by R. E. Graham
Fron stood up from his seat and walked over to the newest lord to be inducted. Lord Onyx was utterly unsure of what was going on and watched intently.
“Mikhail Tarvus, do you accept the role of being the leader of Onyx and swear to serve the organization with all your strength and spirit?”
Mikhail glanced over to Deimos who nodded his head slowly. He looked up at Opal who stood over him and awaited his response. “I do,” were the only words he could think of that seemed appropriate.
Fron took an item from every plate and held it up for the room to see. One by one he slid the pieces onto a necklace until he was Finished. He then removed one of his opal earrings and added it to the chain he was making.
With a smooth motion, he presented the completed jewelry in both hands for Mikhail. Looking caught off guard and out of place, the pirate lord reached up and carefully took the necklace from Fron and looked at it awkwardly. Each of the pieces was a smooth piece of the precious stone of the organization it represented.
Seeing he wasn’t sure what to do with it, Redbeard leaned over and whispered, “You’re supposed to put it on.”
Lord Opal glared at him with an annoyed look before he shut his eyes and raised his arms slowly over his head. “You are henceforth Lord Onyx. May your enemies be crushed beneath you and may you bring the Five Skulls much wealth.”
Mikhail gave a slight shrug and disconnected the necklace then placed it around his neck. Each of the stones felt cool against his skin, but he was surprised how heavy it was. Not sure what else he was supposed to do, he tucked it beneath his shirt as Opal returned to his seat.
Each of the young women exited the room, and the doors closed behind them.
“Now that is out of the way, Lord Onyx you must be informed as to how we conduct ourselves in this organization,” Fron said as he settled in his chair.
“Okay, hit me,” Mikhail said.
“There are three tenets that you must adhere to. The first is that no lord is to attack another lord, ever. Second, no lord is to conduct business on a world controlled by another lord. And finally, no lord is to conspire against the Five Skulls with other organizations or governments. Failure to follow these rules will result in expulsion from the Five Skulls and death.”
Mikhail listened closely to Fron but didn’t feel worried about meeting the requirements. “I will follow the rules of the Five Skulls to the best of my ability and will not knowingly break them. Thank you for accepting me as a fellow lord.”
Nadia rolled her eyes while the other two men that sat to Lord Onyx’s left were respectfully remaining silent as Mikhail was instructed on the way the Five Skulls conducted themselves.
Lord Opal bowed his head accepting the inductee’s response as acceptable. “I present to this chamber and its guests, the next lord of Onyx!”
The advisor’s and Opal assistants that waited off to the sides of the room all clapped excitedly.
Fron gestured toward the main door. “The lords will now discuss matters in private.”
Guards by the exit pulled the heavy doors open allowing everyone except for the lords a way to leave the chamber. A dull murmur broke out through the room as the men and women of the different branches spoke to one another as they exited the space.
“Now, let’s get down to real business!” Redbeard shouted happily just as the doors began to shut.
Mikhail briefly glanced around the room to find that not even the guards remained within the chamber. Only the lords were granted this special privilege.
Alright, time to see what this is all about…
Chan was the first to speak up. “Mikhail, have you had a chance to look over your new assets and operations?”
“I have.”
“Do you feel ready to begin discussing a particular exchange?” Lord Emerald asked as he played with his long goatee.
"Don't think you are just going to slide on up next to him Chan. Yondo and I had our own arrangement, and I want him to hear it first before you try anything stupid," Nadia said as she leaned forward in her chair.
“Woman, it never ceases to amaze me how your beauty is wasted with such a venomous tongue.”
Lord Topaz scoffed at the remark and narrowed her eyes. “You’re one to talk. Look, Mikhail, I know you’re not Yondo, but this deal will work out in your favor just like it was going to in his.”
“Fron, do you have a moment?” Redbeard asked speaking very loud.
Lord Opal nodded, and the two men walked off to the corner of the room. Mikhail couldn’t understand anything they said as Nadia continued to prattle off in his right ear.
“Uh…are you listening Mikhail?” the woman asked bitterly.
“I apologize. You were sayin’.”
"I was saying that I have farms that produce a very rich tasting Whisper that Yondo was able to sell on Eden and Starspin. He had been buying four shipments every three months, and I would still honor the price that I had agreed to with him."
Mikhail had no idea how much the drug sold for, nor how much was a reasonable price to purchase it for. All he did know was that Whisper was terribly addictive and also broke down the user's mind to the point they wandered around aimlessly. The high that it gave though was so intense that when the user came down, they often were so depressed and desperate to return to that feeling that they would resort to doing whatever they had to.
While Lord Onyx understood that he was now the leader of a branch of pirates, he could hear his father’s voice in the back of his head teaching him about the pitfalls of addictive narcotics. Deep down, he wasn’t really sure he wanted to be part of the drug selling business, despite Onyx’s previous history with it.
“Nadia, I appreciate you being straight with me, but I don’t know at this point if I am ready to enter into a deal on that level.”
Instead of being reasonable, Lord Topaz looked like she had been hit in the face with an old smelly fish. “Ho…how can you brush this aside so swiftly?”
Not wanting to make matters worse, Mikhail tried to smooth things over quickly. "It isn't anythin' against you. I won't lie, yes, I have looked over the realm of Onyx and its assets. But truthfully, I don't know what a good price of Whisper is from a bad one, and I don't like enterin' into bargaining without knowin' facts."
"This is ridiculous. I am not looking to take advantage of you. I have a product that needs to be moved. You have buyers, this should be a no brainer decision," the woman said disdainfully.
“Nadia, you can’t be upset with him for wanting to be responsible with his newfound wealth,” Redbeard said as he barged into the conversation. “I told you before that I was interested in purchasing your supply and could easily get it sold to buyers across the UoS.”
The woman glared at Mikhail then smiled at Lord Ruby. “Well, at least one of the men here has some damned sense.”
Redbeard motioned to a different corner of the room, and they both walked off to hash out the small details of their scheme.
“Mikhail,” Chan started as he stood up from his chair to approach the newest lord. “I personally want to know more about what happened on Destiny. How were you able to take down an inquisitor?”
“Oh, um…you do what you have to,” Mikhail responded as his mind started playing flashbacks of that fateful rotation. He saw the Inquisitor on his knees again and the gun in his own hand. Then boom, the Lawman fell to the ground dead.
“Are you at all concerned about the Republic learning of what you did and coming for you?” Lord Emerald inquired not knowing how sensitive of a subject it was for Mikhail.
“We are gearing up to remain ready. The Republic struck the first blow by attackin’ my hometown, and I paid them back for what they did.”
Satisfied with that answer, Chan smirked and noticed that Lord Opal had stepped up beside him.
“Fron, have you ever heard of a lord striking down a lawman?”
“No, I have not,” the other lord shook his head. “Truthfully, it could be quite troub
lesome for the Five Skulls if the Republic learns that you are still alive.”
Mikhail’s head tilted to the side. “What does that mean exactly?”
“Nothing. Just stating a fact. My job is to oversee this world and this place so that the Five Skulls can run its operations smoothly. None of us desire unwanted attention.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Lord Onyx said quietly.
Nadia broke out into laughter, and the three men looked over to her and Redbeard.
“They seem to be hitting it off,” Mikhail said as he turned back to Chan.
“Both are adamant about their goals.”
“Aren’t we all?” Fron asked coldly.
“Yes of course. But they wear them right on their sleeves.”
Not yet understanding the inner workings of the other lords, Mikhail felt this was a perfect opportunity to strengthen his ties with at least either Opal or Emerald. “What are those goals exactly?”
“Oh, well Nadia is obviously out for just herself. While Redbeard is clearly looking to expand Ruby very aggressively,” Chan said as he crossed his arms and lowered his voice.
“I was told that Ruby has expanded very quickly since he took over.”
Fron nodded solemnly. “It is true. There is no rule forbidding his ambitious decisions. However, it is worth observing so that he does not become entangled with the Republic.”
“Just curious, but why is the Republic such a big concern?” Mikhail asked genuinely. “I mean, except for Onyx and Ruby, the other branches mainly operate outside of it so the Republic shouldn’t really be a problem, right?”
Fron shook his head as though he were speaking to a child. “The Republic has many eyes and ears throughout ORCA and the Union of Stars. They have so much power that they have influenced elections and have been able to appoint puppet leaders on some of the worlds which can be a problem for any of us.”
“Plus, they have been known to send out hit squads to gun down crime bosses that got a little too, let’s just say, adventurous,” Chan said as he toyed with his goatee again.
Mikhail stood up from his seat and suddenly didn’t feel quite as safe as he had fooled himself to be. By no means was he ignoring the threat entirely, he just had thought that being on Ko’Bac meant he would be far enough out of the Republic’s reach that they wouldn’t really want to make an attempt on his life.
“Wow,” was all he could think to say.
Chan put his hands on his hips. “What I find so hilarious is that so many people will look down on us for being pirates yet the Corre Republic is far more corrupt and abominable that any warlord or pirate ever was. They just don’t see it because the media is bought and paid for too.”
Fron’s eyebrow arched and he shook his head as he listened to Lord Emerald yammer on. “Regardless, we mustn’t think that we are totally safe simply because we are not within the Republic’s borders. We must always be alert.”
“I agree,” Mikhail said as he bit his lower lip while he thought.
Could this be what that thing was warning me about? Or was that just some crazy nightmare?
“I know you said you are still looking over things Mikhail, but is there anything at the moment that you know Onyx is in need of that maybe I could assist you with?” Chan asked with a neutral tone. “I would like very much for our two branches to become closer and understand the difficulties of absorbing so much information in such a short amount of time.”
“I appreciate the thought, but right now I am mainly looking to get my hands on some more parts and ammo for my WarMechs,” Mikhail said as he looked back and forth between the two lords.
Chan smiled knowing he had an opportunity to pitch. “Smuggling weapons from the Republic into the Colonial Alliance is one of my primary forms of business. I can probably be of some help.”
“Great. If you could have one of your people speak with Captain Deimos, I am sure we can list our needs and find some sort of decision that benefits both of us.”
“Spectacular,” Chan said as he patted Mikhail’s arm a little too hard.
“Fron, what do you focus on?” Mikhail asked wanting to learn more about the other lord’s business dealings.
At first, he shrugged trying to downplay things. “I have some smaller incomes streams, but my main work is to maintain relations with ORCA.”
“Oh?”
"Yes, it is a priority that the orcan leadership views us as a neutral friend rather than a competing enemy that lives within their nation."
“I thought that the Colonial Alliance had no unified government,” Mikhail said as he recalled his knowledge of the much weaker nation.
“They certainly operate differently than their neighbors do, but all men have aspirations of power and control. They are no different.”
“I see,” Lord Onyx said as he thought more on the remark.
Chan allowed himself to yawn loudly. “Ugh, I woke up so early this morning.” He glanced over at Nadia and Redbeard and smiled childishly. “Perhaps she has found a new target to tempt.”
The other two lords peered over at the secret meeting, but neither saw the same amusement as Lord Emerald did.
“Was she close to Yondo?” Mikhail asked as he relaxed his stance some.
“Who knows. She acts more like a predator stalking its prey than a true woman,” Chan said belittling the female lord.
Lord Opal leaned in toward Mikhail and lowered his voice. “Never let your guard down around her. She is far more cunning than any of us realize.”
I have no doubt about that.
“Noted, thank you Fron.”
As their own gathering wrapped up, Redbeard fist pumped the air and hooted loudly. "Alright, are you fellas done? I'm famished!"
Mikhail looked at either of the lords in his company, and they both nodded.
“Seems like it,” Lord Onyx said as he crossed his arms.
Fron pressed a button on a device that hung from his belt. The doors suddenly opened and a gust of fresh air rushed in. While the other lords headed for the door Lord Ruby intercepted the newbie.
“Mikhail, would you join me? I would like to get to know more of the man who managed to kill Yondo right on the bridge of his prized ship.”
Lord Onyx didn't care for the large man, but he got the impression it would also be a substantial opportunity to learn more from Redbeard as well.
“I’d be happy to,” he said lying slightly.
Deimos was waiting by the door as the two men exited along with Onyx’s security team. “Captain Deimos it is fantastic seeing you again,” Redbeard said in a way that caught Mikhail’s attention.
The onyx pirate nodded to the lords and then accepted Lord Ruby’s extended hand with a hearty grin.
They seem awfully friendly for him being Yondo's right-hand man. Hmm…
Redbeard placed his arm over Deimos’ shoulder and held him close. The two walked like that all the way from the chamber to the hall where food was being served. Mikhail watched closely at what was surely a strange sight. He followed behind the pair as they joked back and forth and lived it up as if they knew each other forever. Hern and the other security members trailed Mikhail, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary to cause alarm.
Toward the back of the hall was a table full of pirates from Ruby. As they spotted Redbeard, they quickly got up and cleared the space for him and his guests to enjoy their meal without rubbing elbows with others.
The table was made of wood, which seemed odd to Mikhail. It was yet one more sign of the unmatching visual of Five Skulls wealth and Crest. A small pool of some sort of liquid covered half of the bench on his side while the rest had spilled onto the floor. The entire hall reeked of a mixture of sweat and alcohol, which was not exactly appetizing.
Hern and his men found a table nearby and sat.
A thin woman with blue and green colored clothing approached their table with a tablet in her hand. “Anything special for you, Lord?” she asked speaking to Redbeard.
He looked at Deimos and smirked. “Yes, I would take two stouts of Verde.”
The woman recorded the order into her device which was transmitted back to the kitchen. She entered three more orders of the meal they were serving today and began to step away before Deimos held up a hand.
“Yes love?” she asked.
“You forgot to ask Lord Tarvus what he would like,” he mentioned gesturing toward his lord.
Her eyes nearly bulged out of her head as she realized her mistake. “I am so sorry Lord, is there anything special you’d like? I’ll get you whatever you want.”
Mikhail smiled kindly and held up his hand to dismiss her overlooking him. “Water would be fine for me.”
The servant girl nodded then left to tend to the next table where Hern and his crew sat.
"Water?!" Redbeard exclaimed as if he was astonished.
Mikhail gave the other lord a look, and Lord Ruby motioned as if he was sorry.
“My apologies Mikhail, I don’t mean anything by it. Just seems kinda plain for a killer to drink something so…ordinary.”
Yeah, I’m not likin’ you either bud…
Deimos nudged Lord Ruby with his elbow, and he looked at the Captain quickly. Not as if he were angry, more like he wasn't expecting the physical touch.
“Have I said too much?” he asked Deimos who just shook his head.
“Anyhow,” Redbeard began as he turned his attention back to Lord Onyx. “So, what was it like?”
“What do you mean?”
“What was it like to kill that spineless bastard Yondo?”
Mikhail was surprised at such a direct question that simultaneously degraded the deceased lord. It wasn’t that he was upset for Yondo’s name or honor, just more in awe that a lord of the Five Skulls would speak so harshly about a fellow peer.
“I did what I felt was right. That’s all.”
Redbeard let out a deep inner laugh. “I like you. No poosh, just straight to the heart of it. Did you even know that killin’ Yondo would yield you the throne?”
Not knowing what to say Mikhail redirected the conversation. "Yondo was an idiot. He deployed wrongly in the battle, and I was the one who killed the Inquisitor. Seemed clear to me that I should be in power."
