The King and his merry men

[Jim Raynor]

Jim took his copy of the deal and rolled up the paper. "I love the idea of a little publicity, but first I better square this all away with the sheriff. Don't wanna count our chickens before they hatch."

Victor smiled. "Of course."

"I'll head on back home, get this all approved, and have someone bring this back to y'all," Jim said. "Won't be long." He stuck out a hand. "Been a pleasure, Victor."

The diplomat of Nippur took Jim's hand and they shook. "Farewell, Mr. Raynor."

Jim walked out of the room, signalling the adjutant to follow. They walked through the halls of the palace, passing rooms and people beyond counting. Raynor reached his ute outside the gates of Nippur, thankfully still standing, and reflected on the trip as he climbed in. The adjutant clambered into the ute's tray, compressing the suspension but still leaving enough room for the vehicle to drive. 

He hadn't expected such a warm welcome from the administration of this town. It was definitely reassuring that they were quick to offer peace and even willing to agree to terms of trade and protection. Perhaps the Town With No Name could finally have an ally out in these desolate, unforgiving wastes. Just having regular supplies without having to go through the trouble of dealing with the Empire's Carrefore or sourcing them themselves would save so much time, money and effort. Not to mention the extra militia to help fend off bandit raids.

Jim turned the key and the ute rumbled to life. He gave the sandstone walls of Nippur one last glance and spun the wheel, heading back home.

"Heh. Not bad for a day's work."

[Marisa Kirisame]

As Marisa walked throughout Nippur she looked at the letter in her right hand as she turned it around curiously. She sighed as she resisted the urge to just open it and look inside with difficulty. She saw the Palace and walked towards the doors only to get stopped by two guards. “Alright, I just need to hand this to one of the people who can take it. Oh, and I got this bandit that needs to be dealt with.” She motioned to the tied up bandit which the guards snickered at.


“Alright Since our king Gilgamesh is asleep at this point Victor is who you want to go see; I’ll take you to him.” Marisa nodded fairly grateful for the guard's help as she followed behind him slowly bleeding out from her wounds. Her hat covered her head and identified her as the ordinary magician; she still had her grungy clothes on though sadly.


Once the two reached a pair of wooden doors the guard knocked and opened one of the solid wood doors before taking the bandit off of her plate of things to do. Marisa thanked the guard before walking in and tapping the letter with the seal from the Hospital on it. She looked a bit worried all things considered and walked forward before handing Victor the letter hopeing he was someone who could actually see it.

[Gilgamesh]

The sounds of gentle tapping upon the door softly awakened Gilgamesh. The sun outside peeked into the sky, creating a burst of orange light in the sky. The cool breeze of the desert night still lingered in the air and greeted the King as he rose from his bed. The cold air stung at his bare skin, causing the hair on his arms to rise.

The knock repeated this time a little louder, a muffled voice spoke from right outside the room. “Are you awake my Liege? There is some news you should be aware of.”

Gilgamesh yawned before giving a half-assed reply to the guard. “Be patient guardsman, I have just awakened. You may inform me after I get dressed.” The muffled voice replied with a hearty  “Yes Sir!” The King strolled about the room, looking for something comfortable to wear. Looking about and finding a traditional mesopotamian shawl, he rubbed his fingers through the fabric. Suddenly stopping his fingers, Gilgamesh spoke in a slightly displeased tone.

“Are there more primes to see me already?”

The guardsman hesitated and his voice faltered at the sound of his irritated King, “Yes my King. Would you like me to tell them to wait?” The end of his sentence sounded cheerful, the guard clearly hoped to ease Gilgamesh’s ire.

Gil nevertheless exhaled forcefully before speaking, “No.” He took a pause to gather his thoughts, his mind still muggy from his sleep. “I have much to do and delaying it would be nothing more than a mistake.” Frustrated that he had to deal with more potentially rebellious primes, he tossed the garb to the floor. He instead snapped his fingers, causing golden dust to suddenly appear in the air before slowly attracting itself to Gilgamesh’s body. Within a few seconds, his signature Golden Armor solidified around his body. Collecting his limited patience, he briskly walked over to the door before swinging it open.

The guard, casually leaned against the wall and inspecting the cuticles of his nails was startled at the sudden appearance of his King. Jumping onto his feet, the guard saluted Gil before beginning his sentence, which had clearly been rehearsed and memorized many times. “My King, there are multiple primes in the vicinity that have responded to your call. I pray that thee serve thee well. Additionally, there has been an explosion at the water plant-”

The Golden King’s sleep-crusted eyes jolted awake with the last part of his sentence. Raising one of his hands to stop the guard and the other to massage his temple, he spoke with a confused tone. “Explosion?”

“Yes my lord, the irrigation plant has had a detonation.” The guard’s voice seemed so casual about the occurrence it infuriated Gil. He shifted in his armor, clenching his fists. How could one get so irritated this early in the morning? It must be a record. Gilgamesh raised his hand to strike the Guard, his face contorted into a grimace. The guard flinched at the King’s anger, before resigning to the blow. Gil, however, left his hand hanging in the air, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. Slowly lowering his hand, it took Gilgamesh all of his strength to refrain from yelling at the poor messenger.

“Why am I only being alerted of this now?” Gil’s voice was eerily calm, however there were clear undertones of anger hidden in it.

“I apologize my lord, I was informed not to wake you.” The guard snapped back, his responses felt robotic. The guard uneasily squirmed under Gilgamesh’s leer, his red eyes peering into his soul.

“You all need to be better trained. Learn to attend me and then you shall be a real man.” Gilgamesh venomously spat before brushing past the guardsman. Pushing his shoulder into the man’s face as he walked by, forcing him to get an all too close look at his Golden Armor. Gilgamesh strode ahead paying no attention to the speechless soldier, before making a turn down the stairs.

The marble staircase still had major signs of deterioration and destruction, entire sections of the railing nothing more than rubble on the ground and the once bright shine had a coating of sand. However, many of the bodies that had once littered the palace were now taken care of. Though Gilgamesh was born in a time long ago, the phrase ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ seemed to resonate within him. Although the sound of the gritty sand grinding underneath his boot did send shivers up his spine. Finally reaching the bottom of the staircase, Gilgamesh was startled by the Golden Throne that had seemed to be hiding in the corner. The grotesque husk of a prime on top of it leered at Gilgamesh, one of its eyes glowing a bright red.

Mumbled words began to echo in his brain, though none of it was coherent. Gilgamesh’s eyes narrowed as he scrutinized the prime. “The skeleton wishes to communicate with me through my mind?” He turned his head and scoffed before meeting the skeleton’s gaze. “Very well.” Letting his guard down, the mumbles nonsense began to formulate actual words at this point.

Why do you summon me? The monster’s ethereal voice was condescending. Gilgamesh, getting a better look upon the husk, frowned. Another rebellious cur that needed to be tamed. Of course.

“You mustn't talk to me that way, mongrel. You must know who I am.” He was tired of being polite to these rebellious scum, so this one will get Gilgamesh’s full wrath. Eying the full figure of the skeleton he spoke again with malice. “You have not been here long and are weak. You have no right to be speaking to your King in such a manner. I should be asking you what are you doing in my city.”

An awkward silence follow the King’s, assumedly correct, assessment of the prime. The ethereal voice entered his skull once more, I came here in search of power. I desire to return to my original state.

Gilgamesh smirked before speaking, “You have found power. I’ll tell you what, husk, you serve me and I’ll tell you about the Omniverse. I know what real power is.” His voice, originally condescending, ended on an all too real note.

Although the skeleton’s face showed no expression, Gilgamesh could tell the creature was lost in thought. Before long, the voice came back. Very well Gilgamesh. I will...help you. The words entered his mind with a dreaded hesitation.

Gilgamesh gave him a sarcastic smile before speaking with confidence, “Yes and you...creature.”

The monster spoke in Gilgamesh’s mind again, with anger in its tone. I am the Emperor of Mankind!

Gilgamesh smirked at the monster’s response. “Right...and what can you do?” His voice dubious of the ‘Emperors’ abilities.

“I am an all powerful manipulator of time and my will was spread across galaxies. People hung upon every word I spoke!” The ‘Emperor’ went on a tirade about how he used to have power. Gilgamesh rolled his eyes before speaking.

“What can you do now, fountain fresh?” Gilgamesh called him that as if it were a horrendous insult.

The Emperor spoke back with a hint of shame in his voice. I maintained my telepathic abilities and can summon a bucket.

Gilgamesh frowned before speaking down to the prime, “You overestimate your status, mongrel. You are allowed to exist here because I say so. You will go find the irrigation plants and find the cause of the detonation. Now leave.” Gilgamesh waved the Emperor away before leaving him.

Very well...Gilgamesh. Were the final words that entered his mind before Gil left the room.

------

Gilgamesh entered the hallway to the throne room, ready to begin his boring day of meeting other primes of the rebellious sorts. Unlike the previous day, the hallway was livelier with guards and civilians alike. Gilgamesh saw the two mothers from the previous night sweeping the sand and broken shards of glass the had been accumulating. The mother’s looked up to see their King and gave him a curtsey before continuing their sweeping. Gil gave them a brief smile before continuing onto his path, glad that some had taken his offer of servitude in trade for a meal and shelter.

Continuing his path towards the throne room, Gilgamesh heard Victor’s familiar voice before he could even see the assassin’s face. Excited on why Victor was so jubilant, Gilgamesh increased his pace eventually coming to the end of the corridor and finding Victor speaking with another prime. A bright smile was spread across the assassin’s face, with the other prime’s back turned to the King.


“Victor!” The King waved towards him, “I assume the meeting went well?” Victor gave the King a smile as the unknown figure turned. “Shay?” Gilgamesh was surprised to see the templar, his many allies had remained after his many years in hell.

Shay gave the King a great smile and rushed up to Gilgamesh, outstretching his hand. The King firmly grasped it before bringing in Shay for a hug, the Templar’s eternal loyalty earning this privilege. After the quick exchange Shay gave the King a respectful bow before speaking.

“I’m glad you have returned. What can I do to help?” Shay spoke with a smile on his face. Gilgamesh returned it with a toothy smile as hell while shaking his head.

“No, I am grateful that you still are by my side. If you still serve the people, I would wish for you to help protect these streets once more. This is a man named Yu Kanda who is already doing so. Please join him.” The King rested his hand on Shay’s shoulder patting him reassuringly. Shay responded with a nod before heading out waving goodbye to Victor before heading off.

Victor walked up to the King before speaking, nostalgia clearly present in his voice, “It seems like everyone is still here after all.” Gilgamesh smiled before the assassin handed him a stack of papers, “This is from Drake. Apparently he was the one who blew up the irrigation plant, but the report said it was necessary…” Gilgamesh didn’t know if it was better that an ally was blowing up his city or not. The rising sun suddenly blinded Victor, forcing him to shield his eyes with his hand. “Is it morning already? I better leave, your majesty, I don’t want to keep Erik waiting. Gilgamesh gave him a silent nod before moving towards the throne room.

-----

Gilgamesh continued his path down the corridor towards the throne room and was met with a pleasant surprise. Two guards with spears protected the throne room and were at attention even when the King wasn’t present. Gilgamesh strode up to the throne room, the spears barring the closed door. Without breaking attention, one of the guards spoke, “There is a prime waiting inside for you, sir. You shall not be interrupted today.” Stunned by this sudden change in demeanor of the guards, Gilgamesh eyed the men up and down before seeing the same crest that was present on Kanda. Today was going to be a much better day, only one rebellious prime so far and everything else has gone quite smoothly.

The Golden King nodded, the spears swiftly withdrew from the door, allowing Gilgamesh to enter. Gil would have to reward Kanda for his work upon the guards, however he wouldn’t mind a “Hail Gilgamesh” or the opening of an occasional door. The King pressed his hands on the rough, massive wooden door, screeching in resistance to the King’s efforts.

The throne room has been untouched since he had left it, the hollowed-out corpses still littered the floor along with stained blood covering the sandstone walls. In the center of the room, a dark skinned woman lay cross-legged on the floor. Her ears, which should belongs to a rabbit more than a human, twitched as Gilgamesh’s golden boot tapped the floor. Elegantly, she twirled upright from her seated position and stood before the King. The mixture of his naturally dominating presence and his intimidating golden armor startled the hybrid, more than she was expecting. Her usual confidence faltered for a bit, and allowed uneasy air filled the room. His crimson eyes grasped her heart and made her legs heavy with just his gaze. Without realizing it, she had begun to kneel in his presence and had lowered her head.

His smug voice echoed throughout the halls, “You show proper etiquette in the presence of your King. I’ll allow you to tell me your name.”

She raised her head, still on one knee and spoke with a bit of uncertainty. “My name if Ahana, King Gilgamesh.” The words she had prepared for him seemed to elude her, leaving an uncertain pause in her statement.

The Golden King nodded his head, “Ahana. What a beautiful name.” He smiled at her before motioning her to get back onto her feet. “I grow tired of holding audiences. I wish to bask in the sun. You will accompany me.”

[Victor Wolfe]

Taking in all that just happened the Lord looked blankly at the cute blonde in front of him and back to the letter in his hand. The meeting with Jim had gone swimmingly, it seemed that they were far more similar than Victor had first thought, both underlings doing their best to try and build beneficial relationships for their people. Thus he had earned some respect from Vic, who was more than willing to sign a very beneficial deal for both parties. More lopsided deals could come later, but whilst their diplomatic mandate was to repair their image, this sort of deal would work very nicely, so long as Jim's boss sees reason. 

Then the one-armed swordsmen that they had met in the Nexus arrived, so casually, interrupting the meeting and treating his better as an errand boy still, after flicking through the reports and ideas that Drake had presented, it was well put together and almost genius, after passing the papers onto the recently awoken King, Victor had immediately put an ad up on the dataverse, and got a bite, Drake would have some minions of his own to help run this little project. 

Before the assassin could feel too proud of his hard night shift of diplomatic dealings and recruitment another new prime had appeared before him, recognising the blonde hair she appeared to be the witch that his adorable little psychic Erik had been glaring at. Reaching for the silver knife at his left-hand side Victor carefully sliced open the seal. Reading over the report from the head nurse it seemed that the prime in front of him, who he now knew was named Marisa, had helped out with taking injured citizens to the new hospital and even defended it from an attack. Looking up and down at her he could see the grunge of the fight sticking to her, and open wounds still healing at the normal rate for a prime. She was short, at least compared to the six foot three Victor, who towered over her. Dropping down to a knee so as to make it easier on his neck he smiled warmly

"I thank you for the service you have provided the city, with the hospital showing results already the peoples trust in us as benevolent rulers will surely increase, and the death rate from poor medical care should drop. As a Lord of Nippur, I grant you the rank of squire and hereby give you permission to own land in the city." Victor then dropped a pill and a communicator into the witches hand, the communicator taking the form of a magic stone. 

"That stone will make a sound when you are needed, I also believe it will allow you to teleport back to here in the case of an emergency. After all, someone so cute should not have to face the rough desert winds every time they want to visit their new home right?" Victor grinned as he headed towards the door "So shall we go and find you a place to build upon? Actually" the assassin paused as he summoned a syringe full of a clear liquid, walking over to one of the guards he placed it into his hand "please go and inject this into our new prisoner, if he wants medical supplies he can have all the medical supply he needs" he chuckled to himself as he returned to the door. Ready to guide the blonde witch around the city.

[Shay Cormac]

Shay Cormac left the palace grounds, his mind riddled with how fast the events in the past hour had transpired. Gilgamesh was practically unscathed and somehow grateful to reconcile with the man, and plans of reviving the long neglected faction of New Babylon had already taken place, beginning with the Templar, Victor Wolfe, and a man who Gilgamesh had introduced by name... Kanda. Shay thought over, stopping in his steps to look at the guardsmen trading glances with him. The privateer didn't bother imagining what the man had looked like, instead concerned with what could be considered a more pressing matter.

"...Where...?" Shay mumbled, shading his eyes from the blistering sun as he looked for any place that Victor and the Yu Kanda individual might have been waiting for them. Shay did this for a short while, looking rather confused in front of the guardsmen, and as he walked forward into the now tamed city of Nippur, he realized that... they weren't there.

"Aye," he groaned, "great."

Sighing, Shay realized he'd have to go on another wild goose chase to find the two men, and he wasn't too excited by the concept considering that, indeed, the sun was up and he still had armor and gambeson on. Truly,  he thought, the most authentic of Templar experiences. The man was almost going to chuckle at making jokes at expense to his now long dead predecessors of 11th century Europe, but he held his tongue; he looked like a fool enough standing outside the palace looking for people that weren't even there. 

Jogging forward, Shay didn't waste any time thinking as to where Victor could have possibly went off to. More importantly, the Templar knew how Victor was about these things; as calculated as he was, he seemed a bit... impatient sometimes. At least, with people he clearly didn't like. So much for a diplomat, anyways. Walking now on top of the stained sand beneath him, Shay immediately felt the heat course through his body, sighing even louder this time, though nobody was to acknowledge his complaints. A beeping noise was heard one one of his back pockets, more akin to a pouch. Shay figured he wouldn't have had to use the pouches he conceived for the cuirasser plate armor he was wearing, but it came into use as he realized his Dataverse communicator was going off.

Pulling it out in a bit of a struggle, Shay squinted to barely see a message under the sun's rays blocking out most of the screen's light. He pressed upon the tablet, slowly realizing that there were no buttons or wheels to work on it again, clicking the bright white notification box. A peculiar ringing of a bell was emitted from the device, and Shay eventually read what the tablet had pestered him over. A message, in particular. 

To: Shay 
From: Victor

Good evening Sir Shay, I have a mission you may be interested in, I have recently learned of a certain individual prime who may be in need of help from our new hospital, I would ask that you go to the location I have attached to this email and ask them to pay us a visit, if they seem to resist then would you please tell them that a certain "Yandere Lover" sent for them and that according to him, her and I Victor Wolfe may share a lot of interests that I would love to... talk over with her over a nice glass of very red wine.

This mission will do wonders to help our PR and could even lead to us being able to expand our diplomatic reach into new territory and I would owe you a favour. 

Lots of Love, Victor Wolfe.

The privateer read over these words in mild confusion. It almost seemed as if Victor had wanted to get away from the man, how easily he believed Shay would have agreed to such a task. Still, it was a reasonable request... mostly, to which Shay himself presumed the diplomat was busy before writing such a post. Stopping dead in his tracks, the Templar eventually came to terms with the fact he was obligated to accept the favor Victor now owed the man indeed. 

So, shaking his head in mild disappointment, Shay typed up a reply and made posthaste towards the ends of Nippur, quick to mount his steed once more and ride to the ends of the Endless Dunes.