Lavira went into the Prince's chambers, finding him having his wounds attended to by some medical droids. In his battle against Jordan, he had demonstrated the new skills and powers he had developed under Argus' training. He had left Jordan laying, humiliated him and defeated him in short order, but as the fight neared its end, his arrogance exceeded his skill. He had attempted to use Argus' deadly Solar Flare attack.
Had anyone else suffered such injuries, it was almost a certainty they would have succumbed to them long before now. The Solar Flare was a powerful technique, mastered by only a handful of swordsmen across the known universe with good reason. Such was the destructive power it summoned that if wielded incorrectly, if it was off by even a fraction, it was just as dangerous to the one using it as it was to his enemies. Stories existed of students burning themselves up completely attempting it. Prince Vekar had access to some of the finest medical technology available, which was the only reason he had even survived.
Argus was standing in the corner, watching as the droids applied yet another layer of synthetic skin spray, a special compound that sealed wounds against infection and encouraged the regeneration of tissue. Although they had the technology, and standard practice would have been to simply use bionics and essentially rebuild any warrior that had been so badly harmed, even on death's doorstep Vekar's arrogance was such that he insisted he was not going to end up a hideous cybernetic hybrid. He was the Prince, he had to be seen as untouchable, indestructible. If he was going to show his face again, it was going to be HIS face, not some mechanical reconstruction. It slowed his recovery, but by now they were confident he would make a full recovery.
"OW! Watch it you useless incompetent tin can!" Vekar snapped at one of the medical droids as it inspected one of his burns for signs of infection, inadvertently pressing in on it. "It's bad enough that the Rangers assaulted me without you trying to kill me too!"
"My Lord, you inflicted those injuries upon yourself." Argus stated. Prince Vekar just glared at him.
"What was that?" He asked.
"No one forced you to attempt the Solar Flare." Argus reminded him. "You tried to use a technique you were not ready to use."
"Who asked you?" Prince Vekar snorted.
"You did." Argus responded honestly. "You told me that in your lessons I was to be uncompromising, pitiless and honest."
"I think I liked it better when you didn't talk back." Prince Vekar responded as he looked to Lavira. He smiled as he saw her. "Ah...Lavira, come to check on my progress have you?"
"We all eagerly await your return to full health." She answered as he gingerly put on some robes, trying not to rub off the synthetic skin. She approached him, showing him a tablet. "Here is the inventory of available troops just as you asked."
"Excellent, and the reinforcements?" He asked.
"They will be here within the month." She assured him. "There is something odd though...the delivery also sites a classified weapon..."
"There is no mistake." He told her. "When I have recovered, the Rangers are going to rue the day they ever crossed my path! I plan to deal with them personally!"
"Are you sure?" Lavira asked him. "The security clearance on that delivery is beyond my level. If you have a weapon, I would be more comfortable if I got to inspect it before you risked..."
"You worry too much Lavira." He told her, coming over and starting to gently stroke her cheek. She almost melted at his touch, and was thankful he couldn't see through her visor. She was certain that her eyes would give away the thoughts running through her mind at that moment. "Believe me; I want this to be a surprise, for you as well as the Rangers."
"But Your Highness..."
"Trust me a little won't you?" He said, winking at her, before gesturing to the door. "Now, if that is all, perhaps you can go and check on Damaras. He's sulking somewhere on the ship."
"Oh?" She asked, becoming a little concerned. "Did...did he say why?"
"Oh, he started to say something about you, but I really couldn't be bothered listening. You know him." Prince Vekar answered, waving her off. "He's always complaining about something. You just make sure my army is in top fighting shape when I'm ready to go."
"I will do as you ask." She answered as she took a bow and walked away. She couldn't help grinning from ear to ear as she went. Prince Vekar watched her go as he fastened up his robes.
"Lavira really is quite a woman isn't she?" Vekar asked. Argus just looked at him.
"I do not understand." He responded. "In what regard?"
"Well, she is a smart one, possibly the only one in this sector that matches my intellect." He continued.
"It is not my place to assess the suitability of potential partners." Argus answered. "I do not think she is a noble, and I believe..."
"Details, details...I can bestow a peerage if I want. I'll make her duchess of Aquitar or something." He said, waving off Argus' remark.
"We...do not have control of Aquitar." He reminded Prince Vekar. The Prince just thought about it for a moment.
"Good point." He answered. "Remind me to invade Aquitar next."
"Your Highness, I believe your father had selected some potential..."
"My father selected a bunch of whining, arrogant, back-stabbing schemers who only want to get their claws into my throne." Prince Vekar told him. "Lavira has a trait none of them do...complete and unquestioned loyalty."
"Your Highness..."
"My own mother was a slave was she not?" He interrupted Argus. "I am the Prince, and I can do as I want. Now, why don't you go check on Lavira and Damaras? Make sure they don't kill each other in my absence."
"As you wish Your Highness." He said as he left the room. Prince Vekar sat in a chair, poured himself a drink, and turned on a monitor, connected to a video link directly into Lavira's laboratory, and settled in to watch.
The Rangers finally arrived in Malta, landing the Red Galleon in a hidden bay, and cloaking it before adopting some disguises to blend in. Although it was starting to come to the end of tourist season, there were still plenty of people around, meaning that they very quickly managed to attain the anonymity they were looking for.
The cab they had flagged at the coast tore away, blasting all of them with dust, at which everyone stared at Jake.
"What?" He asked. "I only asked..."
"Jake, you didn't have to talk slow and loud!" Gia told him. "Point number one, that really doesn't make you any easier to understand, it just makes us sound like ignorant American tourists."
"Well, I don't speak Maltese, do you?" He asked. "Does anyone?"
"Point number two, English is an official language here." Noah chipped in. "Pretty much everyone speaks English here. He probably thought you were making fun of him!"
"Well, there are a couple of hours between now and the concert." Emma stated, fishing out her camera. Jordan just looked at her.
"Seriously?" He asked. "You brought your camera?"
"We're meant to be tourists right?" Emma asked. "Besides, this is the home of the Knights of Saint John, the order of the Hospitaliers!"
"It's also where they filmed most of the King's Landing scenes in 'Game of Thrones'." Noah declared proudly. He pointed to the high, thick walls around the city. "Those are the walls that were seen in the Battle of the Black Water."
"OK, can we not talk about Game of Thrones?" Gia asked. "We need to find the concert hall, and then we need to find a scalp. Those tickets are sold out, and we'll be found out pretty quickly if Tensou tries to forge us a couple."
"The concert venue is this way." Noah told her, pointing up the path. They all started to follow her, with Emma taking up the rear, taking some photographs as she went. Jordan just looked to her curiously.
"What's with the Game of Thrones thing?" He asked. Emma just sighed.
"She used to watch that show all the time with Cat." She reminded him. "They both liked Danerys...Cat liked the dragons."
"Oh...right." He responded. "So, this is probably not the place she wants to be."
"Let's just say, if we get the keys and leave quickly, that'll probably be for the best." Emma told him.
In the penthouse suite of her hotel, Kira was looking through some more sketches and ideas for her merchandise for the tour. Kira was always keen to encourage any form of arts, and regularly encouraged her fans to post artwork and lyrics on her official website. Sometimes, she would contact the creators for their permission to use their ideas, and credited them for their contributions to her success. The artist in her room was something of a prodigy though, even by the standards of some of those she had borrowed ideas from. Kira became aware of an artist that posted work on a regular basis under the username Rotekatze2013, and when she found out that she was a student that had just graduated from art school, she had offered to take her with her on tour as a gap-year between high-school and college.
"This...this is all really amazing." She said in a voice that was barely above a whisper, but still conveyed exactly how impressed she was. "I swear...I don't know how you do it Cat, you're a genius!"
"It's been a long time since anyone called me that." Cat said with a smile from the veranda, a sketch book in her hand. She had always been a fan of Kira's music, as long as she could remember. When Kira had contacted her, gushing over some of her ideas for album covers and offered to take her on tour with her, she leapt at the chance. She and Gia had talked, mostly pipe-dreams stuff about going travelling before going to college. It was always something she wanted to do, to expand her horizons and see new places. "A lot of people think I'm..."
"I learned a long time ago not to care what a lot of people think." Kira assured her, putting her arm around the younger girl. "When I wasn't much younger than you, people didn't get me either! I was never exactly considered normal."
"I know, I don't mind." Cat told her as she continued sketching. Kira furrowed her brows and pulled in. She couldn't help looking over the young girl's shoulder, trying to get a good look at the sketch. "I always thought normal was kind of boring."
"That's pretty much what I thought." Kira told her. "Mind if I...?"
Cat held the pad tightly, but seeing the look on Kira's face, she eventually relented and handed it over. She took it, gazing at the sketch. It was an amazing piece, one that Cat had only been working on since she got to the penthouse and saw the view from the balcony. It was an excellent rendition of the city walls, and of the old buildings nearby, but on closer inspection, she could see a lot of things that weren't there. There were guards, bowmen along the battlements, but the most prominent thing was a large dragon flying over the battlements, breathing fire into the city.
"Um...I have um...I have a bit of a thing for..."
"Game of Thrones." Kira interrupted her. "Yeah, I like the show too...Cat, this is incredible!"
"It's kind of my interpretation of what I'd like to see happen." She told Kira as she started to fidget nervously. "I really want Daynerys to win. I really wanted Joffrey to end up as a chew toy for one of the dragons, but I guess being poisoned worked too."
"Wow, remind me not to get on your bad side!" Kira replied with a little laugh. "So...you really like the show?"
Cat fell silent as she asked this. Kira could see that something was on her mind.
"What is it?" Kira asked. "If I've said something wrong..."
"No, it's not that, it's just..." Cat's words tailed off as she thought about it. "I used to watch it a lot with my ex girlfriend."
"Oh." Kira replied.
"It's...it's been a long time." Cat continued. "We talked a bit about travelling before we started college. One of the things we really wanted to do was come to King's Landing."
"I'm really sorry." Kira told her.
"I'm just being silly." Cat answered. "So...you liked some of my designs?"
"Yeah, I really do." Kira told her. She pulled one out. "How quickly could you have this one made into stensils for a t-shirt design? I'd really love to see a run of shirts with this on them for the Italian leg of the tour."
"I should be able to have something worked up in a day or so." Cat told her. Kira just smiled.
"That's what I love to hear." She replied.
Up on the Armada Command Ship, Damaras was pacing through the corridors, edging his way through the ship cautiously. He was surrounded on all sides, completely and hopelessly outnumbered by robotic warriors, uncertain as to how many of them Lavira could set loose on him at a moment's notice. He had never taken Lavira seriously as a threat before, he generally thought of her as a glorified janitor, someone that simply made sure that the weapons worked for the soldiers who did the real fighting. Now though, he was seeing things in a whole new light.
Lavira was no mere mechanic. She was the Chief Technical Officer on the ship. She had access to all the systems and weapons at Prince Vekar's disposal. ALL of them! Not just the weapons, at some point or another Lavira oversaw all the scientific and mechanical issues on the ship. Air locks, door locks, surveillance systems...even the vending machines which provided the few soldiers on the ship with biological systems their food! She had already demonstrated that she could over-ride his command of Argus, and of some of the troops. There was no telling how far her influence stretched. Theoretically, she could turn every inch of the ship into a weapon, a death-trap! She could be watching him at any moment...and he wouldn't know! The only reason she hadn't ordered her own personal hit squad to eliminate him was because Prince Vekar believed he was still loyal. He knew she would never risk acting against one of his top officers unless the Prince ordered her to. He was under no false impressions, now his life was in danger, now more than ever! His only option was to ensure the Prince continued to believe he was loyal.
He made his way to Prince Vekar's chambers, stopping outside the door, and paused as he tried to think about what he was going to say. Accusing Lavira of anything without proof was not going to get him anywhere. Saying she was threatening him and he feared for his safety would be similarly useless. Prince Vekar honestly loved the cut-throat nature of those under his command, and believed that paranoia and cut-throat competition just encouraged the ambitious and strong-willed to rise to the top, meaning he was surrounded by some of the most vicious and hard-bitten officers available. No, Lavira had played a clever game, and right now his best option was to leave her unharmed...not that he wasn't already trying to think of ways to take advantage of any situation to put her in harm's way.
"Your Highness?" He asked, pressing the intercom. He didn't get an answer. "Your Highness, I have an urgent tactical report I need to discuss with you."
He still got no answer. Punching in a code, he opened the door. Inside, the Prince was sitting, watching the monitor of Lavira's lab, his robe hanging open, and a drink in his hand. As he heard the door opening, he snapped around, and saw Damaras coming in. His face immediately changed shade, and the drink fell from his hand, the glass shattering on the floor. He quickly got up, snatching his robe shut.
"DAMARAS!" He screamed.
"Your Highness...I...I apologise!" He stammered out. "I...I heard no answer, I didn't know you were in here, I was going to leave my report and come back..."
Damaras' words tailed off as he saw the screen, and could see Lavira working in her lab. Prince Vekar reached over and turned off the screen.
"Get the hell out of here!" Prince Vekar screamed at him.
"I...I...I..."
Prince Vekar picked up a bottle, throwing it across the room, where it smashed right next to his head. Damaras just started to back up.
"GET OUT!" He screamed. Damaras turned and left the room with as much dignity as he could muster. Once he was outside, he closed the door and started stroking his neck. He had seen what was on the screen...and he had a good idea what he had interrupted. This was a problem, one that could cost him his life if Vrak's schemes didn't come up with something soon.
