Chapter 1 - Introductions

 August 23^rd, 6:41 PM

“So you're a writer, eh?”

“That's right.”

“Looking for a story?”

“Yeah.”

“In that case, might I make a suggestion?”

“What do you have in mind?”

“See those people over there?”

I turned and looked. There were two men. One had blond, spiky hair with goggles pushed up among the spikes and a boyish grin that made him look a lot younger than he was. The other had dark brown hair that fell in every which way and dark sunglasses that covered his eyes.

“They call themselves GWANAN.”

“Gwanan? What's Gwanan?”

“Group With A Notoriously Awful Name. GWANAN.”

“That's their name?”

“It is a rather awful name, but at least it's truthful about itself. The people in the group are a different story.”

“The people?”

“Most commoners would call them inhuman. However, they are quite human, but.... with unequaled talents.”

“Who are these people?”

“There are three of them. The leader is Konrad Aimery, the one with the sunglasses. He knows how to use any kind of weapon with great skill, and he has photographic memory and a trained eye which leaves his knowledge being quite vast. He is known best as The Weapon Master. There's also his best friend, Wienczyslaw Ahuiliztli Sacheverell III, otherwise known as Ven. He's the one with the spikes. He's an excellent flier who could make a blimp outmaneuver any amount of homing missiles if he wanted to. There is also another. A woman named Alameda Kathrine Plight. I assume you've heard of her?”

“Isn't that Ally Kat? The girl who took down the Organization in Inbetween Town?”

“Yes. She has night vision, an amazing speed, and a lot of specialized gadgets which allows her to infiltrate any place at her liking. She also likes cats, hence the name.”

“But wasn't there a report that she was shot and fell into the underground water system? Could she have possibly survived that?”

“It's not a question of whether she could or couldn't. The fact is, she did, and she's back on the register now as a part of this group.”

“How did she do it?”

“No one knows. People who asked her about it say that her only reply was, 'Cats have nine lives. I've got eight left.'”

“Ah, I've heard of her sense of humor.”

“Yes. She's always teasing her enemies. Kind of reminds you of a cat playing with its prey before eating it, wouldn't you say?”

“She certainly lives up to her name. So what's this group about?”

“GWANAN is sort of like their own protection service. They travel around from town to town, and if there's any trouble at hand, they help out for... some sort of reward.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Most of the people they're helping are poor people. They don't exactly have a lot of money. So they pay with food and a place to stay or valuables that they have lying about the house but no way of selling.”

“I see. Sounds like some good material for a story.”

“There'll only be one obstacle you'll have to overcome before you can start writing about them.”

“Yeah, and what's that?”

“Get their stories, either with their permission or following them without getting noticed.”

“Hey, I'm not that bad of a spy.”

“Suit yourself. Just don't get killed.”

“Would they really kill me if I got in their way?”

“No. They have a rule not to kill anyone. I'm thinking of the people they're going after. Don't get yourself stuck in the middle of a shootout.”

I smiled. “No worries.”

~*F*~

Ally sat at her laptop and grimaced at the red numbers which appeared on the screen. “Ugh!” she exclaimed, falling back on the bed, her arms sprawled out. “All we own is an airship, but what with damage payments and all, we've always got about ten thousand... below zero, that is. How did I get stuck with this job, anyway? I'm a hunter, not a secretary. Really, I'm always the one that has to make up for it by earning money with my singing. I shouldn't have to do that and do the budget too. Kon should do this. He's the leader, after all.” Ally Kat sighed and sat up again, crossing her legs beneath the computer. Biting her lip, she searched the web for places that might let her sing there. She found a nice little park just across the street from the cafe where Kon and Ven were meeting. It appeared to have performances there every once in a while and showed a number to call for questions. Ally Kat picked up her cell and dialed the number. “The number you have just dialed is not available,” said the computer voice. She pressed the red button to hang up and mumbled, “I can't stand that voice.” Setting aside her laptop, Ally stood, put on her coat, slid her gun into it's holster and walked out the door.

Even though it was August, where they were currently, it was snowing. The sun was shining dully through the clouds in the West, bringing a tad bit of warmth. Ally payed little attention as she walked down the street. The sounds and colors were just a jumbled mess to her. But in the distance, she heard a sound which set her ears ringing and her instincts commanding her to jump aside. It was the sound of a sniper cocking his gun. The bullet missed her by inches as she dodged, landed heavily on the ground and placing her hands in the snow to keep her balance. She searched the rooftops. As soon as she spotted her hunter, she ran between all the shocked people and leaped up from the trashcan to the window sill, grasping the edge of the roof to swing herself up and knocking the gun from the sniper's hand with her feet. The sniper pulled out a knife and began swinging it at her, but she easily knocked it aside with the back of her hand and punched him in the stomach. The sniper fell to his knees, clutching his stomach and Ally Kat lifted him by the collar of his shirt and snatched off his goggles. “Denov,” was all she said before dragging him to the edge of the roof and jumping off with him.

~*~

Ven and Konrad sat at their table at the cafe and talked of where they should head next. “We've got a call from Jin in Polstar. He says they're transporting some valuables and need some guards. Think you can fly us there, Ven?”

“Fly to Polstar? You kidding? The winds there never drop below 200 mph in the zone airships have to fly in. We have to drive in.”

“But it's surrounded by mountains. There's only one entrance and it's on the other side. That would take a full day of driving and Jin says they're moving the object in the morning. We've got to get there pronto.”

“I might be able to fly you around the mountains and to the entrance, but the winds there are still 100 mph, and at this time of year, they're heading south. That means major headwinds.”

“How long would it take?”

“10 hours at best.”

“Hmm... we'll just have to risk it. If we leave now, we should make it in time. C'mon, let's go find Ally and tell her to pack up. Hopefully, she hasn't reserved a singing spot yet, or else she'll get mad and start throwing a tantrum again.”

The two men stood and left to find their third partner, walking quickly down the street. As they hurried around a corner, they bumped into someone. Konrad caught her just before she fell into the snow.

“You okay?” he asked. The woman looked up at him, an odd look on her face, and suddenly Kon felt a searing pain in his side. As he fell back, he noticed a a small moon tattooed at the corner of her eye.

“Kon!” Ven shouted, pulling the girl away from him. She kicked him in the shin, however, and he was forced to let go.

Pulling out a small knife from her pocket, the lady smiled at Ven, then attacked. Ven dodged each jab and in the meantime, Kon sneaked up behind her and knocked her out with a quick impact between his forearm and the back of her neck. A gasp escaped from her lips just before she lost consciousness.

“Are you alright, Konrad?”

“It's only a scratch. I'll survive.”

“Whatever you say. Where did this girl come from, anyway?”

“I don't know, but there's more.”

“Hmm?”

Konrad pointed down the street where Ven saw a ton of people scurrying away and three big men holding giant guns which were pointed at them.

“This just keeps getting better, doesn't it?”

Suddenly, the three men all fell to the ground, unconscious and Kon and Ven saw Ally Kat standing there, holding a cloth over her mouth in one hand and a spray bottle in the other. It was a poison gas which left anyone who breathed it in unconscious. It only lingered for a few seconds, so Ally Kat was able to pull the cloth away soon after she had sprayed it.

“Ah, Ally, we were just looking for you,” Kon said.

“And I was looking for you.”

“What's with these guys? They're all over the place. Look, there are more on the rooftops,” Ven pointed.

“Where are these people coming from?” Kon grumbled.

“It's Denov,” Ally informed.

Ven's eyes widened. “Denov. You mean-”

“That's right. One of the escapees from the Organization incident. These are all his followers that he's gathered since then.”

“You'll have to tell me more about this guy when we're done here, Ally.”

“Will do.”

They proceeded to take out the people on the roofs and walked down to the police station to inform them of the situation. As they walked, Ally Kat explained. “Denov was one of the few criminals that didn't want to be caught by the organization. He considered himself a sort of rival, and wanted to start his own “Organization.” But he was caught in the end. However, when the Organization crumbled, the criminals that they housed were let loose with no where to go, as was Denov.”

“So you're telling me that Denov is out there now, trying to start a new Organization?”

“Not exactly. He doesn't want something quite so big, and he doesn't intend to hire non-criminals, either. His is more of a collection. A collection of the finest criminals out there.”

“If these are his finest, then-”

“No, these are just the extras that he wished to dispose of anyways. We haven't encountered his collection yet.”

“How do you know about all this?”

“I have my own followers you know. A while after we split up, one of them informed me of this man. They told me that his followers would all have moon shapes next to their left eye.”

“I see. Well, whether he's easy or difficult, we have no time for this. We've got to pack our things and get to the airship.”

“Do we intend to take the extra along?” Ally asked.

“What extra?” Ven questioned.

“The extra we picked up from the cafe earlier,” Kon replied. The three turned around and a young teenage boy stepped out from behind an alleyway.