"...in other news, the Cybernetic Liberation Front has been making waves with former war vets and meta-humans. No reported incidents from district authorities as of yet, but security officials cite an increased presence of protesters found blocking street corners and transit areas. On another note, multiple instances of hostile conflict between the purists and tech-hybrid factions have flared up in recent months. Do not enter the following…"
The news anchor is abruptly silenced as Luna shuts off the monitor. Even when easing her mind, her hands were shaking; not from fear, but from anger. This was the first time she had seen Stella so visibly distraught. Moreover, these turn of events were developing faster than what she had predicted. In other words, their vengeance was nearing. Leaning back in the make-shift chair, she languishes in her grief.
"Luna?"
Her body jolts before relaxing.
"Yeah, sis?"
The whir of a distant door closing over the low buzz of various electronics stirs Luna from her seat. To Luna's dismay, Stella was unrecognizable from her usual self. The disheveled neon hair, smeared makeup, and tired eyes were not lost on Luna.
"We need to talk."
There was a slight tremble in her voice, a sign of shock. With some assurance, Luna responds with a thumbs-up gesture. Stella promptly sits herself down near Luna. Her eyes still had the same piercing glare that Luna disliked.
"Well?"
Luna readies herself for the worst.
"How did they find us?"
A twinge of fear brews within Luna, somehow managing to maintain a calm facade. She needed to be truthful only to the extent that Stella could handle in her current state.
"We didn't cover our tracks entirely. It's my fault, alright? I didn't know at the time that they would snitch on us."
"Are you referring to Bolt and Fray?"
Stella fixates on Luna's vague description of their former friends. With a sigh, Luna glances to the side where her crescent moon headpiece laid before answering.
"Yeah. I'm sure they fessed up to Riv but not before getting tortured obviously. Definitely the type."
Stella contorts into a scowl, but ignores Luna’s sarcasm.
"Well, as long as they have their sights on us, we might as well be dead."
Luna knocks back her chair in retaliation and leans over Stella menacingly.
"What's that supposed to mean, huh? You wanted out and I told ya’ it was risky. Betrayal and cowardice are the two worst labels in the game and you think I'm the one at fault?"
"I wasn't in it for the money, unlike you. It was survival. Look, I'm not going to excuse my actions either but it got messy and we aren't cut out for it. Framing our deaths was the only way."
Stella clenches her fists from her bold statement. There probably was a better way, just never bothering to ask the person closest to her.
Luna, feeling some guilt in her, weakly adds, "we can't keep running away forever, sis. You of all people should know."
“I tried, really. It got too stressful.” Looking down, Stella almost breaks down in tears. “Was it the right thing to do, Luna?”
Hesitant to answer, Luna simply hugs Stella from behind.
“We aren't a duo for nothing, sis. If there's something you can't do, then I'll jump in and take the hit for ‘ya. And if we both fail, then that's that! I don't want you to beat yourself up over this. C'mon.”
Luna lets go of Stella, calming down her breathing. Easing from this heavy-handed conversation, Stella lightens up but still maintains her usual seriousness.
"That's why I'm asking you since I trust your instinct. We've made it this far so it'll ease my mind if we're in this together. You saved me back there. It's only right that I'd do the same for you."
Stella's eyes were glimmering in the dimly-lit room, either from the faint glow of the display screens or from the tears welling up. Luna picks her chair back up before settling down. This topic was far from over, but for now, Luna needed to steer away from Bolt and Fray's deaths.
"Just so ya’ know, I'm up for anything. I'm not entirely unreasonable, sis.”
Smiling under pressure was what Luna was good at. Now, it was business as usual.
“So, I'm realizing we need to face them head-on. Like you said, there's no avoiding them.”
Luna, taken aback from Stella's unusual position, shoots her a confused look. She wasn't expecting her side comment to be taken literally.
“Sis, we aren't even close to their level. You can't be serious!”
“I am. And I already told you, I have a plan. Sort of...”
Frustrated, Luna remains silent to listen to what Stella has to say.
“I know the Rivulets are dispatching several members to assassinate us. Therefore, we need to ambush and capture them before they pinpoint this location. Meanwhile, aligning ourselves with other gangs against the Rivulets by offering insider info is another priority. Key leaders, operations, and supply chain, that stuff. That's where you come in since you're friends with a few other gangs in our area. If you can persuade them to join our cause, we can probably win. It's tedious, but we both know gangs only want territory. We'll dip once enough triggers are set for the Rivulets to go up in smoke.”
Luna sensed that Stella was skirting around the most obvious question.
“Are we planning to kill Riv? ‘Cause this'll get bloody right quick. No matter who ya’ cut down, the name remains. I get what you're saying though. There's bad blood we can exploit.”
Stella tenses up at the thought of ending her former friends and comrades, though resolves herself that this turf war. Similar to a cult, Riv's brutal executions have begun to turn heads, gaining the ire of other gangs.
“There's…no way around this so is there anyone we can leverage?”
Luna considers a few candidates among her gang, the Duskers, before settling on a peculiar individual. Not a perfect match for this job, but it's likely things will work out.
“I'll call ‘em up. Gimme’ a sec’.”
Luna scoots to a nearby computer for the keyboard. Clicking on one of the idle chat windows, she fires a text to someone named ‘Q01’.
In less than a minute, a knock resounds from the same door Stella entered from.
Luna calls out, “you're good!” while repositioning adjacent to Stella.
Before them was a figure taller than Luna, clad in black milsurp and a skull bandana. Their blue cybernetic eyes blinked artificially and irregularly. If it weren't for the painted nails and azure hair clips, Stella would've mistaken them for a guy. Luna grins in anticipation as everything is beginning to fall in place.
“Sis, meet Q-bit. Q for short.”
Q-bit briefly stares at Stella, only to look at Luna. Uttering a, “hey,” to acknowledge Stella's presence.
“Uh, hi.” Stella did not know how to proceed with the conversation, creating an awkward lull in the room.
“Augh, you're both so shy! Fine! Q, this is my partner-in-crime, lumii. We toured the dredges together before this shitstorm happened. Sis, this is Q, she's a cyberhacker that's been netrunning for our ragtag group for years. Pretty reliable and resilient, except for a few close-calls with the badges.”
“It was only that one time,” Q-bit retorts. “Those backstabbing assholes flaked out of the transaction at the last minute so we almost took the hit.”
“Yeah, yeah. All good and done. Anyways, Q will be our intermediary for interfacing with digiwares and outreach. She's got a few leads on buyers in the black-market. Gotta’ close out a few bids but should be okay after. I'll contact the Fluxors and TekHeads by then. They still owe me a debt for saving their asses when they were starting out.”
Stella straightens her posture. “This group deals with illegal contraband?”
Smugly, Luna crosses her arms, making light of the situation.
“Well, yeah! How else does this gang get funded? If it's not supply ops or drug runs, it's arms dealing. ‘Gotta make a living somehow.”
Q-bit nods in agreement while adding, “I'm the only one in the group with access to these brokers.”
“How?” Stella, despite her expertise in logistics, lacked knowledge on this front.
“I used to be one of their go-tos for another larger gang before they got busted. It was all too risky for me but I backed-up my cred and data for a clean getaway.”
Luna chimes in.
“This should be easy for you then. All we need to do is ‘hype up the crowd’. But… Riv is pretty paranoid about everything from what I remember. He'll definitely know what's up.”
Q-bit, despite the bandana covering her face, expresses curiosity through her azure eyes.
“You knew the guy?”
“Yeah, we used to be in their gang but had a falling out.”
Luna cued Stella it was a blatant lie so she doesn't interject. Not wanting to waste any more time, Q-bit begins her leave, stopping right before the door.
"I got no objections here so I'll get right to it. I just want them gone so its quiet again. I hate having to look over my shoulder every few seconds to check if someone is trailing me.”
“Don't worry, Q. Lumii and I got it handled. Just worry about the close-outs and the bids.”
“Gotcha’.” Q-bit was out of the room no sooner.
Stella, satisfied with this progression, turns toward Luna. Luna's usual smirk disappeared into a neutral expression.
“We're good, then?”
Exhausted, Stella mutters, “yeah, I have a few more contingencies in place just in case this approach doesn't work.”
“Sorry for the outburst earlier. I think we both had it rough the past few days. I was worried about how traumatizing it was for you.”
Stella, still reeling from guilt, remarks, “it's fine. I need to start standing up for myself. Froze up when they attacked and only had you to rely on.”
“No, no. We both have our strengths and weaknesses. That's why we rely on each other!”
“But it's been eating me up inside how useless I felt. It just doesn't feel right. So please, if you can, teach me how to fight like you do.”
The sense of dread returned to Luna. It wasn't like she had a choice to say no, but Stella's persistence was unshakable. As a compromise, she wouldn't teach her everything. Though, the thought of this biting her later seemed plausible to her future plans and she knew Stella would vehemently oppose her for it.
“Alright, but I'm not going to go easy on you. A scrap fight is quick and brutal so don't say I didn't warn you.”
“Then let's get going.”