The Interview

[____________Talonarr]

((continued from The Choice))

It had been a long day for Michael. He had just finished cleaning out a Clan facility of a mutant infestation. The leadership was quite impressed with his thoroughness, and had rewarded him with new armor and credits. After dropping his stuff off at the bank terminal outside his apartment in Borealis, he looked forward to a peaceful night of rest. Missions always took a lot out of him.

It came as quite the shock to find that he had an uninvited guest. The man had made himself quite comfortable in Michael's kitchen. Looking down, Michael realized the weapon sitting on his table meant this probably was a business call.

“Welcome Home Mr. Hawke. We need to talk.” John gestures to the empty chair across from him. “I am needing to know what happened the night Jenn Davies died. And I want the story from beginning to end if you please. And No is not an acceptable answer over this interview.”

At the sound of the name, Michael flinched slightly. He sat down on the other side of the table. "Ok, you've got my attention now. Let's get the formalities out of the way. You obviously know my name and where I live, but I know leet squat about you. Being as we're still under 100% suppression, I'd say conversation is the preferable means of dealing with this. You tell me who you are and why you're so interested in Jenn Davies, and I'll tell you what I know about her."

Michael sat back in his chair, eager to hear the stranger's response.

[Brent]

John nodded his head in acceptance of the question.

“I am John “Blackswords” Rm Of Omni-Mining, as for my role in this Ms. Jenn Davies Father is an old friend of mine and his daughters death is also personal to me. I viewed her as a kind of a kid sister while she was growing up.” John pulls another device from a pouch on his belt and places it on the table. He hits play and a Holo-recording of the two guards plays before Talonarr. When the recording is done Playing John shuts it down and pushes the unit aside.

“From the signs of fighting I know these two are most likely lying, and this proves that they have motive.” John taps the orders for Jenn’s Death or capture. “The Wild card is you Mister Hawke, and where your place is in this.”

[____________Talonarr]

Michael looked over the man. Now he recognized him, as John was a regular in Borealis. Blackswords was not one to be trifled with, as he had seen some of his morphing capabilities. The pit lizard in the middle of the street definitely made for a conversation piece that one afternoon. He knew that this man from Omni-Mining could very well help track down Jenn's murderers...not just the men who pulled the trigger, but the ones who had ordered her death in the first place.

He narrowed his eyes as John played back the guards' interviews. When the playback was complete, Michael sighed. "InternOps must have lowered their standards. Look, I wish I could tell you why I was in that building that night, but I can't for reasons you'd probably understand. What I will tell you is that I was on an information gathering mission, and Jenn got caught in the way. I didn't kill her, obviously, and I didn't use her as a shield. Truth be told, I used one of those InternOps thugs as a shield while the other one assasinated your friend. "

Michael lowered his head, remembering how he couldn't protect the innocent girl. "John, I want you to know that she did help me, but only because she feared I would kill her. I was under orders to, but I didn't. I told her if she helped me, I wouldn't hurt her. She kept her word, and I kept mine. If you want to get the core of what happened, you're going to need to dig into InternOps."

With that said, Michael stood up from the table and reached into his backpack. He brought out a small datapad and set it on the table.

"This is what I took from the lab that night. It's the research Jenn and her boss Smith were working on. I could probably get killed or worse just for having this, but if you're really committed to hunting down Jenn's killers you need it more than I do."

[Brent]

John took the pad and plugged it into his NCU belt and was soon accessing the encrypted data. Soon John had the files decrypted and studied them intently, his face screws up into an expression of anger and disgust beneath his helmet.

“Take a look at this which you risked you life for sir.” Replied John

John pushed the pad over to it and watched Micheal face also change to an expression of disbelief and anger.

“You risked your life to get nothing more then a bunch of personal data bases that have no value except to the person who wrote them. And like loosing his monthly calendar and shopping list is worth what you went thru to get it.”

“I don’t understand.” Came Micheal’s stunned reply.

“I think I do. Your nothing more then the patsy someone wanted to use to get access to Jenn it seems. And take the blame for her death.”

John unseals his helmet and places it on the table. He then picks up the note and unused Application to Omni-Tek that lay on the table and placed them in front of Micheal.

“I would guess that it involves you previous Corporate employers and someone else inside Omni-Tek, and this incident is what galvanized you to join the Clan’s.” John’s eye’s locked with Micheal’s. “Isn’t that correct sir?”

[____________Talonarr]

Michael could barely contain the rage. John's explanation was the only one that made any sort of sense. It would explain why his employers were so eager to offer him his freedom.

He was set up, pure and simple.

"They figured I'd be captured or permakilled," he muttered out loud. "Do the dirty work, kill the girl, then get caught by the two Omnis who just happened to be in the vicinity. When things didn't go as plan, the InterOps thugs went to plan B and killed her themselves. One trip to reclaim later, and they're telling you about the mystery man with swords."

John nodded. "Except for the whole swords part...that's what tipped me off. They said you shot her, but you aren't the kind of guy who uses guns, are you sir?"

"Yeah, I'm not fond of them." Michael shrugged. "Anyway, so now you're here trying to figure out how I'm wrapped up in this.
Well it looks like I got played, and now it's time to figure out who the players are. I don't know who in Omni would have wanted that girl dead, or why, but they went to great lengths to do it. Very great lengths, one could say."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"It had to be someone inside Omni with a lot of intestinal fortitude to dare dialing up my former bosses and asking them for a favor."

"There are a lot of people in Omni-Tek who think they have that kind of nerve. Do get to the point, sir," John stated somewhat impatiently.

Michael sighed and poured another cup of coffee. "Well, since you've gotten this far I guess I should tell you. My former employer is SOL Banking Corporation, sworn enemies of Omni-Tek. I worked for them before I came to Rubi-Ka, so don't get any bright ideas about me being some sort of SOL spy. I came here to get away from them...from all of the corporate nonsense. I figured I could hide out as a neutral, that SOL would never track me down. However, being a neutral didn't work out, and SOL found me. They dragged me back in to the corp world, and that's why I joined the Clans. Jenn's death just brought it all home."

Michael took a drink of his coffee and returned the glare John had given him earlier. "You know Omni and their policy towards traitors. SOL isn't so kind. I can help, but I won't do anything that might jeopardize my asylum with them. You also realize that my affiliation keeps me from going into Omni territory safely, so you may have to do a lot of the footwork."

He sluggged down the rest of the java. "You're risking a lot talking to me, and I'm risking a lot talking to you. There are powerful forces at foot here, but we owe it to the girl to find out why she was killed. So, the 20 million credit question is who did it? We're going to have to find that out first, and then we can deal with them in a manner suiting their offense. So, where do we begin?"

[Brent]

John grabs an empty cup and places it before himself and pauses while reaching for the coffee pot. Michael nods his head, and John pours himself a cup. He sips it me datively while looking at Michael with his thoughts churning inside.

“Yes a 20 mill cred question indeed. The who will reveal itself when we find the why.”
John pauses and sips the coffee some more. “You where tapped to serve as a disposable tool. Omni-Pol was well aware that you where SOL corp. employed. They have a low level watch order on you but you came openly to Rubi-Ka so your chances of being an agent where slim to none. So was it planning on whosever’s part letting you come to Rubi-Ka or just exploited chance?”

Michael face clouded in thought at this view.

John’s NCU unit beeped a warning tone. John glanced and his NCU viewer and his hand holding the cup stiffened as he saw the image.

“Michael you didn’t invite any friends over to use your Apartment as an Arena did you?”

Michael’s started in confused shock “What? No?”

“Then get yourself armed cause the four fellows that are about to kill the suppression gas to your apartment definitely aren’t with building Maintenance, and they’re armed to the teeth.” John showed the image to Michael who swore nastily.

John places the cup on the table and places his helmet back on his head and seals it. He picks up his pistol and arms it and holsters it.

Michael Limbers his weapons and arms grimly.

“I’d say the best tactic we could do it to incapacitate the lot of them and imprison them so their master is without information about what happened.” John Shrugs. “Plus reclaiming them will just let them have a second shot at you.”

Michael nods in agreement. “And gives us a chance to ‘Talk’ with them about who hired them.”

“Yep.” John stands and finds a place where he’s hidden from the front door. Michael starts to stand up. “Best to stay seated and let them think they surprised you. Also hit Knees and Elbows when hitting them. Works like a charm to keep them down and occupied.”

Michael nods and sinks back into his seat while John Draws his pistols and waits. After a few minutes sharp Popping sound is heard in the hallway and the suppression gas in the Apartment drops rapidly.

[____________Talonarr]

Michael could feel the influence of the suppression gas slipping away as he sat patiently awaiting the arrival of his unforseen guests. He could sense the muscles of his body preparing for conflict when they would normally be unnaturally calm. In the remaining seconds before the door flew open, Michael had but one thought.

"If my coffee maker gets broke, I'm going to make it a very slow death for them."

The suppression gas faded, and the entrance to his apartment was suddenly filled with four armored men with murder on their mind. One could only assume that the weapons they were carried were special order...permadeath guns. Michael knew he had one option, and that was not to get hit.

He narrowly missed getting to know the effect of the weapons as four blasts ripped his table apart. Michael had already rolled out of the chair and behind another piece of furniture. He quickly summoned up a nano formula and morphed into his leet form. Unlike before, this was an actual transfiguration, and the smaller size would make him a lot harder to see. The assailants knew this, so they closed in to his former position. Once again they fired, only to find he was no longer there. A quick search revealed an open ventilation shaft, just small enough to fit a two legged field rodent.

The point man motioned for the others to turn around. As the rear man did, he found himself staring straight into the eyes of one very annoyed adventurer. Michael had circled around using the shafts and now had them trapped in the back half of the apartment. The rear guard screamed as his gun arm was separated from his body with one swipe of Michael's sword. Armor, natural or otherwise, always has chinks, and Michael was an expert at finding them.

The other three hesitated, as Michael knew they would, as their man dropped to the floor. Using that moment, he spun around behind the next and sliced through the creases at the back of the man's armored pants. Like a razor, the blade severed the tendons, blood gushing from the wounds. But before he could drop, Michael grabbed him and sliced his arm, forcing him to drop his weapon.

The man's screams of pain were quickly silenced when his friends blasted him in an attempt to hit Michael. Using him as a well armored shield, Michael charged forward, knocking yet another assailant down to the ground and pinning him there with both blades. Michael jumped up just in time to stare down the barrel of the point man's weapon. Flinching slightly, he waited for the killing shot.

Shots rang out, but they were of the old fashioned bullet variety. The perma death weapon fell to the floor as the point man yelled in agony, clutching his bloody hands. Michael turned to see John, weapon drawn, advancing out of the shadows.

"Thanks for the help...four is more than I care to try to take on at once," Michael said in between attempts to catch his breath.

"I didn't want to interfere. You were doing a good job with them yourself."

Michael pondered that for a second as he patched up the three incapacitated men. He staunched the bleeding using his nano skills, then administered a quick shot of a knockout stim to each. Once they had been dealt with, Michael searched them. His guess was right, more Omni-InternOps trying to finish the job from the night at the lab.

He looked up at Blackswords. "You recognized the gear, didn't you? You knew they were Omni. But, if you took that one guy out..."

John lowered his head. "Yes. They've dropped the gas to 0%. Someone must have tipped them off about my helping you. We need to get the gas back before every beggar and thief decides to pay a visit."

Michael motioned to the unconcious men. "Let's get these guys secured, then we can head to the ICC guards and get the gas back up." He then frowned. "What are we going to do with the cadaver? ICC's not going to look too fondly on that."

Michael waited for the answer while he tied up the other men. Glancing around, he smiled slightly. At least the coffee pot was still in one piece.