Pride and Politics

The second time he saw her in person was almost four galactic years later.

Olsar had filled out by then. The ongoing Zebesian War had claimed three of his older siblings and he was now set to inherit a whole system, several planets all to himself. Publicly, he mourned the deaths of his brothers and sister and had scholarships and more parks named for them, doing all this and more in their memory. Senators within the Federation praised his sense of civic duty and he won the right to attend several diplomatic missions.

The four years had done him good in other ways, too. He had learned the ebb and flow of conversation, was as dangerous at the negotiation table as he was with his Zhannic blade. He'd become handsome as wisps of facial hair thickened and lengthened in a cultured goatee. His fashion sense was daring avante garde, containing a hint of his nefarious youth. Those that knew nothing of his past found it shocking, but it made him seem more of the people than above them.

All would have been more shocked to learn that, in private, he sometimes wondered if there might be some way to get the rest of his siblings killed. Quietly, carefully, he learned that one of his old Tavlek lackeys had been released from prison. He had been a leader, his name Bekhesh, and stories said that he had even managed to do well for himself in the years since his release and was now looking for a wealthy patron to attach himself to.

Olsar was happy to hire him on as personal security.

“A criminal?” some asked, scandalized.

“A reformed criminal,” Olsar answered, straight-faced. “Those that pay their debt for the mistakes they made must be forgiven for those mistakes. Why should we force them into circumstances that will force them to repeat those mistakes? A high wage and trust extended will keep him from rescinding.”

Olsar's words were shared by important people, who found themselves grooming the young would-be Baron for positions of power. Bekhesh was an intimidating presence that lent Olsar weight, his silence somehow punctuating the words of the Kanvian noble.

“How many of your old contacts do you have?” Olsar asked, he alone with the Tavlek on a small vessel that was overlocking construction of an art house he had commissioned in the name of his dead sister.

Bekhesh spat and grinned.

In the shadows of political intrigue, a deal was struck – back channels and code assembled to arrange the trade of a small sampling of chromextin and chlorium to an elite Zebesian force. In return, that force would wage a brief war on the Kanvian Empire, targeting the nobility as much as possible. After that was carried out, Olsar would pay them in greater quantities of both chemicals to keep his people secure.

It was a good scenario, one carefully considered and planned for. Bekhesh worked through shells to insulate Olsar from discovery in case the worst should happen, but how were either of them to know that one of the Federation generals had cracked the Zebesian code?

The exchange was to happen in private, with Olsar meeting with the Zebesians in person out around the edge of the Jovian Systems. The Federation General Malkovich could spare none of his own forces to deal with what he saw as a problem, so he farmed the job out to the Hunter.

She was firmly established by now, a hero of the war.

The Zebesians attacked her on sight.

Olsar watched from within the Zebesian headquarters, whistling to himself and knowing that his allies wouldn't stand a chance. Annoyed, he ducked down shattering hallways with Bekhesh, thoughts racing fast.

When Samus found Olsar and Beklesh they were both stripped and in suspended animation, trapped in slaving pods that the Zebesians had brought with them. They were not alone and both the Tavlek and the Kanvian knew how to use them and make it look like they had been captured. 

Though neither of them would ever know it and Samus would never admit it, her eyes did linger on their manhoods. Fighting can bring out the strangest urges. 

Samus turned them over to the authorities along with all the other slaves. She was paid her reward and left to pursue the next bounty. Olsar and Bekhesh were debriefed, questioned about how they might have been taken. The Federation revealed that they had broken the Zebesian code and knew that the Zebesians were working with a Kanvian noble, but they did not know which one.

Because of Olsar's ruse and well-known known philanthropy, both he and his bodyguard were freed of suspicion.

When Olsar and Bekhesh secretly returned to the location they discovered that one of the Zebesians had not fallen during the slaughter, though the creature was greatly injured. They turned the victim over to the Zebesians as an act of good faith, and were rewarded when that Zebesian agreed to the prior terms they had reached.

Over time, Oslar, Bekhesh, and Weavil would become quite close friends.