“Why me?” Cekrass asked as they crossed a large dirt field.
Shaggy shrugged and looked ahead to the only intact building ahead of them. It was an old warehouse. It was surrounded by empty lots that looked like they had held buildings at one point. But now they all sat empty, save for some random detritus and sparse sections of grass. They had entered a section of Austin that apparently had seen hell. Either from normal neglect or Cog’s attack, Shaggy wasn’t sure. He turned to look at the closest buildings surrounding the warehouse. He wondered if Vick had gotten set up with his rifle yet.
“You’re the toughest one in the pack, Cekrass. Well… other than me.” Shaggy finally answered as he checked the rooftops in sight.
Cekrass grunted in acknowledgment and Shaggy was sure the lizard-man was flexing his chest muscle. Shaggy wondered if the dude ever wore a shirt. Cekrass’ scales probably counted as armor, especially after the werewolf change, so a shirt was probably useless. It would just get cut up and leave him half-naked, anyway. Shaggy started as he realized he was the same way. He sighed as he thought about the number of clothes his new pack of werewolves was going to go through. They were going to have to hit up some stores. Maybe he could carry a backpack or something.
Shaggy snapped his head back around. Cekrass’ had picked up on movement ahead and the emotion over the Pack Link alerted Shaggy. He sent a mental command to Vick to be alert and continued moving toward the warehouse. If they were lucky, they could get the Bunch talking outside of the building. Otherwise, Vick was going to be useless. Shaggy sent another mental command for Cekrass to be ready to slow down as they got to the large rusted metal door.
The warehouse was decrepit. Pieces of the brickwork were falling off and several windows were broken. Shaggy noted that two large windows looked down at him and Cekrass. Perfect spots for ambushers to hide. As they stopped, the large white roll-up door to the warehouse moved and Shaggy felt Cekrass tense. Shaggy himself was oddly calm. Whatever was going to go down was going to go down. He was sure they could get out of it.
The loud creaking sound of the metal door rising gave Shaggy enough time to mutter to Cekrass.
“If shit goes sideways, and we get separated, meet back at the deli.”
“We won’t be separated.” Cekrass responded simply.
Shaggy looked at the tense seven foot tall alien and shrugged. The guy was a beast and seemed ready to throw down. He briefly thought he should’ve brought someone cooler headed. But it was too late now. The metal door was halfway up and Shaggy could already see six pairs of feet. Someone hadn’t obeyed the rules of the parley. What a surprise. Shaggy doubted any Wild Bunch leadership was even in the warehouse. Shaggy got a mental ping from Vick, letting him know he was set, and grinned.
The door finally completed its journey and Shaggy was face to face with six animal-humans. He didn’t know if they were aliens or not, but with the way they were looking at him. He was sure they were enemies. They were all wearing loose-fitting jeans and baggy shirts. Shaggy was sure he saw some weapons hidden stuff in waistbands and behind backs. Shaggy even got the sharp tang of fear in his nostrils. It wasn’t everywhere, but these boys were nervous.
The two groups stood facing each other and Shaggy could feel Cekrass getting annoyed. He was about to kick everything off when one of the Bunch, a human-looking man with white skin and brown ram horns, moved forward.
“Ahem, this is a parley to, like, tell you guys to leave our turf. Or, like, we’ll be forced to kill all of you.”
Shaggy snorted. “Okay, you need to look up what parley means. Because what you just delivered was an ultimatum. One I do not accept.”
The six gangsters shared looks before the ram-man spoke up again. “So you will not be accepting our generous offer?”
“Nope!” Shaggy said, smiling.
“And are you the one known as Shaggy?” Ram asked.
That brought Shaggy up short. He wasn’t sure if he had ever said his name around any of the Bunch. But maybe one of the kids squealed on him. Then again, few of the teens had even left the cave. They were a loyal bunch, all things considered. Seeing his look of confusion, all six of the Bunch thugs laughed. Shaggy felt Vick and Cekrass tense up even farther.
“Don’t be, like, surprised. Our network is far and wide. We got rats in many places. But mostly underground.”
“Y’all are in Under-Town?” Shaggy asked, latching on to the way the man said underground.
“Pfft! Please, we don’t need to be. We have people.”
Shaggy made the connection just as a few other thugs cackled. “The Phreaks?”
“We have a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
“FUCK!” Shaggy screamed suddenly, but not at what the Ram had said. He had just gotten a notification, and it had pissed him off.
But that anger was enough for both Vick and Cekrass to spring into action. One moment Cekrass’ enormous frame was right next to him and the next it was gone. The large lizard had pounced, clearing fifteen feet, and landed right in front of the still chuckling ram. Vick had opened fire with his K-Tech laser rifle and Shaggy had to close the notification window before he dashed in, too.
“This won’t take long,” Shaggy thought as he saw the looks of surprise on all of their faces.
He was grinning when a blue arc of electricity lurched out of the warehouse’s upstairs window. It slammed into his chest and sent him skidding and rolling back into the dirt. As he felt his flesh melding back together, he remembered the weird-ass laser cannons the freaks had. It didn’t hit as hard as he remembered, but the damn thing still stung.
“BOSS?” Cekrass yelled as he flung the Ram thug through the warehouse wall.
Shaggy sent his pack calming vibes as he dodged another blue blast. Alternating shots were coming from both windows of the warehouse. Cekrass was busy tearing into the few thugs below, so Shaggy grew his claws and charged again. He saw Cekrass rip the tentacles off another thug and boot a cat-person into the dirt. Shaggy gave himself a mental pat on the back. He had brought the right people.
An energy beam from Vick’s rifle zoomed over Shaggy’s shoulder and smacked a pig-headed thug on the side. Shaggy ignored the smell of burnt pork as he launched himself at the warehouse wall. The two electric blasts from the windows stopped as he got closer. Shaggy hoped they weren’t retreating. But he put that thought to the side as he clawed his way up the wall toward the windows.
Both windows had been blown out from the force of the electrical cannon. So all Shaggy had to do was swing himself in. Cekrass gave a roar below him, followed by a wet squelching noise. Shaggy hoped his largest pack member wasn’t eating anyone. But he had also taken a chunk or two out of people. So who was he to judge?
Shaggy landed on a slim metal platform overlooking the warehouse. The warehouse itself was empty. Wide-open grey cement floors met his eyes as he peered over the edge of the walkway he was on. Even the upper walkways were clear as they ran the length of the warehouse on either side of him. Shaggy followed the elevated walkways with his eyes until he spotted another platform, like the one he was standing on at the back of the warehouse. That is when another electric shot speed toward him. Shaggy ducked as he heard another blast go off.
Cekrass gave a surprised yowl and Shaggy heard a loud thud. He quickly checked the pack link to see how his friend was doing. But Cekrass gave him the all clear. The big alien was in pain, but alive. Shaggy stayed low as he hurried toward the connecting walkway. But as he peered around, another electric blast shot by him. He had to drag his head back under cover as the cannon continued firing.
Shaggy grit his teeth. He was going to have to rush them down a straight walkway. Probably getting pelted the entire time. The damn things had a lot of knock-back to them, but maybe if he was fast. A sudden mental tug from Vick made Shaggy smile. The sharpshooter was currently moving to get a better shot. He was going to need to use the link to find his targets in the warehouse. But it was a hell of a lot safer. Shaggy gave a mental nod to the idea and signal Cekrass to keep the shooters’ attention. Shaggy would do his part.
He peered over the railing of the walkway toward the shooters. But he had to duck again. He didn’t remember those damn cannon firing so fast. Both shooters were on an opposite platform on the far side of the warehouse. Shaggy thought he could see matching windows to the ones at the front of the warehouse. If he had to guess, both ends of the warehouse were similar. Which meant if his Sharpshooter was good, he could line up a shot through the window. And Vick was very good.
Banging and roaring from below brought Shaggy’s mind back to Cekrass. He helped by popping up and back down. Drawing as much fire as he could while also trying to get a good mental image of the shooters. He gave a shout to Cekrass, pretending to reveal their plans.
“Keep it up! They can’t keep firing forever! They’ll run out of ammo at some time!”
He felt a mental grin from Cekrass as he dodged another wide electric beam. A cackling laugh from the other side of the warehouse echoed toward him.
“HAHAHAHAHA! These don’t have ammo dumbass! But keep jumping up and down like a jackrabbit with a stick in its ass! I’ll get you, eventually!”
Shaggy rolled his eyes as a second laugh joined the first. He was about to engage the dumbass duo in banter when a loud crash sounded from opposite him. Shaggy felt Vick’s smug triumph as a brief shout went up. He gave Cekrass the signal to charge. They probably wouldn’t make it before Vick got another shot off, but better safe than sorry. Shaggy pelted down the metal walkway as Cekrass sprinted across the warehouse floor. Another grunt echoed throughout the warehouse as Shaggy was halfway to his goal. Vick felt smug and happy as Shaggy stepped off the walkway onto the platform. Cekrass leapt from the floor of the warehouse up to the platform, and they both started searching for the shooters.
Two bodies lay in a pile of glass. Vick’s shots had exploded the window and even melted some of the metal platform. Shaggy kicked over one thug and checked to see if he was dead. The gray-skinned thug had a face full of red scales and his eyes were wide in shock. Vick’s shot had hit center mass and burned straight through the gangster. Cekrass checked the other one. Shaggy wasn’t sure what kind of animal the other one was, but they looked hairy. Cekrass didn’t bother with checking for a pulse, instead the big lizard jammed his claws into the furry person’s neck. Shaggy shrugged and did the same to the red-scaled guy.
That done, both he and Cekrass grabbed the large blocky metal cannons. Shaggy was sure he heard the things bubble and slosh as they were moved. But he ignored it as he checked over his gun for damage. He didn’t see any, but he wanted to be careful. Cekrass didn’t check his, instead he handed it to Shaggy to check. Shaggy sighed and looked over the second cannon. The pair reminded Shaggy of old rocket launchers with a large circular hole at one end. Besides, from the silver metal and random bits of wiring, they looked like heavy ordinance. Heavy ordinance he and Cekrass had been shot with in the chest.
Shaggy glanced at his lizard pal to see Cekrass’ normal scales burnt and broken. He even had bits of pink showing underneath his scales. Shaggy looked down and found even he was still healing. The damn things burned like hell and took a while to patch up. Shaggy grinned. They could either sell the things or use them for home defense.
“I’d be all for the home defense route.” Shouted Vick from the warehouse floor.
The sharpshooter must have rushed over after taking out the last of the Bunch. Shaggy waved at Vick and started toward a nearby ladder. Cekrass wasn’t as patient and flung himself over the side and landed with a meaty thud. Shaggy even saw cracks form were the big lizard landed. Cekrass was handing over his cannon to Vick as Shaggy joined them. The meeting had gone exactly as he knew it would. Although the Phreak connection was an interesting angle. But apparently they weren’t the same gang. Probably just had similar ideologies. He shook it off. He’d tell the guys about it later. For now, they needed to head back home.
Vick and Cekrass nodded at his thought. But the sharpshooter raised a question.
“What the hell did they say to set you off, boss? One minute, you were cool as a cucumber. The next you were pissed. The sudden anger sparked both of us off.”
The sharpshooter waved between himself and Cekrass, and Shaggy nodded. He had been surprised by a notification from the system. It really wasn’t all that surprising when he thought about it. But he had really wanted to be the first one to start a Gang War. But apparently, someone else had beaten him to it.
Notification
Your Legion has elected to go to war with another faction: The Quinica. As your Legion is a committee, you must vote on whether you agree to go to war. Once a Gang War is started, both forces will attack each other on sight. While also actively invade each other’s territory. The Gang War will continue until one side is the victor or peace is agreed to. Please check the terminal for further information.
Go to War?
[Yes/No/Abstain]
“Why me?” Cekrass asked as they crossed a large dirt field.
Shaggy shrugged and looked ahead to the only intact building ahead of them. It was an old warehouse. It was surrounded by empty lots that looked like they had held buildings at one point. But now they all sat empty, save for some random detritus and sparse sections of grass. They had entered a section of Austin that apparently had seen hell. Either from normal neglect or Cog’s attack, Shaggy wasn’t sure. He turned to look at the closest buildings surrounding the warehouse. He wondered if Vick had gotten set up with his rifle yet.
“You’re the toughest one in the pack, Cekrass. Well… other than me.” Shaggy finally answered as he checked the rooftops in sight.
Cekrass grunted in acknowledgment and Shaggy was sure the lizard-man was flexing his chest muscle. Shaggy wondered if the dude ever wore a shirt. Cekrass’ scales probably counted as armor, especially after the werewolf change, so a shirt was probably useless. It would just get cut up and leave him half-naked, anyway. Shaggy started as he realized he was the same way. He sighed as he thought about the number of clothes his new pack of werewolves was going to go through. They were going to have to hit up some stores. Maybe he could carry a backpack or something.
Shaggy snapped his head back around. Cekrass’ had picked up on movement ahead and the emotion over the Pack Link alerted Shaggy. He sent a mental command to Vick to be alert and continued moving toward the warehouse. If they were lucky, they could get the Bunch talking outside of the building. Otherwise, Vick was going to be useless. Shaggy sent another mental command for Cekrass to be ready to slow down as they got to the large rusted metal door.
The warehouse was decrepit. Pieces of the brickwork were falling off and several windows were broken. Shaggy noted that two large windows looked down at him and Cekrass. Perfect spots for ambushers to hide. As they stopped, the large white roll-up door to the warehouse moved and Shaggy felt Cekrass tense. Shaggy himself was oddly calm. Whatever was going to go down was going to go down. He was sure they could get out of it.
The loud creaking sound of the metal door rising gave Shaggy enough time to mutter to Cekrass.
“If shit goes sideways, and we get separated, meet back at the deli.”
“We won’t be separated.” Cekrass responded simply.
Shaggy looked at the tense seven foot tall alien and shrugged. The guy was a beast and seemed ready to throw down. He briefly thought he should’ve brought someone cooler headed. But it was too late now. The metal door was halfway up and Shaggy could already see six pairs of feet. Someone hadn’t obeyed the rules of the parley. What a surprise. Shaggy doubted any Wild Bunch leadership was even in the warehouse. Shaggy got a mental ping from Vick, letting him know he was set, and grinned.
The door finally completed its journey and Shaggy was face to face with six animal-humans. He didn’t know if they were aliens or not, but with the way they were looking at him. He was sure they were enemies. They were all wearing loose-fitting jeans and baggy shirts. Shaggy was sure he saw some weapons hidden stuff in waistbands and behind backs. Shaggy even got the sharp tang of fear in his nostrils. It wasn’t everywhere, but these boys were nervous.
The two groups stood facing each other and Shaggy could feel Cekrass getting annoyed. He was about to kick everything off when one of the Bunch, a human-looking man with white skin and brown ram horns, moved forward.
“Ahem, this is a parley to, like, tell you guys to leave our turf. Or, like, we’ll be forced to kill all of you.”
Shaggy snorted. “Okay, you need to look up what parley means. Because what you just delivered was an ultimatum. One I do not accept.”
The six gangsters shared looks before the ram-man spoke up again. “So you will not be accepting our generous offer?”
“Nope!” Shaggy said, smiling.
“And are you the one known as Shaggy?” Ram asked.
That brought Shaggy up short. He wasn’t sure if he had ever said his name around any of the Bunch. But maybe one of the kids squealed on him. Then again, few of the teens had even left the cave. They were a loyal bunch, all things considered. Seeing his look of confusion, all six of the Bunch thugs laughed. Shaggy felt Vick and Cekrass tense up even farther.
“Don’t be, like, surprised. Our network is far and wide. We got rats in many places. But mostly underground.”
“Y’all are in Under-Town?” Shaggy asked, latching on to the way the man said underground.
“Pfft! Please, we don’t need to be. We have people.”
Shaggy made the connection just as a few other thugs cackled. “The Phreaks?”
“We have a mutually beneficial arrangement.”
“FUCK!” Shaggy screamed suddenly, but not at what the Ram had said. He had just gotten a notification, and it had pissed him off.
But that anger was enough for both Vick and Cekrass to spring into action. One moment Cekrass’ enormous frame was right next to him and the next it was gone. The large lizard had pounced, clearing fifteen feet, and landed right in front of the still chuckling ram. Vick had opened fire with his K-Tech laser rifle and Shaggy had to close the notification window before he dashed in, too.
“This won’t take long,” Shaggy thought as he saw the looks of surprise on all of their faces.
He was grinning when a blue arc of electricity lurched out of the warehouse’s upstairs window. It slammed into his chest and sent him skidding and rolling back into the dirt. As he felt his flesh melding back together, he remembered the weird-ass laser cannons the freaks had. It didn’t hit as hard as he remembered, but the damn thing still stung.
“BOSS?” Cekrass yelled as he flung the Ram thug through the warehouse wall.
Shaggy sent his pack calming vibes as he dodged another blue blast. Alternating shots were coming from both windows of the warehouse. Cekrass was busy tearing into the few thugs below, so Shaggy grew his claws and charged again. He saw Cekrass rip the tentacles off another thug and boot a cat-person into the dirt. Shaggy gave himself a mental pat on the back. He had brought the right people.
An energy beam from Vick’s rifle zoomed over Shaggy’s shoulder and smacked a pig-headed thug on the side. Shaggy ignored the smell of burnt pork as he launched himself at the warehouse wall. The two electric blasts from the windows stopped as he got closer. Shaggy hoped they weren’t retreating. But he put that thought to the side as he clawed his way up the wall toward the windows.
Both windows had been blown out from the force of the electrical cannon. So all Shaggy had to do was swing himself in. Cekrass gave a roar below him, followed by a wet squelching noise. Shaggy hoped his largest pack member wasn’t eating anyone. But he had also taken a chunk or two out of people. So who was he to judge?
Shaggy landed on a slim metal platform overlooking the warehouse. The warehouse itself was empty. Wide-open grey cement floors met his eyes as he peered over the edge of the walkway he was on. Even the upper walkways were clear as they ran the length of the warehouse on either side of him. Shaggy followed the elevated walkways with his eyes until he spotted another platform, like the one he was standing on at the back of the warehouse. That is when another electric shot speed toward him. Shaggy ducked as he heard another blast go off.
Cekrass gave a surprised yowl and Shaggy heard a loud thud. He quickly checked the pack link to see how his friend was doing. But Cekrass gave him the all clear. The big alien was in pain, but alive. Shaggy stayed low as he hurried toward the connecting walkway. But as he peered around, another electric blast shot by him. He had to drag his head back under cover as the cannon continued firing.
Shaggy grit his teeth. He was going to have to rush them down a straight walkway. Probably getting pelted the entire time. The damn things had a lot of knock-back to them, but maybe if he was fast. A sudden mental tug from Vick made Shaggy smile. The sharpshooter was currently moving to get a better shot. He was going to need to use the link to find his targets in the warehouse. But it was a hell of a lot safer. Shaggy gave a mental nod to the idea and signal Cekrass to keep the shooters’ attention. Shaggy would do his part.
He peered over the railing of the walkway toward the shooters. But he had to duck again. He didn’t remember those damn cannon firing so fast. Both shooters were on an opposite platform on the far side of the warehouse. Shaggy thought he could see matching windows to the ones at the front of the warehouse. If he had to guess, both ends of the warehouse were similar. Which meant if his Sharpshooter was good, he could line up a shot through the window. And Vick was very good.
Banging and roaring from below brought Shaggy’s mind back to Cekrass. He helped by popping up and back down. Drawing as much fire as he could while also trying to get a good mental image of the shooters. He gave a shout to Cekrass, pretending to reveal their plans.
“Keep it up! They can’t keep firing forever! They’ll run out of ammo at some time!”
He felt a mental grin from Cekrass as he dodged another wide electric beam. A cackling laugh from the other side of the warehouse echoed toward him.
“HAHAHAHAHA! These don’t have ammo dumbass! But keep jumping up and down like a jackrabbit with a stick in its ass! I’ll get you, eventually!”
Shaggy rolled his eyes as a second laugh joined the first. He was about to engage the dumbass duo in banter when a loud crash sounded from opposite him. Shaggy felt Vick’s smug triumph as a brief shout went up. He gave Cekrass the signal to charge. They probably wouldn’t make it before Vick got another shot off, but better safe than sorry. Shaggy pelted down the metal walkway as Cekrass sprinted across the warehouse floor. Another grunt echoed throughout the warehouse as Shaggy was halfway to his goal. Vick felt smug and happy as Shaggy stepped off the walkway onto the platform. Cekrass leapt from the floor of the warehouse up to the platform, and they both started searching for the shooters.
Two bodies lay in a pile of glass. Vick’s shots had exploded the window and even melted some of the metal platform. Shaggy kicked over one thug and checked to see if he was dead. The gray-skinned thug had a face full of red scales and his eyes were wide in shock. Vick’s shot had hit center mass and burned straight through the gangster. Cekrass checked the other one. Shaggy wasn’t sure what kind of animal the other one was, but they looked hairy. Cekrass didn’t bother with checking for a pulse, instead the big lizard jammed his claws into the furry person’s neck. Shaggy shrugged and did the same to the red-scaled guy.
That done, both he and Cekrass grabbed the large blocky metal cannons. Shaggy was sure he heard the things bubble and slosh as they were moved. But he ignored it as he checked over his gun for damage. He didn’t see any, but he wanted to be careful. Cekrass didn’t check his, instead he handed it to Shaggy to check. Shaggy sighed and looked over the second cannon. The pair reminded Shaggy of old rocket launchers with a large circular hole at one end. Besides, from the silver metal and random bits of wiring, they looked like heavy ordinance. Heavy ordinance he and Cekrass had been shot with in the chest.
Shaggy glanced at his lizard pal to see Cekrass’ normal scales burnt and broken. He even had bits of pink showing underneath his scales. Shaggy looked down and found even he was still healing. The damn things burned like hell and took a while to patch up. Shaggy grinned. They could either sell the things or use them for home defense.
“I’d be all for the home defense route.” Shouted Vick from the warehouse floor.
The sharpshooter must have rushed over after taking out the last of the Bunch. Shaggy waved at Vick and started toward a nearby ladder. Cekrass wasn’t as patient and flung himself over the side and landed with a meaty thud. Shaggy even saw cracks form were the big lizard landed. Cekrass was handing over his cannon to Vick as Shaggy joined them. The meeting had gone exactly as he knew it would. Although the Phreak connection was an interesting angle. But apparently they weren’t the same gang. Probably just had similar ideologies. He shook it off. He’d tell the guys about it later. For now, they needed to head back home.
Vick and Cekrass nodded at his thought. But the sharpshooter raised a question.
“What the hell did they say to set you off, boss? One minute, you were cool as a cucumber. The next you were pissed. The sudden anger sparked both of us off.”
The sharpshooter waved between himself and Cekrass, and Shaggy nodded. He had been surprised by a notification from the system. It really wasn’t all that surprising when he thought about it. But he had really wanted to be the first one to start a Gang War. But apparently, someone else had beaten him to it.
Notification
Your Legion has elected to go to war with another faction: The Quinica. As your Legion is a committee, you must vote on whether you agree to go to war. Once a Gang War is started, both forces will attack each other on sight. While also actively invade each other’s territory. The Gang War will continue until one side is the victor or peace is agreed to. Please check the terminal for further information.
Go to War?
[Yes/No/Abstain]
