Celebrate Success

The smell of burning solder filled the air in the room and a slight haze hovered over the workbench.

“That should cover the circuitry, now all I need are some optics and a thermal sensor.”

Ian sat back and admired his work. The workbench was covered in a wide variety of projects, all in some stage of confusion. The latest project that held his imagination was some sort of tubular circuit board that he was now encasing inside a slightly larger metallic tube.

“Hey Ian!” the sudden interruption of his concentration caused Ian to snap his head around, and his hand slipped causing a drop of solder to fall onto the workbench.

“Cacee, you scare the… what is it?”

“Come on, you and I are taking Renold out to celebrate. He’s a full fledge member of the ‘Spiders’ now.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Ian double checked his latest project to make sure his jolt did not ruin any of his work. Once he was satisfied he set his tools down and picked up his kit bag.

“We need to stop by the Guilder’s corner too,” Ian said as he headed for the door. “I need to pick up a couple of supplies.”

“I’m comin’ too,” Boanerges voice came from his workshop across the hall. “I need to pick up a few parts myself.”

-=-=-=O=-=-=-

The four men went to the market first. The one thing most hivers have learned, especially the further one journeyed from Hive City was that beauty was in the eye of the salesman. In order to get the optics Ian wanted he had to buy two very damaged telescopic sights, and the thermal sensors were another matter entirely. When he walked away he had a small bag full of what most would consider to be junk. One thing they all agreed on was a new Las Pistol for Renold to celebrate him winning his colors. The kid wanted to use a brace of Las Pistols instead of a rifle. Said he wanted to be able to use his hands more readily while walking around. At least they were refined. Not as vulgar or bulky like a stubber.

“What are you going to do with that scrap Ian?” Boanerges asked him Ian.

“I’m not just good at patching people up ‘Bo’. I’m working on a few projects. With these scraps I should be able to finish up a sight for my new Las.”

“You boys are little far from home aren’t ya?”

The four Van Saar men stopped dead in their tracks. Three Escher women stood at the other end of the small market lane and blocked their way.

“You can’t hide behind Chigger now, can ya boys!”

Their colors showed they were part of a local Escher gang known as the ‘Black Cats’. Boanerges moved to ready his Heavy Stubber but Cacee put a hand on his shoulder. Looking over Cacee shook his head at the heavy.

The one with a stark white Mohawk smiled. “That’s right boys. No fighting. You have to play nice out in public.”

“You can’t talk like that to us,” it was Renold’s turn to step forward.

Cacee grabbed his arm, “not here” was all he said.

Another Escher, this one with Blue hair, took another step forward, readied a shotgun and said, “Aw, the little old Van Saar are afraid!” The Escher were now slowly moving forward and spreading out slightly to give each other room to maneuver.

Cacee motioned for the four of them to also spread out some. “You girls seem a little lost. The Steel Spiders run the Bifrost, and therefore you are stepping on our turf.”

“You Scrap Bugs aren’t long for this place,” this taunt came from the woman with a dark brown complexion. “The ‘Black Cats’ are moving in.”

Ian could tell that Renold was getting riled up. The guy kept inching his hands closer and closer the holsters of his pair of Las Pistols. Ian could feel his own blood begin to heat up as well.

“Come on girls, you don’t want any of this pain tonight. Why don’t you all just stand down and let your betters pass.”

This last statement from Boanerges got the women’s attention and they went silent for the moment, all the while the two sets of gangers drew ever closer.

“Your time is up, might as well face it. It would be a shame to embarrass you boys in front of your clientele like this.”

The adversaries were almost on top of each other now.

The woman with the dark complexion let a set of chains drop from her hands as she stepped forward and called out, “Come on now… can’t the little Van Saar come out to play?”

That was all that Renold could stand. Before anyone could blink Renold had both Las Pistols out snapping shots as fast as he could. His compatriots realizing that there was no turning back each drew their own weapons and joined in.

It was a blur to Ian. The din of Cacee’s Autogun and Boanerges’ Bolt Pistol just added to the confusion. Snapping out his own Las Pistol Ian threw his arm out towards the Blue haired vixen, shooting even as he brought the weapon up to bear. He couldn’t be sure but it looked like at least one of his shots had found the mark as the woman screamed out and dropped her shotgun as she slumped to the floor.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop shooting!” Cacee’s call interrupted the flood of gun fire coming from his fellow Van Saar. All three of the Escher were down. Ian chanced looks at each of his fellows to see if anyone had caught a round No apparent injuries.

“Maybe you girls will think…”

Blaring whistles echoed through the now empty market square interrupting Cacee and his victory speech. All four of the Van Saar put away their weapons as a local patrol of Enforcers rushed into the lane.

“Don’t move!” An Enforcer with large shield and Bolt Pistol called out. “You wouldn’t want to get my little friend here agitated.” With a quick motioned he drew their attention to a mechanical construct that resembled a massive dog.

Ian had no desire to tangle with the Enforcers, let alone one of their Cyber Mastiffs and he raised his hands slightly to indicate he was unarmed. Looking around he noticed that both groups of gangers did the same thing.

“What seems to be the trouble?” said another Enforcer as he stepped around the one with the dog. This one had the familiar armor and gear of the Enforcers, but also wore a coat to indicate his rank. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Boanerges stepping back slightly.

“These Van Saar ambushed us as we were heading to the trading post!”

“You lie bi…”

The one with the dog stepped in between the two gangers before it could escalate further. The Sergeant reached up and took off his helmet and stepped towards Cacee. “You first,” was all he said.

Cacee looked over at the now injured trio of Escher. We came around the corner, saw that they had… slipped,” heavily accenting that last word, “and had tried to come to their aid. You showed up just as they… refused... our assistance.”

“Riiight,” was all the Sergeant said. “What about you?” he said as he turned to address the Blue haired woman, now getting to her feet.

The woman sneered at Cacee. “They Lie!”

The Sergeant looked back over his shoulder at the Van Saar interim leader. “Well?”

“We didn’t want to disparage these poor women but… the truth is they jumped us. It’s not our fault they couldn’t hit the broadside of a bridge. We merely defended ourselves.”

The Enforcers now circled both groups of gangers, weapons at the ready. The Sergeant and the Cyber Mastiff’s handler remained in the center between the two groups. The Sergeant looked over at the three Escher.

“How is it they are the only ones injured while you and your friends here are not?”

“I guess they’re just bad shots. Maybe they ended up shooting each other as they tripped?”

“AHHHH!” The Escher woman screamed out in anger and tried to charge the Van Saar.

“You see! They’re barely house broken, let alone a serious threat to us.”

The Enforcers chuckled under their helmets. The Sergeant silenced them by raising his hand. Looking between the two gang leaders, who were now glaring at each other with contempt, The Sergeant stepped in between them once more.

“Gun play within the settlement – which is under OUR jurisdiction (he said looking at Cacee) – is strictly forbidden,” he paused for effect as he looked back and forth. “It is impossible to tell who drew first as I don’t have the time to investigate this any further. “If we should have to address this issue again… sanctions will be imposed. Do I make myself clear?”

“Perfectly.”

“Yes.”

Came the replies from both the leaders.

“Now move along.”

Cacee motioned for the Van Saar team to move around the Escher who were now dusting themselves off.

“You have been served Van Saar, the Cats are here to play,” whispered the Escher leader.

“I’d be more respectful if I were you little pussycat,” Cacee whispered back as he chuckled to himself. “You kittens need to find another hole to play in. The Steel Spiders are the ones who watch over the Bifrost. It would serve you well to keep that in mind.”

The Escher leader just spit on the ground in front of Cacee. Ian noticed that he didn’t even look down.