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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Jan 31, 2014 0:03:43 GMT
Part One
John Fretz was a simple man. His clothes were worn and comfortable, he dressed for the weather and not for looks. His hair was cut too short to be called smart and somehow retained an uncombed quality to it. His boots looked like they were found in a gutter, and it was possible they were.
This was to say that John Fretz stood out quite a bit in La Dame au Ruban de Velours the city’s most prestigious and expensive restaurant. John didn’t like feeling self-conscious about his appearance, since for most of his life he tried not to care, but it was difficult not to be when people dressed in their best finery were staring at you like you were a wet dog. A smartly dressed waiter approached him and John was sure he was about to be tossed out, but instead the man smiled and directed him to the VIP room. John allowed himself a small smile as he passed the other patrons for a room none of them were likely to ever see.
Cut off from the rest of the restaurant the VIP room was extravagant, with rare and alien fishes swimming under the floor and tablets and paintings etched into the walls by the finest artists of hundreds of years. The exact value of the place was lost on John, it looked a bit tacky in his eyes.
“Haha, oh John, I thought I told you to dress your best” Sitting by himself, with a standing guard within arm’s reach of the table, was Sinclair. Lord Sinclair Yeson of House Khagarn as he liked to be called. John was unsure about the noble houses obsession with giving themselves titles, it was like they were declaring they were better than everyone else.
“I didn’t have anything better than this” John did have better clothes, but he made a point of not dressing up because people told him to.
“You’ll never find yourself a nice girl dressing like that John. I must remember to buy you a suit, I’m sure you’d look dashing if you put in the effort” Sinclair had an odd nature about him. He talked to everyone like he was their best friend in the world. It made it hard to tell when he was being genuine or not, but John had met him enough times to know when he was annoyed.
“Don’t need another woman in my life” Sinclair smiled to him, taking a sip from a glass of golden liquid. John hated that smile.
“Relax. Take a seat. Is there anything you’d like to eat, some wine perhaps?” The menu was one of extreme extravagance, there was even a selection of endangered animals. This wasn’t John’s world however and he didn’t want a memory of it to envy.
“Just wine will do” Alcohol on the other hand was all about regret, so that was fine to sample. He took a seat opposite Sinclair as the man poured him a glass. Taking a sip John’s body filled with sweet warmth. It tasted like money.
“Before we get down to business John, I have a proposition for you” Here it was. John had never met Sinclair in such an uptown place before, usually their meetings were resolved in shadowy bars and hidden dives. Sinclair was trying to butter him up, but why?
“After this job is done, successfully, I would like to invite you into House Khagarn” Sinclair gave a knowing smile, no doubt drinking in John’s moment of surprise. Being invited into one of the noble house was a big deal, some people tried to get entry for years only to be denied.
“Why me? I’m just a petty crook”
“Your humble for a start. A trait that is not well shared among my peers. And not just any crook, you’re the best around John. You’re loyal and dedicated. You hate this work and yet you perform it like it was your life’s purpose. And under all that… roughness you’re a good man at heart. These are all admirably traits John. I like you, and I feel like I could call you brother” This was quickly becoming bizarre. Sinclair lived in a different world to John, to him these words probably meant a lot but to John they held little power.
“Why would I want to do that? No offense but you may as well be a criminal syndicate, I don’t need that type of trouble in my life”
“That’s harsh John. It’s true we dabble outside the law, like you and me, but plenty members of my family run legitimate business’s. We’re not predisposed to crime or the law, we just do what’s needed for the Family”
“For the Family. You lot do say that a lot”
“That’s because we mean it John. Family is at the core of what we are. We’re not like a corporation that uses the word family to describe friendly colleagues. In my House we take it very literally” Sinclair raised his glass again, carefully tasting his wine “It’s about support John. If you joined the family you could live whatever life you wanted… You could even quit all this”
Something was defiantly up. Sinclair was trying to sell him the idea of joining his prestigious family, when normally someone in John’s position should be begging for it. A single thought kept creeping into John’s mind, and he was never one to keep such thoughts to himself.
“You’ll get something if I join you” Sinclair’s face soured for a moment, like John had just shot his dog. He took another drink of his wine before smiling again.
“…And you’re very sharp. An important quality for people like us. No, if you join it means I’ll stop losing something” John raised his eyebrow at that “We’ve done a lot of good work you and me. A little too much. In my family its important we’re able to take care of vital tasks by ourselves without outside help. But you’ve done so well I’ve entrusted too much to you”
“I’m embarrassing you”
“Yes, but if you join the Family that won’t be an issue anymore. Don’t think of it like doing me a favour John, there’s a lot of benefit to you as well”
“Thanks but no thanks. My life’s complicated enough as it is. I’m just here for the job Sinclair”
“Are you sure John? You know when you join… Your own family are automatically accepted… and then our whole House is sworn to do everything we can to help those who can’t… help themselves?”
The guard must have noticed John tensing since he stepped right up behind him. It’s true he and Sinclair and worked well with each other for a long time, but in that moment he almost leapt across the table to strangle the man.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Jan 31, 2014 0:04:47 GMT
Part Two
The job was simple enough. They always were, anything complicated was always going to go wrong. It occurred to John that it was probably his way of working that had upset Sinclair’s colleagues. He kept the details how he operated a secret from all his employers, useful if they ever wanted to deny his existence, but it also made them nervous about handing over expensive goods and not knowing what was happening to them.
Even though John was a smuggler he treated it like a professional career, more out of habit then any actual pride in the work. If you were going to do something you might as well do it right, he’d say to himself. John always delivered his goods no matter the difficulty earning him an impressive reputation in the black market, which is how he met Sinclair in the first place.
Jobs for Sinclair always went the same way, he would be given a key for some out of the way warehouse. Inside there would be a small crate which the ‘Lord’ wanted discretely smuggled. Somewhere else in the room would also be a sniper, with orders to kill John if he did anything funny or brought anyone along with him. John kept himself amused by seeing if he could work out where the sniper was hiding. Once John had the crate he would work his magic and a number of days later it would arrive at its destination. Sinclair always made it very clear that John was to never look inside the crates, which John was happy to oblige. Some things were best left alone.
This time he’d been given the key to an old chemical plant, abandoned now after the industry fell apart almost thirty years ago. A small community had grown up around the plant during its boom days, but now it was just another ghost town haunted by shattered dreams and chemical spills. John reckoned one day the whole planet would look like this.
Following the directions he was given he came to a rusted door. Someone had put a chain on the handle in order to lock it. John wondered about his employers sometimes, obsessed with games of subterfuge and then hiding their illegal goods behind obviously new locks. Rolling his eyes he unlocked the chain and pushed the door open.
There was a woman standing next to the crate “Don’t move Mister Fretz” and she had a pistol pointed at him. The room was dark and her face was difficult to make out, but from what he could see she had strong harsh features around a set of dull green eyes. John had been around enough types to know when someone knew how to use a gun, and when they were more than willing to shoot a person dead. The fact she was also dressed in a combat suit was also a clue as to her inclination. John complied and didn’t move.
“Inside. Close the door behind you” The instructions were clear and sure, her aim not moving from what John assumed was probably his heart. He stepped inside and closed the door.
“There has been a change in plans Mister Fretz, I will be accompanying you”
“I do my work alone. I do not require an escort” It was a bad idea to imply she was a whore but John was angry and he always said stupid things when he was angry.
“This time you do. These are the new conditions. I will be carrying the package, and you will deliver both of us to the drop off point” She didn’t seem to notice the insult, or she had simply ignored it. Letting his eyes wander he looked to the black crate which must have been the package. It looked about the size of a man’s arm, or the barrel of some nasty weapon.
“That’s not how I work” John knew he wasn’t going to win this argument, but he wanted to make it clear he was going to be walked all over.
“If you refuse, I’ll kill you right now”
“…Well then. We’d best get going” The women picked up the crate with her free hand, it seemed like it was heavy, but she left her gun out a moment longer before putting it away. John considered shooting her right now with the gun he had hidden on his back, but decided against it for the time being. As he led her out he wondered where the sniper had been hiding.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Jan 31, 2014 11:03:38 GMT
Part 3
Leading her outside John got a better look at her. She was tall and well built, walking with the precision of someone who had served in the military or at least held alot of training. She was probably in her thirties, her once youthful features battered by whatever life she had led. Everything about her screamed trouble.
It was only a short distance to John's vehicle, a yellowing cargo truck that looked more at home in a trash compactor then on the road. John fumbled with his keys as he let his eye's wonder around, looking for the signs of what he was afraid of. The woman walked right up to it and went to open the front door.
"No. You and the package go in the back" She turned around with an annoyed expression. She looked like she wanted to argue but settled for a menacing glare instead "In the back. Do you want me to take you or not?" she walked back and lifted up the tarp to see inside. The rear of the cargo truck wasn't really suited for people, but there were other crates already back there for hiding 'new' crates among them. Unhappily she turned to John before getting in.
"If you try anything funny, I can still shoot the drivers seat from back here" he shrugged as if he didn't care.
Moving to the front of the truck John's mind began to race as to what he was going to do. If she just wanted to steal the package she would have shot him the moment he entered the room, but instead she had just threatened him. John started the truck and began driving. Maybe she didn't think she could get the package outside the city by herself, so she still needed a smugglers help. Which meant the moment they got out of the city she was probably going to kill him.
He thought about jumping out of the truck as it began to speed along. It'd take her a few seconds to work out what had happened and by then John could be down an alley and already turning. He knew the area pretty well. The problem was Sinclair. People like Sinclair were very rarely happy about losing their goods and the man knew too much about John. He knew too much about....
The woman was going to have to die then. If she really was Sinclair's agent then John would be sure to send a very insincere apology.
It'd been nothing but non stop driving for the past hour and the woman was probably getting agitated. John didn't care, by the end of the day she wouldn't be a concern. John pulled in under a bridge and stopped the truck suddenly, he looked back and spoke loudly so she'd hear "Get out of the truck now, we're leaving it" before she could respond he opened the door and stepped out of the front.
"Hey John" Under the bridge there was a man. He waved as he approached with a smile plastered on his face making John felt like he was looking at one of those fun house mirrors "Whoa, who's the broad?" The women had stepped out of the truck and looked surprised at the new man.
"None of your business. Now get moving" with a bunch of quick assurances the new man stepped into the truck and began to drive it away. John looked back to the women "Come on, this way"
"That man... He looked exactly like you" The surprise hadn't left her, she was still trying to make sense of what she just saw.
"I should hope so, that surgery was expensive" John led the two towards a piece of wooden garage, quickly moving it aside to reveal a passage hidden behind it.
"Surgery? Who was he?"
"Benny. Just some crack head down on his luck. He needed money and a job. He wasn't going to refuse one even if it meant carving up his face" The passage was dark but John knew it well and walked quickly. He didn't slow down for the women forcing her to jog behind him.
"So he's a decoy? For what?"
"For who ever might have just been following us"
"What? There wasn't anyone-" John lifted up a finger for silence as they came to a set of stairs. For the next couple of minutes John led them through more passages and stairs, a small labyrinth only he was familiar with. It was only when they reached a door did he begin speaking again.
"Your boss might think he's smart with all this cloak and dagger business, but people by their nature are bad at keeping secrets. Someone always says something, and inevitably a rival or a spy learns about these little deals. So next thing I know there waiting outside getting ready to tail me, till they find a nice spot to murder me in. Benny's job is to throw those people off. He might be off his head most of the time but he's a good driver" leaving her to her thoughts a moment John unlocked the door and stepped inside.
It was an apartment, or John's safe house as he liked to call it. The furniture was old and covered in dust with discarded food tray's littering the small table at the center. After closing the door behind them John laid himself down onto the couch.
"What are you doing?" She looked completely out of place in a dingy room like this. John hoped she was uncomfortable.
"Sleeping"
"W-what? But... You need to get us out of the city" John narrowed his eye's at her. She was surprised and suddenly concerned.
"And we will. But rushing things does no one any good. Lets say someone was tailing us, or is expecting us to leave the city. Now all they will find is Benny going in the wrong direction. At some point he'll vanish, he's good at that, and then they'll be lost and wont know what to do. Besides, the best chance to leave the city doesn't come for at least two days"
"Two days? What are we supposed to-"
"Well, I'm going to sleep. You can do the same, there's a bed room over there if you need your privacy" She looked annoyed for a moment but seemed to quickly accept the situation as she left for the bed room.
John settled back into the couch as much as he could. He'd take just a small nap.
The moment she went to sleep he'd shoot her.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 1, 2014 16:47:37 GMT
Part Four
John woke up slowly, his back aching from the way he had slept on the couch. The room was dark, it's only window covered by thick metal blinds, but it didn't take long for his eyes to adjust. He pulled up his vid phone to check the time as it's blue glare hurt his eyes. A couple of hours had past. With a sigh John pulled himself out of the couch and dusted himself off a little. He turned to the bedroom door.
It was time for grim business.
Sneaking was not one of John's specialty's, he was too gangly and ungraceful to mask his footsteps or avoid making noise. Instead John focused on learning about awareness. People were strange in that they had extraordinarily accurate senses that were constantly plagued by laziness. The mind had a terrible habit of ignoring things it was familiar with. If you saw a car shape in the corner of your eye the brain would just assume it was a car, it would only be until you actually focused your gaze on it your brain would be forced to actually work out what it was. It was a basic understanding of the function of the mine, but it's all John really felt he needed to know. The same applied to sounds, if you heard the sounds of normal footsteps your brain would ignore it in favor for whatever else you were focused on, but if you heard the sound of someone trying to hide their footsteps that would raise an alarm.
So John walked to the door and opened as if nothing was wrong.
She wasn't asleep. He was afraid of this, regardless of whatever military training she had gone through waiting always shot peoples nerves. It'd taken John a long time to learn how to sleep when you were carrying something that might be a bomb or drugs. John felt he was right when he entered the room naturally, she might have shot him if he was sneaking. She wasn't in the bed, instead she was sat on the floor with the package in front of her. She was staring at it. She knew what it was. This was only getting worse.
"What?" She looked up John with that annoyed face she had been pulling the entire day. She wasn't just frustrated about waiting, there was something else.
"You hungry?" He'd have to shoot her later.
"What have you got?" she hadn't asked for food after John had said they were going to be waiting for two days. She wasn't accustomed with long hauls under the radar, John had a terrible feeling this was the first time she had ever been on a job like this. What could that mean?
"Doesn't matter. It all takes like mango" John turned out of the room and began to step out when a beep came from his pocket. He paused and pulled out a small black object from his pocket, the top of it was flashing red.
"What's that?" She didn't move from her spot but looked like she wanted to stand up to check for herself.
"It's a... It's a way me and Benny can talk to each other"
"What's he say?"
"He says he's dead" John's mind began racing. He had installed a heart monitor on Benny so that he could find him, and make sure he didn't overdose when he wasn't looking. Red meant his heart had stopped. John dropped the device and smashed it under his boot "Were going to have to eat on the way, we got to go"
She picked up herself immediately, was she happy something was happening now? Less frustrated now anyway. She went for the door before John stopped her.
"No way. Your not going out dressed like that"
"Excuse me?" She looked down over her military gear.
"You look like a terrorist. We need to go subtle" John had already taken off his trench coat and began going through the wardrobe "You can use my wife's old clothes, they'll probably fit"
"Your... wife? Where is she?" She looked around as if expecting someone to pop out of the wall.
"Who knows. Ran away after I shot her boyfriend"
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 4, 2014 11:13:24 GMT
Part Five
The two of them looked like they had just awoken from a hangover and threw on the clothes that were lying on the floor. His wife’s old clothes hadn’t fit her and she had to use the baggy winter ones, tearing off the ends and sleeves just so she didn’t suffocate. John didn’t look much better himself, he’d found an awful red and blue floral patterned shirt that made him look like someone coming from or going into rehab.
On the bright side when you looked completely awful people tried to ignore you in an attempt to keep the world beautiful in some way.
As they left his safe house behind John’s mind was racing once again. Benny was dead that much was true. But how did he die? Had the drugs finally taken their final toll? Had he simply crashed the truck and shattered his head? Or had someone been waiting for him to leave the city? Been waiting for John. It could have simply been an accident but on the off chance it wasn’t he needed to be ready.
The first order of business was getting a vehicle.
Past the labyrinth of stairs and hallways and back onto the seedy back alleys John led the woman to a nearby autoshop. She still had her pistol, hidden in her the pocket after she tore out the inside and strapped her holster to her leg. He still needed to do something about her, but for now he had to secure his way out of the city.
The autoshop was as dingy as the area but with the added bonus of oily stains and the distinct smell of fried circuits. John opened the door and had a quick look around for signs of the owner, and sure enough he was sitting next to a car that looked it had thrown up its insides. The man was large in an unhealthy way and covered what little hair he had with a hat, he looked surprised as John and the woman entered the room.
“John? What are you doing here?”
“What do you think Ton? I need a car. A fast one” Behind him the woman was scanning the environment, indifferent to its looks and there conversation.
“That’s a bit short notice John. Most of my cars are still in the works. I’ll need to go patch her up” Ton picked himself up from his chair trying to put on a helpful smile.
“I’m in a hurry Ton, just get me something that works”
“Uffh, let me just get some things from my office. I hope you got your money ready as it won’t be cheap” Ton lumbered his way through a side door leaving John to stand impatiently in front of the wrecked cars. He began going over his options for exiting the city, some were more dangerous than others but once he had the right kind of car it would work out.
“Your friend just left” The woman had taken out her gun.
“What?”
“Your friend. I just heard him run out the back door”
As John began to curse a noise like a jet engine began to grow outside. Its shriek was so loud the walls of the room began to shake. A moment later Ton’s shop was ripped to shreds by an autogun.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 6, 2014 10:28:45 GMT
Part Six
It had been a wrench that had saved their lives. Ton had left it beside the wreckage of one of the cars he had been repairing and in a blurred rush John snatched it up and used it to try and pull the cover off a sewer hole. John never thought he'd be happy that Ton had built his shop illegally on an old parking lot. Even with the wrench however he had only barely lifted the cover when the gun fire started, that's when the women stepped in and helped flip the cover out of the way. He would have probably admired her strength a little had he not been deafened by the sound of the autogun.
Forgoing climbing down John jumped and upon landing felt the impact take a holiday up his legs, he rolled out of the way before the pain took his full attention. She had climbed down the steps, carefully bringing down the package with her. Was she not bothered by the gunfire? It still thumped up ahead and John thought it could only be moments before the bullets started raining down here as well.
"Do you know the way around here?" Neither had brought a light source but the sewer was littered with small orange lights, illuminating pipes and the industrial catwalk. John thought he might throw up due to the smell.
"Of course, this way" John had never gone through the sewers before, but he did know the area above and hoped that would be good enough to find his way. Ignoring the throbbing pain in his legs John began leading them down the catwalk.
Above the shooting had stopped and the absence of any loud noises kept him on edge. It wouldn't take them long to work out they had escaped down into the sewer. Turning a corner John hoped that the darkness would cover any tracks they left and give him time to escape this madness.
"What was that thing?" John had been shot at before but the worst it had been was with small laser fire, the gun up above sounded like something from a totally different category.
"... It was an Avenger. Has a distinct engine noise"
"An Avenger... You mean a bloody spaceship! Who shoots up a shop with a spaceship!"John felt the anger dull his pain a little, or at least took his attention away from it. Looking back briefly the woman had a blank face on, whatever training she had fully kicking in. It didn't seem like she was going to answer.
If his pursuers had access to a spaceship getting a vehicle was even more important now, they'd be sitting ducks without one. Around another corner they came across a ladder leading up above and John hoped that it lead where he thought it did.
"Alright... Up here" She let him go up first, her pistol out and hovering in his general direction. Was she thinking of shooting him now? Between her and the Avenger John would have to think of something clever if he was going to get out of this alive. In this particular case however he was more desperate then clever which was almost as good.
The cover was heavy but it was easier to push out of the way from under it and John found himself back on the street and next to his target, the highway. He pulled out his gun and aimed it at the top of the sewer.
"You can come up now"
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 8, 2014 11:03:46 GMT
Part Seven
"What are you doing?" The woman stuck her head out of the sewer with her familiar frown.
"Waiting for you" John was standing facing her, his gun now behind his back. Carefully he turned around so she wouldn't see the gun while she was pulling herself out of the sewer. He could feel the pumping of his heart echo in his ear as he looked over the gun.
It was true he was nervous about shooting her, by nature John wasn't a killer. He had killed people before but he'd never felt good about it, it was just all part of the job. However when he was aiming his gun a moment ago he could feel something was wrong. Trusting his instincts he put the gun away before she saw what he had intended to do. He had a few seconds while she pulled herself up and he used them to confirm what he thought he felt.
His gun was empty.
John hadn't forgot to load it he was sure of that. Before he ever went on a job he made sure he had his gun and it was full, he'd never overlook that step. The only logical answer was someone had taken them out. John began to scan his memory trying to pinpoint the moment when someone could have taken the bullets out of his gun without him knowing. He had gone to sleep back at the safe house. He was only going to nap but fell asleep by mistake. Could the woman have taken his gun and unloaded it during that time? If she had then she was alot more canny then he'd given her credit.
"Which way now?" She was out of the sewer now with the package. Without his own gun he'd have to come up with something clever if he wanted to get rid of her.
"We need a vehicle..." Frowning to himself John took in the area around him. They were down an alley connected to a main street, but they were still in a run down area and there was hardly any noise. Though it was hard to ignore the jet sound that was emitting from a distance behind them.
"Why don't we get flyer? There's a port nearby"
"No. Nothing that flies. We'll never make it out of the city with the goods. Everything in the sky gets scanned when it leaves the borders, it's too risky"
"Hm. Well, your the smuggler" She taken her gun out again and was scanning behind them, obviously on edge since they could still hear the Avenger in the distance.
"We'll just have to steal the first one we come across" John was now relying on luck, a position he disliked immensely. He knew a little bit about hot wiring cars but really you needed special equipment. Sometimes people would buy phony lock systems to save money and deter thieves, and John would be relying on that. If they set off an alarm the Avenger would be on them in moments.
Stepping out the alley John looked around for any likely candidates. There was no one driving down the street at the moment, but for this area that wasn't unusual. Down the street was a burnt out old husk of a car, and behind it what looked like an old van. Did it still work? Did it have a real security system? John had few other options.
"Here we go" He muttered to himself as he waved the woman to follow him to the van.
Judging by it's paint and rust 'job' it was probably a few years old. It didn't look like it had been abandoned, through the window it still seemed to have it's consoles in place. That was a good sign it cold still work. He took out his gun and aimed it point blank at the corner of the glass. The gun simply clicked.
"Huh. That's weird, I thought I loaded this..." John didn't look back lest his face reveal what he was trying to do. He paused to give her time to answer. She didn't. Well John thought it was worth a try to get his bullets back. He turned to her "Could you get this open?"
She looked around carefully and walked up to the van to aim. She knew just as well as John how much noise this would make, but neither had any other options. They just had to hope it wouldn't be enough for the Avenger to pinpoint where they were.
With a loud bang the glass shattered.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 11, 2014 10:32:36 GMT
Part Eight
No alarm sounded, but the noise of the gun could have been enough to alert their pursuers. It didn’t take John long to wrestle the door open and get under the wheel of the car. He could see the electronics were protected by a plastic cover and John almost thanked the stars people were too poor to buy anything better. Taking out a small knife from his pocket he began to pick it open to get at the wiring inside.
John was just waiting to hear that jet engine sound again, to hear it sweep over to him again with that distinct rush of air and end his life. But it never came and John turned the van’s engine on.
Unlocking the doors the women got in the other side to sit beside John as he shifted in the driver’s seat. There was no room for the package in the front but she didn’t argue about putting it in the back passenger seat.
“What now?” she kept an eye behind them as John drove away.
“There’s a way out of the city with no scanners. We’ll drive nearby and then dump this van… It won’t be able to make the trip. I have another vehicle hidden away that can handle the road outside the city” She turned back and aimed her gun at him.
“Then why visit your friend back there if you have another car?” She was glaring at him. Did she think he called in the Avenger?
“…Because you have to get there first. I buy cars off Ton and leave them for the gangs to tear apart. That way they leave me alone, and nobody finds out how I’m getting out of the city” She didn’t move the gun away “Ton didn’t know where my safehouse was. He knew I lived nearby but not where. If someone got to him he’d only be able to tell them when I came to pick up a ride”
She didn’t look convinced but pointed the gun away. They were driving for about an hour and John’s own nerves were beginning to fray. Having a spaceship come after you was something John didn’t want to become accustomed with. They were getting closer to the wall of the city, built decades ago after the land outside the city died thanks to all the chemicals released during the planets long mining days.
They were coming up onto an old factory when John looked back to the women.
“I just noticed. You’re not wearing your seatbelt”
Before she could answer John crashed the car into a wall.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 12, 2014 9:21:28 GMT
Part Nine
John had been in worst crashes. Of course he hadn’t crashed on purpose before, which was probably why this one just caused him to painfully lurch forward rather then something worse. However it had the intended effect.
To his side the woman’s head was leaning onto the console in front of her, a bit of blood pouring down. She groaned in pain. Not taking any chances John pulled out his knife and went for her throat. Her elbow suddenly swung out and hit him in the side of the head. The rest of the struggle was a bit of a blur, John’s mind distracted by the sudden pain and surprise at her ability to fight despite hitting her head. At some point he managed to get his knife to her neck as she got a finger towards his eye. John could feel she was going to take it.
“Fuc- Stop! Don’t move! Move and your dead!” She did stop but her finger rested painfully on his eyelid. There other hands were locked on each other, she had dropped the gun during the crash “I know Sinclair didn’t send you! What are you here for?!”
She didn’t answer, settling for just glaring at John.
“You’re the sniper aren’t you? That room had one entrance and it was locked from the outside, so you had to be in there already. But your only supposed to observe, so what changed, huh? Come to steal a prize for yourself?” She visibly fumed and almost spat at him.
“I would never steal the A-!”
“AH! Don’t say what it is! I don’t care!” Silence settled into the broken van, the pair breathing heavily as neither moved. John slowed his breath and began to speak more calmly “…I get it now. That’s why Sinclair really offered me a place in the House. His families not mad because I’m doing his dirty work, their made because I’m doing his personal work. I bet there’s something in that package no one outside your little family should know about”
Her glare told him he was right. She had been angry the entire time they had been together, but he couldn’t place where it had been directed. In the end it was just because he had been trusted with something outsiders shouldn’t have been near.
“So what changed? You stood by all the other times, what made you want to tag along this time?”
“… It was leaked that Sinclair was going to move it… There was a chance someone could try to steal it”
“Oh I’m super glad that no one was planning to tell me that”
“There was a good chance you could have been bribed. But Sinclair wouldn’t get rid of you and hire another smuggler”
“And he wouldn’t tell you why he trusted me. Well, let me spoil it for you. Sinclair trusts me because he knows about my daughter! So now you listen and listen well. I couldn’t give a shit what’s in that package, because to me it is something entirely different. It’s my daughter’s life, and there’s not enough money in the world to make me put that at risk!”
She seemed surprised by John’s answer, her glare deflating slightly and her finger relaxing over his eye.
“… I’m going to take the knife away now. But only if you promise on the honour of your family you won’t kill me” John was gambling again. A part of him screamed just to kill her now and be done with it, but now he’d lost his nerve. If she was part of Sinclair’s family then honour should stop her.
“…. I won’t kill you John Fritz, this I swear on the Khan’s name”
“Alright…” Slowly he pulled the knife away and pulled back from her finger. He rubbed his eye “What’s your name anyway?”
She rubbed her neck before placing her hand on her head with a frown. She knelt down and picked up the gun with her free hand “It’s Senka” she then hit John over the head with the gun.
“OAW! You bi-”
“That’s for crashing the car you prick”
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 13, 2014 10:14:14 GMT
Part Ten
Senka took out a small brown bag from her other pocket, popping it open she took out a few small items. She ate a pill and rubbed gel on her wound, staring daggers at John the entire time. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t kill him now if she was bound by her oath, but he figured she might shoot him in the leg or something later on.
Leaving the broken van behind John led her towards the rows of factories. The buildings still stood tall but rust had blemished their once pristine surfaces, graffiti along the lower levels signalled their new keepers. They had been gutted a long time ago, the bones picked clean first by the destitute and then the rest claimed by the gangs. John led them towards a smaller building behind the factories, careful not to disturb whatever residents they had at the moment.
Behind the factories and attached to the wall of the city was another building, but this one was clearly different. It didn’t have any obvious entrances, no windows to shatter or ducts to slink into it. It seemed more like a solid cube of metal then an actual building.
“When the factories closed they sealed this up nice and tight”
“What is it?”
“Used to be the cargo entrance to the factories. Much less expensive to have your own route out of the city. But when the money dried up and the authorities had the whole thing melted in order to seal it”
“Wait, there’s a road here? I’ve seen the maps, there’s no road here”
“Well. You can’t see it anymore, sand storms have completely covered it. But I know its route like the back of my hand, I don’t need to see it”
“How do you know all this?”
“Cause I used to work here. A long time ago. Now help me with this”
John had led them around the cube and closer to the wall where a large crate had been placed. Its side had been busted over and whatever content inside long since taken. John began to push it out of the way.
“Urrrgh…People tend to ignore garbage, missing the secrets hidden within” Senka didn’t help as John pushed the crate at an angle to reveal the wall behind it. There was a man sized hole behind the crate, its edges looked like something had melted through it “Took me weeks to get through here. You can’t see it from out here but most the inside is still in one piece… and from inside I could see this was the thinnest wall” ducking down John went through the hole.
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Post by Akuma_Reiten on Feb 14, 2014 15:53:04 GMT
Part Eleven
It was still parked where John had left it. In the middle of the old cargo warehouse stood a large armoured truck, it looked more like an oversized rover, out in the sands even with the road you needed something that could handle well over any terrain. Pulling down a ladder John climbed inside.
“If you had something like this, why bother waiting at all?” Senka had gotten into the other seat, the package held tight. John noted she had put her gun away and began getting hopeful he’d get out of this without a bullet wound.
“Were going off the beaten path. Security doesn’t patrol this kinda area so you get pirates and outlaws. There’s gonna be a sandstorm tomorrow and we’d be safer hiding inside it”
“We could just wait?”
“Hm. I’d like to, but that Avengers on our tail… and I’ve got a hunch they’ll find us if we stick around” John started the engine, the console in front of him sparked to life. Going through some of the systems John hit a red button and the door in front of them began to open.
“This all still works?”
“Well. They broke most of it as they sealed the place down… But when you don’t have proper employment you have a lot of free time” John drove them out of the city.
Barren wasn’t the word John would have used to describe the land beyond the city. There was still life outside but it was mostly alien indigenous species. The settlers of Laura never liked them and imported more peaceful and domestic animals to place in the nature reserves. The irony of ignoring the indigenous species in favour of taking care of imported wild life wasn’t lost on John. Just another symptom of a world gone mad.
There were no forests, rather the planet life had a strange cycle of popping out of the sand for a few hours a day. What seemed like a desert for one minute could suddenly transform into tall red and purple stalks filled with horrible insects. It was one of the reasons why travel off the roads was problematic, some stalks had enough force to turn a vehicle over when they popped out of the ground. For this reason most people flew between cities but some still liked to use the highways, which annoyed the government no end because the upkeep and cleaning of the highways after a sandstorm was a sink of public funds. A lot of old roads had been left to be reclaimed by the sand, but they made excellent off the grid paths if you could map them or simply remember where they were.
Silence rained between the two of them as the truck made its way over the invisible road, though occasionally it would dip suddenly into the sand to announce John had accidently driven off it. Senka looked as serious as ever, but that layer of anger she had was gone now.
“So… How’d you end up like this anyway?” John raised his eyebrow at Senka’s question.
“Why do you want to know?”
“…You said Sinclair trusts you. I’d like to know if I can as well” She looked forward towards the tall dunes of sand in the distance “Your daughter. I’d like to know more about it. Sinclair has her hostage?”
John could feel an anxiety grow in his stomach. Senka said the words like she generally cared which he didn’t expect. For a while he didn’t say anything.
“… She’s not a hostage or anything like that… Just…” His mouth moved, mulling the words over “I’d just gotten married. We were young and looking to improve our lives. I aimed to take the police exam... But it didn’t work out. Instead I took a job here, hauling crates from a mine to the factories”
“Then my wife got pregnant. You’d think we would have been happy… But she lost her job cause of it. Even after she had the baby she never found work again, so I had to start pulling longer and longer shifts. By the end of it I could have followed this road with my eyes closed”
“When my daughter turned four, her lungs collapsed… It was a… a combination of weak health and living near the factories. Her body couldn’t take it and it just shut down. We got her hooked up onto the machine but the bills for just that almost bankrupted us… there was no chance getting the lungs replaced. I’d given up on her… But then I was on a night shift and a man was blocking the road. I thought he was a pirate at first, but I couldn’t risk tipping over the goods swerving off the road… So I just stopped”
“Turns out he was just a smuggler. He didn’t threaten me or anything… he just… offered me a bunch of credits to add another crate to my shipment. It was more than I would see in a year of working. So of course I took it. Used it to pay for an operation. My daughter could breathe again”
“The company went under not long after that. The factories had been shutting down for a long time by that point. We all got laid off with nowhere to go… But I knew what I wanted to do. Seeing the money that guy by the road threw at me just to do a part of his job… Imagine how much he must have been paid. Even with that money my Daughters condition would only go downhill unless I could buy better replacement lungs…”
“So I started smuggling. Petty things at first… Small time, none of it worth the money I needed. That was when I remembered this old road. So I came back. Bloody code for the security door still worked. Got inside and fixed the place up good as I could. Got my operation up and running. Thanks to this road I started making a lot more money, a lot more people started to trust me”
“Of course all of this took every moment I had. Me and my wife went weeks sometimes never saying a word to each other. She knew what I was doing but… She never complained, never said anything about it. Our daughter had to stay in the hospital most of the time… I don’t think my wife ever really visited her. I’d get home late sometimes and see clues that she was seeing someone… But I didn’t want to say anything, I didn’t want to make it true… Despite all the shit our lives had become I still wanted to love her…”
“So, naturally I come back one day and find the boyfriend. I took out my gun and asked him to come with me. We walked down to the boiler room and I… I shot him. Didn’t even listen to what he had to say. I don’t even remember if I was angry. When I went back to the apartment she was gone… Just… Ran away. Must have figured I was going to kill her next”
“For a while I thought she’d call the law. They’d come crashing through the door and that would be the end of it. But nobody ever came. I never heard from her again. Told my daughter her mother was gone… she wasn’t surprised… I hated myself after that”
“It was a year later I first met Sinclair. I had built my reputation and now I was making real money. At some point he found out about my situation and began hiding the payments as a donation for my daughters operation. He’s a worm though and likes to remind me that her life is in his hands”
Senka sat in silence after John was done telling her tale. Her face was blank but there was a hint of sadness to her features. It was then that it occurred to John that something must have happened in her past as well, and hearing about his daughter must have resurfaced whatever memories she was hiding away.
Despite John’s better judgement he decided he’d take one more gamble.
“… So. Now you know me. Up to you if you trust me or not, but I’ve been wondering if I can trust you now”
“Senka. What’s in the package?”
End of the Prologue
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