“Alright men!” shouted captain Lorrig to the unsuspecting crowd below his stage, “As you may know by now, we have entered a partnership with Lady Cusith, head of the Dragon’s Nest clan!”
He was silent for a moment as the crowd focused in on him. A playful smile spread on his face and he said, “For those of you who don’t know; we have entered a partnership with Lady Cusith, head of the Dragon’s Nest.”
There was a round of laughter among the soldiers who had gathered for some indiscernible reason. Captain Lorrig had found forty men – twice as many as I had – and gathered them in the underground parking in preparation for taking over Viper territory.
We had four transports prepared for us, three of them for were intended purely as troop carriers while the last one had additional armour plating and was intended to be ridden by the VIPs – namely me, Chesnokov, Captain Lorrig, and some military negotiator that had nothing better to do on his day off. There was also a token force of four armed escorts with us, even though any one of us VIPs could take the entire escort squad out alone – except the negotiator, he was more of a bookworm than a warrior.
“Now you’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you here today!” shouted the captain, derailing my train of thought, “Today, we are going to help Lady Cusith take control of Viper!”
I shook my head slightly and tuned into the show, waiting for my cue to enter.
“I know that just yesterday we incurred heavy casualties in our skirmishes against the Blood Fang!” continued Captain Lorrig, “But unfortunately this is not something that can wait! We have realised that the best time to act is right now! I’ll allow Lady Cusith to fill you in on the details surrounding the reason and purpose of this operation before taking you through the plan!”
The crowd went silent as I stepped forward. “Thank you for offering your aid today, the success or failure this mission may be a major turning point for everyone, involved or not!”
Such formalities are rather tedious and tiresome, but they’re necessary when dealing with certain types of people and situations. In this case, it’s a good way to make sure everyone is thinking along the same lines.
“We are undertaking this mission now because the head and vice-head died less than 48 hours ago! I am sure the strategists among you understand the effect of striking an enemy while they are disorganised!” I shouted, “A disorganised enemy offers far less resistance than an organised one! With Viper forces confused and disoriented we can finish this without a direct confrontation!”
I paused for a moment to take a breath before continuing with my speech, “We have information that indicates the Viper group uses less-than-pleasant means to keep their forces in line, the plan is ultimately to use this fact combined with the loss of leadership to persuade most of their ground forces to side with us. Ideally we’ll be able to end this without a fight, but few plans ever survive first contact!”
I stopped and looked around the crowd while my words sunk in, “No doubt many of you are wondering why we feel the need to take over Viper! The reason is simple! We want to change the way things work down here in the slums! And to do that, we’ll need power! By claiming and merging territories we will amass power and influence! This is the first step towards the change we seek!”
As soon as I finished my speech the crowd applauded with all their might. It was quite loud for an audience of just forty people.
<[ Nice speech. Keeping things ambiguous and not detailing the specifics while making it seem grand and meritorious. ]>
<( Muahaha! Little do they know that ‘we’ refers to the three of us and that the ‘change’ we seek is a change of authority… in our favour no less! Hahahaha! )>
“Thank you, Lady Cusith,” said Captain Lorrig firmly as he stepped forward.
“You are most welcome,” I said with a smirk.
Captain Lorrig slowed his walk as we passed each other and whispered to me, “You’ve exceeded my expectations yet again.”
My grin widened for a moment but I wiped it away entirely before turning to face the audience again. The Captain resumed his own explanation about the plan as I leant against the wall next to Chesnokov.
The plan was simple, roll up to the front gates while broadcasting that their leaders are dead and hope they either let us in or ask for an explanation. From there we would explain the changes we plan to bring. If our suspicions are right and the majority of their forces are blackmailed into working for Viper under poor working conditions, then things should go smoothly.
That said, we’re actually expecting a fight. All the men coming along are armed to the teeth and ready for combat. I was given full loads of ammo and wore Grace’s artefact at the hip. Chesnokov had no visible weapons but I’m sure he’s the most well-armed person in the building, I’m wondering just how much he has hidden under that big overcoat.
<( Hey guys, this just Dawned on me, but… where did Chesnokov go while we were having sex with that random guy? )>
<<[ … ]>>
“Hey… Chesnokov…” I said hesitantly.
“Da?” resounded a rather plain response from the man next me.
Dismissing his anticlimactic response, I continued, “So, earlier, with that soldier...”
“I watched,” he said bluntly, “it was pretty hot. Not the first time I’ve seen a woman take the lead, but probably the first time I’ve seen a woman do it so forcefully.”
“Oh… I see…” I muttered, taken slightly aback by the bluntness of his admission, “So… you’ve seen that kind of thing often?”
He nodded and said, “Quite a few of my targets over the years have kept sex slaves and the likes – both men and women, it was not uncommon for me to use the opportunity to single out and eliminate said targets.”
I blinked a few times and nodded my head, deciding to quickly drop the topic. I’m not sure how I feel about Chesnokov having watched that, there’s some pride and there’s some apprehension mixed in there but no individual feeling stands out among the mess.
“-Move out!” shouted Captain Lorrig, grabbing my attention once again as the soldiers marched towards the three transports with open hatches.
Chesnokov and I left our resting positions and joined Captain Lorrig and the negotiator behind the fourth and final transport. Our escort stood at attention behind us as the hatch of the transport lowered to form a ramp into the vehicle.
Captain Lorrig was the first to walk up the ramp, the negotiator just two steps behind him. I followed them silently a few steps behind and boarded with Chesnokov in tow. The captain and his associate had seated themselves on two of the three cushioned seats to the left so I sat down on the right.
The vehicle was obviously equipped specially to carry VIPs; there were two rows of cushioned seats with extra elbow room situated in central compartment. There were two hard seats on either side of the compartment for the escorts which were separated from the central compartment by a metal mesh. The central compartment had a raised floor and extra decorations, giving a sense of importance.
I watched the rest of my company clip their seatbelts into place and followed suit.
First, bring the main belt over the left shoulder and hold the egg-shaped buckle in front of the sternum with the narrower arch pointing downwards.
Second, bring one of the belts by the right hip up to the buckle and clip it into the egg-shaped buckle along the long edge on the opposite side.
Third, bring the belt from over the right shoulder down to the buckle and clip it into the egg-shaped buckle along the short edge.
Fourth, bring up the belt by the left hip and connect it to the egg-shaped buckle like the others, along the long edge appropriate to the belt of course.
Lastly, take the second belt from the left hip across and connect it to the triangular buckle by the right hip.
There we go, done.
I honestly fail to understand the need for such a complex procedure. At least, I presume it to be procedure as everyone else did everything in exactly the same order.
As I was looking down at the numerous belts covering my torso the vehicle began to move. The change in momentum was surprisingly smooth, making me realise the difference between the military’s trained drivers and my own drivers. Looks like the first thing I’ll have to enforce when I get back will be proper training, regardless of job or role.
The ride was mostly uneventful; the only thing that happened was me learning the negotiators name – which was a rather entertaining revelation.
“Hello Miss Cusith,” he said with a mix of joviality and seriousness, “I will be your negotiator for this operation. I am of Arabic and English descent. My name is Massif Dick.”
I nodded once in acknowledgement while trying desperately to keep a straight face. In my peripheral vision, I noticed that Chesnokov had managed to keep a perfectly straight face, though half the escort were struggling to hold it in.
“Oh?” said Chesnokov, “Are you by any chance related to Lord Swart-Dick?”
“I’m surprised you knew my grandfather, he died several years ago,” said Massif with pleasant surprise.
“Of course I knew him,” said Chesnokov with a dismissive shrug, “I never forget a target.”
Having successfully stifled the atmosphere, Chesnokov leant back into his chair and closed his eyes. The rest of the trip was silent as a result. I leant back and closed my eyes, simply letting time pass.
In the silence, I sunk into meditation, simply delving into my psionic senses. This time was a little different from usual however. Usually, my psionic senses acted like a sonar system and mapped out the physical world around me, but this time I didn’t open my senses with the goal of mapping out the world around me. The result was vastly different.
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I sensed nine nebulous forms around me. Each form swayed and flowed mysteriously, giving off a very faint light. Only the closest three of them appeared clearly to me, the four that were slightly further away were distorted by something and the two furthest away were almost completely concealed. Of the four forms that were clear, one was far thicker and more strongly defined than any of the others. I turned my attention inwards and found something far more perplexing; a flow of energy.
The flow was excruciatingly slow and inefficient, almost like flood of mud flowing through a jagged and rocky canyon. It flowed fast enough to rampage against its confines yet slow enough that anyone with a duller awareness would claim it lay still.
Curious, I reached out and felt the flow. I could vaguely understand its purpose, but the depths of its functions remained a mystery. Without pause I began to map its routes throughout me and quickly discovered something fascinating, this energy appeared to originate from within my heart and flow alongside my blood through my veins – seeping into my body as it passed by. Eventually, the blood was left almost entirely devoid of the energy by the time it had spread to the furthest reaches of my body. From there it was drawn back towards the heart, the remaining slivers of energy permeated little more than the veins on the way back to the heart.
On the second inspection I realised that this energy, despite flowing alongside my blood, did not match the flow of blood. It was significantly slower.
I drew back and compared the flow of my blood and the flow of the unknown energy, confirming that they flowed at different paces. The energy flowed far slower, most of it radiating into the surroundings rather than flowing forwards. Intrigued by this I focused on a small piece of the flow and compared the two in maximum detail. After a scant few moments I began to get the impression that the energy was simply being pushed by the blood rather than flowing through it. In fact, the energy was leaking out of me as fast as it was being produced.
I wanted to try doing something with the energy but suddenly my eyes were forced open and my meditation was broken. An odd instinct had ended my meditation; I simply knew that I would have to do something in a few moments.
The instincts were proven correct when the vehicle came to a stop less than a second later. The rear hatch opened and everyone started removing their seatbelts. I pressed on the button in the middle of the buckle and all the belts retracted on their own, even the belt that lay across my waist.
The hatch opened and revealed a massive pair of gates surrounded by thick concrete walls. On top of the walls stood numerous men with guns pointed in our direction. One man stood out from the crowd, he wore a green overcoat that reached down to his knees and had one foot on the elevated edge of the wall. He leaned forward on his raised knee with one elbow and called out to us.
“Looky here!” he called, “Such fancy smancy guns! What’s such a finely dressed group like you doing at our gates?!”
I stepped forward and returned a call of my own, “I am Tiama Cusith! Leader of Dragon’s Nest! Your leader lies dead at my hands by his own undoing! ”
“Bullshit!” he shouted, “Yur a gurl! Nobody in der right mind wud follow a gurl!”
I released a loud laugh and say, “That’s the part you choose to question!? Why don’t you try proving your own leader’s continued existence first!”
“Our lead’r is right ass rain! Jus’ a liddle late!” he bellowed, “But le’s get back to da real problem! Dumb whores lyk you shud jus’ quietly lie in my bed and get fucked!”
A smirk grew on my face as I heard his supposed ‘argument’. I looked up and called back, “I find your attempt to insult my intelligence rather misplaced, thought about checking the mirror? Your uneducated words only prove your own inferiority in matters of intelligence; do you truly wish to continue this argument? While I’m more than willing to face you in a battle of wits I must confess that I find it in poor form to fight an unarmed opponent!”
“Silence bitch!” he screamed in a rage, “The problem is simpl’! You’re a gurl! A weak little slut!”
“I am stronger than you, that much I can guarantee!” I shouted up to him.
“Prove it!” he screamed with heavy breaths.
“Fine then! Shall we duel!?” I called up to him.
“I won’t fall fir dat!” he screamed, “You just gonna lure me to da middle of yous and shoot!”
“Were your bold words earlier just that!? Mere words!?” I called with a confident voice.
“YOUUUUU!!!!” he screamed and vanished behind the wall, “Yu’l get wats comin’ ta ya!!! A’ll show ya that yur wurth nothin’ without a gun!”
I immediately turned to Captain Lorrig and said, “Get your men into a half-circle and form one side of the ring.”
He nodded and started ordering people into the right formation as I walked forwards. I made a show of dropping my pistol to the floor and kicking it away, he returned the gesture in kind by hurling his own pistol to the side.
Obviously the dolt didn’t know what a safety was, as was made evident by the bang it made on impact – and the unlucky man on the wall crumpling over while holding down the fresh wound.
“I’m Jimmy! In charge all Viper forces! I rapot right ta da boss himself!” yelled the man as he appeared behind the gates.
The gates slowly slid apart and he walked towards me. As he drew closer I could see the finer details adorning him; his eyes were bloodshot and his hair was greasy, an entire quarter of his poorly shaven jawline was one massive scar. His scruffy beard showed no hint of civility and his breath was so bad it tinted the air he exhaled a slight yellow.
I snorted and said, “Such an unkempt man is in charge of ‘all’ viper’s fighting forces? What a joke.”
“Know yur place whore!” he roared and drew a long ceremonial knife, continuing his angry march towards me.
He didn’t stop walking to start the duel; he simply kept walking towards me. I kept an eye on his knife and assumed a lowered stance.
As soon as he was within arm’s length he swung the knife at my throat with all his might.
He didn’t even try to feint the strike or anything, it was a simple barbaric swing. This made it easy to predict and I caught his wrist with ease, using the momentum I pulled him towards me and punched him in the face with the other hand.
His head rocked back and his face held a thoroughly shocked expression.
Using the gap, I violently twisted his wrist and yanked it downwards, severely loosening his grip on the knife and making him drop it.
Continuing my combo, I stepped forwards and brought my knee up to his gut. He curled over and I thrust my foot downwards onto his. Sparing only a grunt of pain and a look of confusion, the man raised his head to look at me.
Without removing my foot, I took the chance to head-butt him in the face. He stumbled backwards but with one foot pinned in place he quickly fell to his back.
I grinned as I remembered something I had done not that long ago. I took two steps forward and shoved my heel into his eye socket. He didn’t even struggle.
I withdrew my heel and took a step back. I looked up and called out, “Can I assume that the rest of you are more willing to listen to reason than this idiot was!?”
“You can!” called a small voice from on top of the walls. This resulted in a weak bout of laughter from the men on top of the walls.
“How shall we do this?” I called up to them, “You’re not going to shoot us if we come inside, are you?”
“We’d never eat your leg and run like that!” called out another voice, creating several nods of agreement from the men on top of the walls.
I tilted my head at the turn of phrase but quickly dismissed it and walked towards the gates. As I approached they kindly opened the gates to make way for the vehicles. I kept left as the vehicles passed through. I noticed someone hailing the vehicles and guiding them to the right, directing them to park on flat ground off to the side of the place.
I kept walking until I was standing in the middle of the grounds and then stopped, looking around for some sort of representative to talk to. Viper’s men formed a wide circle around me and started gossiping.
Half a minute later three average men stepped out of the crowd in front of me. They gathered up shoulder-to-shoulder and locked eyes with me.
“And you are?” I asked with a neutral tone of voice.
They glanced at each other and the two on the sides nudged the guy in the middle forwards. He sighed and muttered something under his breath before looking up and saying, “I am Gerald. This is Harry, and this is Martin.” He gestured to the two behind him and paused a moment before speaking again. “We were planning a rebellion to overthrow that pig of a boss. We had several plans to weaken the base of his power – and potentially overthrow him in one move – during his absence, but the fear of him and his ways was more deeply rooted than we expected. Ultimately our plans never even got off the ground, though if what you say about his death is true… then maybe there’s hope.”
“You do realise that the pig wasn’t really in charge, right?” I said with a raised eyebrow, “It was the skinny man who controlled him from the background. The ‘pig’ was just a figurehead.”
“That… would actually explain a lot…” admitted the man, “That fatass seemed far too stupid to think up most of the plans we were given. I had wondered on several occasions how he was able to manage and control as much as he did.”
He scratched the back of his neck nervously and looked down in shame.
“So,” I said, “Shall I explain what’s going on?”
“Please do,” he said politely with a small tilt of his head.
“It’s simple,” I said plainly, “I’m taking over, and things are going to change around here.”
There were mixed reactions among the crowd, some became extremely wary while others became extremely hopeful. Some people appeared to be unable to decide how they felt, though most were quick to choose between expectations or doubts. The three representatives were, oddly enough, a perfect mix of the options – the one on the left looked at me with hostility, the one on the right looked at me hopefully, and the one in the middle had a mix of the two on his face.
Suddenly, the one on the left spoke up angrily, “Bah! You’re all the same! Take your ‘protection’ fees and leave!”
I turned to him and spoke confidently, “I know how most gangs work; they extort money from people under the guise of ‘protection fees’ but the only thing the ‘fees’ protect you from is sabotage by the gang itself.
Now, while I do plan on charging protection fees, I do not plan on extorting anyone in such a manner.”
“Oh?” he said with a mix of hostility and sarcasm, “Pray tell, if you don’t plan to extort us, then how will you make us pay them?”
I smiled and said, “Well, first and foremost, paying for protection will actually give you protection. Failing to pay for said protection will make me retract the protection of the area in question until money is paid.”
The man looked at me in confusion; he looked like he wanted to say something but the man in the middle spoke before he could formulate a response.
“Please elaborate on that, I’m not sure I completely understand,” requested the main in the middle with a serious expression.
“Sure,” I said with a shrug, “I’ll break the territory down into areas, the residents of a particular area will pay collectively for the protection of the area. It’s more of a donation than a fee really; there is no set amount to pay, but the more the area pays, the more guards will be assigned to patrol the area. Going a step further, the guards’ priority will be based on the individual contribution – the more you pay the faster the patrols will react to something happening. This way, even if you can’t afford to pay for protection your neighbours can help you pull through without having to go out of their way to do so.”
“And what of our families who are trapped in cells underground? And the ones who were forced to wear explosive collars?” he asks without pause.
“They will be set free,” I said, “Though I don’t know how everything works in this area, I can’t help them find shelter and settle down. For now I’ll have to leave that to you lot to figure out.”
At this point most of the crowd had become hopeful of my rule, though a few still held doubts.
“What will you do to those who disobey your orders?” asked the middle representative.
“That depends entirely on the way in which they ‘disobey’ my orders,” I said with a straight face, “I actively support independence and will even reward those who make good decisions on their own… but I have no mercy for those who openly show hostility to me; if you point your weapon at me with intent to kill, your life will be forfeit.
That said, I am also willing to be understanding. If you have anger towards me as the result of my own actions or inactions then I will not reprimand you in any way whatsoever. Be warned however, this consideration will not save you if you actually attempt anything more than voicing your problems.”
I heard several gulps during my speech, but nobody interrupted me.
Nervously, the representative on the right asked, “What will you do to those who cause trouble in the community but not in front of you?”
“They will be apprehended and locked up by the guards patrolling the area – assuming the area has paid for protection. From there the community from within the area they offended will decide their punishment. In most cases it will be left to the guards to enforce this punishment, but in special cases I will deal with it as necessary.”
There were several sighs of relief around the crowd and even some nods of approval.
“How will you ensure the behaviour of the guards?” asked the middle representative with a serious face.
“The guards chosen for any area will be primarily be residents of the area itself, mixed with a few from other areas to ensure fairness. Additionally, at the end of each month the residents of the area will be asked to report on the performance and behaviour of that month’s guards… these reports will be taken into consideration both when deciding the following month’s guard roster and when paying them their salary.”
The three representatives exchanged glances for a few seconds before nodding to each other. They turned back to me and said in unison, “““Please take care of us, Ma’am!”””
The rest of the crowd followed suite and showed their acceptance in their own ways. Some saluted, some bowed, and some even kneeled.
I grinned and said, “From today I will take care of all of you! Please refer to me as ‘Lady Cusith’ or ‘Milady’!”