Kragor the Merc: A Favor for a Favor

With money in hand we arrived back at HQ. Lucas was already back but from the look of him everything was not entierly to his satisfaction. I headed for the showers with a need to get rid of the mud and the small particles of broken windscreen.
Erza caught me a while later and told she'd got what seemed as a job offer from the Clans and wanted my opinion. For my part I already had enough of dealing with them and told her so. Yes, there was the matter of Juron's debt... but in my experience you never pay them off by working for the bank. That will just get you in deeper shit. And if there ever was a reason for me working for low grade pay at Freelance it was to have a choice. Otherwise you could just as well go corp. But to be a merc in the hands of the Clans? It'd be the worst of two worlds.

But we needed work, that was for sure, so I suggested we spend our day off investigating the rumors of escaped criminals' hiding out in the wilderness. It smelled corp to me and corp meant money. Erza was willing to give it a go and had a suggestion for where to start: a contact of hers in the Blocks. So we decided.

The next day we were off, but not before I did a little errand. As it seemed we were heading into deep shit I thought a little extra precaution would be wise so went to see Keria to get some tracker markers. Not that they would save my life but at least I could give Elizah a means to locate my body and perhaps extract some revenge should the shit hit the fan. I figured everyone of us could use one just in case the others needed to find that person. Juron was first on my list of people who should have one. As we were preparing to get started he had rushed off to the gym but given his investment with Clan money it seemed a good idea to bring him with us as all we knew was that people following these rumors had gone missing or ended up dead.
The meeting with Erza's contact, a rough-looking man named Ruben, proved fruitful. Apparently he had funding and influence in the Blocks and he showed us a security camera recording where one of his associated, who was asking questions, got her throat slit by a mysterious figure. The assassin's face was only visible for a few frames but it felt familiar... like I'd seen it before. There had been a body guard to Abriel - our contact at GERO. Could it have been her? It was as solid a lead as we could expect.

I had hoped for a straight line from this point, but we had barely left the building when things started to get complicated. Juron showed us a message he'd just received from Joline asking us to come right away. We decided to comply and raise any issues face to face. As expected it turned out to be a job offer. It was good money - 75k - which would place it in the category of "very appealing" without reaching "Juron could clear his debt with this". It wasn't a game I was willing to play so I decided to raise the stakes and told Joline that we'd already been booked at a job, just to see her reaction. It wasn't a team-sanctioned thing to do, but I felt I needed to know. It was clear she wouldn't let Juron get away from this one and it was equally clear Juron didn't want to get away from it. In fact it struck me the guy had an apparent habit of getting utterly dependent on any person who provided him with something he wanted. Babette would take his money for drugs. I could live with that. But what Joline would take... no, that couldn't end well. But this time we would have to do the job. For the sake of appearance I required that Joline provided us with any intel she had to help us with our other job as a part of the deal. This seemed to be just what she wanted - a favor for a favor - but it also cleared one thing for me: the Clans wasn't involved in that business. Which was good.
But before we left there was just one thing I had to do. The tracker markers where in my pockets and if this bitch wanted things to be personal she'd better be prepared to play that game... so I gave a stunning performance getting angry at Juron, who pushed me to the floor. In the fall I managed to tag a tracker to Joline's robe. We were rushed out of the room after that but it was well worth it.
Of course, neither Juron nor Erza took my behavior very well. Explaining it didn't quite help: Erza still thought it was a very dangerous and risky move but hey, fuck that. I still remember her version of playing it safe from Dukkha. Juron seemed hell-bent on being pissed out over the whole thing despite my best attempts at reconciliation. Apparently he had never been shot in the back by someone he'd trusted or he'd known the difference between a betrayal and an act for the greater good of the team. But since there wasn't much else I could do I had to leave him to wisen up on his own.

With all the tension slowly going away we were left with planning the job for tomorrow. What Joline wanted us to do was to high-jack a Ultra Weapon Systems armed transport by blowing up a slip road and forcing it to take a detour into the Blocks (where we would be waiting). According to the intel - which for a change was very good - we'd face some serious security. It would be a difficult task even with the demolition stuff going as clockwork. But we planned it to the best of our ability.

We left HQ very early the following morning to stake out the site and place some explosives. Our preparations hadn't gone entierly unnoticed but I had hopes we could claim doing the escape criminals gig when reporting back.

We managed to place the explosives without any trouble and then it was just a waiting game. Sitting in our get-away vehicle waiting on a side road to the expected route we had a walkway bridge rigged to explode as the convoy passed. It would be three vehicles with armor and a six man escort unit. The front vehicle would carry some mounted heavy weaponry. We blew up the slip road on time and then just waited for the action to start. After a while Juron reported the column had just passed by and Erza timed the demolition of the walkway. With the explosion and sound of rubble hitting metal I threw myself out and lobbed a fire grenade towards the last of the three vehicles, mostly to get a response. One came in the form of shotgun fire and I felt a sharp sting in my ass as I threw myself out of the line of fire...

Kragor the Merc: Underworld Connections

Nothing like coming home from a long run to find 1) lending sharks from the Clans giving you a ride and 2) arbitrators all over the place. In both cases they seemed most interested in Juron (guess we know where he got that fiberplate after all...) who seemed to have left one of his fish hooks in an inappropriate place (the mouth of a dead guy). So much for having a day off...

While Juron was dragged off to be interrogated by the city's finest we where left to try and save his ass. After all, if he got locked up he could pay no debts and then the sharks would come for us. Bye-bye pension savings account. But where to start? The little we knew was that it was being painted as a racial homicide of two nokhs by the media. It had happened on a day when Juron was out having fun with Sandrah, which included a visit to Babétte and a lot of memory lapses. Erza immediately jumped to the conclusion that Sandrah was behind it all. It caused quite a lot of tension back at base but didn't really lead to anything.

Well, to be frank its not something I want to talk about. We followed a few leads but got stuck in the end - however it seemed as Juron found his own ways out. It cost him another 10k but it worked. On a more positive side note I managed to drive home an important lesson on Fringe ethics. From what I surmised Erza had found a possible solution to get Juron out but choose not to when she learned the Clans had already offered to help (for the stated sum of 10k) as the solution was a bit shady. Well, it turned out the Clans solution was to make it look like a serial killing by murdering some more people (while Juron was still locked up at the station) and paying someone to take the blame. So, your ethics got people killed and still cost the fair sum of 10k just because you didn't want to break the law? I hope we can all act as grown-ups after this.

Thankfully Elizah had awarded us with an extra day off as a result of our good performance on Dukkha which gave us a chance to get some sleep and exercise and just hang out. Of course, the best way to "hang out" was generally agreed to be doing more work. A little corp-work gained us a few extra credits and we had all but forgotten about the bit where someone tried to frame Juron for murder.

Real work was coming up and while Lucas was hired for a job requiring his special skills our eyes where quickly set on a new piece of mission posted by GERO. "Scouting/Hunting" sounded intriguing and it did deliver on that point as it turned out another GERO scouting patrol had run into a pack of werewolves out in the forest. We were the cleanup squad. Apparently Ed had some previous history involving werewolves but he couldn't tell us much about them beside "they can rip off the arms of a man". Well, mr Butcher, so could my mother.

We set out a few hours later in a single jeep. Winter was coming, which could be felt in the air and seen on the presence of the snow tires. For my part it was again that feeling of simplicity: we had an enemy to fight and we would win or die. My orc blood loved it. My human blood... well it did make existential thoughts seem a bit redundant. And it involved good money (despite whatever Ed thought of it).

It was getting dark and I was driving when we reached the quadrant in which the werewolves had been encountered. It was at this point I had to revise my take on the GERO job description. It hadn't stated who would be hunting whom. Suddenly the pack was upon us... I could here Juron and Erza fire away from the back of the jeep, the heavy thud from Juron's assault gun disrupted only by howling. Ed, who was seated between me and Angeline in the front seat fired away out of my window. Don't know if we hit a rock or what next, but at one point I was driving on two wheels only... and then a werewolf crashed in through the windscreen. Ed and Angeline fired away like mad and I got the jeep to a halt and grabbed my shotgun just in time for a big ugly beast to rip open the door and try to take a bite out of me - he got fed his furry friend instead and then my flesh-tearing explosive rounds to the face. I got out to take care of any pursuers only to find there was only one left. Juron and Erza had left a clean house with a scarred hand and a few cuts from the broken front window as our only injuries. We loaded a few of the bodies to bring back as proof (Erza's orders) and then set out tracking them back to their camp. The jeep was in a bad shape but Angeline and Juron did the best they could to keep it together. Eventually we found another pair of werewolves out hunting: one was killed while the other fled into the forest, wounded. With winter coming... and the rest of the pack dead it probably wouldn't make it. Mission accomplished. We headed back home.

The contract had stated "minimum collateral damage" to the area itself but thankfully the jeep wasn't included... we got full our full payment and headed back for base - minds set for our next challenge.

Kragor the Merc: Rerun

I keep saying this but its been an interesting week. Coming back fairly early from the Lightbringer job left us with a day and a half to do as we pleased. Erza suggested we'd head for the training dojo the same evening - leaving the next day free. Suited me just fine. We did a quick stop at the base where two interesting things happened. The first was that we noticed we already had a meeting booked for the day after with Union Arms. Sounded promising. The second was that Juron decided to pop a pill half an hour before our training regime. Might not have been the smartest thing to do but given his state during the exercises I doubt he got any wiser from the experience. Well, better now than on a mission, that's my opinion.

The next day passed as days off always do - fast and with little to remember them by. We did invite Hawk (new at Freelance) to come with us to a bar. Not so much a social thing as to spare her from the Demon's Head back at base.

Soon it was mission time. As it turns out, Union Arms was contracted for work on Dukkha - and that was where we were heading. Normally I would be pissed at Eliza for setting us up like this but this time I felt for some action. Autumn was upon us and winter approaching fast - a shitty time at best here in the Fringe. In comparison to 72h of staring at the rain a few bullets might be preferred. Also they did pay well for merc services and there would be none of that moral bullshit. Everyone at Dukkha would be either shooting at you or against your own target. Such simplicity warrants a little danger. As Ed was still caught up in some other stuff involving his grumpy dwarf friend known as Grandpa and Angeline turned up sick we brought Hawk with us instead. Apparently she had some medical skills too and you could never have too many guns on Dukkha.

Less welcome was the secrecy: in what is quickly becoming standard procedure we negotiate payment without actually knowing what we're supposed to do. The price for success I guess. Contract signed the actual briefing took place on the flight to Dukkha. Apparently we had been employed as "problem solvers" - the more problems we managed to solve during our stay the more we cached in. Fair enough I suppose.

Once we arrived it became clear that winter had already arrived in these parts. Erza got split from the group as she was needed for some tactical stuff. For the rest of us we picked up some gear and mounted a couple of terradynes and then headed out towards our first mission: to aid with the clearing of a bunker blocking the way to the frontlines. Someone must have heard of Juron's last visit. Visually he didn't disappoint: fiberplate armor accompanied by a rocket launcher and an assault gun. Every plan I could think of as we drove involved just placing him close enough to the enemy position to let him fire away while me and Lucas tried to prevent the enemy from killing him first. I figured I had to see the site before I could come up with a better plan.

The enemy bunker was located near a summit overlooking a main road going through the island. Strong winds made talking without headphones impossible and you couldn't lay a smoke screen for more than a few seconds. The position nearby held by Union Arms' forces wasn't very impressive; a sheltered camp and a trench in front of an open killing field stretching some 400m. Steep cliffs lined the sides of the field all the way to the enemy bunker. In theory we could climb them all the way and thus stay out of the line of sight but I quickly dismissed that. I'd rather die from a bullet than a sudden drop and stop. The soldiers stationed at the camp was in a poor condition and it was clear they wouldn't be of much use until a very final stage were we could actually rush the bunker.
So... my brain really couldn't see any better options than the original idea to employ Juron as a battering ram and me and Lucas as decoys. Lucas could of course snipe at the enemy positions but me, yeah I wasn't so lucky. The best thing I could do was to paint a target on my ass and run for the little cover that was available just to draw fire. It was a stupid plan but glorious and given that the soldiers had already started looking at us like action heroes I couldn't resist. Life is in the fight after all. I took out my little box of battlefield supplies and administered some bork and vitagel. That shit could save your life.

Well, leaving the trench and running over the field got the adrenaline pumping, that's for sure. There were some incoming fire but running back and forth I reached a large boulder without any problems. Juron, who was supposed to be right behind be, arrived a moment later. He said something about getting shot in the ass but he had already taken a mort so I figured it was ok. We pushed for the next cover, which would get Juron within range. Lucas had already done some serious work, judging from disrupted hails of bullets. Me and Juron got into cover, no problem; now he just needed a clear shot. Someone would have to distract the enemy - and that someone was me. I gave Lucas a heads up and ran for it. Two tracks of minigun fire traced me along the ground - but one suddenly stopped. The moment after there was a blast and a flash of fire from the bunker. Juron had delivered a direct hit. Apex Predators - damn we were good! The soldiers got the order to charge ahead while me and Juron went in first to secure the bunker. After that the only thing left was for Hawk to fix Juron's ass up. I hope it didn't leave a lasting impression on her.

First job done we were summoned back to join in with a renewed push against the frontlines. A fortified enemy camp and the soldiers would attack it from two directions with us joining the left force. The cold kept us sharp and Lucas and I decided to check on the situation. We weren't impressed. Apparently some jerk had decided to storm a 100 gun strong concrete wall-protected stronghold with roughly 80 soldiers divided between the two flanking forces. It looked like a tactical fuckup and in the back of my head I thought that someone would expect us to even the odds. I wasn't surprised to learn I was right - I was however to learn it was Erza's doing. Well, no guts no glory. I figured we'd use the same basic tactics as on the summit: Lucas to keep enemy fire at a minimum, Juron to provide us with the city keys and me and the rest of the grunts to play target practice until we had a way in. At least we would be able to lay a smoke screen this time - which was lucky, as there wasn't any shelter at all for any of us once we started the approach. Did I say guts and glory? I hoped to see more glory than guts once we were through. Bork, vitagel, go!

Haven't been on many battlefields in my life - usually a very poor place to collect a bounty. Can't say I long to go back; there is something terrifying in all the noise, flashes and occasional explosion that reminds me of a dance club but with everyone trying to kill each other instead of dancing. Well, compared to some places in the blocks I guess its not a big difference.
I could elaborate the story I guess, but I won't. It was a battle. Lucas did what I guess a good sniper should do in a place like that and kept the heavy guns unmanned and silent. Juron knocked on the door with his AP rockets and the rest of us, having stayed safe in the smoke curtains laid out, charged in screaming and guns blasting. I was told later it was a great success, which from military lingo translates to "we didn't die so much but the enemy really kicked the bucket". Don't get me wrong - I don't feel bad about it. Everyone on site got paid to do what they did. There weren't civilians on the road as might happen on some other job. It just seemed a bit... pointless. Haven't really seen anything on Dukkha worth fighting for. For all I know it might just be that they're testing guns and armors out there. Both sides are fighting but none are winning.

Well enough of me thinking - usually amounts to no good. We came around as heroes and everyone was mightily impressed. We god paid and were put on a flight back home. Mission complete. But I couldn't quite get one thought out of my head: would it be possible to stop the fighting? Could we, the Apex Predators, tip the balance? It sounded like a worthy cause. I'd pass the idea over to our supreme leader, hoping she'd make a better decision out of it than the one we'd just survived...

Kragor the Merc: Raising the Stakes

Time flies. Another month has passed with the Apex Predators. Yes, the name has stuck. Felt a bit silly at first but you need a name and now no one is laughing. Though admittedly I'm not nearly in as good a shape as I want to be but I am getting there. That thing about teaching old dogs is just some silly bullshit, ain't it?

Thoughts drifted towards my old team now and then - you know, those whose bodies rot on the mountain side of Dukkha thanks to their stupidity. But this was different; even Juron had acquired a certain professional outlook you wouldn't expect from someone who regularly put needles in his arm for the fun of it. As money kept coming it was a transformation for all of us. Did I mention Juron somehow managed to acquire - and pay for - a fiberplate armor? For my part I was determined not to let old habits get in the way of it this time. Lucas early morning jog had once made me laugh but admittedly he never came up last when trekking in the wild. I just hope no one recognized me in those old sweats as I tailed him around town - haven't worn them for years so odds are on my side I guess. Despite the cold air I haven't been as sweaty for ages and I probably used the showers more often the last few weeks than two months prior combined. It does seem to be paying off however; a patrol job on foot isn't pure hell anymore.

A slightly less welcome observation was the money spending cycle. The more you earn the more you spend. Seen it before - done it before. That's how you end up with nothing left when the shit eventually hit the fan. But getting older is supposed to make you wiser? I'll be damned if I fall back into that hole ever again. From now on there is only one direction: forward.

Other things were moving as well: Erza and me had spent some time looking for more intel on the sword-swinger dude who chopped Lucas' arm off. While Erza had gained some solid information about how to contact the guy - don't know how the fuck that's supposed to work out - I struck a bit of luck on a side track. Tyrgil Blackbourne - a corp "friend" of mine - didn't know anything about the person I was asking about but did remember an old inquiry I'd made about a bounty. Apparently there was rumors floating around town about several high profile bounties being seen in the outskirts of town, as if someone was arranging to keep them out of sight. Also some people spreading the rumors have ended up dead, which in this town serves as a sort of proof-of-authenticity. It certainly seemed worth looking into, though it would take some time.

As a new month dawned we found an interesting offer from the Lightbringers. From my knowledge a bunch of whacky religious dudes but apparently in need of "escort and security". Our meeting with them the following morning was... interesting. Ed, who had been caught up on a different job, wasn't there but we others had all suited up in our new gear - better gear, better payment after all - only to find out we wouldn't find out very much. We were to meet with a guy who was heading out to dinner on a ferry anchoring a few hours off the shore. We'd be protecting him along with performing additional "requests" which would be explained on the way. All which was actually printed on the contract was our payment. It would be interesting.

As it turned out it was going to be more cloak and dagger than I had expected. The ferry turned out to be a luxury cruise and we would probably be required to "fit in". This meant we made a stop at the market on our way to the pick-up spot to buy some suitable clothes. I don't really want to talk about it.

In addition the Lightbringers provided us with some low profile gear and some standard suits before we met up with our protegée named Duran on his private yacht. He served us drinks and food and seemed far too less business-minded for my taste. The small crew seemed experienced - probably in more fields than required by their current duties of handling the boat and serving drinks. It was all just a show - the question was for what purpose.

Eventually, as we left the harbor, Duran explained that our main task once we reached the ferry was to collect a suitcase from a contact of his working below deck. Said suitcase should then be delivered to a private pier in the outskirts of Dormicas, while he was to stay aboard the ferry. It was very unlike anything we've done before, but not outside our capacity. Posing as Duran's body guards for 24h hour on the ferry proved easy enough - as was picking up the suitcase. It was during the 12h back to shore that our skills would be put to a more difficult test.

As we anticipated the authorities could be interfering we discussed a suitable story. Eventually it was decided that Lucas would play the role as the owner of Duran's yacht while Angeline and Erza would change to their newly bought bikinis (I said I didn't want to talk about it) and pose as floozies. Thankfully I got the role as Lucas' legal counsel. What we were to do with Juron we didn't know; Erza forced him to hide away his fiberplate and then we just hoped no one would notice him.

The story was put to the test as we was boarded by a coastal patrol vessel. Let's just say we survived - and no one else died either for that matter. At the end of the day we got paid and while I don't mind the odd undercover mission I definitely want more time to prepare an outfit for the next one. And brace my mind for what ever the others come up with, apparently.

Kragor the Merc: Blood & Reunion

I was backing away from the fight, arms held high but a grenade at the ready. Ed was running back to lend a helping hand to Lucas. Ok, it could be worse. Back off now, drive away to give ourselves a hundred meters distance or so and we could end this in our favor.

It was a good plan until the sound of automated fire broke the silence. It was still a long way to cover behind the jeep, but didn't seem to be any other options, so I threw the grenade and ran for it. Judging from the screams I hit something. Unfortunately something also hit me as I felt a staggering pain in the knee. Not the fucking knee! Memories from that old mercenary camp immediately came back but I supressed them and threw myself to the ground. The heavy fire from the assault gun ended and only a few stray shots crossed over the battlefield. I popped a mort and with the pain dying away asked who was alive and who wasn't. Everyone but Juron called in. Angeline asked what we should do. Fuck it if I knew. Instead of a plan we now had a mess... at least it seemed as if most of the surviving settlers had retreated into the power plant, with the exception of someone firing fromt he nearby woods. Lucas took care of that. I dragged myself into the jeep where I found Juron collapsed next to the assault gun.

Checking in it seemed Angeline was the only one unharmed. Lucas seemed to be ok while Juron was definitely out of it. Ed turned up and healed us, though it seemed to drain him a little too much. Juron remained unconscious. I shouted towards the power plant that they had 1 hour to pack up and leave. I wouldn't go through this ordeal without getting paid.

Within the hour we saw the settlers get out and ditch. Yeah, they had a hard winter coming. More so because of stupid leadership. But with them gone we would be able to get to work, at least after some rest. We took turns keeping watch as we rested and tended our wounds throughout the night. As morning came it didn't feel good but it did seem as if we were going to live. Juron was in a pretty rough shape but there was nothing else we could do and he was a stubborn fellow so I thought the odds were on his side. We started doing what we could with placing the perimeter bots and rolling out the fence. As the day past it was clear we couldn't finish the latter but we did what we could.

At last the corps showed up. I should probably have been expecting them to be smug about the fences not being done but I had been shot several times - including the fucking knee - and was in no such mood. For a moment I thought about burying the bastard out in the fields but hey, money first. Erza had come with the column so it was a relief to hand over command. It had felt good for a while but with this kind of shit going on I'd rather take a break.

Soon the jeep was heading back to town.

It felt like another life, arriving back at the city and getting patched up by Rosina. A few hours later I found myself back at base, at the firing range emptying the clip in my auto shotgun. I took my time as I needed to clear my head. What had gone wrong? I couldn't put my finger on it. We should have cut through those farmers like a hot knife through butter. The brain switched to thinking about food for awhile. Well, we had survived what would have killed most others. That counted for something; enough for me to find reason to leave the firing range and join the others for some beer and food. Well, some of the others. Ed where still at medbay for observation and Juron was undergoing surgery. As Erza was back we made another round sharing our stories. It felt even more ridiculous this time, but at least it was done.

Our day off was spent job hunting. Discussing the matter Juron - now back from surgery - let pop that he somehow had learned about the mysterious assailant who claimed Lucas' arm a few weeks back. While the issue of revenge was raised at least me and Erza agreed we also wanted some money out of it. It was something to think - not act - upon for now. Despite some reluctance from Angeline me and Erza decided to head out to talk to the clans to see if there was any well-paid work to be had. This took us far into the blocks.

We met our contact "Joline" at a top floor apartment hidden away from spying eyes. We were offered a mission to blow up a bridge in the tech district, but at 7k it seemed both dangerous and complicated so it was back to the office. After scanning the board we finally settled for a perimeter patrol for Terra Petrolium.

For all my sins it turned out we'd have to do the whole job on foot. Curses didn't carry my pack so in the end it was Juron who did. I swore an oath on that spot that I'd be chasing Lucas on his stupid morning jog until this would never happen again. We had some wildlife encounters but nothing serious. There were some sensors which we were to check on; Juron did most of that job. In the end we got back, got paid and it felt like being back on track.

Damage Calculator

For your convenience the generator app has been enhanced with a Damage Calculator. You'll find it along with other links in the resource bar on this page!

For the basic math, simply select damage type and enter the amount of damage. Click "calculate" (or press enter) and you get the resulting trauma and pain as well as a short description containing hit location.

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Kragor the Merc: Water and Electricity

My last mission had got me thinking about serious shit. Making a name for myself... well it sounded silly in one way, but in another I felt it was the right thing. Its not too difficult to get famous - or infamous - in this wrecked city, but that's not what I'm thinking about. Making a name... its all about who you're making a name for, isn't it? I don't know that yet, but I'm working on it.

What I do know is that I won't get anywhere without the Predators. We're bundled together, so I'd just better turn it the right way with Erza still being out of town. But dammit, I don't know how to make these folks walk in the same direction; it seems everyone has secrets. I guess I'd have to share my story... it's what they do on the virex anyway and hopefully it works. Particularly I need to wrap my pretty head around that medic of ours - there is clearly something fishy going on there.

I got back a bit earlier than the others, so I started working on this plan. The Demon's Head were also back, but thankfully a bit fatigued from their Dukkha mission so didn't transform into their usual waste of breath. The only place I could think of to have a heart-to-heart talk with the others were the Mint. Standard place for some peace and quiet and they did have decent beer...

As the others got back they looked tired - but not too tired. I managed to get them all accompanying me for "a drink". Then I spilled my story. It was a funny feeling actually; can't recon that I recollected it all at once like that before. Oh, sure, Keria would have heard one too many of my stories but I was, well, about 20 when I met her. Things have happened since, believe it or not. But the point is it didn't feel so strange as I though it would. It was an interesting life, not a bad story at all. And it also got the others talking, which was the point of it.
Lucas was out first and, frankly, it was military-this, military-that. Nothing unexpected, though I think he said something about the Academy and magic parents? Regardless I put my money on watching Ed and Juron to see if they were listening in or preparing their own little speeches. Juron seemed a bit annoyed at the whole situation - would have to be careful there, as I don't want him against me. Ed did exactly what I expected and seemed to be planning something in his head. Well, as Lucas finished it was his turn.
Surprisingly I found Ed didn't come from the bottom ladder of society, but rather had thrown himself in that direction. Also his questionable medical accomplishments got explained as he declared himself a self-taught streetmage, with a hint of field medic expertise picked up during his last years in the Fringe. I don't trust magic so got Ed to explain what he actually could do with it, so hopefully I have some damn insight into how to use his skills in the field.
Juron was up next and as expected he was a bit off in his talk. Didn't really learn much apart from that the guy had apparently walked half-way across the Fringe by now in search of... well fuck me if I knew. Sounded like some ritual for reaching adulthood or the like. Time will tell I wager.
Last out was Angeline. Seems she had a tough upbringing and only a band of mercs prevented her from being raped by gangers at age 13. The damn girl had stuck to the trade every since, which is damn impressive. Behind that whimsy huggie talk there is a brain that gets things done. She's earned my respect.

Well, bonding time was over so we headed back to base. We did another practice run with Siri on the following day and ran some errands. Those damn drugs seems to keep disappearing...
One thing we didn't have to do was to find ourselves a new job - apparently GERO wanted our services again. Not sure if that means we're doing well or are simply viewed as expendables, but they do pay good.

The mission turned out to be to recover an old hydro power plant far out into the bush. It was a very long drive to pick up some components and then we had orders to fence in and secure the area. We got ensured that no other corps would be contesting the area so primary concerns were bandits. We headed out in a jeep and a truck.

As it was getting colder the roads weren't as wet as they've been recent weeks so the driving was ok. I felt strangely alert all the way without getting fatigued - I guess it was the effects of that biomod. That shit was good.
We reached the first base and picked up our cargo with no incidents and then continued forth. It was a long, uneventful drive until suddenly we spotted a large tree across the road - accompanied by a camouflaged vehicle stationed at the side of the road. Bandit ambush.
As it usually turns out, us spotting their position turned the tables completely. Lucas had started putting bandits down before they knew what was happening and with our vehicles parked a bit further back me and Juron headed out to face them. They where trying to charge in with their jeep so I lobbed a fire grenade into the driver seat. That unfortunately got them steering towards us; Juron got shot and was about to get run over as I managed to throw him to the side. The bandits crashed in the woodland behind us and the others took down the survivors. For my part I felt alive - so fucking alive. Stand in our way and you'd find your corpse burning by the side of the road. It was like a confirmation that my thoughts on life and everything was right - things would go my way.

We collected some of the bandits' supplies - which included an assault gun - and moved the large tree out of the way then we continued. The rest of the drive was uneventful, but as we reached an open area surrounding the hydro plant we were heading towards we noticed fields and a collection of tents. Of course there were settlers here. A dozen or so had made their way on to the road, blocking our path. All seemed to have guns. Well, we could solve this. The last thing I wanted was some moral shit-talk but it didn't have to turn into a shoot-out either. Yes, I may be a cynical bastard but if these people were to die today I'd damn well make it their own decision. So I walked over.
The leader turned out to be an orc woman, which was bad. Like Erza they like to be in charge. I tried to explain the situation to them but they were stubborn as hell; seems as a character description of every farmer I've ever met. I went back to the others to discuss matters. Ed explained that the leader appeared to be a streetmage and were as we spoke casting the same type of protection spell he himself used. I knew nothing about mages so I readily handed negotiations over to him - hopefully he knew how such people worked and he had pleaded for a chance of negotiating for several weeks.

We walked back and resumed our talks, while we noticed half of the thugs had moved away into the nearby woods. Ed tried to push the orc into getting the situation while I tried to find a legal way to have GERO put up shop without getting into trouble with these people. However, they had resented society to such a degree we couldn't find any common ground. And Ed and the orc really didn't get along and so suddenly, after yelling at each other, she hit Ed in the chest with some sort of lightning. I let my shotgun blaze and took out two of the others while I got a scratch in return. I had expected to hear the heavy thud of the assault gun by now, but instead there were an explosion further back and we continued to exchange fire just a few meters from each other. The orc screamed in orcish about sparing those that ran while killing the rest, then she hit me with a lightning bolt which hurt like hell. I the fraction of a second someone had kicked my leg out of the way and another put a gun to my head. Things were going wrong, but I already had a new plan. We only needed a bit of breathing space and she had just provided it for us. I picked up one of my grenades as I gave the order to retreat, loud and clear. Orcs were generally hard on their principles so I hoped this would mean she let us go. Then we could regroup, manage our wounds and well, shoot these people dead from a distance. I just hoped that I would be able to stand for a few more hours. Ed turned out and gave me a pat on the back and the pain almost went away; magic is weird. Again I got the feeling that nothing would be stopping us; we might look beaten now but just wait and see...