Thread: ▬▬▬ ⊰ｉｎＦＡＭＯＵＳ { echo  & F R O S T }

It seems that Gunji makes for the best faceclaim I can find of this roguish ganger. The harsh sounds of heavy metal music drowned out the noise of people working and talking in the background in foreman's office of the old industrial park that made up the heart of the territory of the gang that had taken over the small industrial park less than two years ago. The Reapers... It was a name that once brought fear in america, but here less so. Ever since they had been beaten down by the hero of Empire City they never quite recovered, their reputation for better or worse ruined, and their own empire crumbled. The name used to apply to scum, people who were petty drug and weapon dealers banded together to gain power and take empire city as their own. True, these Reapers weren't that different, as always they were lead by a powerful conduit, but in many ways they had changed. They still moved arms and drugs, but also people. They were still dangerous of course, but for some conduits, they were almost heroes. Many said they had gone soft, but those who actually butted heads with them quickly learned that their recent PR friendly turns had been entirely intentional. The leader of this division, Steel himself, slouched in a heavily reinforced metal office chair with one leg kicked up and his heavy combat boot on a similarly reinforced metal desk placed in the middle of his office. The room was mostly barren save for these spartan furnishings and nearly everything seemed to be made of metal, a single welded bedframe rested in the corner of the room, topped with an impressive stack of mattresses and reinforced all over with metal struts. All of the furniture in the room seemed to be reinforced or extra sturdy, even the laptop, fan and boombox on his desk were... rugged to say the least. Ugly, but needed. The blonde seemed to be relaxing, leaning as far back as he could while enjoying the occasional groans of the metal protesting his movements, occasionally getting a bend or flex from the metal but not the satisfying snap of it giving way, indicating his previous repairs worked well enough. His blonde eyes were closed, posture relaxed and almost ready to go to sleep, of course clad in the signature reaper red jacket, heavier than the clothing most of his gangers wore and of course was worn in a way that easily would be considered Indecent by the locals. Not that he cared of course, the locals knew best to leave him alone after his last display. His torso was almost entirely naked, exposed in the front due to leaving his jacket unzipped to expose his abdomen and torso and to beat the heat. His legs were covered in denim jeans that were shredded in many different places from both wear and tear, age and combat, and his feet were clad in military-grade combat boots. Steel certainly looked the part of a reaper leader, clad in the tattoos and heavily pierced, his intimidating appearance was only hampered by an attractive face and an even more toned and attractive body. The young man had come a long way, from a street rat, second-generation Reaper, a revolutionary, to the leader of an organization verging on success, a gang of young men and women, many of whom were conduits themselves banded together to carve out a place for themselves in the world, and dubai was the perfect place to start. Dubai was a magnificent city, still growing and perhaps growing even faster with the changes to the world caused by the appearance of the Conduits. Dubai had always been an icon of social progress, and didn't seem to be interested in changing that ideal, meaning rumors spread of the city being a safe haven for conduits, a government that didn't hunt them or conscript them into their military. These things together meant that some people had to band together to avoid strife, and the Reapers were there to profit from strife. The location he had chosen to set up shop was perfect for his operation, settled in an older industrial district the old industrial park he had made his headquarters in was a stones throw away from the waterfront of the gulf, and yet still in sight of the mighty skyline of Dubai, easily within range of any services his gang might need and positioned to spread his influence well into the wealthier districts. The central building in the park was huge, compared to his old haunt in Seattle at least and was yet dwarfed by many others in the city at a paltry three stories, a combination of offices and machining floors made the perfect grounds for storage and transport of illicit goods and the network of maintenance access made it very easy to hide people who wanted to stay hidden, making his gang's activities far easier to conceal when dealing with moving people, one of their biggest sources of income. The complex had been abandoned for a while even before he had arrived, left in the wake of both Dubai's explosive development and the worldwide crisis of the rise of conduits and of course with any squatters off the property and the right money to the right people, the Reapers were left well enough alone. Unfortunately not well enough it seemed. From the door came several fast paced knocks, followed by the sound of a key turning and the knob hastily shifting. Steel had barely enough time to kick forward and stand when his second opened the door with a slam. His second, a male in his late teens with long black hair hidden under the hood of his jacket and a silver bandanna wrapped around his right arm barged into the room, slightly out of breath, surprising for a kid who made urban exploration a hobby through most of his entire life. He was lightweight kid, made even moreso because of his powers and was an amusing second in command for a man like Steel.. The blonde's head rose with a sigh and he tilted his chin up slightly unwilling to abandon his lazy posture. Zeph wore his own coat closed unless he was running, mostly because he carried weapons under but also because he had a lot of pride in his station and role as the second in command of the Reapers. He was also the best scout Steel had, able to effortlessly navigate the streets and even the rooftops to gather information for him and his gang. Whatever news required him to burst in like that was important. What's going on, Zephyr His eyes finally slid open, adjusting his stance to welcome the younger man in. Zeph looked nervous, with his hood down it was painfully obvious, and the reason the young man was nervous became appearance as soon as he spoke. He was also holding a pistol tightly in his hand, indicating potential danger. Augurs, Sir His own voice was lighter, sounding anxious. Two of them are en route here, I came in as soon as I heard the word, but they weren't far, so I might have only beat them here by minutes. He was breathing hard enough, evident that he had in fact hurried to deliver the news, and certainly managed into a timely manner. At least two of them specifically, A female, and Rowe himself... I didn't see any other accomplices? This news made Steel straighten his posture. Rowe? Here in Dubai? The Augurs had many heavy-hitters, but Rowe was one of the heaviest, and likely was accompanied by other powerful members of the Augurs. His scowl turned into a sneer and his eyes narrowed, vocal tone raising with both recognition and irritation. Why of all people is sparky here? The blonde sighed heavily... He shifted to stand, widening the eyes of Zephyr, who took a step back and adjusted the grip on his pistol, watching his boss stand and begin towards the door. Should I gather the boys We can grab our guns in case h-? Zeph spoke. He had never gotten a chance to see or know the sparky wonder, he was interrupted by a swiftly raised hand. No, no, I am not interested in seeing all our boys getting the stuffing blasted out of them, and we don't know HOW many other augurs are with him Steel had experience with the man, in Seattle and knew how he operated. He was the chronic hero, but that rarely stopped everyone who got in his way from ending up bruised in well more in ego. Shooting at him would only cause more trouble than it was worth, and whoever was with him was simply a wildcard. Steel had never spent time with the Augurs, he did not know their ranks, simply that they were composed almost entirely of conduits, and his own little group was not. Tell the others to be ready, I will welcome our guest personally He scowled as he slipped by his second in command, who nodded and went out to gather the other crimson-coated gang members. He wasted no time moving out, walking with a bit of haste towards the edge of the hallway to the balcony. Keep everybody on edge, but we do not shoot until we are certain that the Augurs are here to do something about our dysfunctional little family. Steel stepped out of the room and hastily made for the courtyard. If Sparky was actually on his way there were two ways to deal with the situation, the first was to resist, and he had seen DUP and other criminals do this back in the states. His men had guns, ammo, and he had a handful of conduits... but in the event that he wasn't there to cause trouble... that would be wasteful! Steele made his way out to the balcony that lead to the courtyard, the main entrance to the complex and leapt off the edge to the ground below, landing with a thunderous thud among the overgrown bits of concrete and scrap metal that littered the courtyard. If Delsin was coming, it was unlikely Steele could be ready for him, with his powers he could approach fron any angle, and if the reason for his approach was less than friendly, he could only hope that the man would bother to meet him head-on. Rowe also knew Steel almost as well as he knew him. It was a little trade-off, a remnant from a time where he had assisted the hero of Seattle in resisting the advances of the Department of Urban protection. Rowe knew how dangerous Steele was, but did he now about any of his comrades? The courtyard of the industrial park was overgrown with green weeds, only paths of heavy traffic and spots where the yard had been decorated with the ancient wreckage of vehicles stood out, other bits of scrap metal that Steele himself had gathered for his little hobbies. In the buildings around him his people began to emerge, armed with their AK-47 assault rifles and waiting for their leader to give the word as he slowly walked out into the courtyard, waiting for the Augurs to show themselves. He stopped at a large metal grate that was used to mark the intersection of the path, eyes moving over the junk littering the courtyard and arms folding impatiently, waiting for the two of them to come around the corner that lead from the alleyway into the park. If the Augurs were there for a fight, Alexander Steele could at the very least give them that much.