Wherever the Universe Takes Me
by Ulquiorra9000
Chapter 22
Hohenzollern, Zoetermeer
Lyran Commonwealth
May 30th, 3050
Even now, after he and the other Werewolves set foot on a safe world far away from the mysterious Jade Falcons, Chen could hardly believe his good fortune. Surely, Mei's "Little Dragon" charm had seen him through the jaws of hell! Well, maybe that was the best explanation his stressed and overwhelmed mind could conjure up. At any rate, the Werewolves and the rescuer mercenary gang (Blanca's Bastard Brigade) had snuck right out of the Romulus system on board an agriculture freighter DropShip. From there, they joined up with a JumpShip and transferred to a new DropShip, the Curiosity. It hauled them right to the Zoetermeer system without any questions asked.
The good news: everyone was beyond Clan Jade Falcon's talons for good.
The really bad news: they only brought small arms and the clothes on their backs. Jackson's Werewolves didn't even have a rustbucket APC or Warrior VTOL to call its own.
Jimmy wasn't looking too glum about it, though.
"We survived, Werewolves," he kept telling them as they settled in hotel rooms in Hohenzollern, this arid world's bustling capital. "And we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel where out debt is concerned. Things could be worse."
"Yeah," Brigitte Anders had said bitterly. "Depends on how low you set your standards, boss."
Jimmy didn't have much of a response to that. He did, however, make a beeline for the city's HPG center, and invited anyone interested to come along. Chen and Peter joined him, since they had an important mission ahead.
Get the damned word out.
"Welcome, friends," a friendly Acolyte said when the three men stepped into the ComStar base. He wore white robes typical of ComStar, and motioned to a few seats arranged before his desk. "I am Acolyte Nathan Verask, and I -"
"Can help us, I hope," Jimmy said shortly. "I've got an urgent message to send to the MRB. To anyone who will listen."
"I see," Acolyte Verask said, and he got right to business. He cleared his throat. "Join me."
So they sat, and Jimmy, Chen, and Peter relayed everything they knew about the Jade Falcons, the attack on Romulus, everything. Even including the fact that the Werewolves and Blanca's Bastard Brigade had totally failed their contracts there. Although visibly anxious, Peter did his best to add crucial information, gently rocking back and forth in his seat to calm himself.
Acolyte Verask nodded as he finished typing into his large noteputer station. "Now, Mr. Nolan, I need your personal ID to get this into the system and prep it for broadcast."
"Right. HM-5730-L4-0062," Jimmy told him. "Spread that message far and wide."
Acolyte Verask raised his eyebrows. "Could you be more specific, my good sir?"
Jimmy hesitated, then named a rather premium messaging rate for a quick broadcast. Chen didn't argue, despite the Werewolves' ongoing debt.
"And... done," Acolyte Verask said. "Is there anything I can help you with today?"
Jimmy shook his head. "I did what I came here for. I don't know where the hell those Jade Falcon assholes came from, but everyone's gotta know that they're out there. With any luck, they won't even reach this world."
"I assure you that Zoetermeer will not fall to any invader," Acolyte Verask said, gazing into the distance. "This news is indeed troubling. But rest assured that ComStar is here to help."
"Good. See ya." Jimmy rose and motioned for Peter and Chen to follow. They stepped out the front doors and into the dry, warm evening air. Damn, Zoetermeer was a total desert from pole to pole. At least it had good pubs, based on the tourist brochures that were handed out on literally every street corner.
Jimmy draped one arm across Chen's shoulders, and the other across Peter's. "Friends, we're hitting the bars. Drink yourselves under the tables if you gotta. Us Werewolves... let's try to forget the last month, huh?"
Chen chuckled. "I wouldn't say no to a rum and Coke."
Jimmy sighed. "You gotta get more creative with your drinks, Chen."
"I-I would rather not drink," Peter mumbled, visibly tensing. "Bars are loud. I... I'll be at the hotel, working on... some things."
That was how Peter calmed himself down, diving right into work. Chen didn't blame him.
And as for the rest of the Werewolves... maybe Chen would finally try and beat Anthony or Kathy at darts. His record was positively abysmal.
It didn't help that Brigitte kept reminding him.
*o*o*o*o*
Acolyte Verask waited until the three mercenaries left the premises before typing another commander into the system: override:/[freeze message]
Confirm message freeze order? Y/N
Y
search:["Jackson's Werewolves combat Romulus MRB database James Nolan Chen Yeung Peter Andrews MRB mercenary groups rated "B"]
Executing search...
Searching...
...
Acolyte Verask waited until he got his hands on every scrap of data he could before rising from his desk and alerting the station boss.
"This is 100% accurate?" the boss asked testily.
"It is," Acolyte Verask said, hands clasped behind his back. "This is a voice that must be silenced."
"It certainly is." The boss picked up the phone. "Let the will of Blake be done."
*o*o*o*o*
Bad news: Chen did not, in fact, finally beat Anthony Pubbles in a game of darts, not even after he said no that fourth beer mug so his coordination would be that much less impaired. Sentaro groused that he was betting 2,500 C-Bills on Chen because of "this gut feeling of mine," and that was 2,500 C-Bills he'd never see again. It was hardly Chen's fault that Anthony downed a Manhatten with reckless speed and then landed two double bulls-eyes in a row. The entire room had made an excited ruckus over that one.
But in the corner of his mind, Chen did note that none of the holovid screens were showing any news about Clan Jade Falcon's attack into Lyran space. As in, not a word. Shouldn't someone else have gotten the word out? Did it really fall to a dinky little mercenary group like Jackson's Werewolves to alert local systems to this grave threat?
Kathy, for one, urged Chen to not worry about it. That nonsense was behind them, now that they'd escaped Romulus and sent that message via the local HPG uplink. It was time to kick back and relax.
Even now, Chen could picture Jimmy's urgent message flashing through the stars at incredible speeds. Okay, that was reassuring.
"We oughta hit up another one," Jimmy hollered into the warm night as the Werewolves spilled out of the bar at 2254 hours and into the well-lit downtown streets.
"Another what?" Brigitte asked, even though she knew.
"That place!" Jimmy cried, pointing at a nightclub further down the block and across the street.
Chen gave the place a fair shake, in his mind. To be fair, Hohenzollern did have a pretty good nightlife scene, with ample bars and clubs, neon signs advertising everything from VR games to legal drug dens, to sports bars showing the latest Solaris VII matches. Even the traffic looked merry, as though everyone was on their way to a party.
But...
"I'm going to be lame and say I need an early retirement for the night," Chen admitted. His headache was going from "sign of a good time" to "bullshit I need to sleep off."
Brigitte actually stuck out her tongue. "Have it your way, Scrappy. Have fun in your hotel room. I guess."
Kathy snorted and patted Chen's back. "I'll go with you."
"Right." Chen took Kathy's hand, and they made their way to a street corner to ask for a cab back to their fifteen-story hotel. Most of the Werewolves were staying here, and as Jimmy and Anthony put it, they'd earned this shit. For surviving the Jade Falcons, really. Debt be damned.
"You sure you can't spend a little more time up?" Kathy teased Chen as they stepped out of the elevator and onto the eleventh floor.
Chen grinned and shook his head. "I can't, Kathy. Sorry."
Kathy pouted. "Fine, I'll just make friends with my bedside lamp or something."
"I'll see you at breakfast." Chen gave Kathy a kiss, then finally trudged into his room and tore off his shirt and tossed it onto the back of the desk chair. Whew. He'd been running on adrenaline and feverish hope ever since stepping onto that grain-freighter DropShip back on Romulus. His training wouldn't let him shake that feeling like a Jade Falcon was going to get the drop on him. But when he humored himself and checked the closet, he confirmed that zero Elemental warriors were in there.
Shit. He needed a shower.
Someone knocked. "Room service!"
Hell of a time for that. Maybe that's how they did things on Zoetermeer. Chen peeked through the door's eyeglass and confirmed a young man with a hotel uniform, next to a cart loaded with cleaning supplies.
Chen swung the door open. "I wasn't expecting this so late. I was about to get into the shower."
"I'm sorry," the cleaner said as he pushed the cart in. He flashed an embarrassed smile. "A few people quit, and we've been busy. The schedules are all kinds of messed up. Normally, I'd have clocked out by now, but that's life, am I right?"
Kid, you don't even know. Chen nodded and headed for the bathroom. "I won't get in your way."
The cleaner made a bit of a racket as he rifled through his cart's supplies. "Don't worry about that, good sir."
The hairs on the back of Chen's neck stood up-
Chen dove into the open shower just as a bullet hissed through the air, and it burrowed into the far wall. Wall plaster puffed into the air.
An assassin! Who sent him? Chen sprang to a crouched position in the shiny, tiled shower just as the assassin stepped into the bathroom. Chen was too far to seize the pistol, so he seized a complimentary shampoo bottle and hurled it at the assassin's face.
Just in time; the assassin fired again, but the shampoo bottle hit him on the forehead, and his aim slipped. A second bullet escaped the pistol muzzle's silencer, and it shattered a tile just a few inches from Chen's right shoulder.
Quick as a leopard, Chen sprang from the tub and grappled with the assassin's pistol. He wrenched the muzzle in a safe direction, and prepared to twist the assassin's arm behind his back and wrestle him to the bathroom floor.
But this was an assassin, not a mugger, and the young man stomped his footed foot on Chen's own foot. Chen, who had taken his shoes off, had little protection from the boot's hard heel and winced from the sudden pain. It was enough of a distraction for Chen's concentration to waver.
The assassin jabbed his elbow back, and it smashed right into Chen's gut. Chen let go and stumbled back, and the assassin rooted himself down with one leg and he delivered an impressive roundhouse kick that caught Chen's temple and sent him sprawling.
Shit! Chen's head hit the wall, and stars danced in his vision. From down here, in the bathroom doorway, he saw the assassin prepare to fire his pistol again, aiming right for Chen's face.
Once again Chen dove out of the way, and he scrambled from behind the wall just as the assassin's fire. The third bullet smashed into the wall, and Chen knew that he had just seconds until the assassin went after him again. Should he make a break for the door? Dive out the window? Use the bedside lamp as a club? He had had a few beers, and he was exhausted after his journey here...
"Don't make this difficult!" the young man grated as he stepped out of the bathroom. "Sit still, bastard."
"Who sent you!" Chen blurted.
"Not telling," the young man spat. "But there are those who need you dead no matter what. Don't take it personally or nothin'."
He fired two more shots, and Chen rolled to avoid them. Now he was behind the desk's wheeled chair, and he kicked it with all his strength. The chair rolled and crashed into the assassin, who was once again distracted for a few vital seconds. Chen took his chances and sprang to his feet, crossed the distance to the assassin, and kicked the pistol right out of his hands. The handgun flopped onto the king-sized bed.
"No!" the young assassin dove for it. So did Chen. They grappled over it, each clawing at the weapon's warm barrel and its engraved handle. After about ten frantic seconds, the assassin seized it and shoved Chen back.
He stood and pointed it right at Chen. He squeezed the trigger.
It didn't fire.
"What the..." the assassin checked his weapon for a jam or dud.
Chen grinned. "I switched on the safety."
"You -" the assassin was cut off when Chen kicked the pistol out of his hands for a second time, and at last, Chen seized the upper hand. He delivered two rapid punches to the assassin's chest, then grabbed his head and bashed it against his knee. With blood leaking from his nose, the assassin crumpled in a stunned heap.
Breathing hard, Chen knelt and took the pistol. He switched the safety off.
"N-no!" the young assassin cowered and shielded his face with his hands.
Chen felt a wave of disgust. "You came here to take my life, and you beg for yours?"
"I-I... I represent the will of Blake!" the young assassin cried. "If I die, so be it!"
Chen hesitated. Blake? As in, Jerome Blake of ComStar? What the devil...?
"Who hired you? Answer me, boy!"
"I wasn't hired. I'm an initiate. An assassination specialist."
"An initiate of what, ComStar? Since when do they hire assassins?"
"I'm not telling you anything else!"
"Really." Chen fired a shot at the wall right next to the young assassin's head. "This pistol has five rounds left in the magazine. One for each of your limbs, then your head, if you don't fess up."
"Damn you!" the young assassin roared. "Do what you must! I won't betray the will of Blake!"
Chen took the easy route and swiped the handgun through the air. One pistol-whip knocked out the young assassin, and then Chen checked out the assassin's supply cart. "Not gonna kill you today," Chen muttered. "The real cleaning staff doesn't need the headache of scrubbing out bloodstains in here."
He found a spare mop head, tore out some of the long strands, and used them to bind the assassin's wrists and feet. Once he got his shirt and boots back on, and swiped the assassin's pistol, he took this chance to alert the hotel's security staff. Or rather, he tried.
"What the hell..." Chen stared at the video phone's screen as it blinked [ERROR] at him. It failed to connect? Why?
Chen's heart sank. No...
The others...!
Someone cried his name.
*o*o*o*o*
Kathy had barely shut the door to her hotel room when room service came knocking. Except room service didn't typically pack Mauser and Gray needle pistols.
Now the assassin was out cold, and Kathy needed answers. She checked the wall-mounted video screen and got a blinking message: [ERROR].
"Dammit! Come on!" Kathy pounded the wall with her fist, and she wiped her brow as her mind raced. Who wanted her dead? No way those Jade Falcon dirtbags had followed the Werewolves here. And they didn't seem like the type to send assassinations, with all their "honorable combat" bullshit...
Think. What kind of enemies did the Werewolves have? Their creditors? No, things weren't that bad unless Jimmy had gone off the deep end like Samesh had once done. Jimmy had a cool head, he wouldn't let it come to this...
Kathy made a frustrated noise, got her boots back on, and prepared for more. Whatever was going on, well... the other Werewolves needed her.
She threw open her door and raced down the hall to Peter's room. Dammit, he wasn't trained in combat. What if -
There was no time. Kathy got out her pistol and shot the door frame a few times to bust the locks, then kicked the door open with all her strength.
"PETER!" Kathy cried.
"Kathy?" Peter flinched, cowering and shielding his face with his hands. He was seated at the desk, two laptops open and cables everywhere.
Kathy sighed and lowered her pistol. "We've got to go, Peter. Someone just tried to kill me. We're going to get Chen next."
"What... no..." Peter clapped his hands over his face. "I-I can't... Kathy..."
Kathy approached him and softened her tone. "Someone is trying to hurt us, Peter. Stay with me for safety's sake. Let's meet the others and find somewhere safer to be."
"But why... who...?" Peter moaned. He rocked back and forth in his seat, a clear sign he was not doing so good.
Kathy didn't like pushing Peter like this, but lives were on the line. She told him as much.
Trembling, Peter gathered up his stuff. Slowly. "I-I'll pack..."
"Here, let me help." Kathy quickly gathered Peter's stuff and crammed it all into his duffel bag, and handed it to him. "Tell me if anyone besides our friends comes along, all right?"
"Y... yes." Peter stared over Kathy's shoulder, chewing his lower lip. "Who wants to hurt us?"
"I don't know," Kathy said gently.
"You don't? Can you find out?"
"Later. Let's get outta here."
Kathy and Peter were barely one step into the hallway when a bullet whooshed past them.
Shit! Kathy whirled around and snapped off two shots at the assailant. Just in time; the assassin jerked as two bullets slammed into his chest, and he sprawled onto his back.
Peter yelped and clapped his hands over his ears. "S-stop it! Loud! Too loud!"
"I'm sorry. Stay strong for me." Kathy held Peter's hand tightly and rushed to Chen's own room. "CHEN!" she roared.
The door swung open as though Chen were expecting her. He stood there, tensed and ready. "Did they come after you too?" he asked at once.
Kathy nodded tightly. "And they might have gotten Peter, too. We gotta find the others. Hotel comms -"
"Yeah. Someone jacked 'em." Chen stepped out, a pistol at the ready. "Let's do this."
The three of them carefully advanced through the hotel, but Kathy wasn't seeing her fellow Werewolves, and no one was responding to their personal comm units. Shit, were they the last three alive in here?
"Hey! You three!" someone cried further down the hall.
Kathy whirled around, and another assassin came after her. She scowled and fired a shot, and the man crumpled.
"Nice one," Chen commented. "Come on. There's a few more of our guys on the floor below this one."
They didn't dare use the elevator. Instead, they rushed down the stairwells and checked the other rooms... to find their fellows dead, each with at least one bullet hole. A man from Jimmy's third squad had no fewer than six gunshot wounds and three stab wounds on his chest, his body propped up against the bed.
Again and again, they came across their dead fellows, and on this floor, and the next. Twice Kathy could hear heavy footsteps nearby, but she, Chen, and Peter escape via the stairwell, getting closer to the lobby.
"Think anyone's waiting at the lobby?" Chen huffed as the trio made it to the first floor.
Kathy pursed her lips. "Might have a couple of guards there. They probably can't cover all the exits of this place, but they could station two goons by the front doors."
Chen's comm beeped. "Scrappy! Come in!" Jimmy's tinny voice cried.
Kathy sighed with relief as Chen answered. "I'm here, with Kathy and Peter. Assassins are all over this hotel, Jimmy. We barely -"
"Yeah, well, we got some too," Jimmy grated out. "Some bastards jumped us from a back alley. Got Sentaro and two guys from his platoon. I'm trying to reach the others, but it ain't looking good."
Kathy felt the blood drain from her face. Some group was methodically wiping out the Werewolves? Who the hell wanted them dead so bad?
"We need extraction at the hotel," Chen added. "There's bound to be more hitmen at the front doors. We might check -"
"No. Find somewhere secure, and I'll come to you," Jimmy said. "Only seven of us are left. But that should be enough."
"Roger that. Out."
Chen cut the comm and looked over at Kathy and Peter. "Even if we get out of here, Jackson's Werewolves is finished. There's barely a squad and a half of us left."
Kathy nodded. She felt like her insides were stone, but the adrenaline kept her on her feet. "If we know Jimmy, we'll get out of this one just fine. He'd better come."
"Yeah."
They bunkered up in a supply closet and held the doorknob tightly, and waited for twenty-four tense minutes until Chen's comm wet off again. All three of them jumped at the sound.
"This is Chen!" Chen said quickly.
"You three still alive?" came Jimmy's breathless voice.
"Alive and well. Holed up in a closet."
"Come outta there. Hotel lobby secure. Lost one of our guys taking out a four-man squad."
"Be right there."
Kathy could hardly believe it as she and Chen carefully made their way down the stairs and joined Jimmy and the other survivors in the lobby. Indeed, five bodies lay on the floor, and the hotel staff members were terrified out of their minds.
"Come on." Jimmy motioned, and the nine of them fled the hotel and down Hohenzollern's streets.
"Who the fuck wants us dead so bad?" one of the other survivors grated as they pushed through the crowds.
"Hell if I know. We gotta keep a low profile. Let me see..."
Kathy watched as Jimmy hailed a cab and ordered three Werewolves into it. "Get to the town ten klicks out of city limits," he told them. "Easton, I think it's called. We'll take other cabs there."
The three soldiers nodded and sped off into the night. Then, a second cab arrived, and Chen and Kathy climbed in with Peter. "See you soon," Jimmy told them. Then the cab sped off into the night. Fortunately, the driver asked no questions.
*o*o*o*o*
Good news: Easton had a train station, and the mag-lev train could take them to Zoetermeer's second-largest city, which featured a DropShip landing pad. Bad news: the Werewolves were finished.
"It's the end," Jimmy announced when the Werewolves gathered at a small hotel (an assassin-free hotel). "Kathy, Scrappy, Peter, all of you... we had a hell of a run. Been an honor and all that. But we're nine people with just the clothes on our backs. Tonight, on May 30th, 3050, the Jackson's Werewolves unit is dissolved. I'll alert the MRB as soon as I can. You're all free agents now."
Chen nodded tightly, and clapped a hand on Jimmy's back. "I learned a lot. Thank you for all you have done for us."
Jimmy cracked a nervous smile. "You trying to make me cry, Scrap?"
"I was raised to show proper gratitude."
"Good man. And good luck, wherever the universe takes you." Jimmy shook Chen's hand, and did the same for his other fellows. Even Peter, who was still shell-shocked more than anyone else, accepted Jimmy's hand.
It was time to sleep, and time to end this chapter of Chen's career. Jackson's Werewolves, the first merc gang he ran with... probably wouldn't be his last, either. He had many freelancer years ahead of him. Visit new worlds, sign new contracts, keep practicing in the simpods, get his hands on a BattleMech... what would the 3050s bring?
Time to find out.