Chapter 13

Father and Son

Moon City - Lylat Embassy

Tarion III

9:00 AM Local time

Mick parked his car, a black, hydrogen-2 powered, four-door Audi SVX-4000 outside the Lylat Embassy, waiting patiently, reflecting on how all cars in this day and age ran off the abundant, slightly dumbed-down environment friendly combustible liquid that provided three times more power than gasoline. He also mused on with how far the combustion engine had come since the discovery of frictionless materials and artificial, fully-synthetic oil that could be filtered, reused, and recycled. His father, Symon Daniels had taken a taxi to the embassy a few hours before to finish up his retirement paperwork and figure out his pension, and now Mick was waiting to pick him up. Symon had moved from Corneria to Tarion III after his wife and Mick's mother, Catherine Daniels had died. From here, he finished the last few years of his career in the Cornerian Defense Force working as an embassy guard to hopefully get some extra money into his pension for retirement.

Today, the day for his father's retirement had finally arrived. Symon wasn't happy about it, though. He enjoyed his work in the CDF, as he pridefully embraced his duty being able to protect the people of Corneria and help her defenders in any way he could. When Symon had started his career in the CDF, he was a medical doctor and surgeon, serving on the medical frigate "Angel Of Mercy" doing his best to heal battlefield soldiers' injuries, and even conducted life-saving surgeries on them. Symon had saved more soldiers' lives during the Lylat Wars than Mick could remember, and Symon himself eventually lost track of the number after countless procedures and surgeries. His father was very proud of his service.

Though in Mick's eyes, he viewed his father as being a little too proud. He had left home for five years straight to serve in the Lylat Wars, and that meant he missed out on some of Mick's greatest moments growing up. Mick was 8 years old when Symon went off on his five-year military tour on the frigate, which meant that he missed out on witnessing many of Mick's early accomplishments in life. Symon didn't end it there, either, and re-enlisted for another tour on the Angel of Mercy when the Aparoid Invasion began. That crossed over with the time when Mick graduated high school and received his diploma when he turned 20, after fixing the Great Fall of Lylat by going back through time to prevent the catastrophic event. The fact that Symon was unable to attend the ceremony and witness one of Mick's proudest moments of accomplishment had left the younger fox with a bitter aftertaste, Mick still feeling extremely salty about it to this day, and Mick was now 27 years old.

Mick, despite his tart, zealous feelings on the issues with his father, still couldn't help but take pity on him when Symon asked to move in with him and his new boyfriend, Xen Winchester on Tarion III after Catherine had passed away due to a sudden and unexpected illness, despite Symon's best efforts to save her from her ailment. Father and son were both still hurting from that seething wound, Catherine's death still fresh in their minds as she passed on two years ago.

Symon, when he moved into Mick and Xen's dwelling, a costal beach house, was surprised at how nice it was: It was fairly new, the building being only a few years old, and Xen had it renovated before they moved in. This got Symon curious on what Mick was doing for a living now, as Xen's job alone as a computer software and hardware specialist, as well as his under the table profession of being a cyber-security expert and advisor, despite the exceptional pay they provided, made nowhere near enough money for such a nice home even with Mick's investments in the galactic stock market. Mick had also given up the mercenary life three years ago and was no longer managing Flux Squadron, passing on leadership to Niles. Mick still would take occasional calls for the squadron on matters of consultation. Though that was as far as it went.

Still, it puzzled Symon where the extra income came from for his son's lifestyle. Symon, after digging into the matter further, found out that Mick was now working under the table as a Transporter, using his Audi, which had been heavily modified for that purpose, to transport goods for all kinds of anonymous clients, most of them being shady with motives unknown. Mick didn't even know what he was transporting on these jobs, due to the rules he setup for his contracts, or as Mick himself called them "deals." Even Xen would assist him on these jobs when he could as an operator, using his computer skills to hack into GPS satellites to keep tabs on Mick, as well as anything that could bring him harm on the jobs, which included law enforcement, as well as keeping Mick updated via a private data line he setup in the car. Granted, this earned Mick a high and steady income, for Mick's price tag for his transporter jobs was very expensive: The cheapest job he had ever done for a client had been quoted at 10,000 credits, with hardly any risk! Half of it needing to be paid in advance! The distance wasn't very far, either! Mick had only needed to drive ten kilometers on that job, which Symon saw as the funniest fact.

Mick then saw his father walk out of the embassy with an envelope of paperwork, a sour look on his face. Mick wondered if something happened.

He watched as Symon opened the passenger door, stepping into the car with a sigh as he closed it behind him.

"So, it's now official: You are fully retired, right?" Mick said, trying to be friendly as he started the car, the twin-charged W-12 engine rumbling to life.

"Sadly, yes. Though I'm not really happy about it." Symon replied, his tone reflecting his expression.

"So, how much did you make off with?" Mick asked, referring to Symon's pension as he started driving.

Symon sighed in disgust before he responded. "2.5 K."

Mick's eyes widened slightly. "2.5 K Million?! Wow, that better than good, that's excellent-"

"No Mick, 2.5 K." Symon interrupted, the specified. "2,500. Credits a month. That is my pension from now on. Honestly, I find it a bit of an insult, after everything I did in my service. Not to mention knowing that others who did the same amount of lifting got more. Though, I guess that's how the cookie crumbles in the CDF."

Mick sighed, realizing he had greatly over-estimated. "Well, apologies for that, and..." Mick then reached into the back seat, retrieving a gift bag. "...Happy Birthday, Dad. Got this for you before I came to pick you up. Last time I checked this was your favorite brand of caviar."

Symon investigated the bag, getting out a sealed container of fine caviar in his favorite brand. He put on a small smile. "Ah, thank you son."

"Still, with all due respect I don't see why I had to come pick you up." Mick said, changing the subject as he started to gripe slightly. "I mean, I did get you your own car a while back."

"Oh, come on son, you know I love our quality time together." Symon said with a grin.

"You seem keen to forget that I now sit in traffic for a living." Mick pointed out bluntly. "Also, last time I checked, Tarion III wasn't exactly your, uh..."

"Oh, Mick you know why." Symon turned his head to look out the passenger window, the joy fading from his face. "After everything that happened, I couldn't just stay on Corneria anymore... Besides, your mother is buried there, which makes the entire planet seem like a depressing old graveyard."

Mick lightened up on his crass attitude. "You have a good point there."

Symon then turned back to Mick with a smug grin. "That, and I have also been very curious as to what you and your new flame Xen have been up to..."

Mick scoffed, unable to suppress a sarcastic smile. "Well, now everything makes sense: You simply moved here just to embarrass me, and rub the fact in my face that I am dating a tall, gigantic lion who happens to be a crack shot with a pistol, has some telekinetic abilities, which he mainly uses to throw a fold-up chakram of his design, an expert in martial arts and stealth, and is also outrageously muscle-bound. If you don't like it, then too bad. Sue me."

Symon only chuckled at Mick's response. "That's not the only things I've heard: I've also heard from certain friends in your circle, that Xen is quite an advanced techie, a very good hacker, and that he is one of the most skilled lovers you have ever had."

Mick rolled his eyes. "Really? You have to bring up the sex, too?"

"Come on, Mick. You know I can't resist a bit of teasing." Symon smiled.

"Yeah, of course." Mick said, nonchalant as his smart phone rang, going through the interface touchscreen embedded in the walnut-wood-trimmed dash.

"Well, what do you know? That looks like it might be a new client." Symon said, looking over the caller id, which didn't display a name, only a number. "You are going to answer that, aren't you?"

Mick pressed a button shaped like a phone receiver on the interface's touchscreen, answering the call. "Hello?"

"I received your number from a man named Nuka." A deep-sounding voice said over the phone.

"Be brief." Mick said, shifting his personality into business mode.

The next sentence confirmed what Symon had thought. "I'm looking for a transporter."

"I'm listening." Mick replied.

"I'm sending a representative of mine to meet you at a coffee shop on Eagle Drive, and Rue Dominique. You will meet him there at 11:00 AM sharp."

"And how will I know this contact?"

"Simple: He is a muscle-bound lion, colored tan and cream with a brown mane. He will be waiting for you alone."

The mystery client then hung up.

"Ah, the plot thickens, son." Symon said with a raised eyebrow, his tone sounding like the caller took all the joy out of his day. "It appears you have another transporter job."

Mick smiled at the change of fortune. "Yep. That's the way the cookie crumbles in the transportation business. I'm afraid I will have to meet you and Xen late for dinner tonight, dad. I'll drop you off at that wine shop you wanted to go to, then I need to get to the garage, and go over the car after the meeting with my client to make sure it's ready for this job, then notify Xen about this as well. You can catch a taxi home, right?"

"Of course, son. You don't need to worry about it." Symon said as Mick continued to drive.

# # # # # #

In Master Egad's villa near Moon City, Zarch hung up the phone. He turned to the rest of the Elite Gallery. Galen, Uniko and Zhald stood front and center, trying on their new combat outfits, getting ready to rescue their master.

"It has begun." Zarch said with a nod.