Chapter One
It was dark in the headquarters of the Orange Star army. Everyone had retired to their beds for the night. Only a madman would be up at this hour. Speaking of which…
Hachi crept through the corridors, as silent as mouse. Very slowly, he sneaked into the map-room of orange star. From here, intelligence was gathered, analysed and dispatched to every corner of Orange Star's lands. How many tanks were available, how many men were on sick-leave, Nell's hip size – everything that was necessary to the success of Orange Star's campaigns was stored here.
Quietly, Hachi turned on a desk light next to him. The main lights would let him see more but for his plan, that would be a bad thing. He crept over to the communication system. He turned it on silently. The screen flickered into life, displaying a shadowy figure.
"Hachi…" it croaked, acknowledging the wiry old salesman standing in front of the screen. It was hard to make out, but the figure wore a black cloak. Smoke circled him.
"…Sturm." Hachi returned. He was conversing in secret with the most hated man in the world. If anyone found out, he could, no, would be court-martialled. But this had to be done.
"I have told you before…call me Lord Sturm." A tone of annoyance crept into the leader of Black Hole's voice. Hachi smirked in defiance.
"I'll never bow to you, not even on my dying breath. We both know that. Now, could we get on with business." Hachi folded his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.
"…Everyone in Wars World knows of your skills. I would like to make use of them. Here is a list of what I require." Sturm wheezed. A fax printed out under the screen. Hachi ripped it off and examined it. After a few moments, he raised both eyebrows and whistled.
"I can see why you need me for this. These would cost a king's ransom anywhere else. What about this one at the bottom?" Hachi asked curiously.
"I want that built exactly to my specifications." Sturm replied.
"A battleship ten times normal size, with an empty deck? I, I, I'll do what I can…but promise you won't attack Orange Star." Hachi stuttered he had a bad feeling about this. A very, very bad feeling.
"I, hehe, promise, Hachi." Sturm rasped, with what looked like a grin on his breathing mask. He turned to walk away from the screen.
"Oh, Sturm," Hachi called innocently.
"Hmm…"
"I believe in getting paid in advance. No money, no toys. Simple as that." Hachi grinned slyly. Grumbling, the Black Hole leader paid the amount into Hachi's offshore holdings account. Muttering a curse, Sturm ended the transmission. The screen went black again. Hachi grinned.
"Pleasure doing business with you."