Chapter 14

Celebrations at El Coyote Cojo lasted well into the night and didn't just involve Jackie, V, and Myself either. Not only did Misty join us after she finished up at Vik's for the day, but we had people coming in and out of the bar to pay their respects. Not just Valentinos Members either, but regular civilians. Almost everyone in this part of Heywood had either lost someone to Sixth Street's constant desire to Slammit On with the Valentinos or knew someone who did. I had just as many Abuelas thanking me for avenging the deaths of a grandkid as I did Valentinos Gangoons from the neighborhood coming in to share a drink.

Honestly, I took it all in stride while V seemed bemused by the whole thing. Jaquito, though? He was soaking it all in like a dying man in the desert soaks in water. I couldn't say I didn't see where he was coming from. In a way, this was the sorta thing he'd always wanted. A Preem Street Rep and all the respect that came with it. Of course, I knew that sort of shit was ephemeral. Solos got tossed away by Fixers and whatnot all the time. You only need to look at what happened with Dex DeShawn in Pacifica to see that. He threw Rhino and T-Bug under the bus and Ghosted off, leaving them stuck in a newly-minted Combat Zone to bombshell on their own.

Regardless, Jaquito only ever had eyes for the big time, which his new Nova-Hot Rep would ensure he got to. He was having the time of his life as folks came by to pay their respects. A lot more than V or I was, at any rate. At some point, even Tio Padre came by to see us, his Primary Bodyguard, Marcus trailing behind him. They made for an odd-looking pair if you didn't know any better. Marcus with his muscled bulk, longcoat, and sunglasses, and Tio Padre with his bald head, paunch, and sweater vest. Anyone who knew better, though, knew that Tio Padre was the more dangerous of the pair, despite appearances.

"Tio Padre! Didn't expect you to come see us." I beamed.

"I wanted to give you all your payment in person, Nephew. And to speak with you in private." Responded Tio Padre.

As he said this, Marcus handed over a trio of Chops to my Uncle who handed one each to myself, Jackie, and V. A quick scan revealed that there was fifteen grand in Eddies on the Chop I'd just been handed over. A pretty preem bonus, since it seemed like Sixth Street was on the way out. Jackie and V's expressions told me they'd also gotten the same amount.

"Gracias, Padre. That bonus is gonna be a big help." Grinned Jackie.

"You three did what I doubt many others could do. Three against a hundred was no small thing. You more than earned that Bonus." Nodded Tio Padre.

"So, what are you gonna do with your share of how this all panned out?" Questioned V.

"Get a proper apartment. I moved out of Mama's place but haven't found anywhere the Eddies are good for. Been living out of my Garage for the past month. What about you, Chica?" Queried Jackie.

"Been saving up for a new Kombi. The Yacatecuhtli is great and all, but if we're gonna be moving up to the Big Leagues now, we're gonna want something with some firepower added into the mix." Shrugged V.

"Just be wary that such a vehicle may draw more attention than you bargained for." Warned Tio Padre.

"I haven't met the Gangoon who thinks tangling with an armored monster with a twenty-millimeter Autocannon bolted to the top is a nova idea." Shrugged V.

"You can get that sort of thing?" Asked Jackie.

"V's a Nomad, Jaquito. I'm sure there's all sorts of Nova Iron she can grab that the Nomads scavenged off the battlefields of the Unification War and rebuilt." I reminded.

"I know some folks in the area who might be willing to do a custom job if I have the eddies, and I definitely have the eddies now." Confirmed V.

"And now, Nephew, if I might have a moment of your time. Alone." Insisted Tio Padre.

"Si, Tio. Hacer de guía." I agreed, bidding my Uncle to lead the way.

A few moments later, I found myself in the back of Tio Padre's Car, though this time, Marcus was standing outside, a lit cigarette in his mouth. Padre looked over at me and shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"Nephew, you and your team have done what I never could have dreamed. Sixth Street has been a problem for us for decades, and now it seems that they're finally turning on themselves after the beating they took this afternoon. I have had word that we have advanced deep into Santo Domingo. The Snake is eating its own tail even while we circle overhead." Chuckled Tio Padre.

"I couldn't have done it without Jackie and V." I responded.

"I know. Your loyalty to your crew reminds me of a younger version of myself. Your father was like that too for his people, back before his death. I should not be surprised that you have that quality within you as well." Chuckled Tio Padre.

"They're Chooms." I shrugged.

"Yes, but I wonder if you know just what you and your Chooms are getting yourselves into?" Questioned Tio Padre.

"As far as I know, we haven't taken on any new biz yet." I frowned.

"No? Then perhaps you have not heard of goings on in Japantown?" Queried Tio Padre.

"What's going down in Japantown?" I asked.

"The Tyger Claws have moved a force from Japantown into Northern Vista Del Ray. They seek to project a show of strength after the recent murder of three of their Up-and-coming M-management People. They have sensed that Sixth Street is on their way out as well as anyone and have pounced on two Sex Shops owned by Sixth Street as Silent Partners in Northwest Vista Del Rey that they use as money laundries, along with a small chop shop on Petrel Street and a pair of safehouse in the same area. They have largely taken over the Sixth Street Presence in Northwestern Vista Del Rey." Informed Tio Padre.

"I don't see what you're driving at Tio." I remarked.

"That is because you have not needed to see the big picture before now. Allow me to make it plain for you, Nephew. With the Tyger Claws on the rise, taking advantage of some of the vacuum that Sixth Street's Fall created, what do you suppose will happen to your Amigas in the Mox?" Intoned Tio Padre.

"You know about that?" I questioned.

"I may be old, Nephew, but I am not so old that I cannot hear the whispers from the street when they reach me." Chided Tio Padre.

"I think I get what you're saying. If I want to get down to Biz in the Big Leagues, I'm gonna have to keep the bigger picture in mind." I sighed.

"Unless you have a sponsor. Not every group of solos need be freelance, Nephew." Reminded Tio Padre.

"Who would sponsor us? Would you?" I queried.

"I cannot, unfortunately. It would be seen as rank nepotism. However, should you help your Amigas in the Mox weather the coming storm, I would not be surprised if you and your Crew don't find the Queen of the Afterlife herself sending out an invitation." Mused Tio Padre.

"Really? You think it'd be that big a deal?" I asked.

"If you can prove you can do for the Mox what you have done for us? Absolutely. It will prove that your competence is real and not a fluke. Just be careful, Nephew. I have heard some. . .disconcerting rumors about what the Tyger Claws may be up to. You may find yourself facing off against more than just Tyger Claws, but also Members of the Organiskaya and potentially Corporate Backers as well." Warned Tio Padre.

"Twenty-Twenty Hindsight, Tio. We'll watch our backs." I promised.

"That is all I ask, Nephew. Now, I think you should return to your Crew. I have kept you long enough." Nodded Tio Padre.

And with that, I was let out of My Uncle's Car and headed back inside El Coyote Cojo. I spent a couple more hours drinking and partying with V, Jackie, and Misty, before begging off. My Uncle's Warning had made me feel like I should Bombshell and head back home for the night to tinker and prep. I had stuff to reverse-engineer, after all, and if things really were about to go down in Japantown, then I needed to be ready with new gear.

"Aww come on, stay for another round and live a little!" Pleaded Jackie.

"Can't do it, Choom. I've got a few things to do yet before racking out." I refused.

"Fine, I'll drive you." Offered V.

"You good to drive, Chica?" Questioned Jackie.

"Better than you." Snorted V.

"I've just had a bit of tequila. It's not like I'm a Dorphead or anything." Scoffed Jackie.

"Jaquito, you've had about Nine Tequilas." I pointed out.

"That's nothing." Insisted Jackie.

"That's more than half a bottle." I pressed.

"The Chrome'll take care of it." Shrugged Jackie.

"No, they're right. I'm gonna be driving you home tonight." Chimed in Misty.

"Aw come on." Whined Jackie.

"No. Keys." Insisted Misty, holding out her hand expectantly.

"You know what happens when you've annoyed your Mainline, Jaquito. I'd hand Misty your keys." I chuckled.

"Cabron." Grumbled Jackie.

"Gonk." I retorted.

Jackie just shrugged at that and handed his keys over to Misty before enfolding me in a giant bear hug, a huge grin on his face as he did so. I slapped him on his back as I returned the hug and he nodded at me.

"We did the impossible today, Ernesto! Just you wait, Biz from all over's gonna start flooding in, mark my words!" Beamed Jackie.

"Throttle back, Choom." Snorted V.

"I'll see you later, Jaquito." I waved before I headed out to the parking lot with V and got into her Yacatecuhtli. The drive didn't take long to get to Megabuilding H-Five where my place was, however, as I made to get out, V stopped me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"You've been worried about something since you spoke with the Padre. Jackie might be too much of a leadhead from the Tequila to see it, but I can." Intoned V.

"We may have actually broken Sixth Street for good today. I'm worried about the power vacuum that's left." I explained.

"Shouldn't the Valentinos fill that?" Queried V.

"Normally, yeah, but Tio Padre confirmed that the Tyger Claws grabbed a piece of the action too. I'm worried about Punchin' Judy and the Mox." I admitted.

"You think the Tyger Claws are gonna Slammit On with the Mox soon?" Asked V.

"It's a strong possibility. There's too much bad blood between them. I wanna be ready just in case. Got a new kinda Iron to work on, plus some other stuff that might give us the edge." I informed.

"Sounds like Big Picture Stuff." Mused V.

"Tio Padre made me think it might be a good idea to pay attention to big picture stuff now that we're in the Big Leagues." I nodded.

"Just don't overdo it, yeah?" Frowned V.

"I won't. I know you're headed out to the Badlands to grab a new Kombi. Watch your ass, V. I'd hate to lose a Choom so fast." I intoned.

"Twenty-Twenty Hindsight. Don't worry about me." Agreed V.

And with that, I got out of the Yacatecuhtli and headed up to my apartment. I would spend the next day or so tinkering, pulling apart both the Millitech Perseus and one of the Militech Mastiffs to reverse-engineer. Those only took me a few hours each to figure out, my Autofactory disassembling chemicals and various pieces of equipment the whole time into resources and materials for my tinkering, but by the time I did, I set to work on a design for a new Combination Autogun.

The thing took advantage of my recently-gained knowledge of both the Perseus and Mastiff, alongside my recently gained knowledge of Tau Weaponry and Star Wars Hardware, as well as my Mastery of Mechanicus Ballistic Designs. The end result was something I called the Xipe Totec. It was, effectively, a Combination Autogun and Railgun that could be wielded like a submachinegun that fired a combination of ten-millimeter ammo and magnetically accelerated charged pulse rounds.

In effect, this was a smaller Autogun that could also fire magnetically propelled Plasma Rounds if I needed an extra punch. Fortunately, I was also able to use a bit of Alchemy to treat the rails of the underslung Plasma Round Launcher so that the Pulse Plasma Rounds would not only have that much more punch, but the rails wouldn't wear out. The whole thing was powered by a Chemical Power Cell that I based off of the one that powered lightsabers from my Star Wars Knowledge, though I had to lean heavily on Alchemy to get it to work the way I needed it to. Thanks to that, though, I shouldn't ever need to replace the power cell unless it got destroyed or a century elapsed, whichever came first.

Once that was done, I began looking into something I probably should have looked into beforehand. A way to deal with the Electrical Damage that seemed to be able to bypass most of my armor. This I found in the knowledge of the Hekau of Amulets I possessed, creating a Princely Ward inscribed on an amulet that would effectively make me immune to most forms of electricity. I'd have to effectively be hit with an actual lightning strike to get hurt from electricity while wearing the amulet that I had inscribed the ward on. That took a few more hours.

Next, I set to reverse-engineer the Cannon that V had taken off of Isolate, which took another few hours, before designing a new Sniper Rifle for her based on the Tau Rail Rifle but using the Cannon's Smart Link capabilities. This I called the Tezcatlipoca. Once that was done, I produced a design for a stripped-down version of a Tau Pulse Blaster for Jackie that was powered by a similar Alchemical Power Cell as my Xipe Totec. The Huitzilopochtli Pulse Caster was the result, which functioned as a sort of Stripped-Down Plasma Shotgun.

Finally, I set to designing a heavier vest for Jackie, V, and Myself for use in everyday situations. This took the form of an interlocking series of Ceramite and Armaplas Scales sewn to a Mesh Armor Backing with a dual-layer alchemical coating to increase impact and energy resistance. The result was a design for a lightweight, extremely protective vest.

Once I had everything reverse-engineered, designed, and crafted, however, I finally could not push things anymore. Even my enhanced body was starting to get tired after forty-eight hours without sleeping. Setting an alarm to wake me up in twelve hours, I collapsed into my bed and began sawing logs.

In my dreams, I would once again see the life of Aleksander Yurinov, Champion of Flidais and Bearer of the Celestial Menagerie. . .

XXXX

This time, when I saw Aleksander Yurinov, he was wearing some sort of odd-looking, bony, armor. As he walked through a hail of gunfire from what had to be a dozen, track-suited, Chromed-Up, Scavs. The rounds all deflected off his armor like they weren't shit as he moved through the group like it was no big deal. Whatever that Armor was, it was Preem.

One of the Scavs, a big burly guy with a pair of Gorilla Arms and an open tracksuit that showed various tattoos on his chest and shoulders, rushed forward to try and swing a vicious-looking Monoblade Axe into Aleksande's side. Instead of cutting into the Champion of Flidais, though, the axe stopped short of the armor as Aleksander grabbed the Scav by the wrist, his grip actually causing the gorilla arms the Scav had Chipped in to groan in protest. Aleksander looked at the tattoo on the chest of the Scav, a picture of the Virgin Mary tattooed over his heart before looking back at the Scav.

"Not Capable of Betrayal, eh? Too bad." He remarked, before ripping the Scav's Cyberarm right out of its socket.

"Bozhe Moi!" Swore one of the other Scavs as the Burly Scav who had just had his chrome ripped out sank to his knees screaming, blood and lubricant gushing from his torn open socket.

Aleksander Yurinov said nothing, just drawing a pistol and firing a single shot point blank into the Burly, One-Armed, Scav's head execution-style. The Burly Scav collapsed dead to the floor of the Scav den as Aleksander looked over to the remaining bunch of Scavs in the Den.

"You have set up shop in territory belonging to an ally of the Organiskaya. I will give you one chance to leave. I would suggest you take it." Intoned Aleksander.

"And if we don't?" Demanded one of the Scavs.

"Then you will share his fate." Answered Aleksander.

"Cyka! I joined the Scavs to escape from Organiskaya Territory, now they get to just walk in here and push us around? Nyet, he is bluffing." Scowled one of the Other Scavs.

"You saw what he did to Dmitri! Who has that kind of strength? No, we should leave!" Insisted another.

"Dmitri Vasilovich rushed in to engage in melee and died. We do not have to repeat his mistake." Scoffed the First Scav.

"Bullets were bouncing off his armor! How do you propose to deal with that, Ignatiy?" Scoffed the other.

"He's a doughboy. I would suggest grenades." Shrugged the First Scav, Ignatiy.

"And if that does not work?" Pressed the Other Scav.

"Have faith, Konstantin." Exhorted Ignatiy.

"No. I have seen too much to have faith. I will leave while I can. Who is with me?" Demanded the Other Scav, Konstantin.

Four of the nine remaining Scavs seemed to be with Konstantin, and they decided to take Aleksander's offer to leave. They headed out of the darkened Scav Den while Ignatiy and his lot grabbed grenades from a nearby bucket, readying themselves for the next burst of Combat. As soon as the last of Konstantin's group of Scavs had left, Aleksander turned to Ignatiy.

"You decided to stay? That was foolish. I have no more time to waste on such Gonks." He scowled.

"Khuy tebe! You and the Organiskaya can fuck yourselves!" Spat Ignatiy as he pulled the pin on his grenade.

Before he could throw it, however, Aleksander snapped his fingers, and suddenly the Salt Mephit appeared to suck the moisture out of Ignatiy, causing some of the chrome he had chipped in to burst through his suddenly desiccated skin. Ignatiy screamed in pain, dropping to the floor, his grenade rolling out of his grasp to explode near a trio of other Scavs, setting off their grenades and turning them and Ignatiy into a fine red mist in the combined explosion. The other two Scavs, meanwhile, suddenly found themselves beset by a roaring, robotic, Armadillo-Bear giant claws wrenching the head off of one before he could even pull the pin on his grenade, while the other turned to flee only to be blinded by the Salt Mephit swinging around to cast Glitterdust into his eyes.

With a cackle, the Salt Mephit swung back toward Aleksander who was advancing with his pistol out and ready to fire. The Last Scav turned to throw his grenade, trusting in the area of effect to get a piece of Aleksander. However, the Champion of Flidais managed to just walk right on through the explosion. It was then I realized the sort of Preem Shit that Armor was. He must have somehow managed to figure out not only how to have all three of his Creatures Summoned at once, but how to turn them into equipment as well. That Armor was clearly his Ankylosaurus in armor form, suped up to the nines.

"You should have left when you had the chance. Wakako says no Scavs or Animals in Japantown. What is good for Wakako is Good for the Organiskaya. That is how alliances work." Frowned Aleksander.

"I'll tell the others, please!" Begged the Last Scav.

"Do not trouble yourself. I will tell them." Responded Aleksander Yurinov. Then he fired three rounds from his pistol zeroing the Last Scav.

I woke up on the last pistol shot. . .

XXXX

I woke still half-asleep with the echo of the third and last pistol shot blurring into the beeping of my alarm. I frowned as I swung my legs over the side of my bed and got up to check on the progress of my autofactory. It looked like the Guns were ready, as were the vests, but only half the Pulse Plasma Rounds I'd set it to produce were ready.

Frowning, I flicked through my messages, coming up with one from Judy. Suzie Q wanted to meet up at Lizzie's to talk Biz. Apparently, the Tyger Claws were pressuring the Mox to either pay tribute, leave, or be destroyed. They wanted to meet and see if they couldn't get me to Huscle for them on retainer. I flicked back a message to Judy asking when Suzie Q had in mind. The reply wasn't immediate, though I knew she'd seen it.

Instead, I headed over to El Coyote Cojo for a bite to eat while I waited. If I knew my Crew, they'd be by soon enough and I could let them know what the sitch was with the Mox and Tyger Claws. Given how Vulcan had sent me a dream involving the Scavs, and Aleksander Yurinov had mentioned the Animals too, I was getting the feeling that this was bigger than just another round of Tyger Claws versus the Mox.

I had no way of knowing just how right I was. . .

XXXX

AN: I was feeling inspired so you guys get one more chapter of this today. Here we see a few things, notably, the shape of the next Arc is taking form and is looking like it's about to draw Big E and Aleksander Yurinov into conflict finally. The Organiskaya and Tyger Claw Alliance was a direct response by Wakako to Big E's existence since she wasn't getting much from her Arasaka Contacts. This Arc will bridge the remaining time between the start of the story and the beginning of the Game's Plot.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve meeting with V and Jackie and getting them on board with the meeting at Lizzie's. I'll have sheet updates for both Big E and Aleksander Yurinov out before then, along with some images.

Stay tuned. . .