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- Babylonia
The Emperor looked out from the stairs of his palace, his small empire prospering before his very eyes. Whilst there were some issues still to be addressed and clear flaws that would need to be smoothed out over time Victor was but one man, a rather remarkable one, but just one man. However, for the first time in a while, he did not have to argue with stuff elven bureaucrats with ideas well above their stations or direct his surprisingly effective but still rather simple general on how best to kill the bad things.
Being the tactician that he was Victor had realised that Neo New Babylons military might have one clear flaw, the power of its general was so overwhelming that it inhibited behaviours that many would argue are actually crucial to the survival of a capable soldier. Rather than an army, the backbone of Nippurian forces could more accurately be described as a swarm or horde. Rushing forward blindly ignoring all their natural instincts to avoid potential death. Not that the assassin could blame them after all whilst their general was around they clearly did not need this survival instinct to be an extremely dangerous fighting force.
This was the clear issue though, as Victor had heard through some little birdies in the armed forces even a force as animalistic as the xenomorphs had started to realise that by separating the troops from Ahana or choking her out they could turn the entire military into a joke. Ahana would never put in the effort to seriously drill her troops on how to survive in a battle should she be removed from the equation, her second in command was a filthy knife-ear who would best serve being used as a training dummy for mortar teams. And of the two humans that Victor would have trusted to actually train the military, one lay dead and the other was likely to be no more useful after seeing his cousin die. No, instead Victor had come up with an even better idea, the horde tactic could stay but in cases where quantity would not do the job, the assassin would have his own little elite squadron to mop up any messes left by his compatriots.
Victor had, of course, had to pass the idea by his elven assistant but due to proposing it as an increase to military funding the dwarf of an elf seemed totally willing to pass it, in fact, he had only brought up one concern with the plan in that it may be seen as upsetting the balance of power between the three power players in Neo New Babylon.
"Oh, do not worry my little councilmen, for you see whilst it is true that the average general may have a problem with their lord all of a sudden matching their own military provisions with an even more elite fighting force, I doubt that Ahana would. Besides after scouring the net I did manage to find what I think might just be the very best option for us, almost one that reminds me of home actually." The assassin smirked as he revealed an auction page for one hundred slaves, all being proclaimed as both trained fighters and competent administrators. Likely not to the same level of training that Victor had received as a youth but this did create some new opportunities.
"We are in vital need of administrators be they clerks, judges or civil servants. And I think I have just the plan to get us everything we need to patch up some of the issues that are apparent when looking at our society." Glee filled the voice of the assassin as he ordered the men that he would need, the deposit was high, and that was merely for a viewing of these supposed elite soldiers, it was a gamble but one that Victor hoped would pay off big time.
Making his way to the surface meeting point Victor found the large spacecraft already present, reminding him of a steel ship with its back looking like it could be lowered as a ramp to allow for a large amount of cargo to be delivered, a small cockpit at the front implying a small crew operation for the delivery side of the operation. As the assassin arrived he replied to the message he had received, notifying whoever was on board the ship to his presence, after waiting a minute or two in the icy wind of the surface side the Victor felt the snow beneath his feet shake and rumble, as the cargo ramp lowered, a rather fierce looking bald mercenary descended to meet the lord, carrying what Victor assumed was a plasma rifle swung over his shoulder, and enough piercings to allow Victor to forge another dagger should he be so inclined.
Following the mercs lead where what looked to be the one hundred individuals that the assassin had ordered, their arms tied to their collars and what looked to be small explosives planted at the base of their necks, a remote looming ominously at the mercenaries side. A hand hovering over a steadily flashing red button as each of the slaves seemed rather nervous. One of the leaders of the lined up group having a face that the assassin swore he could recognise from somewhere, perhaps possessing a passing resemblance to a former acquaintance?
The slaver stepped forward and shook the emperor's hand, a strong grip as he confidently announced. "Names Marcus, finest shipper of product across the Galaxy."
"Victor Wolfe, charmed. You know the way you advertised your product did imply that this was a mercenary band, rather than well, I do hate to label things and misjudge peoples character, but this to me seems more like a slave trade. And I am not sure where the legality on that stands for our nation." Victors tone remained dry, almost to the point of sarcasm as his eyes continued to scan the slaves, noticing scars and burn marks across many of their arms and legs.
"Oh but it is sir, totally legal mercenary company, slavery implies that you own the people and as it is illegal in some places I being the businessman I am I came up with a little workaround, I capture these good for nothing savages, and educate them, this puts them into my debt and to pay it back they have to work contracts that I rent them out to, after about twenty years they are free to go usually. So not slaves, just long term mercenaries." Smugly replied the slaver as started to roll out some contracts.
"So, how much to buy out all of their contracts? I might want to just keep them all for myself if they do a good enough job, they all do seem to be as promised, physically fit and not mentally deficient." The slaver simply laughed as he patted his pockets and rolled his eyes.
"Well, I don't think you could afford that Mr Wolfe after all this is such a long term investment for me and many of these are only in their mid-twenties, at their peak and still have so many years to work. But to give a price for the entire lot, Two million credits enough to get me out of this business whilst clearing my stock in one day!" Victor's eyes seemed to glow more intensely than usual, a small smile cracking on his face as he stepped towards the bald man.
"Well, I guess that for you that would certainly seem like a fair deal. You get to get rid of all your stock and easily make enough money to retire in one day. So how about I do some haggling because I think we have another option for a deal that would most certainly get everyone here what they most want." The greedy slavers eyes light up as the assassin put his arm over his shoulder, blinded by the prospect of one big deal to end all deals.
A slice and then grunt where heard over the winds of the tundra as the slaves turned to see their master, now with a dagger in his stomach, the hand of the assassin firmly on the hilt as he snatched the remote away from his side.
"You see, with this deal, I keep the slaves, at a much-reduced price, and you get out of this business, and if this wretched snowstorm covers you quickly enough and none of the native wildlife digs you up, there is a good chance you get to stay looking young and preserved forever! Now isn't that quite the deal!" Victor chuckled as he twisted the blade, causing the merc to drop to the snow, dying it a gorgeous shade of diluted red slowing as the blood pouring from his stomach started to freeze and crystallize.
Turning back to the slaves a look of panic filled their eyes, wondering if they would be next, some of them seemed to be eyeing the prospects of running into the snowy wastes for even the chance of an escape, to Victor this was utterly adorable.
"Now, my new friends, when I said that there was a deal to be made, it was not with this foul vulture praying on people worse off than himself. I want to make a deal with you, but to truly make such a deal possible we must be able to talk as true... equals." With that Victor pressed a green button on the remote, causing the restraints that had secured the slaves so thoroughly to drop off into the tundra.
"Now, my fellow humans, I offer you all the chance to serve your liberator, I need good people, people like you with skills in a wide area that can serve a growing empire well, of course, there will be many rewards, status, pay, even land as we take it over and expand as is our god given right to do as humans. Or you can step onboard that ship, and find a way to get whoever wants to leave back to wherever they want to go. You are free men and women now. You control your destiny!" One of the individuals stepped forward, the one that Victor felt he had recognised before. Starting a clap that eventually spread through the entire group Victor realised two things, one that as predicted he had the full support of this group of mercenaries, and two, that he did recognise the individual from before.
"Dave?!?" Victor stuttered, flabbergasted by the reunion with the former guard of Nippur.
"The very same, after you rescued my daughter Lord Victor I visited her in the hospital, and as I stepped out, it seemed I was transported to this wild jungle planet, eventually the slaver made me a deal that I could work for him if I took his starter course, turns out it was a tad expensive so here we are!"
Being the tactician that he was Victor had realised that Neo New Babylons military might have one clear flaw, the power of its general was so overwhelming that it inhibited behaviours that many would argue are actually crucial to the survival of a capable soldier. Rather than an army, the backbone of Nippurian forces could more accurately be described as a swarm or horde. Rushing forward blindly ignoring all their natural instincts to avoid potential death. Not that the assassin could blame them after all whilst their general was around they clearly did not need this survival instinct to be an extremely dangerous fighting force.
This was the clear issue though, as Victor had heard through some little birdies in the armed forces even a force as animalistic as the xenomorphs had started to realise that by separating the troops from Ahana or choking her out they could turn the entire military into a joke. Ahana would never put in the effort to seriously drill her troops on how to survive in a battle should she be removed from the equation, her second in command was a filthy knife-ear who would best serve being used as a training dummy for mortar teams. And of the two humans that Victor would have trusted to actually train the military, one lay dead and the other was likely to be no more useful after seeing his cousin die. No, instead Victor had come up with an even better idea, the horde tactic could stay but in cases where quantity would not do the job, the assassin would have his own little elite squadron to mop up any messes left by his compatriots.
Victor had, of course, had to pass the idea by his elven assistant but due to proposing it as an increase to military funding the dwarf of an elf seemed totally willing to pass it, in fact, he had only brought up one concern with the plan in that it may be seen as upsetting the balance of power between the three power players in Neo New Babylon.
"Oh, do not worry my little councilmen, for you see whilst it is true that the average general may have a problem with their lord all of a sudden matching their own military provisions with an even more elite fighting force, I doubt that Ahana would. Besides after scouring the net I did manage to find what I think might just be the very best option for us, almost one that reminds me of home actually." The assassin smirked as he revealed an auction page for one hundred slaves, all being proclaimed as both trained fighters and competent administrators. Likely not to the same level of training that Victor had received as a youth but this did create some new opportunities.
"We are in vital need of administrators be they clerks, judges or civil servants. And I think I have just the plan to get us everything we need to patch up some of the issues that are apparent when looking at our society." Glee filled the voice of the assassin as he ordered the men that he would need, the deposit was high, and that was merely for a viewing of these supposed elite soldiers, it was a gamble but one that Victor hoped would pay off big time.
Making his way to the surface meeting point Victor found the large spacecraft already present, reminding him of a steel ship with its back looking like it could be lowered as a ramp to allow for a large amount of cargo to be delivered, a small cockpit at the front implying a small crew operation for the delivery side of the operation. As the assassin arrived he replied to the message he had received, notifying whoever was on board the ship to his presence, after waiting a minute or two in the icy wind of the surface side the Victor felt the snow beneath his feet shake and rumble, as the cargo ramp lowered, a rather fierce looking bald mercenary descended to meet the lord, carrying what Victor assumed was a plasma rifle swung over his shoulder, and enough piercings to allow Victor to forge another dagger should he be so inclined.
Following the mercs lead where what looked to be the one hundred individuals that the assassin had ordered, their arms tied to their collars and what looked to be small explosives planted at the base of their necks, a remote looming ominously at the mercenaries side. A hand hovering over a steadily flashing red button as each of the slaves seemed rather nervous. One of the leaders of the lined up group having a face that the assassin swore he could recognise from somewhere, perhaps possessing a passing resemblance to a former acquaintance?
The slaver stepped forward and shook the emperor's hand, a strong grip as he confidently announced. "Names Marcus, finest shipper of product across the Galaxy."
"Victor Wolfe, charmed. You know the way you advertised your product did imply that this was a mercenary band, rather than well, I do hate to label things and misjudge peoples character, but this to me seems more like a slave trade. And I am not sure where the legality on that stands for our nation." Victors tone remained dry, almost to the point of sarcasm as his eyes continued to scan the slaves, noticing scars and burn marks across many of their arms and legs.
"Oh but it is sir, totally legal mercenary company, slavery implies that you own the people and as it is illegal in some places I being the businessman I am I came up with a little workaround, I capture these good for nothing savages, and educate them, this puts them into my debt and to pay it back they have to work contracts that I rent them out to, after about twenty years they are free to go usually. So not slaves, just long term mercenaries." Smugly replied the slaver as started to roll out some contracts.
"So, how much to buy out all of their contracts? I might want to just keep them all for myself if they do a good enough job, they all do seem to be as promised, physically fit and not mentally deficient." The slaver simply laughed as he patted his pockets and rolled his eyes.
"Well, I don't think you could afford that Mr Wolfe after all this is such a long term investment for me and many of these are only in their mid-twenties, at their peak and still have so many years to work. But to give a price for the entire lot, Two million credits enough to get me out of this business whilst clearing my stock in one day!" Victor's eyes seemed to glow more intensely than usual, a small smile cracking on his face as he stepped towards the bald man.
"Well, I guess that for you that would certainly seem like a fair deal. You get to get rid of all your stock and easily make enough money to retire in one day. So how about I do some haggling because I think we have another option for a deal that would most certainly get everyone here what they most want." The greedy slavers eyes light up as the assassin put his arm over his shoulder, blinded by the prospect of one big deal to end all deals.
A slice and then grunt where heard over the winds of the tundra as the slaves turned to see their master, now with a dagger in his stomach, the hand of the assassin firmly on the hilt as he snatched the remote away from his side.
"You see, with this deal, I keep the slaves, at a much-reduced price, and you get out of this business, and if this wretched snowstorm covers you quickly enough and none of the native wildlife digs you up, there is a good chance you get to stay looking young and preserved forever! Now isn't that quite the deal!" Victor chuckled as he twisted the blade, causing the merc to drop to the snow, dying it a gorgeous shade of diluted red slowing as the blood pouring from his stomach started to freeze and crystallize.
Turning back to the slaves a look of panic filled their eyes, wondering if they would be next, some of them seemed to be eyeing the prospects of running into the snowy wastes for even the chance of an escape, to Victor this was utterly adorable.
"Now, my new friends, when I said that there was a deal to be made, it was not with this foul vulture praying on people worse off than himself. I want to make a deal with you, but to truly make such a deal possible we must be able to talk as true... equals." With that Victor pressed a green button on the remote, causing the restraints that had secured the slaves so thoroughly to drop off into the tundra.
"Now, my fellow humans, I offer you all the chance to serve your liberator, I need good people, people like you with skills in a wide area that can serve a growing empire well, of course, there will be many rewards, status, pay, even land as we take it over and expand as is our god given right to do as humans. Or you can step onboard that ship, and find a way to get whoever wants to leave back to wherever they want to go. You are free men and women now. You control your destiny!" One of the individuals stepped forward, the one that Victor felt he had recognised before. Starting a clap that eventually spread through the entire group Victor realised two things, one that as predicted he had the full support of this group of mercenaries, and two, that he did recognise the individual from before.
"Dave?!?" Victor stuttered, flabbergasted by the reunion with the former guard of Nippur.
"The very same, after you rescued my daughter Lord Victor I visited her in the hospital, and as I stepped out, it seemed I was transported to this wild jungle planet, eventually the slaver made me a deal that I could work for him if I took his starter course, turns out it was a tad expensive so here we are!"
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