The remainder of the day was spent going to as many of the listed establishments and locations, and getting through them as quickly as possible in order to avoid having their work interrupted as it was earlier. The chaos and absolute pandemonium that not only the P.M.C, but all of the other mercenary bands left in their wake was incredible, leaving the city and emergency workers with heaps of work to do which they tackled, well into the night. Elsewhere in the district, in one of the areas which, although sufficiently disguised as otherwise, was the sleazy area. The drug dealers conducted their business in offices, the thugs all looked like respectable members of society, Reds operated in brothels disguised as bakeries and florists – everything looked clean, but the layer of shine could not completely conceal the grease beneath. In a bar that was already outwardly grimy, the patrons within were about as grimy as people within the district got. In fact, most all of the mercenary bands that were busy shooting at and competing with each other, were in that very establishment, eating and drinking their fatigue away.
There were separate areas within the bar for separate cliques. Some were barely conscious, with any combination of masks, rebreathers, needles, pipes or all of the above being used to ingest their drug of choice. Others were simply sitting in solitude, passing the time in silence. Whilst some, like Drake and Cory, were in the common area, eating serviceable food and downing it with serviceable liquor. They were practically melting into their seats as they had been maintaining breakneck pace throughout the day.
"You two are looking rather haggard." A voice remarked, sounding crystal clear in spite of all the noise in the background.
The pair looked to see the previously heavily armed merc of mixed blood approaching their table with drinks in hand. She was now dressed in a tank top and slacks, and sandals.
"Do you mind?" She asked.
"Not at all." Drake answered, before standing and pulling a chair out for her.
She sat down, looking somewhat embarrassed as he pushed the chair in as she sat, and then sat down afterwards, with Cory's eyebrows rising in conjunction with the smirk plastering his face.
"Forgive me, you seem to know us, but you have me at a disadvantage." Drake said as he looked at the woman with a slight smile.
"My True Name is little too complicated for most to pronounce, so in these circles, I go by Cassandra."
"I see. It's a pleasure, Cassandra." Drake said with a nod before taking a sip of his drink. "So, what brings you to the table of 'kill stealers' like us?"
"Not much." She said with a shrug. "Only to thank you for this morning."
"What do you mean? Did we do anything worth being thanked for?" Drake said as he looked at Cory, who just shrugged, smirk still plastered across his face.
"Your signals and warnings helped us get our timing down a lot of the time. Especially with your little drone. It really did help."
"Ah. I didn't think I did anything worth being thanked, but you're welcome."
The two continued to make small talk, which all came to a crashing halt when the sound of heavy footsteps making their way down the stairwell that led into the common area caught Drake's attention. Eventually, Burton and his fellows entered, and the Dwarf instantly made the pair from Peaceworth Mercenary Corps. After a quick nod between the groups, the Dwarf made his way to the bar. Everybody was no longer clad in their armour, it seemed as though they were able to put the day's events past them. A little while later, Burton arrived at the table with more drinks and set them down before looking at Drake.
"You lot managed to escape from that fuckin' death trap pretty quickly."
"Yeah, we had to get out of there before Cory got hit on the head by falling debris and became your height."
"Fuck you." Burton responded as he laughed heartily. "No hard feelings, chaps. Have a few rounds on us."
"Much obliged, Burton." Drake said with a nod. "Have a good one."
As much as the Dwarf left, the Giantess remained, her gaze firmly transfixed on Cory who eventually looked at her.
"Can I help you?"
"I'd like to join you, but the chairs at this table can't support my weight." She said very candidly.
Cory then stood up, and stood right in front of the woman, as if to confirm something.
"Damn girl. You're huge." He said with a boisterous laugh before taking not only his drink, but one of the spare drinks on the table and handed it to her.
The two pairs of mercs engaged in further small talk, which was mostly centered around the events of the day. They didn't speak for all that long however, as they had a long week ahead of them. After everybody had said their farewells and the like, Drake and Cory made their way outside, and were standing by the entrance as Cory lit up his Holy Herb stuffed pipe and began to puff away while staring into the darkness above.
"…so, do we pull a week long 'slog' on this one, D?"
"Can you afford to be away from the T.D for that long?"
"My kid's will make do. The time it'll take commuting back and forth ain't worth the money we'll lose."
"So… we crash in the car and take down as many operations as possible?"
"Sounds good to me. Let me call my kids to let 'em know."
Drake pulled out his phone as Cory pulled his out as well, but just stared at it in silence for some time, not texting or calling anybody. Cory noticed this and as his eldest answered the call, he beamed at her but quickly moved to get Drake in shot.
"Say hello to your uncle." He demanded, which also prompted Drake to put his phone away and engage in the conversation.