"Alright guys, the pig is in the poke. Repeat, the pig is in the poke. Taking him in now."
"Copy that," Tsubaki replied. "We'll meet you there. Over."
Tsu and Mal lost the third crawler in Morello's convoy down a narrow alley, shortly after their charge had been taken out. By the time they doubled back to the crash-site, Bryan and the banker would have been long gone. The authorities might have even beaten them there.
After stashing the motorcycle in a nearby safehouse, the two soldlers met up with Jun and made their way towards the rendezvous point--an old run down warehouse in the heart of Russo's territory.
"Good work, Mallory," Tsubaki said, shattering the prolonged silence. "They were right about you. You know how to fight like a bandit. Keep it up and this op will go down a hell of a lot smoother."
Then she peered over at Jun. "Moon, you're not going to like this," she sighed. "I'm giving you a bad report when I meet with Caputo. I'll tell him you almost missed your mark today. The powder's gonna kill you at this rate, but I need reasonable cause to take you off it. You might get chewed out... maybe even beaten... Just want to let you know what you're in for. Is that understood, Moon?" She clenched her jaw. "This is for your own good."
*************************************************************************************************************************************************
Katya's mini-sermon sobered Edea up rather quickly. Booze never could completely dull the dark places in her mind.
"... What about you? Did you believe in anything before you started on this path?"
"Believe?" Edea echoed, bitterly. "I was raised by the Lombardi's. They are just about the only gods I've ever felt the need to recognize. Don't get me wrong though, I despise the lot of them, but just think about it... Contessa? She can do whatever the fuck she wants. No one poses a threat to her. Unlimited power and no accountability? I imagine even your god would envy that."
The sobered warrior leaned in closer. "You get what I'm saying, Kat? Do you know what we're doing here?" Her breath wreaked of booze. "We're challenging a god. Now tell me, what higher calling is there than that?"
*************************************************************************************************************************************************
"I told Bennie we should have stuck to smaller jobs, the bigger payoff isn't worth the heightened risk of collateral damage."
Sprout had nothing to say to that. Once Lilith had left his side to join the others, he found himself staring at Bennie. There was a hint of regret in his eyes, but it was only a hint. Despite all the carnage they had invited, his captain was still standing tall.
Lilith was wrong.
There wasn't any job too big for Bennie.
Three hours later...
Before returning to the Maiden, Bennie had let their hostage loose to walk a few miles home in the rapidly chilling ash. Considering how much they had made off the score, he figured adding a ransom to the mix would only complicate things. Count your blessings, and all that.
Once the cash had been counted and secured, Bennie gave a quick debrief and the exhausted crew went their separate ways.
"Hold up a minute, Allie," Bennie called out before the little spitfire could sneak off. He gestured for those loitering to leave the bridge. "We need to talk."
************************************************************************************************************************************************
Ada had no idea what to expect. Miranda and Tabitha were her client's usual girls, but were both busy tonight. It was pretty fucking late when the call came in and Ada was one of the only girls between Johns at the time.
On paper the job sounded like a literal walk in the park. The client apparently never actually wanted to fuck... or do anything worth paying for, really. According to her friends, this woman was kind of a nutcase. She acted all nice--played house or whatever with the working girls--but would randomly say disturbing shit or break down crying for no real reason. Really freaked them out, but she never hurt them and the money was good.
Don't sweat it, Ada. Can't be any worse than that bloake last night, she thought. Fucker had a right chode, that one.
And of course, her client just had to live in the shadiest part of town!
After hesitating briefly, Ada knocked on the front door. A few moments passed before several dead-bolts loosing in rapid succession sounded from inside. The door swung open to reveal a dark-haired woman in a black long-sleeved shirt and panties. Though it was difficult to see it in the dark, Ada noted a distinct, deep scar across her left eye. She was also holding a pistol.
"Get in," the woman whispered before ushering the girl through the door.
What had Ada stumbled into this time?
"Copy that," Tsubaki replied. "We'll meet you there. Over."
Tsu and Mal lost the third crawler in Morello's convoy down a narrow alley, shortly after their charge had been taken out. By the time they doubled back to the crash-site, Bryan and the banker would have been long gone. The authorities might have even beaten them there.
After stashing the motorcycle in a nearby safehouse, the two soldlers met up with Jun and made their way towards the rendezvous point--an old run down warehouse in the heart of Russo's territory.
"Good work, Mallory," Tsubaki said, shattering the prolonged silence. "They were right about you. You know how to fight like a bandit. Keep it up and this op will go down a hell of a lot smoother."
Then she peered over at Jun. "Moon, you're not going to like this," she sighed. "I'm giving you a bad report when I meet with Caputo. I'll tell him you almost missed your mark today. The powder's gonna kill you at this rate, but I need reasonable cause to take you off it. You might get chewed out... maybe even beaten... Just want to let you know what you're in for. Is that understood, Moon?" She clenched her jaw. "This is for your own good."
*************************************************************************************************************************************************
Katya's mini-sermon sobered Edea up rather quickly. Booze never could completely dull the dark places in her mind.
"... What about you? Did you believe in anything before you started on this path?"
"Believe?" Edea echoed, bitterly. "I was raised by the Lombardi's. They are just about the only gods I've ever felt the need to recognize. Don't get me wrong though, I despise the lot of them, but just think about it... Contessa? She can do whatever the fuck she wants. No one poses a threat to her. Unlimited power and no accountability? I imagine even your god would envy that."
The sobered warrior leaned in closer. "You get what I'm saying, Kat? Do you know what we're doing here?" Her breath wreaked of booze. "We're challenging a god. Now tell me, what higher calling is there than that?"
*************************************************************************************************************************************************
"I told Bennie we should have stuck to smaller jobs, the bigger payoff isn't worth the heightened risk of collateral damage."
Sprout had nothing to say to that. Once Lilith had left his side to join the others, he found himself staring at Bennie. There was a hint of regret in his eyes, but it was only a hint. Despite all the carnage they had invited, his captain was still standing tall.
Lilith was wrong.
There wasn't any job too big for Bennie.
***
Three hours later...
Before returning to the Maiden, Bennie had let their hostage loose to walk a few miles home in the rapidly chilling ash. Considering how much they had made off the score, he figured adding a ransom to the mix would only complicate things. Count your blessings, and all that.
Once the cash had been counted and secured, Bennie gave a quick debrief and the exhausted crew went their separate ways.
"Hold up a minute, Allie," Bennie called out before the little spitfire could sneak off. He gestured for those loitering to leave the bridge. "We need to talk."
************************************************************************************************************************************************
Ada had no idea what to expect. Miranda and Tabitha were her client's usual girls, but were both busy tonight. It was pretty fucking late when the call came in and Ada was one of the only girls between Johns at the time.
On paper the job sounded like a literal walk in the park. The client apparently never actually wanted to fuck... or do anything worth paying for, really. According to her friends, this woman was kind of a nutcase. She acted all nice--played house or whatever with the working girls--but would randomly say disturbing shit or break down crying for no real reason. Really freaked them out, but she never hurt them and the money was good.
Don't sweat it, Ada. Can't be any worse than that bloake last night, she thought. Fucker had a right chode, that one.
And of course, her client just had to live in the shadiest part of town!
After hesitating briefly, Ada knocked on the front door. A few moments passed before several dead-bolts loosing in rapid succession sounded from inside. The door swung open to reveal a dark-haired woman in a black long-sleeved shirt and panties. Though it was difficult to see it in the dark, Ada noted a distinct, deep scar across her left eye. She was also holding a pistol.
"Get in," the woman whispered before ushering the girl through the door.
What had Ada stumbled into this time?
