The Uli Rouge

[Kane]

Once again, the strange black shuttle descended to the surface of Gran Canaria. The defenses of the Uli Rouge were quite formidable, however they were static. Only ships entering the restricted air space would be shot. Since the shuttle's trajectory didn't enter the zone, the guns were content to wait. It didn't make matters any worse that the shuttle in question absorbed passive tracker signals like a sponge, or scattered them about like shotgun pellets bouncing off of an energy shield. Ricochet at its best.

What exited the silent machine was nothing less then a deja-vu to anyone who had seen Julius Kane appear before hand at the Veranda. One man dressed in fine green and blue flowing silks, veil still wrapped about his face. The other two were bodyguards, encased in the advanced powered armor of the Phantoms and carrying the Flechette cannons that was their trademark. It wasnt quite a perfect recreation, however

Come on then, lets not keep anybody up there waiting. The man and his defenders began their walk to the gate of the Uli Rouge. The shuttle behind them closed up and with a little flicker of light disappeared from sight. Even active trackers lost sight of the vehicle; the computers behind them insisting that nothing existed over there. Inside the belly of the invisible beast resided a whole squad of Phantom Marines, plus one of their dreaded Heavy Assault Armor units.

For those of you who dont know what a HAA unit is, imagine a tank. Now make it look humanoid, but replace the legs with a combo rocket and anti-grav drive. Each arm is a weapon platform, and the crash-cage protected head displays a single red eye. Mounted in those terrible hands were three weapons; Small homing missiles, the tank variant of the Nomad Energy Cannon, and the .80 caliber machineguns each HAA used to punch large holes in well, just about anything short of star-ship plate, and even then transport armor could be dented. Dark Star was taking no chances this time.

However, the squad and its support are not the primary subjects of this story. What is the subject would happen to be the silk-clad man and his two heavily armed and armored guards. The odd trio had now reached the gate at the base of the path, and awaited the inevitable paranoid servant to appear and request them to hand over their guns. No fuss would be made, so long as the weapons were returned after the meeting. Besides, the Phantom Marines could handle themselves quite well without guns, or even knives. And when the object is to protect a certain person and personal survival was not important, the marines became excellent shields. A fact Dark Star hoped not to test on this particular visit, but then again he expected nothing from the first visit either. No chances; they had been there and done that, and had no intentions to let there be a repeat.

"Oh Miss DeLuna! It's Julius, dear! I got your invitation and was in the neighborhood, and thus here I am at your front gate once more." He looked behind him at the two guards for a moment before speaking again.

"I hope you don't mind if I brought a pair of friends with me. Some of yours were a tad rude last time, and I want to be sure nothing happens this time."

---

This is the real true story of rock and roll; it was not about anything more then, how to live your life, as a gangster, in sartorial splendor, and turning the world into a place where normality would never return again...- Malcolm McLaren