Chapter 10: Family

When I had first expressed my desire to meet with the Aldecaldos to Panam, she had been reluctant, to say the least. A frown descended upon her face, and it took several hours of exhausting debate to get her to concede any ground to me. In truth, her concerns regarding the Aldecaldos being dragged into the ongoing war were perfectly valid, which had only made the whole process more arduous. Even still, although it was more tiresome a process than I may have liked for it to be, I proved sufficiently persuasive to get her to relent. Shortly after, a date was set, and I was due to meet the man himself, Saul.

In the meantime, I had been busy conducting a war, and though it had been going well so far, the combined forces of the Valentinos and 6th Street rapidly turning the tide against the initial onslaught, every day stretched us thinner and thinner. To be perfectly frank, at this stage, I suspected that the best I could hope for was a bloody stalemate. If I was to stand any chance of moving past this, I would need to find a way to break up their little alliance, and convince one of the gangs to, if not turn traitor, at least agree to a ceasefire. Naturally, the most amenable would likely be the Tyger Claws, as I could appeal to their desire to protect the residents of Japantown, and yet, I suspected Arasaka was behind their involvement. If true, that drastically reduced my odds of success.

Even still, the leaders of the Tyger Claws had a reputation for honour and pragmatism, and it was the best chance for an upset I had. As such, after the initial retaliation, I ordered all the men under my control to cease attacks on further Tyger Claws locations, and the same for Tyger Claw personnel, save for in cases of self-defence. I didn't imagine peace would come easy, but some sort of unofficial ceasefire seemed to be in the works, the members of my faction deliberately avoiding members of theirs and vice versa. Of course, it was just as possible that I was overthinking the whole thing, and that it was merely a distance created by fear or part of some new plot to kill me off rather than unofficial overtures for peace.

The first night of my retaliation to their attacks had been particularly brutal for the Tyger Claws, and after the carnage, I can't imagine the leadership would have been particularly eager to further bloody themselves at the expense of profits.

It wasn't a thought that sat well with me, on account of their dalliances with human trafficking and prostitution, but beggars couldn't be choosers. If making peace with people smugglers was the price, then so be it. I would grin and bear it till I was in a position to do something about it, and then I would crack down.

That, however, was a matter to be settled in the future, and I had more immediate matters to be concerned with. With the ongoing war, I was working as hard as possible to turn the tables in my favour. As it was, I had been searching for more alliances and personnel, and reaching out to the Mox and the Aldecaldos was simply phase one of expansion.

Personnel wise, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered an untapped reserve of manpower in the form of the NCPD.

Turns out, whilst most of the senior officials are rotten to the core, many of the lower-level patrol personnel were not. Sick of being starved of the resources needed to make any real dent in crime at the NCPD, and spurred on by my statements in my interview with Ziggy, there had been something of a mass-exodus, and now the ranks of my security company found themselves to be swelling with former NCPD. Naturally, there was some contention at this as former gangoons found themselves working alongside former police, but tensions were quickly settled when all these former officers were broken off into their own unit, and granted their own parcel of the city to protect, a task that they took to with a vengeance now that they had the proper equipment to do so.

In spite of the ongoing war, the fighting had settled along established battle-lines, and in many of the other areas of the city, the crime-rate continued to fall.

Faction wise, I had yet to find an in with the Mox, and my current game-plan was to use Panam to get me to V, who could then get me to Judy, and that I could get her to convince the rest of the gang to join my ranks. Due to its convolution, I set that plan aside for the future. The Aldecaldos, on the other hand, was a much more straightforward prospect, and one that would help expand my influence in the Badlands, which was where many of my facilities were based.

This was more important now then ever, because outside of the city, save for a few heavily guarded locations, carnage reigned. Apparently, someone had seen fit to gift the fucking Scavs some new weapons and point them in my direction. Of course, given their lack of centralised leadership and general awfulness, they had immediately gone on a massive rampage, killing and mutilating hundreds of people in their quest for chrome to sell. With their newfound brazenness, it wasn't all the hard to smoke them out and put most of their number within the bounds of the city down, but on the outskirts of the city?

No chance.

It was for this very reason that I once again found myself in my car, the interiors having been thoroughly cleaned, the glass being replaced and covered with a layer of bullet-proof mesh. Panam was not in the same car, insisting in bringing her monster of a truck, the vehicle visible in the rear-view mirror. When we arrived, I opened the door of my car and left the air-conditioned environment, my bulletproof vest only making the heat worse. Saul was stood with some of his posse, their weapons in their hands, awaiting my arrival, "So, Panam said you wanted to see me?"

"That I did." I gestured to a nearby table, "Shall we sit? I daresay a discussion is better held seated than stood."

He gestured with his arm for me to lead, prompting his guards to follow when I did. He sat opposite me, and began to speak, "What do you want with us?"

I attempted to lighten the mood, "Straight to it, huh? Not even going to offer me a beer first?"

Saul's eyes narrowed in anger, "Don't play with me. Get to the point, or get going."

I sighed and raised my palms in a placating manner, "Very well. I want your help, nothing more."

"Help with what?"

I looked around, "How well do you know this place, Mr Bright? The Badlands, I mean."

"Very."

I nodded, "So you would know how to tame it, then?"

"Tame it?"

I gestured to the vast expanse of desert behind me, "Scavs and the like have had the run of the place for far too long. If I wanted to flush them out, would you help me?"

He leaned back in his chair, his expression stormy, "I see. You want bodies for your war, hm? Well, you're not going to get them here, so you you can leave."

I smiled, "I'm afraid you misunderstand, Mr Bright. I have some of the best men with the best guns in the whole of Night City. In a straight fight, I will win, there is no question of that." I leaned forwards, hoping to place emphasis on my point, "But the Scavs are hardly a straight fight, are they? They emerge like rats from the underbelly of the city to pick at corpses, and when the cat comes, they slip back into the sewers from which they came and disappear. Trying to exterminate them without the proper knowledge or absolute control of an area is damn-near impossible." Saul's face showed the beginnings of realisation, "I already have the guns, Mr Bright, I just need someone to point them in the right direction."

He looked more contemplative now, "And you want that to be us?"

I nodded, "At the very least. I have more to offer, but I won't count my eggs before they've hatched. If that's all you're willing to consider, so be it. If you want to hear what I have to offer, then say so."

Saul paused and appraised me with a curious look in his eyes, "What, exactly, do you have to offer?"

"Panam tells me that the Aldecaldos are like one big family. That you take care of your own, and are loyal to each other, no matter what."

Saul nodded, "That's correct. Where are you going with this?"

"Well, Mr Bright, I'm offering you the opportunity to protect your family. You come to work for me, come to help me, I'll not only pay you, I'll make sure that your clan gets the best gear I can get my hands on, make you a force to be reckoned with. From this day hence, you will no longer live in fear, no longer be the underdog. And all you have to do to get that, is help me snuff out the people who are already your enemies."

He seemed sceptical, "Seems too good to be true."

I shook my head, "It's not. I cut a similar deal with the Valentinos and 6th Street, and as you can see, I'm a man of my word. Still, if that isn't enough, I'm aware that some of the members of your clan seeks part-time employment in my company as part-time farmhands. I take care of my own, you can ask them what it's like. Alternatively, you could just ask Panam."

His anger had now been completely supplanted for curiosity, "And what do you want in exchange?"

"Two things. Firstly, I would like for you to help me patrol the Badlands, serve as guides and reinforcements to any units I send out here. Second, I understand that the Aldecaldos often protection for goods being transported across the continent?"

Saul nodded, "That we do."

"The market for my products in Night City is rapidly becoming saturated. I want to export, to the NUSA, to Canada, to Mexico, and I want you to help me do it. Naturally, there will be hefty financial rewards for doing so."

"Why not go for a cheaper option? I looked your company up earlier, and I doubt anything you make is valuable enough to warrant that kind of protection."

I nodded, "In Night City, you're right, it isn't valuable enough. The local market has had time to adjust, prices have fallen, market saturation has set in and my margins have thinned as a result. Out east? Much less competition, much more demand. We are talking massive amounts of money to be made. The demand for real food is near-infinite, same for raw commodities. People are tired of the synth-crap, and I can fix that, not just in Night City, but everywhere."

"How do you know prices are high? Wouldn't the other Ag corporations step in, force you out?"

"You'd think, but no. They profit from the status quo, and their grip over competition in the NUSA and other areas is extremely tight. A few fledgling competitors have popped up using my tech, and prices have fallen a little, but it'll be years before they scale their operations enough to really be able to compete with me, assuming they survive the incumbents attempts at espionage for long enough, of course." I tapped the table, "There is a gap in the market now, demand is high, prices are high, supply is low. That won't last forever, and there is money to be made by being the first one through the door."

Saul appeared thoughtful, pausing for a few moments to consider my offer, "It's a very enticing offer, I'll admit, but we already have work under one of your main competitors: Biotechnica. They aren't the best people in the world, and I can't imagine they would take too kindly to us working for their competitors as well. And how do I know you aren't just going to turn us into corpo-slaves like they're trying to do? I mean, we came here to Night City to escape the work of smuggling, and now you're asking us to do just that?"

I shook my head, "You wouldn't be smuggling, Mr Bright. If you sign up with me, I'll get you set up as a proper transport company. You'll use the same techniques as you always did, but with much less trouble from the law than before. As for your other employer, name what they're paying you and I'll tell you how I'll beat it. I'll match what they're paying you, not to mention all the guns and legal protection you'll be getting from me on top of that. If it's retaliation you're worried about, don't be. I haven't survived this long without picking up a few tricks, and I'd be happy to share them with you if you were to work for me."

Saul remained contemplative for a few moments more, rubbing chin, deep in though. He remained silent, his eyes appraising me, before her reached across the table, his hand extended for me to shake, "Okay, I'll bite. You aren't the kind of man I would usually be comfortable working with, but Panam vouches for you, and if you can win her over, than I reckon you can't be all that bad."

I smile widely, grasped his hand tightly and shook it, "High praise, coming from you. I promise you, you won't regret it."

His hand tightened around mine, almost to a painful degree, "See that I don't."

I twiddled my fingers to resume circulation after Saul released my hand from his grip, "I will, and in time, I hope you will come to see me as part of the family."

I sent him the details of the arrangement I had in mind over the holo through my phone. Given the generosity of the terms offered, Saul didn't bother to negotiate. I was offering him far more than he was worth, and he knew it. Our agreement struck, I left the table, milling around for a bit before making my way back to my car.

I would have stuck around for longer, but the atmosphere seemed a tad too tense for my liking. Off in the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Panam in hushed conversation with Mitch, whose eyes caught mine and narrowed slightly. In any case, I suspected that turning the Aldecaldos from associates to allies would be more of an uphill struggle than it had been with either the Valentinos or 6th Street. There was a less of an emphasis around money and power, something which I was expert at appealing to, and more of an emphasis surrounding the values of family and community.

In fact, I suspected that had it not been for Panam, they would have slammed the metaphorical door in my face. They very much saw me as another corpo-rat, albeit one marginally better than the rest, but still a corpo-rat. As it was, I was sure that it would be another tough sell to acquire their loyalty, though their services were easily enough purchased.

With her conversation with Mitch over, Panam headed in my direction, "So, I hear you're the clan's new employer, eh?"

I nodded, "The one and only."

She smiled, "I was worried. Saul is a reasonable guy, but he's not much of a risk-taker, nor someone who trusts easy. I half expected him to rip your head off, and I half expected the two of you to get on like a house on fire."

"I'm glad to say it wasn't the former, though sad to say it wasn't the latter either. I suspect he still very much sees me as an outsider."

Panam quirked an eyebrow, "You are an outsider, you damn gonk." Her expression softened, "Don't worry, once he sees you as I do, I don't doubt he'll welcome you into the family with open arms."

I raised my eyebrows suggestively, my tone light and teasing, the implication in my words clear, "And how, exactly, do you see me?" She blushed, "Am I to take it that someone wants the phrase 'welcome me into the family' to be more... literal?"

She shook her head with a long-suffering sigh and walked away, "Shut up, you damn gonk..."

I smiled and allowed myself to laugh at her reaction to my admittedly poor attempt at flirting. Even when the moment had passed, and I clambered back in my car and departed from the camp, I still had a ghost of a smile on my face. I still had a million things to do, and the work seemed never-ending, but for the first time in far too long, things appeared to be looking up.

Today had been a good day.

And so Arthur acquires another key ally!
Next chapter will be more focused on the election storyline.
Feel free to comment and let me know what you think.
Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far!

P.S. May be subject to a rewrite in the future. Didn't quite like the way this one turned out.