Atlanta 2050:Sessions:20190629
Dr Liz requests to speak with Alfred; Lord Beast (Ivan Ritter) cautiously assents, and accompanies her an interrogation cell. Alfred is seated at a table, his legs shackled. Guarding him are Tommy and Donnie Smith, along with another werewolf, Joe Spikes. In human form Joe is 5'11" with blue eyes and brown hair; he is in his mid-20s. Alfred apologizes to Dr Liz for his rough treatment of her. All he will say otherwise was that she was to be abducted because "You're important to these animals" ("People," she quickly corrects him); his orders came from his superiors, who he refuses to name.
At breakfast the next morning, Ivan tells Liz that Alfred had been "persuaded" to talk. He is a member of the Watchers, who have recently organized in Atlanta. They have established their stronghold in the World of Coca-Cola building downtown. And the Wolf Diamond is there. Lord Beast will be leading an assault at dusk.
In other news, yesterday three men, including an off-duty police officer, had been killed near Statts Brewery Pub, known as the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild.
Les awakens with a few residual aches and pains, but overall feeling much better. The Clerk tells him that the police had come asking if anyone in the Guild saw or heard anything, and the response was "no." Les: "Three guys jumped me, tried to kill me. They wanted me to join some anti-werewolf group. I told them I only work for the Merc Guild." TC: "Shifters are okay. We have some in the Guild." Les: "I want to find out who those three were." TC: "We'll know by the end of the day. We'll anonymously drop the badge off." Les: "Any work for me?" TC: "We're expecting a contract later today."
Joe and two of his buddies get a signal from Lord Beast. "I have people scouting World of Coca-Cola (WoCC). Tonight we will get the artifact. You will need metal gloves because you will handle the diamond, which is noxious to us. Restrictions are off as far as keeping people alive. It is not necessary to hold back; you can kill them. They will have silver bullets and silver-tipped crossbow bolts."
Joe is instructed to go downtown to recon WoCC. He's told there are three ways in - the public entrance, the entrance to the old bottling plant, and a water ride open to the public.
Les gets an assignment. "It's very hush-hush. They'll tell you the job when you get there. Go to the Yellow Lot." He gathers his equipment and rides his horse downtown. He meets an armed guard named Paul Macy. Les: "Howdy. You ordered a merc?" Macy: "You look awfully young." Les: "They sent their best." Macy explains, "We think we have an air shark problem. When the magic shifts on, a shark appears in the air. When the magic's off, the shark fades. My partner got ate by the shark. $500 if you can get rid of it."
Joe just happened to be walking past the Yellow Lot and caught the words "air shark." His curiosity piqued, he walks right up and asks "How many sharks?" Macy: "I've seen it more than once, but I don't know if there's more than one. ... It's maybe the size of a great white." Les: "Which guild are you with?" Joe: "I'm not with a guild, I just want to see it." Les: "Be prepared, I'm not taking responsibility for you."
Following Macy's directions, Les and Joe cross the lobby and pass through double doors into the Grand Hall. It is dimly lit with fey lights. The ceiling is 20' high, and the tables and chairs are pushed against the walls. About 15' in the air, Les sees a silent, gray shark, and he thinks he sees something else moving nearer the ceiling. Joe sees two shapes and faintly hears air moving.
Les' first shot misses; Shark1 turns toward him. Les puts down his crossbow, fast-draws two knives, and throws; one sticks and the other bounces off Shark1's hide. Shark1 lines up to ram Les; Joe tries an acrobatic kick to knock it off course, but has no effect against the 900-pound shark. Les dodges Shark1's snout, then both Les and Joe dodge its tail seep. Joe draws his sword, steps up and strikes. Shark1 turns quickly and tries to ram Les again; Les dodges the snout but takes a slap from the tail. Les draws his sword with his off-hand and jabs it into Shark1. Joe sees another shape pass close by him (Shark2 missed its ram attack). Shark1 turns around and tries to bite; Les dodges, fast-draws his gun, and fires, fatally wounding Shark1, which falls to the floor. Joe tries jumping on Shark2's back, fails, then misses with his sword. Les fires at Shark2 and misses. Shark2 turns and rushes toward Joe, who fast-draws his gun and shoots it. Joe acrobatically dodges Shark2's gaping jaws. Then there's a loud noise like a great wind, and as the sound fades, so does Shark2.
Joe: "Wow, we almost got them both." Les: "I'll have to put you in my report.... I'll stay and kill the second for $400." Les cuts off a chunk from the dead shark as proof of the kill.
Macy's manager has Les sign a receipt for the $500, and tells him "We'll have you come back," indicating that he knew there was more than one shark. Joe pops out a bunch of questions, and the manager says, "Weird things get kicked out of WoCC, but I don't know how it got this far [1/2 mile].... We've heard of adventurers going in and not coming out.... Rumors of 'items of power' and 'portals to other places'.... There's security that wasn't there before, armed guards and sentries, dogs." Les: "I'll go talk to them about escaped animals."
Les returns to Merc Guild and gives $150 to TC. Joe tells his contact about "weird stuff -- air sharks from WoCC." His contact is skeptical, but Joe insists. The contact sends him to the Georgia Aquarium, which will be the staging area for the evening assault on WoCC.
Dr Liz, Tommy, and Donnie ("The only thing better than cookies is bacon." "So how about bacon cookies?") have gone to the public library to study the WoCC blueprints. On their way out, Dr Liz picks up a Watchers pamphlet that had been left on a literature table. On the front is a drawing of the Statue of Libarty; the text inside is their manifesto, which declares "the United States should be free of abominations" and calls for a reversion to the pre-2000 era before the magic returned. "This is a Pure Human Nation! No Monsters!" On the back is a drawing of a 1945 wheat penny and the words, "We're Watching."
Liz, Tommy, and Donnie go to the Civic Center and phone Lord Beast, who says, "Come on home; we'll make plans, feed you, and give you a bulletproof vest. We'll move at dusk."
Les is called into the office of Connor Fielder, the managing partner of the Merc Guild. "You have been impressive. Your probationary period is over. You are now a full-fledged guild member, and the guild's cut is now 20%.... We can't have people attacking our people.... But if they ID themselves as a cop, don't kill cops." Les hands over two of the three wheat pennies he has collected, and says, "I'm looking forward to bringing in more money for the guild." Fielder: "That's the spirit!"