Space Odyssey: Spectre-Chapter 537: Guards

"Who is he?" A burly guard asked as he blocked the tunnel. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"He is..." The golden toothed man flinched as Jace kicked him in the back.

"He is just the guide. I came to do some business. I am new to town." Jace answered the guard as he guided his horse forward.

"Then you can either make a payment or get a proper sponsor." The guard put a hand on his weapon while some other guards came out from their hiding spots.

"I could also kill you and walk past anyways. Now I can go in and do business, or I can kick your ass and take what I want. Pick." Jace answered as he looked around at them with a chuckle and an unimpressed gaze.

The initial guard quickly reached into his coat. But Jace was already moving forward through the air. Grabbing the guard’s wandering hand when he arrived in front of him. While his other hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air.

The guard started kicking air as he choked on his own spit while the other guards took a second to catch up with what happened. Jace was already pulling out the guards weapon and leaning his head out of the way as he tried to grab at Jace. "I know you are there."

"Ho ho ho?" A boisterous voice chuckled as the door they were guarding slowly slid open to reveal a large and round man. "You are all good kid, the guards were just giving you a hard time. Apparently it has been awhile since a foreigner appeared."

"Foreigner?" The gold toothed man from earlier flinched and looked like he was about to run away. But Jace glared at him and he froze in place.

"Ho ho ho! Quite the death glare you got! I bet you have killed tons of creatures. Maybe enough to fill a planet." The man declared as he waved off the guard. "Now toss aside the moron and bring that one with you. The Basilisks will want him, you can sell him for a decent price to them."

"What no-" The gold toothed man stopped again as Jace glared at him after tossing the guard aside. This time he turned to run away but Jace grabbed him by the neck and he went limp as Jace temporarily cut off the electricity in his body. Putting him in a state of sleep.

Jace tossed him onto the back of Colonel who neighed as Jace grabbed his reins and led him forward. The large man moved aside before walking alongside Jace through a rocky tunnel that started leading down. It was not straight down but instead it led to the side and led downward in a spiral formation. Something that was most certainly not natural.

"So, you got a name, foreigner?" The man asked as they walked past some people that looked homeless going up the tunnel they just came down.

"Hmm... It would not be a good idea to give you my actual name. So... you may call me... Gladiator." Jace answered as he picked out some detail in their gaze, especially their greed that was oozing off them in waves.

"Gladiator? Nice and simple. I like it. Ho ho ho!" The man laughed as he adjusted his posture and placed a large shotgun he had hidden on his shoulder. It had a blade welded on the end of the shotgun. "It fits too since you are such a physical monster. Even with this at my side, I could tell I only had about a fifty percent chance of survival. I do not know if you have encountered my kind before but we have genetically modified ourselves so even our young can pick the best outcome from any situation."

Jace nodded, "I have not encountered a species like that before. Although we do have plenty of species with battle instincts developed from evolution instead. It was quite a benefit when they finally joined our side. It was annoying to fight against though." Jace admitted as he saw a small vehicle slowly drive past them on the other side. This time he could clearly see a few limbs hanging out the bed of the truck.

"Those are probably the dead homeless and remains of species from the arena. They get tossed out after everything useful is extracted from them. Which typically includes flesh, brains, hearts, bones, there are all sorts that will consume that stuff depending on the species. How about you? Any particular species you want to try?" The man told him after noticing Jace’s lingering gaze on the bodies.

"No, by the way. One of the bodies in the bed of that truck is still alive." Jace informed him as they began to hear noise as they got closer to what was undoubtedly the exit of this downward spiral.

"Probably a slave attempting to escape. I am not going to interfere." The man chuckled and shrugged, "hmm... ho ho ho to be young and vigorous enough to withstand that smell. Do you remember those days?"

That actually reminded Jace of something. What age was he? Still eighteen, nineteen, or was he twenty now? He was so used to the on and off excitement of a military life that he did not really recognize the years that passed him by. "Mhmm... I preferred running a private information extraction business in those days." Jace answered.

"Information extraction? Hacking or torture?" The man asked, clearly intrigued. "Actually that might earn you some units while you are here."

"How about you tell me some information in turn? Like your name, or perhaps about the various gangs." Jace pointed out in annoyance at the man’s clear intent to dig up more information.

"Ho ho ho... how fair. Very well. I am called Pliro." The man answered with a chuckle. "I can tell you about the gangs. But I just have one more question."

Jace frowned as he thought about the name and sighed. "Clearly not your real name either. But it will work. Go ahead, ask your question. I will decide to answer depending on how valuable the answer would be."

"The Gators are going to love you." Pliro declared as he adjusted his walk as the tunnel started straightening out. "Do you know that you are being tracked by the military? I got a call from the people that run the place. They actually sent me up to watch and follow you."

"I know. They already tried to capture me and I subdued the group they sent. They have clearly decided it would be better to watch me and wait for a better opportunity than to send more lambs to the proverbial slaughter." Jace explained with a shrug.

"Proverbial." Pliro nodded, "got it. You injured them but did not kill them. So your people believe in a peaceful first contact. I suppose that Commander Ajax really did start the fight in the Timber Village in that case. With that information I can supply you with basic knowledge of the basic gangs as well as where you can sell all that gear for the best price."

Jace thought about what just happened and realized that Pliro used his calculation ability to break down all of the information he had about Jace, he also said it aloud to lure Jace into acknowledging it, which would in turn cost Jace. "You mean you can lead me there." Jace scoffed and Pliro looked at him in confusion. "You were sent to keep an eye on me. It would be annoying if you followed me around like a lost pup and that would result in some misinformation among the other criminals."

"Ha..." This time Pliro’s laugh was fake. "You are annoyingly difficult to match wits against. Very well. I will act as your guide."

They arrived at the exit of the tunnel as it opened up to a massive cavern. No, the word cavern did not do this place justice. A more suitable definition would be a massive underground city. With the only thing above the houses and structures being the roof and the massive metal pillars.

"Huh..." Jace almost asked a question but held back. Instead he looked at the area as some guards slowly approached them but were glancing at Pliro with caution. While Jace figured out how an underground structure like this was not flooded. It was because this island, or rather this set of islands used to be a mountain. It would be more apt to say that sea level had risen on this planet. This likely used to be a hollowed out mountain with strategic military importance. There were probably a number of fail safes to keep the mountain secure and structurally intact.

"Excuse me... there is a fee... ah!" The guard flinched as Jace looked at him.

"This time the guard is telling the truth." Pliro chuckled as he pulled out a few flat pieces of metal and dropped them in the guard’s hand. "This should cover all four of us. You will pay me back for your horse and quarry once you get some units." Pliro declared while Jace growled out before following Pliro down the slope into the city.

"Thank you sirs! Have a good stay in Submundo!" The guard called out as they walked away.