A Debt
The Massacci were furious at the attack on their territory, but Heidegger had lost all patience with the gangs, and heavy patrolling prevented any further reprisals. Thus, life in the city began to return to normal. They would not forget the insult, but for now, there was little they could do. Similarly, the other gangs weren't willing to disturb the peace until they had fully recovered. Thus the conflict had died down.
The Massacci had also bombed Corneo territory, not bothering to distinguish between slum gangs. Actually, they'd blanket bombed most of the city under the plate-a serious mistake. Resentment among the slum dwellers citywide was growing, and support for both Fujeo and Corneo grew. The gangs themselves were knitted closer together by the mutual bombing-Kotch lent the Fujeo money to rebuild their infrastructure and foster goodwill. A plague of Sahagin, driven out of the sewers by rising water levels, afflicted slum dwellers all over the city, but thanks to the Massacci's new injection of cash, it was successfully contained, as well as the disease which accompanied it, until the sewers and general infrastructure were repaired- -and sometimes improved on what had been there. Kotch made up the shortfall, and in turn, the Fujeo supplied manpower to help him with his other projects. Relations were good, and the city recovered.
However good the infrastructure, it didn't solve the Fujeo's major problem-there were just too many people in their sectors. A portion of the money was allotted to relocating inhabitants to the neighbouring sector two with enough money to stay on their feet. They gave liberally to the original inhabitants too, of course, and the relocated peoples were usually accepted, with care. Of course, many of the relocated peoples still wanted Fujeo protection. The Giotttians, the gang that had previously occupied the sector, had dissolved themselves recently, leaving a quagmire of factions where many would fear to tread, but when they saw how well the Fujeo treated the population, most of them agreed to be assimilated, and those that didn't were quickly eradicated. The Fujeo had achieved an almost bloodless coup of a neighbouring sector, more or less instantly. The other gangs, including the Corneos, watched this development uneasily, but they weren't willing to ignite another conflict just yet. There were still too many people in the Fujeo territory, but the strain had been alleviated slightly.
Notch, meanwhile, was getting used to his new position as a junior field officer. It was a brilliant position to be in. Basically, all he had to do was relay the orders of his superiors to his underlings, and the thoughts of his underlings to his superiors. His stipend was higher than the standard grunt, too. Many in his position supplemented their income with private rackets, but he knew he hadn't the experience to pull off anything like that yet.
Having been promoted inside his first week, he naturally had to face some jealousy from common lackeys waiting in the wings for years, but he tried to compound the insult by recognising their greater experience and listening to advice, whether he took it or not. He didn't know how successful he was being, but at least he was still alive.
The internal duties of the enforcers were also fairly peaceful during this time. People handed over their protection money without fuss or fight. Life was reasonably easy.
News broke then that the maverick Shinra who'd murdered the Don had somehow survived Fort Condor extermination camp, and had been transferred to the Shinra military garrison in Junon, a free man. They found out as he'd been spotted by a HBI operative stationed there, who then tried to bring him down herself. It ended badly, and the HBI management now called in the second clause of Kotch's relocation deal. Meaning that he'd have to send a team to Junon, where the Corneos had few links. Thankfully, Notch was considered too inexperienced to be involved in the operation, so another squad was sent on what later proved to be a disastrous mission.
000
Junon Town
The first problem encountered by the squad was actually gaining access to Upper Junon. Although Rufus was on his way to Costa del Sol by now, the Guard had little inclination to let unknown thugs with shotguns access. This was a problem. They'd lose at least two or three trying to take her down, and any hope of a quiet entry would be dashed. The Guards were completely unbribable, if only because Shinra could outbid anyone else. Unfortunately, the officer in charge of the Corneos didn't know this, and offered what was a reasonable sum in the slums. The reaction he got could only be called emphatic.
"Ten gil? Ten fucking gil? Do you know how much I get paid for this? That's an insult to me! Get out of my sight, and when you come back, I want to see you offering at least a grand, do you hear me?"
"You'll regret this."
"Not nearly as much as you will, I think."
She was right.
The next day...
Having made a few calls the evening before, the enforcer approach with more confidence and feigned casualness.
"Hear there was a car accident up above...anyone you know?"
"My husband...what do you want?"
"What I wanted yesterday, darling. A way to the upper world."
"Make a call to whoever's in charge of you."
"What?"
She blew out his kneecap. He hit the ground, and she gave him her phone.
"I'm waiting..."
Dialling Kotch, the felled enforcer handed the phone to her.
"Hello?"
"That the guy who sent people to Junon plate?"
"Who are you?"
"The elevator guard. It'll be ten gil to go up, okay? But send someone else to pay it."
"I'll make sure you never see that idiot again" Kotch assured her, "This wasn't my idea."
"That won't be a problem" she replied, and fired again.
000
When the now leaderless squad reached upper Junon, they were told that their target had been transferred to Rufus Shinra's personal bodyguard and was currently on his way to the Gold Saucer, a continent away. This presented an entirely different problem.
