A Cobra's Tale... Part 1: The Restless Warrior

Part 9: Appetite for Disruption

Benny's Bar & Grill, Port Racice, Tukayyid, FRR, December 6th 3066 For a fraction of a second no-one else moved, as though they couldn’t quite believe what was happening. After flooring the first thug, Anatoliy tackled the second one. They both fell to the floor and began trading punches. Laz took advantage of the gang leader’s momentary distraction to grab the cue and twist it out of his grasp. He backed away, twirling it like a kendo stick as the man rushed him. His face contorted with rage, the man swung a couple of wild punches at him – missing both times. He then aimed a high kick at Laz’s face. Laz ducked and swung the cue in a low arc, connecting with the back of the man’s knees. His legs gave way and he fell to the floor with a grunt. Laz then aimed a couple of blows at two other heavies who were piling onto Anatoliy, before being grabbed from behind, lifted bodily and flung halfway across the diner. He landed heavily on the counter before rolling over and falling to the floor. He lay on the floor, stunned for a couple of moments before shaking his head clear and struggling to his feet. He saw the gang leader staring at him from the other side of the counter. The man made a grab for him but Laz sidestepped and sprang up onto the counter top. Dropping onto one hand and executing an acrobatic scissors kick, his feet connected solidly with the side of the man’s head, sending him sprawling once more. Landing lightly on the other side of the counter, he began looking for new targets. As he moved to help Anatoliy, a hand grabbed his ankle, catching him off-balance and sending him to the floor. He dropped the cue as he fell. Twisting round he saw the gang leader, blood trickling down his forehead, was still not willing to give up the fight. With a desperate lunge forward, Laz retrieved the pool cue, before allowing himself to be dragged backwards. Twisting round once more, he brought the cue down hard on the man’s head. He felt the grip on his ankle slacken and kicked out hard with his foot, landing another solid blow on his attacker’s head. The man gave no reaction whatsoever and Laz realised he was unconscious. Scrambling to his feet he saw Anatoliy being thrown around by the three remaining thugs. One of them spotted him and threw a chair at him. He ducked and charged the man, twirling the cue up, down, left and right, landing several painful blows on the man’s arms, face and torso. He collapsed with a howl of agony, attempting to nurse his injuries. The second one darted into the games room and emerged with another cue. He charged Laz, bringing his cue down so hard that Laz’s battered weapon broke clean in two as he brought it up to deflect the blow. The man grinned savagely as he prepared to swing at Laz again. As he brought the cue down again, Laz neatly caught it between the shattered stumps of his own makeshift weapon. With a flick of his wrists, he twisted the cue out of the man’s grasp, dropping his broken pieces and catching the unbroken cue before it fell to the ground. The man’s expression changed to one of astonishment and then pain as Laz administered a similar beating to the one he’d given the first man. He quickly joined his injured comrade on the diner floor. Laz looked up just in time to see Anatoliy ram the last man’s head into a wall-mounted mirror emblazoned with the Glengarry Reserve motif. “Hey – that will cost you seven years’ bad luck”, he called out, recalling one of many Inner Sphere superstitions he’d learned. Anatoliy managed a snort of disgust while getting his breath back, “Huh – I’ve had some psycho in a mech run me off the road, been tied up and locked in my own car and then been beaten half to death by a bunch of Combine crackpots…how much worse can it get?” “Fair point”, conceded Laz. “Look at what those bastards did”, he said mournfully, standing in front of an undamaged mirror, assessing the extent of his injuries and ruined clothes. Looking at Anatoliy, Laz realised he’d escaped pretty lightly. “I think we’d better get out of here before they come round”, he suggested. “I hear you – lets go” They hurried outside to the car and got in, Laz taking the driver’s seat. “You know - after all that we never did get our food”, said Anatoliy ruefully, dabbing his bloody nose with his sleeve. “Never mind – we’ll just have to find somewhere else”. Laz was just about to start the engine when they heard the rear passenger door open and someone dived in, spilling an armful of cartons in the process. The vehicle was suddenly filled with the smell of food. “Hey – you guys forgot your order!” said a female voice. Turning round in his seat, Laz saw it was the girl who’d caught his eye earlier. “Um…we didn’t actually pay for it”, he said slightly bewildered. “It’s okay - I left the money on the counter. The staff are all holed up in the kitchen – too scared to come out” “Uh…right…how much do we owe you?” “Just get me out of here and we’ll call it quits”

Part 10: Trouble With A Capital 'Y'

City Centre, Port Racice, Tukayyid, FRR, December 6th 3066 Laz finished off the last of his cold coffee and stuffed the paper cup into the bag with the rest of the trash. It was a quarter past four in the morning and they’d just finished their breakfast. Laz had sped away from the diner as fast as the old wagon would go, taking numerous turns through the industrial sector, putting some distance between themselves and the diner – Laz was under no illusions as to what the thugs would do if their paths crossed again. Twisting round in his seat he spoke to the girl. “So…do you have a name?” She regarded him coolly for a moment before replying, “Yasmine Nomura…and you?” “Laz…er…Lazarus Jamal”, he replied, reaching across to shake her hand. Her hand was soft and warm and her touch sent a small electric shock through him. “So what made you decide to come with us?” he asked, trying to cover his nervousness. Yasmine shrugged dismissively. “I’d just had enough. The man you fought back at the diner…my ex-boyfriend…is Ganzu Sakamoto, a Yakuza gang leader…and an animal. He and his cronies were waiting for a contact to show up. They’ve been scouting the area, looking for ‘business opportunities’”, she said, her voice heavy with sarcasm. “Nomura…the name rings a bell…” Laz began. “My father is Takashi Nomura, CEO of Nomura Industries – they supply electronics packages to most of the major mech manufacturers in the FRR. About a year ago, when the company was going through hard times, he was persuaded by the Yakuza to divert some of the company’s output to the black market. It saved the company…but once the Yakuza get their hooks in you, they don’t let go. Slowly and surely they took over the company and my father is now merely a figurehead, wheeled out at public functions, while they use the company as a legitimate cover for their…activities”. She spat the last word out, managing to look both sad and angry at the same time. “What about monkey-boy? How did he and you…?” Laz trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. Yasmine’s face twisted into an expression of extreme distaste. “Sakamoto took a liking to me straight away. At first I refused to have anything to do with him, but then he threatened to hurt my father if I didn’t go out with him”. Once again, Laz felt rage begin to simmer inside him and part of him wished he’d been even more brutal with the man. In the more rational part of his brain, the one that managed to stay calmly analytical in the heat of battle, a warning light flickered on. “Do you think Sakamoto is still likely to make good on his threat?” he asked, an uneasy feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. Yasmine looked up, her eyes wide with alarm. At just that moment her wrist communicator began bleeping. As she pressed the answer key, a grainy image flickered into existence on the small LCD screen…it was Sakamoto. His voice sounded tinny through the communicator’s small built-in speaker, but was audible to everyone in the car. “You just made a very big mistake, bitch. Some of my associates will shortly be paying your dear father a visit. I don’t know where you are but I’ll find you…and when I do, you’ll wish you’d never been born!” The screen went blank as he cut the link and Laz could see Yasmine’s hands trembling as she pulled her jacket sleeve down over the device. “We have to get to my father – now!” she said. The urgency in her tone brooked no argument. “Can you give me directions from here?” “Yes – he has an apartment in the city not too far from here”. “Um…is there anyone we can call for backup?” “I have two brothers who live in the area…but they’ll never get there in time”. “Even so…late backup is better than no backup…I’d call them if I were you”. Laz screeched along the city streets, with Yasmine giving directions, while at the same time trying to contact her brothers. Anatoliy concentrated on trying to stay in his seat…