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Blood Hounds - Ch. 3 : First Day on the Job


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He took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. "That bad, huh?" he asked. He turned toward her and cracked a grin. "You know, the funny thing is Im only fourty years." He got up and started what he would call his purpose speech from that point. He walked past her to a window. "I lied earlier. I didnt leave the CDF. I was forced to undergo a medical discharge. Its nothing terribly important now. Ive lived for a few years with it. Ten actually. Hard to believe its been that long."

He sighed. Not really knowing where to go with this. "Its not me that Im concerned about, its you all. I went through different CDF reports and found at least three warrants for each of you. Ansam has nine and Lennox has twice that many. You racked up five yourself by assassinating military targets. By signing onto this team they were all dissolved, forgotten." He made poof sound along with the hand motion. "I gave you all a scond chance like the CDF gave me when I was young. It just so happens that it will end sooner than I hoped." He set a hand on her shoulder. "Dont waste this chance and the time that comes with it."

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"Dony worry Hackett, I aint going to waste your time." She said standing back up straight. "And I appreciate you getting rid of some of my warrents, but to be honest im just not the "good guy" type. Theres no money there. Im an assassin and a boutny hunter, you pay me enough and ill take out your target whether they deserve death or not.

 

She turned her head and looked out the window, staring off into the vast openness of space. "You still necer told me whats exactly wrong with ya."

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"Thats not something you should be worried about," said Hackett. "And there are so many contracts to pick up nowadays that you can pick and choose your battles." He turned back around and sat in his chair. "Thats the beauty of being a merc. You can fight for your people without fear of the rules holding you back." He paused though as he tried to appeal to her senses. "Think of it this way though, when it comes things on a larger scale, things that are bigger than you, bigger than me, or bigger than General Pepper himself, your decisions may have more influence than you think. One day, you might get a job to assassinate the Prime Minister. Or one of your jobs may involve bringing down someone you dont even know who could very well have been the next great leader of the military." He tapped a few commands as the ship started to slow to half speed. "Thats the reason I started this team, because I know that there is a bigger war over the horizon that can be stopped with one choice before it even starts."

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   By now Ansam had found the Mess Hall near the Lounge that started to be filled with his fellow mercs. Grabbed a clean plate and took his place in line.

 

   "What are we having today, guys?"

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Lennox first inadvertently eavesdropped on Ashlin and Ryan, mouthing "finally" when the vixen told the truth to his face, albeit with a very refined vocabulary. The convo turned barely distinguishable in the window, and the feline did not have much interest so he just minded up his business. That was until he mumbled something about warrants and their deletion. The feline was skeptical, but excited at the same time. It could've meant some metaphorical BS about Ryan not caring about the past of the guys here, but what if it was the true thing? He managed to clear all his warrants on Fortuna to start anew; all his Cornerian warrants were extremely vague and hardly enforced, but if he did clear them, that meant he was 100% free and innocent in all Lylat. No more immigration interrogations. One could dream.

 

   By now Ansam had found the Mess Hall near the Lounge that started to be filled with his fellow mercs. Grabbed a clean plate and took his place in line.

 

   "What are we having today, guys?"

 

"Not Dimitri's wiener, unfortunately for you..." he thought.

 

"Classic breakfast fare..." he said instead, his eyes fixed on his O.J glass while he poured some drops of leftover vodka for a bit of taste

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Ashlin let out a small laugh and turned to him. "My people are a bunch 'a tan fured religious nuts that fry their brains diggin for spring water on a barren planet. I dont care much for anyone else and there really aint much there to fight for as is. All these things about Prime Ministers and military leaders dosent really mean anythin to me, because im not Cornerian and im not CDF. I take the contracts that pay me the most, whether they are offical or underground, and if that means taking out some CDF bigshot then guess where my cross hairs are goin." She shifted weight on her foot and scratched behind her ear. "Look Ryan, you want me to focus on killing pirates and other scum, then sure thing, you're the boss. But if ya wanted a crew of do gooder mercs then you should of hired McCloud and his band of goodie two shoes."

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He turned his head toward her again. "I'm not Cornerian either. I was born on Papetoon. Lost my parents in the war. Didn't have a reason to exist. My motivation was that there are good people that cant fight for themselves." he turned back forward. "I'm not trying to find do gooder mercs. I want to make them from the ground up. You might see it as irresponsible, unrealistic, and futile, but I think it's worth a try. The money doesn't matter to me, so whatever contract you find, I'll double it. All I care about is the food on the table and the rounds in my gun."

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   The shepherd helped himself to some eggs, hash and grits. He also received a cup of cream and sugar coffee and then sat at a table to enjoy his second on board ship. Ansam wasn't particularly interested in talking until he got some coffee into his system that is.

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Dimitri finished his breakfast, gulping down the last of his water. Scooting back in the chair, he stands up; walking over to the nearest sink. He flicks up the faucet, allowing the water to flow through the pipes. With the plate and cup in hand, he rinses them off under the stream. He turns off the faucet, setting them in the sink. With a few steps he went back to the chair and reclaimed his seat, leaning back in the chair. "That was good." He says, stretching, making a kind of grunting noise as he did.

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"Well, I guess someone on this team has ta have good morels." Ashlin said, flipping on her PDA. "But ive come up here and spoke what was on my mind, and id like to prepare for the mission. So unless there is something else youd like to talk about, I would like to be off."

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"I'm not stopping you," said Hackett. He got up from the chair and walked toward the lift, holding the door for her.

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   Ansam looks around the mess hall as he eats, taking in the atmosphere he found to be pleasant. There were times he wanted to be alone and shut out the universe, but not this time. It was like high school again.

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"All in all, what is it we're actually doing? There's no prior briefing or nothing in the flyer other than "WE NEED YOU". What's the deal?" the feline asked to the room, eyes fixed on the mirror hanging near his seat, for anyone to answer.

 

There was more to this than just hiring guns and ammo. No one in their sane mind would do an open call if the mission implied to kill. The group was pretty heterogenous in both skills and record cleanliness. Whatever this was, it was big, complex and the piece of money was surely juicy.

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"Thanks." Ashlin said, entering the lift. She was about to press the button for the barracks,  but stopped and turned back to Ryan. "Hey Hackett, if yer not goin to tell me whats wrong with ya then thats fine, I wont push the subject. But if you keel over on us, then your dream of building a merc team thats a benefit to society will die real fast. So take care of yourself eh?" She reached over and pressed the botton, crossing her arms as the doors closed.

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   Ansam overheard Lennox and how could he not for how loud he was being. A sarcastic smirk came over his face as he gathered his thoughts and opened his mouth to speak.

 

   "Speak for yourself, Fancy Feast. What would you know of dequorum anyway? All I've seen you do is change color and hair style."

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"As if you know exactly what we're doing..." Out of this ship only one of them will end up alive...

 

"I only know we're heading straight to Katina and I don't want to get caught dark furred in an arid hot planet like that. Get it through your thick skull, this shit is obviously big and complex; may be to the point no amount of artillery will suffice for some aspects of this mission. Would you do an open call Lylat-round if you just want to kill someone?" 

 

The Cornerian style was just being a happy early trigger with tons of bullets. That's why Fortunan underground is so damn strong and went almost uncaptured. We know how to move, to operate, to be fucking discreet when needed.

 

Stay. In, claws...

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   "Katina is nothing big compared to Titania, so a little humidity shouldn't bother you. The Me'Langa Cartel likes to hide out there cos theres no one around to bother them and the CDF rarely patrols out there. Besides, I thought cats liked laying in the sun. You might get your chance...permanently." 

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"They sucked hard. Only their leaders get captured in such the stupid way they were." Lennox admitted the name didn't ring a bell at first, but then he put the pieces together.

 

"Ever heard about the Finegold? The Coração Sem Cor? The Sandulescu? The Laviria? The Papanastasiou? Those put the entire Cornerian underground to shame, so fuck those remnants dwelling in the sand."

He dropped the name of his former house and cartel in between those big shot mafias. His pride did get the best of him at the point to give that away, but there was no reason to suspect his ties with the now defunct Sandulescu cartel, the largest in all Fortuna and possibly in Lylat at one point. He never talked about them or even referenced them before so there wouldn't be an issue.

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   "You're right you know, The Me'Langa isn't what it used to be after the CDF's crackdown during the lesser known Cartel Wars. Only thing is they're playing it safe and not sticking their necks out like the baggy pants douche bags you're used to. They might be on top now, but they are not as organized and aren't survivors like the old schoolers who are playing for time and keeps. They're businessmen in expensive suits with government connections, not toothless, flea bitten thugs."

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Baggy pants douche bags? Flea-bitten thugs? He obivously didn't know his cartels if he thinks the Me'langa are any shade of better than the ones mentioned before.

 

Little did he know that this dog was talking to Ovidiu Sandulescu's protege and son figure. That ten to fifteen years ago he was in the forefront of smuggling and the cartel world. That he saw all the unraveling of the Napocan War of Independence in consequence of those Cartel Wars in a VIP seat and that almost costed him his life.

 

But alas, he knew that it was better to be underestimated than making a name. In the end, that was what made his "dad" the largest Cartel leader, because who could suspect of a senior skunk farmer?

 

But all of that would have to remain unspoken. He just looked at his glass and took some sips.

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   "I don't like the Me'Langa anymore than the next guy. In fact, before I came here I was about to end my partnership by paying off my debt with the big cheese, Desmio Kariddian, pack rat and Lylat's resident fatass. If it wasn't for dumb luck and blind chance he would be running the Me'Langa and would be sausage stand hopping through downtown Corneria City."

 

   Ansam leaned forward and looked closer at Lennox. That strange, eerie feelling of familiarity returned. How did he know so much about the Cartels? He even mentioned ones Ansam never heard of.

 

   'Nah, it couldn't be,' he pondered. 'But it would explain a lot if he was. No he wouldn't be, this little whiny cat bitch? If he is I'm better off as it is, something to trade if Desmio finds. Heh.'

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"Thanks." Ashlin said, entering the lift. She was about to press the button for the barracks,  but stopped and turned back to Ryan. "Hey Hackett, if yer not goin to tell me whats wrong with ya then thats fine, I wont push the subject. But if you keel over on us, then your dream of building a merc team thats a benefit to society will die real fast. So take care of yourself eh?" She reached over and pressed the botton, crossing her arms as the doors closed.

 

"I wish it was something I had control over," he said hopping in with her at the last second. The lift started moving to deck two, where he would brief the team on what the mission is. The doors opened, allowing them to walk through. He took the first step forward and walked toward the table. "Alright team, here comes the first assignment."

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"Yeah, that tag could apply to Cornerian criminal heads, fatasses with luck..."

 

In came Ryan about to give us the briefing. "Fucking finally. We'll see what this circus is about"

 

Lennox felt Ansam leaning way too close for his taste. "Hey. Move the snout away to your own business." he said dryly. Was this another canine thing he didn't hear about? He didn't care. It was annoying.

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Lennox felt Ansam leaning way too close for his taste. "Hey. Move the snout away to your own business." he said dryly. Was this another canine thing he didn't hear about? He didn't care. It was annoying.

 

   "Don't worry," he said, reclining back into his seat with his relaxed smile and fresh unlit cigar in his mouth, taking in a breath almost as if he could smell the odds in his favor. "I will, cos I got nothing but time."

 

   Ansam's gaze then turned to Hackett upon hearing the word, assignment.

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He gave the two a weird look before continuing. "If you two need a room to deal with this go right ahead."

He tossed his tablet onto the table which then project ed a holographic map above it. "Alright. Missions simple. We're guarding a military contractors shipment en route to Corneria. Just a trip around the block. Ansam, Zephir, Elektra, and I will take Arwings and defend from outside. Ian, Lennox, and Ashlin will stay on the freighter with the payload." He stopped for a second to let the details sink in.

"Just one catch. Star Wolf will be sending a team to intercept the package. Reports say that Panther Caroso himself will be coming as well. If he does, leave him to me. He and I have a score to settle."

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