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| The Caliph's dancing girls |
So while Thornton and I were busy weighing up the Vandals Jakari had been off using his special talents to make some new friends of his own. It seems that he had commandeered the services of a young slave girl who spoke English and had taken her with him to Musa's 'Mech bays.
Not being there myself I can't say for sure what transpired between Jakari and Musa's 'MechWarrior but having seen him in action more than once I can see that it probably went down something like this...
Jakari heads into the hangar and locating the 'Mechwarriors does something to antagonise them. This soon leads to a brawl which the local has little chance of winning. Musa's guy went for his gun and Jakari gutted him with his vibro-blade leaving him lying amongst his own entrails, shit and blood...
The first clue we had was when a bunch of Musa's guards headed down that way loaded to the gunwales with assault rifles, scimitars and other various instruments of death. Thornton and I looked at each other and the exact same thought crossed our minds I am sure... Bloody Jakari!!
We arrived just in time to find Jakari explaining to the guards, and then again to Musa's Vizier once he'd arrived, that he'd been looking over the Panther and its pilot had taken exception to him and, for some unknown reason, had attacked him by drawing his pistol and attempting to blow him away and that Jakari had only been defending himself. The young slave girl backed Jakari thankfully and the Vizier informed the three of us that we would be moved to more secure quarters 'for our own safety'... a small, windowless cubicle, cells I call them, complete with four armed guards each on the other side of the compound.
A few hours later we were summoned by the Vizier to attend the feast in our honour and of course Caliph Musa's. I was sure that Musa was out to show us a display of wealth and power that matched his palace in its splendour. The Caliph did not disappoint, his dancing girls were some of the finest I have ever seen and the food... Impressive given the nature of this shithole planet!
Jakari spent a great deal of time with his young slave, god only knows what he was talking about and Thornton gravitated toward Cia and it wasn't long before the two of them moved off out of sight... well you know what they say... birds of a feather and all that. I hung back watching the room and the people in it.
After about an hour the Vizier clapped his hands and stopped the room and the revelries within. He started to spout platitudes about Musa's magnificence and generosity to his guests (if you have to brag about it then it aint all that in my opinion) before saying that he would make an example of the treacherous dog that we had brought to him earlier that day. With that all the guests were directed to the balcony overlooking the gardens.
Spotlights blazed into life and pinpointed Hadji, staked out naked and spread eagled on the grass. Then the tell-tale sound of a 'Mech reached us before that too was lit up with spotlights. The Vizier droned on about Hadji's crimes and the evil that Muhktar had heaped on the Caliph's people... the same old shit we'd heard before heading here in the first place... and the 'Mech lumbered forward. Hadji's screams pierced the night as the 'Mech stood with it's foot raised over him and as the Vizier's voice rose to a crescendo the caliph waved an imperious hand and Hadji was crushed... slowly... beneath the 'Mech's heel. Life and death on Astrokaszy can be a real bitch!
After the excitement had died down Pyle managed to tear himself away from van Zant and Collins for a while and went over to talk to Jakari. I couldn't make out what was being said but Jakari's body language told me that he was not happy and Pyle looked like he needed to change his underwear in a hurry and backed off at speed heading back to the safety zone of van Zant's inner circle.
I watched as van Zant's minions got up and went over to help themselves to Musa's bounty and I walked over and struck up a conversation with the prick who was still wearing that ridiculous cowboy hat and sunglasses... indoors at night! He wasn't very forthcoming so I moved off again and watched the room before retiring early. I'd had more than enough of this bullshit!
