Didn't knew where I was going, my feet working on their own while rest of me was internally reeling from recounting my worst moments. But it felt different than all times I've suffered it before. Telling that to Glory...it felt cathartic. Opening old wound but to suck out the poison lingering under my skin.
Metallic clanging make me stop in my tracks and notice I was in the upper level of our safehouse, where among dust and old furniture Blitz begun to reside after excusing himself from the basement.
"Good work with that drone, mate" I chat up Blitz, making him jump into air, spoon falling from his hand and flying somwhere into corner. "You alright, lad?"
"Hoi Rai! Yeah, yeah I'm fine..." Blitz mutters, trying to settle down. "Alright, you wanted no bullshit...I'm in trouble."
"Water's still wet and German beer is shite. What's up?" I shrug, feeling somewhat familiar with pulling Blitz out of deep shite by his ridicolously big mohawk.
"You remember those creditors that I owe money? Well some of them are less forgiving than the others..."
"Let me guess, they are big players whom you owe big time? And they have no patience or reservation in getting the debt by cutting out your spleen?"
"...You might be too spot on with that than I like at all, chief." Blitz admits. "But I have a plan! There's this group in Drogenkippe called 'Landenberg Ring' They're like uh, criminal bankers. Meat Grinder and them have a lot of bad blood between them."
"So the guy you owe is named Meat Grinder? Oh for the love of-You have a special knack for getting into hot water with people you really should leave alone, Blitz." I groan at the decker. "Alright, you want to hit those bankers and pay off Grinder with the loot, right?"
"Yeah, I have a plan set up, just never anyone was willing to help me with the execution."
"Fine, I'll help you with the raid. But next time, you gotta be more upfront and tell me immediately about things like that. If I can plan ahead, I can get us out of the tight spot. But without a warning, one day I'll come short and then all of us will feed rats with our eyeballs, catching my drift?"
"Sure, sure chief. And uh, thanks a lot for helping me to get outta this...stuff."
"My pleasure...So, we take U-Bahn to Drogenkippe again?"
"Not me, chief, I have enough of that place for a lifetime! I'll just jack-in from here-" Blitz did not finished because I've grabbed his jacket and lifted the small guy up.
"I wasn't asking, Blitz. We are a team and that means if I can risk my neck for your business then you sure as hell can accompany me in saving your arse...Now, are we taking U-Bahn? Or do you want to ride a bloody Vespa there?" I ask after putting decker back on the ground.
"...U-Bahn." Blitz squeaked and with resignation on his face, begun to pack his deck and tools.
"I hate this. It stinks so fucking much..." Blitz mumbled until I've pointed at the corner of the dilapidated traincar we were riding in, making him stare at trampled lump of tattered fur that once was probably a squirrel.
I can't but smirk at him gagging, making me realize I was pranked the same way during my training. Old Tick made me turn around and look at rotting skull he held on a stick right in front of me.
Good times, now it would seem.
"I'd rather sit in Cezve than be here. Warm and far away from this hellhole..." Blitz mutters as we stepped out into ruined and depressing sights of Drogenkippe.
"Here's the thing , Blitzy boy..." I turn to the decker while putting my hood on. "Running away profits you nothing. You hafta turn around and face your fears and problems. That's the only way to learn how to avoid fucking up your life again. Trust me, I know a lot about it."
"Yeah...Just, couldn't life be a bit nicer to me just once?"
"Don't ask for a freebie, mate. Bite in and tear off good pieces from life with your own teeth if needed, nobody is goin' to give you anything. You gotta come an get it yourself." I shrug, bringing up my new shotgun to the shoulder. "Let's go, nice and quiet."
Nice and quiet went to hell when just around the corner, we stumbled into middle-aged guy in fancy suit, looking like a christmas present left for Drogenkippe degenerates.
"Blitz...And Rai, right?" Man looks at us with absolute no fear but lacking the overbearing aura of someone looking at me from above. Immediately I knew the suit is an accessory the man, not the other way around.
"That's us. To whom I have the pleasure speaking to?" I reply to the suitman.
"Hasenkamp. I'm Mr. Grinder's...accountant." The way he speaks it, he made better entrance than few hardened criminals I've taken down.
"Remarkable coincidence meeting you here, isn't it?" I continue the exchange.
"Mr. Grinder sent me here to ensure that the money transfer will go according to the plan. When you enter the building, I am coming with you two." Hasenkamp announced.
I take one look at Blitz and see the guy wasn't expecting that kind of plot twist.
"Not like I could tell you to take a bloody walk and wait for us to get finished, so let's crack on." I make my decision.
"Amen to that, I'd like to be home before my grandkids go to bed." Hasenkamp's remark made me double take on him.
"Must be nice, cozy family and all." I comment and follow up not giving Hasenkamp chance to retort. "Let's get these doors open-"
"I'll do it!" Blitz jumps the gun on decking, probably only because he wouldn't want to be left alone with the scary accountant.
"A shocking display of competence from a Red-haired Disaster..." Hasenkamp comments two minutes later when Blitz switches off the Matrix. "That is how Mr. Grinder calls your friend over here. He has a rep around these parts...All of his friends seem to die."
"Mr. Grinder and you can keep trivia like that to themselves. I judge people on their actions by myself not by a street cred." I shot back to the slick man. "Oh an by the way..." I pull up my hood a bit, letting my hair flash for a moment "Don't piss on the red, unless you like to mess with the bull, mate."
Surprisngly, Hasenkamp did not offered rebuttal, probably resonable enough to know he may try push Blitz around but I wasn't someone you piss off freely.
Hah, talk about rep now...
We started going through the building, quickly getting a hold of fistful of credsticks.
"These are empty ones, fool." Hasenkamp comments on me packing a dozen of these into my pocket.
"Aye, but they're clean and without traces. So that means, I can put false money in them, with software tracker attached, and have myself a nice bait for greedy bastards stupid enough to not check their money...Your boss haven't told you we ain't regular guns for hire?" I retort to accountant who only rolls his eyes and theatrically checks his watch.
Hasenkamp gets increasingly frustrated with our obsessive looting every desk, drawer and even trash buckets, but his expression changes when I find documents of the gang in here, talking about loan rackets.
"Isn't money lending racket of your boss?" I ask nearly innocently.
"It is, which is exactly why tonight there will be some...financial compensation for all the revenue they've stolen from Mr. Grinder." Hasenkamp replied without batting an eyelash. Frosty bastard.
Frost doesn't last long, he nearly snaps when I start digging through another trash bin and I find some people's hasty correspondence.
"You really should go see a doctor, mate. All these nerves in your age...you better stock up on some pills or start doing yoga." I quip old line I used to tease Tick with.
"Ugh, let's just move on before your impertinence gives me white hair I've managed to avoid for so long." Accountant groans, making Blitz barely hide a snicker.
The way I've got myself through locked doors by tricking some high-strung guy on the othe side to be his pal with drugs, using correspondence I've found in the trash, made Hasenkamp raise his eyebrow a bit.
Bashing doors open, I've looked at rat-faced and mad-eyed server decker that did not lasted long, when I've let my new toy rip. Three shots of buckshot was enough to pulverize the guy.
Ugh, messier than I've intended.
"Here I thought you'd be talking to him, or maybe bash him in the the head with a stapler..."
"You'd gonna have to pay me extra for a show like that, Hasenkamp. Special options are costy." I grin at the guy before inspecting the terminal in front of me, after briefly wiping some blood off the screens. "It's all good, get to it Blitz." I push the decker towards the terminal, letting him handle it since he's so nova-hot.
"I have some good news and bad news, chief." Blitz announces to me after long while he spent in the Matrix. "Linderberg has a shoot-on-sight list with lots of names...Mine naturally but other is Hasenkamp's."
"Oh? The uninvolved accountant?" I shoot a glance to the man.
"Unsurprising, these bastards would love to get my head on a plate."
"There's more...You're on the list too boss. Actually, there's entire dossier on you, uploaded not twenty minutes ago." Blitz's words make me frown.
"Funny how that's possible since I've never faced these cunts before..." I snarl while reading through extensive file on me, labeling me as extremely dangerous threat, and having an attachement to some guy named Plotz. Same name I've already seen on few papers along the way. "Who's that Plotz lad, Hasenkamp? You seemed to get jumpy when hearin' about him."
"I had to share office with that piece of shit for five years. Greediest narcisst, leading Linderberg Ring. Truly I haven't met more despicable person - and I work for a loan shark."
"So you two aren't fans of each other...Blitz, did you deleted that data?"
"Sure thing chief."
"Thank you, laddie." I nod to my decker. "Let's get moving sharpish, I have a feeling we might see some more people around here than the crazed I.T. cunt in here."
Getting through another office, I've stumbled upon manila folder labeled 'PLOTZ' but containing very interesting data...
"Why would your old pal have your boss' financial intel, eh?"
"To steal form him but...None of these make sense." Hasenkamp breaks composure a bit. "These projections are way off the ones in Grinder's books. I know, I tend to them for dozen of years."
"Just sketching ideas...What are the odds that your boss would be makin' some deals under your nose?" Blitz throws in is two cents.
"Impossible. Initmidation and extortion are his forte, finances are the part he relegated to me"
"Maybe you should have another look at the books when you'll be back. Just to make sure things are the way they should be." I suggest more out of spite to Hasekamp and he only agreed silently.
Walking past the more secure area in front of the vault was hilarious as we paraded through the room because guard on one side was busy watching some hardcore porn involving 3 male trolls and one elven girl, while the other was reading paperback book 'How to advance in ranks, a simplified guide to promotion'.
I barely held it until we've entered the vault terminal, loud snort escaping me at this.
We get into the vault after short jump into Matrix, all 3 of us pacing into the vault.
"I'll handle the transfer from here, thank you." Hasenkamp pushes himself into the terminal.
"Be my guest, as long as it'll get Blitz off you boss' shit list." I remind him and accountant barely waves at me in response.
"Very good, transfer is completed...Now we need one more thing and we can leave."
"Now that you got the money, you try altering the deal, mate?" I ask cooly.
"Transfer has taken care of Blitz's debt. Consider this one the interest." Hasenkamp replied smoothly as he ruffles through unlocked drawers, finally brandishing a small plastic box and reporting back to Grinder her 'has the package'.
"We should get it for ourselves." Blitz whispers to me but I shoot him a glare.
"Remind what was the purpose of this run, Blitz?" I whisper back, sternly as possible. "We're getting you out of hot water before you'll turn into a bloody lobster, so let Grinder have that fuckin' box so we can all go our merry way, far from debts and loan sharks, ay?"
"...You're right, chief." Blitz agrees reluctantly and seeing that Hasenkamp was done with talking, he tried to open the vault doors. "Oh crap."
"What do you mean-No. Just...No." I realize that the doors were closed shut and there was no way of opening them from inside. "Blitz..."
"I just knew something like that is going to happen when I was assigned with this..." Accountant rubbed his temples with free hand, the other clutching mysterious box like a piece of finest china.
"Both of you stop, get your heads together and calm the bloody fuck down...Blitz, can you open these door?"
"Uhh...I can but uh...I won't be able to hold at bay four different alarms at once. It's gonna get loud." Blitz squeaks, apparently fearful of my exasperated expression.
"This just started to sound a lot like fuck this..." I groan and unsling my deck. "I got it, you two stay put where you are." I growl at my unfortunate companions and jack-in myself.
I have special flow when I ride through Matrix angry. It's like driving a speed car with mechanical precision despite usually you'd bump somwhere along the way.
"...That works too." Blitz comment when I'm back not minute later.
"Shut it and let's get outta here, hoping the two cunts out there are still busy wanking."
Maybe they were but the moment we've stepped into the room, doors locked behind us and flashed red lights.
"I'm starting to see a pattern here, Blitzy boy." I snarl at the guy, making him huddle head into shoulders a bit. "I'll handle it..."
Jacking in while under fire of two guards wasn't smartest idea, but horndog still had pants around his ankles and the bookworm seemed more scared than Blitz so I hoped these two could handle themselves for a moment.
They did, as I've went back into reality I saw two bodies laying around - one riddled with bullets while the other had single hole in the forehead.
Huh, so the suit was a shooter too. Good enough.
"Let's bail out before timer runs out and these doors shut down again!" I order and we run back into more dilapidated offices of the building.
Blitz insists on walking out through the front doors this time, instead of back alley. He asked me to trust him and despite my hesitation I did. It was an easy deal really - if he'll screw up this one last time, he's out of our little band. I don't have time nor willingness to risk lives of my guys for keeping this bastard around.
Reaching the front doors, blocked by secure gate, things get interesting. Blitz starts to rant about Hasenkamp being an assassin and tries to coax me into killing the guy.
"I have a bot digging for info about him whole night! Turns out this is no accountant but second-in-command of Grinder. Specialist of making people disappear...We both are loose ends for him to tie up!" Blitz yells and raises his SMG at the suit but does not pull the trigger outright.
"...That's true, Hasen?" I ask coldly.
"About my position? Yes. About me killing you? No." Hasenkamp replies bluntly. "I intend to walk out of that door, deliever the box to Mr. Grinder and go back home. End of story."
"You know that it isn't smart to lie to shadowrunners, man? I don't like dishonesty among people I run with." I stare at Hasenkamp.
"Then you should adress these words to your pal who is a thief, a killer and a rat that sold out his own gang." Hasenkamp keep his cool and now I see he had to be a wetowrker too, only cold-blooded psychos don't flinch in situation like that. "But if you'll kill me, it'll only bring an ire of Mr. Grinder onto all of you. Your crew, friends and even house pets if you do have any beside this idiot." He finished pointing at Blitz.
"I think we all need to take a bloody chill pill here..." I begin, pushing Blitz's gun down a bit. "This is a set up on all of us. I think that your boss is in bed with Linderberg...He's the mysterious friend who tipped the locals off about us coming in here, about me personally...and you're an obstacle since you don't like Plotz. Gesture of good faith in honor of new relationship with Plotz? Your head on the platter?"
"I know Mr. Grinder for twelve years-"
"And Plotz had your name on the shoot-list but not Grinder's, huh?" Blitz surprises me, doing his own deduction. "And who else could give Rai's name to Plotz if only me, you and Grinder knew he'l be involved?"
"Don't forget financial projections that were way off your knowledge. Only yours apparently. Grinder is getting a massive raise in profits...How else a loan shark could get it if not by joining forces with other racketeers?"
"Those were fake."
"Aye right, and they've locked fakes in the drawer and written 'Plotz' on it just for giggles, ay?"
"It's a perfect circle really with Linderberg coaxing people into shitty loans and Grinder shows up to collect...Not bad scheme." Blitz agrees with me. "You've lived out your uses, man. Plotz has many accountants for sure and in business, there are no friends...Unlike shadows."
"...Son of a bitch." Hasenkamp utters. "And come to think Grinder did ordered me to kill you both..."
"Why I'm not even surprised?" I mock him lightly.
Right on cue, doors from inside open up and footsoldiers begin pouring, at the same time slightly outdated turrets in each corner of the room started whirring up to life.
"Oh for fuck's sake..." I grit my teeth and shoulder my shotgun. "Blitz! Get behind cover and take turrets on our side! Hasen, get behind something and make use of that gun of yours!"
Firing off two loads of pellets at cheeky bastard trying to rush me, I get behind large desk of receptionist and try to cover Blitz as he jacks-in. Risky, leaving this in his hands, but it would be even worse if I'd excuse myself from combat, the other two aren't soldiers for a fight like that.
Once I saw all four turrets turning away from us and aim at the shocked thugs, I've grinned at Blitz finally doing his job right.
"I got it!" Mohawked bastard yells to me, ripping long burst from his SMG. "And I got Plotz too! He thought he can get me on my turf?! Don't mess with Blitzkrieg, baby!"
"Oh for the love of..." Hasenkamp groans and fires off again, another single shot venting skull of another lousy shooter.
It's over quick, without the advantage of guns and with me throwing three grenades cooked just enough to explode at oncoming enforcers, we quickly find ourselves in silent room full of corpses.
"Well, that takes care of that..." Hasenkamp remarks and reloads pistol faster than I could notice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have Mr. Grinder to take care of. Oh and by the way..." He tosses the mystery box to me, making me catch it mid-flight. "I won't be needing this. Hope we'll never meet again in similar circumstances, Mr. Rai." Hasen nods to me and turns to the doors "If you'll ever get tired of running in shadows, come see me. I could find a place for a man with your versitality."
"I'll keep that in mind...Best of luck, Mr. Hasenkamp." I return the favor and the suited assassin leaves promptly like nobody's business. "Let's get back home, Blitz. You can play with your new toy when we're at the safehouse." I stop him from fiddling with the box that had cyberdeck ports.
"Yeah man, sure..." Decker follows me quickly to U-Bahn station.
"Before you'll start playing with this...comm's cracker of whatever you say it is." I stop Blitz when we get back to our antique shop "How's your hunt after Emilie?"
"Actually, I've made some headway. A solid lead for the firt time in a year." Blitz lit up. "I've poked around from different angle and got a bead on a data Em taken from my own cyberdeck the day she disappeared. Dunno what it is though, thing was encrypted to all hell."
"Where did you got something like that?" I've asked, already afriad of answer.
"Uhhh, a corp?"
"Which one, Blitzy boy?"
"I...I stole it from Aztechnology. In hindsight it was not the smartest move in the world, I know."
"Blitz...Even a cheeky bastard like me thinks really long and well before messing with Azzies. Because they scare even me...So what's now?"
"Honestly? I'm stumped here, chief. I dunno how to pull it further."
"You got a direction you can look around. Carefully and without invoking or prodding Azzies at all, are we clear? I don't want Aztechnology kill squad to rush in here, we already have a bloody dragon on our heads."
"Don't need to remind me that, chief. I can't stop thinking about this drek." Blitz grimaces. "But you're right, I gotta find Emilie and clear this whole thing out...Thanks for the pep talk. And for uh...For saving my skin from Grinder."
"You're one of us, Blitz. Friends look out for each other." I finish and leave down to the cozy basement, of course getting sloppy welcome from Dante.
Hitting the sack was only thing I could do, my guys visibly not in the mood for chats at all. Glory graced me with a stare across the corridor but that was it. I've sent her a faint smile and then warned everyone to get ready for run against Azzies tonight.
And so it begins, another shitstorm of our times...