Chapter 43: Crime Against a Tide of Carapace
A few hours had passed as the mercenaries employed to Ponpon, the Gentle Giant, scoured the complex for a gilanian with slave brands, and another gilanian that was supposedly assisting the branded gilanian. But they were unlucky in their attempt to find either person, simply because there had actually been one individual that escaped into the ventilation system from the beginning of his escape. A zerg organism that called himself Johnny had slithered into and through several ventilation shafts, carrying a tied cloak that contained the items that he needed for his escape. But Johnny knew that he wouldn't be safe in the ventilation system for too long, and he needed a distraction to give him unimpeded access to the entire facility.
And thanks to the underground excavation efforts that the zerg were working hard on, they were now directly below Citadel Gargantua, and deep beneath much of the surface of Kiln. With Johnny and Tak in danger, the zerg had to adapt, and quickly, to assist Johnny. Thankfully, Virid was excelling in her ability to multitask.
The drones latched themselves onto roaches and infestors as the roaches and infestors tunneled and burrow-moved upwards, which was an unusual tactic that the zerg had never employed often. At least, it was a tactic that they wouldn't normally use during a skirmish. As the drones held on tightly to the roaches and infestors, vibrating their cells as they traveled through the earth, the roaches and infestors were ordered to burrow deeply through several miles of mud, soil, and stone, and did so straight upward toward Citadel Gargantua.
Several caverns had been discovered by the burrowing roaches and infestors, which enabled the drones to create more hatcheries where more zerg could be produced. This upward expansion had begun the very moment that Johnny and Tak were captured, and the burrowing zerg were slowly getting closer to their destination.
Once one of the roaches had made contact with the lowest sections of the city, which happened to be near the arena area of the black market, a few roaches were selected to create an underground dome that was beneath the black market. Corrosive bile had melted the underground rock in a carefully calculated system of excavation, enabling them to make a perfect area to place a hatchery without risking a cave-in. Things would become incredibly bad for the zerg if part of Tak's city fell into zerg-controlled territory.
Once the hatchery had been made, and when a drone had morphed into a nydus network next to it several seconds later, the roaches and infestors would begin scouting the entirety of the black market, and much of the underside of Citadel Gargantua.
Virid had chosen several roaches, and three infestors, to burrow to the location where Johnny was hidden in.
As it would turn out, Ponpon and his mercenary group happened to be in the most defended building in Junction Forty-Four, which also happened to be the same one where Tak and Johnny had taken their stand-ins to. Johnny triangulated his position, using the roaches and infestors, to determine that he was originally taken to the center of this building, where the shackled table resided. It would make sense since one wouldn't want the law to see the center of their base of operations without having several layers of wall obstructing their vision. But the zerg had an infiltrator within the building already, and all Johnny needed was to use the radio for the next part of his escape plan.
Johnny opened up the cloak-turned-bag and retrieved a handheld radio from it. After clearing his throat a few times, he spoke into it. "I think I saw our guest leave through the west gate? Can someone confirm?" "Copy that. Saw someone leaving just now. Arms are heavily bandaged." "Dammit! Get after him!" Suffice to say, Johnny was getting good at not only disguising his as a completely different species, but could also do impressions of another person very well.
[What? The front door?! Dammit to hell. I thought we had this place on lockdown! Where is he headed off to?] Ponpon barked through Johnny's radio.
Johnny smiled as he replied. "Going west down the dirt street, between some barrels. I don't have a good shot on him."
[Grah. Right then. Mercenaries! Get after him before he alerts the city guard! Be cautious though. Something don't sit right in my gut, and the enabler that freed the prisoner may be with him, or he might still in our own ranks.] Ponpon ordered.
The entire facility belonging to Ponpon opened up, and several thugs flowed out of the building's front entrance. They ran with purpose as they tried to find the escaped prisoner that never really was there. Minutes had passed as groups of thugs checked every nook and cranny in all locations in the street. But alas, they feared the worst when they had double checked those nooks and crannies once more. [Uh... Boss? I hate to say it, but I think we lost him.]
Ponpon sounded as though he growled on the other side of the radio conversation. [Well who the hell called in and reported that the escapee went west?! Kangoh, was it you?]
[It wasn't me, sir.]
[Paipai, was it you?] Ponpon growled.
[Not me, sir. I was stationed at the south-side sniper position.]
[THEN WHO THE HELL SAID THAT THE PRISONER WENT THROUGH THE WEST ENTRANCE?!] Ponpon shouted, almost roaring.
[Ponpon, this is Zalad at the west entrance. We were positioned on the inside entrance, and I can tell you that nobody went through the doors I was guarding. I was even responsible for locking and barring the doors, sir.]
Johnny could tell that Ponpon was fuming. [I DON'T FUCKING CARE, ZALAD! WHERE THE HELL IS... Oh. Oh that clever bastard. WE'VE BEEN DUPED! IT WAS A DISTRACTION!]
The roaches had surrounded the smaller groups of thugs underneath the very ground they walked on, only to innitiate a sudden ambush an instant later. Corrosive acid was being splashed into the faces of the thugs, which had the expected result of removing said faces, and much of their brains. Sometimes everything else if enough acid is concentrated on a single target. Larger groups of thugs were less than lucky, since they had received the misfortune of getting smothered by a fungus that bore in between their scales painfully, slowing them down or paralyzing them completely due to the sheer pain. They died shortly after they were splashed with another volley of fungal growths.
[... Uh? Uh. Uh... Sir? I heard screaming.]
Ponpon growled. [What happened?!]
[This is the west sniper at the western gate. Saw some green mushroom stuff cover our guys. Looked awful painful with the way they were screaming. Not sure what kind of weapon that was, but everyone that went to the street west of here looks dead.]
Ponpon growled with frustration. [Did you at least get a look at the attackers?!]
[Nope. Not at all. ... Think this might be the Pyramidal Guard bitches doing this? Think they're after Tak?]
[I doubt shadow assassins would want anything to do with a baroness that isn't aligned to the jag Golden Stars.] Ponpon said.
[Then what the hell was that?]
[... Stay vigilant. We might still live through the night to find that out later.] Ponpon replied.
Johnny clicked the radio on. "Don't be so sure." Johnny said with a feminine voice, trying to make it as sultry as possible, but also serious at the same time. "We have developed a new weapon that can take down your operations without risk to our forces. If you surrender, then we will ensure that your lives will be spared, and give you a duration of confinement befitting of the crimes you have committed. But if you resist... even worse things will happen. What you just witnessed outside was but a taste of things to come if you choose wrongly. If you try to escape, we will track down your MEM shift coordinates and assassinate you at your bandit home-base location. What is your decision, Ponpon?"
There was a long pause before Ponpon decided to answer. [... What is the condition of my surrender?]
"Surrender and you won't die. I will give you ten minutes to decide. If everyone comes to the west gate unarmed, then I will consider that gesture as your surrender. If you do not comply when the ten minutes are over, and my team will shut down the power in this junction and commence a lightning-quick tactical strike to all of your 'mercenary' personnel. Your ten minutes of preparation starts now." Johnny said, finishing his demands to Ponpon. After that, Johnny disguised himself as a thug and enacted the next part of his plan.
[How did you... GRAH, DAMMIT! FINE! All mercenaries, lay down your weapons and go to the west gate.] Ponpon growled.
[Uh... Boss? Are you sure?]
[That is a gods-damned order, scum. Unless you want to get your fat turned into the next batch of serpent oil, do as I say.] Ponpon grumbled.
[... Yes sir.]
Johnny stealthily emerged from an open vent and carefully placed the grille back on. Once he was out of the ventilation shafts, he silently stalked the hallways. Much of the rooms were once heavily populated with several of Ponpon's thugs, and a select few were chosen to patrol the hallways or guard certain areas. But with the sudden deaths happening outside, the entire mercenary base is on wide alert as they expected an attack to assail their headquarters and penetrate through their defenses. Luckily, the fib that Johnny had made about a Pyramidal Guard shadow assassin threatening to kill Ponpon and his men had worked. His men would give Johnny a big enough window to pass through the hallways without any further complications.
Johnny had checked through several ventilation grilles, making sure that there were no cameras capable of revealing his presence to Ponpon and his thugs when he exited into the hallways. He also noted that there were rooms that were more protected than others during his reconnaissance. Such defended areas could only mean that they were vitally important to Ponpon. And Johnny got the impression that Tak was somehow vitally important to the criminal overlord. Johnny would visit those rooms. But in order to find out where he needed to go, he figured that the best way to get around is to ask questions from the thugs themselves.
"Fuck, Ponpon is going to kill me." A thug said as he approached two other thugs guarding an entrance.
One of such guards looked at the approaching thug, giving him a leering stare. "Aren't you supposed to be going to the west gate?"
The thug nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I know. I just got so turned around that I kinda got lost. Can you tell me where that room is?"
The guards rolled their eyes. "You dumbo. This is Ponpon's private quarters." One of the guards pointed where the thug had came from. "Go back where you came from and follow the hallway till you reached the fourth bend. After that, it's the door on your right. If you find yourself in the slave containment area, near the north gate, then you went too far."
"Thank you. I guess this is where that baroness is being kept, huh?" The thug said, about ready to turn around.
"Boss's cousin? Yeah, she's here. Now stop asking questions and get out of here." The guard said.
The thug turned again in a blurring motion, throwing three knives in simultaneity. The motion was calculated and planned, as each knife lodged into the eyes and throat of one of the guards, resulting in him being blinded and silenced. Before the other guard had the chance to react, the thug moved with an unseen grace toward the remaining guard and turned off the safety on his gun. The thug was butted away, giving the guard enough time to aim his weapon and fire. But when a harmless 'click' clicked from the gun, the guard looked down to look at the un-firing weapon dumbly. He didn't have time to witness a blade of bone cut though his neck, which severed his spinal column in his neck with a loud pop. The last guard fell down, and the thug retrieved his three throwing knives from the surviving guard. The last guard gurgled pathetically, but his throat was cut again, which finally ended his life. "Not yet." Said the thug once he was done with the guards.
Once the two guards were removed, the thug, which actually had been Johnny the whole time, slowly opened the door into Ponpon's private quarters. The room looked moderately clean, even though it had several trash cans that were filled to their brims with greasy garbage. The desk within this room was unoccupied, but it had an unusual item that was sitting at the center of the desk. Once he realized what it was, Johnny immediately took it.
He could hear crying in another room beyond the one Johnny was currently inhabiting. After creeping into the private quarters, Johnny followed the sounds of silent sobbing to another door within the private quarters. He silently turned the nob and tried to push it open, but the door didn't budge. It appeared to be locked.
He could hear a voice beyond the locked door. "Tak, you are being unreasonable. You know that I'm the only family you'll ever need. My boys and I will make sure that you are kept safe. Being neutral with these empire fuckers will do you no good now, and they're going to bust down your door and take everything they think is theirs. But it doesn't have to be this way."
Johnny leaned into the door to eavesdrop on the conversation taking place. "I can't give what you're asking." Tak meekly said.
A thunderous impact shook the room, as though a fist struck a wall. "You are in no position to deny my right to rule any longer! If you submit to me now, I'll make sure that you can still run your precious city smoothly. But if you step down from your position, and let me be the ruler of this citadel, then I will become the baron that everyone here will deserve. ... Heh. Actually, with the lands I have in control, I can become greater than being a puny baron. I could be 'Count' Ponpon! Count! Ah, ain't that the dream!"
"You don't get it, Ponny." Tak replied with a whimper. "If you piss off Gollog even once, then he's going to send his Crescent Arms soldiers against you. The citadel will burn the second you accept the municipal position, and everyone is going to blame you for taking over my role. UGH!"
Another strike was heard. "Tak, you know I hate being called that. If you do not rethink your decision by the time I get back, I'll will shoot you dead, parade your body through the city, and announce that I will be the one to rule their lives. It'll be just like those old days, when one of your ancestors paraded one of mine through the streets above. If you don't want that, then answer me with what I want to hear from you now." The door jostled open as Ponpon angrily walked past it. He turned to inspect his jostled door, only to be assailed by three knives blinding his vision and stabbing into his fat neck "AUGH~!"
Ponpon stumbled backwards and yelled in great pain, the fat on his neck proving to be too thick for his throat to be cut by a thrown blade. Losing his balance, Ponpon fell to the ground and grabbed at his face and neck. Johnny noticed that Tak and Ponpon was in a moderately clean bedroom, with Tak being shackled to the foot of an enormous, concave bed that was in the center of this room. Tak's eyes grew wide in surprise when she noticed that her cousin was writhing on the floor in agony, and her eyes grew only wider when she noticed Johnny, in the disguise of a thug of all things, silently entered the room. "... What?"
Johnny held a finger up to his lips as he went to her shackles, which tied her arms and legs behind herself. With a little bit of changelisk ingenuity, Johnny forced his flesh to delve into the locks of the shackles and manipulated them to open. However, when the shackles clattered onto the ground, the sound was enough to make Ponpon stop his wailing. "Tak?!"
Johnny tapped Tak's shoulder, telling her that it's okay to get up. After that, Johnny carefully guided Tak to the door. They silently tip-toed their way out, not wanting to make enough noise to attract Ponpon's blind wrath.
"Tak, did you get out of your shackles?! Tak!? Tak, you bitch! You won't get very far!" Ponpon shakily got up from the ground and removed the knives from his eyes and throat. He then fetched a handheld radio from his person, blindly thumbing for the button to talk to his mercenaries. "Attention all mercenaries! I've been blinded! Shoot and kill my bitch of a cousin on sight! She's being aided by someone disguised as one of us! Also, I need another team here to help me. I suspect that the shadow assassin's threat to us was a bluff all along."
[But there are dead guys on the road past the west gate. I don't think that's a bluff, boss.]
Ponpon growled. "I ORDER YOU TO GET THE FUCK BACK INSIDE! I AM BLIND AND I NEED ASSISTANCE!"
[Uh... Yes sir! Coming to get you now.]
Many seconds had passed, roughly half a minute, before a group of Ponpon's thugs had reconvened back with their blinded leader. But by the time they had gotten to the 'Gentle Giant', Johnny and Tak were already gone.
Johnny and Tak carefully, and stealthily, exfiltrated their way out through the inner complex of the underground bandit hideout. The Spiker Titan Mercenaries flooded into the criminal headquarters and searched for anyone they thought were responsible for blinding their leader, or those that were abetting any escaping prisoners. But the mercenaries, mainly consisting of thugs that were paid to defend the building belonging to Ponpon, were not half as bright as any average gilanian. And Johnny, the changelisk that was currently helping Baroness Tak to escape, had incredible thinking capabilities that was insurmountably above average intelligence. Having a psionic connection to the zerg hivemind tends to expands one's knowledge of the world, after all.
"Get this gear on and walk in front of me." Johnny said to Tak as they neared the southern gate of Ponpon's building. He proffered the tied cloak he had carried on his person to Tak.
Tak looked down at the cloak, opened it, and found clothes and equipment that belonged to two of Ponpon's mercenaries. "... When did you get this?" She asked.
"No time to explain, I'm afraid. Please put anything that fits on you as quick as possible." Johnny urged calmly.
Tak hesitated, but nodded as she took the clothes and fitted them over her rags. After several seconds of putting on the stolen clothes, she fitted the cloak that used to belong to a thug over her own shoulders. She was ready. "... It's a little loose."
"It'll have to do. You need to hide your red scales, or they'll know it's you." Johnny tore several lengths of cloth from a spare cloak and handed them to Tak. "Cover these over your thighs, face and neck. Use the goggles to cover your eyes."
Tak nodded and wrapped the strips of cloak around her legs and onto her neck. She wouldn't pass for a thug if someone were to analyze her carefully, but Johnny hoped that Ponpon's mercenaries would be looking elsewhere during their alerted status. Half of their members have already been decimated by the ambush made by the roaches and infestors, and Johnny was confident that he could slip past the search.
The select few thugs that decided to patrol the outside of Ponpon's building were targeted by the infestors, and they were used to hunt for any snipers that overlooked the area that was past the southern gate. Once Ponpon's thugs and snipers were dealt with within that area, Johnny opened the southern gate and had Tak walk in front of him.
Johnny was calm, but he could tell that Tak was emotionally shocked. As they walked further through the streets of the black market, they passed by several parting crowds and vendors that looked at them with respect and fear, but a few were slightly curious as they stared at Johnny and Tak passing by them. Many minutes of walking had passed before both Johnny and Tak made their way outside of the black market and back on the surface street of Citadel Gargantua. The afternoon no longer greeted them, as the time had changed back to early morning. Johnny sighed. "Alright. Now we just need to get back to your place. Are you feeling alright?"
"... I think so. I just can't believe that this happened to me." Tak replied, shaking her head.
"Think you can remember the relay code for the Far South Station?"
Tak turned to Johnny and pouted. "... I'm sorry that it turned out like this. We didn't get you the memory bag you needed, and we got captured because of me."
Johnny smiled at Tak.
Tak furrowed her brows and tilted her head. "... What's with that smile?"
Johnny reached into his cloak and partially showed Tak the memory bag he took from Ponpon's desk. "Took it off of the fat bastard's business table before I came to rescue you in your time of need. No need to apologize to me." Johnny placed the bag back into his person quickly. "But if you don't mind, I think the both of us really need to get back to your home."
Tak stared at Johnny for several seconds before smiling with blissful joy. "... Indeed. Let's go."
Once Tak had given her relay code to the receptionist at the Far South Station, Johnny and Tak were given a luxury rail-trolley to ride back to the palace in style. Once Johnny and Tak boarded the trolley, it started moving at a slow pace as it headed toward the center of the walled city. Tak, on the other hand, went to the miniature refrigerator and took out two bottles of differing color from it. She broke the cap off of an orange colored one and laboriously imbibed its fluids until half was gone. After several gulps, she sighed and relaxed into her seat. "Oh gods, I needed this."
Johnny tilted his head as he watched Tak drink the bottles. "... Aren't those insanely expensive?"
"I don't give a fuck, Johnny. Here. I'll pay for yours too." Tak said, handing Johnny a bottle that was filled with a green liquid.
Johnny grabbed the bottle and looked at it. He sighed, but broke off the cap and took a swig anyway. From Johnny's perspective, it tasted a lot like a tart apple.
Tak relaxed in her seat as the environment whizzed past them. Once Tak finished with her bottle a couple minutes later, she placed it on the ground of the moving trolley and sighed. "I'm sorry that you had to witness that family squabble, Johnny."
Johnny shook his head, placing his beverage down. "Squabble or not, how did Ponpon know where to capture us?"
Tak was silent, but she sighed after several seconds of quiet contemplation. "If I didn't know any better, I think this was an inside job."
"Inside job?" Johnny asked, rearing his head back. "Someone in the palace orchestrated this?"
"I'm thinking that might be. And I believe I know who did it too. But I need to ask you a few questions first." Tak said, bringing a pistol to bear, and aiming it at Johnny. The gun came with the gear that she had wore for her disguise.
Johnny stared at the pistol, its barrel trained on his face. Johnny looked back up at Tak's face with a face that looked betrayed. "Tak?"
"Ah-ah, no. I'll be the one asking the questions around here." She said with a stern tone. "Have you contacted anyone during your stay at my palace?"
Johnny slowly shook his head. "No."
"Have you told the staff to relay a message to certain individuals?"
"No, I did not."
"Has your family ever made a dealing with Ponpon, or his goons, in the past?"
"Never had."
She looked for the truth in Johnny's eyes for several seconds. After those several seconds had passed, she sighed. "... Alright, I believe you. You're either a convincing liar, or you are telling the truth. In either case, I still need you to build that altar." Tak said, putting her pistol away. "I'm going to guess that one of my butlers did this. Maybe one of my bodyguards was paid off by Ponpon? I'll have to question them."
Johnny sighed as he relaxed in his seat. "I guess living the life of a baroness is not as glamorous as I thought."
Tak rolled her eyes. "Try being a baron. Male leaders are always trying to one-up each other in their peen measuring contests." She waved her hands comically around. "And almost all of them always say 'Women can't be leaders! Their pheromones will ruin the natural order of the hierarchy!' Complete and utter krell shit if you asked me."
Johnny blinked a few times. "... Well, I hope you don't mind me asking, but how long were you a baroness? How long have you ruled Citadel Gargantua?"
Tak sighed. "Oh... Roughly fifteen years. I have been keeping this city safe while I was fourteen."
Johnny nodded. "Which makes you roughly twenty nine?"
Tak paused to stare at Johnny. She narrowed her gaze and smiled. "... Oh bless it. I walked into that, didn't I?"
Johnny rubbed the back of his head and smiled. It wasn't her fault that she shared two pieces of information that resulted in Johnny figuring out her age. "What? I'm sometimes perceptive."
Tak shook her head. "In any case, you have my thanks for saving me from Ponpon. After today, I now owe you a favor."
Johnny nodded and sighed. "Then I suppose you could hear me out on my request?"
"Please speak your request." Tak said, gesturing to Johnny and leaning back in her seat.
"Once I'm done creating a manifestation altar that can mass produce everything you'll ever need, I would like to find the blade hounds that assisted me and get them on our side." Johnny requested.
Tak paused for what felt like a long time. Tak sighed deeply and then made her decision. "I suppose I shall grant you that request, seeing as though it is a small favor to pay. But it is also a dangerous one too. Are you so sure these creatures can assist us?"
Johnny sighed. "I don't really know for certain. I'm banking on the idea that they would recognize me and not eat me. They didn't attack me since I did not attack them, and was not wearing any empire armor or their typical garb."
Tak scoffed. "Sounds like scoundrel's luck to me. But then again, you had that same luck when freeing me from Ponpon's grasp. ...And yet, that raises another question. How did you convince them that they were being attacked by Pyramidal Guard shadows? How did you escape? I heard that my cousin had branded you. How is it that you do not have a slave brand?"
Johnny paused for a long while, but then sighed. He brought his hand onto his face and covered his forehead with his palm. After removing his hand seconds later, there was a charcoal and flesh burned glyph that symbolized the ownership of the person belonging to another, which were known as the mark of the slave brands. "To put it simply, my ladyship, I am a master of disguises."
Tak gasped softly as she saw the brand, and gasping again when Johnny placed his hand onto his forehead once more and made the brand vanish. After a long pause, with the rail-trolley finally coming to a stop at the palace's rail-trolley Station, Tak smiled and sighed. "... You are full of surprises, Johnny! And worse yet, I can't tell if this new surprise is good or bad for me."
Johnny smiled and chuckled. "Then consider it a good thing that you're friends with my family's sneakiest member."
A/N: I kind of imagine that Ponpon is like a mix between a fat Gilbert Gottfried and a fat Yosemite Sam.