One Less Bastard

[16:08] <@Earthflame> The underground don't exactly do public messages. It's a dingy, out of the way booth in a run down bar, decorated with an eclectic mix of old world relics, chunks of early computer hardware, communications systems and the like. Hanging on the wall by the booth at the end is an old time phone, in brass and wood... Park lifts it off its hook and rests it against his ear. "I need to speak to
[16:08] <@Earthflame> Kkeok."
01[16:09] <SpaceThor> There's a clicking sound on the other line. It repeats a few times, before a tinny, mechanical voice speaks. "Connecting."
[16:11] <@Earthflame> Park smiles, waiting and... Yes, there it was. The slight creak of wood from the booth behind him. It was probably a small calibre pistol, aimed through the cushioned headrest, to kill him instantly before the establishment was stripped and burned. He always liked working with the underground. They took security seriously.
01[16:12] <SpaceThor> Soon one more click, a different pitch. "Mr. Park. I assume you have a reason to stick your neck out like this."
01[16:13] <SpaceThor> It's a light man's voice on the other line, tenor pitched.
[16:16] <@Earthflame> "Perhaps I just enjoy the way this place serves tea." He speaks softly, only allowing the light jest to rest for a moment. "I've stumbled upon something potentially in your interest, while working a job. Have you heard any rumours from Gimpo, recently?"
01[16:16] <SpaceThor> "Nothing specific to that location. What did you find."
[16:18] <@Earthflame> "An underground tram line, run by Sunshine. You can guess the direction."
01[16:19] <SpaceThor> "...I wonder if that's what has the State Security Department so riled up."
[16:19] <@Earthflame> "So you have heard something."
01[16:20] <SpaceThor> "Just news of disappearances that State Security was looking into. They thought we had set up a way to start smuggling people out en masse. That is not the case, and it's been annoying to deal with."
01[16:20] <SpaceThor> "But if it's Sunshine...they're a known quantity to SSD. I bet they have someone down there looking into it now."
[16:23] <@Earthflame> "It's a large operation. A small army of mercs and a full support facility. They must be confident they can keep it running, somehow."
01[16:36] <SpaceThor> "Well, I might know something about the SSD's investigation into the missing people...but it's gonna take some time to put it together in a way you could use and get it to you. Also, we have something relevant to it that needs to be taken care of."
[16:38] <@Earthflame> "A fair trade." He nods. "I thought taking them down would be in your interest..." A pause, and then more softly. "...And you know I want to make things right."
01[16:38] <SpaceThor> "That's not why we're talking and you know it."
01[16:39] <SpaceThor> "Anyway, I know of one of their investigators that has infiltrated Seoul. He's likely in the area. Do you remember Bulgasari?"
[16:42] <@Earthflame> There's a pause, and a slight shift in his breath... Calmed after a moment. "Yes. I remember Bulgasari."
01[16:43] <SpaceThor> "He's been south of the border for three months now. If SSD is sending anyone to investigate, it's him. I know you'll want to be seeing him for your own reasons, so do us a favor and make that the last time you see him."
[16:44] <@Earthflame> "His name is on my list. I'll enjoy crossing it off."
01[16:45] <SpaceThor> "Come back to where you're standing tomorrow evening and the dossier will be there."
01[16:45] <SpaceThor> "Destroy it after you've read it."
[16:45] <@Earthflame> "Understood."
01[16:45] <SpaceThor> There's a click as the phone hangs up.
01[16:46] <SpaceThor> There's a second click as the hammer of the pistol behind you is uncocked.
[16:47] <@Earthflame> He sets it back on the hook... Somewhat tempted to glance over his shoulder, but it would be unprofessional. Still, they must be recruiting some more green operatives... Why would you let your target know your weapon isn't ready, even if you're standing down? He shakes his head slightly as he stands, leaving the building without another word... Pondering. He could reach out to his team, but...
[16:47] <@Earthflame> This was personal business.
02[17:29] * Disconnected
Session Close: Wed Aug 16 17:29:41 2017

Session Start: Wed Aug 16 19:29:22 2017
Session Ident: #strunic
03[19:29] * Now talking in #strunic
[20:05] <@Earthflame> Park sets off... Smiling a little to himself. It was just like the old job... A name and an order. Although it did feel nicer that he had the option to refuse. Not that he'd ever refuse a crack at Bulgasari... Not a chance. NK operatives rarely had much ability to operate openly, and Bulgasari was prominent enough that a very public cover would be risky... So he'll start low, first. He knew
[20:05] <@Earthflame> from experience that rats often hid amidst the trash.
01[20:12] <SpaceThor> Gimpo Slum is not a pleasant place. Gimpo Slum at 3 in the morning even less so. The harsh lighting of advertisements and the rough smells of overcrowded humanity permeate everything you do, even as advertisements for Sunshine self-defense gleam at you in defiance. Fewer people are out now, but the bright lights of the slums never stop.
[20:15] <@Earthflame> He knows the kind of people he's looking for... Not just scum, but the scum who'll stoop so low to help the SSD... Or are too stupid to realise it. Either way, he doesn't feel too bad about his usual approach- A taser to the neck, and a beating in an alley until they spit out someone or somewhere else that's more worth his time... And he's nothing if not patient and methodical.
01[20:18] <SpaceThor> One thug, a ganger from what you can tell, sits before you glaring.
[20:26] <@Earthflame> Park looks down at him, eyes flat. "You've been here. You know how this goes. Tell me what I want to know." He leans in, gun still ready in the other hand, to show a physical photograph- bizarrely old school- of a broad, brutal looking man. "Have you seen this man?"
01[20:27] <SpaceThor> He flinches at the photo. "Yeah, I saw him by the south side of the slum a few days ago."
[20:28] <@Earthflame> "Your memory just saved you a limb. Let's see if you can preserve them all. What do you know about him?"
01[20:28] <SpaceThor> "Just that he's killed a few of my friends. Beat them to death in an alley for 'following him'."
[20:29] <@Earthflame> "...Yeah, that sounds like him. You know who he's with?"
01[20:29] <SpaceThor> "I don't know, maybe those cultists hired some extra muscle."
[20:31] <@Earthflame> He laughs darkly at that. "If they could afford him, you'd all be in a lot more trouble." He pulls out a more conventional screen with a device, showing a map of the slum. "Where'd you see him, and where'd he kill those men?"
01[20:32] <SpaceThor> He marks a location. "Saw him and the bodies in the same spot."
[20:33] <@Earthflame> He nods, rising. "For what it's worth, thank you." He pauses... Hesitating. Considering something.
[20:36] <@Earthflame> "With any luck, he won't be your problem for much longer... But he's Northern. SSD. Not the kind of man I'd recommend messing with."
01[20:36] <SpaceThor> "Shit."
[20:37] <@Earthflame> "'Bout right." He starts to walk away. "Hope I don't see you again."
01[20:38] <SpaceThor> "Yeah, same." He scampers off into the night.
[20:40] <@Earthflame> Park has a destination now... But the SSD doesn't fuck around. He spends time watching every street he has to walk down from three blocks away from the site on the map... He has a time limit, but there's no chance of making it if he's dead. Shifting around the area, only allowing himself to get closer when he's sure an approach is safe, or safe enough... Park is easy to ignore, but that only
[20:40] <@Earthflame> goes so far, especially when someone knows his face.
01[20:45] <SpaceThor> Getting to the marked area is slow going, but you get there safely. Now you have to find the bastard.
[20:46] <@Earthflame> Either he was slacking, or there was some sense of urgency... But every professional had to cut corners at times. Keeping an eye on the area is just another familiar cycle... Finding the places to stand, the patterns of the people, the places nobody is looking...
01[20:52] <SpaceThor> You don't find anything at first. No patterns, little blood, not much at all. Then you find a recording device, audio-only, tucked underneath a trash can lid nearby.
[20:55] <@Earthflame> Frowning at that... What of all things would they be observing and listening out for here...
01[21:06] <SpaceThor> This alleyway seems totally insignificant...why would Bulgasari care if anyone followed him into it? Why would he care enough to put a listening device in a trash can here.
02[21:55] * IterationDrive (hotstuff@a.list.of.my.fetishes.can.be.found.by.googling.everything) Quit (Quit: )
02[23:52] * Disconnected
Session Close: Wed Aug 16 23:52:50 2017

Session Start: Thu Aug 17 19:16:33 2017
Session Ident: #strunic
03[19:16] * Now talking in #strunic
01[19:19] <SpaceThor> Park has little time to think on the complexities of this. In this game, if you stop moving you're dead. As his comm helpfully lets him know that it is now 4 in the morning, he has to figure out what his next step is.
01[19:20] <SpaceThor> A dingy alleyway that's been cleaned up significantly since it was the home of multiple corpses. A bug in a trash can. And a monstrous spook out there.
[19:23] <@Earthflame> There were a few options... Security was the obvious one, although it was an odd way to go about it. Recording some of his own meetings to have blackmail material later? Either way... He was in a rough position here, exposed.
01[19:23] <SpaceThor> It occurs to you a few moments later that the bug is still transmitting.
[19:25] <@Earthflame> Grabbing up the lid, frisbee tossing it one direction and then walking the other... He might be compromised, and right now it wasn't just his neck that could be on the line.
[19:28] <@Earthflame> Heading out the other end of the street, thoughts racing... He'd gone in too deep without backup against someone far more dangerous than any target he'd taken out alone. He'd lost perspective. In his profession, that often meant you were one step away from dead. Still, he keeps his expression passive, his pace calm... Running only brought the hunters on him faster. And... He was probably being
[19:28] <@Earthflame> hunted. But if he knew they were on him, and they didn't know he was onto them... He might just have a chance...
01[19:29] <SpaceThor> The main 'thoroughfare' here still has a decent number of people out, leaning against walls or playing cards or mahjong on flimsy plastic tables, or sometimes just in the dirt.
[19:33] <@Earthflame> He can pick up signs... But does he lose them, getting out of trouble... Or does he go for the throat. It's a few long footstrides before he decides a different angle... Find a place he can make use of. An escape route, or a killing field... Opportunities are what you make them.
[19:36] <@Earthflame> ...And then he sees a red light in a window. Sometimes, a place like that was a spooks best friend. Good listeners, strongly self-motivated... And usually with plenty of easily available back entrances. In the entirely non-euphemistic sense.
01[19:36] <SpaceThor> Park notices a glitzy red neon light a little bit down the path. [Yong-Joon's Love Palace].
01[19:39] <SpaceThor> Stepping inside, it's not great. You've been in worse, but not by much. Peeling wallpaper reveals the clumsily-nailed boards, throw pillows cover every conceivable surface instead of furniture, and the old, chain-smoking man behind a counter gives you the stink-eye as you come in.
[19:48] <@Earthflame> It's not hard to get a grumpy old bastard talking... Assholes in the area not sparing any change for the small businessman, and small change is all it takes to really get him to open up... Especially about what loose lipped associates let slip while otherwise engaged. It's not a name most people would connect to the situation, but Park isn't most people... And soon he's out the door, heading
[19:48] <@Earthflame> for Hyo-Ju... If he was lucky, the man might not even be dead yet when he arrived.
01[19:51] <SpaceThor> Heading through twisting alleyways deeper into the slum, Park comes across a small courtyard in the middle of what looks like a shack tenement.
01[19:51] <SpaceThor> A few benches sit in the area, about 4 meters by 6 meters in diameter. And a familiar huge spy stalks across the courtyard with purpose, eyes fixed on a door on the other end.
[20:01] <@Earthflame> He smiles a little, noticing the trap was set... Not that it would save her from Bulgasari. The big man had survived worse... But while he was staggering, or evading, Park would have a window... A surprise attack. The problem was that Hyo-Ju wouldn't have any idea who was her friend and who was her enemy... He walks very softly, making sure to be out of the line of the trap, gun trained on
[20:01] <@Earthflame> Bulgasari's back... Waiting for his moment. Hopefully shooting the right person should give her a clue.
[20:07] <@Earthflame> ...Second thoughts. Don't underestimate him. He was likely to see the trap, unless he was distracted... Like coming under fire. And busting through the door to take cover would be the quickest way to break an attackers line of slight. Park remembers the same training, wired into his brain... He'd make Bulgasari suffer for it.
[20:12] <@Earthflame> Both hands on the weapon, letting out a breath... Squeezing out a pair of shots, feeling the satisfying kick of the heavy weapon, just at the right moment to force Bulgasari to be careless.
01[20:12] <SpaceThor> Bulgasari staggers as the shot hits him, reflexively ducking behind a bench and firing a round from his own pistol at you.
[20:19] <@Earthflame> Park is winged by the bullet, the discrete armour absorbing some of the impact... Although he wheezes as he finds cover himself. A nasty bruise, maybe a fracture... But nothing too bad. Yet.
01[20:20] <SpaceThor> As you look back up, Bulgasari is gone, though you know in your gut he's still around. Of more immediate concern is the door that he was so intent on being shot through by a rifle, before kicked open. "I'm ready you fascist bitch!" The disheveled woman in PJs shouts.
[20:24] <@Earthflame> Park considers. If he stayed quiet, he could get Bulgasari when he emerged to go after her... But she might notice him and shoot at him anyway, and Bulgasari would take her out in an instant. He curses himself... But he wasn't going to let her die without a fight. "Get back in cover! It's Bulgasari!" Hopefully she knew enough to know how to respond to the name... Having heard his voice, the
[20:24] <@Earthflame> big man surely knows who he is now... And exactly where.
01[20:25] <SpaceThor> "Shit!" SHe ducks back behind the door and starts firing, suppressing the alley where you are.
[20:29] <@Earthflame> Well, at least she was aware and had her gun up... But there was nothing he could to to help unless he could see Bulgasari approach. It was risky... But in a moment between shots, he makes a move.
[20:33] <@Earthflame> He was risking his life anyway. And getting in that kind of position but not shooting at her might be a hint. He grits his teeth and gets moving... Hoping someone at Kkeok's would be willing to help patch him up afterwards.
01[20:34] <SpaceThor> A bullet grazes your arm as you push through, but you're in a much better spot...and you think you know where Bulgasari went. There's a railing that he could have used as a ladder to get on top of the roofs.
01[20:36] <SpaceThor> Soon enough, you see him, crawling along the rooftop, gun in one hand and baton in the other.
[20:38] <@Earthflame> No time to think. His gun comes up, a breath comes out, and bullets are let fly once again... Wondering if the person he was trying to save would kill him before this was through.
01[20:42] <SpaceThor> He shoots back as he slides down to the end of the roof, one bullet hitting your gun right in the cylinder. It'd be a bad idea to fire it now.
01[20:43] <SpaceThor> You hear shouts interspersed with the gunfire. "This way! The shots are coming from this way!"
[20:46] <@Earthflame> Cursing as he ducks back down, dropping it for now. They had company, and the only gun was in her hands. It was a gamble, but... He tosses the gun away, into her line of sight, calling out. "I am not your enemy. He's up there!"
01[20:47] <SpaceThor> She pauses, reloading, but then turns her rifle up to the roof, firing to suppress Bulgasari.
[20:51] <@Earthflame> And Park sees an opportunity... Not as effective as a direct application, but perhaps... Out of cover and sprinting, eyes only one one thing... A metal drainage pipe right up against Bulgasari's side... Tazer sparking as the capacitors ready to discharge... Letting it unload into the old but still conductive metal, hearing the satisfying sound of shock and tensing muscles... And the thump of
[20:51] <@Earthflame> a very large body coming to earth.
01[20:52] <SpaceThor> He screams, loudly and angrily, as he hits the ground, but he's on his feet quickly, baton in hand. "Park, I should have known it was you. I'm gonna enjoy dragging you back North."
01[20:52] <SpaceThor> He wipes blood out of his eyes from a gash on his forehead.
[20:53] <@Earthflame> "The only place you're going is hell." He speaks softly, facing the big man down. "Even if I have to drag you there myself."
01[20:53] <SpaceThor> "Won't be the first time I've climbed back out. You know that."
[20:56] <@Earthflame> "Then I'll be sure to make it the last." He replies, eyes hard.
[21:04] <@Earthflame> For all the big talk, he knows he's on the defensive... Bulgasari is more than his match up close. He needed to be careful... Play it cool, wait it out until... He only has the shortest amount of time to register something unexpected, and a single thought. 'Shit'
01[21:05] <SpaceThor> Bulgasari lunges, you can see the muscles in his legs bulge and his eyes go wide with hate as he leaps at you, baton in hand. One good crack to your temple and things start to fade...but not before you see that fucking smug grin on his face explode outward in a shower of teeth and bone and blood.
[21:05] <@Earthflame> He isn't certain if he's dying from his skull getting caved in... But if he is? That's a damn good last thing to see before you die.
01[21:06] <SpaceThor> You wake up on a hard, metal surface, light from the rising sun hitting your eyes. Someone sitting next to you, looking out.
[21:07] <@Earthflame> He groans a little, blinking his eyes and turning his head slightly, feeling himself start to cough.
01[21:08] <SpaceThor> It's the woman from before. Still in those fucking bunny PJs, looking at the sun. You get a little more of your surroundings. You're on a roof, still in the slum, the orange glow of the sun making the landscape look almost serene. Definitely nicer than last night.
01[21:08] <SpaceThor> "Morning, sweetheart." She speaks.
[21:09] <@Earthflame> "Morning to you to." He speaks quietly... The more he's aware of his body, the more he wishes he was still asleep.
01[21:10] <SpaceThor> "I called Kkeok, told him what you did for me. He told me to get you to one of our safe houses and patch you up, but this is about as far as I could carry you out of there. Gimpo Kings were right behind me the whole time."
01[21:10] <SpaceThor> She pulls out a pack of cigarettes, the top flap a familiar shade of crimson. Red Star brand, the kind of out NK Commissary.
01[21:10] <SpaceThor> She pulls a single out and lights it, grimacing as the taste hits. "God, you guys had to pay for these?"
01[21:11] <SpaceThor> out of*
[21:11] <@Earthflame> He barks out a rough laugh. "Pay for them? You think our money is worth anything? You beg, barter or steal, or you're favoured and don't have to... That's how it goes."
01[21:11] <SpaceThor> "Want one?"
[21:12] <@Earthflame> "...Why not?" He sits up a little, grimacing. "I've got something to celebrate."
01[21:12] <SpaceThor> She hands you the pack and a lighter, a wave of nostalgia hitting you.
[21:13] <@Earthflame> He sticks it between his lips, sparking it up... Sighing at the familiar taste. "...These things really are fucking awful."
01[21:13] <SpaceThor> She nods, silent.
[21:14] <@Earthflame> He turns to look out over the slum, slowly smoking it, watching the dawn... A new day, with one less bastard in the world. He can't help but smile.
[21:42] <SpaceThor> HOURS LATER:
[21:43] <SpaceThor> There's a knock at the door. If you could call it a door. More like a tin sheet in front of an entrance.
[21:43] <SpaceThor> "Come in." The clipped, elderly voice intones. A few young men walk through, guns on their hips. Two more follow, slow, dragging a huge body.
[21:43] <SpaceThor> "How much you think this one is worth, doc?"
[21:45] <SpaceThor> "Where'd you find a big one like him? It depends how much would actually fit in a reasonably sized person, but I can come up with a good price for you, provided his kidneys and liver aren't damaged by disease.
[21:45] <SpaceThor> "
[21:45] <SpaceThor> They drag the huge man onto the steel table, his arms hanging limply off to the side, his lack of a jaw apparent.
[21:45] <SpaceThor> "Now, let's see..." He leans in...
[21:46] <SpaceThor> The huge man's hand moves like lightning, grabbing the gun off one ganger's hip and firing through three of them, his other hand clamped firmly around the unfortunate ganger's throat.
[21:47] <SpaceThor> The gun comes to a rest in front of the doctor's face, a glare in his eyes. As the life drains from the last ganger's face, he does a simple gesture. He points to his missing jaw, and shoves the barrel closer and closer to the doc's eye...