Chapter 6. Causing trouble

Thaum had everything decided. So the first thing he would do is leave the planet.

He spent a little extra time in a secluded ally setting up a little formation. Then left strait towards his ship. Thaum wanted to be seen leaving so he kept his face, but that also meant the “butler” following him finally managed to get to him.

The man had a greying beard and fine suit. He moved like a soldier once he noticed Thaum saw him and something more sinister before then. A private guard now turned assassin assumed Thaum.

He said, “Mr. James,” he said, referring to the name his computer gave the docking terminal. “do you have a minute to talk about business.” Then added quieter, “lucrative business.”

Thaum chuckled, “Sure, I have one minute. I have given you the run around after all and I like the persistence.”

The man laughed awkwardly before saying, “To the point, good. The master requires transport for one man and some cargo--”

Thaum interrupted, “illegal”

“no Mr. James--”

“volume and weight of cargo,” Thaum said.

The man thought for a moment, “one person and a suitcase for personal ite--”

Thaum said, “destination. Scratch that, how far away is it by warp two”

He looked up. Calculating in his head, “two days, maybe three. I’m not too familiar wit--”

Thaum heard the price then turned and walked away, “he has two hours to get to my ship. I won’t wait.” Now Thaum had another destination.

The butler immediately called someone as Thaum was leaving.

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Two hours later.

Thaum was drifting through space again. A young man clutching a suitcase sat in a console chair. Thaum told the man to look at something then magicked the man asleep. He was going to shove the man in the cryosleep pod.

Mana flowed through Thaums body. Enhancing his body. He lifted the man before pausing, “computer turn off gravity.” Thaum pushed off towards the storage room.

After stuffing the man into the pod he told the computer to keep it closed if the man woke up and message him. Then messed around with the briefcase. It had a thumbprint, iris, and DNA scanner. If that wasn’t enough there was a keypad too.

Thaum didn’t have the knowledge to bypass all that. Instead, he phased his hand into the briefcase and pulled out a gun. He chuckled. Walked over to the replicator and punched in a few settings.

Out popped a small paper-thin copper plate that said, “The 10-minute gun” then in smaller letters, “because it takes me 10 minutes to get it out my of ridiculous suitcase.”

He attached it with a little welding gun and put it back in the suitcase. Then threw the case into the pod room.

He told the ship to fly towards their new destination. Osirus 3. Then to stop once they were outside of sensor range. Of the world and the supply station.

An hour later Thaum was outside sensor range. He put the ship to a full stop. Changed his face. Focused on his magics and then vanished.

He reappeared in the secluded ally that he had set up an array in earlier. It was empty. Just as his array had said it was before he teleported.

Thaum looked up instead of checking an actual clock by habit, it was a fist before dusk. Plenty of time. The streets were surprisingly empty considering the time. Although he had only seen a handful of cars roaming the streets since he got here.

Thaum shrugged and moved towards the target. A mansion on the only hill this flat plain offered. It was pointlessly large. Covered expensive things. A vineyard on the backfield, a pool in the front. Quite extravagant for such a dry word. And quite the contrast when the aqueducts of the city ran dry.

However, the part that interested Thaum was the security. And there was plenty to be interested in. Guards, no soldiers in the thirties to forties patrolling. Cameras everywhere. Thaum eyes shifted through several forms of sight. There were automatic turrets. Hidden just below the grass. Air to air, anti-vehicle and anti-personnel near the doors and windows.

Thaum put a hand in his shirt to cover making a magical construct. He lifted a small bird out of his shirt that swiftly flew away. Directly towards the mansion.

He linked his vision with the construct as it landed on top of the mansion. The turrets and soldiers ignoring the pigeon that was common as the species was brought in duringTerra-forming.

With a closer vantage point, Thaum saw through the building. The defenses here were far fewer. Hidden wall turrets were small and only lined the entrance and the way to and in a conference room.

The bedroom seemed clear from here. Thaum created a few more pigeons to fly around. He sent some to alleys and several outside the city.

Thaum decided to move and change faces. He wasn’t seen but Thaum always assumed there were eyes everywhere, and he didn’t want to be picked up for staring at the world leader's house and be known as the pigeon man.

He found an alley and changed faces again. Thaum did some hand waving and became invisible before he walked up the wall.

On the roof, he looked around for a roof without any means of getting onto it. It didn’t snow here and barely rained, so most of the roofs were flat and had some sort of furniture on them. But it didn’t take him long to find one nearby that suited his needs.

A nice flat roof with a welded shut trap door. Thaum sat down and meditated to pass the time. Occasionally looking for a window for his pigeon to fly into. Or staking out other rich residences.

Just before dusk, a maid opened a window. Thaum's pigeon construct flew straight in startling the woman. He flew the pigeon around the mansion for a while until he found an out-of-the-way corner. Then the pidgin poofed out of existence. A magical array left in its location.

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Midnight.

Thaum focused. Air rushed past him for a moment before he stood up. He was now where the pidgin disappeared. He turned invisible and stalked the hallways. His vision cycling through visions. Mana sense on high alert.

He arrived outside his first destination. A small security room. Four armed guards and the security equipment Thaum wanted to disable. He thought for a moment. ‘What would be the best way to do this.

Thaum watched them through the wall. They were watching something on a screen. The screen was next to the door. Thaum went to the adjacent room. Gently pushed the handle down and slowly opened it. No squeak Thaum grinned, ‘rich people hated squeaky doors.’

Thaum phased through the wall behind the guards. Lifted his hands above their heads. One of the guards began turning but was already unconscious before seeing past his shoulder.

Thaum snapped the necks of three and read the mind of the last before killing him too. Too bad the guard only knew about the hallway defenses and cameras. Thaum sat down at the terminal and punched in the guard's code. Deactivated the cameras, but left the automatic turrets on with the menu to shut them down on the screen.

He left towards the main bedroom. He didn’t bother trying the door. He just phased through the wall instead.

The room was large, smelled of lavender. He could see two sleeping forms on the bed. When he cycled his visions he noticed a faint shimmer around the bed. There was a barrier. The kind that his ship has.

Thaum gestured the okay sign with the other palm up. A gesture of “what the fuck” from some culture Thaum had long forgotten about but still had the habit. He paused to think. He hadn’t tested phasing through a barrier before.

‘fuck it’ he thought. He hated when an enemy slipped away so he might as well put in the extra effort. Thaum walked up to the barrier. Then sat down and focused intensely. Mana leaked from his meridians. Then poof. The scenery changed. He was inside a blue misted cave. Luckily the cave went ahead.

Thaum stepped forward one step then sat down again. Poof he was back in the room, but this time inside the barrier. Thaum breathed a sigh. He was half expecting some sort of sensor to be able to pick up his magic.

Instead, he pulled out his laser pistol, courtesy of the brothel boss’s dead goon. And shot the wife in the head three times.

The governor jumped up. Lazer pistols weren't silent. Nor was the sound of your wife's head exploding from its maximum setting. Thaum waved his hand and the governor was unconscious with a silent scream frozen on his face.

Thaum grabbed the governor's head and ravaged his mind. Even unconscious this was excruciating. Memories flashed past. Thaum saw what he needed to see and upped the pain. The man woke up, but Thaum already paralyzed him.

Half an hour later Thaum blasted the governor in the chest until dead.

Thaum sighed. It was a good thing he started early because now he had a list of people to purge. Evil people. Corrupt people. Even a few that would just get in the way of anything good being done.