It was a sunny afternoon when the dirty blonde man approached the mansion where he was instructed to meet his newest employer. He was dressed in a business casual manner, with an open collar blue dress shirt, a dark yellow jacket and dress pants and black shoes. 'It's... bigger than I expected.' Within a few moments, he found himself in front of a pair of ebony wooden doors. He was about to press the doorbell when the doors opened to reveal a luxurious interior. The man noticed a butler had already opened the door for him.
"The master will see you now in the garden, Mr. Madigan," said the elderly male butler in a neutral tone. Kaite Madigan nodded and stepped into the mansion. "Sir, I ask that you leave your shoes near the front." It took a few seconds for Kaite to place his shoes neatly by the shoe rack located in front of the coat closet. He then looked around in front of him. There were a number of passages leading to different rooms with one large staircase that allowed access to the second floor of the mansion. And if his eyes didn't fail him, he could make out another staircase indicating that the mansion had a third floor. Seeing the slightly lost expression on Kaite's face, the butler spoke again. "Just go through the passage in front of you and that will lead you to the greenhouse which is connected to the garden."
"Thanks." Kaite walked to where the butler pointed him and found himself surrounded by plants of all sizes housed in a small building made of glass. In the centre of the greenhouse was a small space where a table and two chairs rested. One chair was occupied by a man looking through an artbook and sipping a cup of tea. "You must be Matias."
The effeminate man looked up to see his visitor. "Ah, Mr. Madigan! Please sit down. Would you like some tea? It's one of my favourite blends."
Kaite took the other seat to sit across from his client. He didn't seem like much but he was offering a generous job. "I'm not much of a tea buff. My tastes lean toward a good can of beer."
Matias placed his cup down on his saucer next to him. "I too enjoy a good glass alcohol. Have you ever consumed whiskey circulated in Cosmic Era 49? A very strong taste... in fact, it was a bit too strong for me and I ended up acting a bit boorish to Mr. Rabble. I must apologize when I get the chance. Which reminds me of the job I had in mind. It is rather quite simple. I want you to track down Jess Rabble and act as his bodyguard." As he said this last part, he passed over a picture of Jess to the other man.
The mercenary frowned as he picked up the photo. He didn't feel like playing bodyguard to someone. Then again, he was a mercenary and he couldn't be too picky about what jobs to take. "Can you give me some more information on this Jess Rabble that you want me to look after?"
"He's a freelance photojournalist who's working for me. I hired him to record history as it occurs since I have no grasp on it." Matias started leafing through his artbook again. "For his search of the truth, he may get himself into sticky situations. This is why I want to hire you to help him when he needs a hand."
Kaite placed the photo in his jacket pocket. "Out of curiosity, what makes you so sure that his truth won't be distorted?"
A mysterious little smile was on the effeminate man's face as he spoke. "He has a fire that fuels him to fight whenever he finds a distorted truth. However, the will to fight is not enough. He may not have the skills to face an enemy who distorts the truth. I'm certain that you would fill in that gap. If that doesn't convince you, perhaps this will." Matias took out a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it across the table. "The number on this paper is an account number only accessed by me and another person of my choosing which will obviously be the bodyguard that I employ for my photojournalist. At the beginning of each month, I will deposit a sum of money equivalent to the figure written on the paper in the account and it will be available to be withdrawn by the bodyguard."
Every single instinct that the mercenary Coordinator possessed was screaming for him to take such a nice, easy and high paying job. "Your offer is quite generous. Very well. I'll take the job." Kaite got out of his chair and placed the account information in the same pocket where he kept the photo.
The mysterious look became replaced with a satisfied one. "Splendid! I'll notify the bank that you'll be the one to have authorization to withdraw the funds from that account. The first month's pay is already there. I would appreciate it if you can quickly find Jess and start your duties. I suggest you hurry. He's currently in the United States of South America recording the history of the USSA War of Independence. And there is a large Earth Alliance fleet heading there as we speak to take the region back by force."
"Really? Well, I better get a move on. See you around." He headed back to the front door to pick up his shoes before leaving the mansion to get his mobile suit which is a ZGMF-1017AS GINN Assault Type. Although it has the standard production colours, one can notice the unique cross mark on the left side of the body if they look very carefully. The mobile suit was crouched so that he wouldn't have to climb very high to get into the cockpit. 'Knowing the Alliance, they'll probably mistake me for an enemy. I'll have to sneak in very carefully because I'm not looking forward to facing a large number of Strike Daggers.'
**********
The mess hall at the rebel base was pretty packed by the time Jess Rabble came in. Over the past few days, he had been interrogated by two of Bernando's aides. It took a while but they finally believed that he only wanted to record history in the making. As soon as he got his equipment back, he headed down to the mess hall for some much needed food since the food they brought to him wasn't exactly top gourmet fare. He understood that they had to be very cautious since they're living in dangerous times.
While he was being getting food on to his tray, he heard some lovely singing coming from the kitchen. "Excuse me. Do you know who's singing back there?"
The server placed a helping of mashed potatoes on the photojournalist's plate. "It's the new hire for the kitchen. A girl we found just shortly after the operation ended. Her name's Setona Winters or something like that."
'She has a good singing voice.' With his food on his plate ready to be eaten, Jess looked around for a place to sit down and noticed three people sitting in the northwest corner of the dining facility. 'Wait a minute... that guy in the green is Ed the Ripper! I've got to get an interview!'
His stomach growled after that last thought as if reminding him where his first priority should be. 'Fine... I'll get that interview after lunch.'
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(Posted Thu, 20 Jul 2006 00:26)
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