Setting
The Courtyard soon became home to The Palace, the Invictus HQ and a very high-class hotel. Eventually the Invictus rebuilt many of the buildings, they also built new ones and a the fortified wall that closes the area off from the rest of Wing City.
Today it serves as a safe zone in Wing City protected by the Invictus and a loose militia of citizens, former police officers and Terran soldiers.
"The gate's falling!" Chemo shouted, he and several other Invictus standing at the gate. Their hands raised and dark blue energy forming a wall to keep the gate from falling completely.
"This is Sandman, I don't see you." The sniper said, looking through his scope for the team. Almost on cue Arya and her team charged through the hordes, two of her people in front projecting a wall of energy.
Arya raised her pistol, firing at the hordes as she shot electricity from her free hand. The rest of her team utilized their own weapons and abilities, seeming to make light work of the hordes. It was easy to tell that out of many of the Invictus soldiers on the street Arya's team had the most experience with things like this.
It was literally the only thing in their job description.
"Open the gate!" Nina ordered, Chemo and those holding the broken gate up allowing it fall. Preston drove the van right into The Courtyard, bringing it to an abrupt stop to allow those inside to join the fray or get medical assistance. "Winter is coming." Taco said as he stepped out of the vehicle, moving up to join the fight.
"He should really work on his catchphrases." Chemo said, "Where's Biohazard and Telford?" Nina asked Preston who moved to help Fahim out of the van. "They stayed behind." Preston answered, "Why? That's stupid. Why didn't you order them to get in?" Nina asked.
"I don't know. I agree. And, we didn't have time to wait. We had people to help, some of them being our own." Preston explained, "They're our own too! I'm going to go look for them." Nina said, heading off towards where she had parked her car.
"You have orders. I'll talk to Arya Bones and see if she can handle it." Preston called out, "Don't do anything foolish, Nina. You'll get hurt."
Once inside he approached the brunette seated behind the lobby desk, tapping on the counter-top to get her attention. "Yes I'm here to see one Fatin Alfarsi, I believe should would be interested in hearing my proposal."
Although obviously flustered by the man's good looks and general swagger, the concierge denied his request, stating that "Ms. Alfarsi isn't accepting guests at this time." Apparently she didn't know who he was, which didn't surprise him. Robert had just dropped off the map years ago, and was just deciding to throw himself back into the working world.
When the van came, Shavi started to ask questions. Here she was, being promoted to one of the higher positions, and she barely understood what was going on. "Nina, I don't want you out there. If they stayed behind, they had to have a good reason, had to know what they were doing. When everything thins out, we'll send out a team to look for them. Can we get in contact with them now? Are they too far?" she asked Preston.
Then, as two other members flooded out, two she didn't recognize, she frowned. "Who are they?" she asked, gesturing to Genienne and her partner.
Jacob pressed his comm, "Haven," relaying through to the other end that they were alright. Mouth a line, he wondered how the others were. Reisel was back there with some of these people's people. In the soup.
"Hell of mess, oui? " Genienne noted to whoever would hear.
He was clearly in pain every time he moved.
"Yeah, it's a mess." Preston told Genienne, "You'll be free to leave after Bones and her team take care of the hordes in outside the gate." Preston told the two unknowns, "Not sure how well you'll fare in the rest of the city, I heard there's criminals out there and some of these things are just wandering." The French-Canadian soldier said.
Preston looked around for Nina, the Serbian Soldier heading for The Palace's entrance. She was either going to yell at Stryfe or going to blow off some steam. Maybe both.
"Sean! I need a beer!" Kazen yelled, "Which Sean?" Someone shouted back from inside, "Kane, that Sean. And, I need someone to talk me out of murdering hobos." Kazen shouted back, "Kane, Kazen's bein' weird again and he wants a beer!" Someone inside the cafe could be heard shouting.
"Tell im' to fuck off, get 'is own beer and stop bein' a fuckin' creep! We need business here and he keeps sayin' shit that freaks people out and singin' George Michael!" Kane yelled from inside, "George Michael is the only good thing ta' come out of the UK, fella. Stop bein' a fuckin' hater." Kazen yelled at Kane.
"Jesus fuckin' Christ, Kane, go outside with your brother and take him a beer!" The mother of both Irishmen yelled, "And stop yellin' in me pub, you fuckin' miscarriages." The woman continued.
After a few moments Kane was stomping out of the pub, beer in hand, a scowl on his face.
"Here, you fuckin' nancy." Kane said, slamming the beer down and taking a seat across from Kazen. "It's Canadian, I want somethin' Irish." Kazen said.
"I will not be going back inside to get you a beer. If you ask me to, I will find a fireplace, I will make a fire in said fireplace. Then, I will take a hammer and put it within the fire for up to, but not more than, an hour. I will then come back and beat you in the fuckin' bollocks with this burning hammer, you fuckin' pion." Kane said.
"Could've just said no..."
It would be incredibly easy for anyone to see the shocking resemblance. Both their facial features were almost spot on. There were a few things, despite this, that set them apart- this woman was taller, certainly more imposing, she filled out, and she had darker, longer hair that fell to her waist over both shoulders. Her lips were curved up in a very tiny smile that hinted at mischievousness, and it carried over into her amber eyes.
She had come there after a bit of walking and asking a rather hopeful guard at the gate where she could find a man by the name of Kazen, and there she was, at a pub, observing a sickeningly pitiful man and another that seemed...better off. She waited for them to stop speaking before she began.
"...Kazen Horne, I take it?" The voice had a low purr and a hint of a rasp to its quality.
"You ain't hallucinatin', this lass is right in front of us." Kane told his brother, "What do ya' want?" Kazen asked, "You aren't Yanni's long-lost, chestier, twin, are you?" Kazen asked.
"You are kind of busty, lass." Kane said, "I say this as a gay man. Nice tits."
"It's good to see you're both focused on all the right things," she remarked sarcastically. "I need to know a few things, and I'll be out of your way, leaving you to-" She gestured to the alcohol flippantly, "-all this, and-" She gestured to Kazen, "-all that you're doing there."
Which was important, she was sure.
"Where is Yanni?"
"We don't know where she is. We don't have many leads..." Kazen said, his tone clearly that of someone bordering on depressed, desperate and angry. "The only real leads we have is this god's, or whatever the fuck he is, son. Jacob Haley. A spoiled Brit brat." Kane said to Barada.
The elder Horne brother nudged Kazen, trying to get him to liven up at least a little bit. "Jacob's at Fort Veritas gettin' worked over by intelligence agents and our very own Mary Munroe. Even if he won't spill the beans, we'll enjoy fuckin' up his life to make up for his role in her disappearance. Yanni's, that is." Kane told Barada with confidence.
Jacob was going to suffer and he was going to suffer for a long time.
"Ah." Despite the earlier gesture, the woman's smile remained from the time she first gave it to the two men. "I see. Well." She cleared her throat, then nodded. Her hands braced onto the table, fingernails tapped onto its surface. An unreadable emotion- some weird mix that could have been anger and self restraint, despair and regret- washed across her face. She nodded again, smaller this time. One of her hands vanished into her pockets, and she got up to disappear inside the pub.
"You've got the right idea. I'll be right back, if you don't mind further company."
The Hornes punched shit, kicked shit, shot shit, and stabbed shit. Sometimes in the same motion.
"Maybe we can go pay Jake a visit." Kane suggested, "Mary wouldn't mind us stoppin' by and puttin' some Irish heat on that kid, eh?" Kane asked, "Maybe not, but what would that do if what's been done hasn't worked yet?" Kazen asked, "Don't we have like... anyone who can like... do some mind control crap on this kid and tell us something? Even if it's something he doesn't know he knows?" Kane asked.
"Like, something he might have seen that didn't render as important before?" Kazen asked, "Exactly." Kane answered, "Some shit like that, boyo."
When she set it down, her expression was both despondent and wry. "Hmph. So who is this Jacob guy and his father... this god? They sound like right morons." Her tone was burning. She rose the beer to her mouth again and gulped. "The fuck's he doin' with Yanni if he's so powerful? S'not like she's good for anything, right? She do something to piss them off? Because that sounds like her." She paused, wiping the edge of her mouth. She looked straight at Kazen.
"And you. Why is it you're so concerned? What're you to her?"
"She's good for more than you know." Kazen told Barada, finally lifting his head to address her. "Before I tell you why I'm so concerned and who I am to her, how about you tell me the same. You're just some stranger as far we know. You've never told us your name, HT." Kazen said to the woman.
"HT means Honey Tits." Kane explained, "I would've went with Sugar Tits, personally. But, that's just me." The elder Irishman said.
"And back to you. Who is Kazen Horne, hm?" She changed her attention to Kane. "And perhaps, who are you, as well?"
When addressed Kane turned his attention to Barada, raising an eyebrow. Did it matter who he was? He wasn't the guy boning Yanni, he barely knew her and wasn't even sure if he'd actually met her in person before.
"Sean Horne. Most call me by me middle name. Kane." Kane said to Barada, "Pleasure ta' meet'cha so far, lass." The elder Irishman said.
"So, tell me, what'll I have to do to get access to this...Jacob fellow?"
That tone darkened. Became sour at the end.
"I've been out of work these days. I asked Phinx, Mary, to see if any contracts or job postings come up that could use someone like me." Kane said, "An irate Irishman who knows how to kill, fight and blow things up."
"We don't havy any power like that to get you close, but we can talk to someone." Kane told Barada, "Put you in touch with Mary, maybe. She's running lead on making this kid's life a living hell." Kane said.
"And, yeah, we're with the Invictus." Kazen said, "Any misconceptions you have about us won't make you friends if you believe them." He added, "It's true. We don't like people who believe everything they hear, it's like... grow a spine and question things for yourself." Kane said, starting and ending his mini-rant.
"Anyways," Kane began, "Kazen here got laid up trying to fight the kid. He was attacking Thousand Mountains, a restaurant we owned, to get to Kazen to get to Yanni. Killed a lot of people. A lot of good, innocent people. Children." Kane said, tone darkening.
The Irishmen both letting out a slight groan simultaneously.
Children were off-limits as far as they were concerned.
Second bottle done. Third.
"Perhaps it might be worth it to take a shot. What do you look for? People who can fight, yeah? Capable people. Shouldn't be too difficult to show off a bit." Sip, sip. "Children?" Gulp. The beer was going down faster than the last. "Ah, children. So he's one of those types." Thunk. The bottle teetered on its side, then balanced and straightened. "And he managed to take you out. Now, I wouldn't have any idea, but I'm guessing that's a little hard to do?"
Her hand came to the neck of the last beer.
"I'll put you in touch with Nina. She handles stuff like this, recruiting or whatever." Kane told Barada.
Kazen ran his hands over his face,looking around the area for a moment before turning his attention to Barada again. "We're strong, but we ain;'t invincible." Kazen told her, "It's not hard for everyone to take us out, but we can get taken out. Especially by blokes with Zeus levels of fuckin' strength."
"Had. Apparently somethin' happened and now the kid is normal. Really normal. Squishy." Kane explained.