OOC:

So I started this as just a leave post for the campaign, then it kinda got more and more interesting and long...so here is part one and I'll keep working on it as time permits. Enjoy!

The rain came down in sheets against the transperiglass windows. It was one of those bars designed to look a century old, for 'atmosphere'. It just made the place smell all the worse as far as she was concerned. People smiled and danced, blissfully ignorant to the pain the simple padding of the pavement underneath her feet made her feel. Why would they care anyways? A low-life gang was wiped from their streets, of course they would rejoice. Nobody cared about the people, barely old enough to be adults, how they died. They didn't bat an eye for her uncle that buried himself in his office to protect her. No, they danced.

“You really need to slow down Hav.”

Bishop's eyes moved from the small shot of whiskey to her dirty face as he waited for a response. He was the reason she was there. His communications had gotten increasingly desperate over the past several months, since the army had chosen to give her a month leave it was time to stop ignoring him.

“You need to tell me why I'm here, so I have something more productive than drinking to do.” She grabbed the glass off the counter and downed it as a final gesture of defiance.

The dark haired man regarded her carefully, the same way an intelligent child regards a loaded pistol. He knew better than to touch the trigger, and in this case mentioning her uncle or even his gang by name was that volatile device. Bishop sipped his ale, he was still nursing his first drink, watching his best friend down her third or fourth whiskey shot. He needed his liquid courage before he pulled that trigger, he just prayed the gun wouldn't be aimed at him.

“I found stuff, I still don't know everything, but I need you for a lead.” He took a deep breath and downed the rest of his ale. “Its just you and me left, but I think I may have found one of Je...” The bloodshot eyes that snapped in his direction made him lose his train of thought. He had to swallow the nerves that hit him suddenly and carry on. “Jed. That one friend of his, Edmond, you remember him?”

She glared at him. Havock knew this was a bad idea, the years of friendship were the only things keeping her on that barstool, every instinct in her told her to get up and leave him there with his leads.

“Hav, I want to get things going again. Bring Retathorn back.” The chair under her jerked at the name of her uncle's gang.

“Why the frak, would you do that?” She shook her head and downed another shot. This wasn't what she wanted, this didn't honor her uncles memory. It just gave her friend the chance to take over his own street gang. A group of kids that looted and boosted stupid worthless vehicles that the owners probably made more credits on insurance claims than they would have selling the things. This was what he wanted to resurrect. She was done, she stood up and would have walked out if she hadn't heard his voice calling her name softly from behind.  “Oh cut that out. Fine, but you tell me why. And it better be a damn good reason.”

“What else do I have?”  The anger and sadness of the situation finally bleeding into his words. It had been a long three months since the Retathorn gang was wiped from the streets of Coronet City. All that was left of them were two orphans, one a slicer and the other a platoon commander.

Havock knew more about what had happened than she could ever tell Bishop. Part of her was relieved that he wasn't looking for answers anymore, he was ready to move on. It was time for her to be the friend she used to be and help him do just that.

“Okay. What's the plan then?”

“Really? You'll help?”

He looked so genuinely surprised she almost laughed out loud. “Are you going to tell me or we gonna grow old in this horrid bar?” Her eyes narrowed at the sight of a lanky man who had started playing a ghastly song on the piano.

“So Edmond. He's been underground for years.”

“Please don't tell me he's still an arms dealer? I think I'll need another drink.”

“Just listen, okay?” He waited but she quickly motioned for him to continue.

“I show up by myself and I'm going to get shot on sight.”

She rolled her eyes, at the dramatics but knew he was probably right. Bishop looked nothing like a thug, in fact, he was the nerdiest guy she knew. He stood just several inches above her height with long, messy, dark hair and squinted at everything. He probably couldn't have arm wrestled a nerf, but his mind, now that was something you didn't trifle with. What the young man lacked in muscle he more than made up for in intellect.

“So, you and I go in, we can use whatever story you think best, and figure out a way to meet with Edmond. He'll recognize you right away.”

“Yes, of course he will. But why do you want to meet with him? I mean out of all of Jed's contacts, what does Edmond do for you?”

Bishop scratched the grizzle that had formed on his cheek from not shaving for several days. Cooking up this plan had taken everything he had, which wasn't much to begin with. He had taken to living in the apartment above the old Retathorn hideout. The building should have been condemned years ago, probably could thank Jed and his contacts for that not happening. 

“I'm going to do this on my own to start with. Slice into some places for hire, make some capital then use that to fix up Retathorn. A decade maybe she'll be back. I need Edmond to help me make contacts or I'm just some nameless punk, nobody worth anything is going to hire me.”

It wasn't the worst idea he'd ever had, she had to admit that. Havock had heard several from the young man growing up that made her laugh so hard she fell out of chairs often.

She nodded and downed her last whiskey. “So let go, I'm assuming you have his address.” Havock had already moved half-way to the door before Bishop even realized she had moved.

The building they arrived at almost an hour later was being used as a nightclub. The music was blaring so loudly she could feel the ground vibrate beneath her boots.  Neon assaulted her senses, from the flashing lights to the hum from the letters that spelled out “Ecstasy”.

Havock sighed, still grasping the handlebar of the speeder for dear life. “I'm going to kill you.”

“It's a front, come on.” He hopped off the bike and headed towards the line near the entrance. “Seriously, Hav. We've been to worse places.”

“That's fraking debatable.”

The bouncer and dance floor was a blur of noisy movement for the platoon commander. They walked through the sea of oblivious people and their sweaty half clothed bodies until they reached a small alcove next to the stage. Havock was slightly distracted by the woman dancing right next to her shoulder while Bishop dealt with the bouncer.

“Hav!”

“Yea? What?” She jumped then shrugged when she met his eyes.

Bishop rolled his eyes and grabbed her by the elbow leading her into the less known parts of the nightclub. The hallways were bright, especially after being in the dark and smoky dance floor. Havock had to squint just to avoid walking right into the stark white walls. Doors lined the hall, and they must have passed twelve before reaching an intersection and turning left. 

The doorway was guarded by two imposing thugs flanking its benign sides. Bishop muttered something she couldn't hear to one and the door was opened. It was possible she had underestimated her old friend. He had obviously put a lot of thought and planning into this idea of his. She couldn't help but be impressed by how much he'd grown up, which was slightly amusing since that's what he told her after she joined the army.

“Well I'll be damned, Lil' Havock?” The large man let out a belly laugh that would have shook the walls of a smaller structure. He sat on his 'throne' in the large room which was the largest chair she had seen behind a cluttered but ornate desk. This was a mind game, all about intimidation. You get the buyer through all the security checks then show them this and they either shit their pants or agree to whatever extortion you offer, usually both.

“Hi Edmond. Its been a long time.” She put on her best smile less for him and more for the actual joy she was deriving looking at the expressions on his guards faces. Apparently Edmond didn't play nice with most of his guests. “You remember Bishop, my friend, right?”

“Aye that I do, grew up both of ye.” He shifted in his chair, getting more comfortable, he was relaxing. “What brings you to Edmond today? Not that it doesn't please me to see both of ye. After what happened to Jed...” His voice trailed off and he looked away for a long moment. “I would'a killed the bastards if my contacts were worth a damn lately, you know that Havvie.”

“I do Edmond. Bishop and I are here to propose the next best thing.” She glanced at Bishop and motioned for him to speak.

“Ed, you know what Jed built. He deserved better than for it to end that way. Help me bring it back.”

Edmond stroked his chin for several moments. His eyes searching the two youth before him. “Havvie you're like my own daughter, but Jed got sloppy. Letting some idiot just walk in there and gain his confidence...that should have never happened.” He sank back into his chair. “I can't just jump on this, even for you Hav. But perhaps...yes how about this instead, you two deal with a small rodent problem and that should help your little campaign along.”

“What kind of rodents are we talking about?”

“Your kind I'm sorry to say.” He sighed the years showing on his face. Edmond had been a good friend to Jed, even if they had drifted apart in recent years mostly due to differing business models. Edmond following a more ruthless code than Jed ever would have. “Saint James Home for Children.”

The words hit Havock like bricks, each syllable pounding in her ears. Her fists balled up involuntarily, clenching at her sides. The Saint James Home for Children, or SJHC as most people on Coronet City called it, had been her home for a few years before Jed took her in. The place was run by nurses that took barely any pay at all to raise hundreds of children. Havock would never understand how they still could look at her with patience and compassion after the things she pulled.

The silence in the room was finally broken by a timid Bishop clearing his throat. “Ed, you think you could elaborate?”

“The orphanage closed ages ago, but theres still a girl there. Casey something, uses a slicer ID that we've traced back to her. She's only a bit older than you Havvie, you probably knew her.” Havock just continued to stare blankly at Edmond.

There were few places in the galaxy Havock did not want to ever visit. Most of them involved the Black Sun, but there was one location that seemed benign and foreign to the majority of the people she ran into. Except Jaenna and Aeos, they seemed to be the only people in her life that understood what going to that orphanage meant to her, and how much she did not want to walk its halls again.

The broken door loomed before her, it almost screamed at her go away, we don't want you here anymore. “You do realize how much I must love you to be here.”

“But why Hav?”

Here eyelids fluttered at the memories assaulting her senses. “Not now, lets just find this Casey.” She pushed passed the feelings and finished the door's descent to the pavement of the sidewalk. A few passersby glanced at the noise but none were interested enough to stop or inquire to the pair's trespassing. That was a benefit of the part of town they were in, most people didn't really care.

The orphanage had been closed for five years and a handful of months. Havock vaguely remembered Jed telling her when it happened. It was a funding issue, the city planners preferred fancy transports to vagrant children having a home. Sounded like most government leaders to her. The hallways were dusty and paint had begun to slowly peel away from the walls. Eerie evidence had been left from the hasty retreat of the nurses that ran the place. Pictures remained on walls, chairs were vacant at their desks, papers still in filing cabinets. One light illuminated what should have also been a ghosts bed chamber at the end of the administration hallway.

Bishop got there first and pushed the door open to reveal a woman. She was sleeping on an old mattress, probably from the upper bedrooms. She had a tiny frame, and thin brownish hair. The room was filled with computer equipment, cobbled together from what the nurses left behind. It was rather impressive to Havock that the girl had accomplished all of this on her own.

Havock pulled her pistol out and aimed it at the girls head. “Casey!”

The woman sat up and instantly her eyes went wide, she groped around for a makeshift weapon then quickly thought better of that idea when Bishop's form came into focus. Her hands slowly raised above her head. “Okay, what is this?”

Havock smirked and lowered her weapon. “I do remember you. You tried to follow me once. I punched you. Sorry bout that.”

“Ayme?”

Havock nodded and knelt down, examining some of the equipment. “Why are you still here Casey? And call me Havock, everyone does.”

Casey relaxed slightly, her eyes were still cautiously examining the man that remained silently guarding the only exit. “That is a fitting name. They tried to send me to a home, it was...horrible.” Her eyes got distant for a moment, lost in a memory she rarely accessed. “I ran away, came here hoping to find someone. Then I waited for someone. Then I just decided to stay.”

Havock nodded. She had heard of a few of the homes that took in orphans just for the government money they received. The streets sounded safer. “You've been taking credits from the wrong people I'm afraid. Made one of my associates rather unhappy.”

“Whoa, hold on Havock. I don't take credits from anyone. I use what you see here, well at first I used it to try to find my real parents. But that....well it wasn't the best idea it turns out. Anyways, I've sold intel, but I don't hack into bank accounts. I'm not a fool.”

Havock nodded slowly at the older woman. She wanted to believe her at her word, but someone was using these terminals to rip off Edmond. “Bishop here is going to double check what you just said. Don't move off that mattress.”

Everyone was in agreement, except Bishop didn't move. He was entranced by Casey, staring at the girl with the dumbest expression Havock had ever seen. “Bishop?”

“Huh? Oh right, the terminal, yea, got it Hav.”

She shook her head slowly. “So hard to find good help.” He rolled his eyes at the comment and got to work.

“What are you going to do to me?” The shaky voice took Havock by surprise. She hadn't realized how intimidating her behavior had been up until that point. She wanted the girl to answer her questions and she wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush, but terrifying the woman wasn't in the plans.

She sighed and sat down on the dirty mattress with Casey. “I'm sorry, I really don't want to be here again.”

“You never did stay for very long yanno.” She smirked but still kept her eyes on Bishop near the terminals. “Please tell me he knows what he's doing...took me forever to get all this working smoothly.”

“Yea, Bishop's like a brother to me. We aren't here to mess up your stuff, but we have to know who has been stealing that money.”

“Not her.”

They both turned to look at the gangly man squinting in the light of the computer screen. “I've got a handle but that's about it, someone's been hijacking your system and using it to take credits from multiple accounts, they put it in their own account and live off the interest. Or something like that, I just remembered how much I hate math.”

“Son of a bitch.” Casey got up quickly and bolted to Bishop's side. They both started typing and pointing at items on the screen while they spoke in a language that sounded like basic but made no sense to Havock whatsoever. She rolled her eyes and kept busy cleaning her pistols, which went completely unnoticed by the two slicers.

Several minutes, possibly a half hour, went by before any conversation was directed towards her. “Hav, I think we know who's behind this.”

She looked up tentatively from the knife she was sharpening. It must have been longer than she even realized for her to finish with both pistols and move to the combat knife she kept in her boot.

“You're not going to like it.”

“What's new?”

OOC:

to be continued....