"Spector, hail the Merinmian Defence Force lead ship and relay the comms through to me, please," Adam requested as he exited the ship through the airlock he had entered, and his wings began to form from his anti-gravity armour.
[[Afirmative]]
"Merinmian Defence Force, this is the Spector. I have completed what I needed to do on the disabled ship, and it's now all yours. Please note that there are two survivors of the ship, the first is locked in the R&D lab onboard the ship, and the other is in a fighter, a short distance from the ship, coordinates to which I will send momentarily."
"Understood, Spector, we will now move to apprehend the surviving individuals and recover the ship. Sorry again that this incident happened." The captain of the Merinmian Defence Force's lead ship replied.
"Spector, transmit coordinates of the ship to them and end stream."
[Affirmative]
[Ending Stream]
[Mission Complete]
💫💫💫
"Fucking useless bastards," The man in the dark room cursed as the stream vanished from The MMM Show and Malgath began to discuss it with his guests.
"So much for 'Shouldn't be a problem'. Though I do have to admit that the tech the ship and its captain have is very impressive. If I could get a hold of it, it would substantially help improve the odds of our goals succeeding." The man continued before he tapped his desk with his finger while thinking for a few moments.
After a few moments, he pulled up a contact on his uniband and made a holocall that was answered after a few seconds.
"Mr Mysterious, it's a pleasure to see you again. What can my Noir Family do for you this time?" Number Seven asked with a large smile as he saw the distorted screen appear before him. It was as if his best customer had just appeared in front of him.
"Mr Number Seven, I do wish you wouldn't address me in such a way."
"Well, if you would tell me what to call you, I would happily change your name. Unfortunately, you refuse to give me even a fake name." Number Seven replied.
"Whatever," Mr Mysterious replied while sighing before asking, "I take it you saw The MMM Show and the stream that appeared on it?"
"I did indeed, quite the interesting turn of events."
"Tell me about the job your family has on the ship that appeared in the stream, the one with the ID, EDF001-Spector."
Number Seven's smile faded as it changed to a frown after hearing what Mr Mysterious asked before he said, "I'm afraid I can neither confirm nor deny if we have any such job, and even if we did, I couldn't tell you anything about it as it would breach the client confidentiality policy we apply."
"Don't give me that bullshit story that you tell those rich spoiled brats who pay your Noir Family to steal stuff they want. I know full well that if the price is good enough, you will reveal everything, so just tell me how much." Mr Mysterious replied.
"Very well, since you insist. The client for this job is currently paying for the services of a Rank Four family member, so to learn this information, you will need to pay for the costs of a Rank Two family member."
"You managed to persuade that damn cheepass Nagareen Drot to pay for a Rank Four family member?" Mr Mysterious asked in surprise.
"It seems you're already aware of the client's identity."
"It wasn't exactly hard to figure out, plus we have people everywhere."
"You mean you have people in the Noir Family?" Number Seven asked suspiciously.
"Don't jump to conclusions, I mean, we have someone close to Director Drot."
"Is that so?" Number Seven asked with a slight frown.
"So spill the details already."
"Please send the payment first, Mr Mysterious," Number Seven said before he sent a payment request for a very large number of credits.
Mr Mysterious sighed before reluctantly paying the credits.
"Thank you for your patronage. Here is what happened," Number Seven said before explaining everything that happened since Director Drot first hired them to steal Spector.
"Hmmm, that mysterious armoured individual you described protecting the ship doesn't sound like the one we just saw in the steam, that means there are at least two of them, which is troublesome." Mr Mysterious said after hearing the story.
"I just came to the same conclusion. I originally suggested that Director Drot pay for a Rank Four family member, though now I'm doubting if that will be sufficient."
"How did you manage to persuade Drot to even pay for a rank four?"
"I managed to persuade him to pay for a rank four member because they happen to be related to one of those who already died, and I made it sound like they would go out of their way to get the job done."
"Are you sure it wasn't also for the increased fees?"
"Haha, well, that too." Number Seven said with a chuckle.
"So you are now doubting that this rank four family member will be able to get the job done?"
"I wasn't initially, but after seeing the stream just now and what this other armed individual, who happens to be Diva Lorelie's boyfriend, can do, as well as the other armoured individual. I'm starting to think it will need at least a rank two, or maybe even one."
"Are you trying to get me to pay the same amount of credits again, Number Seven?"
"I'm just making an observation, Mr Mysterious, you yourself saw what that individual was capable of, and now you know there are two of them on that ship. Also, the original fee you paid was just for this information."
"Drot won't be happy when he learns that you handed the ship over to another client."
"This is business, My Mysterious and Director Drot knows that. He will, of course, receive a full refund for the rank four he hired."
"But not the original group he hired?"
"He already paid for that attempt, and it failed; it was his choice to hire low-level rankers of my Noir family."
"Very well, then let's discuss the details."
💫💫💫
"Well, now wasn't that unexpected and thoroughly exciting, ladies and gentlemen. I'm happy to say that everyone on board Diva Lorelie and Rowena's granddaughter's boyfriend's ship, wow, that's a mouthful, are safe and sound." Malgath said towards the studio audience and cameras before asking, "Let's find out what our guests thought of the stream, Eri. Why don't we start with you?"
"I naturally did not doubt that Diva Lorelie's boyfriend would successfully defeat the attacking ships and protect everyone onboard his own ship. I was most impressed by his level of technology, especially the Molecular Disintegration Bomb. I didn't even know tech like that existed in such a small package."
"I agree, that was certainly a surprise for me. What about you, Kasumi?"
"I must admit that while I enjoyed the stream, I was disappointed that we couldn't see his tail in action. I suppose I will have to be satisfied that I even got to see it at all." Kasumi replied.
"You certainly were interested in seeing his tail," Malgath said with a smirk before saying, "Well, I suppose it now makes sense why Diva Lorelie's boyfriend would gift Rowena fifty per cent of Erkath Fashion, it's because he is also the boyfriend of Rowena's granddaughter, Stacey. However, we still don't know why Lady Erkath agreed to sell him half her company. Would either of the two lovely Divas care to explain this to us?"
"I'm not so sure I'm feeling inclined to answer your questions at the moment, Malgath, after how you spoke earlier, I'm more inclined to reveal this information to someone else, Sinead Quintana perhaps," Rowena replied as she crossed her arms under her ample clevage and raised an eyebrow.
"Hahaha, come now, Rowena," Malgath laughed nervously.
"I believe you meant to say, Diva Rowena," Rowena replied before leaning forward and using the console to end the holocall.
Malgath stared in shock at the place where the holographic screen featuring the holocall had been.
"It seems you touched a nerve with Rowena before and angered her, Hehe," Kasumi said with a flirtatious smile before covering her mouth and giving a small giggle.
"Cough, cough." Malgath coughed awkwardly before looking at the camera and saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be back after these messages."
💫💫💫
"Sigh, such an idiot." Ulesse Solar said with a sigh as The MMM Show went to a commercial break.
"He knows very well how bad Rowena feels for not being there for poor Stacey when she was younger and doing nothing even after she ran away. And yet here he is making it sound like she is a third wheel in the group relationship when diva Lorelie said herself that Stacey allowed her into the relationship.
Now I have to think of a way to help smooth things over between those two. Sometimes, I think my elder sister was right in not having any interest in romantic relationships."