"Shut your mouth boy. I'll have none of that. You'll learn your manners if you want to live beyond this moment. I speak and you obey. That is the only thing that you need to remember if you value your miserable hide. Jax do as I said," hissed Black Widow. With that she spun out of the room leaving a dazed and confused halfling in the care of what he believed to be a wizard.

Percy stared at the human. He was a curious one, dressed so oddly. But of course the drow that had just left the room was dressed equally as oddly. The items in the room were strange and must be of a magical nature. The human that the drow had called Jax was holding this strange looking wand, it almost looked like a hand-held crossbow combined with a wand. He was pointing it menacingly at Percy while he spoke.

"You heard the lady, move thy ass now boy. You may know some fanciful tales but they won't help you where you are headed."

Percy quickly took in his surroundings, then proceeded out the doorway as directed. They quickly passed down a hall, the light obviously coming from magical sources. 'They must be powerful wizards here,' thought Percy. 'They have so many spells going at once, so many things with blinking lights. Everyone passing loaded down with long and short wands...Voices speaking from permanent looking locations...Destroying that powerful wizard that I was with for so long without him even fighting back...I think that I might be in a bit of a tight place.'

"In here," pointed Jax. A simple door stood open awaiting them. Percy almost couldn't contain his laughter as the door was slammed shut locking him in. He knew that he would be out in moments. He scanned the barren cell looking for tools and the best way to escape. "Get away from the door, now," barked a voice. As the door opened Percy heard a loud buzzing sound. Someone came in and left a tray of what must be food. 'Ah, my escape tools...' Percy thanked the man delivering the food and was barked at in response. 'Friendly bunch' he thought. His hunger overcame him, and Percy managed to choke down some foul tasting excuse for food. His imagination helped as he thought of hunting a rabbit or bird or anything. After this he made short work of picking the lock on the door. But it wouldn't open. 'Must be a wizard lock,' he thought. Tracing the door frame Percy found a pair of colored roots entering the door. In attempting to remove the hinges he severed the roots. Sparks flew everywhere. Percy stood back then tried the door. It opened.

Down the hall he crept, hiding in the few shadows that he could find. He knew that he had to disappear quickly, or suffer the humiliation of capture by wimpy wizards.

---JD---

"What the frag!" yells Shrew as he receive a message over his communication board. "A friggin priority Zulu Delta One message, what the frag is that?"

Shrew immediately searches through his manual to find out what the code stood for. He had been with the corp for the past five years and never had he seen that code before. When finally he locates the code his complexion turned pale white.

"It says to get Scorpio ASAP. Frag! I guess I better wake up BW, boy she's gonna kick my ass if this is a con." thinks Shrew as he nervously hits the comm button.

"Uh Comm to Black Widow I have a priority message I think you need to see." says Shrew.

"Shrew! This better be good, or I'm gonna put you on PT for life you fragger!" screams Black Widow over the comm unit.

"Roger that BW but I still think you better have a look at this." Answers Shrew.

Within minutes Black Widow storms into the communications office, causing Shrew to spill the black coffee he was slowly drinking.

"What the frags so important that you have to wake me up from my slumber!" Says the wild eyed woman of destruction.

"We just received a priority Zulu Delta One message." replies Shrew, "I never have seen that so I went through our manuals and it says to get Scorpio ASAP."

"Drek, I never heard of that code before, patch me up, If this is a phony I'm gonna tear someone’s hide for it."

Shrew gladly patches through the code that will allow a two way visual screen of the receiver and sender. As the picture comes into view a tall, lean and attractive man is seen, he seems impatient and when he sees a response to his call says, "About friggin time, you guys think I have all day. I need to speak to the head honcho pronto, I don't have time to mess with underlings."

Shrew steps away slowly from the general area of Black Widow, trying to find something that will block any thrown objects that might find themselves in space. Black Widow can be seen visibly shaking as her eyes turn to a crimson red that almost seems to emit a slight haze. In a low and steady voice she replies, "I don't know who the frag you are or how you got this code but I'm tracing your ass as we speak and I'm gonna personally take pleasure in sucking the life out of your torso."

"Listen frail, I don't know who you or what you do for the corp but my biz is with Scorpio or Sidewinder, so if you would run and fetch them our biz will be done." To add insult to injure the unknown figure begins to move his hands back in forth in a shooing motion.

Shrew quickly ducks behind a console and quietly makes a call to Sidewinder. Knowing his captains temper, Shrew decides that the corps co-leader might need to get involved, especially since the slagger on the vid doesn’t know who he is talking to.

"Hey Sidewinder, you better get down here double time. Black Widow is going ballistic with a guy on the comm, that sent us a Zulu Delta priority one message." says Shrew. He looks up just in time to hear BW launch into a tirade of vulgarities that make his ears turn red. The other figure continues in kind, each escalating in tempo until the entire room is filled to the bursting.

Sidewinder, who is not one to show extreme excitement in front of the troops, rushes through various members in an attempt to get to the communication room. He finally burst through to see an extremely irate Black Widow pointing her pistol at the screen.

"Captain, put down you fire arm and stand down!", yells Sidewinder, preparing for the worst. Black Widow's temper is legendary in the corp and Sidewinder himself does not know if his equal rank will make a difference in this situation.

Black Widow slowly turns her crimson eyes on the new assailant, "Ya want some to 'winder, I got plenty to spare!", growls BW, "I've got a scan on this fragger an I'm gonna eat his soul for lunch."

The figure on the screen, who has maintained his cool, throughout the entire scene, slowly smiles as he sees Sidewinder enter the contest.

Black Widow slowly turns her crimson eyes on the new assailant, "Ya want some to 'winder, I got plenty to spare!", growls BW, "I've got a scan on this fragger an I'm gonna eat his soul for lunch."

The figure on the screen, who has maintained his cool, throughout the entire scene, slowly smiles as he sees Sidewinder enter the contest.

"Yo mate, nice to see your slagging arse after all these years." says the mysterious man.

"Later Slick, as always your charm has gotten me in trouble again." answers Sidewinder, never taking his eyes off his co-leader. "Look Widow, I know this trog has pushed your buttons, and your ready to slag anyone that gets in your way, but listen to me one nano. Ok?"

Black Widow, does not flinch and her cybernetically enhanced eyes never change from there crimson red color. Like her namesake she stands crouched, pistol aiming at the console and fearsome eyes pinning Sidewinder with a wicked stare. Taking no action as an affirmative, Sidewinder lifts his hands up in a air to show he is unarmed. He then slowly goes over to the terminal and says,

"This code was a command that Scorpio put into play at the group’s inception. This trog that we are looking at, is an operative of Scorp Corp who has been planted in Bangkok ever since we landed."

Sidewinder, looks for any reaction from the Widow and find that he is staring at a prone figure. Shrew, remembering he has something to do in the mess hall leaves quietly through the comm doors.

"Frankly, I forgot the trog myself; believe me its easy to do." says Sidewinder.

"Hey is that anyway to speak to an ol chum, especially one that has gotten your can out of the fire on several occasions." whines Slick, "So this rimbo is a Capt? Well excuse me Capt., I didn't mean to dis you like that, as you can see I've been out of the loop for awhile."

Black Widow holsters her pistol, but her lips stay sealed and her eyes continue to show her mood.

With a sigh of relief Sidewinder, lowers his hands and sits in front of the terminal. "This trog is Slick, he is a long time friend of Scorpio and I. Believe it or not this chummer helped me escape some probs I had back before the corp. He also got Scorpio out of some tight jams. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that he is an associate member of the Scorpion Corps."

Sidewinder looked for a reaction and when he received none he continues, "Before we came to Bangkok, I had Slick infiltrate the government and place himself for undercover ops. That’s Slick specialty, he may not show it with us but he's a smooth talking, sly dog when it comes to flesh intel. There’s only so much that a data bank can tell ya, sometimes ya gotta get close and personal." Sidewinder then looks at the vid where slick is patiently waiting. "So chum, now that I got your arse out of the pan, at least for the moment. What ya got for us."

"Is that anyway to talk to a friend" says Slick in a wounded tone, "So where’s Scorpio, I know you guys were ran out, but the reports here are shaky on the results."

"Uh, we haven’t found Scorpio, we are considering him MIA" replies Sidewinder.

"Frag it! I tried to warn you guys as soon as I heard the news but most of the team was at the Oil Rig mission and Scorpio was in some big Yak meeting." says Slick with genuine concern on his face. "Drek, I'll get on the search from this end. Oh and before I forget I got some info for ya. The last four months strange things have been going on, people are found missing for a few weeks and then they come back only different. Talk about your pod people 'winder, these fraggers are totally changed. I have compiled a list of people I suspect to have been—cloned--is the only way I can describe it. I'm downloading now to you. I also have a compiled list of the officials who are still their old nasty selves. Believe me guys, the list is small these guys arn’t the heavy hitters. Who ever is doing this is doing it right. One more thing, they know Ravage is back and they plan on hitting em in two days, I'm not sure the time but you get the message. I'd do an evac asap. I'm sending you a location that should be safe for about a month."

"Thanks bro, the list will help." says Sidewinder "Your right about the pod people, we have people on it. Seems like some alien force is trying to ta take over the show and we are not invited. Can you get us some intel on where the prisoners are being held?"

"Sure chum anything for a close friend" says Slick with a sultry voice, "Well I better scram before my contact gets wind I'm using his comp. As always I'm looking out for ya chum. Oh and Black Widow nice digs I hope to see more of ya."

Black Widow’s eyes flare as she remembers every feature of her future opponent. With no more to say Slick signs off and a strained silence can be heard in the room. Sidewinder glances around the room trying to consider his next sentence.

"That’s two chum." Black Widow says in a barley audible hiss, "One more and your toast. I never want to be left in the dark again you scan? Oh and friend or no friend that human back there is my desert after we get through with the main meal. Associate member of Scorpion Corps, like drek he is, more like a spy on me perhaps? Just stay the frag away from me Sidewinder, your skating on thin ice." With that said Black Widow leaves the comm unit to its sole occupant.

Sidewinder thinks to himself. "That Bitch has got a lot of nerve. If it wasn’t that I needed her I'd turn her to goo. Maybe my little research will turn up some interesting tidbits I can use and abuse." Sidewinder smiles as thinks lurid thoughts of Black Widow kneeling before him, powerless under his influence spell. Before his excitement can show he quickly calls one of his assistance to meet him in his quarters, telling her to bring a friend. After that is done he exits the comm room and whistles as he walks to his room. Seeing the coast clear Shrew again enters the room and props his legs on a desk, going back to his peaceful watch of the comm computers.

---EM---

The beast continued turning the great egg case containing the most mighty creature it had ever summoned. The egg case was twirled absently mindedly, the drider’s thoughts in other places.

The monster summoned would be the greatest attack program Drider had ever developed. He knew extremely powerful coding would be needed to destroy government opposition on the matrix when the Scorpion Corps implemented its plan to retake Bangkok. Thus, he created the most deadly computer virus he could imagine. It would take up nearly all memory resources and apply them to attack modes versus oncoming Black ICE, little other memory would be left over for defense and searching routines when the program was in operation. In fact, when this attack routine was online, Drider’s standard net persona of the half dark elf, half spider creature would fail to operate and an alternative method of concyclopsing the routine would be needed.

Suddenly, there was a roar from within the egg case. The war machine began to tear free from its silken bonds. Great bladed joints pushed through the lining of the egg case puncturing it easily. Within, a blackened form of an enormous spider covered in impaling pikes and blades was drawing in air and growing in size quickly. The drider grabbed the egg case and held it firmly in its grasp but the monster within struggled to erupt forth. Bladed legs tore into the drider, and green blood poured forth.

In RL, Drider’s body felt a jolt as his own attack routine damaged him! He quickly struggled to regain control before the virus coding of the program broke free and reeked havoc on his own mainframe. ‘This routine is too unstable and powerful at this point, I must slow it down!’ he thought to himself. The drider’s body was bleeding out as the viral load in this node increased and began destroying other programs in the area. The persona of Drider was rapidly failing, and its strength could not contain the virus.

The drider quickly changed into a leaner form, that of the dark elf.

‘BACK! BACK! I COMMAND YOU! YOU ARE NOT READY, YOU WILL SLEEP!’ he screamed at the routine, and then inscribed a circle and pentagram around the egg case on the ground enclosing it. He then cast a spell of binding. ‘YOU CANNOT ESCAPE! YOU ARE BOUND AND UNDER MY CONTROL!’ he yelled. A piercing scream was emitted from within the egg case. The dark elf then drew a red glyph in the shape of a vertical line bisected by two smaller vertical lines on the silken case. ‘You will dream, and awaken when I summon you!’ the elf said in a calmer voice. The egg case let out a final whimpering screech in protest then relaxed. The dark elf then breathed a sigh of relief and touched the center of the web. Satisfied that system security was still intact Drider jacked out.

"Time to tell sis I just created a military grade attack program." he says with a fanged grin.

"I refuse to date that old geezer again. I think he is just into me because I’m a meta…" Black Widow says as she tosses away an expensive looking piece of Cartier jewelry with the inscription, "with love, T. Sakura."

"Here ya go sis, happy birthday. So now you are what, 36 years old?" Drider smirks as he hands her a large wrapped present.

"Fragger, if you don’t change my birth records back to my real age soon, you wont live to see your own birthday." Black Widow snaps as she grabs at the offered gift. Her face then slowly turns to a smile. A smile that could melt the heart of Dunklezahn. "Thanks little brother, you shouldn’t have." she says as she begins to pull the wrapping off the gift. This reveals what appears to be a medium sized bird cage with a small bird house inside, a few feathers line the bottom of the cage. "Feathers… a bird? You got me a fraggin bird? Are you slottin BTLs?"

"No BW, the feathers are just what’s left after your pet had lunch." As if a signal has been given, a blue velvet covered leg pokes out from the birdhouse. Then another, and soon six more. An electric blue form of a magically awakened bird eating tarantula then steps forth.

"OOHH! I LOVE IT!" she exclaims, and deftly opens the door to the cage and inserts her non-cybered hand to pet the creature.

"DON’T!" Drider yells, "it is deadly poisonous!’

However, the tarantula lies still and even seems to enjoy the petting it gets from the woman. Within moments, the spider queen has the tarantula cuddled in her arms and is petting it ever so lovingly.

"Oh Drider, this is the best gift imaginable!" she says as she gives him a peck on the cheek.

The party is then interrupted by the entrance of Sidewinder. The tarantula rears back on its hind legs and twirls its front legs menacingly.

"Black Widow, I need to talk to you now." he says sternly.

Five minutes later the two are in the command room of the Scorpion Securities office.

"I need to know what you intend to do about the situation in Bangkok. You sent the submarine on route to the city, why?"

"We needed to get Ravage out, and I wanted a back up plan." she says controlling her anger.

"Ravage can handle himself. I told him to leave and take a trip to Japan." He pauses. "That trip was a silly errand of course, but I didn’t want him raising any hell before he left, and I figured a new mission was what he needed."

"He has a new mission." she says as her eyes fade to red. "We are retaking Bangkok."

"Unacceptable." He replies. "That place is lost to us, and is not worth the retaking."

"You have no idea the repercussions of that loss. We lost half the team, all our morale, and I am surprised we are still in business here, considering."

"I know the numbers, Captain, but it is not a rational decision to retake the city. It was just a base of operations, and while we were there we had allies in the government as well as the people. That situation has changed, and I won’t have my soldiers die just to remedy it."

"You don’t know what we’re up against out there. I have fought bugs, and they need to be exterminated. They multiply and spread like a disease. It will only be a matter of time before they are here or in any other large city." She states.

"I doubt it. They are in the Bangkok slums now because there was no one else there besides us to kick them out." He replies.

"You think so huh? Remember that Universal Brotherhood trid news flash that made headlines a while back? I was in on it. And the bugs were already here."

"But they are gone now, proving my point." He says with a smirk.

"And they will be back, proving mine." She says as her eyes fade to solid black. Black Widow then tilts her head forward and stares at Sidewinder. "This spider will finish them off in Bangkok. That was _my_ web, and it will be again. Don’t try to stand in my way." she says with a fanged snarl.

"Do what _you_ want spider, but you are not taking the troops on an official mission to fulfill your personal needs."

"FINE! THEN IT WILL BE R&R FOR WHOMEVER WANTS TO GO WITH ME!" she screams. "I am sure I will have plenty of volunteers. They want BLOOD and REVENGE and to kill those who hurt them. Something you with your profit margin and cost-benefits analysis will NEVER comprehend. YOU COPY WHAT I’M SAYING? If this team doesn’t have self respect it has NOTHING!" she yells at the top of her lungs. Then taking a deep breath states, "And we are taking any supplies the men can carry. Plenty of the larger artillery is still in OUR Bangkok. I don’t need you at all. You are either with me or against me." she then stares deep into Sidewinders eyes.

Sidewinder smells a hint of ozone in the air. A scent he is familiar with as magic is being gathered around a wizard or shaman. He decides it is better to defuse the situation, and says calmly.

"Fine. You can ask for volunteers, but this mission is not being backed by Scorpion Securities International. It is all off record. Something you are doing on your own, and at your own expense. I wrote off all the equipment left in Bangkok as lost, so use it as you will. I hope it is enough to sustain you. I trust you will not lead the men to their deaths."

Black Widow then nods her head in agreement, turns around and leaves the room without another word.

"Drider, call the troops to order at 1900 hours. Some of us are going to Bangkok." she says to her brother.

The word speeds through the troops like wildfire. The team is going to retake the city that had cost so many of the troops their lives. Several of the new recruits are unsure as to whether this is a good idea, but the ones who had seen their friends die in action were ready for revenge.

"Black Widow will lead us to victory." Rakasha the leopard shaman assassin says forcefully.

"Then why did she lose last time?" says one of the new recruits.

"We were ambushed by former allies, you fool. There was no reason for them to attack at that point because we as we were on our way out of the country, at the command of Colonel Scorpion himself, when we were hit."

"Still I haven’t seen Black Widow do anything but give angry orders as long as I have been here."

"The ones who have served under her would die for her." Rakasha says.

"That’s what I am worried about," the recruit replies.

"If you are worried about dying in this biz, then it is time to get out." a large hulking figure says. "It has been a long time since I tasted blood and I am ready." Minas the Minotaur says. He then grabs his large double headed battle ax and swings it over his head in a large arc. "It is time to make war."

A large greenish troll then saunters into the room. His long black hair held back by a shell clip. His hands and feet are webbed and gill slits on the side of his neck reveal him to be a former underwater combatant in one of the worlds many navies. Specifically, the Na Kiu, the Hawaiian covert forces

"It’s about time I can get outta dis drek hole, dig? I gotta see me ocean soon or I dry up like a prune." He says in his thick Hawaiian pigeon accent.

"Frag that," another new recruit replies. "I’m not gonna die for some spider bitch."

"I know what I see, eh bra? You shake inna you boots now eh?" Scrag the SeaTroll replies. "Me, I’m ready make hoa paio (to kill the enemy). The great green troll then walks to his locker and begins packing his equipment bag with timers and other demolition instruments as well as a large spear gun.

"I am with you my brothers in blood. I am ready for the upcoming combat as well." a large human calling himself Berserker states. "I want to revenge those fallen in battle."

"HEE, HEE, HEE" laughs Six-Shooter as he pulls forth his six revolvers from holsters placed around his body. This near cyber zombie had converted his body into a nightmare of a gunfighter by adding four additional cybernetic arms underneath the two nature had given him. Despite being a genius at cybernetics, the death of his wife had put him over the edge, and he had instead recreated himself to bring terror to those who destroyed his better half.

"I guess Six-Shooter is in." Drider says as he walks into the room. "Anyone else care to let me know their status on this mission? As you know this is not official, but you will be given combat pay."

"I'm in as well, Drider." the sultry red head known as Flame says. "My torch is packed and ready to burn." she says as she holds up a large backpack containing flammable plasma.

---K.K.---

'The sun, oh the awful glare of the sun! How much longer will you torture my very existence?' Vlad crept back to his tomb as the sun rose over the matrix in Denver. The little raised tomb had been replaced with an immense keep. The stone all of black, the battlements tall and forbidding. This stretch of the matrix had a tight spell of perpetual fog laid upon it. Even with the most powerful of Vlad's defenses a bit of the eternal sun poked it's way in. The bats and rats crept back within the safety of the dark walls while their master took his slumber and attended to his business. He pondered over the events of the day...

One of his minions had reported an immense power struggle occurring in a meadow. A dark elf and an immense spider engaged in a battle of wills. The bat had been blown out of the sky by an aftershock of the struggle. The details were sketchy, but the bat had crawled home to report the dark elf bottling the power of the spider and then disappearing. This disappearance caused the most worry for Vlad. He had been seeing more and more of it. As he sucked the energy from victims many of them simply vanished without a trace. He expected to be holding dead bodies after draining someone fully, but the more fanciful ones had been showing a tendency to simply vanish.

---JD---

Black Widow then leaves the Scorpion Securities building and goes to the Cartier store in the local metroplex frequented by the wealthier clientele of Denver. She is dressed to kill in an all black Italian dress suit, and carries the same attitude into the store. A sales rep instantly greets her at the entrance.

"May I be of service, Madam?"

"Yes, I am here to return a piece of jewelry for Tamatsu Sakura." she then hands the package to the salesman. "he is unhappy with the workmanship and wishes to commission another piece instead."

"You mean _the_ Tamatsu Sakura of MCT North America?"

"Why don’t you shout his name you insolent fool." She replies.

"My greatest apologies Madam. It is just that we do not generally accept exchanges on custom made jewelry."

"You will this time. He is not currently accepting trinkets from this artisan. He is contemplating another piece from another. In any case he expects no difficulties on this matter."

"Yes, yes. I can understand. But you will not mind if we check it with him personally. We wish to make our customers happy."

"Oyabun Sakura is a busy man, and I am his personal assistant. I can handle all transactions for him."

"Of course, but we must make sure this is still property in his possession."

"Are you implying that I stole this trash?" Black Widow says as she knocks the gem encrusted necklace from the salesman’s hand. It falls to the floor. "Give me the vidphone, I will have Sakura talk to you personally!"

The salesman then believing her threat to be a ruse, calls her bluff. "As you wish Madam. I will connect you to the number we have listed on our computer’s receipt for the jewelry in question." he says smugly.

Black Widow then nods her head, sending a signal to her friend outside.

"Fine!" she states.

A nondescript figure dressed in "ATT Bell" overalls standing at a nearby tele-comunications grid then connects a set of wiring in the back panel of the equipment. Reading a green light on a sensor package, he then takes off his hat and holds it by his side. The man known as Commie nods his head subtly in affirmation to Black Widow that his electronic hack has been successful.

An aged Japanese man with stern face then peers into the the vidphone.

"Yes? What is the matter?" he asks sternly.

The sales rep then shows a smug look on his face as he recognizes the face of the man known as the head executive of Mitsuma North America, Tamatsu Sakura.

"Oyabun Sakura, a women here is claiming to be your personal assistant and wishes to exchange the jewelry you commissioned. Is this as you wished?"

"Of course. Why has she been detained in this matter? I am unhappy with that artist, and will not own a piece of his work. Do you understand? Did she not explain this to you?" he asks with a hint of anger. "She will be FIRED for her incompetence!" he shouts.

The sales rep then with a pained face then replies,

"Uh no sir, she explained this to me perfectly, but I"

"BUT WHAT?!? IS THERE A PROBLEM WITH THIS AS I HAVE ASKED?"

"Uh no sir, but"

"WHY DO YOU WASTE MY TIME WITH THIS? I HAVE WORK TO DO, NOT WASTE TIME WITH YOU. I COULD HAVE BOUGHT ANOTHER PIECE EXACTLY LIKE THAT FOR THE TIME I HAVE SPENT ON THIS CALL! FORGET IT, YOU WILL REFUND HER ALL THE MONEY FOR IT NOW. I WILL WASTE NO MORE TIME ON THIS!" he screams, then, " Miss Tanaka, please take care of this. If there are any more problems you will inform me immediately, understood?"

"Hai!" the woman known as Black Widow replies. The vidphone is then disconnected. "Has Oyabun Sakura made himself clear on this matter?" she asks, now her turn to be smug.

"Yes, Madam. Perfectly, I will get you a cashier’s check for him right away!"

"Make it a cred-stick, I have other errands to run for my Sama."

"As you wish…" he says as he whimpers off towards the back of the room.

"115,000 Nuyen! Not too bad for the old codger. Perhaps he is interested in me…" Black Widow says to Commie. "Wiz job connecting into their phone system. That patchwork of video on Sakura worked quite nicely, don’t you think?"

"Like clockwork." Commie replies.

"I got one more friend to see. Then we go to Bangkok." she says with a smile.

"So now I see dees blood dolls banging on ma door, and I’m thinking to myself I’m gonna have ta kill these ladies if’n they don’t keep it down. When suddenly they attack and the decision is made for me. I can see dey got skin color like ghouls and they are nothing close to livin. So I gun em down quick and they fall like flies. But they don stay down. No, no, no. They get back and start attacking your friend Gunslinger. I wriggle free of them and jump inside the bar and shut the steel grating and lock them out." Gunslinger says as he demonstrates a quick dodge to the left. "and I’m feeling pretty good about myself at around this time cause I’ll just sneak out the back underground exit. But that’s when these two bloodsuckers friends of theirs ridin BMW Blitzen motorcycles come tearing down the road at me. Deh got dees molotav cocktails in their hands and they hurl em at the front of the building and it catches fire!" he shakes his head. "Drek! I think to maself, I’ve HAD IT! No one is burning down my TT bar and not staying dead! So I run around out the back and I grab my lovely knife you made for me.

"The 18 inch Bowie replica?" Black Widow asks.

"Yeah, dat’s the one." He says with a smile, "and burst out the back entrance. Run around the side of the building and lean around and shoot one of dem motorcyclists directly in the forehead. He goes a flying off the back, and his bike drops to the ground. ‘One down, three to go! I says.’ But instantly the two blood dolls are on me, tearing at me like wild animals. Kinda like you a few years ago, if ya know what I mean..." Gunslinger says with a wink. "Anyhow, they moved so fast I could not believe it! I give one of them an uppercut with the hilt of my gun and the other a side hook with the other. I then begin pumpin lead into em, make a gatlin gun drool. But it ain’t doin much good.

"Of course not GS, you know it is near worthless to try and take em down like that!" Black Widow says incredulously.

"Of course cher, but ol habits die hard. It does knock em back far enough to give me some breathin room. I then hear a screamin coming from the front door and one of the biker vamps, the one with the forehead hole, is attacking Lilith Caine—a dancer working at the bar--who has just come out the front. One of the bloodvamps runs over there as well.

"Lilith Caine? Oh yeah, she’s that succubus body conversion you had over there right?" Black Widow asks.

"Yeah, one and the same. So I am left with one bloodvamp, and a biker bloodsucker from hell baring down on me on his wheels! The biker is comin on hard at me, and I got one shot left. But I made it count, I shot the fraggers gas tank, an’ he went BOOM!" Gunslinger throws his hands in the air acting out the explosion. "Sends that fragger, sky high in fireball and fraggin foreign bike parts. When he comes back to earth he is nothing but charcoal! I scream ‘Ya want some too bloodbitch?!’ to the other vamp, but that jus makes her mad. And she is on me in a flash. She knocks the guns outta my hands like they were nothing.

Meanwhile that Lilith is being a tiger. I see a flash o light and she torches the other female vamp. She channeled some major mojo from who knows where. She didn’t even know she was gifted! Not that I’d expect her to, she is a little on the airy side if ya know what I mean. But she torches one good! And it runs screamin towards the bar. It gets inside and drops, and another fire is going!" he takes a breath of air and continues his story.

Anyhow, the one that is on me screams, ‘This is for Sunny!’ and goes for my throat! You know Sunny, that vamp I hired that started this whole mess in the first place?! Anyhow, ‘For Sunny!’ she screams, and she grabs my head and tilts it like a ragdoll. I just get lucky then, and I put my hands up defensively to stop the creature from chompin. I grab _her_ by the throat and that’s when I remember my number three!"

"Number three??" Black Widow asks.

"Yeah, number three. My third pistol I wear. It is on a wrist strap on my forearm. Just tilt my hand back and it’ll pop straight into the hand. It is there, right in reach, and I fire. BLAM! and I blow the vamps neck clean in half. The frag passes out through the neck and blows out the spine, and the thing just goes limp in my hands. It turns out you take out the spine, and they die! Couldn’t believe ma luck, BW. It thought I was vamp chow!" He then smiles and grabs her hand. "but I couldn’t leave you behind now could I?" he says with a wink.

"O please Gunslinger, you were probably thinking about the succubus conversion…" she says with a smile.

"Ha! You know me too well." he says with a hearty laugh. "Well to sum it up, the biker vamp left, just takes off, screaming ‘I’ll be back!’ or some such nonsense. I put out the fire at the bar, and that’s when I decide it is time to get outta the TT bar scene for a while. It just ain’t worth it with this hit squad of vamps coming after me for them to know where ta find me. So I calls up Razorback on the vidphone. You know the big troll bartender I got working inside the bar, and I offer the larger Colonel TT bar in the downtown area as his to manage, with me as silent partner, at least for a while. Once he makes enough profit at the place he gets a loan and pays me for it. The other bar, where this fight took place, has gained quite a reputation as a death bar, and so all sorts of freaks frequent the place. Money is very good every time something like this happens, so I sells it off while the money is thick.

You should see the lunatic that bought the place. Calls himself ‘Cadaver,’ and he’s got all his skin replaced with the clear synthetic stuff so you can see all his muscle tissue. Absolutely horrifying. Frag, he doesn’t even repair the burn marks outside, or clean up the charred marks of the vamps that burned that day. Says it adds ‘character’ to the place. And soon, all sorts of ghoul gangs and blood dolls, doomers and Halloweeners are frequenting the place." Gunslinger then pauses in his story. "To think all I wanted was a place for runners to hang out, and to start up a little information network with the dancers. You would be surprised what a runner will tell a dancer…" He pauses. "So that is it. I figured I’d lay low awhile. That is of course till you called me a few days ago…"

"Sounds like you got yourself into a bit of a bind Gunslinger. I got just the thing for you…"

"Don’t try to sweet talk me cher, I know you too well for that." He says with a smile.

"All right GS, I’ll just come out and say it… I need your help."

The Gunslinger stares deep into her eyes.

"Uh oh, that bad huh?" he says.

"Yes. The bugs are back and I need your experience."

"Bugs? Not again. Where?" he asks with his head down low. "Black Widow, they nearly killed us last time. Why go against them now?"

"Because no one else will. They have infiltrated the government of Bangkok, and if they aren’t stopped they will spread throughout the Pac Rim. We have to stop them."

"I dunno BW, I think you should just call Ares Macrotech an’ tell them exterminators are needed."

"GS, the people there are being carted away and being converted. At least when it was happening here it was mostly voluntary…" A pained look then comes over the face of the gunslinger. Black Widow sees this and consuls her friend. "Look, I know what happened to you out there in the jungles of Asia; and the last thing you want is too see more villagers in dire straits, but it is exactly what you need." She pauses and looks him directly in the eyes. "Gunslinger, this can be your redemption…"

"I can never have redemption for what I did, woman." He says as he hangs his head down low.

"Gunslinger, you did what you had to do to survive. We all have. We _all_ have regrets. I took out two panzers full of good soldiers when they tried to capture me. They were just doing their job, and I took them out for standing in my way."

"Yes, Sasha, but those were soldiers. They knew they faced death on a daily basis. I took out a group of villagers…"

"Yes, villagers manufacturing China White, which takes the lives of thousands of people every year… I think they knew what they were involved in as well."

"They were just doin what they had ta ta survive…"

"As were you chummer, as were you. The point is that you will never let it go until you can repay the blood. I’m offering you a chance to do just that."

"Ya know, I was a different person when I committed that crime."

"Then that person needs to pay the blood, before _you_ can go on…"

Gunslinger then looks deeply into the eyes of Black Widow. He thinks it over for several minutes time. Finally, he says.

"Yes. Hunter will repay the blood."

When she returns to the Scorpion Securities building she sees a line of soldiers near the front holding packed bags of equipment.

"Team present and accounted for, sir!" says Jax as he stands at attention. "Sir, the troops have spoken it over, and all here are ready to serve under your command."

Black Widow looks over the troops with pride, most of the best soldiers were here.

"Are you all perfectly clear this is a voluntary mission, and not part of your normal duties as Scorpion Corpsmen?" she asks.

"YES SIR!" they respond in unison.

"Good, then let’s get this war underway. Let’s kick some bug ass!" She says with pride. She then turns to Jax quietly and says. "Jax, we’ll be packing our supplies on the cargo jet and get an airlift to international waters near Bangkok. Take this cred stick…and this one as well, and pay all soldiers double their combat pay. Also purchase any minor supplies from the depot that the men need. I don’t think Sidewinder will mind if the men get ammo issued with their weapons…" she says with a wry smile.

"But captain, one of these is from your personal cred savings account?!"

"I know. I prefer to think of it as an investment." She winks. "We leave at 0600 tomorrow."

"Yes Captain." He then turns to the soldiers still standing at attention. "TROOPS DISMISSED!" he bellows.

---K.K.---

Seeing many large trunks being moved out of the building, the small thief known as Percy sees his chance.

"I gotta get out of this stronghold, before this drow has me killed!" he mumbles. He then empties a box labeled "Big Kahuna’s Stick." Pulling out what appears to be a large flat board similar to a boat, Percy quickly slides it under a tarp in the room and climbs into the box. "I’ll be free soon enough!" he says.

---K.K.---

"Yo slag, where the frag have you been?" Asked an excited Puk, as he reviewed a vid call from Ravage. "I've been looking all over for you. I've hooked up with your ole crew and we’re ready to roll."

"Sorry Puk, I've been busy." Answers Ravage. "So you are in contact with the Corps?"

"As we speak I'm placing a call for your captain." Says Puk. "They are in Bangkok and we are set up at a base."

There is a sudden interruption and Puk moves away from the screen. In front of the screen is the chalk white complexion of a women with deep red lips. "Yo Ravage, long time since we hooked up IRL. Good to see you up to form." Says the captivating Black Widow.

"Hiya chummer, I'm glad you could make it to the show. Things look like they could be getting good down here." Smiles the huge ork as he sees his commander. "I've got some info that’ll help in our little party. I'm coming in as soon as you chums get me a code. Boy do we have to talk. Oh and captain, that boy with ya, he’s a good chummer dig? I know he don't look like much but he can carry his own weight, as I'm sure your bro will find out. Keep an eye out for em when I'm not around as a personal favor to me ney? Well I better book for I'm found. See ya frail."

"Yeh yeh trog get on in before we start with out ya." Responds Black Widow, she thinks that only two people in her life could get away with calling her frail and her brother was the other. She smiles at the ork and then signs off. She looks at the beaming boy next to her and shakes his hair. "Looks like your bud is coming in, now we can get some work done on these fraggin bugs. You start your pistol lessons ASAP. I'm not having any monkey tricks on my unit that can’t protect themselves, capish?"

The greetings are brief and subdued, but any of the old hands can see that Ravage is glad to see his unit again. At the same time it pains him to see the faces that are not present in the room. It seems to him to be a never ending cycle of losing companions to the Grim Reaper. He nods curtly to the newbies, growling to those who presume to get to know him. Newbies, according to Ravage, should be seen and not heard until they have proved themselves in combat, until then they are just another Red Shirt filling in the gaps.

"Yo, Shelob, Its good to scan that bod of yours again. I see we have turned in the camo for the dark look. It suits you dol." Says Ravage as he greets his long time superior officer. Although the others may not have caught it Black Widow can see in Ravage's eyes that he is glad to be part of the group again.

"You old fragger, we thought your arse was greased for sure on this one. Its good to see you to chummer." replies Black Widow, "By the way I've changed my handle to Black Widow, cuz I'm pissed off and wanna kick some bug ass."

"That suits me fine Doll. So lets have our Pow Wow and get on it."

The leaders of Scorpion Corp gather around that table and do what they do best. Prepare for massive destruction.

Once the big Pow Wow was over Ravage started on his mission with a huge grin. He was back in the show, his merc group was in town and ready to kick butt. The meeting divided the team into three parts, with Ravage in charge of finding out where the bugs are keeping their prisoners and what type of bases they were holding up in. He choose to go it alone since he knew the underground better than the other members, living in the cesspool of the orient hath its privileges and he was privy to them. The other two groups were responsible for finding out the total government infiltration and any information on destroying these new terrors. Puk had wanted to go along with his partner, but Ravage refused.

"Hey chum, you can do a lot better good to the corps if you stay here at the base and help Drider figure out the ins and outs of these fraggers. What I gotta do is a lot of grunt work and you ain’t cut out for that stuff." Said Ravage calmly.

"I can stick any one that gets in my way Rav, I ain’t no wannabe. I earn my respect on the streets as well as the net." Complained Puk

"I know that kid but this is different. We don’t know jack about these fraggers and I'm counting on you to give me the info I need to slag em. I trust you kid and I know you and Drider together can crack this mess and give us the key."

"All right I guess your right, but I don’t have to like it." mumbled Puk.

Ravage shook his head as he cleared all thoughts of the past away. Frag I gotta stop this drek or I'm gonna get aced, he thought to himself. He had got a tip from a scared homeless woman that many of the dispossessed were disappearing right off the streets. She had been as white as bleach when he first talked to her that night before.

"Most honorable sire. I beg you to stop these monsters from taking my people. The authorities refuse to do anything, they only say good riddance to poor trash. I tell you we are honest people who have only fallen on bad times, sure we steal a little but only to survive and never to harm others."

"Tell me what happened Mama-san." Asked Ravage.

"Well I did not actually see anything but I could see the shadows and hear the screams of my friends. We were gathered up on Kung Lie blvd., sleeping for the evening. There was about 50 of us in total. Some time during the night, 5 strangers walked into our midst offering up bottles of ale and dream chips. Many flocked to their sides at the offer of such rich booty. I had gone that path before so I refused to go but most of our group went. As soon as the bottles and chips were passed around the people began to fall one by one as if hit by a hammer. I was frightened and cowered in my small lean to trying to hide my body. I could hear and see the shadows of others running towards the five with anger and death on their minds, seeking revenge for our fallen companions. The screams were horrible and I covered my ears for the better part of an hour. I don’t know how long the fight lasted but I waited for another hour to exit my place of hiding. What I saw will forever plaster my mind. Of the 50 people who were in my group only 15 remained. I should say what remained of the 15 people were left. The look on their eyes showed the horror of what was done to their bodies. The other people I know not what happened but I did see tire tracks of a truck leading out of the alley that were not there before the scene. I ran as quickly as I could but I fear that all the running I could do would not help me escape the horror."

Her story was similar to the others Ravage had heard and he now knew that the bugs were collecting for some reason and he meant to find out why.

That’s what finds the mighty Ravage in rags lying on a cardboard box with a pint of Troll’s breath in his hand. He met up with a group of 25 panhandlers and in little words and much show of muscle adopted them as his bait. They had gotten used to the ork who just sat there drinking and began to relax and once again live their carefree life of booze and chips.

---EM---

The streets were very dark at night, especially on these back alleyways in Bangkok. Gnorm hung to the shadows, feeling safer from

prying yes there. He held his cloak tightly, stretching it in an attempt to cover his massive frame. The spike projecting from his forehead wasn't possible to hide. The few people that he had encountered in this cesspool weren't friendly at all. As he slipped down the streets, Gnorm reflected on how he had arrived here...

Gnorm had had a rough childhood. The constant teasing of his looks and intelligence nearly drove him crazy. His mother's undying love

pulled him through the early years of hell. As he grew older and stronger his size and strength took care of the rest.

Yet, the questionable circumstances surrounding her death had resulted in an incredible cynicism in the boy. He grew to enjoy the taunts of the other children.

Often they would gather into a pack, assuming that their numbers could protect them from his wrath. From their midst, ignoring all of the feeble blows that they had, he would arise, with two or three children dangling from each hand and merrily bash their heads together. Eventually they learned to leave him alone. Even twenty or so children were no match for this one youngster. They never had a chance, for a cyclops is quite powerful, even as a child.

After growing ever more isolated throughout his teenage years, Gnorm finally found a place that he was accepted. The marines had offered a safe enough place for an outcast. They had trained him to be an efficient killing machine. Trained him to be too efficient for their own good. He was awarded a general discharge after killing a superior officer. Hey, the officer had been asking for it, which was why he wasn't court-martialed. After a few years working for a security firm, Gnorm had had enough. He was tired of playing games with the humans and metahumans, pretending to be nice. He guessed it was just a problem with authority. After a stint of freelancing and pirating for a while, Gnorm found himself employed as a merc by a drug lord in southeast Asia. Soon after, a family merger left him out in the cold. Unemployed, he found his way into Bangkok, the cesspool of the Orient. Things had started out fine in the beginning, big nuyen had been offered to bodyguard a local yak. The Gold Dragons were supposed to be the primo up and coming group to take over. Gnorm saw his way into something that could have been prime time. Then some drek tournament among the yakuza clans throws the Gold Dragons out of the biz and Gnorm is left with his pants down. No cash, no nuyen and no contacts.

"Drek this stupid cess-pool of a city", thought the cyclops as he squeezed the life out of a fizzel-pop can. These thoughts had entered his mind multiple times in the last few days as he ambled around the city in the hopes of landing a run that could get him out. To top it off Gnorm is forced to keep to the shadows just to survive; it seems like any meta not attached to someone or some organization is marked to be killed on sight. Even after Gnorm geeks a few fraggers there are still more drekheads out for his hide. So when he hears the screams he thinks twice about going to help, but then his drekking conscience gets the better of him and off he goes with the Vindicator mini-cannon at his side. He's hoping he can help some generous wage-slave out of some trouble and maybe make some creds, but what he finds turns his stomach, and not much can turn the stomach of a full grown cyclops.

JD

*****

Ravage was just about to go psycho as he waited for hours for something to happen. Waiting was definitely not his style. After going over his meditations for the 13th time he was on the verge of giving up the sting operation when he suddenly saw the bright lights of a military truck pull into the alley way. The high beam lights shined down on the drunks as they stirred from their chip dreams and began to mutter. Ravage quickly switched his cyber eyes to flash protectors and feigned that he was as blinded as the rest of the drek.

"Now were getting somewhere", he mumbled to himself as he shifted in his cardboard mat.

A thin, framed man stepped out of the passenger side of the truck and began to call out in a highly nasal tone.

"Yo, fellow comrades, the candy man is here and I've got lots of presents for you. Ya want some flavored ice to chill your wasted hides, mine’s the best. I also got the latest in Simchips that hook straight to the brain. Come on, let this drek of a life go for a few hours and enjoy the good life. Best of all, its all free, courtesy of your local Yak group."

To the residents of the alley only the outline of the man could be seen, but since Ravage had enhanced vision capabilities he could see that the alleged human looked like drek. He had all the features of a human but something was definitely wrong here. His face had a curious peeled look to it like someone who was continuously peeling from a sunburn. The most noticeable thing that caught Ravage's eye was that fact that his eyes were completely black. Now normally in this era that was not common but all of the sensors in Ravage's eyes could detect no cyber, this was pure. Ravage had heard that a new bio-synthtic substance was being experimented with to do away with cyber, so either this guy was wired or he had the real thing. Or perhaps the fragger was full of the pleasure drugs known to these parts.

As was expected, half the group of bums stumbled gladly over to the candyman; having nothing to lose made one forget caution. The other half stayed back but the look in their eyes said that they really wanted some stuff. Ravage stayed in the background and watched the events. He also made sure he took some low-light photos with his right eye so that he could update his teammates latter.

The group of desolates gladly partook of any drug, stimchip or drink that was offered by the man. Another figure had come from the back of the trunk completely covered in a thick trench coat and ski mask. The strangeness of this getup in the humid hot climate of Bangkok seemed to pass by the addicts. One by one the drugs took their effect and the addicts fell to the ground unconscious. Another figure, looking just like the last one came from the end of the truck and began to help his partner to load up the fallen bodies into the truck. Ravage, left with about nine other stunned homeless, watched as they dragged their companions away. A brave or stupid soul got it into his head to speak up.

"Hey are we going to let them just take away our chums."

He stood up and looked for support that was not forthcoming from his frighten alley mates. Just as he wished he had not said those telling words one of the beings in a trench coat noticed him and began to slowly walk towards the speaker. The speaker stood there in a frozen state, as if by not moving he would be ignored. Unfortunately, as Ravage has found out with his victims, that does not stop a killer of men.

What came next shocked even the nerves of Ravage, who had never seen such a sight. From beneath the sleeves of the coat sprung an appendage that look grossly like a common roach would have. With speed that could only be caught with Ravage's enhanced vision the creature stabbed forward and plunged his appendage into the abdomen of the poor fool. Then in one jerky movement the creature pulled off its ski mask and revealed its true nature. It was in fact a huge roach with human sized proportions. With a wave of its antennae the roach quickly bit down on the mortally wounded man and began to chew on his shoulder and arms. The man was being literally eaten alive. This action caused the other homeless to go into a panic and try to run away but the other roach quickly came to the aid of his partner and between them they made short work of the remaining victims.

Ravage stayed where he was when he realized that he was still not noticed and waited to

see what the creatures would do. After finishing their midnight snack the creatures began to continue to lift the unconscious into the truck. During all the events the thin human simply sat on the hood of the truck puffing on a ganja leaf. He did not seemed to be affected at all by the events of the evening.

Suddenly Ravage heard movement down the alley and cursed the stupidity of another chummer being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The Roaches, still in their natural state, stopped their work and looked into the eye of a towering cyclops. Ravage could see by the nature of his dress that the cyclops was merc and experienced. He could also see on his face that he wished he could have avoided this confrontation.

"Drek!", shouts Gnorm, physically shaken from what he sees. Before Gnorm were the remains of 10 or so bodies that were literally torn to shreds. The cyclops, with his military background, had seen many mortar and explosive collateral damage to the human body, yet what he saw before him were bodies that had been half eaten and ripped apart as if they were pieces of taffy. Gnorm's combat reflexes kick into overdrive as he sees the two grotesque looking figures responsible. Another, thinner figure, sits on the hood of a military transport vehicle and crackles, "Oye Chummer, looks like you were late for the party. No prob, my friend, the CandyMan is always aiming to please." With that the Candy Man lets out a high pitched screech and the two hulking figures turn around from their feasting and face Gnorm.

Two huge, humanoid cockroaches, face him with left over parts of human in their mandibles. The two creatures slowly lumber their way towards the shocked cyclops. Snapping out of it Gnorm reverts to his old ways as he lifts the Vindicator and says, "Eat tis you oversized roach bait!" Gnorm fires two, accurate shots to the chest of the lead creature that cause the bug to spin in a complete 180 and hit the ground, hot green ooze dripping from its wounds. The second roach continues towards the cyclops in his single-minded quest to obey. Just before Gnorm takes aim on his second target he is shocked to see that the first monster is getting up from the concrete and is coming at him again.

"What the drek!", shouts Gnorm as his loss of attention causes him to hit the second roach in the left arm. "These fraggers can take a direct hit from my pop gun and still keep on coming. Time to get medieval on these chumps and settle this once and for all."

Gnorm, in a fluid and well practiced motion, lets his gun swing loosely on its harness and reaches for his huge battle ax strapped to his back. The size of the ax equals the size of an average man, but the cyclops holds it as if it were a small baton. Gnorm slowly spins the ax in a deadly clockwise motion, as he studies the movements of his enemy. The Ax seems to be a natural extension of his body as it flows from side to side. The blade is of incredible size itself as the double bladed ax glints in the alley lights. The two roach creatures slowly come at Gnorm, never veering from their goal and not avoiding any obstacles in the way.

Once the first creature enters the killing zone, Gnorm quickly sweeps his gigantic ax and completely severs the roach's back hind legs. Hot,

sticky ooze splashes the alleyway as the roach topples backwards, still twitching as it attempts to connect with the giant soldier. The second roach, with an incredible feat of speed not shown before, slashes at Gnorm with its fore claws and causes a huge gash to appear above the right shoulder blade. Gnorm, with noticeable pain in his eyes, gives the second roach a shove with the butt of his ax that sends the roach soaring into the opposite wall of the alleyway. Before the roach can gain purchase, Gnorm is on top of it and striking with two-handed blows, into the torso. Three strikes make short work of the struggling monster, who till the end continuously strives to get at its target.

Gnorm lets out a roar of pain as he feels a sharp, penetrating bite on his left calf muscle. With a savage snarl he drops his ax and reaches down and extracts the first roach from his leg and lifts him in the air. All semblance of humanity has left the cyclops now as he shakes the bug like a rag doll and finally plunges the roach repeatedly against the long spike that protrudes from his forehead. Green icor runs down the face and torso of the massive cyclops as he discards the lifeless husk that was once a living creature.

"Nice work big guy. You could be useful to the cause.", crackles the Candy Man as he aims a Barrett sniper rifle at the cyclops, "A new order is in town and you bipeds are no longer needed. It’s time the true rulers of this world took control."

Gnorm glares at the pseudo-man and refusing to go out like a lamb stands up straight and tall to meet his maker with pride and honor.

"How touching, the brave cyclops is ready to die." snipes the Candy Man, "Well I've got news for you. This guns loaded with massive amounts of tranq and sim-dust, so your gonna take a nit-night and become one of those drones you just killed. I'm gonna personally..."

The Candy Man suddenly collapses in a heap in mid sentence as he is struck in the back of the head by a powerful blow.

"I hates it when they talk so much." growls a voice from the darkness, "Makes you think you was watching a freaking sim-talk."

Out of the darkness steps a large, although not as big as the cyclops, ork, who walks to the prone Candy Man and starts to tie him up. The ork pauses to look up at the cyclops and says, "Yo big guy, you wanna help me release the fraggers in the truck or just stand there dripping gunk?"

Gnorm shakes off his death trance and glares at the cocky ork. He reaches for a discarded rag and begins to wipe off his face. The acidic taste of the insect's fluid tingles in his mouth as he licks his lips. Gnorm cautiously cleans his ax and places it back in its sheath, never losing sight of the ork who is crouched over the Candy Man. Without a word he goes to the back of the truck and begins to take out the would be victims from the truck. After a few minutes the ork is by his side helping with the inebriated, prone figures. Nothing is said by either one of the combatants as they finish their work.

"Well, I guess that’s that. You did some nice work back there chum. I especially liked that horn job you did on that last bug." says the ork as he dumps the Candy Man in the truck and begins to get in himself. "I'll be seeing ya around."

An audible click is heard when the ork attempts to close the driver's side door.

"You ain't zipping anywhere till I get some answers.", says the Gnorm in a menacing tone.

"Wo fragger, you ain't got no idea what your scanning." replies the ork with an even tone that hints at danger, "Its best if you leave things as they are and back off. I've got biz with this drekhead and its a lot deeper than just a normal bag and tag."

"Seems to me I did most the bagging and all you did was take the leftovers, chum." says Gnorm, not removing the bead he has on the ork’s forehead.

"How quickly they forget." says the ork to himself, "You was aced till I came in, this fragger had your bones in the grave till I nuked him."

Gnorm thinks it over a little and says, "Your right on that account, but I still think I should get cut in on the loot chummer."

The ork lets out a peel of laughter that turns the cyclops gray skin red with shame. "Frag it, is creds all you want? Hell chum, I like your style, hop in and let’s go for a ride." After Gnorm pauses in indecision the ork says, "Look bro, you ex-military right? And from the looks of things, you ain't hooked up with anyone right? Bangkok can be a rough place for us changers, you scan what I'm saying? If’n you not hooked up with anyone and don’t got a rep this city can eat you alive. I've got some friends and at this moment we're in need of some extra muscle. The pay is good and the action is non-stop, copy?"

The ork holsters an Ares Predator that was hidden behind the truck door and holds out his hand, "Names Ravage."

Gnorm recognizes the name immediately as the ork that single handedly destroyed his future employer hopes in Bangkok and left him in his current predicament. For a moment he considers taking retribution, but then he thinks about the opportunity that has been offered to him. It could be his way out of this drek hole. Gnorm holsters his gun and returns the handshake. "My name is Gnorm, I've heard a lot about you Ravage."

They stare into each others eyes, not totally trusting each other but knowing that a kindred spirit lies in both their beings. Gnorm quickly gets into the passenger side, punching the unconscious Candy Man in the process. The two strange and powerful combatants drive off into the abandoned streets of Bangkok to a future that is unknown.

---EM---

"So where are we going Ravage?" mutters Gnorm as he adjusts his huge frame in the transport truck.

"I have a nice cozy spot where we can have a little talk with our friend here." Replies Ravage.

The transport truck speeds along the deserted streets of Bangkok and approaches a run down warehouse, that is cornered on all sides by the sea. Ravage wrinkles his nose at the salty smell of the water, he hates the salt water, but for the purpose he has in mind this was the most secluded place he could think of. Ravage hits a remote switch he had hidden in his trench coat and immediately a bay door begins to open its wide mouth.

Once the truck is inside the warehouse Ravage hits the switch again to close the door and then climbs off the truck, pulling the still

unconscious Candyman to the ground. He drags the motionless body to a table and begins to strap the man down. Gnorm, watches the actions of Ravage with some trepidation. He is still not sure weather to trust this ork or to cut his losses and split. The name Ravage is known throughout the city, even by a gajin like himself. Depending on who you talked to some praise him like a hero and others fear his vicious and eccentric tactics.

Gnorm slowly steps away from the truck and scans the surroundings. The warehouse seems to be held by some miraculous

glue b cause its pitted hide looks like it should have been blown over ages ago. The inside of the warehouse is completely empty of any type of cargo and the only thing of note is the wooden table that Ravage has placed the Candyman.

"Frag it, I got nothing to lose", mumbles Gnorm, "Not like I got any pressing biz. I give this fragger a go and see where it takes me, iffn he not systems good, I'll just have to flatten em."

A scream of pain brings Gnorm to Ravage's side, just in time to see that Ravage has been busy.

"Fragger refused to talk so I had to show him the light.", grins the ork as he shows Gnorm the small blade that is dripping green icor. "Looks like he’s got the same go juice as those buggies you geeked back there."

Gnorm sniffs in the acrid scent of the blood and nods agreement with the ork.

"You fraggers," spits Candyman, as he attempts to hold back the pain. "The Hive will have you bones for lunch once they find out what you have done."

Candyman grunts in renewed pain as Ravage slices another finger from the captives hand.

"We can do this the hard way are we can slice n dice our way to the info." sneers Ravage, "You make the call bug, I'm easy either way."

Candyman looks into the eyes of the ork and sees no mercy in the walnut orbs, he then glances next to the Cyclops's strange blue eyes of indifference and knows that he is lost.

"Yo fellows." Stammers Candyman, "I'm just an errand boy, you know, I don’t know much. I just bag em and tag em. They don't tell me much."

"Listen chump," roars Gnorm "I don't know what the frag you guys are doing, and I don't know what the frag this ork is trying to get. What I know is I'm tired and hungry and if you ain't scanned a cyclops that is like that, well then chum you look like a ready made dinner for one right now. So if you don't download the info this ork wants, I think I'm gonna start with some dark meat" Gnorm hunches over the still form of Candyman and drips some salvia from his tusks as he licks them with his tongue."

"O.K., O.K." stutters Candyman as he cowers under the monsters gaze. "Look they told me they needed some samples of humans to study, so I said O.K. You guys know a creds a cred. I was down and out and the only catch to the loot was that I had to inject some juice in my veins, they said it was to protect me. But as you can see from my warped body it's doing something else to me."

"So where do you evac these meatbags?" Asks Ravage.

"There’s a base about 50 clicks from town. These guys, the Hive they call themselves, have a state of the art lab down there and they are busy all the time. I ship em bodies by the dozens every night and the next day they are asking for more."

"What are they doing to all these dead fraggers?" Questions Gnorm, intrigued by the story.

"There not dead chum, we only make em sleep. These fraggers want live meat for some kind of geniuses project a sci-tech group is working on. I don't know what they do to the people, all I know is more and more of those bug creatures, they call em drones, are coming in every day."

"Are bottom-dweller the only types they take?" asks Ravage as he sharpens one of his knives.

"Nnno.., they take other guys also, I'm just in charge of getting the bums and the junkies. They got a whole group of agents that nab important people in the city. You ask me they are trying to take over." answers Candyman. "You know I could hook up with you guys and help you do what ever it is you guys are wanting to do."

Candyman's face brightens up as he thinks he may have a way out of this drek. Ravage looks down at the helpless man and says, "I gotta voice box and I want you to tell me everything you know about the complex, everything. I also want you to clue me in on anything you know about the drones comprende? After, if it all checks out, well talk creds, my man and big one's at that. We'll also get our best doc to take a look at you little problem. Look guy you did the right thing when you trusted us, we'll take good care of ya."

Ravage pats the Candyman on the head and thrusts a box on top of his chest. He then lights up a stogie and walks towards the truck. Smiling when he hears the voice of a desperate man talking. Gnorm, a look of confusion on his face follows the ork.

"What the frag was that," He whispers "you a fragging daisy pusher or something."

"Look ace, don't press your welcome." Growls Ravage menacingly(?), "I got the fragger hooked, he sees his way out of the grill and he's taking it. I promised him what he wanted if it all checked out so he ain't going to lie, the cred's and help is to much for him to lie."

"So after you just let the meat just go?" questions Gnorm.

"Drek no, brain-dead, he's geeked as soon as the voice stops." spits Ravage in disgust, "You can eat his meat for all I care, I only want the head I got plans for that chum."

Gnorm looks at the ork and sees in his eyes no hint of compassion and grins. "Wicked chum, plain wicked.", he chuckles, "I'll pass on the entree, that green blood was a little acidy for my taste. You can treat me to a cow when we get done with this job."

Gnorm turns around to see the happy Candyman blurting away every detail and grins. He thinks to himself that he might get to like this scrappy ork's style after all. He then gets a questioning look on his face as he wonders what was up with mounting heads on poles.

Finished with the grisly ceremony to his god of death, Ravage jumps into the truck with his new partner Gnorm. The air in the cab of the truck was thick enough to cut with a knife--death was not easy when it was a sacrifice to Kali. No words were exchange between Gnorm and Ravage as they sped through the back alleys of Bangkok. Without any warning another truck, identical to the one that they had confiscated, flew out of an alley, ramming their vehicle.

"Hang on chummer," shouted Ravage as the truck rolled again and again. "It looks like the bugs are back for another taste of lead and steel."

Shaken the two warriors crawled from the mass of metal that they had just been driving. Sure enough three over-sized roachs were rapidly crawling their way from the ruins of the other vehicle.

"How the drek did they track us so quickly," muttered Gnorm.

"What diff does it make? They'll be as dead as their comrades in just a matter of moments," laughed Ravage. The thought of blood being shed whipped up the enthusiasm level. Ravage took aim at one of the charging monstrosities.

"If me popgun don't hurt 'em that little peashooter ain’t gunna. Gid out your steel." With that said Gnorm pulled out his battle ax and began twirling it around, limbering up for the first cut. Ravage followed suit.

Bug juice flew liberally as the hacking ensued. Both Ravage and Gnorm gained additional respect for the other's strengths. "Nice beheading, now wha' cha' gunna do wid it?"

Ravage pulled a chunk of the axle off of one of the mounds of scrap metal, shoved the bug head on it, and firmly planted the other end in the street.

"This'll teach them to mess with me. If'n they got any brains that work they'll stay away from me and mine."

---JD---

"That was a wild ney?" Ask Ravage as he walks down the alley ways of Bangkok with the huge cyclops, Gnorm at his side.

"Yea it was a nice workout," answers Gnorm. "Only problem is those fraggers thrashed our ride. Now we’re stuck out here in this run down

drek of a city. I only hope you know where we’re going."

The two pair of behemoth warriors walk side by side and present an odd and deadly pair. Normally non-humans are targeted for death on site, but the few peasants that see these two unlikely partners immediately run for cover and pray that it will not be their deaths in the early morning light.

"No problemo pard. I got it covered. We happen to be near a mama-san I know personally, real personal like. She can help us out." Says Ravage as he walks confidently down the block. "The thing we gotta worry about is Black Widow derezing our hides. I set up the meet and now we are gonna be late for our own date."

"I wouldn’t let no frail tell me what to do." Responds Gnorm with a look of disgust, "It don’t seem natural."

Ravage lets out a deep roaring laugh, "Oh chummer you gonna have a blast in SC with that attitude." Then in a serious, low voice. " BW is not one to play with and for the record, I hear you calling her a frail in public and I'll have your head on a pike and give it to her for a present, copy?"

The two warriors stop in their tracks and face each other. Their eyes do not flinch as they glare at one another. Both edge slightly towards their naturally favorite weapons, but then as if by some unknown force both stand down and look away. One day a time may come when they are put against each other but for the moment an unspoken truce has been silently made between each other. Within seconds they are again walking down the alley, towards a familiar, run down bar.

"I bet those bugs will think twice before they try and bag us." Says Gnorm, breaking the silence that was present.

"You know it Gnorm, with your ax and my blade they ain't got a chance." Replies Ravage.

Both men let out a laugh that sends the locals cowering in fear.

---EM---