“Neptune visual confirmed.”, said a man’s voice.
“Uranus visual confirmed.”, said a woman’s voice.
“That’s the last one, I’m going to check the decoy,”, Ylisaya said.
“Okay everyone, just keep watching, your customers are paying to see an execution, until then we got a job to do. Keep this channel clear for emergencies, Something Clever out.”, I said into the array.
I watched Ylisaya recline back into the flight engineer’s seat and close her eyes. I sensed her cybernetics link to the decoy attached to Tony’s armor. Through the sensors I watched a hologram of Ylisaya appear next to Tony on the surface. Ylisaya’s decoy hologram looked around and I could only imagine how she saw the world around her as an amalgamation of the perspectives of the decoy and the fleet’s sensors.
“What do you see?”, Tony asked Ylisaya’s decoy.
“You and everything around you, but there are also a lot of blind spots. I think some more calibration is required.”, Ylisaya’s decoy said.
“Are we broadcasting to the audience?”, Tony asked.
“Yes.”, Ylisaya’s decoy said.
“Good. Finish you tests and …return to the ship…You know, I’m not sure how to talk to someone’s projection.”, Tony said.
“Talking to me as if I’m here is fine, I know my body is still on the ship.”, Ylisaya’s decoy said as it floated towards Tony.
Ylisaya’s decoy floated right next to Tony and peered into the holographic device. Tony waved his hand through the Ylisaya’s projection momentarily disrupting the sections of the hologram. Tony waved his hand through the decoy again disrupting sections of the projection causing instability.
“Stop that.”, Ylisaya’s decoy said.
“You can feel that?”, Tony asked.
“No, but it’s still annoying. All done.”, Ylisaya’s decoy said, and then vanished.
On the bridge, I watched through my mirror as Ylisaya awakened in her body. Ylisaya flexed her hand and tested her individual fingers, took a deep breath, and exhaled. I started hearing music and then I heard a voice through the sensors on the other planets.
“It’s your girl Vivica Vi, coming at you live from Saturn. I have the honor of announcing for the biggest fight of the year. Even bigger than the gang wars on Mars right now. We got a trial-by-combat between our champion, the cyborg super soldier, the invisible hand of the free market, the undefeated Phantom!”, Vivica’s voice cheered through the sensors.
Through the sensors on the other worlds I could hear crowds all cheering for the Phantom. I imagined the Cooperative had succeeded in promoting and marketing the reputation of the Phantom as the hero of this fight. I suspected the Cooperative would also present Arton unfairly and possibly exaggerate his crimes.
“And his opponent accused of rape, evading the law for months, fighting for his life, and the life of his unborn child, Arton Norsen!”, Vivica’s voice cheered.
Some of the audience cheered, and some of the audience expressed their unfavorable views of Arton. I imagined that while the Cooperative had been successful in promoting the duel, but in a reality where everyone has experience fighting and killing space pirates, people might only be interested if the struggle involved the matters that Meiyo described, as a fight over the power of love. Tony moved within range to hit Arton with a lethal shot fired from the Gauss rifle. Tony knelt down as he set the gauss rifle on his shoulder and took aim. A moment passed but Tony didn’t shoot. The only energy he exerted was activation of the targeting laser. I thought is was odd since the the laser doesn’t improve his individual accuracy, as the laser is intended for an allied shooter or battleship to find and hit the intended target. So neither situation applied when shooting a Guass rifle.
“Fleet, follow my laser.”, Tony said.
Each gunship shifted their targeting sensor, following the direction of Tony’s aim, and we each discovered Arton Norsen standing on a utility bridge connecting the two sides of an artificial water and atmospheric reservoir. The cliff side of the bridge had a drop of nearly six hundred strahds, which would be fatal height to fall from, even into the water below. Tri-tech Armor might allow survival, but at such a great height that’s no guarantee. Arton just stood on the bridge with an inactive battle-axe in one hand, with the end of the handle resting on the surface of the bridge near his foot. Arton’s other arm held his tri-tech helmet that rested against his side.
“Why does his armor look like that?”, Ylisaya asked.
“It’s not even painted, it’s really new.”, I replied.
“It’s new but nothing else special about it. I don’t think it will make him strong enough to fight the Captain.”, Ylisaya said.
I watched the targeting laser align a perfect shot. Tony’s aim could easily shoot a lethal hit against Arton without missing, and Arton wasn’t even wearing a helmet. Arton stood on the bridge completely unaware, that he could die instantly.
“What’s going on? Why isn’t the Captain shooting?”, Ylisaya asked.
“We think this is a trap.”, I said.
“We have four gunships scanning, and the Captain’s lined up a kill shot. If there’s a trap down there, it just isn’t something we can see.”, Ylisaya argued.
“But we can see the bait, and bait implies a trap.”, I said.
The targeting laser vanished from the sensors and the fleet detected a shockwave. I knew Tony deactivated his laser and super jumped which caused the shockwave. The sensors didn’t detect a distortion, as I suspected we had not determined a way to observe Tony through his Plot Armor, but we could see movement in the jungle, moving towards the bridge.
At the end of the utility bridge, Tony deactivated his cloak and his Battle axe was in his hands. Tony shifted the battle axe to one hand and rested the end of the handle on the ground. I estimated that destroying one end of the bridge and letting Arton fall, is more cost effective than spending a Gauss rifle bullet.
“Hello. I’m looking for one Mister Arton Norsen. Are you Arton Norsen?”, Tony asked.
Arton said nothing and just looked at the end of the Bridge where Tony stood.
“If you are Arton Norsen. I have a message from Saressah. She’s sorry. So very sorry, and she wishes you have a fighting chance. That’s all for the message. Hey if I destroy this end of the bridge and let you fall to your death, is that gonna be a problem?”, Tony asked.
Arton rolled the helmet off from his side and with one hand he slipped the helmet onto his head. Arton swung his battle axe over and gripped it with both hands, as the blade activated and he took a fighting stance aimed at Tony.
“I’ll be there in one sec. Hold on.”, Tony said to Arton.
“Vivica, I need fight music, something with drums and maybe ominous or sudden death undertones. You got anything?”, Tony asked, while facing the sky.
I heard through the sensors, music start playing with slow drum and turned into fast drums and then slowly led into a tone that evoked sudden death.
“That’s perfect Vivica. Thank you.”, Tony said.
Tony flipped his cloak over one shoulder, gripped his battle axe with both hands, and turned to face Arton.
“Duelist Mode”, Tony said as the deflector shields of just one arm activated and then the battle axe ignited two narrow blue energy blades on each end of the handle.
The energy blade on Tony’s axe chopping end was long and seemed effective at slashing, but the other end seemed less like a spear and more like a serrated reaver blade. Tony jumped into the air and slashed downward as he closed in on Arton. Arton raised his axe in attempt to use the blade as a spear against Tony. Tony kicked aside Arton’s axe allowing a clear shot at Arton. Arton pulled the handle end over to block Tony’s strike. Arton fell back and Tony landed and swung again.
I heard a crowd cheer even louder than when Saturn’s sensors activated, and the cheering grew with every blade strike. Arton rolled away keeping just one hand on the handle of his axe. Tony stepped on Arton’s axe and slashed across the direction of the bridge. Arton ducked under the swing, falling back again. Tony swung the reaver end of the battle axe upward as he stepped forward to continue the attack. Tony’s target seemed to be Arton’s hand that held the axe. Arton chose to release the axe rather than risk losing his hand, as Arton slid back, rolled away, and stood up raising his hands into a fighting stance.
Arton raised his arm, coiled it back and attempted to punch Tony. Tony stepped to the side, evaded the punch and pushed back Arton. As Arton fell back again, Tony shifted his axe to one hand, slipped a foot under Arton’s axe, kicked it into the air, and caught it the axe with his free hand.
“I’ll admit, I was not expecting an unarmed attack, it only has a thirteen percent chance of hitting me, and only a five percent chance of causing harm. You’ll need this to have a fighting chance.”, Tony said as he tossed the Arton’s axe back to him.
“Hmmm. The Captain’s elbow is exactly five percent of his armor.”, Ylisaya said.
Arton attacked with an overhead strike at Tony, and Tony swung his own axe to deflect the attack aside. Tony dashed forward with the handle of the axe crashing into Arton. Arton lost balance and tried to recover on his back leg. Tony swung the handle of his axe backwards and aimed at the knee of the leg Arton tried to balance on. Arton fell back and Tony swung the reaver end of the battle axe, stopping as Tony aimed the sharp point at Arton’s face. I watched though my mirror that Ylisaya was making calculations in her console. I wondered what she might be seeing that required so much focus and effort.
“You’re working too hard, they’re staying put.”, I said.
“That was The Captain’s three hit kill attack. Each movement should now be faster after the upgrade, unless… The Captain’s only using at a fraction of full power. Even with an energy weapon Arton still only has a twenty five percent chance to counter-attack.”, Ylisaya said.
Arton pulled his battle axe over and retreated again. Tony gripped his battle axe with one hand and took a fighting stance with the handle of the battle axe over his back and the chopping blade held low.
“If Arton dies, his secrets are lost with him. Tony knows the true objective.”, I said.
Arton rushed forward and Tony sidestepped, spun, and slashed at Arton’s neck. Tony’s slashing blade grazed the side of Arton’s neck through the armor, melting through the metal plates. The singed edges of the armor burned against Arton’s neck as he howled in pain.
“You need to stop the burning. Stop, drop, and roll won’t work here.”, Tony said.
Arton’s armor ejected the damaged sections, as Arton brushed the melted metal away. Arton seemed to realize that attacking recklessly was going to be extremely punishing. Arton took a defensive stance with the axe coiled to strike. Tony seemed to examine Arton’s position and I estimated that he measured Arton’s chance to counter attack. Tony again swung twice at Arton and each swing allowed Tony to prepare his next attack.
“I recognize that fighting style…That’s Lord Zokoro’s. He’s tryin to wear down Arton.”, Ylisaya said.
Ylisaya was correct, but we didn’t know when he would be unable to continue fighting, and we still needed to keep him alive little longer to figure out a way to make Arton talk. I wondered if I should try to contact Tony through cybernetics, but there was nothing I saw, nothing I heard that provided any alternative beyond killing Arton, and losing any chance to learn his secrets. Arton swung at Tony with no focus and no technique beyond sheer desperation. It appeared that Arton understood his best chances to win had passed and was only moving further and further way as the fight progressed. Normally I would make the same gamble, but I would also avoid a one on one duel. Tony spun his battle axe deflecting the attack, and Tony spun striking Arton with the handle. For a moment I was confused as this attack would inflict no harm but then I saw Tony pulled the Axe hooking the axe head into Arton’s armor lifting him off of the bridge. Arton’s was caught by surprise and dropped his battle axe as he fell over the side of the bridge towards the waters below.
Each gunship focused on Arton, and we could even detect his panic as his fall progressed towards the water. He fell beyond the point where having no power armor meant certain death, and I knew Tony was also watching Arton tumble through the air. As Arton fell I imagined the image of Arton shrinking as the distance faded into the mist of foaming water below, but in the view of the gunship’s sensors it was as if we could fall with Arton, although without the fear and panic of dying. Arton was halfway through the fall when Tony folded up his deactivated battle axe and returned the weapon to its rest on his armor’s back plate. Arton fell into and out of spouts of falling water and continued to fall, but through the fleet’s sensors we could still follow him, and I knew Tony’s eyes could see him too. I imagined Tony had also estimated keeping the fight on top of the bridge meant losing any chance to further question Arton. Arton was now in the final length of one hundred strahds.
“Is he still falling? Why is this taking so long?”, Tony asked.
I looked up at my mirror and Ylisaya glanced up at me, as we were uncertain if we needed to do anything with Tony’s question. All we could do was watch Arton fall. The fight music faded away and the music changed to suspense. That let me know that Vivica was also watching along with the rest of the star system. The water got closer and closer to Arton.
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“Enough suspense.”, Tony said.
Arton hit the water with a crash and the fleet’s sensors could detect that he was still alive, and floating away with the currents. Tony reached for his gauss rifle and took aim at Arton. Tony’s targeting scanner activated which allowed the fleet see Tony was prepared to shoot Arton as the currents continued to sweep Arton away. With the advantage of elevation and a target moving along a predictable path of travel, Tony’s odds of success were very high and his aim would be deadly. I looked through my mirror to see if Ylisaya had been affected by Tony’s scanner vision, but she remained clam. Tony didn’t shoot and Arton drifted away. Tony returned the gauss rifle to it’s rest on his armor and picked up Arton’s dropped axe.
“Fleet, follow him. Two ships at a time. Jhess send me your decoy.”, Tony said.
I accessed the decoy projector on Tony’s armor as I reclined into my flight seat on the Something Clever. I closed my eyes and the light faded from my sight, and the sound of the ship faded from around me. I awoke as a holographic projection floating next to Tony. I looked at the world around me and as two ships of our small fleet departed, presumably to follow Arton, the bottom angles of the objects around me appeared only as static, with only a vague haze left behind, for what could not be scanned. I looked at Tony and only his helmet and shoulders were clear, the rest of him appeared as a shadowy void. I suspected that this was the result of only having two ships providing scanning perspectives.
“The audience expects an execution.”, I said.
“I’m working on that, but what about our objective?”, Tony asked.
“Is it wise to discuss that now? Almost every planet is watching.”, I argued.
“Have you ever seen me fail to assassinate a target?”, Tony joked.
“This is going to piss off the client.”, I said.
“My guess is ticket sales just went up. The senate can vote on my next move, if they have a problem with it.”, Tony replied.
“Since I’m currently outside the jurisdiction of Venus, as you command we’ll protect your reputation…I saw nothing, heard nothing, and have no new theories about this secret Arton is hiding. We don’t know if it’s a location, a list of names, or a plot against a government. If he won’t talk, we both know what happens next time you fight him. Is that all, Captain?”, I argued.
“Almost. He has no fear, he will keep fighting even if he cannot win, and he’s willing to set a trap, or at least use himself as bait. We should consider these new factors. That’s all I have to add to what we know.”, Tony said.
“Your next move?”, I asked.
“Wait for him to stop moving, strike when my odds look good, but also make sure he has a fighting chance.”, Tony said as he presented Arton’s battle axe.
“May I suggest non-lethal tactics?”, I asked.
“That might work. I’ll see you again after I get the truth out of him and most likely kill him. Unless that can be avoided.”, Tony said.
I disconnected from the decoy and I awoke in my body back on the bridge of the Something Clever. Through the ship’s sensors I watched Tony deactivate Arton’s battle axe and begin following the aqueduct.
“Stealth Mode.”, Tony said as he vanished from our sensors.
The visual data stream from Saturn changed to a slow motion video replay of the fight on the utility bridge, with a commentary from Vivica Vi, and complete with fight music. Ylisaya analyzed which theories were spreading and which of those detected a mismatch between Tony’s actual fighting style and the fighting styles used on the bridge. I continued flying in formation with the other gunships, watching Arton finally escape the aqueduct and as he took shelter in a utility storage shed. When the Protectorate designed the Venus colony it was built to be extremely reliant on maintaining a delicate balance of water, oxygen, and a human population. Which meant that failure to maintain any of the three could result in the colony becoming unsustainable. I hoped, “Someone told that to Meiyo.”
A message arrived through the communications array. Tony instructed me to do the interview, but I didn’t know what he meant nor did Ylisaya experience a vision.
“I hope the bravest women in the universe is available for an interview.”, Vivica said.
I permitted the interview and I was able to speak directly to Vivica with most of the planets listening.
“Thank you Jhessyreen. My audience has so many questions and we’re so happy to be able to hear your thoughts.”, Vivica said.
“Please just call me Jhess and by the way, I listen to your show whenever I fly in space. And remember I’m Rylkonian, there’s a difference between hearing my thoughts and hearing my voice.”, I joked, and I made Vivica kindly giggle.
“Thank you, but only in space flight?”, Vivica asked.
“Well space flight is ninety-nine percent of my job. We love your show but my Captain’s job normally can’t afford distractions.”, I said.
“Makes sense, in fact that’s why I’m honored you agreed to this interview. The Phantom suspected a trap, but there’s no evidence of this. How did either of you reach this conclusion?”, Vivica asked.
“Well I arrived as a former Huntress of Venus and the Huntresses that assigned this case reached out to us for our consultation. We also hope Calista makes a successful recovery, but to protect her privacy we’d prefer to not share what we know. That job prompted the Cooperative to provide us with an opportunity to examine the relevant files and evidence. Despite that fact that we were awarded a high paying contract, we were actually suspicious of such a hidden agenda prior to the sentencing in the trial. But the sentencing didn’t confirm that for us. That was the result of a different investigation, unfortunately those details are not suitable for this interview.”, I said.
“So who’s the one pulling the strings? Can you tell us?”, Vivica asked.
“Don’t know. But as far as we can tell every political power currently operational on Venus has used the distraction of this case on some way, shape, or form, as to which one benefits the most from Arton’s death, only Arton might know that. Our goal is to get something useful out of him that also fits into what we already know and we might decipher that party’s identity. That theory is only slightly more plausible than the Cooperative just hates men, but that’s also the competing theory, among even our crew. And we’re unlikely to be surprised by either theory at this point.”, I said.
“How do you know the Cooperative isn’t behind this plot?”, Vivica asked.
I laughed and needed to compose myself.
“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you, but there’s a lot of simpler solutions available to the Cooperative if that was true. Mind control technology and bury the evidence, just send an assassin to kill a target with no protections under the law, or smuggle him away to slavers or space pirates. A public trial with a broadcast execution, is the worst method the Cooperative has if they were behind such a plot. Please don’t be offended, it’s just we’ve been going over this for a few days.”, I said as I smiled.
“Well what would you do if you discovered the benefactor was the Cooperative or a faction within the Cooperative?”, Vivica asked.
“Hmmm there’s two problems with that question. First, its about a future situation. Second, it’s about a current client. If the Cooperative suddenly went bankrupt tomorrow, not really a problem, we collect our retainer fee, and move on with our lives. But what are the estimated ticket sales across the star system?”, I asked.
“Two billion, and now I know what the next topic is. The expenses only counts in the millions. This duel means a lot of revenue for the women of Venus.”, Vivica said.
“So, under that consideration, I can absolutely answer that question. Regardless of whatever we learn about the Cooperative, we will fulfill our contract, collect our reward, and be on our way. Because we are professionals.”, I said.
“So what are your thoughts on duel itself?”, Vivica asked.
“I’ve seen Tri-Tech armor used by an expert and veteran warrior. It can allow a non-cyborg to run up walls, fight off groups of common cyborgs or even space pirates, and cut through all kinds of obstacles. Either Arton has never used this armor system before or something led him to believe that the restrictive terrain of the bridge would limit the capabilities of the Phantom significantly more than it would limit his own power armor. After the fight I would support the theory that the only factors considered were the Phantom’s Battle Mode, attack power, range, and speed. No real strategy.”, I said.
“So are you willing to confirm that the Phantom changed fighting styles.”, Vivica asked.
“Vivica? Duelist Mode, and not Battle Mode? Sure I’ll confirm that. The Phantom was prepared to fight in restrictive terrain.”, I said.
“In the duel, the Phantom had an opportunity to end the fight, take the payment, and do…whatever else. Why do you think or can you even tell us why the Phantom decided to draw out the fight?”, Vivica asked.
“The Phantam took a contract, and it will be fulfilled. But there were five opportunities to kill Arton and each reason was different. The first kill shot was delayed for Saressah’s message, even if just a formality, that’s the law of this planet. The second, was doing no damage to the bridge, regardless if the city is abandoned, that’s still critical infrastructure. The third was the slash across Arton’s neck, but there would have been more of a warning if the Phantom intended to kill Arton in that instant. The fifth was not shooting from the bridge, because the properties of the Phantom’s ammo could potentially contaminate the planet’s water supply. The fourth was the only real attempt, that was throwing Arton over the side. But the motives for all of them were the same. The Phantom has to allow Arton to have a fighting chance. I was there when Saressah asked for that and as long as we have a chance to find the truth.”, I said.
“Last question. What other surprises should we expect from the Phantom?”, Vivica asked.
“Nobody should ever expect a surprise from an assassin.”, I said sarcastically.
“Very very true. This has been a lovely interview, you have been an wonderful guest, and an impressive first officer.”, Vivica said.
“Well both the Phantom and I listen to your show, it’s been an honor, thank you.”, I said.
“And thank you, I guess you need to command the fleet. You have a great day.”, Vivica said.
“Thank you and you have a great day too.”, I said, as I sensed my end of the interview was no longer part of her broadcast.
After my third shift the fleet observed Arton crawl out of the utility shed, look around, and return to the shelter. Since the city of Valontyme had been abandoned all the people, resources, and equipment had been relocated to the Northern continent. The structure had enough room for four emergency response or repair drones and spare parts, but now was just an empty vestigial ruin of the former Protectorate colony. As Arton entered the structure he vanished from our sensors, but we would instantly be alerted if he left, like before. While I’m not familiar with using Tri-Tech, since it’s technology was designed with military applications in mind, I expect the person inside can enjoy the benefit of regulating body temperature, some metabolic regulating technology, pain mitigation, and all with the goal of healing. I estimated, Arton should be able to resume fighting, and I imagined Tony would allow Arton the time to recover.
After my fourth shift, the fleet’s scan detected a cloaking distortion only ten paces from the entrance of the shed. We suspected this distortion was Tony, and all we found Arton’s battle axe emerge from the distortion, as if Tony stabbed the ground with the axe handle. We continued watching, and we also listened to Vivica’s broadcast, the music, the theories of the next round, how many more tickets were sold, and the rise in gambling if the next fight was when Tony would kill Arton, or if Arton would reveal his secret.
Arton emerged from the shed with the dawn and walked out of the shed with his helmet in one hand as he approached the battle axe. Tony appeared standing on top of the shed, when he deactivated his cloak and was already aiming the gauss rifle at the back of Arton’s un-armored head. The fleet calculated that the odds of a lethal kill shot to be ninety-nine percent as such close range, with a one percent chance Tony wanted to cripple Arton, and the only potential environmental contamination would be Arton’s vaporized skull.
Arton stood next to the battle axe as he looked around. He looked back at the Shed and immediately saw Tony with an aimed weapon ready to deal a killing strike. Arton stood with his arms at his side and seemed to be waiting for death as he stared at the weapon that could attack near the speed of light. But Tony didn’t fire.
“Pick it up.”, Tony demanded.
Arton moved his free hand towards the Battle axe behind him as he kept his eyes focused on Tony. Arton’s other hand raised his helmet and slipped his helment onto his head. Arton activated the battle axe igniting the blade, and Tony placed his gauss rifle onto the roof of the shed. With one hand Tony reached for his battle axe, and the other hand reached for the war club. The Battle axe activated the energy blade and glowed dull blue, and the war-club activated deflectors along the handle and the head activated a repulser coil.
“Vivica, music please. …Attack mode!”, Tony declared, as he jumped into the air with his front deflector shields brought to full power.
The fight music started playing as Tony crashed into Arton. At the apex of the jump Tony swung the war-club downward. Arton jumped backwards as he seemed to remember the last time he was in this situation, if Tony only had one weapon and the last attempted counter was over-powered by just one weapon. The war-club slammed into the ground and a shockwave made the ground unstable. Arton needed a moment to regain his balance after evading the ambush. Arton glanced at the gauss rifle on the roof of the shed and the fleet calculated that the gauss rifle would only be an effective weapon against Tony when attacking from distance, with a cloaking device, a plan, and the element of surprise. I suspected Tony left the gauss rifle on the roof to distract Arton. Tony dashed forward with blinding speed knocking Arton over. Arton rolled away and raised his battle axe as if it were a shield. Tony swung his battle axe at Arton, but killing didn’t seem to be his goal. Arton blocked the swing with the handle of his axe. Tony pulled his battle axe, moving both axes out of the way of his next attack. Tony stomped onto Arton’s battle axe and raised the war-club. Tony swung the war-club faster than he had before in duelist mode. The fleet estimated Tony’s new, “Attack Mode” configuration was now four times faster than “Duelist Mode”.
The war-club crashed into Arton’s chest, as the repulser coil exploded with a shockwave. Arton stopped moving, but he was still alive. Tony stepped away from Arton, deactivated his weapons, and dropped them on the ground.
“Right now your armor should be redirecting all of its energy into keeping you alive. That’s what I hoped would happen, because that also means you cannot fight. Yesterday you set a trap. I could see it, but I fail to understand. So today I set the trap, but the point of my trap was to see what you do. As long as you refuse to talk, my only option left is to throw situation after situation at you and hope to decipher your intentions.”, Tony said.
The fleet scan detected an energy fluctuation in Arton’s power armor, as we estimated that his armor had either healed him or just enough to direct energy to other systems, but we couldn’t determine what system that energy was going to. The minds of the crews of my small fleet estimated that an unarmed attack would be a terrible idea with very bad odds depending on level of injury. We considered the odds of Arton trying to use one of the axes or the war-club, but chances of success were very poor with Tony watching and also closer to more weapons. One of the fleet suspected that Tony’s trap also included contingencies, which meant placing the battle axe in a place easy to find was just one phase. In the current phase of the trap, every weapon was on the ground.
The fleet detected another energy fluctuation as we watched Arton reach for his battle axe and throw it at the Gauss rifle. Tony rushed towards Arton and with a short kick, Tony stomped Arton back into the ground.
“Unarmed combat has bad odds, but if this is all you got…whatever.”, Tony said as he stepped away.
The axe landed on the opposite side of the shed, and the gauss rifle slid off the roof. Arton rolled away and stood up with his arms in a fighting stance. Tony took a similar fighting stance. Arton rushed in and coiled his arm preparing to strike with a punch. As Arton threw a punch. Tony raised his arm as Arton’s fist moved passed his, deflecting the energy of the punch into a harmless direction. Tony used his free hand to counter attack with a punch aimed at Arton’s ribs under Arton’s deflected arm. Tony’s defending arm swung around Arton’s attacking arm and threw Arton forward into a tumble while still holding Arton’s arm. Arton lost balance and Tony kicked forward with his back leg launching Arton into the wall of the shed. Arton bounced off the wall and fell to the ground. Arton rolled onto his feet and resumed a fighting stance.
“Punching in power armor…again? Leverage doesn’t work the same. I’m guessing you’ve never worn power armor before. This tech was made for war not boxing.”, Tony said.
Arton looked around, and the fleet suspected Arton estimated his chances of continuing the fight with unarmed combat was unlikely now that Tony had determined a lack of experience, consistent with my analysis. Arton rushed forward with his full speed. Tony punched Arton with an upward angled attack, hitting Arton under the chin as Tony stepped to the side. Arton’s forward running speed and loss of balance and control made Arton flip over backwards and Arton fell back into the ground. Tony using just one hand picked up Arton from the chest armor and turned towards the center of the abandoned city.
“I initially wanted to avoid collateral damage, but your odds don’t look good. We will continue after you’ve healed up. But I’ll give you more time to consider talking because this time I’m giving you even further to fall.”, Tony said.
Tony took three steps while lifting Arton to build up technique and then threw Arton seven thousand strahds into the heart of Valontyme. As Arton flew into the horizon, he crashed into through abandoned buildings, outdoor advertisements, and various city infrastructure. When Arton landed, he tumbled and crashed through ruins on the ground. Arton slowed and eventually stopped. The fleet scan could see he wasn’t moving, but he was alive.
The holographic decoy activated and an image of Meiyo appeared in front of Tony. The image of Meiyo was dressed in ceremonial garb that wrapped around her shoulders and waist, as large band of cloth hung over the shoulders stopping just below the knees. Meiyo’s hair fell straight below the elbows and Meiyo’s expression seemed to be very upset. Vivica faded the music out.
“Meiyo. To what do I owe the honor?”, Tony asked.
“Phantom, you were hired for a Trial-by-combat. When you said you could get the truth out of Arton, I was skeptical, but I never agreed to wrecking one of our cities.”, the image of Meiyo calmly said.
“The entire continent is abandoned, no women were harmed. If the Cooperative wants to attract new colonists, will you have better odds with an abandoned city that nobody wants, or a new city with modern infrastructure?”, Tony argued.
“Those colonists decide what infrastructure they invest in…Not you…You don’t live here…No more collateral damage. Is that clear?”, Meiyo asked to verify.
“As you wish.”, Tony replied.
Meiyo’s holographic projection vanished and Tony began collecting all the weapons. The decoy activated again and the image of another Rylkoian appeared, dressed in the formal uniform of the Protectorate. The Protectorate officer wore the badge of a contract broker and looked around.
“Well this is different.”, said the image of the Rylkonian officer.
“What do the brokers need?”, Tony asked.
“Yes Phantom, we’ve been watching…and the Third Council would like to buy out your contract.”, the image of the broker said.
“Vivica, please cut to commercial break.”, Tony said.
Vivica began reading sponsorships for non-profit radio.
“What exactly does the Third Council want?”, Tony asked the broker.
“A cut of the ticket sales, buy Arton as a political prisoner, stop watching you torture an innocent man, and do our own investigation.”, the broker’s image said.
“If the Protectorate was worried about everyone learning a secret, I think I would have been offered a Brokers’ contract much sooner. So this situation must be new to everyone. I don’t think I can cancel on the Cooperative that easily. You’ll just have to make an offer to the Cooperative.”, Tony suggested.
“Oh we are counter-bidding, but we think we’re a few steps ahead of you in solving this mystery. It’s not a plot of ours, not a plot of the Cooperative’s, and unlikely to be a plot of the Confederacy’s, the broker’s image said, and I suspected he implied either the U.D.E. or JATO.
“Then it’s out of my hands. If the Cooperative decides to share their investigation with you, then call me back.”, Tony said.
“We’ll keep working this from the outside, but can we please ask for less brutality?”, the broker’s image asked.
“Ummm…This is Trial-by-Combat…What exactly does the Third Council suggest for less brutality?”, Tony asked.
“Just take your time, to disarm, and to capture the target. We can’t tell you to compromise the contract and we already know you have to give your target a fighting chance. We’re using the functional methods of an extraction and assassination, so this is kind of a new situation for the Third Council.”, the broker’s image said.
“Okay I’ll do that, but no more interference from the Council. This is my last Cooperative contract before we leave Venus.”, Tony said.
“Thank you, the Third Council appreciates your efforts.”, The broker’s image said, and then vanished.
“Jhess, please take the next call.”, Tony said as he looked in the direction of the Something Clever.
So I projected myself through the decoy. As Tony’s apex predator eyes glanced at me, I smiled a big grin and he slowly turned his focus away.
“Not funny Jhess.”, Tony said.
“Good news, I think we know enough to figure out more about this secret.”, I said.
Tony slowly nodded and he prepared to invest his thoughts.
“Let’s hear it.”, Tony asked.
“I got two theories. If the cause is the usual suspect, the goal is to keep you in one place…a trap. Second theory, if not the usual suspect, the cause must then be part of a power struggle.”, I said, as I determined the U.D.E. is more likely to use their cloned agents on Venus.
“It’s a bit complicated, that would be quite the setup. That’s months of planning in advance for a trip we just planned two weeks ago…but that’s a good point. It would be unproductive if the Brokers negotiated with the Cooperative over a slave…Also please put some cookie dough in the cooler. Tomorrow is Saturday.”, Tony asked.
“So are you planning to close out this contract tomorrow?”, I asked.
Have you figured out Arton's secret?
