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Chapter Eight

Chairman of the Terran Conglomerate, the Honorable Xing Chang Yao leveled accusations of piracy and cultural desecration at a number of the highly disorganized stellar explorers recently. Citing recent flooding of the artifact and antiquities market of items of non-human origin, Xaing Chang Yao has ordered increased patrols in newly discovered planetary systems and strict enforcement of the Conglomerate's edict against any exploration of dead civilizations same it's own.

Two systems, newly discovered by those same stellar explorers who Xiang Chang Yao labeled as criminals have been found to bear ruins with striking similarities to the ruins in both the Castor and Sirius systems. Extensive looting of Conglomerate preservation areas however have tainted several of the ruins in ways that make scientific determination of exact age or indeed why the sites are now uninhabited nearly impossible.

The unknown discoverers of these sites may have attempted another “Sirius Skull” hoax, as the Conglomerate scientists have stated that inside one largely undisturbed structure a human femur was discovered. While carbon dating of the femur places it's age at somewhere between 17,000 and 15,000 years of age, lettering etched into the bone in modern English leveled insults at several prominent Conglomerate politicians.
*Excerpt from Visiting Humanity in the Stars, Brinkley Publishing, Heinlein, 2620 edition.

* * *
When Nate finally returned to consciousness he found himself laying flat on a hard metal table. With the ache in his side largely gone, as well as his difficulty breathing; Nate gently pushed himself into a standing position and swung himself off of the table carefully. Stepping quietly across the cut stone floor of the dimly lit room he made his way to the only furnishing in the room other than the table he had been laying on; a simple metal chair across which draped his pants and a shirt he did not recognize.

The sound of voices drifted faintly through the closed doorway the led out of the room, and as Nate pulled his pants on he recognized William's harsh voice as one of the two speakers.

“I don't know...” Nate strained to make out the words as he finished fastening the pants and pulled the shirt over his head. “...lot of bad blood there. I doubt he would help me based simply because I asked."

Nate crossed to the door and with a turn of the archaic handle opened the door and stepped into the room beyond. The profile sight of William leaning forward bare chested as their host stood behind him and worked with two surgical mag probes that were inserted into his back while William gently puffed away on an e-nic was not what Nate had expected. Nor was Williams casual nod of the head in greeting.

“Nate, meet Doctor Quintus Orlov, you have him to thank for the fact that you aren't room temperature on a slab."

Quintus waved nonchalantly at Nate as he focused on the smaller of the two probes that jutted from Williams back. With quick methodical motions that spoke of frequent practice he removed the smaller of the two probes slowly and dropped a small mesh fragment from the probe onto a tray that rested beside him.

“How are you feeling Nate?” William asked with a wince as the second probe was also removed from his back.

“Better.” Nate took a few steps forward and stared at the three small pieces of blood streaked mesh that were the focus of his attention. “I can breath better at least and most of the pain is gone.”

“Good.” Quintus said as he laid the probes onto the tray and removed a roll of synthflesh from the tray and gently pressed it against the hole in Williams back. “As your doctor, I highly suggest you avoid letting psychopaths with genetic enhancements kick you.”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Nate shook his head and glanced over at William. “I've got to ask, what exactly is he doing?”

Quintus spoke before William could.

“For your general knowledge Nate, what he is doing, is sitting there while I remove splinters of reinforced bone lacing from his back.”

“Reinforced bone lacing?”

William nodded as he exhaled vapor from the e-nic.

“Yep. It's exactly what it sounds like. It's an experimental form of subdermal armor.”

Quintus turned to Nate and with a theatrical flourish waved his hands about.

“Experimental he says! What it is Nate, is the next step in combat armor. Imagine it, no more need for bulky armored suits, each soldier will have the same durability as if they were wearing a standard armored layer of ceramite!”

“Except for that pesky skin problem eh doc?” William remarked as he carefully pulled the top of his body sheath down over the newly placed synthskin.

“Mere details! With a bit more adjustment, and some modifications your very skin will shed impacts as well as diamond weave!”

William stood slowly and stretched as he resealed the body sheath.

“The problem is doc, I don't have six months, or a beneficiary to leave my possessions to.”

Quintus spun to stare at Nate.

“You have to understand me, you came to me more dead than alive, I fixed you! My innovations work!”

Nate took a step back and placed his left hand protectively over his ribs.

“What exactly did you do?”

“Good luck ever finding that out.” William snorted, “The good doctor here is more of a butcher than he is an artist. Some of the things he does when he's working on someone can best be described as theoretical. Some of the rest can be called quackery.”

“Quackery? I'll have you know that Nate's ribs are as good as new, better in fact than new! Why, if you were to kick him again as you did you would have a better chance of breaking your foot than of breaking his ribs!”

William rolled his eyes as Quintus continued his diatribe.

“Given enough time, I could replace every bone in your body with the same reinforcement that William has in just a few! You would be unstoppable, a shuttle could land on you and you would barely have to acknowledge it!”

William stepped between Nate and the clearly deranged doctor.

“That's enough Quintus, leave the kid alone.” William said as he gently pulled Nate past the doctor. “He's not your usual kind of patient. He doesn't need any upgrades, the quick patch job was fine.”

William pushed Nate from the room and down a corridor into adjoining room that had most of the space inside it taken up with odds and ends of furniture.

“He gets a little excited when he starts talking about his work, you'll have to ignore him.”

“His work?”

William nodded as he gestured Nate to a reclining chair.

“He's not quite right... in the head if you follow me.”

“And you are?”

“Touche.” William smirked as he settled down opposite Nate. “I admit to being a killer, but you knew that already. Quintus is a very focused doctor, but his focus is more on modification of his subjects as opposed to healing them of their ailment.”

“Modification?”

“He's more of an unlicensed experimental technician than a doctor. He has several ideas on how to improve the human body to better function and survive. Your ribs for example, he wasn't lying when he said that they would break my foot before they broke themselves.”

Nate stared down at his chest for a moment.

“What did he do to me?”

William scrunched his face in thought.

“Truthfully, I'm not sure. What he did for me when Alexander had me brought here, was he replaced the majority of the bones in my chest with his reinforced bone lacing. When they brought me here, I was in pretty bad shape, leaking blood all over the place, and like you in no position to be picky about who fixed me up.”

William tapped his chest lightly.

“Sure, he fixed me up. He grafted that damned mesh of his into my chest, replaced my liver with one he just happened to have laying around from a previous patient, put a few more of his latest and greatest advancement inside me and then patched me up.”

“Did it work?”

“Am I sitting here talking to you?” William snorted. “Of course it worked. Oh, some of it didn't do at all what he was expecting, but then again, beggars can't be choosers now can they? The liver failed in less than a week and had to be replaced again, splinters break off the mesh if I get hit hard enough and those can be a righteous bitch to get out without complications, but for the most part it worked.”

“And he replaced my ribs with the same mesh?” Nate asked as William leant back in the chair.

“No, you got his latest version. More durable, less prone to splintering. But I wouldn't suggest you go trying to stop mag rounds with your chest just to stay on the safe side.”

Nate chuckled warily.

“I'll try to keep that in mind.”

William nodded and lay back as far as the chair allowed.

“I'm going to get a little shut eye. While you were taking your four hour nap, I got a little work done. We've got a meeting set up in a couple hours time.” William lifted the small satchel that rested beside the chair and tossed it underhanded to Nate.
“In there you'll find some stuff you may need. Some clothes, a few med tabs for when the pain starts coming back, and an ident chit that won't pass to thorough scrutiny but which should be good enough for what we'll be doing.”

Nate rummaged through the pack and pulled out the stamped plascrys chit. Other than his picture and blood type, all the information on it was new.

“Learn the information in case we have to use it. Don't become to attached to it however, we won't be sticking around long.”

Nate slid the chit back in the bag and set it on the floor.

“You don't have to do this.”

“Do what?”

“Take care of me like this.”

It's strange to see William so relaxed.

"Cocaine is a hell of a drug."

William snorted.

“Believe me, if I had the choice I would have left you in that hab of yours right beside your girlfriend.”

“Why didn't you?” Nate asked quietly.

“Orders.”

“You are very good at following orders aren't you?”

William cracked an eyelid and glared across at Nate.

“You have no idea.”

Nate licked his lips.

“Why do you do it, work for him, killing people I mean.”

William closed his eye once more and sighed.

“Some people kill for ideas like country and freedom, others for tangible items like money or goods. Me... I kill because I like it, and the money never hurts either.”

“But...”

William opened his eye once more.

“Let me sleep kid. I don't want to deal with T'chonga tired.”

“T'chonga?”

“He's the kind of guy who makes Vanderkamp look like a street kid. But he's the guy we have to deal with if we can to get off this rock ball, and he's going to be really difficult to deal with.”

“What's so difficult about it, if he doesn't do what you want, you'll just shoot him like you do everyone else.”

William snorted and shook his head.

“That didn't work to well the first time I tried it, I doubt it will do as well the second time.”

* * *

True to his word, less than two fitful and eventually painful hours for Nate later, William stretched himself and got out of the chair.

“Grab the bag kid. It's time we left.”

Nate lifted the bag from the floor and followed William out of the doorway and into the rest of the small home. William made his way past the room where Nate had found himself upon waking and through another room until they were back at the entrance to the home.

“Leaving so soon?”Quintus asked from where he sat perched behind an overly ostentatious desk.

“That's right.”

“Please forgive me for asking William, but you were planning on paying me for services rendered?”

William shook his head.

“I told you already Quintus, you have to talk to Mr. Vanderkamp.”

“Ah, but Mr. Vanderkamp is currently incommunicado.”

“That's right, just get a message to Chance and he'll make certain you get paid what's due.”

“He will, will he?”

William turned slightly and lifted his rifle and a small pack from where they lay beside the door.

“That's right, he will.”

“And if I told you that Chance has refused payment?”

William sighed in exasperation.

“Look Quintus, we both know you live a precarious life out here. You do work for everyone. Vanderkamp, T'chonga, the Villers brothers, and anyone else crazy enough to come find you. The only reason they come to you is because they know you aren't stupid enough to sell anyone out, and because you know that they are good for it. If Chance won't pay you, then I suggest you wait until you can get hold of Vanderkamp himself.”

“What if I just tell T'chonga you are here and ask him how much the information is worth?”

William shrugged and slung both the pack and rifle over his shoulder.

“Go on then, when you talk to him just tell him I'm on my way.”

William grabbed Nate by the shoulder and turned away from Quintus as they stepped outside. As they walked down the small path that lead towards the triple low domes of the Clarke colony William let his hand drop from Nate's shoulder.

“Is Mr. Vanderkamp going to pay him?

“Probably not.” William shook his head. “He's cutting all ties to me and thereby to us, at least until he can get himself in the clear. Guys like Quintus and T'chonga won't know that tho.”

“They won't?”

“Probably not. Most of the guys who run various groups don't really talk to one another much about internal matters. Especially not when they are busy trying to cover themselves and avoid catching one in the neck.”

Just as an FYI for those reading this, I'm going to post Chapter 8 only tonight. Chapter 9 needs a lot of work, and significant chunks of it still need to be written including the chapter introduction.

I'll get chapter 9 posted tomorrow... err... later today once I've had a chance to get the kinks worked out and sleep a bit.

“What's this T'chonga guy like?”

William hissed silently and they two of them had almost reached the dome entrance before he finally broke his silence.

“T'chonga isn't a business man like Mr. Vanderkamp. He's more of an jumped up gutter thug who thinks that just because he's bigger than most people he can push everyone else around. A year ago, when T'chonga was getting settled in this business he made the poor decision to... intercept a shipment meant for Mr. Vanderkamp.”

“Mr. Vanderkamp sent me to resolve the problem after the two previous people he sent to T'chonga didn't manage to solve the problem.”

“What happened?”

William scratched at his chin for a moment before he answered.

“He survived if you can call it that. Quintus saved his life for some reason, put him back together shortly after he fixed me up to be honest. T'chonga was much worse off than I was. Grafts, nerve damage, Quintus had to do almost a complete rebuild from the neck down. If the old saying about a man being known by the quality of his enemies, then I should be pretty close to the second coming.”

* * *

The colony of Clarke was nothing at all as Nate had pictured it from news reports and tales told over late night beers with friends and acquaintances. While everything he had heard prepared him for a sprawling town of chaos, filth, and disorder, he was utterly unprepared for the orderly street layouts, the clean streets and walk ways, and the orderly way that everyone seemed to be going about their business.

Where he had expected narrow alleys and darkly clad strangers on each corner ready to rob him at a moments notice, he was almost shocked to see that while some differences were apparent; such as the murky pseudo twilight that almost illuminated the streets and walk ways, many other aspects of the town reminded him of Anson.

Per-Trans ran quietly past them as they walked past an orderly row of storefronts, some offering various food stuffs that Nate knew well, while others offered such a variety that he had never even heard or imagined of.

“It's nothing like I thought it would be.” Nate said as he deftly stepped aside for a young woman and two rowdy children.

“Yes it is, this isn't the real Clarke you are seeing. Around here is all part of the corporate housing and living areas.” William said as they slowly made their way through the crowd of people. “Once we get through this press we'll take a hard left and start heading towards the port itself. From there if we can make enough time, we'll make a stop at a place I know before we head into the warehouse district.”

“We could get a public Tran you know.” Nate said as he followed closely behind William.

“No need.” William said as he shook his head. “Most of those won't take you much beyond corporate sponsored areas. We are headed into the off worlders section, and most corporate trans don't go there. Off worlders and natives don't really mix much despite what people say. For the most part people prefer the familiar and tend to stay with others in places that they feel more comfortable.”

“You didn't.”

“I'm not most people.”

Silence reigned between the two men as Nate followed William through a seemingly convoluted series of twists and turns. As they walked he noticed the trends and general atmosphere beginning to change in both style of buildings and the general style and look of people that passed them.

“I'm starting to see what you mean.” Nate said as he stole a passing glance with a burly man wearing loosely flowing pastel robes.

“He's wearing an Agbada. Probably means he is from Mizar Beta. A lot of their original settlers came from Africa on old Earth. Most of the time they are fairly insular and don't travel much.” William said as he nodded at the man Nate been staring at. “Then again, if I had their history I wouldn't want to socialize with anyone from the rest of humanity either.”

William gestured to a hab stack with a garishly illuminated holo sign suspended above it. The sign rotated from displaying an older self cleansing system and a local lectoo parlors new artist.

“Right, if we get separated, try to get inside that building. It's ugly enough that you should remember it if you see it again.” William said. “If I lose you I'll make what arrangements I can and meet you back there. If you don't see me for more than twelve hours well...”

“Well what?” Nate asked as they crossed the street and walked past a small group of men wearing similar clothing to the Mizar traveler.

“Then good luck trying to get out of here.”

William stopped suddenly and turned to face the group of men they had just passed. Nate noticed that William's hand gravitated to the grip of his rifle as he stepped between him and the men who started to approach them.

The leader of the group, a smaller man in much more subdued colors raised both hands before him and nodded to the two of them.

“Richardson.” His accent placed stress on what was, to Nate's thinking, the wrong syllables of Williams name.

One thing you mentioned in the first thread was the outline for the coming chapters. From what I remember, Nate and William are going to be stowaways on the Carthage. Keep in mind that with a crew that psychotic and violent (I'm thinking "Firefly/Serenity FROM HELL" with a crew of mostly Jaynes and Rivers) is going to be none too receptive to stowaways. Especially when what they're doing isn't exactly legal in most of the Terran Sphere. William is also a violent and sociopathic killer that he himself admits really hating sitting on his ass. Having someone that violent and that mental on a ship with other people that violent and that mental is an explosive situation waiting to happen. And I can imagine that shit would hit the fan if the crew found out that William was the rampaging killer from Heinlein. They wouldn't exactly want that kind of heat/attention when what they're doing already is illegal. Considering Nate would probably be a welcomed addition to the crew (if not exactly trusted at first), it might be a good idea to have Nate and William watch each other's backs. Since Nate doesn't really have anyone else to turn to other than William. And William is likely to get on edge and might do well to have Nate diffuse tense situations since he's, you know, somewhat sane.

One thing I would like to see, however, is eventually Nate becoming on good enough terms with William to possibly get an answer out of him as to why he went on his little rampage when all he wanted was one guy killed. It might give the chance for William to become more connectible (as someone mentioned in the first thread, it'd help with character development) and give our two protagonists a chance to better understand and connect with each other.

“What?” William asked, his tone cold.

“Peace, Richardson.” the stranger said. “You have come seeking T'chonga. T'chonga seeks you as well. He wishes you to meet with him where you talked once before.”

William nodded and removed his hand from the rifles grip. Grabbing Nate's arm he stalked back the way they had come, past the group who having delivered their message paid them no heed.

“This way.” William said as the two of them recrossed the street and turned down an alleyway parallel to the direction they had been heading. “When we get inside don't say anything, just try to find a hole and pull it in after yourself.”

“You expect this to go bad?”

“I expect everything to go bad, it leaves me pleasantly surprised when something works out.”

* * *

>>11881651

The crew of the Carthage isn't totally made up of misfit Jayne/Rivers. Only six or seven of a seventy person crew are killers, the rest of them are typical people who just do their job and get paid. Not everyone is a raging psychopathic freak on board the ship, but yes, the few who are will most certainly have problems with William if they find out who/what he actually is.

Nate becoming an integral part of the crew is possible, especially since he has experience as a technician on the Kinzer star drives. His interaction with the crew while apart from William will actually start bringing out confidence in him, that is highly overshadowed by William's attitude and violence.

The building William led them to was a squat slab sided warehouse that had obviously seen a great deal of use in the not so recent past. The ferrocrete was pitted and worn through neglect, and the entrance that William took them to was a simple metal door that opened on old fashioned hinges.

Nate blinked as his eyes adjusted to the well lit interior of the warehouse as he stared about them.

The interior of the warehouse was stacked with various vac sealed cargo containers and was in much better repair than the exterior suggested. The single room also had people already present when they entered. Several visibly armed men stopped moving about as the two of them walked in, and Nate stepped quickly to the side of the door and tried to make himself as small as possible while William walked towards a large robed man that stood roughly in the center of the room.

“Ah, William Richardson.” the man said. His robes were a dark red that contrasted well with his nearly pitch black skin. His accent sounded as if he were saying WillYoM to Nate's ears when he spoke. The man that Nate assumed was T'chonga stepped towards William with both arms spread wide. “The man who made me into who I am today.”

“T'chonga.” William said curtly.

T'chonga stopped a few feet short of William and threw his head back as booming laughter seemed to shake the foundation of the building.

“William, I am told you wish to find a way away from Heinlein. Yet, you don't want to go through Alexander to book passage, and you don't want to take any of the usual passenger ships. Tell me William, are you running from someone?” T'chonga rubbed his hands together, malicious delight sparkling in his dark eyes. “Has someone finally put fear into your black heart?”

“Can you get us passage or not T'chonga? I don't have time to sit here and engage in some ritualistic dickbeating with you.” William shot back.

“Of course I can get you passage William. Of course I can.” T'chonga said as he gestured towards a very small cargo container. “I had planned to fold you into that box and send you back to Coalition space without charging you more than a pittance, but, since you don't seem to wish to travel alone, those luxurious accommodations simply will not do. We will have to find something a bit larger that will fit you and your traveling companion.”

Nate slid his back to the wall and stepped as far away from the two men as possible. Suddenly he felt a bump on his side and turned his head to stare who grabbed him roughly around the shoulders and pulled him closer. William didn't remove his gaze from T'chonga's face at the sound of Nate being slowly pulled further away from him.

“So, that's how it's going to be is it T'chonga?” William asked.

“Of course it is William.” T'chonga's deep voice rumbled. “It could not be any other way.”

“So you are going to send your men over here to fold me up because you couldn't deal with me for yourself the last time?” William sneered. “You couldn't kill me the last time, and these goons of yours won't make this time any different. I'll spread you right across these boxes and then start taking your men apart one by one.”

“William, I am hurt.” T'chonga said, “The last time we talked, you shot me, I shot you, and neither of us died. Why must men like us always have to resort to shooting one another, why can these things never be resolved like civilized people.”

“What?” William said, surprise obvious in his tone.

“It is simple William, you put your rifle down, then you and I see which of us is the better man without having to resort to guns.” T'chonga smiled to reveal perfectly white teeth. “Then we fold your body and put it in the box and see why your friend is so very special yes?”

William twisted his head sideways and stared across at the large black man before him. The disparity in their sizes made Nate despair, T'chonga obviously out weighed William by several magnitudes, and the things William had mentioned about his having been rebuilt magnified the size difference.

“Fine. Let's do this.” William said as he stepped back and set both his pack and rifle against a cargo container. “Just the two of us. Let's finish what we started then.”

“Excellent!” barked T'chonga as he stepped away from the smaller man. “Come to me when you are ready.”

William narrowed his eyes as he began to circle his opponent. With out warning he stepped forward and rotated his body to snap a kick into T'chonga's mouth then danced back out of the larger mans reach.

“You aren't fast enough to get hold of me T'chonga.” William said with a sneer. "I'll pick you apart piece by piece."

T'chonga smiled at William and moved towards him.

* * *

Nate blinked rapidly as he watched the two men move almost faster than he could see. One moment T'chonga was reaching for William, and the next moment William was landing sideways on a cargo container.

“I am fast enough William.” T'chonga said as he moved towards William again.

William spun to his feet, knocked away one of T'chongas reaching hands, and landed several blows to his opponents face which T'chonga ignored as he batted William away.

William rolled with the blow and snapped his foot across T'chonga's face once more as he moved around the larger man. Lightning fast, T'chonga turned and grabbed William around the throat and pulled him close as he throttled the smaller man.

“Are you still breathing William?”

William snarled breathlessly and gouged a thumb into T'chongas left eye.

“I'm breathing, you bastard.” William spat out as he wrenched one of T'chongas thumbs back and headbutted him in the nose breaking the choke hold.

“Shut up and bleed.”

Hm, still haven't read part 2. Should probably get on it.

T'chonga laughed as he batted away an overhand blow from William and brought his knee into Williams ribs and brought his left hand down towards his head.

While the knee struck William squarely in the ribs, he caught the hook and delivered a crushing blow to the side of T'chonga's elbow.

The two titans broke apart as Nate watched breathlessly. Blood dripped from T'chonga's face and William held his hands protectively close to his ribcage. T'chonga snapped a feint towards William's face, and William swayed to avoid it.

With a snarl William rushed in and began landing blows on T'chonga's slowly bleeding nose. T'chonga replied by lifting William and throwing him once more into the cargo container, head first this time. As William struggled to his feet, T'chonga kicked him in the side of the head before grabbed him around the throat, and fully extending his arms lifted William above him.

William scrabbled his hands futilely against his chest and the huge arms that held him as T'chonga began to squeeze his throat.

“I am going to strangle you little man. I am going to watch the light fade from your eyes, and only then will I finally let go. The sight of my face will be the last thing you ever see.” T'chonga said as William struggled to breath. “Do you have any final words William? Any pithy statement you wish to waste your last breath on? ”

William smacked T'chonga in the forehead. T'chonga didn't notice that the small metal disc that adhered to his head when William's hand fell away.

>>11881725

That may help a bit. There are either two or three chapters in that one that obviously lead directly into where we are now in the story. All three threads are now up on suptg, go read and vote them up if you like them. I plan to be doing this until I get the whole story told, I figure that will take a few weeks or so.

>>11881463
OP i think your links are broke.

I am interested as the title bears the name Heinlein.
Could you give me a synopsis as to wtf is going on ITT?

>>11881741
>I plan to be doing this until I get the whole story told, I figure that will take a few weeks or so.

And I will wait anxiously to read them all.

Definitely one of the better stories to have been posted on tg.

>>11881767
>OP i think your links are broke.
Disregard that. i was including "Part 1"


DERP

“You didn't expect that to word did you William?” T'chonga asked as William struggled feebly in his grasp.

“No...” William gasped as he squeezed his eyes closed. “But I expect this will.”

The plasmic thermite disc attached to T'chonga's head ignited with a blast actinic light that caused all the onlookers to flinch their gaze away as T'chonga began a short lived scream.

The glowing molten metal poured through his skull, granting a hellish glow to his eyes before passing out through his chin and hitting his chest. T'chonga's face began to melt and run as the thermite began eating through his body.

T'chonga's scream ended finally as his whole body became engulfed in a roaring pillar of flame.

William finally released from the grasping hands rolled away from the intensely burning man and struggled to where his rifle lay. Nate felt the hold on his shoulders release suddenly as his captor let him go and began to reach for a weapon holstered on his side. The smell of burning flesh permeated the warehouse as William raised to one knee and lifted the rifle to his shoulder.

>>11881778
>The plasmic thermite disc attached to T'chonga's head ignited with a blast actinic light that caused all the onlookers to flinch their gaze away as T'chonga began a short lived scream.

>The glowing molten metal poured through his skull, granting a hellish glow to his eyes before passing out through his chin and hitting his chest. T'chonga's face began to melt and run as the thermite began eating through his body.

Fucking. Awesome.

Who knew door breaching charges were so handy for something other than opening up a locked door?

“Anyone else who wants to die, step forward.” Williams voice had an unpleasant rasp to it. “Everyone else better clear on out.”

Nate didn't notice as the men inside the warehouse left, his eyes remained fixed on the still moving pillar of fire that had once been T'chonga. Finally, when the fire began to died out he stepped over to the still kneeling William and reached out to help the battered man who was fighting to reach his feet.

“Good, you didn't leave.” William said as he visibly struggled for breath. “Help me up. We can't stay here.”

“Where do we go?” Nate asked as he put one one Williams arms over his shoulder and helped him stand.

“That stop I mentioned, if we can get there it will give me a chance to rest and try finding us another way out of here.” William said as Nate guided his limping form towards the doorway. It's a sort of a way station that Vanderkamp had me set up for when we bring items into Anson."

The two men slowly made their way to the doorway where Nate carefully propped William against the wall and pushed the door open.

“There's just one small problem with getting there.” William rasped.

“What's that?” Nate asked as he turned back to William.

“I don't think you can carry me that far.”

Having said that William collapsed onto the rough floor.

* * *

And that brings us to the close of Chapter Eight. Chapter Nine will follow in this thread if it still exists once I get up. As before I'll post it piece by piece as I get each bit written up to my satisfaction.

If this thread isn't here when I get around to doing it, I'll just finish chapter nine and post it in it's own thread.

Any thoughts, questions or comments dear readers? Obviously the rough outline I posted before has seen a bit of deviation as the story unfolds, but for the most part it's going exactly the direction I expected.

>>11881839
I like this side of William. Not even the most stone-cold unrepentant killers are always dark, threatening, and brooding figures. So it's good to see that, although he's a tad disturbed, he's just a human that's extraordinarily good at killing things.

Overall, I'm really liking the story. And the bit where William killed off the guy with a breaching charge was just fucking glorious.

>>11881857

When I created the character, I never really envisioned him as an utter sociopath to be honest. I had him in another story where he was just kind of a grunt marine who kept getting thrown into horrible situations and having to kill his way out while watching all his buddies get killed in horrible fashion. Eventually, that story fell away, but the trauma the character had gone through just kind of remained, and so in a few short stories I did in this universe I had created William started cropping up. At first he was just bitter and angry, but then he started getting darker and darker until he eventually became the guy you see here.

He's not utterly beyond redemption, but the few redeeming characteristics he has are very few and far between. One of them being loyalty. Hence his loyalty to Vanderkamp, and the beginnings of that loyalty towards Nate.

>>And the bit where William killed off the guy with a breaching charge was just fucking glorious.

Yeah, I was rather proud of that. I was trying to envision how William was going to do going toe to toe with this hard ass who was in a few ways more frankensteined into being a hard ass than William was. I didn't really want to do up a big one man shoots it out with several guys and wins scene as that would be stretching it a bit. But pull the culture card out and having William get tossed around like a rag doll before he used that charge kinda popped into my head and worked wonderfully.

Great, as always.

Bump.