Z
Zack
After the events of [Star Wasp] 7: The Hate Machine
188604
After Akemi learned his precious tavern owner Smithee and lovely little lady Rennie were to be interrogated the Neko swiftly flew at top speed to find Uso and mentally wailed to her in an encrypted message. "Uso! Arccos is gonna bully my babies! I need your help!" He wasn't actually very concerned for the wellbeing of his fancied natives but he didn't want to take any chances. He figured Arccos was reasonable and kind enough that she might treat them nicely and even befriend one or both of them but that was worrisome too. What if she managed to convince them to leave him? The little businessman was already worried they might abandon him for someone else from space and this made matters much much worse. Now all he had to guarantee their safety and the safety of his relationships was the planet's new ruler. He really hoped she wouldn't psychologically torture him or at least not twist his arm too much.
There was an entire city for Akemi to search through, the extensive concrete slab that served at the starport, the refurbished palace, the Queen's Slave, even the sprawling wood-and-stone city of Osman...
Akemi decided he'd try flying towards the palace first because he'd spent very little time there and he wished he'd get to see Uso doing something royalty related that he might get to mess with. "Absolutely not! They've done nothing wrong! Where are you? What are you in the middle of? This is important! Time is of the essence! Also, maybe I can help you."
Akemi would find the palace in the middle of a refit. It looked like much of the stone and wood had been replaced, a fresh air-conditioning unit installed, and many of the burn marks entirely removed! However Uso wasn't there.
The male Neko decided he'd head for the Queen's Slave next figuring some intimacy might be had there. "She said she's gonna interrogate them all because I said I wanted to build my own little kingdom or domain or whatever and she calls that treason. Just because they were mentioned in a conversation about getting her permission so she wouldn't try to ruin things for me before I went to you for approval. All she wants to do is torment me. It's not like anything I'd do would be a credible threat to you. I just wanna wear fancy clothes and be grandiose delivering edicts and stuff while a bunch of snooty people suck up to me and laugh at commoners with me. Is that so wrong?"
The Queen's slave seemed to be making less and less sales runs to the spacers lately, as other ships began to take up the role of transport. The ship itself had been mostly repaired after the events at Freehold, though there were still a few superficial scortch marks.
When he got inside the ship, he'd find three of Vier along with Uso standing around the central table. The rest of the ship still as much of a mess as always.
Uso herself would look up from what she was typing on her datapad, see Akemi, and then put the pad down on the table.
"So she asks them a few questions. No big deal. You want to torment other people, don't get all bent out of shape when someone does it to you." Uso replied.
"How do I know that's all she'll do?" Akemi asked as he approached the poo bah. "She might mess with their brains or something. What if she tortures them and mind wipes them so they're messed up but they don't consciously realize it or know why? What if she's going to turn them into sleeper agents against me?"
"OOh, that sounds bad. You should hire someone to check your people for brain-mods." Uso replied, only half paying attention to him.
"Oh come on now," Akemi said, drawing a little closer and upturning his palms. "What's with the cold treatment? I let Arccos torture me plenty. All I ask is she leave my buddies out of things. I even begged her on my knees. I'll admit I enjoyed it but I still did it. She enjoyed it too. Would it bother you if I set up my own thing here that paid you taxes? Like are you really going to leave everything to Grant?"
"Yeah, I'm sure he can handle his own people's stuff... I've got my own projects and Arccos has her... well, she's got a lot of stuff too. I mean, I don't really care what she's doing with your people right now. Like. At all." Uso replied
The other annoyed Neko crossed his arms. "Well how I could make you care? If you really want me to do a good job of developing this place letting me do my own thing and keeping Arccos' hands off my pals would be the best way. I don't see why you use this attitude with me. You already know I'm willing to roll over."
Uso smiled. "You have a point. You did a good job helping feed the locals AND the Vekimen. I'll talk to her about........uh, whom?" She asked
The little Starman breathed a sigh of relief. "Smithee and Rennie. Smithee is this really friendly, charming knight and Rennie is this adorable little girl with a fucked up leg that says things like 'm'leg.' Would you mind if I ran my own thing so the people who don't wanna work with you through Grant have an alternative? You gonna give him the mountains too?"
"I mean, I can't stress enough how little I care about that. Do whatever," Uso replied, typing up a message to Arccos on her datapad.
"Yeah, you sure can't," Akemi replied emphatically. "Arccos said she was ready to kill me over such talk and called it treason despite me telling her you said you didn't care. Like the way I see it's no big deal as if I styled myself king you'd just say you're empress. You'd be elevated as you'd have a king under you paying taxes but oh no she wanted your word before she'd release my buddies." He paused for a moment. "Thanks for being a pal and not giving me a ton of grief. Can I get a hug?"
"Yes." Uso said, not moving to go hug Akemi. ".... Vier, go hug him."
The Vier closest to Akemi would move away from the table, wrapping her arms around him and giving him one good squeeze.
"Awww. Thanks Vier," Akemi said warmly as he firmly returned the embrace and held it for a moment as he swayed his torso side to side slightly. "Thanks Uso. I was kinda hoping you'd give me the hug and I'd get to give your ass a polite grab and then I'd get to see if you'd do the same but that was nice."
"Don't use up all your good will at once," Uso replied.
"Gosh, I'd expect Vier to say that," Akemi said. "I thought you'd like me to show a little backbone that way after our first meeting where you wrote me off as a pushover. It's not like I'd think any less of you afterwards. Anyway, do you care about the Osmani princess who is said to likely be dead? If she was alive and I found her I'd try to marry her just for the prestige and the whole idea of preserving the native royalty and the trappings of it."
"I am trying to plan the defeat of the NMX fleet using what can only generously be described as a fleet of ships. For the time being whatever small worldly problems you have right now are so far down on my priority list that I don't have time to finish complaining about how little I care." Uso replied. "Vier, Insult Akemi for me."
"Wha...I..." Vier said, perplexed. "Akemi, perhaps it would be better if you leave us be for the moment? ..." Vier looked over at Uso for a moment, and then back over to Akemi, "... bitch."
Akemi immediately entered a state of bliss. "Man Vier, you are so cute now. Call me everything in the book you angel. I'll totally leave in a moment but I will talk to you again any time you want. Please call me when you're bored. I'd just like a one word yes or no answer when it comes to the princess. Do you want her dead or imprisoned or something?"
"GO!" Uso shouted, throwing her datapad across the room and at Akemi, causing Vier to duck out of the way.
Akemi masterfully caught the datapad as if he was someone extremely used to having things hurled at him. He then handed it to Vier. "Sorry buddy, could you give me Uso's answer later? It's really important to my friend and I." The man thought he might be being secretly tested by how he'd react to Uso's outburst but he decided he'd leave since he got what he most wanted and didn't wish to risk losing it. Vier also seemed nice enough that she might actually ask for him.
He took a few steps away from the two women and struck a theatrical bow before flying off to leave them to their work.[/quote][/quote]
188604
After Akemi learned his precious tavern owner Smithee and lovely little lady Rennie were to be interrogated the Neko swiftly flew at top speed to find Uso and mentally wailed to her in an encrypted message. "Uso! Arccos is gonna bully my babies! I need your help!" He wasn't actually very concerned for the wellbeing of his fancied natives but he didn't want to take any chances. He figured Arccos was reasonable and kind enough that she might treat them nicely and even befriend one or both of them but that was worrisome too. What if she managed to convince them to leave him? The little businessman was already worried they might abandon him for someone else from space and this made matters much much worse. Now all he had to guarantee their safety and the safety of his relationships was the planet's new ruler. He really hoped she wouldn't psychologically torture him or at least not twist his arm too much.
There was an entire city for Akemi to search through, the extensive concrete slab that served at the starport, the refurbished palace, the Queen's Slave, even the sprawling wood-and-stone city of Osman...
Akemi decided he'd try flying towards the palace first because he'd spent very little time there and he wished he'd get to see Uso doing something royalty related that he might get to mess with. "Absolutely not! They've done nothing wrong! Where are you? What are you in the middle of? This is important! Time is of the essence! Also, maybe I can help you."
Akemi would find the palace in the middle of a refit. It looked like much of the stone and wood had been replaced, a fresh air-conditioning unit installed, and many of the burn marks entirely removed! However Uso wasn't there.
The male Neko decided he'd head for the Queen's Slave next figuring some intimacy might be had there. "She said she's gonna interrogate them all because I said I wanted to build my own little kingdom or domain or whatever and she calls that treason. Just because they were mentioned in a conversation about getting her permission so she wouldn't try to ruin things for me before I went to you for approval. All she wants to do is torment me. It's not like anything I'd do would be a credible threat to you. I just wanna wear fancy clothes and be grandiose delivering edicts and stuff while a bunch of snooty people suck up to me and laugh at commoners with me. Is that so wrong?"
The Queen's slave seemed to be making less and less sales runs to the spacers lately, as other ships began to take up the role of transport. The ship itself had been mostly repaired after the events at Freehold, though there were still a few superficial scortch marks.
When he got inside the ship, he'd find three of Vier along with Uso standing around the central table. The rest of the ship still as much of a mess as always.
Uso herself would look up from what she was typing on her datapad, see Akemi, and then put the pad down on the table.
"So she asks them a few questions. No big deal. You want to torment other people, don't get all bent out of shape when someone does it to you." Uso replied.
"How do I know that's all she'll do?" Akemi asked as he approached the poo bah. "She might mess with their brains or something. What if she tortures them and mind wipes them so they're messed up but they don't consciously realize it or know why? What if she's going to turn them into sleeper agents against me?"
"OOh, that sounds bad. You should hire someone to check your people for brain-mods." Uso replied, only half paying attention to him.
"Oh come on now," Akemi said, drawing a little closer and upturning his palms. "What's with the cold treatment? I let Arccos torture me plenty. All I ask is she leave my buddies out of things. I even begged her on my knees. I'll admit I enjoyed it but I still did it. She enjoyed it too. Would it bother you if I set up my own thing here that paid you taxes? Like are you really going to leave everything to Grant?"
"Yeah, I'm sure he can handle his own people's stuff... I've got my own projects and Arccos has her... well, she's got a lot of stuff too. I mean, I don't really care what she's doing with your people right now. Like. At all." Uso replied
The other annoyed Neko crossed his arms. "Well how I could make you care? If you really want me to do a good job of developing this place letting me do my own thing and keeping Arccos' hands off my pals would be the best way. I don't see why you use this attitude with me. You already know I'm willing to roll over."
Uso smiled. "You have a point. You did a good job helping feed the locals AND the Vekimen. I'll talk to her about........uh, whom?" She asked
The little Starman breathed a sigh of relief. "Smithee and Rennie. Smithee is this really friendly, charming knight and Rennie is this adorable little girl with a fucked up leg that says things like 'm'leg.' Would you mind if I ran my own thing so the people who don't wanna work with you through Grant have an alternative? You gonna give him the mountains too?"
"I mean, I can't stress enough how little I care about that. Do whatever," Uso replied, typing up a message to Arccos on her datapad.
"Yeah, you sure can't," Akemi replied emphatically. "Arccos said she was ready to kill me over such talk and called it treason despite me telling her you said you didn't care. Like the way I see it's no big deal as if I styled myself king you'd just say you're empress. You'd be elevated as you'd have a king under you paying taxes but oh no she wanted your word before she'd release my buddies." He paused for a moment. "Thanks for being a pal and not giving me a ton of grief. Can I get a hug?"
"Yes." Uso said, not moving to go hug Akemi. ".... Vier, go hug him."
The Vier closest to Akemi would move away from the table, wrapping her arms around him and giving him one good squeeze.
"Awww. Thanks Vier," Akemi said warmly as he firmly returned the embrace and held it for a moment as he swayed his torso side to side slightly. "Thanks Uso. I was kinda hoping you'd give me the hug and I'd get to give your ass a polite grab and then I'd get to see if you'd do the same but that was nice."
"Don't use up all your good will at once," Uso replied.
"Gosh, I'd expect Vier to say that," Akemi said. "I thought you'd like me to show a little backbone that way after our first meeting where you wrote me off as a pushover. It's not like I'd think any less of you afterwards. Anyway, do you care about the Osmani princess who is said to likely be dead? If she was alive and I found her I'd try to marry her just for the prestige and the whole idea of preserving the native royalty and the trappings of it."
"I am trying to plan the defeat of the NMX fleet using what can only generously be described as a fleet of ships. For the time being whatever small worldly problems you have right now are so far down on my priority list that I don't have time to finish complaining about how little I care." Uso replied. "Vier, Insult Akemi for me."
"Wha...I..." Vier said, perplexed. "Akemi, perhaps it would be better if you leave us be for the moment? ..." Vier looked over at Uso for a moment, and then back over to Akemi, "... bitch."
Akemi immediately entered a state of bliss. "Man Vier, you are so cute now. Call me everything in the book you angel. I'll totally leave in a moment but I will talk to you again any time you want. Please call me when you're bored. I'd just like a one word yes or no answer when it comes to the princess. Do you want her dead or imprisoned or something?"
"GO!" Uso shouted, throwing her datapad across the room and at Akemi, causing Vier to duck out of the way.
Akemi masterfully caught the datapad as if he was someone extremely used to having things hurled at him. He then handed it to Vier. "Sorry buddy, could you give me Uso's answer later? It's really important to my friend and I." The man thought he might be being secretly tested by how he'd react to Uso's outburst but he decided he'd leave since he got what he most wanted and didn't wish to risk losing it. Vier also seemed nice enough that she might actually ask for him.
He took a few steps away from the two women and struck a theatrical bow before flying off to leave them to their work.[/quote][/quote]
