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Plait the Prison
Planet
Issue #5
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Five
Bugtown
As the other caravan leaves, the Grey Ranger watches if drive
off and wonders of their fate. He also wonders how the boss could send a message
here before them, especially with the storm. But there is allot he does not know
about on the world and he figures there must be a way. But he has little time to
ponder it as the other caravan driver calls out to him. "I have a message for
you to deliver, Mr. Grey Ranger." He grabs a scroll and pulls it out. He hands
it to one of the clicks who heads over and hands it to him. "There is a man on
the other side of town who owes us, big-time. You are to give him this message
and collect the payment from him. If he refuses to pay up, work him over and
then take anything of value. If he resists, feel free to kill him. Do you
understand?" The Grey Ranger just looks at him and makes no motion to indicate
if he does or doesn't understand. "I said do you understand?" The Grey Ranger
just looks at him and asks "How will I know where this man lives or what he
looks like?" The caravan driver laughs and says "I will send a few clicks with
you to show you the way and to bring back the payment." He then motions to the
group and singles out two clicks. "You two, go with the Grey Ranger and show him
the way to Putnar's place." They head over quickly, clicking the entire time.
"They know who Putnar is and will help you find him. Now go before it gets
dark."
The clicks lead the way through Bugtown. They head right
through the busy streets that make up the main section. As the Grey Ranger looks
around the town, he can see why it is called Bugtown. All around are different
insect species. There is a sprinkling of humanoids as well as some other
species, but for the most part, it is predominantly insect. He estimates at
least 70% of the residents are insects. There are many clicks moving around,
usually in groups. Their clicking noise fills the air and at times, borders on
deafening. There are also large groups of Colonants. As he looks at the
different groups of Colonants, he can see there are many different kind as they
are of various shapes, sizes and colors. Every so often, he will see a Regael.
They are always by themselves and often have a large staff with them. It is said
that the staff will start off bare but as they kill someone, they carve an image
that reminds them of their victim into the staff. As the Regaels become more
skilled assassins, their staffs are more decorated. At first, Warlords would
base their fee on how decorated their staffs were, but word quickly spread that
the Regaels were filling their staffs to up their fees, even when they were not
killing anyone. What the truth is, no one knows as the Regaels do not talk about
their business with anyone. As the Grey Ranger watches a rather large Regael
walk past, he is impressed by its sheer size. This specific one must be at least
fifteen feet tall and has a ten foot staff that he uses as he walks. The staff
is full of beautiful carvings. As he walks through with his long, black robe
flowing in the breeze, the other insects move out of his way. While any of the
insect species will eat the others, the Regaels are the only ones that
specifically hunt the other species for food. It is well known that after they
assassinate another insect, they will eat the body and bring back the head. As
the rather large Regael walks past, it looks over at the Grey Ranger and stops.
The Ranger looks back at it and their eyes meet for a moment. It then turns
around and continues walking. While this would unnerve most men, the Grey Ranger
thinks little of it.
As the men walk through the center of town, Tredd begins to
talk. "I don't like this mission." The Grey Ranger looks over at him and says
"One mission is the same as the next." Tredd looks up at the stoic ranger and
responds "This is a suicide mission. Putnar is a powerful warlord and we are
supposed to make him pay up." The Grey Ranger looks back at him with his
expressionless eyes and says "You know Putnar?" Tredd looks down and says "Yeah,
he works for Radak. But he was sent here to set up shop and spread Radak's
influence. In exchange for some muscle and weapons supplied to start him off, he
is supposed to pay a percentage of his take to Radak. But word is that he thinks
he is powerful enough to break away from Radak and has refused to pay anymore."
As they continue their journey, the Grey Ranger looks out of the side of his eye
and notices some Pedes down an alley. They seem to be watching him. He turns to
looks right at them and they scurry into the shadows. "I think we are being
watched." the Grey Ranger says as he keeps looking around. "What did they look
like?" Tredd asks. The Grey Ranger thinks for a second and then says "If I am
correct, they are Pedes. Never seen them but heard about them on my planet."
Tredd gets worried "They are poisonous and they always attack in groups. I don't
like this." As they pass another alley, the Grey Ranger looks down it to see if
any more Pedes are hiding there. He does not see any, but he knows they are good
at hiding. And they are quite flexible and can go down tunnels and under doors,
where others cannot. This makes them in demand as thieves and assassins.
After a few hours of walking, they finally reach their
destination. They look at a giant dwelling that is made of stone. The walls are
high and made of large blocks of stone that look quite solid. It is very plain
in design with a drab grayish hue. Very few buildings are built with any design.
The storms can level any building, so it is a waste of time and resources to
make anything fancy. This building looks like a large fortress with a large
drawbridge that is down. There are four guards standing on the drawbridge,
guarding it. The guards are Colonants and they are bright red in color. They
each have a white brand on their right shoulder. It is the letter P with crossed
bones behind it. The Colonants are about five and a half feet in height and
carry no weapons. The reason for this is that this species of Colonant are known
for their ability to spit a burning substance that resembles lava. It burns
anything it touches. But unlike fire, it sticks like tar and keeps burning
through whatever it lands on. This makes them formidable foes and quite feared.
They are quite fast and deadly accurate with their spitting. Beyond a weapon,
their lava like spit can also be used to burn through just about any surface.
They are also highly prized for their building skills. On their home planet,
they created elaborate stone buildings. This fortress is most likely the work of
the ants as they could use their spit to cut the blocks of stone.
Tredd stops and tries to pull back the Grey Ranger. "You
should rethink this. Those are Burning Colonants and among the deadliest ones."
The Grey Ranger pauses for a moment as he looks at them. He then pulls out the
scroll and continues walking towards them. The clicks let him lead the way and
move behind him. They also are fearful of the Burning Colonants. The Grey Ranger
walks right up to them and shows one of them the scroll. The ants all take turns
looking at the scroll as they make sure at least two of them are watching the
Grey Ranger. After they all looked at the scroll, one of them runs off with the
scroll, while the other three wait there and guard the entrance.
While they wait, Tredd starts to slowly move backwards. In
most situations, he likes his chances with the Grey Ranger. He has seen up close
what he can do. But against four Burning Colonants, he does not like the
chances. This may be a good time to split up this partnership and see if he can
find a way out of Bugtown. The clicks are also quite nervous. They are clicking
more than usual, something they do when they are nervous. The frequency and the
volume of their clicks tells allot about their moods. They make loud but slow
clicks when they are happy and really loud and really fast clicks when they are
scared. When their clicks are loud and deeper sounding, almost like a drum, they
are angry. They use it as a way to scare off attackers. It also makes them lousy
gamblers as they cannot bluff to save their lives.
The other Colonant returns and motions for the Grey Ranger to
follow him. The clicks start moving to follow him, but they are stopped by the
other guards. The guard turns to the Grey Ranger and says in a broken voice "You
- come - just - you." Speech is something that is not instinctive to most of the
insect races. They are used to talking in clicks, buzzing and other noises. Many
of their language is from rubbing their antennas together. Most of the sounds
are very high pitch and not heard or understood by humanoids. So they have
worked to learn to speak in a language that others could understand. It is very
slow and very to the point and only used when necessary. Their own high pitch
language is a reason why many of the humanoid creatures avoid bugtown. Lythians
are one example of a humanoid that would never come to Bugtown. With their acute
hearing, they would go deaf from all the high pitch talking. As the Colonant
disappears into the building with the Grey Ranger, the clicks move back away.
The sight of the Burning Colonants waiting for a reason to burn them is enough
to make them comply.
The interior design of the fortress is almost as drab as the
outside. The walls are almost barren with only sporadic torches to provide
light. The blocks of stone are fitted so tightly that no light penetrates into
the fortress. If it wasn't for the torches, it would be pitch black once the
light from the main entrance was gone. As the Grey Ranger is escorted into the
fortress, he sees quite a few other Burning Colonants in the building. They all
look at him with an odd expression. He looks different than any other humanoid
they have come in contact with. They are also not used to seeing a humanoid that
does not fear them.
As they enter a large room, they find a half dozen Colonants
guarding a huge man who is sitting at a large wood table. The table has a giant
roasted Rooter in the middle of it. He is chewing on one of the giant Rooter
legs as he sees them enter. He sets down the large leg and rises. As he stands
up, the Grey Ranger realizes he is not a normal humanoid. He stands at twelve
feet tall and is thick as an redwood. He is a race called the Monoliths, a giant
race that was at one time a peaceful people. But as war came to their galaxy,
they were forced in the conflict. The more they fought, the more bloodthirsty
they became. Soon they went from a planet of pacifists to one of the most feared
planets in the known universe. They were also highly prized by other races and
often were paid large sums of money to be mercenaries. The men are known to grow
as tall as fifteen feet and are strong beyond comprehension. They are the only
other race on this planet that can rival the Regaels in height and strength.
There are very few on Plait and the ones that are there quickly become Warlords.
As the Monolith walks over to the Grey Ranger, he puts out a
very large hand and says "You must be the Grey Ranger, I have so looked forward
to meeting you." The Grey Ranger does not know if he should shake his hand or
not. He did not expect such a pleasant greeting, considering the nature of his
visit. "Did you not read the scroll?" the Grey Ranger said as he shakes the
man's hand. "Didn't need to read it." he says as he laughs. For the first time,
the Grey Ranger feels a grip that rivals his own. "If you did not read the
scroll, they why did you let me enter?" the Grey Ranger asks. As the two let go
of each other's hands, the man looks at him and says "I did not need to read a
scroll that I wrote." The Grey Ranger is confused. Is this some sort of
elaborate hoax or a mind game? He then asks "If you wrote it, then why did your
enemy have it?" The man laughed again "Because I wanted to meet with you,
without alerting anyone. I have a proposition for you." The Grey Ranger is now
very skeptical. What reason would he have to align himself with another warlord.
He already is doing the bidding of one. But he knows that the chances of leaving
here alive are not very good, so he decides to listen to the proposition. "What
is your proposition?" he asks as he continues to make eye contact with the
giant. "Word is that you want off this rock. Radak told you that he would tell
you where you could find a teleporter if you helped him, correct?" The Grey
Ranger keeps his gaze on him as he answers "That is correct." The giant then
says "If I showed you an actual working teleporter, would you align yourself
with me?" The Grey Ranger is very skeptical now. If he really had a teleporter,
why would he not have left the planet? What reason would he have to stay on this
planet? "If you have a working teleporter, why are you still here?" The giant
looks at him and says "Plait has many safeguards to insure no one leaves the
planet. One of them is a disrupting field that prevents anyone from teleporting
from the planet." This is the first that the Grey Ranger has heard of this, but
knowing the lengths they went to insure the planet is escape proof, it does not
surprise him. But it does create new questions. "If you cannot teleport off this
planet, then what use is this teleporter to me?" The giant laughs as he replies
"We can teleport off the planet, but we first have to disable the disrupting
field. And that is where your help is needed." The Grey Ranger thinks about it
for a moment and then says "Show me the teleporter."
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