What if Argus times the arrival of the Mars Liason with the arrival of Wolf? (somehow)
Argus says "Lazlo! Watch out!" on an open channel.
Wolf hears, thinks Lazlo is in the Diplomatic ship, and Wolf destroys it, pissing off Mars
Argus assures that he himself never opened fire on the ship - He surrenders the flight recorders of all his ships to prove it
Argus paced the corridors of McQuarrie. A lot rested on his mind, but thankfully, he lacked the proper attention span for much of it to get to him. His usual mellow self stood resolute, just with a bit of a crink in its back. Moreso a crink than his usual.
He passed a window.
The wonderful visage of McQuarrie Model 5 had barely become commonplace before circumstances required a change of scenery.
Argus put his hands behind his back and gazed for some time out this window. His mind casually flitted from subject to subject, not too worried about anything, but not entirely too optimistic either.
Minion called to Argus in a panic. Argus groaned, "Can't I just have one day off?"
Minion came to a halt before Argus, panting for breath. Argus patiently waited with his hands still behind his back for the boy to speak.
A minute passed. Argus could tell, since he was counting his foot taps, one for every second, and he had hit sixty.
"Are you THAT out of shape, Min?" Argus said sardonically with a cocked eyebrow.
"Sorry.... Got lost. Lots of backtracking." Minion gasped out, improving slightly.
"You helped design the damn place. You can't find your way around it?"
Minion took a few deep gasps before he spoke again, a bit more fluently this time. "I went down the A6 hallway from the Thoroughfare. Used to go right to your office in the old McQ."
"And I fear we'll keep having more mixups like this until we get the new Ralcomm network going." Argus said and started tapping out an old DOS tune on Minion's skull. He stopped when Minion took a swing at Argus, which he dodged with ease. "What'd you come bolting for, anyways?"
"Oh yeah!" Minion reached into his trademark gray jacket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "Reply from Earth." He handed the paper to Argus, who unfolded it and read.
To Argus Swift;
We are sorry to hear of Mars' declaration of war on McQuarrie. McQuarrie has always been a valuable ally to Earth, and we normally would do anything in our power to aid you and your cause, however veiled they may be.
However, we regret to inform you that your request for assistance in dealing with Mars has been rejected. Earth is a peaceful planet, and possesses no military force that can rival against the considerable might of Mars. We are sorry, but what little aid we can offer is not worth the lives involved in having Mars declare war on Earth as well.
Our condolences;
The Senate Of 69
Argus pursed his lips and folded the paper back up. He handed it back to Minion, then turned back to the window.
Minion slipped the sheet back into his pocket. "So, what now?"
Argus remained silent.
"Well?" Minion spoke in a more serious tone. "Earth ain't gonna help us, so what're we gonna do?"
Argus said nothing.
"C'mon, man!" He tugged on Argus' arm a little. "We're toast if we don't do something!"
"Please let me ponder..." Argus said in the most depressio voice he could muster.
Minion took the hint. "Right... Sorry. I'll leave you to it."
Minion walked off with a bit of a hung head. Once he was out of earshot, Argus sighed.
"We're toast indeed...."
To improve his state of mind a little, Argus thought back to happier days.
Back when McQuarrie was still only in its Model 3 stage... A much smaller complex back then, it was still primarily a technological testbed. Earth had come into an utterly remarkable series of fortunate events, and had imposed a new world order to bring about the long-sought after World Peace. The Senate of 69 had gone long strides into producing this peace, but there were so few reasons to resist their council. As the first governmental system to officially embrace the therapeutic powers of sex, the Senate of 69 comprised only of 20 members that worked together to give advice to ailing countries on dealing with their problems. Never forcing rule, nor judging at all on any grounds, the problems of the world were handled with their swift magnificence.
Eventually, it was unanimously agreed by all the major powers of Earth to appoint the Senate of 69 as the primary figures of power of Earth.
Things miraculously worked out since then. To commemorate the new-found governmental system, Argus promised to begin plans of a Model 4 McQuarrie, with enhanced living and working conditions, to better serve their terra-based benefactors.
Curiously, Earth never made plans for their own space station.
"Mr. Swift!"
Argus sighed quite audibly. "How much more bad news am I gonna get today?"
The Comm Officer, Sax, smiled at Argus for a second. "If I was bearing bad news, I'd feel really guilty right now."
Argus' interest piqued. He turned away from the window and to Officer Sax. "Do go on!"
Sax handed Argus a small mp6 player with its own onboard speaker. "Report from our undercover guy."
Argus quickly snatched up the player and pressed play, holding its speaker against his ear.
"NEW VISITOR-" Argus lowered the speaker from his ear. "-came today. Same sorta deal as Nosey. Likes his shinies. Wants a taste of dick shaped like a bird. Waitin' for a chance."
Argus' face drooped a little at this bit of news. "So a wolfen mercenary is after Lazlo? This can't be good...."
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