My adrenaline rushed for quite a bit after I got onto the ship. It all happened so fast. I arrived on Darru with the intentions of pleading to Hades to understand the betrayal he was involved in. He did, but Hercules was too much for us to handle. I wasn't strong enough. This angered me. How can I protect the galaxy when I am not strong enough to do so?
"Lad, are we really trying to go back to the Forge right now? There's still a bounty on both of our heads." Fjorn showed a worried look. "Don't get me wrong boy, you are strong. But I don't think we really stand a chance against the entire mercenaries guild."
"You are right Fjorn. We need to find a way to get to the Forge undetected and somehow kill Hercules. It's crazy, but we need to find a way." I said.
"I have a plan, but I can't really tell you much." Marie said with an awkward look covering her face.
"Well, what can you tell me?" I asked.
"I can tell you that we need to get you captured by the guild. That's all." Marie said grinning.
"What in the world do you mean? They could kill him!" Fjorn said in rage.
"It's alright Fjorn. I trust her. If you really think this is what I need to do, then lets proceed." I said.
I sat in the cabin and allowed Marie to do whatever she needed to. Fjorn looked uneasy.
"Alright, it's done. Fjorn, you need to hide. I mean, really hide." Marie said in a hurry. "They will be here in an hour. Here's what we need to do."
Marie laid out a few of the plans to me and Fjorn. We tweaked a few things, but this seemed to be the perfect plan, if it all went accordingly.
"I hailed Pope, and given what you did to him on the Forge, he was more than happy to help me betray you. I informed him of the monster you are and how I was being held captive. He is gonna bring some big mercs with him, so be ready. You need to put up a decent fight, convince them." Marie said, still seemingly hesitant at the prospect of being captured.
The hour drove on slowly as we moved along slowly in space. The radar picked up four unknown ships. I took to the cockpit and began to maneuver and weave their attempts at closing in. The ship shuttered and shook at their missile explosions neared the hull. One of their ships managed to hit me with a EMP missile and the ships controls had ceased at every attempt to control them. I walked back into the cabin and held my sword. The four ships encircled us and latched on. They had a equalizing ramp attach to our door and once the pressure was good, they breached. The doors blew open and almost took me off balance. Mercenaries flooded the ship, charging towards me. I dropped my blade and began in hand to hand combat. An Agor'rathian tackled me and I dropped an elbow into his spine sending him into the deck plates. I punched an Olympian in the face and sent blood against the hull. I was struck hard from my left but shook it off. I headbutted the mercenary that had struck me in the face, it knocked him out cold. As I began to single out certain mercenaries, the others grabbed at my arm attempting to hold me back. I realized I was being too much and had to hold back quite a bit. Pope entered the ship and I delivered one last hard blow to the Agor'rathian before they all took me down to the ground and pull their cuffs on me.
"Hell of a bounty swordsman. You put up quite a fight, I will give you that. I have never seen anyone go toe to toe with an Agor'rathian let alone three of them and a few Olympians. Impressive to say the least." Pope said smiling as his eyes surveyed the ship.
"How the hell did you find me?!" I shouted.
"Your little friend, Marie. Looking for a quick buck and to be free of your tyrannical escapade in the Milky Way. So much strength, and you still haven't the slightest idea what you are doing with it. Could have been one hell of a mercenary. Now, my ship detected two lives onboard, where the hell is the dwarf?" Pope asked.
"Left him for dead on Darru. Should have left the freak shapeshifter there too." I exclaimed. This was apart of the plan, I felt terrible saying these words out loud.
"hmm, you cost me some money there swordsman. I might have to take that up with the collector." Pope said.
"The collector? What the hell? You are taking me to Olympus? I thought I was going to the Forge?"
"Yeah well, security is tight and they haven't gotten their parameters set for something like you, so the collector raised the price on your head and I think he's gonna see how you do in the arena." Pope said smiling.
Good, I thought. Exactly where I wanted to go. Now if he could stop talking long enough for us to start heading that way, things would be a lot better.
"Anyways, Marie, the ship is yours. I will send you the coins once I have them in hand. Recommend you head back to Kaj'Matar and tell that mystic of yours what happened to you. Load him up boys." Pope finished as the mercenaries carried me into their ship. It was a junkpile. Everything was thrown about haphazardly. Their space was much larger than our ship had been, or even the Paragon for that matter. It reeked of old food and dust coated most of the walls.
"Ever heard of cleaning?" I asked, which provoked one of the Agor'rathians to send a blow to my left ear. My ear rang and I felt dizzy for a minute. They threw me down in some kind of cell barriered by an electrical gate.
"Rules swordsman, you touch the gate it shocks you. Bad. If you continue trying to escape your cell, it was trigger the alarm. If you manage to breach any part of your cell, tranquilizers will shoot from every direction until you are asleep on the ground, droolin' like a baby. Got it?" Pope looked confident for once, knowing he captured a swordsman. I envied for the time I get to see his face when he finds out he was just a part of Marie's plan.
The old ship detached from our ship after they sealed the door enough for Marie to take off safely. I could hear them plotting course for Olympus. The real Olympus. I sat and meditated, realization kicked in that they had left my sword sitting on the deck plates back on the ship. Good, I couldn't imagine one of these barbarians getting their hands on that kind of weapon.
We journeyed for a few days. It was silent and they fed me scraps. I refused to eat, so they simply piled up in the corner of the cell. I laid on the metal cot with no bedding and attempted to sleep. Eventually, I managed but it was lackluster at best.
"Arriving at Olympus in approximately thirty minutes." The ships AI was a males voice.
"Hear that swordsman, I am gonna be rich in about thirty minutes." Pope said.
"Pope, before we get there, I would like to apologize for what I did to you on the Forge."
"Ahh hell swordsman, after I claim this bounty, none of that matters." Pope said.
Poor Pope, still had no idea how insignificant his mission was. He was a lower tier mercenary after all. I am sure the collector put out this bounty expecting someone like Helsing to bring me in. I wonder how Helsing is doing? As of right now, I gotta keep up hope that the plans continues down the path it appears.
Olympus came into sight and the old rugged mercenary ship had followed protocols to enter and touch down in the city.
The doors opened up to the ship and a massive Olympian had stepped onboard. He scanned me with some device and said, "The package is good to receive. Welcome to the arena, swordsman." He said with a big great smile.
"I am guessing you are the collector?" I asked.
He simply nodded and tranquilized me.