Project Boussh: Canucklehead
by Majick

Eventually, Mike just left the two of them to it. With the caffeine in his
body, he didn't feel like sleeping. Given the alcohol in his blood, and the
fact that it had been around twelve hours since he'd emerged from bacta, he
probably should have been sleeping, but he was far too wired.
Around him, he knew, the others were sleeping. While he could no longer
feel the faint sense of them through the Force, the castle bore the still
silence of a home asleep. Mike shivered as he thought of the countless
generations of Mendellian rulers who'd walked these halls. Not to mention
the servants, he thought belatedly, as the face of Josh Nolan appeared in
his thoughts.
Ahead of him, he saw a shape moving across the floor. Crouching down, he
held out a hand to it. Haughtily, Macavity the cat stalked out of the
shadows, and permitted himself to have his ears scratched.
"Just you and me, huh Cavver? I rather like that. Creatures of the night,"
he said with a smile. Digging in his pocket, he pulled a kitty treat out,
one of the little nibbles he'd taken to carrying around with him since
Macavity had consented to own him earlier in the day. It didn't hurt to have
potential allies, regardless of species, and Mike knew full well that
Macavity was more than any ordinary cat. Macavity, in Mike's opinion, set
out to deliberately cause mischief, unlike other cats who just happened to
be in the vicinity when mischief occurred, and took the credit.
"He's not *quite* alone," came a voice. Its owner followed it into the pale
light offered by the moon, staring down from its position high above the
castle.
"Your Highness," Mike said rising from his crouch to greet Mendellia's new
ruler, Thayer Atner.
"None of that, Mike. We're allies, and I'm sure that between us is enough
common ground to ignore the conventions of our normal positions."
"Common ground?" Mike said, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
"More common for you than me, I'll admit," Thayer replied, his own eyes
twinkling. "I've been meaning to congratulate you on your joke campaign. The
entire palace is apparently using stormtrooper armour to walk into their
bedrooms."
Mike beamed with pride. "I'm glad it worked so well. Of course, we didn't
just do bedrooms."
"This I hear as well. I understand my cook was most put out with what she
found in her best oven."
Mike's eyes glazed momentarily as he sought to recall the details, then:
"Oh!"
"Yes. Perhaps in future you could be a little more careful? Cooks of that
calibre are hard to replace, and it was very hard to convince her it was
only a one off."
"I believe the jokes are at an end for the time being. I've come to an.
agreement that rather limits my ability to take part in another spell of
tomfoolery."
"Ah. . . I did hear talk about yourself and that young lady from one of the
squadrons."
"Yes. . . Well. . . What about you, uh. . . Thayer?"
"Thayer is fine, Mike. As for myself, well, at one time I was expected to
enter into an arranged marriage. With the changeover to a whole new regime,
however, it seems unlikely that that will now happen."
"Another bachelor, eh? Perhaps you should have joined Bantam Squadron?"
"Bantam Squa. . ? No, forget I asked. I'm sure I don't want to know."
"Very wise, I think. What are you doing up at this time, anyway?"
"Reaching a decision, with the help of our friend down there."
"Oh?" Mike queried. Bending down, he scooped Macavity up, and stroked the
tabby cat's fur. "I hope you've been giving him good advice, Cavver. Maybe
you could keep him on as an advisor?" he asked Thayer.
"In truth, I'd probably get more sense from him than many of the
councillors I will have to deal with."
"Holdovers from the old regime?"
"Yes. Many of them are little more than Yes-men. Mendellia is small enough
that one man probably could rule, but long ago it was decided to make the
process at least appear democratic, and so we have a cluster of useless
appendages."
"Take Emily and Alison to the next council meeting. Anyone who can't
justify their job either resigns or they spend five minutes with them. . ."
Thayer's face clouded for a second, then he grinned widely. His bright eyes
shone through the gloom, and he laughed. "I like it! Could I convince you to
stay on as advisor too?"
"I think not. I'm much to busy back at home to spend my life rebuilding an
entire country."
"Really?"
"No. I just hate responsibility," Mike replied with a shrug. "You have
Sharon, or so she tells me, and we'll be dropping in from time to time to
make use of what I assume will be a free holiday home in the Pacific Ocean..."
"That should go without saying. Mi casa es su casa."
"Su Casio es mi Casio?"
"Oh. Yes. You're the DJ, aren't you... Why are you up this late, anyway?"
"Too long a story to tell. Just don't send anyone around by the east wall
for a few days, okay?"
Thayer looked at him blankly, then shrugged.
"Actually, you may be able to help. I'm looking for something to tire me
out."
"I have the perfect thing. When I lived here as a child, I would play here
with Kir and my other friends, and the best place of all was the armoury. I
hope my uncle didn't spoil it too much."
"The armoury?" Mike asked "As in weapons, and stuff?"
"Yes," Thayer allowed. "But the armourer until a few years ago was an
inventor, as well. He used to create all sorts of wonderful toys and games
for us to play. Sometimes scaled down versions of the real life weapons, and
we would learn to spar and so on. At other times, he would have prepared new
toys for us. They were wonderful times."
"You miss them?"
"Oh yes. But we can't go back in time. I shan't waste the opportunity to
make sure that today's children have golden memories to look back on."
"Thayer?"
"Yes?"
"Can we try and avoid sound bites when there's no reporters around?"
"..."

Thayer opened the door to the armoury, and they stepped into the room.
Macavity wound through their legs, and scuttled into a suit of armour.
As Thayer searched for the light switch, Mike looked after the cat, and
called out: "Cavver! Come here! Becki will kill me if you don't make it
through the knight..."
Bending down, he held out a kitty treat to the orange cat, and was rewarded
by Macavity's return to his arms. Once again, Mike found himself scratching
the feline's head, as Thayer finally flipped the power.
Mike gasped. "I feel like a kid in some kind of store," he said. Racks of
weaponry from hundreds of years in the past, to modern day, to GFFA
technology filled the room.
"It is impressive, is it not?" asked Thayer, beaming at Mike's awed reaction.
"There must be enough weapons here to arm every man woman and child in the
island!"
"Not far off, I should think. The idea was to have weaponry available at
every police station and army barracks in case of invasion. Then everyone
could defend him or herself. Of course, once my uncle came to power, he
realised that having that sort of weaponry open to use by all wasn't such a
great idea."
"Someone might have decided to put you on the throne a little earlier,
huh?"
"Exactly. Now, I plan to. . . What's the phrase? Spread the wealth?"
Mike nodded.
"First, though, I shall arm you and your friends for the assault on the
Admonitor."
Mike released Macavity to the floor once again, and grinned.
"Do I get first pick?"
Thayer laughed. "I may have made a mistake bringing you here. What sort of
things were you looking for?"
"Well..."

Twenty minutes later, and Mike was a very happy man. Standing with his back
to a target, he spun and flung his arm out at it. A slim projectile fired
from the device on his wrist, and impacted in the bullseye, before
detonating, and shredding the target.
"Stars and garters!"
"He was a true master. Biokinetics were one of his obsessions, and it
appeared he reached his zenith with this device," Thayer said, a touch misty
eyed.
"It's amazing. All I need is the cajun accent. . ."
Thayer looked at him blankly.
"Never mind. What else do we have?"

*Snikt*
*Snikt*
"Oh, I have to have these! Can I combine. . ? Yes! Oh, watch out Thrawn.
I'm coming for ya."
Mike paused, then added, self consciously.
"I'm the best there is at what I do, bub."
"Bub?" Thayer asked.
"Ah. . . Did your armourer have a name?"
"Rei. Rei Vax."
"Figures. When this is done, mind if I have a look at the last census?"
"I suppose that could be arranged. Why?"
"Sheer demographic interest. Now, once I get the trenchcoat back, I'm going
to have to see about some sort of ruby quartz visor. . ."
"Like this?" Thayer asked holding up a black visor.
"By the Goddess! Actually, let's not get carried away. . . Go on too much
longer and I'll have a cybernetic leg and hand."
"I'll take your word for it. Is there anyone else you feel might benefit
from this armoury?"
"All of us, I think. Although. . . Those swords of Alison and Emily's...
Were they unique?"
"I believe so. I'm afraid you can't appease Emily that way."
"Madre de Dios. . . Oh well. I think I had best get some sleep. Now I'm
kitted out for tomorrow's mission." He flexed his hands inside the new
fingerless elbow length gloves he sported, and checked the straps on his
wrists.
"That is all you're taking? No guns, or grenades, or explosives?"
Mike blanched. "No. I've had my share of killing. I'll leave that for those
among us better able to cope with the after effects."
"I understand."
"As a ruler of a nation, I would hope so. Are you going to sleep now?"
"Not yet. My day is not yet over. There is much to be done still."
"It's nearly five in the morning."
"And yet you are still awake."
"I can sleep on the way up to the Admonitor tomorrow. And nice avoiding of
the question."
"Thank you. Coming from the master, I take that as a compliment. As for
sleeping on the way to the Admonitor tomorrow, well, *you* probably will. As
for me, I have yet one more task with which I must deal tonight. I feel in
the mood for a little stargazing."
"That's the task Macavity was advising you on?"
"Yes," Thayer replied, blushing slightly as he avoided Mike's gaze. Mike
sighed.
"Stay away from the wine cellar, then. Oh, and the balcony on the eight
floor of the east wing. Oh, and here. . ." he passed Thayer his bag of kitty
treats. "You might need these."

Thayer waited until Mike was well clear of the armoury before he moved.
Holding out a kitty treat to Macavity, who had come to investigate what it
was two of his humans were doing, and whether or not he could disrupt it in
anyway.
"This does work well, although I suppose some would see it as cheating. You
come a lot quicker then when I ignore you as well." Reaching into the bag,
he withdrew a second treat, and crouched in front of the cat. Macavity dug
his claws into Thayer's trouser leg, and pulled himself upright, waiting
insouciantly to see whether this one would feed him again.
He did, and scratched him behind his ears. He'd trained this one well.
"Now, Cavver. Go and find Becki. I must have words with your owner, and I
think you'll be able to lead her to me."
He yawned.
"And maybe then I'll be able to sleep."
Cavver padded off, vanishing as he walked through the armoury door to the
dark corridor beyond. Thayer smiled to himself, a smile of hope and
apprehension.
"Though if all goes well, I won't want to sleep. . ."