Chapter 16

As we entered Lizzie's, we were met at the door by Punchin' Judy, who seemed anxious. That wasn't like her, from what I knew, and the relief that spread across her face as we entered wasn't like her either.

"Ernie! Man, am I glad to see you!" Grinned Judy.

"What's the sitch, Punchin' Judy?" I questioned, nodding at her.

"You know what? I'm so glad to see you, I'm gonna ignore the nickname." Huffed Judy.

"Now I know this biz with the Tyger Claws is serious. You wouldn't skip an opportunity to bitch about that otherwise." I chuckled.

"Yeah, Yuk it up, Leadhead. You're not wrong, though." Admitted Judy.

"That bad?" I queried.

"Later, when Suzie Q gets here. So, this is your crew?" Asked Judy.

"Yeah, V and Jackie Welles. V's an Ex-Nomad can drive just about anything and a damn good shot to boot. Jackie, well, he and I grew up together. He's always had my back, a real Choom, good for when time comes to Slammit On." I confirmed, introducing V and Jackie.

"Hey." Nodded V.

"Hey, yourself." Grinned Judy.

"Easy, she's taken, Chica." Smirked Jackie.

"Oh yeah?" Questioned Judy.

"It's a new thing." Admitted V.

"Good for you." Nodded Judy.

"Big E's not taken if you're looking." Offered Jackie, smirk morphing into a giant, shit-eating grin as he tried to fuck about with my love life.

"She doesn't swing that way, Jaquito." I opined.

"Yeah, but you've gotta get back in the game, Choom. You and Carmen haven't gotten together in a few months, so I'm guessing your on-again, off-again thing is off permanently. Guys in the neighborhood are starting to wonder." Remarked Jackie.

"Guys in the neighborhood can Stuffit." I huffed.

"They do, regularly. You don't." Opined V.

"What is this, shit all over Ernesto day?" I queried.

"It just might be, Ernie. It just might be." Nodded Judy.

At that, everyone laughed, and the tension in the room that'd been pretty sky-high lowered a couple levels. I honestly didn't mind being the Gonk who's the butt of the joke every once in a while if it helped with morale. The tension in the Bar alone could've killed a Gonk before that. It helped that Punchin' Judy was about as sarcastic as they came. Everyone coped differently, and if it helped ease her into this whole ordeal, I definitely didn't mind. As soon as the laughter died down, Judy nodded at me.

"Man, I seriously needed that. You've got no idea how bad shit's been getting for us lately." Sighed Judy.

"Well, we're here to talk with your boss to see if we can't help with that. If the Eddies are good, we're your huscle." Admitted Jackie.

"Won't be the first time I've zeroed Tyger Claws." Added V.

"Yeah, besides, we just helped the Valentinos run Sixth Street out of town. I'd like to think we can handle the Tyger Claws and some Russian Mob guys from the Organiskaya too." I confirmed.

"That's good to hear, 'cause we've been getting squeezed on all sides here." Came a Voice from the side entrance.

I turned to see Suzie Q arrive, her yellow jacket scuffed and burned in places. She was flanked by two kitted-out, Rimbo-looking Moxes. One with hair that'd been dyed acid green and a pair of Millitech Sheriff Heavy Pistols in shoulder holsters hanging off an open combat vest. She also had quite a lot of RealSkinn that was clearly covering up the chrome she had chipped in. The other was a woman with jet black hair who had a Kukri in one hand and a Millitech Lexington in the other. I was willing to bet her arms were Chromed Up from the RealSkinn covering her hands, but I couldn't say for sure, thanks to the Cheetah Print Faux Leather Jacket she wore.

"Looks like you almost got zeroed on the way here." Mused Jackie.

"Some Organiskaya Gonks thought they could zero Suzie Q with grenades, they were wrong." Huffed Suzie Q.

"Who's the new Huscle?" Asked Judy.

"Erika Nightly and Jessie Nyan. They're a pair of Solos from NorCal and new to Night City. They did some Biz for a mutual friend who sent them our way." Answered Suzie Q.

"So they had to leave NorCal, huh?" I questioned.

"We could've handled it." Huffed Erika Nightly, the Girl with the Acid Green Hair.

"It would've been tough for a while, though. This was a lot simpler." Nodded Jessie Nyan, the Girl with the Kukri and Cheetah Print Jacket.

"I'll bet. I might have heard a little something about someone blowing up a Biotechnica lab near Tahoe a few weeks ago." Snorted V.

"They had it coming." Scowled Erika Nightly.

"Yeah, stupid Corpo-Rats were doing some nasty Scop there." Opined Jessie Nyan.

"I'm sure they did and were. Right now, though, you two ought to spend some time unwinding. Meantime, I need to talk Biz with Big E and his crew." Soothed Suzie Q.

"Lead the way." I agreed.

Soon enough, Jackie, V, and I were seated in Suzie Q's Neon-Lit Office, drinks in hand and ready to discuss eddies for us to be hired on as Huscle. Of course, the Free Huscle that was provided by Erika and Jessie was unexpected, cutting down on our negotiating leverage, but not by as much as you'd think. After all, those two didn't just run an entire organization of Gangoons out of town. In fact, they'd just been run out of a town themselves. We still had the upper hand in the negotiating Biz, at least for now.

"So, let's talk Eddies. I know you've done work for us before, E, but I don't know your crew except by reputation." Started Suzie Q.

"That Reputation is pretty damn Nova, though. As far as Preem Huscle in this Town, we're the ones you want." Tried Jackie.

"Throttle back, Choom." Murmured V.

"Jackie makes a good point, though. Our reputation right now is pretty Nova." I pointed out.

"You're the Flavor of the Week, sure. Don't go thinking you're the baddest crew ever to walk the Earth 'cause of that, though. You're not that hard yet." Cautioned Suzie Q.

"That's true, but we bring something to the table that those two downstairs don't. Unqualified Success." Insisted V.

"You had help there. I somehow doubt the Valentinos just had you do all the work." Refuted Suzie Q.

"Like the Mox won't be fighting alongside us? Try again." Insisted Jackie.

"If you want to talk things we did ourselves. Let's talk. The three of us, with no back-up from the Valentinos, attacked a Sixth Street Stronghold at the Old Stop-N-Leave Center. There were one-hundred Sixth Street Gangoons there, plus three Solos, one of which was a Full Borg, and we not only survived, we destroyed them. That's what we can bring to the table here." I informed.

"I'd heard. All right, I'm gonna be real with you three. The Mox are hurting for Eddies right now. We're getting squeezed on all sides by Tyger Claws, Organiskaya, and even the Animals since they're trying to make up lost ground elsewhere. We can't afford to pay you too much." Admitted Suzie Q.

"How much are you offering?" Questioned V.

"Right now? I can do five hundred eddies a day, plus a signing bonus of ten grand each." Informed Suzie Q.

"That's not much. The Padre paid us more than that." Frowned Jackie.

"It's not the worst, especially since our Rep is gonna skyrocket again. We'll want first pick of any spoils gained from the Tyger Claws, though. Plus bonuses to be negotiated later once the situation stabilized." I warned.

"I can do that." Nodded Suzie Q.

"Great. Flick us the detes." I agreed.

Suzie Q did so, and soon, V, Jackie, and myself each found ourselves ten grand richer with five hundred eddies added soon afterward. We were now officially Huscle for the Mox for as long as this thing with the Tyger Claws and Organiskaya lasted. However, no sooner had we received our Eddies and gotten in bed with the Mox than Punchin' Judy came rushing up the stairs from the Bar.

"You guys need to come downstairs fast! Rita just got a call from one of the lookouts near Sutter Street! The Tyger Claws are coming this way, ready to Slammit On!" Warned Judy.

"Looks like you hired us just in time." Intoned V.

"Yeah, now you get to see the kind of Hard Gatos you've got on your side now." Chuckled Jackie.

"All right, let's show our new Employers why they were right to hire us. Judy, what kind of vehicles were they driving?" I asked.

"What?" Questioned Judy.

"Their cars, Judy. What kind of cars were they using to head over here?" I repeated.

"Quadra Turbo-R's and Mizutani Shion's, apparently. Eight of Each. Rita just flicked over the detes." Informed Judy.

"Right, so that's at most three Gangoons per car at sixteen cars. It seems like forty-eight Tyger Claws at most are headed this way." I mused.

"What are you thinking?" Queried V.

"Is that Twenty-Millimeter mounted to the Ao Guang full-up on Ammo?" I asked.

"No, I didn't have time to tap my smuggler connections for shells." Admitted V.

"Damn shame. Sounds like we'll have to do this the Old-Fashioned Way, eh Ernesto?" Grinned Jackie.

"Sounds like. Compared to the Stop-N-Leave, it should be easy." I nodded.

"Yeah, well, just in case, I'm gonna send Erika and Jessie out with you as backup. Judy, go tell them it's time to earn their keep again." Spoke up Suzie Q.

"Sure thing." Agreed Judy.

"Right, I guess we should head out to meet them in the Parking Lot instead of waiting for them to come into the bar." I remarked.

"After you." Smirked V.

"Yeah, you're the one with all the preem chrome chipped in." Chuckled Jackie.

"Fine. Come on." I agreed.

V, Jackie, and I made our way back downstairs and out into the Parking Lot of Lizzie's. We were joined moments later by the two other Solos Suzie Q had gotten the services of, Erika Nightly and Jessie Nyan. They arrived not a moment too soon, as well. No sooner had they joined us than the parade of Quadra and Mizutani Sports Cars came roaring down the road toward Lizzie's, blasting out the manufactured sounds of Us Cracks as they did so. I steeled myself, waiting for them to pull into the lot.

They did that moments later as Tyger Claws Gangoons piled out of their cars. There were fewer of them than I'd thought, forty-two in total rather than the forty-eight that I'd planned on fighting. That was still three times as many Tyger Claws Gangoons as the Mox had combatants at Lizzie's right now. It was a good thing that they'd hired us as Huscle, then. All of the Tyger Claws had weapons, most had a Melee Weapon of some kind, usually a Katana but sometimes one of those big, two-handed, Kanabo clubs, and either a pistol or shotgun. All clearly had some level of Reflex Tuners based on how they moved, and a few had clear Cyberlimbs.

The leader was a shirtless man whose chest was covered in tattoos and who wore an open leather longcoat and black leather pants. From how he was moving, I was pretty sure he had reflex tuners. That shirtlessness probably also meant he had some Preem Subdermal Chrome, too, and likely some pain editors as well. He had a Katana in one hand that buzzed with some sort of energy as he held it up, pointing at the door to Lizzie's and lowering the pair of sunglasses he wore to reveal a pair of high-tech cybereyes.

"Step aside. We have no quarrel with any of you. We want the Mox out of Japantown. You do not need to shed blood for them." Offered the Leader.

As he spoke, a name supplied itself from Big E's memories. Takeda Ken, a Captain of the Tyger Claws who ran a street-racing and betting operation up near Jig-Jig Street. He wasn't super high up as far as it went, another Middle Management Type like Jotaro and the other two I'd zeroed at Kyoraku Sushi, but he was less like them and more like you'd expect from an Organization that took its cues from the Yakuza. If he said he'd let us step aside, he meant it. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen.

"Can't do that. Solos have a code, too, you know? We stay till the Job is done." I refused.

"I suppose there is Giri in that, Ronin. A shame, but you will die here today." Sighed Takeda.

And like that, there was nothing more that needed to be said. The Tyger Claws all pulled their Iron, and we did the same. Time slowed down as I began to run the Numbers, calculating trajectories and probabilities and coming up with strategies for winning this fight, aided by my Cranial Implants and Enhanced Intellect. When time finally sped back up, I activated my Sandy and Kerenzikov, blurring into motion.

And the battle for Lizzie's Bar had begun. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we see the next chapter. Big E and Company have hired on with the Mox for the duration of the War with the Tyger Claws and their Organiskaya Allies. They aren't the only ones either, being joined by two newbie Solos in Erika Nightly and Jessie Nyan. Notably, those two are not Solos from any splatbooks or the Video Game like Isolate and Hammer were, but are Original Characters, similar to what I did with Lariat.

At any rate, the next chapter will include the fight with Takeda and his Tyger Claws Hit Squad. I'll also have character sheet updates and images out before then as well.

Stay tuned. . .