Tyson had taken a position beside to door so that he could hear most of the conversation going on behind it. Ultimately he wouldn?t exactly need to be that close to hear all of it, but he wouldn?t have been able to know when the Lieutenant Colonel ended the call and he could enter. Without an invitation, Tyson opened the doors and walked over to Bishop in order to wheel him out of the room. He specifically avoided eye contact with Briân and Catherine while Bishop still had hot blood in him.
Lifting up his shirt to reveal his wrapped ribs and a tapped on dressing, which was partially red due to the blood from where he was cut open to stitch up his internal bleeding. ?You?ll get yours Briân. I?ll boil you like a frog and you won?t have this new Brian to heal you.? Bishop said with death glare before coughing.
Tyson finished exiting the room before Briân could get a chance to respond to Bishop and kept going back towards Bishop?s barracks. ?Melodramatic enough?? Tyson asked with much more than a hint of sarcasm. ?Doesn?t seem like you?ll get back your rank with words like that.?
?Doesn?t matter. He got to walk away with just being kicked out. Like hell I?m not going to give him a permanent reminder that he got his ass kicked by me.? Bishop replied before taking a long breath. ?Plus I now have to make a hell of a stretch to get my rank back before Roberts chooses some halfwit who?s on better terms with him to take over my position.?
?Yet considering what you?ve shown yourself to be so far, why do I have a feeling that you?ve planned for such a thing?? Tyson asked full well knowing that if he was in Bishop?s position, he?d make damn sure that he?d have a way to regain what could be lost fast.
?I do have a few favours collected, but the biggest guarantee is that I have is that my success has turned me into a she-wolf?s favour chew toy. It isn?t something to be proud about, and really it?s more scary, but like most animals she-wolfs don?t like their toys taken from them.? Bishop said in a lower colder tone of voice, before giving a slow half laugh, half chuckle. ?Now tell me something important in case things don?t go according to plan. What?s been making you act so odd? I don?t even know you and it might as well be bright as day.?
?You know how some people have a monster inside of them? Well mine just happens to be able to take over my body and powers. Before it used to do that when I went over my volume limit, but now it?s acting like an animal trapped in a pit of fire. No clue as to what?s going to happen, and I have no idea how to fix it. I?m just hoping that that fire goes out, and the monster goes back to guarding my powers.? Tyson replied to his double, in a slow, strung-out, nervous tone. ?I just wish I knew what it?s trying to do.?
Bishop sighed. He might not be getting the help later on that was promised by the sounds of it, but his own iron was still hot and he need to reforge his rank fast. ?Just don?t lose it like you think you will until after you finish helping me.? Bishop said as he bit his lip and took out his cellphone and dialed a number.
The silver cell phone vibrated on the wood and glass coffee table in front of Serdar Koryo; bumping into the black cell phone that had been placed next to it. The large man sat forward from the couch to grab ahold of it, wondering why there would be two Resistance-related phone calls in just a day. 'Perhaps it has something to do with the cargo we shall be getting,' Serdar wondered, flipping the phone open after he turned down the volume on the television in front of him.
"F-P. Cherbourg. Azul," he said into the phone, waiting to see who it was on the phone.
"Six-W. Cambridge. Prototype," Bishop replied to the presented challenge. ?I might as well forewarn you, that there?s a good chance that she won?t like my news.? I really hope that this isn?t going to be a fucking disaster and another warzone opens.
"More than likely not," Serdar admitted to the officer, looking outside on the large patio where Renee was sitting, "Though I'm sure it can only help that it is from you at the least," he added, putting on his jacket and opening the door outside. The brisk wind hit his face as soon as the door was opened, the sharp chill taking a moment to get accustomed to. The damn snow will be here if this keeps up,' he thought to himself, walking over to his boss who was currently typing away at a computer.
"I don't want to talk right now. I need to finish these rewrites by the end of the week," Renee told Serdar with an annoyed voice, not even looking up from the screen.
"I'll be sure to tell your favorite rebel that," Serdar started, letting Renee snatch the phone right out of his hand before standing over to the side.
"Why good afternoon Tyson. Odd to get two calls from you so close together, is something the matter?" she asked cheerfully after putting the silver phone to her ear.
Bishop felt a cold breeze pass by him despite being in an underground air controlled base. He kept silent for a few seconds watching a couple lights ahead of him flicker and dim before deciding to speak. ?Yes. Something?s the matter. A roadblock just appeared between me and those deals that we made yesterday. How should I best put this? It will be much harder to steal that mech while being a Master Sergeant and not being able to command a squad.? Bishop?s voice was steeled despite a screaming pain in his side from his broken ribs. Pain was clear across his face, but Renee couldn?t see him so it didn?t matter.
Renee listened to the now Master Sergeant's problem, tapping the side of her laptop until he was done. "Two things, why did this 'appen and who gave the demotion?" she asked, hiding the annoyance that was in her voice as well as Bishop was hiding his pain. This was certainly a roadblock, but one that she could easily remedy with a few choice words.
?Lieutenant Colonel Dylan Roberts issued the demotion. What happened is a slightly longer story. Before I launched the last prison break, I needed to ask Catherine for help since it became time sensitive and fast. Well the little princess who wants to play who?s bigger with the boys, decided to use it as an excuse to call her boy toy down from one of our northern bases. So Corporal Briân MacKenzie flies down south and arrives after all the heavily lifting is done and we?re heading back to base.
Skip forward, the heat?s gone, and we?re back at Catherine?s base. An altercation between one of our guests and one of Catherine?s soldiers happens. No big deal because it was broken up by another one of our guests. The boy toy then goes and uses his power to start pulling the life out of the soldier for no real reason. I don?t stand for that shit so I informed him to never do it again. Then he goes on to claim he was protecting Catherine, questions my abilities as a commanding officer, and to top it all off he insults my deceased family members.
Still I kept enough of my cool and then he hits me with a suck punch. Well a man can only go so far and I decided to let him have it. A few minutes of fighting later and I won. From what I can tell Catherine sent a recording of the altercation to Roberts. Now I?m stuck here while still in command of my soldiers till Robert assigns a potential lack wit to take over my command. So what do I do now?? Bishop answered Renee as best as he could from his memory. It may have gone a little longer in detail than needed, but he felt a bigger backstory might be wanted.
"Sounds like you 'ad an exciting day yesterday," Renee replied with amusement. The story Bishop had given her was a lot more in detail than she needed, but more details couldn't hurt. Fixing this would be an easy enough matter for her, especially since she knew how to get in touch with Lieutenant Colonel Roberts easy enough. 'But where is the fun in that?'
"For now you don't do anything. Just continue with what you are supposed to do, and I shall 'ave this sorted out by tomorrow. Once the people you're sending are 'ere safely, I'll get in touch with Dylan and see to it that your rank and command are reinstated. Perhaps I'll even convince 'im of more," she told Bishop, waiting for that last part to sink in before adding, "Of course, I'll want something in return for all of this 'assle that I must deal with because of you."
?So I sit here and grow more debt in order to pay off my old ones. It?s not like I really have any other choice right now. So with me being the puppet of success and you being the puppeteer; what twisted, insane, and beyond dangerous task will be required to pay off this debt?? Bishop answered back having noted the added intention in her worlds, but not giving her the satisfaction of addressing them for the time being.
Renee couldn't help but smile at Bishop's response, wondering if cackling malevolently right now would be a bad thing. "Oh, believe me Tyson, what I'm going to want isn't going to be any of the things you listed...for the most part. No, you see our last call 'ad a lot to do with the business aspect of our relationship...but this time I think we'll move along straight to the personal," she told him coolly, the wicked smile never leaving her face.
Bishop froze. Cold sweat formed on the back of his neck and shiver passed through his body. A light over his head stopped flickering and shined brighter than any of the other light bulbs. ?Our personal aspect is our business aspect. Make sure your request isn?t considered lightly before you make it. Our relationship balances on mutual benefit and my ability to keep my track record intact. I can assure you that I?ll regain my rank in time; now are you going to let a little greed now ruin your spoils later?? Bishop let the steel melt as he add fresh fire to his voice. Even if only implied, there were lines that you should cross.
"Yes. Yes I will. Because I can get both. Sometimes I really wonder if you truly know what you are dealing with 'ere. If you regret everything between us so far perhaps you should 'ave thought a bit more before you agreed to these things," Renee replied with all hint of cheerfulness gone, replaced instead with the manner of a boss chastising their underling.
"Now see 'ere, I will get your rank back from Roberts with a bonus. And you are going to accept that bonus with a smile on your face. If you do not, then I will make sure you regret it. This doesn't have to be a 'ard thing Tyson. In fact I'm quite positive we'll both enjoy it if you'd just open your mind to it," she said, the latter sentence getting a bit more of her usual calm persuasiveness to it.
The ongoing conversation was easy to overhear from Tyson?s position. You may hate me for this, but I?m damn sure that I got added to this balance gaming sometime after I landed in this universe. Tyson reached down and pulled the cellphone out of Bishop?s hand. ?What do you want?? Tyson asked with a voice so full of death, it sounded like Bishop?s corpse was now on the other end.
The initial confusion from the new voice gave Renee a chance to calm down. 'One...two...just like the therapist said,' she thought, taking a few deep breaths as she settled down. It took her another second to put the few pieces together before replying, "I 'ave a feeling I know who you are. And, truthfully, it isn't exactly any of your business. Even though I know both you and the Sergeant Major are a lot alike in more ways than one. This proceeding is between myself and 'im, so please give the phone back to him."
Tyson?s eyes instantly became pitch black as Vesper moved to take over Tyson. The creature didn?t like someone fucking with Tyson?s head and its home, but Tyson knew the threat wasn?t within reach and Vesper backed down. In that time Bishop looked up with a blank stare, the change in Tyson?s eyes wasn?t cause by Renee and more amazingly he didn?t follow the order immediately. There was a good five second pause before the phone was handed back to him. ?Just tell me what you want.? Bishop?s voice was dumbfounded as he continued to stare at Tyson. I know you told me you had a monster in you, but Cerberus would back down against her. That thing is more dangerous than I could possibly know.
Renee waited for the phone to go back to the Tyson she wanted to talk to, going back to tapping her laptop until she heard him again. "You know what I want Tyson. And I'm sure you'll want it too. You can take my word on that. And you know that that is worth quite a bit. Now Dylan is going to give you a certain bonus once I'm done talking to 'im, and you are going to accept it. From there you should be able to figure it all out. Any questions?" Renee asked.
?Just one Rent. Have you heard the tale of Icarus?? There was a crack as Bishop snapped the phone in half. There was a minute of silence between the two men as they continued down the hall towards the barracks. Before they entered Bishop finally spoke up. ?You just made yourself a target.? ?And she did the exact same thing. I?m going to walk you inside and I?m going to collect my things for the upcoming flight. Remember that we are very much the same, belittling your pride hurts my own.? Tyson spoke in his normal voice matching Bishop?s perfectly.
Tyson wheeled the wheelchair inside and exited the room. Behind him he could here Bishop order his men to gather around, he had to update them on the changes involving them.
