Private Quid Pro Quo

[Ivory Stroud]

With preparations in place and Darkfire’s rise in motion, Ivory Stroud & Xan Deesa had sat down to discuss the foundational necessities needed for the splinter cell’s operations. The recent Tatt-Chat meeting to discuss Darkwire’s involvement in the coming fights had gone better than she’d hoped… but afterward, the realization of what their course of action meant (and the cost if they failed) had weighed heavily on her shoulders.

The necessity for secrecy & discretion was paramount. Nobody in Darkwire could be aware of Xan’s, Ivory’s, or Yula’s involvement; suspicious was acceptable, but the danger of having their identities in the open was all-consuming and total.

So, as Xan & Ivory began to discuss what they would need to ensure their campaign to deliver justice was successful, their conversation had quickly turned toward what Ivory deemed their most important asset: A reliable means of developing Intelligence, acquiring information, and monitoring whomever (or whatever) they deemed a target. The Family, Ivory explained, was highly skilled in this field but had only a small presence on Denon, and none of them local. They needed someone with advance knowledge - someone who knew the streets, could walk & talk like a Denonite, and would go unnoticed or ignored. It wasn’t until a few days later than Xan offered a solution: Anakin Stormrunner . AKA, The Bird-Man of Denon.

Under Xan’s direction, Ivory had sought out the Midnight Zone - the lower levels of Denon where the light of day never reached & artificial light was the only way to see. She’d come prepared into this dark & grimy underbelly; armed and equipped, but not looking for a fight. She wore a black tank top, black fatigues, black steel-tipped boots, and a combat vest which gave her excellent range of motion. She carried herself with confidence and self-control, easily able to ward off street thugs and the homeless - wandering the dark and dangerous underworld, approaching a few wayward souls who seemed more willing to talk than others. It took some bribes, by way of credits, booze, or a meal purchased from a street vendor, but eventually she was able to find a few survivors of this meager existence who were willing to talk.

Strangely, they hadn’t told her much.

Xan Deesa had cryptically explained that “You won’t find them, they’ll find you.” Ivory was familiar with the Modus Operandi, so she simply did what she knew would work: Mention her name, ask about the winged avenger, and wait.

The upper levels of Denon were not entirely different, but down in the Midnight Zone, the air smelled worse… and stale. She’d heard rumors that acid rain was common - a sight she’d already once experienced while walking around Seven Points - and had no desire to repeat, so she kept her nose on the lookout for the familiar wet, chemical smell would would (hopefully) herald a sudden downpour.

Her eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness. Enough so that when she passed larger neon signs, she had to squint her eyes to avoid pain. Every muscle in her body was primed for immediate movement, and she was on guard for anything or anyone shambling out of a darkened alleyway or pit of darkness in her direction. But she was not afraid.

Even when she turned down an alleyway in an attempt to cross from one large street to another, finding herself in near total darkness. She was not afraid.

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

Few people paid attention to the homeless. Fewer still paid attention to droids. Even in the midnight zone among the lowest of the low, they were looked down upon as inferior. Sometimes it irked the old pit droid. More often than not, it came in handy. Nobody paid attention to droids, and the pale skinned organic null and nil crew had been tailing for the better part of an hour was no different.

When B63 heard that someone on the Trail wanted this particular Sunnie followed, null had been hesitant. Rent was coming up, and nils crew was just barely scraping by. They didn't have time for favors. When null'd heard there were credits on the line, it didn't take long for the whole crew to agree. On the Trail, no one cared what you were. Organic, droid, it didn't matter. You got paid the same either way. It made the smallest job on the Trail twice as appealing as even a large job elsewhere. This time, their credits wouldn't get cut simply because they were droids.

"She's coming your way." The binary shorthand cut across B63's short ranged comm unit, effecting silencing nil internal processing unit.

The old droid watched as a pale skinned organic stepped into the alley. As the only crew member with a basic capable vocorder, null had been designated as the one to approach the female and lead her to the requested location.

"Ivory Stroud, I heard you were looking for Stormrunner." B63 put on nils best mysterious figure persona, deepening nils voice as null stepped out of the shadows. The image was immediately ruined by nils fidgeting digits and diminutive size.

"I'm B63, pronouns are null/nil." Null stressed nils pronouns, having learned from experience that if null didn't tell them to an organic, then they'd assume "it" as a pronoun. Null refused to be reduced to an it.

"Follow me, I'll lead you to him." The short droid scampered down the alley. Null led her through a series of twists and turns, taking back alleys and shadowed side streets. Before long, they arrived at a run down restaurant.

Graffiti marked the walls and inside the customers were seated at dingy tables beneath the flickering lights. A few words with the cashier, posted dutifully at the door, directed them to a nondescript door.

"Well, there you go. Have fun or whatever." B63 didn't look up, fingering through nils credit and counting out the approved amount.

The door opened to a narrow staircase which descended into a small storage room. Foodstuffs lined the shelves and another door led into what sounded like a kitchen.

Anakin sat behind a folding desk. The low buzzing of his hover chair filled the air as he poured over maps and notes. Finding places for his people was growing harder and harder. The planet was large, but seccer raids had increased in number and intensity. There were checkpoints at almost every exit to the Twilight Belt and security at the Sunlight Loft was four times as intense.

He looked up at the sound approaching footsteps and locked eyes with Ivory.

"You've been asking for me." Idly, he shifted the papers on the table to cover the maps of blockades and Chelik-tan.

"Why?"

Once more he pinned her beneath his pupiless gaze. She wanted something from him, that much was obvious. From the little he'd seen of her, he knew she wanted war. She held herself like one who had power, and it was this that set him on edge the most.

Power in the depths often went hand in hand with cruel criminality. Be it Zerø, KV-N1, or any other number of gangs, it was always the same.

If Ivory came here expecting he was willing to harm Shadows and consequently amavikkan too, then she was wrong.

A part of him did feel bad, as he held eye contact with the woman, for his coldness. Normally he would welcome most Shadowrunners with at least a basic level of friendliness, but he had no idea what Ivory wanted, and he knew from experience that when dealing with people in power, you couldn't open with weakness.

Especially now, where he was in no shape to fight her if she ever tried anything. He was healing, but the muscle mass he had before his four month incarceration had melted away with the malnutrition and muscle atrophy.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

Anakin Stormrunner

The sudden appearance of the mysterious voice set her on edge, and she slowly turned - pausing upon witnessing the speaking Droid. It's diminutive size was ironic; the voice it projected entirely larger than life. Ivory had expected to come face to face with a hulking assassin droid. Instead, this small robot would have gone easily missed in a casual scan. She supposed that that was the point.

Clever.

The request for her to follow was met with wordless ascent. The short journey down the alley, into the street, and eventually to arrive at the nondescript restaurant was taken in silence. The cashier allowed her entry after the exchange of a code word, and it was there her guide left her. Ivory descended the stairs into the storage room, finding her quarry seated at a desk within. She recognized the winged Stormrunner; with some minor differences between his online avatar and his real self. Namely, he seemed gaunt & weak, and he only had one wing.

"You've been asking for me." Idly, he shifted the papers on the table to cover the maps of blockades and Chelik-tan.

"Why?"

The Donna held up her hands in the universal sign of surrender; while she had weapons visible, she appeared non-threatening. Her voice was clear as she answered his question, "I hear from a friend of ours that you're no friend to anyone wearing a suit or a badge." She eyed him cautiously, extending her own senses into the restaurant above & around her. The Bird Man of Denon shone faintly in The Force, and she could immediately identify concern and suspicion... But he was not bearing her I'll will, and no secret assassin's seemed to be waiting for an order to attempt to end her life. Satisfied, she decided to cut to the chase.

"You recognize me from the Tatt-verse... Don't you?" She paused, lowering her arms slowly.

"I come in peace, and as a friend of Darkwire. Xan Deesa told me you might be able to help me."

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

Anakin frowned at her use of doublespeak. It wasn’t as if he was unfamiliar with all the things that could be said in silence, but cloistered among fellow Amavikka there had been little need for it. The straight forwardness was nice. Nonetheless, he resigned himself to its use.

“You’re right, I’m no friend of suits, but I’m not exactly in a position to help.” His talon tipped fingers drumming an uneven staccato against the table top.

“If you’ve watched the holofeeds recently, you know my people and I are being hunted like beasts.“ Spice blue eyes bore into Ivory. Despite their intensity, they were tired eyes. Determined eyes too, but still tired.

“My people come first.” On this he would not bend. Darkwire could come begging to him on its hands and knees and still he would put his own above them.

“When we’re secure, then I will consider helping you, but until then I won’t risk the lives of my own for your fights.” Perhaps it seemed a drastic change compared to the rumors about him, but that was before. Before the Amavikka had no place to hide and little room to run, before he had lost his own wing to months of torture, before he lost his strength and fighting prowess to those same months. Now, it was important he care for his own before turning his gaze to the rest of the city planet.

Perhaps Ivory would be able to help him, perhaps not. One way or another, he couldn’t do anything for her until she was willing to do something for him in return.

 

[Ivory Stroud]

“When we’re secure, then I will consider helping you, but until then I won’t risk the lives of my own for your fights.”

"That's why I'm here..." The raven-haired rebel replied, approaching the winged defender of Denon's poor & helpless. She stopped a few feet from the table, entering the well of light streaming from a small bulb. She paused for a moment, then took a breath. "I believe we can help each-other."

"Undoubtedly, you're familiar enough by now to know I have resources most on Denon couldn't dream of. I'm willing to offer safe harbor - security, a place of safety. I have plans in motion to obtain some assets on Denon - namely, some real estate - by clever means. You wouldn't have to worry about protecting yourselves. My operations are intensely discreet, and I value secrecy above all else. If I were to offer your people a place to call home, away from the prying eyes of CorpSec, what would you say?"

She spread her arms and opened her hands, palms out - a gesture of openness. She wasn't offering charity; she knew better than that. Everything she'd heard about the Amivvikan indicated that they were a proud & loyal Family; something she could distinctly relate to and appreciate.

Anakin Stormrunner

 

[Anakin Stormrunner]

Safety. She was offering safety. A part of him, the part that spent years beneath the masters whip, the part of him that was broken by it, told him to deny her. They couldn't trust outsiders, couldn't trust people with power. The offer looked like help from the core, beautiful on the outside but rotten and sickly on the inside. One full of hidden motives and false promises.

Except it wasn't.

He knew what Ivory wanted, she'd stated it outright. This wasn't an offer of false generosity, this was an arrangement. She would protect his people, if he helped her. It was still risky. It could still see his people decimated if she decided to cut them loose and leave them to the anoobas. Yet it was the best option.

"I'd say we could come to an arrangement." He didn't like it, but it would save his people and that - above all else - was what mattered.

"If you have places in mind, I can get my people to them." They would have to move slowly to avoid detection, but they could do it.


Ivory Stroud

 

[Ivory Stroud]

"I'd say we could come to an arrangement." He didn't like it, but it would save his people and that - above all else - was what mattered.

"If you have places in mind, I can get my people to them." They would have to move slowly to avoid detection, but they could do it.

A sense of relief cooled her concern, but she wouldn't feel a true sense of accomplishment until she was out of this basement & back on Denon's upper levels. "I do." She replied, reaching a hand into her pocket and producing a small slip of paper; actual paper, rather than a data-stick. Ivory stepped forward and offered the slip of flimsi toward her winged companion.

On the note was an address located somewhere in District 9, scrawled in hastily-written handwriting.

"I have access to an old, abandoned building in East Palpamore; not far from Heritage Cemetary. The building is under renovation, secretly, using resources from off-world... but, in the next week or so, we should be breaking through into the maintenance tunnels beneath the District. If we're successful, we'll not only have a private space for housing, but also access to areas beneath District 9." She didn't have to add that such access would also provide secret routes to & from other districts, as well.

"I'd be happy to show either you, or someone you trust, the location in question... to see if it meets with your approval." She added, hoping Anakin would agree.

Anakin Stormrunner