Koraq scanned the ballroom once more, shifting her vision slightly into infrared, just enough to be able to see the glow of a plas pistol or heat blade. At nearly two and a half meters tall, she was easily able to see over all the others in the room to spot any threats. Nothing. Again. Only the security personnel spread throughout the perimeter grounds and outer edge of the room carried weapons; besides herself of course. The security guards around the room were all well dressed, wearing suits to blend in. They didn't blend in. They stood stiffly against the walls and near exits, their jackets bulging from ill-concealed weapons. They all wore HUD wraps over their eyes, giving them protection from sudden changes in light as well as access to tactical information and facial recognition. They were, like the ballroom guests, an assortment of humans, elves, and dwarves; however, they were also painfully conspicuous. But, Koraq had to agree, so was she.
Koraq also wore a suit. However, hers was tailored to allow quick movement and made of a dense nano-fiber material that stretched slightly to allow unimpeded movement. The suit was comfortable but did little to hide her large muscular frame. It also provided protection from most blades and small arms, but that was less important. She carried a kinetic pistol in a concealed holster below her left breast and two throwing knives were buried in her thick mane of dark hair that swept back from her brow and hung to her shoulders. Skintight braids along the side of her scalp gave her a mohawkish appearance as well as made it easier for her large, hypersensitive ears to pick up sounds without her hair interfering. Occasionally, she thought of shaving her hair off completely to solve the problem, but that would only strengthen the idea of her as some uncivilized, barbarian brute, and that would reflect badly on her ward, Lady Illeisiel Saylian. The politicians and the leaches that hung among them would see her as more savage and so treat her ward with less respect; that was not acceptable. The safety of her ward was paramount, and it was easier to do her job when people respected her Lady.
However, what made Koraq stand out most wasn't who she guarded, but what she was. After all, the Orks were responsible for more war and death in their collective history than all the other races combined. In fact, the Orks had fought each other to near extinction, now accounting for less than five percent of the population. Even worse, Koraq wasn't a common green ork, but a rare gray. A recessive gene caused one in every hundred thousand or so orks to be gray; physically stronger, larger, faster, and fiercer than all other orks. As well as a few lesser known... deviations. An untrained adolescent grey could carve a swath through any ten trained and armed soldiers of any race. Koraq was neither untrained, nor an adolescent, as her numerous tattoos of accomplishments displayed to all, though only the ones on her face were visible at the moment. Only the red berserker ork's, born once a century or so, could outmatch her.
She shifted her weight as she glanced around the large room. This wasn't a political gathering, so Koraq was spared the veritable assault of hundreds of security personnel and active sensor sweeps. Instead there were maybe two dozen guards with only six in the ballroom with the guests. The relatively low coms chatter allowed her to more easily focus on her surroundings. Her boring surroundings. The tedium of the party was making it hard for her to keep her mind from drifting to her plans for later tonight. Did she have everything she needed in her kit? Was Lady Saylian's schedule still cleared for tomorrow? Was she prepared to head down this path?
Yes, she was fully prepared. She had been planing this night for months. Had started down this path when she stumbled across Illeisiel's little secret. She had observed and monitored her ward for months before settling on this course. She had gathered supplies in secret, scoured the net for information, and meticulously groomed palace security to differ to her when it came to her ward. Her word had become as unquestionable as the Lady's, and she would use that to her advantage.
With a little difficulty, Koraq pulled her attentions back to the present. It wouldn't do to be distracted now so close to her goal. When she slid her gaze back across the crowd, she paused at the dais on the far side of the room. On the dais, there was an orchestra of mostly gnomes playing a quiet waltz. Among the diminutive figures was a troll hunched over a bass. His tall, lanky body was bent over the instrument as he worked the bow with one hand and the strings with the other. Koraq found the whole scene amusingly ironic. People mingled in time with the music but no one danced, the pomp and ceremony having ended over an hour before. None of the guests had left yet, but it wouldn't be long now.
Koraq glanced back to her ward, never more than a few paces away. They had been here for more than two hours now and she could see the strained weariness in Illeisiel's posture. They had originally planned to leave shortly after the host's speech, but she had been sidetracked by some minor lord or some such; Koraq couldn't remember his name. He was youthful and soft like most of those here, the others being old and soft. Though that wasn't to say the people in this room weren't dangerous in their own right, but their weapons were politics and rumor rather than the cold steel and hot plasma Koraq preferred. The young human's expressions and posture radiated barely restrained cockiness as he spoke of some inane subject; Koraq hadn't been paying attention to the conversation either. Illeisiel gave every appearance that she was hanging on every word with rapt attention, but her bodyguard knew her better than anyone and wasn't fooled. She saw the almost imperceptible way the elf's delicate, slender ears twitched back with impatience. The slight stiffness to her shoulders that belied her feigned interest. The way she nodded along to the conversation that most took for polite attention, but was actually her way to force herself to follow conversations she cared little about.
The bodyguard studied her ward. The elf was short, shorter than most humans, but lithe and elegant. In fact, she was petite in many ways, her small breasts that Koraq had only ever seen through a monitor, her firm little ass that begged for punishment, even her cute little nose. Koraq adored how much smaller the girl was. Her silky, golden hair was up now in an elaborate arrangement, but when it was loose it flowed to the middle of her back. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of blue that Koraq ached to see filled with passion. Koraq took a deep breath and, amongst the smells of the room and the nearby guests, she caught the soft scent of Illeisiel, but it was fleeting. She longed to return to her ward's suite of rooms, where that delicate scent permeated every room; especially her bedroom where there was always the slight undertone of her arousal.
Illeisiel shifted slightly closer to the human, her elegant dress shifting with her. She raised one pale, slender hand to her neck, resting her fingers against her collarbone in a relaxed manner that Koraq knew all too well, and laughed at something the lordling said. She had apparently reached the end of her patience; this was her signal that she required Koraq to extract her from the conversation.
Koraq was once again impressed by Illeisiel patience in withstanding the conversations as long as she had. Most Elves were patient, Koraq thought it was probably due to them living a century or two longer than most other races, but Illeisiel was especially courteous. She speculated it was due to growing up a politician's daughter. Her father had reigned as Primarch since before she was born, and just seeing how he treated her in the few years Koraq had been her personal guard was telling. He acted like she was still little more than a child. Koraq also speculated that her patience was at least partially a byproduct of her more private... predilections. She quickly pushed that thought away. She needed to remove her ward from the ballroom.
Koraq reached up and placed her finger against her ear piece for a moment then took three steps to her ward and bent down. "Lady Saylian, there's a call for you," she murmured, just loud enough for the pompous human male to hear her.
Illeisiel nodded acknowledgment and turned back to the man. "Apologies, Lord Cornic, I must step outside," she said, her tone every bit regretful. "A pleasure, as always."
He had been in the middle of some boastful story, completely exaggerated Koraq was sure, but he recovered after only a slight pause. "Of course, my lady," he replied. "We will have to get together again so I can further entertain you." He bowed in deference as Illeisiel excused herself.
As they made their way across the floor to the corridor beyond, Koraq scanned the room again, once more shifting her vision halfway into infrared. She knew she was nervous, but she couldn't help herself. She followed a step behind Illeisiel, both to keep an eye on her and to allow the guests to step back and make room out of deference to her high station instead of from fear or nervousness of Koraq's presence. Most people gave her a wide berth. It was racist, Koraq knew, but not undeserved.
As they entered the corridor outside the ballroom and made their way towards the hover pad, Koraq slipped her hand in her pocked and thumbed the call for their shuttle. Illeisiel slowed so she and Koraq were even and glanced up at her face. "Why are
you
frowning?" she asked. "I'm the one that had to put up with that idiot's preening."
Koraq chuckled. Illeisiel had known her long enough to read her stony expressions. She flexed her jaw, clicking her tusks against her top teeth in feigned irritation, "I'm frowning because you were supposed to leave," she glanced at her chrono, "twenty-six minutes ago."
Illeisiel made a decidedly unladylike grunt of frustration. "It's not my fault!" she exclaimed. "You know how father is about
potential suitors
," she said with a disgusted, mocking tone at the end.
"I do," Koraq replied disquietly, "but I'm the one blamed when you aren't home on time. Last time you were out too late he berated me in the middle of the audience hall. It was embarrassing."
Illeisiel waved dismissively. "You make is sound as if it was full of politicians. I distinctly remember it was only us."
"And the guards!" Koraq hissed. "You know how much they gossip."
Lady Saylian sighed and made a sharp gesture. "I don't want to talk about it," she said with finality. "I just want to go home, take off this dress, and enjoy the remainder of my night."
Koraq let the comment lie. They were alone for the most part, but the occasional guard could be seen as they strode down the corridor. It was best not to speak too freely in public. Plus, she didn't want to let on how much she knew about her ward's plans for the night, or how much Koraq planned to improve them.
