42 Chapter Forty-Two: Controversy (1/2)
The crew remained in their large hotel, planning their next move.
”So what idea did you have in mind?” Ruby asks, ”I'm sure it must be grand... I'd be disappointed if it weren't, seeing as how you're the only ones giving us this much trouble”.
”You're not thinking of taking the most reckless course of action again, are you?” Vivi asks. ”Like diving straight back into the fray against The Mages even though we just narrowly escaped them? Trying to save Kyle Ross or whatever his name was again? Maybe go after the large stock of endo that they apparently have?”.
”Those sound like good ideas to me” Rose says.
”No...” Vivi says as she lightly hits Rose over the head, ”that's a terrible idea. We're not prepared for that”.
”Quick question” Ruby asks, ”if you didn't know about the endo, then why did you attack Omnium Guild? Just to piss off Markwood?”.
”Close” Siran says, ”we were aiming to piss off all of The Mages just to see how their response would be. The goal was to see what The Mages have up their sleeve and then retreat to create a plan on how to move against them later”.
”That's...” Ruby says as she thinks to herself, ”a really reckless way to go about it, but not bad actually. I think it only worked because most of The Mages are still scared of you though”.
”Of me?” Siran asks. ”They know all about me, what's to be afraid of?”.
”You mean...” Finn asks, ” other than the fact that you can summon lightning from the sky and cook people? I don't know what's scary about any of that”.
”Anyways” Siran says, ”to be able to get an opportunity for an attack on The Mages again, we'd need support. They'll be ready for us next time, no doubt. I was thinking, it's clear that Markwood didn't let the whole world know who I was for a reason. I'm thinking that the reason for that would be, that it could cause a large enough controversy about whether we're the bad guys or not, making it harder to order people to fight against us. When soldiers are told to fight against a group of outlaws, it's simply their job and needs to be done. If they were told to fight someone who's known as both a hero and a war criminal, there'd probably be some restraint. We may even gain supporters from civilians and other militias. This way, it'd be easier for our side to organize a strike directly on The Mages without needing to further include The Ly'Lum soldiers who only wanted to be a soldier for the work and money. After that much is done, we can then work on the other things Vivi mentioned, like maybe helping Kyle Ross, if he needs the help”.
”I've gotta say” Ruby says, ”I actually expected anything to come out of your mouth to be dumber than that... but that's not actually a completely bad idea”.
”I realize that the plan is a double edged sword” Siran says, ”in the fact that it can backfire and make the world hate us more. Whatever the case though, the world deserves to know what's going on. Especially since this is about to become larger than a conflict between a military and some outlaws”.
”I don't understand the intention behind your misguided compassion” Ruby says, ”but okay. I guess that can work out”.
”And that's where we'd need your help” Siran says.
”My help?” Ruby asks. ”I thought I already said I'm not helping”.
”We're not needing your help with the conflict” Siran says, ”we just need your former authority. If we can use your former authority to broadcast a simple message to the world, then the news about my existence would spread significantly faster”.
”Once I do that” Ruby says, ”my betrayal would instantly be known to The Mages. Then again, I don't intend on going back to them anyways and they'll likely replace me within a day. However, they have hackers and can interfere with any broadcast”.
”That's where Holly would come into play” Siran says.
”Do what?” Holly asks, not paying attention to the conversation.
”Once the interference begins” Siran says, ”Holly can prevent them from shutting us down. You can trust Holly, she's the best”.
”I'm not the best” Holly says, ”and I never claimed that I was”.
”You'll do fine” Siran says.
”Do you even know how intricate code hacking is?” Holly asks.
”No” Siran says.
”Then don't speak for other people so easily” Holly says.
”Come on, you can do it!” Siran says.
”Oh, of course I can do it” Holly says, ”I never said I couldn't”.
”Then what was the point of this argument!?” Finn asks.
”I just don't want people speaking for me” Holly says.
”Then start paying attention so you can speak for yourself” Finn says.
”Do what?” Holly asks.
”Never mind” Finn says.
”Well, for this we're going to need to return topside” Ruby says. ”I doubt we could pull a stunt like this from... a place like this”.
”So you'll do it?” Siran asks.
”All I gotta do is get a camera crew, right?” Ruby asks. ”Then Holly patches us through every channel in the country?”.
”I don't know about EVERY channel...” Siran says.
”Yeah, I can probably do that” Holly says.
”Every channel it is then” Siran says. ”We've got to go get Demetri. He's probably still at the bar”.
”I don't have to wear a sack over my head again, do I?” Ruby asks.
”No, just stay with us” Siran says. ”We can handle trouble”.
The crew picks up Demetri and leave Vega. After leaving, Holly says ”We'll need to find the nearest television station with a radio tower and everything”.
”Where is the nearest television station, Ruby?” Alex asks.
”Why would I know that?” Ruby asks.
”Because... you're a Mage?” Alex responds.
”Just because I'm a Mage, doesn't mean I just know this stuff” Ruby says. ”And that's former Mage, former Lieutenant Schulf. Besides, when you were promoted to an officer in the military, you didn't just magically know more stuff, did you?”.
”Fair enough” Alex says.
”If I remember correctly” Finn says, ”there should be a place like that in Tylon, where we met. Not too far from here either, so it should make for an easy trip”.
”It's a start” Alex says, ”let's get going”.
”We're going to be on TV” Mikoto says, unenthusiastically, ”and I'm not even very excited about it. I always thought my first time on TV would be different”.
”We would only need me to show my face on TV” Siran says, ”as well as tell the world my involvement with The Six Guns”.
”That'd be better” Satomi says, ”because we don't want this backfiring on us too”.