“Should we call the other members in first?” Juro asked.
The leader held a hand up to stop him. “I have only the basics of the plan and everyone will have to play their part for it to succeed. But for now, I could use a few fine friends to listen and help me bring it to fruition. We can sort out the details with the others once we have them.”
“What do you have in mind, sir?” Xiulan asked.
He sat, took a small pad from his coat, and placed it on the table. When he activated it, several holograms of a building with information windows next to them appeared. “We have powerful allies and groups under our sway, but we could always use more, considering that for now, it is us against the world. It will take too long for them to come to our side naturally. If it were that simple, I wouldn’t have sought to restart this organization,” Merrick explained.
A trace of anger tainted the last sentence, although they couldn’t tell if it was from disappointment or regret. “We will focus on bringing these key players under our influence. Most can be taken through buyouts or partnerships—easier options and less likely to attract attention considering how many companies have been traded in recent years. But a few will need more personal measures.”
“What do you need from us?” Nolan asked.
“Only your talents and patience,” he stated calmly and focused on one hologram in particular. “These…we’ll call them problem prospects, each has their complications, but we will need them going forward. It might take longer than we wish, but the reward of having them in our pocket when we begin the takeover will be worth it.”
“You seem to be keenly interested in that one there,” Jensen noted and gestured to the hologram.
The leader nodded and stared at it for a moment longer before he returned his focus to the other members. “That is one of the primary targets. During the next meeting, we will prepare for its takeover and what will be required, but I hope that by year’s end, the Mirai Zaibatsu will be in the Arbiter Organization’s capable hands.”
The EX-10 assassin wandered the hillside. She had abandoned her armor already as the added defense was of less consequence than keeping a low profile. First, she had to find a place to hide, then a way out of the city. The ship provided to them had been destroyed, but there was still the vessel they came to Earth on. The stealth drive was superb. No one had seen their arrival, and it could easily fetch her if she could get within range for her beacon to call it.
Wet snaps made her freeze in place—the telltale sound of sticks being stepped on. Her instincts kicked in and she braced for combat, her blade in hand. Her visitor, however, didn’t seem as concerned.
A man stepped into the clearing. With combed-back black hair, easy-going gray eyes, and light skin, he looked to be in his mid-thirties. He wore a fine suite that was surprisingly clean for a man who walked around in the forest. “Yvette, right?” he asked casually and his hands slipped into his pants pockets.
She didn’t answer and simply watched him closely. He shrugged. “I get it. I might have it wrong—you assassins don’t really have names anymore, merely a list of aliases that probably blur together after a while.”
“Who are you?” she demanded, but she didn’t give him a chance to answer before she surged forward to sink her blade into his throat. Surprisingly, he didn’t retreat. Instead, he stepped forward quickly and snatched her blade arm with a suddenness that was alarming. She dropped the blade quickly, snatched it with her other hand, and tried to continue her attack. Once again, she was blocked by the man who calmly captured her free hand as well. She struggled against him, but he didn’t budge and his calm smile remained on his face.
“Give a man a second to respond, would you?” he asked with what seemed to be genuine amusement. “I’m usually proud of my game, but even I need a little breathing room.”
“Are you a bounty hunter?” she demanded.
“Nah. I could have been, though. I’m Dario Adesso. I represent Umbra Holdings,” he explained.
“Umbra holdings?” Yvette knew that name—their employers, the ones who sent them there, to begin with. “We knew that was a front. Who are you really? Bastion knew something about you. He was worried—and he was usually never worried about anything.”
“He sounds like a smart guy. It’s a pity he failed. I’m sure he could have been of more use.” Dario kicked her away and she caught herself before she fell and tensed in preparation for a follow-up attack, but nothing came.
“You are right. Umbra is merely a shell. The insides are much more interesting.” Dario beckoned her with one hand. “I hope you have something for me?”
Yvette stood and opened her underlay to remove the drive Bastion had given her. “He said you would want this—that it’s a bargaining chip.”
“Bargaining for what, exactly?”
She was quiet for a moment, the drive clasped tightly in her hand. “I would guess for my life.”
“That’s quite possible, but it is a little difficult to make a bargaining chip out of something that was part of the agreed objectives. It doesn’t seem very professional of you,” he pointed out, his tone almost sing-song.
“Do you intend to kill me?” she asked. “He said that if we failed, there would be repercussions.”
“That depends on you,” he stated. “Let me be frank. You failed, yes, but you do at least have the specs and you made it out, which indicates that you have better instincts than your teammates.”
“I only made it out because Bastion let me go,” she explained.
“Honorable as well as smart. There could be a place for him with us,” Dario noted.
“You can rescue him?” she asked and her tone hitched with surprise and hope.
“You can save him. We’ll help, of course,” Dario clarified and extended his hand. “But that assumes you are willing to help us.”
“You’ll take in a failure?” she asked suspiciously.
“We’re quite good at developing potential. Our leader specializes in it. And don’t be so morose. You’ve survived this long in a blacklist merc group. Obviously, you have talent.”
Yevette collapsed her blade and tossed the drive to Dario. “Very well, but I’ll do this for Bastion, not simply to be a new puppet for your company.”
“My dear, we’re more than merely a company,” he related and tucked the drive into his pocket. “And we are here to make sure no one will be simply a puppet.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“Damn, this stuff is great.” Mack sighed happily as the K-brew coursed through his system.
“First time, and you’re hooked,” Cameron agreed and stretched lazily.
“I guess so, considering Kaiden’s used it so much its name comes from him,” Julius noted and grinned at his vanguard teammate.
Kaiden leaned back in the medical bunk, his eyes closed as he listened to jazztronica music and let the world slide by. Several thumps on his chest yanked him from his happy place. He opened his eyes wearily and removed his aural clips when he saw Genos and Chiyo staring at him. “Howdy. How are you feeling, Genos?”
“Much better. My apologies for succumbing to the cherry poison juice,” he said and rubbed his hands together a little awkwardly.
“Good to hear.” He turned to Chiyo, who looked decidedly unamused. “What did I do? I was gone all night.”
“Why didn’t you let me know?” she asked, her arms folded. “I could have assisted you.”
“I wanted to know the same thing,” Otto muttered and glared at Mack who shrugged.
“It happened too fast. You guys were probably already almost back at the Academy,” the vanguard pointed out.
“And you were helping Genos,” Kaiden added, but Chiyo glowered in response. “Look, I really didn’t think it would be so intense. I was actually lucky these guys were around. Otherwise, I would have been overwhelmed. Honestly, I thought it would be an easy romp for good creds.”
“We got some good creds all right.” Luke sighed and sa
t on the edge of his bed. “It’s a pity we have to spend at least a third of it on repairs.”
“Only a third? I have to spend nearly half,” Silas complained and held his chest as he winced. “That Sauren wrecked my armor.”
“Welcome to the merc life.” Kaiden chuckled. “Although if you want another go, you should get licenses. Now, we only have to hope no one noticed.”
“I saw you on the news,” Genos informed him.
“Do what?” He cringed.
“While we waited around for Genos to recuperate, the news was on in his room. They had footage of all of you while you were in the plaza,” Chiyo informed him.
“Damn. We were able to sneak out before the officers entered and hoped we got away without being seen at all,” he grumbled.
“We should be all right, though,” Flynn reasoned. “We had no trackers, and that’s not our personal armor. It was Julio’s.”
“Yeah, pass the buck, why don’t you?” Cameron chuckled. “Kaiden’s armor is registered, though.”
“I have a license so I’m good,” he assured them. “Julio should take care of the details if anyone goes looking for the contract to see who else was on the list. Also, I’m sure the Fire Riders and Skyway Kings will say you were their members if they try going that route.”
“You might be right there, but what about at the Academy?” Chiyo pointed out. “If anyone else noticed it, they could see where your EIs were at the time of the break-in.”
“No one will think a group of students was dealing with something like that,” Kaiden said and waved her off.
The doors to the medbay opened. “Are you sure about that?” she asked.
“Pretty sure.” Kaiden leaned up to see who had entered. From the way eyes widened amongst his group, it must have been someone important.
“Hello, dear Kaiden,” Laurie said cheerfully as he stopped beside the bed.
“Laurie. It’s been a while. How have you been?” He was genuinely happy to see the professor after so long.
“Much better than I have been in quite some time, admittedly,” he said with a contented sigh and smiled at the group around him. “Have I missed something interesting?”
“You’re Professor Laurie? The man who created the Animus?” Indre asked. The ace realized that most of his friends had never met or even seen the professor. To them, he was still the enigmatic genius who created the system they used almost every day.
“Last time I checked, I am indeed. Amongst other things, of course, but I suppose that’s the one most people are interested in—my greatest invention.” His smile faltered slightly. “Although—and I intend to tell the whole academy this at the next gathering—I want to say to all of you that I will never let what happened last year ever happen again. You have my word, and thank you for your trust.”
“I never thought I would hear you say something so sappy, Prof,” Kaiden responded and earned a slight glare from Chiyo. He smiled and held a hand up. “It’s all good, Laurie. We’re here, and you can make a hell of a virtual construct, although there isn’t a lot of competition there, I admit.”
Jaxon stood, walked over to the professor, and saluted him. “I saw the advancements my teammates and myself have developed in only two years in action. We couldn’t have done that without your help.”
“You’re very kind.” The man bowed slightly before he straightened and focused on Kaiden. “That action wouldn’t have been the Ramses situation last night, would it?”
The ace’s cheerful expression faltered and his gaze traveled slowly to look at Jaxon, whose salute dropped as he shook his head. “My apologies. I wasn’t thinking.”
“To be fair, it’s the first time I’ve seen you make a mistake like that. You’ve had to deal with my idiocy more than once, so I can let this slide,” Kaiden assured him and shook his head. “After all that time making up a bar fight story.”
“I already knew. Wolfson and I saw you on the news last night,” Laurie informed them.
“I told you,” Chiyo interjected.
“Don’t worry about anyone else looking into it. I only knew because Wolfson recognized your armor and weapons. Sasha should take care of it if something does potentially arise,” the professor pointed out, his tone encouraging.
“Sasha knows too, then? I’m sure I’ll have to deal with that later.”
“Perhaps, but rest for now. You had a rather intense first day,” Laurie advised. “See me when you feel better. Until then, I simply wanted to stop by and see my favorite student.”
“I don’t think I have a lot of competition on that right now,” Kaiden joked. “But I’ll take it. I meant to swing by anyway. Where you off to?”
“I’m checking up on the mainframe. Cyra has been leading a team to take over the maintenance, but I think it still needs my personal touch.” He stepped back. “Rest well and try to enjoy your time more. If you keep doing gigs like this, I’ll think you’re growing bored.”
“Far from it. I’m having a great time but can always use a little extra spice now and then. I am from the south, after all.” He chuckled.
Laurie bowed as a farewell. The group watched him leave the medbay before they talked excitedly amongst themselves.
“Hey, Chiyo,” Kaiden called, and the infiltrator turned to look at him. “I really wouldn’t have left you behind if I knew what was going down. You would have been a great help.”
“Bring me on the next one, then?” she asked.
“I’ll look into getting you a temporary license and see if I can find a gig that makes use of your skills. I don’t want you to come along only to twiddle your thumbs. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to be bored.”
“Definitely not, but I would like to see what your life is like,” she admitted.
“I promise to get it done.”
“What do you have to do to get a merc license?” Cameron asked. “I might look into getting one myself.”
“Don’t you have a bounty hunter’s license already?” Kaiden asked.
“Yeah, but with different criteria. I have to shadow my uncle and dad for another year before I can go solo. But I can get more hours on my card doing merc gigs,” he explained. “I’ve thought about doing it already, but since I would get my license around the same time I would graduate, I figured it was kind of pointless.”
“But now you have the fever?” The ace grinned.
“I wouldn’t mind looking into getting one,” Silas added.
“Really? You were injured worse than all of us, mate,” Flynn reminded him.
“That’s only a reason to get better,” the enforcer declared.
“So I guess most of you are looking for another go?” Kaiden asked.
The team that had worked the mission looked at one another and nodded. “It looks like it. I’m down for another round when you need some muscle,” Luke affirmed.
“I’ll make sure to keep a lookout but be prepared for a lot of paperwork. The licenses are more tedious than difficult to get,” the ace admitted and fell back on his bed.
“Do you intend to simply sleep through your second day?” Chief asked and materialized in the room.
“Nah, I’ll get to my later workshops, and I’m sure I have an earful from Akello coming my way when I head over to the Animus Center.”
“So you’re gonna take it easy for a while, then?” Flynn asked.
Kaiden looked at the ceiling before he grinned at his friends. “You gotta take the time when you can, right? Who knows what’s coming next?”
Master Origin Story: Alexander Laurie
Chapter One
If there was a more ironic sound than joyous laughter after saying good-bye to a dead body only an hour before, Alexander Laurie couldn't think of one. He walked the halls of the memorial home in an irritated frame of mind. The fringe members of his family and his father’s many, many friends and admirers gathered in the main chamber to reminisce. They traded stories and memories of Laurie’s mother over what would be a foolis
h amount of liquor, followed by a stupid number of foolish acts. In the morning, they would all suffer from a stupid-ass hangover with a grand amount of fool's tears and exotic cursing.
Ah, but to toast to the life of a woman so great and well-lived. She had, without doubt, conquered life with zeal and traversed the world to see sights most people only dreamed of and lived the pleasures of an adventurer. But that’s all they spoke of—her exploits, never who she was. Laurie respected his mother, certainly, but that wasn’t the way he would remember her. He would remember her for her kindness and her warmth, and the fact that she always encouraged his talents and inventions instead of simply treating him like the future of the company.
Like his father did. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Laurie turned into another hallway and the voices from the chamber grew quieter and quieter. If he were honest, a part of him wanted to join the crowd. He had many fond memories of his mother from his childhood, a strong woman brimming with courage and humor. She encouraged his study of the arts as much as his scientific pursuits. He recalled going into the Eventide Forest with her on many weekends simply to take in the scenery. They would go sailing in the Pacific Ocean and fish in Lake Chelan. She would always offer her time to hear him discuss his theories and future inventions, even as ludicrous as some of them were and little more than obvious flights of fantasy. But she always made them seem possible, that they could come to life not only in his mind but by his hands. That he could finally get out of his father’s shadow.
A large crash and hooting laughter snapped him from his thoughts. He turned briefly to look back in the direction of the main chamber and saw two men joking with each other and heading his way.
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