Session 1: A Dim Hope
Chapter 2...
Scott walked along the sidewalk with his head hung low, and his hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes were closed as he walked past the alleyways and blocks. He had taken his trips down to Martha's so many times that he could find his way down there with his eyes closed if he wanted to.
John was running about a block behind Scott, gun drawn, cursing under his breath. John caught up with Scott, and took his classic stance aiming the gun at the back of Scott's head.
"Freeze! You are under arrest for being a member of the Black Hawk Syndicate. Don't move!"
Scott ignored John and kept on walking, leaving John with a confused face. John lowered his eyebrows, and took aim.
A shot fired.
Smoke slowly creped from John's gun.
Scott froze in mid stride. The bullet nearly missed his foot that was now frozen half way off the ground. The empty bullet shell fell to the ground with little to no sound, but it was enough for Scott to know that the gunshot was now over and he could now face his opponent. Scott put his foot back down and did an about face.
"Well, well, well Mr. ISSP. You've got balls of steel don't ya?"
"Your pretty damn tough yourself. You did turn your back on an armed ISSP officer."
"Ok, you must be new or stupid, so I'll just give it to you straight. I am a close personal friend of the leader of the Black Hawk Syndicate. If you try to bring me in, he will come by, use his influences to get me out, and kill you for causing trouble, assuming I don't get to you first.
If you shoot me, he will kill you and your entire family, again, assuming I don't get to you first.
So I suggest that you just go on your way Mr..."
Scott looked a little closer for the name badge and continued, "Mr. Mann. Just go on your way before you do something stupid...."
The two men stared at each other for the longest time, till a ring, broke their concentration. Scott grabbed his cell phone, put it to his ear and said, "What is it?"
The person on the other end was so loud that even John could hear him.
"Scott! Where the hell are you?"
"Relax, Ryan. I'm at Martha's right now. What's wrong?"
"Come on Scott, you know you have to do your initiation thing right now. Mr. Vines is going to have all our necks if you don't show up in about 5 minutes."
"Alright, alright. Don't have a heart attack; I really don't feel like burying you. I'm about 10 minutes away, so stall till I get there. Bye."
Scott hung up the cell phone, and turned around again. As he walked away he put up his hands, waving good-bye to John. John stood there, clenching his fists staring at the ground with anger.
John whiped his head up and yelled, "Come back here."
Scott, again, ignored him, turning the corner on the street and out of sight. John ran after him, ready to shoot him dead. However, when John got to the corner, Scott was gone. Vanished without a trace.
John looked in every direction for any sign of him, but he was gone. John sighed. He looked to the wall next to him, and stared at it with pure hatred. He punched it with all his might. Of course, it didn't budge. He slowly took his hand back and walked back to Martha's. After all, he still had some pancakes to finish...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wide-open and spacious room with 30-foot high ceilings. The walls are covered with amazingly detailed paintings and portraits from every era. In the corners of the office, sculptures stand shouting messages of their dead artists.
A mahogany desk sits on one end of the room with the name "Matt Vines" engraved on it. Behind the desk, sits a man in a business suit, with an impatient look. He has his head resting in one hand, while the other strums its fingers on the desk.
The huge doors squeak and groan as Scott slowly opens the door. When Matt sees him, he quickly gets up from his chair and goes around the desk to come face to face with Scott.
"Scott! Where have you been? I can't believe you would try a joke like that, especially on your 21st birthday. But then again you have been a jokester. So, how are things?"
Scott lowered his eyebrows and said, "Things are just fine...", Scott then remembered that he was now a full member, "...sir."
"Oh come on Scott, you don't have to call me sir. I'm like a father to you. Call me Matt."
Scott winced when he heard the phrase 'like a father to you'.
He shook it off and said, "What have you called me in for sir?"
"Yes," Matt said, quickly returning back behind his desk," yes of course, how could I forget. As you know, it's your 21st birthday. This means that you can fulfill your life long dream of becoming a full Black Hawk Syndicate member."
'Life long dream?' Scott thought to himself, 'I have been dreading this day for years.'
"As you also know," Matt continued, "you must past an initiation test in order to come in. Now, since you have been trained as a top assassin, the higher ups have decided on a more difficult task for you."
On cue, Scott bowed down and said, "Of course, I can take anything you throw at me, sir."
"Good, good. Our sources tell us that a small drug factory has formed at the corner of 5th and Main. I don't like competition. Take all the ammunition and supplies you think you will need to put them out of business. Do you understand me?"
Scott bowed down again and said, "Yes, sir."
And with that, Scott left the room with a definite stride. When the doors behind him were closed and he was sure that no one else could see him, he leaned up against the wall with a sigh.
He then all but collapsed to the floor to the floor. He now lay down up against the door in a heap. His eyes seemed to force themselves closed. He sat up and rested his head in his hands. He then began to rub them vigorously trying his best to wake up. He then opened his eyes, which were now more blood-shot then ever. He stood up and turned around to see his reflection in the mirrored door behind him.
His unkempt appearance made him smile, "Today was gonna be a long day..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John trudged through the hallways of the ISSP with a tired and depressed look on his face, and his coat thrown over his shoulder. He passed an office with its door wide open only to hear a familiar and grizzled old voice.
"Hey John, what's wrong with you?"
John looked back into the office, and his face came back to life.
"Austin Young, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were getting transferred to Venus."
"I was, till I found out the hard way that I'm allergic to the plants on Venus. Heh, after that they gave me a choice of where to work, and I chose to come back here and work with my favorite nephew."
"Austin. We aren't related."
"Close enough. Anyway, why the long face?"
"It's been a long day"
"John, its only 10:00 a.m."
"I told you it was long."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway John, I'm afraid to say this, but it's going to get longer."
"What are you talking about, Young?"
"I've had a couple of insiders on Ganymede for a while, and they finally have come through. They told me that the Black Hawk Syndicate has plans to make some fireworks tonight at the corner of 5th and Main. They are going after a small drug factory that has recently popped up. I want you to go down there and get those guys out before the Syndicate blows them sky high."
John took a serious stare at his old friend and said, "Austin, why are you taking this up with me. Your so high up that you could order an army out there."
"Yeah, but I can't trust a single one of them. You're the only one I can trust here John. Plus, with your track record with the Black Hawk Syndicate, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind breaking up one of their plans."
John winced. He focused his eyes on the ground for a while, thinking about what to do.
When he looked back up, Austin immediately recognized the look in his eyes and said, "Thanks, you better go..."
End of chapter 2...
Chapter 2...
Scott walked along the sidewalk with his head hung low, and his hands shoved in his pockets. His eyes were closed as he walked past the alleyways and blocks. He had taken his trips down to Martha's so many times that he could find his way down there with his eyes closed if he wanted to.
John was running about a block behind Scott, gun drawn, cursing under his breath. John caught up with Scott, and took his classic stance aiming the gun at the back of Scott's head.
"Freeze! You are under arrest for being a member of the Black Hawk Syndicate. Don't move!"
Scott ignored John and kept on walking, leaving John with a confused face. John lowered his eyebrows, and took aim.
A shot fired.
Smoke slowly creped from John's gun.
Scott froze in mid stride. The bullet nearly missed his foot that was now frozen half way off the ground. The empty bullet shell fell to the ground with little to no sound, but it was enough for Scott to know that the gunshot was now over and he could now face his opponent. Scott put his foot back down and did an about face.
"Well, well, well Mr. ISSP. You've got balls of steel don't ya?"
"Your pretty damn tough yourself. You did turn your back on an armed ISSP officer."
"Ok, you must be new or stupid, so I'll just give it to you straight. I am a close personal friend of the leader of the Black Hawk Syndicate. If you try to bring me in, he will come by, use his influences to get me out, and kill you for causing trouble, assuming I don't get to you first.
If you shoot me, he will kill you and your entire family, again, assuming I don't get to you first.
So I suggest that you just go on your way Mr..."
Scott looked a little closer for the name badge and continued, "Mr. Mann. Just go on your way before you do something stupid...."
The two men stared at each other for the longest time, till a ring, broke their concentration. Scott grabbed his cell phone, put it to his ear and said, "What is it?"
The person on the other end was so loud that even John could hear him.
"Scott! Where the hell are you?"
"Relax, Ryan. I'm at Martha's right now. What's wrong?"
"Come on Scott, you know you have to do your initiation thing right now. Mr. Vines is going to have all our necks if you don't show up in about 5 minutes."
"Alright, alright. Don't have a heart attack; I really don't feel like burying you. I'm about 10 minutes away, so stall till I get there. Bye."
Scott hung up the cell phone, and turned around again. As he walked away he put up his hands, waving good-bye to John. John stood there, clenching his fists staring at the ground with anger.
John whiped his head up and yelled, "Come back here."
Scott, again, ignored him, turning the corner on the street and out of sight. John ran after him, ready to shoot him dead. However, when John got to the corner, Scott was gone. Vanished without a trace.
John looked in every direction for any sign of him, but he was gone. John sighed. He looked to the wall next to him, and stared at it with pure hatred. He punched it with all his might. Of course, it didn't budge. He slowly took his hand back and walked back to Martha's. After all, he still had some pancakes to finish...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wide-open and spacious room with 30-foot high ceilings. The walls are covered with amazingly detailed paintings and portraits from every era. In the corners of the office, sculptures stand shouting messages of their dead artists.
A mahogany desk sits on one end of the room with the name "Matt Vines" engraved on it. Behind the desk, sits a man in a business suit, with an impatient look. He has his head resting in one hand, while the other strums its fingers on the desk.
The huge doors squeak and groan as Scott slowly opens the door. When Matt sees him, he quickly gets up from his chair and goes around the desk to come face to face with Scott.
"Scott! Where have you been? I can't believe you would try a joke like that, especially on your 21st birthday. But then again you have been a jokester. So, how are things?"
Scott lowered his eyebrows and said, "Things are just fine...", Scott then remembered that he was now a full member, "...sir."
"Oh come on Scott, you don't have to call me sir. I'm like a father to you. Call me Matt."
Scott winced when he heard the phrase 'like a father to you'.
He shook it off and said, "What have you called me in for sir?"
"Yes," Matt said, quickly returning back behind his desk," yes of course, how could I forget. As you know, it's your 21st birthday. This means that you can fulfill your life long dream of becoming a full Black Hawk Syndicate member."
'Life long dream?' Scott thought to himself, 'I have been dreading this day for years.'
"As you also know," Matt continued, "you must past an initiation test in order to come in. Now, since you have been trained as a top assassin, the higher ups have decided on a more difficult task for you."
On cue, Scott bowed down and said, "Of course, I can take anything you throw at me, sir."
"Good, good. Our sources tell us that a small drug factory has formed at the corner of 5th and Main. I don't like competition. Take all the ammunition and supplies you think you will need to put them out of business. Do you understand me?"
Scott bowed down again and said, "Yes, sir."
And with that, Scott left the room with a definite stride. When the doors behind him were closed and he was sure that no one else could see him, he leaned up against the wall with a sigh.
He then all but collapsed to the floor to the floor. He now lay down up against the door in a heap. His eyes seemed to force themselves closed. He sat up and rested his head in his hands. He then began to rub them vigorously trying his best to wake up. He then opened his eyes, which were now more blood-shot then ever. He stood up and turned around to see his reflection in the mirrored door behind him.
His unkempt appearance made him smile, "Today was gonna be a long day..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John trudged through the hallways of the ISSP with a tired and depressed look on his face, and his coat thrown over his shoulder. He passed an office with its door wide open only to hear a familiar and grizzled old voice.
"Hey John, what's wrong with you?"
John looked back into the office, and his face came back to life.
"Austin Young, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you were getting transferred to Venus."
"I was, till I found out the hard way that I'm allergic to the plants on Venus. Heh, after that they gave me a choice of where to work, and I chose to come back here and work with my favorite nephew."
"Austin. We aren't related."
"Close enough. Anyway, why the long face?"
"It's been a long day"
"John, its only 10:00 a.m."
"I told you it was long."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway John, I'm afraid to say this, but it's going to get longer."
"What are you talking about, Young?"
"I've had a couple of insiders on Ganymede for a while, and they finally have come through. They told me that the Black Hawk Syndicate has plans to make some fireworks tonight at the corner of 5th and Main. They are going after a small drug factory that has recently popped up. I want you to go down there and get those guys out before the Syndicate blows them sky high."
John took a serious stare at his old friend and said, "Austin, why are you taking this up with me. Your so high up that you could order an army out there."
"Yeah, but I can't trust a single one of them. You're the only one I can trust here John. Plus, with your track record with the Black Hawk Syndicate, I'm sure that you wouldn't mind breaking up one of their plans."
John winced. He focused his eyes on the ground for a while, thinking about what to do.
When he looked back up, Austin immediately recognized the look in his eyes and said, "Thanks, you better go..."
End of chapter 2...
