Winston Chronicles Qob/Tranquility Universe: Death's Lair

[Byblos 0]

2418

 

Death’s Lair

 

Cycles of Death Hideout, Warehouse Quarter.

 

“It shall be done sir.” The Nausicaan bowed his head in respect and sealed the door behind him, which left the Leader of the “Cycles of Death” to get back to the business he was conducting via a COMM scrambler terminal at his large desk.

 

Death was his name within the “Cycles.” His former birth name long discarded, his current name was given to him decades earlier by other Nausicaans who saw him in combat. The senior Nausicaan of the hovercycle gang considered what Byblos had brought up: the inevitable Guardian counterattack his team would encounter if any distress signal or civilian tipped off additional Guardians to the target site. Byblos was requesting more armaments, capable of holding off any Guardian speeders responding to the attack. Type 3 Grade Phaser rifles he requested, now he must ask his ally for more funding and a fast delivery.

 

The leader took a seat at his desk, decorated with the skulls from many he and the “Cycles” had slain over the years: those who failed to pay tribute or those who simply got in the way. He had long forgotten to whom they belonged specifically, although he knew some were what was left of Guardians of years past.

 

But times had changed, and the Guardians were more formidable than ever. Three years earlier Death had decided to take a risk and quietly contact others he knew had no love for the Guardians. All had turned Death down, mainly for the fact they were a cycle gang comprising only of Nausicaans, viewed as nothing but undisciplined killers who needed to be on a leash...or in an arena to fight Klingons to the death.

 

Then, six months ago Death was surprised when HE was contacted by someone. At first he was unnerved by the hacking into his computers by an unknown individual known as “Monsoon”. Whoever Monsoon was or what people he represented, slowly gained Death’s trust by funneling currency into the depleted coffers of the Cycles. Next came weapons, spare parts and communications gear all delivered to a rendezvous location the Nausicaan leader was able to designate. The only odd thing about the transactions was the insistence that all deliveries were to be made without the Cycles present. The Nausicaans simply picked the deliveries up after Monsoon’s people had sent to drop them off.

 

The Cycles also received state of the art encryption programs to maintain the secrecy of their budding relationship. Death was willing to schedule a meeting with Monsoon on more than one occasion to discuss some form of compensation for everything the mysterious contact’s group had provided. He or she declined insisting encrypted messages were only necessary and the payment for such items be rendered by the murder of certain Guardians Monsoon requested.

 

The upcoming mission against Deputy Shrike and his fellow guardians required a different means of doing business. The intel he had received about the Guardian ceremony provided too tempting of a target for a normal supply drop from Monsoon. Quickly, Death needed specific weapons and a delivery time of his choosing: the time to act was now. He activated the provided encryption program on his old-Federation era computer station, sending the special request. He thought they would not agree, given he was naming the targets provided by his own hacker Vargros.

 

Once again Monsoon surprised Death with his answer:

 

IT SHALL BE DONE. OUR CONTACTS AT THE SPACEPORT WILL DELIVER THE REQUESTED ITEMS TO YOUR CACHE. THE COST TO YOU IS ONLY MORE GUARDIAN CASUALTIES IN THE FUTURE. -M

 

The Nausicaan immediately closed the COMM. Whoever Monsoon was, he had significant access and funding, beyond Death’s reach. Did Monsoon act alone or was he part of an organization? Experience taught Death it was better not to ask. The Cycles had been receiving weaponry and funding from this contact for months now. The only payment was the murder of Guardians in each mission. Could it be a Guardian at the other end of the channel? Possibly. But that theory made no sense given that specific Guardians had been killed at Monsoon’s request. Still, the temptation was there to order his underling Vargros, the most talented slicer Death had ever known, to attempt to reveal who Monsoon was. Instead the Leader took a different course of action, asking the best linguist of the Gang what a “Monsoon” was or if it meant anything.

 

Death learned a few hours to later of a weather pattern, on Earth of all places, called a Monsoon. A seasonal shift in weather patterns that brought rain to dry climates. The 60 year old Nausicaan rubbed his chin pondering what the codename signified. A Rainmaker?

 

TheRainmakers. The most wanted terrorist group of all Bull’s Head had been supporting his Cycles war against Guardian control of Tranquility’s small Unspeakable District. Death pondered what the revelation meant. Why?

 

This required all the thinking the elder Nausicaan could muster. It also required Death to keep this a secret from his Nausicaan brothers in arms: for now.