The Ashlanders - Chapter 6: The Blind Man's Last Gambit (Closed, Started)

[Fappy]

"I won't tell Merry that I'm your favourite, it's okay."

Cranston grinned, "You're a lifesaver, Lilith." The two Maidens shared a brief laugh as they continued down the dark street. They would be arriving shortly. "This Gorgon business... it feels a lot like mine and Pixie's first job together. You see," He let out a small sigh. "She had helped me with a... personal matter. I was indebted to her and when I asked how it was I could repay her, she told me she wanted revenge. Having just delivered vengeance on those that had wronged me myself, I was in no position to tell her whether or not it was right of her to pursue such a thing."

He clenched his jaw, "It was the banditos. They had captured Carlos, their former brother, and were subjecting him to all means of torture. They didn't care what information he kept, no, they just wanted him to suffer. At the time, we thought he'd already been killed. Pixie was convinced they'd have buried him long before we found him. To her, going after the Santiago family was little more than payback for the years of abuse she'd received at the hands of their ilk."

He shook his head, smiling, "How that girl kept herself and Sprout alive in that city for so long is beyond me. I know she never speaks of it to you, but you can imagine what they'd done to her. After helping me in my pursuit, I couldn't just turn her down. In fact, part of me wanted to watch her do it. I wanted to see the delight painted on her face as she took from these men all that they had taken from her. But," He looked up at the night sky. "That never happened. Yes, she did get her revenge. She killed them all, in fact. But I never did see a hint of joy on her face. Not even a smile."

He looked to his companion, "Lilith, Pixie and I have killed a lot of people in our time. More than you can imagine. If there's one thing you should never, ever do, it's make violence personal. If you start down that path, it will never end. Regardless as to how you feel about it. I promise you that." His eyes found their way to the street ahead once more.

"Pixie regrets it all, you know? She hates what it has done to her. But it's too late now. The taste of another humans blood is the only thing in this world that makes her feel alive," He shrugged. "The same goes for me."

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"We probably shouldn't stay here too long."

Pixie nodded, silently.

"We can't be certain that the Bejic's won't be back for more. Is there anything you need?"

"No, not now anyway," Pixie shook her head. "Bullet's out an' the wound is bound. I can wait fer stitches. Mind 'elpin' me ta' one a the crawlers? I don' reckon I can drive in this state, so throw me in the back'a Bennie's so's we can talk 'bout this Wilkes-Vines business. That is, unless ya' wanna talk." She ran a trembling hand across the top of Amy's head.

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Col. Esteban Ortega was crouched on a rooftop across the street from the abandoned building the famous hunter, Viola, had been last seen entering. His squad had been tracking her since her meeting with the Gentleman's contacts. Though she'd refused to take them up on their offer, Esteban was still interested in talking to her. While Samsara was off on a wild goose chase, Basilio's cavalry was doing the important work. A threat on Pym's life was far more alarming than the Gentleman could have anticipated, so if they were to investigate this they were going to have to tread carefully. If the Gentleman were to catch on to their efforts, Pym's life would be in even more danger.

The Gentleman would learn just how vital his role truly was.

Suddenly, Esteban's earpiece crackled to life.

"We've got about eight hostiles surrounding the building, Colonel. Looks like Gunderson goons. Think they're after the kid. Probably more inside."

Esteban nodded to the sniper beside him, "Roger that, we still don't have eyes inside?"

"Negative, there are no windows in the hallway."

"Okay," Esteban sighed in frustration. "There is no telling how long until they blow each other way. Move in!"

After no more than eight seconds of gunshots, the streets were cleared out and the six members of Chimera squad on the ground had breached the building from both sides, "Come on," Esteban said to his sniper as he got to his feet. "Let's hope the Gunslinger has enough sense not to fire on my men."

 

[The Funslinger]

Whiskey eventually caught up with Payton and his remaining men a ways down the road. At the sound of her approach, Payton turned.

"Ah, Miss Fifer. Is there something I can do for you?"

"The fuck was that?"

"The fuck was what?"

"Why did you take your snipers off the West side? They coulda diced those Bejic raiders and given us a heads up if they couldn't." She gestured back at the inn, and the bodies littered around the outside. "This all could have been avoided. So, what the fuck?"

"I do hope your daughter hasn't inherited your foul mouth, dear," replied Payton. Whiskey didn't answer, but her look said there was no middle finger big enough.

"Anyway," continued Payton. "Why I took the snipers off is simple enough, Miss Fifer. Firstly, I wanted to gauge how well Miss Monroe and her men reacted under shock and pressure. Secondly and more importantly, I needed to know if you were still going to tow the line. I was very glad to find that you did."

"That is seriously fucked," hissed Whiskey.

"Well I'm sorry you feel that way. But the fact of the matter is, were the circumstances different, Monroe and her men, especially Carmine, would bear me all the ill will in the world. So while I would dearly love to have a truly mutually beneficial relationship with the Maidens, the fact is their premeditated feelings towards me make that near impossible. But if it makes you feel any better, their involvement was a happy accident. Gauging you was my main concern. I very readily expected those mercenaries to strike before or after our guests had arrived."

Whiskey turned on her heel and stalked back down the road.

==========================================

"No, I'm not paying ya fer that!" snapped Bryan.

"But you said you wanted to know 'bout any deaths round here!" implored the rummy.

"Yeah, but you know full fucken well the girl I'm looking for ain't no fifty year old man with love handles, ya shite!"

Bryan had had about a dozen conversations like this over the course of half an hour. It was incredible, really. Usually the bottom rung of society were a goldmine of information, which traveled among the nomadic inner city populace like they were some kind of hive mind, but there was nothing pertinent to a dead noble girl anywhere. He was starting to think that Elizabeth Maribel probably was alive.

Still, he wanted to make a thorough job of it, or it would be his massacred body that would be the subject of hobo gossip. Bryan was just making his way back to the more crowded streets when a clutch of Basilio soldiers came tramping around the corner. One of them recognized him.

"Hey, O'Lafferty?"

"I think I might be," Bryan replied.

"You seen a kinda old guy around here, maybe a little drunk?"

"I been questioning the homeless, lad. You'll have to be volumes more specific."

"Kinda gangly, black pork pie hat and a really big beard?"

If Bryan had been drinking, he would have inhaled it through the nose at this. Instead, he just blinked. "I ah... no, I ain't," he laughed. "Sounds like a character, though. What ya want him for?"

"Well he was gambling with us--some of Lord Dio's men last night. It seems he convinced... one of those officers to put up his key card to the filing rooms -personnel, mission logs, shit like that- for a bet. Which... said officer lost. So... yeah."

"Blimey," said Bryan. "I'll keep me eyes peeled, then."

"Yeah, sure..."

As soon as the soldiers were out of earshot, Bryan ducked around the corner and thumbed the radio in his jacket. "Commander? My assignment ain't panned out anything particular, which suggests our target is still active. But there's something I want to check out. It might take a while. That okay? Over."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Lilith listened in silence as Cranston told his tale. As he finished, she furrowed her brow as she contemplated what he had just told her, her eyes looking forward.

For as long as the girl had known her, Meredith has always had a penchant for violence, it was weaved into her very being, resonating in her personality, the way she treated others.

And the way she treated the people she loved.

Lilith smiled sadly, her eyes on the ground in front of her. The bruises on her face were not the first Meredith had given her, although the others had occurred under happier circumstances. One did not 'spar' with Meredith Monroe, one just got their arse kicked less thoroughly, and hoped they could hold her off longer after every session.

Lilith learned quickly that sparring with Bennie was usually the more productive, and significantly less painful experience. That didn't mean Pixie hadn't taught her a thing or two though.

The fact the woman would go to such lengths for revenge didn't surprise her in the slightest. Woe betide the person stupid enough to personally make an enemy of Meredith Monroe.

"If there's one thing you should never, ever do, it's make violence personal."

Something about that statement resonated with her. Lilith was a killer, there was no escaping that, but that didn't mean she had to enjoy it, it was a necessary part of the life she lived. She tried not to kill if she didn't need to, but the sad truth was that those opportunities were growing less frequent as time went on.

That, or she simply wasn't trying as hard as she once had.

Clenching her jaw, she thought to the task at hand. Gorgon was a cruel man, she saw it in his eyes, and for the briefest of moments, she was sure he saw it in her's as well, no matter how fleeting, it was there, she had felt it burning inside her.

It was easy for her to say she wouldn't go after the man, that she would simply put in bullet in his brain and be done with it.

But saying, and doing, were two completely different things.

Looking up at Cranston, Lilith burned her cigarette to the filter, taking a long deep breath, she exhaled slowly as she removed it from her mouth, casually flicking the stub into the darkness behind her.

"I love you and Merry, more than you can know." Her eyes locked on his, "And when I say this, I mean it with all the respect in the world." She laughed nervously.

"I don't want to be like either of you, but that's okay." She smiled sadly. "Because I know you don't want me to be like you too."

 

[Terratina.]

"Maria? Are you still here?!"

Maria stirred as she woke from a little nap. She took a moment to sort her hair out as well as getting a glass of water just to get rid the taste in her mouth. Soon enough, she found Elizabeth on the sofa.

"'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Maria yawned.

***​

"...You are all dismissed."

With that, Jun immediately headed off to the market, it was full of people as ever. Not to mention the fact that it was full of noise as well - the vendors' shouts as they hawked their wares were just above the general commotion of hundreds of footsteps and general chatter. Asking people at random would be a pain. However, Jun decided to take care of a little personal business first, choosing to do exactly what he was always internally complaining about: wasting time.

What? It would only take a minute.

The bell rung as Jun opened the door and the old gentleman behind the counter straightened himself up from leaning on the counter. A few seconds later and a wave of recognition washed over him.

"Haven't seen you in a while, here for the same as before?" The old man said.

Jun replied with, "Yes."

"Hold on a sec then, just lemme find the stuff." The shopkeeper said before he rummaged around the various bits and pieces hidden in another room beyond the first. Jun folded his arms as he waited, however the soldier didn't have to wait long.

"Ah, there it is." Jun heard from the back of the shop and soon the old man appeared with a small cylindrical bottle. The transaction was finished in a flash, a bit of carbon for a chemical: Temazepam.

"Anything else?" He sighed, knowing there was little chance of any more business from the fellow.

"Yes." Jun replied and noticed the shopkeeper perked up but that was quickly crushed with the next sentence, "Lady Elizabeth Maribel: young noble, tall, pale, short blonde hair, hazel eyes. Have you seen her around?"

The old man shook his head with a laugh, "Nah, women are always stocked up on this sorta stuff anyway."

It was worth a shot. Jun nodded and made his exit, pocketing the little pill bottle. Going about randomly wouldn't do, though the soldier had no idea about the target's habits or quirks. The fairer sex were always a mystery, regardless of whether the member of that sex in question was a fugitive or not. So random canvassing it would have to be. There was no luck among the shoppers, though there was some among the more permanent residents of the market.

Somebody among the sea of faces had remembered an incident which had involved some high-end shoe shop, common rabble and a lot of noise - not to mention the involvement of a certain blonde-haired lady. Further investigation, namely information from the tailor in Sarto D'Gentiluomo, indicated it wasn't any high-end shoe store, but the high-end shoe shop: La Chaussure de Ciel - which was opposite from the tailor's. And there is where Jun currently found himself, among many samples of footwe- no, they were more than just that, they could be called pieces of art. Or objets d'art - the word the staff had insisted on calling them.

"...I think it was about a day ago? It was terrible, those women just stormed in there and one of them did things to the merchandise. I knew they were just the type to cause trouble as soon as I saw them, the rabble." The member of staff ranted on and on, "I'll have you know that they scared the rest of our customers away and caused quite a bit of damage to our merchandise. If it weren't for the fact they had enough carbon - probably some ill-gotten gains - it would have been a complete disaster for this great establishment..."

Jun rubbed his temples. What was with this woman? First she had tried to get him shooed out of the store only to discover Jun was looking for the troublemakers and now she was just bitching left and right about they did this and that and all sorts of other things. He could only weather the storm so much.

"Descriptions, please." The soldier said with a sigh, "Descriptions are required."

"...It's just natural someone such as you is on their tail. They were just so rude." The woman continued. She paused and clean her glasses, "Oh descriptions! Well, let me think, hmm. There were three of them: one brown-haired Hispanic and two Caucasian blondes - one taller than the other. One of the blondies was definitely rougher than the other, with a scar and everything! Though, each one of them was a handful. Now that I think about it, there was certainly a resemblance to the speech of the taller blonde's and that of our usual, more refined customers." A bell rang, interrupting her, "Ah, and I hope that is enough for you as it's the end of my little break now. For the sake of La Chaussure de Ciel, I hope you catch them."

Jun left the pretentious shoe store after managing to grunt out a, "Thank you for your time."

Shoe shopping? Christ, Jun could give the missing girl a whole lecture and a half about disappearing but, without doubt, it was a good thing that she had been so careless. The less care, the less work needed to catch her after all. Then again, it appeared that she had made some friends - enough friends to feel safe in the open air. A shame vague descriptions weren't enough to verify their identities; however, it was a start. Who knew that going out and asking people was gonna help so much?

Nevertheless, the soldier found a secluded spot and enjoyed a little moment of quiet. Dealing with that member of staff reminded him of old rhetoric. Well, it still stood up, even out here.

 

[ProtoChimp]

"These are good, thank you very much."

Oliver couldn't help but smile at her curtsey. "Such manners, its great to see these without needing to be taught by father."

"--zzztt--Oliver, Patrick, Dana and Lucinda, your father needs you in the Captain's cabin, hereby referred to as father's cabin.--zzztt---"

Oliver smiled. "As much as I'd love to stay and enjoy some discussion of literature with you, I'd afraid father needs me. Dinner will be ready soon, read through these as you will." He gave her a bow before leaving to meet Austin.
=================================================
"...by a few thousand at least. Will the whole dome even be affected?" Oliver heard his brother Patrick ask father as he entered the cabin. They were gathered around his desk, a map on the table. It wasn't a map of their destination, Austin just loved the idea of planning around a desk with a map. Plus, he knew their destination through and through.

Austin replied to the doctor, "It is a rather small city Patrick. To some its merely a pit stop on their way to bigger and better cities. Trust me, they won't know what hit them. None of them."

"Well what about the soldiers? Surely they will try to shoot us out of the sky." Asked one of the sisters, Dana.

"Yes but they will be too busy scrambling for air." Replied Oliver as he joined the circle.

"Exactly," responded Austin as he clicked his fingers at Oliver, "and not just that, they need to choose between stopping us, protecting'civilians', or saving their own pretender selves. I guarantee you, they will choose themselves."

"And of the ones that don't?" Asked the second sister Lucinda.

"We will be launching hell-fire down upon them. The Maidens armoury was one of the most glorious vaults of weaponry I have ever seen, and along with our mortar cannon no one will stand a chance." Austin spoke confidently.

"Right, so where are we going to approach from?" Asked Patrick once more.

Before he could get an answer, Oliver jumped in. "One question father, sorry, what shall we do with our freed sisters?"

Austin paused for a moment, staring at him for a moment. "They shall stay in the bedroom quarters for their own safety." Oliver didn't answer right away. "Is something the matter my son?"

"No no just," he answered quickly in a slight panic, "just that, this isn't exactly the safest place for them here on the ship."

"Well where else shall we put them? Do you have a suggestion my son?"

"Well I um," he struggled for words, "just um, maybe we can set them down in a safe place?"

"And where is there a safe place Oliver?" They were all staring at him now. His siblings wondering about how he would respond, Austin knowing he had no answer."

"Well... perhaps we should have waited to save them?" He asked, nervous as all hell. His fellow children all went stiff. Their eyes darting back and forth from Austin to Oliver. Austin himself was dead silent for an incredibly uncomfortable amount of time.

"All of you step outside except Oliver."

They did immediately.

It was now only father and son standing opposite each other. Oliver didn't fear for his life, he was too close for Austin to kill him over such a triviality. That said, he had never been on the recieving end of one of his scoldings before. He stood, like a scared child, before Austin.

The father meanwhile stood dominant, his nose flared and his brow furrowed, looking as if he might leap over the desk at any moment. "Never question me."

"Y-yes fa-"

"No. Never. Question me." He spoke cold. Oliver wanted to continue but his voice quivered instead of speaking. "Do you know why you shouldn't ever question me?"

Austin waited as long as he needed to for Oliver to man up and reply. "B-b-because you are always right?" He spoke meekly.

"BECAUSE I AM ALWAYS RIGHT!" He shouted so loudly Oliver could feel the vibrations in the ground. "Are you saying we shouldn't have saved them Oliver? Do you think some children are exempt from freedom?"

"No no no no no I don't mean that at al-"

"THEN WHY QUESTION ME?" Austin was now around the desk and right up in his face. "Do you want reasons why we saved them when we did?"

Oliver's lips could only form 'ums' and 'ers" as he tried not to shake.

"Let me educate you then! And each time I give you a reason, you must slap yourself in the face, do you understand!" Oliver nodded, feeling guilty. "One!" Slap. "We needed to save them out of moral duty. Two!" Slap. "They were en route to our destination. Three!" Slap. "We needed to see how we perform with this vessel. Four!" Slap, and he then whispered into Oliver's ear. "We needed to test Franklin. And five!" He kept whispering, uncomfortably close to Oliver, his breath in his ear. "Because I wanted to." Slap.

Oliver's cheeks were red and he couldn't look up at Austin. "Wash your face, I don't want them to think anything happened." Oliver nodded and proceeded to clean himself up. After he was done, Austin grabbed him by the shoulder and said, "Everyone needs a lesson sometimes. Chin up." He tapped his thumb against his cheek and forced him to look him in the eye. "Bring your siblings back in, we need to go over the plan."

"Yes father." He said, disappointed in himself completely.
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Spinning the wheel of the crawler, Aesop drove it at the entrance to the saloon, honking the horn a couple times.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Leaving a lil quick aren' we?" A voice asked, looking up, Viola saw that it was the man from the hotel yesterday. It appeared as though he was trying to look calm, his trilby style hat pulled down to obscure most of his face. "This is a purdy nifty lookin' place. Place like this lookin' so empty, lucky didn't turn into a crack house. Guess sum'body savin' it for sum'thin special." He then added, flicking his hat up so both Viola and Hannibal could see his face. Viola noticed that his eyes were drawn to the hand that rested on her revolver, though he didn't seem to care, in fact he puts his hands behind his back so he looked more relaxed.

"Y'know, Noah wouldn'ta been so mad if ya just fucked up like a normal person. You'd be dead, we'd get anuva wimp to do our ***** work, bus' out McGregor and everythin'd been dandy." The man said, ending in a pig like snort. "But nah, you gotta fuck up so... 'Spectacularly'," He added with a malicious grin. "I mean I guess some of it's our fault. McGregor was a punk, and he died cryin' like a lil girl. But'chu!" His finger pointed at Hannibal.

"You gotta kill Noah's own flesh 'n' blood!" As if on cue, nearly a dozen or so more men showed up behind him, blocking the exit even more. "That either takes a lotta balls, or zero brains."

"Or perhaps luck." Viola interjected with a smirk on her face as she began gracefully performing tricks with her revolvers in the style of an old Ranger her father was friends with; she did this when she wanted to keep her opponents guessing as to when and/or where she was going to shoot from. "Hannibal, get behind me."

"Twelve shots, this time I have twelve shots. Enough to deal with these goons at least." She told herself when she pointed both revolvers at the Bandits. Viola was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sounds of gunfire outside.

"What the hell!" Viola said aloud. There was then the sound of a small explosion coming from in front and behind her, and then an unfamiliar voice started shouting.

"Everyone move in and target the Bandits! Don't target the civvies!" This made Viola smile and she turned to face the Bandits.

"Looks like we're in luck Hannibal, though it be a shame to let them do all the work." She remarked before firing a shot at the Bandits either side of the leader, which hit them in the shoulder causing them to stagger. Midst the confusion, Viola holstered her revolvers and grabbed her rifle and then went to charge at the leader.

With an upswing she slammed the rifle's stock into his chin, followed up with a blow to the chest on another two Bandits, knocking them back and creating an open to the stairs.

"Come on Hannibal, we got to get to higher ground." Viola said as she continued to clear a path.

 

[Fappy]

"Because I know you don't want me to be like you too."

Cranston said nothing for a long while as their destination grew closer. Eventually, Cranston spoke once more. His tone was cold and distant, "Meredith wanted to protect you and Sprout from all of this. She sent you away so that you wouldn't have to live this life. So that you wouldn't have to kill to survive. I didn't fight her because, well, I wanted to believe it myself. She was wrong though, Lilith." He looked at her. "There is no escaping this life. Not for any of us. If I still believed there was a way out I'd have tried my luck at Gorgon last night, alone."

His expression remained grim, "I'm taking you here tonight to show you what this life is all about. I giving you a chance to draw a line, to keep yourself in check. You'll probably always have to kill, Lilith, but you can do so without losing yourself in it." He gritted his teeth and looked forward. "At least, that's what I choose to believe."

Just then, they turned a corner and the factory came into view, "It's almost time."

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"'Course I am. Why wouldn't I be?"

Relieved to see her, Elizabeth cracked a nervous smile, "I don't know, I..." She thought on her words for a moment, confused as to why she found it so difficult to express herself all of a sudden. "I-I feel scared. Scared for them. Waking up in the dark, alone like this... it made me think of how this place would be if they never returned."

She giggled, "Listen to me, fretting over people I hardly know." She furrowed her brow as she looked past Maria. "Then again, I feel like my life is full of people I hardly know."

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Instinctively, he loosened the tie around his neck the moment he saw her enter the office. What did she want this time?! Peeping over the top of his cubical for but a moment, he crouched down, hiding himself as her eyes scanned the room in search of him. Commander Saburo was one of those "above and beyond" types. She never really broke protocol per say, but she more than took advantage of Basilio's resources when she wasn't getting what she needed. She'd dug in deep and had found herself a reliable resource in the Intelligence Department. Said resource, Joseph McAlister, was never a fan of their agreement.

Blackmail was a hell of a thing.

As it turned out, Commander Saburo was a shrewd woman, indeed.

"McAlister!" Tsubaki barked as she rounded the corner in search of him. "You hiding from me?!"

Fuck me.

"N-no!" He replied, nervously. He got to his feet just as she entered his cubical. "I just dropped my pen!"

"Yeah," Tsubaki groaned, unconvinced. "I need your help on something."

Sitting in his swivel chair, he faked a smile, "I am all ears."

"I have reason to suspect that Lady Maribel has returned to the custody of the Iron Maidens." She crossed her arms and leaned against the cubical wall. "Tell me what you know about their recent activities in the city."

"Well," He started. "We don't know much. I doubt I can---"

"McAlister..." Her gaze was piercing.

"The Gentleman---"

"What does he have to do with anything?"

"One of the hunters Lord Basilio contracted to rescue Lady Maribel, well, we think she switched sides. We've had guys keeping tabs on the Gentleman's operations in the city for some time now and we caught wind of a meeting she had with his contacts."

She furrowed her brow, "What did they want with her?"

"That's classified." Tsubaki scowled. "Look, it doesn't matter anyway. It has nothing to do with Lady Maribel."

"So why tell me about this hunter?"

"We've got guys on her trail as we speak. If she's been in contact with the Gentleman, chances are she's also run into some Maidens a long the way. In fact, we have eye-witness testimony that she was present during the prisoner exchange."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Tsubaki nodded, stroking her chin in thought. "Where are they now? Who's tracking this hunter?"

"That's classified." He repeated as he swallowed nervously.

"It's a secret squad," Tsubaki's eyes widened in surprised as Joseph's supervisor stepped into the cubical. "Chimera Squad, run by some ex-bandito named Ortega. They'll be bringing this hunter of ours in for questioning before dust. I'll see what I can do about getting you an audience with her before tomorrow."

"What's the catch?" Tsubaki asked, unflinchingly.

"Just remember who helped you out is all," Tsubaki nodded to him. Looking to Joseph, he added, "Now, if your done busting his balls, get the fuck out of this office."

"Later, McAlister," Tsubaki taunted as she left the two men behind.

As she crossed over the courtyard, outside the office, Bryan's voice suddenly broke through over the radio.

"Commander? My assignment ain't panned out anything particular, which suggests our target is still active. But there's something I want to check out. It might take a while. That okay? Over."

"Roger that, O'Lafferty. Good luck."

She had made progress herself, but what else would her squad discover?

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Gorgon could go fuck himself. He had been perfectly willing to give up the location of the bandit girl and that noble *****, but Gorgon just couldn't play ball, could he? That's why Grimm hated bounty hunters so much. They were always looking for information, but never had enough dough to pay for it.

Instead, Gorgon's men had tried to take him in themselves. Claim his bounty when he was offering them so much more.

Fucking simpletons.

It was of no consequence, however. From the looks of it, the old man and the young woman were geared up for war. Gorgon would be lucky to see tomorrow, and by that time, Grimm will have already had his fun. With their protectors away for the night, it would be easy pickings. Micky's savoir would get hers tonight.

It was time.

Spoiler: SRS BSNS

Grimm made his way across the dimly-lit, vacant street and into the apartment lobby. Holding a briefcase in one hand, he walked immediately up to the reception desk and placed the case on the counter.

"What's this?" The man working the desk asked.

"Oh, sorry, I was actually looking for someone who lives here. He was in my restaurant earlier and he left this case. He told me he lived here. His name was uh," He put his fingers to his forehead as if he were trying to recall a name he did not know. "Dammit, uh, he's a bald, tall fella. Goatee."

"Cumberland? Red goatee? Glasses?"

"Yeah, that's the guy!" Stepping away from the counter, he retreated to the entrance and started scanning the list of residence on the wall. "Could I, uh, deliver that back to him." It only took him a few seconds to find his name and room number listed on the wall.

The man watched him, suspicion written all over his face, "No, sorry Sir, but you just missed him. I can deliver it to him upon his arrival, however." In the corner of his eye, Grimm noticed the man reaching for something on the underside of the desk.

A smile on his face, Grimm walked back over to the desk, and placed his hands on the case, "Oh, come on, the guy's a regular at my restaurant. It would feel wrong to leave this with someone I didn't know. You understand."

The man's eyes narrowed, "I am sorry sir."

Grimm's smile faded, "So am I." Moments later, the two men had brandished sidearms against one another. Grimm shot three holes through the man's chest with a silenced pistol before he could get even a single shot off. Holstering his pistol once more, he tucked the suitcase under his arm and grabbed the dead man by the wrists.

After dragging his corpse into the building's sole elevator, he hit the button for floor eleven and road it up in silence. Once the door had opened, he dragged the body into the threshold of the elevator door so that no one else in the building could use it.

He'd trap them here.

Moving down the hall to "Cumberland's" room, he laid the suitcase on the ground and drew from it a sawed-off shotgun. After loading it, he cocked the weapon and aimed for the door's hinges.

Things were about to get fun.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Holding her baby in one arm Isabel rested her palm on Franklin's forehead. He tried to hold in his pain, as gruff hisses seeped out between clenched teeth. He hadn't been given anything to dull the pain. He looked over to her and smiled, seeing their son in her arm, surprisingly quiet.

"Quiet fucker isn't he?" He chuckled.

She pinched his ear and said sharply, "He's not even a week old! Mind the language." She couldn't help but smile. Even through all this, he could somehow keep his spirits up. Even if it was fake, at least he had the strength to fake it.

"Go easy on me I got shot!"

She was about to respond when someone entered the room. Their heads snapped to the door as one of the newest prisoners entered.

"Hello. My name is Georgia. I hope I didn't disturb you."

"No worries." Isabel said on her guard. Such confident in the light of Austin's insanity, she didn't trust it.

"He's beautiful."

Isabel smiled for the briefest of moments before putting a stop to it. "Yes he is. My name is Isabel."

"I'm Franklin, though I'm sure he's already gone on about me."

"Austin?" Georgia replied. "No. In fact I haven't seen him since the raid. Besides..." she took a step closer. " I already saw how you lead the attack, putting yourself in harm's way before the others. To risk your life for your family like that was very brave."

"I didn't do it for braver-" he began to reply, but his girlfriend gave him a knowing look. He shut up immediately.

"He did it because he loves his family, as we all do." She answered for him.

Georgia smiled sympathetically at her.

"Indeed, that much is clear." she said, holding out her finger, and giggling as the baby's tiny hand reached up, inquisitively, and grasped it with surprising strength. "You love your family very much."

"Yes." She said, more annoyed than previously. "I do."

"As do I," Georgia said, pressing the issue. "and we both have family on this ship, no matter who else we must call by that name. My sister is intelligent, charming, and far fairer than I, but at heart she is still a child. She's too impressionable to last indefinitely in a place like this. I need to get her out of here before they get under her skin, and you both need to get out of here before they take your baby, line you up against a wall and shoot you. So, you help me, and I help you."

Isabel was silent for a moment. Franklin looked to her, she may have been cold to strangers, but he knew what she'd say before she even said it.

"Would you like to hold him?" She said, softer this time.

"If you don't mind." Georgia responded, smiling.

The baby gurgled excitedly when she took it into her arms, and she laughed softly before pulling a funny face at it.

"What's his name?" she asked, before adding cheekily "I promise I won't tell."

"Um," Franklin and Isabel looked sideways at each other, pride was clearly not a feature on their faces. "We haven't decided on a name yet." He said. "He calls him... 'Troy'" he hated saying that name. It was so stupid.

"I imagine Austin would like to rename me if he can." Georgia added derisively. "Georgia was the name given to me when I was paraded in front of all those 'pretenders' like a piece of meat. No, that won't do at all."

She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

"But now that I think about it, Troy seems oddly fitting. I once heard a story about a place called Troy, brought down from within by that which they had taken to be a gift, and a symbol of victory. Though, I'm not sure that's quite what Austin had in mind when he chose it."

Despite the pain throbbing in his leg, the irony was making Franklin grin like an idiot. "Are you fucking serious?"

"Language Franklin!" Hissed Isabel, though she too loved the mistake Austin had made. "This is just too good." She chuckled. "Still, unless our son suddenly inspires everyone on this ship to stop being insane and throw that crazy bastard overboard, I'd like to give him a proper name." Humour dimmed in her voice before she added, "I don't want him to leave his mark on our son.

Franklin reached over and held her hand tightly before looking over at Georgia. "I know what you're looking for, but honestly it doesn't seem like a good idea to come talk to us. We're um... kinda under house arrest."

"Oh, don't worry." Georgia grinned. "Nobody told me I couldn't come here, and if anyone objects, I'm very good at telling people what they want to hear. In fact, me coming here might just be your saving grace. I take it not every new recruit is infatuated with Austin right away. Many I assume form friendships with their peers first, and that's how he reels them in. If I make it seem like we are developing a bond, he might hesitate to do anything to you that would break the poor little whore's heart. Even if I'm not that special, Sandra's already busy wrapping his top lieutenants around her little finger. Between us, I'm sure we can buy you enough time for us all to figure a way out of here."

Isabel had to sit down as she and Franklin looked at each other in a mix of puzzlement and dread. "Um, I don't know what you think of him, but you are making him sound much more reasonable than he actually is." He said.

Georgia giggled.

"Oh he's deranged, that much is clear, but no-one is as successful as Austin becomes so without having some grasp on logic, twisted as it may be. He can't tend to his 'family' by being the tyrant alone. He has to play the loving father too when he needs to. Besides, should he see through our ploy. Austin will find out what a big mistake he made in taking us. I'm sure he's already swimming in people who want him dead, but when all else fails he can always just bank on cowering behind his little gang of infants with Kalashnikovs, and blaming any casualties on the pretenders later...

If he harms a hair on any of us, Austin will find out what it's like to make an enemy with even fewer moral scruples that him, something that I guarantee won't end well for him."

"Um," Isabel mumbled, "wow um, okay. I get what you're saying but, and yeah you are right but you aren't exactly getting it. I mean I-" she covered her baby's ears, "I fucking hate everything about him but..." she paused and looked down, utterly ashamed. She took her ears off of her baby and began cradling him. She kept her eyes down onto his innocent face as she kept addressing Georgia.

"We loved him. We really, seriously did. We bought into everything he said, so trust me when I say, we know what its like. You can spend months with people, people who you come to love, come to know as your brothers and sisters, but then he says kill them and you don't even hesitate for a second. They're gone, and who cares right?" She chuckled sadly. "Turns out they were a pretender all along."

Franklin took over speaking. "There's dozens of reasons people join. Fear, kidnapped, safety like us, but even if you join him without intending to love him... he gets to you. And if he can't get to you... I don't know how but he just 'knows'. He knows if he can't wear you down. Some people change their mind after a while like us, but that first month or so is crucial. If he can't make you believe that quick, then... well, you know." He mumbled those last words before adding, "and he never cares who he pisses off. Hell he thinks he's unstoppable with this ship."

Georgia was unperturbed by their warnings. Hopelessness was no use to anybody right now. What she proposed was risky, she new that, and she couldn't help but feel for the young couple and their baby. At the moment, however, her feelings could not be allowed to make her hesitate. Sandra was her only family on this ship, and she needed to use any leverage that she could to protect her.

'They may be sweet, but if the tables were turned they'd gladly make you risk everything to save their skins. They may even throw you to the wolves if it came to it... and there's no shame in that.'

"Then, you've just explained how important it is that we stay vigilant for the right time to act, and that we don't waste a moment when that time comes. I've been learning how to convince men of my affections since I was old enough to bleed, and I learned from someone who'd been doing it longer than that. However, that doesn't mean I'm planning to stick around here long enough to find out if Austin can see through my charms, and I will never let him do that to Sandra. I may well need all the help I can get, but if you don't come with me when it's time to leave, don't count on anyone else offering you a way out."

With that, Georgia retreated back to the door, a sad look painted on her face.

"I should go now. We'll talk again, I'm sure, but before then, think about what I said."

They were both silent as they listened to her. She had such a good point, but their fear was overriding them so much, escape would never be as easy as she was promising. Or perhaps they had pushed the idea so far out of their minds that the possible now seemed impossible? Was she too optimistic? Were they too pessimistic? Who knew what-

Their shared fear filled thoughts were suddenly cut off by the sound of their baby crying. Franklin locked eyes with his beloved before she set off feeding their child. Franklin ran his hands over his short hair before lying back on the bed and saying, "If you can run, run with her. He can't take both of you, he just can't, we can't allow him."

"Franklin I ca-"

"Just listen to me Izzy, Please!"

"--zzztt--Everyone to the mess hall now please. Father needs everyone in the mess hall.--zzztt--'

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"I'm taking you here tonight to show you what this life is all about. I giving you a chance to draw a line, to keep yourself in check. You'll probably always have to kill, Lilith, but you can do so without losing yourself in it. At least, that's what I choose to believe."

Lilith nodded her head solemnly, her expression hardening.

'Fire fears nothing.'

It would be easy for her to claim she was a victim of society, abandoned as an infant, one in a couple dozen of other orphaned children. As caring as the nuns were, she never received as much attention as she would have liked, and why would should she? That would be selfish, and some of the other, younger children struggled with that life more than she did, having lost their parents to illness or other unfortunate circumstances.

The girl couldn't miss what she never had.

Some of the other children would pretend, or delude themselves into thinking someone would come for them. More often than not, her lullabies were the quiet whimpers of others.

She was never among them.

As she got older, one of her main tasks was seeking out the charity required to keep the orphanage afloat. Standing on street corners in the busier areas of the town, appealing to those who had the means to give.

"Oh look at her, poor thing."
"Someone should really do something about these kids."
"You think they'd make them more presentable."

The same tired old platitudes, over and over, and that was in the very rare case that anyone ackowledged her at all. Moments of charity were even rarer, hardly worth the hours spent standing around, looking pathetic.

It didn't take her very long to figure out that those with the means to give, very rarely did. Philanthropy was a rare thing on The Rock, and she learned very quickly that it was easier to take than it was to ask. Gambling was one such way to part fools from their wealth, and it turned out that Lilith was very good at it.

The girl never intended things to get as out of hand as they did, soon she earned a reputation. 'That blonde girl, with the red scarf'. The money rolled in, until she eventually got the attention of the more unsavoury characters in Sherwood.

After a few unpleasant confrontations, she discovered that no matter what she did, nobody would let her get ahead in life, nobody would let her rise above what she was, good or bad, noble or criminal, it didn't matter. She was the forgotten of society, hidden away from the rest of the world.

Enter Meredith Monroe. Her saviour.

Lilith embraced the bandit life, taking from those who had more than they needed, she was like the man from the old tales, taking from the rich and giving to the poor (albeit with some operational costs involved). To this day, the girl sent half of what she earned back to the orphanage, in an unsigned package. More carbon than they could ever hope to gain through begging.

No matter how hard she tried though, Meredith couldn't hide Lilith away from the darker side of the profession. The killing, the blood, the losing friends.

The girl had embraced that life, and now it wouldn't let her go.


"It's almost time."

Looking up Cranston, Lilith smirked as she pulled the silenced pistol from her holster, pulling back the slide, she checked the chamber before clicking off the safety. "I hate these bloody things, no personality."

It would be easy for her to claim she was a victim of society.

Victim.

'Fuck that.'

 

[Terratina.]

"...Then again, I feel like my life is full of people I hardly know."

Labels, funny the way they make people think. Noble, Sheriff, Commoner, Bounty Hunter, Bandit... All had their roles to play out here in the Ashlands and all had more than their fair share of assumption made about them: Bandits pillage, Bounty Hunters hunt them, Sheriffs protect the Commoners from them, and Nobles lord over the Commoners - that was it, wasn't it? However there was so much more than that. People who simply stuck to the labels were just blinding themselves, restricting themselves to a limited understanding of others. Sure, as a general rule in terms of caution, those were good guidelines to go by. Nevertheless, Maria had seen them turned on their head time and time again as she wandered The Rock. Lilith and Sprout were just people who happened to be bandits, just as the scared girl in front of her just so happened to be of noble birth.

Maria joined Elizabeth on the sofa, slumping down on it. The younger women had a point, they weren't out of the woods just yet. The doctor placed a hand on Elizabeth's nearest shoulder; Maria was somewhat uncertain whether that was okay or not. It seemed that the young noble had several points there. How long had it been since that initial impact with Sprout and Lilith? And here they were acting like the best of buddies. Of course it was somewhat excusable, hiding in drunken shenanigans and splurging of carbon. But, that didn't change the fact that Cranston and Lilith were going to kill - or even worse, be killed - soon. Maria would hate it if they just ended up exiting life so soon. A rather selfish thought, wanting someone to stay alive just to be able to interact with them more, right? Well, truth is, a wandering physician's path ain't exactly full of friendships.

She had her use and that was it as far as some people were concerned. Must've been the same for Elizabeth... Well, sort of.

"There's a saying about meeting 'n' leaving, but never mind that, I doubt we're in a position for such wistful chatter." Maria said with a slight smirk, "We gotta hold the fort, after all."

 

[Daystar Clarion]

"I hate these bloody things, no personality."

Cranston smirked, "When killing discreetly it's best you don't have personality."

"Yeah, but they don't have the boom." She looked up at Cranston, his eyes disapproving as he raised an eyebrow. Lilith shrugged. "I like the boom!"

"Of course you do," He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, the time for jokes is passed, Lilith. From here on out you don't say anything you don't have to until the job's done." As he spoke he led Lilith to the backside of the adjacent building.

Her expression hardening, Lilith nodded firmly, mimicking a zipping motion across her lips.

Keeping to the shadows, the pair made their way along the side of the old warehouse, crouching against a wall at the far end of the building. Having studied their patrolling patterns the previous night, he figured this to be their hideout's most likely blindspot. Peaking around the corner, he spotted one man leaning against the brick wall, smoking a cigarette. Above him was a small, rectangular window that led to the main floor of the facility. Likely their best bet of getting in unseen. The man before them would have to disappear.

Last night he counted five sentries on the roof. From this angle he could only see two. Neither of them were looking in their direction. Looking to Lilith, he whispered, "Can you do it quietly?"

Narrowing her eyes, Lilith nodded as she brought up her pistol. Bringing the weapon to aim, she took a small breath as she gently lined up the sights on the pistol. Placing her finger on the trigger, she held her breath as she squeezed out a round, hitting the poor sod in the back of the head.

He went down quietly.

Before the man's body had even hit the dirt, Cranston was on the move. Together, they dashed across the alleyway and hid against the wall, over the man's corpse. Kneeling down, Cranston held to hands together and looked to Lilith. Neither of them were tall enough to make it through the window alone, "I'll give you a boost. Make it quick."

"Gotcha." Placing one foot in the old man's hands, he lifted her into the air. Grunting, Lilith gripped on to the edge of the wall and slowly pushed open the window. Wrapping her hands around the inside ledge, she smoothly hoisted herself up and into the opening. Sticking her head inside, she quickly checked the area. Nothing. Positioning herself appropriately, she leaned back over the outside ledge, holding out a hand to Crantson as her other hand anchored her into the opening.

"Not too old for this shit yet, are ya?" She whispered with a smirk.

Cranston shot her a look that said, "What did I just say?" before taking the hand that was offered. Hopping up the wall, he used the leverage Lilith offered to hoist himself up, kick off the wall and grab the window frame with his other hand. With some additional help crawling through the window, Cranston made it inside with little trouble, despite his age. Drawing his pistol, he signalled for Lilith to follow him. Though the room was brightly lit, they were behind a large industrial machine and hidden from the view of any hunters within the facility. Here's where it got tricky: they had to locate Gorgon.

Upon reaching the far side of the machine, the iron staircase came into view. Was he upstairs, or downstairs? Or was he on this floor? Looking to Lilith, he whispered, "I am going to check the top floor and see if I can't get a good look at the whole place. Stay here and remain hidden until I return. Okay?"

Lilith nodded. He didn't need to tell her to remain hidden, it's not like she'd suddenly get the urge to expose herself. As Lilith leaned into the machine, it roared as it thundered into life.

Spoiler: tunes

"Shit."

Cranston's eyes went wide, "Move!" He shouted as he lunged out from behind the machine, gunning down two nearby hunters who hadn't yet had a chance to react. "STAY TOGETHER!"

"That wasn't me!" Lilith cried out as she drew her pistol. "You saw! There's no buttons on that bloody thing!" Following closely behind Cranston, she brought her pistol to aim as another guard rushed into view. Before he could react, Lilith put a bullet in his brain. "Where do we go?!"

"High ground!" Cranston barked as he planted bullets in the hearts of three men coming down the stairs. Cranston leapt over them as their bodies tumbled down the stairs. "We need to keep moving! We can't let them corner us!"

"MAIDENS!" One man shouted from below.

So much for stealth.

As Lilith ran up the stairs, dodging the tumbling corpses, she swore quietly as she heard movement behind them. "Behind us!" Turning quickly, the woman fired at two men as they came into view. One of them went down instantly as several bullets found his chest, the other goon took one in the shoulder, loosing a shot of his own before a hole in his throat appeared.

"Shit!" Lilith winced slightly as she looked down at her leg. Just a graze.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"That is, unless ya' wanna talk."

"You already know everything." Amy said blankly, before shaking her head a little as if to clear it, looking up from the floor and into the other woman's eyes.

"It was... good, I think, to tell someone, but that doesn't mean I don't still stand by what I said before. Be my Captain, and my lover too if you want, but don't try and be my therapist, because there's nothing you can do to fix this. I've lived with those memories my entire life. I go to sleep with them, wake up with them, and sit beside them at meal times. If I haven't found a way to make it hurt any less in all that time, then with the best will in the world Pixie, you don't stand a chance. The best I can do is get a handle on them, keep them from hurting anyone else, and I did, for the longest time before..." She just stopped short of saying 'before you came along'.

"None of it matters right now anyway. Austin has your ship, and two of my sisters are in his clutches. Let's go and get them back."

 

[ProtoChimp]

"Or perhaps luck."

Hannibal was panicking, breathing quicker than he should. Despite all the working out and sweating, he never wanted to run more in his life. Maybe it was adrenaline, or more likely it was the motivation he had possessed his whole life: fear.

His eyes darted back and forth as Viola... did tricks with her guns? Was this really the time to-

"Everyone move in and target the Bandits! Don't target the civvies!"

This, along with the explosions, gunfire and Viola's reaction caused Hannibal to damn near jump out of the atmosphere.

"Looks like we're in luck Hannibal, though it be a shame to let them do all the work."

And just like that she set to work. The leader had turned to fire a few shots outside when two at his side had gone down. By the time he had turned to face Viola she had sent him down.

"Come on Hannibal, we got to get to higher ground."

"R-Right!" He yelled as he followed after her, leaping over the downed bodies of the men she had attacked, shots following her as they bolted up the stairs. They were hot on their tail, curses and bullets flying after them. Thankfully the staircase was a jagged spiral, giving anyone being shot at enough time to dart behind cover. This unfortunately included the thugs which meant Viola couldn't turn to shoot any.

As they entered one of the upper floors and sped across the hallway, Viola ducked into a nearby doorway as Hannibal jumped out one of the windows and into the fire escape. He could hear her fighting from inside as he began ascending the outer staircase, seeing the fighting unfold outside and a new party of attackers entering the building.

"I wish..." he panted, "guns, weren't a thing."
=====================================================
Eventually, all the new arrivals were gathered in the mess hall. Austin's family were concentrated in there, but still were placed around the ship were they needed to be, such as piloting and navigation. The children were in a relaxed position, not appearing over friendly as to creep out their new sisters, yet not too hard as to seem like wardens of a prison. They waited patiently, they even had time to prepare a feast. The best ingredients, the best food, all prepared together for an explosion of the taste-buds. They didn't need to worry about any of them being vegetarian, Austin doubted they had much choice in what they ate given their lifestyle.

However, as their plated were put in front of them, Austin entered the room. For once he didn't make a fuss as he entered. If it wasn't for his sons and daughters looking to him with glinting eyes, and of course his massive stature, hardly anyone would have noticed he entered. He stood at the head of the table, everyone looking to him. "Oh don't mind me," he smiled, "please, dig in. You don't need to look at me every time I enter the room." He chuckled. As everyone was about to take their first bites he then continued, "but you do need to listen to me." Some of the girls lowered their forks as they heard this. "Hear me, understand me, this next part is very important. Oh please, eat as I speak."

Oliver entered the room, plucking Austin's guitar. "I hope you realise how much of a risk it was to save you from your imprisonment. Three of your siblings died to save you. Their names were Lyle, Matthew, and Daisy. They died for you." He raised his hand to signal Oliver to stop playing for a moment. Oliver had cleaned up well from earlier. "They were your brothers, and Daisy was your sister." Austin paused and ran a hand over his shaven head. "I took a risk sending brother Franklin to lead you to safety, it paid off in that all of you survived... yet, his failure to keep his siblings alive weighs heavy on our hearts."

His voice then swiftly changed from sullen, to hopeful. "Nonetheless, now is not the time to mourn their loss, that must come later as for now we have something very important we must achieve. Upon is more than an opportunity, it is where our legend truly begins. For eight years the prologue of this book has been slowly written, now the first chapter begins." He raised his hand, signalling Oliver to begin again.


"We are soon approaching our destination, the very first step to victory. With this ship, we shall launch our largest strike against the pretenders!" He raised his fist to the air and his voice boomed throughout the room like an opera singer. "The world shall tremble as they finally see the threat we pose to them, as our children shall scream to the skies for us to save them next. And we will... we will." He grinned, trying to control himself as excitement was running through him like a live wire. "Pretenders all across the globe shall fear us, from Feroxi to Frostfall, from Maddingham to Roppongi! From Mugunghwa-i to Sherwood," his voice shook with furious ambition, "they shall quake in their boots! And urine spread down their legs as they finally realise that we are not an empty threat! For tonight, is the first of many nights in which we bring down the domes of the oppressors!" His children began cheering as he gave them the speech they had waited years to hear. The prostitutes were looking around at each other, puzzled and scared.

"Tonight, is the first of many nights where we shall break down these sick cities, and rebuild them in the way I KNOW they should be!" His grin widened as he could finally say the words he had longed to shout out for years.

"Tonight! Yuteni is saved!"

The clapping, cheering, proclamations of love and loyalty rang out throughout the entire vessel as Austin stood, glee over taking his mind. This was it! This was what he had spent eight years building towards. This was his time. His! Time!

And no one would take it away from him.

 

[Fappy]

"None of it matters right now anyway. Austin has your ship, and two of my sisters are in his clutches. Let's go and get them back."

"Yeah," Pixie muttered, utter defeat in her voice. Once outside, they could hear Aesop frantically honking the horn. "Cut that shit out!" Pixie barked as Amy helped her into the backseat of the other crawler.

Just then, Bennie was returning from across the street with Warren. As soon as he spotted Pixie he dashed over to her, "Shit, girl! You didn't tell me you were hit!" He looked a mark above frazzled.

"I'm fine, Bennie. Jus' hit my leg. Nothin' new," She assured him. She winced in pain as she sat down in the backseat. "Where's that Cowgirl off to?"

Looking over the hood of the crawler, Bennie spotted Whiskey heading towards them, "She's here. Look, we need to get you back to the hideout ASAP. Get in the crawler, Amy."

Sitting in the driver's seat, he took the vehicle out of park and was about to speed off when Pixie shouted at him, "Fer fuck's sake Bennie, get a grip! I need ta' find out about ar' stupid-ass 'friend'." Leaning out the window, Pixie waved over at Whiskey. "What 'appened to ol' Pornstache?"

Spotting Ruffles nearby, Bennie called out to him, "You, Aesop, Brock and Warren need to pick up Tallahassee on your way out. We'll take the cowgirl." He did not look happy. Not one bit.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

After about a minute of gunfire, the smoke had cleared. All hostiles neutralized. Zero casualties. Rebecca was standing in the doorway, by the stairwell when Ortega entered the building, "Status?"

"Gunslinger made it up the stairs with that kid. Don't think they got hit. Not sure if they'll cooperate though." She said, nonchalantly.

"Like hell they will," Mila mused.

Ortega sighed, "We proceed with caution. We don't want to scare them. If it comes down to it, we'll take her in by force. But they'll be far more cooperative if we don't point guns at them." He looked to his second-in-command, Carter. "Take point." Wordlessly, his squad nodded in acknowledgment and started up the stairs.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Gorgon had been playing cards with Landon and two others when the first gunshots rang out. Throwing his hand down on the table, he gritted his teeth, "FUCK! THEY FOUND US FIRST!"

One of his subordinates readied his weapon and looked back to his boss, "How do you know it's the Maidens?"

"Who the fuck else would it be!? Go upstairs and see what the fuck is going on!" Looking to 'Shadow', he smirked, "You want a rematch with that old fucker, don't you?"

 

[The Funslinger]

"What 'appened to ol' Pornstache?"

"He gathered what's left of his boys and went on his way," replied Whiskey as she hopped lightly into Aesop's crawler. "He said if there were any more mercenaries out there, they'd follow after him. I guess he's right."

=========================================================

"You want a rematch with that old fucker, don't you?"

"And how," replied Landon, getting up and heading into the other room. When he came back out, he had a revolver on one hip and a large bowie knife on the other. In his arms, he cradled a six cylinder grenade launcher. His nickname came from his preference of quiet killing methods, but it was time for a change of pace.

==========================================================

"Fine, that sounds like a fair enough plan. Lead the way, Brother."

After some wandering, Owain led his sister into a slightly seedy bar. It was mostly deserted, and as they came through the door, the barman watched them intently.

Owain approached him with a jovial grin. "Ah, comrade. I think you might be able to help me," he said. His Frostfall accent was impeccable.

"That depends," replied the barman, scrutinizing Owain, with his one good eye. The other was cracked glass. "You going to buy?"

"I'll take a beer," said Owain, setting a few pieces of carbon on the counter. He didn't drink, but he supposed he had little choice. The barman set a small brown bottle on the table, and Owain set it to his lips, though very little of the liquid made it past his pursed lips.

"So what is it you are looking for?" asked the barman, sweeping the carbon off of the table.

"My... associate and I are looking for some temporary employees," Owain replied.

"What sort of work?"

"The sort that pays very well, very quickly," replied Owain, smoothly.

=======================================================

Bryan had been into six bars since reporting to Tsubaki, and none had yet yielded nothing. Finally, he ended up at a small place called the Black Branch.

When the barmaid came to serve him, he thought for a moment. She was portly and middle aged, with a distinct no-nonsense air. Definitely in charge.

"Thought I'd need your best scotch, Ma'am," he said, grinning. "But that smile o' yours makes me feel like I just knocked back three."

"That's sweet, darling," she said, reaching for a bottle and glass. "How can I help you?"

"Well, you seem like a woman o' the world," he said. "I'm looking fer someone to give me some horticultural assistance."

"You'll have to be more specific," she said, setting his drink in front of him.

"Well I always thought poppies were right pretty," he said, setting considerably more carbon on the counter than his drink was worth. For a moment, he thought it was another miss, but then the woman swept his money off the counter and nodded to the backroom. Bryan knocked back his whiskey and headed to the back door. Before he went in, he covertly thumbed his radio and muttered, "I found him, Commander."

The room was small and a little dark, with a single table in the middle, at which sat a man with a thick, grey beard, aviator sunglasses and a black pork pie hat.

"You come at a bad time," rasped Beard as soon as Bryan had shut the door. "I fresh sold all the opium I got, so..." he looked up. "Shiiiiet! That you, boy?"

"How are ya, uncle?" asked Bryan, taking the opposite seat.

"Same's always, Bry. Same as always. Y'wanna be a good kid and get yo uncle a whiskey?"

"Get it yerself, ya dusty old shite," said Bryan.

"Naw, don't be like that," replied Beard, his rasp conveniently intensifying. "Your uncle's damned thirsty!"

"So get a glass of water."

"D'aw, you're no good!" Beard exclaimed. "Can't even do an old man a kindness!"

Bryan rolled his eyes. "Jesus, sometimes I forget why me mam walked into the lake with a pocket full o' rocks. Then I look at you and it all comes back to me."

For a moment, there was silence. And then the two men burst out laughing.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Spoiler: Section 9 go!

"Shit!"

"KEEP MOVING!" Cranston shouted. Upon reaching the second floor, the duo was accosted by a hunter with a shotgun. Before he could fire upon them, however, Cranston slapped the weapon out of the way and fired three shots at point-blank into the man's neck. Crouching down against the wall, around the corner from the stairs, he reloaded his weapon.

They were in the second story office now. A small collection of rooms walled off from the large catwalk that encompassed the rest of the second floor. Until their numbers were thinned out, the catwalk would be suicide, "You okay, Lilith?"

Crouching next to the old man, inhaling sharply through gritted teeth, Lilith nodded. "Yeah, just got clipped is all, nothing some alcohol won't fix." She smirked slightly. "And maybe something for the leg, too."

"What did I say about jokes!?" Cranston scowled. "Focus!"

"Where are they?!"

"FOLLOW THE FUCKING CORPSES, DUMBASS!"

Cranston sighed, "We need to move. If they're smart they'll flank us between the stairs and the catwalk. We may need to split up. Come on!" He led the two of them towards a door at the end of the short hallway. "Watch my back!" Kicking open the door, two men came into view. One was helping the other up a ladder and onto the catwalk. Discharging two shots each, the two men fell off the catwalk and onto the ground below.

"Split up?" Lilith muttered, quickly checking the magazine in her pistol. "Are you sure? I mean..." She clenched her jaw as anxiousness raised in her throat. "Okay, what's the plan, where do we rendezvous?"

Cranston slammed the door shut just as a hunter from across the way loosed a barrage of machine gun fire at their location. Turning to face Lilith, he frowned, "We split up their forces and pick them off. If you spot Gorgon or he partner, do not engage them alone unless you absolutely have to! We rendezvous behind the neighbouring warehouse once Gorgon is dead."

Pursing her lips, Lilith nodded sagely. "Okay, I gotcha." It appeared there was no way to avoid it. The woman always hated splitting up.

'Separation anxiety, look at you, orphan stereotype.'

"What if one of us gets pinned down?"

He tapped the radio on his vest, "Forget we had these?"

Just then, several footsteps began echoing from the stairwell. Cranston levelled his pistol before stepping backwards into the adjacent room, "When they turn the corner I will light them up. Make them think I am the only one up here. After we thin their numbers I am going to make a break for the catwalk and you flank them. Got it?!"


"Got it!" She replied as her breath began to quicken. She could feel her heart thudding in her chest. Quickly moving across the room, she hunkered down next to the catwalk entrance, controlling her breathing as she waited for her signal.

"COME HERE YOU COCK SUCKERS!" Cranston shouted down the hall as three men turned the corner, brandishing assault rifles.

"IT'S THE COOK! FUCK 'IM UP!"

What followed was a hail of gunfire the likes of which Lilith had never seen in such short quarters. The hall was so narrow that it seemed the sound of rapid gunfire couldn't even escape. After dropping four men, Cranston was ready to move. Backing up to the door at the end of the hall, he downed one more before turning around and flying through the door.

Upon stepping onto the catwalk, he was greeted by enemy fire from all directions. One man stood before him while a few other fired from below. Another two men stood on the catwalk lining the far side of the facility. The man before him went down before he could fire a shot. With bullets flying in all directions and footsteps echoing down the hall behind him, he did the only thing he could do...

He jumped.

Peeking around the corner after Cranston as he ran down the catwalk, Lilith watched, mouth slightly agape in awe. "Good luck, you crazy bald bastard." She muttered, shaking her head slightly.

Take a few deep breaths, flexing her fingers around the pistol, she reached down to her belt, pulling out her knife, she held it against the grip of her pistol. Waiting a few moments, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps, the gunfire fading as Cranston hauled arse out of the area.

Clenching her jaw, Lilith slid up the wall, bobbing her head slightly. After a few seconds, she moved across the room and out into the stairwell as two men rushed below her and after Cranston. Bringing up her gun, she stepped over several bodies as she moved down the stairs. It looked like the majority of the hunters in the area had fell for the bait.

As she hit the bottom step, she quickly moved behind some metal transport crated. Leaning out of cover, her sights on the two hunters, she let out a shrill whistle. As the two hunters slowed their pace, one of them turned to seek out the sound, and was rewarded with a bullet in his temple.

"SHIT!" The other hunter cried out, raising his rifle to aim, but not before Lilith fired three tightly placed shots into his chest. Lilith furrowed her brow as her gun emptied. She was never a fan of magazine fed pistols. Catching the mag as it fell from the pistol, she stuffed it into the back pocket of her trousers and proceeded to load a fresh magazine, releasing the slide as a round was fed into the chamber.

After quickly checking the area and deeming it clear, she hurried down the same corridor until she came to a junction. Hearing the tell tale sound of gunfire from the right corridor, Lilith proceeded down the left, her hand tightening around the grip of her knife as her index finger stroked the trigger of the pistol. As she approached another intersection of corridors, the woman breathed in sharply but quietly, as the sounds of running footsteps echoed from the left corridor, slowing as they drew nearer. Silently, she pressed herself up against the corner wall.

"They were heading this way!"
"You sure? Which corridor"
"Right I think, no wait, straight."
"Are you gonna make up your goddamn mind?!"
"Hey fuck you asshole, I wasn't the one wh-"

The babbling duo's conversation was cut short, just as they passed the corner, firing a single round into the temple of the hunter furthest away, Lilith stepped out and quickly kicked a foot from beneath the other hunter, wrapping her arm around the man's neck as he went down on one knee, her knife held tightly against his throat.

"Oh shi-"
"Shut the fuck up." Lilith angrily muttered into the man's ear. "Don't say a bloody thing until I tell you to, y'hear?"
"*****, I'll fu-" As the knife gently cut into the man's soft flesh, his words were cut short as gasped. "Okay, okay, Ple-"
"Gorgon, where is he." Lilith interrupted.
"P-p-passed 'im just now, heading to the other side of the compound."

'He's going to try and cut off our escape.'

"How many?" She asked sternly.
"I dunno, about five? Six maybe?"
Lilith's voice and expression softened gently. "Thank you."
"I gave you what yo-" The man slumped dead instantly as she put a bullet through his skull.

As she gently let the hunter's body fall from her hold, she placed him on the ground, clenching her jaw before she began to hurry down the corridor the hunters had just came from.

Could do with saving the ammo, but she imagined having one's throat sliced wasn't the most pleasant way to die.

 

[Terratina.]

"There's a saying about meeting 'n' leaving, but never mind that, I doubt we're in a position for such wistful chatter. We gotta hold the fort, after all."

Elizabeth nodded, "Yes, you're right. I apologize. I guess I've just been more... self-aware, recently. Asking myself a lot of questions I hadn't considered before." She smiled. "You're a good person, Maria. How can I be more like---"

Elizabeth's words were suddenly drowned out by two, loud gunshots from out in the hall. Her eyes went wide in shock as the front door to their apartment burst open, "ANYONE HOME!?" A gruff voice bellowed as the dust settled around the doorway. Stepping through the threshold, a large man with a thick blonde mustache and short, balding hair caim into view. "Ah, so yer both here! Mickey says hey, by the way."

Elizabeth was frozen in terror. Who was this man? What did he want?

Was he going to kill them?

Keeping his weapon levelled, he chuckled, "So how do ya' ladies wanna do this?"
Maria leapt off the sofa in alarm as the two gunshots interrupted Elizabeth. Now, the source of the gunshots was in front of her and not only that, but Mickey's murderer if his boast was true. Though, it was hardly the time to question the validity of that. Maria turned her head towards Elizabeth, fear had paralyzed her; meaning that Maria couldn't have the luxury of giving in either terror or panic, for the sake of the young noble in front of her and the others. The doctor took a deep breath and kept her hands close to her pockets. Anger ran through the fear as Maria blurted out, "You're the man with the gun, do we even get a choice in the matter?!"

Grimm chuckled, "No, I don't suppose you do."

The sound from outside his bedroom yanked Sprout straight out of his coma. Gunshots?! What the hell was happening out there? The delirium he'd usually experience when waking so abruptly was absent, replaced by a surge of adrenalin coursing through his body. Carefully, he scooted to the edge of the bed and slid open the nightstand drawer. He could hear voices from the other side of the door.

It didn't sound good.

After retrieving his revolver, he pushed himself off the bed as quietly as possible and pressed his back against the wall, next to the door.

Grimm approached slowly, a cruel smile painted on his face, "You," He was looking at Elizabeth. She nearly pissed herself. "Take off your cloths."

"Wha-what!?" Elizabeth blurted out before immediately throwing her hands over her mouth.

"You heard what I said." He stated, coldly.

Elizabeth looked to Maria. Her eyes screamed, "Help!"

Elizabeth had looked to Maria for help and Maria was at a loss. Though, it was more of a fear to act. The moustached man was armed, an attempt at knocking the weapon out of his hands would be more than a little bit risky and if she delved into one of her pockets for the garrucha, that would probably be met with another gunshot from the murderer. Maria mentally cursed, she had to do something. Anything. Just because of that look. Maria met it with an appeal to endure the man's commands until she thought of something or until an opportunity presented itself. Not much, but fear had crossed out many options.

Not receiving anything from Maria beyond an ominous silence, Elizabeth looked back towards the man. She held her hand close to her chest in an attempt to calm her trembling. Stepping closer, the man hefted his shotgun onto his shoulder and ran his hand down the length of her arm, "It's okay, sweet thing. It will be over before you know it."

Spoiler: Muzak

"FUCK OFF, ******!" Sprout suddenly shouted as he threw the door open and fired into the living room. One bullet grazed Grimm's arm before he could react.

"SHIT!" He groaned, shoving Elizabeth down onto the couch as he lunged towards the kitchen. Two more shots went wide as he took cover behind the kitchen counter. Reaching over the counter, he blind fired two shots towards the bedroom. Though the door frame absorbed the bulk of the impact, exploding wood and metal yanked Sprout's revolver out of his grasp, sending it spinning across the floor, towards the back of the bedroom.

With Sprout's rather flashy entrance came a combination of worry and relief. Regardless, Maria immediately yanked Elizabeth off the couch and dragged her behind it. The doctor was thankful that she didn't have to wait long for an opportunity to come along, however, there was anything but a relieved expression on her face. She pulled out the garrucha, took another deep breath and peeked over to see if she could get a shot off. Maria then shrunk back, removed one bullet from the one of the two barrels - no doubt that quantity was more important here - and placed it in one of her pockets. That done, she swiftly popped out and fired at the man and then instantly popped back into cover. Maria's hands erupted into shaking, though she tried to crack down on that as she tried to retrieve the other bullet.

Grimm was just about to break cover and overrun Sprout's position when another gunshot rang out. Maria's bullet had just narrowly missed his head. Looking over to her as she retreated back behind the couch, he could see the fear painted on her face. The boy was a much bigger threat, despite his injury. Dropping his shotgun onto the tile floor, he drew his pistol and fired three shots at the couch to suppress Maria, if nothing else.

Sprout had been hobbling over to his revolver while Maria kept him busy. Unfortunately, it had been knocked under the dresser, and he was in no condition to get down on the floor to fish for it. He could hear the footsteps of their attacker approaching from the kitchen. Had he already taken them out?

Content for the moment that Maria wouldn't be retaliating for a short time, Grimm made a break for Sprout's bedroom. "NO!" Elizabeth shouted. Though she'd been completely paralyzed while Maria dragged her behind the couch, the three bullets that buried themselves in the wall next to her helped to snap Elizabeth out of her trance. This deranged man was heading straight for her nephew. He'd kill him, given the chance.

She couldn't let that happen.

Her maternal instincts kicked in, driving her to a level of bravery she didn't think herself capable of. Without a plan, Elizabeth leapt out from behind the couch and intercepted Grimm before he reached the bedroom. She clocked him in the temple with her bare fist and sent him staggering back into the kitchen table. She'd have followed up on the attack had the shock of nearly breaking her hand on his skull not weakened her resolve.

Cursing under his breath, Grimm braced himself against the table and shook his head. As his focus sharpened once more, he snarled and lashed out at the young noble before him, hitting her across the face with the grip of his pistol, "SIT THE FUCK DOWN, *****!"

Maria panted as those three shots whizzed past. She fumbled with the bullet, dropping it, then cursing, then picking it back up. From the sound of it, the moustached man was still alive as well as somewhat occupied with giving Elizabeth yet more abuse. Maria finished loading the garrucha and ran over to the pair, approaching from behind, while trying to be somewhat stealthy. Without further thought, she stopped a little bit away from the man with the garrucha drawn and yelled, "S-stop it!"

Grimm hesitated for a moment. Why didn't she just shoot him? Big mistake. In a flash, he had spun his body around, grabbing Maria by the wrist and twisted. Her weapon discharged into the nearby wall as it was wrenched from her grasp. While she was momentarily stunned from the pain, he used the same arm to grab her by the throat and pin her against the top of the kitchen table. Pressing the barrel of his pistol her cheek, he laughed, "You should have shot me when you had the chance, you stupid *****."

"L... likewise... ¡C... cabrón!" Maria managed to blurt out and for good measure she spat. There was no option but to go all out, she grabbed the pistol and tried to wrestle it from the bastard's hands while the lower half of her body flailed madly as she kicked out at her assailant.

Grimm started laughing like a madman when Maria struggled. The pistol now locked between the two, ready to kill either one, Grimm pressed himself closer to Maria, pinning her legs against his, "I LIKE A GIRL WHO FIGHTS BACK! GETS ME HARD!" He licked his chops as he thrusted his hip against her, the pistol beginning to move back towards Maria. He was clearly stronger than her. This wouldn't last much longer.

Intense pain pulsed through Elizabeth's face as she slowly came to. Above her, Maria and her attacker were struggling against the table. Things didn't look good. Lying on the floor and barely aware of her surroundings, Elizabeth did the first thing that sprung to mind. Bite the fucker. Reaching out, she clutched the man's ankle and dug her teeth in deep. Shrieking in pain, Grimm's knee buckled and his grip on the pistol loosened.

Maria grimaced as it went on, there was only swearing and terror in her mind now. He was right, she should've just shot him then and there. Nevertheless, it was too late for regrets; too late for hope, even. Still, she struggled just to be alive a little longer. Well, until one desperate act followed another. Elizabeth's bite opened another window of opportunity and Maria didn't hesitate in taking it. With all of her might, she yanked the pistol from him, latched on the gun, twirled it around by the trigger guard and shot.

Grimm toppled head-over-heels onto the ground beside Elizabeth; a gaping, bloody hole where his eye used to be. Blood dripping from her lips, Elizabeth stared at the motionless corpse for a few seconds before looking to Maria. Struggling to her feet, her head still swimming, Elizabeth grabbed Maria by the shoulders, "Are you okay!?"

Just then, Sprout stumbled into the living room with his revolver in-hand, "Oh, shit... it's over." He was in a lot of pain. "Sorry. God damn gun got knocked under the dresser."
For a moment, Maria just stared in shock at the bloody hole. However, Elizabeth soon put a stop to that. Maria blinked, "Y-yeah I--- We should clean this up."

She got up and raided the cupboard beneath the sink for cleaning supplies. Apparently satisfied with what she had, Maria then began to scrub the blood away.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Despite having knocked down a large number of the goons, there seemed to be still enough of them about to shoot at Viola and Hannibal as they made their way up the spiral staircase; whilst this offered the pair reasonable protection, it was also a double edged sword in the fact that Viola couldn't get any decent shots off with her rifle.

As they reached the second floor, Viola ducked into a nearby room, hoping that Hannibal would follow. Instead she heard the sound of a window being broken, indicating that he took to the fire escape outside. Allowing herself a moment to rest, Viola could hear that the shooting had died down; whoever was looking for them must have taken out the bandits, or the other way around. A moment later, the sounds of footsteps going up the stairs. Regardless of which side it was, Viola would have to catch up with Hannibal and soon.

Checking to see if the coast was clear for the moment, Viola exited the room, carrying a large chair with her that she found in the room, and using it as a makeshift barricade, trying to wedge it into the window frame. Hopefully it might slow them down for a few seconds whilst she went to find Hannibal.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

"Y-yeah I--- We should clean this up."

More footsteps, as four men in black wielding handguns came through the threshold, over the ruin that Grimm had made of the door. They fanned out in almost perfect synchronisation, covering every angle with weapons drawn. The man on point surveyed the carnage quickly, his eyes going first to Sprout, then to the two women, and finally to Grimm's corpse. Without any further acknowledgement, he held his finger up to his ear and spoke.

"Asset is secure and unharmed. Tango down, no further casualties. Over."

He waited a few seconds for a reply no-one else could here, before nodding stiffly and addressing the room.

"Apologies." he said, though not sounding particularly apologetic, just businesslike. "Our snipers never had a clear shot on your assailant, we had to follow him up on foot." he turned to his men. "Mendez, Farthing, prep this place. I want us gone in three minutes.

We should check you haven't torn any stitches." he said to Sprout, bluntly. "Sit down, please."

 

[The Funslinger]

The grating sound of the mechanized door cut through the fug of uncomfortable sleep that had finally claimed Eddie, and his eyes opened blearily.

"Well hello, Mister Canton," said a familiar voice. Eddie recognized Payton even before his vision unblurred.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Edward?"

"Go fuck yourself."

"Well, I see you haven't changed. Anyway, I thought you might like to know, your daughter is safe. I'm afraid I must continue to hold onto her to assure our mutual lady friend's good behavior. Of course, you have my word that not one hair on little Amelia's head will be harmed, so long as Miss Fifer stays in line."

"Fuck you."

"She said much the same," Payton replied with an amused smile. "Now, I had a lot that needed catching up with, but I managed to get most of it done before and after meeting with Miss Meredith Monroe earlier today. So, Edward, you and I may catch up after these years apart. Isn't that nice?"

With that, Payton turned towards a small pushcart by his side. On the cart's top shelf was a car battery. Payton picked up the clamps and struck them together, causing a cascade of sparks.

"Very good," he said. "Well, let's not put this off any longer." He clamped the circuit together on the chain that held Eddie up by the wrists, and the pain was immediate. Eddie felt every muscle in his body tighten. His heart felt like it was on fire, and his left hand felt like it had been blown off. His body thrashed wildly, and in some small part of his mind not lost to the maelstrom of agony, he regretted that his too were bound. Or else he might be able to lash out in his throes and cave Payton's smug grin with the heel of his boot. Eddie held silent for about a minute. And then Payton started turning up the juice, and he started screaming.