August 5th, 2076
Yaiba Tower, Kabuki District
Why is there a pit in the middle of my chest that keeps getting deeper?
A trauma team AV flew past the window, sirens blaring as it dashed to the rescue of someone in dire need of help and had enough money to pay for a platinum subscription.
Fifth one so far today.
Kiwi's head didn't come off the pillow as she kept staring out at the concrete and steel jungle below her. She'd been lying in bed ever since she woke up. Just like yesterday. And the day before that.
When the crew had all left Rocky Ridge, Kiwi assumed that everything would turn in her favor or that the war going on in her mind would finally end. Much to her dismay, she was wrong. The solitude of the last several days-
How long has it been since I went outside?
-had given her an unfortunately long amount of time to think about her "talk" with Faolan. Every single sentence said replayed in her mind a thousand times, her mind refusing to let go of one specific question he asked her.
"Why did you stay?"
From sunrise to sunset she tried to find an answer, but none ever came. None she was willing to accept, anyway.
I enjoyed working with Maine. He knew how to keep things professional and get shit done, but… so do I. So why did I stay?
Kiwi felt as if her entire body weighed a thousand pounds, and she wasn't strong enough to lift it.
Maybe it was because they appreciated m-no, that doesn't make sense. I know better than to fall for that trap. Right?
Her eyes drifted to the nightstand next to her bed, on top of which lay a long strip of yellow-and-white cloth, a large stain of dried blood sullying the professionally made material. She had nearly entirely forgotten that she'd kept David's makeshift bandage until she first returned to her apartment, upon which she set it down exactly where it lay now. It was like a cursed artifact from an ancient temple to her, mystifying and perplexing as if calling out to her, but far too dangerous to risk touching.
David's just a damn kid, he might be a bit of a prodigy edgerunner, but he's no Maine. Not yet, anyway. So why did I stay?
Kiwi's gaze didn't avert from the bandage for quite some time. The sky outside began to darken, but she didn't notice.
He doesn't know fixers well, but he is a good fighter, especially with that sandy. I can't fight, so mayb-no. I'm one of the best deckheads in NC. I could've found work easily either way. Besides, I wouldn't trust a kid to fight for me. So why did I stay?
The moon was now rising high in the dark sky, a portion of it barely visible through the window like it was teasing her. She stared at the patches of mismatched circles of gray across its surface, caused by millions of years of asteroid impacts, wondering how many different people had stared up at that stardust-covered rock and asked the same question she was.
Why did I stay?
Beams of light bounced off the lunar surface and into her room, illuminating it in a bluish glow and casting a shadow on the wall. The dark shape reminded her of a young woman she found shivering in an alley nearly a year and a half ago.
Lucy. I… I stayed for her, didn't I? No, that's not right. I know better than to trus-
Images of the daemon Lucy had gifted her flooded into her mind for the thousandth time.
But she trusted me? Why?
A faint memory surfaced of feeling a smaller hand grasping hers, of pulling a barely-clothed girl up from the street. Moments after seeing that same girl with those pale, blue eyes effortlessly hack into a store's cameras and steal a handful of food while they were offline.
"What's your name?"
"Lucy. Why are you helping me?"
"You've got a natural talent, kid. Wanna earn some eddies for it?"
"I… I guess, yeah. Better than bein' a street rat."
"Trust me, if you're as good as I think you are, you're gonna go far."
I told her to trust me. And she did. Unconditionally. What did I do in return? Raise her up to some huge height, only to duck out as soon as any sign of trouble arose, and then stab her in the back by helping some asshole in a suit who offered me a quick buck?
Kiwi glanced back at the bloodied strip of cloth from David's jacket. The one his mother wore before she died.
He… he helped me because I helped her. Because she trusted me, he did too.
Her body felt lighter as if a small portion of her question had finally been answered. Sitting up in the bed, Kiwi almost felt nauseous but quickly pushed it aside.
David stayed with the crew because he wanted to help us. I stayed because I wanted to help myself. What is wrong with me?
Kiwi reconnected her mask, feeling the mechanical pins line up and lock in place, and gradually stood up. It was morning.
I don't deserve to keep this.
She grabbed the makeshift bandage and walked out.
August 6th, 2076
Penthouse Apartment, Japantown
I never thought having a pet would be so… interesting.
Bigfoot jumped down from the second-story balcony and walked toward her.
Then again, not sure if a 200-pound robotic death machine can really count as a 'pet.'
Lucy watched as the robo-cat laid down on the floor next to her and curled into a ball.
Thank god we got Garth to modify his claws so they could retract. Otherwise, our floor would be fucked.
It had been a very odd two weeks for the pastel-haired netrunner. Excluding the obvious of learning to live with a robotic feline bodyguard, she had been trying her best to stay entertained while more-or-less stuck inside. Sure, she and David could leave the apartment whenever they wanted, but especially for the first week, it just felt way too risky. Instead, the two of them had done their best to hang out just in their apartment, with varying degrees of success. One such success was the couch she was currently lying on, which was actually the one they'd found in that bar's back office in Rocky Ridge.
Still cannot believe David insisted on bringing this thing back with us.
"I can't believe they left this entire couch here. I mean, look, it's in great shape!"
Falco walked up, "Yeah, put a little rubbin' alcohol on it, maybe scrub out the dirt, it'd look great in your apartment."
David put his hands on his hips, "You know what? I'm taking this."
Lucy chuckled at the memory of watching David and Falco trying to move that thing out of the office, eventually resulting in Garth just walking up and punching a hole in the wall so they could get it out. She rested her head against the admittedly soft armrest.
It is a nice damn couch, though. Not that I'll ever tell him that.
Aside from the couch, the couple had attempted to try everything from homemade cooking, which both of them were terrible at, to board games, braindances, movies, and TV shows. Which just so happened to be what Lucy was doing right now, laying on the couch in her old workout clothes and watching re-runs of a show she and David had binged nearly a week ago. Usually, she would've just been naked, but after an odd experience involving her, her input, and a certain robo-cat that was found to be staring at the two lovers during a particularly intimate moment, she had felt slightly embarrassed to be exposed around Bigfoot.
A random ad for some new online game distracted her, as they had only just finished their last unsuccessful experiment involving just such games. That was a story in and of itself, but before Lucy could reminisce on that enlightening experience, her errand thoughts were distracted by a buzzing sound coming from the apartment's elevator. Bigfoot perked up as she stepped over him and made her way to the apartment's access panel for the building's intercom.
There was a request from the bottom floor for someone to come up, and when Lucy checked the built-in camera, much to her surprise, saw Kiwi standing in the reception area. She quickly accepted the request and watched as her mentor stepped into the honestly excessively large elevator.
She didn't send me any messages and I haven't missed any calls, and I've never known her to just show up unannounced. Didn't realize she even knew where we lived.
Lucy returned to the couch, resting her feet on the coffee table. About a minute later, the elevator's floor icon lit up, indicating that it was now arriving. Her eyes then quickly widened in realization, only able to shout out the command right as the two sliding doors opened and her giant robotic housecat began sprinting toward the terrified blonde.
"Bigfoot! Kiwi friend!"
The four-legged bot had to dig its heavy mechanical paws into the floorboards to slow down in time, stopping barely a foot in front of Kiwi and sitting on its haunches, acting entirely innocent. Lucy sighed as she walked up to the taller woman,
"Kurwa, sorry about that. Forgot to mention that to him beforehand."
Kiwi eyed Bigfoot with heavy suspicion, giving him a wide berth as she left the elevator and said,
"It's… fine. Just not what I'd been expecting."
Now that Lucy had a better look at Kiwi's face, she only had one thought.
Damn. She looks like hammered shit.
Her light blonde hair was disheveled, loose strands breaking her usual uniform bob and being filled with mats. Her clothes were similarly dirty, still looking as if she hadn't washed them since she got back from Rocky Ridge. The left sleeve of her jacket was cut off, not too big of a surprise considering it had to be to treat her gunshot wound, but Lucy was surprised at the fact that Kiwi wasn't even trying to bother and cover it up with something else. In fact, her still-healing wound was very clearly visible on her exposed clavicle, the dried blood not having been washed off yet. There were heavy bags underneath her yellow-red eyes like she hadn't properly slept in days, and her posture was unlike anything Lucy had ever seen. Kiwi wasn't strutting around with confidence and coldness but was rather shambling with gloom and dread like she could barely pick up her own feet.
What the fuck happened to her?
"You alright?" Lucy asked.
Her mentor wouldn't look her in the eyes as she said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just wanted to come and give David back something."
Lucy then noticed the long strip of yellow and white cloth in Kiwi's left hand, nearly falling out of her loose grip.
"Is that…?"
"It's what David used to stop the bleeding." Kiwi gestured to the still-healing circular patch of skin.
"Oh! I… wasn't aware he'd done that." Lucy gestured towards the couch. "D's not here right now, but we can chat till he comes back if you want."
A stray beam of light shone directly onto Kiwi's face.
"I'd…," Kiwi started, "I'd really like to just drop this off and go."
Lucy watched as a sunbeam strayed up the woman's face and highlighted her eyes. She had to hold back a surprised expression as she recognized the look in those red pupils. The stare of a lost soul that's suppressed an old demon, driving it so far and deep into their mind that it can never be forgotten, no matter how hard they tried. It was one Lucy had seen in her reflection for most of her life. Now her mentor figure, a woman she looked up to with respect and trust, was doing her best to hold back a tidal wave of pain and was clearly about to lose that battle.
"Oh, come on, we haven't just sat down and talked in ages," Lucy said, doing her best to keep the mood light.
Kiwi glanced at the floor and said, "Alright."
The two netrunners made their way to the couch, Lucy sitting with her back against the far right armrest and Kiwi on the left with her feet propped up on the coffee table. It was silent between them for what felt like hours until Bigfoot put his front two paws on the armrest next to Kiwi and balanced himself on it, tilting his head slightly to one side. Kiwi just stared at the bot, confused.
Lucy explained, "He wants you to pet him."
"How? He's made of metal?" Kiwi looked at her apprentice like she was crazy.
"Just rub your hand behind his ears."
Doing as instructed, Kiwi slowly ran her fingers along the cold surface right behind the bot's fake ears, resulting in it actually purring and craning its neck back as if it enjoyed the feeling. After a moment of doing this, Kiwi stopped, to which Bigfoot gave her the most disappointed look an expressionless robot could before hopping off the edge of the couch and going to sit in front of the wall-to-wall window. Lucy had to stop herself from rolling her eyes, having seen the catbot stare out of that window at who knows what for hours on end nearly every day.
"Well," Lucy started, grabbing Kiwi's attention, "how have you been? I haven't talked to you in a while."
"What? I just talked with you like… a few days ago?" Kiwi seemed genuinely confused.
"Kiwi." Lucy leaned forward and gave the distraught woman the most honest look she could. "The last time I saw you was a week and a half ago when you offered to help crack the ICE in Mark's system."
Shaking her head, Kiwi responded in denial, "No, no, I just talked to you. That was only two or three days ago… right?"
Something is really wrong with her.
"Are you sure everything's okay?" Lucy asked.
The red jacket covering Kiwi's body began to shake, its wearer clearly shivering but still attempting to hide the involuntary act from Lucy.
"I…" Kiwi's voice trailed off, her gaze locked on to the bloodied cloth in her hand.
What do I even do here? I've never seen her act like this, even after Maine messed her up during the Tanaka job.
Lucy remembered how David had comforted her when she had admitted her dives into 'saka's network. That was just over two weeks ago, and ever since then, she had felt better every single day about it. She didn't know what exactly was going on with Kiwi, the reclusive woman had never discussed anything of her past beyond saying she'd been in NC all her life, but Lucy didn't need to know the details to be there for her. Kiwi nearly jumped out of her skin when Lucy put a hand on her shoulder. When the two locked eyes, the apprentice smiled and said as softly as she could,
"You're okay."
This time it was Lucy's turn to be surprised as tears began to streak down Kiwi's eyes in droves, which she quickly attempted to obscure by putting her hands over her face and hunching over. A memory that felt incredibly distant, yet wasn't formed that long ago, crawled back up. It was of a much taller woman clad in dark red walking alongside a pink-haired girl through the slums of NC in the middle of the night.
"Trust me, if you're as good as I think you are, you're gonna go far."
"If you say so. Hey, what's your name again?"
"Kiwi."
"Well… thanks, Kiwi. I'll make sure to pay you back for this someday."
Lucy reached out with her other arm and wrapped it around her past savior, pulling her into a tight hug. The crying stopped momentarily as Kiwi was taken aback by the sudden move, but they just as quickly returned when the same girl from that alley said the only thing she could think of.
"Whatever it is that's going on, I'm here for you. Just like you were for me."
Their embrace lasted long enough for Kiwi to run out of tears, instead resorting to silently sobbing into Lucy's shoulder. A metal paw took them out of the moment when it rested atop the crying woman's lap. Both of them looked over to see Bigfoot sitting at the edge of the couch, his head tilted to the side as if he was confused. Lucy couldn't hold in her chuckle,
"See? Even Bigfoot's here for you."
Much to Lucy's enjoyment, Kiwi did actually laugh a small amount as the two broke apart, sitting slightly closer on the couch and far more visibly relaxed.
"Is he always like this?" Kiwi asked, picking up the robokitty's paw and moving it off her lap.
"He's usually pretty dismissive, I've only ever seen him act like that around me."
"Wait, does that thing have an actual AI in it?"
"Supposedly not, but honestly even if he did, then it clearly really enjoys being a housecat."
Lucy watched as Bigfoot strolled over to their old couch, which was just a bench with three white cushions, and jumped on top of it before laying down with his paws under his chest, attempting to "loaf" like an actual cat. Not that she'd ever seen a real one, all of her knowledge had come from reading old historical articles online or watching old movies. Either way, it did make the killer bodyguard feline look slightly more like a real cat. Slightly.
"I can see that," Kiwi said, no longer shivering.
She's doing better, but she's still trying to hide something deep inside.
"Kiwi, do you… want to talk about it?" Lucy asked softly.
There was a moment of silence, and Lucy worried that maybe she'd lost her again, but luckily that wasn't the case.
"I… I do. But not yet. I just… can't right now," Kiwi answered, gaze once again fixated on the bandage.
Lucy nodded, "That's fine. Whenever you want to talk, just let me know."
"Thanks, Luce." Kiwi briefly chuckled. "Guess you really did go far, huh?"
While she didn't technically have a set of lips to accomplish it, Lucy was certain that Kiwi was smiling when she looked back up.
"Guess so." Lucy smiled back. "Now, what do you want to do about that?" She gestured to the bandage.
Kiwi looked at it again and then handed it over to her while saying,
"Just wanted to return it. I shouldn't have this."
"I'll make sure D gets it as soon as he gets back. I'm sure he'll love it," Lucy said while holding the strip of cloth between her hands.
The pattern of yellow and white was faded, likely not having been washed since it was first used to stop the wound from bleeding, which had also left its mark in the form of a dark circular patch of dried blood.
"Hey," Kiwi said, making Lucy look back up at her, "where is David anyway?"
Meanwhile
The Afterlife
I'm dead. I have to remember to act like it.
The stairs leading downward were familiar to David, but the odd stares he got as he approached the entrance to the premier edgerunner bar in the city were foreign. He heard whispers near him as he walked past.
"Who the fuck is that gonk?"
"Dumbass thinks he can just stroll on in."
"Watch the bouncer fuckin' ruin this dude."
Said bouncer usually wouldn't concern David, considering they'd seen each other plenty of times, but right now he knew that the entire city believed him to be dead and thankfully his new kit did a solid job at hiding the fact that he wasn't. Garth had done an outstanding job on making it all fit snugly, but not being so tight that David wouldn't be able to move in a fight, as well as generally improving each item in some way.
The midnight black jacket had been up-armored with dark gray pads on the shoulders and elbows, both of which were accented by a sunset orange that ran up the center of the jacket and wrapped around the back of his neck. Underneath all of that was a dark, dark violet combat undersuit that had also been slightly reinforced, covering his entire chest and legs. The outfit was complete with a belt, two shin guards, and a cloth mask that covered the lower half of his face, all of which were tinted a slight off-white. The only remnant of his original outfit was the old golden cross necklace he'd worn since he was much younger, which hung just over his heart.
As David got close to the club's bouncer, a man he had met many times, the outfit's dissimilarity to the original proved itself as a large hand raised up to stop him from entering.
"Who the fuck are you?" The bouncer asked.
The hardest part of this whole ensemble was his voice, but David was hoping that the cloth mask would muffle it just enough to not sound exactly like him.
"Got a meeting with Rogue," David said coldly, not backing down.
"That so?" The bouncer's eyes lit up orange. "Rogue, some gonk here says he's got a meeting with you."
After a moment, the big man's eyes very slightly widened in surprise and he stepped to the side, gesturing toward the entrance door.
"You're good, go on in. Rogue's waiting for you in her booth."
David nodded and returned to the Afterlife. It looked exactly the same as last time, with the exception that there was still a small hole in the floor from where Faolan had thrown that Tyger Claw's mantis blade into the ground.
I still need to ask him how the fuck he did that without flinching. Whenever he gets back, that is.
Rogue was already standing at the entrance to her booth when he approached, her own personal bouncer moving aside and letting him enter, after which he pulled a privacy curtain over the entrance to block any prying eyes.
"So, how does it feel to be dead?" Rogue said as she sat down.
David pulled the mask down, "Boring if I'm being honest."
"Ha, boring's the best kinda life you can get in this city, kid." Rogue nodded her head at his new clothes. "I see you actually followed my instructions."
"You think it works?"
"It'll do. You're starting to look like an actual legend, but now you need to prove you've got the skills to back it up."
He nodded confidently, "Yes ma'am. What sorta biz you got for us?"
Rogue sat up more seriously in her seat, "As I'm sure you know, I only hire the best mercs for gigs that I need done discreetly, but I have some jobs that are more… personal that require a crew which can't be traced back to me."
"And since we're already dead…" David pondered.
"You'll never be suspected," Rogue finished for him before continuing, "and as a bonus, I'll make sure you are paid top dollar. Assuming you can handle the work, that is."
We just raided a 'saka convoy, fought off a Militech battalion, and Lucy snuck into fuckin' Arasaka tower. What else must we do to prove ourselves?
"Don't think we're up to it?" David asked.
"Your crew is good Martinez, don't get me wrong, but you've only experienced a small fraction of the shit that lurks in Night City, and the work I need done touches every little corner of this concrete shithole. So, whaddya say, still want to work?"
David sat in thought for a brief moment, wondering if this is how Maine felt when taking that damn Tanaka job for Faraday. On one hand, the crew all needed money after their two-week hiatus, and Rogue more than likely paid way better than that four-eyed fuck ever did.
I should look into seeing if we can find that dick and pay him a visit sometime.
On the other hand, he also didn't want to risk the lives of those he cared about unnecessarily. They had just done the near impossible and escaped the grasp of two of the largest megacorps on the planet, but that would've all been for nothing if they died on some suicide mission. David made up his mind and answered Rogue.
"Absolutely."
"Good, the-"
"On one condition."
Rogue was genuinely stunned for a brief moment at David's arrogance to interrupt her, but what he said next made her reconsider throwing him out.
"I reserve the right to deny any job that's too risky for my crew to pull off, at least not without more prep time and training. We owe you a shitload Rogue, but I'm not going to get my crew flatlined for real just to solve your vendettas and tie up loose ends."
I don't give a fuck what she thinks about me. Only thing that matters is that they all survive. That Lucy survives.
The living legend studied the edgerunner closely as if trying to find a crack in his serious expression. She said coldly,
"You seem to care a lot about your crew's survival. Not many mercs are able to restrain themselves like that nowadays."
David raised an eyebrow, to which Rogue continued,
"Alright, Martinez, I accept your terms. But do not interrupt me again."
Slightly unnerved at how quickly her voice had swapped from understanding to cold and deathly, David nodded. Rogue handed him a shard and began to explain their first job as her personal band of mercs.
David quickly realized just how right she was that he'd barely seen a sliver of what NC had to offer. First off, he had never heard of a gang called "Jack the Rippers," let alone of their supposed killings of hundreds of joytoys for the past few years. According to Rogue, that was mainly because they had lost much of their standing and influence some time in the late 2020s, but had made a resurgence recently due to one gonk's lofty ambitions. Not even mentioning his name, the queen of the fixers said that a few years ago some low-level fixer plotted to try and overthrow her rule, contracting this almost dead gang of serial killers to make a "weapon" that could be used to rip Rogue apart, both literally and figuratively.
Now the fixer's plan never worked out, since Rogue painted the floor with his brain matter once she found out, but after combing through his files she found evidence of what those sick ganger fucks had done. They'd taken some poor sap, either that or one of them had volunteered, to be made into a weaponized cyberpsycho. The only thing anyone actually knew about his abilities was that he had a lot of cyberweapons installed into his body, more than the average person should be able to chip, and had been seen dragging people into the sewers below the city more than a few times. With his tongue.
Of course, having that monster roaming around the city was just generally a bad idea, and if the reason it was made ever got out, some other gonks might think they also had a chance to take Rogue's place. That would only cause further chaos in the streets that they didn't need and would be bad for biz. So, the job was to go to the last known location of this thing and hunt it down inside the huge web of sewer and maintenance tunnels that ran under the city. It was technically a huge area to search for one person, but David figured that with help from two of NC's best netrunners, both of which were in his crew, they could narrow their search area way down.
The last complication to the plan, though, was the gang themselves. Despite not being seen since that fool tried to usurp the queen, Rogue herself was confident they were still around. More than likely they were probably protecting their creation until someone else came along with huge aspirations and an even bigger wallet to buy it off of them. Their crew had dealt with plenty of gangers of all kinds from Animals, to Maelstromers, to Scavs, so just one more shouldn't pose much of a threat to them. The only real danger David could see was this "weapon" they had made, but he had already dealt with one cyberpsycho, and that was way before he even got his upgrades. Plus, this time they were going in prepared instead of it happening out of nowhere like with Pilar.
Rogue took the shard back once she was finished, "So, think you can do it?"
One chrome-fiend? This will be easy.
"It'll be a milk run," David said.
"Hmm. We'll see."
David stood up and put the cloth mask back on, asking one last question.
"By the way, what's the gonk's name?"
"Jack."
'Course it is.
August 7th, 2076
Somewhere in Brazil, South America
Despite the attempts of many megacorps, governments, and independent contractors over the years, the humid hellhole that was the great Amazon Rainforest had never been tamed. Sure a few corp projects had been built in the area, as well as a plethora of secretive research centers which used the dense foliage to hide from satellites, but none had ever truly beaten back mother nature. Even the bioengineered super diseases the DEA had cooked up in the 90s didn't do much, and they had been specifically designed to destroy plant life in Brazil, supposedly to combat drug production.
Because of nature's incredible durability, Dutch was now having to deal with constant ball sweat, rain, and dinosaur-sized bugs trying to drain his blood.
God, I love the smell of nature in the morning.
The ex-paratrooper swatted a monstrous mosquito off his arm.
Even if nature doesn't like me very much.
Making his way through their company's camp, he saw the command center dead ahead and quickened his pace. This mission was already a nightmare, and causing his boss to be mad at him for running late would make it so much worse. Their leader had just returned from some other priority job overseas, and just in the nick of time too, as their forces had been badly disorganized due to a few higher-level casualties in the other squads.
"Sir!" Dutch shouted, instinctually stiffening his spine and forming a perfect salute.
"You don't have to do that every time, you know?" Faolan said as he turned around.
Dutch chuckled, "I know, but some habits refuse to die."
Faolan shook his head, putting the tablet he'd been reading from down on the small table in the center of the temporary structure.
"Status report," he said.
Dutch's stance softened, "Patrol went well, no casualties today, but Arthur did intercept something weird over the radio."
"Explain."
"Broadband transmission, using an old frequency we haven't been able to link back to any known units yet, being sent from out-of-country and into somewhere deeper in the jungle."
Faolan crossed his arms, "Do we know the origin point?"
"No sir, but we were able to record a small portion of the transmission before we lost it." Dutch handed another tablet over to the pale merc, who pressed play on the displayed audio file. The sound that came out was laced with static and the two voices within it were clearly being modified to mask their normal ones, but it was just clear enough to make out what they were discussing.
"White Dwarf requests a status report at once, believes a priority one objective may be related to yours."
"El Dorado copies all. Will transmit data folders ASAP."
"Understood. Hold one, command may also have an objective update for you."
"..."
"El Dorado, Bethany is reassigning you to a priority one objective. Your orders are to-"
The audio file ended, and Dutch had to duck as Faolan threw the tablet at the wall, shattering it into a dozen or so pieces.
"S-sir?" Dutch asked, never having seen his superior so pissed before.
"We're accelerating the timetable. I need everyone combat ready in one hour," Faolan commanded, strapping his knives and sword back onto his armor.
Dutch knew better than to question his orders, "Understood sir, but may I ask why?"
The armored merc's helmet came to life and formed around his head as he walked out of the command center saying,
"Because turns out we've been fighting the fucking Lazarus Group for the past two months."
Dutch felt his heart skip a beat, not having heard that name in years. As he began to quickly make his way to the barracks, though, he heard Faolan utter one last comment.
"If that message came from the city I think it did…"
The rest of the merc's words faded away as the rain began to pour harder.
The skies cry when truths are told.
Hello everyone, again! Sorry I hadn't updated in a small bit, got really busy and couldn't find the time to put up the most recent two chapters on here.
Anyways, welcome to Act II of this story, where I'm going to be going pretty wild with where what the crew gets up to and where they go, but I'll save all of that for another day.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed!