Dominion He's a Time Bomb | Darkwire Dominion of Belazura

[Daiya]

Location: At the BelWay Resort & Stay
Objective: Protect the most valuable thing in reach
Allies Nearby: Cassus Akovin

---

A scream pierced the suite as Arlunia, the Bookworm bodyguard, toppled to the floor with a dull thud. Zenie stood, her mouth open as its scream died out, transfixed as her courage quickly chilled into an icy fear.

Daiya felt her heart sink into her gut as she witnessed the younger girl's descent into helplessness, finding it hard not to sink down herself. In a perfect world, this was the moment where Tawrro burst through the doors in all his Wookiee fury, smashing down opponents and sweeping Daiya off to safety. Yet the doors remained oddly still and intact, no one was going to come bursting through.

There would be no saviors today.

Pool Boy continued on his cruel tirade, showing off a datapad that marked Zenie's father as a target. Shock rippled through Daiya's expression as she put the pieces together for the first time. Her assignment to get close to Zenie, her vision, the assassin droid...it was all an elaborate plot to upend the world's succession. The Belazura governor had been marked for death from the very beginning, the will and Zenie were just loose ends.

A loose end she had been meant to take care of.

Daiya glanced down at Zenie, whose despair had landed her on her knees. The younger girl thin, long frame looked so small now with her shoulders hunched, her auburn hair fallen carelessly about her reddened face as tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed. For a moment, Daiya considered the other girl just an unfortunate consequence, collateral damage of a job well done. She could easily make it to Bookworm's fallen form, retrieve the blaster and take the will for herself. She had seen how eager Zenie was for any form of friendship or attention, manipulating the girl to finish out the job would be simple.

The job was important. It was the best way she could show her value to Darkwire, and prove her worth to Enigma. It hadn't needed to be said, she was on probation as far as he was concerned. Daiya represented potential to Enigma and Darkwire, but they could only see her potential right now. The girl had to make them see more, to see that she was committed to their goals and aligned with their values.

It could be worth her life.

Then the moment passed, and Daiya knelt down next to the other girl, reaching her hand around Zenie's shoulder to comfort her. The sobbing girl looked up at her, and Daiya tried to put on a reassuring expression. Tawrro had the real practice at that, and she was certain her version wasn't as calming, but Zenie seemed to quiet a little anyway. "Let's give him the will, and then we can get out of here and find your father, okay?"

Zenie's eyes glanced warily at the weapon in Pool Boy's hand, the one that had so easily dispatched Bookworm. The girl followed Zenie's eyes, fixing the weapon with a glare as if that could make it disappear by sheer will alone. Daiya's eyes followed up his arm to the older teen's callous face, a fiery anger inside them. She had been like Zenie before, a nascent threat to someone's ego, written off as expendible by all but one. As Daiya pulled Zenie a little closer to her, she vowed to keep the girl safe, whispering in her ear, "No one's going to hurt you today, I promise."

Daiya felt the younger girl nod against her shoulder. She closed her eyes for a moment and inhaled, as if she could pull in the strength she needed by simply breathing. To her surprise, when she opened them again, she actually felt renewed as a new sense of clarity settled over her.

To the boy, she snapped, "Put that thing away! She'll do what you want, there's no more need for threats."

Her voice had a new timbre to it, a resonance she hadn't felt before. Daiya liked it. It felt like what she heard when Tawrro roared or came to her defense, but a version suited better for her. It felt powerful and in control. It felt right.

Daiya stood, expecting her command to be followed by Pool Boy as she helped Zenie to her feet. She tucked the younger girl's hair back behind her ears, putting both hands on her smaller shoulders. "Okay, now you know what you have to do?"

"Yeah," the timid voice squeaked from a face still pointed to the floor.

A finger under her chin tipped Zenie's face up toward Daiya, who looked into her eyes, "I'm going to be right here, nothing's going to happen to you. Okay?"

Zenie blinked hard and then nodded, her face set more firmly now. Daiya moved to let her pass, and the governor's daughter walked over to the wall, ignoring Pool Boy, and the serving droid with his set table. A work of art hung on the wall, and as soon as Zenie stepped up to it, Daiya recognized the frame. It swung out easily, revealing the reinforced door of a cabinet-sized safe.

Security by obscurity. So simple to access...but only to those who knew about it.

Zenie entered the access code, finally displaying some wisdom by covering her fingers with the palm of her other hand, and the door beeped in the affirmative. It opened to reveal an organized interior, simple and plain. A sorting system held datachips and flimis in order, but Zenie's hands trembled a little, making it take a little time for her to find the will.

"Is that all you want?" Zenie asked nervously. Daiya keenly noted the same thing she did, how quickly the demands could change once someone was vulnerable. The older girl kept her eyes on Pool Boy and his demeanor, ready to move on the boy if anything changed. "Just the will?"

Zenie had withdrawn a folder by now. Inside it, a single page of flimsiplast. The handwritten will of Zenie's father, the Belazura governor.

Delivered into the hands of the young man with pool-stiffened hair.

 

[Cassus Akovin]

Cassus lowered his weapon but did not release his grip. Violence was never his goal, but he was never found ill-prepared for it. The younger girl served to sooth the younger one and roared ever so furiously at him to cease his threatening posturing.

"Is there anything else I can provide young Master?" The service droid chimed lifelessly towards him, as the females lead him to his prize. It wasn't one quite as prestigious as taking the killing mark on the Governor's reign, but ensuring there were no loose ends to worry about when it came time for Belazura's transition would surely put him in good favor with Darkwire. The Guild, of course, would be indifferent to his success here, caring only that the mark was captured and their coffers filled. However, should one of their hunters be denied the kill, they may look at other avenues to ensure some of the rewards went their way. Having the written flimisplast Will in the Guild's hands would at least call for some meager reward, and a small cut toward Cassus as well. Sometimes it paid better to be paid at all, than risk the failure of a large hit.

Eventually, the young girl would hand over his prize, just as Daiya had foreseen and failed to forestall, where she would ask so simple a question of Cassus.

"Is that all you want? Just the will?" The girl was helpless, and Cassus realized the full scope of his power over them. A lump of guilt fell into his stomach, but his resolve washed it away with adrenaline and endorphins over his victory. Cassus raised the datapad to their view. The building that Mr. Follow was watching began to vibrate as the heist of this planet's latest century began to take place.

"Just the will." He finally confirmed cooly, "Cease," Cassus spoke to the datapad.

"AFFIRMATIVE." The droid's voice called back. Indicators on the datapad began to disappear as the droid disengaged its ready state to execute the assassination, though it was likely these indicators would not mean anything to his two casual observers. But, just as he was putting away the datapad, a new heat signature appeared off-screen, and came barreling towards the red blob that represented the governor, Binary was going for the kill before their very eyes...

... but they never got to see the rest as he clicked the screen off, pressed a button on it that now pulsed with red light, and stuffed it in his bag along with the flimisplast, as he walked towards a window.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry, no one should have to lose a parent so young." Genuine remorse appeared on the young face, harboring his own personal sorrows as he stepped on the edge, a breath away from crossing the threshold into a deep plunge. Behind him, a swoop bike rose to the height of the window behind him, at the command of the vehicle caller he had pressed on the datapad earlier. Now it was time to leave the girl to mourn, and her friend to comfort her.

And that would be the story of how Cassus made a girl cry for the first time.

 

[Daiya]

Location: At the BelWay Resort & Stay
Objective: Complete the mission and go home
Allies: Enigma Iuda Rika

---

[Post Soundtrack: Don't Look Down by Cryoshell]​

Whatever tears Zenie might have spent on her father's death, they had already been exhausted. At the sound of the death knell, delivered with belated remorse by Pool Boy as he effected his escape, the young girl fell to her knees again, burying her head in her hands. Her only sounds were the stuttering breaths she took as her small chest heaved from the dry sobs.

Daiya tried to approach her again, to kneel down and give Zenie comfort. It was what she would have wanted in the younger girl's place. Someone to patch the gaping hole left by a parent being ripped away, to lean on while the sheer universe of trauma came crashing down upon small, unready shoulders...Daiya couldn't imagine the multitudes of pain and grief Zenie felt at the moment.

She truly couldn't.

Her family had broken when her father abandoned it, and it never recovered. And after Daiya had walked out on her own mother a few years ago, she had never found a reason to return. Whatever gaping hole that a parent might have filled in her life was something she had learned to work around. She could fend for herself, and that was more important than having a father or mother. As much as she cherished Tawrrowaldr in her life, not even he could rise to the level of being the parent she'd grown out of needing.

An eerie calm settled over the girl, and she turned away to walk towards the door. Daiya paused at the fallen bodyguard's form, placing a pair of fingers on the woman's neck to check her pulse. It was strong, and her breathing was good; Bookworm would recover. The news didn't bring her any comfort, nor did she try to raise Zenie's awareness of it. Instead, the girl continued toward the door, unfamiliar with the new steadiness that had come over her. It should have scared her, but whatever fear she might have had was replaced with this new sense of clarity.

"Tawrro," Daiya called as she opened the door, and then he was there. He seemed relieved to see her, and looking past the Wookiee's great form, it wasn't hard to spy the reason. Napper was in the middle of a long-winded diatribe about something, the girl wasn't quite sure what, but the bodyguard seemed incredibly passionate about it. And about sharing it, ad nauseam, with his newly-minted compatriot in protection, much to Tawrro's chagrin. Daiya glanced back at her friend, her only real friend there, and jerked her head back inside the suite. "You'd better come in."

Once inside the suite, Daiya explained the mess they were in and what had transpired. Tawrro watched her calm delivery with a long eye, glancing only briefly towards Zenie's muted outpouring of grief on a few occasions. When she was done, the girl added, "We should bring her to the Blue Flame, Shenn will know what to do for her. And that'll keep her safe until we can re-establish our contacts at home."

The Wookiee nodded to her, not letting her out from beneath his gaze for some reason. She couldn't figure out if he was curious or concerned. Daiya didn't need him worrying about him, any more than she needed a parent to mind her every move or question her when she discovered something new. She felt fine, thanks for not asking!

Finally, Daiya approached Zenie for the first time since the handoff, kneeling down next to the younger girl. A second later, she was assaulted by the full weight of an eleven-year-old mass falling into her arms, the muted cries finding voice at last. Daiya clasped her arms around Zenie, holding her as her mother once had, rocking her gently without words. From time to time, Daiya lifted her head up to observe the proceedings, as Tawrro ushered out the serving droid amid its protests of irregularity, and took care of the waylaid bodyguards, settling first one, and then ultimately two knocked-out caretakers in the comfortable beds within the suite.

From the amount of times he had tucked her into bed herself, Daiya knew Tawrro was good at that.

When a moment came that Zenie quieted and began to compose herself, Daiya took advantage of her opportunity. "Zenie, I know everything has just turned upside down right now. Tawrro and I are going to get you someplace safe while we figure out what's going on."

"But, my father!" the girl protested, looking around as if for something to latch on to, some sense of familiarity that would restore her to normal. "He's..."

"He's gone. I'm sorry, Zenie." To her credit, the younger girl didn't break down again. The confirmation seemed to be what she needed to process, and she fell quiet instead, moving back off Daiya's lap to sit on her haunches. Daiya offered a wan smile, unable to muster more for the grieving child. So much for having found a new friend. The girl didn't grieve for herself, however, nor for her younger companion. There would be time for sadness later. "Can you stand? We're going to walk with Tawrro and he'll keep us safe. I just need to make one call first. Do you want to bring anything with you, in case we don't come back here for a while?"

A sadness did come over Daiya as she watched Zenie shake her head, denying herself the suite full of toys and things they had been fawning over just minutes before. A life of luxury would have meant everything to Daiya, someone would have had to tear her away from it kicking and screaming. And here was Zenie, who lived in the lap of luxury daily, giving it up without a second thought. For a moment, Daiya only wished to have someone whose loss would mean so much to her.

She blinked back tears that never threatened to come, nudging Zenie towards the Wookiee. Daiya returned to her bag by the foot of the couch, withdrawing a communicator and toggling the channel to notify the being on the other end. It didn't take long for him to answer, it never did. "Enigma, this is Daiya. Mission complete, sort of. I didn't get the will you sent me for —thanks for telling me ahead of time, by the way— but I got something I think you'll find equally valuable."

"Her name is Zenie Chuma, and we're going to get her safe before we meet up at the rendezvous."

 

[Darkwire Storyteller]

Epilogue . . .

​

As the will passed through the galactic courts the Corporate Authorities swept in on the planet, CorpSec officers on every street subduing civil unrest. The governors death spelled the death for Belazura's purity. The once pristine picturesque resort world, crown jewel of the galaxy, soon fell to the tainted corruption of Diviak Manfloon.

Entire continents of beautiful mountainsides were upended into open-pit mines, rainforests axed for lumber. The oceans polluted with industrial toxic waste and oil spills. Sky choked in ash. Entire ecosystems destroyed. A lone butterfly finds its way to rest upon a log, ahead the pretty and fragile insect lay the carnage of Corporate greed.

On the far away world of Denon, untroubled by the devastation of Belazura, a couple of good-for-nothing criminals make their way back home. Their Darkwire contract completed. Diviak had filled their pockets, as well as the credits they were able to fish from the cracked vault. A woman jokes with her friends. Some laugh. Some don't. It was just another day for the Shadowrunners.