“What do you mean, ‘What are we going to do about the council’?” Nora asked. “What can we do?”

  “I could throw them out of a window,” I joked morosely.

  “There are a lot of people working in the big five corporations,” Sharron muttered.

  “Well, the city has a lot of windows.” Sharron gave me a stern look, so I threw my hands in mock surrender. “I’m just joking, obviously. About the window part, not about the council. If they’re willing to sacrifice random citizens to protect themselves, they don’t deserve to be in charge.”

  Nora shuffled uncomfortably. “So what do you suggest? We hand the city over to the Denver PMCs? Or another corp?”

  “I don’t know!” I yelled, throwing my hands into the air. “But I know we can’t leave those assholes in charge. I knew a long time ago they didn’t actually care for this city, but their actions today proved they can’t be trusted with it.”

  “While I agree leaving them in power is a bad idea, you’re going to have problems removing them,” Hel muttered.

  “Why? Does the Family have a ‘no removing local governments’ policy?” I asked sarcastically.

  “No, and even if they did, you never officially signed up. If you’ll remember, the Family has a policy of neutrality, but its members are allowed to take any stance they wish. Put their support behind whatever cause they want.”

  I blinked, staring at Hel for several long seconds until what she was saying finally sunk in. “Are you saying Mirage and his fucking corporate-backed cronies might intervene? Is that allowed?”

  “Conflicts between samurai happen all the time. It’s not even that rare for it to come to blows. As long as no one ends up dead, the Family looks the other way. It’s extremely rare for things to get out of hand, and there to be a death, accidental or otherwise.”

  “So if I just maim him, we’re all good,” I quipped.

  “Teddy…” Sharron moaned.

  “The man has it coming!” I yelled.

  “Even if that’s true, we should probably try and talk to him,” Sharron insisted. “I’m sure he’ll see reason.”

  I snorted loudly, earning disappointed looks from all my companions.

  “That still doesn’t answer the question of who’ll take over once you oust the council,” Angeline pointed out. “I’m assuming that you don’t want the job.”

  “Fuck no! I have enough trouble trying to manage my bears and the improvement programs I’m running in Sector Eleven,” I grumbled.

  Hel started. “Wait, improvement programs? You?”

  “I may be grouchy sometimes,” I started. Shannon interrupted me by loudly clearing her throat and raising an eyebrow. “I may be grouchy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care for the people around me. It’s all little stuff like providing machines so the locals can make their own tools, reinforcing the buildings so they don’t fall down, and providing education and schools for the kids.”

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Hel’s eyebrows shot up. “You sure you don’t want the job? Seems like you’re doing more than most people.”

  “Not even a little bit!” I growled. “Couldn’t we, I don’t know, just put an AI in charge or something? I’m sure it’d do a better job than any of the boneheads currently in office.”

  “If we did something like that, people would still believe you’re in charge, even if that wasn’t true,” Nora pointed out. “They’re paranoid like that.”

  “This is why I hate corps and politics!” I yelled. “All the options fucking suck! All I want is a single option that won’t drop a section of the city on people, and we can’t find one!”

  “We’ve barely started looking, you drama queen.” Sharron sighed. “Whether you remove the council or not, we should all look at making sure the descension system is completely decommissioned. No one should have the power to drop parts of the city, no matter who they are.”

  “Absolutely,” Nora immediately agreed. “Although Zetta didn’t want to support our actions here, he’ll probably help us shut that down. Barricade too, once he’s done trying to shore up the city.”

  “So you guys won’t help me remove the council?” I grumbled.

  “Oh, I’ll definitely help you,” Hel replied. “I’m sure we’re all agreed that they don’t deserve to be in charge anymore, but if we remove them from power before we have a valid replacement, then we’ll only cause more problems for the city. It’s not like it’ll end the war any earlier.”

  Nora glanced at her confused. “It won’t? Why?”

  “Because it wasn’t Calgary, the city that they declared war on, but Helmar, Telnet, Alliance, and Great Northern. Whether they’re in power or not doesn’t matter,” Angeline clarified.

  “So both sides are blowing holes in the city, despite the city not being a direct participant in the conflict?” Nora groaned. “I’m with Teddy on this one; corps suck.”

  “Now then. If we do want to find a replacement government, I do have one suggestion,” Hel said, before glancing at me. “You’re really not going to like it though.”

  “The current government is literally trying to drop parts of the city on people.How much worse could it be?” I hissed.

  “I’m not from around here; I can tap the Family’s contacts, but they’re fairly limited. You guys, likewise, are competent samurai but haven’t really expanded your contacts as much as some of the more established names in the city,” Hel explained.

  “Waaaiiiitttt…” I whispered.

  “So we need some professional advice, and I can’t think of anyone more qualified,” she continued.

  “Don’t say it…”

  “Than Stalking Shadow…”

  I slumped in relief.

  “And Mirage.”

  “Fuck no! That asshole is the last person I want to talk to. Besides, if we tell him we’re looking to replace the government, he’ll be on guard when I need to jump him later.”

  Sharron glanced my way. “If he helps us replace the government with someone we both approve of, you won’t have to jump him later. This is a good, non-violent solution.”

  “Even if this works out, and we come to an agreement now, that doesn’t mean I won’t have to jump him later. One of these days the pompous windbag is going to go too far…” I growled.

  “He probably says the same thing about you to his circle,” Angeline giggled. “Can we stop talking about jumping people now and take this seriously?”

  “Fine. We’ll call Stalking when we get back to the camp,” I finally conceded. “And we really should get back to camp. Even though we only pulled a couple dozen bears off the line, they’re probably needed back there.”

  I looked around the devastated area and slumped. “After they finish pulling all these high explosives off one of the city’s critical support structures. There were also PMC fireteams on the way that we haven’t removed yet, so I don’t feel great giving the civilians the all clear. Plus we have to do something with the bodies.”

  “So, not back to camp?” Sharron asked.

  After considering the options for a few seconds, I realized the best solution to our problem and slumped in defeat. “No, you guys can go. I’ll stay here and clean up. The camp needs management more than it requires a few extra bodies on the perimeter. I’ll change the message my squirrels are sending, add that the pillar defenses have already fallen, and hopefully the last of these assholes will give up.”

  “You’re not going to go off and do something stupid once we leave, are you?” Nora asked suspiciously.

  “No, I’m too tired for that. I’ll do stupid tomorrow,” I grumbled quietly, before standing up straight and putting on a small smile. “Besides, there’s one major advantage to me staying here. If you have to call Mirage today, I don’t have to be around to deal with him.”

  Hel cleared her throat. “Actually, if we call Stalking and Mirage, I think it’s a good idea for all of us to be present.”

  My smile immediately died. “Oh, wonderful. Well, I still think this is the best choice. I’m not pulling Spooky or Bandit off guard duty, and unless you all want to carry these bodies out by hand,” I said, gesturing to the carnage around us. “I don’t think there’s another choice.”

  “Fine… We’ll see you back at camp then?” Sharron asked anxiously.

  “No, I need to decompress after this. I already had a stressful day before this, and I’m not as good at dealing with ‘casual murder’ as some people. I need to go home and decompress. It’s either that or diving headfirst into stupid territory.”

  “Fair enough,” Hel conceded. “I’ll call you tomorrow, and we’ll make plans then.”

  I nodded, then waved to my friends as they boarded the nearest Kodiak. Once it took off it only took a few seconds for the vehicle to disappear over the nearest buildings.

  Looking around at the remnants of our battle, I slowly lowered my head into my hands. “I hate this job sometimes.”

  and gain access to my full backlog for all stories!

  Here's the link:

  server!

  Here's the link:

  Check out my Stories:

  Big thanks to all those people that review my draft, the chapters would be a lot rougher without your feedback!