Black Sun

Chapter 10

Ruby and the Marked One stood atop the open manhole cover for a moment, basking in the sunlight for a bit. Tears stung at her eyes – of relief this time rather than fear or terror. They'd made it through the Underground, even if barely. Against all odds, the Zone hadn't taken her yet.

The tranquility lasted for all of a few seconds before an alarm began to blare from off in the distance. Ruby immediately dropped back into a combat stance and reached for her submachine gun, looking around in a frenzy.

"Over there!" the Marked One shouted over the alarm. "It's the Military!"

Ruby grit her teeth, knowing her struggle wasn't yet over. She looked to where the Marked One was pointing, and saw what appeared to be a large factory. Soldiers were running to and fro throughout it, and before she had a chance to reply to the Marked One, rounds began to impact all around them. Frustrated, Ruby let out a burst from her Vityaz in the direction of the base, and by sheer chance, a bullet struck one of the soldiers in the head, killing him instantly. Ruby stared, wide-eyed, as the man's corpse collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"Come on!" The Marked One called, taking her by the shoulder and pushing her towards the factory. "We've got to clear that place out!"

Ruby wanted to argue – the last thing she needed was to kill more people today. But he was right, she knew – the Military would pursue them if they tried to leave, so they didn't have much of a choice. Reluctantly, she fell in alongside the Marked One as he pushed the factory.

They reached the edge of the camp, stacking up at the outside wall. The Marked One ran in first, letting off bursts from his Type 56 as went. Ruby hesitated for a moment, but went in behind him, carefully leading the way with her Vityaz. Several dead bodies lined the floor already; apparently, the Marked One was just as frustrated as she was, though he had a different way of showing it.

The alarm continued to blare as she ran, making her already-debilitating headache from the Controller even worse. Ruby grit her teeth and tried to bear it, but eventually, it became too much, and she let off a burst of 9mm ammo into the alarm mounted on top of the building, silencing it. A small sigh of relief escaped her when the noise stopped, though it didn't last, as the Marked One came rushing over to her.

"I've cleared out most of the camp," he reported. "The rest are in the main building."

Ruby nodded, and followed after him as he ran to what he'd called the main building. It was a large, three-story concrete building pockmarked with broken windows. As they drew closer, several soldiers approached the windows and tried to fire at them, but Ruby and the Marked One put them down with a few well-placed shots, and then entered the building through the front. Ruby could only stare at the dead bodies slumped over the windowsill, numb.

The Marked One led the way up the stairs, and Ruby stumbled after him in a daze. He seemed to realize that she was lagging behind him, and fell back to her, taking by the shoulders and looking her in the eyes.

"What's wrong?" he demanded.

"N-nothing," Ruby said. "I just… I… all this killing…"

"Pull yourself together," the Marked One said. "I don't like this any more than you do, but now is no time to break. We've got to get through this, and I need you backing me up. Once we're done here, we'll head right back to the Bar, and we can rest then. Okay?"

Ruby swallowed nervously, but nodded. The Marked One let go of her and continued up the stairs; she took a deep breath, then followed after him.

The two of them cleared the second floor, which was empty save for the corpses of the men they'd both shot earlier. Ruby did her best not to stare at them as she passed by, instead closely following after the Marked One as he led the way. They returned to the stairwell and pushed up to the third floor, and the instant they poked their heads out, a burst of automatic rifle fire greeted them. A round struck the Marked One in his chest, and he let out a hiss of pain.

"I'm fine!" he called as Ruby approached him. "Plate hit; armor caught it!"

Ruby reluctantly backed off, and watched as the Marked One poked his gun out from behind cover and let off a blind burst. Whoever was on the other end of his gun scrambled for cover, but the Marked One was relentless, and instantly pushed out after him. Ruby followed, her Vityaz at the ready; she was just in time to see the Marked One put a bullet through the man's head, and then a second for good measure.

"Fuck you," the Marked One spat at the corpse as he reloaded his weapon. He turned towards Ruby, then beckoned her over to him. She hesitated again, but did as she was told and approached.

"That should be the last of it," he reported. "Are you okay?"

Ruby considered lying, but after a moment of thought, figured it wouldn't matter. She shook her head. "...I'm pretty far from okay," she admitted. "There's always something in the Zone – something that's trying to kill me, or that forces me to do something awful to survive. I'm sick of it… I just want to go home."

"I know how you feel," the Marked One said. "And for what it's worth, I hope you find a way out soon."

Ruby nodded softly. "Thanks… so, what are we doing here?"

"You were looking for some documents, right?" the Marked One asked. "I didn't see any in the Underground, but maybe there'll be some here. And besides, we needed to get the Military off our backs, otherwise they would've pursued us all the way back to the Bar."

The Marked One looked around, his gaze landing on a nearby shelf. He marched over to it and opened the door, retrieving of old, faded-looking documents. He read the cover for a moment, then nodded and moved back over to Ruby, handing her the notes.

"What's this?" she asked.

"No idea, but it certainly looks old enough to be official," the Marked One reported. "And besides, we didn't find any other documents down there, so it's worth at least checking with Barkeep if these are the ones."

"And if they're not?"

"Then we'll come back and search again," the Marked One insisted. "You helped me out, Ruby – least I can do is repay the favor."

Ruby nodded, then stuffed the documents in her pack. Once that was done, the two of them began the trek back to the Bar.

"Ow!"

"Hold still," the medic commanded. "When you move, it throws me off."

"It'd be easier if you warned me when it was going to happen again…" Ruby muttered under her breath. She felt the needle pierce her skin again, and winced. "Is it going to scar?"

"You got clawed in the face by a Bloodsucker. Yes, it's going to scar – even an Artifact wouldn't help with that."

"Great…" Ruby said dejectedly.

Someone slid her a tall glass bottle, and Ruby eyed it in surprise for a moment before looking over to the other end of the table. The Marked One was standing there, a bottle of his own in his hand.

"For your pain," he said, motioning to the one in front of her.

"I'm fifteen," Ruby insisted. "And besides, I hate the taste of alcohol."

"That may be true, but this is the only painkiller they've got right now. Would you rather have your face stitched up while you're sober, or while you're drunk?"

Ruby's face fell, but she wordlessly reached for the bottle of vodka and uncapped it. The medic paused long enough for her to take a small sip of vodka. The taste and the burning sensation almost made her gag, but she forced it down regardless, grimacing when the alcohol flowed down her throat. Still, true to the Marked One's word, it did leave behind a pleasant warmth that spread throughout her body, enough that she went back for another sip.

"What did Barkeep have to say?" Ruby asked.

"Haven't talked to him yet," the Marked One reported. "He's busy talking to other people, and I figured you'd want to have your face looked at first."

"You figured right." She turned to the medic. "Are you almost done?"

"Very nearly," he told her. "Just a few more…"

The needle pierced her skin again, and again, Ruby let out a wince. Thankfully, that was the last one, however – the medic snipped the trailing piece of thread, then wiped his slightly bloody hands on a nearby piece of cloth.

"You're done," he said. "Try not to smile too widely or laugh too hard over the next couple of days, or the stitches will tear, and you will bleed. Also, in the future, try to avoid going man-to-man with a Bloodsucker."

"I'm a girl," Ruby insisted.

The medic shook his head. "You got clawed in the face by a Bloodsucker and stabbed a Controller to death a few minutes later. At this point, you've got bigger balls than most of the guys in the Zone. Just be careful, would you? Last thing I need is for my handiwork to go to waste."

Ruby went red in the face as the man stood up and marched back to his own table, then sat down with his own companions and began to talk among them. Once he was gone, she turned back to the Marked One.

"What, did you tell the whole Bar about it already?"

"Only the people who asked," he said. "You've got to admit, it makes a good story."

"Hopefully the people back home agree," Ruby said. "My dad and my sister are going to throw a fit when they see my scars…"

"At that point, I think the scars will be the least of their worries. Come on, let's go talk to Barkeep and see about getting you home."

Ruby stood up, making sure to grab her bottle of vodka as she went. Together, her and the Marked One moved over to the Bar, where Barkeep was waiting for them. Again, Ruby's gaze was drawn to Crocea Mors, still hanging over the mantle, and a pang of loneliness lanced through her chest. She pushed it away for now, instead turning towards Barkeep. He stared at her, his gaze narrowing.

"No offense, but you look like shit," he grunted.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm aware of that. What can you tell me about these?"

She reached into her pack and pulled out the documents, then placed them on the counter top along with a small bundle of money. Barkeep snatched up the money almost as fast as she could blink, then picked up the documents and began to read over them.

"Hm…" he said as he pored over the pages. "Well, I've got good news and bad news."

Ruby exchanged a glance with the Marked One before looking back to Barkeep. "What's the good news?" she asked.

"The good news is that this is exactly what I was looking for – just from skimming through it, I know what they're talking about, and where you need to go next."

"...And the bad news?" Ruby asked.

"The bad news is that you're going to have to get into a lab called X-18," Barkeep reported. "An underground lab called X-18."

Ruby sighed tiredly. "Yeah, that figures… Okay, how am I going to get there?"

"X-18's been locked down for years," Barkeep grunted. "From what I remember, there are two keys you'll need in order to get inside. The first is held by a Bandit leader named Borov, out in the Dark Valley. The second… well, I happen to already have that one."

Again, Ruby sighed tiredly. "How much?"

"Six-thousand."

"Six-thousand?!" she echoed. "You're not even using it!"

"No, but you need it, which means the price is six-thousand," Barkeep said evenly. "I have some jobs you can do if you're in need of cash-"

Ruby threw up her hands in surrender. "Just forget it for now," she growled. "I'll be back for a job later, but for now, I need to rest."

"Don't let the door hit you," Barkeep said as she stomped away. The Marked One followed after her.

"Don't let him get to you," he offered.

"How very helpful," Ruby stated blithely.

"I mean it. He's an asshole, sure, but he's only goading you on because it has an effect on you."

"Yes, and it's working," Ruby fired back.

There was a bonfire nearby, inside an old building. A few other Stalkers were already gathered around it, passing a vodka bottle around and laughing. As she approached, they all quieted down and stared at her in surprise.

"Shit," one of them said. "What happened to your face?"

"Bloodsucker," Ruby muttered as she sat down at an open spot next to the fire. The Marked One sat down next to her.

"You got clawed in the face by a Bloodsucker and lived?" another Stalker asked.

"She also stabbed a Controller to death a few minutes later," the Marked One added.

A third Stalker grunted. "That's such bullshit. I don't believe it for a moment."
"I don't know, man – she has the scars on her face to prove at least half her story," the first Stalker pointed out.

"I still don't believe it. I mean, stabbing a Controller? Who does that?"

Ruby shrugged. "My weapons were both empty and something had to be done about it, so I used the only other weapon I had available."

"Shit, you're not kidding," the first Stalker added. "Igor, pass her the vodka – I want to hear this story."

Someone passed her the bottle, and Ruby sighed before drinking deeply of it, then handing it back. She could already herself becoming light-headed and her thoughts growing hazy from the alcohol, but she wasn't worried as long as she had the Marked One to watch her back.

The rest of her night was spent drinking and swapping tales with the other Stalkers.

"Urgh…"

Jaune woke up to the worst headache of his life. He winced, bringing a hand up to rub at his forehead. It didn't help. With his other hand, he tried his best to block out the light flowing in from outside. Jaune shifted in his bed, trying to orient himself in such a way that maybe the pain in his head would go away, but to no avail. Frustrated, he tried to reach for another pillow without looking.

He was stunned when he grabbed a handful of something else instead.

Jaune froze, then chanced a look over on the other side of the mattress. He blinked in surprise at what he saw, trying desperately to convince himself that what he was seeing wasn't real, and that it was just a dream.

Cinder Fall was in bed with him. And judging by the fact that her back was completely bare, she was as naked as he was.

Jaune hurriedly pulled his hand away, a fluorescent blush crossing his face.

"Sorry…" he muttered, his hangover suddenly forgotten.

Cinder shifted in bed, and then turned towards him. Their eyes met, and both of them froze, unsure of what to do. A minute passed, and then Cinder grabbed a handful of sheets and used them to cover her bare breasts.

"You…" she breathed. "How… how dare you…!"

"It was an accident, I swear!" Jaune protested. "I didn't mean to touch you, or stare!"

"Not that, you idiot!" Cinder hissed. "Last night… did we…?"

She trailed off, though Jaune caught what she was saying easily enough. He swallowed nervously, then shook his head.

"...I honestly can't remember," he offered. "The last thing I remember is us sharing a hug, and then… the rest of the night is a blur."

"I also cannot remember," Cinder admitted. "I do remember the hug, but that is it." She thought of something, then turned towards him, a stern look on her face.

"Look away, now."

Jaune obliged, turning away from her. He heard the covers rustling as Cinder moved, and then a relieved sigh from her.

"...My panties are still on," she admitted. "So I don't think we went that far."

"Oh, thank the Gods…" Jaune muttered, relieved. "Still, I'm sorry, Cinder."

Cinder let out a small grunt in response. "How do we want to do this?"

"Do what?"

"Separate without either of us seeing the other."

"Well, you've already seen me, and that was way worse than what I saw from you, so I don't think it matters."

"And you have already seen me... Hm. Very well, then."

"Wait, that's not what I-"

Cinder threw the covers off herself before Jaune even had a chance to say anything further. He froze, especially when she stood up and walked past him. Jaune tried to look away, but the brief instance of bare skin was more than enough for him to get an idea.

Cinder had always been pretty, but now he had to admit, she was downright gorgeous.

He listened in as she began to get dressed, pulling on her gear bit by bit. After a few minutes, she was done. He turned back towards her and found her standing at the edge of his bed expectantly.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?"

"Are you going to get out of bed and get dressed?"

"Yeah, just give me a minute."

Her eyes narrowed. "Is your leg still hurting, Jaune?"

"Well, a little, but-"

"I figured as much. You need my help."

Jaune's eyes widened. "Wait, wait, don't-"

Again, it was too late. Cinder pulled the covers off of him… and unlike her, he was completely naked, his shirt having apparently come off sometime during the night in addition to his pants.

And unfortunately for both of them, Cinder's nudity had been enough for him.

Cinder stared at it for a moment, a blush creeping across her face. She cleared her throat. "...I will not help you put your pants on," she said. "But the rest of your gear, I will be here to assist with."

"That's… for the best, most likely," Jaune said, his voice small.

Cinder helped him get dressed, though true to her word, she left him to put his pants on by himself. Once he was dressed, Jaune sat at the edge of the mattress, massaging his temples.

"My head's killing me," he stated. "How about you?"

"Mine as well," Cinder confirmed. "How is your leg? You said you were having pain in it still."

"Yeah, a little. It's a lot better than it was."

"Hm. Then perhaps we should wait another day. Somehow, I don't think either of us feels up to trudging through the Zone."

"You've got that right." Jaune suddenly thought of something from the night before, and sat up a bit straighter. "Hey, mind if I ask you something?"

"No."

"What you said last night, about being attracted to me… that actually happened, right? It's not something I made up while under the influence of vodka and radiation?"

"Yes, it actually happened," Cinder admitted. "And I would appreciate it if you did not keep bringing it up."

Jaune held up his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean anything by it, I swear. It's just… you and Pyrrha are the only ones who've ever found me attractive. Wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming it up."

"Well, it's true," Cinder declared. "Is that good enough for you?"

"Yes, it is." Jaune paused for a second. "You look good, yourself."

"What was that?"

"I said, you also look good."

Cinder exhaled sharply. "Just because you saw me half-naked-"

"That has nothing to do with it. I'll put it in plain Valean so you can understand: You're a very attractive young woman, Cinder. That's all."

"Why bring this up again?"

"I don't know," Jaune admitted. "Just trying to make small talk, I guess. Not like we have anything better to do."

"There are a million other things to talk about."

"Like what?"

Cinder fell silent at that, and Jaune sighed. "Alright, I'll take that as my invitation to just babble about nothing. Have I ever told you about my family?"

"I know about them already," Cinder emphasized.

"Do you, now?"

"I read your file in preparation for the attack on Beacon. I know all about them."

"That's just words on a paper, Cinder. It doesn't tell you anything about who they are." Jaune ran a hand through his hair. It was growing pretty long and needed to be cut, he noted. "I'll give you the abridged version, I guess – I have two parents, a mom and a dad, and seven sisters. I'm the middle child, so I've got three who are older than me and four who are younger. Dad works as a Huntsman himself and mom is a stay-at-home mom these days. All the girls after me are grown and have already left the nest, so to speak, so that makes things easier on her."

Cinder listened in silence. Jaune waited for her to say something, but she didn't. He shifted nervously.

"What about your family?" he asked. "You have a family?"

"Once," Cinder replied.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm the one who killed them. They were abusive monsters – pulled me out of an orphanage in Atlas and made me work as their slave. My only solace was a Huntsman who took pity on me and tried to train me up in secret so I could one day leave and be a Huntress. That didn't work out, obviously."

"What happened?" Jaune asked.

Cinder seemed surprised that he hadn't instantly condemned her. Instead, she let out a sigh. "After I killed my stepmother and stepsisters, he tracked me down and tried to stop me. I knew that if he stopped me, that was it – I was going to be left to rot in an Atlesian prison for the rest of my life. So I fought him, and killed him, too."

"And after that?"

"My master found me, and the rest is history." Cinder turned to look out the window. "All my life, I thought what I wanted was more power. Now, I'm realizing… maybe that's not what I wanted. Maybe what I really wanted was to just be free, and power was a means to an end towards attaining that goal. It's funny – being here in the Zone, as deadly as it is, is the most free I have ever been in my life."

"So are you going to stay here, like you mentioned earlier?" Jaune asked.

"...Probably," Cinder admitted. "I cannot see myself going back to Remnant. If I ally myself with my old master again, I will be punished for failing. If I go against her, I will be punished for my role in the attack on Beacon, not to mention the other crimes I have committed. So my only real option is to continue here, in the Zone, until it kills me. Unless you can think of a better idea for me?"

"I wish I could," Jaune said. "And I truly mean that, Cinder. Because it sounds like you were set up for failure your entire life. Nobody's ever cared about you. And that's sad."

"I suppose," she lamented. "But there is nothing that can be done about it anymore. Essentially, I have dug my own grave through my choices. There is no going back for me."

"Can I try something?" Jaune asked. "I just remembered it from last night again."

"What are you-"

He gently put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her close. Cinder tensed, but after a moment, she relaxed, resting her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, a small, content sigh escaping her.

The two of them sat like that, staring out the window and watching the sun rise together.

Pyrrha stirred awake, a gentle, tired murmur escaping her as her eyes opened and she stared up at the ceiling. It should have been the same as always, and yet, something was different. The memories from the night before came flowing back to her mind.

That was right – she'd spent time with Rat and a few of the other guys. Perhaps that was why she felt so different. Gone was the moroseness she'd been feeling ever since arriving at the Zone and being taken in by Freedom. In its place, there was a newfound determination instead.

Remnant was behind her, for all she knew. It wouldn't do to keep dwelling on it, and the people she'd left behind. Instead, she was going to have to focus on what was in front of her. The only question was what that would be.

If there was no way back to Remnant, then where was she supposed to go instead? Her brow furrowed as she thought about it. The first step to any of her plans in this new world was to get out of the Zone. For that, she'd need money first, and a lot of it, since she was going to have to bribe her way out of the Zone.

So, that was her first step, then – acquire enough money to leave the Zone.

"Glad I have at least that much established…" Pyrrha muttered as she got out of bed and began pulling on her gear. "The only question is, where am I going to find that much money?"

Probably not with Freedom, if she was being honest – they didn't seem all that concerned with money in the first place. Sure, Lukash paid his men, but it wasn't much, certainly not enough to bribe their way out of the Zone. Then again, the guys in Freedom weren't all that concerned with leaving in the first place, so it made sense. Still, though, that was Freedom out of the running if she wanted to eventually leave, much as it saddened her that she'd have to turn her back on them at some point.

For now, though, she was going to have to keep working with them. She still had a debt to repay.

Pyrrha finished pulling on her gear and getting her weapons situated, then stepped outside to look for Rat and Swift. She found them huddled around a fire, Rat's head in his hands.

"Morning," she said as she approached. Swift looked over to her and gave her a wave, but Rat stayed where he was. Pyrrha frowned. "What's wrong with him?"

"Hangover…" Rat muttered. "Urgh… vodka hangovers are the worst…"

"Really?" Swift asked. "Tequila hangovers are the worst for me."

"I didn't know there was a difference," Pyrrha said. "You're telling me a hangover's not just a hangover?"

"No, there are subtle differences," Swift specified. "Pray you never find out what they are. I only know because I got alcohol poisoning from tequila after partying a bit too hard one night years ago. Still can't drink that shit to this day because of it."

"Change the subject, please…" Rat groaned. "Because even talking about booze makes me want to be sick…"

"Alright, sure," Pyrrha volunteered. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Nothing yet," Swift said.

At that moment, Lukash came storming out of the main building, looking around for them. He spotted their group, and immediately made a beeline for them.

"Never mind," Swift amended, earning a glare from Rat.

"Just the people I wanted to see," Lukash said as he approached. "Come, walk with me."

"What's the matter, Lukash?" Pyrrha asked as they all began to follow after him. "Did we do something we shouldn't have?"

"No, nothing of the sort," he said as he led them through the base. "This has to do with the Mercenaries."

"Great, those guys again…" Rat groaned. "So what's the deal, boss? Did they fuck up somehow?"

"That's an understatement. I've had a couple of my guys doing some digging into that group. Turns out, we've got a rat."

"Yeah, he's right here," Swift said, motioning towards Rat.

Lukash rolled his eyes. "This is no time for jokes. We've got someone in the Mercenaries who's leaking information to Duty. They're using that to launch assaults on our patrols. I need that Mercenary taken care of as soon as possible."

"Do we know who it is?" Pyrrha asked.

"No, but that's where you three come in." Lukash stopped in front of another building. "Wait here," he commanded.

With that, he disappeared inside. He was gone for a few minutes, and when he came back, he was carrying a large bag. He threw it on the ground at Pyrrha's feet, then motioned for her to open it. She was stunned at what she saw inside.

"Wow…" she breathed. "Lukash, how much money is this?"

"A lot," he specified. "So here's what's going to happen – you three are going to deliver this money to the Mercenaries in exchange for the identity of whoever's leaking our information to Duty. Then you're going to deal with whoever it is."

"Boss, I don't get it," Swift said. "Do we really need to be paying them this much for this?"

"I've already communicated with the leader of that group. This was their price, and they weren't taking anything less than this for it."

"Why not just kill the whole group and be done with it?" Rat asked.

"Because I don't want to risk making an enemy out of the Mercenaries, that's why. I'd sooner buy them off than risk pissing off their entire faction, even if it's a lot of money."

"Make sense, I suppose," Pyrrha admitted. "But what's to stop them from trying to kill us and just taking the money?"

"If that happens, then it's out of our hands," Lukash admitted. "At that point, yes, kill them all and we'll deal with the consequences afterward. Hopefully it doesn't come to that, but you can never tell with the Mercenaries."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding. She slung the bag of money over her shoulder, then motioned towards Rat and Swift.

"Let's get this taken care of."

Something about the trip to the Mercenary camp left her uneasy. She'd made this trip before, but now she was carrying precious cargo that would have made her a target to anyone who knew about it. And it didn't help matters that those Duty members were still wandering around somewhere. Pyrrha half-expected the entire Zone to be gunning for her at this rate, whether it was because they had an ideological difference with the people she was working for or because they just wanted the money.

Thankfully, though, nobody came for the three of them as they marched to the Mercenary camp. The Mercenaries were already waiting for them, save for the one who had been giving Pyrrha a weird look in the past.

As they approached, the Mercenaries closed ranks around them, and Pyrrha's heart skipped a beat. Rat and Swift both went for their rifles, but thankfully held in a low ready rather than raise them. Sweat began to form on her brow.

"Do you have it?" the Mercenary leader, Coyote, asked.

"I have it," Pyrrha confirmed.

"Let me see it."

Pyrrha obliged, opening the bag and tilting it towards him so he could see the bundles of cash held within. Coyote nodded.

"Hand it over."

"The information first," Pyrrha demanded.

"No, the money first," Coyote said. "Or do you not trust us?"

"Of course I don't trust you. You're Mercenaries."

"Ha!" Coyote couldn't help but bark out a laugh at that. "I like this one, she's a smart girl. Alright, girlie, I'll play your game. You're looking for a man named Ara. As you can probably tell, he's not here right now – that's because he knew what was coming and ran for it."

"And you didn't think to stop him?"

"Why would we? He's not our problem, he's your problem. You're paying us for information, not his head. Now, the money?"

Pyrrha hesitated. "...Who's his source?" she asked. "There must be someone within Freedom who's leaking this information to him, because there's no way a Mercenary would know about Freedom's troop movements and intelligence on his own."

"How the fuck are we supposed to know that?" Coyote asked, crossing his arm. "We gave you what you came here for. Now, hand over the money before I lose my patience."

Again, Pyrrha obliged. She zipped the bag back up, then tossed it to Coyote. He handed it to another of his men without looking back.

"Count it," he commanded. "Confirm it's all there."

"Do you not trust us?" Pyrrha echoed.

"I'm a Mercenary, girlie – we don't trust anyone."

"It's all here, boss," the other Mercenary confirmed after a moment.

"Excellent." Coyote turned back towards Pyrrha. "And because I know you're going to ask – we don't know where Ara went. In all likelihood, he's being sheltered by Duty in the Bar. Which is probably going to be a problem for you Freedom types, yeah?"

"We'll figure something out," Rat said, his eyes narrowing.

"Sure you will." Coyote waved his hand dismissively. "Anyway, pleasure doing business with you three. Give Lukash my regards."

With that, the Mercenaries turned and began to walk back into their camp. Pyrrha let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding, just in time for Swift to rest a hand on her shoulder.

"You did pretty good for your first time dealing with the Mercenaries," he complimented. "I was going to take over, but you stepped up without issue. Good job."

"Thanks," Pyrrha said quietly. "I just… that was nerve-wracking. Is dealing with them always like that?"

"Pretty much," Rat confirmed. "Let's head back to base and talk to Lukash. We're going to have to find some way into the Bar to get at Ara."

"Damn it…" Lukash muttered. "Sounds like we were too late to get to him."

"Still, at least he can't pass info to Duty anymore," Swift pointed out. "That's gotta count for something, boss."

Currently, they were in Lukash's office. And he wasn't happy, to say the least.

"Still, we can't just let him live," Lukash stated. "That'd be an embarrassment to our entire group."

"He can't stay in the Bar forever," Rat pointed out. "Sooner or later, Duty are going to get tired of him and force him out."

"Right, but that could take ages. There must be some other way…"

Lukash suddenly seemed to think of something, and his gaze slid over to Pyrrha. She shuffled a bit, suddenly uncomfortable.

"You're not in Freedom," Lukash surmised. "They'd probably let you into the Bar if you made it clear you were a Loner."

"Boss, you can't be serious," Rat protested. "You want to send Pyrrha off on her own to kill someone?"

"Do you have a better plan?" Lukash asked. The others didn't respond, and he looked back to Pyrrha. "Look, Pyrrha, I'm sorry to have to ask this of you, I truly am. But we don't have a choice. We've got to get to Ara somehow, and currently, you're the only option."

"I know," Pyrrha said softly. "But… you'd want me to murder him, yes?"

Lukash nodded, and Pyrrha swallowed nervously. "I… I don't know if I…"

"Look, if you do this for us, you can consider your debt cleared," Lukash offered. "I'll even throw in some extra stuff to sweeten the deal a bit – some money and some better equipment."

"I… I don't know if I can just kill someone in cold blood, Lukash."

"If you don't, more Freedom members are going to die," Rat pointed out. "Ara's underground now, but if he has a contact at Freedom, it's only a matter of time before he starts feeding information to Duty again. We need to stop him before that happens."

Pyrrha hesitated for a moment as she considered his words. Finally, she let out a sigh, then slowly nodded.

"...I'll do it," she said quietly.

Lukash grinned, then reached out to rest a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Thank you, Pyrrha," he told her. Turning to Rat and Swift, he said, "You two, escort her as far as you can. Make sure she gets there, but don't get so close that Duty can see you with her."

"Got it, boss," Swift said. "Come on, Pyrrha. Let's get going."

Pyrrha nodded once more, then the three of them set off.

Thanks to Ickbard for the help with this chapter, and the story in general.

Back again for more of one of my favorites. This one is still a blast to write, I swear. Mainly because it's got a lot of gunfights and Knightfall moments, which are pretty much my two favorite things to write at the moment. But that's beside the point.

Anyway, kind of a more slow chapter compared to the last few, which were pretty fast and hectic, but that's not a bad thing IMO. Gotta have ups and downs like this to keep things interesting. And besides, once we start drawing closer to the climax, things will start to pick up again. That won't be happening for a while, of course, but there will still be bursts of excitement to keep things interesting. We're very much still just in the day-to-day STALKER life at this point, with a bit of the main plot sneaking in with regards to the Marked One, although I suspect things will start to get interesting very soon. After all, it's been almost 100k words of them all being separated, so I think it's about time they start coming together. We'll see how much longer it takes until that happens, of course, but I don't think I can keep putting it off for much longer the way I've been doing.

That aside, I don't have too much else to report at the moment. I'm still trying to stick to my once-a-month update schedule for this story, but things have been conspiring against me to keep me from writing as much as I want on weekends, unfortunately. I'm hoping I get some time to myself more often once summer is over, but we'll see. I'm not going to stop writing this story any time soon, but I do wish I was able to write more for it than I am currently. Lot of visitors coming over these past few weeks; I appreciate their company and all, but man, do I wish I could enjoy their visit and hit my daily word quota consistently at the same time lol.

That's about all I've got for now. I hope you all enjoyed, and I'll see you next time!

Enjoy my work and want to help me out a bit? You can support me, as well as read more of my writing, over on Amazon. My second original story is available for purchase now, you can find it by going on Amazon and searching for 'Dead World' by John Haruspex. The story is available now for three bucks in ebook format (or free with Kindle Unlimited) or twelve bucks in paperback format, if you prefer physical media. (Remove the spaces)

www . amazon Dead-World-John-Haruspex / dp /B0C2RPGXVC / ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1682982861&sr=8-2

My first original story is also still available at the following link as well:

www . amazon dp/ B0BLFL72MX