Chapter 95 - Bigger Picture

<---Chapter 94 - Hitmen|Table of Contents|Chapter 96 - Accelerated Training--->

Over the next two days, the radicial union was slowly losing control over the city, their last pockets of resistance relegated to the edges and outskirts. Attempts by their local leaders to reach the original council members were only met with silence, the command structure breaking down into disrepair.

Some returned into being the small closed clubs or craft unions they used to belong to, while others strove to ignite the same flame where possible. Yet, with close to no funding available and hardly any real weight with which to bargain, attempts at strikes and protests were crushed heavily by enforcers and gangs across the city.

Still, elements of defiance and political unrest rocked the city, some of the nobles themselves sympathetic to the original cause but rejecting the violent methods of the radicals.

Yet this meant nothing to the vipers gathered at the top of the shopping arcade in a conference room in front of Kyle, who himself was becoming cognizant that he was part of a larger game and scheme.

"I don't give two shits who this Harrison dumbass is, if he wants a war he'll get a war! You don't kill two of our men in our territory without getting some payback!" Niko slammed his palm on the table in rage. "If we don't fight back, then what about Kismet and Mizar? They gonna die for nothing?!"

"Calm down!" Reese urged. "Do you even understand who the hell Harrison is? He's the number one richest man in Versia, he controls more than a third of the market in his hands alone! Don't even mention the other subsidiaries who 'seemed' to be his competitors but are secretly in league with him. Picking a fight with him is suicide!"

"No, Niko is right. Whether or not he is the richest or not means little to us. No matter who messes with us, they'll have something coming for them. If we let this go we'll be like a laughing stock. All of the nobles and major gangs know we let Gunther die in our hands, its an absolute stain on our reputation that we've painstakingly built so far." Keith spoke up.

"But how are we going to do anything to him? We don't even know what he wants nor what he has?" Monica rebutted. "We're like a blind duck seeking revenge on a non-existent hunter. If we move rashly now, we will be exposing ourselves with each move."

"Indeed. Verisa is far beyond our scope of control. If he was in the South Sector or the Culdao Peaks, we might have been able to do something about it right away." Damian scratched his arm in irritation. "Still, did we not have a point of contact with that Versian Minister...? What's his name again..."

"Minister Dekar is already a criminal, and on the run for kidnapping Versian President Johan." Keith reminded them. "Whatever agreement or opportunity we might have had through him is basically lost, unless we can figure out where he is hiding. Their political issues are like a blackbox to us."

"If all we're lacking is information, then we simply need to gather it." Kyle finally interjected, his voice laced with vengeance. "This man, this Harrison has been interfering with our operations for far too long. No doubt he is behind the upheaval in politics there as well."

Originally, Kyle was not too peeved at Harrison's actions. It was simply business at the time. He did not believe that Reese's kidnapping nor the poaching of arctech designers were aimed directly at him.

However, the funding of the union and scaling far exceeded Kyle's plans, putting his Seven Snakes in danger, not to mention Harrison's own soldier killing Seven Snakes members. Members that he put his own time and effort into recruiting and training.

"How are we going to collect information? None of us are Versians, right?" Damian mused. "They are notorious for being closed off ever since the revolution."

"We have Versian workers in our district, they seem pretty open." Gordon pointed out the factory as an example.

"Those are the migrants, those willing to leave Versia for a better life. Those who remained aren't the same." Damian explained.

"We already have a good selection with us." Kyle pointed out. "Three of them, in fact."

"Three? I get that we have Culo, he's probably our best bet by far." Keith counted on his hands. "Who are the other two?"

"Bronco is one - but it remains to be seen how loyal he can be to us." Niko got into the groove, following the group's line of thinking.

"Bronco is far too dangerous to act as an information gatherer. I would think that his betrayal had already raised alarms among Harrison's network about possible infiltration. The same goes for Culo, his face is practically plastered all over the place as being our mouthpiece. It would be near impossible for him to enter undetected." Kyle tapped the table.

"Then who else do we have left? Who's the last one?" Eric Dicar frowned.

"Someone who would never be doubted by Harrison or anyone in Versia. Someone who hates us to the core. But before we put him into action, we will need to strengthen ourselves before entering enemy territory." Kyle began to piece the plan together once more, the vipers listening attentively to him. With his recent victory over the union, his actions and plans were no longer in doubt no matter how vicious or outrageous they were.

"Sasha, Damian, Niko, Culo and Monica will undergo a one month training with me in the Culdao Peaks. It is clear that Harrison's men possess technology and skill far beyond our current capabilities. While I am confident we can deal with the threats, it is better to be safe than sorry." Kyle explained. "On top of the vipers training, we will have the rest begin to prepare and stock up for our 'excursion'. This will occur in the following steps."

Kyle had Keith roll out a simple map of the surrounding regions, Versia and the other counties of the Yual Dominion labelled clearly for all to see. "It is obvious that there exists smuggling routes between Versia and Raktor that both the Ilysian Punks and Gunther had been using to both deliver and obtain supplies. We must find the specific of these routes as soon as possible. My current estimation is the ships along the central river running through the Central Sector, as well as potentially a few tunnels that bypasses the check along the walls."

"Once we've uncovered their paths, we will send our forward team as soon as they are ready. They will collect local information and provide us with regular updates, which we will then tailor our actions accordingly." Kyle continued. "While the forward team is collecting information, we will continue to ramp up training in the Culdao Peaks, improving our forces and equipment to be even better than that of the military. This is to ensure our chances of survival against any sudden backlash or betrayals from the nobles, Ardent Cretins or even Count Leon himself."

While the chances of Count Leon suddenly turning on them seemed low, none of the vipers thought it was wrong to be overprepared. A standing force of well-prepared fighters would always be a benefit to future conflicts or negotiations in anyway.

"The moment we know exactly what is happening in Versia, I personally will head over to oversee operations myself, while Damian and Keith will remain in charge of operations in Raktor. A doppelganger trained by Keith will help maintain the facade that I am still around in Raktor, masking our movements."

"Sir, do you really have to go over personally? I understand that the situation at large has been stabilized for now, but it seems a bit risky to do all of this." Damian asked.

"I am by far our strongest fighter. With Harrison possessing technology far beyond our current means, it falls to me to ensure the stability of our international operations." Kyle gave a cover-up answer, but the truth of the matter was that he needed to figure out where all the Galactic-Era tech was coming from, him being the only one among them who truly knew what they represented, not to mention the potential existence of ruins there. Sasha and Culo would not be able to operate them, and he had a sinking suspicion that his system will be able to make use of the ruins, similar to how he activated the Oracle Chamber in the Culdao Peaks. "Any questions before we begin?"

Niko shot up his hand quicker than the others. "If I beat you during the training phase, do I get to be the leader of the Seven Snakes?"

A wave of chuckles spread among the vipers, Niko's brows furrowing. "What?! I thought that was the custom in the gang! Wasn't that how Kyle got his original position from the previous gang leader?"

Damian couldn't contain his laughter, wiping a tear from his eye. "Well, sure. If you want to end up like him."

Kyle didn't respond himself, merely smiling before motioning to the next viper who had a question. "Keith, please, ask away."

"Sir, while I understand that Harrison has been jeopardizing our operations here, it does not warrant such a plan to deal with him. We could simply enact certain countermeasures to prevent his poaching or attempts at stealing technology from us, like boosting security and so on."

"Do you think the plan is dangerous?"

"Very much so, sir. The full force of the Seven Snakes will not be able to follow you over lest we raise suspicions - your only support would be Sasha, Culo and whatever men they can cobble together. You'll be entering the mouth of the lion, both figuratively and literally."

"I won't be entering unprepared, if the information gathering goes to plan. And I will be able to handle any attack that comes my way."

"But sir, I don't understand. We could simply sit back and improve our businesses. Why must we specifically target Harrison?"

Kyle sighed, rubbing his temples. He knew Keith had always been averse to fighting in general, but not to this extent. "It seems that some things have not been made clear despite all of you having been under my wing for this long. I have but one purpose when it comes to dealing with someone who tried to steal and kill everything I had under my very nose for their own profit."

"And when it comes to such a man like Harrison," Kyle stared at the flyer on the table in front of them, the Versian conglomerate leader's grinning confident face taunting him. "The purpose is as clear as daylight: to make everything that is his, mine. And if I can't have it, no one else can."

Culo fidgeted with his fingers as he glanced between the various other passengers in the wagon, wondering why was he even lumped in with them while the wagon bounced erratically on the unpaved roads of the Culdao Peaks. He squeezed past the two passengers flanking him on both sides, their burly arms nearly squashing him in as he tried to raise his hand, waving at the rearview mirror in the driver's cabin. "Uhm, sir...? Mr. Kyle, I believe there has been a mistake of sorts...?"

"Mistake?" Kyle turned back with a confused expression.

"Yes, I've seem to have boarded the wrong wagon. I'm not a viper."

"Indeed you are not."

"But there are only vipers here. If this is some sort of uhhh vacation retreat, I might have accidentally taken up a slot. Perhaps we should turn around and-" Culo's words were slapped out of his chest when a large palm smacked him hard on the back.

"Quit jabbering and keep quiet. You're in the right place." Monica groaned, trying to catch some shuteye.

Culo instantly shrank back into his own original position, his mind wandering about all the reasons why he had been hauled here. "Mr. Kyle, if I've done something wrong, I sincerely apologize wholeheartedly, and will do anything to make it right - just please don't hurt me."

Kyle chuckled. "Glad to hear it. I will hold you to that."

The wagon soon reached their destination - the first goblin den, where Feldon, Merissa and Gulak were already out, preparing to receive them. Feldon stood front and center, a wide beaming smile plastered on his face as he bowed nearly ninety degrees the moment Kyle exited the wagon. "Welcome, Boss! It is our great pleasure to have you-"

"Cut the bullshit, bring us to the training caves. We're on a tight deadline." Kyle's dismissal and the grim faces of the vipers were more than enough to put a stop to Feldon's idea of a warm reception, the group simply walking past them without worrying about appearances or decorum - not that the Seven Snakes used to anyway.

Culo nervously tagged along, only to suddenly come face to face with Gulak, a scream nearly leaving his throat as he had never met a goblin before. He shivered as Gulak's nose drew closer to him, the warts and greenish pus seeping out of them more vivid then ever.

"You... you're weak. They must have delivered you for maggot pit!" Gulak concluded, his laughter an eerie gurgle to himself before Sasha stepped in, grabbing Gulak by the nape of his neck and hauling him to the side. Culo's face was pale as ever, frightened beyond his wits, forcing Sasha to haul him in while he screamed at the top of his lungs. "I DONT WANT TO BE A MAGGOT!"

Sasha had to smack Culo's face a few times before he finally stop screaming and swapped to whimpering instead, earning only disdain from Sasha's clearly irked expression. [Sir, I really don't think he'll amount to much.] Sasha spoke through her telepathic engraving to Kyle.

"Just like how you revealed your true strength through a challenge, so shall he." Kyle assured. "The rest of you, take a break while I run Culo through the basics."

"Wh-what basics are there to being a maggot?!" Culo exclaimed, only to earn another smack from Sasha.

"If you don't shut up right now, I will make sure you get thrown into the maggot pit." Niko threatened, tired of all the whining. That got Culo to finally shut up for good, meekly leaving the other vipers behind as he followed Kyle deeper and deeper into the training caves, unsure of what was happening while Sasha brought up the rear. The dense dark stone walls made him feel more clausterphobic than ever before, even more so than the winding streets of Raktor. The hazy memories of open blue skies and expansive farms near his village felt further than ever before.

Now, he had to carefully watch each step he took over loose rocks and random ditches, the sounds of dripping water dominating the environment as he blindly followed Kyle further in. The ambient light of the glowing arcite embedded through the cavernous system served as the main source of light, only to be superseded by intermittent arctech lanterns that made it hard for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.

"We're here." Kyle came to a sudden stop right outside a bolted wooden door, bloody handprints staining its slowly moulding surface. "Are you ready?"

"Ready...? Ready for what?" Culo glanced around frantically as Kyle himself rummaged around a nearby chest, picking up a rusty knife.

"Ready to become a better man." Kyle tossed the rusty knife to it, Culo fumbling with his hands as he barely managed to catch it.

"Huh?" Culo could only stare in horror as the door was opened, revealing a dark circular chamber with nothing to show for it, save for the scraps of decaying flesh and strips of broken leather armour scattered around the floor, the obvious signs of a fearsome battle.

He felt a kick shove him into the door, with Sasha entering after him as the door slammed shut behind them. An eerie silence rumbled in his eardrums while he slowly took in the surroundings, trying to spot anything of note. With nothing to go on, he turned around, hoping that Sasha had an answer. Instead, he found nothing, Sasha having seemingly disappeared into thin air.

A sudden ungodly shriek echoed from the other side of the chamber, causing Culo to yelp in horror. "What was that? Hello? Ms. Sasha? Mr. Kyle? Anyone!?"

His ears perked up at the response, before sharply realizing it wasn't anything human. All could here was the furious beat of something rushing towards him from seemingly all angles, his head swivelling quickly to try and peer through the dim lighting afforded by the chamber's sole lantern.

Fuck this, I'm not dying here like this! Culo half-regretted following Kyle willingly into the wagon, but there was no time to lament about past issues. He gripped the hilt of the rusty knife tightly, ignoring the rough grooves that bit into his already calloused hand, knowing that the knife was all that stood between him and whatever monster was on the other side.

The scampering sounds of palms and feet slapping against the cold hard rocks around the chambers echoed incessantly, Culo priming himself for an attack from any direction. It's circling me, looking for an opening. As soon as it leaps I'll-

A claw lunged out and grabbed his arm from the side, the long rotting nails digging deep into his flesh. Culo shrieked in pain, his survival instincts kicking in as he swung the rusty knife down, the claws retracting immediately.

His eyes finally landed on the monster that was hunting him as he clutched his now bleeding arm - though calling it a monster was hardly a right word. "What the fuck are you?!"

The 'monster' was a heavily injured feral human, his posture animalistic as he glared at Culo with a clear frenzy, a level of aggression Culo was instinctively certain that he wouldn't be able to talk his way out of it. One of the feral human's arm was already clearly mangled from a past fight, leaving it dangling and lifeless, barely attached to its socket as he approached Culo, baring his teeth.

Another swipe from the feral human's good arm had Culo backpedalling frantically, who used the knife in a bid to scare him off. "You try that one more time and I will -"

The same ungodly shriek erupted from the feral human's broken jaw, nearly stunning Culo while the feral human charged head-on, rushing right at Culo.

Culo didn't waste his breath on talking any longer, gripping the knife as hard as he could when the body of the feral human slammed into him, the two of them tumbling onto the ground in a fierce struggle. A howl echoed as the knife found its mark, lodging its rusty blade deep into the chest of the feral human.

Culo ignored the dripping saliva from the feral human's canine-like teeth, twisting the knife and attempting to slice as hard as he could towards the side, using one hand to block the infected claw trying to gouge his eyes out. The feral human clung to him like a parasite, unwilling to let go until Culo finally found an opportunity to hit the feral human on the head, though to little effect.

Despite the knife cutting deep, the feral human still struggled with a primal fury, forcing Culo to resort to other options. Instead of trying to twist the knife any longer, he used his free hand and drove a fist straight into the broken jaw of the feral human.

The already broken jawbone splintered even more, the force shoving the fragments deeper into the face as the feral human recoiled in pain. Culo didn't let go of the chance, immediately gaining the upper hand and pouncing on the reeling feral human. With a vicious grip, he pulled out the knife with his other hand drove it straight through the head of the feral human.

The feral human's body twitched a little as it struggled to come to terms with its own death, before finally collapsing onto the ground, lifeless, leaving Culo panting hard, his lungs heaving from the frantic battle.

Finally, the pain that he had ignored on his injured arm began to overwhelm him,Culo noticing that he had lost blood through the gaping wounds, some parts starting to turn yellow from the infected claws. He clasped the wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding, stumbling away from the dead feral human and slumping against the wall.

Am I going to die here...? Brother... Culo closed his eyes for a bit, trying to process what had just happened when a new presence suddenly emerged in front of him.

His instincts kicked in, using the same trusted rusty knife to stab forward without hesitation. The knife was easily deflected, before his attacking arm was grappled expertly.

Before he could react,. the new attacker dumped the contents of a small yellow potion flask on the open wounds of Culo's arm, healing it quickly.

"Huh...? Ms. Sasha...?"

The door swung open, revealing a satisfied Kyle. "Well done, Culo. I knew you could do it."

Culo was slightly stunned, before anger began to well up from within, locking onto Kyle as the source of all of this. "Are you fucking crazy?! Did you just throw me in here to die?"

"If you did not fight back, then yes. But I was confident you had the will to see it through."

"What...? What the fuck are you even trying to do?"

"To make you a better fighter." Kyle inspected the dead feral human, surprised at the tenacity it had displayed so far despite it being nearly a year since he had experimented on them. He wondered if the failure rate of the tattoo knife was due to his original lack of experience with the arrangement and procedure of engraving arcia tattoos. With his new learnings, Kyle was confident he could impart a higher success rate onto other people, though he would still need willing subjects to test this on. Or unwilling.

"Why do I need to fight? I'm a union leader, not a Seven Snakes fighter!" Culo retorted.

"There will always be an occasion to fight. I need you to be able to stand on your own two feet - you'll be going to Versia with Sasha, and she will not be there to save your life all the time."

"Back to Versia...? Why?"

"That, I cannot say. But if you want to see your brother again, it would be advisable to complete this training without whining too much." Kyle got up and began to leave the chamber. "Sasha, try to make sure he come out in at least three pieces. I'll see you for dinner."

"... complete this training? three pieces?! Wait, wait, wait! I've already cleared the training! I killed the man!" Culo tried to find a way out, only to earn a chuckle from Kyle as Sasha activated a notch in the chambers' walls, opening a secret door from which two feral humans emerged from, snarling and already locking onto Culo.

"Cleared? You haven't even started."

<---Chapter 94 - Hitmen|Table of Contents|Chapter 96 - Accelerated Training--->