Kingdom Come
Chapter 1
The massive yellow gas giant, Kiyoshi, dwarfs its sister moon, Kira. Daylight upon the merchant moon, Kira, averages 40 hour days, with 20 hours per day/night. Among this moon, in particular, is a trade faction run by Emperor Sato and thus managed by his heirs Akemi, Yuuma, and Ryou with the eldest being the last.
The moon, Kira, is one of many installations surrounding the Sagittarius Milky Way. Several other population factions exist on other planets such as Juno, Cassius, Mug, and Scarline. Transport ships go to and from these systems as a means of trade and commerce and various races of humans coexist greatly among the trading hubs, but not so much when one ventures far from there due to tension for power among each faction.
This story begins with turmoil among the planets and a growing concern there's nothing being done to settle the score of past grudges.
Scott tapped his finger against the siding of the transport vessel, his arm resting on a railing as his hands figured as the vehicle continued to get closer to the massive yellow gas giant. It was bright and full of violent storms that would easily crush this vehicle like a tin can if it was ever caught in the gravitational pull.
With each sway, the cabin creaked and whined as if its metal cover was well past its prime and worn, his hand gripped the rail, nervous even he might not make it.
But why, he fretted, where they headed to the gas giant itself. He looked around but couldn't see anywhere else they could be possibly heading towards. Leaning his head back, he glanced at a small girl, and possibly her mother huddled close together. Scott cleared his throat.
"Is that thing, Kira?" He paused while pointing at the gargantuan gas giant, mentioning the last bit vaguely, The woman glared at him, holding onto her daughter closer. "What?" He shrugged, not thinking he offended them by asking a simple question. "Oh, hmm-" he pulled out a translator upon his wrist, and placed it up to his mouth, "Japanese," he spoke into it.
The device flashed green and repeated what he said now into Japanese. The women, however, didn't seem any more pleased to understand him.
She spoke a native tongue to which Scott recorded and played it back in his helmet.
"How dare you...can you even live with yourself?" She spoke with a sharp tongue.
"Oh, no...you got it all wrong-" Scott replied as it translated it to Japanese back, it was a bit rough, "I, this suit isn't personally mine, I just bought it-"
"Save it," she hissed, grabbing her daughter's hand and moving to the front of the bus. Surrounding the windows were just the black emptiness of space, aside from their approach to the gas planet everything else was dark in comparison.
The massive gas giant now loomed overhead and he feared this bus may have derailed and gone off course as this was too close for comfort, he got up but then a little kid grabbed his arm. "Hey-watch it-" he cut himself short, noticing the little child pointing to a spot in the emptiness of space around the curve of the gas giant. It was faint but a flashing light, almost a beacon appeared near the curve of the giant, then more lights appeared in unison as the entire moon, Kira came into view on the outskirts.
"Thank god," he sighed, sitting back down, he glanced over at the kid who now had both arms grasped around a doll, "thanks kid." The kid spoke of nothing and went next to his seat near an old man at the back. Scott scooted down his seat, slouching while pulling a hooded cloak over head, he was already noticed by the armor he stole, might not be good to stand out.
Sato, Yuuma rushed through the elaborate corridors of his family's mansion, being swiftly followed by his two trusted guards with their pace matching his perfectly but not too quickly as to run ahead.
"Dammit, they keep holding meetings, meetings "I" need to be apart of, father will hear this," he rushed ahead and barged through two massive doors as his guards followed suit.
The main room, board or meeting room of the Sato House was already packed with family members casually strolling about with other highly known head of families.
"Ah," a warm, deep voice echoed the hall as everyone grew quiet, Yuuma huffed, tilting his chin up in pride. "I see I wasn't invited to this meeting."
"Nonsense," his father, Emperor Sato, smiled warmly. "I wanted you to sleep in, you've been working hard my son, I can tell," he placed a glass of wine down. "I haven't seen you work this hard in all my years, so forgive an old man such as myself for giving you rest."
Sighing, Yuuma rubbed his face, "Fine," he huffed, "I'll be….back..to studying, but if we are to have any other meetings, please do so to keep me informed."
And just as abruptly he arrived, Yuuma disappeared from the board room followed by snickering.
Ryou grinned while taking a sip of Sake, as the eldest heir it was his responsibility to see that things are done smoothly as his father's next in line. And seeing to it that Yuuma always appeared to be, inadequate; the likelihood Sato would name anyone else would be unlikely.
One of Ryou's underlings came by, whispering something under their breath. His eyes narrowed, then he nodded, "Send only one, follow him."
"Which one," the subordinate replied smoothly.
"Ishikawa," Ryou cracked a smile, "he does better on his own."
Downtown Kira was vast and the largest city on the moon, set mainly as a trading hub. Kiyoshi, the massive gas giant that loomed over the sky dominated the day but lacked any push at night once the moon turned it's back.
During the daylight hours, massive cargo ships with the family name Sato printed on it came back from the gas giant with harvested Hydrogen inside the tanks. Slowly they would be directed towards a separate part of the city designated solely for the flammable cargo that was the main source of trade for the whole moon. There were many stalls as well as vendors for various types of trade and services on the surface for travelers.
A darkly dressed character paced himself carefully, avoiding large crowds and keeping his mask in place. Aside from the mask that dominated his whole head, a thick cloak draped around and prevented any attention being directed at anything else aside from the mask which gave an intimidating glare through the eye holes were sliced horizontally through in the shape of a downward arrow.
He grunted, barely audible at a small selection of skewered squid, freshly roasted. He paid the woman for the meal but then...slid the stick under his cloak and never took off the mask to consume it. The food vendor kept her eyes away from his cloak which clearly read, Sato, meaning he worked for the family. They were the most well known and common members of the service that worked under the Sato family aside from the farmers that harvested gas but those were considered factory workers more than anything, barely paid a minimum wage.
Thinking twice, the man considered several times and hesitated at which place he wished to enter. Pacing between different establishments he almost decided on one to enter until a man dressed in a Cassian suit of armor, horribly painted over with different markings that were clearly handmade, vomited all of the ground in front of the man's current bar choice.
The man in the suit opened his visor and vomited more into a trash bin located outside a bar. He held onto it after jumping off a transport bus in a rush to get to a trash can first but didn't make it in time.
The guard slowly backed up, careful not to get vomit on his shoes and watched the troubled man who clearly stuck out like a sore thumb. After a while of composing himself once more, the sick tourist held out hand after wiping himself down.
"H-hey," he huffed, a bit out of breath, "I-yeah," he shrugged at the mess, "there's a first for everything, name's Scott-
The guard left abruptly, his cloak swaying behind in his wake.
"But..I…," Scott grunted, looking around, he was near the place he needed to be...but he couldn't read a damn thing in Japanese.
The guard lowly hummed, making his way into a bar farthest from the weird travel and entered, lowering his head to prevent the mask's horns from getting clipped. Without the attachment, his stance alone was a bit tall for an average person, making his mask all the more intimidating.
He took a seat at the bar and lowered his face, tilting it at the menu before pointing at one and glancing at the barkeep who grunted with a nod and proceeded to make a drink. All was at peace, and perfect in his own space, calm.
The warm drink came as a bowl of soup with a spoon but the barkeep, knowing this customer, instead handed him a straw. Through which the guard slipped the strap through the neck piece of the mask and consumed his meal. Even without the preference of solidarity, his stance and particular behavior kept most people at a distance.
Enjoying his meal, he reached over to grab some soy sauce when he accidentally instead grabbed a wrist. Flinching he let go immediately, not expecting someone to sit so close. It was...that weird one.
Staring coldly, the guard tilted his head at the man.
"As..," the sick tourist huffed, "as I was saying, name's Scott." He held out a hand once again. But this time the wrist translated his language for him in case there was miscommunication earlier.
After a disappointed grunt from the masked guard, Scott removed his handshake and sighed, sitting back at the table and keeping to himself.
"Okay, okay," he slowly nodded, Scott's stomach grumble. He hasn't eaten the past two days, not realizing just how long this trip would take from the planet Mug. This port was less forgiving as far as the ease of adjusting to new locations but he looked around and sighed once more before the whole bar grew quiet.
Another man entered through the front door, dressed in a deep cloak with the family name Sato..but his was a different color, this was a deep, darkened red that was almost brown. But his attire was completely different, wearing a casual straw hat and loose fitting clothes. This was a more homely feel with his face hidden under the tilted straw hat.
What caught Scott's attention was a katana sat snugly to the Samurai's side, under his cloth belt.
No one seemed to notice him except for the masked guard with the same family crest, his face slowly turning to the intruder. And even though Scott clearly felt a tension between the two, he nervously kept his face towards the bar, hoping he wasn't why they were here.
"Stupid paint job..," Scott mumbled under his breath, scratching at his suit of armor.
The two members of the Sato Clan exchanged glances as the more homely man made his way towards Scott but then passed him entirely. Stopping behind the Masked Sato guard, the other one with the deep red cloak leaned over and placed a hand upon the shoulder.
"Feeling rushed this morning," the samurai scoffed quietly, placing a hand on the guard, "you've been making trips to this exact place time and time again, meeting someone here old friend?"
The Samurai made a clear stare at Scott at the mention of a possible meeting but the masked guard never spoke, not giving him any reason to suspect anything.
Scooting up from his seat, Scott felt the need to leave, hoping they didn't care but then he tripped forward off the bar and smacked into another table. Drinks spilled everywhere as a couple of grown man bickered, getting up, drenched in Sake. They pulled Scott away from the bar and almost headed outside to deal with him until Scott noticed the one thing he knew he was looking for.
"Jack!" Scott pointed at a sign on the wall, "Jack," he called again and the guys paused, confused. "No..no, no, no," he shook his head, "I'm here for him, Jack, he's offering a job. I'm not here for anything else, I promise. I'm not here to cause trouble."
There was a long pause...then they continued dragging his ass out of the shop.
"Nooo, come on, I just want-"
"HEY!" a sharp voice cried out from the other side of the bar. A stout individual got up, covered with a hood, hiding their face slouching in demeanor. "I'-I"m Jack," they hiccuped, slouching more while leaning onto a table.
The two men released Scott, shaking their head but chuckling.
"...good luck," both of them chuckled, leaving outside to finish their shift.
Stumbling forward was a slightly shorter than expected individual who sighed often. Their hood turned quietly towards the two clan members but returned to the Scott laying in the floor.
"I'm Jack," they held out their hand, Scott took it. Finally, someone wouldn't hate him on the spot for being...out of place. "I posted the flyer," they quipped, hiding their voice by mumbling a bit.
The Samurai paused but then turned back, "our Lord would like to know where you've been going during all these visits."
The masked guard turned and instead of replying….. simply flipped off the man, scoffing.
"So what else did you need from me," Scott stood there firmly, relieved, "I've submitted everything I had online, did I miss anything-"
"No, no," they answered, "You'll do fine...yes….fine," they cleared their throat, "so I do have one question, why didn't you sign the waiver in case of dismemberment-"
"What!" Scott stammered as he was pushed back.
Both guards, one from a different head of each family came toppling down onto the table with it crashing into pieces. The samurai quickly got back to this feet with a his hand upon the helm of the sword.
"Try me rogue-," his lowered his stance.
The other didn't speak, just calmly got up and slowly shook his head….as if this a whole thing wasn't a treat but a minor annoyance.
"Hey...take that shit outside," Jack snapped, their voice cracking. They coughed some more before it finally cleared. A much more smooth sound came forth.
She sighed, clearing it after feeling congested for so long.
The Samurai lowered his head, "Fine, I'll be waiting outside Crow…."
After clearing out, Crow sat back down to finish his meal. Jack turned back around. But...no...that was a woman's voice now...why hide it ? Scott thought to himself.
"Name's Jackie, but you can call me Jack," she smiled, pulling the hood off. Blackened hair with a short stature, she hid her figure with baggy clothes and had a pair of goggles around her neck. Emerald eyes stared up, "You might wanna come with me sooner through the back...those other guys you pissed off earlier are waiting outside."