Alphas and Executives: Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Parker Manningham

I was in the cockpit checking in with the pilot when I get the message on my commlink. It was a very simple e-mail sent to my private account. The only words on it read:

You are in danger.

You have 1 hour before your plane lands in Detroit.

You need to get off of that plane.

This is not a joke.

I was on the roof and I saw what you did.

This is me saying thank you.

#93587234098724

That was all that it said. The string of numbers at the end was a routing line for an untraceable commlink account. I was set to dismiss the message as garbage or a hoax. But the 5^th line stopped me cold.

I was on the roof and I saw what you did.

The only people on that roof besides my team were the GammaTech security team, and the runners. No one that I had read a file on at GammaTech had the ability to get to my personal account, which leaves the shadow team from the roof. Making the decision quickly, I stepped out of the cockpit, and walked the length of the plane and stepped into the small bathroom in the rear of the passenger compartment. I knew it was still probably bugged, but with my subvocal mic I should be alright until it got analyzed after landing. I ran the number into my comm and waited. I heard it click through various connections before I finally heard the muted beeping of a connection trying to be established. When it did it was voice only, which was only to be expected. The voice was gruff and low, probably a dwarf----------. “Suit, I didn’t expect to hear from you, but I am glad that I am. You are about to be in a world of drek if you don’t get off of that plane. “I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t used to people being this upfront. I was intrigued about what he knew, but I was also cautious about this being a setup, “How do I know what you are saying is true, why would I abandon my job just on your say so?” The voice didn’t even wait a moment before answering, “Your boss, Mr. Elindi. He has been on the line with Detroit since the plane got in the air. He has them convinced that you helped us with our escape. He is telling them that you were in on it from the start. He also has GammaTech buying that line as well. They are willing to give Ares a better deal if you are handed over to them for prosecution.” That had me stopped cold. Now that was exactly what I expected from the kind of people that I was used to dealing with. I took quick stock of my situation. I had my Ares LightFire 70. It wasn’t built to penetrate the armor the 2 goons in there were wearing, but headshots should stop that form mattering. Elindi also would not pose that much of a problem. There were parachutes in the rear of the plane, and an emergency hatch I could pop and jump from. The only problem was my apartment, and all of my possessions. It was all corporate owned, there was no way I would ever be able to go back there. For that matter, my Ares SIN was sure to be revoked, if not turned into a criminal SIN, I was officially screwed, my life was over. The voice on the line obviously could read minds however, as he started addressing my problems, “Mr. Manningham, my associates and I are very grateful for what you did. We all saw that it was in your best interest as well, but we are glad that everyone got what they needed out of the situation. I was able to find your file as we were making our getaway. As soon as we saw the writing on the wall, we contacted some local talent and had them clear your essentials out of your apartment. We also set you up a safehouse and a new ID. Of course, this isn’t a no strings attached agreement, but at this point, we know we have you over a barrel.” He was right, I was downright iced no matter how this ended up going down, but my mysterious friend wasn’t done speaking yet, “Also as a show of good faith I have already cleared your SIN from the federal database. Ares will still have a copy on file, but as far as the government is concerned… you no longer exist.” If I hadn’t of fallen down before, I distinctly recall falling against the wall and sliding down to the floor when I heard that. I was no longer a person, I no longer existed. I was simply a body of the faceless herd that called itself metahumanity. I slapped myself, there would be time for melodrama later, I needed to move or die. I realized that my faceless adviser had stopped talking, “It appears that I do not have much of a choice, what is the plan?” I could almost hear the smile as the voice started talking again, “The plane is currently over the east coast of North America. Jump out, and find transportation to Seattle. We will meet you there with your gear and our care package. Don’t take too long though, any more then a week and the deal is off.” With that the connection got cut off with the slight squeal of a high density data transfer. As my comm scanned it, it appeared to be an address and numerous phrases with times next to them. These ad to be hourly specific passwords and phrases. Saving that to my harddrive, and then removing the chip from my comm, followed by deleting the information from the temporary data storage was enough to make sure it was unhackable. Now my only problem was getting off of the plane. I stood up, straightened my suit and stepped out of the bathroom. Nothing had changed out here, The Twin Tweedles were still sitting with their backs to the cockpit staring at Mr. Elindi, who himself was immersed in something, I could only assume devastating for me, on his commlink. I nodded to the trolls, who nodded back, and then I made my way back through the stewardesses cabin and back to the tail of the plane where the luggage was stored. Normally this area could not be accessed. But as head of security on this trip, I had an access card. Slipping through the door and shutting it behind me, I was now alone in the dark with the luggage from the trip. Luckily it wasn’t much, as I took a penlight from my coat pocket and turned it on so I could find where the parachutes were back here. It didn’t take very long as the hold wasn’t built for the bulk luggage of commercial passengers. Slipping on the ‘chute, and quickly reading the instructions on the tag to ensure I didn’t kill myself, I made my way over to the emergency hatch, and that is when my luck ran out. As it turns out, the pilot has an indicator on his dash that informs him when someone accesses this particular compartment. So moments before I could open the emergency hatch, Tweedle-Dee popped his head into the compartment. Now anyone who knows anything about trolls knows that they have very good night vision, something about seeing into the thermal spectrum. So I knew as I saw the backlit silhouette raise the submachine gun to the ready position that I was boned, because he could clearly  see me, even if I couldn’t clearly see him. At this point it was decision time. I could go with him now and try to break away later, of I could try to make it out the hatch now. Let me remind you. I had taken an interest in the security of Mr. Elindi, and although I thought very little of their social skills, the twin trolls were extremely good at their jobs. You don’t et to work security for Ares if you are not. So I knew that going with him was basically the same as just giving up right here and now. With that in mind I threw myself backward and flailed for the emergency switch that would detonate the charges and blast the hatch off of its hinges. I heard a hail of gunfire, and felt fire lick into my right side, but as luck would have it, it was not my day to die. My hand hit the emergency switch on the first try, and the change in atmosphere pulled me out the now open hatch. With as fast as the plane was moving It was well past me by the time that I even realized that I was in freefall. It was then that I thought for a moment that I did not have any equipment that told me what altitude I was at, or when exactly I should open my ‘chute. Leaving it to chance I waited 10 more seconds of freefall and as I was passing through the cloud barrier pulled the ripcord. The canopy opened above me, mercifully devoid of any holes. Looking down I saw that I was still extremely high in the sky. I shrugged, well at least as best as I could in the ‘chute harness, it would be a long way down, but I had plenty of time, and really it was quite a beautiful day.

Alphas and Executives: Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Jason Timber

With the cab pulling up in front of the club, even with the doors closed and the windows rolled up, I could still here perfectly every word coming from the speakers within the building. Paying the fare I braced myself as I exited the cab and was not disappointed by the overwhelming sound of what passed for music here at this “fine establishment”. As I got out of the cab I was for the second time tonight greeted by the taunts of orks, as well as a few trolls, and even a few dwarfs who were wearing enough leather and chains to outfit at least 4 of their larger counterparts. Ignoring the line, and the insults,  and walking right up to the ork who was watching the door tonight, stretching out my hand to shake his, and with a quick wrist movement, he knew that I was here to see Lake, and he raised the rope for me with nothing else needing to be said. Of course this raised complaints from all of the club-goers who had been waiting in line, but that was his problem not mine, and if he worked for Lake, then it was a problem that he was used to having. Walking into the club was like walking into a brick wall of pure sound. I say sound because I don’t think that anything that I was hearing could be considered music. Walking down a short hall, with my hands over my ears, I knew that I was getting scanned by every type of scanner imaginable. I also knew that the only thing I had on me besides my credstick and my bracelet was my ceramic dagger, but that one never set off any of these metal detectors. Walking into the club proper, I was greeted by the usual flare of laser and lights flashing and cavorting about the room. The dance floor was jammed with people shoulder to shoulder jumping and rocking out. It was too early in the night for any trouble, but just by looking at the crowd it looked like it might just be a ‘fun’ night in the mosh pit. Keeping my hands over my ears I walked quickly toward the bar. Nodding twice to the bartender, and then diverting to the door behind and to the left of the bar, it opened as I approached, and closed as soon as I walked through. Luckily with the closing of the door, it also closed off the noise that was threatening to deafen me. Lake loved his club, but only because it made him money and made him look legitimate. The music was not his style, nor were the patrons. This was made obvious to anyone who got this far, as while I walked up the short staircase to his office over looking the club I was treated to the soothing sounds of  one of Mozart’s classics being played on a single piano. Entering the office, Lake was already at the sideboard, the bartender having alerted him to my entrance, “Timber, good of you to come. I was worried I was going to have to come to that pit that you call a home. Please sit down, we have business to discuss. It is still vodka tonic with a lime correct” he said as he finished preparing my drink and I walked in and took a seat across from his wide desk. Taking the offered drink as Lake traveled back around his desk and sat down, I again saw why I admired him. In a world where Trolls were looked down upon by everyone, Lake had formed himself a niche here where he was able to look down at everyone else. In stark contrast to the patrons partaking of his club’s wares, Lake was wearing a conservative business suit, with a vibrantly green colored tie. Some said it was his “Troll sense” of style. But I knew that he wore the garish ties with his conservative suits because it made him stand out even more than just being a troll. “So” I started, “What biz is so important that you were willing to leave all this” I said gesturing to the office, “and come visit me in the squalor of the Redmond Barrens” Lake laughed, having grown up in the Barrens himself it was always our inside joke that I act as though it was a place where he would never dare to go. “Well as it appears, I have an act booked for a night in two weeks, and lets just say that wherever they go, they need security” he said as he leaned back and folded his massive hands together. Now Lake knew me, so I knew he wasn’t talking about me standing outside a door with a pistol in my jacket. It had me intrigued to say the least, “What kind of band is this Lake, that they will need my kind of protection?” Lake smiled, “Have you ever heard of Shadow Play?” As they played a genre of music which I despised I honestly could tell him that I had no idea what he was talking about, but that wasn’t how our conversations went, “Of course I have, do you think I was born yesterday under a rock?” Lake smiled, and then explained, “Well then you are well aware that the band makes a killing by writing, what they call songs, spilling stories about miraculous shadowruns gone astray.” I nodded and he continued, “Well it appears that they have not just been making up the stories that their songs are about, and it also appears that the teams that they have been stealing the stories from are worried about their own operational security. So as of late, although their music has driven them to the top, they have been more worried about who is coming at them from the bottom.” Now I completely understood what this was all about. Lake had this band coming in and he was afraid that his normal security, which was excellent, wouldn’t be able to handle a full team of professional runners coming in to clean up a possible security breach. Now it was my turn to smile as I leaned back and crossed my arms, “So, Lake, what extra security were you thinking of asking me about here?” This is where I got nervous, because all of a sudden Lake’s smile evaporated, “What have you got Timber, because when it comes to this kind of thing, you know that I am all out of my league.” Lake was right about that, he knew as much about the ‘mojo’ that I threw around as I knew about the guns that everyone else in the world seemed to favor. As he stared at me nervously across the top of the desk I could see the worry in his eyes. This club was all that Lake had, I mean asset-wise, Lake was a very talented fixer, but this is where he made his real money. It was also where he hid all of his dirty dealings. If it wasn’t for the club, Lake might find himself right back in the Barrens, and that is somewhere where I knew that Lake had vowed he would never live again. He would never again just be some dumb “trog” from the barrens with nothing to show for his life. I also knew that it meant he was willing to pay out his nose for this one, and I was gonna use that to my advantage. Now to be fair, I wasn’t gonna take advantage of my friend, that is how you lose friends, but I was gonna make sure that we had everything that we needed to be prepared and ready, and for everyone involved to be payed for services rendered. So with that in mind I decided to just jump into it, “75,000, all up front, with an extra 50,000 if there is an occurrence that has to be dealt with, and you will pay to replace all personal equipment lost during said encounter.” Lake sat back in his chair stunned and then blinked twice, of course this was before he almost threw himself across the desk at me, “Why you little daisy eating long eared piece of drek, what do you take me for, an idiot. What do you take me for, some low-level Johnson who has no idea how the game is played. Why the hell would I pay that much for a simple job like this?” I didn’t even flinch during his entire tirade, I simply sat there and listened, he went on for a few more minutes, but that was the gist of everything he was trying to get across. When he finished and leaned back into his chair I started again, “Look Lake, I can tell you exactly where all of your money is going. The upfront 75000 is 25000 for equipment and costs associated with setting up security for the event. Now most of that will be equipment that will be your property which we will simply be using as part of your security team, you can probably even write most of it off on your taxes. The other 50000 of the upfront cost goes to cover the team of specialists that I am going to hire to supplement security the night of the event. Now as for the other 50000, that is the hazardous duty bonus. That will be paid out in the event that there actually is a confrontation that results in casualties. That money will be used to cover hospital bills of the specialists who are here that night. If it is not needed for hospital bills, then half will be returned to you, and the other half will go to the team as a bonus. With that kind of backing I can get you a crack team in here. A team so good that if it got out they were running security, it might just cause anyone looking for trouble to think again. Now, do you want me to do this the right way, or just throw some extra bodies in the way of the bullets if they start flying, because warm bodies of “would be” security types are cheap.” Lake took a moment to consider all of the implications that my offer put on the table. In the silence of his thought, I noticed that the song had changed to a very nice violin solo, although I did not recognize the composer. Finally Lake had come to a decision, “18,000 for the upfront costs. 37500 for the salary, and 40,000 for the hazard pay, and you can have a 5000 fee for putting it all together for me.” Now there was what I liked about Lake.  He didn’t just sit there and haggle, he weighed what I had said, and came up with a solid counter offer, but just because it was solid didn’t mean that I was gonna roll over like some trained poodle, “40000 for the salary and you have a deal Lake.” With a smile Lake leaned forward, “You know you could have got more from me” he said as we shook on the deal, “Yeah, but I didn’t want money to come between us” I said as I leaned back and took a sip of my drink, now that biz was done I could start to enjoy myself a little more, and let’s be honest, Lake always had the best Vodka. 

Alphas and Executives: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Parker Manningham

“Mr. Manningham, please inform Mr. Elindi that we would love to be able to offer the services at 20% off of the market, but that it would be absolute disaster for our business. We will gladly however accept an allowance of offering the services at 10% off of the market, and a gradual increase over 2 years ending with services at 15% off of market. We believe that this will please both parties while in turn making all of those involved very wealthy indeed.” I took a breath before turning and beginning to translate. The Managing Director of GammaTech’s Accounts Department, although speaking very plain Italian, spoke it with an accent that I was unfamiliar with and I wanted to make sure that I got both the words and their intended emphasis correct. Mr. Elindi listened, and I could tell from the slight smirk, that he quickly hid, that he had the man exactly where he wanted him. “Parker, go ahead and tell Mr. Rossi that we have a deal, and that it was a pleasure doing business with him here.” I translated quickly as Mr. Elindi stood and offered his hand to Mr. Rossi. For his part Mr. Rossi was also glad to have settled the deal. Although I think part of his gladness was due to the fact that the meeting was over. My boss had a reputation as something of a corporate shark, and Mr. Rossi looked as thrilled to be leaving the meeting with all of his limbs, as well as with a deal. As the pleasantries were made in Mr. Elindi’s stuttering Italian, and Mr. Rossi’s terrible English, I cleared up Mr. Elindi’s papers and made ready to leave. Mr. Elindi, never one to waste time, was out of the office as soon as was polite, and was walking briskly almost outpacing the 2 security agents who were escorting through the building and to the elevator that would take us to the roof, and the VTOL waiting to take us back to Leonardo da Vinci International, and our private flight home. Also on the roof were Mr. Elindi’s other 2 “Associates” who joined us on the trip. During the 3 hour meeting I was willing to hazard a guess that neither one of them had moved more than a micron or 2 from their posted positions watching the VTOL. As we neared the elevator one of the security officers gestured toward one of the cameras that was hidden away in an alcove in the ceiling, and right as we neared the elevator the doors opened. The security agents wished us a good flight, and as the doors closed I could see them turning and walking back down the hall. Looking back at my boss, I waited for him to say something, or ask me some question, but I knew that it would be a very quiet ride until we got back on our own private jet. One didn’t get to be a Vice President of a Triple-A corporation by blabbing information at every twist and turn. As the elevator made considerable speed toward the roof in silence, it was almost at the end of the trip that I had my first feeling that something wasn’t quite right. Opening my briefcase, and pushing aside the contents, I popped the false panel away and pulled out the Ares LightFire 70 that had been hidden in its contents. Throwing the case to Mr. Elindi, I took charge of the situation, “Mr. Elindi, when we get to the top I want you flat against the wall. When the doors open I will assess the situation and we will see how we will go about getting you out of here.” For his part, Mr. Elindi was stunned. He had no idea that his prim and proper translator, namely me, was also his first line of defense in a situation like the one that I had a feeling was waiting for us up on the roof. Showing the backbone that he was known for Mr. Elindi was not paralyzed for more than a brief moment. In fact he started to step forward and say something just as the elevator doors to the roof were opening, “Now wait just a minute Mr. ….”. That was all he got out as I checked him against the wall as the missile that I had seen incoming towards the building detonated on the roof taking out the Surface-to-Air defense launcher, and causing an explosion which threw shards of concrete into the open elevator. Knowing that staying in the elevator was paramount to asking to be killed, I grabbed Mr. Elindi and dragged him outside and threw him on the ground behind some exposed ventilation fans. Scanning the roof I saw the source of the problem. GammaTech security was firing at a group of people clustered behind another set of exposed ventilation fans. With as many men as were up here, the “shadow team”, I mean what else could they be, must have gotten their hands on something very important. Looking over, our VTOL was ready to move, and as I suspected Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum hadn’t moved except to draw the submachine guns from under their coats. Now the question was, what to do. Making a run for the “Bird” was probably an option, but we ran the risk of the security team not being able to determine friend from foe, and gunning us down thinking that we were part of the team that they were trying to stop. Signaling to them was probably also out as the team’s own hacker was most likely running the security office at the moment. I mean how else would we have been allowed to enter an elevator that was taking us right into a warzone. As I took the moment to think Mr. Elindi tried to stand, and I immediately knocked him back flat on the ground, “It’s not safe sir, stay down.” I knew that he would have had a scathing comment for me, if I hadn’t of knocked the air from his lungs as he once again hit the roof. As I was knocking my boss down to the ground, I caught a glimpse of another VTOL in the area. It had no markings and it had to be the runners escape plan, but with our “Bird” on the pad their escape was ruined. I activated the commlink that had been hidden in my cuff since we got off of the private jet back at “da Vinci”. “Raptor 1, clear the pad, execute security protocol delta strike break, authority Alpha Strike Bravo” Even as my authorization code was being confirmed, the twin tweedles were grabbing handrails and jumping aboard as the Twin-Engine VTOL revved, and got just enough ground clearance to make it over the edge of the roof. I heard the engines roar as it fell, but knew that the pilot would bring it around and be ready for a “Hot LZ” as he came back around. For the record, the other team’s “Bird” wasted no time diving for the deck and the team seeing their chance broke from cover. It looked like a 5 man team, and as they sprinted for the landing pad their “Bird” dropped down a rotary cannon out of its belly and began spitting out an earsplitting stream of metal toward the security team. Seeing their prey getting away, the security team pulled out all of the stops. There was a loud cough as a member of the team fired  a man portable rocket launcher. 3 of the runners turned and faced the missile. The first, an orc, threw his hands wide and a semi transparent shield appeared between the rocket and their VTOL. The second, a human holding an ingram smartgun in each hand, unloaded both weapons on the rocket trying to destroy it before it reached its target. The 3^rd, a dwarf, fell as he obviously had left his meat body behind, whether for the lights and sparkle of the matrix, or the smoke and shadows of the astral plane I did not know, but the 3 combined caused the rocket to miss its target and impact against the mages barrier. Turning, the human grabbed the dwarf and began running after the other 2 members of their team who were already waiting for them at the “Bird” laying down suppressive fire. The mage, the last to turn for the landing pad stuttered as he began running as one of the security guards caught him with a full burst from his AK-97. Even from where I crouched I could see the indecision in the runners eyes, as the human street samurai tossed the dwarfs body to the 2 orks that were already on the boarding ramp as he turned to go back for the mage. It was one of the craziest, most honorable things I had seen in a long time. Unfortunately for the razor guy, crazy was the word that got stuck to it, as he was mercilessly gunned down as he tried to get back to the mage. The shadow team, with just moments before it all fell apart, closed up the ramp as the VTOL was blasting skyward again, the ramp thunking closed as the security team fired ineffectually towards it as the VTOL cleared their airspace. Now though it was time for the really fun part. With the shadow team’s bird out of the way it was time for ours to make its return, which it did in dramatic fashion. Rising over the lip of the building at breakneck speed before skewing a 180, its drive fans throwing loose gravel on the landing pad everywhere. Grabbing Mr. Elindi by the arm and dragging him to his feet I propelled him the direction of the “Bird” and yelled for him to run as I did the same. To their credit Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum were at the door weapons at the ready for any kind of trouble. Luckily, the security team on the roof must have gotten word that we were not a security threat, because we didn’t have to deal with any nonsense from them as we quickly boarded and lifted off back toward the airport. It wasn’t until we had a moment to catch our breath, or more exactly Mr. Elindi had a moment to catch his breath, that things calmed down, for a moment, that’s when Mr. Elindi started his tirade, not caring for once that this wasn’t actually a piece of corporate property he was sitting in, but a freelance courier who I knew who was doing us a favor. “Mr. Manningham, what the hell is going on, I demand to be told everything” he demanded in a shrill scream. It was obvious that his adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. “Mr. Elindi, in addition to your interpreter, I was hired as a form of passive protection for you when you went on your “face-to-face” meetings.  It was decided by upper management that your skills in the field and contributions to the corporation were significant enough to pay the expense of my hiring, and of the other security precautions necessary for your outdated methods of conducting business.” Everything I told him was an absolute truth, but from the look on his face you would have thought that I just had told him that the world was flat, and that he was a giant hamster. He was quiet for a moment, and then when he spoke again he seemed to be more under control of himself, “Mr. Manningham, your conduct was most unbecoming your station. This will be discussed by “upper management” when we return.” With that he turned away from me and was blissfully silent during the rest of the trip all the way back to Detroit. For their part Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum didn’t say a word. But let’s be honest, how many security trolls do you know that are hired for their conversation skills. Me, I leaned back and decided just to ride this one out. Let Mr. Elindi be angry all he wants, I did my job and I did it well. The package was on his way back to the home office, and I was on my way back to a nice big hazardous duty paycheck. All in all, it was a successful trip.

Alphas and Executives: Chapter 1

Alphas and Executives

Chapter 1: Jason Timber

                 As I walked through one of the seedier parts of the Redmond Barrens I heard the sounds of the night coming at me from every direction, the whispered mutterings from 2^nd floor windows, the crashing of glass, the muffled sounds of gunshots in the distance. All of these normal noises here in the Barrens, but I also heard a noise that was closer. It was the sound of a mugging, and it was coming from the alley which I was just about to walk past. Now the sounds of a mugging were also very normal anywhere in Redmond, but what this mugger didn’t know is that when I am out on a walk with Lady, I take the opportunity to spread a little compassion in the neighborhood. They obviously didn’t know that, or the fact that the alley they chose for the mugging was right next to my building. Signaling for Lady to wait, I moved to the mouth of the alley and briskly walked around the corner. What I saw was pretty much exactly what I expected. Two orks had a human man pushed up against the wall. One of them was holding him there as the other was, none to gently, rifling his pockets. Neither ork had a visible weapon but these days that didn’t really mean much I didn’t have one visible either. It only took the orks a moment to notice my appearance in the alley, and that meant that they knew what they were doing. The one doing the rifling stopped and took a step toward me, trusting his buddy to keep their mark where he was, “Oi, daisy eater, buzz off”. Now normally I don’t take offense when someone throws out a meaningless insult. Obviously he didn’t have the upbringing to know to respect his betters, but as I continued to walk down the alley toward them I took offense this time. Not only were they mugging someone on “my watch” as it were, they were going to insult me while they did it. “Oi, I said buzz off”, growled the ork as I stopped about 20 steps from him. Well about 20 steps for me, probably only about 10 for him. I smiled as I stared him down, and in his eyes I saw nothing but confidence. That would be his own undoing. Smiling himself he flicked his wrist, and a 12 inch snap blade swung out and with a soft snick locked itself into position. “Have it your way ears, I guess we hit the jackpot here Roc, we caught this one” he said gesturing over his shoulder at their mark, “and then this one jumps in the boat”. As he took his first step toward me, that is when I whistled, and Lady came around the corner and loped forward to stand at my side. Now Lady is not the biggest wolf, but she is larger than a large dog, and she has a mouthful of teeth that any predator would be proud of, and when she stopped at my side it definitely gave the ork a moment of pause. It was that moment that I chose to speak. “My friend, obviously you are new here. No crime happens when I am on the streets, especially not near my place” I stopped to give the ork a moment to understand what was going on. It obviously isn’t every night he had someone stand up to him and his chummer, so I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Now, if you would kindly give that man there back his possessions we can all go along on our way”. In that moment a lot of things happened. The ork who had confronted me turned to the second ork to see what he thought of what I had said. The second ork, Roc I believe I heard his name was, reached inside his jacket in the blink of an eye and his hand emerged with a very nasty looking gun. Ironically the thing that surprised me the most was the mark finding his voice and trying to help me, “GUN” he yelled as the ork leveled it in my direction. I didn’t live in the Barrens for this long without knowing how this interaction might have ended, and I was already prepared when the mugger went for his piece. With a thought, my right hand was splayed in front of me, and the ork with the gun, even as it came level with my head, slumped to the ground. The mark now, no longer being held up was free to run, but his body was frozen and the look on his face filled with fear as he looked at me. The other ork, looking back at me to see what I had done and for a brief moment was equally scared, as when he looked at me he saw my features had seemed to take on the characteristics of a wolf, but he was only scared for the brief moment before my second stunbolt caught him unaware. He too dropped to the ground. Letting go of the magical energy that I had called forth, and letting it leave me, my features resumed their normal appearance. I walked calmly toward the mark who still had not run away. I started picking up the items that the ork had attempted to take from the man. I was started to hand them back to him when he came back to his senses, “Please don’t hurt me” he said. I sighed, it was very sad that after rescuing him, and attempting to return his items that he was still afraid of me attempting to harm him. “You must not be from around here chummer. I will not hurt you.” I said as I again offered him his commlink. “If you are not from here I don’t recommend that you come back. This part of town is not for everyone at this time of night”. With that said I turned to leave the alley and continue home. It was as I turned that I heard the click of a hammer being drawn back, “stupid elf, you should learn not to involve yourself, it will get you killed”. I knew that I was iced. With my back to him and no line-of-sight, there was nothing I could do to stop him. By the time I would be able to turn and defend myself I would most likely have a minimum of 3 bullets lodged in my chest, and my leather jacket was not going to do much to save me. Luckily, I was not alone in this alley. Either because he was so focused on me as his target, and thus his paycheck, or because she hadn’t acted when I took down the orks, the mark had completely forgotten about Lady. As soon as the hammer clicked back, she was in motion, and before he could fire she was on him like, well like a wolf. I was unable to stop her before she could finish him, not that I was all that choked up about it. Knowing now that it had been a setup, I felt no compulsion about ending the lives of the two orks who were lying unconscious in the alley. I also didn’t have any worry about any consequences. As I collected their valuables, which included a certified credstick, and left the alley I grimly smirked to myself, it wasn’t like the police were gonna come into the Barrens to investigate 3 dead bodies in an alley, if they were still even in the alley, or even in one piece by morning. I whistled and Lady loped up beside me as I exited the alley and walked into my building. It was a rundown piece of crap, but it as home. As I walked in I banged on the door just off the stairs on the 1^st floor. “Oi, Fred, I got this month’s rent early”. It was always nice when strangers committed themselves to helping me and my housing situation. A metal port opened on the wall and I deposited the credstick inside. It was marked for 3 grand, which is technically a little more than my rent runs, but Fred was a good guy. He kept the tenants fairly safe by paying off the right people at the right times, and he always buzzed up if the cops were in the building, so I had no problem giving him a bit extra, especially when someone else was paying. Besides, this was the only place I could find that didn’t mind Lady. As the port closed, and I walked up the stairs I pulled my keys out of my pocket. Yes, real keys, and when I got to the 3^rd floor I opened the door to my doss. It was a real piece of shit. The power never really worked, and there was almost no matrix access, but it was my little slice of heaven. This was no more apparent then when I stepped in and Luke and Leia materialized to greet me. Luke and Leia are both wolf spirits, and they guard my den as if it is their own, which as long as they are bound, it pretty much is theirs as well. I sometimes feel bad binding spirits to this world, but Luke and Leia don’t really seem to mind guard duty, especially because I don’t mind how they choose to deal with intruders. As I shut and locked the door, I turned and waved to dismiss Luke and Leia to their duties and I laid down on the futon which served as my bed. Lady jumped up next to me and laid her head on my thigh. I absentmindedly scratched her ears as I checked my commlink for messages. I hated this stupid thing, I could never get it to work right, but I needed it, and even I knew that. After a few attempts, and some strange noises, I finally got to my messages. That all to friendly female recording came on first, “You have 2 new messages… 1^st unheard message…” My chummer Lake’s voice came out of the little box, “Oi, I assume that it is a waste of breath to leave this message, give me a shout back. If I don’t hear from you by the weekend I will come find you in person, but you know how I hate slumming it in the Barrens. It’s about biz, so it’s worth you making your little box work and calling me back. Later” I only had a moment to think about what he said before the female voice came back, “End of 1^st message… 2^nd unheard message…” “Hey Jason, couple of guys came in and were snooping around. Through the door I heard one of them say your name. Be careful out there tonight with Lady… oh and remember rent is due Friday”. Ah, Fred was all heart. Maybe I really should take this thing with me when I take Lady on our walks I thought. Oh well, all’s well that ends well I guess. I looked at the old analog alarm clock that was sitting on the side table. It was only 10pm. The night was barely in its infancy, and on a Saturday night, I knew exactly where Lake would be for at least the next few hours. Grabbing my keys again, and giving Lady a pat on the head, I walked out and locked up. On my way down the stairs I checked the balance I had on my certified credstick. I had enough money for a cab, but I would have to walk a few blocks till I was far enough out of the Barrens to flag one down, but at least I wouldn’t have to walk all the way to the club. Yes I decided, it was going to be a decent night.