"So where to first?" Cory asked as they were at an intersection.
"Does the order really matter? We're just going to be sweeping all of the city's filth under a carpet, and hoping not to accumulate more while that shiny Celestial is here."
"I noticed you weren't too impressed with all that shit the Priest was saying."
"Yeah, well we are essentially reusable wet wipes, Cory. We're brought in to wipe the butt dust from between the ass cheeks of all the churches, then tossed away until the build up of residue has the cheeks matted together like melted cheese in a taco." Drake said, looking wholly disinterested.
"Damn." Cory exclaimed with a chuckle. "You really do reserve your daily word count to say the funniest shit."
"If it wasn't for the fact that these people pay well, I wouldn't even be here."
"I hear that. But since you mentioned tacos, why don't we look for a target that's close to a taco stand?"
"That shouldn't be difficult to do."
After a bit of faffing about with the datapad, Drake placed it on a mount on the dashboard, having selected a location that was within walking distance from a taco truck. Cory looked at the datapad and grinned, before stepping on the accelerator and driving right on the limit.
"So tell me, do you believe that it exists?" Cory asked.
"Do I believe what exists?"
"Some giant, floating city with beautiful winged beings that keeps us in the dark by blocking the sun and all that?"
"Why do you ask? Do you not believe it exists?"
"I don't know dude, that's why I'm asking you. Like, how sure are we that all the churches didn't fuck up by having a massive war and firing off so much Psychic and Bionic shit that they blew the sun up or some shit?"
"I don't blame you for thinking that – they all are incredibly economic with information, after all."
"Right?! Only telling us what they want us to hear."
"That said, whether we believe that Epharim exists or not, the fact of the matter is, it's dark as shit not only in this city, but in the neighbouring cities that this one trades with."
"True that. Anyway, we're here!" The Lionkin excitedly exclaimed as they pulled up in front of the taco truck.
"Wait, you want to start with the food?"
"Yeah man, ever since you mentioned the tacos, I've been starving."
"That was like five minutes ago. Let's just go in and deal with this gambling den, THEN get something to eat. The chances of us being the only mercs here are—"
The car suspension lifted as Cory stepped out of the car and went straight to the truck to start ordering. Drake sighed and stepped out of the car as well, having grabbed the datapad and slid it into his coat pocket. Cory rattled off a ridiculously large order, that culminated in him almost finishing up all the meat and forcing the truck staff to cook up more. He emerged with three bags – two large, and one small. He placed one large bag in the car, and walked over with the remaining two, before handing the small one to Drake.
"Pre-workout." He said as he raised his bag a touch. "Post workout." He said as he pointed to the car.
"Lions share is real." Drake said as he looked at his small bag, before heading to and placing his bag in the car as well. "Thanks."
"You aren't gonna eat?" Cory smacked, having already inhaled a few tacos.
"We have work to do. Besides, this little delay has severely increased our chances of coming across another mercenary band and having to split the commission."
"Just relax, man. It's not like we're gonna run into Dwarves or anything."
"Let's just go." Drake said with a sigh and shake of the head.
The pair then walked rather briskly towards the location of the secret gambling den, and along the way, Drake noted that there were a few mercenary cars parked in what they thought were strategic areas. He scowled at this discovery, but gave his partner the benefit of the doubt, telling himself that they might have arrived after all the others. As they got ever closer, the sounds of combat suddenly filled the air, which were soon followed by dust and shards of glass. Drake shot Cory a dirty look, before running in the direction of the chaos. The Lionkin, who was still smacking and chewing, ran after his human partner, and they arrived at the razed restaurant entrance to find bodies and bits of building strewn all over the place. The door had been blasted open, and I looked as though both regular wait staff and guards faced the music equally.
"Damn, they took down the regular staff, too?" Cory said.
"That's because War Priests seldom care about collateral damage." Drake replied as he drew his gun and turned off the safety before cocking it. "These mercs now have licence to do the same. They've already started without us. Let's go."
Drake walked in while scanning their surroundings, the constant smacking, chewing, and rather loud rustling of a bag made it extremely difficult for him to not lose focus, or his temper. They walked through the restaurant, which was clearly a front, and following the bodies to a door at the back that had a set of stairs, ominously leading into the darkness below. Drake then reached inside a large compartment on his belt and pulled out ball shaped drone. After powering it on, his contacts glowed in a faint, turquoise colour – which was mimicked by a few lenses on the drone – before it flew out of his hand and down the stairs. He then descended down the steps into the darkness, with his weapon at the ready, and his ever-smacking partner in tow.