Eric Olafson, Neo Viking Vol. 02

"I know about the Wurlag poison injector in your back. Right now Duke Donheer could press his button all he wanted, the signal would not reach that device and if you let me help you, then you will leave this tent without it."

I am still green, Sojo. I know that but even if you can help me. I need to know the price. There is nothing free in this Universe."

"You are, or you will be a Union Citizen and yes there is a price for you to pay. The Terror Hammer dies when you leave this world and you become a lawful citizen. You cannot return to this sport or even related legal sport. You will be Hans Neugruber again and you must find lawful employment, perhaps with the Union Police, the Fleet or something like that. Large Corporations are out as well. Sinister Sports for example is muscling in on the Death Sport scene and they do it with methods that make the syndicates look like angels. Sinister Sports is secretly owned by Galakto Entertainment and they are not by accident in the same office building as the SII Bank, if you know what I am getting at!"

Hans knew about Galakto, they owned several Casinos and he had overheard the Duke taking about them as being a dangerous business opponent with incredible resources and no scruples. "But Schwartz Industries is a lawful and good Corporation. We Saturnians have been SII engineered and they never treated us like other companies treated the Gene Slaves. Death sports are highly illegal in the Union!"

"Hans, SII cares about one thing only and that is profit. Death Sport is huge. Do you know what viewer ratings of 45 percent mean on a market with over a Centillion GalNet subscribers? Neither you nor I can imagine the sums of money involved. None of the Ultra Corps would think twice decimating planets for business like that." She sat down on a Divan. "Now we are getting away from the current situation. You have not answered me if you are willing to pay that price. I know there is a part of you that enjoys the attention and the arena and I know you could be tempted to do this on your own if you would be free."

"Lady I would give my right arm to go back to Odin and my family, finish Union school and atone for my sins, not that I could even hope to live long enough to atone for one percent of them."

"Good, that is what I needed to hear. Getting you off this planet won't be easy as we have to fool both the Donheer clan and Sinister Sports, and you are not someone we could easily disguise, but it is not impossible. It also musty happen without anyone knowing of my involvement, but first let me make you a free man and take out that Poison Implant."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I am a Union Citizen and that must do for an explanation for now."

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Chapter 20: Guests of Honor

The military band sounded like a bunch of Nilfeheim kids blowing through plastic hoses and with about as much skill, punctuated by an instrument that made a noise that would put a wounded Fangsnapper to shame. Fectiv whispered:" If that is their best band used for ceremonies, I wonder how their beginners sound?"

Ninio had a hard time whispering so it seemed, even though I knew he tried."I can't wait to get me a few recordings. Can you imagine them playing Funtuty tunes?"

I shrugged." I guess, to each his own!"

After the band had played four more tunes, they finally put us on a wheeled vehicle. It had two tiers and the upper one was open and had two rows of seats. The entire vehicle was painted and decorated in the Union colors. We were asked to get on the second tier and all the way to the front.

Before us a row of vehicles with rotating lights on their roofs and so we participated in a parade through the streets of the capitol city. The streets were lined with crowds waving Union flags and cheering, but there were a few groups carrying signs and they had messages printed in Union standard, such as "Union go home" and " We got rid of the Nogoll now we need to get rid of the Union!"

I only noticed Bennett sitting behind me as he leaned forward. "Look at those ungrateful Dick faces, they didn't get rid of the Nogoll, we did! I don't see the point of courting those primitives. A nice Virus or a P bomb and we got the system for ourselves."

"I had it! We are back on the ship; I am putting you on report!"

"I am sitting behind you with a dagger and a loaded gun and you won't make it back, trust me!"

I turned and snapped." And you are messing with a Neo Viking that gets more pissed by the minute! The best thing for you is to shut up and report yourself. You might need some serious reconstructive surgery before your court hearing."

He paled and hate glittered in his eyes. The other human cadet sitting next to him was clearly afraid and said." You are not serious aren't you?"

Neither Waite no I could respond as the Admiral called us to attention and then asked us of the now stopped vehicle.

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Harel and Uley

Harel and Uley had an anti-matter mine strapped to their bodies and there were twenty more Nogoll dressed up as Yokuta, ten of them would go on a tour of the ship and the others would run into the forum with the Union honor guests and detonate themselves. Harel and Uley had the same orders. Go to a crowed place and detonate the anti-matter charges.

Neither one of them really wanted to die and commit suicide like that, but neither of them had much hope. If even one of the others followed through, the Union would not have any mercy and hunt the rest down. Once they knew what to look for, their sensors would find them.

--""--

Security Detail

Colonel Cornelius O'Hare was concerned. He was on security detail for the Admiral of the Fleet. Fleet Secuirty would not let the highest officer out of their sights. Cornelius was with the PSI Corps and one of the eight officers permanently assigned to the Admirals security detail.

Admiral Mc Elligott was a high profile target and there had been thousands of attempts on his life over the last three millennia.

Almost always exclusively agents and assassins hired by Union enemies. Of course there was the occasional attempt of some fringe group or mentally disturbed individual. There were voices before the Y'All Crisis who questioned the legitimate right of the immortals to be in such leading positions and for for such a long time. It all culminated in the Peac Hawk debacle. Those voices had almost disappeared after that.

It was clear to almost everyone that it was better to have individuals with that enormous experience such as Stahl and McElligott in leading positions. The Fleet was by far the largest organization in the known Galaxy and it was simply practical to have someone on the top who could oversee projects that took half a century to be completed and had the irreplaceable experience of centuries. In all those centuries none of the Immortals ever stepped out of line and tried to rule or dictate the direction. McElligott still took his orders from the Assembly and he did so without fail.

Of course none of the Immortals was as popular or beloved as Admiral Stahl, but he didn't need security. He was more often than not in his nearly invincible battle ship. Even though not being as popular as Stahl, Mc Elligott was well liked and for a man of his position had surprisingly few internal or political enemies, But few enemies in a Union and a galaxy as large as this was still a lot and it was his job to keep the Admiral safe.

Now why he had to come to this backwater planet was anyone's guess. Of course it was an impressing gesture to have an immortal show up in the flagship, but way too little preparation went into this trip, especially security wise.

He was a good telepath and most Yokuta were very friendly and had positive thoughts about the Union and a possible membership, but there was about thirty percent undecided and ten percent felt violently opposed to any ties to the Union. It was those ten percent that caused him concern. Yet the local police went through a big purge themselves, being the puppets of the oppressors for so long.

Cornelius sat in the wheeled bus below and behind the driver, with his eyes closed he looked like he was sleeping but he had his mental eye on the crowd around the bus. Psionic crowd scanning was not easy even for a very good telepath, you had to shift through hundreds of brains in mere seconds and look for an aggressive impulse that was strong enough for him to act. He could not simply stop the visit because someone was thinking badly about the Union or the Admiral. Thankfully he had the best Psi training and while it was demanding, he was experienced and he was not alone and besides there were ten Marines of F.A.S.T (Fleet Anti-Terror Security Team) posing as regular marines in Parade Uniforms. While they had no Psionic talents they could smell trouble a mile away and react fast.

He hated to be disturbed but Poul from Phantas a very good telepath and good telekinet, and one of his colleagues would not have done so if it wasn't necessary. He used the Psi Radio one of the great little devices only the PSI corps had." Hey CC did you had a chance to scan our cadets?"

"No, I thought they are just five day cadets freshly processed."

"They missed a Purist! One of them is full of hate and has serious ideas about hurting another cadet. Right now he is held back by his own fear to actually use a weapon and kill someone but it seems the threshold for violence is getting lower."

"Monitor him closely. I prefer to deal with that in the ship. Would send a bad message to the Yokuta if we arrest one of our own right before the meeting, I doubt this would go down well with the Yokuta or the Admiral."

"I agree. I will keep my senses drained on them and I should be able to interfere telekinetically if needed, but that would mean you got to scan more of the crowd."

"I don't expect any trouble from the locals. Their police should to be able to handle the few local trouble makers and I have not sensed any real violent opposed thoughts so far, even from those who are against our future presence or membership."

GUESTS OF HONOR

We left the bus and entered something like a Congress center. A big structure surrounded by tended parks and statues. It was basically a flat roof carried by a number of tall columns. Underneath the roof was just one open space area. Long buffet style tables one side. A raised platform with a lectern, local and union flags and large physical 2D view screens instead of field screens completed the ambiance.

I pressed my my teeth together in, because the band just had to play again! While that band simulated musically the life skinning of Nubhir wolfs, a number of quite obvious elderly Yokuta in colorful official looking garments climbed onto the platform and assembled behind the lectern.

One of them with an even more colorful robe place himself at that lectern and the band thankfully stopped playing.

The one in the multi colored robe placed himself behind a lectern and begun to speak. "Welcome to you guests from beyond the skies. All our deepest graditude to you, Union Citizens and Union Soldiers who have fought so gallantly and gave us back our freedom.

"We have suffered terribly for over three hundred of your Standard years under the joke of the Nogoll.

"We still have not fully processed and truly begun to realize that we are indeed no longer slaves on our own world. Our fortune and sudden freedom to walk once more heads up and proud to be Yokuta." He wiggled his trunk that was much slimmer and shorter than that of the Elly. It appeared to be a thank you gesture. To the yells and cheers that punctuated his speech.

"Much damage has been done by the occupants. Physically robbing resources and polluting without care since it was not their home, killing many hundred thousand over the centuries. Torturing, imprison and execute those who tried to fight the oppressor. Cultural damage by stealing our artifacts and melting our religious icons for their war machine, forbidding Yokuta art that was not approved by our former masters and mentally for making us being ashamed of what we are and thinking that being slaves is a natural place for Yokuta.

The Nogoll are gone! Not only from this planet, but gone and so severely beaten that they can never return!"

At this point he paused a little longer and the assembly and the crowds all around the open sided building cheered as his image and his words were transmitted to the huge screens and I was sure they had similar screens all over outside as well.

He bowed to us and then pointed to a Union flag. "It is them who under that flag fought for us. We heard only little of the Union via the Nogoll and always thought of them as enemies, worse than the Nogoll. Of course it was all lies and propaganda. Over the last ten day, we of the people's forum and you on your home viewers have seen what the Union really is. How huge, how powerful and it is not propaganda. Go look at our space port and see how this delegation arrived. Look at the power and the size of their ship. It is only one of many. Now many of us think it is best to join that Union and we were assured that we would not be slaves but equals and that one day Yokuta would serve and even command such ships. We can get as much or as little help from the Union as we want, we can stay isolated or be fully integrated and they ask very little in return.

"Some of you may ask: What is it they want from us?

"They will ask that we accept Union lawUnion membership is not a right but a privilege, and it is us that must apply, they do not invite or ask us to do so. All of you have seen the documentaries and documents made freely available what those laws mean.

These laws can be condensed into one sentence: Guaranteed rights of liberty to every thinking individual, pure and simple. Even without their ships and power. I personally like those laws so much I want them to be the model of our own laws even if we decide not to join and I know there are many who think like I do. However there are those who oppose this and those who are undecided. To help you see what I see and perhaps join me in voting for an application, we honored one of our oldest traditions and invited a group of young people to tell us about the Union. For this we will accept random picked calls from you the audience."

The speaker walked away from his desk and waved at us. The Admiral nodded and gestured us up the platform.

Harel and Uley

Uley watched the Union delegates getting up on the platform. He looked at his partner and made his decision. His hand cramped around the detonator switch. He took a deep breath, as he knew his decision was not the right one, but the only one he saw. He pushed past two Yokuta, jumped over the hip high barrier and ran as fast as he could towards the Podium.

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Interlude 22: Hans

As far as the Duke knew he still had control over Hans. The device was active and it could be triggered at any time, however it was no longer inside the Saturnians body but in a little Tough-film bag and in Hans' pocket. Now that he was no longer alone and has someone to help him to get off planet and back home, it was easy to control his temper.

He came out of the Sojo tent and joined the guests. The duke noticed his relaxed state right away and made a few dirty remarks. Then he introduced Hans to a man, one could only describe as average. He was the most average human Hans had ever seen, nothing stood out. He didn't wear an extremely expensive suit, nor a cheap one. The color of his clothing was of a bland gray, even his hair color was somewhere between brown and blond. Donheer said:" This is Mr. Kelpie and he represents Sinister Sports your new owner."

The nondescript man held up a little silver device with a blinking green button." Nice to meet you Mr. Hammer. "With a theatrical gesture he played with the device and brushed his finger over the button. It was obvious that this little man enjoyed having so much power over a being so much larger and physically his superior. "As you can see, I have the means to destroy you, Mr. Hammer. While your demise will represent a loss of investment money. In the great scheme of things however it is less than a percent point, easily recovered by write offs and post-hum marketing of your merchandise as collectibles. Therefore do not think I will hesitate to use this, perhaps crude way of control. If you do the same what you have done for your previous employers, you will find us a generous partner and the rewards will be great. If you decide to do otherwise we have much finer methods of control and Psycho Surgery done right is a wonderful tool."

Hans had the strong urge to rip the man's head off or crush his bones one by one between his fingers but he said with his best poker face."I am a fighter. I care little about management decisions. Give me fights and I fight. Give me opponents and I kill simple as that."

Now the average man smiled broadly across his bland face. "I think we have a wonderful future together. We want you start early tomorrow, of course there is a brand new Braddock Murphy Vultron in the Garage of your new apartment, which is this one by the way." He padded Hans on he belly, he had no hopes reaching his shoulders. "It is a big day for you. You get a new costume, accessories and there will be interviews and picture shots. We will Virtu -- animate you and sell Avatars of yours. You are playing with the big boys now, quite literally!"

Hans had a hard time to keep calm. It went exactly as the Sojo said it would and by tomorrow this time be on his way to Checkpoint 96 and from there he was a Space bus ride away from home. He already made up his mind not to stay home for very long, instead he planned to go to the Academy, right after he went to a recruiting office and had his citizen ship confirmed. Signing up for military service was a legal way to make up for lost school credentials."

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Chapter 21 : Yokuta Salad

I saw the Yokuta running towards the podium and my first response was to the dagger they had given us with the uniform. Of course I had a blaster, but my reflexes were still geared toward sword and knife.

A burning foreign thought exploded like a yell in my mind." Stop!" It was a telepathic command and while it was given I knew it had been said by a commanding officer. My hand froze, before perhaps a microsecond before I was to throw.

The Yokuta ripped off his snouted gray head, ears and skin and all and revealed a black Nogoll and he screamed. "Don't shoot! I surrender! There are others like me with AM bombs and there are some in the ship!"

Two figures shimmered into existence next to the Nogoll, two Ultra Marines in full Destroyer suits, deactivating their active camouflage Holo cloak. I saw many more appear all over the place containing individual Yokuta in Stasis fields. It all happened with lightning speed and silently. The voice in my head said." Awesome reaction Cadet, but you can put your dagger away, and you know it is not regulation to carry the ceremonial dagger on your back, tugged away under your tunic!"

I was so used to Tyr and Egill's telepathic communications that I answered without speaking." Sorry Sir!"

There was a small pause." How did you get away with it at Uniform inspection?"

"The Auto dresser gave me weapon options and I choose a second dagger where I always carry my throwing knife, Sir."

"I also notice you have lots of experience in telepathic communication. I will keep an eye on you. Now we need to sort things out here and brief the Yokuta!"

"The ship, Sir!"

"No worries. No one gets aboard the Union Flag ship even on a sight-seeing tour without being scanned to the last body cell!"