Chapter 10: Longing
At last Eli was beside his master in some respect, stood beside a hologram of Drowse at a meeting table, Eli felt the warmth of his command for once. The visit to the Private Palace had taken far too long. The ivory black table they sat at was at most ten feet long, with five stunningly symmetrical shining black chairs that lined the table, with a throne-type seat that stood at each end, Drowse's hologram form was at one throne, and Brigadier-Admiral Curtis at the other. The ten figures seated were covered partially in shadow, Eli could make out General Rammstein, Admiral Waltz, Colonel Baxter, the hologram of the Red Special's supervisor Captain Powter, and a black-suited man, that seemed to be the head of Lieutenant Nuce's spy ring, the rest were faceless. Direct-Commander Cosmos was absent again, Eli made a note of it, yet his Super-Yuppies guarded the door, and Curtis was flanked by his red marked Yuppies and his two aids; Bekki and Myles. From Drowse's starting remarks, it would seem that he is aboard 'The Caladrius' and on route to the GlobalSoft Tower wreckage, per order of the Grand Governor. Apparently Minister Kintyre was giving Hanson a short tour of the ship, but she sends her regards. Drowse's hologram flickered as he looked to Captain Powter "Garret, what is the status of the Red Special's repairs?" Drowse inquired, with a more than friendly tone of phrase. The Captain stroked his chin and ran a hand along his grey hair, his holographic brown eyes scanning Drowse, of which the favour was returned. Powter cleared his throat "We have met our fuel capacity, weapons testing has come back clear, and the engineers are working on armour repairs as we speak" Powter chortled. Eli raised his eyebrows as an officer in grey spoke up in a deep yet pleasant voice, despite his words "I have heard differently Prime Minister, the Chief Engineer reports that the emergency booster engines were offline at the time of the tests Sir, and the Supervisor must ensure that all operations are online during a routine check, Sir" He said with a stern face, Powter responded to the accusation accordingly "That is a false rumour" those words seemed to put the matter to end, as Nuce's Steward leaned forward "There are more pressing matters, Sirs, the Unfree States, I have heard that the New Bohemian Government means to join with Wembley HQ" The Steward whispered, Rammstein touched his bald head "This alliance is dangerous, after the passing of Vizier-President Drumpf mere hours after the Killer Queen fell, who knows what the Bohemians will topple next? How many more establishments must fall?" He appealed, sounding like a father speaking to the headmaster, Colonel Baxter shifted in his seat "They are those among the Wembley Bohemians who believe that we have infiltrated their Council" a few snickers were heard when an Official with reddish-Brown hair spoke in a thick accent "Well at least they've got something right" He chuckled, Brigadier-Admiral Curtis glanced downwards and they looked up with a sly smirk, catching Drowse's attention "What say you, Simone?" Drowse asked, Eli was locking eyes with the Brigadier-Admiral's aids, Myles was a Sub-Sergeant and a former Deputy Chief of Staff for some Parliamentary Minister or another, Eli couldn't quite comprehend why he would pass that up for a eternity following that stick-insect with a flashy rank badge. Curtis shivered and replied "I have heard many things regarding the Bohemians, Supreme Commander, but my eyes have yet to see anything of significance among them...though rest assured, they still seem ignorant of the Désepoir Region"He insisted, Drowse nodded "You do me a good service, Brigadier-Admiral...I think you will prove most useful, Simone" Curtis smirked for a millisecond in response, before turning back to neutral .
"It's not a matter of if they reply, it's a matter of if they choose to join us" Khashoggi said to Jet, who was walking alongside him. They had been discussing the Unfree States Bohemian population possibly joining with the Wembley HQ Bohemians. Jet seemed inquisitive of his thoughts, and listened with interest as Khashoggi spoke of all the policy's and politics involved "Since the death of the Vizier-President, the Unfree States cracked down on it's transport regulations" He explained, Jet nodded along with his words. They walked through the camp of tents, and past the defence walls, under reconstruction by Cliff Richard and Boy George. Cliff mumbled as they sauntered past his work station, while watching Spice Girls lift a heavy block of cement. They walked for hours now, Jet not wanting to miss a second of Khashoggi's words. "Surely the Bohemians of the Unfree States recognise the importance of the situation" Jet offered to him, in a presumptuous tone. Khashoggi looked out past the wall and into the wasteland, before opening his eyes wide and keeping them at a respectable level to give Jet-Set a caring look "Please, Jet, the Bohemians are best as one, as best friends, as allies. We don't work well separated" He flexed his eyebrows "I doubt your leaders think that way" She dug, smirking. He knew how true that was, the supposed leaders of the Bohemians had fled towards the Capital, and the ever-knowing bookkeeper had gone and left no warning of where or why. Galileo and Scaramouche had agreed to accompany Sir Paul to find the instruments of Rock, while Pop went to the capital to find Brit and Meat, two girls he had forgot about. He quickened his pace through the training camp, catching a glimpse of Jackson Five sharpening and cleaning her short-sword, she had styled herself as an assassin, that much she was. Walking into the main stadium area, Jet took it in "The attack didn't reach in here...did it?" She gave a puzzled look, Khashoggi scratched his head, her questions reminded him of the Training camp in the capital, and the constant inquiry of Commodore Slash and Headmaster Sade "No, for some reason the Yuppie-Troopers fled while they held the advantage, an odd tactic, to say the least" he shrugged, but Jet understood. He shifted the conversation "Enough of this, I want to learn about you" he said, rounding his eyes to the ginger haired girl "-I'd appreciate it of ya didn't" She snarked at him, swirling around the grass of the stadium to face him. All he knew was that she came from the Unfree States, possibly, and she was a hungry one, hungry for information. Khashoggi smiled "How did you get here? Jet?" He inquired. She smiled back "I was sent by Ray Charles, Faction Leader of the Unfree States Bohemian population" That was the truth, Khashoggi thought, just a information gopher, a scout of sorts. GlobalSoft had little to no presence in the Unfree States now, after the dictator Drumpf was overthrown, and he knew that now the New Bohemian Government had set up some new state-of-the-art defences on land and in the air, using gun platforms manned by hundreds of men and women, and anti-air Ion Cannons, capable of demobilising any cruiser or aircraft that GlobalSoft could deploy, it was impregnable and a work of genius. What to think of Jet however, that was a whole other matter. She was a odd firecracker, he red dress making her resemble some dignitary, Khashoggi suddenly thought of a perfect question "Were you a GaGa Kid, Jet?" He raised a brown eyebrow, Jet-Set nodded "Yep-" he cut her off "What Devision?" She lowered her head and raised it confidently with an air of pride "Media Production" Khashoggi wasn't surprised by that "Propaganda, you mean?" Jet gave a sharp nod "If that's what you want to call it, then yes" She boasted. Khashoggi took the information in, just as she did the same to him.
Breakthru fired another three bolts of energy from his Q-10 rifle, only grazing the side of the hill the figures ran from, he was longing to catch them in whatever way he could, his small group of Yuppies backed him, with a blue-striped Captain at his side. The rebels wouldn't escape him this time, they darted through the tough grass and down a slope of dirt, when Breakthru and his thugs reached the slope, the three figures were running for another hill, so they opened fire. The skinny girl shot back with her twin pistols, bullets shot up the sand and left a smoke, injuring one of the Troopers, Breakthru saw the plan "They're going for the Canyon, cut them off!" He instructed, running down the slope with his blaster rifle in one hand. His Captain took what remained of the men across the gorge and along to the Canyon, trying to reach the point in time. Breakthru suddenly realised 'A straight is quicker than a corner' he grabbed at his communicator, but the thin girl shot it out of his hand "Shit" he mumbled, firing back carelessly, as the three fugitives were getting ever closer to the sandy incline. His Yuppie escort was useless, missing every blast. Breakthru fired a lucky shot that grazed the tallest of the three, making him stumble as they began the climb, Breakthru pulled out his Bo-Tool, turning it into a long railgun, with several attachments. The shorter boy had a go at firing upon them with a semi-automatic rifle, but to no avail, he then let loose a more deadly item. His guitar. That wave of destruction ripped up the sand and sent Breakthru stumbling back, his two Yuppie's were killed by the blast. Not wanting to morn, Breakthru fired his disrupter cannon, the blue laser hit the sand, creating a small wormhole that soon fizzed away, making the three Bohemians scarper up the hill,the tallest limping. Sighing, Breakthru found his communicator with a bullet hole in it, radioing in to his Captain, he got a simple response "We couldn't find them, Sir, they may be splitting up, my men have noticed paths in the hills, several leading away" He explained, Breakthru winced in disappointment "Very well, get back here" He ordered, making the Captain scoff "Sir?" Breakthru repeated the command "Get back here, now" He then flicked a switch on his belt, and turned the communicator off, then on again. "Agent, what is it?" The squeaky voice of Lieutenant Nuce piped through "We have the Bohemians on the run, Nuce, but they've split up just south of the Inter-Speed Train lines, next to Harley Street" he specified, Nuce chortled "Right, and what am I supposed to do with this information Breakthru? Lambert has told me not to report it to Drowse, he wanted to speak to you about-" Breakthru's brow furrowed when he saw the blue-striped Captain and his escort of four Yuppies clamber down the hill "I need a Light-Defence Cruiser to locate them, or a BKR-Class Freighter, something with scanning apparatus" Breakthru requested, to Nuce's general discomfort "You know I don't have clearance for that" He whined, keeping his voice low like a vulture watched over him "Then find someone who does.." Breakthru responded "Transmitting my coordinates now, I'll expect the Scanning ship in half an hour, otherwise I'll resume the foot chase, oh and if you're coming, get a Shuttle down here. Agent Out" he cut the transmission off with a sigh. The Captain shuffled next to him "Orders, sir?" He asked, Breakthru looked around, then saw...an indent in the sand, a footprint, not of regulation footwear like that of the Yuppies, an anomaly "Get a DNA kit, now!"