Previous Post Adventures in Parodyverse:  Zephiir’s Prophecy, Part 3     Shen Rae raced downward through long, winding Caphan palace stairways, moving quickly.  She took one of the smaller, spiral stairways, not the wider grand staircase, because she didn’t want to run into anyone, whether friend or foe.  At worst, that could lead to an unwanted battle - at best, an unwanted distraction.     That last stairway, however, was much more risky.  The dungeon was one level below the basement and cellar, and there was only one stairway in or out, for security reasons.     Shen Rae reached under her sleeve and pulled off her bracelet.  It changed shape to a flat, smooth, rectangular saucer with rough treads on either side for grip.  One end had an ominous looking wide slot, which ever so slightly glowed blue.     She silently and slowly inched down the stairs, careful not to make noise or cast an obviously moving shadow.  At the bottom was a rough stone floor which looked ancient, and like it was simply assembled - there were gaps between the stones.     Then around a corner was the cells.  There was no security - Shen Rae wondered if, when Kiivan’s personal guards visited him, they handled the aliens watching the cell already.     Kiivan rose and approached the bars as he saw someone approach.  In the dim lighting of the dungeon, he didn’t recognize her right away...until he saw the device in her hand.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“How many are there?”  Shen Rae asked.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Just four.”  Kiivan replied quickly.  He nodded toward her hand.  “But they have those, and a shuttle outside.”     She nodded.  “Stand back.”     Kiivan did as asked, and watched Shen Rae rotate her hand in a circle across the top of the device, looking like she was adjusting it.  Then she aimed it at the metal lock, and pressed a button -  the device fired a narrow, continuous silent laser that cut through the metal lock of the cell in an instant.  She then adjusted it again, and slipped it behind her belt.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Time to go.”  she urged him.     He paused to look at Shen Rae closely as he exited the cell.  She wore a body hugging charcoal fabric from the neck down, and boots, but her hands, face, eyes, and hair bore the likeness of a Caphan female.  If not for the clothing, and small differences, she could pass for a daughter of Caph.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Very nice.”  he complimented.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“I did make a promise.”  Shen Rae replied with a nod.  “Follow me, we have to get you out.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“No, I can’t leave the palace.”  Kiivan refused.  “Abandoning the palace while there are intruders is like surrendering Caph.  Even if it’s for a short time.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“I understand.”  Shen Rae nodded.  She took the device off of her belt again, flipped it over, and typed something.  The display on the bottom flashed something and then dimmed.  “I have a shuttle on the way.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“It can fly itself?”  Kiivan asked as Shen Rae led him to the narrow staircase out of the dungeon.  “Fascinating.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“It’s time I talked to you about something.”  she said, lowering her voice to a whisper.  “If the presence of my people is going to endanger Caph, I’d like to talk about sharing some of our defensive capabilities.”     She suddenly stopped, and then pinned Kiivan against a wall just before a blast of plasma burned a hole in the stone wall beside them.  Shen Rae took the small, rounded device off of her belt and fired back up the stairs with a blast just as powerful.  It sent small pieces of stone rubble rolling down the stairs.     Then she left Kiivan behind for a moment while she charged up the  stairway.  There was a dull ‘thump’, and a man in a silver and black uniform tumbled down the steps, unconscious.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Come on.”  Shen Rae urged Kiivan from the top of the stairs.     This time, she didn’t sneak through the halls of the palace.  The firing of weapons made enough noise that she could hear shouts, and knew the intruders had been alerted to her presence, and probably the breakout as well.     Instead, she kept checking the device she carried, and waited until it said the shuttle was on the other side of the wall.  Then she simply blasted a hole, providing means for escape.  The shuttle was floating just outside the hole.       Ã¢â‚¬Å“We have to jump for it,”  she said.  “Don’t worry, we’re not leaving the palace.  There are weapons we can use to take control of it again.”     Kiivan nodded.  He liked that plan.     He was a little disappointed though, when he made the jump across to her shuttle, and was handed a single, silvery, long narrow stick with grip in the center.       Ã¢â‚¬Å“What’s this?”  he asked.     Shen Rae took it from him and demonstrated.  “An energy rifle, a club, or a sword.  Whichever you choose.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“How do I...?”     She demonstrated quickly.  Its default configuration was a metallic rifle.  Pulling backward on the grip forced it to morph into a long, sharp blade for close combat.  The club was simple enough to make Kiivan feel unintelligent for asking - being made out of solid metal, and well balanced, the rifle itself could be used to hit someone.     She handed him two more.  “For your personal guard, once you find them.  Hide them somewhere until you find them.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Wait...where will you be?”  Kiivan asked suddenly, realizing that Shen Rae seemed to be talking as if she wouldn’t be there.     Shen Rae responded with a sly smile.  “I’ll be preparing a surprise.” ---     The shuttle Shen Rae piloted was a sleek, silvery stub-winged spacecraft, the size of a mobile home on Earth.  It seemed to have no windows from the outside, moved with no sound, and could cloak itself to complete invisibility.     She piloted it with a joystick control, like a fighter pilot.  That meant she could float it much like an extremely agile helicopter, around to the front of the palace.     The joystick telescoped upward slightly, offering an array of buttons for weaponry.  She tapped the button on the top, auto-targeting the closest object in sight - her own shuttle’s near-twin, from the visiting Alliance.  There were two of them, which meant a ground force numbering as many as a dozen.     Once she took aim at one of the two shuttles, her own shimmered with blue energy as the cloak dropped - to make her presence obvious and visible.  At the same time, she began jamming ground communications, while she opened fire.     The one shuttle exploded, rocking the second one.  Windows on the palace shattered.  Just as Shen Rae anticipated, the Alliance crew raced outside to see what was going on.  She switched weapons to concussive energy pulse - it impacted the group of intruders and threw them against the building.     Shen Rae pulled the joystick hard left, and then forward, accelerating rapidly away from the palace.     As if on cue, Kiivan and his two best guards crashed through the entrance doors and trained their newly acquired weapons on the intruders that were left conscious.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“You are now prisoners of Caph.”  Kiivan told them.  He looked at his guards.  “Get my soldiers out of the dungeon.  Tie up all of the intruders out here and strip them of weapons.  When they wake up, give them a choice:  They can leave peacefully in the remaining shuttle, or they can stay in the dungeon.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Where is she?”  one of the guards asked, referring to Shen Rae.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Obviously she doesn’t want them to know she’s here.”  Kiivan whispered.  “We’re more than able to handle this ourselves, yes?”     The two guards nodded in agreement, and one of them raced off to get more security soldiers, as asked.  He returned a few minutes later with a squad of tired-looking but eager guards armed with traditional daggers and staffs.  They began tying up the intruders.     Kiivan, satisfied that he had regained control of the palace, set off to his quarters.  He knew exactly where Shen Rae would be. ---     As soon as he arrived at his quarters, the door guard gave him an extra long nod.  That was a subtle signal, telling him that the guest he awaited was within.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“We need to talk.”  Shen Rae said as soon as he entered, and the door was closed.  “If you’ll pardon my forwardness.”     He nodded, and walked across the room to sit on the large cushion, on the foor, where he traditionally sat on when listening to important visitors.  Shen Rae knew the drill - she sat too, facing him.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“I’d like to give Caph’s defensive capabilities a boost.”  she offered.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“No.”  Kiivan shook his head, sounding determined.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“No?”  Shen Rae sounded confused.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“We pride ourselves on being traders, and a hospitable paradise.  If we arm ourselves heavily, we’ll be a target instead.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“You have a point.”  she agreed.  “Perhaps this can be done more subtly.  Rather than have your soldiers guard the palace with pulse rifles--”     Kiivan interrupted her by raising his hand.  “You don’t understand, Shen Rae.  We of Caph explore technology, but we don’t let it become central to our lives.  We don’t let it dilute the simplicity of life.  I thought you understood that, raising a grove of trees in the middle of the desert.”     Shen Rae saddened, and then slouched.  “I did.  The charm of it all overtook me, and I wanted it, too.  Now I just want to protect it, to keep someone else from destroying it.  There has to be a way.”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Maybe there is.”  Kiivan rose from the cushion slowly.  “Your shuttle is still here, yes?”     Ã¢â‚¬Å“It is.”  Shen Rae stood as well.     Ã¢â‚¬Å“Perhaps now is a good time to teach me to fly it,”  he said.  “I have something to show you.” TO BE CONTINUED?      -- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2010 by Jason Froikin, and may not be  --    reprinted without permission.   -- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow --  Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin --  Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

I'm not really sure what the technological level of Caph is at this point. They're obviously used to interstellar travel and weaponry, so it's hard to imagine that they would have none of their own. Plus, with Kiivan being trained by the Hooded Hood, it's a sure bet he's something of a twisty one himself.

Looking forward to the next part....