“While most of the Outer City businesses are not quite as well known as those of the Inner City, there are some rather big players that live around the outer parts of this fine Megacity. Most gangs are rather unimpressive in the way they conduct themselves. That is not meant as a slight towards them, simply an observation of the reality in which they exist. Such groups have it hard, quite often without the support of a more solid society structure around them.

Of course, there are always certain outliers, however. In New Savannah specifically, there are three gangs that stand out from the rest. The first is Obsidian Gaze, a group of hackers and information brokers. While their members are rather unassuming people, their organisation as a whole is quite well known and well connected. In the past they were involved in some of the bigger data breaches that ended with one corp or another having to rebrand and start anew.

The second is Quantum Veil, a semi-anarchistic group specialising in digital anonymity. While the name is a known quantity, they are very well hidden, often only showing up if they do something to fuck with one group or another. They don’t care much for who they fuck with, be it corporation or rival gang, everyone is fair game to them.

And lastly, of course, is Black Lotus, probably the most well known out of all of them. They are just a branch of a larger organisation that has roots in various cities. It is them that most Inner City organisations keep the closest eye on.”

- Excerpt of “The lesser known societies of our modern cities: New Savannah edition”, 2053

Simmons did exactly what we told him to and soon after the rest of the people defending against the assault left the border quite hurriedly. And good thing they did, because we were indeed fucking pissed and had no compunction to be selective right at that moment.

Our shuttles landed and two battalions of War Drones made their way outside. Of course, they were immediately fired upon, but even with the high tech rifles of the opposition, it took more than a few shots to take them out. Without wasting any time they retaliated, laying down a line of hurt that took most of the defenders out quickly.

Despite our foul mood, we did take care not to hurt any innocents still around. We weren’t the Devourer of Worlds, and while we did feel the need to vent our frustrations, our Philosophers made sure to remind Us of the fact that we should be at least a little reserved.

While our War Drones cleaned up outside, we remained in our personal shuttle, checking things over. The ‘Bastion of Hope’ was just arriving overhead, looming dangerously over the border of the district and spitting out shuttles.

Tiny stood at the very edge of the main hanger, letting out a terrifying roar that scared the living daylights out of anyone who saw her, but she didn’t do anything else. She probably could have tried to snipe some people with her kinetic weaponry, but she didn’t, just observing it all, collecting all the data feeds that were available, bundling it all up, sorting through it, then sending it over to Us.

There was some clutter in the data, Tiny speculated this to be some form of encrypted data transfer from one gang or another, but nothing that we could do particularly much with. Sure, we could spend a couple points, get it decrypted, or hell, just ask Kaysa, but we didn’t bother.

The reason for that was a very panicked message from Simmons, asking if we could stop breaking into all their servers, which made Tiny wobble with satisfaction about being proven right. The request was friendly, but the way it was written made it obvious that we gave him, and probably the rest of his gang, a heart attack.

We simply replied with an apology and promise that we wouldn’t rummage through everything, before we ignored it and continued to focus on the spectacle before Us. We didn’t want to piss off Obsidian Gaze, they could be a useful ally, and if they were willing to cooperate in the future, we wanted to show at least some courtesy. That didn’t stop Tiny from cataloguing which part of the data was theirs, though, if we needed it in the future.

The weapons the fuckwits had were indeed rather high tech. We couldn’t find any lead on where they could come from, even Kaysa being a bit stymied for a moment, which had to be the best indication that whoever was responsible was one careful son of a bitch, before she finally led Us know about various leads where they could come from. Nothing concrete, but it was something.

Finally we got up and made our way outside, clad in our Samurai getup which really needed an upgrade at some point. Our Queen’s Guard was following suit, of course; the two defenders visible at either side of Us, the healer and assassins still hidden away.

Thanks to the cyberwarfare catalogue we obtained to help Sabrina, cracking the encryption on the enemy's communication was child’s play. While whoever gave them the weapons was careful enough to ensure they couldn’t be easily tracked, the same could not be said about the idiots using them. We could probably have cracked the encryption without any fancy tools, despite having no clue about any of it, it was that rudimentary.

Utilising our Lance, we killed one of the fuckwits who was trying to sneak up on the War Drones, before we turned our attention to the way inward. The district was just as shitty as the rest of the Outer City, but the attackers had raised some makeshift barricades.

That said, the fighting was rather one-sided. While they had good weapons, most of their people ran off the moment we showed up. We killed those we could, but didn’t waste time running after every single one of them. We could sweep them up later if we needed to, but considering that these weren’t some kind of PMC, just gang goons, we were pretty sure that once they ran, they wouldn’t come back.

Some of them we managed to take prisoner. None of Us were particularly good at interrogating, but if we could use them to get some more info we wouldn’t complain. If we couldn’t… Well, we really didn’t know what to do with them. We could kill them or let them go. Something to be decided later.

While the border clean up was quick and efficient, deeper into the Kanvai district things went less swimmingly. Tiny had managed to put together a proper map for Us to organise our troops with, but the adversary had a better idea of the territory and all the little hiding places. We didn’t want to pull the Meerkats away from their mission, so we had to send three more shuttles with more basic drones to serve as scouts.

Making our way through the first section of the Kanvai district, we eventually arrived at the main plaza that denoted the core of Neon Sutra territory. Neon Sutra wasn’t a gang we were knowledgeable about, at best having heard the name before, but it quickly became apparent that nobody in this district had any love left for the attackers, and all of them were willing to help Us in our clean up mission.

That was made obvious by the ping we got when we arrived, plus the rather large group of cybernetically enhanced folk waiting for Us, led by a woman who was a sight to behold.

Our group was not exactly small, but it was only a part of Us running around the district. Twenty-odd War Drones, thirty odd evolved Hatchlings, the Queen’s Guard, and of course myself. That said, even our forces looked small compared to the group of people standing in front of Us, all decked out head to toe in cybernetic enhancements.

From robotic arms and legs, to torso replacements, head replacements, and even full body cyborgs, there was a mix of everything there. That said, the most extreme cases were, of course, the obvious boss of Neon Sutra, and her four bodyguards. These guys could probably even give a War Drone a run for their money and made Us wonder just how they managed to get all the tech. It looked surprisingly advanced for gang goons.

Only the Queen’s Guard followed Us as we walked closer to where the obvious leader of Neon Sutra waited, flanked by four massively burly men. The rest of Us kept a respectful distance. As we walked up, the woman and her guards stepped forward a pace, giving Us a firm nod.

“Welcome to Lionon Street. I’m Gauss, leader of Neon Sutra. You are Myriad, I assume?” The woman’s voice was surprisingly deep and heavy, the kind of voice that fit any gang leader very well.

“We are. We’re here to clean up the fucks that attacked the redlight district. We thought that we made it clear it was under our protection, but apparently not even a Hive of Hexclaws hungry for the flesh of those that bother Us are enough of a deterrent to keep the idiots at bay.”

Our comment obviously didn’t sit well with nearly all of their members, but we really didn’t care. We weren’t in the mood to play nicer than we had to, and while we didn’t want to antagonise anyone outside of the fuckwits that attacked Us, we also didn’t give enough fucks to play to their sensibilities.

“As long as you aren’t here to mulch us, we won’t complain about some help. As long as you keep your drones out of our business, of course.”

That made Us chuckle.

“We have no interest in dealing with you. Unless you decide to make problems for the redlight district, we’ll leave you alone. We have better things to do than bully some low-level gangs.”

To nobody’s surprise, that comment made them all tense up, even if Gauss remained outwardly calm. We weren’t sure if she was just very good at hiding her emotions, or if we simply didn’t know how to read her personal cues.

“Quite the sharp tongue for someone within our borders,” Gauss observed, face unreadable.

“Well, we’re a bit pissed at the moment and politeness isn’t exactly at the top of our priority list. Today was supposed to be an easy day, but instead we have to deal with shitfucks who desperately want to be the next nominee for the darwin award. If you want polite, go wake up Legion and see if she isn’t more receptive. Our guess, she won’t be.”

To our surprise, Gauss chuckled at that, tension dissipating a little, “Fair enough. Obsidian Gaze contacted you yet?”

“They have. While they couldn’t give Us specifics, we have some leads. From your comment we assume you all work together?”

“More or less. This attack is much bigger than what we’re used to. While the gangs in this district are about as cooperative as most would be, this shit just ain’t fly. We all have our own reasons to help, of course, but in these times we need some cooperation to protect our assets.”

“That why you meet Us? Do your part to help?”

She nodded. “Yes. My boys can show you around the back alleys and hidden places. Of course, some quid pro quo would be appreciated.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Our expression shifted to something a little darker.

“Give it to Us straight, Gauss. We’re not in the mood for distractions or talking around the point. We’re here to fuck up some shitheads, not negotiate.”

“That’s fair. Okay, to get right to the point. We want protection. The same deal as the one you have with the redlight district.”

Not surprising, truth be told, but really not something we were interested in.

“No.” Our answer was immediate and obviously not the one they wanted to hear.

“No?”

“No. We won’t go around helping every gang that comes knocking. The redlight district is our home and we want to see it safe. Other than that, we have no interest in getting involved with anyone else. Blazing Inferno already asked, and they will have to hash that one out with Legion. Unless you can actually offer Us something of value, more than just playing tour guide for your corner of this city so we don’t accidentally drop into all your illegal labs, there won’t be any deal.”

There was a long moment of silence before Gauss nodded. “Fair enough. Then what do you want?”

“Right now? We wanna get this shit done so we can go back home to cuddle with two very nice women. If you want to help Us, you can, but this would not be part of any deal. We don’t need you and we don’t care if you’re butthurt. Anything else can be discussed later. We can leave a drone or two around afterwards so we can chat. It’s more secure than any call; we are Myriad, we are one, a big whole made up of many voices. But just so we’re clear.”

Our voice dropped into something more dangerous and the stance of our drones behind Us shifted into an obviously battle ready one. “If you agree to host them and then harm them, no matter in what way, you won’t like what happens. Understood?”

“Yes,” Gauss said after a moment.

We nodded at that, then forced ourselves to be a bit more friendly and open minded. “Good. We don’t want to start trouble with you, despite what it might seem like. We’re not in a good mood right now and just want to get this shit done with. And if you actually have something of value to Us, we will listen. But right now we just want to get back home.”

She nodded. Gauss seemed to be a rather smart woman, or maybe she just was very good at hiding her disdain. Either was a good quality to have in a gang leader and they haven’t actually shown Us any discourtesy. We were aware that we were probably a lot more heavy handed than we should have been, but we were also aware that right now we couldn’t give any less of a fuck if we tried.

“That seems reasonable. Let us show you around then.” Gauss made a quick motion with her hand and the rest of her gang started to move.

“Thanks. We do appreciate it, by the way, even if it doesn’t come across as such. Just don’t waste time by trying to hide anything. Tiny has most of the stuff already mapped anyway, and even if she missed something, we would bet a good chunk of credits that our AI already knows about all of it. We won’t interfere with your business and we couldn’t care less about what you do with your gang. As long as you aren’t going around kidnapping and raping people, we’ll leave you alone.”

Gauss didn’t answer, just giving us a nod which we returned. She obviously didn’t like Us, no surprise there, but she didn’t try to fight Us either. Our earlier estimation of her seemed to be proven correct and despite our foul mood, we made a mental note to deal with her fairly in the future.

The rest of her gang was equally unimpressed with Us, but we didn’t mind. And to their credit, they did not complain openly. We were pretty sure that some, those that still were human enough for Us to read them properly at least, even respected our no-nonsense way of dealing with them. We put all our cards on the table and let them know exactly where we stood. Of course, we could only do that because we were the biggest fish in this part of the city, but it was also a rarity amongst gangs.

To our mild surprise Gauss was actually the one to lead Us around personally. The rest of our forces were split up, each getting two or three gang members to show them around. We hadn’t expected Gauss to get involved herself, most gang bosses kept to their lair and did whatever, so to see her getting involved personally was another point in her favour. It meant she actually cared for her people.

The entire organisation took less than five minutes, these guys were obviously a well oiled engine with no need for lengthy discussion, another point that spoke to Gauss quality as a leader. Rousing a rabble of gang goons was no easy feat, and to have a gang this dynamic and obedient was a rarity.

While we started to make our way through Kanvai district with the help of Neon Sutra, our scouts continued to spread out further and further. Most of them didn’t find that much of interest as the front was pushed back more and more by our forces. We did find a group here or there, but most of them either surrendered immediately, or were squashed relatively quickly.

It was another example of the fact that no amount of high tech weaponry was any help, when the people using it were this bad and unorganised, not that it–

“FUCK!” We screamed, a wave of dizziness and cold rolling over Us.

The world wobbled, and an immense sense of loss gripped Us deeply. A feel like our chorus being torn apart sent Us into a frenzy, and biological feedback of muted pain rattled the cohesion. Taking deep breaths we tried to find a steady footing; the pain was subsiding quickly and hadn’t been too much of a problem to begin with, but it became immediately obvious that something had happened.

“Myriad?” Gauss asked, her voice distant to Us.

We didn’t pay attention to her, trying to figure out just what the fuck had just happened and where that strange feeling had come from. It didn’t take long until we had the answer. One of Us had just been killed.

The realisation sent another wave of shock and horror through Us, making Us very aware of our mortality. So far we hadn’t faced anything like this, at best we experienced the death of a drone in the Hexclaw simulation, but there things worked very differently. The Devourer of Worlds didn’t lose voices, only bodies, and while the pain had been present, it was easily lost in the adrenaline and the sheer size of the chorus we had experienced at the time.

Now things were different, not only was this not a simulation, even with the pain limiter still in effect the entire thing felt so much worse. We hadn’t just lost a drone, we lost a voice. It was ripped out of Us with force, leaving a scar where it was supposed to be, and that emptiness, that sudden and irrevocable stillness, left Us reeling with a sudden understanding that we were vulnerable.

We were vaguely aware of our Queen’s Guard getting right up in the face of Gauss and her guards, but we couldn’t quite focus on it. The chorus was in turmoil, many of Us, even ready to die as they were for the Hive, feeling vulnerable and lost in the moment.

Our thoughts began spiralling out of control, more and more horror scenarios beginning to crop up, the memory of the loss replaying in our minds again and again.

Seraphine, take a deep breath. All of you, take a deep breath and calm down. You are hyperventilating badly, and if this continues you might lose consciousness soon.

Kaysa’s voice reached Us from somewhere far away, and we nodded absently, doing as she asked and taking deep, calming breaths. It didn’t do much for our panic, but it helped a little, slowly but surely calming down our hammering heart trying to jump out of our chest. Gradually the world faded back into existence around Us, overshadowing the feeling of loss and horror that we had experienced.

Once we were a little more ourselves again, we took a look around, trying to find our footing and remembering where we were. Kanvai district, the attackers. Gauss and Neon Sutra helping Us. Okay, deep breaths.

We stumbled a little, before we managed to stand straight once more. Our Healer had caught Us, preventing Us from falling. Our Defenders were standing between Neon Sutra and ourselves, our Assassins right in their faces, weapons extended.

Dismissing them for the moment, we placed a call to Chloe and Jenna. While we didn’t want to wake them, we felt vulnerable and lost, and we didn’t know what to do. We were desperate for their presence, to hear their voices, anything to make this feeling go away.

Despite the fact that we were calmer now, we still felt incredibly vulnerable, a feeling that was only reinforced a few moments later, when another wave of dizziness rolled over Us. Another one of our scouts had been killed.

Our scouts had found an area in which the enemy forces had entrenched themselves, which is why they had such an easy time killing Us off, especially considering our mental state.

Our Healer pulled Us into a side alley, and a moment later more War Drones made their way over, stumbling and obviously out of it, but it did make Us feel a bit better to know that we had backup.

Chloe picked up just as our Healer sat Us on some old crate, our Defenders sticking very close to Us, both shields extended.

“Seraphine?” Chloe’s voice was more of a groan than anything else, obviously very hungover.

“Chloe, thank fuck… Sorry to wake you. We… We just had a very bad experience.”

She grumbled some more, but after hearing our comment quickly paid attention. “Wha…? What happened?”

“Some of Us just died.”

There was a moment of silence, before she replied. “Fuck. Okay, what happened, is anyone attacking? Where do you need me?” While her voice was still unsteady, it was clear that she was quickly getting into gear now.

“Some idiots attacked the redlight district. We went to deal with it, and we’re winning, but…” we swallowed, unable to sort our thoughts, always coming back to the memory of the death. “We don’t know what to do, Chloe. It feels so strange, like something was ripped out of Us… It hurts, not physically, but it hurts so much…”

“Where are you?”

“Kanvai District, the Corvette is not far, we had it fly over.”

There was another moment of silence, before she continued. “I’m on my way. Give me five minutes. What’s the situation?”

“Thanks, Chloe… We’re so sorry for waking you… Right now we’re safe, somewhat… We lost… a dozen or so voices…”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’ll be there soon. Ah, thanks for the Cleanse pills. I’ll wake Jenna real quick.”

Yet more silence filled the call, which sounded deafening to Us in that moment. Soon after Chloe returned, now sounding a lot better. “We’re on our way. Junior is with us too. Do you need anything?”

“Not that we can think of, no… Just… We don’t want to be alone…”

“You aren’t, Seraphine. I’m here. We’re on our way now. Do you know what happened exactly?”

“Somewhat? We were travelling with Neon Sutra to sweep up the attackers in this part of town, when suddenly we felt pain… It’s not exactly physical pain, that one is muted from the limiter, but the feeling of… one of Us just dying… It’s overwhelming. We lost a few more quickly after, there is some group somewhere that got the drop on a few of Us.” Our voice cracked.

“Hey, it’s okay. Just keep calm, okay?”

“Okay…”

She stayed on the line with Us, slowly but surely helping Us finding our footing properly. Her voice was soothing, just knowing she was there for Us doing more than anything else ever could.

When the shuttle finally settled down on the street not far from the alley we were in, we more or less bolted over. Gauss and her bodyguards were still there, under the watchful eye of our Assassins, but we ignored her, instead nearly tackling Chloe when she stepped out, clad in her armor.

She welcomed our embrace with one of her own, and we basked in her presence, letting it wash away our worries. “Thanks, Chloe…” we muttered.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m here now. You’re safe.”

Jenna stepped out of the shuttle behind her, looking around. With her came a whole squad of her Sentinels, of course, and they quickly took up position around Us.

She gave Us a warm smile, and we let go of Chloe to embrace her as well, squeezing her tightly. She didn’t complain, answering our embrace with a gentle squeeze of her own.

“Hey there,” she said softly, “How are you doing?”

“A lot better now…” we muttered, our face buried in her chest, just taking in her scent.

For a moment we simply existed, the two of them giving Us as much time as we needed, before we finally came up for air and gave them both a smile.

“Thanks… We’re sorry for ripping you out of your sleep like that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jenna said with a giggle, “Now, if you feel a bit better, mind filling us in on what’s going on? Like, who are they?” She nodded over to the Neon Sutra members.

We nodded in turn, taking another deep breath, finally feeling like ourselves again. “That’s Gauss, the leader of Neon Sutra. She was showing Us around to find all the hidden places where some of the fucks might have hidden in.”

“I’ll go and chat with her,” Jenna said with a warm smile, squeezing Us gently once more, before she let go. “You take it slow. We’re here to help.”

“Yeah… Thanks, Jenna… Thank you both so much.”

There were no words to describe how grateful we were for both of them. Maybe this day wouldn’t turn out to be a complete disaster, now that they were here.